From:
Jason Carnahan <kazekyrstal@yahoo.com> Date: Sat Oct 19, 2002 2:32
am Subject: [DL-T] Generation Gap (jp)
Day 6, mid morning.
Ann was still in a daze. She had been trying to figure out exactly what was
going on with her position in the warren. But everyone was running about
working on his or her own business. No one had any time for a little redhead
sitting like a lost puppy in the dining hall.
She came to the here to try and find something to do, but the cooks quickly
refused her, likely because a queen rider shouldn't be washing dishes. She had
been given some bread, and a glass of untouched wine and shooed from the
kitchen. She was sitting there wondering if they would let her return to her
father's farm after Mint laid her eggs when Darius entered the large room.
Darius was still sore from last night's work, and while he B'larin were up most
of the night drinking, he still somehow just couldn't relax, even though he
knew that he should. Of course, he was also extremely hungry. All those years
living alone his appetite had been his worst enemy, as Darius was a voracious
eater. In his warren days, the cooks used to complain that he ate more than
any other TWO riders at the warren, but he would always reply "Good thing I'm
only here half the time then."
He walked in and saw a young-looking redhead sitting alone. After a brief
exchange with the cook convincing him that he really did need a triple portion
of beef, he picked up a mug of wine and headed over to her table. It was
strange, as after 20 years of isolation, he wasn't used to people and was very
self-conscious. Still, his legs carried him there and his mouth uttered, in
his very unusual accent "Mind if I sit here?"
It was a moment before Ann realized the large man was talking to her. She
managed a stammered, "S-ss-ure." She tried not to stare at the platter that
seemed to hold enough food to make two of her.
"Its strange, after twenty years of living alone, I got restless in my room and
had to go find people to talk to." Darius said, between bites.
Ann decided that now was a good time to talk. But she couldn’t figure out what
to say. She hoped she wasn't blushing as bad as she thought she was. "I- I'm
not really very interesting to talk to." She finally blurted out, keeping her
eyes on the plate in front of her.
Darius looked up from his food and could think of a number of ways in which he
found her interesting, but he kept those to himself as he truthfully said,
"Well, too little is better than too much. I wish I had that problem."
Ann fiddled with the small piece of bread while trying to keep the conversation
going almost subconsciously. "Your too interesting?"
"Too interesting, yes" Darius began, "but none of it in a good way." He took a
few mouthfuls of food, washed it down with some wine, and then added "I've not
been to Telnor, I'd wager longer than you've been alive, now Mae wants me to
come back and ride here again. Honestly though, there are so many memories
here, and I'm not sure that I can stay."
"So you travel?" Ann asked trying to think of what might keep him away from the
warren. "I used to work at the local inn near my father's farm. There were a
lot of people who traveled and so never lived in one place for a long time."
The young queen rider was finally starting to relax, thinking this large man
one of the wandering storytellers she admired so.
"Like I said,” he began, "most of what makes me interesting isn't in a good
way. I didn't travel, I was actually only about 50 miles from here, lived in a
cave. I pretty much kept doing what I did as a warren rider, hunted wraiths
until they vanished, then hunted them again when they came back. I protected a
town that was a bit too far for the warren, and pretty much just watched the
years tick bye."
"Oh." Ann sighed, She had hoped for at least some sort of familiarity with this
man, Hermit? Exile?? "And you left because of something that happened here
right?" She tentatively probed.
"Yeah, something that happened here, but that you are likely too young and
innocent to hear about" he replied.
"Why dose everyone treat me like a child." She almost yelled at him, as his
reply sparked her anger and dispair. "I spent the past 4 years of my life
working as a serving girl in that hell hole of an inn." She slammed her fist
down on the table knocking her wine onto the floor, before starting to cry like
the little girl she just demanded she was not.
"4 years as a serving girl" he said quietly. "Well that would prepare you for
just about anything, wouldn't it?"
She pretended not to hear him. "You don’t know what it was like." She continued
between sobs, "Having to work your way around a common room filled with drunk
men." Ann grabbed at the corner of her tunic to try and dry her tears. "I don't
know why I'm telling you this. I don't even know your name."
"My name is Darius" he replied. "And I left Telnor 20-years-ago after I killed
another rider."
Ann stopped in shock. "I shouldn't have asked." She said, immediately returning
to staring at her plate and trying to look small and invisible.
Darius also realized he shouldn't have told, but once started, he needed to air
the circumstances, despite them making him no less guilty. "I was away on a
hunt, and my wife's dragon had a mating flight. I walked in late that night
and when I saw him in my bed, with my wife" he paused and took a drink of his
wine, "well I've always been known for having a short temper."
At the mention of the mating flight, Ann's mind snapped back to the other day
when Mint flew. She could understand how easy it would have been for Darius'
wife. "But that was twenty years ago?" Ann realized, and then another thought
came to her. "What happened to your wife?"
"She stayed here and eventually married another. I heard she died since then.
I really couldn't come back after what I had done, but yesterday one of your
riders got into trouble out in my area, and I brought her back here to safety.
Mae invited me to stay on, but I honestly don't know."
"Mae asked me to stay too." Ann said quietly. Wondering again if she herself
should stay. "Have you thought about the reasons for and against staying?" The
young queen rider asked, reflexively problem solving like her father taught
her.
"Well, the reasons to leave are many. I've grown comfortable living alone, and
this place brings back many sad memories. Mae was very persuasive though, she
told me that Telnor has a shortage of riders, and those that are here, are very
young and inexperienced with wraiths. I've bagged more wraiths over the last
35 years than anyone alive, I'd wager, and when I saw that young woman under my
cave almost get killed, I knew that me services were required." He paused,
"What about you?"
"At least you feel needed." Ann said as in answer. "I on the other hand, am
supposed to step right in, and do things that I never really wanted to do." She
brushed a few strands of stray hair out of her face. "I thought that when I
joined with Mint that I had everything that I ever wanted. And then when the
riders appeared at our farm I knew I had to come here for her sake." She could
feel the tears fighting to come back. "I almost feel like I'm here against my
will. I mean I love Mint and all, but..." She sighed, "You can see my problem I
suppose."
"No, honestly, I can't" he replied. "My city was deep within the wastes, and I
left only when there was no city left to stay in. I was out collecting at the
wells when the wraiths came, and when I returned, not a soul was left."
A sad look crossed his face as a memory flittered past. "I was about two or
three years younger than you, I would guess. I took my father's armor and
weapons and then just started walking. I followed the same star, every night,
and slept by day. Three years later, I was at Telnor. I had never seen a
dragon before, but when Blarin hatched, well he chose me, before I even knew
what any of it meant."
"But at least you were at a warren, there were people here who knew what to
tell you, and how things would work." Ann pointed at his chest, as she talked,
not really looking at him. "Mint's mother basically kidnapped me on the way
home from the inn. I had to carry the egg home myself. If it wasn't for dad and
his limited knowledge from when he was a rider before. I-" Ann stopped herself
sucking in a long breath and letting it out slowly. She almost visibly took
control and made herself calm. "I did the best I knew how, I know that." She
looked up and met eyes with Darius for the first time. "Did you?"
"I don't know" was all he could say. "I was always a loner, and never spent
much time at the warren. Wraiths were really active then, and my thing was to
go out and actively seek them. I never did patrol or more regular duties, I
just went out, sometimes for weeks at a time, and killed wraiths. I was very
good at what I did, and it made life simple not having to deal with people very
much."
Ann nodded, "Perhaps Mae thinks that it would be better for you if you tried to
hunt with other people." Ann thought about her own reasons for coming to the
warren. They still hadn't changed. She decided that she needed to accept her
role as a queen rider. She shrugged, "Maybe we can hunt wraiths together
sometime. They say a single wolf is dangerous, but only a pack can truly hunt."
She stood up, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. She began to leave,
but then turned back, "You said Mae asked you to stay, I need to talk to her,
do you know where she might be?" Ann asked, hoping she wasn't stopping the
conversation before it should be ended.
"She was injured last night, and was taken to Tinobal this afternoon.
Honestly, I don't know who is in charge while she's away, or if she will come
back. She suffered some serious head injuries," Darius recounted what E'thn
had told him earlier.
Ann almost fell over at the news. She blurted apologies to Darius and quickly
headed to the queen rider apartments. If Mae was gone, then who WAS in charge?
Ann knew that there were only a few fertile and active queens in the warren.
What if SHE were supposed to be doing something? That and many other questions
bubbled around her skull as she passed out of sight of Darius.
Darius quickly got up and carried his now empty plate over to the kitchen.
"I'll have another portion" he said, then added "and by the way, who was that?"
The cook looked up from her work, "Oh, I believe that was the new wilder queen
rider, Ann something."