Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Time and Space

"You mean you hadn't tried circle skirts yet? Oh, I can totally help with that! Morgan Donner did a bunch of stuff with simple circles!"
   Onnu was more than happy to have a distraction from the problem of where to put all of the dragons. She spent two whole days expounding on circle skirts, circle shirts (that took one whole day), circle bandannas, shawls, and the application of darts, belts, and strategic slits. They were already sort of making circle dresses, except the shape they'd been using was either a diamond, rectangle, or the natural shape of the hide (if it was leather or suede).
   The kin more than appreciated the new, versatile ways of dressing, and she gained two days of Not Thinking. Any chance a dragon had to expound on an area of expertise or knowledge was likely to result in much exposition. That was another thing that hadn't changed from Erdewaz, according to legends.
   Sometimes, she thought that they knew that, and drew her out on purpose. The problem was, she never knew whether it was to distract her from an issue in the Hold, or if they could sense that she needed it.
   She suspected, in this instance, that it was the latter. Even the Judges didn't bring her many unresolved issues in those two days, and those who did were given side eye that they likely thought she missed.
   Not that it was ever anything terribly stressful, she noted. It was usually just a matter of larger paws than the kin had, to complete a task more easily. Righting a "wagon" that a four-legged kin had strapped to their back was a common task, if they'd laden it too heavily. Carrying large amounts of supplies from one end of the Bowl to the other was also routine.
   And sometimes, it was just a matter of rescuing the kin from her hatchlings, who were still growing, and learning how to use their size judiciously. That wasn't a matter for the Judges, though. The kin knew to go straight to her or Pannu for it, as the Judges were no longer large enough to handle it on their own. The strongest Judge they had was a tie between a gargoyle named Nehemiah Grady, and an ogre named Lula Devin. Their ajitup Hildred Green was quite adept at negotiations, but not as strong as some of the other ajitup in the Hold. She did more clerical tasks, and had not developed the brawn that some kin had, in the course of their chosen duties.
   Of course, everyone had an opinion on the dragon situation. Some thought they could return to First Hold. Others thought they could occupy the fallow Holds, but that would negate the point of them. 
   "Okay, but we can farm and hunt outside the Holds now. We've got those glass and/or clay domes. We can branch out, and leave the Holds to the dragons and Holdkin." Tan thought it was obvious. She helped so many of the kin with their crafts, and saw just how many could be done outside the Holds.
   "Would you be willing to transport the goods to the Holds, or other outposts?" Clay asked. He wasn't being sarcastic, he was trying to gauge its merit.
   "I would, yes. I can't speak for other winged kin, but I would."
   "I still think tunnels are viable," Clack grumbled. He'd come to Capitol Hold for supplies, and happened to be near enough to hear the conversation.
   "And I still think they are a weakness we do not need. Vulrhin cannot fly high enough to breach our spires, but they can most definitely vault any fence you might put around a tunnel." Onnu wasn't convinced.
   "Or farm," Tandy fretted.
   "Doors exist," Clack growled.
   "That all might help the City," Hildred interrupted with a bit too much of an emotion Onnu couldn't quite pinpoint. She knew that Hildred thought the Council members' demands were unwarranted, so she had a general idea of the force behind her words. "There are not the same number of predators up there, perhaps due to the larger quantities of dragons. They could expand with domes and farms just as easily as we can, if not more so."
   "Those are good options for you all, but we were discussing the dragons. The City does not have the empty Holds that we do--"
   "Which is why they keep pestering you," Hildred growled.
   "And their adult dragons, even with the recent losses, will not vacate enough Holds for their offspring."
   Dragonfriend thought they should let the hatchlings decide for themselves, when they reached maturity. They could remain in their home Hold, wherever it was, branch out to the mountains, have their own Holds made by Onnu, or even leave Tupino entirely.
  "Leave Tupino?" many voices yelped.
   "That may eventually happen, anyway," Onnu reasoned. "I can make more Holds, but only to a certain point. We don't want to crowd out our food sources. Perhaps half a day in each direction that isn't occupied, we could dot Holds here or there, but I do not know if our population will ever reach the other side of Tupino. Holds require a foundation of rock to make the spires, and I don't know how much land has the right elements in the ground."
   "They might leave eventually, yes," Pannu said, slowly relaxing. "But not these hatchlings."
   Onnu didn't immediately agree, which tensed his muscles again. He looked to her for confirmation, but she was thinking.
   "I mean... When they're adults, of course... maybe the firstborns would be good candidates for colonizing other worlds? They'll have our undivided attention, get all the skills they need, and we are the youngest we will ever be, so they'll get robust parenting. Ugh, I can't really say it the way I mean, but it takes a long time for dragons to grow up, so it's not like we'd be saying goodbye any time soon."
   "How long?" Pannu asked through his teeth.
   "I  don't know! In the lore of Erdewaz, it takes a century for a dragon to be mature enough to breed. But nothing is the same here, so I couldn't say."
   "But you could ask," Firmen said quietly.
   She sighed. "I don't expect all of the answers right away. We are supposed to learn things for ourselves. However," she said as Pannu geared up for more anxiety, "we can watch the rate at which the hatchlings grow. They've tripled in size, sure, but all babies do that by two years old."
   He couldn't really argue with her logic, but he didn't have to like it, either.