10/22/1730gmt
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Piper
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        Piper leaned forward on Bishvilea's ridged neck.  She felt better
now, that she had been able to do -something- and sighed tiredly, stroking
the golden-red hide of her dragon.  Even if it hadn't been much.  Naomi had
really done all of the rescue.  Piper and Bishvilea had been along for the ride.

        *I need a bath, Piper,* the little dragon spoke in her mind, *I'm
all covered with smoke and soot.*  There was a brief pause and then, *and I
itch.*

        Piper reached down as far as she could, rubbing briskly, and then
patting Bishvilea's neck.  *Soon, love.  We have to make sure everything is
alright, at the warren.  And we can't bath in a lake with so much smoke.*
Piper knew that there would be plenty of work for the trainees, that had
nothing to do with their dragons.  She felt frustration well up, feeling
more like a servant girl, than a dragon rider, most days.

        They followed Naomi in, landing near the medical center and watched
as the Dragon Lady handed over her charges to Lilliana.  Piper wondered if
she should follow the healer inside, to see if she could be of any help.
She watched as slowly, the dragons started to return from the battle with
the wilders. 

        *They look sad,* Piper thought to Bishvilea. She felt a stab of
grief from the golden-red beast beside her.  

        *Many dragons died today, Piper,* Bishvilea spoke back, her own
voice sounding disconsolate in the girl's mind.  *That is a very sad thing.*

        *Norwall's dragons?" Piper asked, concerned and fearful. She knew
that, when a rider lost his dragon, never again would he feel whole.  Piper
couldn't imagine life without her close friend, the comforting voice in her
mind, the feeling of closeness that she never had to feel alone again.

        Piper could almost feel Bishvilea shaking her head in the negative,
*No, but many of the wilders are gone.*  The young musician felt a mental
sigh, *It is very sad, Piper, for any dragon to die.*

        Piper rubbed the soft skin of the dragon's neck, silently sharing
her friend's grief.  Now the words of the Dragon Lady, Naomi, were beginning
to sink in.  Victory had been grasped, but it would be looked upon with a
somber joy. 

        Suddenly, the golden-red sounded in Piper's mind, *It's Penthos!
Aleipha is in trouble! He bids us to hurry!*

        Piper leaped into the saddle from Bishvilea's proffered foreknee,
*What's wrong? Where are they?*  Piper asked as the dragon waited for her to
buckle the straps that would hold her safely in on it's back.

        *Not far, Penthos says, but he is worried about his rider.*  Piper's
heart leaped into her throat.  *Do you know where they are? Do you have a
clear picture?*  The girl tried not to think of the consequences of a
misdirected jump between.  They had been told story after story of riders
who blinked out of reality, never to return. Maybe they should tell
someone... but it seemed everyone was busy.  

        *I know where they are, Piper. Do not worry,* Piper could almost
feel the little dragon smiling, *I am not ready to jump to nowhere just
yet.*  Bishvilea's excitement was bubbling again.  This was something that
the two of them could do, a task that they could complete together.
Bishvilea leaped into the air and they were gone.

        Piper blinked twice, to get her bearings when the pair reappeared in
over a part of the forest.  It appeared that the fire had swept through here
and burned itself out.  It took only seconds for the girl to spot sapphire
blue dragon and note that he was missing his rider.  Aleipha was easy to
spot, her long, silvery white hair standing out against the blue of Penthos
and the surrounding sky.

        *Where is Aleipha, Bishvilea?* Piper asked her dragon, worriedly.
The two had joined with their dragons at the same hatching and had spent the
last while training together, eating together, talking together.  Piper
admired the proud young woman that was the rider of Penthos, and seemed that
beyond all odds, was destined for a unique existence.

        *Penthos says she went into the forest and hasn't returned, she
can't come out, she's stuck.*  The golden-red sounded almost as if she
chuckled.  *Aleipha isn't hurt.*

        Bishvilea dropped down into the clearing that was nearby.  *Be
careful, Piper,* she sent to the girl, *Penthos is flying right above where
she is.* 

        Piper looked up to see the sapphire blue dragon  circling, and
headed off into the trees.  It was not difficult going.  The fire had
cleared nearly all of the old, dry, dead brush, leaving the trees, standing
but singed.  This part of the forest would be green again next year,
healthier, in fact, for the cleansing flames.  

        Plunging past the still smoking trees, suddenly, she heard the
dragon's warning in the recesses of her mind.  *Penthos says to go
carefully, you are getting near her, now.  Don't you fall too.*

        The girl slowed her advance, looking left and right, up and down,
but seeing no sign of the flowing white hair that she expected.  Finally,
she called softly, "Aleipha? Aleipha!  Where are you?"

        "Piper! Is that you?" she heard, shouting from somewhere close ahead
and downward, "Be careful, and come get me!"

        Piper walked forward carefully, "Where are you? I can't see you!"
she called, feeling a flood of confusion overflow her.  "What happened?"

        "Watch out!" Aleipha's voice came from nearly under Piper's feet,
and she stopped still, looking down.

        Nearly hidden among the burned brush was a pit, partially covered
with a large tree.  Piper nearly stepped into it, and might have, if it
hadn't been for Aleipha's quick shout.

        Piper gasped, staring at the darkened pit.  "Are you in there,
Aleipha?" she called, concerned.  

        "Yes, and I can't get out.  The sides won't give me purchase and
that stupid tree is in the way."  Aleipha sounded more than a little
disgusted with her situation.

        Piper looked over the predicament that her friend was in.  "How did
you get in there, in the first place?"  Piper asked while she thought.
"There's not enough room to crawl in..."

        "Well there was plenty of room to fall in," Aleipha said,
exasperated.  "The tree started falling, and I ran, right into this pit, and
the tree fell on top."  She grunted, pushing futily at the huge log.

        "Well," Piper said, with a grin, "at least the tree didn't hit you,
it might have killed you!  What were you doing in here, anyway?"  

        "We thought we saw something that might have been Hered," the white
haired girl replied.  "I was just coming back to the clearing when I fell in
here."

        "Where did your partner go?"  Piper was beginning to get an inkling
of an idea, she just needed to find a few things, so looking around, she
continued listening to Aleipha.

        There was a pause, that grew longer until finally Piper began to get
worried.  "Aleipha, are you alright?" she queried, bringing her finds back
to the vincinity of the pit.

        "I'm fine," she said, quietly. "Are you going to get me out of
here?" she asked, totally ignoring the other girl's question.

        "Good, I'll have you out very soon," Piper replied, starting to set
things up to put her plan into action.  "What happened to your partner,
Naomi split us into pairs, did Meena let you go alone?"  Piper felt a little
sting of jealousy, at the thought of being trusted to fly alone on a search.

        "No, Meena divided us up, too," she said, noncommitally.  "I was
paired off with W'liam."  She hesitated.  "I told him to leave."

        "Why on earth did you do that??" Piper asked, incredulous.  "That's
why we have partners, to help each other." Piper had a makeshift lever made
now, and soon had the heavy log pushed just far enough to pull the young
dragon rider out of the trap.  

        Aleipha was filthy and her pale cheeks blushed hotly.  "I was
embarrassed, Piper," she said.  "I felt so foolish."

        Piper shook her head.  "It could have happened to anyone of us,
Aleipha,"  the dark haired girl comforted.  "I would have fallen if you
hadn't shouted when you did." Bishvilea's rider looked over the other young
trainee. "Are you alright?  You aren't hurt, are you?"

        "I'm fine," Aleipha replied as the two picked their way carefully
back to the clearing where their dragon's waited.  "I need a bath."  Burnt
bits, dirt and soot entwined themselves in her white hair and she hands,
clothes, everything were filthy and sweaty from trying to extricate herself
from the hole.

        *Me, too, Piper,* Bishvilea sounded in her rider's mind. *I want a
bath, too.*


Respectfully submitted,
Piper and Bishvilea

NRPG: Michelle N. I hope you don't mind :)  Piper promises not to tell
anyone what happened :)  *tee hee*  I figure you can take us back to the
Warren and find us some trouble to get in to there :)  

Everyone else.  Now, I'm going to -try- to stay caught up in my reading and
keep track of who is who :)  So, maybe you will hear from me more often :)

Louise #8->

  


sanya42@mwci.net

Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes.