Ishi's Travels

John listened to what Ishi had to say to him after what he said and shook his head after she asked if it made sense to him. "It makes complete sense to me, but still, in all of our recorded history no one has ever stood up to the Queen dragon as you have. The elders are going to think that a very big change is upon the world with you acting, shall we say, a bit rash?" he questioned before going on, "and you will have to get used to the title as Queen, for you are effectively Queen of this hold, all the other holds out there and over all of the dragon riders that are still flying."

John then stood up, letting his hand slip from Ishi's as he moved across from to the other side of the room. It was obvious that there was no convincing her to sleep, not until she was taught something and he knew he couldn't teach her about something useless or else. But what to tell her about? She he tell her about why the little Queen isn't allowed to fly? Or maybe how firestone works when a dragon eats the soft red mineral? John could only sigh and look over at Ishi. "Alright, you will be taught then. If you will follow me Ishi." he said, once more heading over and opening the door to leave her room, only this time he planned to take her somewhere else.

A bit rash? "How can you say that? I find it rash to think that a fellow human being, who is asked to sacrifice the rest of their life to a form of slavery, very rash of the rest of you to simply sit back and accept it. How is that any different than my life at with the Master? You speak of freedom and a better life, John, but I wonder if you are not blinded from reality by your prejudice for one species over your own. Maybe a change wouldn't hurt." Her voice wasn't harsh, more like incredible disbelief that this man who had made such an impression on her could be so blind to the obvious. "And I'll try to get use to titles people seem to want to put on me. But, you remember this," She said, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, "I am Ishi, just Ishi. And when I'm around you, please just let me be who I am." Her mind was finding it difficult to embrace the magnitude of of her title, and right now, she just wanted to concentrate on her new charge.

As John stood, she could feel a frustration radiate from him. From the expression of his face, she could tell much was passing through it. She was surprised she couldn't read his thoughts, since she had been able to send and receive earlier. But, she didn't question it, just waited. Finally he agreed to start her training, and as he said to follow him, a huge grin spread across her face. Quickly she scooted out of her bed and was beside him in record time. "Where are we going?" She asked excitedly.

"You'll see," he said as he was about to leave Ishi's room before he thought better because of the lesson he was going to teach her and walked back in to retrieve the jug of oil that he had first brought to her and then walked back out through the door. He didn't look back to make sure that Ishi was following him for he knew that she would be following him no matter what, and he led the way back to the hatching grounds. He looked at the mass of hatchlings smiling before he began to pick his way through them all, being careful not to step on any of their tails, and made his way over to the little queen as she slept and then waved Ishi over.

He waited until she also made her way through the mass of bodies to stand beside him as he crouched down next to Chumana. "Well you said you wanted to learn something so...." he trailed off as he took the led off the jug and poured a little of the oil onto his hand, "we will be teaching you how to oil your little charge." The oil was scented of flowers with a hint of honey, something he had made special for the next queen, much different from the foul smelling stuff that the other trainees had to use. He was sure Ishi would be thankful for that if he showed her what that was. "Look for an kind of dry patchy skin like you would on yourself. Once you find it, just take some of the oil and rub it on the affected area." he said, and then to demonstrate he lifted the right wing to find a spot on her leg. It was an example of how fasts the dragons grew, the little Queen even more so.

Gently he began to rub the area with the cool oil, the little Queen waking up in a moment of shock but then calming down when she saw Ishi sitting there in front of her, bringing her angular head to nuzzle her in the chest. "You'll need to do this, just about everyday Ishi as she will grow very much during the first month. When you run out come see me, and we will visit Condis, our herbalist, and see about getting some oil made how you want it."

Ishi stayed close to John. But the picking her way through the layer of dragons was tricky. Once they were near the little Queen, she began to watch John oil a dry spot. "That seems simple enough." She said satisfied. "But what time of day is best, and does it have to be just once or would more not be good for her?"

It was such a strange feeling, kneeling down among the dragons. She could feel the breath of those around her brushing across her skin. "Do their human partners ever stay and sleep with their charges?" It may have sounded like a strange question, but Ishi's mind was trying to go through all the scenarios that could occur during her life with Chumana. "I mean, what if she became ill and I didn't want to leave her all night. Is that allowed?"

Then another questions came up, "And what if...say some catastrophe happened and there was no ready meat available for them to eat, do they ever learn to hunt on their own? Oh....I wonder if eventually she won't need me, or want to be alone....I think I would miss her following me." She said sadly at the thought.

John continued to slap on and then rub the oil into Chumana's dry skin for Ishi and was going to let her do the same to any other dry spots that may have hid on her other side, but instead she was asking him more questions. He smiled, nodding his head to himself. He did say he was going to teach her something, and that meant any questions she might have to ask of him. Once he was done with his current task, he rubbed his hands together to oil them as well, since the oil was already on one hand, and then looked up at Ishi and nodded his head. "It don't matter when you oil her, so long as you do. You can easily oil her throughout the day, making it easier on you or you can wait till the end of the day and then oil all of her patchy skin then. I can tell you I've done the later but that was how I was trained. You can do it however you wish." he answered before going on to her next question.

"And that usually depends on the human partner. There is nothing against the humans sleeping with their dragons, although obviously from here you want to make sure that the hatchlings don't squish you with their bodies," he said as a light chuckle escaped his lips before going on, "but to answer your question yes you may sleep with them or as you asked, it is allowed. Although rare, sometimes the hatchlings can catch an illness that will require their partners to stay with them the whole day. I'll tell you what that illness is though only when it happens to your Queen."

Finally he was on her last question, one that would be easy for him to answer since he once grew up thinking the same as her. "They will never run out of meat. See, a large herd of herderbeast live nearby, that is how we get the meat for our dragons, and once they've fully grown they will start to hunt on their own and its usually this herd that they hunt from. The hatchlings are ravenous yes, but we have to watch how much we feed them, after all we can't feed them all the time all day, but once they are fully grown or growing up some they will hunt from this herd and one of those beasts, once eaten, will last them for about a week at the most before they need fed again." he explained to her, answer her last question with a satisfied nod to himself.

He then moved closer to Ishi once he was done answering all of her questions and took one of her hands to pour oil into it. "Now you give it a try. Find a patchy spot of skin on her left side and then rub it in," he instructed while watching her, "and if you need anymore oil then just put your hand under or cup your hands and I'll pour a little more."

Ishi was satisfied with all of John 's answers. It pleased her that she could stay near Chumana when she was ill for she wondered if her gift of healing would help. And if it helped her, perhaps it could help other partners with their charges. As she thought of this, her mind became filled with the old Queen, and her eyes moved slowly towards her. Her head was down as if sleeping, but her eyes were open...watching them.

Tearing her eyes back to John, she was glad to hear the hatchlings would learn to fend for themselves. For some reason, she felt this was important for their survival. In her mind, everyone here seemed to think this life could exist forever, as she did with her old Master. But she had learned that fate could step in and change everything.

So, when John filled her hand with oil, she happily went to work finding a dray patch. Her Chumana had grown, and it not only surprised her but worried her. She did not want the little Queen to grow too fast. She loved her as a hatchling, it seemed to bring Ishi's motherly side out of her and she had never felt that before. Gently, she moved Chumana slightly at the neck and found a dry spot at the base of her throat. Rubbing the oil into the patch, the scent of it was pleasant, not knowing it was not what everyone else used on their dragons. Once finished, she did not stop there, but continued to hold her hand out for more until she was sure she had found every spot on the left side. When she was finished, she leaned back on her heels and looked at John with a smile. "It is a lot of work, but she is growing so quickly. Do you still do this for Ulteth?" Already she was missing the smaller Chumana from earlier that day and felt she would regret going off and leaving her during that time in the future.

Rubbing her hands together as John had done, she also rubbed her hands over her elbows and arms. This wonderful ointment made even human skin feel soft and inviting. Standing, she carefully walked around Chumana and reached for John's hand. Together they carefully stepped through the mass of dragon bodies once more and were soon outside in the night air. As they walked towards their sleeping quarters, Ishi was not in the mood to sleep yet. How could one sleep with so much going on around them that was new and wonderful?

Suddenly her eyes drifted upwards to the dark sky and the stars beautiful accents that always took her breath away. Coming to a stop, she knew she had neglected this simple pleasure far too long. Speaking, without moving her eyes, she said, "John, since I've been here, do you realize I've only seen a portion of your home?" Looking at him, she wondered if he were tired and she was taking advantage of him. "Are you too tired to show me some of the more beautiful spots that exist here? The moon is full and high, and our path will be lit. Is that possible?"

John watched as Ishi found a spot underneath Chumana's neck and rubbed the oil he had poured for her onto the spot, but then she kept asking for more of the oil by holding out her hand, but he had said that if she wanted more than all she had to do was do just that. So pour he did until she was satisfied that she had gotten every spot on Chumana's left side. He had to smile at how caring she was, knowing that this Queen was lucky to have such a caring human partner. He's seen how bad the partners could get and was glad that he found Ishi when he did, or else one of the weaker girls would have been chosen, plus she was someone that, with time, he wouldn't doubt they could be friends.

He followed her as they left taking a different path to the sleeping quarters, one that led them to the open sky that shone brilliantly with all the stars and even the moon peaked out to loan its light to the two of them. He walked in silence as he enjoyed the nights air, something that he rarely enjoyed since he always kept himself indoors during the night, but tonight Ishi had him out there, and for that he was glad. He had a feeling, as he too stared up at the sky when they stopped, that tonight was going to be one of those nights he sometimes craved for but always ignored.

He listened to what Ishi had to say, and he brought his head back down from looking at the sky to smile at her. "Actually there is one such place that I escape to from time to time." he said, and without further ado he took her hand in his, noting how gentle if felt against his, and led her away and in a few short moments they were standing near the edge of the mountain but where they stood was anything but barren. All around them was a lush and vibrant garden, plants of all shapes, sizes and colors but what stood out the most was the vines and flowers that glowed in the darkness, giving off all sorts of colors from neon greens to bright blues. John stood there letting Ishi take it all in as he breathed in the slightly intoxicating scents of the flowers.

Ishi brightened up even further when John said he had a special place. Happily she followed him through the most beautiful country side, he stride seeming to become longer the closer he came to that secret place. Suddenly, they came upon the edge. Ishi had known they were on a type of mountain, what she had not realized was just how high up they were. Her gasp at the sight in front of her almost took her breath away, until John pointed out the flowers. And how could one not notice them, their glowing hues were as if the stars themselves had come to down to the planet.

Slowly, carefully, Ishi let go of John's hand and walked over to the plants. It seemed like an eternity since she had been around plants of any kind. Gingerly she let her finger tips caress the edges of the flowers, and it seemed their scent thickened the air even more with the intimacy. Turning back to John with a huge smile, "I can't believe you are here every day!" Looking past thge flowers to the view off the edge of the cliff, she continued, "What a lovely place to put a cottage, a home.....a place of possibilities." Her voice was soft and filled with wonderment, before she looked back at the flowers once more.

"John," she said his name softly. "John what if the old Queen had taken offense to what I said or if Chumana had not accepted me, I suppose the entire clan of humans would've allowed either to kill me, wouldn't they?" She glanced at him for just a second, before concentrating on the flowers again. "One of them may still kill me, you know. For I intend to be a thorn in the communities side until such things as that will never happen again." She paused and waited to see if John would comment.

"And, if I truly am Queen of the humans, then..." Bit her lower lip and turned around to face him, "I, as your Queen, order you to build just such a cottage in this very spot. A place where Iona can have a home. If you are going to keep her, then you should do it properly, don't you think?" Ishi was already planning to find her own secret spot and do the same. "This way, she will not grow up without someone in the world alone. That she will always know where home is and that in that home there is someone who loves her unconditionally." After her speech, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before casually walking over to the edge of the cliff and sat down with her legs dangling over side.

"So, one day Chumana and I will fly straight off this cliff and soar through the air as one?" She grinned widely with a slight shiver of anticipation. "It must have been glorious the first time you and Ulteth took on the sky." Looking at him once more with a gleam in her eyes. "Please, tell me about it."

John heard what it was that she asked of him and he shook his head, going to stand behind her as she sat on the edge of the cliff. "Many would have undoubtedly let you perish, but not Ulteth and I. Ulteth would have flown at the Queen and distracted her while I would have quickly taken you away from there and then out of my home. Although if I were to do that, then I would be an outcast, but Ulteth would have gladly done so to keep you safe Ishi. He's grown attached to you and he would not even care being exiled so long as you were kept safe." he said with a smile while thinking on what she had ordered him to do, of making a cottage up here so that Iona could have an actual home if he was to keep her.

It was a bit of a strange request, he did have to admit that, but it was also a very good idea for the little girl. He had to say, he was impressed by how much Ishi cared for the little girl and he couldn't help but wonder if Ishi also planned on helping raise the child. He didn't ask her though, as she would have her hands pretty full with Chumana. "If that is your wish Ishi, then I will get started on such a cottage as soon as I can and not a moment later." he said, and then moved out from behind her to sit down next to her on the edge. "And how does it feel? It feels....I don't know if there is a word that can describe how great it feels. You think that at first your going to just keep plummeting towards the ground before your dragon opens up its wings. You just keep falling until your almost to the floor when your dragon pulls up and suddenly your flying across the tops of the trees and soaring higher. The fear quickly turns to excitement and you want to do it again and again." he said, laughing a bit as he recalled how it went for him. "At least, that's how I reacted. Other dragon riders may have felt differently with their first flight."

Ishi was glad John was considering a house for Iona, she just hoped it was a bit further away from the edge of the cliff, would have for her to fall. "I wonder if Ulteth will live here too." She said absentmindedly, before glancing at him as he began to describe his first flight.

His words made her tingle from the top of her head to her toes. How he described it seemed to come alive in her mind, and her eyes grew wide as a smile of admiration crossed her lips. How exciting that first flight might be. She wondered if it would only be the first flight and the rest non-climatic. "I think I would like to put off that first flight until the last minute, savoring the idea feels awfully good." She giggled, then turned to look down the cliff. "I've never felt quite like I feel now looking all the way down to the ground. And I'm surprised it doesn't frighten me, to be honest. But it doesn't."

Glancing back up at the sky, she could see the moon had moved further across the sky. Time seemed to speed up during quiet times and speed by when they are busy. Too bad it wasn't the other way around. "The sun isn't as far away now. Soon it will come up over the edge of the earth. I can't believe we haven't been asleep yet, and yet....I'm still not tired." Glancing at John she asked, "When do the dragons usually wake up?"

John nodded his head. "He could live here I guess if he really wanted to I guess, although he might be a little big for such a place as this and ruin some of the plants here. Plus he might not like the place, preferring his roost in the hatching grounds then such a vivid place as here." he said with a nod of his voice and then stifled a yawn as she mentioned that neither of them had yet to go to sleep. He didn't doubt that it had something to do with her being half a god, but he was a mortal and needed his rest no matter what. "That's good news for you Ishi, but thats pretty bad for me. As soon as I lay my head down I'm gonna sleep the whole day away." he complained as he stretched out and laid down on the grass.

Looking up he watched as the sky began to slowly lighten up as the sun made its passage downwards. "It was worth it though Ishi, it was all worth it," he said as his eyes slowly drifted close and he yawned again, "and the hatchlings will be waking up shortly but the full grown dragons usually like to sleep until the riders come and......" but he never finished his sentence as he was soon out like a light right there next to Ishi.

Ishi was listening to John as her eyes couldn't feast enough on the view above and below. "I'm sorry you didn't get any sleep. But, I'm glad it was worth it though." She smiled into the scenery. Pausing, very aware of John laying down on the ground beside her, she finally asked, "Perhaps we should be getting back then if Chumana is getting up. What do you think?" But there was no answer. "John?" Still silent. Turning to see what was wrong, she smiled warmly. "Poor John."

Taking one last look around her, she stood up and with her abilities, she lifted John from the ground and floated him back to the village, moving away from the few that had awaken and were on the move. She didn't think it would be appropriate for John's peers to see him being carried this way, and by a woman too. Finally they arrived at the sleeping quarters and Ishi quickly and smoothly arrived at his rooms. Quietly she opened the door and made their way to the bedroom where she pulled his bed covers down and laid him gently on the bed. Removing his shoes, she covered him gently just a little hand found its way to her's. "Ith he dedded?" Her little voice barely a whisper of agony.

"No, no Iona, he was up all night with Ishi. John is very tired, so let's let him sleep for a while and you can spend the day with me and the dragons." She whispered, to the girl's delight. Quickly they found her clothes. They slipped out of the bedroom and had Iona dressed, off to the bathroom and out the door in record time. Arriving at the Hatchlings quarters she couldn't see Ulteth anywhere. Chumana, upon seeing Ishi, had hurried up to her and was already nuzzling her. "I'll get your food, but first I need to find...." Suddenly, a big snout was lightly pushing on her back. Turning, it was Ulteth chuckling. "I knew you were coming. And no, you don't have to feed me, I've already eaten. But if you want to put oil on me later, that would be fine with me." He gave her a wink before nuzzling Iona and then the little Queen. "And yes, I will be happy to watch them until you get back."

Soon, Ishi was out the door with a wheel barrow and at the butcher's. She got the order of meat and headed back. As before, Iona and Chumana were playing. Ishi began to wonder if either child knew they were different species, because they didn't seem to notice. Smiling at that, she pushed the wheelbarrel over towards them and Chumana came racing towards her. Ishi had parked the food near some stacked hay and sat down on one as she began to feed her little charge. Chumana was so hungry that Ishi wondered if she had brought enough food. But it was the daily amount to give her at this time. Iona stayed close to Ulteth as he ordered her kindly. When a baby dragon was eating, sometimes they would snap at anything put in front of them, except for their trainers.

Ishi's arms were becoming heavy lifting the large chunks of meat and feeding her. But Chumana kept pace. "Have you grown since last night little one?" Ishi asked, looking the dragon over. Finally Chumana began to slow down until it was evident she was full and really didn't need more, even if her mouth was open. Instead, Ishi threw the last two bites towards Ulteth, who caught them in his mouth easily. Chumana began to squeal, but Ishi shook her head no. "No tantrum, Chumana. You are full and you know you are. How am I to take you anywhere if you are too full to follow? And I do want to take you somewhere today. She could tell Chumana was torn over the lost food and the excitement of going somewhere outside of this building. Ulteth just chuckled, as Iona came running calling, "I come, Ishi? Peese?" Ishi grinned at Iona, "Of course you can, I wouldn't leave you behind. You're with me today, remember? Just let me clean my hands."

Going over to draw water and clean herself, she also retrieved a rag, wet it and proceeded to clean up Chumana. Then returning to Ulteth, she asked him, "One more favor, my friend. I need to feed Iona before we go. I was thinking of taking a picnic, but now that I've seen how Chumana eats, I don't think she'd let us get one mouthful. Can you...?" "Of course I would. And I'll explain to her why you had to go eat." He had answered her next favor before she asked it. Ishi just grinned up at him. "You're a good friend, Ulteth."

Turning, she told Iona and Chumana the plan, and again Chumana protested. "Even humans have to eat little Queen." She softly chided her. "We simply came and took care of you first. We won't be long, will we Iona?" She asked looking at the little girl. "No...we be rite back, Chu...chuminie." Ishi guided Iona out of the building with Chumana crying out and trying to run after them, but Ulteth quickly block the little Queen's way and though Ishi could not hear what he said, his voice was more soothing than she had ever heard it. Ulteth seemed to truly love Chumana, for he took no interest in the other new dragons.

Soon, the girls were at the cafeteria filling their empty stomachs with all the delicious foods before them.

John had barely felt it when Ishi had him lifted up from the ground using her powers or when he had been placed a little roughly onto his bed, so deep in his sleep was he. He had a blissful dream that morning, something that if he was asked to repeat he would do so gladly, but if Ishi was present then he would blush and quickly tell of a different dream he could barely recall instead of the one he had. He slept for awhile longer until finally his eyes fluttered open to see the stone ceiling of his room above him instead of the night's sky. Rubbing his eyes a few times, he sat up in his bed and yawned again as he then stood up and dressed himself in some clean clothes, tossing the old ones from the previous day to the side of his door. He felt much better after a good rest, no matter how long or short it was, and left his home to find where Ishi was as she was the only one who could have brought him back here.

Walking out, his face looked rather sleepy as he moved through the tunnels and then came out into the sun, bringing his hand up to shade his face a bit as he adjusted to the sun's light. He couldn't really tell what time it was, but he figured that it would have to have been close to about midday, meaning that lunch was now being served. Bring up just the mere thought of lunch caused his stomach to grumble a little as he headed to the dining hall to get something to eat, where once he was in he got himself a plate full of meat and bread, and when he looked around for a place to sit he saw Ishi and Iona still there. He smiled and went over to sit by them. "And what are you two lovely ladies doing without me?" he teased as he ruffled Iona's hair a little and then blushed a bit when he looked Ishi in the eye, turning his head to focus on his meal and ate a few pieces of meat.

Ishi and Iona were giggling and whispering back and forth when John approached and sat next to Iona. Iona gave him a big hug, "We takes care ub dwagons dis mornin." She smiled widely, so proud of herself. Ishi nodded her head, "Yes, we did. We fed Chumana and after we are done eating, I'm planning to take Iona and Chumana out to the wood to a large flat field so they can get some sun." As she took her fork for another bite, she said, "I thought you'd be asleep a lot longer than this, John. You were very very tired."

Her fork found some buttered veggies and brought them to her soft lips as Iona pipped in, "Yes......I helps take care of Chu...Chuminie. I a twainer!" Iona's smile was infectious and Ishi giggled. "Thats right, Iona, Chumana seems to like you very very much. So I think you could definitely be called a Junior Trainer. She needs lots of exercise and playing with you gives her that." It made a lot of sense to Ishi, children playing with each other. So what if they were from different species, play was play. Glancing over at John she asked, "No more late nights for you, human." She giggled and continued to eat.

John looked down at his food until Iona gave him a hug, prompting him to focus on the little girl by giving her a light hug back and then smiled up at Ishi, forgetting why he looked away from her in the first place as he focused on Iona. "Be glad that I slept what I did Ishi. I could have easily slept the whole day away, and then where would you be with your lessons?" he taunted a bit before looking back down at Iona. "Yes you are a trainer. Not a dragon rider yet, but that will change when you get older little one." Him saying that prompted another. "I not little, Iz a big girl rememberz?" she asked with a serious look on her face making him laugh and look up at Ishi. "Yes I remember." he said and then kissed her lightly on the forehead as a father would have.

He then continued to eat for a bit, his stomach letting its hunger be known, and by the time he was done he thought he knew what it was like to be a hatchling stuffing itself with meat from its rider. He sat back in his seat and sighed a little as his gaze turned to linger on Ishi for a moment before he blushed again and looked down. "So what were you two planning on doing while I was sleeping? Did you have a all girls day planned for yourselves?" he asked, hoping she didn't ask him why he kept blushing whenever he looked over at her.

Ishi and Iona had finished their brunch long before John had. For someone who had only a few hours sleep, he seemed very aware and awake for a pure human, which surprised her. And as she witnessed the interactions between John and Iona she realized just how close the two of them had become. A twinge of jealousy actually peeped into her heart which she quickly pushed away, realizing it was ridiculous. "My lessons? Well, I think Iona and I will have enough to keep us both busy today. I could have waited until you awoke. But I don't think I'll be staying up all night tonight. Afterall, I am half human." She giggled, knowing a few hours would never be enough for her.

As John ate, they all talked off and on, sometimes there would be a brief lapse in the conversation, but it didn't last long before Iona had them laughing again. At one point, Ishi was laughing so hard she couldn't remember ever finding anything this fun before. In that moment, she could see John looking at her from the side of the eye and turned to look at him just as he turned away with rosy cheeks. For a moment it made her laughter subside with curiosity at what may have caused him to look that way, but Iona was a precocious child and kept them entertained with her comments and insistence that she was ready to go.

When John asked what they had planned, Ishi explained, "I've decided to take Chumana outside for today, to get fresh air and let her know there is more in this world than the confines of the hatchling hall. Would you like to come along? Ulteth has eaten already and he and I have a date later for some serious dry skin searches." She cracked up at her own images.

John looked over at Ishi when he heard what it was that they were planning for the day and he nodded his head at the last part. "Yes he is overdue for a dry skin search and oiling." he said, trying to recall when he had last done so but kept coming up with a blank, "and since I can't recall the last time he's been oiled it's definantly been too long." he said with a laugh and stood taking Iona's hand in his. Just listening to her as they ate told him that she was looking forward to playing with Chumana and couldn't stand sitting there for much longer. "I wantz too go play." she said again and he chuckled. "Alright just calm down. We need to get you a new dress first so you can play in something new." He then looked at Ishi. "We'll be right back. I'll meet you at the hatchling hall were our dragons should still be unless Chumana somehow got out."

The two of them then soon left, Iona barely containing her excitement at the fact that she was getting new clothes and was going to get to play with the little queen. He merely led the way to the storehouse where he then picked for her a new dress, a thing that went down to her knees and was emerald green in color and then took her back to his room to change real fast. She looked cute in her new dress as she twirled around and looked up at him. "Am I prettyz?" she asked, causing him to laugh and nod his head. "That you are Iona, and you continue to get prettier as you get older. Now we have one more stop," he said, and after walking he was back at the kitchen, only this time he was getting food. Pies, snacks, sandwiches and anything else he thought they would need for a picnic and then headed to the hatching grounds to see if Ishi was waiting for them or had gone to do something else real fast.

Ishi watched the two of them leave, John saying Iona needed to change her clothes. Ishi, frowned at his back, had she chosen so poorly for Iona? Perhaps John wanted only the finest clothes on his "little girl". Ishi just shook her head, knowing that coming from Iona and Ishi had, as slaves, could spoil her beyond redemption. But she simply went back to the Hatchling, not because John told her to, which he seemed to do a lot...telling her what to do, but because she wanted time alone with the dragons.

As she arrived back with Chumana, she noticed that she and Ulteth seemed deep in conversation, but without words. Slowly Ishi approached, their words just mumbles inside her head. But as soon as Chumana saw her, she came quickly to her side. Chumana had grown to the point that Ishi knew in another day she would be shorter that her charge. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Dragons grew up way too fast. Ulteth chuckled at that thought. "She will always remain your baby, Ishi. No matter how large she becomes. And you her foster mother. She will simply grow a mind of her own one day." With that, Ulteth turned and flew up to his perch. "I shall expect you this evening for the oiling." He teased her. "I won't forget." She promised him, as she hugged Chumana tenderly.

"How is my girl? Did you miss me?" She rewarded Ishi with a loud squeal that made Ishi laugh. "Its time to go, you ready?" To show how ready she was, Chumana began to move towards the open door. Ishi just stood her ground and watched, wondering if Chumana would go out into the big world on her own. It looked like she was about to go through the door when she came to a dead stop. She had never been this close to the open door, and it seemed that what she saw overwhelmed her. "So many humans!" Was her first thought, and, second what all the buildings and equipment were for. Looking back at Ishi, her eyes looked so sad that Ishi hurried up to her and stroked her neck. "Its alright Chumana. This is where the humans live and all this is what they use to take care of their families and dragons. Come, let's take it few steps at a time."

Ishi moved outside and beckoned Chumana to follow. Slowly Chumana made her way outside. Each step she would stop and look around. Once in a while someone would look at the new Queen and bow to her, then they moved a little further. They were almost to the woods, when Ishi saw John and Iona. Iona was dressed like the Master's daughters. Looking around the place, she did not see other children dressed so fine. She shook her head and then called out to John to let him know where they were.

John walked into the Hatching grounds with Iona, but besides seeing Ulteth up in his little perch and the old Queen sleeping the day away like he wished he could and sighed. He didn't see Ishi or the little queen anywhere in there. He looked up at Ulteth he merely chuckled in his head. "You just missed them." he said and John only shook his head when he heard a voice calling out to him while Iona was calling out, "Wherez Chu, Chuminie?". Looking over at the opened door, John was relieved to see that Ishi was waving at them both with the Chumana who seemed a little scared and looked at everything around her. He breathed a sigh of relief and moved over to the two of them, bu when he got closer he moved slower as to not startle the Queen.

"There you two are. I didn't think you were going to go ahead of us and leave us standing there wondering where you went," he teased as he held up his arm to show the basket that was laden with food and I brought snacks for us all in case we ever got hungry." Iona just ignored him and moved over to hug Chumana. "There you are Chuminie. You want to play?" she asked as she then looked up at John at the mention of snacks. "Even zome for her?" she asked which was replied with a nod. "Even for your friend Chumana Iona." She just smiled and then carefully began to pull Chumana who followed almost obediently. "Ok, come on Chuminie, lets play." John chuckled as he watched this before he took Ishi's hand and followed the two children. "Come on, lets follow them before we lose them in the woods."

Together the two of them walked hand in hand as Iona and Chumana ranged ahead. He was a little worried that they might be too far ahead when they were suddenly out from underneath the trees and walking onto a vast, open field. Some beasts could be seen in the distance, but other than them the four of them were all alone.

Ishi wondered as time went by if Iona would become Chumana's favorite. A twinge of jealousy rose from her heart once more. She almost stopped short, but somehow stayed in step with John. Jealousy was new to her. Did it come with freedom? Once again, she wasn't sure Freedom was so special.

"It was nice of you to remember Chumana for this picnic. I had thought of something like that too, but was afraid she would want to eat everything." She chuckled. As the two young ones moved further ahead, she yelled out to them, just as they made the clearing, "Neither of you go too far away from us. We need to protect you both. We could not live if anything happened to you." Her voice was filled with such emotion, the two young ones looked back at her. Then Iona looked at Chumana and back at John and Ishi. "Chuminie promise, me too." Then they turned to play.

Ishi looked at John, "You don't think Iona can actuallty her thoughts, do you?!" Looking back at the two young ones playing, Ishi expressed a concern, "Chumana has grown so large, she towers Iona. You don't think she might fall on top of Iona or step on her by accident, do you?" She didn't see Chumana look back at her at her thoughts with a frown. Chumana would never hurt her playmate. But soon she turned back to Iona and continued playing. At that moment, Ishi remembered that her thoughts were Chumana's and quickly turned to see if Chumana had heard her. But the two young ones were playing as usual. "I really need to find a way to filter my thoughts, I think."

John couldn't help but chuckle hearing what it was that she said that it was nice of him to remember Chumana. "Don't thank me Ishi, it is my job after all." he said, leaving what he did at the Hold a secret a little longer, but if she demanded to know what it was then he would have no choice but to answer her. She was his Queen after all, although it was only when he was alone with her and he didn't think that counted when Iona or Chumana was there with them. He moved over to one of the trees near the edge of the woods and set the basket down before returning to Ishi's side, watching the two play. He had heard her concerns but shook them off with a simple shake of his head.

"I wouldn't worry too much Ishi, you yourself have some experience on how careful and and delicate dragons can be, and I'm sure Chumana, newborn as she might be, will be very careful with Iona." He took her hand in hers and pulled her close so that she leaned slightly against him. "Do not worry, they will be fine." and he then turned his head to kiss her lightly on the cheek before looking back down to watch the two play. "So what do you want to do Ishi?" he asked, unsure if she wanted to join in with the two somehow or do something else with him.

Ishi accepted John's assessment of the situation. "Then I shall not worry anymore about it." She felt reassured and relaxed a little better. But when John pulled her into him and he kissed her cheek, she pulled away from him slightly, her hand coming to her cheek as she looked at him strangely. Of course, he had been holding her hand often, but this had such an intimacy about it. "Why did you do that?" She asked softly. Her heart was beating faster, and she was flustered by how it made her feel.

Suddenly, there was loud commotion coming from Chumana as she was doing her best to get back to Ishi as fast as she could. Her eyes glared at John. Chumana could only interpret Ishi's feelings and she had interpreted them as danger. Immediately, she was ready to protect her trainer. If Ishi could not read her mind, she was sure no one would've stopped her. Quickly Ishi hurried towards her, "No Chumana, its alright love. John is not hurting me, my sweet baby." She reached Chumana and quickly cuddled up to her, petting her neck and telling her in her mind that John had shown affection to Ishi, and it had surprised her. He was not trying to hurt her. Finally Chumana realized her error and fell into Ishi's arms as Ishi gently rocked her back and forth until she calmed down. "Its alright, Chumana." Iona came running, "Chuminie! What wrong wid my fwend?" She cried, seeing her friend so distressed. "Jon...what you do to Chuminie?!" She demanded, her little face in a pucker. Ishi glanced back at John and began to crack up. "Seems the children definitely are protective of each other." She laughed, looking into his eyes.

John couldn't help but smile as Ishi's reaction was one that he would have expected and he was bound to answer her when a commotion coming from Iona and Chumana and he looked over to see Chumana come running up towards them while Ishi was running down to them. Silently John cursed, glad Ulteth wasn't there, as it appeared that he had completely forgotten about the little fact about the mental connection a dragon shared with its trainer. He watched Ishi go to the Queen and began to calm her down while Iona came over and questioned what was wrong with "Chuminie" and then laugh along with Ishi a bit.

"Yes they seem to care about each others very much. At least we won't have worry about either of them not caring much for the other," he said and then moved towards Iona, "and I didn't do anything to Chumana. See I kisses Ishi and she didn't know what to think of it, and Chumana read that as danger and wanted to protect her trainer. And with how big she's getting, she can hurt me if she thought that Ishi was in trouble, but I promise I would never hurt her." he swore, putting his hands up defensively and Iona came over to hug him. "I no, yu no mean two scare Chuminie." she said and then moved over to Chumana to hug her as well. "He no mean to scare you with the kiss." she said to her friend while John just sighed.

As John comfortd Iona, Ishi turned to her beloved dragon. Mentally she said, "I love you Chumana, and as we grow together, we will learn the difference in our emotions. Like when you are happy, I'll recognize it. When you are sad, lonely, or sick, I'll know those feelings too. And when we are angry, terrified, or fearful of our lives. I'll know, and so will you." She kissed the dragon tenderly and held her arms around her. "What John did was a sign of affection that I had not expected. And one day..." She said, pulling away and smiling at her, "...you will have a boy dragon show you the same affection. And it will surprise you as well...and I'll know that." She giggled.

"Boy dragon? Kiss my cheek?" Chumana was having a problem distinguishing between humans and her kind. "I don't know how he will show affection, but he surely will, for you are the most beautiful dragon ever born. How can they help themselves." Chumana thought about this for a while, then asked, "I don't want a boy to kiss me. I love you. If they kiss me, I shall tear them apart!" She exclaimed with confidence. Ishi could only smile at her, "Well, I can respect that, for now. But if you ever change your mind, we'll face it together." Ishi held Chumana, closing her eyes, feeling such love between them. Chumana wrapped her neck around Ishi. "I do love you, and always will. You will always be my baby."

Ishi could feel the last of Chumana's apprehensions calm down. Then she added, "And I think John, Ultheth and Iona are going to be a very important part of our lives as well." Chumana wasn't sure how to feel about that, but she felt no reason of Ishi to disagree with the idea. But one thing was for sure, she would be watching John very closely.

Breaking free of Chumana, seeing Iona hugging her as well, she said out loud, "Why don't you both go play a bit longer while John and I get the picnic ready?" Iona was so excited, she'd never been on a picnic before. As they left, Ishi could hear Chumana ask what a picnic was. Ishi started to answer her, when Iona popped up, "I no know. But I tink its food." That was all Chumana needed to hear to get excited too.

Turning to John, she softly shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause all of this. I will have to be very careful with my emotions." Although a thousand thoughts went through her mind. Like the question, would Chumana be a part of every intimate moment in her life?

John watched the pair and, although he couldn't hear what it was that the two of them were saying as he knew they were talking mentally as he couldn't see any lips moving, but he knew that it most likely had to do with what him and the kiss he had given Ishi. He wondered what it was that they were thinking about though and he could only chuckle at the imaginary voices in his head before he was pulled out of his daydreaming when he heard Ishi say that the two of them should set up the picnic while Iona and Chumana go off and play for a little more. He looked over and saw the two of them go running off down the hill as she came over to him. He only shook his head at her after what she said next.

"No Ishi, that's not your fault at all," he apologized to her with a curt nod, "it's my fault. I had forgotten about the mental connection of dragon rider and dragon, mostly due to you being new with Chumana. I promise I shall not do something like that again that could surprise you." Or at least, not when Chumana is near, he thought to himself. He really did enjoy kissing her, even if it was only on her cheek, but still he could see himself doing that again despite Chumana possibly charging at him again. "Come on, lets get the picnic set up for our two babies. Their playing is sure to have worked up some appetite in them both." he said with a chuckle and went over to the basket that he had set down on the ground.

Reaching inside, he pulled out a simple large blue cloth that they could spread out on the ground and he went over to Ishi. "Give me a hand here," he said and once she took one side he walked away until the sheet was pulled all the way and then laid down on the ground before he went back for the basket and placed it in the center and then began to pull out item after item of food. From bubbly pies, a sweet desert, to meats, cheeses, and other kinds of food, he pulled out from that large basket and then motioned for Ishi to sit next to him before he cupped his hands together. "Come on back up! It's time to eat!" he shouted and then sat next to Ishi to await the two young ones arrival.