FSE

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I felt both people holding my hands increase their grip ten fold just as I hit the button, and as we fell, I concentrated on not losing my balance, because I would pull Joanna and Covington down with me.Then we arrived.

One of the lady's maids did lose her balance, which brought Covington backwards, but I landed well, and we steadied ourselves. Then I looked around.

We were standing beside a lazily flowing river, and a small pier which had a few rowing boats and one small engined boat tied up. The ground was hard, and covered is lush grass.Although the sun had gone down, there were plenty of fairy lights, and we could all see rather well. As I looked up the slight hill, I could see a grand old villa, and a path leading towards the main lawn in front of it, although we were unsighted.

From here, all we could see of the lawn was the entrance, a temporary pair of poles with a banner joining the two of them.The banner was not readable in my tongue. We set off gently up the hill, in a certain order. Covington led, with me and Furdinand either side and slightly behind him. Joanna was walking primly behind him, and the two lady's maids followed two steps behind their mistress. Then we came up the lawn, and I was temporarily silenced and bereft of movement.

What a sight lay before me. There was a row of benches on the far side, where a few couples sat. To my left, looking away from the villa, was a small maze of hedgerows. To my right was the villa, and in front of the villa was a huge series of tables, not currently full of anything, except table cloths and candles. There was no wind, which was a mercy. Behind one of the poles was a man handing out those special masks you would normally see at a almost Victorian party, the sort of half mask on a stick, which covered the eyes, ears, and forehead. These designs ranged for many different animals, and Covington took one that was obviously scaly.

The lady Joanna didn't take a mask, but Furdinand and I did. I took one that was that of a black wolf, and as I looked through the eye holes, I saw my scaly friend Draco by the tables, talking to Simba, and, oh my god, Javid. I say oh my god, because he looked absolutely awesome. His trousers were midnight, as was his tie, but he wore a delicious, dark green dinner jacket over a white shirt. He had a mask of a feathered creature, while Simba had a wolven one, and Draco had chosen a scaly one, which didn't make a whole lot of difference. The guests were all mingling, talking to one another.

I sidled up to my friends.

"All's well, enjoying yourself?"

"Indeed, Alduin, we are."Javid smiled.Draco spoke.

"Joanna arrived alright?"

"Yes.Why are you wearing a scaled mask?"

"It's to confuse people." Draco grinned, and I managed a half smile.

"I see." I lied.

We walked into the throng, and I finally met the groom-to-be. He looked immaculate in his black suit, and was indeed a very handsome wolf. He was genuinely warm to me at first sight, and shook my hand strongly as Draco introduced me.

"Alduin, this is Gerard, he's the alpha male of the Red Clan. Gerard, this is Alduin, he's one of the explorers in our team."

"Good to meet you, Master Alduin. I hear you are quite the fierce one, both at battle and around the table."

"What ever Draco has said about me, it's all lies."I grinned, and Gerard laughed.

"I shouldn't be too sure about that. Apparently you were responsible for this entire end of the war thing."

"Well, I had a lot of help from Draco and Simba, and a lot of co-operation from both clans. I just, gave things a push in the right direction."

"So where did you spring from?"

"I escorted the lady Joanna from her estate, I have one of those teleporters also."

Gerard looked at me.

"Joanna's here, is she? I haven't spoken to her in ages, where did she go?"

I hadn't seen her since she blended into the crowd, but I told the prince which direction she had gone, and after politely bidding me farewell, sidled off in that direction.Simba came up to me.

"I've got a new toy."he announced."It's a DNA tracker, which will track their movements. Let's have a look at your wrist."

He took my wrist, and found a stray hair from Joanna's arm on my own.

"Cheers for that, it works better this way."

He waited for a few seconds, and then showed me the device. On it was the surrounding area from above, and the two paths of the princess, in white, and the prince in gold. Gerard was heading roughly in the right direction, and we went to the seats to sit down. Draco was already there, Javid had walked into a group of admiring Black clan, and we watched as Gerard methodically travelled through the guests, looking for Joanna. He twice went past her from ten yards, and I sighed.

"Does he have one of these?"

"No."

"Pity."

Finally though, the white dot and gold dot intersected, and we could see among the milling wolves that Gerard was speaking to Joanna. At least they were talking. Draco winked, and pressed a button on his ear piece, and we heard Gerard speak.

"My lady, Joanna, I did not expect to see you here."

"Neither, Gerard, how long has it been?"

"A year, maybe a bit more.Certainly before the outbreak of war."

"So I suppose you have been fighting all this time?"

"No lady, I am not a fighting man.Besides, they don't allow alpha men to go to the front."

"That's strange. Twice I had to go there, to give encouraging talks to the troops."

"Well, I did have to do that once, but they didn't expect me to pick up a rifle, and join them."

"So we've been preaching against one another?" Joanna looked slightly amused.

There was no right answer for that one, and while Gerard was looking for it, Joanna laughed.

"I shall see you later." she walked off. Gerard hit his forehead in annoyance. I could tell he was thinking he had muffed that up. Draco spoke to me.

"Not bad for a first attempt." I sighed.

"Well, I thought he did rather well. He doesn't seem to think so, though."

At that point, the alpha male from the black clan stood on a chair as the bell in the villa tolled eight.

"Welcome all, to this ball, ladies and gentlemen. I can't see my opposing alpha male, so I'm going to have to make this speech by myself, unless Gerard could come forward."

"Don't worry,"Gerard called back, with a smile,"I'll let you take all the speeches."

There was a collective laugh, but Gerard nevertheless stepped forward, and likewise stood on a chair.

They spoke for a few minutes each, saying what an honour, how lucky it was, how good it was that everyone was here, etc. The sort of politician standard speech, except Gerard, who spoke second, added a postscript.

"I would like to call forward Alduin, the offworlder who actually caused all this. He was at the parley, and I heard that his sharp tongue managed to bridge the gap, although no one's actually told me what they said." Another loud laugh, while Draco chuckled at my sudden discomfort. I stood, and walked through the crowd to the two wolves, and stood on the third chair in the row, beside the alpha male. I looked at the mass of people looking at me, and spoke.

"If you were expecting me to deliver a speech, you're going to be disappointed, because I was unaware that I was going to be called forward. Neither, I would guess, were the respectable gentlemen beside me."

"That's true." the alpha male replied, to a big laugh. Gerard merely nodded.

"So can I just say that while I have been what has been termed a catalyst, I would like to make it quite clear that without the considerable help of both clan leaders, we would not have been here tonight. I congratulate you all on this." I gave a small bow to the crowd, and got a round of applause. Then the three of us got off our chairs, and as we did, the servants started bringing out the feast.

And a feast it was.The food was all finger food, meats, biscuits, vegetables, and while plates and cutlery were provided, these were merely precautions. As it turned out, Joanna sat down at a table, and ate off a plate, talking to several others. I couldn't blame her, nothing could afford to be spilled on her dress. Gerard rather quickly pulled up a seat, and joined the conversation. After his first attempt he was more subdued, and he said little, although what he did say was sensible and intelligently formed.

I did not eat, not all the food in the world would make me forget that while food and wine looked good, I had a very delicate body. To make a automotive comparison, Draco was a family hatchback, can eat almost anything, but I was a F1 car, so delicate and highly sprung with what to eat and drink. So while Draco mingled with ease, Javid, finally glad of some peace, spoke with me and Simba, while we listened to Gerard's conversation.

Javid was quite charming to talk to, he spoke eloquently, and we discussed at length many things.He asked a few questions of Central, and we of his planet. This went on a for a good half an hour, and the feast was polished off. At the end of the half hour, the plates were cleared away, and there was about five minutes of pause. Then a quartet of musicians came from the building, to a round of applause, and people got up to dance. We mingled among the dancers, and as the dance began, I found myself face to face with Joanna herself.

"Enjoying yourself, Alduin?" she smiled. I hesitated, and then replied.

"It's quite a lot different from my planet." she smiled at my uncertainty, and I continued,"May I have the pleasure of this dance, Joanna?"I bowed deeply to here, and she laughed.

"So that's how you do it. Do you dance, Alduin?"

"Not very well." I admitted, and then silently moaned as the band immediately began a 'two beats to the second' dance. I had done some limited ball room dancing, and while Joanna led me through the moves, I managed to keep up. At the same time, Simba was giving me a position update.

"At the end of the first section of the dance, everyone changes partners. Gerard is nearby, see if you can't dance her into him."

Easier said then done. While going through the dance, I kept my eye on Gerard, who was but a few yards away, dancing with a silver wolf. He glanced at Joanna, and then me over her shoulder. Then came the interchange, and as it came, I tried to move my way towards Gerard. My musical timing was perfect, and I ended up with Gerard's partner, and Joanna found herself with the prince.

"Neatly stepped, Alduin." Simba replied. My new partner was unaware of my lack of knowledge, and I lost all interest in Joanna's situation as I danced, mainly because I would have lost count.

The dance went on for a further four minutes, and my legs were beginning to pack up as the quartet played the last few chords. I bowed to my silver partner, who smiled to me. Then I made my way through the throng to the lion, who was still sitting on the benches.

"Well?"

"They are staying together for the next dance. What about you?"

"My knees will never be the same." I replied, grinning.Javid pulled a seat.

"Alduin, that was the clumsiest performance I have ever seen.Who taught you to dance?"

"No one!"I burst out laughing. Draco pulled up a chair.

"I think I twisted my ankle in the last four bar section.I was not made to dance." the reptilian said plainly. I smiled.

"That makes two of us. Fortunately, Joanna and Gerard are dancing this one. Please let it be a slow one."

Apparently the musicians were listening, because after a minute, they began a very slow waltz, and I saw Gerard and Joanna slowly dancing on the spot.

"He waltzes divinely." I said, as Gerard led Joanna into a perfect pirouette, her dress swinging outwards.

We watched critically at the dancers. We had surprisingly little experience of this sort of party. Draco was approached by the silver female that had been my partner, and offered a dance, and promptly led Draco all the way across the lawn, until both of them were out of sight. After about five minutes out of sight, Draco's mike clicked off.

"I'm going to kill that dragon." I said, with a straight face. Javid looked at me.

"Does he do this often?"

"With what ever race he can get his hands on."

The dancing continued for a good two hours, and was reinforced by the arrival of dessert, so there was a group dancing, and group at the tables, and a steady flow of people between the two. Joanna did several dances with Gerard, barely saying one word to him, but looking into his eyes. It was causing me to grab my hair in impatience.

"Why doesn't she say it? She loves him, he loves her, how hard can it be?"

"They're both afraid to admit it, though."

"I swear, this is the last time I play Cupid." I looked heavenward."Now if they were alone, I'd do the same trick I pulled with Alex and Logan, if you gave me half an hour to get the equipment."

Draco appeared about ten minutes before the dancing ceased, looking considerably serviced, and smiling widely. I just shook my head at him.

"I'm glad someone's been enjoying themselves. We are on a mission here."

"And has anything developed?"

"They're still dancing." Simba replied."Although the band looks like it's about to take a break."

True to his form, two songs later, the band put down their instruments, and I heard Gerard speak.

"You dance wonderfully, Joanna."

"Thank you Gerard. You don't do too badly either."

"Umm, Joanna?"

"Yes?"

Long pause. All three of us were listening on tenterhooks.

"I would like to say that no matter what you think, I am in love with you.I have heard things from my friends, and it's O.K. if you don't feel the same way, but I love you."

"Finally!" I said aloud. But no one but my friends heard this.

"Oh, Gerard," Joanna sounded amazed. I couldn't actually see them at this moment, they had meandered away from the seats,"I so wanted you to say that, for so long.I have dreamed it so."

"Then will you be my bride, my lady?"

"Do you really think it would be any answer other than yes?"

"It's just I was so nervous about it. I knew you wrote poetry..."

Oh dear.

"Draco, we might need the letter right now." I said, quickly.

"Gerard, can you come with me?" Joanna's voice was suddenly quite calm. Simba looked at his scanner.

"Incoming, and at a fast rate of knots. I think this entire thing's been busted wide open."

"Javid, go get Furdinand and Covington. We might need some backup at this point." Draco looked slightly worried. The wolf hurried off, not wishing to be within the approaching thunder storm. I opened a book I had with me, and waited for the inevitable command. Draco likewise made himself seem busy.

"Alduin!" the voice was steel.I looked up. Joanna looked very angry, Gerard somewhat confused. I stood, and came over to them. Looking slightly down at the white wolf, I spoke.

"Yes my lady?"

"You told Gerard I wrote poetry for him, am I correct?"

"No."I said simply.

There was a long pause, and then everyone around us turned and look at the strange sight. It was just incredible.

"Can you explain how he knows?"

"Yes, my lady. We were told that you were a beautiful composer,long before we talked, and we, well, made a few things happen."

Furdinand arrived, with Covington and Javid close in tow. Gerard spoke.

"Explain yourself. Why have you made Joanna upset?"

"My lord, when I listened to you speaking about one another, through Draco's recordings and my own, I realised that what I was seeing was two people intensely in love with one another, and neither with the courage to admit it."

Long pause. Everyone was looking at me.Thus unhindered, I took the plunge.

"Joanna, everything Furdinand said to me and Covington was unfounded, and mostly made up. Saphadin had no idea of anything Gerard felt for you.We knew he was a writer, and we used the idea to make it sound here was a desperate wolf who wanted to express his love, and yet never sent the letter."

Gerard darkened.

"Likewise, what Gerard heard was a complete fable, made up by Javid at the spur of the moment.Did you find it odd that you happened to find out? It was all planned, while you were fencing, you'd accidentally over hear."

I have never come this close to being struck without it actually happening. Joanna and Gerard were struck by disbelief, and anger. All the guests were looking at me as the plot unravelled, and I spoke.

"Yet to seal it, we needed proof, and after we had 'rattled the cage', we got the right response. Joanna, have a guess what Gerard did the night after he overheard Javid?"

Draco stepped forward. Gerard stood in front of the dragon.

"You took that from my quarters."

"Oh really, Gerard? You seemed to have no further use for it. By the way, guess what Joanna did?"

I stepped forward, and smartly handed over the single sheet of paper. As Joanna came forward to hit me, Draco gave her the letter. There was a long period of confusion, and both unfolded their respective pieces of paper.There was a longer one while they both read, and then turned, looking one another deeply in the eye. Then they kissed.

It was an impressive kiss. Fully fifteen seconds, while applause began and then spontaneously erupted to fill the entire lawn. I clasped my hands in mock prayer. Draco tapped my shoulder.

"O.K., we're off."

Simba, Draco and myself slowly headed backwards, but it was too late. Joanna finally broke off, and spoke.

"Right, I owe Alduin one kick."

Oh dear. I turned and ran, changing into my Lightning form, and erupting into the sky. Draco hared down the short beach to this side of the island, and dived into the water, changing into his powerboat, and roaring down the river. Simba changed into his helicopter form, and took off fast, and likewise headed down stream. I was thus going the wrong way, and had to bank over the villa to catch them up.As I did, I released my flares.

The blinding flares erupted from my craft, and exploded in a display of fireworks. There was a cheer, and then we were away from the villa.

"I can tell Joanna doesn't want to see us ever again." I said, quite calmly, for someone who has been threatened by a white wolf in a bad mood.

"Actually, that went off without a hitch. Admittedly, if Gerard hadn't mentioned the fact he knew about her poetry, we'd still be down there, but this is the second best result."

We landed about five miles from the villa, and teleported to the air-base. No one save some black clan were there, and they were guards who knew us, and let us in.We went up to our rooms, and promptly locked the doors leading to our bedrooms.

We woke early the next morning. I realised it was a Tuesday, and realised I really had to get back to Earth, before I dumped another day on one of my work mates. As I came downstairs, Javid, Covington and Furdinand were there. Draco and Simba were still asleep, and as I came down, by impulse I changed into my bionic form.

"Um, did it all go to plan?" I said, tentatively.

There was a pause, and all three wolves burst out laughing.

"I'll take that as a yes." I said, relieved. I made myself some coffee, while Javid updated me.

"There was a mass confusion after you had left, but it was broken by Gerard. He came forward, and spoke to the populace, announcing he would marry Joanna."

"And?"

"Everyone cheered him, and cheered Joanna. I think she's forgiven you for the fast one you pulled, but I wouldn't visit her today."

"I was intending to head back to my planet in an hour or so anyway."

"But they're happy, the populace is happy, the war's over." Furdinand reeled off." That's got to be a master stroke."

"One I never want to make ever again." I replied, drinking deeply of the coffee. Draco came downstairs.

As he did, there was a knock at the door. Javid went to open it, and then jumped back in surprise. I was unsighted, but Furdinand turned, and removed his army hat.

Draco turned and bolted up the stairs in anticipation. I looked around for possible exits, and contented myself with the open window. Thus everyone turned, and I was no longer there. I landed hard, and looked around the side wall.

They must have caught a private plane. Standing at the door, looking in, were Joanna and Gerard. The latter turned, and spotted me. He smiled, and made a 'Come over here' gesture.

Thus invited, I stopped hiding, and Joanna turned as I approached. She laughed at my meek attitude.

"Where did you get to?"

"I move fast when I'm frightened, my lady." I said, looking extremely nervous. Draco came down the landing, looking very cautious, and fully kitted. Simba was behind him. My kit was still in there, by the table, although my rifle was over my shoulder.

"You do know that coup you've pulled was majestic." Joanna looked me up and down.

"Well, I was merely lending a hand."

"I would term it orchestrating the entire thing." Gerard laughed. I wrung my hands, and Draco, hearing the laughter, breathing in relief. We all went in, and laughed merrily over the stunt.

"Honestly, we were watching your progress trying to find her, and Alduin was holding his head in impatience."Simba laughed." You had walked past her twice, and he was this far from cursing."

"That was what worried me, I couldn't find her off his directions." Gerard nodded.

"I was questioned by a whole bunch of my clan, Gerard.We covered some space." Joanna replied."So Alduin, enjoyed it?"

"Playing Cupid was rougher than I expected."I admitted, and then did a re-enactment of waiting for Gerard to say something during the dance. This got a huge laugh.Gerard chuckled, and spoke.

"I was like, "How to say this?"I was so worried about how to say it."

"It was when you admitted you knew about her poetry that they panicked."Javid replied. "Draco sent me to get Covington and Furdinand, and Alduin started pulling out a book. Simba was the only one who didn't look terrified."

"That's because we had an angry bride to be heading our way." I reminded."So, Javid, are you ready?I'm just making this point because we need to be getting back to Central."

"Really so quick to leave?" Draco looked at me.

"Draco, my boss is mad at me already for not turning up to work today." I looked at the relaxed dragon."I would hate to have to turn up to work after missing two days."

Javid had his essentials, so after a bit more pleasant conversation, Joanna and Gerard bid us farewell.They of course invited us to come when every we wanted, as long as they had advance warning.We bid them farewell, and, with Javid on my teleporter, we teleported back to Central.

We landed reasonably well, and Javid looked around at the metal corridors. As he did, a Glower arrived.

"Draco, you are late." the glower said.

"Sorry about that, we were stopping two warring parties from fighting one another."

"Always with the ridiculous excuses, as well. I see you've brought back one of the inhabitants." the glower would have nodded at this point.

"Yes, this is Javid. He's quite the find.First we will take him to Arachno, for an ABM. Then I think a trip to get something to eat is in order." Draco replied. The glower went with Draco, while Simba led us to Arachno's office. Arachno was there, and while Javid had seen Arachno before, he still wasn't prepared for the spider creature in his own office. But Javid accepted the operation no problem, and it went off without a hitch.

Two hours later, with Draco and a recently awake Javid, we headed to the food store. Draco went in first, and Javid hung back, slightly shy of these surroundings. Heads turned, and looked at us as we entered. Devlin stood.

"Ah Draco, give me the gen." He high fived Draco, and Draco pulled up a chair. We then entered, and Draco made the announcement to the surroundings people. Doran was there, along with Time, and Winslo, and we sat down at the table, with Javid surrounded by various animals wishing to meet his acquaintance.Meanwhile, Draco, with some of my help, explained the tale, and there was raucous laughter. Meanwhile quite a few were looking at my new found weapon, the rocket launcher. Brendan asked me why I needed it.

"Brendan, someone tried to take my leg off with it. I knocked them out. Thus it is mine."

After the talking, me, Devlin, Draco, and Javid headed back to our bunk room. I realised I had forgotten something, and spoke to Devlin.

"Dev, hold fire, I need to tie my laces."

He came to a halt beside me as the other two walked ahead, and I retied my laces. As soon as they were out of shot, I spoke to the Hellfire dragon.

"Devlin, I've got a new target for you.Javid admitted he's a virgin."

"Now that's a surprise." Devlin raised his eyebrows." How did you find this out?"

"Well, we were about to have it, but he said he was a virgin, didn't know what to do, etc., and I was like, "O.K., I'll let a friend of mine enlighten you there." You do it better."

Devlin laughed." I respect your confidence in me. So your plan is?"

"I've already been thinking too much this weekend,"I replied." I just thought I'd let you know, before Silverine does."

We caught up with the other two, and Draco was about five metres from the door when a glower turned up.

"Draco, could you come with me?You missed some of the paperwork."

Perfect timing, glower. Draco went after him, and as Javid went and examined the quarters.He went into the bathroom, with Devlin explaining everything. The door locked, and I smiled as silence fell in the bathroom.

After this merry meeting was over, I teleported home just in time for afternoon tea. Gareth was playing minesweeper, and he looked up as I arrived.

"You're late." he said. I smiled.

"Missed me?"

Gareth rose from his computer chair, and sprang at me, knocking me to the ground. With my pack, I couldn't athletically throw him off, and I said so.

This time, that night, I opened my drawer, and examined the contents. Then I opened my backpack, and placed a single sheet of paper, on which was a woman's undying love for her lover, and ceremoniously shut the drawer. Then I switched off the light, and went to my bedroom. As I pulled the covers, I wondered how Gerard and Joanna were doing, along with all their friends.