*A Few Little Problems*

Ojean
****** 

"Okay now you've seen the whole Warren including my favorite hiding spot,"
Ojean grinned at Cill as the two of them made their way towards the dining
hall. 
"What do you think of it?"

"It's so big for such a small place," and she grinned as she looked around.
"But I guess having an ocean as your front yard sort of gives it that
appearance. I can't wait to meet these dol-phins Fawna and Sammy told me about."

Ojean laughed and felt so good about being able to do with his best friend
again. "Maybe after lunch. You'll enjoy meeting them. they just love to play
games."

"Oh what kind of games?" she asked, wondering how a fish in the sea could play.

But before Ojean could answer her, Teewith told him that they had a request
from the Queen to come to her riders office.

<<Tell her I'll be there in a minute would ya?>> he sent back to Tee and
then turned to Cill who had a knowing grin on her face.

"We're not going to have lunch together are we?" she asked. "Tee just told
you you're needed somewhere right?"

"How did you know that?" he eyes her. "You didn't hear him did you?"

"I didn't have to," Cill told him. "I can always tell when you're talking to
him because of the look on your face. So where do you have to go now?"

"To see Tara," he looked sheepishly up at her. "Maybe if she's sending me
into town I can take you with me?"

"I don't know," she said slowly. Around Ojean she was fine... but around
strangers.....

"Oh come on it'll be fun and we can eat in the shops there..... You've got
to see them. the fish stalls I mean. They're set up outside near the docks
and you can get any kind of fish you want, and they'll even cook it right
there for you if you want them too!"

He could see she still wasn't convinced so he said, "Look you think about it
while I go see Tara... I may not even be leaving the Warren so we might not
even get to go. But you'll be with me and I promise you'll have fun."

"Okay," she agreed slowly. "I'll think about it."

"Good... I'll be back in a little bit. Meet you in the leather shop." He
said and then took off running for Tara's office.

........... 


A few minutes later, Ojean arrived. Tara asked him to be seated, and then
briefly told him of her meeting with Dolfis and what Corwin had told her
afterward. The young rider listened wide-eyed as she told the story.

"Wow," he said softly after she had finished. They'd never had anything like
this in Whiteriver. Even with the river going through it. A ship that size
would have never fit even if there had been one. "A real pirate!!"

Tara couldn't help but giggle. "Don't get your hopes up too high," she
warned him. "Dolfis doesn't have a wooden leg or a parrot on his shoulder,
doesn't walk around with lit fuses in his beard, and his sword didn't have a
trace of blood on it that I could see. And in our entire meeting, I'm afraid
he never once referred to anyone as 'matey.' If anything, he reminds me of
Saul."

Ojean grinned back at her.  "Well, then, he can't be too bad, can he?"
thinking of his sisters mate. There was no one Ojean liked or respected more
then the bearded rider.

Next to Shawnee and maybe Tara he added quickly.

"Well, that's the real question, isn't it?" Tara replied.  "Corwin has
confirmed that Dolfis is what he says he is, and since he knew who Evelle
was, I can only assume that he's telling the truth when he says he's been a
regular tither.  And if that's the case, I'm betting that there are records
here of his previous visits. I know this isn't really part of your regular
job as a courier, but..."

"But you want me to look through the records to check him out, right?" Ojean
asked, clearly pleased with the assignment.

"Exactly," Tara said. "I'd like to know if there's been any precedent in the
past for a situation like this - perhaps even between the warren and another
pirate.  No need to reinvent the wheel if it's already been done 
before."

"Okay looking it up should be easy to do," Ojean agreed, then added, "Would
it be okay if I ask Cill to help me? Two sets of eyes will read faster then
one and I promise she's not the type that's blab it about if we find anything."

Tara took a few seconds to think about it and Ojean was afraid for a moment
that she'd say no. But then she smiled and told him she didn't see any harm
in it and the boy was out the door after bowing good-bye to her like he'd
been taught.

He found Cill just where they had planned to meet up and told her about the
search Tara had asked him to do.

"Boy it's a not even dusty in here," Cill commented as Ojean looked for and
found the right records. The ones dated for the last five years. 

"We had to move everything recently when the storm hit. To make sure they
were up safe in a dry area in case the bowl flooded," he explain as he set
half the files in front of her. "Tara must have made then dust the place
before putting all the files back."

"Makes sense," Cill commented as she opened the top folder. "Now what are we
to look for?"

"Anything dealing with the name Dolfis on it," he told her opening his own
folder and began looking it over. "Or something dealing with tithes from
their ship."

A few hours later the two of them had a long list of dates where Dolfis and
his men had dropped tithes by the Warren and a list of each idea, but where
there had been notes in the margin's next to each of the others from the
Landbound Lords, there had been nothing at all listed next to Dolfis's. 

That in itself made Ojean wonder. Why wasn't there any more information
about the man other then his name and the name of his ship? Every other
fraction that tithed to the Warren had a full dossier filled out with the
names of every Lord Holder back to the time the Warren was established. As
well as mates and any children produced from the individual unions. 

So why wasn't there anything in the files on this pirate Dolfis?

"Strange....." he muttered as he shifted through the last folder in his pile. 

"What is?" Cill asked him reaching for the second to last on in her pile.

"There's nothing at all listed about the man in any of the files," he told
her and sat back in his chair to stretch tired muscles. "No home listed or
mate or family of any kind. Nothing except the dates he came by and the
amounts of the tithes they dropped off. And the files on him don't go back
nearly as far as some of the others."

"I wonder why? She frowned and then sat back a bit and pulled the file she
was reading up closer to get a better look at it. "Look here..... there's a
short note written in the margin...Something about whoever wrote it needing
to have a talk with Capt. C."

"Capt. C.? Let me have a look at that," Ojean told her and took the file
when she handed it over to him. "I wonder....." he muttered as he read the
few words written there. The script was flowery, like it had been written by
a woman and Ojean wondered if the old Warrenlady had written it. "We should
take this to Tara to have a look at," he said and grabbed her arm to get her
to follow him. 

"Do you know what it means?" she asked hurrying to keep up with him. "Who
this Capt. C. might be?"

"I may. It's a long shot but I want to run it by Tara before I check it out."

<<Tee where is the Warrenlady right now?>> he asked as they were heading
back towards the Warren offices. 

<In the hatching cave.....> came Tee's slow reply.

<<Well meet me there would you. We're going to be making a little trip if
Tara okay's it.>>

<Do I have to meet you there?"> the tealish-blue dragon queried in a weak tone.

<<You've been there before. Why so shy this time?>>

<You'll see....>> came the sing-song reply. <Just don't blame me if the
Queen decides I should help too.>

Ojean was wondering whatever could he have meant by that when they arrived
at the hatching cave. Once inside both he and Cill stopped and in shock
looked around at what was going on. 

He looked at Cill who was looking questionably at him and shrugged his
shoulders as if to say *your guess is as good as mine* and then looked away
spotting Tara near by with a bemused grin on her face. 

He wondered over to her. 

"Redecorating?" he asked.

"Seems she wanted her own private little beach to lay her eggs in," Tara
snorted, then noticed the file in his hand. "Find something already?"

"Maybe..." he said opening the folder to the right page and showing her the
small notation Cill had found in the margin. Then he went on to explain
about the absence of any other information.

"As near as we can tell from the records his tithes started when the first
date was listed... here... (and he opened another folder to show her) and
each year he's come by here with an offering of a tithe, with just the
amounts listed but nothing more."

Tara looked a little confused. She hadn't expected a total lack of
information on the man. This was strange.

"I think I may know who this Capt. C. is that is listed there in the first
folder and want to know if I can have your permission to go into Cabral and
see the man I think this could be. That is if his ship is in dock."

She looked about to refuse. "I don't know if that would be a good idea...
Maybe if one of the older riders...."

"I'd be safe there on the docks," he insisted. "They all know I'm a rider
from this Warren... Remember I told took them the message about the storm
coming and Gus... well he saved the Captain's grand-daughter... so I'll be
okay."

"You'll be careful," she said after thinking it over for a few seconds. "And
report back to me as soon as you're back?"

"Yes ma'am," he agreed quickly and took Cill's hand before Tara could change
her mind. 

"Now we just have to make sure it's okay with your mom," he told the girl
and headed towards her new home.

Once permission was granted, for Racine knew Ojean would never let any harm
come to her daughter, the two of them mounted Teewith and were soon on their
way to town.

They were in luck as they stepped on the docks and found out that the Sea
Dragon was just making port as they arrived and were pointed in the right
direction. 

"Ojean... isn't it?" the Captain asked and reached out a hand to the youth
in greeting.

"Yes sir," he grinned up at the man and then turned and introduced him to Cill.

"So what can I do for you today young man... Don't tell me there's another
storm on the way."

"No sir," Ojean chuckled. "Nothing like that. But I'm not sure if you can
help me with a small problem I have or not. But I figure it wouldn't hurt to
ask."

"If I can I will son," the older man looked intrigued. "Why don't the two of
you join me over to the food stall while we sit and ponder over it."

They each filled a plate, Ojean getting a little more then what was normal
as he was remembered and Cill to enjoyed his favor with a full plate of her
own. Then they found a seat away from the others and Ojean explained a bit
about what they had found. He told the man a little more then he knew he was
suppose to, but figured the man could be trusted. 

"So what I came here for was to find out if you could be the Capt. C. the
note spoke of and if so what you might be able to tell us about this man
Dolfis who calls himself a pirate?"

(I'm going to tag you here Kate..... just in case Captain Chessmen does know
something and not to give anything away I shouldn't :)

Wisp
***** 

It wasn't easy. Seeing her with someone else. 

Not with the way he felt about her, but in his heart he should have been
happy to see her laughing and carrying on in this way. It meant that for
once she wasn't thinking about her family. 

It should have made him happy, but as the man stood bartering with the
leather shop keeper, he was hard pressed not to let the man see how badly
his heart was breaking in two.

"I'll take these to brace of hides and welcome your business if you can find
me any more of this quality," Dontey told the trader after searching through
his offerings. 

"I'll also take that yellow bolt of material I will," he grinned, glad that
his wife had been called back inside to wait on a customer. For he'd seen
her looking at the piece and then set it back with a long sigh.

"Happens that's a mighty fine color for those women of yours," the trader
forced his lips upwards in some assemblence of a grin. 

It just wouldn't do to think about things he could never have. Or women he
could never love. The only thing going for him was that she would never find
out. He'd make sure of it while still keeping an eye on her to keep her safe.

That much he could do. That much he would do!

"That's what I was thinking," Dontey grinned as he moved the bolt under the
hides he had piles there to buy, when he saw Tahsa coming out of their
leather shop. "Looks to be enough to make my mate a dress and one each for
my daughters. The younger two anyway."

He could see the disappointment in her eyes when she came back and look over
the wares without seeing the prize she had longed for, but Dontey grinned to
himself thinking about her reaction later that night when he would present
it to her. 

Much later that night... After the kids were asleep.

"Wonder what's going on there?" Tahsa asked and the two men turned to look
in the direction she was looking in to see two dragons with bags of sand
piled on their backs heading for the hatching caves. 

<<Smoke?>> Wisp sent the mental question to his black who was even now
hiding in his special cave near by.

<She's decided she wants new sand in the hatching caves..... Dry beach sand
and she bullied the others into getting it for her.>

Wisp chuckled. He could hear the mental snort in his dragons tone and caught
the side thought that maybe this was one time where it was good to be hidden. 

<<That way she can't ask me to help out too.>>
He finished his dealings with the shop owner and decided it was time to head
out of the Warren for a while. 

Nothing untold was in the winds around her. For if there had been he would
have heard about it... Maybe a few days away to clear his head was just what
he needed. Maybe a trip to see how Geode was doing and find out how they
were getting along with that young girl who was now in charge.

<<Up for a trip buddy?>>

<Sure why not,> came the blacks almost bored reply. <My wings are getting a
little cramped in here anyway. A good flight with you on my back is just
what the dragonhealer ordered..... or would order if I'd ever seen a
dragonhealer before.>

<<Be glad you haven't my friend,>> Wisp chuckled back at him. <<Meet me at
the cave in the woods. I should be there in a bit.>>

((nrpg: Wisp's post to Geode is going to be to set up the arrival of two new
characters... the first is Peters new PC... Mc'key and his dragon Vasleth
and an his mate (played my yours truly :) Ghost rider of pink Kikeane.
Bio's to follow.

****Submitted by: ******

Ojean & Teewith
Wisp & Smoke
Jasra Warren

Aka
Barbara