Chapter I: Discipline's New Residents

Hi, everyone. :3 This is my first Tamora Pierce fic, I hope you like it. It's set around the same time as the Will of the Empress, but takes place at Discipline. Since I couldn't for the life of me find a description of Comas, I made one up. ;-; Sorry! And I know nothing about Luvo except that he's made of rocks and can walk, so I sort of made his character up too. Anyway, this is kind of a filler chapter just so you get to know everyone.:D

A new morning was beginning as the sun rose over the horizon. Its pale pink rays snaked above the walls of Winding Circle Temple in Emelan, blending with the darker sky to the west. Winding Circle was already active, though most of its residents wouldn't awaken until the last patches of darkness were banished from the morning sky.

A lone pair of almond-shaped brown eyes watched the pale sky. They belonged to a bronze-skinned girl of about thirteen years, her dark hair shoved back and tied in a loose bun, though the shorter strands fell messily around her face. She wore a flowing white nightgown and two tiny blue stones in each of her ears. Her name was Evumeimei, but she went by Evvy, and she was a stone mage.

Her eyes had dark rings around them from not sleeping. She rubbed them tiredly, but knew that she still wasn't tired enough to sleep. It was the nightmares. They were the ones that prevented her from being able to sleep. If her foster-mothers noticed it, they hadn't said anything yet. Rosethorn suffered from the same kind of dreams, anyway.

Another being stirred in the room. Evvy turned to see Luvo, her strange, walking rock friend. She'd met him in Yanjing, and though he could not talk, he did listen. And, if she tried hard enough, she could hear him sometimes. It was the power of her being a stone mage. She heard other rocks as well, but not as much as Luvo.

"Morning, Luvo," she said.

Luvo seemed to nod to her in greeting.

"Soon Glaki's going to wake up and want breakfast," Evvy said. "And Comas, though you know he never says a word."

Luvo stared back at her silently. Well, silently to her ears, but she was too tired physically to try and use her power to listen.

"Well, should we go get Glaki?"

Luvo stood up and headed to the door. Evvy smirked. "Wait, I have to change first."

Luvo turned back around, staring at her. The girl frowned. "On second thought, you should leave. You are a boy, right?"

Luvo regarded her for a moment, then left the room, closing the door behind him. Evvy grabbed some of her clothes: her street clothes that could better be described as rags. Pulling on one of her newer tunics, she ran a finger over the soft silk. This shirt was just a little dirty, and didn't have any holes in it (though it was a bid ragged at the edges of the sleeves). Next she put on loose trousers. They had been recently washed, and looked new to her, though she could tell others still thought her a street rat. She didn't wear shoes when she didn't have to: she liked feeling the earth under her feet. Briar, her teacher before Rosethorn had taken over full time, had told her that the whole world was filled with stones, and deep down there were huge ones that ran into each other and made quakes. He'd said that once her power was strong enough, she could reach those rocks.

Thinking of Briar made her sigh. She missed her old teacher, even though he didn't live too far and came to visit often. She practically knew his foster sisters too – he had talked about them enough, anyway. He'd told her stories about Sandry spinning their magic together, which started it all, and Tris with her weather powers, keeping a fleet of pirates at bay, and Daja, with a hand made partially of living metal.

A knocking came at her door, jolting her out of all memories of traveling. "Just a minute, Luvo," she called, finally shoving a scarf over her head.

But the door opened anyway, revealing little Glakisa, an eight-year-old academic mage. She was sweet and loveable, and Evvy had quickly warmed to her. Although the stone mage didn't trust others easily – her life as a street rat had made her wary of others – she treated Glaki as her younger sister already. She'd only known her for about a month, but Glaki was growing attached to her too. Evvy thought it was mostly because the little girl missed her adoptive mother, Tris, and Evvy was the closest thing in her life to her right now, other than Lark and Rosethorn.

"Evvy?" Glaki called out. "Is it time to get up?"

Evvy smiled and approached her. "I guess so." Luvo stood next to the small girl, as well as a large white dog: Little Bear.

Glaki was already dressed, wearing some clothes Lark had made for her (she'd promised Evvy was next). Her dark brown hair was tied in braids, her bangs falling on her face. She wore a casual light green dress made for the summertime, which it happily was. Glaki's green eyes were large and bright.

"Little Bear's hungry," Glaki said. "So am I, though."

"Let's go see if Lark's making anything." Evvy and Luvo followed the small girl and her protective dog into the main room, where Lark indeed was up and cooking.

"Good morning," she said brightly, greeting them with a warm smile.

"What's for the morning meal?" Evvy asked. "I'm starved."

"Well, it seems like Briar's eating habits rubbed off on you," Lark smiled. "It's oatmeal."

"Where's Rosie?" Glaki asked. Lark and the eight year old were the only ones Rosethorn allowed to call her that. And Briar, if she was in a good mood.

"She went to visit Dedicate Crane." Lark sighed. "If she weren't so adamant about it, I'd call him her friend."

Glaki giggled. She'd been there the longest, besides Comas, and had witnessed how Rosethorn got when Crane's name was brought up.

"Can we eat now?" Evvy whined.

"Patience, Evvy," Lark said, though it didn't sound in the least bit annoyed. "We have to wait for Rosie to get back and for Comas to wake up."

"Ohhh," Evvy groaned. "Can't we just wake him up ourselves?"

"Well, I – " Lark looked up, but Evvy was already racing upstairs towards the attic. Luvo was about to follow her, then thought better, and instead looked around at them all.

Evvy reached the attic and banged on the door. "COMAS! TIME TO EAT!" she yelled.

She heard footsteps, and the door opened a fraction. Comas looked out at her. "Okay," he said softly.

Evvy waited, then sighed. "Are you coming or not? It'll get cold!" The door closed again, and Evvy rocked back on her heels. He was so shy!

A few moments later, the door reopened to show Comas, the weaver mage-in-training. He was the same age as Evvy, but seemed younger in a way. His eyes rested on the ground, not meeting Evvy's face once. His whole appearance was strange to her. He was too pale everywhere: from his skin to his light blue eyes to his gold hair. He wore clothes that seemed to fit in with those worn in Summersea, a plain brown tunic and trousers, but Evvy had no idea where he was even from. As she'd said before to Luvo, Comas never said much.

Leading him downstairs, Evvy knew better than to talk to him. It would be even more one-sided than having a conversation with her rock friend. Sometimes she wondered what had made him so shy, and other times she wasn't sure if she cared.

"Comas's up!" she announced proudly to Lark, who was serving the oatmeal. Little Bear shoved his nose up onto the table, and Glaki gently pushed him off.

"No, Little Bear," she said. "Remember what Tris said? You hafta mind your manners."

Lark hid a smile as she doled out the rest of the oatmeal. "Everyone, go wash up," she said.

Evvy sighed and went to the washbasin with Glaki and Comas. Why couldn't they just eat? She knew that Rosethorn and Briar had made her wash up too, but she wasn't very patient when it came to food. Maybe it was because she hadn't always been able to eat well, and so she always had eaten it as quickly as possible. That way, no one could steal it from her.

Lark frowned as they returned. "Rosie's not back yet. Oh well, I suppose we can begin without her."

Evvy cheered and sat down at the table, beginning to eat her hot oatmeal quickly.

"Slow down, Evvy," Lark warned. "You'll get burnt and make yourself sick."

Evvy did as she was told. Anything to keep eating! Glaki poured heaps of honey on hers. She liked everything to be sweet. Comas, on the other hand, had just sprinkled a few drops of honey on and was eating it slowly, pausing after each mouthful. Lark watched their different eating habits, amused, before she began to eat.

Evvy had finished her bowl by the time Comas was only halfway through. "More?" Lark asked her, and the girl nodded eagerly. She finished her next bowl just seconds after Comas was done. Glaki was petting Little Bear as he tried to lick the leftovers in her bowl.

Lark looked again at the door, then sighed. "Well, Rosie's not here yet," she said. "I suppose she'll let me tell you all the news."

Evvy leaned forward expectantly. "News?" Glaki looked up from Little Bear and he managed to get a small taste of oatmeal before the eight-year-old realized and reprimanded him. Comas glanced up at Lark too, but when she looked back at him, averted his eyes.

"Yes. You haven't been taught much magic yet here, except for Comas. And he's only learned simple things, like meditation and how to weave without using much magic. Evvy, Rosethorn said you know a few things about your magic, and have used it before, but she and Briar couldn't teach you much. Glaki, Tris also told me that she and Niko have taught you the basics."

"I learned breathing," Glaki said proudly.

Lark nodded, smiling. "Now, though, we have arranged for each of you to be properly taught. I will continue to teach Comas, Niko will teach Glaki, and Dedicate Rockfire will teach Evvy."

"Who's that?" Evvy asked.

"Dedicate Rockfire is the only resident stone mage here. He is, ah… well, you'll meet him soon enough. Each of you will report to your teachers for your first day tomorrow."

"When?"

"In the morning, right after the morning meal."

"What about Rosethorn?"

"She will help you when you are at Discipline, if you need anything," Lark said.

"Niko will be here?" Glaki asked.

Lark nodded. "He knows you need an academic mage around. And he thought that you'd want him to be your teacher best."

Glaki shook her head. "No, I want Tris."

"Tris can't teach you, even if she wants to. She's not an academic mage. But she'll be coming to visit you often," Lark said gently.

"What about Briar?" Evvy asked.

"Yes, Briar too. And Sandry and Daja."

"What do we do today?" Glaki asked.

"Well, it's your last day before you start learning. You can do whatever you want today." Lark smiled.

"Can we go to Gorse's?" Evvy asked with glee. Ever since Briar had told her all the wonderful foods the cooking mage made, she'd made it a point to visit him enough to make up for Briar's absence.

Glaki clapped her hands. "Yes, yes!" She loved Gorse's too. Sometimes he'd make her special dishes from Tharios.

"As a matter of fact, we do need some food for the midday meal. Can you get some bread and cheese?" Lark handed the three a pass.

"Of course!" Evvy was already out the door, with Glaki following her happily. Little Bear loped after her, and Comas followed him. Very last was Luvo, who walked at his normal pace. Of course, once Evvy noticed him, she slowed down considerably too.

"Do you think maybe Gorse will make something from Tharios today?" Glaki asked, tugging on Evvy's sleeve.

"Maybe," she said. "But he also might be too busy."

Glaki looked at Comas, who had sidled up next to her when they'd slowed. "What are you getting?" she asked him. Unlike Evvy, she still asked him questions, even though he rarely spoke a reply. Now, he only shrugged.

"Y'know, that's kinda rude," Evvy said. "She asked you a question."

"Sorry," Comas said softly.

Evvy sighed. It was strange having a shadowy, ghost-like presence that followed them around sometimes. Wasn't Luvo enough? She didn't trust Comas – what was he hiding, that he was too scared to talk and let it out?

She knew she couldn't really judge him – after all, she was hiding her own memories – those of Gyonxe. But at least she spoke about other things, and just didn't bring up that one specific topic.

When they got to Gorse's, Glaki was sad to see that it was in fact extremely busy. He smiled at her, though, and told her if she came back tomorrow before midday meal he'd have some of her favorite treats made. They left the kitchen, anyway, with two baskets full of food. Comas carried the one with bread and cheese, and Evvy carried the one loaded with pastries for them. As they walked back, Glaki and Evvy ate their pastries, and Little Bear drooled.

They dropped their baskets off in Discipline's kitchen, then the two girls climbed the ladder onto the roof. This was another thing that Briar and Tris had told their students that they'd done often, and Evvy and Glaki were eager to do it as well. Comas left for his room silently, and Luvo sat at the bottom of the stairs. Little Bear whined a tiny bit, but stopped when he got tired of it and fell asleep. The big dog's light snoring made Glaki giggle.

"Are you scared about having a new teacher?" Glaki asked, biting into her pastry. She still wasn't quite finished yet.

Evvy lay next to her, her arms folded under her head. "No, not really." It was partially true. Evvy didn't exactly relish the thought of having to learn magic from a stranger, but she wasn't scared of the teacher necessarily. She only wished Briar or Rosethorn could have had stone magic to teach her.

"Niko already told me how to do some stuff. And I've always been able to do things like this." Glaki let go of her pastry and moved her hand about. The pastry moved with her hand, and didn't fall onto the roof. She moved her hand towards her mouth, and took a bit of it as it floated in the air, giggling a tiny bit. Then she grabbed it with her hands again and pulled it back out. "Can I see you make the rocks glow?"

Evvy reached into her pocket and felt her worry-stone, a rock that she'd found in Gyonxe, at a time she was most scared. It fit perfectly into her hand when she held it, and it seemed to help her calm her nerves when she touched it. Pulling out the stone, she showed it to Glaki. The eight-year-old brushed her finger over the dull grey stone. It wasn't much different looking from any other rock, until Evvy used her magic. She smoothed her hand over the rock, and it began to shine, until it sparkled and glowed a light blue color.

Glaki clapped her hands. "Do all rocks have different colors when they glow?"

Evvy nodded. "Most glow grey-blue, but others can be a pale blue, green, or pink when they glow. And precious stones, or ones that already have a color other than white, grey, or black, glow with whatever color they are, too." Evvy suddenly yawned loudly. It wasn't even midday yet, but she was feeling tired.

"Did you sleep badly?" the little girl asked.

"No," Evvy said. It was true. She hadn't slept at all.

"Good, because sleep is very important," Glaki said.

Evvy smiled at hearing an eight-year-old sound so much like a mothering figure. She couldn't keep her eyes open much longer, though, and she closed them soon. In a few moments, she was sleeping. Glaki noticed, and didn't say anything more as she finished her pastry and stared out at Winding Circle, the breeze tickling her dark hair.

There we go. :3 I hope you liked it! If you have any ideas at all about what Comas looks like, or even Luvo, that would help a lot. xD Anyway, please review! I'd love to hear what you think about this fic so far. ;D