Hello, it's me! This happens to be the first fanfiction that I have gotten farther than one page on. I dunno where it's going, but I like it so far! So read on!

Oh, yeah...I don't own Tortall, or Corus, (the lovely Tamora Pierce does) but I do (kinda)own the characters I have introduced, which would be Katherine, Alana, Kathleen, Anastasia, Leo, Dusty, Hazel, Jael, King, Naomi, and Troy...I think that's all of 'em.

Four young girls sat in a circle under a leafy oak tree in the Palace Forest in Corus. It was midday of the first day of September. None said anything; they simply sat in silence, holding each others' hands. One looked up, smiling weakly. The others followed suit, still not saying anything. The reason that they were gathered here was to say their farewells. They had known each other for as long as they could remember, all of them living in Corus. But Fate wasn't going to act kindly. One girl was to start her training as a Shang warrior (A/N: when do they go to start their Shang training? I couldn't find that...but I didn't look really hard, either), and she had to leave with the Shang Wolf that day. One was returning to her families's fief, located near the Scanran border at the north, after staying with her aunt and uncle for seven years. One's father had died a year earlier, and she was moving in with her mother's new husband. One was staying in Corus with her family, who lived not far away, and would begin training as a page in two years.

"Let us make a pact," one said, looking at the others' curios faces. "We must swear to meet in Corus, right here, in ten years' time, on this very day, at this very time."

"So...when we will all be eighteen?" Another asked, frowning slightly. The first girl nodded solemnly.

"How will we remember?" A third girl questioned.

"We will make the deal in blood." The first girl remarked calmly, noting the shock on her friends' faced.

"But...blood magic...it is very powerful..." The second girl whispered, stuttering slightly.

"So we won't forget," the fourth girl, who hadn't spoken before then, said matter-of-factly. Looking around at her friends, she saw them all nod, somewhat hesitantly in the case of the second and third girl to speak.

"Now let us begin," The first girl said. "You," here she pointed to the second girl to speak, "must do this. You're the only one with the Gift."

"Alright..." the said girl whispered. She drew her belt-knife, and sliced her left forearm from elbow to wrist, wincing at the pain. The knife was passed along to the other three, as they did the same to their left arms. Then they push their arms together, as their combined blood dripped onto the grass. "By the Great Mother Goddess (A/N: is it the Great Mother Goddess, or just the Mother Goddess? I couldn't find that, either...)," she intoned, her pale purple gift sparkling around the four girls, "let us be bound by an inseparable bond. We will return to this very spot at this very time in ten years. I, Katherine of South Mount, agree to these terms"

"I, Kathleen of Jirescliff, agree to these terms," the first girl to speak said, without any hesitation.

"I, Anastasia of King's Court, agree to these terms," the third girl to speak murmured slowly.

"I, Alana of Gillham, agree to these terms," the fourth girl to speak whispered.

"So we have said; so it shall be," the girl casting the spell said firmly. About to end her incantation, she was stopped when a woman's voice rang out.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The unseen woman asked. Her voice was rich, deep, and pure. It also gave the girls the feeling that they should be bowing to this unseen woman. They kept their forearms firmly locked together, thought. One girl nodded. "Then it shall be this way. I, the Great Mother Goddess, agree to these terms. I shall let you know now, thought, that you will not be permitted to see each other at all before this date, and you will not remember a thing until necessary. So more it be." With those final words, the girls' arms flew apart; the purple fire stopped. All of their cuts were healed, leaving only a long silver scar.

The girls left, not even aware of each others' presences.

It had been ten, long, hard years for Alana of Gillham. She had trained with the Shangs for those years, one of the few nobles to do so, until she was finally initiated into the ranks of the Shang warriors, and dubbed the Shand Ermine (A/N: How long do they train for? What do they do when they train? I just kinda made it up...umm, yeah...). That had been in June of this year. Now, she was one her way back to Corus, for it was the day. The day of that fateful meeting, that she hadn't remember until a week prior to this day. Then it had all come back to her...the years spent with her friends, that day under the tree, the magic they had used, and the Goddess who had appeared. So she had immediately packed her few possessions, saddled her Appaloosa gelding Leo, who was a very pretty sand colour speckled with white, and set out for Corus.

Before she had left, her fellow Shang warrior had come to say goodbye. Her name was Myra, and though she was a commoner, her and Alana were the best of friends. Myra had just been dubbed the Shang Otter the week before, and was also heading out into the world. She ran over her words in her head again....

"So...this is good bye then..." A weakly smiling Myra entered Alana's tent, where she had lived for the last ten years. Myra was a girl of medium height and muscular build, with tanned skin and short, dark hair. Her eyes were an icy blue, though, and her nose straight and proud, giving her a very regal appearance. She had once told Alana that her mother was of Carthaki origin, which would explain her skin and hair colour.

"Yeah...I guess so," Alana replied, thinking to herself 'I will not cry, I will not cry...'. Myra looked like she was thinking the same thing, but with different results. She was crying openly when she threw herself at Alana, hugging her fiercely, and almost knocking the smaller girl over. Finally, Myra pulled back, and handed her something.

"We might not see each other for a while...so I got you this to remember me by," she said weakly, sniffing loudly. Alana snorted, thinking that she would never forget her boisterous, cheerful friend, who was surprisingly a mean fighter. Chuckling, Myra smiled at her friend one last time, then left the tent. Finally opening her hand to see what the girl had given her, it revealed a beautiful necklace, with a silver charm on it in the shape of an ermine, complete with glittering ruby eyes. (A/N: Doncha just love flashbacks? Muahah...)

Alana fingered the necklace nervously now, as she topped a hill, and found herself looking down on the sprawling city Corus. I'm just on time, she thought, smiling wryly. It seemed that someone had gone out of their (her, she corrected herself mentally)way to make sure it was that way. Shaking her head, she began to make her way down to the city she hadn't seen for ten years. (A/N: No, she didn't go back to Corus at all during her training. So hah.)

Kathleen of Jirescliff was riding into the city at that time, at the head to the Ninth Rider Group, nicknamed Brokefang's Pack after the occurrences at Fief Dunlath fourteen years earlier (A/N: It was the Ninth Group, 'Ogre's Bane' or something like that, that was destroyed by that mage guy in Wolfspeaker, or at least I'm pretty sure. So I renamed the new and improved Ninth Group, mmkay?). In her time as a rider, she had gone from an new trainee who knew very little about fighting to the commander of a Rider's Group. She was also very skilled in almost all weapons, especially the long sword. For her eighteenth birthday, which was actually just under two weeks ago, her parents had given her a beautiful long sword, that was the perfect length and weight for her. She had dubbed it 'Opal', and now carried it everywhere she went. Although she had yet to try it out on someone, she was sure that it would do its job perfectly.

"Commander?" one of her companions, a young man her age named Jael, asked, poking her slightly. "Are we going to be staying in the palace, or at some wayside inn that will no doubt beimmoral, contemptible, vulgar, obscene, indecent, off-colour, unch-"

"No!" Kathleen interrupted him quickly. Jael had a...'flare' for words, and he could recite synonyms for hours. He quite often did, too, if not stopped early enough. "I have to go do...something. You can stay at the Rider Barracks at the palace." She saw his eyebrows go up when she said 'something', and he looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something again. So she quickly went on, saying, "It has to do with...some friends of mine, that I haven't seen in a while."

"Oh, really?" Jael remarked, drawing out the word 'really' for longer than was necessary.

"Yes, really," Kathleen replied testily, holding the word 'really' for as long as he had. "Now go! You're in command until I get back." Seeing her friend's eyes lite up, she added, in a whisper only they could hear, 'If you do ANYTHING stupid, I will make you regret the day you were born."

"Fair enough," he replied, shrugging. Then, raising his voice so he could be heard by all ten members of the Ninth Group, he said, "Right, ladies and gentlemen, our divine commander Kathleen must leave us for a time, so I shall be escorting you children to the Barracks, to make sure that you don't do anything foolish, senseless, rash, or overall stupid." Kathleen rolled her eyes, and watched the group ride off. She could have, in theory, accompanied them, as she needed to be at the Palace Forest in about fifteen minutes, but she needed some time by herself. That, and she didn't want Jael following her. She had met Jael on her first day as a Rider, and they had bonded very quickly. She liked his overall optimism, and cheerful outlook on everything, and he respected her outgoing nature. He also was able to think fast in a tight situation, and he had gotten her out of several tight situations. He was her best friend...or maybe one of them, depending on what went on today at noon.

Kicking her grey mare Dusty forward, she began her ride to an event that would changed her life.

Anastasia of King's Court rode through the Palace Forest on her brown mare, who was aptly named Hazel. She was going to that tree. She hadn't been there in ten years either, and she had just remembered about everything that had happened there ten years ago when she woke up today. Now, at quarter to noon, she was going to that spot.

Anastasia had returned to Corus when she was fifteen, after she had been asked to join the Queen's Ladies. Since then , she had been traveling across Tortall with the other Ladies, and occasionally Queen Thayet herself. She was trained in weapons, of course, and a bit in hand-to-hand combat. She was also schooled in everything that a court lady should need to know, from how to address Dukes to all the popular dances. However, her favourite weapon was the longbow. She had been using a bow since she was about ten, and, on her sixteenth birthday, all of her fellow Ladies had bought her a beautifully made bow. It was slung across her back now, along with a quiver full of arrows. It was about five feet long (any longer, and she would be tripping over it whenever she tried to shoot it), and made of maple. The handle fit perfectly in her hand; the bow the right toughness for her strength.

Hazel snorted, feeling her friend drifting into a fantasy filled with longbows. She stopped, and looked back at Anastasia. Seeing her still daydreaming, the horse bit her on the leg.

"Ow! Now why did you do that?" The girl exclaimed, snapping out of her dream and rubbing her leg where Hazel had bit her.

'You were daydreaming. Fuzzy thinking isn't good for anyone,' the horse replied, starting to trot forward again.

"You know, sometimes I curse this 'Wild Magic' thing," Anastasia muttered. (A/N: She can just talk to animals, not shapeshift, command them, or talk to Immortals. It's just a minor Wild Magic thing) "Being able to talk to animals just gives them a chance to make fun of me." Hazel flicked an ear at the girl, ignoring her. "Yes, I mean you, you evil, evil Hurrok of a horse!" she went on, poking the mare in the side. Hazel looked back at the girl for a couple seconds, then proceeded to dump her onto the dirt path.

'Now that wasn't very nice, was it?' the horse said, waiting for Anastasia to get up. When she had, the girl made an obscene gesture at her.

"Well, you know what? You are going to DIE!" she screamed, lunging for the horse. Hazel wasn't stupid or slow though, and she jumped back, taking off down the path at a full gallop. Anastasia rolled her eyes, and went charging after her ornery little horse, laughing.

Katherine of South Mount awoke in her rooms. She was happy to sleep in, after having to get up at dawn for eight long years. But after her Ordeal at the end of June, she was made a true knight, and was given her own rooms in knights' wing of the palace. Getting out of her bed slowly, being careful not to disturb her cat Naomi. Katherine had gotten Naomi from her friend Troy on her eighteenth birthday in June, and she had bonded quickly with the little tabby cat. The cat woke up anyway, and proceeded to stretch, while watching Katherine curiously. The girl began a series of exercises, and then picked up her large, two-handed sword, and did some practices with it. After about an hour of warming-up, she then dresses in a simple shirt and breeches, both light and comfortable. Pulling on her boots, she couldn't help shake the feeling that she was supposed to do something today...

Her eyes opened wide, as a string of curses escaped her lips. The tree, the bond, the magic, the DAY! It was today! At noon. Glancing out her window, she saw that it was almost noon. She quickly pulled on a green tunic, and fastened her sword to her back, and her belt, with a dagger and her wallet on it, to her waist. Flinging open her door, she almost ran into Troy, as he stood, with a plate full of food in his hand, about to knock on her door.

"Whoa...in a rush, are we?" he asked, raising one eyebrow curiously.

"Actually, yes," Katherine said, trying to get past her friend, but with no avail. "I need to go meet someone NOW!" Troy shoved the plate he was carrying into her hands.

"You're gonna have to eat first." He told her. The girl glared at him, and then proceeded to shove a piece of bread into her mouth. "More than that," he continued. "Skipping breakfast is very unhealthy. She rolled her eyes. For all that he was her best friend, Troy was a touch over-protective. Giving up on eating, she set the plate down on the desk in her room, then pushed by her friend, and dashed down the hall. Naomi ran after her, leaving a very startled Troy standing outside of her room.

They ran outside to the stables, where Katherine led her large black horse King out of his stall, and mounted him bareback. Naomi looked at the horse, then looked at the girl on the horse.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you can come...I'm in a bit of a rush, Nai," she said to her cat. The cat sniffed, and proceeded to lick a paw. "Why don't you go find Troy, and make sure he doesn't come after me, okay?" The cat trotted out of the stables, and Katherine could only hope that she was doing what she had requested. Shrugging, she gripped onto King's mane, and held on tight with her knees as she spurred the horse onward with a kick of her heels. Setting off into the Palace Forest, Katherine continued to mutter curses under her breath, about Goddesses not giving people warning...

So??? What did you think? I'm trying to keep everyone in character (cuz they're based off of some friends of mine), and it's pretty damn hard. I also did lots of research for this. I spent ages pouring over Tammy's books, looking for obscure little references. This is when my fairly photographic memory becomes very handy. Also, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to you brave people out there in Internet Land who have made timelines for the books! You are my HEROES!

So this lovely little fanfiction takes place after all the books, and after Trickster's Choice. The current year, just FYI, is 465, so they cast the blood magic in 455, which would be when Kel becomes a fourth year page. Alana goes off to become a Shang immediately, while Kathering starts her training as a Page the year after Kel leaves, in 457. Kathleen and Anastasia head off to the Queen's Ladies and Riders in the beautiful year of 461. So the current year (465, remember?), would be when Thayet and Alanna are (I think...)45. Jon is 49, Kel is 24, I believe, Daine is 29, and Numair is 43. I think I got that all right...

So that's just some background information. Now click that button (you know you wanna...), and REVIEW!