*I'm so proud of you!* Lyonnia praised her dragon.  *Did you know H'nry
singled you out when we were beginning?  You were the only one who flew at
the first flight class.*

She could almost feel the modest embarrassment coming from her dragon, and
suppressed a smile.  What she had said was true; she WAS proud of her
dragon.  Although she wasn't one to always want attention, she had been
pleasantly happy when H'nry had singled her dragon, Dianthus, out among all
the others.  Actually, she thought, considering, 'proud' would be a better
way to describe what she had felt.  She had been very proud that HER dragon
had flown first.

<I was quite proud also> Dianthus thought.

*Well, you had good reason.*  She could feel, rather than see, Dianthus'
blush.  She didn't even try to suppress it this time; she started to giggle
softly.

Just then, she saw a young woman walk towards her.  She tried to place the
face, but couldn't put a name to it.  *Who is that Di?* she asked her dragon.

<That's Tera.  She's the one who plays with the bard sometimes, remember?
Her dragon's name is Sundellath.>

*NOW I remember!  That bard....Gabrain?*

<Ga'brin actually.>

*Okay.  Thanks.*  

She saw Tera smile at her then, and she smiled back.  She could see the
uncertainty in the girl's eyes, and it dawned on her that she had never
introduced herself to Tera.  Burning with embarassment and no little bit of
shame, she wanted to rectify the situation, but didn't know how to do it.

Just as well though; Tera had walked over to a young man next to Lyonnia and
her hands moved.  Lyonnia recognized the young man as Kay, the boy who
couldn't hear at the warren.  She had felt sorry for him, that he couldn't
communicate, but when she had heard he could *talk* just fine, but with his
hands, she had been immediately intrigued.  She had wanted to learn how to
sign, but was too shy to ask.  She realized that that was what these two
were doing at the moment; *talking*.

She gazed at both, wishing she could know what was being talked about.  She
saw the girl's face shine with pride one second, then suddenly blush in
embarassment the next.  The boy had what could only be called an evil grin
on his face, and Lyonnia, involuntarily, raised an eyebrow at the pair.

The girl signed one more message to the boy, who looked to be suppressing a
laugh, and turned to Lyonnia.  "I'm Tera, Sundellath's human," she quipped,
holding out her hand in an obvious show of greeting.

Shaking the proffered hand and smiling, Lyonnia answered, "I'm Lyonnia.
Slave of Dianthus."  Her smiled faltered for a split second before she got
it composed again.  *How am I doing?* she asked Dianthus, not knowing
whether or not she was being funny or insulting to her dragon.

<Hey!  It's okay> her dragon answered.  <Almost everyone here says that.
And you Are our slaves> Dianthus told her, chuckling.

Just then, Thomas came up to the three, smiling.  "Well," Thomas stated,
"the lesson for today is just about over.  And I must congradulate each of
you on a terrific job."  He smiled at all three; they in turn, beamed back.
"I believe that they will be ready for duty very soon.  You will each be
able to soon ride your dragon."

Lyonnia couldn't help but smile broader, and she saw Kay and Tera doing the
same.  To ride a dragon, she thought: what could be more wonderful.

*Let's go back to the barracks* she thought to her dragon.  *I'm getting
hungry.*

<That sounds like a good idea to me> came the reply from Dianthus.  <I'm
tired.  You don't know how HARD it is to try to take off standing still!>
Beside her, Dianthus stretched her wing and grimaced in pain.  <I wish I
could just take off gliding like I did before.>

*I'm sure you can do that sometimes, but you need to learn how to take off
the hard way.*

<I know, I know.>  She heard her dragon grumble audibly.  <I just wish it
wasn't so much work.>

*Why, you little lazy bum!* she said mock angrily.  *You push me all the
time then decide that YOU can just lounge around?  Humph!*

<Well, whatever.>  Dianthus yawned and thought <I'm getting tired anyway.
Can I take a nap?>

*That would be a good idea!  Anything to get you off my back.*

<Hey!>

Tera unknowingly interrupted the conversation.  "Me and Kay are going to
lunch in the Hall.  We can use some company.  You want to join us?"

Lyonnia paused for a second, thinking, then replied, "Sure.  I need to put
Dianthus down for a nap though.  I'll meet you there?"

"Nah.  I'm taking Sundellath for a nap too.  We can walk over together."
She turned and signed to Kay, who nodded.  "Kay's going to put Sabbith down
too."

"Well, okay."  Lyonnia didn't know what else to say.  She just shrugged and
smiled.  "So, what's for lunch today?" she asked, smiling.



After they settled their dragons down, they headed for the hall to eat.

"So," Tera asked Lyonnia, "what's your favorite food?"

Surprised slightly at the question, Lyonnia thought for a minute, then
replied, "Well, I don't have a favorite...."

"Well, I do."  Then Tera began to name off a list of foods, some of which
Lyonnia had never heard of and commented on.  They continued this
conversation all the way to the kitchen, where they got their food and
headed to a table.

They sat down and started eating immediately.  Lyonnia found she liked what
was on her plate and commented, asking what it was.  She didn't recognize
the name, though.  Sheesh!, she thought, what did my time in the kitchen
teach me!?  It seemed to her that all it had taught her was how to clean
dishes; her father never had let her help out with the food.

"Tera!"

Lyonnia turned her head towards who had called out, and saw a stunningly
beautiful woman, coming towards their table.  She knew immediately who the
new person was, just by reputation: Danielle.  Lyonnia fought down a frown;
the girl had a reputation of being promiscuous, something that Lyonnia
didn't like too much.

Reaching the table, Danielle told Tera, "I wanted to congradulate you on
joining.  I have had some things going on...."  Here, she hesitated, but
Tera piped up, saying, "I heard."

Heard what? Lyonnia wanted to ask, but kept silent.  She would probably hear
sometime soon anyway.

Just then, a handsome man walked up and said to Danielle, "Come on, let's
eat!" After Danielle waved goodbye to Tera, she was halfpulled by the man
towards the food counter.  Hmmm, Lyonnia pondered, maybe HE was her secret...

"So," Tera said, interrupting her line of thought, "what's your dragon's name?"

"Dianthus," Lyonnia replied, forking another bite into her mouth.  "And
yours is...Sundellath?"

"That's it."

Lyonnia turned to Kay, then hesitated.  How do I ask him what his dragon's
name is, she wondered.

Kay must have seen her look because he produced a pad and writing utensil.
Relieved, Lyonnia wrote "What's your dragon's name?" and gave the pad back
to him.  He read it, then wrote on the bottom of the page.  "Sabbith"
Lyonnia read, and she smiled at Kay.  "My dragon's name is Dianthus" she
wrote on the margin of the pad and handed it back.

Tera, who had been watching the proceedings, commented, "I could have signed
to him what you wrote."

Lyonnia, who finally found an opening to ask her request, turned quickly to
Tera to ask if she could teach Lyonnia how to sign.  Her sharp turn, though,
caught Tera's hand, and her eating utensil flew from her hand.

Crap, she thought miserably.  There goes a friend.  "Let me get that," she
volunteered, reaching for the utensil.

"It's okay," Tera answered, reaching for it also.  "I can get it."

Both of their hands landed on it at the same time, touching each other
slightly.  Lyonnia felt something that seemed like a pinprick and drew away
suddenly.  Her mind was suddenly filled with images, and before she knew
what she was doing, she uttered the word, "Trap?"

Tera suddenly seemed to freeze, the blood draining from her face.  "What did
you say?" she asked, somewhat shakily.

"Trap?" Lyonnia repeated, and was alarmed to see her new friend's face go
even whiter.  "What's wrong?" she asked, getting slightly frightened.

"How do you know about Trap?"

"Huh?"  Lyonnia was truly baffled now.  "What's....Trap?"

"You don't know?"  Tera seemed to relax a bit then.  "He's my brother.  I
came to the warren to find him and accidently joined Sundellath."  Her
expression lightened a bit more.  "Not that I regret joining him, but..."

Whatever Tera said after that, Lyonnia didn't hear.  What just happened, she
thought in confusion.  How did I know about Trap?


Sarah

NRPG:

Okay.  This is the first manifestation of Lyonnia's talent.  As you can
probably see, it kind of startled and scared Lyonnia.  I hope I got the
characters I showed right.

Sarah
(a.k.a.)
Lyonnia/Dianthus (Telnor)
Isolinde/Faile (Cleft)
Tanya/Poldera (Whiteriver)