[Derry]

<Derry...>

<Not now, Lev...>

<But...>

<You wanted me to look for the girls, didn't you?>

<...yes...>

<Even to the end of having me skip out on practice?...>

<...yes, but...>

<What, we fed both of you until you were completely stuffed before leaving...>

<Cricket wants to know how things are going...>

Derry sighed.  <I'm sorry, Lev.  I think we've found the trail, but the 
girls are still ahead of us.>

Levka grumbled.  Chance, up on Firefly, groaned.  Derry glanced up at her.  
"'Tinka?"

"Yes!"  Chance laughed.  "You'd think they could wait, but I swear that the 
dragons are even more worried than the humans."

Derry nodded.  He hunkered down, touching the earth lightly.  "They passed 
this way, not long ago."

Chance nodded, looking around.  "I think we should be careful, though --"

There was a scream, draconic and challenging.  Derric and his sister both 
turned, watching a streak of silver lightning launch into the air, a host of 
multi-colored bodies winging up after...

"Trinale --"

A gentle hand pressed down on his shoulder.  He hadn't even heard Firefly 
move up behind him.  "Gently, brother."

Derry closed his eyes, pulling himself together.  "We've got a job to do.  
Let's find those girls."

<...>

They had to be careful...  As Chance remarked to him as they followed the 
trail he'd picked up, the ground did not appear to be completely stable.  
She'd also stubbornly refused to tell him how she'd learned to recognize the 
signs.  It was getting dark, and they'd both promised their hatchlings...  
But Derry wasn't sure that he could find the trail again that night, and 
they were *close*.

Chance lit a torch in the fading light.  He glanced back at her.  "What?"

She nodded toward the rock face -- "Cave ahead.  It's almost full dark, and 
I imagine they wanted to find shelter."

Derry nodded.  He took the torch from her, and she dismounted, pulling her 
crutches from their sheaths.  Derry led the way, watching the ground ahead 
of him carefully.  Chance was a lot of things, but her instincts about 
dangerous ground were generally unerring.

"Loreli?  Jennifer?  Faith?"  Chance's voice was calm and reassuring.  It 
carried clearly into the cave.

"Here!  Here!  We're down here!"

<Lev!  We've found them!>

He and chance carefully approached the barely visible edge of what appeared 
to be a sinkhole, and peered over.  The girls appeared to be alright -- more 
or less, though Faith looked a bit woozy.  Chance studied the situation, and 
sighed almost silently.

"We're going to get you out...  We've told everyone that we've found you."  
Chance's voice was confident and strong, but, looking into her eyes, Derry 
knew that it was a sham.  She pulled him back from the edge.  Pulling his 
head down toward her, she whispered in his ear, "Now what?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I didn't bring rope... and we already *know* this isn't an entirely 
safe area.  I'm relaying the problem to 'Tinka, to tell Trinale.  And 
someone is going to have to lead them back here..."

"Can you?"

"I think so.  Reassure the girls while I'm gone..."

-----
[Katla]

Chance limped her way out, without the aid of the torch.  She rode back to 
the warren, using a small bag of white stones to mark her way.  After 
getting lost near some caves near her father's holding, she rarely went 
anywhere she was unfamiliar with without them.

She met Trinale and Saul near the warren green, her breath suddenly 
catching, and leg muscles spasming.  It was all she could do to stay 
upright.  Katla fought curling fetal, she couldn't lead them back to the 
cave is she passed out.

<Katla!>  Satinka's voice was frantic.

<I'm fine.  Don't you *dare* tell Cricket or any of the others!>

<But...>

<Afterwards, okay?>  The demand was fierce, and Satinka backed down in a 
slight huff.  Katla softened.  <I'm sorry, but we have to help the girls, 
first.>

"Are they okay?"  Trinale was a bit mussed, her clothing slightly askew... 
as though she'd dressed quickly.  Katla nodded, using most of her 
concentration to stay upright and to keep the pain from showing.  It never 
did to show agony, it often upset people.

"I think that Faith may have hurt herself, but I came back before we could 
ask questions.  The girls have been caught in a sinkhole..."  she stopped as 
Daimon, Lord Fowler, and Cali came out.  "...the girls appear to be more or 
less okay.  Jennifer looked fine, Lord Fowler, and she looked like she was 
bearing up as well as could be expected.  That's one brave little girl you 
raised."

Chance noticed the faintly disgusted look that Lord Fowler shot at Trinale 
and Saul, and she sighed inwardly.  "They're caught in a sinkhole in a cave 
back that way..."

"That portion of the Warren has been blocked off for as long as I can 
remember," remarked Trinale.

"Then what was my daughter doing there?" huffed Fowler, "If you had better 
control..."

"I hardly think that's a fair accusation," came a familiar, authoritative 
voice.  Chance wanted to cheer as her father came forward.  "It's the fear 
talking.  I didn't blame you when those servant boys accidentally trapped 
Chance and Kel in that ruined north tower of yours..."

Lord Fowler spluttered, but subsided.  "Well, what are we going to do?"

"We're going to get them out."  Trinale took instant control.  "Chance, can 
you lead us back?"

"Yes."  Her father looked up at her, and she shrugged.  Katla knew that he'd 
read the pain of her posture, but at the moment, the girls were more
important.

"Then here's what we're going to do..."

[Tag]

-----
[Derry]

Derry collapsed into his bunk, his back and shoulders aching.

The girls were safe...  He remembered the instant of sheer joy on Trinale's 
face when they'd pulled Lorilei out of the hole...  He'd do almost anything 
to see that smile...  But...

Sleep came and caught him, wrapping him in downy softness that carried him 
to deep, unremembered dreams.

-----
[Katla]

She would have tossed and turned, had her hips and legs wanted her to, if 
they weren't screaming at her at the slightest movement.  She didn't have 
the energy, or concentration, to pull out her pain medication, and the agony 
of it snuffed the voice from her.  'Tinka was asleep, and Chance was too 
proud to wake her up.

-----
[Derry]

<I'm hungry!>

<I'm up!  I'm up!>  Derric stumbled out of bed.

<'Tinka is hungry too... so why won't Chance get up?>

Derry stopped in the middle of putting on his shirt.  <What?>

<'Tinka says that Chance won't get out of bed... and that she's crying.>

"Oh, gods..."  He ran out of his room, brushing past Aradia and Shawnee.  He 
burst into his sister's room.  "Chance?"

She was lying curled up on her side, her face so pale and drawn that for a 
moment, he thought she was a chalk effigy.  "Chance?"

"D-D-Derry?" her voice was a rough whisper.

"Hurt?"

"Yesss."

She was holding herself so still.  He frowned at her.  "Where's your 
medication?"

A smile ghosted around her lips.  "Under the bed."

"Good place for it."  He thought he heard her laugh.  "You're going to the 
healers as soon as you take this."

"No..."

"Oh, yes.  You will.  How long have you been like this?"

<Since last night.  She wouldn't let 'Tinka tell.>

He waggled a finger at her.  "We need to make sure that you haven't injured 
yourself."

-----
[Katla]

Chance glared at her brother as the painkillers went to work.  It was enough 
to take the edge off, but she wasn't going to be walking anywhere.

"I'll be fine."

"Sure.  You'll be better when you get checked out, though."  Katla knew that 
stubborn look.  He was going to be a pain about it.

<'Tinka, will you tell Lute to tell Cali that I have to go to the Med 
center, and Derry will be late, since I'm sure he's going to insist on 
carrying me...>

<Yes.>

[Tag, Les.  If Cali wants to berate them, she knows where they'll be :)]

-----
[NRPG] I think I'll stop now, since I've gotten confused on what happens 
when once morning gets going...

Respectfully Submitted,
Jill E. Flansburg
Katla, 'Tinka, Derry and Lev



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
			Vasaris, the Fuzzy Dragon
 Jill E. Flansburg                  |           vasaris@az.com
 CS HMC 1994                        |           jflansbu@muddcs.cs.hmc.edu
 History, WWU 199?                  |           vasaris@divcom.umop-ap.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                                  XFRPG
 Assistant Director, X-Files        |          Agent Sterling Kincaid, SA1
 Agent X. Xavier, Trainer 1         |         Agent Damien Cunningham, SA5
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                               DragonLands
 Elswyth and Aedra, Keldarra        |                     Relyth, Keldarra
 Katla and Derric, WhiteRiver       |                        Zera, Norwall
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=