[V'kat afternoon after the rescue]

V'kat woke up that afternoon feeling refreshed.  Thinking back on 
everything that had happened yesterday, he realized that the stresses
of the day, combined with exhaustion, plus that Ceth creature had made 
his thinking a bit strange.  He fervently hoped that no one had noticed: 
they'd think he'd gone mad.  He got out of bed, washed his face, and 
stepped outside to let the sun dry his face.  It was such a beautiful day 
outside.  

He smiled to himself, then quickly hurried back inside to check
his paintings.  He smiled, pleased at what he saw.  Thinking about that 
half-elf monster, he felt a flash of inspiration, and quickly set up a 
fresh canvas.  After drawing a rough sketch, he felt another moment of 
inspiration and decided to draw a comparison and contrast study.  One 
side would show the face that she presented to the world, and the other 
how her actions and personality had warped her.  Erasing the previous 
sketch, he quickly started over.  After 2 hours had passed, he realized 
he was hungry.  Covering the canvas, he left his quarters, and his plans 
for greatness, behind.

On the way to the mess hall, a thought occurred to him, and he made a 
detour to the med. center to check on Keev.  He looked better, V'kat was 
pleased to see.  Almiron must have worked on him.  V'kat was slightly 
worried about that.  The healing SEEMED to be wonderful, but it was so 
FAST.  What if the bones and muscles were weakened by the treatment?
V'kat fretted; he liked children, and didn't want anything else to happen  
to Keev.  That Ceth-creature..!  V'kat choked down his anger, then looked 
up to see Kyven standing next to him.

"He looks much better, doesn't he?" V'kat offered.

"Yes, he's just sleeping, now.  Yesterday was a busy day for him," Kyven 
wore a strange smile with those words.

"Ah, well, I'm going to grab something to eat before my shift starts, can 
I get you anything?"

Kyven shook his head now, "Mila brought me something earlier, thanks."

V'kat smiled, then left for breakfast.
******************
[D'nil, the same night as the rescue]

D'nil sighed.  He realized that he was worrying about Ceth, again.  He 
gathered his writing materials, and started writing down his toughts of 
the day's events.  With the soothing feeling of pen on paper, he gave 
into his fantasies and worries.  Then, having emptied himself of all 
thoughts, he went to bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.
******************
[Ceth the day after the rescue]

Ceth woke up sometime in the afternoon in a strange bed.  Recalling where 
she was brought back memories of purple demons, drownings, little boys, 
earthquakes and big, scaly monsters.  She thought for a moment and 
decided the last weren't dragons.  What kind of self-respecting dragon 
wouldn't take the time to say hello? she wondered.  She sighed, the whole 
thing was just too much for one Ceth to handle.  Well, too much to handle 
on the amount of sleep she had gotten.  She flopped down in bed and 
burrowed her way under the blanket into sleep.

When she woke up again, it was nightfall.  Ceth frowned, realizing that 
her sleep schedule was disrupted.  She was far too awake to go back to 
sleep.  She was also hungry.  She sighed, she had eated bread and cheese 
from the kitchens and needed to pay that back.  She looked through her 
possessions, gathered her bow and pack then went back off into the 
woods.  She nibbled some berries and odd herbs she found while she made a 
couple of arrows.  They weren't her best work, but with a little luck 
they would do the trick.  

With a little luck.....Ceth dimly remembered trying her magic last night 
and having nothing happen.  Not nothing visible, NOTHING.  She frowned, 
then tried casting spells on a tree close by.  She cast...and...nothing.  
After multiple tries, Ceth realized that it simply wasn't going to work.  
Thinking back on the purple demon, she decided that that wasn't such a 
bad thing after all.  She sighed, things were going to be less 
interesting, and more difficult from now on.  She wished she knew where 
her sword was. 

Deciding she was more hungry than anything else, she wandered some more.  
A few hours, and several arrows later, Ceth decided that two rabbits were 
enough.  She really needed to take the time to make better ones; she 
couldn't remember ever missing her targets by this much.

Remembering Keev, she stopped to gather some flowers before going back.  
The orderly at the med center, though, refused to let her visit.  She 
sighed, wondering why people were being so difficult about things.  She 
wandered around the building for a while, looking in windows, before she 
finally saw Keev.  From there, it was only a moments work to enter.  She 
didn't want to wake him up, so she just left the flowers by the bed, 
breathed an elven prayer over him, then let herself back out through the 
window.

Collecting her rabbits, she made her way back to the kitchens.  Maybe the 
rabbits, plus some work, would be worth another loaf of bread.  Ceth 
remembered the last time she had tried to roast rabbits and shuddered.  
She vaguely understood why people were afraid to eat her cooking, but she 
had never poisoned anyone yet.  

Unfortunately, the kitchens were empty.  Ceth sighed.  It looked like she 
would be cooking her dinner again.  She cleaned and skinned her rabbits, 
then started the tasks that every kitchen always needed done.  She 
cleaned out the firepits, started two fresh fires, started heating water 
in one, and the rabbits over another, then laid fresh kindling in the 
remaining.  While looking for the trash, she remembered Keev's taking a 
knife.  She rushed back to her quarters, returned the knife, and did the 
few remaining dishes from what looked like midnight snacks.  Ceth spent 
some time trying to figure out where everything was before starting on 
the floors.  She had scrubbed her way through about three-fourths of the 
floor when she heard a person behind her.

"You don't cook much, dearie, do you?"  the woman asked, with a smile.

Ceth stared at  her, puzzled, then realized what it was that she had been 
smelling.  Her rabbits!

"Well, I'm sure something will be salvageable," Ceth said, trying to 
convince herself.

As Ceth straighted up to take the rabbits off the fire, Sheltie got her 
first look at the "monster assassin" everyone had been talking about.  
She felt a moment of fear, then brushed it aside.  She couldn't imagine 
any assassin scrubbing floors in the middle of the night, although it 
was almost morning.

-june