Day 7

ãGus, wake up.ä

The voice flitted across the edges of consciousness, but failed to penetrate 
true slumber.  Ojean reached out a hand to gently shake his friend awake.  
Where the words had failed, the touch was wildly successful.  Gus leaped to 
attention, hands poised for attack.  

Ojean backed up a step, hands held up.  ãTake it easy.  Itâs just me.  
Stormâs over, letâs go.ä

Gus nodded, stretched and stood up. She followed the boy out of the meeting 
hall, suppressing the urge to check on Delia.  The child would likely be 
upset that Gus had left without saying goodbye, but Gus couldnât afford the 
scene.  Looking around at the early morning sky, she tried to bring herself 
fully awake, though half her mind seemed still asleep.  All that fuss, and 
the storm didnât turn out so big after all.  She shrugged and swung up behind 
Ojean.

As they landed, she became aware that she was hungrier now than sheâd ever 
been - even when sheâd gone without.  She frowned, puzzled.  There had been 
food in the meeting hall and sheâd had her share.  No reason to be starving 
now... She grinned suddenly with the realization that she wasnât who was 
hungry.  She slipped off of Teewith and headed for the barracks, intent on 
her newest duties.

Unwilling to run with so many around, she dropped into a long, loping stride 
that rapidly ate up the distance.  She burst into the barracks, to find them 
empty.  

ãWhat the hell -?ä

<Youâre back!>

<Yeah, where are you?>

<Upper level.  They brought us here because - OH! meat!>  The rest of Lokiâs 
thoughts were lost in his food bowl.

Gus chuckled slightly and looked around the barracks more carefully.  Sure 
enough, some of the bedding was damp and there was some debris in the 
corners.  Acting on a sudden impulse, she darted to her own chest and looked 
within.  Her money sack she had taken with her but now she grabbed the locket 
and tucked it in an inner pocket, well-hidden.  Time to find this upper 
level.  She sighed.  Climbing the rock walls was going to be a real drag when 
they were this wet.  She headed out of the barracks and swept her gaze over 
the warren, trying to decide where the best place to climb was.  She did spot 
one nice spot that might be a fun climb - in better weather, but was that 
where she needed to go?  

<Come where I can see you,will ya?>

<Iâm busy being oiled.  They arenât as messy as you are.>

<Show me where you are or Iâm gonna boot your sorry dragon ass over a ledge.  
...They?>

<Just follow the ramp, idiot.  They are Fawna and Sammy.>

Ramp?  Gus turned to see a ramp on the other side of the warren from where 
she was looking and flushed at her own foolishness.  She headed swiftly up 
the ramp and into a surprisingly large apartment.  It had been converted into 
a make-shift barracks and was well out of the wind.  Loki was crooning 
happily under the attentions of two little girls.  Gus smiled as Loki edged a 
shoulder closer in a bid for more.  One of the girls looked startlingly like 
Shawnee and Gus wondered just how much family the woman had.

<Lazy slug.>

<You deserted me, remember?>

Loki still pulled himself away from the petting to nuzzle his rider.  Gus 
responded with a friendly rub behind eye ridges that were closer to hand than 
yesterday.  She leaned back to get a good look and was shocked to see how 
much the dragon had grown overnight.  A discreet glance around the room at 
the other hatchlings showed that they too had grown a similar amount - and 
that Loki was still a fair bit smaller.

<Itâs not like youâre a giant yourself, yâknow.>  

Gus chuckled.  <Good thing, shrimp.>

Loki chuckled - still an eerie thing to Gus, to hear chuckling inside her 
head - and butted her playfully.  She shoved him back, equally playfully and 
turned her attention back to the two girls who were watching them with much 
amusement.

ãThanks for looking after him for me.  I owe yaâ.ä  Both girls started to 
protest and Gus held up a hand to stop them.  ãTrust me.  I owe yaâ and Iâll 
pay back.  With something youâll like.ä  She smiled warmly at the girls, 
unable to completely squelch a moment of friendliness.  Then, recalling 
herself, she turned away and headed out of the temporary barracks.

<Coming, slug?>

<Bet I can beat you!  Where are we going?>

<Hmm, gotta clean up somewhere. Beach?>

Loki nodded assent and bolted for the door, Gus hard on his heels.  
Unfortunately, the doorway wasnât empty.  She barely managed to avoid 
careening into Jerram.  Loki didnât stand a chance.  To Gusâs disgust, Loki 
grinned up at Jerram with what had to be an attempt at a winsome smile.

<Oh, stop it! You aint that cute!>

<Youâre just jealous!>

Gus stifled a groan and began edging past Jerram.  If she got through, sheâd 
have a good head start on Loki, who would have to wait until the door was 
clear.

<Cheater!>

<Yeah, so?>

ãWhere do you think youâre going?ä

Gus reminded herself that Tara expected her to be nice and kept her voice 
level.  ãI figure the beach needs cleaning.ä

ãOh, and youâre actually willing to grace us with your efforts?  How generous 
of you.ä

Gus frowned slightly in confusion.  Now what had she done to annoy him?  
ãThatâs why Iâm here, aint it?ä  If she could squeeze past him a little 
further, sheâd be free and she could go and work in peace and fresh air.

ãNow, look here trainees!  Here is a role model for you all.  A hero 
yesterday, but today he just wants to get right back to work.ä

Jerramâs sneering tone was almost lost on Gus as the actual words penetrated. 
 Heâd told them!  She had specifically told Ojean not to, and heâd ratted her 
out anyway.  And now, Jerram had spread it further.  She was vaguely aware of 
Lokiâs reminder that she was under orders to make peace with Jerram, but the 
anger had only one available target.

ãShut the hell up!ä 

She shoved hard, getting Jerram out of her way and fled to the beach, Loki 
chasing after her.

*******
Gus stalked the beach, tossing the debris into piles.  One stick skewed 
sideways, landing a ways off.  Loki ambled after it while Gus continued 
hurling pieces of wood at the pile.  Loki trotted back with the stick in his 
mouth and sat back on his haunches waiting for Gus to notice.  She ran out of 
nearby junk and looked up.  Seeing her, Loki swung his tail vigorously side 
to side, stirring up a considerable amount of sand.  Gus just gazed at him 
for a moment, then dropped her head into her hands in apparent disgust, but 
Loki could hear her silent amusement.

<You are not a dog.>

<Woof.>

Gus giggled helplessly and moved down the beach to the next area of debris. 
She began again tossing things onto the pile, but with less force than 
before.  Loki went and dropped his stick on the pile and sat next to it, 
watching her.

<Why are you so angry?>

<I told the brat not to tell and he did.>

<Well, yeah, but why not tell?  Tee says it was a good thing - like what my 
father did.>

Gus stood up, the wind blowing her hair about, and looked at her dragon.  
<Everyone is gonna think Iâm soft now.>

<But you are soft.  Make a nice pillow.>

<No, dammit, not that kinda soft.  People gotta think youâre tough, so they 
donât mess with you.  If youâre soft you get used.>

Loki thought hard for a moment.  <Itâs another scam!>

<Er, yeah, sorta.>

<You donât want them to know that youâre really a nice guy. I get it.>

<Loki, I aint a nice guy.>

<Ok, ok, a nice girl, whatever.  Get back to work.>

Gus recognized the futility of arguing and went back to cleaning up the 
beach.  Loki waited until her attention was fully on the pile of debris and 
then sidled toward the waterâs edge.  He had noticed some green ribbon-like 
things floating in the water.  Gauging the timing of the waves so he didnât 
get knocked over, he waded into the water and grabbed hold of the ribbon.  
Perfect!  It was cold and slimy and altogether disgusting.  Stifling a 
chortle, he slowly crept up behind Gus, careful not to make any noise and 
stealthily slipped the ribbon of seaweed down the back of her shirt.

Gus straightened up with a leap and a yelp, shaking her shirt to dislodge the 
thing.  Loki rolled back on the sand, hooting with draconic laughter.

ãYou little worm! Thatâs it, this means war!ä

With a whoop, Gus dove at Loki, aiming for the ticklish spots she had 
discovered oiling him.  The dragon squirmed and protested, but his rider was 
merciless.  With a heave, Loki rolled away, knocking Gus off-balance with his 
tail.  Gus fell over, shaking with laughter.  

<Ow.>

<What?>

<I landed on something.  Lemme look.>

Rolling over, Gus grabbed up the smallish pouch she had landed on.  It was 
knotted tightly shut - and immersion in salt water had tightened the knots 
further.  It took her several minutes - and her teeth - to get them open. 
Tipping the bag slightly, she let its contents roll onto her outstretched 
palm.  There were a scant handful of them - easily less than 10 - and none of 
them large or particularly well-formed, but they were still jewels.  Gus 
stared open-mouthed at the sparkling stones.  Clamping down hard on the 
exultation that raced through her at the sight of this wealth, she tried to 
think things through.  This was more money than sheâd ever needed - but 
useless in this form.  And, she supposed, by rights, this belonged to the 
warren.  And they likely wouldnât need a changer.  But to give up all that 
money..... Gus slid temptation back into its bag and took several deep 
breaths.  Lifting her head to stare out to sea - as though the answer would 
be there - she noticed something.

<Loki, is it just me or is the horizon darkening?>

<I donât know.  Whatâs a horizon?>

<Where the sea meets the sky, dodo.>

<I guess so.>

Gus swore. ãIdiot!ä  She should have known better.  No storm made that much 
fuss for so little - it wasnât over, it was only the calm in the middle.  No 
sense finishing the beach now.  She sighed, seeing how much progress sheâd 
made, that would all be wiped away when the storm hit again.  

<Câmon, buddy, letâs get inside.>

__________________________________________________________________
Katrina