Ordinary Girl {Chapter 2}

Tifa hurried across the large grassy pasture on her way to the village, Tangwyn loping along behind her. She stumbled on a rock, and went plummeting toward the ground. She cried out and threw her arms out to break her fall, but the impact never came. A strong arm gripped her around her waist. Her breath left in a whoosh. She had a good idea whose arm it was. She felt light in the head. "Are you okay?" Tangwyn inquired. She almost blacked out. "Uh. Uh. Um, yes. I think so. Yes." She felt Tangwyn pull her back to her feet. "Thank you," she said, bowing formally. "I am much obliged." She didn't want to risk being rude to a possible royal. She brushed imaginary dust off her frock. "Let us continue toward the village," she said solomly. "If you would be so kind as to follow me."

Tangwyn grinned and followed her along in silence. Tifa was concentrating so much on not tripping over things that she didn't notice at first when he started whistling. Left foot forward, rock to my right, park bench up ahead.....oh goddess above why am I so clumsy when I'm nervous?!?!?!? Then she stopped momentarily. "What are you doing?" she asked Tangwyn. "Whistling." came the reply. "Yes, I know you're whistling!! But what?" she snapped back, momentarily forgetting her polite mask. "It's a song.....to....increase clarity." Tangwyn said haltingly. "I whistle it when I need to think. I am sorry if it disturbs you." "No, no, not at all...It's pretty." said Tifa in a rush. It was pretty. The tune flew up atop a rising crescendo and then smoothly glided down a legato scale to a low note, where it started over. And Tangwyn was a good whistler. He seemed to do it effortlessly, wheres I just sort of scratch out a tune and then huff and puff. Tifa was so engrossed in the song that she didn't notice the fact that she and Tangwyn were already at the town.

"HEY TIFA!!!" a tall girl with short red hair sprinted toward her. "Have you seen? The traders have come! Finally-" she stopped short when she saw the boy next to her. " Heeeeeeeyyyyy. NICE, Tifa, NICE." Tifa turned redder than a beet. "It's not like that, Meona Gryphon!" she protested, but Simeona just laughed it off. "Sure. Whatever you say, Tifa. I trust you," she told her. She grabbed Tifa's arm and pulled her over behind one of the pine trees that dotted the mountainside. Tifa threw one fleeting glance at Tangwyn but allowed herself to be manhandled over by her best friend, Simeona, "But seriously. Where the Goddess did you find this kid? Just lying on the side of a mountain?" She stared at Tifa, awaiting a simple answer to a what she thought was a simple question, an answer that she thought would never come. "Well... It's... complicated. VERY complicated."

"Oh come on! You can tell ME" grinned Simeona, and nudged Tifa "We've been best friends for years!" Tifa just turned redder. "Well..." She stammered "I DID just find him on the side of the mountain. Tripped over him, actually." and then Tifa told Simeona the whole tale, acutely aware that all the while Tangwyn simply stood and stared at her, that beautiful grin on his face. For a few seconds after Tifa finished speaking, Simeona just stared at her. And then at Tangwyn. And then at Fabian, who had popped out of Tangwyn's pocket, and was now sitting on his head. "Wow. Just Wow, Tifa." said Simeona "soooooo....What now?" "That's what I was going to ask you!" said Tifa, panic creeping into her voice "I found a beautiful boy on the side of the mountain, I think he's really cute, and amazing, but he's probably royalty, and he's kinda weird, and he's totally staring at me, isn't he?" Simeona glanced around Tifa and looked at Tangwyn. He looked away from the back of Tifa's head for a minute, met Simeona's gaze, and waved cheerily. "Yep." confirmed Simeona "He's still staring." "Oh my goddess Simeona....What should I doooooo!!" wailed Tifa.

Simeona looked over at Tangwyn, who had begun to whistle again. Then she looked back at Tifa. Tifa sat uncomfortably, waiting for her advice. Silence. Now Tifa was really scared. She had always gone to her best friend for advice, but now, she wasn't sure if Simeona had any left. There was another long pause. Tifa squirmed in anticipation. Simeona drew breath, and Tifa leaned forward. "Yes?" she asked. Simeona looked right at Tangwyn and said, "Take him to the royal palace in Cade. Surely the royal family will have birth records." Tifa turned this over in her mind. On one hand, it would be incredibly stupid to risk a trip down the mountain and across plains and rivers just to see if Tangwyn was royal or not. But on the other hand, it was an adventure waiting to happen. The possibilities of dragons and princes and chases through the infamouly busy streets of Chouko, the second biggest city in Yore entranced her. She had no difficulty picked the latter option. "Cade it is," she said.

DragonFire {Chapter 3}

"Mother!" Fire. Screams. She was running, screaming. "MOTHER!" Branches tore at her clothes. "MOTHER!" Running through flames, forest, than the sea. "MOTHER! MOTHER!" Screaming herself horse. Finding the stone. Holding, alone, on the beach. Lost. Scared. Watching the stone break, seeing the dragon. Nurturing it. Burning her hands to feed it. Flying through the air on it's back. Riding it to the mountains, to the plains, to the city. Lost. Scared. Growing up, always alone. Living in the ghetto, never losing a fight. Tough. Scared. Alone. Finding Akemi, being trained. The only girl Dragonrider in the history of it all. Waking up at four in the morning to practice fighting. Nearly killing herself all for the sake of pride. To prove she was as good as any man. Flying away from it all to the forest. The fight. The fall. The terror. The kiss. The boy. The flowers.

Memories spun through her head. Her eyes flew open, and her stomach rolled with nausea. She saw a splash of red by her bed, and the red came into focus and became flowers. A burning desire to know what they were doing there distracted her momentarily. "Flowers... The flowers..." she croaked. Her voice was nearly gone. But she had to know! " What are those flowers? Please... The flowers..."

The nurse dozing by her bed looked up. "The flowers? Oh! Those are roses. Finest quality, if I do say so myself," She preened, "Sent by that boy who was with you. What was it? Oh yes!”

But Menewa wasn’t listening. Her head spun. Roses. I’ve never gotten roses. She forced herself into consciousness, struggling to stay awake. She realized with disappointment that she had missed the name of the boy-man. The nurse continued.

“He took quite a hit, but he'll pull through. You Dragonriders are always getting hurt trying to keep Yore safe!" She looked over at Menewa. She was out cold.

" Poor dear," she murmured. "Who knows what she's been through?”

Menewa awoke to a fresh breeze on her skin. She opened her eyes and groaned as light filtered through white curtains, blinding her. She stretched her arms above her and grimaced a bit when the pain hit. But I'm alive. And that's all that matters right now. Menewa glanced around but saw no one.

Beside her on the table were flowers, brilliant red roses that had just started to fade. She frowned, as memories tried to crawl to the surface of her cluttered mind. The man! She gasped and tried to sit up, but cringed as her body protested angrily. Ow. I really took some hits. Falling into those trees hurt a lot. But I have to see if that boy is all right! And Kihin too!!

Menewa struggled upward and out of the soft bed. She glanced around the room she had been kept in. Humph. Typical Chouko. Very...Clean.

The room was light and airy, half of it a mere latticework that allowed the outdoors to be easily viewed. Menewa headed for the door, but stopped when she got to a mirror that was mounted on the wall. She stared at herself, as if seeing her reflection for the first time. Menewa was a tall young woman, lean and muscled from years of training. Yet she had a grace about her that nothing could hide. Her long red hair, usually kept in a braid, had been combed and brushed till it gleamed like fire. Her face was rounded and pretty, but her eyes were like steel: gray and cold. Currently, and to her disgust, Menewa was wearing a flowing white nightgown, tied around the waist with a simple braided cord. Pink, of course. Uch. Too feminine. And impractical! But it'll have to do for now. Menewa sighed, and opened the door that led out of her room.

She strode down the hall, causing a few of the flower-laden orderlies to gasp and jump out of her way. At the end of the corridor, one of the male nurses stopped her.

"I'm sorry, miss, but only authorized people are allowed into this corral for the time being. All of our animal patients have been moved to the Southern Wing until further notice." He gestured to one of the youngest nurses tiptoeing towards them. She looked to be about ten summers old, and she carried a wilted cluster of yellow pansies.

"Sumana!" he called, "Come show this patient to the Southern Wing. I believe she has a pet there."

Sumana came and gently took her bandaged hand.

"Come with me, miss. You'll be perfectly safe," she whispered to her. Menewa almost laughed. "As if I need taken care of!" she scoffed. But she drew back when she saw Sumana's eyes begin to water. "I- I'm sorry!" Menewa said, frantically trying to console the little girl with the wilted pansies. "I didn't mean it like that! Really! It's just that-" Bother. She wanted to keep her Dragonrider status hushed, but she didn't want this girl to hate her.

"It's just that I'm a Dragonrider,” she whispered in the girl's ear. She stood up and drew her back from her neck, revealing a scar of three parallel lines crossing a circle. The male nurse gasped and turned scarlet.

"Oh I am SO sorry Miss Dragonrider if you would ever forgive me and just allow me to show you to your most esteemed dragon I would be EVER so GRATEFUL!" the nurse gushed. Menewa nodded to the bumbling nurse and bent down next to the girl again. "Would you like to meet a real live dragon?" she asked. The girl gasped, and her eyes grew wide

"Oh-oh-y-yes please miss Dragonrider!" she stammered.

"Then come along." said Menewa, and strode away after the groveling man in the white coat. She passed through what seemed like endless halls, all whitewashed with flowers hanging down. She passed groups of white-coated nurses, male and female, who glanced up at her with mixed emotions: fear, interest, and indifference. Finally Menewa was lead to a door that opened to the outside.

"Please, step this way Madam Dragonrider," said the man who had led her there, recovering some of his pompous air. Menewa brushed passed him and practically ripped the door off its hinges in her haste to get out.

"KIHIN!!" she yelled.

Menne! came the joyous reply. I'm so glad you're alright!

And you too, old friend! replied Menewa.

I was so worried about you Menne...I thought you might not pull through this time. said Kihin softly as Menewa hugged him. Kihin had been installed in an open-air suite, which was basically a lawn with walls and flowers surrounding it. Menewa barely noticed this, as she was too busy reuniting with her dragon. She only looked around when she felt a slight tugging on her sleeve.

"If you please, ma'am...the young man in room 349 was asking for you." said Sumana haltingly.

"Oh yes," said Menewa "I'm coming. But first, Kihin, this is Sumana. She's been very kind to me." Kihin gave Menewa a searching glance, but then smiled down at the wide-eyed young nurse. Satisfied that Kihin was safe and well, Menewa strode away. She had someone to see.

She managed to find room 349 without any trouble. It was just down the corridor from hers. She paused a moment at the door to collect her jumbled thoughts before knocking. Keep it simple, she thought. Ask questions first, strangle later. She took a deep breath then pushed open the door.

She braced herself in anticipation, waiting for something to attack her, but the attack never came.

The room was empty, the open window letting a soft breeze into the room. Menewa glanced around. "He must be hiding," she said to herself. She walked over to the open window and smelled the air.

Bleck. Flowers and butterflies. She sneezed, and looked down at her hands. She noticed a blue piece of yarn, like the kind the hospital used to make the patients complimentary sweaters, stuck in a crack in the window frame. She followed it with her eyes and saw that it stretched all the way across the courtyard and under the door that lead to the market in Chouko.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she said and clambered over the windowsill out into the courtyard.

She followed the yarn across the yard at a leisurely stroll, so as not to alert the orderlies that she was up to something. She slipped through the heavy door out into the crowded flower market, eyes intently following the green string. She clung to the faint hope that it hadn't been severed in the crazy bazaar of Chouko.

The string wound through stalls, over shoes, and around corners. She followed it intently, clambering over carts and feet to the noise of the market and cries of protest when someone’s toes were trod upon. The string made a sharp left into a deserted alleyway with a few wooden doors on the sides of the buildings surrounding it.

The string trailed down the ally into an open courtyard with more doors. Menewa picked one at random, and opened it to find a quiet nursery containing a nanny gently rocking a baby to sleep. The nanny didn’t startle when Menne opened the door, but only put her finger to her lips and continued rocking. Menewa closed the door gently and went on to the next one. The next door opened upon a steaming kitchen bursting with delicious smells. A cook noticed her and started screaming in an obscene yet colorful sounding language as he threw a pot toward the door. She closed it just in time to hear a loud CLANG bounce off the walls of the courtyard. She went to the next door, a plain wooden one with a simple knob. It had a tidy sign on it proclaiming, "LOCKED." Menewa jiggled the doorknob and the door swung open, revealing a dark room. She could faintly make out a table with some thick books on it, and three chairs surrounding it.

She looked harder into the gloom and saw a floating pair of ice blue eyes, leering at her in the darkness. Menewa nearly jumped out of her skin. "Ah!" she screamed, stumbling back a step. The eyes moved towards her, until she could see the pale face that contained those soulful eyes.

"I'm sorry," said the young man. "Did I scare you?" He smiled.

"N-n-no." stammered Menewa "Not at all. A Dragonrider is never scared!" she added more forcefully.

"I see." said the man tactfully. He sat down slowly in one of the three chairs and Menewa saw him wince. She remembered his scream as she had driven the blade into his side and flinched as he looked at her. "Please.... Sit down." He said, his voice slow and earnest. Menewa did sit down, but slowly, and in the chair furthest away from him. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was alone and unarmed in a room with a man who had tried to kill her.

She looked at him, sizing him up. He was dressed in a plain white tunic over tan pants, standard Chouko-issue. He had his riding boots back on though, although his sword and belt were not at his waist. "Introductions are in order, I believe," said the young man at length. "I am Cadvan. And you are?"

Menewa hesitated, then spoke "I am Menewa, of the Dragonrider clan. I bear the mark of the dragon, and am the only woman to do so. And I do not understand you nor trust you, Cadvan of nowhere." She spat the last words at him, but Cadvan merely smiled his sad smile and looked away from Menewa into the gloom.

"It's been a while since I carried an allegiance. Almost as long ago as the last time I asked for assistance." He met her gaze at last, and Menewa was drawn into his eyes, blue as the sky, as water, as ice, and as bottomless as despair. "Which is what I am doing now, Menewa, Dragonrider." He said softly, a note of agony creeping into his voice "Please. I need your help."

My help? He tries to kill me, and now he's asking for my HELP??? Menewa was aghast, and it clearly showed on her face. She stood up and turned to the door, but Cadvan grabbed her wrist. Every muscle in her body tensed, and she bit her lip. His grip was like a shackle, and he pulled her back over into the seat next to him. She tried to avoid looking at his eyes, but his piecing gaze drew hers to his.

"Please," he said softly. He sounded so sincere, but she could detect a slight cockiness, like he knew he had already won. She groaned and gave in.

"What do you need?" she asked condescendingly. "Your help," he said again. His eyes lit up, and he scooted his chair closer to "The price has asked to go on a quest in his stead. He's getting married soon, as you most likely know, to the Princess of ________. He would most likely have his younger brother in the wedding, and he wants to, but there's one minor problem with this." He paused dramatically. Menewa rolled her eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"His brother wandered off."

Menewa was confused. "But can't they find him?" She thought that if he had just wandered off in Cade, someone would've found him and brought him back.

"No. That's the whole point. He really did wander off. They don't know if he's in Cade, or Chouko; he might up in the mountains for all they know!" Cadvan laughed, throwing back his head. Menewa couldn't help herself, and she gave a small chuckle. Cadvan's face turned serious again. " The royal family has asked us to search Yore top to bottom till we find him. We'd have three months. Are you going to come with me?" he looked at her intensely, and he cowered under his gaze. "I’ll come,” she said hesitantly. “But I have a few questions. What's the brother's name, and his age and height and such? I'll need to know so I can somewhat recognize him.” “His name,” Cadvan said, “is Tangwyn.”