***Morning of day 3***

<Nia, please wake up> Dianthus' soothing voice called, and she felt Lyonnia
rouse from her slumber. <It's a new day, with wonderful possibilities.>

Lyonnia just threw up mental blocks, shutting her soul mate out. Dianthus
sighed sadly and sat back down on the ledge, depression overwhelming her.
Her rider had been this way for so long now; completely unresponsive,
lethargic, reclusive. Ever since she had lost her hatchling prematurely, she
had hidden from everyone. It was so subtle not too many people noticed: she
suddenly was immersed in work, and couldn't be with friends; she was feeling
sick, and couldn't see anyone; she was dead tired and just wanted to go back
to bed. She'd fallen back into her old habit of shyness, only worse this
time. Now, even Dianthus couldn't get to her.

She tried to fall back to sleep on the ledge, letting the spring sun warm
her, but it was hopeless; without her rider, nothing was the same. She
allowed her mind to wander back to those times, when her rider had joked
with her, and played games, and oiled her hide....She reached a foot around
and scratched at a patch of skin under her wing in frustration. Rarely
nowadays was she oiled, and when she was it was a shabby job. She had such
patches all over her body; currently, the one place under her wing was the
focal point of all the frustration.

She tried again to get into her rider's mind, but finding her way shut off
once more, sighed even more sadly and stood up, winging off toward the
warren.  It was time to eat, and even if her rider could ignore her stomach,
the light-blue dragon wouldn't ignore hers.

******

Lyonnia could feel every sensation her dragon was feeling, from the itchy
part behind her wing to the satisfaction of filling her belly. Lyonnia could
feel her own stomach rumble in response, but she ignored it, snuggling more
into her covers. She could tell by the warmth eminating from outside it was
getting to be late morning, and patrol was coming up. She groaned, not
wanting to leave the security of the bed: nobody could invade her room
without her invitation, and the bed was the securist of places for her. Yet,
it *was* getting rather warm, and falling asleep was getting more and more
difficult....she sighed and swung the covers off, stepping out of bed.  She
stretched slightly, then headed for the bathroom to freshen up.

She took a look at herself in the mirror and grimaced. Taking ahold of some
of her hair, she held it up to the light and could see the knots snarled all
through it. 'However did I let myself get this bad?' she thought to herself,
grabbing a brush and trying to drag it through, to no avail.  She could
remember how her hair was before, frizzy yet with ringlet curls that hung to
her upper back. Now, it was just knaps.  She tried more with the brush, then
gave up; it was too difficult to do. Having thick curly red hair wasn't
always fun, even though many in the warren stated their envy of it.  'Maybe
a bob would look nice' she thought to herself, then dismissed the idea; but,
she conceded, seeing a barber would be a definite must in the near future.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, then washed her face with a
washcloth. She could see she'd lost weight, not all of which was good; she
had a definate haggard appearance, like one who was starving. 'Which I am'
she thought, smiling as her stomach reminded her.

<Good morning!> her dragon's over-cheerful voice exclaimed. <Did you sleep
well?>

*As well as one'd expect* she thought back.  *How was your meal?*

She could feel a shocked silence through their bond, which puzzled Lyonnia.
Until she realized that it wasn't the question itself that had surprised the
dragon, but that it had been asked at all. Then all of a sudden, she
realized what she'd been doing for the past six months; completely shutting
out her best friend. Wallowing in self-pity while her friend (friends?) were
given the cold shoulder or simply ignored.

*Di, I'm sorry!* she thought, wishing the dragon were there with her, right
then. *I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do all that....*

<Don't worry, it wasn't all that bad> the dragon tried to comfort her.
<Really, it wasn't.>

But Nia could see through the lie. *No, I know that's not the truth.
Remember, I can feel it.*  She sighed sadly, and thought *I'm so sorry Di.
I'm really so sorry.*

Absolute extasy from across the line invaded Nia's mind, and she forced a
smile. <Oh, how I missed you! I missed you so much!!>

Nia smiled through tears, then headed for the door. Of course, there was the
dragon, just as she'd known.  "I love you, my friend."

Dianthus started crooning, and hugged Lyonnia close, rocking back and forth.
<I so missed you....>

*And I missed you* Nia thought back, realizing it as the truth. *I really did.*


NRPG: Okay, sappy, but I couldn't do it any other way.

<It's time for patrol> the light blue dragon thought a little while later.

"I know, I know," Lyonnia replied, sighing.  She went back into her room and
picked out a dark green riding outfit from the closet. Holding it up to her,
she could see that she'd definately shrunk; it used to be snug but now hung
on her in places. She searched a bit, then put a thin black belt with a
greenish-silver buckle on and cinched it into place. Looking at her
reflection, she reminded herself to get a haircut, pulled one shoulder a
little higher, then headed out.

H'nry was waiting for them on the green. He seemed surprised to see her as
well. "Ready?" he asked.

'Have I given *everyone* a bad impression?' she thought, but just nodded.
Within seconds, they were flying north for patrol.

>Later on H'nry passed the canteen to Lyonnia who took a long swig.  Their 
dragons were resting a short distance away.

>"Have you met the new rider from Epion yet?" H'nry asked, "Gadriel St.
Knight.  He seems nice enough."

Lyonnia shook her head. "No, but I think I heard from him. Isn't he the one
from that new warren, Alpine or something?"

H'nry chuckled. "Epion, and yes that's him.  He's a pretty good fellow; had
a chance to talk to him earlier. His dragon's a real cuss though." He
scowled slightly. "Ugliest thing I've ever seen."

*Have you seen him Di?*

<No, but from what Dalanth says he's not one of the nicest of dragons.>

"I haven't seen him before, he or his dragon. But he can't be that bad; I
mean, isn't it generally that the dragon's personality is a pretty close
match to the rider's?"

"Well, if that's the case, then I might have misjudged the man," H'nry stated. 

Thinking it was time to change the subject, Nia inquired, "How's Retala
doing nowadays?"


**Tag Alton.**


****A couple hours later****

Patrol finished, and the wing headed home. On the way, they were joined by a
large black dragon, riderless but claiming it was from the warren and had a
rider there.  

*Is that the newcomer's dragon?* she asked Dalanth.

(That's him.)

She could feel an almost palpable evil eminating from him, and shuddered. *I
don't know if I want to meet his rider if the dragon's like that.*

(Well, actually, my rider was right.  Veil's rider is almost the exact
opposite to that dragon.)

*Veil's the dragon?*

(Yes. It's rather strange, the two opposites pairing. But I suppose anything
can happen.)

Lyonnia pondered what the large orange dragon had said as they entered the
warren. The day was getting warmer, and Nia fanned herself a bit. It was
getting rather stifling as well, being pressed about by all these dragons.
Kind of boring too; maybe <we'll give them a little chase> 

Lyonnia didn't even realize that her dragon had spoken until a loud roar
issue from the body beneath her.  Suddenly, sensations raced through her
body, sensations only felt once, and certainly not at this magnitude. *Di!?*

The dragon hurriedly landed, and Lyonnia slid in an uncerimonious heap to
the ground. The blue dragon then gave another roar and launched into the
air, followed by a rainbow of other dragons.

Pure instinct took over then. Fear was on the back of her mind...but what
was there to fear? These were merely puny males, who couldn't catch her anyway.

<Haha!! You can't catch me!> Dianthus roared out in challenge, backhanding a
dark blue dragon when he got to close. <None of you are worthy!!>

Lyonnia danced an instinctively seductive danced, surrounded <being followed
closely> by males from <behind> all sides. Some she hissed at; others, she
allowed to get close enough to almost touch her, but <bowled them out of the
sky> pushed them out of the way before they <caught her> touched her.

<You are unworthy!> Dianthus screamed, reversing course and diving straight
into a clump of males under her, knocking many out of the race. On the
ground, men fell away from the group, and the circle tightened around the woman.

Suddenly, a talon snaked from out of nowhere, grasping onto the wing of the
flying female. Dianthus battered at the emerging body with all her strength
with her other wing and arms and legs, but the talon merely tightened it's
grip, getting a better hold.  {Ssssubmit!} the voice hissed.

<NEVER!> Dianthus screamed, fighting with every part of her body, from her
teeth to her claws, raking down the side of the black hide and biting into
the hard scales at the back. <I will never submit to you!>

The two dragons plummetted from the sky, each fighting the other for
control. Lyonnia found herself encased in arms, and clawed and scratched to
get out, kicking and punching whenever possible. Sky blue eyes stared into
her own fiery green, but she oblivious to all except trying to scratch them out.

Finally, Dianthus stopped struggling. <I submit to you, Veil.>

{Of coursssse you do} the black dragon stated sadistically. {You cannn't
help it. Thissss will be fun.}

Dianthus was repulsed by the thoughts, yet her instincts urged her on and
she flew with the black dragon towards the hillsides north of the warren.  

Lyonnia found herself looking up into the most beautiful blue eyes she'd
ever seen. She practically leaped into the man's arms and began kissing all
over his face; it didn't bother her that he was rather unresponsive. She was
too caught up in the feelings, unable to control them.

NRPG:  Ahem...tag Kha. :) Remember what we kinda talked about? *g*

Sarah P.
The Dragon Queen
Lyonnia/Dianthus of Telnor warren