[Indigo]

A tall woman with brown hair shading to black and yellow eyes, wearing some kind of military uniform, sat on the edge of the dock and dragged her fingers in the dirt. She looked up and watched a circling bat, then sighed and looked away.

The bat dropped to the ground next to her and blurred for a moment, becoming a Palowockee. He stood behind the woman and watched her fingers. "Are you really that bored, Tachless?" he asked. "I've never seen you draw before."

"Yes, I am that bored," Tachless grumbled. "And don't try to cheer me up, you. That doesn't work. Unless you want me to hit you."

Phaelon sat down on the dock next to her and watched the water. "I'm so hungry," he muttered.

"So eat," Tachless replied.

Phaelon shook his head, then stiffened. There was a fish there, in the water. A living fish, but he was so hungry he would take anything...He shook his head, but the hunger was too powerful. He jumped into the water and sank his fangs into the fish.

"That's disgusting." Phaelon looked up guiltily and spat out the fish. Well, he wasn't hungry anymore, at least. He dragged the fish up onto the dock with him, checking for anything else edible, and threw it back. Some other fish would feast today.

{1-1}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Guardios sat on the gravel, watching the water with a solemn expression on his face. He sighed deeply. Two others sat not too far away, on the dock. One of them jumped into the water, and then soon resurfaced with a fish in his mouth. For some reason, it gave Guardios the chills, even though he didn't know why.

He watched the water, a heavy filling weighing down on his chest. He swallowed and looked down at his paws, which were covered in muck.

He was going to throttle Wolfie.

[Indigo]

Tachless stared blankly out to sea, waiting. She sharpened her sword against the dock with a scraping sound, and it cut a furrow into the wood. Beside her, Phaelon stared at the water lapping at the posts that held up the dock. "What are we waiting for again?" he asked absently.

"The Rabbot girl," Tachless said shortly. "When her ship arrives, we'll be her guards. And things will happen. Don't you remember?"

"Sure." Phaelon watched the water some more. He was still a little hungry, and there was a bird up there...his fangs extended involuntarily, protruding from under his mask, and he shook his head. He wondered if there was anyone else around.

{2-2}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Guardios stood and stretched, grunting as his back popped. Deciding he wouldn't spend the remaining amount of time waiting alone, he padded over to the dock, feeling small pebbles beneath his bare feet.

"Are you also waiting?" he asked the other two when he got closer. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out an old, rusted pocket watch to check the time. Hollydae was late, as usual. He glanced down at the water and flinched as it splashed against the wooden beams holding the dock up. Even though he guessed it wasn't too terribly deep, the water still frightened him.

Where was she?

{2}

[Indigo]

Phaelon jumped and fell into the water. Tachless was already standing, sword drawn, glaring at the unknown person. "What do you want?" she growled, leveling the sword so the tip pointed between the stranger's eyes.

"I'm sure--he's not--here to--attack--us," gasped Phaelon, flailing in the water. Without moving her sword or looking away from the stranger, Tachless threw him the end of a rope from her belt. He ignored it, orienting himself in the water. He paddled in uneven circles, occasionally spitting out water. It was possible for him to drink water, but it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Tachless silently pulled the wet rope back up and took a step forward, the tip of the sword nearly stabbing the stranger.

{3-3}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

He shook his head and smiled calmly. "I mean no harm. I'm just waiting for my annoying sister to get back from a trip. My mother sent me to pick her up." He looked down at the sword. "I would appreciate if you would lower your weapon; I'm not fond of being impaled."

"Guardios!" a voice called, and he turned to see a girl with short green hair walking towards him.
She was wearing beige pants and a black t-shirt, a faded blue bag slung over one shoulder. She strode along the gravel path that led to the dock and waved, grinning. Laughing, she said, "You went to the wrong area!" Turning, she pointed in the other direction and said, "I got off my cruise over there, silly."

"Oh," he said, frowning. "Sorry."

[Indigo]

Tachless slowly lowered the sword and stuck the point in the wood. She leaned on it, watching the strangers suspiciously. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice suggesting that he'd better be someone she liked.

Phaelon scrabbled at the edge of the dock for a few minutes, then shifted to a bat and flew up. His claws dug into Tachless's sleeve, but she ignored him. Truth be told, he embarrassed her. If only the Rabbot girl's letter hadn't been so specific! it could have simply said "Bring a second guard with you," but no. She had heard about Phaelon and had requested that the vampire be one of her guards. Tachless snorted. If only she knew! Phaelon was a bodyguard like her sword was a toy.

The crazy girl had also said something about strawberries and a quest. She was a noble's daughter, for Zu'hai's sake! There was no way there would be any "quests". Strawberries, those were fine. Unless they were poisoned or something.

Whatever. That wasn't the problem at hand.

{4-4}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

"I'm Guardios, and this is Hollydae, or Holly for short. My, er, master, I guess you could call her that, sent me to pick her up."

Holly smiled and waved. "Hi," she said. "What are your names?"

"Er," Guardios swallowed. "Maybe... we could just be on our way?" He laughed nervously, remembering the sword, so close to his skin...

Holly sighed. "Why are you such a party killer, huh, G?"

[Indigo]

"Tachless," Tachless said, and she stepped back to edge of the dock. Phaelon shifted back to Palowockee form. "Hi. I'm Phaelon. Uh...sorry about the sword. Tachless is kind of..."

"Phaelon." Tachless's voice was sharp. "I need you to do a flyout. Maybe you can drain more fish."

"Not living ones!" Phaelon shuddered, but sdhifted anyway and flew out to look for the Rabbot's ship.

{5-5}

(Sorry it's short.)

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Guardios watched him go with a slight interest. "Vampire?" he asked. "We have a half vampire at home."

Holly rolled her eyes. "Please. Half? Brick isn't half. Not anymore at least."

"Of course he's half. He can still eat normal food, can't he?" Guardios frowned and crossed her arms over his chest. The water was still lapping up against the dock, making him shiver. It was like it was calling to him.

Holly sighed. "I suppose you're right," she mumbled. "But he seems like more than half to me."

He stared at her a moment before turning back to Tachless. "Sorry. She's usually very argumentative."

[Indigo]

Tachless shrugged. She didn't go in for talking much. She stared out to sea, waiting for Phaelon to return. Immature little...something. Serve him right if he got eaten by a shark or something. She could still see a faint gray outline in the distance, although it was tiny. As she watched, it swerved around a mast. So much for crashing.

Phaelon looped over a ship, humming under his breath. Oh, yeah, the Rabbot had said in her letter that she was a Beatles fanatic just like Indigo. Well, maybe not quite as bad. He swerved suddenly, narrowly avoiding a mast. He hovered, almost twenty miles out now. In the distance, he could just barely see--was that the red Pepperwood flag? It was! Another ten miles out. He flapped back toward Tachless at high speed, shifting and skidding along the dock.

"Thirty miles out yet," he gasped, trying to catch his breath. Tachless nodded and continued to watch the sea.

{6-6}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

"Who are you waiting for?" Holly asked. She stepped forward until she was standing next to Guardios. Taking her bag off her shoulder, she shoved it in front of him and said, "Hold this for me, like a nice little dog."

He growled at her but took the bag anyway, scowling at the wooden dock. The sound of the waves grew louder and he tried to drown it out with angry thoughts.

Holly stepped forward again, towards Tachless. "That's a really cool looking sword. Who made it?"

[Indigo]

"We're, uh, not supposed to tell you who we're waiting for," Phaelon explained. "Although you'll find out soon enough anyway, with any luck." He looked curiously at Guardios. As a vampire, he had a limited ability to sense emotions through the speed of someone's heartbeat, which most people found mildly creepy. The Shielupe seemed almost nervous about the water.

Tachless was startled. No one ever mentioned the sword; they were too busy not being hit with it. "It was made by one of our...family, Chalice L'mel. He runs a forge somewhere. Very skilled; I believe the L'mel family may be famous for the craft in some places, although he's the first in several years to choose that path. You'll have to meet him sometime." She rarely said so many words together, especially to a near stranger. But she never missed a chance to discuss the sword, it being her most valuable possession.

{7-7}

[Wolfie_Barrow]

Holly nodded, peering down at the sword. "Very well made... I can tell from here how sharp it is..." She shook her head. "I've been trying to make something like this for a long time." She turned to Guardios. "Did you see the sword?"

He raised one eyebrow. "How could I have missed it?" His gaze traveled once again to the water...

"Oi," Holly said, snapping her fingers. "Don't you dare go into a freakin' trance. Do you know how hard it is to get you out of those?"

Grumbling, he tore his eyes away and began fiddling with some lint he found in his pocket.

[Indigo]

Suddenly Phaelon shifted to bat form and looped over Tachless's head. "It's coming! It's coming!" he chirped. Tachless swatted at him and watched as the enormous ship docked in front of them.

A Rabbot with a crossbow over one shoulder and a ribbon hanging from her paw came down the gangplank and scrutinized Tachless and Phaelon. Finally she smiled and held out her left paw. "Hi. I'm Rowan." She saw Tachless's slightly disapproving look and quickly added, "I've got a human form too. I just thought I'd be easier to recognize this way. Hang on." She raced back up onto the ship. Phaelon shifted and dropped into the water by accident.

Rowan came back down, dragging a large redwood trunk with her name engraved on one end. "Where'd Phaelon go?" she asked, pronouncing it phonetically.

"It's pronounced felon!" yelled a voice. Phaelon dragged himself up onto the dock and shook himself dry.

{8-8}