The colonists applied metasynth to the dragonets to produce a stronger sense of empathy in them. They also grew larger than the dragonets and developed more prominent head knobs. They were also genetically modified to have a true "hand" with four fingers and a thumb.

They come in the same colors as dragonets: gold (the queens), bronze (the kings), brown, blue, and green. The disease which affected dragons also backtracked the genetic line to the firelizards, producing roan, brass, wine, storm, and sky.

These creatures will Impress on the first being that feeds them, be it human, dragonet, or otherwise. They are self-sufficient; they can fly almost from the moment they hatch and hunt for themselves after accepting the first meal offered by the impressor.

A fair of dragonets will begin humming when a hatching was imminent. They can also unerringly predict the birth of any other creature, human or animal, and will hum for those. Wild ones surround the eggs with a ring of seaweed and fill the ring with small fish and crawling creatures that provide the hatchlings with their first meal. As soon as the newborns break shell, they are greeted with cries of joy and offered food. A hatchling has a fierce birth hunger and the first being--dragonet, human, or otherwise--that offered it food would Impress it.

Their wings are translucent membranes stretched out over the dragon's version of arm, hand, and finger-bones, like those of a bat. The membrane looks fragile, but it is fairly durable. Considering the size of the sails, the wing is remarkably light. The boron crystalline structure is lighter than a similar carbon-based wing. Around the bones and where it attaches to the muscles, the membrane is thicker. The rear limbs have three real toes, not claws, on the feet. The front limbs are equipped with pincers, a single toe that folds back against two which are rigid claws, used for hunting in the water.

These have the ability to travel between and some limited telepathy. They have an incredibly long lifespan, provided they receive no trauma. A single female, given adequate time, could repopulate the entire planet.

These are the ancestors of firelizards which, in turn, are the ancestors of dragons. The come in gold, bronze, brown, blue, and green. Their genetics were mutated enough in creating the firelizards that they are not affected by the disease.

Available anywhere--if you can get the wittens away from their mother! Those wicats who are bonded are much more inclined to give their wittens away.

Wicats are a creature that are often first mistaken for wherries. However, although these critters have the same proto-feather-like down that wherries have, their heads are cat-like rather than bird-like. Their tails are covered in sturdier fur-feather-like material--soft and flexible, but rigid enough to flex open and closed depending on the individual's mood and to aid in flight. They grow between two and three feet long, with a wingspan that is twice their length, and range in height between 18 and 24 inches (roughly knee-height). Their wings are cartilaginous and membraneous under the thick down. Their forelegs, which are somewhat shorter than their back legs, end in paws with three toes and a fourth toe that is almost a thumb but has less flexibility than a true opposable thumb. The rear feet have only three toes. All toes have retractible claws. They are also capable of going between.

The juveniles are called wittens and are born live. They will stay with their mother until they are six weeks old, nursing. Their eyes open about two days after they are weaned and they bond to the first person they see. They are named by their parents. They will not die immediately after their bonded's death, but instead will cease eating and drinking and pine themselves to death.

The bond between human and wicat is deeper than a flitter or dragonet bond, and one's death will leave an empty place in its human's mind that will never quite be filled, even by bonding to another witten, though a new bonding will noticeably diminish the hole. This bond is probably the closest to a dragon's bond that the average person can have. They are capable of fairly strong mindspeech with their bonded, about equivalent to a dragon, and can manage some limited speech. A wicat can live between 30 and 40 turns.

There are four colors of wicats:

• Blood: Bloods are the queens and won't hesitate to tell you so. They, along with the navies, the rarest of the colors, and the primary producer of young. They are on the high end of the size scale. They kitten between 3 and 6 wittens per litter, and can have up to two litters per turn. (span code: blood)
• Navy: Navies are the bloods' counterparts, the king to their queen. They are more common than bloods, but still rarer than the other two colors. They are almost always smaller than bloods. (span code: navy)
• Tawnies: Tawnies are the more common males, and generally are on the low end of the size scale. They are larger than creams, however. (span code: tawny)
• Creams: These are the more common females, and the smallest of the species, rarely getting over 20in. tall and 28in. long. They can kitten between 2 and four wittens per litter, but can produce up to four litters per turn. (span code: cream)