> >"This won't take long, will it?  And what do I hold onto?  The dragon, or
> >you?"
> 
> Saul chuckled softly in her ear, "No this will not take long,  Sweet
> Ashelle. As far as what to hold on to," a deep rumbling chuckle ran through
> him again. "You just hold onto that knob in front of you .. but do not be
> afraid, I will be holding on to you."

  Ashelle blinked, momentarily suprised.  He'd called her sweet?  He
didn't even know her!  But it certainly made her feel special.  Then she
looked around at him, a shocked look on her face.  After all, this was her
first time on a dragon, and she didn't know how such things worked.

  "All right, you've got me, but who's got you?"

> His arm slipped around her waist as he reached to grab the reigns. <Home
> Fayloth.>

  Ashelle leaned back, not knowing anything else to do, and found herself
quite comfortable, feeling very safe.  But she didn't know if it was due
to the rider being so close, or the fact that the dragon was big enough to
handle them both.

> Fayloth snorted and launched into the air, with the tiny opalescent Areena
> close behind him. Saul turned his head to watch as the warrens runt dragon
> flew circles around the big blue. He chuckled wondering how Th'rin was
> taking to that!
> 
> He leaned closer to the girl in front of him, "Are you okay," He said
> loudly into her ear.
> 
> She smiled and nodded.
> 
> "Next stop .. Whiteriver!"

  Immediately she thought, next stop?  It couldn't be that qui....

> Instantaneously the outskirts of Killaglen vanished, replaced by the
> heights of Whiteriver Warren. The mist from the waterfall shimmered in the
> moonlight and Saul felt the girl gasp slightly at the beauty of it. He
> grinned. The waterfall was definitely his favorite part of the Warren ..

  Blinking in shock, she grinned.  Guess it *could* be that quick.  Wow!
And that waterfall was beautiful!  She was about to ask if she could see
it up close, when something happened.

> Suddenly his attention was drawn away by Fayloth's cry,  <Areena!!>
> 
> He turned to see the tiny pale dragon spiralling toward the ground much
> faster then she should have been. He could see her rider dark form clinging
> to her neck tightly. <Fayloth?>
> 
> <She's caught in a bad air stream ..> Fayloth said, his voice thick with
> worry. The blue dived after the tiny dragon and Saul found himself tightly
> gripping the girl in front of him as they dove with the dragon. He thanked
> the stars he'd securely fastened the saddle to both the dragon and the girl.

  Ashelle fought back a scream as they dived downwards, chasing after that
tiny dragon.  She felt herself go weak, and hoped she didn't totally pass
out.  That just wouldn't do at all.  She pressed back as tightly as she
could, taking immense comfort from Saul's nearness, and the ability of his
dragon not to kill them both.

> Before the brillant blue reached his query, the tiny dragon pulled her self
> up and regained control. She settled to the ground with only a tiny bump.
> Fayloth pulled up abrupty as well and settled a few feet from her putting
> his face close to the little dragon. Saul could imagine the dialogue
> already. Fayloth was certainly giving the female a peice of his mind.
> 
> Saul  undid the strap on the saddle and helped his passenger down, "Are you
> okay?"

  Feeling what she *thought* was the ground under her feet, Ashelle
grabbed for the nearest thing she could to steady herself till she got her
balance.  The nearest thing, was Fayloth.  Then she heard Saul's question,
and quickly let go...you just didn't handle someone else's dragon without
permission, did you?

> She nodded, unable to speak. Saul turned to Th'rin who was frantically
> looking at Areena's wing. He moved over to the young healer, "What
> happened?"
> 
> "I don't know .." he said with a pained voice, "I .. I think she was too
> tired.. I shouldn't have let her fly so much.."
> 
> "Do you need help?"
> 
> Th'rin shook his head, and Saul turned back to Ashelle, "Then I'm going to
> take Ashelle to the searchling barracks."
> 
> Th'rin nodded absently.
> 
> <Fayloth, How is she really?>
> 
> <A bit shaken but she's okay. She's just not had enough flight experience
> and the air stream took her by surprise. She's not injured.>
> 
> Saul nodded and moved to Ashelle,  "Follow me. It's getting late and I'm
> sure youre tired."

  Giving a worried look at the younger rider, and his dragon, Ashelle
managed to get her feet to follow along with Saul as he led her to her new
home.  She hoped that that other rider was going to be all right.

  Following Saul's directions, she picked a room, and slipped a name tag
in the slot outside the door.  Then she slipped inside, and flopped
heavily onto the bed that awaited her.

  'well...'shel, you've done it now, haven't you?  been searched, going to
stand at a hatching, and almost gotten scared out of your wits on the way
here.  and other than that rider, who do you know?  nobody, that's who.'

  She shook herself, and nervously giggled.  Lovely, now she was talking
to herself.  Better off relaxing the only way she knew how.

  Settling back on her bed, she hummed a bit, then started singing.  She
didn't realize that from her many months of singing at the tavern, her
voice carried farther than to just this room.

  She was quite into the verses of a really relaxing song, and her toes
were tapping with the rhythm of her tune when she thought she heard a soft
sound near her door.  Glancing up, she realized that not only hadn't she
closed it completely, but there was a row of faces lined up along the
edge of the door, peeking in in suprise.

  Stopping quickly, she blinked, and her grin disappeared.  She'd gone and
done it now.  Woke everyone up.

  "Don't stop, please?  That's really pretty, and we couldn't sleep
anyhow.  We're nervous.  Can you go on?"

  'Shel nodded slowly, and gestured at the bed and the chairs.
"Well..don't stand in the hall, come in anyhow.  You're sure I didn't wake
you all up?  I didn't realize my voice carried that well.  Though singing
in a tavern, I suppose it would."

  The four young people trooped into the room, and settled in the chairs,
and on the edge of the bed.  Ashelle noticed that they left the door
open...and wondered why?

  One of the girls sitting on the edge of the bed grinned.  "I'm Salla,
the one next to me is Wyn, the boy over there in that chair is Chadwyn,
and the other boy with the grin from ear to ear is Nayte.  Now, you know
us, who are you?  And what are you doing singing at this hour?"

  Ashelle grinned and nodded as each was introduced, then smiled.  "I'm
Ashelle, call me 'Shel.  I just got Searched about an hour or so ago.  By
a rider named Saul.  He was in the tavern where I sing..urmm, sang.  Next
thing I knew, we were here, in a crash dive on his dragon.  I was too
nervous to sleep, so I decided to sing."

  Nayte blinked, and sat up straighter.  "A crash dive?  What happened?"

  "I don't really know much about it.  We were over the waterfall, and the
other dragon, umm...the rider is named Th'rin, went spiraling down, with
Saul and his dragon right behind.  Scared me out of my wits, let me tell
you.  They seem to be fine, though I don't know about those things."

  Chadwyn grumbled softly.  "We miss all the exciting stuff.  I hope we
Join, that will give us something more to do."

  Everyone, including Ashelle chuckled at that one...and soon the time was
flying as they chatted about their homes, and what kinds of dragons they'd
like if they got one.

  Ashelle finally asked the one question that was nagging at her mind.  
"Why did you leave the door open when you came in?"

  Wyn piped in with the answer.  "Simple.  Boys and girls don't mingle
behind closed doors here in the barracks.  There's a common room where we
can all sit and chat or whatever.  If we mix company, we have to leave the
door open.  Keeps us out of trouble."

  A furious blush crept up Ashelle's face.  "Oh.  That.  Well...I've only
had the experience of hearing the noises from behind my parents' closed
door, so you've no worries there."

  Both boys looked at each other, then back at Ashelle, and smiled.  If
she Joined, that wouldn't last for long.  She was *pretty*!

----------------------------

Jeanette Upchurch
Ashelle/Oaklah-to-be * Whiteriver
Sarilyn/Lunath * Xylian

> ***
> NRPG: Jeanette, Saul is definitely a charming flirt. Though he's been very
> faithful to Shawnee .. so far :)

  NRPG:  Good.  I'm not here to make trouble, just have fun, and I'm not
going to stomp on already established relationships.  If someone is
interested in my char, fine.  If not, well...I'll make do with an NPC.
And btw, I *can* make NPC searchlings, right?  Got to have someone for
her to talk to.  Got to stop here, dunno too much else to say right now.


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                  "Comfy as a Kitty on a Carpet"