Ashelle woke feeling horrid.  She had a lot to do. And the conversation
with Tevel had her feeling more confused than ever.  He'd said he'd wanted
to *kiss* her?!

  She rose and after taking care of Oaklah's needs, and giving her a good
oiling, she headed for the shower, and then got dressed.  For some reason
she wanted to look nice today, but she wasn't able to place it.

  She picked a tan pair of pants, and a rose colored tunic with bits of
embroidery around the sleeves.  The knife that she'd found she decided to
wear, and attached it to her belt.  After tugging on her boots, and
brushing her hair till it shone, she hopped on Oaklah's back, and they
headed for the Warren bowl in a soft glide.

  Slipping into the Med center, she spotted Th'rin, and wandered over.
"How is T'jellan this morning?"

  Th'rin sighed, and hated having to keep telling Ashelle that there was
no improvement.  But he wasn't the type to lie either.  He could feel that
she was the type that wanted things straightforward.

  "He's asleep, but hasn't awakened yet.  At least the pain isn't as
bad...but we are keeping him sedated for now."

  Ashelle's face took on a sorrowful expression.  "Why can't you wake him
long enough for me to talk to him or something?  He never hears me at all,
Th'rin!  He doesn't know I even visit!"

  "Ashelle, if I wake him, he will also feel the pain of those burns.  I
know that you don't want that, do you?"

  Shaking her head, Ashelle offered an apologetic smile to Th'rin.  "No,
and I'm sorry.  I just miss talking to him.  I only want him to know I was
here.  I'll drop in later, if you don't mind?"

  Th'rin shook his head.  "Not at all.  Try to cheer up, will you please?
He'll be fine."

[Tag:  Kris!]   

  Ashelle didn't reply to that one..simply turned and headed for the one
place that she knew she could do something useful for a while and rest her
worries.  Her feet carried her almost automatically to the entrance of
Barry's shop.

  She'd come here from time to time to keep her promise of helping Barry
with projects that had been waiting or needed a finer touch with
embroidery.  And she always felt better after talking tim him.  He was
like a second father to her and she felt quite close to him.

  She entered the shop, and looked around, not spotting Barry just yet.
But then she was sort of early.  She took up her usual spot near the
entrance to watch for any customers, and began working on some embroidery
that was half completed.

  Barry entered and smiled with the suprise of seeing her sitting there
stitching merrily away.  He still remembered when she'd Joined, and the
bit of tunic she'd left hanging in the door.  His chuckle startled her and
she poked her finger with the needle, letting out a cry of suprise and
aggravation...and quickly moved the fabric before she possibly bled on it.

  "Barry!  Good morning...you startled me.  But this will be finished
soon."

  She sat the work aside, and sighed softly.  "I came here to work and
hoping to see you anyhow.  I need to talk to you.  I have a lot on my
mind, and you *did* offer at the med center to listen..?"

  Barry pulled over a chair and took a seat next to the young rider.  "I
did, and I meant it. You seemed upset then, and you still seem worried.
What's the matter?"

  Ashelle blushed softly.  "It's T'jellan.  I *think* I'm in love with
him.  But that's not the problem.  He doesn't really want to get too close
to me because I'm too young, and I guess he thinks he's taking advantage
of me.  I don't care though!  Age doesn't matter to me.  He makes me feel
special, and cared for."

  She slumped, staring at the floor.  "The real problem is this though.  I
met his son, Tevel.  I know that Tevel is T'jellan's father, but Tevel
doesn't know that the one I'm in love with is T'jellan. He just thinks I'm
worried over a 'friend' that was hurt badly in the wraith attack!  And no,
I'm not keeping it from him...he simply hasn't asked, and we've never
really run into each other at the med center in T'jellan's room at the
same time."

  She looked at Barry, and shrugged.  "And to top it all off, Tevel wanted
to kiss me last night.  And I found myself almost chasing after him to try
to get him to talk to me about what he was feeling."

  "Barry, am I such a hypocrite, or fickle, that I don't know what I want?
I don't even know what love really is, for crying out loud.  Maybe I am
just a kid with a grown up person's life.  I wonder if I'll ever really
make a rider....when I can't even get my own life under control.  I wonder
how poor Oaklah tolerates me."

  She and Barry talked well into the afternoon, and lost all track of
time.  She realized the time and offered a hug and the promise that she'd
definately finish that work the next morning, and hurried to grab a bite
to eat.

[Tag:  Barb!]

> [B'rin]
> 
> It was fairly late when he arrived at Whiteriver Warren.  B'nair of
> Falagand had made him wait quite a while before she had sent for one of
> the healers to accompany him into the wilds to find the tejas plants.
> Then it had taken some time to locate any.

  Ashelle had finished her meal, and was sitting at the green with a tall
glass of chilled juice, when she saw the dragon land, and the young man
alight.  She offered a wave and watched as he carried a rather full
looking pack in the direction of...where *was* he going anyhow?

  Curious, she got up, and started in his direction.  May as well greet
the visitor to the Warren after all.  And she was curious.

  Oaklah chuckled in her mind, and watched from her spot near the med
center.  << You want to meet everyone, don't you?  It's nice that you like
being around people.  At least you aren't quite as clumsy now.  You
haven't tripped over anything in...what is it, two days? >>

  Ashelle stopped and started laughing.  "Thanks a lot, you!  I needed
that!"  Then she blushed, as she realized she'd spoken aloud, and that the
visitor was looking at her as if she was only slightly nuts.

  "Sorry...I'm not all that crazy, really.  I just replied to my dragon
without thinking."

[Tag:  Lyn at Telnor!  And Hi!]

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

Jeanette
Ashelle/Oaklah * Whiteriver