Author's note: Hey all, this is a sequel to the one-shot As Certain as Breathing. You probably don't really need to read it, though, to understand this one. This is some more DN fluff with a little action. Thanks for all the great reviews on As Certain as Breathing. I'd love some more reviews on this one. Sorry it took so long to update, what with the holidays and all. I'll work on some more chapters for this one later.

Disclaimer: You know the deal, I own nothing in here. All of it belongs to Tamora Pierce.

Vacation at the Swoop
Chapter 1: Captured!

"I'll be here if you need me, Kit," Daine told Kitten, who whistled in reply. The dragonet trotted down the hall, heading for the kitchen to look for a snack. Daine walked into the library, the magelit globes sparking into life as she stepped in. Time for a little bit of relaxation and studying, she told herself. Settling down at a table, she pulled her anatomy book towards her, opening to the end of the book; she was almost done with it. She stared at the pictures drowsily, content, warm, and at peace for the first time since the war. Recalling the recent events, she smiled to herself. After the end of the war, Jonathan had kept Daine and Numair hopping all over the realm, repairing the ravages of the war. Soon after discovering the truth about the student and teacher's relationship, Jon ordered them to take a rest at the Swoop. There, Daine could spend time with the ocean animals, and Numair would be close to his home at the tower.

They had only been there one day so far, but Daine could tell they were going to enjoy themselves. She quickly made herself at home in his tower, settling her meager belongings in amongst his own. The night they arrived, Numair had done all he could to convince Daine just how welcomed she was in his home. Giggling to herself over the romance of last night, Daine was lost in the memory of his caresses and whisperings as thunder boomed outside. A late summer storm was rolling in over the Swoop; Daine wasn't surprised, the People outside had been preparing for it all day. Thunder rolled softly overhead, making Daine a little restless.

She stood up and walked to the window, looking out across the grounds, watching lightning flash in the distance. Feeling a presence behind her, she turned quickly to look. Nothing moved in the quiet stillness of the library. Must be my imagination, she thought. She still couldn't absorb the fact that she had a few weeks off from fighting and restoration. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the window, losing herself in thoughts of Numair once again. He had stopped mentioning marriage, but Daine knew the offer still stood. Her views remained the same, however. She thought waiting would do them both good; they were having fun now, and they were in passionate love now. Nothing bad could come from waiting, Daine thought. Suddenly, the magelit globes in the library winked out, flooding the room in darkness and bringing Daine back to the present. She looked up, wondering what could have happened to the lights. The spell that lit them was designed to slowly fade away, in order to give the mage time to recast it before the room went dark like it just had.

Feeling that presence behind her again, Daine shaped her eyes to those of a cat, searching for the source of her sensation. She wasn't frightened, exactly, because she didn't fear the dark, but she was curious. What was going on? Outside, the skies shook with ever increasing thunder and sparked with lightning. Since her sight was no help, Daine relied on her nose. Shaping her nose and mouth to that of a wolf's muzzle, she breathed in deeply the scents of the room.

In the same room with Daine, but under a very good invisibility spell, Numair watched his love. He knew it was a little mischievous of him to "spy" on her like this, but he couldn't help it. Watching her reactions, he was reminded of just how much he loved her. She never screamed or panicked. She measured up what was going on coolly and calmly, never once exhibiting any sign of fear. She was truly his equal, and he absolutely adored her.

Daine smelled the books in the room and the wood of the table, as well as herself, and there, something else, something else in the room. She closed her eyes; she knew that wonderful fragrance. That smell of soap, spices, and clean clothes belonged to her lover, Numair. Shaping her eyes and nose back to normal, she leaned her back against the window, smiling slightly.

Numair sighed to himself, the game was over, she had found him, rather quickly, in fact. She was truly a talented mage and woman. Maybe I can still have a little fun, though, he thought to himself. Still wearing the invisibility spell, Numair stepped close to her and blew lightly on the exposed skin of her neck. Goosebumps raced along Daine's body as she jumped; knowing someone else was in the room but then feeling something invisible breathe on you were two entirely different things. She reached out to grab Numair, but he jumped back quickly, eluding her grasp. Hovering close by but not next to her for a few seconds, Numair again stepped close to her; this time he ever so slightly ran his finger up along the back of her leg, a very ticklish spot he knew first-hand about.

She exhaled quickly in a gasp, turning around and reaching out for him but missing yet again. "I hope you're having fun, tormenting a poor, defenseless little girl," she pointed out to him.

He opened a speech spell next to her ear, hoping to fool her into thinking he was right there. "You are neither poor, nor defenseless. And you are most definitely not a little girl, but a grown, beautiful woman."

The speech spell didn't fool her. "You know, I could just use bat ears to find you."

"Yes, but where would be the fun in that, magelet?" he replied, a few feet away from her. "There would be no surprise, then."

"I don't think I like surprises," she told the mage. Before she could shift her ears, Numair had come up behind her, sweeping her off her feet and shedding his spell at the same time. Lightning flashed almost directly overhead, illuminating the room for a brief moment. She emitted a little squeak in response, not expecting him to move so fast.

"Surprise," he said huskily in her ear.

She shivered in response, burying her hands in his long, soft hair. Numair trailed a finger down along her spine, making her arch her back in response. Kissing her exposed neck, he began walking towards the door, holding her tight in his arms. Daine looked at him, "Where are we going? I was studying before you interrupted me."

Numair looked down his nose at her, for all the world like an unpleased teacher. "You wanted to ruin my surprise. You don't respect me, I think. I need to prove to you that I am worthy of your respect, a true man," he commented.

Daine's eyes widened, taken aback by this rather odd, yet extremely exciting side of Numair that he chose to show that night. She inclined her head, "By all means, sir, I submit to your will."

"Damn right," he said, kicking the door open to their rooms. Depositing her on the bed, he went to the window to draw back the curtains, allowing the lightning to flash through the room at random times. Going back to Daine, he stood next to the bed, his hands in the sleeves of his robe, looking down on his love. "Now, my magelet. I feel I need to prove to you just how much I deserve your respect." He felt a little awkward, acting this way. All their previous lovemaking was serious and passionate; however, he felt they needed to have a little fun with this. He decided to relax and let himself enjoy the situation, easing into the role.

Getting on top of her, Numair held her hands above her head. Softly, gently, teasingly, he began to kiss her lips, eyes, chin, and neck. With one hand he held her hands up over her head, while his other slowly undid her shirt. His lips trailed down her throat, flicking his tongue over the soft, tender flesh. Moving down her sternum, he covered her with light, lingering kisses, making her weaker and weaker. Blowing lightly on her exposed skin, he made her whimper under his touch. He carefully undid and slid off her breeches, kissing her legs as he did so. "Oh gods, Numair!" she said, panting in response to his caresses and strokes. He smiled up at her, loving the look and feel of her bare flesh. "I love you, my dear," he murmured, as outside, thunder crackled and lightning lit the sky.

Frantically, Kitten tugged at Daine's curls, prodding her to wake up. Sitting up quickly, Daine looked down at the dragonet. "Kit, what's wrong? Calm down!" She scooped Kitten up in her arms. Through various chatters, whistles, and gestures, Daine began to understand the problem. Long years of experience with her adopted dragon had taught her to understand what Kitten always had to say. "Something's wrong with Numair? But where is he?" Kitten curled a paw around Daine's wrist tightly, obviously very distressed and upset. This agitation truly worried Daine, dragons didn't scare easy. She finally began to understand the gravity of the situation, "Numair's been taken? By immortals?" Chewing on a fingernail, Daine was caught in a brief moment of indecision. Should she waste the precious time to alert the king and look for help, or go after him herself? From what Kitten had told her, he was taken by a few immortals who managed to escape the return to the Divine Realms. Various spidrens, Stormwings, and winged apes had taken Numair early in the morning while he was outside. He had apparently let his guard down too much, believing himself to be safe at his home.

Getting dressed, Daine decided it was best if she took action now. She had no way of knowing how long it would take King Jon to act on this, or if help was even close by. Besides, she was used to doing things her own way. Racing downstairs, Kitten close on her heals, Daine was acutely aware of the silence and desolation of the tower. Without Numair here, she felt like a stranger; she felt wrong. As she gathered her bow and quiver, Daine called out to all the People outside the tower. She sent out an image of Numair to them all, including an image of the immortals he was taken by. She asked if any of them had seen him or the immortals. Replies began to flood back to her from the tower wildlife. They had left a short time ago from the tower grounds. Birds in the sky reported seeing them head west towards the coast. Cursing softly to herself, Daine realized they would probably want to board a ship and get him away from Tortall as fast as possible.

Reaching to the furthest bounds of her magic, Daine called for the birds of the sky near the coast. Her magic touched the mind of a hawk, gliding on the morning currents in the air. Please, have you seen this man, she asked, sending an image of Numair and the immortals. He told her he had seen the immortals and the tall, lanky man. The man fought with them, killing a metal feathered beast with black lightning and exploding one of the big spiders with just a few words. After that, he had been hit with a large stick, and was now being carried in a sac of web by the large spiders, the hawk told her. There was now one metal feathered beast left and two of the large spiders. The metal feathered beast flew low over the forest, the big flying monkeys flew high, he added. Thank you, winged-brother, she told him. Daine had saddled Cloud while she spoke with the hawk, and now the girl and pony raced to the coast. Kit rode in Daine's lap, her scales changing color rapidly as she muttered to herself.

"Hurry up, you fools," Zarka the Stormwing said to her companions. "We have to get him on that ship before anyone figures out what we've done."

"He's heavy!" complained the last spidren, lugging the sac with Numair inside. "For such a bony man, you wouldn't think he'd have so much meat on his bones."

"I'll strip the meat from your bones if you don't hurry it up!" she yelled back. Keeping a sharp eye out for anyone, her winged ape companions in the air didn't think to look for any animals acting strangely.

Racing through the woods, Cloud carried Daine closer and closer to Numair and his captors. She was furious with the immortals for refusing to admit defeat and trying to capture the realm's best mage. She was mad at Numair for allowing himself to be caught, but most of all she was upset with herself. She should have done something to stop this, but now it was too late. What if they decided he was worth more to them dead than alive? What if he was dead when she got there. "Cloud, slow down. I'm going to shift and go after them. They'll notice us, but not me as one of the People." Can you handle them alone, the pony asked, obligingly slowing down. "I work best alone, Cloud. You know that," she replied, ignoring the pony's snort of disbelief. Sliding off of Cloud's back, Daine hooked her bow and quiver onto the saddle.

"Kitten, I want you to go back to the tower and wait for me. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you, too," she added, when she saw signs of refusal on the young dragon's face. "You'll have to carry word back to the king if anything—happens. Cloud, I'm going to go after them as a wolf, but I may need my bow and clothes. Can you follow me, but not too close—" she was interrupted by the pony. I know what to do; I am not a silly colt, Cloud told her. Daine kissed her on the nose, patted Kitten, and then took off her clothes, placing them with her bow and quiver on the saddle. Easily she slid into wolf shape, her body rejoicing in this strong, sleek, able form. Nuzzling Cloud and Kitten, Daine the wolf took off for the coast, covering the ground rapidly in this form.

In the air, the two winged apes glided lazily, not paying much attention to their surroundings. "I don't like being an errand boy," one said to the other.

"Doing work for the filthy mortals," the other agreed. He glanced down into the forest. All he saw was one lone wolf, running quite rapidly. "No one's comin' to get the long mortal mage. I'll bet no one even knows he's gone for a few days."

The first ape rolled in the sky, stretching out his muscles. "Well I dun' know about that. He is the most powerful mage in Tortall."

Cackling, the other ape replied, "And he was taken by a few immortals?"

"Remember what happened to Zarka's mate and that one spidren," he reminded his companion. Below, a pony trotted through the woods, taking care to try to remain unseen by the two immortals in the sky.

"Eh, they were always a bit slow and easy."

Zarka glanced up at the apes, "Keep your eyes open! Are you two filthy monkeys even paying attention?"

Snarling down on the Stormwing, the second ape cursed Zarka. "Filthy monkey, I'll show you a filthy monk—" his reply was cut short by an arrow through his throat. Frantically pumping his wings, he tried drag the shaft from his neck. He heard a whistle, and then was pierced again in the chest. Tumbling to the ground, he finally laid still. The other ape looked around hysterically for what had killed him; he couldn't see anyone, what happened? Zarka screamed in fury at the incompetence of the apes. Grabbing the sac with Numair in it in her claws, she pumped her wings, taking off higher into the air.

"Help me, imbecile!" she screamed at the ape. The weight of the web and Numair made it hard for her to ascend quickly. Diving down to assist her, the last ape felt a sharp stinging in his side. Looking down, an arrow quivered from its spot in his skin. Eyes wide, he looked back up at Zarka, and then fell as another arrow pierced his neck, slicing through flesh and tendons. Panicked, Zarka pumped her wings furiously, looking for the source of the arrows. She needed to get higher, to avoid the shots, but she couldn't with this dratted sac. Deciding quickly, she plummeted to the ground, dropping the sac as she fell. Striking a tree, and falling to the ground, the sac quivered and then laid still.

Daine uttered a muffled cry of fury as she saw Numair plummet; she hoped that the tree broke his fall and he was relatively uninjured. What if they killed him before, and his lifeless body was in there? she thought. Zarka heard the noise and saw the girl amongst the trees. Rolling quickly in the air, she dove straight at Daine, screeching in anger. Narrowing her eyes, Daine stood her ground, an arrow loaded in her bow. Pulling her elbow back to her ear in a long, easy, practiced motion, Daine let the arrow fly. Whistling through the air, the arrow struck home in the Stormwing's mouth as smoothly as if Daine were in the practice yards. Slamming up through her skull, the arrow cut Zarka's life from her body before she even hit the ground.

Looking to her left, Daine saw the spidrens racing towards her. Whirling quickly, Daine loaded another arrow as she spun. Again, as smoothly as if she were at an afternoon practice, the arrow sped through the air, lodging itself in the spidren's chest. Dropping her bow and arrows, Daine leapt from her clothes in the shape of a falcon. Shrieking at the spidrens, she dove at them, her talons raking over the head of the dying spidren. He stumbled and fell as breath stopped pouring into his body, leaving only one immortal left. Daine swooped down again on the last immortal but rolled right as soon as she got close, taunting the spidren. Coming back in close, she stayed just far enough away to be out of reach. Emptying her bird's bowls on the face of the spidren, she momentarily confused him long enough to come down low and tear into the flesh of him exposed neck. Trying to get away again, she wasn't quite fast enough. A long, furred leg slammed into the stomach of Daine the falcon, sending her soaring into a tree. It was the spidren's last defiance, however. He lay dead on the ground as Daine shifted back to human shape.

"Cloud, come here!" she yelled aloud, running to Numair. The webbing around him had melted away with the death of the last spidren. She knelt at his side, rolling him over to look up. His chest rose and fell at regular intervals; the only apparent injury was a broken arm and various bruises and cuts. She cupped his check in her hand, "Numair, darling, please, wake up." Blinking slowly, he looked up into her eyes.

"Daine? Mithros, what happened? Where did they go?"

"Don't worry about it; I took care of them."

He looked around. "Who else is here?"

"No one, I did it alone. I'm not quite sure why, but everyone around here seems to assume that I can't take on an army alone," she answered sarcastically.

"You're right, I remember what you did in Carthak."

She frowned down at him, but refrained from comment. "We have to get you back to the tower, you have a broken arm, in case you hadn't noticed."

He looked down at his left appendage, "Ah, so that would be that sharp, stinging, excruciating pain. Why don't you have any clothes on?" he added.

"I was a little more worried about you than fashion, dear," she replied, getting dressed.

Cloud looked down at Numair. And I assume that I'm supposed to be the one to carry the stork-man all the way back home? No, just help me support him, Daine told the pony. Please, Cloud, she added. Grumbling, the pony agreed. Numair supported his good arm on Cloud. Daine stood on his left side, helping him along. Silently calling out to the tower, Daine asked Spots to come out for Numair.

"How did you find me?" Numair asked her as they walked home.

"You know that I have eyes all over the place," she told him, laughing. "Besides, I would have tracked them to the ends of the earth if it meant getting you back to me," she added, more seriously.

He smiled down on her, "I love you magelet."

She smiled back at him, her blue-grey eyes twinkling. "And I love you. Look, here's Spots! He'll help you get back home." Thank you, she added to Spots. I don't know what we'd do without you, she told him. Spots lipped her shirt in response. Spots, with Numair on his back, Cloud and Daine headed back to the tower, where Kitten was waiting impatiently for them. Together, the two of them had managed to stave off disaster yet again.