Talia gently lifted the girl's eyewrap briefly, but let it fall back down when she felt the Companion grow tense behind her. Jereth was more protective of his Chosen than most Companions, insisting that little Sidra be brought with him into the stable. The Queen's Own had seen all she'd intended to see but stayed by the girl's side for a moment.
Reports of this new Herald-in-training had been trickling in for over half a year. First came a hastily scrawled letter from An'desha- more detailed ones followed by him. Others came from both the Shin'a'in and the Tayledras, all describing this girl child and warning of her wild and so far uncontrollable power. All the reporters- mages and non alike- had expressed concern for the girl's well being as well as Haven's own.
Talia, Elspeth and Darkwind had taken the news very, very seriously, spending a lot of their waking hours researching past Gifts and Heralds. The closest they had come was actually Bard Stefen, who's Gift allowed him to block pain, but even he could not heal through his singing. The pain blocks he was able to accomplish were also restricted to physical pain- Sidra was apparently able to heal mental wounds as well, having soothed grief and partially mending a broken mind on the road.
Seeing Sidra like this, even never having met the girl before, made Talia very, very nervous. She had come in basically catatonic, overwhelmed by the scope of emotions of the city and the Palace Collegia. Not even Jereth was sure of her basic range- it could be miles in diameter. It was not good for her to be this way, unfettered and unshielded.
And yet, Jereth, Gwena and even Rolan were adamant that she not be shielded or 'called' in anyway. The trio had been basically ordered by every Companion to leave her be. Jereth was the most eager but refused to elaborate- Talia got the impression from Rolan that they wanted Sidra to pull through the chaos herself.
If she could. Talia glanced back at Elspeth, whose face was blank as she talked (or more probably argued) mentally w/ Gwena. Darkwind leaned up against the stable wall, looking calm but Talia knew he was a bit anxious. He was almost as worried as she was, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for his mate to speak again.
Dirk appeared around the stable corner, smiling briefly before kneeling down next to Talia.
"How is she?" he asked.
"No change. I don't Feel anything from her at all. I Feel the city, the students, the Companions. I don't Feel Sidra," Talia whispered.
Dirk sighed and stood. "Is there anyone we could call? One of the mage schools? Firesong? Has this ever happened before?"
"No. I did write to Firesong, and he did offer to come down, but I decided not to ask him. He has his own student up north, though I think Darien might have passed Master by now," Talia explained. "Besides, he's not really a healer and her powers are supposedly all being channeled that way. According to An'desha, all the power from the Mage Gift she has is being fed into those other ones- it's completely eroded and only works through blood path technique."
"Are you-" he began to ask but Elspeth unknowingly cut him off.
"Three months," she said, shaking her head angrily.
"Three months of what?" Darkwind asked.
"I gave them three months. Gwena originally insisted on a year, but that's too long," Elspeth explained. She was not at all happy about whatever decision had been decided. "For three months, we wait and leave Sidra alone. After that, we can shield her, block her, bind her, whatever we want."
"That's too long, ashke," Darkwind insisted. "By then, she may be so far gone that she won't have a mind left to save!"
"I don't even want to give her a day, but neither Gwena nor Jereth will take any less than three months," Elspeth snapped back. "Have you ever heard two Companions yelling in your head at once? It's not fun!"
Talia reached out for Rolan and was met by stubborn refusal. He too, wanted at least the three months that Jereth had insisted upon. She gave him her concern but he was solidly convinced of the hope that Sidra would not only come out of her state but also intact and relatively unchanged. Talia got the impression that this was some sort of test, that is was a challenge she needed to go through.
The Queen's Own sat down, took Sidra's hands and delved deeper into the girl's absent consciousness. She felt Jereth try to come with her, but Rolan pulled him back, knowing Talia was trustworthy. She simply wanted to see if Sidra had found her ground and center, then lost them- she knew that she had been taught by An'desha to find those all important things. Talia knew what it was like to suddenly lose them, although technically, Talia had never established them before her field test.
To her surprise, she found Sidra's ground intact. Where the center had gone, Talia had no idea, but she knew now that it was possible for Sidra to regain her 'footing' so to speak without much complication. Maybe in time, the grounding would crumble, but for now-
"She'll be okay, I think," Talia said, opening her eyes. "She's like healers; natural grounding, but she's lost her center. If she finds it soon, she'll recover fully."
"And if she doesn't" Elspeth asked.
Talia shrugged. "We have three months to form a plan. As long as the grounding stays intact, she should be fine. I want to monitor her though. Maybe we should move her to the healer's wing."
"No," Dirk said with a shake of his head. "Keep her here. Jereth is here; he'll watch the grounding and call us if something's wrong. But I'd feel better if someone checked on her everyday, a healer or another empath. Or a mage, someone."
She's strong, Jereth said. When I found her, she wasn't, but the journey has given her strength she never knew she could have.
"That's all well and good," Talia chided, "But she's a girl, not a Companion. Humans don't work the same way as you do."
We know, Jereth answered, taking no offense to her rude tone. He rubbed his nose in Sidra's hair and whickered when he got a bit of drool in it. Oh, she'll be so mad when she finds out I did that.
"Are you even concerned at all?" Elspeth exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and stomping out. Darkwind declined to comment, obviously feeling exactly the same way. Talia caught Dirk's eye and they shared a look for a moment, conversing silently. All they could do- with their hands tied by the Companions- was wait it out and see.
It was a week into their vigil that Sidra first disappeared. The stable was empty of both girl and Companion, and it took Darkwind and Vree nearly all day to finally find her again. They caught Karal and Altra leading the girl back across Companion's Field, having found her huddled in a corner of the Karsite sanctuary.
A few days later, the Tayledras representative found her in the ekele, lying amongst the plants. Soon, she was seen wandering all over the Collegia, never in the same place twice, never truly conscious. Jereth was always not far away, watching her w/ a careful, but unconcerned eye. Sometimes, she was seen simply walking side by side with him as he grazed.
The trainees began to jokingly call her 'the Ghost' because of her white hair and pale complexion. Most spotted her out of the corner of their eyes and just missed her as she turned a corner. Why she wandered, no one could really explain, except for a few of the wiser ones who thought that maybe she was unconsciously drawn by large crowds of people. No less than three songs were written about her by the Bards- only one was actually a serious composition- and many of the smallest children took to following her around as if she led them places.
In the end, most people got used to her suddenly appearing and going. A few times, a Blue or two would decide she was worth the trouble of torturing, only to find a Bard or Herald Trainee at her side as a sort of bodyguard, unless she was outside and then Jereth always watched anyone who approached her. She always managed to return to the stable when the day was done, except for one time when she'd been in the room where one of the healer's patients had died. She'd sat down against the wall and hadn't moved until one of the healers came and returned her to the stable