Tami's fondest wish was to be left alone, when she was angry. And when she wasn't angry, was really the only time that her father could approach her. He wasn't abusive, he wasn't sure where she got the anger from exactly. He had to make sure when she was very young, that there were no small animals or bugs near by.

She'd just tear their skin off or remove their wings, just to watch whatever it was flop around until it died. It was when she was eight, and he found her journal that detailed exacting techniques of animal torture and 'death times approximately' that he decided something had to change.

Maybe it was that he wasn't married. Tami's mother had left him when she was only two, she couldn't be remembering Chelsea, could she? Or perhaps someone else had gotten to her while she was at day care. But after looking around and asking, Frank couldn't figure any good reason that his daughter behaved this way.

He gave her what she asked - time, space, and privacy. But he demanded her presence at the dinner table, he always asked and checked up her homework - until she got into Junior High at least - and he made sure that he knew where she was, while she was alone.

It was okay that she was in the attic. She didn't make much noise. When her homework started getting specific, and he couldn't possibly help her with it (it wasn't that he was not smart, Frank just had way too much on his plate with his job already, and he didn't honestly know much about World History or Venusian Gravity) he bought her an Interstation computer. Top of the line (at least for about five minutes) electronics. He was worried that maybe she'd hook up with someone on the net, but that didn't happen.

What did happen, though, was that his little girl grew up into a stunningly beautiful redhead - just like her mother in face and voice - that had a seemingly endless desire to hurt things.

Tami was up in the Loft, as she called her attic room, typing away at a paper. She wasn't happy about this paper, it was her Geography work and it left a bad taste in her mouth. She couldn't pull better than a B in this class, no matter how hard she tried. And she was brilliant, they told her so.

A brilliant underachiever, how typical. In fact, that was her call tag on some message boards. When she'd finished up the work, and listened to it printing on the downstairs pritner (wireless, how cool) Tami patched into the net.

brilliant_underachiever: Hey all - homework done, must rant.
acid_raine: spill it chickie! X3
brilliant_underachiever: It occurred to me this morning that I am not allowed to have pets. This pisses me off.
acid_raine: pets are overrated, get a man instead. ;D
brilliant_underachiever: ha ha ha.

Tami sighed. Raine seemed to be pretty cool, and faintly familiar. Maybe she was really someone she knew, in disguise? Tami devoted all of a few minutes to this question, while typing out different messages to other people. But Raine came back online momentarily and Tami just took the plunge.

brilliant_underachiever: Raine - do I know you in rl?
acid_raine: ... is this a trick question? I don't think so, kid.
brilliant_underachiever: Then how do you know I'm a kid? Profile = f/23/Crescent
acid_raine: ... brb

Tami blinked at the screen. Why was Raine dodging this question? That in itself was worth worry. Or perhaps not worry so much as concern. But a few moments later, Raine posted a private message.

acid_raine: We have common interests, common friends. Do a little hacking.

"Hacking, right," Tami said. "Of all the things I do know how to do, that's not one of them..." She typed something about being more a real life person, and not a superspy. Raine told her to ask someone else. A green-haired someone.

"How do you know Taylee?" Tami asked, typing essentially the same question, only using the screen name 'jollygenegiant' instead of Taylee.

acid_raine: you just answered your own question.

"I don't know if I like this at all," Tami said. She begged out of the private message area, and tried to sleep. Key word - tried. Dreams came to her while she was half asleep, ones that made her heart race and her eyes open. She scanned the dream-screen reading things about her private life that had been revealed on the internet, worrying about it until she woke. It was only 1 AM, and she knew that there would be only more of the same kind of crap waiting for her if she tried to sleep again.

So she got back online, this time pm'ing Taylee.

brilliant_underachiever: green, who is acid_raine?
jollygenegiant: you're up late, aren't you red?
brilliant_underachiever: can't sleep - punctuation optional. Any clues? Know her?
jollygenegiant: I think we do, from school. Not a student, though.
brilliant_underachiever: are you sure she's a 'she'?
jollygenegiant: pretty sure. I think we all have a common link, White, Tan, and you all have him and I want him.
brilliant_underachiever: ... you're talking about the Doc? Raine knows him?
jollygenegiant: the girl gets a prize. Now go to bed.
brilliant_underachiever: and what about you? Why aren't you in bed sound asleep?
jollygenegiant: what makes you think I'm awake now? The Matrix Has You - bitch! LOl!

Tami finally switched off the computer, and the light, and snuggled herself into bed again. If she, Taylee, Tanith and Tansie all had the Doc, and he knew this Raine person... Why exactly did Raine seem to know about her specifically? Maybe the Doc really was talking about his students?

She drifted off to sleep and thought more naughty thoughts than a worried teenager ought to have regarding said Doc.

***

Tami did the unthinkable, she ditched her second period Middle English class, to show up at Tansie's Posing and Weight Training class. With the Doc. For a few minutes, she just stood in the gym hall watching the class. They were behind a thick pane of plexiglass, but she could still hear them shouting and laughing at one another. Doc Sanger wandered through the room with no shirt and those tight-tight cycling shorts that everyone - everyone - was fond of him wearing. She figured he did it just because he wanted the attention. And plus, when he was demonstrating to one of the big lunks how to "puff up and snarl" he looked really hot.

Tansie was off with one of the other girls, and they were both apparently trying to grow their neck muscles. Tami leaned on the doorway, looking in with a kind of vacant glare. Sanger happened to turn around, and saw her.

He blinked a couple times, and threw himself into 'not really the right class for this' mode. "You aren't taking this class, are you?"

"No," Tami said.

"You look like you haven't slept a wink," he said. But he wasn't mocking her - he looked and sounded rather sincere.

"I didn't. I want to know who Acid Raine is." Tami said flatly. That elicited a startled response, confusion, and then a strangely surprised smile.

"You mean Raynie? She's..." he glanced around the class making sure that perhaps everyone was doing what they were supposed to, and not listening in. "She's a friend of mine, yes."

"That you tell things to."

"I've shared certain things with her, yes..." He smiled. "Are you worried?"

"Should I be? I spent last night online with her, and she said something weird. She wouldn't admit it, but she said we had a connection." She pointed, "you. But she didn't come out and say it. What's up with that?"

"Raynie is a bit... esoteric."

"What is she?"

"An interesting question," Sanger laughed. "She's a professional interrogator and cleanup expert." He smiled brilliantly.

"... Can she get me knives?" Tami asked.

"Beyond the ones you keep stealing from the Anatomy classroom you mean?" Doc Sanger said. "Look, I'll write you a pass for this period. I'll talk to her later today, she's mostly harmless online. It's offline you have to worry about her."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Why didn't you figure it out yourself?" He asked, while writing. Then she noticed that there was a print out of her text messages below the current layer of items on his desk.

"You were ... you saw our conversation?" Tami asked. She wasn't sure whether she should be shocked, relieved, or what. "I'm trying to concentrate on forensics, not hacking."

"She sent it to me, yes. Unlike some people, Tamara, I sleep at night." He handed her the pass, and she went off to the library to do some more research.

***

Any further research she had to do was cut short by the announcement that they, the Ten, would be joining the others of the Dragon Riding and Tactics club during fourth period. She muttered to herself about the work she'd done on her paper all going down the drain, but maybe it would raise her semester grade anyway. Wouldn't be a total loss.

Nor would where she'd be standing. It was hard for her to believe that this place without time, the Healing Den, was to be her home for a short time. Because not only were there tons of hot people there, there were beautiful and strong dragons all over the place. They 'landed' at a location for the hatching, and Tami waited it out. She noticed in a strange way that more than one of the Crazy Doc were here. Professor Sanger showed up not too long after she did, beaming, with his own electrical blue dragon.

"Hot damn!" she said, "you got one!"

Grinning, the Doc nodded and introduced Umpteenth.

Tami blinked. "Sixth was the other guy's and yours is ..."

He nodded. The neon blue butted his head onto Tami's waist, and gave off what appeared to be a humming sound. "He likes you," Sanger said. Then he abruptly looked away, "sorry - have to go. Emergency Sanger meeting."

Tami wanted so much to bolt after him... But the Geperna were waiting and she'd heard so much about them too. Their rarity, their ancient bloodline, and most of all - how darn many there were!

Tami and the other candidates - some who had been waiting quite some time - stood around excitedly for the hatching. There were a lot of people in attendance, really, and Tami wasn't sure she liked the attention from all these strangers.

But from among the first half dozen eggs that broke open, the second to find his bond, Tami was Chosen by a brown male who strode forward and butted her in the chest. He was already tall, big, and friendly enough.

“I am Taloi’Gwmi, Tami. We will find our place with your friends. Stop staring at my chosen!” He turned to glare at another dragonet, a male white who had come by to investigate, but shortly backed off.  Privately, to Tami, Taloi commented, he would never have been right for you, that color clashing.

Tami giggled a bit, and her head full of ideas about what to do next, remembered that the very FIRST thing they'd want to do is head off to the food plates and grab some nice fresh meat. Taloi gobbled down a couple plates and carefully drank the fresh water coming from a faucet into a long trough.

"Now no one will ever mess with the Ten," Tami sighed.

Taloi watched with interest as Tami worked on her Environment Crafting class project. They'd decided that what with the dragons on campus now, they might as well have a nice place to put themselves while they didn't want to be in their semi-off-world dens or scaring people by flying overhead.

So the class was making an island. Well, it was a flying island. But they did have to get it basically functional before it lifted off. The engineering and other class kids were helping too. The youngling dragons weren't quite able to reach the top of the lift-device, to see what all the fuss was about. Most of them could see it through their bonds eyes, and of course those who cheated and came home with adult or nearly-adult dragons had the advantage of flight already.

I want to see it, Taloi said, but Tami chuckled and shook her head from up top.

"Sorry kid, once it's up you'll have the full run of the place but right now, everyone's gotta keep it secret."

Of course it wasn't long before the end of the quarter, and grades were handed out. Though everyone involved with the young dragons had other classes that dipped a little in their grades, the Ten still averaged out properly high. Tami was happy with that, she was glad that her scholarships wouldn't be in any danger. If she chose to...

Of course she'd choose to go to university. But now, there was the complication that not every university would accept a dragon mount as a vehicle... Or a student.

But why not? Asked Taloi, I am your friend, and you are my one companion. He flexed his wings, they were growing stronger by the day, and they'd entered flight training with the dragonry classes now. The older dragons were able to help teach the fledges the right way to move, but what they couldn't do was give their human companions the courage to get on the backs of the dragons and ride.

Tami would do so easily, but she was still worried - she'd start Junior year with a dragon, but she might skip Senior like a couple others, to head to the local college for advanced courses. But beyond that...

"PAY ATTENTION!" yelled their instructor, and Tami had to concentrate on real life again...

As the class was graduating Tami was reminded of how intimate they had all gotten with their dragons, and with each other's lives. The Ten would never really separate. They had formed such an allegiance that even when Taaj was recruited for Alabaster, they all kind of got that ride too. Engell made sure that anyone who needed their college to be persuaded to allow a dragon near, was persuaded. Sometimes indelicately, sometimes with a simple written letter and a pat on the shoulder to the dean.

Thus, Tami got into a good school in San Francisco and was able to extend her knowledge of anatomy and the human physique.

That made her much more valuable when it would come time to do Engell's dirty work...