A Slap in the Face (Amongst other things)

---Callana---

Rough, brutal hands slapped her awake.

"Wake up, slut, there's someone here who says he knows you."

"Well, I, uh, that is to say, uh, I ah-"

She heard another slap, rather than felt it.

"I used to."

<Slaire?>

She got a groggy affirmative from her dragon.  <Where are you?  Where
are we?>

"Back in the wastes, my dear," said the voice who had accompanied the
slap.  Callana managed to crack on eye open and focus blearily on the
two figures in front of her.  One was tall, unknown, and definately
male.  The other-

She collapsed unconcious.

-----

"Damn!  That was a stupid risk, fool, and you knew it!  Why the bloody
hell'd you take him with you?"

"How was I supposed to know the other warrens he talked about were for
real?  I just wanted to see if he recognized her!  And if they deal with
rogue warrens the way he said they did-"

"Shut up, you spineless moron!  For all we know, you've turned her stark
raving mad!  You found the bastard when he first showed up, and you
remember the state he was in!"

"Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know-"

"You were supposed to THINK, you idiot!  Where are they now?"

"Uh-- he's down in the catacombs looking for his dragon again, and she's
still out in the room we locked her up in."

"And her dragon?"

"Down in the catacombs, with the other one."

"Good.  Has his dragon found a way out yet?"

"I believe so.  I think that's how the girl and her dragon was brought
here.  They were following another one, and his dragon came out of
nowhere, and teleported out.  Left a picture she could follow."

"Oh, this will be entertaining..."

-----

Groggily, she stretched and moaned.  No shackles bound her wrists or
ankles, but the pain in her head kept her lying in bed for another four
hours.  The curtains around the bed were tightly drawn, thankfully
enough.  Everything was acutely percieved, from the pillows in the
darkness to the sound of breathing just outside the curtains.

"Who's out there?" she called, forcing the words from her dry throat. 
She heard hesitant stirring beyond the curtain.  She heard a heavy
sigh.  More of the foggy feeling lifted.  The last sound before she
passed out made her bolt upright in bed.  She clutched her head in her
hands and closed her eyes.

"It's me, Blade."

Curled up in a ball, hunched over her knees, she heard the curtains
open.  Someone -she knew who now- sat down on the bed beside her and
pulled the curtain shut again.  A gentle hand rested on her shoulder.

"Not.. dead..?" was all she could manage after five long, painfully
silent minutes.

A dry, humourless laugh answered her.  "No, I'm not dead.  And neither
are you."

"I wish I was now."

More harsh silence.

<Slaire?> she sent tentatively.

<I know,> came Slaire's smug reply.  <It's great, isn't it?  Though I'm
stuck in these damn catacombs->

Callana sighed and rested her temple on her knees, still not facing him.

"You're not dead," he stated softly, "for the same reason I'm not."

*Oh gods, I wish I were,* Callana thought bleakly.

"I ..abandoned you.. then.."

"Did you?  The last I remember is us fighting, and me deciding to try
and teleport out.  It worked."

"You.. got out?  That fast?"

She was incredulous.

"And you didn't come back?  Go back?  Tell the others?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I was a prisoner.  I still am a prisoner."

He didn't say a thing about wanting to go back to find her.

"I - don't - believe-" she choked.  "No.. no no no.."  She bit back a
sob.  The hand left her shoulder.  "Nine months," she breathed hoarsely.

"What?"

"Nine months," she repeated clearly, not daring to look up yet.  "Nine
months, I searched for you."

"Oh, gods."  It was his turn to curse.

"A year, since I got out.  A year.  I went back to say good bye.. I
heard you, something, out there.. now, I followed a rogue-"

"You saw Furl."

She whimpered.  "Got a picture.. followed.  Woke up..  Such a
nightmare."  She sighed.  "..Blame.."

"You're incoherant," he said firmly.  "Get some real sleep.  When you
wake up, you'll handle this better."

"No, I won't," she said very quietly.  "It's now or never, because when
I woke up in the warren after those damn wastes finally let me out,
everyone thought I was raving crazy, and though it went unsaid, I knew
they thought I was responsbile for your.. death.  You're dead.  You have
to be.  A year-" she broke mid-sentance, stuffing down her tears again. 
"They let me out- back to a real life- you gone, I moved-"

"But there aren't any regular warrens around here.  These are all old
-new to you, I guess.  How did you get here?"

"-Merranie.." she said hesitantly.  "Transferred to Cleft.  I.. left."

He sighed again.  "Get some rest," he said again.

She refused.  "I want some food and a shower."

"That can be arranged.  Come on then, get up- I'll show you where to get
everything.  They're rather rough around the edges, and they don't like
me very much, but they tolerate me.  Don't know what else to do with
me."

He stood up and Callana stretched out of the cramped position she had
been in.  She parted the curtains into a dusky room that let in the
twilight from outside.  There was a cool bite in the air, but not
particularly uncomfortable.  She examined the small room for a moment,
and noticed that it had a 'lived in' look.

"You stay here?" she asked.  He nodded, and smiled hesitantly.  She
still wouldn't look him in the face.  His mouth pulled a straight line.

"Come on then," he sighed.

"T.. T'keth?" she called softly after him hesitantly.  His hand reaching
for the door, he stopped in midstride.  Her head still turned, he found
her arms around him and her head pressed against his chest.  Slowly, he
lowered his arms around her shoulders.

"I missed you," he heard her murmur.

"I missed you too," he replied, his voice low to hide the strain.

Her mind found her dragon's in an instant, and she slipped into the old
mode of talking to him right through Slaire and Furl.

<How much?>

<As much as you missed me,> he sent back, feeling her thoughts through
Furl and Slaire.  "And more," he said aloud.

"Really?"

"Really.  I thought you'd escaped, too, and gone back to the warren. 
When I realized that the warrens here were so isolated, I almost lost
hope, but recently, there were rumours about new lands.. and I had
hoped.."

<Furl says most of the bleak apathy wore off, and that got Furl into
finding a way out of the catacombs.>

<You mean there's a way out?>

<Yeah, but they don't let humans down there far enough to get to the
exit.>

"Escaping will be hard," she murmured, still wrapped in his arms.

"Who wants to escape right now, hmm?" he asked, one of the genuine,
devil-may-care smiles on his face that she remembered.  

-------

"They make a cute couple."

"I don't know about that.. D'you really think it's okay to keep them
together?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was
okay?"

"Just askin'."

"Yeah, that's all you do, so you won't have to think."

"..."

"What was that?"

"Nothin'.  Nev'rmind.  Anaways, boss, whaddya think we ought to do with
them?"

"Oh, I don't know.. Jhonny said the other two .. he's got something with
them.. they'll be here in a few days.  Apparently, they take rogue
death-threats seriously."

"Uh, boss.. that new dragon, the blue one- what if the other one shows
it the way out and it flies for the warren?"

"Then we'll kill it."

"But won't that hurt the rider?  You remember what happened to Jidia.."

"That's too bad, then.  I think the man will keep her from trying to
escape, however.  I don't use my ..talents.. purely for the virtue of
helping others."

"'Couse not.  That's why you're here, and not straddling some winged
warren rat."

"Watch your mouth!  I should have you flogged for that!"

"Hey now, no boss, I didn't mean nuthin' disrespectful or nothin'!"

"Don't worry about it.. I've got them both under my thumb."

"I'm sure you do, boss."

--------

She got her shower a few hours later after getting directions from
T'keth.  She took her time and got 'lost' a few times while she was
exploring.  Callana discovered this was one of the more well-organized
rogue warrens- not that she'd had much experience with them anyway. 
Most of it looked like spoils from raids and such.  She even discovered
where they had put her sword.

Guards were posted at each possible exit, and they weren't very nice
about giving directions, either.  Finally, she found her own way, and
spent a good hour cleaning herself up.  She hated putting her old
clothing back on, but it was all she had.  She tied her wet hair back in
a braid, and made her way back to where she thought T'keth's room was.

She found herself lost again, contemplating the suddenness of his return
in her life, and all her unresolved feelings from the past.  There were
so many feelings- relief, regret, fear.  Somewhere burried under all
that was the love she had tried so very hard to forget.  She even
surprised herself by discovering a sense of smugness- that he wasn't
dead, and Merranie was wrong.

<Oh, that's petty..> Slaire smirked.

Callana merely gave a mental shrug, and found another guard to give her
directions back to the 'rat's den'.

-----------------------
NRPG:  Well, that's part one of something.  More coming soon.

Submitted by,
Keri Rodgers
Callana & Slaire