A Formal Event
#5 of Fledgling Study Group
The four fledglings attend a formal dinner event
Even for how busy the City of Wings usually was, Knaster was still amazed by the size of the crowd. Their destination for this evening was a huge exhibition hall--a massive rectangular block of glass and steel nestled amongst taller but far narrower skyscrapers. There were a pair of smaller exhibition halls located around the main building, connected by enclosed walkways, and all of them were bustling with activity and movement.
The flat roofs of the exhibition halls were blocked off, with large signs facing every direction that indicated no entry from the roof. Dragons wearing the distinctive grey-white striped harnesses of Avaeria's Enforcement Division were standing on the roofs, waving away anyone who tried to land and gesturing for them to instead touchdown in the streets nearby. Even the streets were crowded too, with long snaking lines of dragons queuing up to await entry and being marshalled by enforcers.
It was about an hour before sunset, and dozens of spotlights were shining upwards from the exhibition halls and adjacent skyscrapers, casting sweeping light beams that were visible in the evening sunlight. Even as Knaster trailed behind his parents' flightpaths, he glanced around and could see similar beacons of light shining upwards from at least ten other locations all around the city. Though this set of buildings here was immense in size, they alone would provide insufficient space for tonight's event given how many dragons would be attending. Loud, grand music was echoing out from the exhibition halls, and Knaster could even feel the faint air pressure changes wash over his flight surfaces as the sound waves boomed out through the air with their festive, celebratory grandeur.
Today was a special day, and every dragon in the city knew it. Today was the annual anniversary of the founding of Taslin clan, which came with a street festival that lasted all morning and afternoon, then concluded with an evening dinner event for the clan's annual general meeting. Taslin was one of the largest clans in Avaeria, and so when the clan celebrated, it was a massive affair. Roughly one in every ten dragons belonged to clan Taslin, and their banner and dominion alliances extended to even more other clans too. Beyond that, all dragons were welcome to the street festival, and Taslin clan members were even allowed to bring guests to the annual meeting. The whole city had slowed down for the day, and now it had all but ground to a complete halt for the evening.
This wasn't unique to Taslin--all the four other big clans each had their own anniversary days where they held their own celebrations--but today was still the day of Taslin. Countless dragons filled this part of the city centre, with scales of every colour and pattern, but the one unifying mark was that they all wore the silver and red colours of clan Taslin. Red and silver pennant flags dangled from wingtips, red and silver kerchiefs were proudly tied around necks, some dragons wore flight harnesses that had been dyed for the occasion, and others had even gone so far as to mark their scales with body paint to bear the bicolour of Taslin. Tall banners hung from the sides of the exhibitions halls and also adorned all the nearby streets and buildings, flapping slowly in the wind. Even in the distance, residential apartment towers were visibly decorated too, with those red-silver bicoloured stripe flags dangling from many windows and balconies, indicating that their occupants were from clan Taslin.
In addition to wearing red and silver colours, the clothing and gear of many dragons bore the clan's distinctive insignia--a hexagon divided evenly into six triangles, with alternating red and silver portions--indicating they were members of the clan. A fewer number had a slightly modified variant of the same insignia--again a red and silver hexagon, but with miscellaneous other insignias also placed beside the hexagon--which indicated that they were in other clans under alliance with Taslin. Finally, those who didn't wear the insignia but still wore the colours were simply guests, friends, or visitors, celebrating and showing their support from other unallied clans.
Knaster was wearing the clan's insignia, as was his right. He could feel his wing pennants fluttering in the wind, providing a slight drag on his wingtips as he glided behind his parents, riding in the low pressure wake behind their flightpaths. As they got closer to the ground, however, the two adult drakken slowed down to let him pull ahead. To minimize turbulence, smaller dragons always landed before bigger dragons--and though Knaster was growing fast, he was still a fledgling. Flaring out his wings, he touched down with a smooth skip of all four legs.
A gust of wind washed over him from one side then the other as his parents both landed a few seconds later. His father hurriedly trotted towards the exhibition halls, beckoning for the other two to follow. "Hurry, hurry! We mustn't be late for the clan meeting. Wingleaders are supposed to be early to set a good example..."
Knaster's mother instead took a moment to furl her wings up neatly and adjust her flight harness pouches. "We're plenty early. Wingleaders are also supposed to be proper and well-groomed. Calm down, Thave, and make yourself presentable. You too, Knaster." She also took a few seconds to adjust her son's harness, making sure it was straightened up.
"I can do it myself." Knaster waved his mother off, and he instead did the adjustments himself, tightening his flight harness straps and ensuring that the pouches hadn't become tilted or loose during the jostle of flight and landing. To the young dragon, it felt like every other morning when he first put on his harness, he would need to readjust some strap somewhere to make his harness fit right. Perhaps it was his imagination playing things up, yet undoubtedly there were other times were his harness would be uncomfortably tight around his shoulders, or constricting around a leg, or just too hard to get the main buckles secured if he didn't extend the fitting straps.
Mikatun noticed that her son's harness adjustments went beyond just a quick tightening after flight. "Does your harness still fit? Do you need a new one?" she asked.
"Didn't we just buy this harness earlier this year?" Thave said.
"Yes, but Knaster is a developing young dragon and it's expected that he would outgrow his things," Mikatun replied to her mate. She turned back to Knaster. "We can buy you a new flight harness if you need a larger size. You're really growing up quick, aren't you?"
"It still fits. The straps can still be extended further," Knaster insisted.
Knaster was a fledgling, and dragon fledglings grew fast. His wings, his shoulders, his tail, his legs, his torso--every part of his body was growing, and the speed of this development surprised even him. That was how it was with every dragon, of course. Hatchlings grew slightly larger in their first year out of the egg, but then for around a decade and a half their development was mostly mental and social, with physical size stagnating right until they hit the fledgling growth spurt.
It was biology, back from ancient times when drakken had hunted wild game and lived in tribes, before the advancements of magic, technology, and civilization. Small hatchlings required less to feed and could easily be carried about by their parents in flight, but then fledglings also had to be reasonably large size before they could even possibly hope to catch wild prey on their own. That was why dragons hatched small, stayed small through most of their childhood, then suddenly would seem to grow bigger in such a relatively short period of time as they quickly matured into fledglings.
One year ago, Knaster had been just a quarter the size of an adult, but then rapidly that fraction had become a third, then half the size of a full grown dragon, then more, and that growth wouldn't slow down till he was almost full sized. Sometimes Knaster would look at himself in the mirror and wonder how he still recognized himself, given how much he had changed.
His mother nodded approvingly. "This is your first clan general meeting as a fledgling! What a big moment."
Knaster chuckled. "Haha, is it? I'm just a year older than I was when we attended last year's meeting. That's just one more year. Though I am bigger and I can fly now--no more having to ride on your back or sit in a harness carrier pouch."
"Yes, and that is such a significant milestone." Mikatun smiled, and she affectionately nuzzled the side of her son's neck. "It feels like it's all happening so soon! In just a few years' time you'll be getting your magic, and you'll be all grown up and an adult, ready to strike out on your own."
Knaster chuckled again, but with a bit more nervousness. "Ha... I don't know if I'm ready for all that."
Thave walked over and gave Knaster a pat on the head--a familiar gesture that was both affectionate and impatient. "You're doing great, son! Your mother and I are both very proud of how well you're doing in school, and I'm sure you'll keep doing just great in life and in everything. Now can we get going? Even the priority queue is starting to get crowded."
With a laugh, Mikatun nodded and the three of them headed down the street towards the exhibition hall. A few years ago, Knaster could recall being so small that he had to sit on his parents' shoulders as they walked briskly, but now he could easily keep stride and he eagerly trotted ahead, leading the way towards all the lights, sounds, and the crowd. Their clan was celebrating, and the whole City of Wings was invited.
This exhibition hall was just the last portion of the day's celebration. In the morning and afternoon, the streets outside had been filled with all sorts of entertainment. There had been booths offering toys, jewellery, souvenirs, snack foods, and numerous other random goods for purchase, as well as carnival games of skill or chance, or other entertainment. During the day, the crowds had been outside in the streets--dragons roaming about to browse, or playing games, or watching performers show off athletic feats, music, dancing, and even flashy displays of magic.
But now the booths in the streets were closing up as sunset approached. Many of the dragons who had attended the day's carnival were from other clans and they simply left, but dragons of clan Taslin (and their associated alliances, and their guests) were invited for dinner and the annual general meeting. There were just so many attendees that not everyone could possibly fit into any one area in the city, so while the main event was here in these exhibition halls, the clan meeting would be broadcast to the ten or so other locations around the city where Taslin dragons were also meeting up for their celebratory dinner, as well as directly into homes for a good portion of dragons who prefered to hold smaller, more private events with close family and friends.
The inside of the huge exhibition hall was surprisingly not as loud as it had been outside. The bombastic, grand music was still audible, but now it was coming from the source--a large ensemble of musicians was located near the centre of the exhibition hall, playing all their instruments with coordinated, controlled enthusiasm. Wing harps, trumpets, drums, flutes, and other different musical instruments that Knaster couldn't even name were all played together with perfect pitch and synchrony. The music was amplified by echo boxes that were outside the exhibition hall, and transmitted to the various other sites around the city where the festivities were being celebrated so everyone could listen in. And while the atmosphere in the streets outside had been excitable and energetic, inside the hall it was calmer, dignified, and formal.
The exhibition hall had a huge, immense interior that was easily as large as an airship hangar. Vertical banners were placed at regular intervals on the glass walls, bearing the red and silver colours and the hexagonal insignia of Taslin. Just off centre on the main floor was the musical ensemble playing their instruments, then right in the middle there was a raised stage illuminated by spotlights from above but currently empty. Across the rest of the floor area were numerous large circular tables spread out in a wide grid, each surrounded by floor cushions with hundreds of dragons were already seated at their places to await the dinner and meeting's formal start.
Knaster waited in the queue with his parents. Even though they had already queued up to enter the building, once past the doors there was a second series of queues for ushers to assign seating to those who had just arrived. The line moved fast, and regardless it was hard to become bored with so much to see and take in.
Knaster reared up his hindlegs and stretched his neck to look around. Most of the exhibition hall's floor space was on the ground level, but there was also multiple mezzanines running up for two more levels. These took the form of a rectangular perimeter around the inside of the exhibition hall where there was open floor space filled with more tables and seats, still with a view down to the ground floor to watch the proceedings. A series of walkways and enclosed bridges connected this large exhibition hall to the smaller halls that surrounded it, where there were similarly more tables and seats.
In just a minute Knaster and has parents were at the front of the queue, and the clerk sitting behind the table politely bowed his head to them. "Welcome to the Taslin Annual General Meeting. Please present your scale plates or invitation cards." The drake beckoned with a forepaw that was covered in a neat white glove.
Knaster knew exactly what to do--he'd seen his parents do something similar often enough. The dragon fledgling sat back on his haunches and felt over his body until he found a spot where a scale was loose and numb to the touch, indicating it was soon to be shed. A quick, vigorous scratch with his claws accelerated the shedding process and dislodged that old scale. Knaster managed to snatch the small, thin, hexagonal scale plate out of the air before it dropped to the ground, and he passed it to the clerk who took it with another bow.
Drakken were creatures of magic. Even if they were hatchlings or fledglings who couldn't yet manifest their power, magic still ran thick through their body, including parts like blood, skin, and scales. And since every dragon's magic was unique to them in some small way, by using a scale plate it was possible to verify identity and check a drakken against a rostered list of clan members.
The clerk placed the three dragon scales from Knaster and his parents into a complicated, rectangular metal box that was open on top, and with a click and a hiss, the inside of the device flashed with intense white flame that vaporized the scales in an instant. With a flourish of his gloved paw, the clerk snatched off several strips of paper they were printed out by the machine and looked them over. "Good evening Mikatun and Thave Taslin. You are assigned to table seating zone one, up on the level two mezzanine with the other wingleaders. However, you are also encouraged to move about and mingle with other seating zones, wherever you can find free space around a table. Enjoy the night." The clerk bowed his head again and passed the pair of small paper tickets to each of Knaster's parents in turn.
"Thank you!" said Thave.
With another bow, the clerk offered another pair of tickets to Knaster. "Good evening, Knaster Taslin. You have been assigned two seating zones--zone one, if you wish to sit with your parents, and also zone thirty-three, if you wish to be seated with other Taslin clan members of your age group. And as always, you are encourage to mingle and move about to any other seating zone, interacting with your fellow clanmates. Enjoy the night."
Knaster blinked, but he took the two tickets and bowed his head in thanks. "Thank you."
The clerk bowed his head yet again and waved them on so that he could attend to the next few dragons waiting in line, and an usher standing nearby beckoned for them to follow her. "May I see your seat assignments, please? Zone one? That's on the upper level. Right this way, draks! I'll show you to your zone."
Knaster looked at the two tickets he had, with two different zone numbers. "Should I... go with you?" he hesitantly asked his parents. In past years he had always been assigned to stick with his parents, sitting with them at their table. But then in past years he had also been a hatchling, too small to even properly eat at the table without a raised chair, whereas now he was a fledgling. A measure of independence was being offered to, and perhaps even expected of him.
Mikatun laughed, and she gestured with her paw. "Go on, then, Knaster. You're not a hatchling any more. Go sit with the other fledglings!"
Knaster nodded. "Sure. As long as you don't mind."
"I think it's good for you to make friends and socialize with other fledglings of your age. Don't be shy," his mother continued.
His father looked more concerned. "You'll be alright on your own? Do you know where zone thirty-three is? Maybe you should follow us up to level two, then the usher can show you where your zone is?"
"Lay off him, Thave. He's a fledgling now. I'm sure he can find a table zone without getting lost," said Mikatun with a smile.
Knaster nodded. "Yeah, I can find a table. No need for me to go up to level two and then back down again. I'll be fine."
"Alright. Go ahead then, Knaster. We'll come find you after the whole meeting is over," Thave said.
Mikatun shook her head again. "Oh, no need for that anymore. He's a fledgling now! Knaster, you can fly home yourself whenever you like. If you get bored of the general meeting, you can leave early if you want. We'll see you at home."
"That is true...!" Knaster murmured, nodding his head.
In the past as a hatchling, Knaster had found the clan's annual general meeting a thoroughly uninteresting affair. Many years ago when he'd been very young, he would have fallen asleep curled up on the seat cushion between his parents. Once slightly older he'd taken to sneaking off to play with some of his friends and other similarly aged clanmates, chasing and running and even holding mock duels at the uppermost mezzanine level of the exhibition hall, while the older dragons listened to clan leadership drone on about developments, statistics, and future plans for the clan.
Yet in the past few years of adolescence, Knaster had also started to find things less boring. Perhaps it was because he was now old enough to actually understand what the general meeting was even talking about. However, it also seemed that clan leadership (obviously including his parents) had noticed how dry and tedious the meeting could be, and things had been improved. There was music played live, the annual clan report had been changed with far less dry reading of statistics and more flashy visuals, and they'd even shortened the duration of the whole event. Years ago, the annual general meeting hadn't even been a dinner, but adding food had bolstered attendance ten-fold. Previously Knaster would have loved to leave this boring meeting early and return home, but now he wasn't so sure. Regardless, now that he was a fledgling, the option was open to him--he could fly home just on his own, instead of having to rely on his parents.
Thave looked faintly disapproving, though he idly patted Knaster on the back. "It's better if you listen to the whole meeting! And at least wait until they get to the part of the annual report where they talk about our division. I worked on a very nice animated graph that will be shown during the presentation."
Mikatun laughed at that remark, as did Knaster--his two parents were both wingleaders in the clan's Outer Colony Operations division, and some of their teams' work was set to be showed off during the meeting, as was the case for the many business groups and subdivisions of Taslin.
"You enjoy your dinner, son!" Mikatun nuzzled Knaster's neck affectionately again.
"See you at home," Thave added, then the two adult dragons followed the usher away to their table.
"See you," Knaster replied. He nodded again, just to himself. For a short instant he enjoyed the feeling of being... mildly independent, as he stood by himself in the exhibition hall, with hundreds of identical tables and so many dragons all around. In the past being so alone would have been terrifying, but now he was increasingly learning not to be so reliant on his parents or school teachers. He was a fledgling, just a few brief years away from being a full adult. "Right then," he muttered to himself, and then he trotted off to find his seating zone.
Instead of assigning people to a specific single table, the exhibition hall was broken up into many seating zones each filled with dozens and dozens of tables. And to add to that, there also was no clear boundary where one zone ended and another zone began, but merely the occasional signage listing a zone number. As Knaster understood it, the idea behind the whole system was to force dragons from different families, work groups, and social circles to all intermingle and socialize. Dragons would sit around whatever open table where they could find space, meeting new people from around the clan and (ideally) making new friends.
Knaster wasn't sure if this idea was effective, or if it was even worth the mild chaos and stress that came with free seating by zones instead of assigning specific table numbers. Regardless, he made his way to the other side of the exhibition hall, until he came across a sign identified the area as "Zone 33".
Within the zone, there were many identical round tables with ten floor cushions for dragons to sit on. Each table was already setup for a meal, with a plate, glass, and folded napkin placed in front of each floor cushion. As Knaster looked around, he noticed that all the dragons here were fledglings--some of the fledglings were as young as he was, whereas some were older, larger, and might even have their magical affinity (which technically made them drakken, not fledglings)--everyone here was young. On average, the tables were half filled with seated dragons, with that number slowly increasing as more dragons arrived. Knaster wandered around for a while, occasionally spotting other fledglings he knew from school or other clanmates who were his friends or acquaintances--some he greeted with a polite nod of the head, others he would walk over and have a brief chat with, but he turned down all the offers he got to sit down and join tables. He had someone in particular he was looking for.
Eventually though, Knaster found Caden. The dark-green young dragon was standing in an open space between tables, engrossed in conversation with another female fledgling. "...of course, but then they were asking for it if you ask me. Yes, yes, I know. But the rules were quite clear..."
Caden trailed off as she noticed Knaster. She frowned, then she grinned. "My apologies, excuse me for the moment. I'll be right back." Standing up, Caden trotted over towards Knaster. She looked him over with a faint smirk, and then for the first time ever, she did a proper bow of her head towards him. "Well, well. Knaster Taslin! What a pleasant surprise to see you here."
Knaster raised an eye ridge, but he dutifully bowed his head back in return. "A pleasant surprise? This is the annual general meeting. All of Taslin is in attendance--of course I'm here."
Caden rolled her eyes, though her faint, smug smile didn't shift. "You know that's just a saying. I'm obviously not surprised to see you here." Just like every other dragon here, Caden was wearing the red and silver bicolour of Taslin--instead of just wearing a flag pennant tied around her wingtips, however, her wings were furled up on her back and entirely wrapped up with strips of cloth, one wing wrapped in red, the other wing wrapped in silver. "Welcome to the party! You're looking good."
Knaster wasn't sure if Caden was joking. "Uh, thanks. You too?"
Caden dipped her head gracefully. She had her usual air of aloof elegance, which felt amplified by the formal environment and how well she was attired. She certainly looked and acted exactly like how any proper, polite, honourable young dragon ought to, but then again Knaster got the faint suspicion that Caden was embracing the formality of this clan meeting purely as an ironic act to sarcastically mock the whole thing. "How kind of you to say that! Knaster, why don't you head over... there, yes? We'll talk more later." Caden pointed towards another table, and then she turned around and went back to conversing with her other friend.
"See you later, then." Knaster headed for the table Caden had indicated, and though it was only proper to walk, he couldn't help but break out into a brisk, impatient scamper. That table was only partially filled with dragons, but Knaster could clearly recognize two near identical fledglings sitting side--Reylin and Glecion--his friends.
As he got closer, Knaster stumbled back to a more dignified trot when Reylin turned her head and noticed him. But then seeing the way her face lit up, with her neck frill perking up and a wide grin crossing her snout, Knaster wanted to sprint right over. Instead he briskly strolled up to the table, bowing his head at her as he got close. "Reylin! I... uh..." Whatever Knaster had been planning to say, he couldn't quite get the words out of his mouth as he got a good look at Reylin. She looked proper.
"Knaster! Knaster, Knaster, Knaster, hello!" Reylin said, repeating his name cheerfully as if she just liked the sound of the word, or perhaps she liked the young drake it referred to. She bowed her head back at him, but Knaster was still lost for words.
Over the past few weeks, the two of them had been meeting up almost every day to just... do things. Commonly they would share a meal together and spend time talking, but they had also done things like going to a city park to have a stroll (also with more talking), or flying circuits around neighbourhoods and between buildings to practice their flight and race each other. They had roamed through street markets, browsing around and just chatting and laughing with each other. They had gone to a sector boundary to peer between the gaps of the flying city and look out at the wild landscape over which Avaeria was flying, sitting side by side. Knaster had shown Reylin around the Taslin commune in sector one, and she'd had so many questions about what it was like to live in a proper, sizable clan.
Knaster had gotten a few questions from his parents about where he was vanishing to all day now that school was in vacation period, but he'd gotten away with saying he was just meeting friends to hang out. And that was true, although now Knaster was spending less time with other friends and so much more time with Reylin, by mutual shared agreement. There was something special about her.
A few times Glecion and Caden had come along for a meal too, but mostly it was only Knaster and Reylin. They spent so much time talking, just sharing and discussing whatever came to mind--be that information about who they were, what they wanted, or even any random other topic that came to mind. Knaster found it so easy to talk with Reylin. She was sharp and inquisitive, but never dominated the conversation--instead it felt like words flowed back and forth between the two of them, and that made any time spent together feel like a reward in and of itself.
And there was kissing too. Wherever there was no one else looking, whenever it was just the two of them, then that was an opportune moment. Sometimes Knaster would lick the side of Reylin's snout, or she would lean over and bump her nose against his chin--but whoever started it, things inevitably ended up with both fledglings sharing an embrace, letting their mouths and even tongues touch. Sometimes it was as a hello, or sometimes it was as a goodbye, or most often it was just because they _wanted_to, but there sure was a lot of kissing. It was disgusting and there was saliva and it was delightful.
Knaster wasn't sure if he was courting Reylin. He didn't even know how to court someone. His parents, his clan, and his school had all previously thought him things about healthy relationships, communication, making friends, and even several more explicit facts about reproductive health and safety. However, as for the actual specific expected process of dating, courtship, and romance, no one had explained precisely how to do all that. He and Reylin had murmured things about going beyond a friendship, and obviously you didn't go around meeting someone every day for dates and kissing them so much if you were just normal friends, but Knaster wasn't sure if they were officially in some sort of intimate relationship yet.
However, now at the Taslin annual general meeting, inside that large exhibition hall, looking at Reylin as she sat down at the table, Knaster was filled with an instant certainty that he absolutely had to court her. Because if he didn't, then surely someone else would, and that would be such an opportunity squandered on his part. She looked good.
Normally Reylin had this... dishevelled, almost scruffy look about her. From all their months of study sessions together, Knaster knew that Reylin was so dedicated to her schoolwork that she studied excessively hard even at the cost of her own wellbeing, let alone her appearance. It had been visible in the tired shadows under her eyes, the way her neck frill drooped flat, or the anxious way the young drakka wrapped her wings around her body. Yet all that had been before the exams and before she'd gotten the offer to join Taslin clan. In the past few weeks Knaster had been thrilled to see Reylin looking more lively and relaxed than before--she just seemed happier, and she smiled far more frequently. Knaster couldn't help but smile back at her, and the two of them would both just stare and smile at each other in a silly, endearing way that was both a waste of time and also the best possible use of time.
Even just this morning, Knaster had seen Reylin. The two of them had spent a good few hours strolling about the Taslin anniversary festival--eating the street food, browsing the stores, playing the games, watching the performers--again just enjoying the time they spent together, talking and laughing and smiling. But then they had parted ways come late morning.
Knaster had spent the afternoon with his parents, going to visit other more distant family members and friends just to catch up. Today was the day of Taslin, and so it was tradition to have reunions and meet ups within the clan. Knaster had gotten very used to making polite conversation with distant relatives and vague friends or co-workers of his parents--everyone also happily commented on how he was so much bigger and a fledgling now, to which Knaster had no real response but to nod agreeably.
In a similar vein, Reylin had left to spend time with the closest thing she had to her own family. Her sister Glecion, of course, but also the other fledglings and the caretakers at the clanless shelter that had raised her. Not that she was saying goodbye to them forever, but she was going to be spending less time with them now that she was taking up a place in clan Taslin.
But now the afternoon and evening had been spent, and sundown had brought the Taslin annual general meeting. Reylin was back, and she looked good. Knaster felt like his brain had gotten stuck in a loop, with his thoughts running in repeated circles or rapidly flashing through memories. "Wow. You clean up well," he muttered, saying the first thing that came to mind. "Uh, sorry. I mean, you look... good!"
"Hah..." Reylin let out an embarrassed chuckle, and she glanced away. "Do I? You're just saying that to be nice."
"No, I really do think you look great," Knaster murmured, and he meant it. The dark-grey scales that covered most of Reylin's body were smooth and neat, looking more polished than their usual untidy state, while the lines of faint green scales running down her sides were lustrous enough that they almost seemed to be glowing faintly. Every dragon had to clean their own scales for hygiene, but it took additional time and effort to polish them properly, especially to the extent where they looked smooth and lustrous.
Reylin's usual flight harness was an old, worn-out piece of equipment that she had clearly been using for many years, since it was sized for a hatchling with the straps all stretched to their limits. Just this morning Knaster had seen Reylin wearing her old harness, but that wasn't the one she was wearing now. Tonight she was wearing a brand new harness that was properly sized, making her look sleek and trim just from how well it fitted her form. The pouches and straps were dyed to a dark grey, with faint highlights of green on the insides of the pouches, matching and contrasting Reylin's natural scale colour so well that Knaster felt underdressed and plain in comparison.
Reylin was also wearing the Taslin colours of red and silver in the form of pennant flags tied around the tips of both her wings, just like Knaster was. However unlike Knaster, Reylin wasn't yet wearing the Taslin insignia, but she did have two silk ribbons of red and silver coiled around the length of her tail in a circling double helix--that accessory seemed to make her tail look pleasingly long and slender, drawing Knaster's attention as Reylin's tail tip flicked nervously from side to side.
Knaster deliberately kept his own tail still so it wouldn't twitch from his excited nervousness. He could feel both of his hearts beating hard in his chest, and he felt an urge to jump up and run around, or fly as high and fast as he could, or just tackle_Reylin to hug her and kiss her and hold her close so he could just keep admiring how _good she looked. "You look formal. And pretty! Not that you don't normally look good--because you do--but today you look lovely, I think," Knaster told her.
Reylin laughed, and she inclined her head in a short bow. "Haha, thanks. You look good too. I am... I'm really, really glad to see you," she replied, reaching out her paw to nudge Knaster's side. She gestured for him to sit down on the seat cushion beside her, which he gladly did.
"I'm glad to see you too." After a few seconds, Knaster managed to snatch his gaze away from Reylin, and he bowed his head to greet Glecion. "Greetings to you too, Glecion. Good to see you here."
Glecion was sitting on the other side of Reylin. The blind fledgling was attired similarly to her sister, with her scales likewise looking polished up, and also with a new, well-fitted flight harness that was similar but slightly different in design to Reylin's. Glecion was wearing her blindfold as usual, though the dark cloth that covered her eyes now had a faint green trim. All in all, the two twins looked as identical as they ever had, though familiarity meant Knaster could easily discern Reylin from Glecion.
"Greetings, Knaster. I'd say it's good to see you too, but I can't see you. Hahaha," Glecion replied with an unashamed laugh. She bowed her head in Knaster's general direction, and then waved her paw at him and Reylin. "Happy Taslin Anniversary Day! I never thought I'd be attending a big clan meeting, but then Reylin has never ceased to amaze me... I'll just let you two keep talking." Glecion turned her head away slightly, though with them all sitting together at the table, it wasn't like Reylin and Knaster could have much of a private conversation.
Currently it was the three of them with a space reserved for Caden next to Glecion, and there was another pair of fledglings sitting at the other side of the table, having their own discussion. Knaster vaguely recognized the other fledglings as clan members, but they went to a different school and he didn't know their names. He bowed his head to them too and said a polite greeting, which they returned, but then they went back to their separate conversations.
The table was round and had space for ten dragons in total, though if those dragons were fledglings there was more space than strictly necessary. Reylin glanced around, then she shifted her floor cushion so that she was sitting closer to Knaster. "Have I mentioned how glad I am to have you here, Knaster?"
"You have, though it's always good to hear." Knaster grinned. "And the feeling is mutual, Reylin. Are you excited? You're officially joining Taslin tonight."
Reylin unfurled her wings as if she wanted to wrap them around herself, but then she thought twice and furled them back up. "Excited? Yes?" she squeaked. "I'm also terrified! And so stressed! I've wanted to have a clan all my life, but now everything is all unknown and scary. Moving into the sector one Taslin commune, or changing school to District Central? Next year will be so different for me. And even right now, this event is so fancy and formal! I feel like I'm an outsider here as a mistake."
"Relax, you'll be fine," Knaster insisted. He patted Reylin's head, and she made a quiet, happy sound.
"Hmmr..."
That made Knaster grin even further. Patting Reylin's head was a more casual, friendly gesture than the delightful close intimacy of kissing, yet he liked doing it just as much. Reylin certainly seemed to enjoy it even more than he did, which was saying something because he very much liked doing it. "Oh. Your scales really are smoother than usual," Knaster noticed, as he patted her on the head.
Reylin leaned a bit further into his touch, just about as far as might be reasonably proper behaviour at a public, formal dinner. "Yeah... it's... nice..." she murmured, with eyes half-lidded and her gaze going distant. She tilted her head up so that Knaster could scratch her under the chin, which made her produce another soft, happy sound from the back of her throat. "Nrrr..."
Knaster laughed quietly, and he patted her head a few more times before he stopped. "Haha. You polished your scales, I presume. And that's a new flight harness you're wearing, isn't it?"
"It is! You noticed!" Reylin blinked her eyes open, and that faint embarrassed grin from before once again crossed her snout. She gestured back over her sides. "The flight harness, the wing pennants, the tail ribbons--this whole... setup was Caden's idea," she murmured to Knaster, still leaning close to him. "This afternoon after I had said goodbyes to the other clanless dragons, I met up with Caden and... and we spent literally hours just getting ready for this meeting. To be honest I thought it was a big waste of time to wear all these things, but then Caden told me that big clans are about formality and pride and honour, so it was important that I put on a good appearance for the occasion."
Knaster nodded encouragingly. He was used to the idea of polishing his scales before an important event, though tonight he wouldn't be making as public an appearance as Reylin would later. "You look lovely! Your scales are so nice and smooth. And that flight harness fits you well."
Reylin shivered all over, and she tapped her forepaws against her floor cushion. "Oh, thanks! I've been needing a new flight harness for a long time now. So since I finally started getting the scholarship allowance from Taslin, I spent some money getting a new one that fits. Caden gave me recommendations and advice." Leaning back to the other side, Reylin reached out her left wing and rested it on Glecion's back. "After I said my goodbyes at the sheltered home, the three of us went to a tailor to look at flight harnesses. I got one for Glecion too, since it's only fair that way."
Glecion smiled and she also extended her wing to pat Reylin's back in return. "Thank you, thank you. You're already reaping the benefits and using those 'big fancy clan' resources to your advantage!"
"Oh, yes I am." Reylin folded her wing back up, as did Glecion. "Every flight harness I've ever worn before this one was handed-down from an older fledgling in the clanless shelter... We'll be giving our old harnesses to other young dragons in the shelter, of course. But this new harness is amazing. It fits so well. I didn't even realize they made harnesses this good!" With an excited glint in her eyes, Reylin glanced at Knaster to make sure he was looking. Then with a quick motion, she unclipped one of the pouches from her harness and smoothly reattached it to a different mounting point. "Look! I can just... move the pouches about without having to rethread them! And it's so easy to take the whole harness on and off--I can just pull these two straps and it slips right off my shoulders. What a clever design."
Reylin's excitement was highly contagious, even if it was over something as simple as a flight harness. Knaster smiled, and he tapped at the equivalent straps of his own flight harness. "Quick release catches aren't exactly a new technology..."
"They're new to me!" Reylin replied. She playfully batted at the release straps on Knaster's harness. "I've been missing out. This harness is way bigger than my old one, yet somehow it's lighter, more flexible, and easier to move about in. Just imagine how many more textbooks and notes I'll be able to carry to school next year..."
Knaster laughed, as did Reylin, and even Glecion let out a chuckle.
"And look at this! This is amazing." Reylin opened up one of the harness pouches and showed Knaster the inside. It was empty, but that was beside the point. "Dark grey on the straps and pouch outsides, with green on the insides. Caden had the tailor match the strap and pouch colour to my scales. I didn't even know that was a thing--I mean, obviously I knew it was theoretically_possible_, but I thought that would need some extremely expensive custom work. Instead, I could just choose colour for free! And Caden even got the tailor to give us a discount for the second harness for Glecion."
Right at that moment, Caden herself came strolling over, now evidently done with her chat at the other table. "Why, hello again my lovelies! Pardon my intrusion into your conversation, but did I hear my name being uttered aloud?"
Reylin nodded. "I was just telling Knaster about these nice flight harnesses we got this afternoon. Thanks again for your advice, Caden!"
Caden smiled--not that fake, insincere smile she had been using earlier, but now a genuine earnest expression. "You're welcome. It was my pleasure to help you out." She strolled over and sat down not in her own seat but right next to Reylin, squeezing right onto Reylin's floor cushion. Caden looked at Knaster before making a gesture towards Reylin. "So what do you think, Knaster? You like?"
Knaster nodded, looking over Reylin. "Sure. It's a well-made flight harness that looks good."
"I didn't ask you if you liked the harness." Caden smile widened. She gestured again with her paw, pointing at Reylin. "I asked--you like?"
Glecion chuckled, Reylin looked embarrassed, but Knaster was unflustered. Again he looked over Reylin. "As I said--looks good. Just lovely. Yes, I do like."
Standing up, Caden gave Reylin a friendly pat on the back with her wing before going to sit on her cushion on the other side of Glecion. "I was right, wasn't I?"
Reylin tilted her head from side to side. "Yeah, I suppose you were right..."
Knaster raised an eye ridge. "What? What were you right about, Caden?" he asked curiously.
Caden smiled her smug smile, but she pointed at Reylin. "Ask her."
Knaster nudged Reylin gently. "Oh? What was Caden right about?"
For a few seconds, Reylin bit her lip and looked like she wasn't going to tell, but then she smiled at Knaster. "I told you already. Earlier this afternoon, Caden and I were just... talking about this dinner, and discussing the appropriate appearance. Getting a new flight harness that fits well is a... practical purchase, and wearing wing pennants is expected attire for this dinner and event, but then she said I should do more. Things like..." Reylin flicked her tail up and down in a coordinated way, making it briefly look like there was a wave that travelled down the appendage to the tip. That gesture also highlighted the two ribbons that were coiled around her tail. "Tail ribbons are all fancy. I've never worn anything even remotely like that before. These are Caden's ribbons, though she lent them to me."
Knaster liked staring at Reylin's tail. He liked staring at her face too, or indeed any part of her. "Yeah?"
Reylin leaned closer to him and murmured in a quieter voice, and she also made a rubbing gesture over her own scales. "Caden even had this... this fancy little spinning machine thing that polishes scales. I never polished my scales before! And at first I thought it was silly to spend so much time on trying to do that. Did you know that polishing scales hurts? I didn't even know that! It stings a little. Ouch."
Knaster usually polished his scales about once or twice a month, because scale plates were always slowly being shed and eventually they would start to look uneven. "You get used to it."
Reylin shrugged. "I don't have time! I've always been way too busy with studying to bother with scale polishing, tail ribbons, and other fancy things. I didn't think it was worth it. But what Caden told me this afternoon was that... uh... sometimes, you do just have to put in the time and effort. Sometimes appearances do matter." Reylin's neck frill twitched, and she held eye contact with Knaster. "For a special important event, like the meeting when I'm officially adopted into a clan. Or for a special important person. Maybe. Do you know what I mean? Am I making any sense?"
Knaster smiled. "I know what you mean. You're special to me, Reylin."
Very soon after, the Taslin annual general meeting officially started. By now the exhibition hall was much more crowded with dragons, and the table that Reylin and her friends were sitting at had been fully filled with other fledglings occupying every seat.
The band finished their current musical piece--there was a moment of calm as the musicians flipped through their notation sheets, then in unison they began to play again. The orchestration was softer and calmer this time, but it built up in speed and volume. The lights in the ceiling dimmed, and instead dozens of spotlights flashed to life, roaming and sweeping across the whole room before refocusing on the stage in the centre of the exhibition hall. The moving lights did exactly what they were supposed to, drawing attention as Taslin's top leadership took the stage. Three dragons came from various parts of the hall--one came walking over from the floor and climbed up the stage's stairs, while the other two swooped down from different sides of the upper mezzanine, circling around and cutting in an out of the spotlight beams before landing on the stage. Three dragons--two female, one male, all approximately middle-aged but neither truly elderly nor youthful. Reylin had never met them before, but she knew from her research who they were. These were the prime wingleaders of Taslin clan, who each headed one of the Taslin wingleader councils and collectively represented the clan. Reylin shifted her weight between her paws nervously--after tonight, it would be her clan too, and these prime wingleaders would be representing _her_as well.
Loud cheers and roars welcomed the three dragons. The main hall lights were dimmed slightly to draw attention to the stage, but Reylin could still see how the other fledglings reacted. Knaster was sitting upright and he repeatedly thumped his tail against the floor, adding his contribution to thunderous applause being generated throughout the hall. Glecion politely tapped her tail against the floor, while Caden rolled her eyes and didn't applaud. Reylin didn't have to think about it--she followed Knaster's example, enthusiastically smacking her own tail against the floor to create sound, and she even roared too. "Ryyah!"
Everything about the way Knaster acted was proud and proper, and that was just one of the many reasons why Reylin liked him so much. Caden was a good friend, undoubtedly, but she had a cynicism and disdain for clans, whereas Knaster was more respectful. He was honest and earnest, kind and helpful yet not gullible. And handsome too, in a way which made Reylin's frill perk up just from the thought of it. Shaking her head, she kept her attention on the stage.
The three prime wingleaders stood on the stage, facing different directions, and in unison they all bowed their heads low to the crowd until the applause slowly died down. "Fellow clanmates, trustworthy allies, and honoured guests, welcome to the Taslin annual general meeting," said one of them, with voice amplified to be audible throughout the hall and even to all the various other locations where the meeting was being broadcast to. "On this day, we commemorate the founding of..."
Reylin was sitting up straight, and she leaned closer to Knaster again. "So this is what it's like to be in a big clan? This is great."
Knaster held in a soft laugh, but he nodded. "Heh."
In the very middle of their table, what had appeared to be a smooth flat surface suddenly rippled with movement and colour. The disturbance caught Reylin's eye, and she glanced away from the stage to watch as the table's surface seemed to drop away and form a cylindrical indentation in the centre, before rising up again to form up into visible shapes. It was a light-field projector--a versatile and fairly common device around the city, where enchanted colour-changing sand was manipulated by stone magic to form representations of three-dimensional objects. The light-field projector formed a miniature model of the stage with the three prime wingleaders on it, projecting their image for anyone in attendance who might not be able to see the stage directly. Every single table was similarly outfitted all across the exhibition hall. Reylin was very impressed by this extensive use of technology, whereas Knaster just grinned when he saw her amazement.
Just beside them, Caden and Glecion were sitting close to each other, with Caden quietly speaking to Glecion and giving the blind fledgling a running commentary on what was happening. In past years and in past times, Reylin was used to being the one who guided her sister everywhere and explained to her what was going on, but now Caden had willingly taken up that role.
Looking back at the stage, Reylin prepared herself. She had never been to a clan meeting before, but Knaster had told her what to expect from his past experience. The opening speech should have dragged on for many minutes, yet instead the three prime wingleaders barely spoke a scattering of sentences, taking no more than ten seconds each to make a broad platitude of welcoming and encouraging statements about clan unity and strength. Then the lights flashed and dimmed again, and the prime wingleaders left the stage and the meeting began properly.
A younger, enthusiastic, and rather more spritely wingleader took the stage and started talking about major developments within the clan-- further alliance integration with clan Hasilt, joint operations with clan Mintaka on the sector forty-nine project, and other important things. Knaster had warned that the meeting could be boring and tedious, but Reylin found it easy to stay focused... at least at the start.
Taslin's public relations department had clearly worked hard on making their speech slick and the information easily digestible. Reylin was deeply curious to learn more about her new clan, yet she felt far more distracted than she'd ever been in school or even in a studying session. She couldn't stop glancing at Knaster, and sometimes she would catch him glancing back at her too, which made them both smile.
With the exhibition hall's main lights slightly dimmed and all the focus on the stage, Reylin felt emboldened. She shifted position on her floor cushion so she was sitting just a bit closer to Knaster, just enough to gently lean against his side. Knaster didn't say anything or even visibly react--instead, his response was to move his tail and casually drape it over hers. Reylin was engrossed enough with the speech that she didn't immediately notice this, though she did notice when Knaster's tail tip entwined with hers, coiling around it just like those silk ribbons that she was wearing.
Reylin glanced over her shoulder to see what was happening, saw what was touching her tail, and then she turned to Knaster and gave him a shocked, delighted look. "Is that...? We can do that...? Oooh!" That simple point of contact felt deeply reassuring. Reylin nodded her head approvingly and coiled her tail back around his. Both fledglings grinned, but neither said anything.
Reylin resumed watching the stage, and this introductory segment of the clan meeting turned out to be brief. In a few minutes it was done and the wingleader bowed his head low before leaping into the air, flapping his way up to the tables at the second level mezzanine while the lights all came back on. Dragons thumped their tails against the floor in polite applause. Reylin tapped her tail against the floor, with Knaster's tail still entwined.
With the welcoming and introductory speeches done, dinner was served. Organized teams of waiters came rushing over from the side of the hall where they had been assembling, pulling and pushing trolleys laden with dishes of food.
Caden yawned lazily, but she perked up. "Food's coming. That's the only good part of these meetings, in my opinion."
The light field projectors in the middle of each table flickered and then flattened out, with the white sand reforming into smooth, solid surfaces so that the waiters could go around and unload a large dish into the centre of each table. Reylin didn't bother to hide her curious excitement as she peered over the dish. It was food, but... different from what she'd expected. The large central dish was filled with what appeared to be many strips of shredded vegetables and thin slices of meat, along with tiny biscuit crackers and even sauce. Each type of food was held in its own small plate, and they were all neatly arranged on that large dish. The waiters had also placed forks alongside the central dish, which was unusual too--most dragons used their paws to eat, and forks were normally only for cooking.
There was cheering and movement from tables in the other seating zones, but here there was more confusion and uncertainty amongst the fledglings. The ten young dragons at the table all just stared at each other as if waiting for something to happen until Caden was the first to move. Rolling her eyes, she stood up and leaned over the table, snatching up a fork. "Alright, let's get this over with, people! I assume you all know how this works?"
Reylin saw Knaster nod his head and stand up, with his tail untwining from hers. The light-grey scaled young drake picked up his own fork, as did most of the other fledglings sitting across them at the table. However Reylin and Glecion were the only fledglings who were not wearing Taslin wing pennants or at least alliance insignias--Reylin because she wasn't officially going to be a clan member under later in the meeting, and Glecion because she was just here as a guest of Caden--they were outsiders, unfamiliar with something that appeared to be a tradition or ritual. "Uh, what are we supposed to do?" Reylin asked.
Caden held up her fork. "Everyone has to take a fork!" At her prompting, everyone did. Caden also grabbed a fork and passed it to Glecion, and the blind fledgling nodded her head in thanks. Caden then made a gesture with her fork. "Ok. Now everyone stir, while aggressively cheering. Yaaah! Fortune and glory! And stuff like that. Yaaay!"
Caden started jabbing her fork into the large dish, gathering up all the various types of food only to toss them up into the air so it all landed back in the dish. Several other fledglings also clearly understood the concept and joined in, using their forks to start mixing up the food while also loudly adding cheers about good luck, health, happiness, and other similarly vague but positive concepts.
Reylin hesitated, but Knaster nudged her side and the two of them both joined in. It was noisy as the fledglings just randomly yelled things, and it was messy as they tossed the food upwards, mixing it up in that large central dish. It was a silly, untidy activity that made Reylin think they were acting like hatchlings playing with their food, except that when she looked around she realized it wasn't just them. All the other tables were doing this similar activity--and not just the other young dragons in this seating zone, but all across the exhibition hall, dragons young and old had food in a central dish being mixed up and tossed with cheering.
Reylin found herself laughing, but she enthusiastically joined in, and even Glecion did too when Caden helped guide her.
"Haha. What are we even doing?" Reylin asked with a laugh.
Knaster playfully bumped his shoulder against hers as they leaned forward over the table to reach the middle. "It's a tradition! Ryah!"
Caden nodded her head even as she kept tossing the food. "It's a stupid tradition, but even I have to admit I find it fun. Yah! To friendship!"
Reylin giggled again. "Heheha..."
After about a minute, things started to slow down and quieten, with everyone eventually sitting back down on their cushions all across the exhibition hall. The cheers stopped, now replaced by the healthy chatter of conversation. Looking at the middle of their table, Reylin chuckled again at the size of the mess there, with vegetables, meat, sauce, and all the rest all mixed up into some mad assortment, with a healthy amount spilled over the side of the large dish. But then the other fledglings started to actually eat it, using their forks or even just their paws to grab the mix of vegetables and meat, scooping it onto their own plates to consume.
Reylin almost couldn't stop herself giggling. "So this is what meal time is like for a big clan? It's like a food fight for hatchlings!"
Knaster shrugged. "It's a tradition, like I said. Obviously normal meals aren't like this, but once a year this is the tradition for the annual general meeting." He loaded up his own plate, then he took Reylin's plate and helped scoop some for her too. "Here! Eat."
Reylin nodded her head and she lowered her snout to take a bite. The mess of food tasted surprisingly good, despite the wide assortment of component ingredients--it was clearly planned to be a fusion of different flavours and textures. "Mmh..."
Knaster explained it as they ate. "It's an old Taslin tradition. Centuries ago, the clan used to be made up of many, many different smaller tribes. Once a year they would all assemble for a grand feast, with each tribe bringing what food they could spare. Those who lived near the ocean, lakes, or rivers brought fish or seafood, while those of the forest realms brought freshly caught deer or boars or rabbits, while those from the plains hunted breakhorns, and the mountain dwellers hunted vizriak skyvipers, and so on. Every single different type of food from all across the territory."
Reylin nodded her head. "Yes?"
Knaster gestured towards the central dish, towards all the smaller plates that were atop it, now mostly buried under the mix of food. "Each tribe would give their own special dish for the feast, but then there was jealousy and pride. The tribes all wanted to show off how strong and capable they were, and so individual tribes began bringing more food of greater quality to the yearly feast so they could boast to other tribes. But in the end that went too far, with so much food being wasted. So the tradition was started that all the food would have to be mixed up, and no individual tribe could boast because everyone was the same and equal."
Caden had been listening in, and she added her own take. "Oh, is that the actual story of the food toss tradition? My parents told me it became a tradition because long ago there were some tribes that try to poison the others at the meeting, so it became a tradition where all the food would be mixed up and everyone would eat it so no one could be sneaky."
Reylin could believe either story, for the both matched her expectations of clans--that they were about honour and pride, and that they were also about cunning and wile. "Are either of those stories really true?" she asked.
Knaster shrugged, and he smiled at her. "I don't know. If it was true, it would have been centuries or eons ago. But the tradition still stands, and it is pretty fun, isn't it?"
Reylin grinned. "It is!" she agreed, and then she entwined her tail with Knaster's again.
Reylin had initially though that the messy food toss was going to be the entire meal, but that would have been underestimating clan Taslin. After some time, more plates of food were brought out to every table. No more messily mixing food or loud cheering--this time everyone ate properly, scooping food to their plates exactly like how Reylin had expected the dinner to go.
The food was delicious, with a wide variety of cuisine including plenty of things Reylin had never tried or even heard of before--squid omelettes, roasted snowhorn pasta, some sort of herbal soup that looked like toxic waste but smelled and tasted delicious, lake coconut pudding, and more. Reylin made sure to try every dish, and she would have probably eaten more if she wasn't feeling so nervous about the formality of the whole affair. Knaster, Caden, and Glecion were right there beside her, and with the way they all chatted and laughed it was sometimes as if they were just sharing a casual meal in some street café after school and before one of their many study sessions, instead of being in a formal, ceremonial dinner event as part of an important clan meeting.
Dinner took place over an hour or so, with different food dishes one after the other until Reylin had lost count of how many there were. At regular intervals the waiters would come out to clear away the mostly finished dishes and bring out the next type of food. When it was all done, the tables were briskly wiped clean. The centre portion of each table shifted back into motion, collapsing from a flat surface back into motion as the enchanted sand reactivated. A rippling spiral swept away any last remnants of food or dirt from interfering with the workings of the projector, and then the sand reformed into a three-dimensional representation of the stage.
Reylin had been wiping her paws and mouth with a napkin--this meal was fancy enough that they had _cloth_napkins, not just cheap disposal ones made of paper which she was far more used to. The exhibition hall's lighting dimmed once more, and the spotlights again drew attention to the stage as one of the prime wingleaders stepped up. "Good evening, my fellow clanmates, our esteemed allies, and honoured guests. I hope everyone's enjoyed the meal! And while I would personally love if we did nothing all night but eat, I have been advised that the meeting must continue. Next up, we'll hear more details from the various business units as they recap progress over the past year, along with plans for the next year. First will be the analysis and projections from the Finance subdivision..."
Reylin perked up and listened with curiosity. Most of the other dragons were also listening too, though there were also pockets of quiet conversation. Reylin had every intention of listening through every bit of information about her soon-to-be clan, but her focus slipped when Knaster nudged her side. She could easily ignore Glecion and Caden murmuring to each other as they barely listened to the presentation, but she couldn't ignore Knaster.
"Hey, random question because I only just noticed--but did you get your neck frill pierced?" Knaster asked, looking at her with the wide-eyed, curious expression which made Reylin giggle. "I guess that's a redundant question," he quickly added, with his gaze darting between her eyes and her neck frill. "It's more of just an observation. You look nice! Have I said that already?"
Reylin giggled even harder, covering her mouth. "Hehehe... Thank you, thank you. You've said it already, but do keep saying it." She gestured behind her head, towards the edge of her neck frill where she had two small silvery metal loops attached. "Would it surprise you to learn that these were Caden's idea too? She has all the best ideas about looking good. This one's a trick." Reaching back to her neck frill, Reylin pulled off both of the small metal loops and showed them to Knaster--they were circular in shape, but with a gap in the circle. These accessories were meant to be attached to the edge of a dragon's frill, but instead of actually piercing through the frill, each of the open ends of the loop had a tiny magnet that clamped it shut. "These aren't piercings. They are just magnetic jewellery loops things that clip on."
Knaster nodded slowly. "Oh, I see. Interesting! How clever."
"That's exactly what I thought when Caden showed it to me." Stretching over, Reylin clipped the magnetic metal loops right onto Knaster's neck frill so now it looked like he was the one with his frill pierced. "See?"
Knaster tapped at the loops, and he flicked his neck frill. "Hmm."
Reylin really wanted to pay attention to the meeting, but hearing financial projections was far less interesting than chatting and playing around with Knaster. She couldn't stop grinning. "Back during the semester, Caden asked me a few times if I wanted to go get my ears and my frill pierced, but I was always too busy. She asked me again after the exams, but then I got nervous and refused to go." Extending a claw from her paw, Reylin made a stabbing gesture. "The blood, and the pain, and the chance of an infection... all just for some cosmetic thing to wear jewellery? Didn't seem worth it to me."
"That's fair." Knaster gestured at his own neck frill. "I'm not sure if I would get my frill pierced. It's perfectly safe if you find a healer to do it properly, though it is entirely cosmetic and for vanity. I might do it... but probably only when I'm older and my frill's more grown out."
"I don't dare. I told Caden that I didn't dare, so she gave me those frill loops that are magnetically attached instead. Just as good, without any of the trouble." Reylin nodded her head in the other direction, towards Glecion and Caden, who were having their own conversation and weren't listening either. "Glecion was braver than me though. She went with Caden to get her frill and her ears pierced about a month ago. So if in the future you ever need a way to tell me and Glecion apart... well, there's that. She's got real piercings, whereas I just cheat by using magnets."
"You really think I need to rely on that to tell you and your sister apart?"
"I guess the whole... blindfold thing is a far more obvious giveaway."
Knaster shook his head with amusement. "I could name so many more differences between you two--the posture when you stand, or the way you hold your head up high, or the fact that you have good wing muscles... And I think you look beautiful with or without the accessories," Knaster murmured. He leaned close to Reylin as if he was going to kiss her, which made her tense up in anticipation, but then he seemed to remember they were in public and he didn't. Reylin wasn't sure if she was deliberately being teased, or just accidentally.
Reylin started writing notes. Merely listening to the clan meeting didn't sufficiently capture information, so she took out her notepad and inkpot, wet her tail with ink, and started to scribble down quick notes of the most important things being said as wingleaders from the many departments of clan Taslin gave their presentations one after the other.
Caden had been quietly chatting with Glecion, but she did a double take on glancing at Reylin. "Oh, goodness me. Reylin, please tell me you aren't taking notes for the wingleader speeches!"
Glecion chuckled, and she nudged her sister. "Are you really?"
Reylin finished writing a sentence before replying. "Yes? What's wrong with jotting down the important details?"
Caden rested her chin on Glecion's shoulder as she stared over at Reylin, who was sitting on Glecion's other side. "It's good enough that you're already listening to the speeches, but you don't need to try that hard. You're already going to get clan membership and a scholarship."
"I know, I know. But I'm just... curious about my new clan and about all it does," Reylin replied.
"You're really trying, aren't you?" Caden chuckled. "Most dragons only come to this meeting for the food."
"I'm not most dragons," Reylin replied.
"No you are not!" Knaster murmured, in a casual yet admiring tone that made Reylin feel warm and happy on the inside. His tail brushed around behind her, except Reylin had her own tail curled forward and around herself to write with, so Knaster couldn't entwine their tails tips again. Instead he just loosely coiled his tail around her tail base, making her feel warm and happy on the outside too.
Reylin continued to write her notes as one after another, more wingleaders from the many different departments of Taslin gave their presentations. Until finally one of them said, "...and that closes out our report on Transport Operations. Next up we have Wingleader Izic Taslin from Capacity Development, and Wingleader Sundiris Taslin from Social Engineering," announced the presenter on stage.
Reylin jerked upright. "Wait, that's my cue. They told me earlier that... that I need to go over once those wingleaders are starting their presentation. Uh, uh, uh..." Snapping her notepad shut, she slid it back into its pouch in her flight harness before hurriedly wiping her tail tip dry of ink with a napkin.
"Excited to get your pennants?" Glecion asked, her ears tilting towards her sister.
"Excited? Terrified, more like! Last week I went back to Taslin headquarters to sign the documents and I thought that was officially going to be my induction into the clan. But no! They insisted I had to go all the way up on stage, with the whole city watching, and get my wing pennants right from the prime wingleaders. Big clan has to have a big ceremony, doesn't it?"
Glecion bumped her nose against Reylin's shoulder. "You'll be fine! You've wanted this ever since we were tiny hatchlings."
"That doesn't stop me from being nervous about it." Reylin folded her napkin to a clean side and wiped her mouth again, just to make sure there weren't any traces of food left on her snout. She glanced over herself, then nudged Knaster to get his attention. "Knaster, do I look weird?"
Knaster smiled that charming, encouraging grin of his that always made her hearts pound a beat harder. "I think you look truly lovely tonight!" he insisted, which made Reylin smile but shake her head.
"That's nice of you to say but also not helpful! You're clearly biased." Reylin turned to Caden. "Caden, do I look weird?"
Caden hopped to her feet and trotted around Glecion to get a closer look at Reylin. She untied the plain flags from Reylin's wingtips, then looked the rest of her over. "Hmmm. You can take off the guest pennants now. And let me adjust your harness... get it nice and tight around your midriff... ok. You look great! Just remember to be calm and dignified, so don't walk too fast onto the stage or off it. Also, when you hold your wing out to get your pennants from the prime wingleaders, your wingtip might tremble a little, but no one can see it from afar so don't worry about that." Caden frowned slightly as she noticed something else. "Did you take off your frill loops?"
Reylin's neck frill drooped downwards, against her neck. "Oh! I was showing them to Knaster, and I forgot to take them back. Should I...?"
Caden shook her head. "No need. There's no time to get them perfectly aligned. You look just as good without them." Turning her judgemental gaze to Knaster, Caden frowned at him instead. "Actually, Knaster looks rather fanciable wearing those frill loops, doesn't he?"
Reylin turned around and peered at Knaster. "Yeah, he does...!"
Caden smirked at Knaster. "Knaster, you should totally go get your neck frill pierced. You're owning that rebel look, which is ironic given how much of a rule-abiding, diligent student you are."
Knaster raised an eye ridge but said nothing.
With a dismissive flick of her paw, Caden waved aside the subject. "But this isn't about you. This is about Reylin! Reylin, this is your night." Caden nudged Reylin to her feet. "Go on, then! Get what you deserve."
"You've earned it," Knaster added.
"Good luck!" Glecion murmured.
Reylin nodded to the other three fledglings, then she took a deep breath and headed to the side of the stage, where other dragons where already assembling.
As she waited by the side of stage, Reylin listened to what was being said. The wingleaders on stage were talking about the health of the clan, mentioning population numbers and statistics. These facts were followed by brief obituaries for Taslin clan members who had passed away over the past year--the whole exhibition hall quietened down at that moment, with even the gentle conversation fading away.
The light field projectors at each table were displaying long lists of names out of the enchanted sand, with the text rising up until it reached the limit of the projection to dissolve back into powder that drifted back down into the projector to eventually form more text. Reylin didn't know any of these dragons who had died, but she understood why respectful silence had fallen across the whole meeting. Old age, disease, or even rare flight accidents would eventually bring things to an end, for no dragon lived forever. The thought was deeply uncomfortable, and Reylin didn't like to dwell on it.
Then the moment passed. "The cycle of life continues. Our clan is healthy, and new blood is--" the wingleader on stage started to say, but his sentence was drowned out by exclamations of endearment, appreciation, and affection from the crowd. "Awww!" The light field projectors had changed again and were now displaying projections of dragon hatchlings--freshly hatched members of clan Taslin, in light and colour and even with sound and motion.
"Aww," Reylin murmured too, as she watched the projection. The light field projectors were big enough that they could display a hatchling at full size, instead of the shrunken down scale that had to be used for adult dragons. Now she watched as the presentation went through recordings from various hatchlings--there was a hatchling not even fully out of the shell and trying to struggle free, then another with mouth open and clearly squeaking at her unseen parents, and then another projection with two tiny hatchlings (siblings, perhaps) both trying to pull on each other's tails, and more of the same. This part of the presentation had clearly been curated to show off the cutest of the clan's newly hatched, and it was devastatingly adorable as it was intended to be.
After a couple of minutes this segment ended too, and the meeting continued. Reylin watched as the three Taslin prime wingleaders returned to the stage, and they were followed by two more drakken from the group assembled here. "Taslin's strength also lies in our willingness to work with other clans, and indeed also our willingness to welcome new members to bolster our capabilities and talent in every area. Today, we are proud to formally announce the acquisition of clans Nitel and Vixterin, both currently under dominion alliances. Let us all give a warm welcome to the dragons of Vixterin and Nitel, who will be joining the Taslin family effective immediately. Nitel will bring new closer relations with strategic partners across the Outer Colonies, especially the waterways and..."
Glancing around, Reylin looked at the various dragons who were here by the side of the stage, waiting to formally receive their clan insignia and be welcomed into Taslin. Many of these dragons appeared to be wingleaders from other clans which were coming under alliance or even merging into Taslin. As far as Reylin could see, she was the only fledgling, with every other dragon being at least several years older than her, and most being much older. It wasn't every single dragon who was being recruited into Taslin, as that would take too much time, but instead just a representative sample.
"...widespread backgrounds, as well as deliberate initiatives to entice younger dragons into our clan. Particularly of note, we are enhancing efforts to expand our recruitment pool to search for talent and capability from non-traditional backgrounds. For example, a young dragon by the name of Reylin Hasitas will be the first fledgling recipient of the Taslin Ambition Scholarship and..."
Reylin didn't hear the rest. It was all she could do to stay calm and collected as one of the stage crew beckoned for her. Strolling forward, Reylin climbed up the stairs, up the short distance and into the spotlight. Stepping into the light made her briefly squint, and she almost instinctively reached up to flip down her dark goggles over her eyes, before remembering that she wasn't wearing them.
The stage certainly seemed higher up now that she was standing on top of it, but despite how many bright lights were shining down from above, she could still see all the countless dragons in their tables all across the exhibition hall, watching her. Reylin could even see the twinkle of small crystals encircling the stage, recording her image so that it could be projected not just to the light field projector in every table, but also to ten other locations around the city, where even more dragons were watching. And even more dragons might be watching from home or other locations, watching her projected image.
It should have been nerve-wracking, and it sort of was, but Reylin just strolled forward as she been told to do, right until she was standing on a small marking on the floor that was an acceptable distance from the three prime wingleaders who were waiting on stage. Up close, they seemed just like normal dragons--there were two drakka and one drake, and they were all approximately middle aged. Reylin bowed her head respectfully low, and the prime wingleaders bowed their heads back at her, despite the fact that she was just a clanless young fledgling and they were some of the most powerful dragons in the whole city.
Several aides were waiting right behind the wingleaders, and they handed off pennant flags bearing not just the red and silver colours of Taslin, but also the clan's hexagonal insignia. "Congratulations!" said one of the prime wingleaders, as they all stepped forward. Reylin couldn't remember any of their names at the moment--she had read about them, of course, but at the moment her mind was almost overwhelmed by the nervousness of being on stage.
"Welcome to Taslin. I read the analysis that recruitment did on you... very impressive. You're a real clever young drakka, and it an honour that you're joining us. Now extend your wings, and we'll make it official."
Though her mind was paralyzed, her body wasn't. Reylin extended both her wings, and two of the Taslin prime wingleaders tied a pennant flag around the tips of her wings, while the last wingleader tied a large, triangular, red and silver kerchief around her neck. "Welcome to the Taslin family. Make us all proud," murmured one of the wingleaders, who was smiling faintly and seemed to have noticed Reylin's anxiety.
Reylin awkwardly nodded her head, and then she folded her wings closed. From all around the exhibition hall she could hear the rumble and thump of dragons striking their tails against the floor, applauding to welcome her into the clan. Reylin bowed her head at the prime wingleaders again, and then she turned and bowed at the audience, before swivelling around to stroll off the stage just as she'd been told to. She made it down the stairs before breaking into a nervous scamper, running back to the familiarity of her friends.
"Hmmmrrrr..." Reylin purred, leaning against Knaster and enjoying the feel of his wing wrapped around her back. There had been hugs and cheers a plenty as she returned back to her table. Glecion, Knaster, and Caden had been as happy as her, and even the six other fledgling strangers sitting at the table were eager to congratulate her and welcome her into the clan. Because now, everything was different! Nothing really had changed, except for the simple fact that she now had a clan. And that meant that the future was hers.
Reylin had hugged her sister, then she had hugged Caden, and then she had hugged Knaster--but then Knaster had gone on to be a despicable tease because he'd hugged her back tightly and even leaned in close as if he was going to kiss her, but then he hadn't kissed her. Instead he'd just said something encouraging and welcoming and friendly, which was nice but not quite as nice as being kissed. And Reylin had almost been bold enough to just kiss him if he wasn't going to do it. If it had been just them with Caden and Glecion like at one of their study sessions then she would have done it instantly--the other two would have understood, and though Reylin hadn't explicitly told them, she was sure that Glecion and Caden already knew that something was going on between her and Knaster.
But then it wasn't just them--there were six other Taslin fledglings here at this table who she didn't know, and that made Reylin just nervous enough where she continued to act formal and proper instead of desperately trying to smoosh her snout against Knaster's and taste his tongue. After all, she'd just gotten into the clan, and such an open display of romance wasn't appropriate for a formal dinner... or was it? There had been a presentation segment earlier dedicated to celebrating all the various Taslin dragons who had formally entered bonded mate pairings recently, and some of those couples had been shown embracing, hugging, flying together, and even kissing. And right after that, the Taslin wingleaders from Social Engineering subdivision had been very enthusiastic about announcing new financial compensation plans for hatchlings to increase the clan's fertility rate. So really, no one ought to be allowed to complain if she and Knaster exchanged some physical affection.
Regardless, Reylin just enjoyed the brief hug and then she sat back down at her seat. She adjusted the kerchief tied around her neck, making sure that the insignia on the cloth triangle was centred on her chest. Then she took out her notepad and inkpot again, but before she could continue taking notes, the lights in the exhibition hall brightened, with the spotlight beams sweeping all around. The musicians changed their tune as well--instead of quiet, calming music that sat in the background of the presentations and speeches, the music climbed to a grand, triumphant crescendo. Again dragons thumped their tails against the ground or roared, but all the wingleaders were strolling off the stage.
"Wait, what?" Reylin asked.
"It's over," Knaster explained. Standing up, he twisted from side to side, stretching his back before sitting back down. "The meeting's over. It seems that this year they finally managed to keep it to a reasonable length. That was the last presentation segment." All around at various tables, dragons were standing up. Some of them slowly headed for the exhibition hall's exits, but many stayed seated and started chatting, or walked around to talk with other tables.
"Oh." Reylin glanced around, then back at her friends. "Now... what?"
Caden flicked open a wing, and she waved it across the room. "If you missed out on the chance to socialize earlier, you can go around and make friends. Care to go meet your new clanmates? I can start introducing you to some of the other Taslin fledglings who you'll see in District Central when you switch school next year." Strolling over, Caden gestured at Knaster with a grin. "You've already met Knaster and me, but there are plenty of others."
"Ahahaha..." Reylin let out a nervous chuckle. "Meeting new people sounds stressful. I've just about depleted my store of courage going up on stage to get my clan pennants."
Knaster nodded sympathetically. "You'll meet them next year anyway."
"Anything else to do?" Reylin asked.
With a smooth transition, the music switched from epic and grandiose to an active, energetic tune with quick repetition. Glecion bobbed her head to the beat, while Caden looked thoughtful. "After the clan meeting, there's also a dance party held on the roof."
Knaster raised an eye ridge. "Isn't that for adults only?"
Caden waved her paw dismissively. "Bah. We're fledglings now. That's close enough."
Reylin laughed, but she shook her head. "Haha. I'm not going to spend my first few moments of being in clan Taslin by breaking rules! Or should we?"
Caden shrugged. "This is your night, Reylin, so what we do is up to you. I guess you and Glecion don't dance, though?"
Glecion let out a sudden, short bark of laughter. "Hah! Then you've guessed wrong." Sliding to a stand, the blind fledgling rolled her shoulders to the rhythm of the music and started prancing on the spot.
"Hmh! I don't spend _all_my free time studying!" Reylin leapt from a seating position to stand beside her sister, and she started running through the same moves, gracefully coordinating so that they were doing the same thing. Glecion stopped after the cycle was done, dropping to a crouch but twisting her body to snap one wing straight upwards--on the other hand, Reylin transitioned to a different set of moves. She crossed all her four legs and did a sliding shuffle step, keeping her legs straight, locked, and crossed while rotating herself on the spot, and smoothly unfurling her wings and raising her neck frill.
Seeing Knaster's awestruck expression made Reylin burst out into more laughter, and she shuffled her wings shut again. "Oh. Oh my," Knaster murmured.
Caden looked similarly impressed. "Wait, wait, wait, where did that come from?! You two actually_can_ dance? Wow!" Leaning against Glecion, she playfully licked the side of the blind fledgling's snout. "Still full of secrets, aren't you?"
Glecion smiled, and her neck frill perked up. "Reylin used to go to dance club at school, and she would teach me the moves afterwards."
Reylin nodded. "Yeah... back when I had more time in school to do an extracurricular activity in addition to studying."
"Well, if you can dance, there's a dance party on the roof. Should we really try sneaking up onto the rooftop?" Caden asked. "It's the biggest party in the city. I've never actually been there, but I've always been curious."
Reylin grinned, but she shook her head. A quick glance towards the stairs and the mezzanines dissuaded her from that idea. "No, we're not doing that. It looks loud and crowded anyway. What do most people do after the clan meeting officially ends? What's the usual standard?"
"Uh... everyone just hangs about for a few hours, catching up with friends and family, and then they go home and get a good night's sleep?" Knaster suggested.
Caden snorted. "What an adventurous suggestion. No, we're not just going to go home and sleep. It's so early in the night and tonight we must celebrate. How about... we walk over to your house, Knaster? You live closest to here, right? We can chat more or play games there."
Knaster looked slightly reluctant at first, but Reylin nodded. "I like that idea! That sounds fun. Just like a study session, but without the studying. Just us four friends!"
"Ok. I can go ask my parents if you three can come over," Knaster started to say, but Caden rolled her eyes.
"You don't need to ask for permission for everything, Knaster. We're fledglings, and independence is expected. Besides--all the wingleaders, including your parents and mine, will be stuck in their council meetings for the next few hours."
Grinning faintly, Knaster shrugged. "Fair enough. I'll just... presume that this comes under the blanket approval I've gotten for study sessions over the past few months. Let's take a walk."
Reylin hopped up and down excitedly on her left fore and hindlegs, then swapped to hop on her right legs. "Let's go!"
TO BE CONTINUED
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