Dalaine
****

[Day 9ömidday]

"Dalaine!" Tara said, her tone signaling that she meant business.  "May I ask 
just *what* you are doing?"

Startled, Lainie turned her head.  Her eyes went wide when she saw Tara and 
Jerram standing there.  "I was....ah...I mean..." she stuttered, clearly at a 
loss for words.  

Mortified by the severe dressing-down the warrenlady went on to give her, 
Lainie couldn't seem to come up with any explanation for what had taken 
place, as innocent as it had really been.

"And what about your dragon?"  

When Selene appeared suddenly at Tara's side, peering curiously at the 
warrenlady, who looped an arm around the dragon's neck, Lainie narrowed her 
eyes, not fooled by Selene's obvious attempt at looking innocent.  

"Just imagine what this poor, sweet dragon of yours will have to endure if 
you overexert yourself and make yourself sick again - or give yourself 
pneumonia from lying out here on the wet ground."

At Selene's outlandishly mournful expression, Lainie shot her a look that 
promised retribution.

"See how worried she is about you?" Tara asked.  "I think you should go and 
do something very nice for her, to make her feel better - something that's 
not too strenuous, mind you!"

Oh, I'll make her feel better, all right, Lainie thought, after I've made her 
feel much worse first.

"Yes, Tara," she murmured, wriggling to extricate herself from under the 
other rider, whose gaze she forced herself to meet.  "Sorry," she told him, 
resting her hand briefly against his cheek, then called to Selene to follow 
her.  "I'll make sure to give Selene exactly what she deserves," she vowed 
before heading toward the warren, Selene ambling after her.

****


Elvynia
****

[Day 9ömidday]

As Elly headed away from the dining hall after making up for her missed 
breakfast, she thought about the progress she and Gus had made with his 
reading that morning.  It was immensely satisfying.  She looked forward to 
accomplishing even more the next time, despite Gus's apparent reluctance.   
In the meantime, though, she needed to focus her attention on training.  She 
looked affectionately at Iris, strolling along beside her.  She was certainly 
growing up quicklyöthough nowhere near as quickly as Selene. 

<No self-respecting dragon would want to grow as quickly as Selene.  It's 
disgusting.>

<<Iris!  That's my sister's dragon you're insulting, remember.>>

<Perhaps if she didn't make it so easy,> Iris grumbled.

Elly approached the gathering group of trainees, anxious to get started.  She 
was grateful Iris's injured wing had healed nicely, so they wouldn't be held 
up any longer.  Now that her dragon was flying, she was especially eager for 
her first flight as Iris's rider.

As she joined the others, looking around for Lainie, her gaze was caught and 
held across the assembled cluster of riders.  The intent expression in the 
aqua eyes tripped up her heartbeat and momentarily stilled her breath.  She 
smiled tentatively before breaking off the connection and continuing to scan 
the area for her sister.

****


Dalaine
****

Selene pranced on ahead of Lainie, sidling up beside Loki in response to his 
calling out, <Hurry up and park your fat butt next to me.>

  <Next to you, huh?  Well, I know you can't do anything without me.> 

<Of course I can!>

  <Well, then it must be that you want me....>  She butted him gently on the 
snout.

As Lainie strode up to join the circle, Gus quickly stepped back, holding one 
hand up as though to ward her off.

"Hands to yourself."

Lainie stopped abruptly, her eyes widening in shock·and hurt.  "I just wanted 
to·to thank you.  If you hadn't dived in after us ·  You saved my life, Gus 
and I -." 

"You wanna thank me, you'll forget all about it.  Not one more word."  When 
Lainie would have protested, Gus shushed her, head jerking to where Jerram 
was standing in front of the group.

Well, of all the rude....She abruptly turned her back on Gus and tried to 
focus on what Jerram had to say.

****


Elvynia and Dalaine
****

Elly could hardly contain her disappointment when Jerram told the assembled 
trainees that the dragons would not be carrying riders.  She was sure Iris 
was ready, <<Aren't you, darling?>>

<Yes, rider, more than ready.>

After all, hadn't Iris rescued Selene during the hurricane?  She was already 
proving to be a skillful flier, despite having been grounded by the injury to 
her wing.

"Don't worry, you will get your chance," Jerram told them.  "Trust me, your 
dragons are not ready yet."  When the disappointment turned to murmurs of 
protest, he continued.  "I realize none of you are going to believe me 
without seeing for yourself.  Gus!"

"Yessir?"

"Why don't you have Loki show the others how it's done?"

Selene, Lainie by her side, watched a bit enviously as Loki was given the 
first turn.  He easily sprang upwards, wings pumping steadily, until he was 
gliding smoothly through the air above their heads, looking as if he'd been 
born to itöwhich of course he had.

After Gus had evidently relayed Jerram's command for Loki to land, he dropped 
his tail and swooped downward, gradually folding his wings in, his feet stuck 
out to hit the ground.  His feet hit the ground solidly - too solidly and he 
reared back, fighting to regain balance, his wings fanned desperately.  The 
bystanders watched dazedly as Loki, careening wildly, headed straight toward 
Jerram, who seemed too stunned to move.  The force of the collision sent them 
both tumbling head over heels into Seydor, who had rushed to intervene, Loki 
coming to a stop up-side-down.

<His first try and he only knocked down Jerram, crashed into Seydor, and 
landed on his head.  I am impressed,> Iris commented dryly.

The entire group of trainees broke into a run to rescue the unfortunate pair. 
 Elly, glad whenever her athletic ability could be put to use, was first to 
reach them and almost without breaking stride dropped to one knee, propping a 
shoulder underneath Loki's back.  With a grunt of pure effort, she managed to 
heave Loki up high enough that the other trainees could grab Jerram and pull 
him out from underneath.  Thank the gods Loki's on the small side, she 
thought, gasping from the strain.  Glancing up, she noticed Gus skid to a 
halt just shy of the tangled heap of dragon and trainer, looking rather 
amazed by this feat.  Jerram emerged from underneath Loki, well-dampened and 
with a streak of mud along his cheek.

Several of the other trainees, Elly and Lainie among them, now reassured that 
no damage had been done, noticed Gus's trembling shoulders and twinkling 
eyes.  A snigger hung on the afternoon air, threatening to burst out at any 
moment.  They watched as, glowering and once again filthy from his encounter 
with just one trainee, Jerram stalked over to Gus. 

The look on his face should have been enough to still the laughter, except 
that Selene chose just that moment to butt Loki hard with her snout, landing 
him on his side.

<Gee, thanks, fathead.>

  <Any time, dimwit.>

A giggle escaped Gus just as Jerram neared.  He bent over, nearly nose to 
nose with the offender, dripping mud onto Gus's face, and simply stared 
angrily at the boy for several moments. Finally, he sighed gustily.

"The landing needs work."

Spinning on his heel, he turned to face the rest of the trainees.  "I trust 
you see why we have the dragons fly solo to start with.  Now, who wants to go 
next?"

"Jerram," Elly spoke up, barely restraining her laughter, "perhaps Iris might 
go next since she has some flying experience, though she's a bit out of 
practice since her wing was hurt."

"Good idea, Elly.  Maybe she can show the others how to avoid a crash 
landing."

Easing into a slow trot, wings beating steadily, Iris took off effortlessly 
into the bright afternoon sky.  She circled the cluster of dragons and riders 
a few times, savoring her enjoyment of being in flight.  She rose a bit 
higher, then angled herself to head for the ground.

Iris was clearly gliding in at a good speed for a smooth landing.  It would 
have been perfect if not for one small problemöor rather an oversized 
problem, in the form of Selene.  She and Loki, not at all hindered by his 
abrupt landing, had lost interest in watching Iris, preferring instead to 
engage in a rousing game of "You Can't Bite My Tail."  Her attention focused 
on escaping Loki's sharp teeth, Selene suddenly darted into Iris's path, 
throwing her off balance and sending her tail over snout onto the ground.

<Nice going, fathead!> Loki chortled, earning him a glare from both Selene 
and an exasperated Iris who was just righting herself after her undignified 
tumble.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lainie immediately apologized to Elly, who stood stock 
still, a look of horrified dismay on her face.  

<<Are you hurt?>> she questioned Iris in concern, overcoming her shock and 
hurrying to the dragon's side.

<Only my pride,> Iris retorted grimly.

Elly checked her over briefly to be sure, taking extra care to confirm that 
her wing hadn't been re-injured.  Once reassured, she stood, taking a moment 
to assess the situation.  Then, unexpectedly, a wide grin spread over Elly's 
face.  "So much for setting a good example," she chuckled.
 
<How can you laugh?> Iris demanded.  <That wretched dragon made me look like 
a fool!>

<<I'm quite sure you'll have your revenge when she tries to fly.>>

Elly could feel Iris's spirits reviving at that thought.  <I can hardly 
wait!> she chortled gleefully in anticipation.

[Ok, who's next up?]

****


[Thanks to Arlene for her helpful suggestions.]


Submitted by:

Dana Zuhlke                             

Elvynia (Elly) and Iris

Ro'gen and Apollo
Evlan and Athena                                        
Ed'wen (Eddy) and Hesperus
Dalaine (Lainie) and Selene

Jasra Warren