{Day 17 Early Morning}

<WAKE UP! WAKE UP!>  the dragon roared with a moan.

At the sound of Coo's roars, Breezy jumped up, her head exploding into a
million little stars and the small redhead groaned loudly, falling back
onto the couch.

<Oh Good, you're not asleep!> snarled the green dragon.

*No thanks to you!* Breezy gasped in pain, grabbing her throbbing head.
Pulling one of the throw pillows over her head, the redhead moaned, "Go
Away!"

<You're wanted at the gate! Seems we have visitor's!>

*Tell them to go away, too!* Breezy answered through clenched teeth as
she slowly sat up, squinting against the pain that swirled inside her
head. What ever had made her think she could match Galen drink for
drink, was beyond her. Breezy didn't remember to much after the 6th
drink, that's when things got hazy. The fact that she was in her office
in the same clothes puzzled the redhead. Trying to recall anything only
made her head hurt worse.

<Unfortunately I can't say my head feels so hot either, thankfully, I
slept through most of your antics, so it's not too bad!!>

*How did I get here?* Breezy asked looking around her office.

<How should I know!> snipped Coo. <I told you I was sleeping! And I
would still be asleep if that nasty watch dragon hadn't so rudely woken
me!>

The door opened banging against the stop, "Good, you really are here
already!" Jeneve said happily.

Breezy's eyes rolled in her head as the sounds did a tap dance across
her brain. Groaning she glared at the smiling face of the Warren Lady.

"Breezy you look awful! Is everything ok!" the blonde asked, her voice
filled with concern. "Let me get you some coffee or maybe some juice. I
have some freshly made in my office!" The young woman disappeared in a
swirl of skirts.

The redhead leaned back on the couch closing her eyes. <Traitor, you
didn't have to tell her where I was at! You could've told her I died or
something!>

<I would never lie to my Queen!> Coo answered with a smug snicker. <The
watchdragon is calling again, you need to go. The guards want you there
immediately!>

Jeneve reappeared with a mug of coffee in one hand and a glass of
yellowish liquid in the other. Seating herself across from the redhead
she set the mug and glass down on the small table between them. As
Breezy peeked at her out of one eye, she could tell by the look on the
woman's face something was up. And it was probably something she didn't
want to deal with.

The Sr. Wingleader sighed in fatal acceptance, rising she half staggered
to her desk  where she kept a small med kit. Taking out some pills she
took the glass of juice and swallowed them praying they worked fast.

"Breezy, I...I wanted to talk to you!" Jeneve asked hesitantly.

Breezy stared at the Warren Lady with half-closed eyes and waited for
the woman to continue.

When the redhead didn't answer just sat there looking at her, Jeneve
wrung her hands nervously finally speaking, "It's about the guards!

The Sr. Wingleader remained silent her face showing no expression as she
stared at the tall blonde. Finally Jeneve said softly, "Breezy I feel
with you I can be blunt!"

Breezy almost smiled as Jeneve began chewing on her bottom lip
nervously, arching an eyebrow was the only indication that the shorter
woman gave, that she was even listening.

"It's the guards, they follow me everywhere! I would at least.....I
would at least like to go to the bathroom by myself!" Jeneve blurted
out, her face reddening at her words.

Silence filled the room as Breezy stared at Jeneve who kept looking down
into her lap timidly.

"Why?" the redhead answered quietly trying to keep the amusement from
her eyes.

{Tag: Carina <G>}

[..] a short while later!

Leaving the offices Breezy motioned to one of the guards that had been
assigned to Jeneve. "I want you and your men to still keep a close eye
on the Warren Lady, just back off a bit and give her a little breathing
space."  The man nodded, and the redhead smiled slyly looking at the
man's uniform, "Just don't make your presence so obvious!"

The guard grinned back,  "I understand!"

Breezy slowly walked to the gate, mainly because slow was the only speed
she could muster at the moment and each step sent a shooting pain
through her eyes. Her head felt like it was going to explode and it
didn't help with her mood at all.

Breezy was still trying to figure out why she had been so damned stupid
and how she ended up in her office.  She remembered visiting with Galen
and it started out to be a nice evening at least until the guards showed
up to inform her that Brona's body had disappeared.

She remembered discussing with Galen the possibility of having a martyr
on their hands, with the leader's death.  They talked a little about
Jasmine's dagger. Then Galen regaled her with some funny stories during
his soldiering days and things seemed to get hazy after that.  Rubbing
her forehead, a vague memory of her loosing her balance and falling into
the man flashed before her eyes.

Groaning slightly to herself, *Ah damn, I probably made an ass out of
myself!" Breezy thought.   She hadn't tied one on like that for a long
time and now she remembered why. The pain the next day just wasn't worth
it.  Well hopefully she didn't act like to much of an idiot and Galen
was still speaking to her. The little redhead really enjoyed his company
and would hate to screw that up. She hadn't really made a lot of friends
at Norwall yet. But then she hadn't really expected to be returning
either.  Breezy knew even though people had been cooperative and nice
enough, she was still viewed as an outsider because of her position.
Unfortunately her rocky beginnings hadn't helped much.  Hopefully, now
that they realized she would fight along side of them that would change,
of course she hadn't been here that long and Breezy knew it would take
time.

<Snip>
Short while later, the short spiky, red haired waif walked towards them.
She had a certain swagger to her as she slowly walked.  Not taking her
eyes (glassy as they were) off him, she asked of the guard, "when did
they come in?"
<End Snip>

Breezy's mouth almost fell open when the man removed his hood revealing
purple hair. She felt her eyes cross slightly and her head start to
throb again. This was the last thing she needed. *Strangers!* the
redhead  sighed to herself. In the last two days she'd run into enough
strangers to last a life time. And the closed look on this ones face
grated on the last nerve she had left.  Even without the bright hair
this one smelled of trouble. Of course her mouth overrode her brain and
she just had to make a smart comment.

<Snip>
"Good."  She said once he was finished.  If there was any doubt that he
quickly dispelled that with a smile.  "Wow, and I thought people could
see me coming from a distance!"
<End Snip>

While the guard searched the brooding man, Breezy examined the bow staff
he had surrendered and found herself intrigued by the simple weapon.  It
was extremely light and the material it was made of was unfamiliar.
Scratching it lightly with her fingernail she noticed that it made no
impression.

The guard finished with Qua'non and looked at Breezy, who nodded at
Freya.

<Snip>
The tall, steel-grey haired young woman handed over her bow without
complaint.

"Sure," she said, "take it. It's not as if I'm going to need it for
hunting here. And you can have the knife too," she passed a large
hunting knife to Breezy. "I know you'll look after them,"

Freya stood patiently while she and her belongings were searched, an
expression of almost amusement on her face.
<End Snip>

Staring at the hunting knife the woman dropped into her hand, Breezy had
to choke back the laughter at the woman's forthrightness.  What an odd
couple these two were, very strange companions indeed.

<Snip>
"I trust that I shall be able to convey my requests to the person in
charge, later?" said Freya, as they turned to go.

"All in good time," muttered the guard, gruffly, as he led the strangers
away.
<End Snip>

Breezy watched with a mixture of amusement and apprehension as the pair
was led away. Looking at the staff in one hand and the knife in the
other she just shook her head.

Motioning to one of the other guards, "Keep an eye on them, anything out
of the ordinary let me or K'tarr know immediately!"

Breezy really needed to get something to eat as her stomach was starting
to do handstands on it's own, but there were more important things to
worry about, for one where was K'tarr and Kalena. She hadn't seen hide
not hair of either of them. The redhead would've had her dragon find out
what was up with them, but Coo had conveniently gone back to sleep.

The staff in her hand made her think of Jasmine, glancing at the dining
hall Breezy sighed and headed for the Med-Center to check on the wild
woman, the archer and the others.

{Tag: Chris}

Day 17 Mid Morning

Breezy was not feeling overly well as she headed for the dining hall.
Running into Jeneve heading for a late breakfast the two woman arrived
at the dining hall to be greeted by Uncle, who fussed over them both
about being too thin,

The redhead stood patiently listening to the Warrenlady extoll the
virtues of the cooks Poppyseed cake and a few other of his tasty treats.
Leaving the two she grabbed a mug of coffee, some toast and a huge glass
of milk.  Finding an out of the way table it took Breezy everything in
her power to keep from laying her head down and just plain passing out
for a few hours.  The sleeping Coo definitely had the right idea.

Jeneve appeared at the table and the woman was totally animated talking
to Breezy, obviously blissfully unaware that several guards were now in
attendance in the hall.  Breezy's head began pounding from the young
woman's enthusiasm.

"Oh there's Galen!" she exclaimed waving at the trainer to join them.
Smiling coyly at her wingleader she said sweetly, "I heard you two had a
date last night! How did it go?"

Breezy groaned, not looking around, this was all she needed. The redhead
was afraid to even look at the man for fear of what she might see in his
eyes. *I just know I made a fool of myself!* she thought trying to sort
through the hazy visions of the previous night.

"Good Morning Ladies!" Breezy heard him say as he pulled out the chair,
the scraping sound it made echoing through her mind like fingernails
raking across slate.

{Tag: Carina & Ben}

{Day 17 Early Afternoon In the Jeneve's Office}

Feeling better as the day wore on Breezy entered the warren lady's
office, "Jeneve, I had an idea! You'll probably call me a bit crazy, but
after walking around the warren checking on the damage and stuff.  I
guess it's the way people are really pulling things together to set
things right........I know after most battles and such there is usually
the party and dancing, but I was thinking what if we made a day of it
instead."

The blonde raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean!"

"I mean, like maybe make a whole day of it actually, big picnic, pig on
the spit, games, maybe split the wings and have some fun competition
like three legged races, archery contests or something, have some fun
stuff for the kids, then in the evening the customary dance! I think it
would go a long ways towards morale.  We could talk to the vendors about
giving up a few trinkets and maybe have Uncle make some extra special
goodies for prizes!"

Seeing the look on Jeneve's face Breezy continued, not sure if the look
was a positive one or not. "It would only take a couple of days to get
everything together and it would give everyone something to look forward
to. You know kind of a last of the summer fun
thing....fling...whatever!"

The little redhead leaned against the stool with her arms folded and
waited, not even thinking along the lines, that something like this
would be a perfect teaching tool for Jeneve to get more oriented with
the warren responsibilities.

{Tag: Carina}

{Day 17 Mid Afternoon on the green}

Coo landed lightly on the green, [Are you sure? Neither of them like you
very much!]

*I don't care, something is terribly wrong, I can feel it!  I just
believe that K'tarr would've been out to check on the Wing by now, and
Kalena would have been to see Jasmine! Barring our differences, I feel
they are both too dedicated, not to make an appearance there has to be
something desperately wrong!*  Breezy answered firmly, walking towards
the sea-green dragon with a basket of food she'd gotten from the dining
hall.

[Well Donjanth and Vandira's riders aren't what you would call normal
clutchmates!]

Breezy snickered, *You're right there, they surely aren't! But if
anything, they do care about each other that's obvious enough. Kalena
wouldn't have gone off by herself if she didn't care and Jasmine
wouldn't be yelling her head off in the Med-center for Kalena if they
didn't care.*

Lilliana had informed Breezy of Jasmine's delusional ramblings and was
almost positive that the baby that Jasmine kept referring to was Kalena.
Breezy felt that Kalena should know this and needed to be there, plus
Kalena's presence might just be the key to keeping Jasmine calm.

The iridescent dragon launched upwards towards the cliff side
apartments. As dragon and rider began to circle it was very plain that
the pearlescent and red & blue dragon were standing watch over Kalena's
door.  Seeing Coo approaching they immediately began shuffling, giving
the colorful dragon no place to land.

[Qualis and Donjanth say to go away their riders do not want to be
disturbed!]

Something in the way this was translated left Breezy with the firm
conviction that she had been right, and the small woman grew very
concerned.

*Ask them nicely to move, that we are not here to start anything!*

In answer to Coo's request, Qualis stretched his wings flapping them
slightly to expand himself even further.

[I don't think that nice is working!] Coo answered with a sigh.

*Fine then I won't be nice! Please relay this message and do be polite
about it!*  The little woman said to her dragon, giving Coo the words
she wanted the two draconian guards to know.

As the green dragon circled she began relaying Breezy's message.  [My
rider says it's probably a human frailty, but she has to see with her
own eyes that your riders are okay. If you don't allow us to land so
that she may see them, she will assume the worst and will call other
riders to help.] Then to her rider she said, [I don't think they believe
you!] Coo said looking doubtfully at the unmoving dragons.

Breezy's eyes narrowed as she stared at Qualis, a grin coming to her
face, *He would make a hell of a poker player that one would!*

Coo snorted in laughter at her rider's observations.

*Well Sister, I guess it's up to you to convince the big guy that I
don't ever bluff.  We can make this as public or as private as he wants.
But then I don't think his rider would be too happy about half the wing
showing up here in the next few moments!*

Several minutes passed, which dragons and rider contemplated each
other.  Breezy held her breath as she waited, hoping not to have to push
the issue. Almost reluctantly Qualis folded in his wings and slowly
moved, giving Coo enough room to land on the ledge, just long enough for
Breezy to dismount.

Instantly Breezy was sandwiched by two large scaly snouts.  Looking
first at one dragon and then the other The Sr. Wingleader sighed, "I
know that you both can understand me if you really wanted to....."
lifting the basket she continued, "I didn't come to start a fight, I
brought food since I know neither of your riders have been to the dining
hall to eat." Her head swiveled back and forth between the two. "I just
need to know that they are okay!" Looking pointedly at Donjanth she
said, "Your rider needs to know about her sis....uh clutchmate!"

Neither dragon moved and the little redhead moved towards the entrance.
A loud snort came from behind and Breezy was enveloped in a cloud of
warm steam.  Snickering slightly, the small woman turned to look at the
red & blue dragon. "I really am gonna have to talk to K'tarr about
teaching you to play cards!"

Yelling to announce her arrival, Breezy entered the darkened entryway.
Arriving in the inner recesses of the apartment the Sr. Wingleader was
relieved to see Kalena sitting at the table and K'tarr leaning on the
wall, that was until they both looked at her, both remaining silent,
terrible pain etched on their faces.

Breezy was barely able to stifle the gasp that sprang to her lips.
Kalena's face was swollen not only from crying but several dark bruises.
Seeing the telltale bruises on her arms, legs and throat told Breezy a
lot more than she really wanted to know.  No woman should have to
experience what she was sure Kalena had been through.  Guilt sweep over
her as she stared at the smaller woman.  Maybe if she had been here and
had gone with Kalena like they had originally planned, just maybe things
might've been different.  But she hadn't been here and now Kalena was
wounded in a way that medicines couldn't fix.

Of course there was no way of knowing that her presence would've made a
difference but Breezy couldn't help but feel bad in that moment.  A
chill went through the redhead as Kalena stared at her with lifeless
eyes.
Considering how Kalena felt about her Breezy doubted there was anything
she could say that wouldn't sound false.

And K'tarr was a mess, the man looked like he'd taken on a whole army by
himself.  S'ran's words about the carnage they had found at Brona's
deserted camp came to her and looking at the two riders, it didn't take
much to piece together what had happened. Sadly there was no way to ever
convince K'tarr that he hadn't vindicated Kalena in any way, only she
herself could do that.  Sometimes men had a very strange sense of pride,
Breezy thought to herself.

Her face showed no emotion as the redhead stepped forward and set the
basket on the table. "I just wanted to make sure you both were 'sorta'
okay." She said pursing her lips. "I brought you something to eat,
thought you might be getting hungry."

Turning to leave she stopped then looked back at Kalena, "Lilliana says
Jasmine's physical wounds are healing ok, so far there is no sign of
infection.  It's her mind Lilliana is worried about!" Breezy said
softly.  "Landon has been doing his best to keep her calm, but they've
had to restrain her. This semi-comatose state Jasmine is in, seems to
have opened up a bunch of memories.  She keeps calling for you Kalena
and she sounds really scared and confused when she does!"

Looking from one to the other Breezy said, "I just wanted you to know!"

Seeing no reaction in the woman's eyes at the mention of her sister and
Breezy wondered if this was what Jasmine was babbling about when she
said she couldn't feel Kalena. Mentally calling to Coo, Breezy headed
for the entrance without another word.

{Tag: Dianne and Wil}

Respectfully submitted by,
Breezy & Coo
Norwall Warren
aka
Tree Deutscher
treedr@yelmtel.com

"My theory of evolution is that Darwin was adopted." -- Steven Wright



 

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