Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Sun and Son

When Trey came back, and learned that she'd found even more children that weren't his, his disposition was more than a little soured. He didn't say anything, of course, but he didn't have to, around another of his Siblings.
   Without taking her eyes off of her children, Onnu calmly reminded him that she'd borne them before Tribulations. Before she even knew he existed.
   As for her children, once they'd found each other and vowed not to forget their other brother, they took names. They didn't spread them about, on their mother's request, but her daughter called herself Kaia Fedora. She'd been an artist and general crafter, but none of the materials she'd used were on the Fortnight Worlds yet, so she felt it safe enough to name herself.
   The dragonkith that would likely travel with Trey (which she was trying to decide how to feel about) called himself Sven. He hadn't thought of a second name, but even that first name stopped the horrible nightmares. Since his destiny would likely be to travel and observe, he needed to recall little of Erdewaz.
   No one told Trey about Onnu's newfound ability, either. She hadn't been able to replicate it for her son, much to her dismay. Kaia said that it could have been a weaker connection to Sven. It might've been their strong bond that called forth her humanoid form.
   "It's pretty useful to know, just in case," Kaia said.
   "Well yeah, but I don't know what it's useful for, aside from hugs," Onnu objected.
   "You might have to get somewhere small." This was from Sven, who was slowly warming up to his birth mother. In a way, she was getting to raise them from birth this time, since she'd laid their eggs and taught them what they knew about the world around them.
   Trey looked at her children, now, with a thought forming. "You're going to want to bring them home with you, aren't you?"
   "Of course I do." It was the most obvious thing in the world.
   "Well, he won't have trouble, but how are you gonna get her through space? Furgoyles don't have gills."
   The dragoness and furgoyle blanched. Trey immediately apologized, but he earned many glares from the kin within earshot.
   Her faith reared its head, in the end. "God wouldn't be all smug and tell me to look at the kin here more closely, if He was going to make me leave them behind. He's got a plan, we just don't know what it is yet."
   "Maybe he'll send you through another sun," Trey grumbled.
   "Another what?" Her children weren't the only ones who exclaimed in shock. Many kin nearby crowded close to hear her answer.
   "As I said, little ones, I cannot die by time, fire, or falling from Above. The suns are plasma, which is, hmm, perhaps more extreme than fire, but I wasn't going to go into technicalities." She glanced sideways at Trey. "To my knowledge, only one thing can take my life, thus far. They are created to do the very thing, should it be required."
   "Space vacuums?" an orc asked.
   "Space vacuums, yes. Nothing can escape them, in the end. They are the great equalizers. Forces of nature."
   "And completely safe, as long as you aren't outside at night," Onnu interjected. "We have them instead of bugs, hurricanes, floods, and the like. They are what refresh the land and water, distributing nutrients in new places. I'm not sure about you, but I'll take a giant manta ray we can see miles away, over all of that!"
   "Three of them," Trey corrected her.
   "But only one at a time. Stop scaring them," she scolded. "You can see them coming, though. And centaurs can sense them coming. Dragons too, obviously, but always watch a centaur if you think it might be getting late. Hey, is this one of the planets with a moon?" She'd almost forgotten that some planets had them.
   "I haven't seen one yet, but orbits here are so wonky, that's not saying much."
   "Why are orbits wonky?" several kin asked.
   "None of us have been able to map the system. Everything about it defies logic," she laughed. "It's sort of like a DNA double helix, but somehow, no planet has true nightfall unless it's got a moon? There are twice as many planets as suns, so it shouldn't be possible, but somehow, it is." She shrugged widely.
   "Then how do you navigate?" her son asked.
   "Completely unscientific methods, I'm afraid. Trey has to learn the quirks of planets by sight to figure out where he hasn't been yet, and I can only reliably find a planet with a blood relative or Elder Dragon on it."
   "So if we stayed here, you could visit?" Kaia asked.
   They knew the answer before she said it, as her eyes tinted darker blue. "I have many duties at home. I was only allotted a little time here to get you guys set up, and then it's back home to..." She grunted. "Politics. If your siblings weren't there, and Pannu, I wouldn't be in a hurry to go back."
   Her children found Trey's reaction to the name "Pannu" interesting. They exchanged a Look that said they would discuss it later.
   "You never did say how we'd get to your home," Sven said.
   Onnu shrugged. "I have faith. Whether, as Trey says, I get some new ability, or He finds another method of travel, I believe that we will not be separated."
   The little kin noted his lack of scorn in her faith. They had forgotten that the dragons had been some of the most faithful on Erdewaz.
   The next time Trey was outside the Hold, her children pulled her aside to ask who Pannu was.