Ceremeth Selamputo's Story

Chapter One

Ceremeth stepped out of the lift and onto the hatching deck for the first time since her own hatching. It seemed strange that, in three years, she'd never made her way down to this deck, but she hadn't been actively avoiding it-- she'd just never had a reason to visit before. She had few friends, and none of them had clutched during the time she'd known them-- even then, they would have used the private bays rather than the larger, public ones she was gazing at now-- and there hadn't seemed like there was cause to simply explore them. Ceremeth wasn't really one for random exploration, especially not for something as heavily specialized and simply organized as the hatching deck.

Today, though, she finally had reason, so here she was.

The rainbow-sparkled black dragoness padded sedately down the center of the wide hallway, taking note of the displays above each hatching bay door. She knew which one she was aimed for, but as this was her first trip down, she saw no harm in taking in everything with equal interest. Two empty, one filled with another relative-- Boserro, brother to her housemate and fellow student, Ielta, though not nearly so strange as she-- and the fourth her destination.

The bay she approached was more familiar than those she passed, however: it was the very same bay in which she had been hatched. Ceremeth wasn't sure whether this was on purpose or not, but it made for an interesting sort of symmetry. The notation said the doors were unlocked, and as she stepped up to them, they slid open to admit her.

A black dragoness lounged within, nose in a book, but her muzzle lifted as Ceremeth entered. They were of a pair, the two of them: both very similar in form, almost exactly of a height, and both dark in color. Ceremeth was the more colorful of the two, though, with her opalescent sparkling and positively rainbowed, glittery wings.

::Hello, sister,:: she said.

::Hello, sister,:: Cameracath answered with a wry little smile.

Unlike Peta-mari and Zamah-aisi, Ceremeth had kept track of her siblings, though she wasn't always in contact with them. She'd known Cameracath had stayed on Star City, while many of the clutch had spread out across various galaxies throughout the Nexus and beyond. She had even run into her a few times to share lunch or whatever meal was nearest, often with Zabeth or Ziar and his copper shadow Ielta in attendance, catching up on each other's lives. It hadn't been in person that she'd learned of her sister's clutching, however, but she'd made certain to contact the matte dragoness once she'd heard, to confirm and ask if she was welcoming visitors.

Hence, this meeting.

::I see no father here,:: Ceremeth commented, looking around. All she saw was a largely empty bay, her sister, and a large compliment of white, black-speckled eggs. Actually, unless she was much mistaken, this clutch was quite a bit larger than the one she and Cameracath had come from.

::He is not particularly interested in egg-care,:: Cameracath said dryly. ::But that doesn't bother me, we weren't really friends. He will have made me some fine children, I expect, and that is what matters.::

::Half true chaotic, wasn't he?:: Cemereth asked. She'd done her homework, curious about what her neices and nephews would include in their highly complex genetic make-up. True Chaotics, from a world called Lantessama, lived up to their name-- and that, alone, had been enough to turn Zabeth away from the clutch. She (the firebird was currently female) wanted to introduce no more chaos into her life; Zamah-aisi, Peta-mari, and Ielta were quite enough, she said, though Peta-mari was seldom at home these days, and Ielta was much more fixated on Ziar. Zabeth still said it was quite enough to unsettle her.

That chaotic aspect, however, fascinated Ceremeth.

::Indeed,:: her sister agreed. ::And handsome, at least-- quite more fully furred than any of us.::

::Hmmm.::

Ceremeth had finally reached her sister, giving her a solemn but friendly nuzzle in passing, and then passed her, circling the clutch. Cameracath watched quietly, curiously. ::Interested in the eggs? They can communicate, if you want to speak with them.::

::Unlike most of us,:: Cemereth commented. ::May I?::

::Just touch the shells,:: was the answer, accompanied by a smile. Cameracath was, it seemed, quite pleased of her offspring. Or at least with being a mother. Ceremeth had never even considered procreation, whether the actions or the results, in relation to herself, simply not interested in partaking. But here were the results of procreation, before her, and she confessed herself curious.

She put one lanky-toed paw on one egg, pink pads meeting speckled shell, and another paw on another: she had two paws available, after all, and she valued efficiency. She sent to both, ::Good afternoon.::

To her mild surprise, she heard back from one, ::Good afternoon, to you, too.:: Then, after a pause, the hatchling-- it sounded male-- added, ::Is it afternoon? It's hard to tell, in here.::

::Sometimes it's hard to tell, out here, as well,:: Ceremeth admitted solemnly. ::One simply must trust the numbers on the clocks to tell you what time it is, as we don't exactly have a sun to tell us day from night. --What is your name?::

::Ockin,:: the hatchling answered. ::Who are you?::

::Ceremeth. I'm your aunt.::

::What's an aunt?:: the second egg asked quietly, almost diffidently. There was a distinct difference between the two voices: though she couldn't tell the gender of the second, she could tell it was a far different personality from Ockin.

::I am clutch-sister to your mother,:: Ceremeth explained. ::What is your name?::

::Oh-- I'm Wisumoth.::

::It is a pleasure to meet you, Wisumoth. Are you near to hatching?::

::I don't think so,:: the hatchling answered.

::I wish we were,:: Ockin grumbled. ::I am getting bored!::

Ceremeth chuckled. ::In good time, child.::

She wound up speaking with several more of the eggs: a little boy named Irtet who had all sorts of strange ideas, though none as strange as Ietla's; a little girl named Nidaleth who seemed to think much like Peta-mari when it came to men; and a pair of boys named Katulinith and Echer who kept trying to talk over each other. She gave up then, starting to get a headache from the louder and louder sendings from the two competitive brothers, and fell to chatting with her sister for a few minutes before taking her leave.

However, she did promise to return at the time of hatching, just in case a hatchling was taken enough with her to follow her home. Zabeth might disagree, but Ceremeth appreciated a little chaos, every now and then.

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