Disclaimer: I truly don't own the TMNT. I've got too many OCs in here to name, so I'll name a few I own: Yulakai, Orcaine, Naicro, Lharom, Dakari, Aekishala, Ukeera, Kyrunir, Sor, Kiara, Iwansi, Bima, Kiyo, Rijinn, Saesha, Aireilei, Palaesi, Rainbou, Xetyphaes, Kadi/Watishi, Hytis/Tunali, Tahkar, Shahkar, Bokur, Heinakwa, Hannalei, Erori, Fyla, Tor, Anorr, and Avialle. Whew, that's quite a bit more than a few!
A/N: Wow, an update! Good golly, I did it! YES! Okay, people, as for Shades of Gray, that's in the works. I've got all the chapters brewing in my outline (strange, I never did outlines before this) and the second chapter should be up soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the chapter of this story! I must warn you younger readers, there is some...ahem, crude humor in the Mikey part of the chapter.
14.
"Okay, so what is it that you simply can't understand about inter dimensional traveling?" Bokur demanded, stopping. "What have I left out?"
Leo shrugged helplessly. "Well, I…er…can we just start at how I got here?" he asked, cringing inwardly at the smoldering glare the dwarf scholar gave him. For the last few hours, they had been traveling south, and to keep Leo occupied, Bokur decided to explain the mechanics of dimensional travel. Most of it went right over Leo's head. Don would've understood it far better than he.
The dwarf grimaced, wrinkled his large nose, and started again, walking forward. "Well…hm, how do I make this easier…? Ah! Well, think of it this way." Bokur halted, and pointed at two trails of ants on the ground, diligently marching across the path. Once in a while, an ant would slow down because its burden was too heavy and thus slowed the ants behind it. "Now, you see those lines? There is a place called the time space continuum, where nothing but different dimensions exist, all in parallel lines to one another. And each world has a different time flow. Such as these ants. Each one has a similar, yet not so, particle of food to carry." Leo nodded. So far, it was making sense. "Inter dimensional travel is simply hopping from one world to the next. If there's particularly powerful magic involved, one can jump a galaxy, or if a smaller power, several worlds."
A light went on. "So, if you had something like the Time Scepter, you could jump galaxies instead of planets one by one?"
"Exactly!" crowed Bokur. "But, the concept itself of gathering such a force requires the magic of time itself. Portal magic is mastering a small portion of the flow of time. The mage Lharom Kahaza was especially good at this. He could manipulate both physical and dream space. Doing such a thing would mean decades of practice, and one false move sends you spinning into a void where nothing exists. That's why it's dangerous to traverse between Realms like Lharom does. He mastered such a magic by a stroke of pure luck. Now, how did you say you got here again?"
Leo sighed. "I'm not quite sure. I think Aireilei was messing around with Iwansi's egg fragment and activated something."
The dwarf became, if you could say it, bright eyed and bushy tailed immediately. "Aireilei, eh?" He obviously had a hard time holding in a chuckle. "Really? Extraordinary! So, she still lives…that's good news. Means she can kick that bachia's butt to the next New Moon. Now, who is this Iwansi, Leo?"
"Mikey's dragon buddy. The two are so alike when they're together, it's scary. When she's away from him though, she gets cranky."
"Ah! I might have suspected as much!" Bokur grinned. "A dragon's egg is a magic source for those who could use it right. However, only a dragon's fire could waken that sleeping power, so technically, either Aireilei or…Iwansi, was it? Yes, breathed flames on it. You see, Leonardo," he said, scratching his beard, "all worlds, whether the inhabitants know it or not, possess some kind of magic which keeps it alive."
Leo looked up at the fog-ridden morning sky. "But wait. The Earth's core is full of magma," he stated, confused.
The dwarf's eyes gleamed. "Your point? All scholars know of this life force. You could say it's a disguise. What do you think is in the very center of your planet?"
The turtle still didn't get it, but answered anyway. "A hard ball of dense metals."
"And what do you think is inside that core? Don't know, do you? Well, think of it as the pit of…oh, that strange fruit you call a nectarine. Some substance always surrounds the core of every planet, whether it be soil, rock, or magma. Perhaps it's gas, such as Jupiter would be an example. Fruit surrounds the pit of a nectarine. But in the very inside of that is the deadly poison, toxic cyanide. However, I won't say the life force of a planet is poison. Rather, it's the thing that keeps everything – the plants growing and so on – alive. Now, do you get this so far?"
Boy, this would get Don's goat for sure! Leo thought wryly with a chuckle. "Yes, I believe so."
"Alright then, getting back to magic items. A dragon's egg shard is one of the few things that can accomplish this task. Among it are phoenix feathers, ice breathed by its relative the icunix, beihl egg shells, and teeth from the dangerous yinru." Leo winced visibly. "Met one, have you? Wouldn't have been a mother during her egg period, would it?" He nodded gingerly, remembering the close call he had in the cove. "Ah, bad luck. Well, to begin with, all of those items I mentioned are particularly dangerous to obtain, save for the dragon's egg shard.
"A dragon, as you well know, is a being perhaps far more intelligent than ourselves. As we have heard, Rainbou was the mother of all dragons and some races. Her mate, Yulakai, has not been seen for five hundred years. Anyway, the shard would be harder to get if they didn't consent to it and were the mindless beasts you earthers hear of in tales. Maybe that would be true back in the dark ages, but apparently, they began to wonder why they even had to stay on that planet and be slain by knights again and again. Their population was diminishing rapidly. So, as intelligent entities, they left Earth with the help of a timestress named Renet, going separate ways." Leo hid a smile. They'd gone to the Dark Ages with her! He'd been wondering what she did after they left back to New York! "Rainbou and Yulakai came here, for our world was young, unmarred, and uninhabited, unless you count the dwarves, rukits, and elves. The gunghir appeared when Rainbou worked magic on two bats, thus making a pair of them. Their name is ancient, and I daresay I haven't a clue what it means. Elvish, probably."
Mumbling brought their attention to Tahkar and Hytis, who had taken phoenix form again. …Don't make me ask them, just…oh, hang it all, Tahkar, don't run off… the phoenix protested as the serulaf veered to the left and dashed away into the tall grasses. To their questioning glances, he replied, Gone hunting. She claims she'll be back soon.
Bokur frowned. "Oh, yatin, I've lost my bloody train of thought," he grumbled, harrumphing. After a few minutes, he startled Leo by yelling, "Ahah! There it is! Ehem. Now, about the magic. Life force found in dragon eggs, beihl eggs, yinru teeth, phoenix feathers, and icunix ice can all be used as either a magic amplifier or a portal. Not as good, perhaps, as the Time Scepter, but it's good enough if you'd like to get somewhere fast. The downside is that you must have a member of that species present to activate it. It's a reason why one will never dare risk his or her neck to get somewhere just by stealing a shell from a beihl's nest, which they will use for their entire life, or yinru teeth. The yinru would promptly bite off the hand, pardon the pun, that feeds it. And a dragon that's sane hasn't been seen for four hundred fifty-three years. A mighty large span of time."
"So, how did we get separated?" Leo asked. That was something he couldn't, for the life of him, work out.
"Well, you weren't holding onto each other!"
A sudden thought struck him. "There was someone else in the Lair, and I could swear he didn't get transported too."
"Why do you think a dragon must be present for a dragon's spell to work?" Bokur demanded. "All of you have a dragon's tail, ears and eyes! I presume your other buddy did not!" He fell into satisfied silence for a while as Leo contemplated this explanation. "Ah, but after that, I need my pipe!" The dwarf rummaged around in his pack until he produced a rather short wooden pipe, dark in color. He stuffed a pile of pipe weed into the end and turned to Hytis. "Now, then, would you be so kind as to light this, sir?"
The phoenix seemed uncomfortable with the concept. I…well, I don't know. It's been a while since I..er, breathed fire on such a small thing.
"Just hang your concerns, bird, and light the bloody pipe!" he growled around the stem. He began to grind out another complaint but yelled in surprise as a red tongue of flame nearly incinerated his beard. "By Yulakai, watch where you aim that!"
I told you I wasn't that confident, didn't I? Hytis seemed a bit smug, but looked the part of innocence in a nutshell.
Bokur stared down at his smoking pipe and huffed. "Well, it's lit and I suppose that's all that matters," he admitted gruffly, stuffing it into his mouth and sucking in. He expelled a long stream of gray smoke out the corner of his mouth, making a bluish smoke ring.
At that moment, the ground began to quake and rumble. The vibrations traveled up Leo's legs and spine, sending a shiver all the way back down. He closed his eyes and searched for any minds to read. Most were only rank with fear, but one was hungry. "Guys…" he started, backing up. "We're in the path of a stampede!" Immediately after he said it, a nearly frantic with panic herd of wild teela thundered out of the bushes. Leo had barely enough time to grab Bokur, and leap nimbly away before a black teela flattened him.
Hytis took flight, spouting the phoenix song, the haunting notes echoing beautifully around the sparse trees, brush, and boulders. As Leo dodged another teela, he noticed it had slowed down more than the rest when it passed near the singing bird. Just as the teelas had nearly gotten over their fear, Tahkar bolted out of the shrubs and pounced on one of the smaller juveniles. The herd in chaos once again, Leo finally hopped on top of a large granite boulder to avoid the wildly kicking herbivores' hind paws.
The serulaf, now firmly attached to the colt's back, opened wide her mouth, showing off gleaming white teeth. Then, swift as a viper, she crushed the teela's neck with her powerful jaws. The loud crack of a spine being broken resounded through Hytis's phoenix song. Tahkar continued to rip and tear at the pained animal's neck until it fell forward onto its chest. Blood gurgled in its throat until finally, with a rattling intake of air, the colt's eyes rolled up in its head and it died.
Leo slid off his perch and carefully deposited Bokur on the ground. "Of all the incompetent, idiotic, yatined foolish things to do!" he bellowed angrily at Tahkar as she wrenched a bloody strip of neck muscle off the carcass. "Why in Yulakai's name did you do that?" The dwarf advanced on her, his pipe in his hand.
Tahkar, I must admit, bringing the whole herd here wasn't the smartest thing you could have done, Hytis admitted, landing on the ground.
She gulped the meat. "Well, I knew you guys were going to get hungry sooner or later. Leo, you might as well take your chance and cut off a leg." The canine licked her lips and panted with satisfaction. "It's quite tender and juicy."
Bokur stumped to a rock and promptly sat upon it, glowering at her. "If I knew what you said, I would've contradicted you," he grumbled, stuffing his pipe in his mouth and blowing red smoke rings.
Bima sat there on the gravel for a while, just staring into space, the thunder of the waterfall hammering her ears. If Kiyo were here, he'd be able to help them teach Palaesi how to control wind. If he were here. The silvery-blue dragon gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. She wanted to curse Xetyphaes's entrails with every known language, every known insult she could muster. How dare he steal her brother for some…reproduction experiment! Who knew how it would turn out? A mother and son aren't meant to mate! Of course, you'd never get that into his pint-sized brain.
"Um, Bima? Yoohoo?" Aireilei flicked her on the nose and whipped her hand back in surprise when her sister snapped at it. "You okay?" Bima panted angrily and nodded. The white dragon's face hardened. "Look, I know you're not happy with the current circumstances. But we can't go back and get Kiyo out. We're too little; he'd squash us like bugs. We need the others' help."
"I hate being helpless," Bima growled savagely.
She nodded. "Me too, but right now, we have to get this little one back to safety and Mike somewhere he can rest. I don't think Naicro's," she added slyly, "back will suffice for a bed." Bima sighed and spared a glance at the sleeping Palaesi. The toddler still had Mikey's hand in a firm grip and was snoozing her cares away like there was no tomorrow. Every now and then she would get agitated in her dreams and send out a breeze.
"True. But, considering how hard she was to hold down, you'd better not separate her from Meki," Bima grunted snidely, dodging a thwack from Aireilei's agile tail. She grinned and stood up, stretching her limbs to prepare to hoist all three passengers into the air.
"Alright, Bima, you get on my back," the white dragon instructed. Bima promptly ran around to her backside and hopped nimbly onto her spine, climbing up until she rested between Aireilei's wings. "I'm going to pass Palaesi up to you. Don't jostle her too much; she'll fall when we're above the forest."
"Yeah, whatever, just don't shove her in my – Mmmph!" She was cut off when Aireilei stuffed the gunghir's tiny body into her mouth.
"Don't you dare bite down," Aireilei warned when Bima gave her the death glare of all death glares.
You're such a dipstick, the silvery-blue dragon growled through her mind. I can't believe this! How humiliating!
"Hey, just be glad your buddy Rijinn's elsewhere. He'd give you a hard time for sure." Aireilei slid her arms under Mike's form and grunted as she picked him up. "Gods above, he's heavy as a brick!"
Hah. As the white dragon crouched for liftoff, Bima clamped onto her neck to anchor herself down. Mother just had to chew off my tail, didn't she? she grumbled as the ground dropped away. And my right ear! Ooh, I hope she's ready for some biting around the nursing area!
Amused, Aireilei stated, "Dragons don't have nipples for that activity." This shut her sister up, but only for a second.
You have boobs, Bima retorted, swaying as her transport banked to the right.
"They aren't boobs!"
Oh yeah? What do you call those soccer ball sized bumps on your chest?
"And they aren't the size of soccer balls!"
And what would you have behind that armor, then? Perhaps rocks stuffed down in your early days? she shot back.
Aireilei swung her head around and let a small tongue of white flame lick Bima's snout, causing a muffled squeal to erupt from her throat. "It's the way I was made, so can it."
Hrmph. What sense does anybody have to give a dragon unneeded breasts?
"Look, shut up or I'll do a loop and drop you, oh wingless one."
Empty threat – OH GEEZ! Aireilei had made good her threat and done a partial vertical climb up, causing her passenger to slide backward and make squeaking noises on her scales with her claws. As soon as she leveled out again, she found her back feeling moister than it should have. Good night, you ever do that again and I'll really water your garden!
"Eew, I'm taking a bath when I land! Sicko!" the white dragon cried, feeling the wind blow off the urine that had showered her back. "Don't you have any bladder controls?"
Hey, when I get scared, I pee like any other chicken of the air! Just be thankful I'm not Raph, or you'd be covered in chunky soup right now. The tremble had left her voice. So wait. If we can't be nursed, then what do we eat when we're born? She sounded perturbed.
Aireilei could not help spouting a guffaw at the absurdity of the question. "Don't you remember what you ate when you got out of your egg, silly?" she chuckled, settling into a glide across the dark green tops of the trees.
Well, not really. I do recall being ravenously hungry for something though. I think it was Saesha who caught a bird for us. The child-like confusion was too humorous to ignore. But why couldn't we eat plants?
"Number one, your gnashers aren't made for the stuff. And number two, it's the grossest thing you can ever ingest, besides mustard."
Bima made a face, as best as one can when one's mouth is full of Palaesi butt. How can that yellow variation of bird doo doo be called a table condiment? It's sour and tastes like Mikey's socks!
"You've tasted his socks."
When you gotta chew something, his socks are always lying around. Victims just waiting to be gnawed upon
"Yuck. Are you really that uncivilized?"
Think about that question for a second, then you tell me, two-legger.
Aireilei grinned. "Oh, so now I'm the enemy just because I stand on two legs?"
Yeah! The pictures Don's shown me of other dragons that people drew look like idiots! And they stand on four legs!
"So? You're intelligent enough."
Enough? Bima questioned dangerously.
"Nothing meant by it."
Oh suuuure. Big. Fat. LIAR. She emphasized each word with a screech of a different note on Aireilei's scales.
"Hey, quit it, you'll wake sleeping beauty!" Aireilei protested.
Which one? Three-Ton Lard or Stinky Butt Bat?
"Use the brain the overly kind gods gave you."
Oh, that was an insult!
"Darn straight it was."
Why I oughta…
"Hang on, we're landing!" The next second, Bima was jarred from her spot on Aireilei's back and flew off as if she had wings again. She had to turn in midair to avoid squishing Palaesi when she landed in a pile of fresh teela…erm, you get the picture.
The angry dragon carefully deposited Palaesi on the ground next to Mikey before bursting out, "Where in the name of FIRE is the stupid COW that made this PIE! I can't believe I just landed in TEELA CRAP!" She continued to rant furiously, cursing in various ways that wouldn't look at all nice in print. "I will TEAR the brainless SOW who did this into PIECES!"
Iwansi was rolling on the grass, laughing fit to split her sides. When she tried to talk, all that came out were more laughs, gasps, and air deprived squeals of mirth. Naicro, who was standing nearby, merely smiled in a fatherly way at the pissed off silver-blue dragon. Aireilei was trying very hard not to cause her sister more grief by chuckling, but there still emerged a few that she missed cutting back. Sor, who had just emerged from the forest with a water skin, gaped at her in surprise as she continued cursing. Kiara hid her smile masterfully; the only real proof that she was grinning fit to burst was her eyes that were crinkled into slits.
"If I EVER find a RIVER to clean this crud off, so help me I'll kick the da–" And here we cut off, for more choice expletives followed, and to keep this story in the lower part of the rating T, I'll keep them out. Mature writers, use your imagination. By now, Iwansi was laughing uncontrollably and Palaesi was well awake.
The little gunghir wrinkled her nose in distaste. "What's that icky smell, Auntie Aweil?" she complained, plugging the receiver of the stench with her two index fingers.
"Oh this is GREAT! Just PERFECT! Now a kid with freakishly strong wind magic makes fun of me TOO!" Bima bellowed hotly. There was a circle of flattened crab grass where she had stamped around the pile of…ah, I'll leave that to you guys. "I'm so cheesed OFF!" To prove it, she spat a large ball of flames at the mound, setting it on fire and filling the air with an even more putrid stench.
Naicro coughed. "I believe it is well past departure time, child," he gagged, turning upwind from the smoldering dung.
"My thoughts exactly, father," Aireilei agreed, flattening her ears. Iwansi's eyes were spouting hissing tears now.
"Ohohoh!" the yellow dragon gasped. "I knew we should've stopped that teela from taking a dump, Naicro!" Bima, now aware there wasn't a stream nearby, grumbled curses and more expletives, continuing to revile the offending teela as she rolled around in the grass.
"When anybody sights a stream, tell me or I swear by my Claw, I'll…Sor, you tell me where that water is or you're as good as sterile!" Bima ground out, settling her glare on him. The gunghir gulped and glanced suggestively down at that place where the sun don't shine. Kiara, unable to keep her laughter in any longer, shattered the uncomfortable silence.
Sor was turning pale now. "That's not funny, Bima!"
"It most certainly IS!" Iwansi roared, helpless to the streams of tears that were running out of her eyes.
"That's downright horrible!" the male gunghir squeaked. "Have you any idea how much that would hurt?"
Bima growled, "Tell me, or your dick gets it." To make a point, the silvery-blue dragon raised a paw adorned with sharp silver claws that gleamed hungrily in the sunlight.
"Alright, alright, just don't hurt me!" Sor dashed away into the trees with a girly squeal, Bima hot on his tail and cursing like a sailor. Aireilei stared, severely disturbed, at the trail they left in the vegetation.
"Well!" she remarked with a chuckle. "That was worth seeing!"
Iwansi gasped, "Oh, I can't breathe…I can't breathe!" and choked on giggles again.
Kiara grinned devilishly. "I'd pay to see that again. I would've helped Bima do it too…" She pulled out a rapier and examined its incredibly sharp edge, much to the utter amusement of Iwansi.
Palaesi, however, didn't understand why the funny batman had run off looking so scared. "What's a dick?" she asked, impervious to Iwansi's howl of laughter at the question.
"Erm, maybe when you're older," Aireilei said, picking up the little girl. She soon realized her mistake when she started crying.
"Nooo, put me down, I wants Meki!" she sobbed. The dragon dropped her on Mike's plastron as though she were acid. The pint-sized blow wakened the turtle in an instant.
"Whoa, what the shell's that stank?" he promptly asked, making a face that even Kiyo would question. "Did someone cut one? Cause that sure smells!"
"Yay, Meki!" Palaesi jumped up and grabbed his ear, pulling herself up to enjoy the view from his scalp. "Did you sleeps okay, Meki?" she asked naively, flattening herself on his head.
Mike blinked. "Who's the kid?"
"I was about to ask that too," Kiara added, sheathing her sword.
It came to the turtle in a few seconds. "Oh, hey kiddo! We made it, eh?" He pried the kid off his head and bounced her up and down. "Man, that would've been a seriously awful fall, eh?"
Her face brightened. "I saw the big bag guy get babikeyed!" she chattered excitedly.
"Babikeyed?"
"Her word for barbecue, I suppose," Aireilei supplied.
"Ah, really? You do the crispy fry job, Airy?"
"Yup. Nicely browned and carrying the scent of burnt chicken on the wind," she replied, snorting smoke in satisfaction. Just then, Sor emerged from the undergrowth, pale from his scare and keeping far ahead of Bima 'lest she change her mind and make him a eunuch for the satisfaction for seeing him squeal like a little girl again. The dragon was now sparkling clean, but signs that she was still ticked off dwelled in her eyes.
Sor ran to Kiara and hid behind her. "Don't let her come near me," he pleaded pitifully.
Mike guffawed at him. "What'd you do to make her so pissed off, Sor?"
Iwansi giggled. "When Aireilei landed, Bima flew into a pile of poop. She got so angry she made Sor lead her to a stream or she'd…heheh…remove his jewels in the most painful way!" Her efforts for a straight face went out the door and she started rolling on the grass again.
"I'm telling you, she's insane!" Sor protested weakly.
Aireilei grinned sympathetically. "Sor, be thankful she doesn't have wings any more, or I swear, she'd make you miserable in the air." Kiara sniggered at his relieved look. Bima scowled. "I say we get going before somebody finds us, alright?"
Mike accidentally inhaled more perfume a la poo. "Phew, yes ma'am!" he hastily said, hopping onto her back. Palaesi giggled with delight when Aireilei lifted off.
"Naicro, you know what to do, right?"
He nodded sagely. "Follow your shadow, child. On my back, little one," he said to Bima. She grudgingly muttered something along the lines of being as old as a granny from the Stone Age wasn't young, but she jumped on anyway. Iwansi took flight and hovered beside Aireilei, Sor close behind. Naicro allowed Kiara to get on before whirling like a ballet dancer and flowing into the trees silently as a ghost.
"Oh, ow, hey, that hurts!" Lharom growled, jerking his paw as Don tried to pry the spearhead out of it. "What're you doing, stabbing a stick into it?"
"No, I'm getting it out," Don patiently explained, gripping the spearhead. "Hold still; this'll look worse that it hurts." With finality, he yanked it out and was thrown back as the griffin roared in pain.
"Lor, that felt like you amputated my paw!" he complained, holding up the stricken foot.
Don shook his head and turned. "Orcaine! It's out!" he called into the darkness. The yellow vern came trotting out of the undergrowth laden with wood and a disgruntled Raphael on her back.
"Oh, good," she said lightly, allowing Raph to hop off before she deposited the tinder on the ground. She padded up to Lharom, scrutinized his wound, and grabbed it in her paw, ignoring the child-like yelp of pain Lharom let out. "This shouldn't be too hard to fix. Just a flesh wound."
"And maybe a nerve wound too!" Lharom suggested acidly. "Because the yatined thing hurts like hela!"
"Quit being such a chick," Orcaine chided, glowing white. A few seconds later, the griffin had his paw back, good as new. She turned back to Raph, who was clearing a space for fire on the ground. "Now, Raph, arrange those sticks in a teepee, like this…"
Oh, for crying out loud, Hytis! You answer me! Kadi snarled from the brush.
"Calm down, Kadi, maybe he's not concentrating," Dakari suggested.
Her reply came back with a scathing report. The idiot can sense when I'm trying to contact him mentally! Now, for the love of Yulakai, will you ANSWER me, Hytis?
Don shook his head and smiled. "Those two are like a married couple," he remarked, turning his head up to find Saesha in the moonlit sky. He didn't have to wait long. She came down at the speed of a bullet, obviously agitated and in the mood for a fight.
"Don, get a move on!" she hissed, prancing nervously on the ground. "There's a beihl in the bushes! And something else with it! The scent is too muddled to be anything but a…" She never finished. A huge glittering form crashed through the trees, felling one. Don yelled in surprise and grabbed his partner, diving to the side to miss the huge pine's trunk.
"What in the name of…?" Lharom started, but paled. "Jhadie," he cursed.
Raph had his Sais our and ready. "What the shell is that thing?" he bellowed, moving out of another tree's path. Rijinn landed on his shoulder, looking severely spooked. Orcaine had turned a bright sunflower yellow.
When the form moved into the moonlight, Don gasped and Kadi, who had emerged from the bushes, cursed profusely.
Aw, okay, c'mon, there was only ONE cliffie, wasn't there? (reviewers: "Who cares, it's still a cliffie! And a BAD one at that!") Oh well, a deal's a deal. You'll find out who Kadi's reviling next chapter.And for those of you who knowwhat nervousness is, pray for me onSaturday! There's a paradethe marching bandhas togo to. It's called the Bonita Fest. Adn to make things worse, Schrwarzaneggar is going to be there and it's going to be televised! Not good for the nerves,I tell you. For a first prarde, I don't think I'll do too well. I'm trying to get down the "walk in astraight line" thing and myrank leader has stork legs, so he takes awfully large steps. Til next time! And if you'd liketo hear how the parade went, my Live Journal link is on my bio; check it on Sunday.
Ashite Imasu,
LN