The Witch's Apprentice

Chapter Nine: Gathering Clouds

"This is so boring," Odd complained loudly. He was fixing the strap on his quiver and counting the arrows inside the basket for the tenth time. "Surely we can do something."

"Hey, at least you can move around," Yumi shouted from the room. "I'm stuck on "bed arrest" till…well, I don't know!"

Ulrich slapped his forehead in annoyance. The two have been bickering most of the morning but it seemed in a friendly, brother-sister like way. Aelita watched the three people in amusement and wonder. The thief, Yumi, was really opening up and showing her true feelings, not like the way Ulrich said she acted last night. Aelita was sure that he was beginning to realize that she wasn't a bad person.

Then, a thought came to her. She was going to meet up with that library kid today. Jeremie, his name was.

Aelita stood up and made her way to the door. Odd looked at her with a brow raised.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking up from his quiver.

"I just remembered that I had to meet up with someone," Aelita answered. She looked back at Odd and Ulrich and she spoke loud enough so that the "bed-arrested" Yumi could hear. "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Okay!" Yumi shouted. "Don't get lost now."

"And whoever changes her bandages, make sure you leave the medicine on for ten seconds, take it off and then quickly wrap the new bandage on," Aelita directed the statement to Odd and Ulrich, who nodded at her.

"Don't worry, don't worry, we will!" Odd waved his hand at her. "Have fun and don't do anything stupid."

"What are you, her father?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, I did save her," Odd said proudly. He winked at Aelita. "Have a good time."

"I will," Aelita said with a smile. She opened the door and left, closing it softly behind her.

She let out a sigh before making her way to the stables. The more she thought about it, the more she knew it was going to be harder for her to leave her new friends. Was she really going to enjoy it when she went back to her mentors, secluded in a lonely meadow with the two and Nightshade? How were her friends going to take it when she disappears without a trace or a simple good-bye? Maybe she could come and visit every now and again…

No, Lady Anne would never allow it…Her mentor had a strong dislike of the city and, when she absolutely has to go to it, she gets angry.

Nightshade nickered at Aelita when she saw her. The black and white mare stuck her head out of the stall, ears forward in a greeting manner. Aelita smiled at the horse and patted her on the head.

"We're just digging our hole deeper and deeper, girl…" Aelita said quietly to Nightshade.

Nightshade blinked at her. Aelita knew that she must be missing her home, but she was kind of enjoying her time in the city, making a new friend with the wolf Kiwi.

"But come on," Aelita said as she opened the stall door. "Let's go visit the library…whatever that is."

She jumped onto Nightshade's back and the mare immediately stepped to a walk. Like she did last night, Aelita got lost in the city and no one would help the girl who was riding the bridleless horse. Eventually, she managed to come across a large building with the sign "Kadic Library" hanging outside.

"Wow…" Aelita said as she looked at the massive building. "This is like one of those temples Lady Anne brought us to when we were little! I can't wait to see what's in there. Maybe like a powerful wand or something. Scrolls left behind by powerful wizards and witches."

The possibilities were endless to her! She was about to ride Nightshade into the building but got scolded by a grey haired man in a uniform. So, she jumped off the horse, found a length of rope and tied the mare to a tree. "Sorry Nightshade…But I promise to tell you everything about it when I'm done in here."

Nightshade nodded her head and licked Aelita's hand. Aelita smiled at the horse and ran away into the building. Once again, she got scolded but at least she was in the building now. But she was shocked to see that there was no magical instrument of any sort inside the building.

Just books…stacks and shelves covered with books. She walked around the library at least twice and she could find were even more books. Aelita was disappoint but was hopeful to find at least one book on magic.

She began searching every shelf for a book on magic and made her way around. After the third shelf, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped and whipped around, nearly knocking the stack of books out of Jeremie's hands.

"Oh!" Aelita gasped. "I'm so sorry!"

"Its fine," Jeremie answered with a smile. "I should've known better than to sneak up on you. How are you?"

"Pretty good," Aelita answered. "My wounds are healing quite well. How have you been?"

"Good," Jeremie answered. "Didn't get any sleep last night though. I was in the middle of a good book."

Aelita nodded and looked around the library. "I was just looking for a book but there are so many here."

"You were were you?" Jeremie asked. He walked to a table and set the books down. He adjusted his glasses and looked back at her. "I think I can help you with that. What kind of book were you looking for?"

"Well…do you have a book on magic?" Aelita asked.

"Magic?" Jeremie repeated. Aelita nodded. "Uh…sorry to say but no. There are no books on it."

Aelita's eyes widened in disbelief. She knew that there were countless books on the subject and not a single book in this massive building had anything on magic?

"Don't tell me you believe in magic," Jeremie said in a tight voice.

"Of course I do! Magic is everywhere. Do you?"

Jeremie shook his head. "I'm not into that stuff. I tend to stick to more logical things."

"But it's everywhere!" Aelita blurted out. "Can't you see it?"

Jeremie looked down at the ground and didn't answer. Aelita let out a breath and realized what she just done. Now it could be a lot easier for someone to point out that she was a witch.

"I-I'm sorry," Aelita said in a small voice. "Forget I just said anything."

"No! It's fine." Jeremie's words surprised her. "I should know better than to think that what I believe in is the same with others. I didn't mean to offend you."

Aelita looked at him and gave him a small smile. "I forgive you."

Jeremie smiled at her. "Would you like to go outside? For a walk, I mean. I'm basically done here once I stack these books onto the shelf."

Aelita nodded, her smile widened. "I'd like that."

"Great!"

Aelita followed Jeremie as he stacked the shelves. She was amazed at how he remembered where all of the books belonged in such an expansive area. Once he finished, the two exited the library and walked to where Nightshade was tied up. The mare placed her muzzle in Jeremie's hand in greeting.

"I think she likes you," Aelita giggled.

"And we haven't even knew each other for that long," Jeremie said with a smile, patting the mare on the neck.

Aelita untied the mare and the three walked down the street. But as Aelita walked, she couldn't help but feel the eyes of someone watching her.

Response Time!

Sheograth: Possibly...most likely…Yeah. Personally, they're my favorite couple so I'll probably ship the two of them. And thank you both for your support and the review!

MeowKitty: Thank. You! And I don't mean to be the object of your envy, please don't kill me! It's a possibility that they might fall in love. Like I said in the past, I support both Jeremie/Aelita and Odd/Aelita so it'll be difficult for who will ultimately win her heart. But I promise there will be enough moments for both of the pairings. Thank you for the review!

A/N: Yes…once again, I have no life. Sorry updating this thing so often but I really have nothing better to do. But thank you all for the support so far in this. I already know that this will go out for the long run from the looks of how I drafted it. But I hope you all will just be patient and supportive of it.

Thanks for the read and please review. Hopefully I'll be getting some fan art in soon. ;D