From: "Benjamin Tate" <boy_devil@hotmail.com>

NRPG:  Itās been a long time ... and Iām not terribly aware of everything 
that is going on right now, so I hope I donāt muck anything up.  :):)  Sorry 
Iāve been away for so long ... itās been a busy few months.

Galen:
----------
Galen doubled over and fell to his knees.  Darrkon stepped back and watched 
the aged warrior catch his breath again.  He was surprised that the first 
thing he heard form Galenās mouth was laughter.

"Youāre ... youāre too ... damn good.  How ... do you get your ...  hands 
and feet to ... move that quickly?"

"How do you get anything to work well?  Practice."

"Alright then ... "

With that he sprung to his feet ... at least he sprung as best as he could 
... and got into the stance Darrkon had taught him.  They had gotten an 
early start to the day and spent the last little bit going over motions and 
practicing.  So far, the practicing had amounted to Darrkon beating Galen 
senseless and showing him how quick hands and feet could move.

The went back and forth once more with about the same results.  Galen was 
getting a better grasp on the style Darrkon used, but he despaired of ever 
achieving the quick movements.  He wasnāt slow by any means, but his 
quickness was much different than Darrkonās.

He stood again and prepared for another round but was spared but Naomiās 
timely appearance.

"Good morning,"  she called cheerily as she neared the sparring
partners.  "Am I too early?"

"Not at all ... Darrkon was just teaching me a new way of fighting."

Naomi laughed and said, "Youāre always trying to learn something new, arenāt 
you Galen?"

"You bet!  I love learning new skills ... besides it gives me something to 
do."

"Oh come now ... donāt tell me youāre bored.  Iām sure we could find 
something more for you to do."

"No!  No, thatās quite all right.  Come to think of it ... I am quite busy 
right now."

"Sure you are."

Darrkon chuckled, bid Galen good-bye and walked away.  Galen took a few 
minutes to catch his breath and then he started Naomiās lessons.  They had 
decided to give her separate lessons from the rest of the class ... it let 
Galen work more closely with her and she didnāt have to be hampered by the 
pace of the class.

She had shown a lot of improvements since the first lesson, but today 
something was wrong.

"Stop now."  Galen told her 20 minutes later.  "Your mind isn't on what
you're doing and you're making stupid mistakes.  If I were seriously
trying to injure you then you'd have been bleeding on the ground for
most of this lesson."

She grimaced at his words but put down the short sword she'd been
waving ineffectually.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"  Galen asked her.  "I couldn't
help overhearing some of what you said to S'ron...."

"I did get a little agitated with him didn't I?"  she asked with a
sigh.  "He made me so ANGRY!"

"Calm down and tell me everything from the beginning."  Galen advised
her  "Maybe together we can find a solution to whatever problem
exists."

<..>

Galen should have seen it coming.  A simple suggestion had turned into...

"We'll leave for Whitbarrow an hour after sundown."  she told him
decisively.  "Be ready!"

"But...."  Galen began

And before he could wedge a serious objection in, events had pulled them 
away from that topic.

The mysterious rider and her dragon had caused quite a stir and there was a 
fairly large group of people milling about when the pair up and vanished 
after an incredibly short stay.  The confusion slowly dispersed and Galen 
found himself walking back to the Med Centre with Zera.

"Hey beautiful ... howās the day going?"

"So far so good ... although that little episode was more than a bit 
strange."

"Yeah, Iām not too sure what to think about it ... certainly an interesting 
way to start off the day."

"What about you?  You look a little tired."

"Yeah, Darrkon showed me a few things this morning.  Iām not as young as I 
used to be."

"Ahhh ... now donāt go complaining about your creaking bones again.  I donāt 
want to hear it ... you can handle the nights, you can handle the days."

"Thatās a bit different."

"I donāt see how ... you donāt seem 'too old' then."

"Okay, okay ... you got me."  He paused a second, then plunged in, while I 
was practicing with Naomi this morning she was really distracted, so I asked 
what was wrong, she told me, I made a few suggestions and ..."

"Yes?"

"And Iām going with her in an undercover mission to Whitebarrow."

"What?  Youāre doing what?"

"Going to Whitebarrow."

"Iām going with you."

He had expected that.  He had learned a lot about this faithful woman in the 
past few weeks.  "I would hardly be the one to stand in your way ... but I 
didnāt volunteer for this either.  This is Naomiās brainstorm ... youāre 
going to have to talk to her."

"Iām coming with you."

"Okay ... make sure to talk to Naomi though."

She made a face at him.  "Of course I will ... I donāt go traipsing off to 
fight battles without telling people."

"Hey ... that was a low blow."

"You deserved it."

He pulled her in for a quick hug.  "Have a good day ... Iāll see you at 
lunch."

"Okay."

<..>

The next thing on his agenda was the regular sword fighting class that he 
taught with Sāron.  They went through that and Galen could see that the 
class wouldnāt be going on too much longer.  The students were getting to 
the point that further instruction would be too time consuming.  They would 
be able to hold their own.

He didnāt relish his next task at all, but he had gotten the job by default 
and he knew if he was going to stay trainer, he had to get used to dealing 
with people ... all sort of people.

He entered the training barracks and found Kaeli? at feeding her little 
dragon.  "Good morning.  Get much sleep."

Low muttered curses met his cheeriness and were really all the answer he 
needed.  "Things are going to be tough for the first few weeks, but itāll 
get easier ... trust me.  Okay, letās get busy."

<..>

Galen delivered his charge to the waiting hands of Naomi right before lunch. 
  The training had gone a bit easier than he had expected, but he still 
didnāt think terribly highly of this girl ... and it was obvious she felt 
the same about him.  Oh well ... theyād do what had to be done.

He met Zera at the Med Centre and couldnāt help smiling when he saw her.  
She certainly was the brightest spot in his life.

"Hey there gorgeous ... did you talk to Naomi yet?"

<Tag Jill>

_________________________
NRPG:  I was in a writing mood, but didnāt know how Naomi would react to 
Zeraās request.  Hope I didnāt presume too much with that Jill, but after 
her reaction to his last little adventure, I thought it was a pretty safe 
bet.  :):)  Anyway, itās good to be back at this!  :)

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore!"
Galen - Norwall


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