After Trinale got Xanthia settled in at the med center, she walked slowly
and thoughtfully back towards the cliff base, trying to decide what to do
about Tarv. So lost in thought she was that the scene before her came as a
total shock.....

Derry.....with his mouth so close to hers....that womans! How could he!

"Derry?" Her voice was horrified.

She couldn't stay here, she turned and ran, hearing him call after her,
but she didn't stop. the tears were coursing down her cheeks.

As she heard him come closer she whirled around, the hurt and anger
showing in her eyes.

"How could you!" she sobbed.

"How could I what?" he asked reasonably.  "Try and comfort a woman whose
husband just took her children away?  Try and talk sense into someone who
hates her dragon enough to wish him dead?"

"You were kissing her!" Trinale's brain kept adding to the picture in her
mind, seeing more than she had really seen.

"I was getting yelled at by her!  She was in my face, Trinale, that's all!"
 Derry stared at the young woman he loved with disbelief.  "How could you
think that I would...  I would ever...  I love *you,* Trinale.  I pledged
my life to you...  Do you think my word is so worthless?"

Trinale looked at him, his disbelief and his love showing in his eyes. She
suddenly realized what she had done. "Oh Gods, Derry....I am so sorry. I
don't know what came over me. The tension, everything thats been going
on.....I don't know." She flew into his arms and they enveloped her and
pulled her close to him. "Please forgive me, Derry....." she whispered
into his shoulder.

He crooked a finger under her chin and turned her face up. His lips
trailed over hers in a soft kiss. "I would forgive you almost anything, my
love. You are my life."

"And you mine" Trinale vowed, pulling his head down even more to kiss him
more thoroughly. "You'll have to tell me more about what is going on with
that woman..." She held a finger to his lips as he started to
speak....."Later...." she smiled at him and drew him towards their
apartment.

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

*Later that day*

Trinale left her office after deliberating on what to do about Tarv. She
finally decided she would need to consult with B'ril and also talk to
Xanthia before she made a final decision. She headed for the med center to
do just that.

It was a beautiful day, so beautiful she decided to walk and clear her
head. On the way, she heard someone singing, singing a beautiful lively
tune, it made her feet want to dance, and soon she was dancing and
skipping across the green. She laughed. She had not felt this carefree in
days. Suddenly, her feet became entangled and she felt herself falling.
She reached out her arms to catch herself but it had happened too fast.
The last thing she saw was a rock, before her head slammed against it.

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

"Trinale!" someone was shaking her, shaking her gently but shaking her
none the less. She sat up groggily, her head spinning. Gods her head hurt.
She put a hand to her head and pulled it back, it was red and sticky with
blood.

"B'ril is on the way, just sit still" Trinale couldn't focus on who was
saying these words, the person kept blurring in and out of her vision. She
moaned.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You were dancing and you fell and hit your head. I think you need a few
stitches." the voice said. Trinale stopped trying to focus and just closed
her eyes. It hurt too much.....

(Cricket?) she reached out with her mind for the one stabilizing influence
she could think of.....but there was no response.

(Cricket?) she thought frantically, her eyes fluttering open, searching
for her dragon. "Cricket?" she called aloud this time as well as in her
mind, her voice totally frantic, trying to get to her feet, the arms
around her holding her down.

"Cricket!" she screamed, the emptiness in her mind terrifying her. She
turned to the person trying to hold her down. "Let me go! I have to find
Cricket!"

"Cricket is right there, Trinale" they said soothingly, pointing to the
silver dragon hovering just behind the crowd.

Trinale's eyes fastened on the large silver bulk of her Queen and then
turned towards the person next to her. "I can't feel her! I can't feel her
in my mind...." she managed to choke out in a horrified whisper, then the
scene before her spun and blackness descended.

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

NRPG: Trinale has lost ALL her telepathy, but most importantly, she can't
even talk to Cricket......

Have fun! :)

Newbies: get your dragons flying over the next day or two...lest get
things moving again!

I left it vague as to who found her and helped her so that anyone can hop
in.....


                         ("`-/")_.-'"``-._
                          . . `; -._    )-;-,_`)
                         (v_,)'  _  )`-.\  ``-'
                        _.- _..-_/ / ((.'    
                      ((,.-'   ((,/
                     
                  Kat Robertson (katmandu@iquest.net)

                    http://www.iquest.net/~katmandu