Day 9 evening
*****
Moira sat patiently as N'lin oriented himself and got sat up in bed. 
She hadn't really intended to wake him, but there was nothing she 
could do about it now. 

"I'm N'lin, rider of Trefoil,"  he offered his hand.  "Nice to meet you.  I
don't think I remember you from before." Moira smiled and took his 
hand, prepared to tell him she hadn't been in the Warren for long 
when suddenly he dropped her hand and said. "I'm not taking it." 

"Huh? Not taking what?" Moira asked wondering if he was fully 
awake after all.

"Uh... nothing..." he muttered, turning his gaze from the table next to 
him. Moira glanced down and saw the little cup she'd brought in. 

"Oh, your pill." She glanced back at N'lin, curious.

"Yes, but its not my pill, because I'm not going to take it.  There isn't
anything wrong with me..." he trailed off at her raised eyebrow.

"Ok," he said a sigh, "there isn't anything wrong with me right
*now.* I'm fine, honest.  I'll even stay here since I don't have 
anywhere else to go.  Just please don't try to force any drugs down 
my throat or in my arm, ok?"

"I'm not a healer," Moira explained, "I just help out sometimes.  
Xanthia told me to give this too you, and that's all I can really say 
about it."

"Xanthia, eh?  I remember her... but that's not the point.  Do you 
think I need something, especially since I'm stuck here for the night 
anyway?"

Moira looked at the pill in the little cup and her brow furrowed 
slightly. "It looks a great deal like the medicine they gave me when I 
found out my father had died. It's not like it's medicine to keep 
you from getting infection or something, it just makes you kind of 
woozy." She sat back and looked at N'lin for a long moment, 
distractedly tugging at a strand of hair. " I'm not going to pressure 
you about it.  However, it'll feel like lying if I don't tell Xanthia you 
didn't take it, because she'll think you did, and I don't like 
to lie. So I'm not going to push you, but I will give it back to Xanthia 
and tell her you didn't want it, okay?" Moira looked at N'lin intently. "I 
really hate to lie." 

Suddenly, Moira's expression grew distracted, then her face was 
transformed with a joyful smile. N'lin realized she was probably very 
newly joined indeed. "I have a dragon who is lecturing me on how it 
is not right for riders to miss meals anymore than young dragons. 
Do you need anything before I leave?"

"Some water would be nice." N'lin answered.

Moira quickly fetched some water and waited while N'lin drank it, 
grinning ruefully as he looked at her.

"I was told not to leave anything with you that you might hurt yourself 
with.  While I get the feeling  that whatever prompted your hurting 
yourself in the first place has passed for the moment, I'd feel really 
bad if I was  wrong and something happened to you and your 
dragon." Moira took the empty glass and the pill cup and headed for 
the door.

"What makes you think it's passed?" N'lin asked curiously.

Moira paused for a moment, wondering herself. "I'm not sure." She 
told him softly, gazing blankly in front of her with a  haunted worried 
frown crossing her face.  She was worrying that she had 
inadvertantly used her abilities to "read" something from him. She 
had always kept such a firm grip on her abilities before coming 
here, but since she had started using them again she found that her 
control was not as good as it had been. Shaking her head and 
putting the worry aside for another time, she looked back up at N'lin. 
"Try to get a good night's rest, I'm sure I'll see you around the 
Warren again." With a little wave she headed out the door.
********
Still Day 9, late evening.
Moira's caught up Xanthia and returned her hematite stone.


"It's private stuff..." Xanthia looked down shyly, "Though all the
dragons are talking about it, too."

"Then it's not a secret." Moira smiled at her. "But if you like, we can
find somewhere more private to talk."

Xanthia nodded, "Home, lets go to my home. No one comes there."

Moira climbed of Vasra, sending a silent promise that she would go 
and eat soon, and followed Xanthia into her quarters. She watched 
as Xanthia quickly hurried to pick up clothing that was
scattered about.. "No one comes here," she said, her cheeks 
flushing. 

"Don't worry about it," Moira told her and cleared a place to sit on 
the sofa. She patted next to her for Xanthia to sit down. "Come, talk 
to me. I won't bite."

Xanthia sat and looked down uncomfortably. "Not used to this," she 
confessed. 

Moira smiled. She wasn't used to this either, she'd never had many 
friends. She knew though, how she'd felt when upset, she'd always 
wished for someone to talk to. She could only guess that Xanthia 
probably felt that way too. "You can trust me, and I can tell you need 
to talk."

"It's Oldreth. He and Merissa... they... they mated!" Xanthia said in a 
stressed whisper, her face flaming.

"Mated?" Moira repeated, confused.

"M... made love." Xanthia explained, tears brimming. 

"I see..." Moira took a deep breath, implications flooding through her 
mind. She knew that Merissa and Th'rin were important to Xanthia, 
as they were caretakers of Oberon..Oldreth was also important, 
being part of Xanthia's ties to her clan and heritage.  What a mess.

"Why???" Xanthia raged, the floodgates now opened, "Merissa is 
mated to Th'rin. It's not fair! Does she need to have Oldreth, too!?!"
  
Moira blinked, then spread her arms out and gestured for Xanthia to 
come to her. Gently she wrapped her arms around the weeping girl 
and smoothed her hair, not saying anything for long moments, 
letting the tears flow as sobs wracked Xanthia's body. Moira's mind 
tried to ponder what had led to this. Gradually, Xanthia's sobbing 
quieted and the tears slowed.  Moira gently sat the girl up and found 
a cloth to wipe her face. 

"Xanthia, I won't pretend to know what's going on. I've never 
uhm....mated..before, so I don't understand quite what all goes on. I 
don't think Merissa is trying to have more than one mate, I think she 
loves Th'rin very much and knows it would hurt him if she did. Could 
what Merissa did have something to do with Chrysthal rising to mate?
I haven't completed my training by a long shot, but I remember 
Merdywn telling us that what your dragon feels affects how you feel 
sometimes." Having Xanthia sit still, Moira fetched a couple glasses 
of water for them and sat back down next to the redhead, smoothing 
the tangled hair.

"You have very strong feelings for  Oldreth, don't you." Moira asked 
quietly.

"Yes." Xanthia answered with a sniffle. "He's Bear Nomad, and, 
and..." She stammered to a stop, unable to express how she felt.

"And he's kind to you, and he's gentle with you, and you want to be 
with him, don't you?" Moira  added.

"Yes." Xanthia nodded and took a big drink of her water.

"I think maybe you need to talk to Oldreth, and let him know. Ask 
him to meet you in private and take your time, try to explain that all 
this is very new to you, but it's there none the less, and you need his 
help in understanding it." Moira sipped from her glass and watched 
as Xanthia thought about it, the redheads face flushing even brighter.

"Oh I don't know..I.." Xanthia began to border on frantic again. 

Moira gently took her hand and looked her in the eyes. "I know it's 
scary, but what you are feeling are some complicated things, and I 
think Oldreth will understand. It won't hurt to try, and maybe 
Wintermoon can help too." 

"Okay..." Xanthia nodded and wiped her face. "but in the morning, 
I'm so tired."

"In the morning." Moira nodded, hoping she had done the right 
thing. She was quite out of her depth with this. 

After bidding Xanthia goodbye she made her way  to the dining hall 
for a late dinner and then collapsed into her bed in her new 
apartment, to sleep deeply with no dreams for a change.
***
Day 10 Morning

Moira had tumbled out of bed after several minutes of prodding from 
Vasra, to which Truan had added his voice and knocking on the 
door. Half asleep she struggled through the routine of washing and 
dressing and tending to her hair. As she hunted for a missing boot, 
Truan came through the door bearing a steaming cup of strong tea.

"I thought you could use this, you were up so late last night!" He told 
her, handing it to her and then commencing the search for the 
missing boot while she gratefully gulped down a couple swallows of 
the beverage. 

"I was talking with Xanthia and finding out all the latest gossip, and 
helping tend someone named N'lin in the med center." Moira 
explained, as she suddenly spied the missing boot wedged between 
the bed and wall. She must have layed down and kicked her boots 
off last night, she'd woke still dressed in rumpled clothes this 
morning.

"N'lin? His dragon won Chrysthal. What's he like?" Truan asked with 
a grin.

"He's seems like a very nice man." Moira answered, then looked at 
Truan. "Why? "

"Some of the girls have been talking about how he's cute, I 
wondered if he was going to be your boyfriend." Truan answered 
her very matter of factly.

"Boyfriend?" Moira nearly spilled her tea, then focused her full 
attention on the still grinning Truan. "I just met him! Truan, you are 
more for gossip than the worst dragon, I'm beginning to think!"

Truan laughed and danced around as Moira gathered her things and 
headed for the door. "What about J'red then? He's nice, he'd make 
a nice boyfriend for you!"

Moira paused and gently caught Truan's shoulder. "What's with your 
wanting me to find a boyfriend?"

"You take care of so many people Moira, you should have someone 
to take care of you. Someone besides me. Besides, remember, 
Meredywn said that if you had never, well..uhm...mated before, 
especially girls, it was wise to uh...get some experience before your 
first mating flight." Truan fidgeted through the sentence and then 
looked Moira in the eye. "You worry about everyone, I'm entitled to 
worry about you, aren't I? You're my sister."

Chuckling, Moira gave him a big hug. "Yes, and I'm lucky for that. " 
Gulping the last of the tea she set the cup aside and took Truan's 
arm. "I don't know a thing about finding a boyfriend, I think those 
things take care of themselves. In the meantime though, we have 
training to attend!"
****
day 10 afternoon

Training had been exhausting and intensive that morning, but well 
worth. In addition to the usual bathing, feeding and care of the 
young dragons, Meredwyn had watched them all fly, instructed them 
in some fighting drills, and had given a lecture on teleporting. They 
weren't allowed to try it yet, but were to look for and engrain in thier 
memory good teleport locations around the Warren.  Moira had 
taken a long refreshing bath after training changed into more 
comfortable clothes, then headed for the dining hall. She was 
extremely hungry, even after feeding Vasra. She wandered in and 
noticed a familiar face sitting at a table.

"Hi Tevel," she called and paused next to his table and sat her tray 
down. 

"Hi Moira." Moira was surprised at how tired he sounded. 

"I wanted to see how your mom was doing?" Moira asked, worried 
that perhaps she had taken a turn for the worse.
She began picking at her sandwich nervously. 

"Better," he told her, "She in good spirits. I think Th'rin's going to
release her tomorrow." Tevel answered .

"That's great!" Moira smiled, feeling relieved for a moment, which 
quickly passed as Tevel gazed back down at
his plate with a sad expresion.  "So why do you look so blue?"

He shrugged, "Whiteriver just hasn't turned out the way I'd thought .."

Moira nodded slowly. Tevel had probably been hoping to join with a 
dragon.  Between bites of food she talked to him. "I'm sorry .. are 
you going back with your mom when she's released?"

He shrugged again, "Maybe .. I don't know. Mom wants me to stay. 
She says
she's always hoped I'd join .. but .." Tevel trailed off, poking 
disinterestedly at the food on his plate.

"Oh then stay, Tevel. Please." Moira gently laid a hand on his arm to 
get his attention. "I'm sure you'll join one of these times. And the 
queen just flew. As I understand it there'll be eggs on the ground
within a week .. and then only a couple months more and they'll 
hatch.
Maybe you'll find your dragon there?"

"Maybe .." Tevel answered. "I'm thinking it might just be better to go 
home. Mom could use me
there .. and I .. think it would just be best .." Tevel dropped his fork 
in disgust and prepared to leave.

"Tevel, I know alot of things have been happening, it's so hard to 
keep track of it all, but....look at me, won't you?"
Moira waited until he turned his gaze to her. "My life has changed 
so much since I came here, even before I joined
with Vasra.  It's worth the bad times Tevel, it is. I went back to 
Killaglen yesterday, because I wasn't sure I made
the right decision. I know now beyond a shadow of a doubt that I 
did. If you do go back to Killaglen, promise me something. You won't 
just forget about maybe becoming a dragon rider. If you change 
your mind, even after a couple of days or months or even years, 
send me a message, I'll come and bring you here. Saul said he 
thought you'd join, your Mother has always thought you could, and I 
think you would be a great dragon rider. Think about it, okay?"

Tevel gazed down at the cool grey eyes that gazed at him so 
steadily and realized Moira had changed a great deal since coming 
here.  He had the feeling it was all for the good. Giving her a smile 
he agreed. "I won't just put it out of my mind, I'll think about it. "  
Together they dropped off thier trays and headed out the door. 

Moira heard her name called and turned to find J'red standing 
nearby. Smiling, she asked  "J'red -- have you met Tevel?"

J'red frowned trying to remember him... he seemed so familiar.  
"No, if
he's a good friend of yours...?  I'm delighted, to meet you Tevel."

Moira smiled and nodded.  "Tevel, this is J'red, he rides Firefly, the 
big
Crimson....  Were you looking for me J'red?"  Moira suddenly 
asked. Suddenly her conversation with Truan that morning ran 
through her mind and she struggled not to blush, hoping Truan 
wasn't watching now. He'd tease her unmercifully about standing her 
talking to TWO young men, regardless of the fact that it was just all 
friends. 

J'red flushed slightly, "Well, if you are busy... I mean we could have
those lessons later..."

"Lessons?" Tevel asked curiously.  "Dragon training?"

"No,"  Moira smiled, "Knife throwing."

Have any experience with that?" J'red asked.

Tevel shook his head, "Well no, I guess not."

"You're welcome to join us, if you'd like," J'red offered.

"Oh yes, please do, Tev." Moira said with a smile.

"I wish I could," Tevel said, "But I've got to get back to mom .. she 
may
have awoken by now.  I don't want to leave her alone for to long 
here."

Moira nodded, "All right, but please consider what I've said."

Tevel nodded, "I will, Moira, and thanks."

Moira joined J'red and they walked across the green to a nearby 
clearing. "He's from Killaglen, Saul brought him 
here the same time he did me, to visit his father T'jellan."

"That's why he seemed so familiar." J'red snapped his fingers. 

"I've been practicing with my knife throwing." Moira said as she 
quickly pulled the knife from her belt. "It was getting dull, but I found 
a whetstone and some oil and have been working on it. " J'red 
watched as she lifted her head and glared at a nearby tree, then 
threw suddenly threw the knife. It hit with a solid THUNK into the 
wood and stuck hard. J'red was startled. If it had been a person she 
was throwing at, the knife would have caught them in the upper 
chest or throat and probably been buried. 

"You have been practicing. " He said, gazing at her.

She looked back at him, her expression serious. "I've lost alot of 
people in my life J'red, I'm tired of losing people. I have Vasra now, 
and the Warren, and Truan. I have to know how to defend myself 
and those I care about. " Determinedly she marched towards the 
tree and pulled out the knife, then walked back to him. "Will you 
show me how to fight hand to hand?"
*****