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1. [DL-J] Meeting on the beach - JP
From: "Rachel Lange" <meghanlore@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 14:56:44 -0600
From: "Rachel Lange" <meghanlore@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-J] Meeting on the beach - JP
Day 2 Noon - The Beach
Eliase had woken that morning with Ansel and gone to the Med center.
After running a few errands for the healers Eliase left Ansel there to
hopefully catch word of how the injured were doing. She made him
promise to let her know how people were as soon as he knew and then she
slipped away. She stopped at her apartment and got her guitar before
heading to the beach to play some.
Once on the beach she settled on a rock cropping and listened to the
waves crash on the sand before beginning to play. She closed her eyes
and got caught up in the sounds of her music and the ocean. Behind her
Ryianne settled comfortably on the sand and listened to her rider. It
only took a few minutes before the little dragon was lulled to sleep by
the sounds. So caught up in the sounds of the ocean and her playing
Eliase did not notice that she had an audience.
The rock cropping looked like the perfect place to hide and the young
girl headed straight for it. She paused when she got close and heard
the music, then spotted the dragon. She mentally kicked herself for
not having noticed the dragon beforehand. Now she was out in the open
and the only place to hide was being guarded by a dragon. She began to
look around for another place to go when Ryianne yawned and stood to
stretch. It was when she flexed her wings that she noticed the girl
glancing frantically around the beach.
{It looks like you have company} Ryianne offered to Eliase {Tho she
looks scared}
Eliase blinked and glanced around. She spotted the girl just as she
was turning and moving away from the rock cropping.
{Humm I wonder who she is. I have not seen her around the warren
before}
Ryianne mentally shrugged {Are you gonna go find out?}
{I dunno, I don't want to scare her. She looks scared enough as it
is.} Eliase thoughtfully watched the girl moving further away from the
rocks. At that same moment the girl glanced back over her shoulder and
Eliase caught her gaze. The young dragon rider smiled and gave the
girl a little wave, hoping that she would know that Eliase meant her no
harm.
The girl froze with the wariness of a wild bird that is aware of the
presence of humans and knows enough not to trust them, however friendly
their gestures seem. She stood as though poised for flight at the
first movement by either Eliase or Ryianne but there was something
unusual about her stance. It took Eliase a few minutes to figure it
out.
The girl was more scared of her, Eliase, than she was of the great
dragon - a sharp contrast to most non-wyr people who feared the great
reptiles more than they did their human riders.
{Go closer to her,} she suggested to Ryianne. "See what she does.}
Ryianne tossed her great wedge-shaped head. {If you want her brought
to you, a single pounce would do it,} she pointed out.
{No!} Eliase was sure that would scare the girl even more. {Gently -
as though she's a hatchling.}
She sensed Ryianne's skepticism, but the dragon moved forward
obediently, slowly. Eliase expected the girl to be terrified by the
approaching dragon, but instead she stood still, watching the slow
approach with wide eyes.
And indeed, even if she had had the words, the nameless drudge would
have been hard pressed to describe how she felt as she saw the dragon
approach. There was awe, certainly, and not a little fear. But there
was a sense of reveling in the unexpected beauty
of the vast creature - the elegance of its slow pacing, the grace
apparent in the curve of its sinuous neck ... the drudge tilted her
head back so she could gaze deeply at that wonderful eye coming so
close to her, rich with an ancient, unfathomable inhuman knowledge. And
something suddenly caught at her throat, some poignancy in the nature
of dragon kind and their bond with her own race. The dragon's beauty
blurred and fragmented through the unexpected tears that filled her
eyes, and as Ryianne, reaching her at last, lowered her head, the
drudge wept - without even knowing why she wept.
Eliase crept up slowly, staying behind Ryianne. As she got closer the
girl was lost from her view. She placed her hand on Ryianne and peered
around the dragon. Seeing that the girl was crying she wondered if
sending the dragon first was the wrong idea. But she noticed that the
girl was not moving away as if scared. It was then that Eliase noticed
that the girl's crying seemed more out of saddened than fear.
Eliase reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a soft white
handkerchief. Slowly she reached out and offered the handkerchief to
the girl, putting on her best and most endearing smile.
The drudge was aware of someone approaching. When the strange woman
reached into her pocket and pulled something out, she flinched back,
expecting a weapon of some sort or - at the very least - cord to bind
her.
Instead the woman seemed to be offering a piece of fabric - white. As
the drudge took it, she could not help but notice the fineness of the
weave, the softness of the material.
What was this? It had no immediate purpose as a garment (and a
surreptious look at the other woman suggested that she was not wearing
any such scraps of fabric attached to her clothes). She was smiling,
though. Clearly the fabric had some symbolic importance that the
drudge didn't understand. She held it in her hand rather helplessly
and then, unable to resist the softness, she lifted it to her face.
Careful not to bring it too close and stain it with her tears, she
nevertheless could not resist taking a deep breath and smelling the
freshness of it. It reminded her of something - a smell long forgotten.
Small blue flowers that grew .... grew by the roads. The flowers
themselves were not especially pretty; the blue was subdued, nearly
grey. But the smell! As one walked along one just had to trail a hand
through the bushes, and then the aroma would stay all day.
How strange to recall the scent ... and not the name.
A movement from the other woman brought her back to the present.
Perhaps by taking the fabric, she had signified that she accepted her
capture, that she would be taken back to the buildings along the beach.
With so large a dragon watching her very closely, the drudge didn't
see that she had any choice.
Eliase reached and gently touched the girls hand, pressing the
handkerchief to her cheek and brushing the tears away with it. "It's a
handkerchief see," she said in a whisper. She saw the girls eyes widen
slightly and she pulled her hand back slowly. She blinked and then
smiled again. "I'm Eliase," she offered.
The word meant nothing, but the gesture was reassuring. Carefully she
dabbed at her eyes, wiping away the traces of tears. She nodded at the
name, but made no attempt to return it - for how could she? But simply
to accept the gift of a name without making any return seemed
inequitable, so she offered a smile and held out her hand.
*Take me,* the gesture said. *I am yours to dispose of as you see
best.*
Eliase did take the girl's hand, but not to take her back to the
warren. Instead she just shook it lightly and smiled all the wider. "So
are you new to the warren? A rider?"
The drudge was bewildered. Yes, she had ridden a dragon back to the
warren - and it had been an unforgettable experience. But this woman
.... Eliase ... spoke as though riding was a certain profession, as the
draymen who brought the great barrels to Pigman's tavern had a special
profession. Hastily, she shook her head, but glanced up again at the
draconis head watching her. Suddenly she pointed. Dragon - Eliase -
dragon.
*Are you the rider of this dragon?*
Eliase's eyebrows crinkled as she tried to determine why the girl
wouldn't talk to her. Then as she saw the gestures it dawned on her
that perhaps it was not because she did not want to, but because she
could not. She nodded as the girl pointed to Ryianne and the to
herself and back again. "Yes she is my dragon, er or I am her human, or
something like that." Eliase laughed a little and then patted Ryianne
on the leg. "This is Ryianne." The dragon moved her head to nuzzle
Eliase slightly and then turned her gaze back to the girl.
Surprisingly enough, the strange girl reached out a hand to touch the
dragon's leg too, as unafraid as though she had known dragons all her
life. And yet Eliase had not heard of anyone like this in the warren -
someone who seemed not to know what a handkerchief was for, and yet who
showed no fear towards dragons.
A mystery. Perhaps someone at the warren would be able to solve it.
Eliase smiled at the girl. If she was not a rider now Eliase knew
that someday she would be. Just then Ryianne lifted her head and looked
back to the warren.
{Khamorray says Ansel is looking for you.}
Eliase nodded to her and then glanced back to the girl. "I have to go
back." She offered her hand out again. "Do you want to come back with
me?"
The drudge hesitated and then nodded, reaching out her hand.
What other choice did she have?
<tag John>
* * * * * *
Summary: Eliase decides to spend so quite time on the beach and she
comes across the drudge. She tries to communicate and comes to realize
the girl can not, or will not talk. She gets called back to the warren
by Khamorray and offers to take the drudge back with her.
Submitted by:
Rachel as Eliase and Ryianne
and
Mel as the Drudge
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