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The next three years passed without incident. Troe and Nyera slowly learned to work together and even became friends. At work Nyera was all business, and Troe respected her for that, but on the few occassions when their dragons (who had become fast friends!) dragged them together outside the office they would laugh and joke and generally had that easy kind of banter that can be very hard to find.
Sav grew quickly and by the time he was three years old he was full grown and around 13 feet tall! Having been around larger dragons at the Lodge it wasn't that bad to have a dragon that was more than twice your height, but still, it was kind of daunting at times! Over the years a sort of bond had developed between the two of them. While Savnorafeta didn't have any inclination to bond at birth like many dragons he did have the capacity for a bond far enough back in his genetics that it was possible and when the dragon discovered how well he and Troe got along he had used that latent ability to form a link between them. Troe hardly dared call it a bond because from what he had heard that implied a strong mental connection and what they had was certainly not strong.
Sav could send emotions, thoughts and images to Troe and was apparently vaguely aware of Troe's mental state, but that was were it ended. The dragon could shut-off and activate the emotion transfer at will, but Troe himself couldn't send so much as a vague impression of words or images back to Sav. Still, it had been convenient when Sav needed something as he could contact Troe from anywhere in the Lodge and his 'bond' could get him what he needed.
It seemed Sav hadn't been three for more than a couple months when a letter arrived from one of his sisters saying she'd lain a clutch! Savnorafeta didn't seem at all disturbed by the letter, but Troe was shocked, not only by the thought that one of Sav's sisters was a mother already, but also by the mocking, triumphant tone of the letter! Apparently Pola-deni was quite proud of herself for being the first of her siblings to lay a clutch and wanted them all to join her so she could gloat in person. There was something odd about the wording as well, almost as if she was hoping to send her kids home with her siblings or... Troe shook his head and placed the letter on the table, sifting through the rest of the mail they'd gotten.
~Are we going to go?~ asked Sav mildly as if he didn't care at all whether they did or not. He didn't transmit even a shred of emotion through their bond so Troe eyed him sideways.
"If I can get off work and you really want to," he said carefully, not sure what his 'bond' had in mind.
~You should learn to guard your emotions better, Troe, you're an open book. I have no alterior motives. It would be nice to see my siblings again if indeed they do show up. And Pola was quite a scamp when we were kids, I would like to see how she has grown up.~
Troe smiled and shook his head, "I'll look into it, Sav, no promises though."
In the end Mykha was delighted to send him to Star City again as she once again had research for him to do. She was sending Nyera with him and Troe felt a moment of nervousness that they were going back to Star City together. They were friends now though so he put such worries out of his mind and made the necessary arrangements.
When the day came for them to leave Troe was shocked to see that Anshoku wasn't with Nyera. Nyera looked like she hadn't slept in days and Troe's eyes widened when he saw her. "Where's Anshoku? Are you okay?"
"Anshoku's not coming. I'm fine, let's get going." She pushed past him as soon as the words left her mouth and he turned to watch her, unsure how to react. Sav gave him a mental nudge though and he moved after her, aware that Sav was projecting caution into their bond.
"You can't walk all the way to the ship then, Sav's perfectly capable of carrying us both though," he said carefully, deciding to let her avoid the subject if that was what she wanted.
For a moment it looked like Nyera just might start crying and Troe found he was holding his breath and fervently wishing she wouldn't. She appeared to regain some control of herself though for she turned to look at him and then Sav and nodded her head without saying a word.
The flight to the city where their ship awaited was both tense and silent, but when they got there Nyera found her voice, if not her composure. "I'll get us all checked in, why don't you see to the luggage?"
She hurried off then and Troe stared after her for a moment before Sav nudged him in the side with his slender nose. He turned to look up at his dragon and felt Sav let a feeling of sadness and pity slip through their bond. "I suppose you know what's going on?"
~I know I haven't seen Anshoku in several days and the last time I tried to contact her I was unsuccessful. I suspect she has gone away for a time.~
"Why would she do that?" asked Troe, shocked and disturbed by this bit of information.
~I don't know, though I do know she was very restless last time I saw her, and complaining about a 'mental itch' she couldn't seem to scratch.~ Sav's tone was puzzled, as if he didn't quite understand what that had meant and Troe frowned.
"But surely Nyera would have been able to feel that through their bond, right? Their bond is much stronger than ours," said Troe, surprised by the note of jealousy in his voice as he said this.
Sav had no answer for him but he gave his 'bond' a look that was both cautioning and sympathetic. Troe shook his head, forcing his worries from his mind so he could get the luggage taken care of as Nyera had suggested. He would likely have to tread lightly with her on this trip, and he suspected there would be no opportunities for the playful banter they usually shared when away from the office.
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