Enira saw a crowd gathering around the local IntraRealm station, first it was a small group of silver clad warriors with the air of professional High Neven. The motif of silver clothes, as other non-warrior figures filtered out one by one, intrigued Niras curiosity as she leaned out the balcony for a closer look.  Of course the difference of a few feet from leaning makes little difference, but Nira had decided recently not to fight impulses.  There was the small possibility that this impulse would cause her to take a tumble out her twelfth story window, but that hardly mattered.  She did almost fall out of her window, though, when she saw the next person who Ported out of the Station.  This other Realm visitor had long flowing gold hair and a slivery dress to match the Nevens, but most startling was the large pair of tawny wings that arched back from her shoulders.  Nira realized that this was an ambassadorial mission from the Air Realm of Perna.  Her immediate thought though was to wonder how a girl could stand balanced with such wings, and her next thought was to wonder about what the back of that dress had to be like to accommodate more limbs.  Nira smiled and giggled once because there was no one around to see. Rillain had visitors! 

She stuck around for the next hour to see just how many visitors they did have. Winged and non-winged Perna natives of every sort, not all dressed in silver, showed up singly outside the Station.  Many of the first to appear had either found places to sit, detached from the group to formally introduce the group to the Palace Steward, or were standing at attention like good Neven.  Enira found the sprawlers the most fascinating, what they chose to do or which bright figures to socialize with during the interval- quite unaware of surveillance.  Nira extended a light thought tendril towards the group to Feel out mood and gather random thoughts.  She picked up excitement, anticipation, and curiosity mixed with a little scorn before a few faces lifted suddenly and a couple of those locked eyes with Nira.  It was considered rude to probe, but Nira had ignorantly doubted detection, with the alert Neven around she should have realized better.  She blushed ashamed and was once more glad of the empty room.  Nira retreated back into her green room and drew the emerald shades across the window that was now letting in the harsh glaring light of the purple and blue sunset.  She lost all embarrassment immediately and her past anticipation flooded back, slightly boosted by the rippling and straying emotions in the courtyard below.  She spun around once with her arms flung out and wished for an instant to be in a full skirt.  Something about the swirling material against her legs always made her feel feminine and graceful.  Enira realized that thered be close to one hundred more bodies in the Hall during dinner, and without a doubt her father the Tir would arrange for a banquet and an informal ball to entertain the temporary influx of Shadan.  Most of the people who had arrived had been sprawlers, that is to say Shadan.  The officials had made a straight line here to the Palace and the Neven had been assigned to keep chaos at bay among and around the horde of Shadan.  So many free willed and lawless adolescents in an alien Realm was sure to cause havoc if they were not over seen.  Both the excitement of the visiting Shadan, and the inevitable intolerance of native Realm citizens for Other Bloods would cause all sorts of sticky situations.  Luckily only a dozen or two of the Shadan would stick around for longer than today and tomorrow.  The rest would go on a mad day long touring spree and then head home, or go on a two day spree and spend one night in the fosterlings wing.  Rillain could survive that day or two of tension and the remaining minority of Shadan were either politically inclined and assigned to the diplomatic mission or were genuinely interested in the Forest Realm of Rillain.

Starring up at the ceiling was not Eniras idea of a good time, but it did help her think.  As a Shada she was very conscious of her Realm, even though it was not really hers.  There was the remote possibility that it could be in the future, though.  The Sending from Perna was large and very formidable, though Enira did not hold to the intense bias against Other Bloods she was wary of what made them hated; their unknown purposes and potentially hostile natures.  The mass of seemingly impersonal and alien Perna royalty was impressive and intimidating to Enira, and it was mean to be.  When a Sending was sent out to another Realm at least half of it was made of Shadan who were gathered up to sight see.  Only three-quarters of the near hundred she had seen gathered would even stay to for dinner and the ball at the Palace.  A good many of those remaining would avoid most of the festivities because of the native hostility that was directed at them, and probably only a quarter of the original crowd would remain over night.  For the next week Rillain would have a bare handful of Perna natives shifting around the Palace and attending official meetings, far from the afore seen chaos.  Enira was suddenly more possessive of Rillain when intruders came to call but if she got to know them, like the fosterlings, she often enjoyed outsiders to her own Almighty Shadan siblings.  She would give the visitors two days of patience before she passed judgement on them.  Not that one young Shadas opinion meant a thing, but she would give them time.  This was a much better mind set than the majority of her siblings who had condemned these Other Bloods years before they had ever seen one.  Enira snorted in disgust at such hard headedness and dragged herself up off the ground to find a suitable outfit for dinner, and another for the ball afterwards.

After a leisurely hour of trying on a quarter of her clothes, playing dress up, and day dreaming she flung aside her dawdling and chose a moss green velvet skirt and shirt combination, both of which edged with delicate ruffles of dark grey Cloud Silk.  When wearing that and a matching necklace of dark silver with a moss green agate pendant she was both strikingly composed and complimenting the visiting Pernans.  Cloud Silk is an expensive material spun out of the linings of turbulent storm clouds, the thread and cloth retain the color of the cloud it is spun from and some colors are rarer than others.  White Cloud Silk is procured from slow calm rain clouds, and darker grey or black is riskier to shear from the violent storms.  Purple, blue, and green are rare and therefore more expensive especially when in very dark hues.  The only exception to this is that royal blue and black, they are less expensive because the clouds shift to these two colors nightly, though being out and about at night in Perna is risky too for reasons Enira had never managed to find out.  So Eniras bolt of Coal Grey Cloud Silk that she had gotten on her birthday from her foster family was not extremely rare, but precious and expensive none-the-less.  It had taken her a whole month to decide on the material and cut for a dress to best show off her treasure but she had eventually picked a nice moss green velvet base and made her own style of dress to show them off.  To make lots of borders to edge with cloud silk shed ordered the neckline to be low and squared in the front and for it to have no back to speak of.  The shirt tied shut across the back with Cloud Silk cords that then dangled down her skirt.  The skirt itself was a billowy full thing with the waist and hem edged in still more Cloud Silk.  Lately Shadan fashion was calling for odd slits and holes in skirts to show more leg than adults approved of.  Eniras favorite style was to have two medium-high slits a foot apart in the front of the dress.  Sitting cross-legged showed off quite a lot of leg and looked somewhat odd, which is why none of her sister Shada had adopted the fashion, but going up steps, running, and doing basically anything but ridding a horse was infinitely easier.  Enira had ordered both two slits in the front and two in the back; they were positioned like the four cardinal directions only rotated 45 degrees.  Because of the large amount of skirt one could rarely even see her ankles but when she sat down, ran, or danced her skirt flowed out to show the fashionable, if not appropriate, amount of skin.  Every edge of the moss green velvet was edged in the Cloud Silk, but still this did not demand much.  So, Enira sent the dressmakers the whole bolt of cloth, the finished dress, and orders to line it with what was left.  She had underestimated the amount of Cloud Silk on the bolt and so her whole ensemble was lined with the cool slippery dark material and as it turned out there was one square foot of Silk left afterwards. She took that herself and made an amateur attempt at a handkerchief, an expensive amateur one though.  Because Cloud Silk was made of cloud material it absorbed any water or liquids, but it also held any stains forever.  So Enira occasionally found reason to tug her square of Silk out of her pocket and wipe her eyes free of tears, but mainly it was a comfort object to pull out and feel when she got the impulse.  So now, even after donning her evening outfit-suitable for dinner and dancing both, she spent a good half-hour posing and dreaming and dressing up all over again.  The was not vanity for in public she wore only the most casual, this was indulgence and dressing up simply for the act of being pretty, simply for herself.  She never thought herself even comparable to her dazzling siblings; they made sure of that, so why even try?

Enira had that cold bubble of a thought frozen in the front of her mind as she strode slowly towards the Main Hall and dinner.  She was never quite as tall, or strong, or pretty, or perfect enough for anyone, a cold voice in her head murmured.  Shed end up being demoted to a Rel because of her contrary rebellious nature.  Never would an out of place youth like her deserve or rise to the position of Tira.  Such thoughts had invaded her mind and dreams for the past year and she had begun suppressing her dreams and goals so that the dark misty presence could not seize and shatter them one by one.  The one thing that could halt and reverse her growing submission to the dark turned the corner in front of her appearing as if out of nowhere, like he always did.  Fan, her peasant friend, was roaming the halls like he from time to time choose to.  Fan's mother was the Geno of Rillain and therefore he was Enira's cousin and merited a room in the Palace and his mothers estates, along with a room in the Palace along with the title of Shyd.  That was of course supposing that he wanted them. Enira could understand his reluctance to accept the rank his mother bestowed upon him, but she could also see all the ways he could live up to that title and use it for his own off-the-wall purposes.  She would not criticize his choice though, and had much respect for him because he had chosen to accept no rank but that which he really wanted.  Enira watched him wander by dreamily, he took no notice of her and she smiled.  Sometimes she truly enjoyed being an unnoticed observer and his distracted thoughtful look was intriguing, still she didnt think she'd mind all that much if he saw her and said hi or maybe even smiled.  She determinedly didn't look behind her and wandered on a few steps lost in her own thoughts now and smacked right into Sora.  This encounter reminded her of a night not all that long ago and her pulse quickened slightly, even if it was unnecessary fear... she hoped.  Sora blinked at Nira then caught a glimpse of Fan's retreating back and smiled knowingly causing the small Shada standing in front of her to turn pink and glance away.

"Ah, dear he's turned many heads don't be shy now." Enira seemed to sense some superiority in Soras tone and wanted to bristle and make a hot retort but found nothing worth saying except to deny that she had even noticed the absent minded peasant.

"I have no clue what youre talking about." Enira said and though neither her face nor her tone betrayed her she was certain that Sora didn't believe a word of it, besides, her eyes must shine with the guilt of the lie.  With a sly wink Sora strode off smirking in the direction Fan had taken.  The sight of Sora walking off with knowledge of a truth in the direction that the object of that truth had taken made Enira want to dash after her and pull her to the Dining Hall by her hair but she dusted off what must surely be silly fears and started off again the way she'd been headed; to dinner.

Upon entering the Dinning Hall the meal seemed ordinary at first glance, like there was a party and some Liran were invited, but Enira had gotten there early before many of the visiting guests had decided they could stand the hostility of the first night in a foreign Palace and arrived for dinner.  The Shadan and live-in Liran had donned their best green finery and shades of everything from the darkest forest to spring pastels washed the Hall in a sea of green.  Here and there the visiting guests dressed in pale whites stuck out of the crowd like snowflakes or perhaps winter owls.  Enira wound her way through the chattering crowd and neither clung to the green hordes nor avoided the white oasiss as she made her way to her normal table, one paralleling the edge of the room and situated near a window with a good view and no draft.  The lengthy table was more than enough to hold her and all her friends and Enira found a few of them there already, but she also found that a few Pernans had chosen an end to perch on warily.  Aesha was already at the table and sitting near the middle with her head in her arms apparently taking a quick nap.  Sora and Ral were sitting opposite Aesha but closer to the visitors, curious of them but fearing theyd retreat if approached.  Fan had chosen to take no spot at the table and sat on the floor against the wall near Sora and Ral.  Enira looked at the four of her friends and sat down right next to Aesha between her and the guests.  Upon poking Aesha in the side Enira got a growl and a shift out of her friend but no more.

"Nice dress Shada." Said an unfamiliar female voice behind Enira and she jumped surprised.  She was even more surprised to find a calm composed blonde from Perna standing behind her.  Sure that no Pernan would approach Rillain Royalty deliberately, at least not tonight; she looked quickly for another speaker and found none. "Hmm I thought perhaps that a Shada choosing to sit at the table with us would decide we are good enough to talk to, but perhaps not." The blonde added and returned to her spot at the far end of the bench Enira sat on.  Summoning up courage to cover for her slight, Enira took a breath and slid down the bench to sit a polite distance from the outgoing visitor.  She received no eye contact from any of her friends but knew they were waiting for her to officially break the ice by washing away the Other Blood hostility at this table.  Elsewhere in the room the conflicts would arise but if two open-minded people at this table got things going then here, at least, would be communication and not hostility.  This would be especially true if it was one of the natives or one of the visitors who could get along with the other, make a friend of the supposed enemy.

"I...I'm Enira, I'm not used to visitors being outgoing rather than shy.  And thanks, I like my dress a lot." Enira started slowly.  Just as she had felt the attention of her friends she also felt the attention of the other three females sitting directly across from herself and the blonde.  They also waited for someone else, before they themselves reached out, toachieve good feelings.

"I'm Shada Ferani here on the official diplomatic mission from Perna."  Said the blonde, by stating her title with her name she simultaneously opened up and kept her distance, and by mentioning the mission she opened up conversation very nicely.  Enira smiled relieved.

"You're very involved in the government of Perna?" She inquired.

"Oh not so much, they like my advice on some things, but I am mostly here because the decisions made will affect me personally.  The main issue is negotiating more food imports from other Realms, Rillain is our current top choice in that Geldam is not as much interested in our exports, and that Sperin has been pretty hostile towards our visitors lately." Enira caught Ferani's discrete glance at Sora and Ral and thought it ironic that the two people most usually greeting the newcomers were somewhat at a loss this time.  Sora automatically caught a few interesting visitors with her sly smile and secretive style, and Ral was pretty unassuming and laid back.  Now Sora's style was more likely to put these visitors on guard and no one was going to approach Ral no matter how harmless he looked.

"How does food have to do with you in particular?" Enira asked as she thought over Sora's reaction to being partly excluded right from the start.

"How can a bird with those manage to elude hunters at all?" Enira asked when the feather was out of sight.

"Well partly that the feathers patterns dazzle the human eye by some primitive magic, but mostly they fly way up high in the sky and when a predator is spotted they fly so that their bodies swirl around the creatures view of the sun and the predator is temporarily weakened in sight, the sun protects them and they mirror the colors of its rays."

Enira was kept from needing to make any response to this when Moret the brown haired peasant girl bounced out from the crowd and grinned at the new visitors.  Half the time the small town girl was shy, the other half she was bouncing, apparently tonight was all going her way.

"Hello Air Realm visitors!  Im Moret from the village nearby, met some of my friends already?  Great, any of you thinking of fostering here with us?" Morets mood was contagious but very unexpected by everyone around the table and she didn't get a response from any of the visitors except for a few amused smiles.  Sensing that this was all she'd get for the moment she plopped down next to Sora, between the Lira and the guests.  The guests didn't seem sure, yet, whether a hyper Rillain peasant was worse than a quiet Sperin, unknown or not, but they werent given time to decide.

"Sora why so quiet?  Havent you found someone to reel into a scheme with you yet?  Ah there's still time." Moret added at Sora and then stretched out her hand to the nearest Perna visitor. "Hello, nice to meet you I'm Moret Mervy of Risha, and you are?" The pure blonde next to her automatically took her hand but hesitated before replying in kind.

          "I'm Ruora Shada Saspen of Serlan" The bright blonde, Ruora, replied. Enira looked between Ruora and Ferani, the only two blondes of the Perna lot at this table, and mentally noted that the one with shoulder length mixed color hair and sea turquoise eyes was the composed Ferani and the one with waist length golden blonde hair, stony yet warm eyes, and arching wings was Ruora.  In fact, from the tawny wings brushing the wall behind Ruora and her long blonde hair Enira would bet that she was none other than the first winged Pernan she'd seen exit the Station.  Aesha snagged Eniras arm and pulled her aways down the bench from the Pernan visitors while Enira said a hasty goodbye to Ferani who was hiding an amused smile in her intelligent sea like eyes.

"What are you doing?" Enira hissed quietly to her Neven friend. "Weve got them talking, now isn't a time to retreat."

"You told me you wanted to be told when anything else in the room looked to be getting bad, I figured you wouldnt like me telling the whole table that your father, Tir of Rillain, and the visiting Tir of Perna are this close to drawing swords on each other." Aesha whispered harshly with her fingers a centimeter apart. Enira's eyes flew wide at the thought of the royal mess that would make.

"I didn't know the Tir was here!" She exclaimed a little too loudly and the rest of her table spun to look at the elevated high table on its dais.  The surprised looks on the Pernan guests faces at the end of the table confused Enira more than the appearance of a foreign ruler surprised her.  Ferani wore a black look as she stood up and stalked to the High table with Enira hastened to pull away from Aesha and follow her.  The Perna Shada was carving a path through the crowd for herself very nicely and Enira slipped through it before it closed leaving her friends still pushing and struggling through the masses when Ferani reached her fathers spot at the table, just a step ahead of Enira.  The Rillain Shada hung back ready for something but she knew not what.

"Father...you said you'd trust this mission to the emissaries and us Shadan, you didn't need to come and bring in the Royal Neven and make this a tense affair." Ferani stood steady as her father, Tir of Perna, turned frosty blue eyes at one of his younger daughters.

"Child Shada you do not question my actions."

"No?  But I must suffer through their consequences?"

"There is more to this than you all can handle"

"There wasn't before, this was simple before you arrived and stirred up old resentments and grudges." Enira stared at the once composed Shada quietly berating her royal father and quivered at the thought of doing that with either of her own parents.

"You say I am unwelcome here?" The Tir stated quietly, gravely, while the native Tir smartly kept his peace.

"I say that you need to trust us to do our job and not take it all on yourself father.  You do too much." Ferani stated respectfully in response.

"So you say I cannot do this with out help?" The spine in his voice was stiff as a metal rod but Ferani remained undaunted in her determination.

"Father-" Whatever argument the Shada was going to lay out next was silenced when the upset Tir stifled a moan and clutched his heart before sliding to the floor from his chair.  Ferani immediately ran to his side and felt for a pulse, which she found with a sigh of relief.

"Someone help me get him home!"  Ferani waited through a short pause before her temper snapped. "Now!" All dozen of the Royal Neven mobbed their Tir shoving Ferani out of the way as they hustled him off to the nearest teleport pad to get him back to Perna and Enira was the only one to hear the muttered oath of "stubborn ass" under Ferani's breath.  Enira was not surprised at the Shada's vehemence at this point, but it was to be the only time she ever heard this royal lady swear and she would come to doubt shed really heard it at all.

Resettled at the table, but not really settled mentally, all of the gathered Shadan, native or foreigners, and all of the Shadan who had entered during the scene made an attempt to chat.  This try fell short because the Perna Shadan had just seen their sister confront their father and have him then fail due to a heart attack.  Doubtless a good many Pernans had already left for home either in concern for their Tir or concerned at this public show of Pernan weakness, but all the Shadan at this table stubbornly stuck around and picked at their food.  Sora nor Ral tried to push their luck, Aesha was still quietly observing and eating, and Fan hadnt moved the entire time.  Moret was still energetic despite the fall in general good cheer and she slipped over to sit beside Fan and discuss something that had them both gesturing at the Pernan end of the table a few times before Moret returned to the table and sat down to eat.  Enira looked around disheartened at all the people around her, she knew the uncomfortable mood was more in the air, leaking from others, than in herself but she just couldnt pry herself out of its grasp.  Ferani hadnt returned home with her father and his escort and she was sitting very still at her end of the table, as were the other three girls and a small bunch of other Pernan visitors who had seen a safe table and settled here at it, on the other side of the Pernan girls of course.  Though Enira had no appetite she ate a little of each of the dishes brought in and actually enjoyed the cranberry sauce and rolls near the end.  Through out the dinner more people drifted in to fill the Hall almost to the limit and a total of a dozen more Shadan settled at Eniras table for the meal.  Enira frowned as her foster brother Tero sat down between her and Aesha and managed a small smile as Teyl settled across the table from her and stuck out his tongue at her.  Of course these two males knew the gloomy situation before they even got in the room; both were renowned, if unknown as, spies.  Teyl glanced meaningfully at the Perna side of the table and then back at Enira asking how things were going at this table in particular and she just shrugged and grimaced, any connection they had had earlier was best not pressed now.  Soon after the two male spies had gotten their dinners Eliya came and squeezed in between Tero and Enira making Enira smile and edge shyly towards Ferani, who had also moved reluctantly Enira's way as Pernan visitors arrived and refused to sit near the Other Bloods at the other end of the table.

"Hey Nira the food any good tonight?"  Asked Eliya once more sparking Enira's capability to speak and put two words together.

"Good bread I guess, I just dont feel so well."

"Heh no wonder." Eliya cast a frown around the room behind her and looked back at Nira sympathetically.  Eli knew that Enira was a strong Empath and Eli was a minor one herself.  The spunky brunette beside Enira would sense the uncomfortable currents but easily separate herself from them and wouldn't be able to tell their source.  The question in Eli's blue eyes was clear as lake water but Enira didnt feel like elaborating here and now and shook her head discretely.  Eli sighed quietly, disappointed, but nodded in reply and took the plate handed to her by a passing Rel.  Setting it down before her she turned to Enira again, Eli wasnt going to let all conversation drop just because the room was bumming, especially when she didnt know why.

"Is that all of why you feel unwell?  You've had reasons to be sick lately." Reminded of the work of past weeks Eniras face grew grimmer.

"Eli, I'd rather just eat now."

"Oh...sure." Eli replied and then turned to Tero to inquire about how the stables have been running lately.

"Hey! Thief!" a Pernan female exclaimed from that end of the table and Enira spun to see that it was Ruora just before she snatched up her butter knife and dove it into the wrist of the poor Rel boy who had been trying to clear her used dishes.  He snatched his hand back from the knife and fled with green blood pooling under the hand he had clamped over his wound.  Ruora turned to glare at the rest of the table, all of who were staring at her surprised, them and half the room too.

"Ruora!" Shrilled the brunette next to her. "We're guests and he's a poor Rel, what are you thinking off??" Said the brunette before Ferani pushed away her surprise enough to react.

"Sister, as if the night wasnt bad enough already, just sit down and eat quickly, we'll see how much good will we can salvage in the morning." Said Ferani solemnly.  All the while the tall thin black haired girl sitting on the other side of the brunette from Ruora was laughing and holding her stomach in pain, quite amused by Ruora's enraged attack of the poor Rel boy.

"Shaxa dont encourage her!  She needs no encouragement but her own to do herself in, in no time." The brunette shot at the black haired Shaxa.

"Oh Auril she'll survive fine, think of how well she'll protect her life when she guards her plate so well!" Shaxa replied, still laughing.  Ruora slid down the table, away from the punishing remarks and laughter, towards Teyl who looked at her very suspiciously and took her knife away the first time she stopped grasping it.

"Hey thats mine!  And this is sharper besides" She said picking up her fork immediately.

"Then you'll just eat with your fingers Shada." Stated Teyl taking away all her utensils.

"But...you can't..." Ruora said outraged and glared directly at him, upon seeing something stern and unwavering in his eyes she blinked and conceded very reluctantly. Fine I'll starve tonight.

"One less airhead in Merendi then" Teyl muttered under his breath.

"What did you just call me?" Ruora asked slowly, piercing Teyl with her violent grey eyes while her cream and copper falcon wings swayed agitatedly behind her.

suite for herself if not for its biggest flaw; the huge gaping hole in the floor.  That hole was her entrance to this upper world, but shed hate to trip and break her ankle up here where she would never be seen till her ankle healed crooked and she limped back down the steep crooked passages to her room.  More likely shed starve first, even with her stash of goodies.  Dashing away these morbid thoughts she left the red room and went down the hall, which was marked with various of her foot prints from the past month or two, to her room on the end.  The door was of ebony wood and the handle of worn tarnished silver which made the room look dire and ancient before you entered, but that was just an illusion the last Shadan had wanted, the inside was much different.  With walls of jade green drapes overlaying stone walls of white with silver veins and floors of hard wood covered with green and silver rugs the room was very much representative of Rillain, and yet all the styles and patterns and cuts seemed so exotic and foreign.  Silver and Green lace hung about the window with triangles and slashes cut and sewn into them to make interesting shapes on the carpet, some times of the day the shapes of light would match the shapes woven in the carpet and Enira pondered on whether this was on purpose.  She had gone to some pains to get bedding and pillows that would match the room when she redecorated some of it.  Though the previous Shada (Enira believed females more likely to posses such unearthly style) had left the drapes, wall coverings, and ornate rugs she had stripped the bed, emptied the dresser and closets, and taken everything indicating the identity of the Shada but her style.  Because the room was so intense and yet so impersonal Enira felt as though a Goddess had lived here last, but that was impossible in that Rillain had a God and no Goddess, none of the Gods could enter another ones Realm and so either the previous inhabitant was female or was a God, not both.  Enira curled up in the corner of the room in a pile of blankets that she found more comfortable than the bed, the occurrences of dinner had rushed back to her and knocked her off her feet.  She was disturbed by the chaos that the visitors had already caused and by the fact that she didnt think shed gotten on a good side with them, certainly their Tir collapsing and Teyl aggravating a Shada hadnt helped.  Then there was the ordeal with Sora, she wanted to push aside all the healers and heal all her friends herself but she didnt have the knowledge, merely the care.  She knew she should be there to show that care and that it would help but she was having difficulty shielding lately and she would not only share all of Soras pain but also all of the worry of her hovering friends.  It would be a disaster if she went to Soras room to try and help at all, so she paced the jade room agitated and disturbed before retreating down the hole in the red room and unlocking the safe to travel back to her room.  She didnt go to Sora and her friends that night, she lay unsleeping in her bed till dawn, and shortly after dawn they came for her.

There was a soft knocking at the door that pulled Enira out of the last of her sleepiness, because she had gotten to sleep very early last night the last half hour of staring at her ceiling had left her mostly awake and sorta bored.  The knocking came again and Enira snatched her mind back from the wandering it had started again.  Getting up and pulling her robe from the foot of her bed she walked patently to the door and opened it to let Teyl in.

"Nira there's something you should know about Sora." Teyl started after he'd sat down in one of her stuffed chairs by the fire.  Confused and suddenly remembering last nights chaos she quickly sank down into the chair across from him and wordlessly offered up her full attention. "She has Rogue Blood, very far along and quickly getting worse.  It was all we could do to keep Ral from tearing you out of bed around midnight last night."

"Why me?  I know what Rogue Blood is...sorta.  A condition where the person's body rejects its blood during adolescence and they get all chilly and fevery with colorless eyes and pale skin.  You say she has an advanced case of it...meaning?"

"Meaning that over night the rejection was over a quarter completed and she's low on blood and health, meaning that she needs an infusion of compatible blood today, meaning that only royal Rillain blood can help her." Teyl said looking at Nira calmly. Truthfully the death of this spy would grieve him less than many of his friends, but still he would urge Enira to help her...not as much as Ral who was ready to tie her down and drain her dry, he wasnt quite in his right mind anymore.

"We're living in a Palace full of Royal Rillain blood..." Said Enira not comfortable that she was the only hope, no one's life should rest on her, on her blood, she'd fail them.

"None of whom would give a drop of blood to her cause and you know that."

I"'m not the only Rillainian in the group..."

"The only royal Enira..."

"But Fan..." Enira added and got a sharp look from Teyl.

"I suggest you talk to him soon as to why he is unable to donate."

"So it's just me?" Enira said in despair.

"No one's forcing you Enira." Teyl said standing up slowly and offering her a hand up.  When she took his hand up she pulled her into a hug. "Take some time to think first, go run off somewhere, but dont think all dear girl." He said and left her alone in her room.

Enira pulled a worn grey sweater out of her dirty clothes pile under her bed and then tugged on yesterdays jeans quickly.  Teyl was right she needed to think, and before any of her friends got to her to plead with her, but she had to think quickly and she wasted no time leaving the building.  Heading around the side of the building she jogged to the Main Stable where her old foster family ran things for the Tiran.  Seeing only Rel stable hands around the place she climbed the narrow back stair case to the huge attic above the Main Stable and wound her way among the stored bales of hay to where a part was sectioned off for the Horse Masters quarters.  Knocking politely on the door once, then twice she got an answer from inside and a few moments later a bedraggled Tero drew the door open and scowled at Enira who actually flinched back at the hostility.

"It's dawn sister...cant you wait to see the new foals?  Go ride your Willow for an hour or something." He said drowsily and started to shut the door.  Enira wedged her foot in before he shut it all the way and pushed her way in to the main room past her sleepy younger foster brother. "Nira what is up with you today?" Tero grumbled and grabbed a blanket around him before falling onto the couch with his eyes closed.

"For your information Bro I have to save a friend's life today and I'm really panicking right now...giving the amount of blood she needs will leave me severely weakened for a month." Enira hissed and paced back and forth in front of the couch.  She had meant to spill her guts to her foster mom Linvala but the single lump on her foster parents bed showed that she was dead to the word and Rillen, her foster father, was out of the house maybe even out of the Realm.

"Yeah so?" He replied unconcerned.

"I can't afford to be weak, I...it's a part of me, something inside me, not just a gift to be given, or sold like I'm some blood letter, I feel this is expected of me, and I want to, but why should they trust me when I can't even trust myself..."

Tero blinked overwelmed and with no true responce at hand.

"Eh who'd want your blood any ways, you're just a younger lil Shada, there's tons of girls like you around this place, and prettier ones too." Tero mumbled and Enira shoved a pillow down over his face till he pushed it away.

"Oh you're sooo much help, well fine I'll go give away all my blood in that case." Enira said and ran out of the house and flung herself into the neighboring hay maze.  She found a large mostly whole hay bale and dug herself a nest in the top of it where she lay down and cried for a little bit thinking about how everyone was worried about Sora's life and that no one seemed to want anything from her but her blood, how encouraging.  Eventually Enira heard Tero wandering the hay bales and calling her name, many times when she'd been fostered with his family she'd retreated here and eventually hed find her.  Sulkily she dug further into the hay and wiped of her eyes on her damp gray sleeve.  She was going to help Sora, she knew that much, but it made her scared to give up so much of her blood, and to think no one cared if she lost it all.  Blowing a few stray pieces of hay out of her face she rolled over and was suddenly face to face with Tero who had climbed the side of her hay bale.  Leaping back with a cry before she even recognized him she crouched against the wall of the second level of hay behind her.  Tero scrambled up on to the hay and tumbled into the hole she'd dug for herself, he righted himself with hay sticking out of his sweater and pants at all angles and a good handful in his hair.  Enira almost wanted to laugh but Tero grabbed her wrists firmly and dragged her back down into a sitting position.

"Why must you torment me?  I just want to be alone and think because there's no one I can talk to who even cares about my worries." Enira said miserably.

"I want you alive Sis, you have a strong future."

"Thats very different from caring about me." Enira spat and started clambering up on the hay bale behind her.  Tero reached out and lazily grabbed her foot, tugging her back down beside me.

"I care too, talk to me...please."

"Too late," Enira snarled bitterly, "I've already retreated into myself, all you can do right now is Leave Me Alone." Enira swallowed hard as her eyes filled and the world around became fuzzy and warped through the tears.

"Enira..." Said Tero slowly trying for a hug.  But as he took one arm to pull her close her other was snatched from behind her as Ral appeared over that side of the hay.

"Good work Tero!  We got her, now let's get her back to the hospital and save Sora!" Enira blinked speechless at Ral then Tero then Ral again.  Wrenching her arm from Tero's weak grasp she clawed at Ral's hand that held her, and got free.   She then dug into the hay cliff behind it and scaled it, and the next to layers, in no time flat.  Ral struggled to get up the first height as Tero restrained the violent Lir from his Sis.  Enira ran to where the hay met the wall of the barn and crouched behind a support beam holding up the ceiling.  In the dark she looked like less than a shadow and Tero was suddenly much more worried for her than he had been before, she was very frail right now and perched on the edge of a very high cliff.

"Back Off." Tero growled at Ral who was still struggling against him.  Upon glancing back up in the hay he found that Enira had fled and decided that all he could do now was give her peace to think.

Enira dodged into the shadows as soon as Ral and Tero turned their attention on each other, she didnt feel threatened by Tero so much any more with him holding off Ral down there, but she still didnt want any followers.  Following the deep dark along the back recesses of the barn she felt along till she felt a door in the wall, or maybe this was the ceiling, of the barn.  Fumbling at the latches and nervously listening for sounds of pursuit she wrenched the stiff hatch inward.  The new opening filled with harsh sunlight and made this area of hay seem bright and fresh as a new spring morning.  Enira crawled back from the exposure and curled up against another ceiling support in the dark corner for a minute.  Gathering her strength around her she ventured towards the exit once more and peeked out.  There was a long way down, a fall would certainly be fatal, and there was a great view of the rolling animal pastures stretching out from this section of the Palace, along with a small peek of the tops of trees outside the Palace Walls.  All the bright spring green made her feel so alone because she didnt add to it, the warmth and cheeriness made her despair because she could not lend any of her own to the day.  Gingerly stepping out of the barns dark cozy depths and onto the ledge that ran around this height of the barn she looked around for a way down, knowing she was meant to go somewhere else now but not sure what place was pulling at her.  Glancing towards where the ledge hovered over a main entrance to the building she saw a huge slide set up so that hay could be levered down it to the yard below.  Shivering with sudden excitement she made her way along the railing-less ledge to the slide and flung herself down it with abandon.  The rush towards the ground made her heart speed and her pulse race and she had one shinning moment in which nothing existed but her downward plunge.  Then she was dumped unceremoniously into the dirt at the bottom of the chute and scuffed dirt all over her knees and palms.  Standing up somewhat rumpled from the ground she avoided eye contact with all the Rel working at various jobs in the yard; exercising horses, teaching young Shadan how to mount and stay on a moving horse, teaching young horses to ride with a saddle on their back, were just a few of the many.

"Hello." Said a kindly male voice behind her and Enira screamed and bolted towards the Palace Gate.  She started panicking as she heard pursuit and just about had a heart attack as someone from behind tripped her up so that she landed softly on the ground.  Immediately attempting to stand before getting a look at her assailant she was sat on.  Pinned to the ground on her stomach she shivered panicky and hoped with all her heart that Ral hadnt just caught her. "Wow youre jumpy today Nira." Said the voice again and her flighty mind couldnt manage to place it.  A hand reached down and smoothed a piece of her hair and she flinched back. "Oh...you dont want me around." Said the voice that Enira now recognized as Fan's.  She was suddenly free and he was walking away.  Sitting bolt upright she blinked confused.

"Wait!" Enira saw Fan pause and turn around. "I didn't know it was you..."

"Does that make a difference?" He asked curious.

"Yes!  There are some after my blood currently, literally." Enira said and looked at the ground afraid once more that she wouldnt live to see tomorrow.  Fan came back and knelt down beside her concerned.

"Are they really bothering you so much?" He asked frowning.

"I was almost kidnapped" Fan's eyes narrowed angrily.

"This is your decision.  They have no right....  Well if you do donate to the cause then I'll hold your hand."  Enira stared at him, she'd rather like to do that right now but...

Enira warily walked back into the maze of stalls that made up the Main Stable, Ral could be around still, or Tero.  She walked towards her mare, Meadow's, stall and clicked her tongue as she came to the door.  Pulling open the top of the split stall door she laid her head on her arms crossed on top of the lower door.  Meadow, who had approached the door at her call, sniffed at Enira's hair with her moist nose and then ran her tongue along one of Enira's bare arms.  Laughing Enira stood and wiped at her arm with her other hand before straightening her now disheveled hair with her fingers.  She planted one hand on the low door and vaulted over it into the stall so that she stood right beside Meadow, who had backed up a step in preparation for Enira's usual stunt.  The mare snorted softly in a way that clearly said to Enira that Meadow was accusing her off being a show off.

"Oh I'm just showing you what you're missing by being a horse and not human." Enira explained winking at Meadow.  To this the horse tossed her head and stamped a foot, eager to show her rider why it was far better to be a horse than a silly human. "Yes, yes, were heading out today, sorry I haven't been by much this week."  Meadow just lowered her head so that Enira could fit her bridle on and licked her hand when she was done adjusting it.  Settling all the rest of her ridding equipment on the back of her mare Enira flipped open the door in the back of the stall, which lead directly to the fields, and stepped into the saddle smoothly.  Giving Meadow free rein she let the horse pick her own way along the paths tangled around the Palace and out a side gate that led into the forest.  The young Neven at the gate bowed to her even though she was muddy, disheveled, and looked nothing like royalty at all, in the Neven's position it was best to assume.  Enira smiled and waved as she left the Palace grounds, then blinked in surprise, was she suddenly in a good mood?  Though the air did smell sweetly of spring and her horses hooves made a pleasantly soft staccato on the dry dirt path there was no reason for her suddenly light mood.  Musing upon why she was inexplicably smiling she again let Meadow choose the way when she paused at trail branches and detours.  Soon the gentle sound of hooves was lulling her to sleep and she sighed happily and almost slid off before tightening her legs around her horse.  Meadow saw this deliberate action as an order to speed up and flung herself into a trot down the smooth broad woody path, nearly dislodging Enira from her seat.  The Shada, who had dropped the reins and now clung Meadows mane, was too fixed on trying to get her balance back to correct her horse and so they jogged awkwardly down along the trail for a ways before Meadow got bored and broke into a canter angling towards the open expanses of grass above Serpent Falls.  Exiting the forest Meadow flew into the fields, which parted before her like bowing servants.  Enira saw the new green grass growing up among the tall bleached stalks and watched the grain sway with the wind and the rush of Meadow's passing.  She realized suddenly that her Empathy and Control were melding to provide her with the horses joyous mood, the horse was boosting her mood and it looked to be on purpose.  Leaning back and halting her horse Enira hopped down and looked into Meadow's eyes.  Tapping into just her Control she reached a communication point with the horse and sorted out all the images and ideas flooding into her.  There was a taste of happiness and mischievous delight across all of the shared thoughts and Enira caught glimpses from the horses memories of herself.  There were glimpses of her stooped in solemn thoughtfulness, flashes of herself as she briskly saddled Meadow while holding back tears, and one image that stuck out most in these shared memories; Enira leaning against the lower stall door lost in dark miserable thoughts hidden behind a mask of neutrality.  One thing about these pictures puzzled her and then came clear with a shock that broke her communion with the horse.  Meadow stood patiently by her side as she thought over what she had seen.  In the first picture of her there had been a greenish blue glow around her mind and faint coloring across her body, in the second there had been a dark blue glow from where her heart was and a gray blue coloring of her aura, and in the very last she had been shrouded in a veil the color of a night storm cloud, midnight blue with shadows of black.  Meadow could see her emotions as clear as day and that last memory of her in her dark mood, that was from just earlier today.  She sank back into communication with Meadow and saw a strange view of herself as she was right now, the area around her heart was still stained blue but she had a light greenish glow around her with a yellow halo around her mind.  She shook her head in amazement and was startled when the image of her shook its head too, she withdrew reluctantly and stared in awe into the big brown eyes of her so ordinary looking mare.

"Wow..." She whispered and it seemed inadequate but Meadow just licked at the hand that was rubbing her nose and nudged Enira back in the direction of the saddle.  Laughing and mounting again Enira ran her fingers around in the mane and hair of her wonderful Meadow.  Rearing slightly while spinning around the mare shot off back towards the Palace Stables at a gallop that left Enira gripping her mane and fighting to keep her eyes open against the wind and wild exhilaration.  At the gate the same Neven waved them back in and Meadow picked her way back through the tangled paths around the Palace.  Suddenly back on her home ground where she wasnt safe Enira tensed up in the saddle and hunched over cautiously.  The pair of them made it back into the Stable before being spotted and then it was only by her old foster mother Linvala, now awake and up and about.

"Coming back from a ride this early in the morning?  I wouldn't have thought that the end of the world could have pried you from bed before breakfast, and that's still being made." Linvala called out from a few stalls down from Meadows.  Enira replied after Meadow returned to her stall and stood to let her off.

"I went to bed late last night and a friend woke me up at dawn." She replied while shutting and securing the lower stall door and caressing her mare on the nose once more. "There's something magic about the horses here Vala." Enira commented distractedly.

"We do breed them like that you know." Said Linvala laughingly.

"Yeah well they're more than you advertise them to be." Enira added thoughtfully and Linvala looked at her sideways.

"There are always some rare few that inherit wild magic or rarer Talents than those we purposely breed in, you talking about one in particular?" Linvala asked glancing at Meadow.

"Oh no...just a little more Sensitive to things today than usual I guess and it's very magical around here." Enira answered evasively.

"If you say so." Linvala answered skeptically. "Anyways I have a mare here to move to the birthing section now that shes a month along so I have to go Nira, see yah around then."

"Yeah." Enira replied distantly and watched her foster mother lead a young silvery winged mare, starting to show her pregnancy, off in the direction of the Birthing Stable, situated away from the Main Stable for privacy. "Hmm..." Enira sighed to herself and started to wander off down in the direction Linvala had taken.  Before she had gone more than a few steps she heard voices that she recognized rounding the corner behind her and she ducked warily into the stable that the winged mare had just left.  Easing the lower stable door further closed until the three who were approaching rounded the corner she made for herself a better hiding spot.

"...odd Shada thats for sure." Enira stiffened, assuming they were talking about her because she had no proof they weren't.

"She's a very good friend, a rare Shada that you shouldnt casually dismiss." Said Eliya.  Enira peered out through a crack and saw that her friend Eliya was wandering the stables with Ferani and the brunette Perna Shada that she had met last night.  She grimaced trying to remember the brown haired girl's name but it escaped her.

"To give so much blood for a foreigner is something worth noticing for certain." Agreed Ferani.

"Well we don't know that she's going to yet, I was hoping to find her here or that her mare Meadow was gone and we could try and find her in the woods.  She ran off early this morning and I think she needs to talk.  Perhaps though two foreigners would be a bit less welcome than friends..." Eliya hinted carefully.

"Oh yes I understand." Replied the brunette, "Besides I'm starting to regret leaving Ruora in her room to sleep in, she'll have woken up by now and found...something...to do." She added looking nervous.

"You mean you just left her free here?" Exclaimed Ferani, astonished at Auril, before she dashed off in the direction of the Palace.

"Uh...I have to go too...bye!" The brunette hastily added before following Ferani out the Stable doors.

"Bye Auril!" Eliya called out laughing before wandering over to Meadow's stall and leaning on the lower door, much like Enira had earlier. "Wish I knew what you were thinking horse.  What's your name again?  Ah yes here it is on the door...Meadow.  Fits you I guess, very ordinary and all.  Wonder why Enira ever picked such a common horse when she had ties to the Horse Master and could have gotten herself a flying horse for Tosa's Sake!  Well let me know if you see her." Added Eliya, laughingly, before she wandered off out the back door of the Stable.  Enira leaned back against the stall.  Did Eliya see intelligence in the horses or not?  She was talking to one as though she was a person just now, but somehow it sounded like a girl talking to her puppy, and ordinary...Meadow was so far from ordinary that Enira smiled.  She stood and exited the stall she had borrowed and wandered off in the direction Eliya had left, winking at Meadow as she wandered by she got a snort and shake of the head from her mare in response.

Enira had the perfect place to go to avoid the ambushing friends, the place they wont look for her, Sora's hospital room.  Entering the building from a Rel door and then using some little used or known of passages she got down to the Healers Floor virtually unseen and she breathed a sigh of relief.  As she strode down the hall towards the room where the Healer who kept track of records worked she heard Rals desperate voice coming down an intersecting hall in front of her and shoved into a shallow doorway trying to will herself invisible.  She watched through narrowed eyes as Teyl and Ral turned the corner and turned in her direction.  Thankfully Teyl looked up and saw her after he'd gone a step and easily diverted Ral in the opposite direction, before focusing once more on Ral's worried litany he nodded his head down the hall they had just left and mouthed Sora's name.  Enira nodded silently and slipped across this hallway and into that one.  She looked down the short hallway that had just four doors leading off of it and only one of which was closed.  Thinking this almost too easy she walked down to that one and knocked quietly.

"Come in." Said a male voice that she assumed was the doctor.  She twisted the handle and opened the door to find a small cluttered office filled with open tomes and smaller books with a short graying doctor seated among them.

"Oh I'm sorry, wrong door, must have gotten the directions wrong" Enira said, retreating, as the doctor looked her over.

"Child, are you, by any chance, Enira?" Asked the elderly doctor kindly.

"Um...yes why?" Said Enira, forgetting for a moment why anyone in the Healer's Department would know of her.

"Oh my generous Shada have you come to help her?" He asked with tears of happiness in his eyes and voice.  Enira was frozen puzzled, was Sora really that bad?

"Can I see her?" Enira asked quietly, she almost felt that Sora's sickness was her fault now, if she used the right logic she knew she could blame it on herself.

"She shouldn't have visitors till an infusion of blood is started because she's too weak.  I just had to turn away Lir Ralun for her sake."

"So once she's getting the cure people can see her again?

"No one will get to see her until she's recovering incase disturbance will quicken the Rogue Blood." At this point Enira's mind froze; she'd never see Sora again unless she helped her now.

"I'm ready." She said determinedly and the doctor looked at her closely.

"You didnt come here to help her yet did you?"

"Not at first I didnt."

"Well, if you are sure, follow me." The doctor then threaded his way along a path through the books to a door in the back that Enira just now noticed.  He opened it and walked down along a short hallway to the end where two doors led in opposite directions. "This is where we isolate really sick patients, unfortunately you will have to have a week-long stay here and she'll be better in a few days, but you knew that already." Enira nodded mutely and followed him into the door on the right where a small room with a bed and various cabinets were the only items in the dimly lit room.  Lighting an hour lamp the doctor rummaged through the drawers and pulled out a small flask of green liquid and mixed it with a half cup of water before handing it to Enira who had sat down on the bed.  With this you'll stay awake and conscious for the next hour as long as you have half your blood left, which you will.  You will get very slow though but you probably want to visit Sora before you become bed ridden right? He said as she drank up the mint tasting drink, for some reason when you become seriously ill the medicines the Healers give you don't need to taste vile any more.  She looked around nervously, her new lair for a week at least. "Oh the stuff's gonna make you somewhat dopey too. He added and Enira was already seeing dancing patterns and was very glad she didnt have to be fully aware during this ordeal.  She felt very heavy now and she sprawled down on the bed and closed her eyes.  Shortly after she lay down the doctor rang a small bell and two nurses came to help him arrange her on the bed and start removing her precious blood.  She was really liking the meds and she only noticed one nurse arrive so when the second took her right arm and held it she wondered briefly about how she got there, then she remembered, the nurse had probably Ported in to help, yes thats it.  The doctor held a perfumed cloth to her nose for a few seconds and the world went black.

Upon waking up in a strange room she immediately sat bolt upright, or tried to.  She got up a little then fell back down on her back.  Blinking and sliding herself off the bed to stand beside it she looked at the insides of her elbows.  Her arms were an unnatural white grey and there were large bruises starting at the inside of her elbows and one high up on her neck when she accidentally glanced in a mirror.  The huge violation of stealing her blood sunk into her and clung tight till she let a few frustrated tears slide down her face.  She felt as cheap as a blood letter who gives their own blood for money to blood addicts.  Her sense of loss settled deep inside her but she remembered the cause of her charity and she walked in slow motion to the door and stepped out into the short hallway.  Approaching the door opposite her she hesitated for a second for some reason but when her hand slowly moved to the handle it was because of her weakness and not indecision.  She shuffled into the dimly lit room that was the exact mirror of hers and found a similarly pale figure unconscious on the bed.  Scared that she had made up her mind too late she quickened her slow shuffle and drew near till she could see Sora's shallow breathing.  Her hair lay limp about her shoulders and she was constantly weakly shaking.  Eniras assumption that Sora was asleep or unconscious was wrong and she stumbled backwards when the Lira opened foggy eyes to blink at her visitor.

"Who?" Sora whispered slowly and Enira shivered at all the illness that could be conveyed in a simple weak word.

"Nira" the Shada answered softly.

"Nira" Sora said slowly and with her current Sensitivity Enira read so much into that word also.  There was tentative hope, apology, and some slight un-admitted desperation.

"I am told I have an hour of movement before I become bed ridden, I just wanted to see you once before I get real sick." Enira said and turned towards the door, sick people made her worry and fear for them.

"Then you.." Sora asked with out really asking and a soft warmth of gratitude drifted up to Enira's Senses.

"You thought I would not?" Enira asked softly.

"Well I've..." Sora started and didnt end the sentence, but Enira knew that she was thinking of her past attempts to kill her. "And Ral said..." Sora started again before Enira sagged against the bed.  The Lyra blinked her white pupil-less eyes at the weak Shada and offered her a shaking useless hand, which Enira pushed away.

"I can make it back to my room on my own." She said stubbornly and stumbled back across the hall leaving both doors open.  She slowly climbed into bed as the weakness dug its claws in her and pulled her struggling down into a dreamless dark abyss.  The last thing she heard before she sunk into unconsciousness was the doctor.

When she first surfaced back to consciousness Enira's room was dark as night and she tried to move to find a light. All she managed was a soft whimper because she couldnt seem to move.  A low male voice from beside her lay a hand on her forehead and softly ordered her to go back to sleep.  Enira was drawn back into the dreamless depths for a long time.

A second time her mind registered outside activities, like the light bathing her in a yellow glow and the muted distant talking from her beside which, after a moment, she managed to understand.  She heard the sounds of a maid or nurse arranging things on one side of her bed while someone entered the room and sat down in a chair beside her bed.

"Hello" Greeted the female voice already seated beside her bed.

"Good morning, is she any better?" The new voice inquired.

"No, she hasnt regained consciousness since she donated blood.  But her fever left the night before last, finally, and no new illnesses have appeared yet."

"Great. Give her my good wishes if she wakes up anytime soon, and I'll just put this here on the table for when she wakes up."

"I will, and I'm sure she'll like that a lot, thank you Ferani." Then Enira heard retreating footsteps and the first female go back to turning the pages of a book.  Then the sounds became more and more distant till there was only a pool of black for her to drift in, no more the bright yellow room around her.

When next Enira was aware of her surroundings it came suddenly when she opened her eyes, unlike the slowly approaching wave of consciousness that she greeted every morning.  The ceiling of the room was decorated in a motif of green and white tiles that Enira couldn't manage to make sense of in her wakeful yet foggy mentality.  She sniffed back a sneeze and groaned sorely.  She tried to turn over to find a Kleenex of some sort but found her arms loosely held to the sides of the bed.  Slowly glancing down she saw needle in her left arm attatched to a rubber tube slowly distributing a light green liquid in her vein and her right arm was a constellation of bruises surrounding needle holes.  Normally this sight would have made her sick or scared but for some reason the world was very warm and bright and cheery now, despite her sniffly nose.  She felt the sore pain in her elbows but it was distant, and she basked in the light of nearby hour lamps that filled her room.  Just before she let her eyes sink closed again she saw someone enter the room through the corner of her eye and blinked at them as they blinked back to find her awake.

"You've come back!" exclaimed Teyl looking like he wanted to hug her but also fearing he'd break her if he did. "Well of course with your new blood donor, but still...welcome back to the living Nira, how do you feel?"

"Great." She croaked out and widened her eyes alarmed at the state of her voice.  Teyl saw her confusion and hastened to explain.

"Nira thats the first you've spoken in two and a half weeks, you're just out of practice."

"Two and a half..." Enira said slowly and less froggishly.

"Well yes...you see when you were giving blood near the end your body stopped giving it freely and they had to open a vein in your neck to get what they needed, but that wasn't enough either for some reason and they had to pull out a little more.  Immediately after that you went into shock and they had to spend an hour carefully stabilizing you before they could get the equipment ready to help cure Sora.  Durring the time they were preparing it seems you woke up, with the help of a little Avalos they had given you, not too much because in your state it might have put you too deeply to sleep.  Anyways you woke up and visited Sora and then the doctor checked on you right before going to her and found you'd left and returned already.  Well with your lack of blood for so long, it took a while to get just a little and not too much blood from all the Rillain friends, your immune system went to sleep and you caught a high fever after a few days and that lasted for a week and a half. Just the day before yesterday you started showing signs of having a cold and maybe a flu but your new blood infusion has seemed to help with the flu part." Teyl explained.

"My new blood infusion?  And how do you know so much anyways?" Enira asked confused, after she cleared her throat of some of the roughness.

"Uh yes, Ral couldnt be separated from Sora until she was strong enough to yell at him to give her some space on her own, so only recently did he donate some blood to help you and that was given to you yesterday."  Enira glanced back at the light green liquid with yellowy sparkles and knew that that was why she was feeling so glowy, the effect of compatible blood, such as Rillainian and Sperinen, was to make the patient heal faster and feel veeery nice in the process.  Enira snatched at a box of Kleenex she spotted beside the bed just before the sneeze escaped her and then she lay her head down against her pillow exhausted.

"Go back to sleep Nira." Teyl said softly and Enira experienced a sense of de-ja-vu.  The first time she had woken up...but that wasnt the same voice...just the same words.  Then Enira let go of consciousness and fell into a deep healing sleep.

Enira groaned sullenly as the dream world was stolen from her and the light of day pierced her consciousness.  She opened her eyes and saw Sora laying forward in a chair next to the bed using the bed as a pillow.  She brushed her fingers against Sora's hair to wake her and found that she could move her arms again; they were free of all restraints.  Sora complained sleepily and moved away from her fingers before realizing that it was Enira who had woken her.  She raised her head and blinked owlishly at the Shada before yawning hugely and slouching back in the huge cozy chair beside the bed.

"You're chair looks more comfortable than the bed." Enira complained quietly.

"Yeah, enough comfyness to sleep in, as a few of us have done."

"Us?"

"Yep you've had a cycle of people guarding your bedside most days...and a few nights if that's where Fan was off to at midnight." Enira tried to remember something that occurred to her, but she was just too slow still.

"Gah I am such a slug." Enira spat, resentful of her weakness.

"Really?  You don't look like it Nira."

"Yes I do, Im dirty and lazy and dumb and unattractive."

"Well you do have a good excuse, but in that case I guess you must be a slug."

"You're sooo much help Sora." Enira said narrowly.

"You can thank me later." Sora replied smiling and looked at the hour lamp beside the bed hidden among flowers and cards.

"Mine?" Enira asked of the gifts, and Sora just rolled her eyes.

"Duh silly."

"Well no need to make me feel any dumber than I already do."

"Ok then I'll start explaining how you're lazy, dirty, or unattractive, is that better?"

"No...argh. what am I going to do with you?"

"I seem to be hearing that a lot lately, it's not your choice though you know."

"Heh, well see, I out rank you." Enira said sticking out her tongue.

"Yeah well I can walk already so ha!" Sora said archly.  That's when Enira noticed the circles under Sora's eyes and the way she looked a little off with such pale skin and limp hair.

"I'm glad youre better." Enira said quietly.

"Yeah me too." Sora answered. "Thanks." She added a moment later.

"Not as if I had a choice."

"I hope you didn't really think that, you always have a choice."

"As long as Ral stays out of it." Enira said sarcastically.

"Ah dont feel too peeved at him, he did get around to helping you too."

"I feel so special." Enira added even more sarcastically.

"Good, you should." Sora said brightly, taking her literally.  Enira sighed and rolled over on to her side away from Sora. "Sleep well Slug." Sora added and patted her on the head.  Enira replied with a low growl to which Sora laughed and retreated out the door.  After a few minutes of thinking over what she'd learned just now and what she'd been through she was content to stare at the pretty flowers and cards sitting on this side of her bed then rolling over to smile at the other ones for a bit before a light dreamy sleep snuck up on her and stole her away.