"Wake up, Starre," Elaine called gently, flipping on the light. "I've got a big sur...prise...?"
Starre sat on her bed with her back against the wall, sound asleep. The little red dragon in her arms, however, was wide awake, and was looking at Elaine with a curious look in her bright eyes.
"W-w-wha...?" Elaine gasped, walking closer and seeing the shattered egg on the covers. "So...you're the 'something precious?' Starre?"
Starre slowly opened her eyes, and then opened them wide. She looked down into her arms, and relaxed. "Rai, I hoped you were still here. If you'd gotten into any mischief I would have had a hard time forgiving myself." She saw Elaine and grinned. "Good morning!"
"H-hi," Elaine replied. "Who's Rai?"
"Oh!" Starre laughed, stroking the wyrm's forhead with one finger. "This is Raistlin. She's what's called a Bishel Dragon. They're wonderful creatures. Don't worry," she added, "she won't hurt you unless I tell her to." Starre grinned mischeviously.
"Right," Elaine replied, and it was obvious that she took Starre quite seriously. "Well, as I was saying before, I've got a big surpirse for you! Your family is safe."
Starre cried out in joy, but Elaine held up her hand.
"I haven't seen them yet myself. I just got here and I thought I'd get you before I went to their room, just so that you could see them too. Also, right after they escaped, however that happened, our road crew caught up with the van and arrested Shrinav. So you won't have to worry about him anymore."
Starre was about bursting with excitement to see her family. She lept out of bed, cradling Raistlin, who currently had the purple toy wrapped up in her tail. She was inspecting it intently, sniffing its nose and, apparently, deciding it was worthy of her friendship, for she snuggled it while Starre carried her to John, Nina, and Stevan's room.
Kabo, the wyrm cooed as they walked.
"Is that what you've named him?" Starre asked affectionately, rubbing noses with the little wyrm.
Where we going? the little one asked abruptly, eyeing the walls.
"We're going to see John, and Nina, and Stevan," Starre explained, putting emphasis on each name. "They're kind of like your family, too, like me. Maybe you'll meet Gana, Kivo, and Io sometime!"
Rai chirrupped happily, squirming closer to Starre. Grinning, Starre looked up at Elaine. The woman smiled back, reaching out a finger to scratch Rai's nose. The wyrm seemed content with all the attention, trilling peacefully.
Finally, the group came to a door. Starre could hear happy chatter coming from the other side, and bounced on the balls of her feet with excitement.
"Here we are," Elaine said, opening the door. "And let's just -- oh!"
Elaine had just laid eyes on the three dragons curled up in the middle of the room, surrounded by three happy, smiling people. Everyone in the room rose when the door opened, and Starre was immediately swarmed with hugs and happy faces. She was not at all resistant, hugging everyone in turn, and making a surprised yelp when she saw her three dragon friends.
"Ah...who are...?" Elaine asked awkwardly, guilty to intrude on the now-tearful reunion, but Ionkori was eyeing her and it made her nervous.
"Oh," Starre laughed, "these guys are Gana, Kivo, and Io. They won't hurt you either."
"Either?" John asked, looking at Starre. Then, he made a happy noise, seeing what was now curled up on Starre's shoulder, clutching Kabo.
"Everybody," Starre said, addressing the room, "meet Raistlin."
Raistlin suddenly became a little shy, and tucked her head behind Starre's neck. Giggling, Starre brought the babe out and into her arms, where Rai gazed solemnly out at all the friendly faces -- human, dragon, and Kin alike.
Hi, she said, and, in all seriousness, stated, this Kabo. She then snuggled into Starre again, smiling a soft smile at everyone and clutching her purple beanie.
Starre beamed. "It'll take her a while to get used to everyone," she said. "Now, fill me in on what happened!"
With that, everyone sat down, and got up to date on the happenings of the others. Starre gasped at her family's daring escape, and squealed with delight when she found out that the three dragons were going to stay. John, Nina, and Stevan, in turn, were impressed with Starre's quick thinking, and commended Elaine, telling her to pass on their gratefulness to Jeff, Ben, and Benson. She said she would.
"Well, we should have gotten out of here a long time ago," John commented. "It's already almost noon. Thanks again, Elaine, for your hospitality, and for saving our lives. We'll always be grateful."
Elaine nodded. "I'll keep an eye on the situation for you, and warn you if there's any trouble brewing. By the way," she added, "are you familiar with the DF Tournament prostesting?"
The family nodded -- Starre and Nina had participated in it during Starre's trip to Saxvistan.
"Well," she continued, "I could get you some information on it if you'd like. The tournament starts in a few months, so they'll start then. I'll get in touch with you, how's that?"
"That'd be wonderful," Starre said firmly, a fiery light in her eyes. "Thanks again."
Elaine smiled, and said goodbye to the group.
And so it was that the family returned to their home, with new adventures ahead and exciting ones behind them. Who knew what was in store for Starre and Raistlin?