Disclaimer: I don't own any of the His Dark Materials characters. Don't sue me, I'm flat broke.

Author's Note: I, of course, am represented by Aseku. Any of you idiots who couldn't figure that out need help. Anyways, I wrote this on a day when I got very little sleep and I wasn't feeling all that great. Meaning, if you want complete and utter INSANITY you'll have to read my other stories.

Meetings

Lyra Silvertongue walked quietly through the streets of her Oxford, thinking of adventure and travel. She was bored. Vaguely she thought of going to visit Iorek in Svalbard, but later decided against it. She would have to go through all of that trouble of hiring a zepplin, and packing her stuff, and all of the usual traveling junk. After all, she could just send Pan over to get news about him, if she was desperate to know. Suddenly, Lyra heard a scream from up above her, and a girls body landed in a heap in front of her. Worried, Lyra ran over to investigate, while Pantalaimon started nudging her dæ mon.

"Are you ok?" asked Lyra, worriedly. Pantalaimon rubbed against her dæ mon's body.

"Yeah," replied the girl weakly, getting up, "Where am I, though?"

"You're in Oxford." replied Lyra, "Where did you come from?"

"I came from… from… uhhh…I don't really know." said the girl, "My name's Aseku, what's yours?"

"I'm Lyra." replied Lyra, and then she added, "Oh, and this is Pantalaimon," and she indicated the red-gold marten at her feet with what she could only guess was the girl, Aseku's dæ mon. Seeing where Lyra was looking, Aseku quickly added, "Oh that's Sharnep. He's my dæ mon." The snowy owl was slowly getting up, and shaking himself off. After a minute or two, he flew up to Aseku's shoulder, where the girl stroked his chest.

"Umm… well… since you don't know where you're from, why don't you stay with me for a while," suggested Lyra, "Me and Pan are staying at Jordan College."

"Where?" asked Aseku, confused.

"The big building over there." said Lyra, pointing. Aseku agreed, and soon the girls were walking towards the college, talking. "So you can't remember anything about where you came from?" said Lyra, shocked, "I mean, I couldn't even dream of forgetting all of the places I've been!" The girl just shrugged and said nothing. For a few minutes, an uneasy silence filled the air. To break the tension, Lyra finally asked, "So, how old are you?"

"I'm fourteen." answered Aseku, "How old are you?"

"Same." said Lyra. Suddenly, a rat darted across the street in front of them. Aseku screamed, and, in an instant, Sharnep had leapt off of Aseku's shoulder and changed into a cat to chase after it. A few minutes later, Sharnep returned, proudly carrying the rat, and laid it at Aseku's feet. Aseku sighed and picked Sharnep up, saying,

"That was a close one, huh Nep?" Lyra stared as the cat in Aseku's arms slowly changed back into an owl, and perched on her shoulder once more. Lyra was in shock.

"But your… he can't have… you're too old… he just…"

"What?" asked Aseku, looking very concerned for her new friend, "I know rats are bad, but don't worry. Me'n Nep have been doing this all our lives. We haven't died yet! You know, I'm beginning to think that whole 'Curse of the Rat' thing is a hoax. Don't you?" she turned to her new friend to find her still staring at Sharnep in disbelief. "Are you ok?"

"But your dæ mon," said Lyra, very shaken, "You're too old for him to be able to change shape."

"Oh, is that all?" asked Aseku, waving it off, "That's nothing. For a minute there, we were afraid that the Curse of the Rat was real, and he'd stolen your soul! Oh well, as for Nep, well, I guess we're kinda special. See, one of the earliest things that I remember is someone telling us, 'That dæ mon's special, girl. He'll be able to change forever.' and that's about all I can remember."

"You mean you can't remember your mother or father at all?" asked Lyra, thinking of her own parents, "No brothers or sisters or anything?"

"Nope!" replied Aseku, "But that's ok. I figure, if there was anything important to remember, we'd remember it, right Nep?" she stroked her dæ mon once more, and he rubbed his head against her cheek. Lyra felt a strong sense of pity for this poor girl, all alone in a strange new world, but her thoughts were interrupted by Aseku waving her hands in front of Lyra's face, saying, "Uhh, Lyra? Are you ok?"

"Sure!" she replied, brightly, snapping out of her thoughts, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," said Aseku, "You were just standing there, not moving, and we thought you might have gone into a trance or something." Lyra noticed Sharnep staring closely at her with his big, amber eyes. She jumped, and he immediately pulled his head back.

"So, why does Sharnep like to take the owl form?" asked Lyra, as much out of curiosity as for the sake of changing the subject. Those huge eyes were WEIRD!

"I dunno." replied Aseku, "He just does. Of course, another of his favorite forms is his battle form. Let's show her, Nep!" The dæ mon flew off of her shoulder, and landed on the ground before he started transforming. A minute later, a full sized Dragon reared up in front of Lyra, spitting fire and roaring loudly. Lyra was impressed.

"Nice job!" she called to the still roaring dragon, "I'm really impressed!"

"That's not all." yelled Aseku, eager to show off her dæ mon's abilities, "He's got poisonous fangs, and poisonous claws, and SHOW HER YOUR TAIL, NEP!!" she yelled. The dragon looked down at her briefly before swinging his massive tail forward. Lyra saw glistening inch-long spike protruding from it every few inches. Sub-consciously, she stepped back a step, hugging Pantalaimon to her chest. Seeming to think that she'd impressed Lyra enough, Aseku yelled, "Alright Nep, come on back down!" Quickly, Sharnep shrank back down to owl form, and once again perched on Aseku's shoulder. Lyra was at a loss for words.

"I… that was… wow." she said at last, "That was really cool." Aseku looked pleased.

"So, did Pantalaimon ever do anything like that when you were younger?" asked Aseku. Lyra was about to answer when she heard Mrs. Lonsdale calling her. Looking left, she saw her beckoning her over. This was where Aseku began to get somewhat shy. "Umm… I'll just be going now, ok? Come on Nep." Quickly, Aseku turned, steadying Sharnep with her hand as she turned.

"Wait, Aseku! Come back!" But Aseku just kept walking. Taking a shot in the dark, Lyra yelled out, "Fine then, be a chicken!!" That touched a nerve. As Lyra would learn soon, Aseku was very prideful.

"What?!" she snapped, eyes blazing. She turned to face Lyra and Pan, "Do I have hearing problems, or did I just hear you say that I'm a chicken?" There was a dangerous fire in Aseku's eyes, and Lyra didn't want to push her too far, but she could feel Pantalaimon tensed for a fight.

"Not now Pan, you know we could never beat that dragon dæ mon of hers." slowly, Pantalaimon relaxed, looking disappointed. "Maybe some other time." she whispered, soothingly, "Let's just get her to be our friend for now."