She tried to resist, but the need to know was too great, and she asked, "Do
I know you?"

She saw the man in front of her wink, then reply, "No, I don't recognize
you."  However, his eyes told another story; they told her that they would
talk later, alone.

She heard a voice call out and, turning, saw two dragonriders coming towards
them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kirin cringe away, obviously
frightened or embarrassed; Marcail couldn't tell which.  "Marcail, Inagua...
look..." she said, pointing at the two oncoming men.

Glancing at Malinia and her group, she could easily tell that they weren't
all that happy with the oncoming people. She wondered about that; the two
people were only dragonriders....

Inagua, Marcail noticed, didn't seem to want to wait around for any length
of time, and as she watched the little thief melted into the shadows.

"Okay gotta go bye," Kirin blurted out and quickly headed the other way,
away from the approaching dragonriders.  The dragonriders changed their
course slightly to catch up with her, and Marcail watched as Malinia and the
others broke off, heading in another direction.  Her curiousity piqued,
Marcail decided to follow them.

When they rounded a corner, the man motioned for she and Malinia to go off
together a short ways from the others.  Marcail shrugged and followed.

"Marcail, I thought you were dead!" the man blurted out when they were out
of earshot.  "It's very good to see you."

"What?  How do you know my name?" she asked in amazement. She knew she
hadn't said a thing; either he'd gotten it from Malinia or he knew her....

"Huh?" the man replied, a perplexed look coming over his face, "you don't
recognize me? It's Arwin."

Marcail desperately tried to place the name, but it's meaning eluded her
grasp.  "Arwin?" she thought out loud, trying to see if it sounded familiar.

"I can't believe this, we are old riding partners."  Arwin raked a hand
through his hair, obviously frustrated.  "Where's Blaysa?" he blurted out.

"Who's that?"  Marcail saw the incredulous and shocked look on his face and
asked, a little heatedly this time, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"What's wrong with you, don't you remember your own dragon?  Don't you
remember when our band was massacred?"

Massacred? Marcail thought in wonder as Malinia interjected, "Are you sure
you have the right person?"

Marcail looked at the woman and the man next to her, then asked, "Malinia,
could you leave me and Arwin alone?  Please?"  She saw a stubborn look come
over the woman's face, and repeated, "Please?"

Marcail saw something flicker across Malinia's face, but couldn't tell what.
Frustration? shock? or something else, she didn't know what, but the woman
nodded and stepped away.

"Thank you!" Arwin stated, tension easing out of his body.  "You don't know
how much of a witch she is!"

"I suppose she can come off that way sometimes," Marcail answered dryly,
then stated, "How do you know me?"

"What's the matter with you? Don't you remember anything?"

"I'm afraid not.  You see, as far back as I can remember is two days ago.  I
don't know much before that."

<Hello?>

Marcail started slightly, not knowing where the voice came from, but Arwin
just continued.

"Well, before you came here, you were with me and a large group of other
dragon riders. We lived just outside Falagand warren.  That's down south."
When she just nodded, he continued. "Well, you had a dragon as well, Blaysa,
and...."

"I had a dragon?" Marcail said incredulously.  "What was she like?  What
happened to her?"

"Well, she was a pretty large dragon, a deep purple with light blue eyes.
As for what happened to her, I don't rightly know; thought you would."

<Hello?  Where are you?>

Marcail looked all about, trying to find the owner of the voice and answer
Arwin's question at the same time. "No, I haven't a clue.  But what was this
about a massacre you said?"

"Oh yeah, well Falagand seemed to not like us, so they sent out their own
dragonriders to dispatch us."  His tone was filled with loathing as he
continued.  "They took us by surprise, the cowards.  It was night, and
nobody was expecting it. We were well hidden; nobody knew where we were
except ourselves.  Yet somehow, those dragonriders found us." He shuddered
slightly at the memory, but pressed on.  "They came over us, and the odds
were about two to one....."

<Where are you!?  I'm HUNGRY!!!>

*Who Are you!* Marcail thought, totally oblivious to Arwin's words. Arwin
seemed not to notice and continued talking, although Marcail couldn't really
hear.

<I'm at the Warren!  I'm your dragon, I'm here, and I'm HUNGRY!!!>

Dragon..... Marcail smiled slightly, not noticing Arwin had stopped talking
and was staring at her weirdly.  *Dragon?*

<Yes, dragon!  Now, get over here, or I swear I'll go find you and rip your
leg off!>

Marcail smiled fully now, recognizing the statement as a jest.

<I meant what I said> the voice said ominously.

"Marcail?"  Arwin's hand waved in front of her face, and she turned to look
at him.  "What is going...." he started.

"I'm afraid we'll have to talk a little later," Marcail said, glancing back
at the warren.  "I have a little business I need to take care of."  She gave
a little wave to Malinia, then turned and jogged back to the warren.

<WHERE ARE YOU!?> the voice called loudly in her head.

*Sheesh!   I'm coming!* Marcail thought.  But as she entered the warren, she
immediately got lost.  *Where are you?*

<AARGH!  Oh, why did I have to get saddled with such an incompetant,
thoughtless, unknowing.....>

*Now, there's no need for all that!* Marcail thought angrily, wanting to
stomp off and leave the voice behind, yet something held her back, making
her go deeper into the warren.  She followed her instincts, weaving through
the corridors and rooms until she heard a loud noise, which sounded like
keening, getting louder.

<where ARE You!?> the voice thought, and Marcail could tell it was
definately closer now.

*I'm coming, I'm coming* Marcail thought back, looking at a Y in the
corridor.  *Which way?*

<Oh, sit down you lazy human, I'm coming> came the agitated reply.  Marcail,
heeding the voice of experience (or so she thought) leaned against the wall
and waited.

A moment later, she could hear shouting coming from one of the corridors.
She could only catch snippets of the conversation, which got easier to
understand as they drew closer.  "....It's going...wild...." "..is it
running....way? Outside.....that way.." "maybe....rider....over here."
"...stop her!  She heading down the corridor!"

<Help me!  I can't get to you!>

Marcail sprinted down the corridor, turning a corner and coming face to face
with a small white dragonet being held by two or three people.  Snarling
with the fear and anger of the little dragonet, she leaped onto the people
hauling the dragon back, wrestling her from their grasps, pulling a small
knife out of her sleeve and threatening them with it.

<Hmm, it seems my rider isn't all that bad after all> the voice said, and
Marcail turned to look at the little dragonet in front of her.  <Well?  What
are you staring at?> the voice/dragonet said.  <I'm HUNGRY!>

*Fine, fine!*  Sheathing the knife and ignoring the people all around her,
she led the little dragon into the room next door, which happened to be the
kitchen, then shut the doors on the noses of the people who tried to follow
her, locking it as best she could. "Now, where is that meat?" she wondered.

The little dragon keened and nosed to a large compartment nearby, and
Marcail could suddenly smell the food behind it.  She headed over and opened
the door, and smiled as she saw the meat. Her smile dropped, however, when
she noticed it was frozen.

<What do you mean I can't have any!> the little dragon stated heatedly when
Marcail told her of their predicament.  <I'm hungry!>  Then she began to
keen.  <I'm going to die if I don't get any food!  I know it!  I'm so
hungry, I can just feel my body beginning to eat itself all out....>

"Okay!" Marcail practically shouted, both scared and a little miffed about
her new dragon's melodramatics.  "Sheesh, I'll find you something!"

"You know, you could have just come to the hatching grounds for food, if
that's what you wanted."

Marcail whirled around, as did the little white dragon, to see V'dar
standing in the front doorway, a large bucket in his hand.  Marcail relaxed
a little and replied, "I didn't know how to get to the hatching grounds. I
kind of got lost."

"Well, I suppose that's a good excuse," he said, smiling.  Holding out the
bucket, he added, "I brought a bucket of food for your dragon.  What's her
name?"

"Name?" Marcail said blankly.  *What's your name?*

<Gossimer> the little dragon replied, standing taller as if proud. Then the
next instant <AND I'M HUNGRY!>

"Gossimer, and she's kind of hungry," Marcail said.

V'dar just laughed, seeing the wince and knowing it was her dragon shouting
at her. And he was pretty sure he knew why.  "Well, just feed her this," he
said, giving her the bucket.  "I just hope it's enough."

"Yeah, me too," Marcail muttered, then thanked the dragonrider and turned to
her little dragon. Only to be bowled over by an overanxious dragon, landing
hard on her bottom.  "Fine!  Here."  She presented the large bucket open
side up and just listened and watched as the little dragon stuck her head
inside and gulped and smacked for a few minutes.  Marcail couldn't help but
grin; whatever her beauty, manners didn't seem to be her strong point.

<I resent that> a slightly less angry voice thought, but the slurping sounds
stopped and Gossimer ate a little less rambunctiously.

Right after she ate, the little dragonet lifted her head out of the bucket
and turned adoring eyes onto Marcail.  <My human> she thought, then promptly
fell asleep, her head plumetting down onto Marcail midsection, causing
Marcail to wheeze slightly for a moment.

After that moment though, she marvelled at the little wonder in front of
her.  Gossimer, she thought, stroking the warm hide.  She looked as fragile
as a baby right now.  Although, Marcail could have sworn the little creature
had grown some in the time it had come through the door.

Still smiling, she loaded the sleeping dragon into her arms and headed
outside, toward where all the sound was coming from, guessing, correctly, it
was the hatching caverns.

Submitted by

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~ Sarah Pearson (isolinde@cwnet.com)            ~
* Lyonnia/Dianthus *TELNOR*; Rezsia/Jezebel     *
~ *DAERE*; Tanya/Poldera *WHITERIVER*;          ~
* Cynedra/Jakob*the dog*/Louie*the ferret*      *
~ *MYSTERRA*; Leanna Vere *USS MAGELLAN*;       ~
* Marcail/Gossamer *GEODE*; Linaya *RALENGARDE  *
~ http://www.linux.sfasu.edu/xfiles/xfrpg.html  ~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Reality is the only obstacle to happiness."  -Anonymous-