[Katla]

"Take me with you please!" Raine stood and grabbed for her arm.
"Please.  There's nothing left for me here and if I stay they might
find me... and I couldn't stand to go through that again..."

Katla stared down at the other girl, an odd sense of unreality
gripping her.  She heard gentle words of comfort and reassurance flow
from her lips, but couldn't quite make any of it seem real.

Kel.  Her brother.

Her *brother*.

It wasn't too hard to believe it of Pheran Calarais -- she'd never
liked him.  He was always slighting women, making light of their
abilities and desires, expressing the dominating view that LandBorn
women, particularly those of the upper classes, were little more than
mindless breeding machines that had to be protected from everything,
particularly thought...  Particularly dragonriders and their 'whores.'

But Kel...  Kel had grown up with their mother -- how could he ever
subscribe to the notion that dragonriders were unclean?  How could he
do *this*, no matter what the perceived provocation?

But then, considering Saul's recent behavior, why wouldn't he think
that Raine...

She stopped the thought.  Whether this young woman was another of
Saul's paramours had nothing to do with it.  Raine had done nothing to
ask for the brutality of the attacks she'd endured.

In a daze, Katla guided Raine out, stopping briefly as one of Telven's
servants handed her a folded sheaf of paper that she shoved into a
pocket.  It was a good thing that Kanler was there to guide them out,
for Katla never remembered the trip from Telven's 'country home' and
their dragons.  With shaking hands, she strapped Raine onto 'Tinka's
back, and climbed on.

Kel.

How could... Why would...


---
[Derry]

He grinned at his sister's mate as Kanler collected her from some
little side trip that she claimed she had to make, sobering almost
instantly when the two were gone.  Determined as she was, Derry
couldn't quite imagine his sister deciding not to go, even if she
hadn't been able to find a partner to go with her.

A soft knock echoed from the door to his office and he looked up,
frowning slightly.  "Come in!"

Moira, one of the newly joined, came in, face serious.  "Can I talk to
you, Wingleader?"

He smiled.  "I don't know, can you?"

Her mouth quirked up and she rolled her eyes.  "May I speak to you?"

"Of course.  What's on your mind, Moira?"

[Tag, Rhi... Derry'd be very interested in the results of your
psychometry]

<... a bit later ...>

"So you know that they come from the Calarais stables?" Moira asked,
and Derry nodded.

"Yes, Chance is an excellent judge of horses.  The problem is, we
don't know who...  Would you be able to identify the guilty party if
you saw him?"

[Tag again ;)]

<... Afternoon, just after the mating flight ...>

Derry caught his breath, abruptly recognizing the adrenaline surge and
disappointment as not being his.  It was Crysthal -- which meant
Merissa -- and he shuddered slightly.  That would be uncomfortably
like sleeping with his sister, and he was actually glad that Levka had
been unable to fly, though he was healing rapidly and would probably
be able to by the next day..

<* Harrumph!  It would have been nice to have been worthy. *>

<! You're always worthy, Lev.  Now, maybe not all the females
recognize it, but I do. !>

His dragon snorted, laughing mentally.  <* You should come out and
visit us, my rider.  Cricket is much better and she's not snapping at
everyone nearly so much as she was before. *>

Derry grinned.  According to Lev, the silver queen had been in
something of a temper since being healed enough to stay awake and
talk.  He had no idea if that was true -- Trinale hadn't said anything
about it -- but there was no question that Levka was in a better mood.

<* I will fly tomorrow.  Of course I am in a good mood! *>  His dragon
paused.  <* And they're letting the kittens see me now, which is good.
They've grown so much! *>

Derry walked down the corridor toward the outside and he could
actually *hear* his dragon purring in pleasure.  What *was* it about
Lev and cats?

Lev looked up as he approached the two dragons and Derry could swear
the verdigris dragon was grinning at him.

<* I like them, and they like me. *>

<! What's not to like? !> He ran a hand along Lev's undamaged hide,
laughing as the sound of the dragon's purr redoubled and seemed to
attract even *more* cats from within the Warren.

"He seems happy," commented a lovely voice, and Derry turned, swinging
a only-slightly-surprised WarrenLady up into his arms.

"He is.  He is surrounded by Cricket and cats, and he gets to fly
tomorrow..."

<* What more could I need for happiness? *> Lev interjected, and
Trinale's blue eyes lit up with laughter, a sight that warmed Derry.
The past few days had drained so much from his beloved that even the
slight turn of her lips was a major accomplishment.

"I see," she said, putting on a wise face, an effect somewhat marred
by the fact Derry was holding her about a foot off the ground, but she
didn't object.  Slowly, he let her slide down, taking an opportune
nibble here and there.

"Derry!"

There it was again, laughter, and he grinned at her.  "Just a taste --
it's a long time until we go to bed."

"Oh, you --"  Trinale's eyes suddenly widened and she looked up.
Derry followed her gaze to 'Tinka's shimmering brown-and-gold form as
his sister and her mate landed.

"What's this?"

"'Tinka says that Chance needs to speak with us -- preferably in my
office, though she wouldn't mind some other secure locale."  The
slight frown was back and Derry silently cursed his sister for her
wretched timing.


---
[Raine]

It was hard to tell what Chance Vaddon was thinking, the other young
woman having frozen so totally once Raine had told her story.  It
hadn't been hard to recognize the calming platitudes that had spilled
from the dragonrider's lips... normally, Chance was so animated one
couldn't quite believe that her somewhat frail frame could hold so
much life, but right now her expression was as still and smooth as
water, but not reflecting nearly as much.

With kind and gentle hands, Chance helped her down from her dragon's
back, standing unaided, much to Raine's surprise.  The man with her --
Kanler, she thought his name was -- frowned slightly when he saw that,
but said nothing and didn't approach her at all, something that Raine
was grateful for.  Not too far away, she could see a gleaming, silver
form, and realized suddenly that it had to be a queen dragon... maybe
even the WarrenLady's queen.

Raine flushed.

"You need to tell Trinale everything," Katla said in a detached voice,
strain suddenly showing on her face.  "You need to make a formal
report."

"But... Kel and Pheran..."

"Let us worry about... Kel and Pheran."

Chance wasn't facing her, but Raine could have sworn that she heard
tears in the indomitable Katla Vaddon's voice.

"I..."

"They won't get away with this, Raine."  Katla's voice was harsh with
pain, and Raine stopped pushing, suddenly remembering the girl she
herself had been... before.  That girl would not have easily dealt
with this idea, would not accept it so calmly.  How hard, she
wondered, was it for a Vaddon, a member of a family to whom loyalty
was not merely a word but a way of life?

"They won't get away with what?" asked a gentle, masculine voice and
Raine looked up, barely recognizing Derric Vaddon before flinching
violently away, knocking Katla down in her instinctive urge to get
away.

The two women went down in a pile of limbs and inventive cursing that
was cut off as Chance had the wind knocked out of her.

"Oh, gods, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay."  Raine looked up to see a young woman who exuded an
authority far beyond her years.  Her eyes were gentle and her voice
kind, and Raine trusted her instinctively.  "I am Trinale, the
WarrenLady here."

"*You* are?" Raine's eyes were wide with shock and she heard a muffled
cough as the younger girl smiled.  "I'm sorry --"

[Tag, Kat]


---
NRPG --
If I missed anything important, tell me and I'll backpost it :)


Respectfully Submitted,
Jill E. Flansburg
Katla, Derry, et. al.
Whiteriver Warren
DragonLands

             X-FILES                         DRAGONLANDS
 Director, X-Files Division           Rhiannon, WarrenLady  *Xylian*
 Sterling Kincaid, TL, ECHO           Elswyth and Aedra   *Keldarra*
 Damien Cunningham, Forensics         Katla and Satinka *Whiteriver*
 Xan X. Xavier, Trainer               Zera and Mazel       *Norwall*

                        Visit the XFRPG Web Site:
                http://www.steele.ml.org/~wiggly/xfiles/

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                         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
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