There are 2 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-C] Analyze This...
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
2. [USS Capricorn] The Green Thing
From: "Tree Deutscher" <treedr@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 20:19:08 -0800 (PST)
From: John Pepper <trissana@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-C] Analyze This...
Trevor
Day 7, Evening
The staff at the dining hall had, understandably, balked when Trevor
had shown up and started to appropriate an entire cauldron of hot beef
stew. However, as soon as he told them what he wanted it for, they not
only relinquished it willingly, but even sent two burly kitchen workers
with him to carry it.
And so it was that, shortly afterward, he sat thoughtfully in the
dragons' outer apartment of the Warrenlady's quarters, watching
Trissana daintily dip her muzzle into the cauldon and eat. *Not so
fast, it's still hot!*
<Cooler than breathing fire,> she responded quietly as she continued
to eat, never extracting her muzzle from the cauldron. Beef stew
wasn't a dragon's normal fare, but she still wasn't quite up to hunting
and anyway this stuff actually wasn't bad!
Trevor smiled and sighed. After Abby's ministrations, she looked
noticably better, though still tired and weak from her sickness. He
was especially relieved that she wasn't coughing anymore. Whatever
Abby had done, it had worked pretty quickly. He knew that he owed both
her and Lenna big-time.
As he watched her, he couldn't help but think about what had happened
at the dining hall. The head cook, who'd been ready to chase him out
of the kitchen with her ladle - forget the fact that he was the
Warrenlady's mate - had immediately changed her tune when he'd said the
three magic words. "It's for Triss." As soon as he'd said that, her
demeanor had changed at once.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she'd apologized. "You should have told me it was
for that poor, sweet little dear! Take all you want!"
Trevor shook his head as he watched his dragon eat. Almost everyone
at Cleft, it seemed knew and liked the perky and affectionate dragon,
and were willing to go out of their way for her. He still remembered
how the local Nomad residents, at Reain's request, had worked day and
night to weave the colorful quilted blanket that covered her now.
Everyone loved Triss...well, not quite everyone, he thought, still
unable to believe that anyone would want to harm her!
He'd find that person, and make him pay - with his life - even if he
had to chase him from one end of these lands to the other! The very
thought that anyone would want to hurt his sweet dragon made his head
reel! If someone wanted to kill Trevor himself, that was one
thing...but getting at him through Triss was something else again!
Those thoughts brought up another disturbing thought, though...that
unless he'd been imagining things last night, this dragon was NOT the
dragon he thought he'd known. His 'little Cupcake' was in reality a
consumate actress, concealing...what?
He tried to brush those thoughts aside...this was not the time to
deal with that problem...not with Triss still recovering from her
illness and a killer on the loose. But when he looked up at her again,
he saw that same sharp, intent gleam in her eyes as she watched him,
still with her muzzle dipped in the stew cauldron. And he knew he
hadn't been imagining things.
<I'm sorry,> she said quietly. <I never meant to deceive you....or
to hurt you.>
*Why...what was it all for?* he asked, spreading his arms why in a
gesture of confusion. *I don't even know you, do I?*
<You know what is in my heart, just as I know what is in yours,> she
replied. <You know how deeply I love you, that I would do anything for
you. You know that you are what I live for.>
*As you are what I live for,* he said dazedly. *But I don't
understand any of this." He turned and began to pace, his arms
gesturing in frustration as he spoke. *You said something about Bohoc
last night...that you didn't want him to know. Is this all about him
somehow?*
She lifted her head, and was surprised when the iron pot remained
stuck on her muzzle. She quickly dropped her head again so the pot was
resting on the stone floor before Trevor turned around again, breathing
a sigh of relief into the pot that he hadn't noticed. She quickly
grasped the sides of the stew cauldron with her paws and popped her
muzzle free.
<Well...yes, at least partly,> she sighed. <You understand how I
feel about him, do you not?>
*I know you like him a lot,* Trevor said. *He likes you, too.*
Her head bobbed up and down in agreement. <Yes, but he also spends a
lot of time with MoonDancer.>
*I'd noticed that too,* he said. *But that's normal. Andahar and
Alania...*
She squeezed her eyes shut. <Yes, I know,> she said, cutting him
off, and he could feel an edge of sadness in her voice. <You were
about to say that this is the way of dragons. That dragons do not form
lasting attachments.>
He nodded in return. *Well...yes. Except in cases where the riders
of the dragons are...* He stopped, thinking about the implications.
*Oh. Yes, I do see.*
She bobbed her head in agreement again. <Because his rider and
MoonDancer's are close, they are drawn towards one another - this would
be so from their desire to help and support their riders, if nothing
more. But he does care for her, too.> Her gaze dropped. <By
contrast, what do I have to offer him?>
*Well...everything!* he insisted. *You're bright, charming,
beautiful, lovable...*
<He might not think me so 'lovable' if I were to speak to him as I am
to you now,> she pointed out. <He would perhaps see me as you are
seeing me now...with suspicion.>
Now it was Trevor's turn to drop his gaze.
<At the very least, once he'd gotten over being annoyed with me, he
would probably see me as being much like MoonDancer...but without the
shared bond of closeness that their riders have.>
Trevor's could feel his face heat up. *Triss...you know why I
can't...*
<I know,> she said tenderly, extending her head over closer to him.
<And I know why you cannot. I do not blame you for it. So, I hope you
will not blame me for doing what I feel I have to do.>
*He'll find out, eventually,* Trevor warned her.
<I know that too,> she sadly. <But can you blame me for wanting to
put that off as long as I am able?>
*Triss, he's not the only male dragon in the warren,* he said. *When
he's off cuddling with MoonDancer, you could...*
He stopped speaking abruptly when he saw the look in her eyes harden
in an instant, going from the soft blue of a summer sky to a hard, icy
glare he'd never witnessed before. Then it was replaced a moment later
by a look of sadness. <They do not approach me when they are looking
for cuddle-partners.> She shivered as she said that. <They know they
would not be welcome, and so they stay away.> She tilted her head
thoughtfully. <Much as other human females know that you are mated to
Syren's rider...they do not approach you because of that.>
*But that's different,* he told her. *Dragons aren't supposed to
limit themselves to just one...er, partner.*
She quirked an eyeridge. <My rider, do you really think you know
more about dragons than I do?>
Trevor wisely decided to keep quiet and let her speak.
<You are right, dragons do not take mates,> she went on. <But Bohoc
is the only male dragon I trust. He saved me - twice - when no one
else could have, or did.>
Trevor could not believe what he was hearing. How could he have
been bonded to Trissana for four years and yet know so little of what
she felt inside?
<Because you never look, as I do with you,> she said. Seeing the
look of hurt in his eyes, she leaned farther forward and nuzzled him.
<I do not blame you...I know it is because you respect my privacy, and
think that I am just being nosy when I act differently toward you.
Syren's rider is right, you know, you still think like one of the
landbound in many ways. I have no need for privacy from you...and you
should have no need of any from me. We belong to one another.>
He nodded dumbly. *But Triss...I never knew you felt like that about
the other dragons here. They're our friends! Not like...* He stopped
before saying the name 'Rashevon,' which he knew was as hateful to her
as 'Khazeen' was to him.
<No?> she asked. <I still remember how I felt when I was being
chased across the skies by them, like a dragon would chase down a
deer...>
*That was a mating flight!* he protested. *I wish it hadn't happened
either, but...well, they're a part of life.*
<Had one of them caught me, and tried to take me against my will, I
would have harmed him,> she said very quietly. <That was how
frightened I was. I would have rather faced wraiths. Had Bohoc and
Vonn not prevented it, something terrible might have happened.>
Trevor came over and sat beside her. *So this has been all because
of Bohoc, then?* he asked. *You think he'll be interested in you as
long as he thinks of you as being in need of his protection...and that
he'll look elsewhere if you present yourself as being an equal?*
<That is one of three reasons why I did all of this,> she said. <But
as far as Bohoc goes...yes, that is it.>
*It can't last,* he told her. *And you know it. Dragons don't form
permanent attachments. He will always be your friend, I think, but he
will always have others. And eventually, you'll have to do the same.*
<I just want him to...to like me,> she said, hanging her head. <And
to want to be around me.> She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her
head. <But if he does not...that still does not mean I will allow
another male near me.>
Trevor began to ask about the other reasons she'd mentioned, but just
then there was the sound of a dragon landing on the ledge. Bohoc's
head appeared in the opening, and when Trevor looked back at his own
dragon, he was surprised at what he saw. The dragon who sat gazing
fondly at Bohoc was not the one he had just been talking to...it was
the sweet, lovable, child-like dragon he'd known since the day they'd
joined. He couldn't hear what she was saying to him, but he'd bet it
was that innocent, little-girl voice he'd gotten so used to over the
years.
With a sigh, he put his hands in his pockets and left.
(Tag Arlene)
NRPG: Stay tuned...as Triss says, this is only 1/3 of the story! :)
Submitted by:
John
Trevor & Trissana
Cleft Warren
Summary: Evening, Day 7:
Trevor talks to Trissana about why she has concealed her true nature
from everyone. She tells him there were three reasons, but he only
hears the first before Bohoc arrives.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
continued
|
