| A young one�s laughter is precious. One must take care to be sure that the child stays happy. -Dragon�s Teachings, pg. 19 Part 7 I arched my neck as Garnet placed her hands over her ears and opened my mouth. To a human, I made no sound. They would have no idea that damage was being done to their hearing until their eardrums had burst. The glass at the front of the cabin shattered and Black Waltz abruptly staggered back, cursing. He fell over the side of the ship and spread his wings, disappearing into the Mist. I shut my mouth and tuned my voice lower as I dashed out onto the deck. I came upon Steiner first, who looked surprised. � Are you all right?� � Yes. But my armor was vibrating.� Evidently, his armor had absorbed the supersonic sounds and spared him. I went to Vivi next. � Are you all right?� � Yes.� He sat up. � But it hurt my ears.� � I�m sorry. I did it to stop Black Waltz.� � Okay.� � Are you sure you�re all right?� � I�m sure.� I went to Zidane. His breathing was shallow and he wore a pained expression on his face. His arms shielded his head and his tail was coiled on the deck like a snake. I would get no answer from him. Somehow, he�d actually heard the noise I had been making and had passed out from the pain it caused. I stood on my rear legs and picked him up, carrying him to the back of the deck where it was least likely that I would be bothered. I sat (rather difficult) and cradled him against me, my back to the wind to keep it from whistling in his ears and irritating him further. When it hurt to sit, I stood and rested his head on my shoulder, my hands clasped under him. I paced the width of the deck, noticing a serious problem on my third trip. I ran up to the cabin and used my tail to pull the lever that would increase the ship�s speed. � We�ve trouble!� I warned. � Black Waltz is behind us!� Despite the situation, Steiner snickered. I pinned my ears and hissed. � Laugh all you like, Human, because you will not be laughing if Black Waltz catches us!� I ran out onto the deck again and began casting all the spells I could with my tail. Vivi followed me and began casting his own spells. We held him off until South Gate closed on him. I looked down at Vivi and smiled. � I admire your courage, Vivi. You did well; fought without hesitation or reservation.� He nodded and stared at the deck. � I still don�t know anything.� � You know enough to help us.� I freed a hand and placed it on his shoulder. � If no one else will, I will help you figure out your past.� � Thank you.� � No need to thank me. You have every right to know about yourself.� We docked at Lindblum and the jolt woke Zidane. � H . . . Huh? What�s . . . What�s going on?� � You passed out on the deck,� I informed him. � We�re at Lindblum now.� He lifted his head and looked around, absently kicking his feet like a three-year-old. � Hm.� His tail twitched thoughtfully. � Never been here. Must be the castle.� � Do you want to walk or would you rather me carry you while we�re seeing the Regent?� He pretended to think it over. � Ah, I guess you can carry me.� He chuckled. � Nah. Changed my mind. I�ll walk.� I set him down and dropped to all fours, following him down the gangplank (if it can be called that, seeing how richly decorated it is). Zidane jogged after the others, but I settled for a walk. He passed by the guards without trouble, but when I got there I was held at spearpoint and jabbed back toward the ship. With a soft growl, I leapt over their heads and ran after Zidane. Several more guards stepped in my way and I backpedaled to keep from running into their spears or them. They surrounded me and forced me to stay where I was. I finally lost my temper and roared. Zidane automatically turned and, after assessing the situation, ran back to help me. He shoved the guards aside and pet my head, speaking nonsense to calm me down (if too many humans knew I could speak, everybody and his uncle would try to study me or kill me, since the dragons on the ground are so murderous). He glared at the guards. � What do you think you�re doing?!� [Ziaden . . .] I warned quietly. He sighed. � Look, she�s okay. She won�t hurt anybody. Go ahead and pet her if you think I�m lying.� As expected, they all declined. � Fine. Just let her through.� � But---� Minister Artania stepped in then. � If the boy says she�s harmless, then she may be allowed to roam loose as long as she�s in the castle.� He looked at Zidane. � However, when you�re outside, I must ask that she be on a leash or something for public security.� Zidane shrugged. � Sure. Come on, Kiti.� I walked placidly at his heels, keeping my head right at waist level so he could have a �controlling hand� on me. Once we were out of the guards� sight, he let his hand drop and played a game of slap tag with my cheek. I always won, of course, because I saw his hand coming for me and had a two-foot space to get out of the way, but he never seemed to tire of the game. We spoke with the Regent (my presence was most disturbing to the guards, though the Regent himself, somehow turned into an oglop, had no problem with me being there) and he invited us to stay for lunch. Zidane shook his head. � Thanks, but I�ve been away from home too long. I think I�ll explore and look for people. Wanna come, Kiti?� I nodded. � Then let�s go!� He started to leave, but stopped suddenly. � Oh, right.� He dug around in his pocket briefly, pulling out what appeared to be a tangle of leather. He untangled it and tried to slip the little steel rings over my horns. I backed away, shaking my head. He sighed. � Oh, come on, Kiti. Grow up.� <--Part 6 Part 8--> |