(Lenna)

"Its...its...filthy."

 Indeed it was. Time, weather, and dust had made the place look
more like a forest floor than a cave. How did it get so dirty this 
high up?

"I could spend hours cleaning this up."

"Cheer up, handsome," Lenna said. I know a dandy way we could
clean up the floor..." Her blue eyes opened wide with the suggestion.

B'rand's eyes took in her form again. Wouldn't mind that at
all, he thought. Still...

"Another time, maybe." He was absolutely dejected from the 
mess.

"If you fly a broom like you do a dragon, I can see your 
problem," Lenna said. She continued on before B'rand could retort. 
"If you need any help, I'm not too far away."

That stopped him. "Where's that?"

"Right there." B'rand looked where she pointed; diagonal and
down, the opening to her apartment was practically next to his, not 
even a running leap away.

A piratical smile crossed B'rand's face. "Of course it is."

"Well, come on, then, let's get some food, Red-" his arm 
flashed out, placing supriseingly gentle fingers against her 
lips, stopping her.

"Don't call me Red. Ever." He hesitated, then said, "Please."

"And if I do?" Lenna muttered against the warm finger touching 
her. She didn't take well to having people tell her what to do. 
something her brothers had already found out. The only person she 
listened to with out question, was the Warrenlady of what ever 
Warren she was in....so far that had only been Ophelia at Telnor 
and now Cynthia here at Cleft..

B'rand gave a short bitter laugh, "You don't want to find out sister. 
You might not like that side of me." 

A shock went through her as his touch became a soft caress. The tone 
of his voice, though polite in wording, held a note of steel behind 
them that rendered her speechless and unable to come up with one 
witty reply to throw back at him.

The worst part was that he knew it. She could see the amusement 
sparkling in his emerald eyes as he stood there certain that for 
once he had gotten the upper hand with her.

For some reason she'd never be able to explain, his amusement at 
her expense irritated her to no end, before she could stop herself 
or think about the consequences her actions might bring, her lips 
opened and she bit his finger. When he didn't respond in any way 
shape or form, she bit down harder until at last he yanked his 
hand away.

"Ouch!!" Why you little cannibal, I ought to ..." his hand reached 
for her but she danced out of his reach.

Lenna took a step backwards to evade him, then another. 
<<Blanchie!!>> she cried out in a near panic now knowing she had 
gone to far, and there was no where to run this far up.

<Sorry my human, you got yourself into this all on your own. You 
can now find a way out by yourself too. How many times have I 
warned you about that temper of yours?> came the lavender dragon's 
reply.

<<Now is *not* the time to tell me you told me so.>>Leanna angrily 
snapped, only to hear her dragon laugh. <<Traitor>>

She swore as the man in front of her came closer. A wall at her back stopped
her retreat as he came to stand before her. She dared a quick glance of her
blue eyes towards the outer ledge as if hoping her dragon might suddenly
appear and spirit her away, but that hope was lost as B'rand, with a hand
flat against the wall on either side of her head, efficiently cut off all
avenues of escape.
He had her trapped there with the wall at her back and his long lean 
body at her front. 

"You like to live dangerously, don't you?" his question, spoken in a 
quiet yet taunt voice, did little to reassure her. Nor did the 
devilish glint shining in his deep green eyes.

"Would you like me to kiss it and make it all better?" she said, the 
words escaping from her lips before she could stop herself. When would 
she learn to just keep her mouth shut?

<<Oh that was good!!! Keep it up and he may decide that your just to
dangerous to cuddle with after all>> she heard Blanchie's sarcastic 
comment in her mind.

Lenna gave a startled gasp at B'rand suddenly leaned closer. "Maybe 
I should pay you back in kind," he murmured, his breathe warm as it 
touched her flushed face. 

"What do you mean?" she whispered, her voice sounding breathless to 
her own ears, her heart racing at his nearness.

A slow smile spread across B'rand's face, the fingers of his left hand moved
to circle her right wrist, bring her hand up level with the side 
of his face. His emerald eyes never left her's as he titled his face to 
the side and brought her hand closer to his lips.

Lenna tried to pull her hand out of his grip, but he just tightened 
his hold. She brought her left hand up to try to push him away 
but he didn't budge. 

"Someone needs to teach you a lesson," he taunted.

(Tag: Allen maybe he could force her to clean his place by herself....
or try to *grin* she won't stay quiet for long....)
----------------------------------------
(Dan'yar and the twins)

 It didn't take the twin's, Arly and Leyean long to go through their 
new home once they arrived with their father from Telnor. Both girls 
were amazed at how much bigger it was than the apartment they had 
shared before and the best part was that they would have their own bedrooms.

"Oh papa this is great," Leyean said cheerfully as she came back into 
the main room. "I can't believe that you just looked up and found this place."

"Well I don't care how he found it," piped up her twin, Arly. "I'm 
just glad he did. But where are we going to eat until Uncle Tanner 
and Uncle Farr'in can get the pipes finished in the kitchen?" she 
turned to ask her father.

"In the dining hall with everyone else," Leyean rolled her eyes at 
her sister's dumb question. "Where do you think?" 

#Well I was hoping papa had found someone to cook for him. # 

*#No such luck, I asked Uncle Tanner. #* 

Dan'yar could tell by the look in the twin's matching blue eyes that 
they were speaking together in the way they had between them. He used 
to feel excluded from them when they did this, but not anymore. Most 
of the time he could guess what they were *thinking* to eachother by 
the look on their tiny faces. 

"Well if the two of you are hungry, why don't we go ahead on down to 
the dining hall right now. I'm sure you'll run into some 
of the people you knew from Telnor." he said and got the girls moving
towards the steps. They wouldn't have to have Shinner give them a lift 
this time since they were so close to the hall already.

"Papa is it true that they already have a school set up for us kids?" 
Arly asked  reaching for his hand as they started down the steps.

Dan'yar smiled knowing that one or the other of his girls would ask 
the question. Both loved school. They loved everything about it from reading
assignments to figuring out math problems. 

"Well we have a *sort* of a school set up," he admitted as they turned 
and started towards the dining hall. *There's a woman by the name of 
Liesa who watches over the smaller kids during the day when their 
parents are working. She's started to teach those old enough to learn.
Giving them something to do to keep them from getting to board."

"So we can join them and not get to far behind on our studies?" 
Leyean's little face brighten. 

"Well I'm glad you both agree," he laughed. "You both will be staying 
with Liesa in the morning while I'm on patrol."


"What about Gram and Gramp's?" Leyean asked as they neared the 
entrance. "When will they be moving here with the rest of us?"

"In a few more days," he answered his daughter's question. "They still 
had some order's that they had promised to fill for some of the Telnor
rider's. After they're though with those, they'll get word to either 
your uncles or me to go pick them up." He squeezed both of the little 
hands he was holding and smiled down at them.. "Knowing you 
grandparents the way I do...It'll take every dragon we have at least 
two trips a piece to collect all of their stuff from the shop... "

They arrived at the dining hall and stepped into line to fill their 
plates. Arly who finished first told them she would go try to find 
a table where they could all sit together as the dining hall was 
crowded. 

A few minutes into her search she came across a young girl a few years older
that herself. The girl had long brown hair and was sitting by herself.
Something about the girl made Arly think she looked sad about something.
Maybe she just needed a friend, or two.

"Hi!," she said getting the girls attention. "Do you mind if I sit 
here?"

The young girl seamed startled when she looked up to see the smiling 
face of the younger girl. "No, please have a seat," she said quickly. 

"Oh thank you." Arly smiled putting her tray down next to the girl. 
"I'm Arly, my father, Dan'yar is a dragonrider here at Cleft."

She saw the sad look that past over the other girls face but it had 
come and gone so quickly that she thought she'd imagined it. 

"I'm new to Cleft myself," The girl told her. "My name is Brisse, 
I'm glad to meet you Arly." 

"Oh! Darn," Arly suddenly slapped her head. "I'll be right back. I 
forgot to get something to drink. Hey would you like me to refill 
your glass while I'm there?" she asked pointing to Brisse's empty 
glass.

"Well if you don't mind." she answered.

Arly jumped up with all the energy of youth and headed off to get 
them both their drinks. On the way she spotted her twin and told her 
where the table was that she had found for them to sit. She even told Leyean
about the girl Brisse who was holding them places. 

"Why don't you go on over and meet her while I go get the drink I 
forgot to get, and tell Papa where we are."

Back at the table, which Leyean found with no trouble, she wondered 
at the strange look the older girl gave her.  "I thought you were just going
for a drink. Did you forget and get a second helping of food as well?" 

"No I only have this one tray," Ley told her with an innocent look in 
her blue eyes. The twin wasn't above having some fun with someone new 
who didn't know she and her sister were twin's.

"But what about this tray of food that you put here before going back 
to get a drink?" 

"But that's not my tray!" 

"I jut saw you put it there," the girl smiled, though confused.

"No, you just saw her twin sister put the first tray on the table." A 
man's voice said.

Brisse turned around and saw a tall brown-headed man standing behind 
her. He was dressed in the leathers of a dragonrider. 

"Twins?" Brisse asked looking from the man to the little girl grinning 
on the other side of the table. Just them someone sat on the bench next 
to her and she turned to see an exact copy of the blond-headed girl 
sitting across the table. But this one held two drinks in her little 
hands.

"Twins!" the man confirmed. "And I think you two own your new friend 
here an apology."

"I'm sorry," both girls said in unisons. "We were mean to have fun on 
you when you didn't know."

Brisse laughed when it finally hit her. "Boy you two sure look exactly
alike. I never would have known."

Arly smiled brightly as she reached with her fork and speared a fresh
carrot. "Well no one else can tell us apart, not even our Gram and 
Gramp's. Only papa can tell which one is which between us."

Brisse turned then to Dan'yar, who had moved to the other side of the 
table and taken a seat. "So how *do* you tell them apart?"

He grimaced. "Years of practice."
-------------------------------------------------------
(nrpg: Well Lyn, I hope you don't mind the twin's little joke :)
They're good kids at heart and were only having some fun.
*******Submitted by: ***********
Barbara
Dan'yar & Shinner
The twins; Arly & Leyean
Lenna & Blanchie
Cleft Warren