[Warren - morning]

  Carlynee dragged her battered body to her shared room, her mind 
still replaying over and over the various "welcome homes" she saw 
when her little group walked into the Warren.  Her heart clenched a 
little when she realized she had no kin to greet her.  Even Sarilyn 
and Ilara seemed absent.  Bel had her family, as did Ce'lot and even 
Halyn had her sister; Carl did not want to get in the way and left as 
soon as she could to tidy up ... her mind fixated on the bathtub that 
awaited her.

  Pushing open the door, she stopped stock still as her eyes took in 
the sight that before her eyes.  Pausing to lean against the door 
jamb, wincing and then turning to lean on her good side, Carlynee 
murmured half in astonishment and half in frustration, "Oh geez 
Rapunzel, what have you done?"

  The braided young woman looked up from the pile of wood chips she 
sat in and looked to Carlynee in surprise, "Carl?  Y-y-you're back?". 
 While a joyful greeting sparkled in the woodworker's eyes, a rueful 
smile crossed Lavine's face as she followed Carlynee's wandering 
eyes.  

  Their shared room seem to have become Lavine's workshop.  Every 
where one looked there could be seen carvings in various state of 
being, rough and finished.  Some were placed along the walls, hanging 
off of shelves.  Carlynee's bed had been pushed into a corner and all 
her trunks and belongings had been placed percariously upon it.  The 
mound upon Carl's bed almost seemed to creak and groan a warning as a 
soft wind blew through the open windows and pushed against the pile.

  "Been busy I see."  Carl managed to not wince as she wound her arms 
around her chest in a defensive pose.  It wasn't as if this was her 
home or anything, but she had had a rough ride and this wasn't what 
she was hoping for when she got back.

  Lavine's eyes shined as she practically gushed, "You would n-n-not 
believe how this p-p-place has touched my c-c-creativity.  Um ... I 
w-w-was hoping t-t-to ask for sep-p-perate rooms.  I k-k-kinda took 
over this one."  The wiry sculptor looked a trifle shamefaced as she 
spoke the obvious, but her apologetic air turned into one of welcome.

  "W-w-welcome home Carl."  and so saying, Lavine opened her arms, 
only to hold them out as if fending Carlynee off when the thin 
artisan came to hug Lavine.

  "Geez, you s-s-tink."  Lavine wrinkled her nose at Carl, who threw 
her hands up in the air in surrender and headed off to the bathroom 
muttering to herself all the way.

                                <-->

  After taking her long, hot bath (and extra long shower, just as a 
precautionary measure) Carlynee felt exhausted.  The hot water had 
seemingly sapped the life out of her and she lay in the drained tub 
listlessly.  The ride home had been a cold and tense one, for all of 
them.  They all had demons of their own to wrestle with and if the 
ride back to the Warren was any indication, Bel, B'lin and Ce'lot 
would be wrestling for quite a long time.  Not too mention the 
emotional trauma that Halyn undoubtably was going through.  

  A slight knocking on the door preceeded Lavine blonde head popping 
around the door, "Um, sorry to d-d-disturb you, but ..."  Her head 
dissapeared for a quick moment and Carlynee could hear voices.  She 
was just prodding her tired mind into thinking of asking who it was, 
when Lavine's head popped around again.

  "There's s-s-someone named S'dan here.  I d-d-don't understand, but 
h-h-he says you have a-a-an appointment with the W-w-warrenlady.  
And, he's g-g-going to p-p-prove you are not a f-f-figment of his 
imagination."  Lavine shrugged and gave Carlynee a confused look 
before closing the door behind her.

  Hiding her head in her hands, Carlynee groaned and tried to stifle
her sudden urge to run.  Dragging her hands through her dark mop of 
hair, Carlynee grabbed and placed clothing on haphazardly.  She had 
earlier risen to the challenge and managed to pull out an eclectic 
amount of clothing without causing the leaning mound to fall over.

  In a few moments, she was walking through the door, her sky blue 
pants, orange and green striped shirt and and pale yellow shoes an 
eyesore to most, but not to Carlynee.  She was never so happy to get 
some color on her body after those days without any.  

  S'dan looked up from where he was admiring some of the busts of 
Rhia that Lavine had finished and gave an imperceptible wince as his 
eyes rested upon the conglomeration of clashing colors.

  "It's nice to see you again Carlynee."  

  Carlynee was a bit relieved to hear that S'dan's tone held no 
sarcasm and she took the arm he offered to her.  Since he was wearing 
long sleeves, she had no compunction about holding it; was something 
to like about the cold weather coming along.

  "You too S'dan."  Carlynee managed not to blush as her stomach 
growled, hoping he did not hear it.  The look he directed sideways at 
her told her he had excellent hearing.

  Giving Lavine a small bow, he thanked her for her time and expressed
his admiration of her work.  

  As they started walking down the hallway, S'dan offered to stop at 
the Dining Hall, but Carlynee declined.  If she stopped to eat, she 
would be there a while ... he empty pit of a stomach demanded it.  By 
the time they got to the Warrenlady's office, Carlynee was too 
nervous to eat.  Her stomach forgotten, she clenched her fingers in 
a death grip around S'dan's arm as he ushered her in while announcing 
her presence to the Warrenlady.

                    <tag Jill>

{NRPG:  I'm baaaack.  Sorry about not getting to anyone in this post, 
but I don't have a lot of the posts about the group getting back to 
the Warren, so I was kind of working on memory.  I'm a little out of 
touch, so give me a little time and I'll be back in the swing of 
things.        :)

   Jill:  As per our last e-mail.  It was both the Landress orphans 
and the Warren's if I recall correctly.}

colorful regards,
Cheryl / Carlynee
Xylian Warren


  

  


  



  




"This is going to take cracker jack timing Wang."

  Jack Burton, 'Big Trouble in Little China'


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