A/N Hey, look at me updating so soon. *pats self on back*. What? You mean most people don't take months in between updates? Dammit...
Another reminder to check out Ficship! There have been a lot of nominations made, so there are plenty of awesome stories to read while you decide on which of your favs to nominate!
forum . fanfiction . net/forum/The_Ficship_Competitions/54838/
Niko looked around quickly, trying to see where the girl had wandered off to. The pathways were mostly blocked from his view by the low buildings and walls that made up most of Stone Circle. With a sigh, he shifted through some of the magical filters he kept on his Sight until he had sharpened it enough to pick up the footsteps in the grass where she had walked as she left the offices of Dedicate Superior Wrenswing. After a quick scan of the buildings, he noticed drag marks on the dirt and followed them to the other side of the lawn separating the pathways. The leather satchels she had been carrying were sitting near a low stone wall, beside a small garden.
Walking briskly while he put took the magic off his vision, Niko approached the bags, and heard Trisana speaking before he saw her.
"It's off to another Temple, as if it will even be worth the cost of travel when they won't want me, either. Haunted or possessed or elemental, she said... I don't care. It's not like I have anything I'm leaving here, anyway. Except you. But you'll be all right."
Niko sighed at having to interrupt her goodbyes, but he knew there would be little chance at buying passage on the ships if they waited until afternoon. Rounding the corner, Niko opened his mouth to speak, but stopped short. Trisana wasn't talking to another child, like he had expected; she was petting a stray tabby cat.
How lonely it must have been, he thought, unbidden, that the only thing she goes to say goodbye to is a cat.
Stepping out of sight, Niko controlled his pity. She wouldn't appreciate it, and it may even make her resent him more. Walking back to the path, he called out her name and waited for her to come out from behind the greenery herself.
"Let me take those for you, Trisana," he said, gesturing to the bags she was carrying with difficulty. "It's a long walk to the harbour."
"I can do it myself! I am used to it."
It was as he expected when they reached the harbour at noon. The expansive docks were packed with people from all over the coastline and western countries, a mass of nationalities and languages packed into the small space. Niko turned back often to make sure the small redhead in his shadow was following behind him. Every time their eyes met, her customary scowl became a glare until he looked away again.
He hadn't had much experience with children. Most of Niko's closer acquaintances and few friends did not have children, and he never really stayed long enough in any one place to have someone comfortable with hoisting a child into his care. He taught, sometimes, but his theories and work were considered too advanced for teaching those under university levels. Sandrilene had been his first extended experience being responsible for a child, and as he looked over his shoulder and slowed his pace for the angry girl behind him, he thought about how he was now, technically, the discovering mage of a rare magical talent.
This doesn't mean anything, Niko thought, looking around at the ships and captains as he waited for Trisana to catch up. If she integrates into the dormitory communities, there will be no reason for me to stay in Winding Circle for her training. There are other mages there with as many qualifications as I in weather magic, and it's not as if she is a seer or anything I specialize in. The thought of staying in one place, even one he was as familiar and comfortable in as Summersea's temple, was unnerving.
Niko was distracted from his musings by a familiar face. Turning down one of the wide wooden docks off the main strip, Niko walked up to the captain of a small merchant vessel, one which he had sailed with before. The captain turned before Niko reached him, to talk to one of the men loading the crates onto the deck, and his face lit up as he watched the mage approach.
"Here is a sight, indeed," the captain said, smiling through his dark beard. "It's been, what? Two years since Hajra? Have ye managed to infuriate any other pirates since?"
Niko smiled ruefully at the memory. "I have managed to keep out of that same predicament so far," he admitted. "I'm looking for passage to Summersea, Theolin. Do you know of anyone headed that way?"
Theolin scratched his beard and looked over at his First Mate. "Well," he said, "I hadn't planned on that route, but we can make the stop without losing much time."
"I would not ask –"
"You don't think it's the least we owe ye? No worries, Master Niko. You'll have your berth and passage sure enough. We've been around the world in the past few years and the familiar face will be payment enough for any troubles."
"You will be paid, Theolin, for my passage as well as Trisana's." Niko looked around, his eyebrows dropping when he couldn't find Trisana behind him. "Or, you will. Once I find her."
"Another mage?" Theolin asked, searching the crowd with him. Niko rolled his eyes at the sailor's opinion on the flightiness of mages.
"No, a child I am transporting from Stone Circle to Summersea, if I can manage to keep her in my sight for the voyage... Ah. There she is."
"No worries, Master Niko," Theolin said smiling a sailor's smile, missing teeth. "Once we're on ship she won't be able to get lost. Unless she goes over, I suppose."
"Oh, perish the thought." He looked back at Theolin disapprovingly, ignoring the man's laughter. "Please, don't give the gods any ideas," Niko said. Considering how his day was going so far, he wouldn't put it past the girl.
He had spotted her at the edge of the dock, where it met the wooden boardwalk they had been walking along. He lost her a second time as he walked through the sailors and passengers that did their business along the docks, but when he came out on the other side, she was still standing in the same place, her toes on the edge of the dock, her grey eyes locked on the ships.
"Come along, Trisana," Niko said, gently, when she did not acknowledge his presence. "There is a ship to take us to Summersea and we have to get aboard."
Trisana swallowed without looking at him. "I've never left Capchen before," she said, quietly.
"Think of it as an adventure, perhaps," Niko said. "Winding Circle will have plenty of other children for you to get to know." Her scowl deepened. Niko thought about his brief acquaintance with her. "There are always cats aboard ship," he said. Her scowl lightened. She bent to pick up her bags, and Niko didn't offer to help, knowing that she would refuse him. As they walked back towards Theolin, Niko tried again to comfort Trisana. "Winding Circle is, truly, a welcoming place, you know. You will be able to stay there and have lessons and live with other girls your age... It could be very comfortable."
"Until they kick me out," Trisana said, staring straight ahead. "And then the next 'comfortable' place will be there, and the next, and the next."
"Well, perhaps it won't be that way this time."
Trisana didn't answer, but her silence spoke volumes. Niko didn't blame her; he wouldn't have believed himself, either.