| Garnet screamed. Zidane whirled. � What?! What�s wrong?!� She pointed. � You have a lizard on your shoulder!� He sighed. � Geez, you had me scared for a minute.� � But it looks poisonous!� � Nah. There�s nothing around here that�s poisonous. If that were the case, I would�ve been dead fifty times over by now.� � But Zidane! It�s standing straight! I learned that only poisonous reptiles stand up straight!� � What can I say that will calm you down?� � You can�t say anything! But you can knock it off you!� � Look, Dagger. Nothing poisonous is particularly agressive. As long as I leave it alone, it�ll leave me alone.� [Am I causing trouble?] Vanel asked. � Please, Zidane. Just get rid of it.� [A little,] I answered. [Don�t bother yourself about it, though. Garnet�s a worrier anyway.] � Chill out, Dagger. It�s not gonna hurt me.� � Zidane!� [Okay.] She promptly returned to sleep. � Dagger, it�s not going to come after you. If it�s on me, it�s probably gonna stay on me. I�m only transportation, I�m sure.� � What if it bites you?� He sighed again, only this time in exasperation. � Okay, fine. Which shoulder is it on?� � Your left.� He turned his head and looked at Vanel out of the corner of his eye. � That little thing?� � Yes!� He put his hand up to the sleeping Vanel and poked her. � Hey. Wake up.� In a purely defensive move, she attacked his hand with everything she had, including teeth. � Ow! Leggo!� Garnet grabbed Vanel and started pulling back. � No! Stop! You�ll hurt her!� � Who cares?! It�s a stupid lizard!� � No! She�s a dragon!� Garnet let Vanel go as if she had a contagious disease. � What?! That�s not a dragon!� � She is too a dragon!� He looked at me. � How do I make her let go?� I demonstrated on myself. � Press on the joint in her jaw. It�s soft now and it�ll hurt her a little, but she�ll let go.� He did so and Vanel dropped to the ground. He caught her only a few inches from the rocky floor. [Vanel. Wake up.] The tiny empress lifted her head and yawned. [Oh, hi Zidane. Are we there yet?] She looked to the side and noticed the blood running down his finger. [You�re hurt!] She quickly lapped it up. [What happened?] [You bit me.] [I did?! Oh, I�m so sorry! I must�ve been asleep!] [Hey, it�s okay. It doesn�t hurt that bad.] She stood and stomped on his hand worriedly, which was cute, considering her size. [But you�re bleeding! You�re not going to die, are you?] [It�s a small wound. I�ll live.] � Zidane . . .� � Huh? Oh! Dagger, this is Vanel. It�s a long story. I�ll tell you when we have time.� [Vanel, this is Princess Garnet. But you should call her Dagger, okay?] [Okay!] Vanel turned to Garnet. [Hello, Dagger!] Garnet nodded once. � Hello, Vanel.� � You can speak the dragons� language?� She shook her head. � No. Tiovex used dragonic words sometimes and I picked up the common ones, like greetings and farewells.� � Oh!� Vanel bounced impatiently. [What did she say? What did she say?] [She said hello.] [O~oh! We need to teach her Swiftian!] [No, we need to teach you our language because you�re in our land.] [Okay!] Vanel looked around, locking her gaze on something behind Garnet. [Zidane?] [Yeah?] She pointed a taloned finger. [What�s that?] Zidane followed her point. His eyes widened. [Trouble!] He reached out and grabbed Garnet�s hand. � Come on, Dagger! Run!� She didn�t ask or look. She ran. I brought up the rear, as usual, ready to catch anybody and drag them along should they fall or slow down. Vanel�s talons were soft and couldn�t grip well. The constant bouncing took its toll and she lost her footing. She tumbled down Zidane�s back and rolled under Garnet and past me, coming to a stop hardly twenty feet from the thing. Zidane let go of Garnet and turned back. [Vanel! Run!] She tried, but it was on her. I was on it. I raced back and stood over her, snarling at Armodullahan. It swung some type of razor arm at me. I turned and loosened my jaw, catching the blades and the main stem in my mouth. It tried to pull it back, but I didn�t let go. When it went into full reverse I bit down on the arm, breaking it cleanly away. Fixing my jaw, I snagged Vanel�s body and tossed her in Zidane�s general direction. He caught her and held her while she cried and tried to burrow up under his shirt collar. I ran over and stopped, ready to run again. � Hurry up! On my back!� Zidane put Garnet on in front of him and put one arm around her waist while he held Vanel in his other hand. � Go, Kiti!� <--Part 18 Part 20--> |
| Life is one of the greatest mysteries. No on is content with the here and now. ~Dragon's Teachings, pg. 73 Part 19 |