| Tales of old can be the key of the answers to the questions of new. -Dragon�s Words; vol. 2, pg. 12 Part 49 [I can�t see!] Tiovex whined, nudging me with his entire body. [Scoot over!] [You can see perfectly fine!] I snapped back. [What�s she doing? I can�t see!] [You can too see! If you�d just look, you wouldn�t be whining!] He fell silent as Garnet, Zidane�s dagger in hand, ran down to the moat and disappeared behind a building. Zidane ran full tilt down the stairs, tripping and almost falling on his face when he reached the bottom. He stared--at who I could only guess was Garnet--in stark terror, then his face switched to a mixture of relief and surprise. He smiled and nodded once. I dropped off the side of the guard tower and glided over to him. Landing right next to him, I couldn�t help but notice . . . � What are you laughing at?� he demanded. [Your . . . Your . . .] � My what?!� he roared. Obviously, fear and being laughed at didn�t mix well with him. � Your . . . Your . . . Your tail!� I blurted finally. Tiovex, landing beside me, snickered. Garnet giggled. You know how a cat puffs up when it�s scared? Everything--all its fur--just goes poof? Well that�s what his tail was doing. � Laugh it up,� he growled, grabbing his tail and attempting to unsuccessfully flatten the fur. � I am!� I chortled. � I am!� Garnet finally came over and tried her hand at it, but it wouldn�t listen to her either. Leading Zidane to the moat by his tail, she told him to sit down and get his tail wet. � That�ll take care of it.� She can speak again! � Thanks.� He glared at me. � Don�t go to sleep tonight.� � I think I will anyway,� I replied, rolling to my feet. � You see, Tiovex wants to help me with some research on a royal family. I�m going to be up in Swiftwing for a while.� He suddenly looked like a whipped hatchling. There was a distinct quiver in his voice and I noticed the beginnings of tears in his bright green eyes. � You�re . . . leaving?� � I�m coming back,� I continued hastily. � Don�t get upset.� He hesitated for a long moment and I had a feeling that he would--- � Can I go?� ---ask to tag along. I sighed and looked around, wondering if he would be missing anything here. � I suppose.� � Can I go too?� Tiovex looked at me and I looked at him. [Your choice,] we said together. [You�re king,] I argued. [Your research project,] he countered. We stared at each other, then looked at Garnet. � Yes.� Then I noticed what was different about her. � You . . . cut your hair?� � Yeah. Does it look okay?� � Of course it does! I was just surprised at how different it makes you look.� � Do I look better?� � Sweetheart, you look beautiful either way. Don�t worry about it. Worry about Steiner. He�s going to have a hedgehog pie when he sees you.� � Oh! I wanna see that!� Zidane ran away a few steps. � Ru~usty! Hey, come here!� Garnet ran over and bopped him on the head. � Are you trying to get me in trouble?� � No. I---� I walked by, smacking the back of his head with a wing. � You better be planning to show her around.� � I will!� he replied indignantly, batting his hair back into place. I wasn�t there when Garnet told Steiner she was going to Swiftwing for a bit, though Tiovex told me it was worth the noise to see the knight�s face turn such a lovely shade of purple. Now we were on our way to Swiftwing; only an hour more, actually. � Hey Dagger,� Zidane said in his �I�m-planning-some-mischief� voice. Uh oh. � Yeah?� Oh dear. � Ever free-fallen before?� ?! [Zidane!] � . . . No.� � Want to?� ! [Zidane!] She shrugged. � Okay.� He gave my neck a few pats. � Everything�ll be just fine, Kiti. Don�t be such a worrier.� [I�ll be whatever I feel like being and right now, I want to be a mother hen because this is the exact kind of idiocy I�ve been seeing ever since this farce started!] � This isn�t a farce. We�re saving the world!� [Hopefully you don�t expect gratitude.] � Just let go of him and slide off, Dagger.� She did so and he followed. � Are you scared?� She nodded frantically. � Good.� � Are you scared?� � Hell yes! I can�t open my wings at the speed we�re going!� � If you�re scared, what am I supposed to think?� � If you�re not at least a little scared, there�s something wrong with you!� � Then how do you propose we live through this?� He pointed up at Tiovex and I. � What do you think they�re for?� <--Part 48 Part 50--> |