Home

Sokas sat in the dust, whittling diligently at a stick.

It hadn't looked like much at first; he was trying to get it to look like a paard. Eventually, he gave up on that idea, and let the knife take his fingers where they would. Which was, unfortunately, his hand.

"Shards!" Sokas yelled, throwing the knife away as a thick line of blood welled up on his hand. "Shards," he repeated softly, sucking at the blood. In awhile the bleeding stopped, and he wound a strip of his shirt he tore off around the offending cut and tied it. He retrieved his knife, and started whittling, carefully keeping his injured hand out of the way. He started to see that the shape the stick was taking was a dragon...he worked harder, until the small stick was a flute, with the head of a dragon ready to flame Lizards at the end. He cut three holes into the middle, and tested it, playing a simple tune he had learned from his older sister, Sallah. The pretty tune drew a small crowd, and soon people were tossing coins in his hat he placed on the ground, and dancing. They gave him money to play favorite songs, and one girl stood and accompanied him with her voice, while her brother backed them up on his gitar.

-All from a random whittle?- Sokas thought, smiling.

Sokas gathered his things, and placed the money he had made carefully in his kerchief, and into his pouch. He set his cap at a jaunty angle on his head, and, whistling the tune he had played on his dragon flute, he walked toward the beaches, his mind set on finding a clutch of dragonchen eggs.

Digging about, he came upon a few round objects. Dragonchen eggs! The mottled eggs were very hard, and from inside he heard faint tappings. He gathered them, and placed them out on the sand in front of him. Suddenly, he heard an angry cry. A flash of gold darted at him, and he rolled away. Several times it came at him, and several times instinct alone saved him. Eventually, he got away, hiding in the bushes behind a large rock. The golden mother landed by her clutch, and called out. Instantly, many dragonchen, with food and seaweeds, lined up around the eggs and put the food around them. As the eggs started to hatch, the dragonchen crooned a loving welcoming song. Sokas watched, enraptured, as the dragonchen hatchlings emerged. The adults fed them, and the babies, as soon as their wings dried, flew away. However, three of the hatchlings wandered, unseen, toward him. He fished in his pockets for the sandwiches he hadn't finished, and fed the dragonchen 'til they were full. When they slept, he realized that he had Imprinted them! With that thought, he named the blue, the brown, and the green--Spriz, Aro, and Lea. He tucked them into his pouch, smiling, and walked back toward the town.


Sokas and his little friends drew a crowd during the day. While Sokas played his flute, the girl who sang and her brother returned, and the trio of dragonchen danced through the air in magnificent acrobatic delights.


At the end of the day, Sokas and his trio continued wearily, but happily, toward Utopian Keep and their room that they had been given for a few days. On the way, they were stopped by a Rider from Cathair Andromeda.
"Hello there. Nice dragonchen you have. Quite a foursome you make. I heard your music. Very entertaining. Well done."
"Thank you," Sokas said courteously.
"My dragon liked it as well. In fact, you have been Found!"
"Me?"
"Well, no, not really, I was just having a little fun."
As Sokas's smile faded, the rider jokingly punched him, lightly on the shoulder.
"Aw, c'mon-I don't kid about things like that! Climb aboard, m'lad!"

Whistling a merry tune, S'kas finished up some of his carvings. Most of them were of Tallarth, the little brown dragonet that he had Imprinted. Setting down a miniature figure of Tallarth, S'kas walked into the room where Tallarth was dozing.
"Hey there, Tal."
Tallarth opened hazy rainbow-hued eyes and glared at S'kas.
~I'm trying to sleep!~
"I know. But just look at this carving. Then you can sleep."
~Very well~ Tallarth yawned and stretched, then waited as S'kas walked into his whittling room, and came back, dragging a a life-sized carving of Tallarth. Tallarth sprang to his feet, eyes whirling an excited red-orange, and smiled inwardly at S'kas.
~It's perfect! Wonderful..~
"You like it? Good. I made it especially for you."
Tallarth rumbled happily in his throat, and nuzzled S'kas.
~Thank you~
"Anything for you, Tallarth!"

S'kas and Tallarth were very excited about the upcoming chase of Naiya and golden Ambranth, so much that Tallarth had prompted S'kas to carve a small piece of the two females together. It had turned out beautifully, and S'kas was about to present it to Naiya that afternoon..