DAY 3
Morning

Merissa strolled openly with her mate and her lover by her side.  Nothing
could be better than finally having it all out in the open.  And she was
amazed at how relaxed Th'rin seemed.  He didn't even flinch when 'Tonio
greeted them so boldly.

"Well, my dears, I must run... I've farewells to make and finally business
to conduct.  Soon, very soon, the warren will be all ours again."  Merissa
smiled at the thought of all the Lords and their staff leaving Whiteriver.

***
TAG Kris and Morgie... what will they do without Merissa?  [grin]  TAG
Chris, will the knight follow them to find out?

***
As she left the men on the green and headed to her office she was greeted by
Eleanora who looked a bit tired, though apparently also very happy.  "It
must be nice having your family here with you,"  Merissa commented,
wondering if that was the cause of her happiness.

"Umm.. well, Leo is leaving today..."  Eleanora spoke, softly.

"Oh! Do you need to transport him...?"  Merissa asked.

"No, actually..." and at this Eleanora blushed, "he managed to bum a ride
with the ... Prince."

"Reolden!  Oh, how splendid!"  Merissa grinned.  "He really is a nice guy,
Eleanora, so don't worry.  In fact, he's due here at any moment."

And almost as if on cue, there was a rapping at her door, and Prince Reolden
entered at Merissa's summons.

"Warrenlady,"  he bowed to Merissa and then smiled at Eleanora, who headed
for the door.

"Everything all wrapped up to your satisfaction?"  Merissa asked, as she sat
down behind her desk.

"Yes, quite... and very entertaining, I might add.  I'm looking forward to
my reporting to my father.  He'd be very impressed with you, dear lady."

Merissa's cheeks pinked slightly at the compliment.  "I do hope this is the
last of the cult... though I fear there are probably pockets of cult members
who don't yet realize that the head has been cut off...."

"Yes, and some zealots that really do believe all that evil that those
so-called Lords were spreading among the people.  You will still have to be
vigilant,"  Reolden commented.  "But I am pleased to see that you've already
taken steps in that direction -- with the formation of a second wing.  I'm
sure that will help keep your riders alert."

Merissa nodded, "And I think that Kanler and J'red will make an excellent
team.  They already have shown that they work well together."

"Well, dear Lady, as much as I've enjoyed my stay here at Whiteriver, I must
be returning."

"I hear you will be having company on your journey back?"  Merissa smiled,
"Eleanora's brother?"

"Yes, Leonidas.  I've asked him to meet me out on the green after he'd had
some breakfast and said his good-byes."

Merissa walked Reolden out to the green where they saw Leonidas, with bag in
hand, surrounded by his female relations, Eleanora, his mother, and his
cousin Lia, and Eleanora's *friend* Ben'sar.

****
TAG KK and Barb.

****
That farewell wasn't the last for the day.  Lord Fowler and his staff were
heading for home, as were Kanler's family -- though his sister would now be
taking up residence as the Lady of the new Dragon's Hope Estate.  Nothing
could have made Merissa happier than seeing that young couple, so obviously
in love, riding off together towards a wonderful future.  She was sure that
she'd be seeing quite a bit of them in the years to come.

All in all, Merissa had a very long afternoon.

****
TAG Barb -- anything you want to add to their leave taking?

****
AFTERNOON

J'red and Kanler stood in front of their newly formed Beta Wing.  Today
would be their first day training together and both Wingsecond and
Wingleader had gone over and over what they wanted to accomplish.

J'red took half of the riders and worked on formations.  They flew and
teleported to various locations around Whiteriver.  He was incredibly
impressed by how well they handled the maneuvers.  When they were out over
the fields, they were joined by Kanler and the other half of the wing.

They played some games to practice working together as a team... and against
an opponent.

"Listen up everyone! We're starting with the flag for our team!  Fire will
be passing it on to another player. That rider will then have to drop it to
his or her dragon.  The object is to get our flag to THAT side of the field
without one of their team members taking it from us... and at the same time
trying to TAKE Kanler's team's green flag."  J'red called out as he gave the
red cloth to Firefly before mounting.  The dragon clutched it in his claws
as he launched into the air, calling out his challenge.

Both teams rose in the air on opposite sides of the field.  A few daring
individuals went straight for the flag bearer, but never got close enough.
Firefly was almost surrounded, but managed to pass the flag off to another
rider on his team before he got caught.  That rider veered away to pass the
flag off again.  The keep away was going very well, J'red thought.

***
TAG: Anyone for a game of Capture the Flag?  Bridget - Effinky want to come
play?

***
LATE AFTERNOON

With the last dignitary out the gates of the warren, Merissa gave a
tremendous sigh of relief.  Now things could return to "normal" -- what ever
that was!  She'd gone from one crisis to another, trying to keep things
together.  She walked across the green to Corra's apartment, which was
nearer to the medical center.

<I could have carried you there faster,>  came a rather petulant voice in
her head.

<*I know, dear.  But I need to walk.  Maybe we can take Oberon on a ride?
Want to meet me there?*>

Before Merissa had arrived, the large purple queen had already landed on the
green in front of her.  Chrysthal was so happy to be free of the hatching
sands and could hardly wait for a chance to spread her wings.

<*I shouldn't be long, love,*>  Merissa called to her soulmate, as she
entered Corra's apartment.

Corra and Oberon were enjoying some deep one-on-one time together, pouring
over some of her herb books.  Merissa stood unobserved for a few moments as
she marveled at Oberon's interaction with his adopted grandma, as that was
what their relationship had become.

Oberon drank in all that the healer had to say to him.  He was absolutely
fascinated by the herbs and their uses!  "Well, seems like Bear is going to
be following in his Da's footsteps and become a healer!" Merissa grinned as
Corra caught sight of the Warrenlady standing in the doorway.

"Mamamamama!!!"  Oberon cried as he launched himself from his chair and into
her strong arms.  After a few moments of greeting, Oberon then shocked
Merissa by *telling* her about his day at school with Teacher Sarah.  The
words came out in disjointed phrases, but she could understand him!

Tears streamed down her face as she gathered that the other children had
shown him cards... that he had played with toys... that he had eaten snack.
"Corra.. how?" Merissa finally asked.

***
TAG: Morgie.

***
With all that Corra had told her, Merissa had to stop in and thank the new
teacher, and to ask how she herself could aid in this miraculous change in
her son.  Then, as she promised both Oberon and Chrysthal, they would take a
picnic dinner and go for a ride to the top of the waterfall... and perhaps
have Th'rin and Tarv'renon join them there, as well.  She couldn't help but
smile as she thought of them all together -- as one family!

She headed over to the classroom just as the afternoon students were being
dismissed.  She waited patiently as Sarah spoke to all the parents and or
caregivers as the children left.  Then, when all was quiet, Merissa and
Oberon came into the classroom.

"Can we talk... while I help you straighten up?"  Merissa asked.  Her mind
already marveling at Sarah's approach to Oberon, who greeted her verbally
and then tapped his head with a grin.

***
TAG Betty... any insights you can pass on to this poor mother?

***
Word had gotten out that the forge was being cleaned out and put to work
again.  Analise was delighted to hear that, since she had several broken,
metal music stands that no one other than a smith could repair.  Pulling out
the three worse cases, Analise headed to the forge.

She was utterly dismayed, however, when she saw the condition of the place.
Many of the items were piled around outside of the forge, and a half-naked
man, dripping with sweat standing next to a rather small dragon, having an
one-sided argument with her.

"Ah... excuse me... are you the new smith?"

***
TAG Brian... now what will he make of Analise?

***
DINNER

Merissa had picked up a basket from the dining hall and a blanket from her
apartment before hoisting Oberon up and mounting Chrysthal herself.

She had been delighted to hear from the queen that Murkash and Areena's
riders were both going to be joining them.

***
TAG Kris and Morgie.... anything "interesting" happen?

****
NRPG: Okay, something nice and short for others to play with as they want.'
Remember Day 5 is TIME-JUMP  to Day 35.


Respectfully submitted by:
Arlene Jacobs
AKA Merissa, Warrenlady, rider of Chrysthal of Whiteriver Warren
and
J'red, Beta Wingsecond, rider of Firefly of Whiteriver Warren.


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