NRPG: I^ñm backposting a bit to catch a few tags, then I^ñll see if I can get 
myself all caught up with everything. :)

*Galen*
*Day 10 - Training*

It was nice to step back for once and let someone else run the show for a 
bit. Landon was starting to explain the nature of his portion of the 
training, so Galen stood to the side and chatted with Breezy. He kept one 
eye on the way things were going, for the sake of seeing the shocked faces 
of the those trainees who were yet unaware of Landon^ñs ability. The flash of 
movement when things were just getting interesting caught his eye. As Landon 
was being engulfed by flames, a figure was running out to him ... Jasmine. 
Galen took two steps out to stop her, but a piercing scream behind him 
stopped his movements.

He turned and saw Breezy headed towards the source, so he turned back to 
Jasmine ... but K^ñtarr was already getting her out of the way. With both 
disturbances taken care of, Galen turned to take care of his quite startled 
group of trainees.

*Cyrus*

When Jeneve screamed, he felt the sound shudder through him. Azhdeen was 
saying something, but the words blurred to a nonsensical sound as he cut 
through the gathering crowd to the warrenlady who now needed his help. He 
found each gap in the crowd and threaded his way through them as if he had 
been doing it all his life. He saw the inner circle of people around Jeneve 
and pushed through them to finally provide her with something other than an 
accident.

But someone was already there.

He froze as he saw Dargis, with Jeneve in his arms, already moving towards 
the Med Centre. He heard his voice ask, "Is she going to be..."

Dargis nodded, "I think so. Don't worry, I'll make sure she's okay, Cyrus. 
Tell Landon that I had to take care of Jeneve and that I'm sorry that I 
missed training."

Cyrus saw the sincerity in Dargis' eyes and went back, albeit reluctantly. 
He felt the energy draining from his limbs, and found he really didn^ñt have 
the stomach to go back to training. The day was mostly a bust anyway, right? 
Even if Landon continued the raining, the minds of the trainee^ñs would be 
somewhere else. His thoughts unraveled there, not really adding any coherent 
arguments to his urge to disappear for a while.

<<She^ñs okay ... isn^ñt that the important part?>>

<Yes. No. I wanted to be there for her this time. All I^ñve done is spill 
things on her and provide nervous chatter. This was a chance to do something 
else ... but ... >

<<You were beaten to the punch?>>

<Yeah.>

He slipped away while the confusion was still brewing, and managed to get 
himself out of view just as he heard Galen^ñs bark begin to organize things 
again. He would take a small walk, then go back. He had had too much of a 
shock, just a walk to clear his head, that^ñs all.

He saw them then. Dargis and Jeneve. They hadn^ñt gone to the Med Centre. 
They had gone to her office.

*Galen*

Landon had asked to go check on Jeneve before beginning class again, so it 
provided a small amount of time for Galen to organize things after the 
confusion. Of course, Jasmine was missing now, as were a few other faces. 
Cyrus and ... Dargis. Galen wondered where both had gone off too, but he had 
to focus now on the ones who were here.

Organizing everyone again, Galen was able to hand them off to Landon again. 
He went back to the sidelines, his focus now more securely on what was 
happening. Breezy was still watching, so once things got off on the right 
foot, he headed over and asked, "Not exactly how I had hoped this would go."

"Always some surprises around here, that^ñs for sure." she replied with a 
smile.

"You should have seen the first time he pulled that stunt." Galen said, 
remembering the quite vocal response Landon^ñs ability had prompted from 
everyone watching.

"I^ñll bet it was quite a shock to everyone."

"Especially since only he and S^ñron knew what was going on. Surprised 
understates the reactions that little event prompted."

"Well, it looks like things are moving along a little better."

"Thankfully. Lost a few trainees in the process though. I hope Jasmine won^ñt 
be gone for too long ... she needs to know this stuff more than most of the 
others."

"I^ñm sure she^ñll turn up again and startle everyone."

"Probably."

<..>

*Late Evening*

Galen had tried to get himself to bed early, knowing what would greet him 
once his mind drifted to sleep. They were there again, those little voices 
waiting to stir up the calm he had forced upon his mind. But they didn^ñt 
relent, so he found himself quite awake and strolling across the green, 
trying to work out the voices so he could try to sleep again.

He caught sight of someone else on the green, which was surprising at this 
time of night. He approached quietly, trying to get a good look at the man. 
He looked familiar from the rear, but without a look at his face, Galen 
couldn^ñt be sure. When the thin sword appeared, Galen froze and watched. The 
paces this man went through were quite amazing.

When it looked like he was done, Galen approached closer and opened his 
mouth to speak. Suddenly, the man^ñs body arched in a seemingly impossible 
manor and before he could fully draw his own weapon, Galen felt the point of 
the curved blade at his throat.

"And who might *you* be?" Mentorn asked with menace.

Galen recognized him now. Quite well in fact. He was the arrogant young man 
who was with Kaymann all the time, those two looking like they were ready to 
start up some trouble.

Galen took a step back, dislodging the point of the sword before he spoke. 
"I would be surprised if you forgot my face quite so soon. You were breaking 
up my class with chatter just the other day."

Mentorn smiled and said, "Galen, yes, I haven^ñt forgotten your face or your 
voice. I didn^ñt quite expect anyone out this late though."

"I couldn^ñt sleep ... I would have left you be, but I have an insatiable 
curiosity when it comes to weapons."

"I figure that^ñs what brought you. Yes, I heard you coming."

"Well, stealth never was my strong point. But swords ... well, I never could 
get enough of them. May I see it?"

Galen reached out his hand, but Mentorn simply showed it to him, keeping his 
own hands firmly placed upon the sword. Galen smiled and dropped his 
outstretched hand. He examined the blade with eyes for a second then said, 
"When I was young, I heard someone tell a story about a blade like this. I 
thought it was just a story ... never thought to see one though. Where did 
you get it?"

<Tag Peter ... if you want to continue the conversation. Galen will be 
willing to spar with him at any time ... he loves learning new things.>

*Cyrus*

Cyrus stared up at the stars. His day had been a blur after returning to 
training. He had returned after seeing Jeneve and Dargis. He didn^ñt really 
remember how he did though, his mind was pretty much a blank up until late 
in the afternoon. The rest of the day had been pretty much a blur.

<<Why don^ñt you just talk to Dargis instead of stewing around about it?>>

<NO!>

<<But you^ñre not ... >>

"No," Cyrus growled, "I hate him."

The words came out before any thought had formed, but they confirmed the 
feeling that had grown since this morning and now by his words had become a 
reality. He hated Dargis. Not for any of his characteristics or for anything 
he had said or done, but because he had been there ten seconds before he 
had. And in his mind that ten seconds had become what defined Dargis, what 
made him who he was. And that brief span of time was now all Dargis was, and 
all he would be.

*Galen*
*Day 11 - Late Morning*

'Yes, for the time being.' Kalena said with a sly grin. "But start being 
human or believe me you've not heard the end of it. Now, what do you need, 
and where should I start." she said looping her arm in his and heading 
toward the Dining Hall.

He had sorely misjudged this woman. Not only had he ignored her during the 
onset of this project, but he had misjudged what she had been doing during 
that time. Well, she was right about one thing. He needed some coffee.

<..>

"So essentially, I^ñm a glorified scribe?", Kalena asked with a glint in her 
eye.

"No, no ... although part of what you^ñll be doing includes those kind of 
things. Let^ñs put it this way. I^ñll be running the overall thing, T^ñrell 
will be training, which won^ñt stop with just this group. We need someone to 
command the troops who have already been trained. That^ñs going to be you."

"Me? Command?"

"You organized things when the wing was gone, coordinated the defense. 
This^ñll be the same, except on a smaller scale and with ground troops. We^ñll 
plan out patrol routes and defense plans if and when we get attacked 
together ... but when things start up, you^ñll need to get everyone together 
and keep them following the plans we^ñve come up with. You might want to 
spend a little time with our troops, so they^ñll get used to you and will 
follow when you start issuing orders."

"They^ñll follow me then? They won^ñt have problems following a dragonrider?"

"They may have some problems, but if T^ñrell and I tell them to follow and if 
you get them used to you, there shouldn^ñt be any problem."

Kalena nodded thoughtfully for a second.

Galen took another sip of his coffee and asked, "Any other questions?"

(Tag Diane ... hope that gives you an idea of what I^ñm thinking)

*Sabian*
*Day 11 - Evening*

Oh yes, plenty of extra skills," said Sabian, well aware that the kind of 
'skills' he and Cat were thinking of were far from the kind of skills Naomi, 
nor indeed Jeneve, would have wanted to see in Norwall's dragonriders. And 
as for S'ron's opinion? Well, who was asking?

"So - when do we start?" asked Cat.

"I must do a few things around, gather some information and all. I don^ñt 
plan on getting caught inside here without knowing what I^ñm getting myself 
into again. But I^ñll be back tomorrow evening if you would like."

(Tag Carina ... didn^ñt know what she^ñd like to do)

*Galen*
*Day 12 - Morning*

Galen watched the troops begin to gather. He felt a little proud of them 
now. They were still a little ways off from being the disciplined force they 
wanted them to be, but they were starting to look good.

Breezy was standing to his side, her breathing starting to calm down after 
their workout earlier. It had been fun sparring with her ... she was very 
quick, though a bit out of practice. Nothing a few days work wouldn^ñt solve. 
If she was feeling up to it. She was holding her side in a funny way though, 
and she had yet to convince him that her wound was any better.

"You know Galen, Coo has trained with ground forces before. She's pretty 
accurate with her tail, and she's real good at controlling her flame in 
close quarters, it would just be a matter of working her with the guys," 
Breezy said thoughtfully watching the men assemble. She felt the large man's 
dark eyes staring down at her oddly, chewing her
lip the little redhead added, "It..it was just a thought."

Her voice had surprised him out of his thoughts, but it didn^ñt take him long 
to see a good suggestion.

"It was a good thought. These people need to be very comfortable around 
dragons ... comfortable enough to fight rogues if need be. I^ñll talk to 
Kalena about it too ... we can get people comfy around the dragons with 
her^ñs and maybe try some combat practice with yours."

<..>

Galen sighed his relief as the troops broke up and S^ñron and Breezy went 
their ways. S^ñron^ñs restraint had surprised him a bit, but he was sure that 
the man was still cooking something up. He always was. Well, at least there 
wouldn^ñt be any bloodshed today.

<..>

S'ron slouched back into his chair as K'tarr and Galen took theirs. S'ron 
help up a piece of paper, and then let it fall back to the desk. "Here we 
have a list of everyone who joined from the last hatching. We need to get 
them all assigned to *something*, be it the wing or not. Before I say 
anything, I'll ask what you guys have to say and any recommendations you may 
have."

"The only one I know of who probably should be assigned to something other 
than regular duty is Cyrus. He^ñs a sharp kid, but he^ñs not very strong yet. 
He^ñll get there eventually, but for now it might be good to not force 
somewhere he^ñll be miserable."

"Any thoughts on where to put him?"

"I was thinking of asking Jeneve if she^ñd like him as her courier."

"Okay," S'ron nodded, "nothing I can't live with there. I've got a 
suggestion or two myself, but for the moment I want to run something else by 
you."

"Like what?" K'tarr asked curiously.

"Like the possibility of a second dragon wing," S'ron replied, leaning back 
in his chair and steepling his fingers under his nose. "The last few battles 
have shown us that attacks from multiple sectors can disorientate the enemy 
at crucial times and I'd like to see more of this. However, it would be 
detrimental to break up a wing into two in this way, so perhaps a second 
wing is the way to go."

"That's a decision the warrenlady would have to make," Galen pointed out. 
S'ron nodded.

"I know. That's why I wanted to run it past you guys before I spoke to her. 
Jeneve isn't stupid and I won't treat her as such, which is why I'd like to 
have pros and cons weighed up before I take it to higher authority."

"It would definitely be nice to have a secondary force available. That way 
we could split them up in a fairly organized manner. I think if we^ñve got 
the dragons, we should go for it."


They chatted a bit longer about the idea of second wing, playing out the 
possibilities. During his time here, he had learned to thoroughly enjoy 
these sessions. Just time to sit back and play in ideas for a while. If it 
wasn^ñt for the somber practical need for these meetings, it would be quite 
enjoyable.

"You know S'ron," Galen said thoughtfully, "it might not be a bad idea to 
get everyone together and discuss our overall strategy towards these 
possible attacks. I know we've made plans for this and that, but..."

"...but we don't really have an overall picture of what we're going to do?" 
S'ron finished. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Especially since 
Jeneve is now warrenlady, she might like to be briefed on what we're going 
to do, for piece of mind if nothing else."

"Who are you talking about when you say 'everyone'?" K'tarr asked curiously.

"In addition to ourselves," S'ron replied, glancing at Galen for 
confirmation, "probably Jeneve and Breezy."

"Ah," K'tarr murmured, "thought as much."

"I'll pass the word on to Jeneve and see if we can get the meeting in 
sometime tomorrow," S'ron said. "I'll let you know what time."

"Fine," Galen said with a nod. "Now, you said you had some ideas of your own 
about the assignments?" S'ron nodded.

They chatted for a while about the idea of scouts, which was a good idea. 
Again, these were times Galen really enjoyed. Both S^ñron and K^ñtarr were 
extremely bright and good at what they did, so the time passed by quickly.

<..>

*Late Afternoon*

Once the meeting was done, Galen went out to find Jeneve. He found her in 
her office, working away at papers. It seemed like that was all she did.

"Excuse me..."

"Ah, Galen. Come in, please."

"Thank you. I only have one quick thing to ask. I believe Breezy mentioned 
the possibility of a courier to you."

"Yes, she did. She said you^ñd probably have a candidate for me."

"I do actually. Someone you know, I think. My recommendation is Cyrus. If 
you approve, I^ñll let him know and he can start this afternoon."

(Tag Carina)

_____________________________________________

NRPG: I am sorry for my long absence ... RL has been busier than I had 
thought. Hopefully this caught me up with everything.

Ben Tate

Galen,
Cyrus/Azhdeen,
T^ñrell,
and Sabian


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