"Hey Ray! Whatcha up to?"

The startled dragon almost dropped his knife at the sound of Kate's voice. The woren offered him an apologetic look and turned her attention back to peering over his shoulder at the small wooden figurine in his hand. Her tail waved lightly as she balanced herself on the edge of the fountain where Ray was sitting, water splashing up gently behind her as it poured from the hands of the windian warrior, Nina the first, whose image adorned the great fountain in Windian Park. Ray recovered himself and held up the small figurine so that Kate could examine it more closely.

"Whittling."

"Neat!" The woren stared at the small wooden figure of the windian girl who looked to be in her young teens. She could tell the girl was windian due to the set of wings on the figures back, much larger then any wings she had seen on the windians who walked around the city now. Ray seemed to be carving an image taken from the history books, back when windian blood was richer. She continued to gaze adoringly down at the tiny girl in the dragon's hands. "That's so cool! I've never seen anyone carve something like that before." A light purr echoed from her throat.

Ray shrugged. "Eh, it's not much. Whittling is something my dad taught me when I was much younger." The dragon flipped the figure around in his hands, studying his own handy work. "I do it from time to time."

"I wish I could do stuff like that."

"Enough practice and I'm sure you could." Ray carefully began to carve lightly into the figures wings, detailing a few more feathers onto the wooden girl. Kate's ears flicked in interest as she watched.

"Hey Ray?"

"Huh?"

"I've been meaning to ask you, what do you think of Windians?"

"What do you mean?"

Kate shrugged lightly. "I mean, well, do you like them? Do you hate them?"

Ray chuckled lightly at the woren as he worked. "Why would I hate them?"

Kate just shrugged again. "Well, they don't seem to like you all that much."

Ray's careful hands faltured a bit and he almost chipped off more then he ment to in one of the details in the small peice of wood. Kate didn't seem to notice. The dragon reminded himself that it was just an honest question from the curious woren. "I know." He brushed a few flakes of wood off of his little figure. "But that doesn't give me reason to not like them back."

"What about the WINGS?"

She was starting to sound a lot like his sister, the dragon thought to himself. He wondered a bit about the odd innocence of the woren's actions, the odd way her simple questions reminded him of the way he often talked to his eight year old sibling. He chipped another feather detail into the wings of the windian girl before replying. "What about the WINGS?"

"Don't they ever bother you?"

"Sure they do. I wouldn't mind it if they'd leave me alone for a while." Ray blew away a few more small wood chips. "But I don't hate them. I just wish they'd have a better reason for bothering me."

Kate continued to gaze at the small figure the dragon was busy creating. Her tail waved in admiration. "That's really cute. What's her name?"

Ray sat back and stared down at the figure in his hands. He fumbled around with it a bit, tilting it from side to side. "Michelle."

"Why Michelle?"

"She looks like a Michelle." Ray grinned over at the woren who was still peeking over his shoulder. "Why don't you sit down?"

Kate shook her head. "I have to go soon enough. Practice over at the Colosseum."

"You fight?" Ray raised an eyebrow curiously. Kate shook her head.

"Tellka's trying to get me to."

"So what are you doing here at the park?"

"Well..." Kate straightened herself up and began pacing back and forth along the edge of the fountain. "I was at the library with Frank, he's working on a project he has in one of his classes. I was there with him, working on my reading. I guess I just got kinda restless and had to get outside." Kate turned back to Ray and shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back as she continued to pace back and forth along the fountain, this time in self amusement. Ray nodded and turned back to his work.

"Where's Britney?" Ray glanced up to see the woren darting a few glances around the park. By now she was used to seeing the two dragons at the park together.

"She's at home helping Kristeen bake dinner."

"Oh." The woren hopped off the fountain and turned back to Ray. "Well, I've got to get over to the Colosseum now or Tellka will start complaining. See you, Ray!" With a smile and a wave the woren turned and bounded off. Ray watched her go for a few moments, then turned back to the figuring he was working on. He glanced over the form of the little windian girl, then tipped her upside down and began to carefully carve 'Michelle' onto the base of the figure.