Darrkon walked across the warren green deep in thought. Norwall had
been a great home fore him. Naomi had been as much of a friend as she
could be due to their past. How could he tell her he wanted to leave
without it seeming personal, without her thinking it was -her- warren
he didn't want?

He hadn't come up with an answer during lunch and it still plagues him.
He was so deep in thought, he didn't hear Galen calling to him at
first. Once he did, the masked rider crossed the short distance to one
of the few true friends he could claim.

<snip>
"Hello Galen.  How have you been?"

"Doing well.  Things have been busy though.  How are you?"

"Fine, I guess."

"What is it?"

"I'm actually on my way to talk to Naomi about transferring", he said 
quietly.

His words hit Galen sharply.  "What?"

"Yeah, I know.  Kind of a surprise.  But I don't ... I mean, Norwall 
doesn't feel ..."

"Like home?"

"Something like that."

"I ... I'm sorry to hear it.  You ... well, you've been a good friend. 
I'll miss you."

"Thank you.  I'll miss you as well."

"If you ever need anything, you can count on me to help."
<end>

"I'll remember you said that." Darrkon replied smiling, "Once those
soldiers of yours are trained I may come calling with a surprise for
you."

Darrkon left Galen more confused by his last words than he was by his
wish to leave. The dread locked dragonrider walked the rest of the way
to see Naomi wondering if Galen was feeling or would feel the strange
emptiness he was feeling at the thought of not seeing the old soldier
again. When Darrkon entered Naomi's room, he wondered if all partings
would feel like this.

< snip>
"Five minutes only."  Lilliana warned as she ushered Darrkon into
Naomi's room.  "I'll be back to make sure you leave too."

Naomi waited until the door closed behind her and then indicated the
chair beside her bed for Darrkon to sit.  She sat silently for a few
moments, studying the blank face of the mask he habitually wore to
conceal the scarring beneath it. She knew what was coming as she waited
for him to gather his thoughts and begin speaking.  Even with the
recent battles and his promotion to leader of Beta wing he'd been more
than a little restless of late.  His trips away from the warren had
been getting longer and longer and though he'd been conscientious in
his duties to the wing he'd also been distracted - as if there was
something missing from his life.  It hadn't really needed Aurianna's
visit earlier in the day to confirm what she already half knew.  And
she hadn't been surprised that the girl wanted to go with him.

"Telnor."  Naomi said quietly when the silence still stretched between
them.

Startled Darrkon looked at her, and she could see his eyes glittering
with surprise as he gazed at her.

"I have your transfer papers ready for you."  Naomi told him as she
fished the letter she'd written from beneath the other papers littering
the bed.  "I thought that Telnor would be the ideal place for you. 
Unless you had somewhere different in mind?"

He shook his head.

"Then Telnor it is."  Naomi handed him the letter.  "I hope you'll find
what you're looking for there."
< end >

Darrkon hadn't known his unease was that obvious. Here Naomi was with
transfer papers ready and he had barely said a word. He knew he
couldn't leave without saying something.

"Naomi...I-I-I-I want you to know my leaving has nothing to do with any
unhappiness at Norwall, no discontent with the riders, no
disappointment, unease, or anger at you."

This would probably be the most Darrkon has ever said to his
warrenlady. He suddenly became inspired to make her remember his last
words to her. "When I arrived, you were an unsure, insecure, newly
appointed warrenlady. I never said anything then, but there were times
I could see the indecision in your eyes, and I wasn't sure you'd make
the right decision"

"In these past few years, you've grown, you've helped me grow. Despite
being on opposite sides of the fence on many occasions, you've never
thrown my past in my face. You've helped me advance socially and
professionally, and were gracious enough to share your time with me."

Darrkon's mind flashed back to just days after his arrival in Norwall,
when Calindeth won Amethyst's mating flight. He couldn't suppress a
smile. "In fact, you've shared more with me than I ever thought to ask.
I've watched you grow into a very secure, very competent warrenlady.
One who has taken a crumbling warren and rebuilt it into the stronghold
we see today. Despite numerous obstacles. That's why, when trouble
stirs and I see that indecision in your eyes, that you still haven't
learned to hide, I know all I have to do was wait. In the end, you'd
make the right decision."

The masked rider tucked the transfer papers away. "Despite my happiness
here, something inside of me needs to move on. I think the wanderer in
me is growing anxious. You don't spend ten years outside of walls
without it affecting you. Norwall gave me my new beginning, but it
seems that has come to an end. I fully trust your decision that Telnor
will be right for me."

Lilliana was as good as her word and after 5 minutes she came to usher
Darrkon out again. As Darrkon stood, he pulled out the dagger in his
boot. He then untied his dreads and used the blade to cut one away. He
used the hair tie to secure the frayed end of the loose dread. After
tucking his dagger into his belt he pulled one of the long thin
throwing knives from his sash and placed them on Naomi's lap. The
throwing knife still had the slightly red tinge from the fire and blood
ritual.

Pointing to the dread Darrkon said, "A reminder of the man I was coming
into Norwall." Pointing to the knife he added, "I memento of the man
you and Norwall help me grow to be."

That seemed to do it for Lilliana's patience. She shooed him out of the
room. Darrkon left, knowing he had no other choice. Standing on the
other side of the door, he felt that empty ache again, but deeper this
time. This was definitely not good. How much would it hurt when he had
to say goodbye to Aurianna?



NRPG: Darrkon will arrive at Telnor in my next post

=====
Submitted by
Ismail Abdur-Rahman
aKa
Caylaan & Remedy - Norwall - Dragonlands
Darrkon & Calindeth - Telnor - Dragonlands
Egypt "Obsidian" Johnson - Dark Destiny

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