Elly & Iris
(Hatching cavern, morning, day 18)

     Elly yawned and stretched, sitting up on the blanket she'd spread on the 
sand near Iris.  *Are you awake?* she asked her lifemate.

     The small blue dragon raised her head to look at her rider.  [Of 
course,] she answered.  [It's well after sunup and I'm speaking to my little 
one here.]

     Elly blinked.  *Speaking to...?*

     [Of course,] Iris answered, as though it were the simplest thing in the 
world.  [This is how dragons learn before they hatch.  I can remember my dam 
Alicynth doing this for me and my clutchmates, so why should I not do so 
too?]  She looked fondly down at the single egg that rested against her side.

     Elly smiled, walking up to Iris and rubbing her nose.  *And I'm sure 
you'll make a wonderful mother!  Are you hungry, dear?*

     Iris cocked her head.  [Well, now that you mention it...]

     *Maybe Syngnath could bring you something?* Elly asked, knowing that 
Iris would never go out on her own to eat, not if it meant leaving her egg 
unattended...and Elly had learned that leaving the egg under her rider's 
guardianship was, to Iris, the same thing as being "unattended."

     Iris nodded and narrowed her eyes as she spoke telepathically to the 
seadragon.  [He's out swimming with his rider,] she snorted a moment later.  

     *Oh...* said Elly.  *Well, I guess we can find someone else.*

     [Sy said he's already taken care of it,] Iris said.  [I wonder who he 
asked...?]

     It was Elly who first noticed a faint shaking in the sand under them.  
*I have an idea of who it might be...* she began.

     [Good morrrrrning!!] Selene called jauntily, as she ambled in through 
the entrance.  [And how is the little dam this morning?]

     Iris rolled her eyes.  [He sent YOU??] she demanded. 

     [Well, yes, why not?] the yellow dragon asked smugly.  [He said there 
was no one he trusted more!]

     [He didn't mean it,] Iris assured her acidly.  [He was just buttering 
you up so you'd do what he asked.]

     At the mention of "butter," Selene licked her snout wistfully.

     *I think it's very nice she came over, don't you?* Elly asked, unable to 
hear the conversation but suspecting its tone was less than cordial.

     Iris snorted.  [So, did you bring my breakfast?]

     Selene looked uncomfortable, cleared her throat, then dropped her gaze 
downward as she shuffled her feet nervously.  [Um...well...]

     Iris hissed.  [You ate it, didn't you??] she demanded.  [Admit it!!  You 
couldn't even make it from the feeding grounds to the hatching cavern without 
making a pig of yourself!]

     Selene sniffed forlornly.  [I was hungry,] she moaned.  [You don't know 
what it's like, living on nothing but...but fish!!  Soon I'll be nothing but 
skin and bones and scales!]

     [Hah! You're fatter than ever!] Iris scoffed.  [Have Varaenna or 
Doshayne taken a good look at you lately?]

     [Well....] Selene said evasively. 

     [I'll tell you what,] Iris said sweetly, [if you go out now and bring me 
breakfast...*without* eating it on the way this time...then *maybe* I won't 
remind them that it's past time for them to check up on you!]

(Tag KK!  Selene's mission, should she decide to accept it, is...well, what 
Iris said. Mission Impossible?  :)

* * * * * * * *
Jerram
(same time, just outside the warren)

      *Well, what do you think?* he asked Seydor.  *Do they look ready?*

     The dark blue dragon shrugged with a rustling of wings as he walked over 
to where the group of young dragons stood.  [Probably not, but this is as 
good a time as any.]

     Jerram smiled inwardly at Seyd's remark, while maintaining his stern 
trainer-face for the benefit of his charges.  He knew anyway that Seyd was 
just grousing at having to get up early along with the trainees.  Jerram 
didn't always require this of him, but first-flight day definitely required 
his presence in case one of the newbie teams got into a problem and needed 
help.

     "Good morning!" he told them, watching them snap to attention as he 
walked up to them.  Although, he had to admit, the term "snapping to 
attention" had to be applied loosely to this group.  Tyler Grouty made a good 
show of it, but he was probably used to doing the same thing whenever his 
father Lord Grouty walked into a room back at Cabral.  The tattooed 
island-girl Aitzan didn't look particularly impressed, though with her it was 
often hard to tell just what she was thinking behind that stoic expression.  
The trainee riders stood in a line, waiting for Jerram to give them the news 
they'd all been waiting for.

     "Well, I guess you know why I called you here this morning," Jerram went 
on, as he walked up and down the line.  "Do you think that your dragons are 
ready to try their wings for the first time?"

     "Yes!  Yes!" came the excited shouts in return.  

     "All right, I think so too," he said with a grin.  "So, here's what 
we'll do."  He motioned for them to follow him to the top of a nearby rise 
from which they could see the sparkling water in the distance.  "That long, 
shallow slope goes right to the water's edge.  One by one, your dragons will 
take off from here, fly down to the beach, and land there."

     "Thelleranyath want to know why that way," Aitzan said.  "If dragon go 
too far, land in water."

     Jerram nodded.  "Well, the trick is for them not to go that far," he 
said.  "They should land on the beach, where the sand will give them a 
relatively soft landing even if they don't do it just right."

     He stepped back and surveyed the line of waiting dragons, then turned to 
their riders.  "Okay, who wants to volunteer to go first?"

(Tag Arlene or Bridget...who wants to start?)

* * * * * * * *
Bertram the Weatherwatcher
(Morning, Alpha Wingleader's office)

     "Hello, Wingleader," Bertram said, bowing as he came in and stood before 
her desk.

     "Morning, Bertram," said Shawnee, standing up and extending a hand.  

     "You look tired," the old Weatherwatcher observed.  "I'm sorry for 
disturbing you so early."

     Shawnee smiled.  "No problem," she said.  "It's just that Saul got in 
late yesterday evening from accompanying Tara, and..."

     "Oh, yes, I quite understand," Bertram said with a twinkle in his eye.  
"Or rather, I was once young enough to have understood things like that."

     "I think you still do, Bertram!" Shawnee laughed.  "Now tell me what 
brings you here this early.  I suspect it has something to do with that 
scroll you're holding?"

     "It does indeed," he said, laying it on her desk and unrolling it.  "I 
just wanted to warn you that we're in for just a bit of a blow."

     "A storm?" she asked quickly.  "Not like..."

     "No, not another hurricane," he quickly assured her.  "But my barometer 
shows a drop in air pressure...and that, plus the shifts in wind patterns 
over the past few hours that tells me that there's a line of thunderstorm 
cells building up out over the horizon, at sea.  It's heading in this 
direction, and will probably reach shore in the predawn hours of tomorrow 
morning."

     "How severe?" Shawnee asked.  "Will it affect our flight operations?"

     "It could," Bertram admitted.  "Probably strong winds and heavy rains, 
combined with the possibility of lightning strikes.  I'd also suggest that 
the warrenfolk put anything that might be damaged by the weather under cover."

(Tag Barb)

* * * * * * * *
Khamorray
(morning, a short distance offshore from the warren)

     The young seadragon dove down until his outstretched claws could touch 
the sandy bottom of the seafloor, no great challenge here because the water 
was only a few dragonlengths deep.  He was so happy now that his rider Ansel 
was back that he'd felt like coming out early for a swim - and even though 
his rider was tired from the events of yesterday and still sound asleep, the 
young seadragon knew that Ansel wouldn't mind him coming out here as long as 
he didn't stray too far from shore.

     He'd at first thought to ask Syngnath to join him...Sy was a lot of fun 
to be around, but unfortunately another dragon had told him that Sy and his 
rider had left the warren earlier.  Probably flying somewhere farther out to 
sea, Khamorray reflected, and hoped that he'd be able to do that soon.  
Though he had no clutchmates here at Jasra, the dragons nearest to him in age 
- Thelleranyath, Plastyra, and the others of their group - were supposed to 
be flying today for the first time!  He envied them just a bit, wishing he 
could go too...but Syngnath had told him that seadragons developed their 
flying abilities a bit later than their land counterparts.  Sy's story of his 
own first attempt at flight, culminating in an ignominious spashdown just off 
the beach, sounded funny now but he was sure it hadn't been funny for Sy 
then.  Khamorray knew he'd have to wait for his time, and resolved himself to 
be patient.

     He wished Kethriss were here.  When she and her rider Tanami had left 
the warren, she'd told him and Sy that they would only be gone for a short 
time.  But it had been long enough now that he was getting worried.  Syngnath 
had assured him that Tanami and Kethriss could take care of themselves, but 
he sensed that Sy and his rider were just trying to keep him from worrying.  
He surfaced and glanced out to sea, past the entrance of the cove at whose 
edge the warren lay, hoping against hope that he might see Kethriss returning.

      Instead, he found himself face to face with another friend.  [Pearl!] 
he cried happily, as the dolphin leaped out of the water and over him with a 
happy squeeing noise, to splash down on his other side.  She resurfaced and 
let herself drift over against his side, pressing herself comfortingly 
against him.

     [I'm so glad to see you!] Khamorray said, bending his neck around to 
nuzzle her in return.  Dolphins weren't telepathic, of course, and Pearl 
couldn't understand his words as such...but he had found that she and her pod 
mates could at least pick up on his feelings and understand at least simple 
concepts.  They could, in return, pass along similarly simple things to him, 
feelings and emotions, or vague warnings of danger.  Right now he could tell 
that Pearl - that wasn't truly her name, of course, just a name by which 
Kethriss identified her because of her light gray coloring - had sensed his 
wish for someone to play with, and had come to him in response.  

     He was just about to ask her if she'd brought any others of the pod with 
her, when suddenly two other shapes, both of these darker gray, leaped out of 
the water nearby, whistling greetings as they reached the top of their arcs.  
Khamorray recognized them as Blackie - named for the distinctive dark color 
of his dorsal fin - and Silly, who didn't have any particularly 
distinguishing physical characteristics, but who was generally the most silly 
and exuberant of the pod.  It was actually Kethriss who'd given names to 
these three, and the other four members of their pod. Kethriss had introduced 
Khamorray to this group, and them all sorts of games to play together.  
Khamorray suspected that Tanami, who could communicate with these creature 
better than even a seadragon could, had asked them to stay around Jasra and 
help keep an eye on him until she and Kethriss could returned.  Khamorray 
didn't really mind the fact that he was being "watched," as long as he had 
friends to play with, and these dolphins provided this in full measure.

     Khamorray tried to ask where the remaining members of the pod were, but 
could only get back a vague impression of dolphins chasing fish.  From this, 
he guessed that the others must be out hunting.  Dolphin-seadragon 
communication was limited in such respects, but when he concentrated on the 
word [Game?] they understood at once.  They raced around him in a circle, 
then Pearl swam up to touch noses with him before surging out of the water 
and doing a tailstand, drawing back from him and squealing happily.  

     [Ok, I like this game!] Khamorray cried, and darted after her.  Pearl 
immediately dove back down into the water and darted ahead, with Khamorray 
giving chase.  He was just as fast as she was in a straight line, perhaps 
even just a bit faster, but Pearl was more maneuverable in turns because of 
her small size.  Under the rules of this particular game, if he could catch 
Pearl and flip her over she'd be counted "out" of this game, leaving him free 
to go after Blackie and Silly.  But if she managed to lead him back around to 
where either of them was lurking....

     He abruptly realized that she'd done just that as he felt a dolphin nose 
poking and wiggling across his underbelly.  Khamorray squealed with laughter, 
twisting aside to avoid Silly's attack.  {Hey, cut that out!!] he laughed, 
but just as he managed to disengage from Silly, he felt yet another dolphin 
snout - this one belonging to Blackie - wiggling against his side, again 
sending him into a fit of laughing and forcing him to dart yet aside again to 
avoid the tickling sensation.  But Khamorray had expected this, and did a 
flipover in the water - something only a seadragon could do - and slid his 
muzzle underneath Blackie's belly.  He gave a heave and flipped the surprised 
dolphin over, sending him tumbling head over flukes.  

     [Gotcha!] Khamorray laughed teasingly, and all three dolphins squealed 
appreciatively at his agility.  Kethriss had given him basic instruction on 
this game of dolphin-tag, but of course she was much better at it than he 
was.  She was blindingly fast in the water, and in a game against anything 
less than five or six dolphins, it was unusual that even one would get close 
enough to her to do anything other than get flipped and tagged out by her.  
Khamorray wasn't nearly that good yet, but he hoped to get better.  

     Games like this weren't just fun, Kethriss had told him as they all rose 
to the surface together to allow the dolphins to vent and take in more 
air...something a seadragon didn't need to do, of course, but which he did 
out of politeness.  Kethriss had explained that in the deeps of the ocean, 
where he'd someday travel along with his rider Ansel, there were dangers that 
could threaten even a grown seadragon...such as pack predators scarcely 
larger than these dolphins, but who possessed teeth that could strip a whale 
down to the bone in a matter of minutes.  A whale was basically defenseless 
against such an attack, unless it could work up enough speed to outdistance 
the predators - but a seadragon, Kethriss had told him and Syngnath, was 
different.  With a long flexible neck and tail, not to mention six limbs and 
a formidable array of built-in weapons, a skilled seadragon could fend off 
even such dangers as these.  And, she'd explained, if he could get skilled 
enough to win a game of dolphin-tag by tagging out all of the dolphins he was 
playing against, he could save himself against twice that number of predators 
in the open sea. 

     And, he had to admit, as he reached the surface and watched the dolphins 
vent, he had good incentive to win...if he let the game go on long enough 
without catching and tagging the dolphins, the remaining dolphins would end 
the game by setting on him all at once and tickling him to the point of 
exhaustion with their noses and fins.  But against only three, he was sure he 
could do it!

     He broke out of his reflections when he felt two sets of dolphin teeth 
nibbling at his toes, sending him into fits of giggling again.  He'd let 
Pearl and Silly get underneath him, the worst mistake he could make in this 
game.  He yanked his legs back away from them, rolling over in the water as 
he did so and diving in an inverted position.  He again chased Pearl, the 
most skilled dolphin of the three, and the hardest to catch.  She dove deep, 
then abruptly turned and headed up again, back to where he knew Silly would 
be waiting...and this time, when the dolphin tried to come in for an attack 
on his flank, he met the young seadragon's wing instead and found himself 
tumbling over and over as Khamorray continued to chase Pearl.  

     Pearl broke surface and leaped, Khamorray right behind her...and both 
were startled to find themselves headed straight for a large, brilliant red 
dragon who was skimming just over the surface.  It was hard to tell which of 
the three was most surprised as Pearl arced over the red dragon's nose, 
barely avoiding a collision, and Khamorray twisted desperately miss 
broadsiding the newcomer.  He did so by a matter of mere inches, and splashed 
awkwardly into the water.

     [Are you all right?] asked the red dragon, a note of concern in her 
voice.

     Khamorray resurfaced, shaking water out of his eyes, and looked up at 
her.  [Yes, I'm fine!] he assured her.  [You're Menia, aren't you?]  He 
didn't yet know all the dragons at Jasra, but this one was easily 
recognizable by her brilliant red coloring.

     [Yes, I am,] she replied, as she sailed overhead and banked to make 
another pass over him.  [And I know you are Khamorray, I've seen you even 
though we haven't had a chance to talk.  I didn't mean to frighten you, but I 
saw you just under the surface as I was flying overhead, and you looked like 
you were being attacked by something.  I dropped down lower to see if I could 
help!]

     [Oh...thank you,] Khamorray said, somewhat embarrassed.  [I wasn't in 
any danger, the dolphins and I were just playing.  Sorry if we bothered you.] 
 He pointed with his nose to where the dolphins were swimming a short ways 
off, startled into keeping their distance by Pearl's near-mishap with the red 
dragon.

     [Not at all!] Menia assured him.  [Glad to be of help, though I'm even 
gladder that it wasn't needed.  But I'm curious, do you play with these 
dolphins often?]

    [Yes, when I'm not busy training or doing something with my rider,] the 
young seadragon explained.  They're fun...in fact, I could introduce you to 
them if you'd like?]

     [You can talk to them?] Menia asked, her black eyes widening in surprise 
as she continued to circle overhead.  [I didn't think dragons could do that!]

     [Well, seadragons can a little bit,] Khamorray said.  [Kethriss' 
rider...she's a human who lives underwater...can do it better.  I don't know 
whether you could.  Say, do you like to swim?  Maybe you and I could play 
something!]

     Menia considered this for a moment, then agreed.  She backwinged to slow 
herself almost to a halt, then settled down gently into the water, sinking 
slowly until she was half-submerged, then spreading her wings to help 
stabilize her.  Khamorray was impressed...seadragons, with their shorter 
wings, couldn't manage a slow landing like that.  Then again, the long wings 
the land dragons had weren't really designed for the water, and from what 
he'd observed tended to slow them down rather than propelling them as a 
seadragon's wings did.

     Khamorray was delighted to have a new friend to go swimming with.  [Come 
on, I'll race you!] he darted forward, and Menia followed.  But she was not a 
seadragon, and Khamorray found it necessary to slow down a bit to keep from 
getting too far ahead.

     [You're fast!] Menia laughed, as she started to pull up alongside him.  
[Can you fly yet?]

     [No,] Khamorray said, a bit embarrassed as he remembered yet again that 
the dragons of Varaenna's last clutch, who were slightly younger than he, 
would be flying today.

     Menia nosed him reassuringly.  [It's all right,] she said.  [I'm sure a 
big, strong dragon like you will have no trouble when your time comes!]

     Khamorray swelled a bit with pride at her words...Ansel always said the 
same thing, but Ansel was his rider and would always say good things about 
him. To hear it from someone else made him feel very good!

     [Come on, I'll race you to the other side of the bay!] he laughed, and 
swam out a short distance from her.  Just then, the pale gray shape of Pearl 
jumped right in front of his nose, startling him and making him swerve.  He'd 
forgotten all about their game, he realized guiltily, and hoped that Pearl 
wasn't mad at him for not finishing it before getting into a game with Menia. 
 

     He was sure that they were mad when he saw that all three of his dolphin 
friends were basically ignoring him, instead clustering excitedly around 
Menia.  [What are they doing?] she asked, puzzled as she swung her neck 
around to look at each of them in turn.  [I can't understand them.]

     [They've never seen anything like you,] Khamorray said, relieved to 
realize that this was why the dolphins were suddenly paying attention to her 
and not him.  [You're such a bright color that they can see you really 
clearly underwater.  They have a harder time than me.]

     [Well, tell them I'm flattered,] Menia said, preening a bit at the 
compliment.  [Oh...what are they doing now?]

     Pearl had swum up in front of the red dragon, doing an out-of-water 
tailstand away from her.  When Menia made no move in response, Pearl repeated 
the maneuver.  

     [Oh, you're supposed to chase her,] Khamorray explained, a bit 
disappointed that his game with her had been interrupted.  The dolphins 
weren't big on patience, he supposed.

     [Oh...what do I do with her if I catch her?] Menia asked, perplexed.

     [Flip her over,] Khamorray said.  [It's fun...but you'd better hurry.]  
He noticed that Silly and Blackie were no longer swimming on the surface, and 
ducked his head under.  As he's expected, the two dolphins were moving into 
position to jump-start the game, one of them just beneath the red dragon's 
underside, and the other spiraling down in circles around her dangling legs.  

     [Hurry?  Why?] Menia asked.

    [They'll show you,] Khamorray assured her, swimming away a bit to get 
clear of Menia and the dolphins, and hoping they'd finish soon so he'd be 
able to play again.

(Tag Tracee!)

* * * * * * * *
Tara
(late morning, day 18)

     [Syngnath just contacted me,] said the queen as Tara was looking through 
the stack of paper that had accumulated in her absence.  [His rider is coming 
to see you.]

     [Oh...did he say why?] Tara asked.

     [Yes, he's met someone and is bringing him here,] the queen replied.  [A 
waterbreather.]

     [Tanami?] the Warrenlady asked, looking up sharply as she laid the 
documents she'd been perusing down onto the desk.  

     [No,] said Varaenna.  [Syngnath says his rider will explain it when he 
arrives.]

     It was only a few minutes later that Corwin arrived, bringing with him a 
man Tara had never met.  But she could tell at once that he was of the same 
race to which Wade and Tanami belonged.  She had never met a male of the race 
before, and found herself staring a bit more than she'd intended.

     "Tara, this is Rellik, Leviathan's rider," Corwin said, then turned to 
the waterbreather.  "Rellik, this is Tara, the rider of our senior queen 
dragon Varaenna.  She is the leader of this entire warren."

     Rellik bowed.  "I am pleased to meet you," he said, then looked at her 
with undisguised fascination.  "Forgive me, but Jasra Warren is a place of 
legend...to have discovered you here is more exciting than I can say!"

     A servant brought coffee, and Tara invited her two guests to sit down 
while they talked.  Rellik was at first taken aback by the novelty of coffee, 
but adapted quickly.  "So Rellik, tell us something of yourself," the 
Warrenlady said.  "It's not every day one of your people finds their way 
here."

    "Also, we're missing a rider," Corwin put in.  "She and her seadragon 
left here some time ago, but we've heard nothing from them since.  Her name 
is Tanami, and she's one of your people."

(Tag Jason)


Submitted by:

John

Tara & Varaenna
Jerram & Seydor
Ansel & Khamorray
Elvynia & Iris

Jasra Warren
     

     


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