T'rell
* * * * * * * *
(morning, day 4)

     "All right, that's enough!" T'rell shouted, as the trainees finished
their twentieth lap around the hatchling barracks.  With a collective sigh of
relief they complied, and stood in front of the barracks panting heavily.
Only a few, he noted with satisfaction, either collapsed to the ground or or
made exaggerated motions of clutching their chests.  They were getting better,
though most had a ways to go yet before he was satisfied.  Tomorrow, he
decided, they'd be ready to start on some other areas of training - though
most the *real* training couldn't start until after Kalindreth's eggs hatched,
and would be only for those who joined.

     He strode over to them, and they quickly lined up for inspection.  "Good
work," he told them.  "At this rate, you'll be able to keep up with your
dragons once they hatch!  That'll be all for this morning.  Go ahead and
finish your tasks around the barracks, and then you can attend to your duties
elsewhere.  Dismissed!"

     Normally, he'd have stayed around the barracks to deal with the
inevitable problems that the trainees brought to his attention, but today he
had something more important to do.  He strode over to the dining hall and
picked up another cup of coffee, then went out to the rear of the building and
leaned himself against a corner from where he couldn't be easily observed.
Then he waited.

     "Pssst!"

    T''rell jumped, startled by the sudden sound.  Peering around the corner,
he saw Ja'ks grinning at him.  "I wondered when you were going to get here,"
the Beta Wingleader told him.  

    T'rell nodded, then put a finger to his lips.  "Pretend you're not talking
to me," he cautioned.  "Act like you're just standing around here doing
something else.  If anybody sees us here talking..."

     Ja'ks took the hint, and leaned against the wall just around the corner
from T'rell, pretending to look at something off in the distance.  T'rell did
the same, taking out a small whetstone and making a show of sharpening his
knife.  "That went rather well last night," he remarked.

     "Yes, it did," Ja'ks agreed.  "I didn't know you could pick locks like
that.  Where'd you learn to do that?"

     "Jack-of-all-trades," T'rell answered.  "So...did you get rid of *it?*"

     "Yes," Ja'ks answered.  "I put *it* where *she* will never think to look
in a million years!"

     T'rell looked around to make sure no one else was within earshot.
"Where?" he whispered.

     "Under Jadain's bed," said Ja'ks.  "He's got stuff piled under there that
hasn't seen the light of day in years.  Even my sister's long since given up
trying to get him to clean under there."

     T'rell nodded, satisfied.  "Good," he said.  "I wonder if anyone has
discovered that *it* is missing yet."

     "Not that I've heard," Ja'ks replied.  "Let's keep our fingers crossed
that it isn't noticed for awhile."

     "Keep your ears open," T'rell cautioned.  "And J'aks...does Sparroe know
not to tell you-know-who about this?  He does spend a lot of time with her..."

     "No problem," the wingleader told him.  "He's promised to keep absolutely
quiet.  And Flerrion knows not to mention it to Troy?"

     T'rell nodded.  "We'd better not stand here too long.  Someone's apt to
see us. If something happens, though, let me know.  I'll do the same if I hear
anything."

     "Right," said Ja'ks, and the two of them made their way - as nonchalantly
as possible - back out into the warren.

     T'rell was about to start congratulating himself on how well things were
going, when he heard suddenly felt the ground shaking slightly and then heard
a dragon roaring loudly.  Well, not exactly roaring...it sounded more like a
dragon's way of laughing.  Curious, he opened his mind to listen...and the
voice he heard was that of the queen, Viktroy, repeatedly crying <Stop!>

     T'rell cursed softly to himself, knowing that his nutty dragon just *had*
to be involved in whatever was going on.  He hurried off in the direction the
sounds were coming from, hoping he could restore some kind of order before the
Warrenlady got there...or else *he* might get invited to dinner this time.

     The commotion seemed to be coming from a walled-off area near the
Warrenlady's quarters.  As he dashed around the corner, his worst fears were
confirmed.  His dumb dragon *was* there, all right, and he and the queen were
wrestling around on the ground - both of them covered in what looked like
paint!  But before he could find out what was going on, he saw Troy's lashing
tail strike a bucket of white paint and send it flying through the air - right
towards him.

     "Oh no," he groaned, in the split second before the bucket and it's
contents landed right on top of his head.  It was, he decided, going to be one
of those days.

Flerrion
* * * * * * * *
(later, at the lake)

     It was, Flerrion decided, going to be one of those days.  As usual, he
was in trouble - with his rider, with Troy, and goodness knew who else - and,
as usual, he didn't have a clue as to how he had managed it.

     The washing and oiling was pretty much finished - his rider had delegated
the job to his searchlings this time, and there were enough of them to make
quick work of bathing and oiling even two dragons.  T'rell himself had left
shortly after the job got underway, to find a better spot to clean himself
off.  He had gotten more paint on him than either of the dragons had, and had
told Flerrion that he had no intention of stripping down to get cleaned off
with a bunch of trainees milling around - though a couple of the human females
had offered to do so for him.

     Troy, for her part, had endured her bath with a sullen look on her face
and sparks dancing in her lavender eyes.  She had questioned him nearly the
whole time, and had made Flerrion tell her word-for-word what Zenith had told
him about her...and about the questions Zenith had asked him about their vigil
outside the med center.  He had been puzzled about this, until she repeated
the version of that encounter that was now making its way through the dragon-
grapevine.  All of Zen's questions had been transformed into statements, it
seemed - and attributed to Flerrion!  Well, that explained why she'd been so
out of sorts when he'd come to visit her earlier, if she'd thought that *he*
had been spreading that stuff around!

     As soon as the trainees departed, Troy got up and came over to settle
beside him.  Maybe she wasn't too mad at him after all, then...but he was
still worried about the things she'd said she was going to do to Zenith.  He
hoped that maybe the water had cooled her temper somewhat.

     <Flerrion,> the queen said, her voice low and husky - exactly the tone
she took when she wanted something from him.  <Will you help me get back at
Zenith for the nasty joke he played on us this morning?  He made fools of both
of us!>

     <You don't think this will make it into the gossip rounds like that
business with the mud did, do you?> he asked worriedly.

     <Oh, I'm sure Zenith will make sure everyone knows,> she rumbled angrily.
<It would be just like him!>

     Flerrion sighed.  He knew that she loved to gossip, but wasn't too fond
about being gossiped *about!*  <You...wouldn't really hurt him, would you?> he
asked.

     <Of course I wouldn't *hurt* him,> she said, sounding offended that he'd
think her capable of that.  <But I do mean to get back at him!  Have you
forgotten who talked you into showering me with mud?>

     <But he *was* right, sort of,> Flerrion replied, leaning over to nuzzle
her neck.  He wasn't happy with Zenith right now either, but didn't want to
get involved with anything that would get them into even more trouble.  <I
mean, you *were* having fun playing in the mud with me...at least until our
riders came along.>

     <Well...maybe just a *little* bit,> she agreed reluctantly.

     <And I'm sorry about your painting, but Zenith couldn't have known that
would happen,> Flerrion told her.  <Your rider can always make another.>

     <I think it will be awhile before I can get her to paint me again,> Troy
said sadly, knowing that it would be awhile now before her picture was up on
the wall with that of Jennaladar and the rest of Daere's senior queens.

     <But we had a lot of fun, didn't we?>  he asked hopefully.

     <Fun??> Troy demanded, shocked.  She pulled her neck away from him so she
was looking him in the eye.  <You call that *fun?*>

     <You were laughing,> he said lamely, sensing that he was in more trouble.
<I thought...>

     <Of course I was laughing, you silly lizard!!> she told him, clearly
annoyed.  <I'd like to see *you* not laugh when someone is tickling you, like
you were doing to me!>

     Flerrion felt like a complete fool.  <I'm sorry, Troy,> he said, leaning
forward to touch the tip of his muzzle against her cheek.  <I should have
stopped right away when you told me to, but Zenith said that you'd do that
just to keep anyone from thinking you liked to have fun - I think he forgot to
tell me something. You must think I have nothing but coal-dust between my
ears...>

     This made him mad.  He didn't mind being the butt of a few jokes, but he
definitely didn't like being deceived into playing nasty tricks on Troy!  He
suddenly found himself a bit more willing to listen to what she had to say
about getting back at Zenith.  Though it *would* be fun to tease her about her
being ticklish now and then, just as a reminder that queens weren't so
different from ordinary dragons like him...!  

     <Well, you didn't know, and he *did* trick you,> she conceded, then her
voice turned coaxing.   <So don't you want to do something to him in return?
Something *fun*?>

     <Fun?> he asked, his ears perking up at the word.  He listened very
closely as Troy quietly explained her plan to him.

     <Sap?> he asked.  <Where would we get that?>

     <Sssshhh!   I know of a place where a rather large tree blew down in a
storm recently, and there's quite a pool of it there.  You can use one of
those large fire-buckets they use to transport water.>

     <Me??> he asked.  <It's your idea!  Why don't you do it?> 

     <Because you can't distract him the way I can,> she reminded him.  <Well?
Won't you do it...for me?> she asked softly, cuddling herself closer to him.

     <So I'll be doing the work while you do the cuddling?!>

     <Oh, don't look at it that way,> Troy said, at her persuasive best.  "I
won't cuddle any more than necessary to distract him.  The rest of the time
I'll be complaining to him...he'll love that!>

     <What are you going to complain about?> he asked, puzzled.

     <Why, about *you,* silly!>

     Flerrion was even more certain that it was going to be one of those days.

T'rell
* * * * * * * *
(after the return from Triylar)

     After sending Flerrion off to the feeding grounds, he called Darar to ask
him and his rider to bring Kayla.  She would, he thought, be a good one to
help get the new searchling, Marialla, introduced to Daere Warren.  Marialla
definitely did have a very strong affinity about her, but as to whether she
had the other qualities needed to make a good rider...well, as with all the
other trainees, only time would tell.  But he meant to get her off to as good
a start as possible.  

     Kayla and Ar'Aman arrived shortly, and Kayla quickly took Marialla in
hand.  He could tell that Marialla was just a bit awestruck at the size and
complexity of Daere...just as he'd been when he arrived, and *he'd* had the
advantage of coming from another large warren.  He was sure she'd feel more
comfortable with Kayla than with him...for some reason, some of the trainees
saw him as being just a bit threatening...he couldn't imagine why, of
course...

     "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning," he told Marialla.
"And if you've got things you need to pick up back in Triylar, Flerrion and I
will be glad to take you there."

     "Thank you, T'rell," Marialla said as Kayla led her away.

     "Ar'Aman, could I talk to you for a moment?" T'rell asked, as the other
rider was starting to follow them.

     "Of course," he said, turning to come back.  "What can I do for you?"

      "I've got a proposal for you," T'rell told him.

     "Well, I don't know about that," said Ar'Aman, affecting a thoughtful
expression.  "I'm rather interested in Kayla, you know..."

     T'rell chuckled.  "Good one," he conceded.  "But seriously...you may or
may not have heard that I'm going to be spending more time training Jadain in
how to use his telepathy safely.  That will force me to divert some time from
what I'm doing here...so I've decided - and the Warrenlady has agreed - that I
could use some help."

     "But I thought that Jer'lin was still head trainer," Ar'Aman observed.

     "He is, but he doesn't want to be tied down to the job every day," T'rell
said.  "And for as many years as he did this job, I don't blame him.
Actually, I had someone else in mind...someone like you!"

(Tag Peter - I thought this might give Ari a chance to interact with Kayla on
a professional as well as a personal basis - it would also give him more
chance to interact with both T'rell and Marialla.  If he's not interested,
though, he could always say that being a trainer over Kayla would be a
conflict of interest.)

* * * * * * * *

     As he was on his way to the dining hall, the telepathic call from
Fae'Rhee came through.  *T'rell, are you free?* she asked.

     *For now,* he told her.  *What did you think of yesterday?  You never
said.*

     *It was wonderful! Fantastic! Teach me more, please!*

     *Meet me at the dining hall after dinner,* he told her.  Well, make that
two telepathy students!  

     As he entered the dining hall, he saw Ja'ks standing over in a corner,
speaking with his mother Realee.  Ja'ks beckoned him over.

     "Mother was just telling me something terrible," Ja'ks said when T'rell
arrived.  The Beta Wingleader turned his head away from Realee and quickly
winked at the trainer.  "The med center was robbed last night!!"

     T'rell's eyebrows shot up.  "No! You don't say!"

     Realee nodded, looking back and forth between the two of them.  "They
don't know who did it...of course!  Strange, though, very strange...nothing of
value was taken.  None of the drugs, or anything like that.  Just a paddle!"

     "My, my, that *is* strange," Ja'ks commented.  "Who would want to steal
something like that?"

     "That's what Healer Noni would like to know," Realee commented.  "She's
quite put out about the whole thing, I understand."

     T'rell shook his head.  "How low will some people go?" he asked, making
sure to put an indignant expression on his face.

     "Yes, that's exactly my thinking," Realee agreed, eyeing the two riders
carefully.  "I think that the thieves...*whoever* they are...would do well to
lay low for quite awhile until this blows over!"

     T'rell and Ja'ks looked at each other, nodding.

(Paula - I wonder what Noni will do now...?)

* * * * * * * *
(after diner, the green)

     "It's mostly a matter of training," T'rell told Fae'Rhee as the two of
them walked out to the center of the green, where they'd have an unobstructed
view of the sky.  "Telepathy is a much more versatile and useful talent than
most people know."

     "But how did you learn all of it?" she asked.  "I've never heard of
anyone doing anything like what you did with Jadain yesterday.  Or rather,
what *we* did," she added, chuckling.

     "Neither had I, until then," he told her.  "Fortunately, over the last
few hundred years a number of books have been written on the subject.  For
some reason, Daere's library doesn't have much on the subject, but I happened
to bring along several that I'd borrowed from the library at Falagand shortly
before my departure.  So I looked it up, and found the same symptoms
described...and the way of dealing with them."

     "Borrowed?" Fae'Rhee asked, smiling.  "So you're going to be taking them
back?  I hope I get a chance to look at them first."

     "Well, I regard libraries as a public resource," T'rell told her.  "And
I'm a member of the public, so...no, seriously, I I accidently put them into
the bag with my other stuff, and I'm afraid I can never go back to Falagand to
return them.  So I'm donating them to Daere's library, where they'll be far
more useful."

     "Good," she said.  "I'm looking forward to reading them.  "But in the
meantime, you were going to show me that other technique you used with Jadain
the other night...how to listen to all of the warren's dragons at the same
time."

     He nodded, and sat down on the ground, motioning for her to do the same.
"That's an easy one, once you know the technique."  He quickly gave her the
same explanation he'd given Jadain, then directed her to look up at the stars.
"Pretend that one's your dragon," he said, knowing that having her own dragon
would give her a good starting point that Jadain hadn't had.  Then go out from
there...see each of the stars as a dragon, and let your mind rise up to meet
them."

(Tag Morgan - I suspect there are going to be all sorts of interesting things
for them to listen to tonight!)

Flerrion
* * * * * * * *
(late night)

     The warren was quiet now, as Flerrion gazed from his ledge out over the
vast bowl of Daere.  Most of the dragons were fast asleep, so even the
interchange of gossip had died down to the barest trickle.  If he was right,
though, that would soon change.  He knew his rider was a sound sleeper, so
with luck T'rell wouldn't even be aware of the commotion that was shortly to
take place.  There was always that hope, at least...

     He strained his eyes, looking for a particular shape...there, over on the
far side of the bowl!  He could just make out the shape of the black dragon as
he took wing from the ledge of the apartment shared by the Warrenlady and the
senior queen.  On silent wings, Zenith glided across the warren to his own
apartment.  Flerrion ducked back inside to keep from being seen.

     <He just left,> Troy informed him quietly.  <Is everything ready?>

     <Yes,> he told her.  <His rider was asleep, and didn't even hear me come
in.>

     <You dumped the sticky sap all over his bed, then?>

     <Yes...>

     <And the dried leaves, like I told you?  And that white, fluffy stuff
that they pile in the bin behind the laundry??

     <Yes, yes, just like you told me> Flerrion assured her.  <So...do you
think he'll be angry?>

     <Furious!> Troy giggled mischeviously.  <But remember, he has no idea who
did it...if anyone, he'd suspect me...but he knows I couldn't have done it.
And if anyone asks you, you were asleep the entire time, understand?  And if
he comes out looking for trouble, stay right where you are.  *I* will go out
and talk to him!>

     Flerrion chuckled at just how devious Troy could be.  No matter how angry
Zenith was, he couldn't do anything to retaliate against the queen.  And if he
was rude to her, he might just get her tail across his backside!

     <Very well.  I just hope that...>

     Flerrion's words were cut off as the peace of the sleeping warren was
broken by the loud roar of a *very* angry dragon...!

(Barb, Lea...what will happen next, I wonder...?)

Submitted by:

John

T'rell & Flerrion
Daere Warren