"Oh dear, oh dear," Criella repeated frantically to herself as she paced the little cathair she shared with her renewed/ex-partner, Clicques.  It was early dawn; the light of the suns had yet to pour over the red stone of Utopian.  Clicques yawned and stretched, then opened one eye sleepily to look at her friend. "WHAT is the matter?" she asked, irritation evident in her tone.  Criella was rarely in such a state--in fact, she thrived when under pressure--and Clicques was a little worried...but not about to let the ruby-toned thief know.  "You woke me up." Criella shot Clicques a look, her face vaguely annoyed, but mostly panicked.  "So sorry to wake you up, Princess...but I just got the call to go to Lian, and I'm a little nervous."  Clicques sat up in her bed. "What's there to be nervous about? You've only waited for this nest to hatch for...like...forever.  You should be happy!"  "And I am!" Criella moaned.  "But...I've never really considered what great responsibility went into this kind of thing..." Clicques sighed and got out of bed. She walked over to her friend and dealt her a swift smack across the face.  Stunned, Criella shut up and stopped pacing. "Thanks, I think," she muttered grumpily, rubbing an inflamed cheek.  Clicques gave her a gentle shove toward the mouth of the cathair, grinning cheerfully.  "Don't mention it.  Now, you go on to the sands--don't be late!--and I'll come right after.  I just need to get dressed."  Criella nodded, and left.  Clicques followed soon after. At Lian, all the hopeful bonders stood at attention on the sands, laughing and talking to one another, until Emalya, the mother of the nest, rose to speak. "All right." Emalya spoke out loud for everyone's benefit. "This is the first time there's ever been a clutch here with... people at it. Iendae doesn't really count... well... for obvious reasons. Nobody knows what to expect, not even me." This got a few chuckles. "I just think this clutch is ready to break, and so... well... welcome. Good luck. Relax." Suddenly, one egg gave a hard wobble and fell over. It gave another shake, and then a small piece fell off.  And thus the nest breaking began! Criella's Excerpts: Criella watched the eggs thoughtfully. The mini-dragons looked a lot like the jewels she used to steal... small and bright. Her eyes were drawn to one egg, rocking gently. A thin crack ran up the side. As she watched, more cracks stemmed off the first one... and a diamond tail peeked out... "Criella, I am Minya." The jewel-thief smiled. "Pleased to meet you." ------------------------------------------------------------------- The last two dragons, an aquamarine and a pink tourmaline, seemed to be having a silent conference. They reached an agreement and headed off - the aquamarine to Criella, the pink tourmaline to Ruana. After delivering their names, Quile and Halya, respectively, the candidates finally began moving out of the Nest.

Name: Minya Gender: Female Age: Hatchling Color: Diamond Rank: Highest Female

Name: Quile Gender: Male Age: Hatchling Color: Aquamarine Rank: Lowest Male

Criella sat stroking her two new jewels, pleased as punch, if you'll excuse the expression, to have them both.  "My darlings..." she murmured.  Clicques laughed. "To think, you were NERVOUS to bond with them!  They don't look a thing like you, you know."  Criella smiled and looked down. "Don't they?  Well then, maybe it's time to deviate from my norm..." She chuckled. Clicques grinned and nodded.  "Well, now that that's over--for the most part--we can go on to imprint our gem dragons!"  She sighed... "I wish it were tomorrow...I cannot wait."  Criella nodded. "Neither can I." And it happened very soon indeed!  Criella received Gold Masnik, and Clicques was overjoyed to meet Obsidian Arun!