Patinari
***

The pale yellow hatchling, chewed hungrily at her human's skirts. Surely
she had food hidden somewhere in all that fabric! <I'm hungry .. where is
the real food ..> she asked as she munched away.

<You are scaring your human, little one.> She heard a voice say.

<Who are you and why would I be scaring her? I belong to her?>

The voice chuckled, <I do not thing she expected you to belong to her. I am
Xanbar, and the old human next to yours belongs to me.>

<Belongs to you?>

<You'll learn, little one.>

<Patinari..>

<What?>

<My name is Patinari .. mother named me long ago .. even before I remember ..>

Again the older dragon chuckled, <That was not long ago, little Patinari.
But don't worry, you will learn.>

She wondered what he meant by that .. but soon didn't care as her human was
now putting something that actually tasted good into her mouth!

Z'bert
***

The old man came forward as he saw a young girl in a state of distress.
When he came closer he saw that the girl was being tugged on by newborn
hatchling. He couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"I think she wants you," he said to the girl, trying to explain the situation.

"I don't want to be eaten .."

<I won't eat you .. I am Patinari .. and I belong to you.>

The old man chuckled, "She doesn't want to eat you, she wants to join with
you."

<Xanbar, see that someone brings this one some meat,> the old man
instructed his dragon while he tried to calm the girl down.

"That's what she said, she says she belongs to me," the girl then got a
curious look on her face as she realized what she just said, and wondered
how she knew the hatchling was female.

"Yep," Z'bert nodded, "She's joined with you all right. But dragons don't
eat people, they eat meat from animals. But right now, this one is only up
to table scraps, and she's probably very..."

"Hungry," Elissa finished, looking even more perplexed as the sensation of
hunger overtook her.

"Come now, Let's get... Patinari... fed."

"How did you know her name?" The girl asked.

"Old Xanbar, he told me. Mighty pretty name it is, too, though I've never
known a dragon to have an ugly name." He turned as he saw another rider
rush forward with a platter of meat. "Ah, thank you," he said as he
relieved the person of the platter.

Z'bert set the platter down and instructed the girl, "Now just pick up a
piece at a time and hand it to her. She won't bite the hand that feeds
her."

Elissa
***

Elissa did as he told her and was amazed to find he was right. In fact the
little tongue reached out to caress her hand as the dragonet hungrily
swollowed the peices of meat whole. Elissa giggled as it tickled a bit.

One platter turned out to be just barely enough and Elissa began to wonder
if she would have to ask for more to fill up the yellow hatchlings
seemingly  empy stomach!

But finally the hatchling laid her head down and slowly began to chew the
last peice of meat Elissa had given her.

"I think she's done." Z'bert grinned.

"Now what do I do .. who will take care of her?"

The man chuckled, "Come, I'll show you where you have to go."

Z'bert
***

Once the hatchling was fully sated and beginning to look sleepy, the old
rider showed Elissa to the barracks and helped her settle her hatchling in.

"Where are you from, dear?" Z'bert asked, making conversation. He knew most
of the warren children, and she wasn't one of them. Since she reacted the
way she did, obviously the joining came as quite a surprise so she wasn't a
searchling.

"Ralengarde," Elissa said.

"Well, why don't you put your things up and get ready to go to the dining
hall. There's always a celebration after a hatching. I imagine your parents
are going to be thrilled to find they now have a dragonrider in their
midst." He patted her on the back, "I'll see you there in a bit. Oh," he
added, "I'm Z'bert, I make the saddles for the dragonriders."

"Elissa," the girl replied.

"Pretty name, very pretty name," the man said in parting.

Elissa
***

She watched him go, and turned to look back down at the sleeping dragon.
She frowned, "What do I do now. You can't belong to me .. My mother won't
even let me have puppy. She'd never allow me to keep you."

Her hand gently moved to caress the dragon's beautiful scaly head. "Oh but
if she would .." She smiled and yawned, "You are so pretty .. I think I
would like very much to keep you. But you're a dragon, and you need to live
with dragonriders."

Xanthia
***

Xanthia was just about to leave when a conversation caught her ear and she
realized that someone else was in the room. She looked from the sleepy
hatchling to the doorway and wrestled with whether to go to the party,
where it was certain to be scary, loud with lots of people, or stay here
with Maxima, her dragon.

Her dragon. She could not believe it. She had hoped, but was so used to
being let down that her hopes had frightened her. And now she was a
dragonrider.

Elissa
***

"You're not very smart are you?" she heard a boy's voice say behind her.

She frowned and turned to see a boy standing looking at her, with a glint
of scorn in his light brown eyes. She didn't like being called stupid,
"What!"

"I said you're stupid!"

Stupid. Xanthia heard someone say the word, the evil hurt word, and it set
her blood to boiling. She clenched fists to her side, trembling as she
fought to control the urge to pummel the boy for speaking the hurt word.
Tears stung her eyes as she fought the losing battle. But it was not her
fight, she had to wait, stay out of it.

"Why? You don't even know me!" she growled. Patinari shifted uncomfortably,
and she absently continued to comfort the dragon, who though she didn't
know it, was feeling her anger.

"Because you don't even know what happened!"

"Of course I know what happened?" she retorted, though to be honest she
wasn't sure she did. But there was no way she was gonna let him know that!
The boy couldn't be more then 13 .. What did he know?

"So then .. what happened?" he asked her haughtily.

She frowned, "Just go away and leave me alone!"

There, it was said; a cry for help. Xanthia ran forward to help the girl
get rid of the unwanted pest.

Suddenly a red-headed girl pushed the boy away, "Go away!" she echoed,
Elissa's words. "Go AWAY!" She gave the boy a shove.

The boy shrugged, and headed away moving back to his own sleeping dragon.

Xanthia smiled as she noticed the yellow hatchling, <Who are you, little one?>

<Patinari, I belong to Elissa. You can talk to me???>

<I can talk to all the dragons,> Xanthia replied.

Elissa looked up at the girl, "Thanks."

The girl shrugged, "Okay, I know how it feels to want people to go away."

Elissa shrugged in response, "He's just a dumb boy."

Xanthia frowned, not liking the choice of words but rationalizing that the
word wasn't hurting anyone at that moment.

"Patinari is very sleepy .. so is Maxima .."

"How did you know her name?"

"I asked her."

Elissa nodded, "I see, are you a dragonrider? Maybe you can tell me what
I'm supposed to do with her. I don't want her to be alone.. but my mother
will never let me keep her. I don't think she'd even fit in my room..."

Xanthia
***

"Right now we put them to bed, and go to the party. We will learn more
tomorrow, when we go to training." Lute and Caliban had explained that to
her, that if she joined she'd have to be in training. Now she was joined.

"We... training."

"Dragonrider training."

"Dragonrider..." Elissa spoke it as if it were a foreign word, coming off
her tongue for the first time.

Xanthia nodded, "We are dragonriders now. Come, put Patinari to bed and
come with me to the party, I do not want to go there by myself."

Elissa
***

Suddenly Elissa felt very very scared, "A dragonrider? I can't be a
dragonrider!"

"Why not?"

"My father wouldn't allow it."

"But you are a dragonrider." Xanthia told her, shrugging the girl's
statement away. "Come on, get dressed for the party."

"Party?" Elissa looked down at the outfit she'd put on early this morning..
er yesterday morning .. for school. The bottom of the skirt was now
shredded by Patinari's earlier chewing. "I .. I don't have anything for a
party. I wasn't planning on staying long .."

"You don't have anything?"

"Not for a party .." she turned and picked up her small bag, pulling out a
couple of skirts, both a bit rumbled, but still very lovely.

"What's wrong with those?"

"They're just school clothes. Mama'd never let me wear such a thing to a
party."

Xanthia gave her a  strange look then reached down and felt the skirts.
After a few moments she picked one and handed it to Elissa, "Wear this one."

"But it's worn.." Elissa said pointing to a slightly faded area at the
waistband. "See."

"It feels good." Xanthia said as if that explained things. Elissa stared at
her.. then finally shrugged when the girl said nothing else. What choice
did she have. The skirt was her favorite, but mama and daddy would have a
fit if they knew... Oh well, they'd never know. She'd only be here another
day or so.

She changed quickly, and began to comb out her hair.

"Almost done?" Xanthia asked hopefully.

Elissa recognized the impatience in the girls stance and could tell she
wanted to get to the party. "I'll hurry," she said quickly and with a well
practiced hand rebraided her dark hair.

***

Soon they were on their way. Elissa felt a little ill at ease going to a
party in a worn school frock, but as they drew closer she saw that not
everyone had bothered to dress up at all. There were even women in pants!
Her father would be positively scandalized! But everyone seemed to be
having a good time. There was laughing and chatting and dancing. Oh
Dancing! She loved to dance. But who would she dance with?  Besides she
still had to find her brother. That was her reason for coming here
afterall.

Patinari had sorta waylaid her. She found herself smiling as she remembered
how scared she had been at first. That was just too silly! Now she wasn't
sure why she'd been scared. She knew Patti would never have hurt her. She
was much to sweet of a dragon ..

Her smile faded as she wondered what would become of sweet Patti when she left.

"I'm gonna get some food," Xanthia told her, and wondered over to the
buffet tables. Elissa nodded and looked around the room. Wondering where in
the Lands to begin!

Elissa moved away from the buffet table. She'd been taught that a lady
didn't eat much in front of gentleman.  And while she may not have been
dressed as a lady, but she would at least try and play the part. Besides
she had to find Saul of Whiteriver. There had been enough delays ..

She walked around the room, wondering where to begin. Would they all know
him? She was having a hard time determining who actually belonged in the
warren and who was just visiting. It wasn't like a society party in
Ralengarde, where you could tell station by dress ..

She saw one of the scandelous women in pants and decided she must surely be
a dragonrider. So she moved to the woman and cleared her throat, "Excuse me
.."

The woman turned and smiled at the girl, "Yes?"

"I .. I'm  looking for Saul of Whiteriver."

 The woman looked her up and down inquisitively, and she suddenly felt like
she was some school science experiment. "How old are you?" The woman asked.

Elissa looked at her, unsure as to why she'd asked the question. "I'm 14.
I'll be 15 soon."

"Well, dear, I can tell you that even you are to young for our handsome
Saul. Besides, he's got himself a mate now."

"I .. I don't understand?" she looked at the woman a bit perplexed, "I just
need to see him."

Suddenly a girl spun by them, in a infantile dance. Elissa's eyes widened
as she recognized the girl as Xanthia .. what in the Lands was she doing?

The woman began to laugh quietly at the spectical and Elissa shrunk away,
not wanting to be associated with the embarrassing scene. She slipped back
into the crowd and missed the girl fall as the music stopped.

As she slipped to the other side of the room, she heard two children
talking, "I think she looks like Saul!"

"No no, she's got Shawnee's eyes! She definitely looks like Shawnee .."

An older man chuckled and told the two to stop, "Let's face it kids, Sweet
Shaulyn looks like both Shawnee and Saul!"

Elissa couldn't help staring .. they'd said Saul. Was it her brother. She
was hesitant as she moved toward them, worried about the last encounter
she'd had when she'd mentioned Saul of Whiteriver.. would this be the same?
But it didn't matter, she had to find him.

"Exuse me," she said moving to the table where the three sat, "I .. I'm
looking for Saul of Whiteriver. Do you know him."

Regards,
Elissa & Patinari
Xanthia & Z'bert (written by Morgan Allgood)
***
NRPG: Just my continuing R/W threads :)

Kris

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       \oo/     Kristen Gant
        ~~      (AKA: Darlea & Makayla, Keldarra Warren, Courier
                      Waylene & Aura, Marrid Warren, Warrenlady
                      Meena & Vonn, Norwall Warren, Wingleader
                      Kalewyn & Sabbith, Telnor Warren, Dragonrider
                      Saul & Fayloth, Whiteriver Warren, Searcher
                      Merybelle Barmen, City of Ralengarde, Innkeeper
                      Ce'lot & Britche, Xylain Warren, Wingleader
                http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/Kris/kris.htm
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