"Voice print identification please." Again with the drone; Zel makes a 'ladies first' gesture, so Lina steps forward.
"Lina, one-two-five." Something tries to connect in Zel's mind again; something about such a low number… he files it away for later reference. After Lina had taken out what she needed, Zelgadis stepped up.
"Zelgadis Greywers, number requires direct input." He says, already pulling open his ear-panel and removing the transfer cable.
"Big number?" Lina asks, already pulling on her pants.
"Pi to the three-thousandth decimal." He replies as he removes the cable and began to remove his own attire.
"I didn't know you were that low on the totem pole." Lina finishes tying on her headband; now dressed, she leans up against a wall to wait in a lazy/arrogant manner.
"Nice outfit," he comments, while trying to get his foot past the hem of his pants without ripping them, "But isn't it a little overdone?"
"At least it won't make me stand out like a stain on White." She replies with a death glare. He decides to let the debate over fashion drop, and finally buckles on his sword belt. Lina hits the door release and steps out, taking a deep breath before walking on toward the dragon stables.
Zelgadis follows suit; it may have been foolish, but Phaze air always seemed cleaner, more pure. He could, and in fact, had, analyze both and find less than a .0001 difference, but still, it felt cleaner.
"You just gonna stand there all day, or are we gonna actually get this duel started?" Lina says from ahead, beckoning; Zel quickly snaps out of it and moves to catch up. "I've been wondering," Lina starts, trying to fill the silence of the walk, "Why do you have two names?"
"I was made back when that was the custom. I don't know why, but Xellos finds my name funny for some reason."
"Funny, me too. Except he says 'Lina Inverse,' whoever that is."
"He'll tell us eventually; he tells all, even if he does take his own sweet time about it… and what order you get it in." Lina snickers and Zel snorts.
They finally reach the 'stables'… not really stables at all; most dragons were very violent and territorial, so small, enclosed spaces… let's just say that's not a good idea. It had taken a while to find the spot, but a river-cut canyon had eventually been selected; the intricate cave system carved into the walls made for well-spaced territories with plenty of room. As Lina and Zelgadis near the edge of the canyon, they hear a loud screech; both recognize it and cover their ears while crouching down for better footing. Just in time: a sudden gust of wind heralds the pink dragon that bursts over the ravine edge, closely followed by three males; a blue, a red, and a black. They are quickly out of range, still screeching as they move out of sight.
"First mating flight, hmm…" Lina comments as they fade in the distance, "Prime stock too."
"You breed?" Zelgadis asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Naw, but I did raise one, and being amongst them so much, along with the dragon keeper's teachings, has taught me enough that I could."
"You…?" Zel's question is cut short by a man coming up the stairs.
"Did you see that?!" Valgaav shouts as he reaches the top of the stairs, headed their way, "Petunia's first mating flight! And the top three males! That'll be the best clutch I've ever had!" at the excitement in his voice, the two of them tried to run… but both are caught in a bear hug by the large but somewhat childish dragon keeper. His exuberance is not lost on them, but they restrain themselves to a smile.
"You've known Val for a while then?" Zel finishes.
"He's a friend of the family." She explains, somewhat sheepishly.
"Miss Lina! Master Zelgadis! I knew you two would eventually run into each other." Valgaav says, his voice still brimming with excitement, "The best two riders I know! This will be one for the record books!"
"Hey now, Val, don't give me that; you know there are at least fifteen or twenty…"
"Riders you've never dueled before," Valgaav interrupts, "And I've seen you fly; the only ones that could challenge you seriously would either be my mother, Blue, or Miss Lina here." He finishes, smiling. The little firebrand beams with pride at the praise. A chibi-Zel appears over the head of the real one, beating its head up against the wall.
"Let's just settle it on the field, shall we?" Zelgadis says gruffly, stiffly marching over to the cliff. Val just nods, still smiling, but Lina is trying not to laugh. Zel jumps off the cliff, uncaring about travel time for the other two; in only seconds he travels across the canyon and several stories down, landing like the metaphorical feather. Know he will need to calm himself before the match, and hearing his dragon's snores, Zelgadis turns around to watch the daily dance of the dragons. Every color of the rainbow assault his eyes; from every direction fly the beautiful creatures that rule this canyon. Playing, eating, arguing, courting, socializing; Zelgadis was always amazed at how alike to sentient beings they are.
Eventually Valgaav can be seen through the dragonets playing ball overhead, but the girl is no where to be found. Now where could she…? He thinks. Immediately ruled out are the possibilities of her backing down or changing her mind; she definitely wants this match. She wants to make an entrance, he thinks with a sigh, but how is she…?
His thought is interrupted by a gust of wind, knocking him down, almost as if to make room for the fiery dragon coming over the escarpment. The redhead on its back, laughing at his surprise, didn't help his dignity much.
"How did you get down there so fast without me seeing you?" he asks, disgruntled, after the dragon has landed, while getting to his feet.
"I turned into a little birdie and flew!" Lina replies, showing fangs cutely as she smiles.
"Strange, I've never heard of any werebirds, and you don't have a horn on your forehead…" waitaminute, fangs!? "Well, that certainly explains a few things."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asks dangerously.
"Nothing, nothing at all." He replies quickly, moving into the cave to retrieve his slumbering dragon. He hears a mutter behind him, something along the lines of: 'it'd better.'
"Hey! Whiskers! Wake up!" Zelgadis whispers, hoping the girl outside will not hear. To no avail, it seems, if the near-cackle is any indication. One eye opens, illuminating the cave in front of it; it grunts, the meaning obvious: five more minutes please.
"C'mon! You want that young upstart out there to think you're scared?" that got the old gray awake; he was up on his feet in one graceful motion, fire already beginning to lick out of his nostrils, "That's more like it!" Zel hopped up onto the dragons back, not needing a harness to stay on, and they both burst out of the cave, almost knocking the other pair off in their ascent. Whiskers' silver mane flaps in the wind, much like Zelgadis' own hair, as they soar over the ravine edge toward the dueling grounds, many of the dragons watching their eldest go. In mere seconds, a red streak approaches from behind, moving up beside them.
"Watch where you're going next time!" Lina yells over the rush of wind.
"Didn't see you considering my position when you popped over the cliff edge." Zel fires back. They both glare at the other for a second, then lean forward into their dragon's manes, urging them faster for an impromptu race.
Author's note: still suffering through this? Sorry for the "chit-chat" chapter, but I wanted to put the rather long battle all by itself. Just in case you missed it, yes, Lina is part vampire. Next time: The Duel! and "She wouldn't! She would."