[Talitha]

Standing numbly amidst the devastation, there was a part of 'Lith
that was vaguely amused by the fact that they had moved from Xylian
to avoid this sort of thing.  Part of her wanted to find Gor'd and
shake him...  Only Wraiths, indeed!  It seemed that Lords everywhere
felt that they had the right to invade if things weren't going their
way...

Mael would have laughed at the similarities, but 'Lith just wanted to
cry.  So many dead and injured...  At least when Aelxirn of Nambril
had tried to invade Xylian, no one had been hurt.

And the Wraiths...  There were nothing like them on the plateau that
she knew of.  It was more than enough to make up for the lack of
ravening hordes of unnamed and unnamable *things* that kept popping
up out of the Wastes.

<< Silly of you to think it would be so different, >> Prisma told
her, cuddling with yet another dragon whose name 'Lith didn't know
and whose rider was a complete mystery.  'Lith nodded, sending a warm
mental hug to her dragon.

< Probably, but a woman can dream, love. > 'Lith replied, pushing
away from the stone wall that had given her unobtrusive support.  <
I'm going in for food, have you fed? >

<< No.  I'm going hunting later. >>

< Have fun, love. >

<< Don't worry, I will! >>

'Lith managed a laugh at her dragon and went into the dining hall,
finding herself a tray and some food.  Her good humor faded as she
had to wade through the injured and the battle-shocked, losing her
appetite all together but knowing that her dragon would nag her
mercilessly if she didn't eat.

Having acquired food that she knew she didn't want but might manage
to choke down, the next challenge was finding a place to sit. 
Undoubtedly there were tables somewhere that weren't taken, but she
couldn't see any...

She spotted one man, sitting alone, almost like a statue.  He didn't
seem to be aware of the chaos around him, and half of the table was
free...

'Lith headed that direction, navigating her way gracefully through
the throng  as the man's head dropped into his hands and his
shoulders started shaking.  For a moment, 'Lith stopped and stared at
him, unsure for a moment if she wanted to involve herself in someone
else's grief...  There had to be other tables...

She bit her lip, glancing around.  He seemed so... isolated and
alone.  No one reached out a hand or offered a kind word.  The
streams of humanity swirled by him, leaving the man untouched...  And
that was something she couldn't bear to see at all.

'Lith moved forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Mismatched eyes of grey and green came up, staring at her out of a
face that she noted almost clinically was quite handsome, but it was
his grief that pulled at her as her hand came away.

"No."

It was a simple reply to a simple question, but somehow...  It wasn't
enough just to ask that.  She had to *do* something, as Gor'd had
done something, to alleviate the pain she saw.

His eyes swept her clothing, a small curiosity displacing a tiny
amount of pain in those odd eyes and she flushed, realizing that she
still looked subtly *different* from everyone else...  But then,
everyone else looked strange to her, too, so it seemed that it was
fair.

"My name is Talitha -- umm... well, 'Lith, anyway -- and I just
transferred from Xylian."  She rushed through the statement, sounding
something like a nervous teen, and 'Lith had to laugh slightly at
herself, a self-deprecating curl of her lips appearing as she
finished.

"Xylian?  I've never heard of that Warren."  A tiny flicker of
interest amidst the gloom.

'Lith shrugged.

"That's okay, I'd never heard of Marrid before I came here..."  She
bit her lip, paling slightly as she remembered why she'd left.  It
had been months, but the pain was still there to bite her if she
wasn't looking.

"I'm sorry, I'm forgetting my manners, please sit down.  My name is
Trey."

'Lith put her all-but-forgotten food down and offered him her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Trey."  'Lith forced a smile past her own surge of
grief, a small part of her mind noting idly that it was getting
easier to while another portion resented that fact immensely...  Like
it was betraying Maelwith to be able to set it aside.  "Is there
anything I can do to help?"

[Tag back, Lyn]

-----
NRPG --
Sorry it weren't longer, but I wasn't sure how to handle Trey...


*hugs*

Respectfully Submitted,
Jill E. Flansburg
Talitha and Prisma
Norwall Warren
DragonLands
             X-FILES                         DRAGONLANDS
 Assistant Director                   Rhiannon, WarrenLady  *Xylian*
 Sterling Kincaid, TL, ECHO           Elswyth and Aedra   *Keldarra*
 Damien Cunningham, UD DELTA          Katla and Satinka *Whiteriver*
 Xan X. Xavier, Trainer,              Zera and Mazel       *Norwall*

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			      Vasaris, the Fuzzy Dragon
 Jill E. Flansburg	          |		            vasaris@az.com
 CS HMC 1994	                |		jflansbu@muddcs.cs.hmc.edu
 History, WWU 199?                |		vasaris@divcom.umop-ap.com
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