Book One: Onnu and Pannu

New Beginning

The little kin of Onnutrey got the hang of life in the Fortnight Worlds. The dragons struggled to find things to teach them, by the end of the first week. Onnu taught them the finer points of sewing, and the baking she'd observed. Trey helped them learn how to catch food, on land and in the water.
   The most important thing they needed was time. Time for wings to grow stronger, to learn how to move in their new bodies, and time for crops to grow.
   Onnu's children spent most of their time near their mother, since she still didn't know how Kaia would come with them. Sven learned to like her, but that was another thing they would need time for: for love to grow. He'd been told his entire life that she'd been some horrendous monster who gave him away the day he was born.
   Kaia helped, here. She was able to tell him that he'd been taken, yes, but it was because she'd already lost the fight for her. If you lost one, they would take the rest.
   Onnu firmly told Sven that she'd ordered her tubes tied the very same day they took him away, and later, a hysterectomy.
   "I wasn't going through that again."
   He hugged her face as best he could, with Kaia on the other side. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Mom."
   "I'm sorry they told you I didn't care." It was hard to hold the tears in, but she had a child on each cheek, now. "Child"... They are children no longer. But they are so very small, it is easy to see them that way.
   She began thinking about the return trip with her daughter, by the second week. She saw it as a learning opportunity, as they would need to make the same preparations to travel with their own dragon.
   She eased them into it, with ropemaking. Similar methods were used in making clothing, in that you dried grasses and plaited them in a specific way. The patterns were different, of course, but the concept was vaguely similar.
   When they'd woven enough rope for both herself, and what she estimated her child would need, they moved on. She didn't size it for the largest egg, as that one would be coming with Onnu until she hatched. How do I know that the largest egg is a girl, but I know nothing about the other two?  she grumbled to herself. If I knew which one was my son, I'd take him with me. Surely, He wouldn't let me leave him behind!
   Except she didn't really know that. What she did know, that gave her a smidge of hope, was that she would be able to talk to him, no matter what. In a way, she could see how his presence here might be beneficial, as he'd reach out to her for any little thing, just to hear her voice. But it wouldn't be fair to have Kaia and her lost son live with their mother, and have her eldest left all alone. Not again. He'd been alone his entire formative life, until his baby sister found them. She wouldn't leave him behind again, if it was in her power!
   She returned to saddle making, shaking her great head at her own thoughts. "As I was saying, you'll need to weave them in many layers, for the comfort of both rider and dragon. Now, we don't know exactly how large my child is, so we'll err on the side of caution. In this case, larger is better. They will need time to grow strong enough to carry themself, let alone a passenger, so if we go a bit too big, more's the better."
   "But you've got enough here for two saddles," a centaur pointed out.
   "Yes, we do. These two children will require one, as well."
   "But neither of these straps are long enough!" Kaia objected.
   Onnu looked at all of them before reminding them that she had less than a week left on Onnutrey. She said it as gently as she could.
   "There is time enough for a neck harness. That will have to suffice. The saddles will be approximately the same size, because I will shorten the straps on Tupino, and give it to one of these hatchlings."
   "That's why you've got us making them both as sturdy!" her son exclaimed. "Because they'll both need to last as long as possible."
   Onnu nodded. "That, and everything here must last for as long as it can. We must be better than we were on Erdewaz. That's why this saddle material can be eaten, put to compost, or unwound to become something else. It is why clay vessels can be melted and reused, if they break. Even crystal-cover (should you encounter it in later generations) can be smelted, after a fashion, and made into new things. Always seek to repurpose, even if it is simply compost, or animal feed."
   A chorus of "yes ma'am" answered her. She never passed up an opportunity to remind them that they were supposed to be better than they were. That was the point of the Fortnight Worlds, after all. Through their reincarnations, and vacations in Heaven, they were forging themselves into the most perfect beings they possibly could. No one would be as perfect as their Creator, of course, but the pursuit of it was... everything.
   It always had been, except humans had forgotten. Perhaps it was the short lifespans, or the instant gratification. Knowing the why was beyond her pay grade, though. She happily left it to the Big Guy to know how the wheels turned. She simply turned them the way He bade her.
   "I don't think we need a saddle horn, no," she said, shaking herself from her thoughts again. "Instead, we attach safety harnesses to these trailing ends I've had you leave. Now, once you discover metals, and smelting, you'll put metal rings here. Until then, if you can craft bone rings, you can try those--as thick as you can leave them, obviously. Otherwise, braiding into these bits will have to suffice. That's why I've shown you how to construct the gondolas. When my child is large enough to carry them, the lack of metal shouldn't be as big a barrier to safety."
   "But what do we do until then? Tie in and pray we don't fall?"
   She looked at the gargoyle steadily, and said "Prayer is always a good start."