>>"Are the dragons going to get better soon?" Yasmine asked.
>>
>>"I don't know, Goldenrod. Waylene said she's sent off for some wild dragon
>>healer who might know something. I'm doing all I can."
>>
>>"I hope he gets here soon," Yasi said, stroking the neck of her hatchling
>>sadly.
>
>"So do I, Goldenrod," Arri mumbled. "Just between you and me, I'm running
>out of ideas." Arri laughed bitterly. "Look hon, why don't you help me bathe
>and oil them all. It will give us something to do."
>
>Yasmine nodded eagerly, glad for something to occupy her mind.
>
>As they were working, Arri sang softly under her breath to each of the
>dragons, struggling to provide them with a reinforcement she didn't feel.
>She couldn't *see* what was wrong, there didn't seem to be any anomolies in
>the blood samples... maybe she should run them again.

Yasmine worked diligently at bathing and oiling the ill dragons. She
supposed this was her penance for all the missed training time. After all,
if she hadn't missed so much she might have realized there was a problem.

The soft melodious tones of Arri's singing were a pleasant distraction from
the hard work. Yasmine smiled and continued scrubbing and oiling.

>"You have a pretty voice," observed Yasmine, startling the healer slightly. 
>
>Arri paused in oiling Grall's hide to look at the young woman and nod. "I'm
>trained as a bard and a healer... being a Queenrider destroyed my chances to
>get my credentials. Daetyn was a very hard won gain."

Yasmine frowned. How could she think that way? Wasn't being a queenrider
worth any cost?

>"Do you ever miss it?" 
>
>The healer pushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes and shrugged,
>sliding into her childhood speech patterns. "Aye, lassie I do, but tha'
>Warren needs me more in here greasin' down dragons than they need a flightly
>little songstress..." She couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of her
>voice, "Although lately I'm wonderin' if I'm any use at all, since I canna
>figure out what's the matter..."

Yasmine's frown deepened with concern over the queenrider. She didn't seem
herself and she seemed to be taking it overly hard that she couldn't
discover the source of the dragon plague.

>Yasmine could hear the frustration in her voice. "You're trying. We're all
>worried about you. You'll figure it out..."
>
>If only I had that confidence, Arri said to herself with a sigh.
>
>"Arri," said Yasmine softly, finally getting to what was really on her mind,
>"Why does Lakoda hate Trey so much? He's always been nice to me but she
>snaps at him all the time like she thinks I shouldn't trust him..."
>
>"Yasmine, I am going to ask you to hold that thought until we get this done,
>and then we can go inside." Arri said with as much gentleness as she could
>muster, "I would rather discuss this out of the sun..."
>
>"You're hiding something from me," accused Yasmine, "Why does everyone treat
>me like a child?"

Yasmine was highly upset. She was used to that at Tressa, where everything
was hidden from her and the staff did their best to protect her. Here she'd
been treated like a porcelain doll ever since she'd arrived. The young
rider was getting a little perturbed.

>Arri couldn't help but laugh. "Yasmine, I can't afford to get heatstroke.
>That's all it boils down to. If I'm standing out here explaining life to you
>I'm going to get sick. It's not that you're a child, it's that I'm too old
>for pan-fried noggin," the healer said with a chuckle.
>
>There was a semi-hurt silence from the girl who shrugged and said, "Promise?
>You're not going to back out on me?"
>
>"No Yasmine. Now oil, before I cook to death."
>
>---
>*About half an hour later in the lab*
>
>Arri examined the slides for what felt like the million and seventh time as
>Yasmine came back with two glasses of iced tea. Still nothing. No virii,
>nothing she could pin the sense of wrongness on, no fungi, no spores, no
>real aberrations in the blood... Which dragons WEREN'T sick? Maybe that was
>the key? Daetyn, Raynod, Porthios, Fiera, Ribbon... was there anything they
>had in common between them? She'd have to think about that, she mused as she
>stepped away from the microscope and sat down next to Yasmine.
>
>"Okay, you promised," said Yasmine with a hint of sullenness.

Yasmine knew Arri was desperate to find a cure to the plague, but she
wasn't about to have that be a convenient way to leave her hanging.

>"Well, I did. And I don't think you'll like it Goldenrod, but first you have
>to promise to have an open heart. I have had to and while I still have a
>sore spot about it, he has proven his value to the Warren," began Arri
>quietly, fixing her green eyes on the young woman.

Yasmine nodded quietly, sensing the seriousness of the situation.

>"Making a long story very short, as a result of a brain tumor, Tre'tram
>raped his little girl at knifepoint, who was about your age at the time,"
>began Arri.

The blood drained from Yasmine's face as she processed the information she
was given. Trey raped his daughter. Violently. The daughter was the same
age as she. Brain tumor. What would a brain tumor have to do with a rape,
Yasmine wondered silently.

She thought about the man as she knew him. How long ago was that, she
wondered. She knew that Trey said he still had the tumor. Was it possible
for him to rape again? He didn't seem like the kind of man who would do
such a thing. He was so nice to her. She thought of his scars. He'd tried
to kill himself. Because of the brain tumor, he said. Perhaps he couldn't
live with what he'd done, Yasmine thought.

>"Shortly after I first came here I discovered that fact in the most painful
>way possible, by sharing memories with him. That's an even longer story."

Yasmine looked confused at her choice of words. Sharing memories? Was Arri
a rape victim herself?

>Arri ignored the unspoken question for now and sipped her tea, "Tre'tram
>came here to be given a second chance and I have tried my best to do that.
>It hasn't always been easy. Lakoda knows about what he did while he was sick
>and feels she needs to protect you from him. While I agree that since he's
>not taking his medication we need to watch him carefully, C'tain and I know
>a bit more about his condition and it certainly doesn't mean she has the
>right to outright antagonize him. Stress doesn't help."

Lakoda knew? And didn't tell her? Yasmine felt betrayed when she heard
those words. She thought that if anyone would be honest with her it would
be Lakoda.

>"However I have promised not to interfere in any way with the operations of
>the Medical Center and that includes pointing that out to her," the healer
>concluded sadly. "Just let it slide, and if you need someone to talk to or
>if he ever scares you, let me know."
>
>Yasmine sat stunned. Raped his daughter? No wonder Lakoda was upset.
>
>But Arri was right, he had never hurt her and she couldn't hold a past she
>didn't know against him, she thought grimly. At least now she knew what the
>problem was. "Thanks Arri."
>
>Cocking an eyebrow, the healer chuckled. "I was expecting a lot of things,
>but thanks wasn't one of them. How are you doing?"
>
>The girl shrugged. "I'm okay I guess. I met my da' today."
>
>Guardedly, the healer nodded. "How did that go?" Arri watched her carefully
>for signs of upset or flashbacks, and as the young woman talked animatedly
>about her newly discovered father, she concluded that the girl was in fine
>health physically. 

*******

** Day 3, evening, Lakoda's apartment **

Lakoda came in exhausted and slumped down on the couch. It was the first
time that Lakoda and Yasmine had seen each other in a couple of days.
Yasmine brought out a couple of glasses of iced tea and a plate of
sandwiches for the two of them.

They ate and drank their tea and talked some. The conversation between
Yasmine and Arri was still playing in the back of the girl's mind, but
Yasmine wasn't sure how to bring it up. She decided to wait for now.

"How are close are we to finding the cure for the dragon plague?" Yasmine
asked, trying to get her thoughts going in another direction.

***

Finally Yasmine couldn't take it anymore. She just had to know. Uncertain
just how to ask, Yasmine blurted out her question.

"Koda, why didn't you tell me Trey was a rapist?"

The color drained from the petite healers face. "I... Trey... what???"
Lakoda stammered.

"Trey is a rapist," Yasmine's tone was flat, "He raped his daughter at
knife point. Arri told me so. Said it was because of his tumor. And she
also said that you knew about it. I want to know why you didn't tell me."

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

NRPG Tag Barb! ;>  BTW, I know that Lakoda didn't know, but I figured we
could have some fun with Arri thinking that Lakoda knew.
                \=/,         _-===-_-====-_-===-_-==========-_-====-_
                |  @___oo   (    Submitted by:                        )
      /\  /\   / (___,,,}_--=    Jacqueline "Morgan" Allgood          )
     ) /^\) ^\/ _)        =__                                          )
     )   /^\/   _)          (_                                         )
     )   _ /  / _)            (      Danika/Kalindeth of Daere        )
 /\  )/\/ ||  | )_)            (_    Aradia/Futhark of Whiteriver     )
<  >      |(,,) )__)             (   Kattibrie/Calishandra of Telnor )
 ||      /    \)___)\             (_ Yasmine/Starlin of Marrid       )
 | \____(      )___) )___           -==-_____-=====-_____-=====-___==
  \______(_______;;; __;;;