>>         Tanya stepped into the door and stood against the back wall, not
>> wanting to disturb this meeting.
>> 
>>         "Please be seated." Trinale said in as calm a voice as possible. Her
>> voice a little shaky from both the sheer size and some what ominous looks of
>> this warrior and all of the stress of the past day.
>
>She then turned to Tanya. "Thank you very much for showing him the way. I 
>will see you later at the meeting." 

Tanya paused, wanting to stay just a little while.  She looked at Pa'gan,
then at Trinale, and sighing exited the room.

Once she was out of the office, she couldn't think of anywhere to go.  She
knew there was going to be a meeting today, but that wasn't for about an
hour away.  She wrinkled her brow in thought, then hit upon the idea of
helping out in the med center.  Surely, they could use some help.

Then she thought again, and discarded the idea.  She knew noone there; in
fact, she thought, surprised, I don't know many people here at all!  Only
Trinale, Pa'gan, and Saul (somewhat).  She had known she didn't know people;
she hadn't known she was THIS alone!

*Pol, what do you want to do?* she asked her dragon.

<I'm actually kind of tired.> came the reply.  <Can we just, well, go home
for a little bit and sleep?>

Tanya sighed and mentally agreed.  *I'm tired too* she stated as she mounted
the waiting dragon.  *That's a good idea.*

And indeed, she did feel tired: she did need a little nap.  Directing the
hovering dragon back to their apartment, she decided that just a little rest
might do her good.

**Later**

>Trinale headed back to her office.

>(Poldera, could you ask Tanya to please come see me?)

<Tanya> Poldera's voice broke into her dreams.  <Tanya, the warrenlady wants
to see us.>

"*Let me sleep*" Tanya muttered, turning over in exasperation.

<But it might be important.>

*I thought that you wanted to sleep* Tanya stated grumpily.  Great, she
thought, now I'm grumpy.

<Yes, you are quite grumpy> came the indignant retort from the auburn
dragon.  <And I'm personally offended.  You shouldn't be talking that way to
me...>

"Okay, okay, I'm up."  Tanya groaned as she swung her legs over the bed,
angry at herself for sleeping for so long.  She had only intended for a
little bit; instead, she had slept for a lot longer!  She stood up and
rearranged her hair a bit; when she was done, she mounted the dragon and
headed back down to the warrenlady's office.

>When Tanya entered her office, Trinale indicated a seat. "Tanya, I do 
hope you weren't upset with me this morning. I just felt more comfortable 
interviewing Pa'gan myself. I appreciate all the work you did in bringing 
him to my office and also making him feel welcome. I heard you also found 
him an apartment."

>Tanya nodded.

>"What I would like to ask of you is to help me with some of the new 
searchlings and the newly joined, helping to get them settled a bit and 
letting me know if they have any problems that need attention. Would you 
be willing to do that for me?" Trinale asked Tanya.

Tanya paused before she said anything.  She hardly knew any of the new
hatchlings, let alone the current veteran dragonriders.  But, she reasoned,
this would probably be a great way to get to know them.  And anyway, it was
something to do until patrolling started.

"I'll do it ma'am," Tanya replied, allowing herself to smile.  "But I was
kind of wondering something.  Is there a way I can have a garden of my own?
I mean, who would I get into contact with?"

Trinale smiled.  "That's easy."  She then told Tanya exactly who to go see,
and what to do when she got the plot.  "The soil here is really quite
fertile," the warrenlady explained, "as you probably have seen.  So, you can
grow about anything here."

"Yes, well I was thinking about some herbs I know about.  They're not quite
native to hereabouts; my aunt gave them to me when I first left.  They're a
medicine plant, I think.  I still hope those seeds are good."

"I'm sure they're fine.  And I'm sure our hospital could use anything you'd
care to give them."

"Well, I was going to give them some, if they needed it."  Tanya shrugged.
"I suppose I'll go ask sometime."

"You do that," Trinale replied, smiling.  "Thanks for coming, Tanya, and
sorry for being rude this morning."

"Ma'am, you were anything but---"

"It's Trinale, Tanya, not ma'am," the warrenlady chided, smiling.

"Well, *Trinale*, you were anything but rude this morning.  I understand
fully, although I'll admit, I was kind of frustrated earlier."  She lowered
her voice down to a conspiring whisper.  "He is kind of cute, you know."

<I heard that!>

*Oh, shut up!*

Trinale just laughed goodnaturedly.  "Well, it's nice that you think so,
because I believe he's going to be staying for a while.  That is, if he
wants to."

I hope so, Tanya thought.  Then, thanking the warrenlady and saying goodbye,
she left the office in considerably higher spirits than earlier.  

<I'm hungry!>

*You're always hungry* Tanya teased, happy to find her spirits buoyed from
the little chat.  She hadn't really talked to anyone for a while; at least,
noone her age group like Trinale.

<Can I go to the feeding pens?> came the whining voice.  <Please?>

*Pol, you don't need my permission to eat!*

<I don't?> came the puzzled reply, then <Oh Goody!>  Tanya could feel the
joy as Poldera winged over to the food pens and proceeded to get a large ram.

Tanya quickly closed her mind off, not wanting to see that particular part.
She didn't know how long it would take her to get used to seeing the huge
dragons feed; she hoped it was soon, though.

NRPG: Okay, I'm back, but I'm kinda behind.  It's been SO hectic IRL, but
that's no excuse.  Sorry. :(   Btw, does anyone have a timeline written up?
If so, could you foward/send it to me?  Thanks all. :)  Barb, hope to get to
you soon. Welcome to Whiteriver! <grin>

******Hugs to all******

Submitted by

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~ Sarah Pearson  (isolinde@cwnet.com)        *
* Lyonnia/Dianthus *TELNOR*; Rezsia/Jezebel  ~
~ *DAERE*; Tanya/Poldera *WHITERIVER*;       *
* Cynedra/Jakob*the dog*/Louie*the ferret*;  ~
~ *MYSTERRA*; Leanna Vere *STARFLEET*        *
* (A web page with nothing on it)            ~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*