Kalewyn
***
<< Day 9 - Evening >>

Kalewyn was enjoying his time with Tara. It reminded him of the time he'd
spent in the early days with Kattibrie. There had been no pressure ..
nothing to get in the way of having a good time. But somehow Danielle had
always seemed to get in the way ..

No .. that wasn't true he reminded himself. His feelings for her .. and his
dislike for Trap .. seemed to get in the way. But Danielle was not here ..
Nor was Trap, and he'd be damned if he was going to expend anymore thought
on them!

<My Kay!> Sabbith reprimanded. <You're thinking about Telnor again and
getting upset. Now stop it cause I'm enjoying my time with Varaenna!>

Kay grimaced slightly while Tara wasn't looking, <Sorry ..>

By the time she turned to look at him again, she had his full attention ..
but it didn't last long as Sabbith interrupted him again. <By the way .. My
Kay .. Varaenna would like you to do some painting for her ..>

Kay had considered ignoring the dragon, but the request caught his
attention. He hadnt' done any painting since arriving here, and he'd been
itching to. <What kind of painting?>

<She would like to see the sky in the hatching cavern.>

<That's not painting .. that's demolition ..> Kay told him.

<Not if it's just painted sky.>

<She wants a painted picture of the sky?>

<Not exactly ..>

<Then what exactly does she want?>

The enormity of what the queen dragon wanted, caused Kay's eyes to widen and
his jaw to drop. He looked at Tara and saw her look at him apologetically.

>"I'm sorry," she sighed.

*Your queen wants ..* He started to sign .. but stopped and tilted his head
in thought.

"Kay, you don't have to .. honestly, it's too much."

*No .. it might be fun ..* he signed.

"Fun?? It would be a lot of work!" Tara gasped. "I couldn't ask that of
you."

*It could be a project. There must be other artists in the warren?* his face
became animated, and it was clear that he was getting excited about the
prospects. *Or at least other painters who would be willing to help start a
base coat of the basic colors.*

"Well, if you really want to .." Tara chuckled.

*I do!* Kay nodded enthusiastically. He began to detail plans for the huge
mural that were already forming in his heads. Talking about the bright blue
of the sky.. Perhaps some trees along the far wall .. coconut tree's of
course, laden with the ripe nut fruits just waiting to be harvested. Sand
dunes with patches of sharp sand grass poking out toward the sun. Seagulls
soaring over head .. perhaps even a dol-fin or two jumping elegantly out of
the painted ocean just to the right of the giant entranceway.

"It sounds wonderful, Kay." Tara nodded, "But the entire hatching Cavern .."

*It'll probably take all the way until hatching .. but with Varaenna's
permission and her patience, I'm sure I can work without disturbing the eggs
once their hatched. I'll do the center ceiling first .. then the sides ..*
He looked into her eyes, *And it'll give me a reason to be here .. a job to
do ..*

Darlea
***
<< Day 10 - Afternoon >>

>"You wanted to see me Tara?" the girl asked, then spotted the two new
riders.

>"Yes Darlea, this is Mc'key and Ghost formerly from Geode Warren. They'll
be joining us here in Jasra and I'd like for you to show them around and
help them get settled. I'll make sure Shawnee meets with them when she and
Saul get back later today."

Darlea nodded, "Of course." Then she turned to the newest members of the
warren and smiled, "I suppose first we should find you a place to live. Then
I can show you around."

"Our dragons would be grateful," Ghost said, "Both would like to be relieved
of their burden's so they can go and socialize with the other dragons."

Darlea nodded. "I can imagine. The quartermasters is this way. Will we be
looking for one apartment .. or two?"

"How about one guest apartment for now," Mc'Key suggested.

"Sure," Darlea nodded.

<< NRPG: Ended it here since I got Peter's post and now the rest I wrote
doesn't fit <G> Oh well, you snooze ya lose :) >>

Cill
***

>"Cill this is Gus. He's Loki's rider and the friend I was telling you
about. Gus this is my friend Cill....."

>"Yeah I figured," the boy said and nodded to the girl. "He talks about you
all the time. Must be nice for him that you're finally here. Come for a
visit?" Gus asked innocently but didn't know how much the question upset
her.

"She's staying here," Ojean said, his voice ringing with pleasure. "Isn't
that great!"

"Yeah, sure," Gus nodded, sorta shrugging. "Glad to meet ya, Cill."

"Thanks," Cill said quietly, not sure if she liked this new kid or not.

There was a brief awkward silence that Gus finally broke in his usual way,
trying to make things lighter, "Hey where'd ya get those goofy glasses!
Ain't never seen anything like them before?"

Cill gasped in horror. "I .. I .." She stammered. "I gotta go!"

She barely heard Ojean as he knocked the other boy in the shoulder, "Now
why'd you go and do that!" before taking off after her.

She heard him calling to her, but she ignored him and kept running, tears
blurring her vision. Yesterday, she'd had a wonderful day with Ojean ..
she'd almost forgotten all the horrible things that had happened to her.
Almost forgot the rejection by her father in the total and complete
acceptance by her friend.

Today it was all brought back in barely 30 seconds of conversation with a
complete stranger. Both the rejection by her father .. and the reason for
it!

She felt Ojean grab her arm. She lurched it from his grasp and kept running.

"Cill come on .. wait please," she heard him call, but turned her bad ear
toward him to silence his call.

Still Ojean did not give up easily and he chased her again, once again
grabbing for her. And this time getting a better hold. "Wait!"

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling.

"Com'on, Cill .. let me talk to you."

"NO! Leave me alone!"

Ojean pulled her into his arms, and whispered in her good ear, "I'm sorry,
Cill .. Please don't be upset. He didn't know .. he didn't know."

Cill gave up struggling and accepted his hug, sobbing against his chest.
"It's just not fair, Ojee .. It's not fair. No body wants ugly ol' me .. not
anyone .. It's not fair. Not even .. my own father .." She sobbed loudly.

"What ?" Ojean whispered. He'd known something bad had caused them to come,
and he'd suspected K'leev was behind it, but he hadn't been sure .. Now he
was. "Oh Cill .." he said gently.

"That's not true. You've still got your mother, and me. You'll always have
me .."

Cill stayed in his arms until her sobs began to quiet. Then he led her to a
bench and sat her down, settling in beside her. "Do you want to tell me what
happened?"

She shrugged, "He came back .."

Ojean nodded, silently urging her on.

Cill looked up at her friend, wiping at her eyes from underneath her
glasses, "He was going to take Neril. At first I was scared he wanted me to
.. but then .. then .." She sobbed, "He looked at me .. And I knew. I knew
.."

"What did you know, Cill."

"I knew he didn't want me anymore. He looked at me and didn't want this
horrible thing I've become .." She sniffled against the renewed tears. "He
only wanted Neril now. Because Neril is perfect and beautiful .. and I'm not
.. and I was jealous .. and hurt .."

"You are beautiful, Cill .."

"You always say that, Ojee, and I guess sometimes I let myself believe it..
but I saw it in his face. I saw the ugly .."

"*HE* is ugly, Cill. Not you .."

"He's my father .. and he didn't want me."

"He doesn't know you. Think about Th'rin .. and Mara. Are they ugly? You're
father never wanted them either. He's a small, ugly man, Cill. And what he
thinks doesn't matter!"

"Maybe .." Cill said quietly.

Regards,
Jasra NPC's:
  Kalewyn & Sabbith
  Darlea & Makayla
  Cill

***
NRPG: BTW, I'm assuming the hatching cavern has to be about the size of a
football field. Perhaps not a huge one like you'd see for a professional
team, but certainly one the size of a large high school or small college.
After all you have to fit a warren-full of people as well as guests and as
many dragons as can find their way in :) So this is a massive job.

John has said there will be a scaffolding to get Kay to the ceiling, very
sturdy, very tall .. so don't be too worried about him.  If there is anyone
else in the warren who likes to paint, please feel free to volunteer to
help, I'm sure Kay will be ready to start painting detail in a couple of
days. The base coat will be painted by nameless NPC's <G>

Katrina: If you want to have had Gus follow, that's fine with me, and it's
completely up to you how much of Cill's confession he might have heard, if
any at all.

Also I'm sending this using a re: from Barb's last post .. hopefully it did
it right and everyone will get a copy. I'm away from my mailing lists until
the end of next week :) So be patient with me.

Kris