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1. [DL-N] Tribulations
From: "Tree Deutscher" <treedr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 04:34:24 -0700
From: "Tree Deutscher" <treedr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-N] Tribulations
Day 4 Afternoon
The sky over the warren shook with the sound of the dragons heralding
their return and Coo kept up a steady flow of information as Breezy
hurried to meet the returning riders. After re****ts were given and the
wounded taken to the Med-Center, she and K'tarr retreated to the quiet
of the office to discuss what had happened and hopefully some idea as
to what Lawrence was up too. After making arrangements for Ranker's
armor and weapons to be retrieved and locked in the armory, the Sr.
Wingleader hurried off to the Med-Center.
Jale had arrived back by the time Breezy got there and he was busy
tending his patients in his usual gentle manner. Quietly slipping past
the room he was in she snuck in to see Jeneve.
Gazing at the listless form she was amazed at how tiny and fragile the
Warrenlady looked. After several minutes Jeneve opened her eyes and
turned to stare at her.
"Hi!" Breezy said with an encouraging smile stepping forward..
"Hello!" Jeneve whispered back her eyes moving to stare into the
shadows of the dark corner.
At first Breezy had thought Jeneve's withdrawal was due to the loss of
the baby, but her instincts told her that something else was wrong
too, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The willowy blonde
acted almost as if the child never existed. The sudden revelation hit
her hard and the little redhead blinked in surprise. Was it possible
that Jeneve never really wanted the baby, of course considering the
cir***stances that was highly possible. Yet, the Warrenlady had
appeared to be like any other expectant mother, ohing and ahing over
baby stuff. Images of the last 8 months swept through Breezy's mine.
Had it all been and act on Jeneve's part? Was she worried about saving
face? And the biggest question was why hadn't she figured it out?" A
wave of compassion swept through the Wingleader.
Breezy knew that Jeneve needed to talk, to open up about what had
happened, or it would eventually eat her up inside. Getting it out
would help her heal whether she realized it or not. But Breezy wasn't
sure how to break through the barrier that the young woman had
surrounded herself in.
Sounds from beyond the door brought reality cra****ng into the silent
room and the redhead knew that life went on, it always did. Pulling a
chair close to the bed Breezy sat staring at the turned away face. No,
she wouldn't let Jeneve withdraw so completely, she would have to face
this one way or another. Quietly Breezy filled in Jeneve on the events
of what had happened. Considering the Warrenlady's baby was among the
dead Breezy carefully avoided adding any details about the funeral
Finally bru****ng away a stray lock of hair from her cheek Jeneve
turned and gazed at the smaller woman with vacant eyes. "I know you
will handle this Breezy. I trust your instincts."
Breezy's foot tapped unconsciously and she smiled despite the
seriousness of the conversation. "Short of drawing and quartering
Ranker there shouldn't be a problem!" For a moment the Wingleader was
sure she saw the barest hint of a smile but it was so faint it was
hard to tell.
"I think just locking him up will be sufficient for the moment!"
Jeneve answered faintly. "So the Mayor is here along with a Judge?"
Breezy snorted in disgust, "The watch says they will be arriving
shortly. Of course I don't know who will defend him at this point.
He's alienated just about everyone he's come in contact with around
here and with the incident in the village I can't think of any
Barrister who would want to defend him!"
"Then you do it.." Jeneve whispered.
The little Wingleader thought for sure she was hearing things until
Jeneve said it again. "Are you crazy? I'd just as soon knock him on
his ass as look at him right now!" she answered her voice raising an
octave. "Besides, I'm no Barrister and I certainly don't have the
experience for..."
"You'll do fine and I know you'll be fair." Jeneve answered softly,
turning away to signal the end of the conversation.
{Tag: Carina if you wanted to add something?}
[..]
Slipping out of the Warrenlady's room Breezy ran smack into Freya who
quickly informed her about her findings concerning the young women
that had been brought from the village. Learning that they were
resting peacefully and shouldn't be distrubed Breezy decided to wait
until morning before she bombarded them with questions, then suggested
Freya find Vasklar to confirm her suspicions.
Lending an encouraging word to the wounded as she made her way through
the Med-Center the petite woman was having some serious misgivings
about the Warrenlady's state of mind. What was she thinking? Why in
the world would Jeneve ask her to represent Ranker of all things? It
was true she had done a lot of negotiating for different things in the
past, but that, in know way qualified her to step into a court of law
and defend a man that she would gladly strangle if given half the
chance.
Nodding to the guards outside Ranker's room, Breezy hesitated as they
informed her that Jale was inside.
[..] Several minutes later inside Ranker's room
The big man lying in a drug induced sleep occasionally tossed and
turned as the Healer and Wingleader conferred 'not so quietly' about
the patient.
"I don't care Jale! I want him behind bars before he wakes up! I am
fed up with his antics and he should have been locked up in the first
place!" Breezy snapped at the much taller man.
"Breezy, I certainly understand your situation but I don't like the
idea of him being moved until I know for sure if there will be any
lasting affects from the drug that was used!" Jale stated firmly,
standing his ground against the small woman. "He's rather feverish and
whatever they used is causing some delirium."
A faint snort came from the small woman as she glanced over at the
bed. Even though Ranker was in restraints the man was incredibly
strong and she doubted that they would hold him once he was conscious,
unless by some miracle he decided to actually behave himself for once.
Seeing the look of determination on the pale face and knowing how
protective the ghostly Healer was with his patients Breezy decided to
switch tactics and softened her tone. "Jale, the man is a menace. He's
not seriously wounded. Do you want him running loose in your
med-center? Who knows what will happen when he wakes up. I would hate
for someone else to get hurt."
Seeing the look of indecision pass briefly across the brilliant
ice-blue eyes the redhead pressed her advantage, "And don't doubt for
a moment he will raise some hell when he does wake up! The others
don't need that! I'll tell ya what! Have one of your people accompany
us and they can sit with him until he wakes up, that way if there is
any problem you'll know right away."
Jale, gazed down at her thoughtfully his eyes narrowing in
contemplation before moving to the man on the bed. Finally he
relented, "You will call me.."
"Yes Yes I will!" She quipped cutting him off then adding, "First sign
of trouble! No problem!" Heading for the door Ranker suddenly thrashed
his arms wildly making the bed slats creak under his massive bulk. His
verbal ramblings made little sense and Breezy turned to go until she
heard her name mentioned. Whirling around she found Jale gazing at her
quizzically. Staring from one man to the other she sighed, "I'll be
back shortly with some help! It'll take a bit to move him!"
[..]
Because of his size it took several of the men to help carry the
litter holding Ranker's prone form but they managed to get him into a
cell and shackled without incident. One of the guards had commented on
the chains but the Homeguard Captain silenced the man with a stern
look. Selena knew Breezy well enough to know the woman wasn't taking
any chances and she herself would have done the same thing.
[..] A little later
Breezy sat cross-legged on the table while Selena sat in a chair
nearby, talking quietly waiting for their prisoner to wake up while
Jale's aide waited in the main room talking with the guards.
"Can you believe that Jeneve wants me to defend him?" The Sr.
Wingleader stated quietly staring thoughtfully at the man through the
bars.
"You've got to be kidding?" Selena answered arching a brow in
surprise.
[..] A few minutes later
Thankfully the wait wasn't long, and Ranker began to stir. The two
women were tense and ready for anything when the big man awkwardly sat
up. Expecting the worst both were surprised when Ranker didn't react
as they had expected. Quietly he checked out his surroundings, then
thirstily drained the water pitcher that had been placed in the cell
with him and politely asked for more.
Even more amazing was the fact that he allowed the healer to check him
over without causing a problem. Giving him the ok, the aide informed
the man that there might be some residual affects so warned him not to
be moving overly quickly for awhile.
After the healer departed the prisoner finally looked up directly at
Breezy and a hint of a smile came to his face, bringing a deep scowl
from the fiery redhead as she slid of the table. "Ranker, I oughta
kick your butt all over this warren! I can't believe you were that
stupid to go off like that! What were you thinking? I told you not to
leave!"
The smile grew, which only incensed the Wingleader even more. Slowly
he got up and leaned on the bars lazily testing their strength.
"Don't waste your time!" Selena sneered acidly.
"I did what I had to do! And Vasklar had a choice, either come with
me, or die trying to stop me!"
A sarcastic laugh tore from the little redhead, "Ranker, I swear you
are so full of yourself! Knowing Vasklar, he was probably hoping you'd
get yourself killed just to save the trouble of having to do it
himself! You're nothing but a little fish in a big pond, and he would
rip you to shreds before you even knew what hit you! I keep telling
you that the bigger they are, the harder they fall..*which means
you!*"
The chains confining his wrists allowed Ranker enough movement so that
he could drape his hands through and he flexed his fingers at her, his
smiled broadening, "Well I definitely could fall for you! I'm telling
ya Breezy, you sure are cute when you get mad!"
Breezy's eyes sparked in anger, "Why you insolent.." a hand dropped on
her shoulder before the little Wingleader could react to the deadly
thoughts racing around her head at the moment. Taking a deep breath
she collected herself and exhaled slowly, "If you plan on having any
hope of getting out of this then you'd better straighten your act up
right now, and get rid of the attitude!"
Ranker chuckled and the way he was eyeing her made Breezy suddenly
self-conscious. Turning to walk away she added "Hell, if you want to
rot in there, then so be it!"
"Gee, not even a goodbye kiss?" He chuckled in amusement.
"That's it!!!" Breezy snorted under her breath. Spinning she charged
for the cell. Selena grabbed her arm pulling the furious redhead back.
The redhead was so angry it took all of the taller woman's strength to
hold Breezy back. "Can it Shorty! He's just trying to get your goat!"
Selena snorted with an irritated sigh.
Personally if the Homeguard Captain had her druthers she would turn
the Wingleader loose. This Ranker fellow had been nothing more then a
thorn in their sides since his arrival. But the law was the law, and
having the barrister beat up the person she was to defend would
definitely raise some questions. Unfortunately, the Warrenlady picked
well in her choice for his defense, maybe too well. Sometimes Breezy's
devotion to duty could be a pain and she was too damn honest for her
own good. Selena knew that despite red's own personal feelings about
the man and regardless what it might cost her personally, she would do
everything in her power to defend him, that is if Breezy didn't
strangle him first. A small sigh escaped the taller woman as she held
onto the infuriated woman until she settled down.
Even though outwardly she appeared to calm somewhat, Breezy was
seething at Ranker's arrogance. This insatiable need of his to
constantly challenge her irritated the heck out of her. Not even
Vasklar had ever riled her this bad. Her eyes still flashed blue fire
but she managed to gather some semblance of control. "Ranker, grow up
and act your age, or you're going to be swinging from the end of that
rope before you know it!,At the rate you're going there won't be
anything I can to do help!" Without another word the Wingleader walked
out.
As soon as she emerged from the jail Breezy took a deep breath of
fresh air her eyes drawn to the events out on the green. People were
busy ru****ng here and there and the warren residents never ceased to
amaze her. The almost constant craziness that went on around here
never seemed to get them down. It was fascinating at how fast they
recovered from a crisis no matter how big or small and very little
affected the daily running of the warren. Norwall was legendary among
the other warrens as being a home for misfits and the socially
unacceptable. Maybe that's why she felt so comfortable here. Turning
to eye the jail door Breezy clicked her tongue impatiently then
shaking her head in exasperation started off towards a group of
riders.
[..] Early Evening at the jail
The dark-haired beauty walked in carrying the large tray of food and
the guards on duty eyed her with mixed reservations. Delilah was
legendary among the warren males and with her return the stories had
grown, more out of curiosity then anything. Whispers and rumors
circulated freely mainly because she was no longer the same wild
carefree woman from before. Upon her return very little was seen of
her at first, but as the days passed she appeared more and more but
her appearance was subdued and her manner so quiet that half the time
people hardly knew she was around. Plus her uncle had put the word out
that if any man dared upset her that they would be eating gruel for at
least a month or more and with K'tarr backing it up, even the more
foolhardy had kept their distance.
The three young guards were extremely polite when she silently offered
them the plate of sandwiches and fruit that had been added for them.
She hadn't wanted to do this, to come here, she knew she wasn't ready.
But she also hadn't wanted to make a scene either. When she had
arrived to help for the dinner ****ft everyone was already busy with
preparations for the guests that had arrived and the menu for after
tomorrow's funeral. The kitchen was in its usual organized chaotic
state and she could hear her Uncle snapping off orders from the dining
area. Without a second thought Margo had shoved the tray into her
hands and sent her on her way.
The bear of a man they called Ranker terrified Delilah more then she
was willing to admit and she had done her best to stay out of his way
since he'd practically run her down the other day. Through her months
of recovery she'd managed to bury the horrible brutalities that had
been inflicted upon her at Osran. Her return to Norwall had been
uneventful once the original furor had died down and for the most part
people left her alone. She'd ignored the rumormongers but knew her
Uncle was worried about it despite her quiet protests that it didn't
bother her.
He'd tried pressing her to talk about 'it' and when she didn't he'd
had gone out of his way to get her to laugh, cry, yell, scream,
anything to get a reaction, and when he didn't, he'd grown
increasingly frustrated and more protective as the days went by.
Delilah doubted very much her Uncle could understand nor would he be
able to look at her in the same light if he knew the truth. There was
one that might understand, but he was no longer around, Gone with the
snow, just like so many other things in her life.
As much as Delilah loved her Uncle and wished she could give him what
he wanted, she just didn't have it inside of her anymore to give. They
had taken everything from her and allowing herself to feel, only
brought pain. So withdrawing into a silent, dull existence devoid of
emotion had been her way of surviving. It was best that way.
Amazingly the one thing that brought her any joy was tending to
Menacious, oddly enough, being around the black gelding was the only
time she felt truly safe.
She was just starting to feel somewhat comfortable as the s****adic
images and random memories that had haunted her these past months now
began to fit together. Then in one brief moment, one incident had
brought the harsh reality of it all cra****ng back in on her. There was
nowhere safe anymore, nowhere she could run and hide from what had
happened.
"Ma'am. I'll go in with ya! That Ranker fella is plum mean so it's
best you don't tarry to long!" The younger of the guards said wiping
his mouth with his sleeve.
Day 4 Mid Evening
A blast of heat hit Breezy as she stepped through the back door of the
kitchen. Even though it was growing late the kitchen was busy and the
ovens were in full swing. She couldn't help but smile at the ****tly
man, this was his domain and Jer'lin was in his element as he bustled
about.happily snapping off orders to his staff.
"Slave Driver!" the little redhead chuckled drawn towards a pan filled
some sort of casserole and despite its odd color it smelled delicious.
Breezy was about to sneak a little taste when she got her hand
swatted.
"NO Snitching! You're here quick!. Good, I'm glad you could come so
soon!" The cook smiled pouring her a cup of coffee from the large pot
on the stove.
His jovial demeanor grew serious and he began to inform her of this
and that, and than his smile faded completely when he brought up the
pending funeral. "Normally the Warrenlady discusses this with me but
with her indisposed I guess this task falls to you?"
Breezy nodded, a deep sadness filling her eyes, "Yes...yes it does!"
she whispered softly, her thoughts straying to the wounded soldier
lying in the Med-Center. Even though it was obvious that Cyrus was no
longer the boy that they had known, she knew Galen would have a hard
time reconciling that fact, or the loss of his dear friend. It was
such a senseless tragedy and one she knew that would haunt them for
some time to come.
Suddenly he stopped and looked around the kitchen then he walked and
pushed open the swinging doors and looked into the dining room.
"Where's Delilah? She's late!"
Daisy shrugged, "Not sure, saw her talking to Margo!"
hearing her name the baker piped up absently, kneading a large pile of
dough, "I had her take the food tray to the jail. Everyone else was
busy."
"YOU WHAT? How could you send her there?!" The cook exploded, tearing
off his apron he raced for the door. Breezy stepped into his path
before he got there.
"Jer'lin, calm down she'll be fine!"
Uncle's face grew bright red as he blustered at the Wingleader. "You
don't understand! She...."
"Has to heal." Breezy said quietly fini****ng his sentence.
"But...but...." suddenly the cook looked very old and Breezy wrapped
her arm around him with a comforting squeeze. "I'll go check on her
when we're done here. You can't always protect her. She's got to do
things for herself or she'll to move past this."
Bowing his head with a sigh, he nodded. "I know."
{To be continued}
Respectfully submitted by,
Tree Deutscher
AKA
Breezy and Delilah
and for Jer'lin
***Summary***
Day 4
Afternoon Breezy greets the returning wing, then goes to see Jeneve
and has the unconscious Ranker moved to the jail
Early Evening Delilah takes food to the jail and back at the dining
hall Jer'lin explodes when he finds out she's been sent there. Breezy
calms him with the promist to check on her.
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