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Tormala stood before the mirror in her newly acquired apartment,
brushing her long, straight black hair. Out of the corner of her eye
she caught sight of Zar, her raven, flying in through the open window
and towards his newly constructed, higgledy-piggledy nest in the
alcove Tormala had allocated to him.

<Where have you been, my feathered friend?> she asked.

*'Sploring* said the raven, furtively pushing something into the
depths of the nest.

<And what is that I see?> asked Tormala, raising an eyebrow.

*Nothing!* insisted the raven.

<It is a very *shiny* nothing...> Tormala persisted, walking over to
the nest.

The raven hopped up and down in agitation trying to cover up whatever
had just been placed in the nest.

<Come, now> soothed Tormala. <I am not going to take it. I just want
to see which of my belongings you have borrowed this time. Because it
*is* only borrowed, is it not, Zar?>

*Course it is!*

Tormala deftly delved into the nest, picking her way through several
shiny
pebbles, some coral beads, several irregularly shaped pearls and no
small
number of of her hair combs. Pulling out something she *hadn't* seen
before,
Tormala gave the bird a sideways look.

<This is new...> she said. The raven just looked at his feet,
modestly.

It was a thick ring of polished stone, metallic gray - hematite,
perhaps.
The band felt heavy and seemed oversized; perhaps it intended for a
rather
large man's hand.  Curious though it was, this was not the shiny
object that
had caught Tormala's eye - that had been definitely silver... She put
the
first object in her pocket, and continued to search.

"Aha!" she said aloud, producing a pair of shiny silver scissors from
the nest, a length of colourful scarlet ribbon tied to one handle.

"These are *not* mine, Zar..." she said. "Now *where* did you find
them?"

*Nowhere!* said the raven.

<Come on, now> Tormala pressed.

*Shan't tell  you*

<Tell me, or I will take away all the other sparklies...> Tormala
mind-spoke, in a warning tone.

The raven gave her a sideways look, to gauge whether she was serious.
Deciding that she was, he gave a small sigh.

*Follow me then*


*****************

Carrying the scissors and the ring, Tormala followed the raven to the
Candidates' Barracks.

<You found it here?>

*Yes* said the raven, grouchily.

Zar led her to a door.

<This one?>

<Yep!> The bird confirmed.

With a sigh, Tormala knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came a voice from inside.

"My name is Tormala. And I believe I have something of yours."

The door opened cautiously, revealing a girl perhaps a little younger
than
Tormala, with long, dark-honey coloured hair and soft gray-green eyes.

"I don't see how you could..." the girl began.

Shaking her head sadly, Tormala produced the silver scissors.

"Oh!" said the girl. "Those *are* mine. I'd been looking for them...
But
how...?"

"I am afraid that my friend here has a weakness for shiny objects and
bright
colours," said Tormala, indicating Zar, who had taken up his customary
perch
on the exotic looking girl's shoulder, and was eyeing the other girl
malevolently.

The bird jabbed his beak at the scissors' owner, and cawed.

The girl jumped back in alarm, and Tormala glared at the bird.

"BAD bird!" she said, and the raven looked contrite.

"You seem to have him very well trained..." said the girl, stepping
forward
once again.

The faintest hint of a smile flickered across Tormala's lips.

"You could say that," she said, giving Zar a warning glance.

"But," she continued. "I must apologise. Zar has very bad manners.  He
should not steal. I can only apologise on his behalf and return your
possession ..." Tormala hesitated.  "I do not believe I know your
name,"
she said. "I am new here."

"No harm done," Kendra said cheerfully, pocketing the scissors.  "My
name is
Kendra, and I'm new here, too.  I'm told that I'm to be a Candidate
for the
next hatching, whenever that is."

"As I said, my name is Tormala," said the tall, dark-skinned girl,
extending
a hand with long, elegant fingernails. "Rider of Chasca,"

Kendra shook Tormala's hand.  "Say, that's lovely beadwork," she
observed,
glancing at the other's shirt.  "The cut and style of your clothing is
so...
different ... from what the other riders wear!"

Tormala lifted her chin, smiling slightly at the compliment.  "I am
not from
around here," she reminded the younger girl.

"Perhaps I could learn to make something similar," Kendra mused.  "My
family
makes clothing, and I'd love to experiment with something new."

"Perhaps," Tormala said noncommitally.  "Ah," she murmured, suddenly
remembering something.  "You would not by any chance know the owner of
*this*?" she asked, producing the other stolen item she had found
stashed in
Zar's nest.

"Oh," said Kedra, the smile vanishing from her face as she took the
proffered object.  "I think I do...  last winter, my brother spent
several
evenings sitting by the fire, shaping and polishing a stone like this.
Father even chided him for not doing something more useful with the
time.
It seemed important to Ked that he finish it, though.  For what
purpose, he
never said."

"Surely he will want it returned," Tormala observed.  "If you would be
so
kind as to introduce us, we may return it with our apologies..."

Kendra shook her head.  "He's not here.  I came to Keldarra to visit
him,
but no one here has seen him in a while."  She looked troubled.  "Ked
spent
so long making this, I can hardly imagine he would just leave it
behind!"

Looking suddenly determined, she stepped past Tormala and took off at
a
half-run.

"Please excuse me," she called back over her shoulder, "but there's
someone
who needs to see this right away.  With any luck, it will convince him
to
actually *do* something about my missing brother..."

Respectfully Submitted
A joint post from
Carina Norris - Tormala <& Chasca>
Dave Lankford - Kendra