Disclaimer: I only own the plot and Tamora Pierce owns everything else.
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In Summersea in Emelan:
Sandry watched Pasco jump and stretch while being berated by Yazmin. The antics of the pair were always hilarious and always made Sandry laugh. Pasco soon started his dance lessons and Sandry went back to thinking about the afternoon.
'A few more hours and we'll all be together again!' she thought excitedly. Glancing around, Sandry drew out the thread circle, the symbol of their bond. It pulsed with energy, and Sandry thought that the links between the lumps for each of the four were thicker and stronger.
'Of course it is,' she thought. We're getting closer so of course the bonds are thicker if they aren't stretched as far.'
"Sandry!" a vaguely familiar voice called, interrupting her thoughts, making her look up.
"Daja!" Sandry squealed, leaping up to hug her friend. She had to stand on her toes to hug the tall girl. "I'm so happy to see you! When did you get back?"
"I got to Winding Circle about half an hour ago. I looked for you at the Citadel but they told me to come here. Is that your student?"
"Yup, that's Pasco," Sandry replied happily. "I really only teach him ways to use and control his power. He's learned a lot."
"I don't know how you do it. Take so much time to teach him, I mean," Daja answered to Sandry's inquiring glance. I only had to teach meditation but I kind of didn't like taking time away from other things."
"My life is pretty boring," Sandry answered. "And since I don't have time to go to Winding Circle a lot it's good to talk magic with someone." Daja nodded at her explanation.
"Okay," Pasco interrupted. "The witch is done torturing me so now…" he trailed off. "Who are you?"
"Oh Pasco," Sandry said tiredly, "This is my friend Daja. I only told you she would visit about ten times today."
"And a hundred times everyday since you knew they were coming," he muttered. Daja chuckled.
"Let's go to Winding Circle now," Sandry exclaimed. "Briar and Tris should be here soon." The group left Yazmin's school and took the horses waiting outside to Winding Circle.
~*~
In Winding Circle in Summersea:
"We're here," Briar called to the group, getting out of the wagon. He looked around at his beloved garden. "Crane didn't do a good job," he commented, stepping into a vegetable patch."
"I beg to differ," a haughty voice interrupted. Everyone swung around to see the tall, lanky plant mage. Despite his tone of voice, there was a twinkle of happiness in his eyes.
"Nice to see you too," Rosethorn said gruffly, getting down to join Briar in the garden. Evvy got down as well and let the cats out. They bounded around and sniffed the garden curiously. A black and white one trotted up to Crane and started weaving around his ankles.
"Why are there so many felines?" Crane inquired dryly, looking at the cat at his feet.
"They're mine," Evvy said belligerently; ready to hate the man if he said anything bad about her cats.
Crane blinked at her. "Who might you be?"
"Evumeimei Dingzai," she answered, sticking her chin out.
"She's Briar's student," Rosethorn added.
"And since when did the boy have a student?" Crane inquired, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"I took her on in Chammur," Briar answered. "She's a stone mage."
Crane looked at the girl. "Why is she your student? From what I know of Chammur, they should have an abundance of stone mages."
"Well, they only had one stone mage and the Amir's mage was a fat, oily, slob. Plus he didn't seem that good of a teacher. Especially since he was scared of Evvy because she's stronger than him." Crane examined the girl carefully. He knew that the Amir's mage would be one of the strongest stone mages.
"Hello everyone!" Lark called out. She and a young boy were walking towards Discipline. They each carried two baskets of food. "Come in," she said, opening the door. She seated everyone at the table and began to put the food away.
"Who's the boy?" Rosethorn asked, eyeing the shaking novice.
"Comas," Lark said, "introduce yourself."
He stood up to speak, but was interrupted when Briar got up and rushed out the door.
"What…" Crane began. Then they heard the horses entering Discipline's yard.
"Two girls and a boy," Evvy observed, looking out the window. The boy has brown hair and one of the girls is wearing really expensive clothes and has blond hair in braids. The other is a black girl and I think she's carrying a staff." The group entered with Pasco following the three chattering teens.
"Daja, welcome back," Lark exclaimed, giving Daja a hug. "And how are you two?" she asked Sandry and Pasco. Pasco shrugged and sat down at the table next to Evvy. Sandry launched into an animated conversation with Lark.
"Hello!" a gentle voice called at the door. Frostpine entered with Moonstream and another man. "How are you all?" The woman greeted. "This is Miron Sunfall," she said, indicating the tall, stern looking man. He had short gray hair and a small beard. He carried himself with great authority and dignity. "Master Sunfall is the head of the Lightsbridge Mage Council. Everyone bowed slightly.
The adults seemed like they had to discuss something important so the young mages decided to leave. Comas went to his room but the others decided to go up to the roof. "Wow, you can see a lot from here," Evvy observed. She lay on her back like everyone else except for Briar who sat propped against the chimney. "What's that tall building there?" she asked, pointing.
"That's the Hub," Daja said. "It's the central point of Winding Circle and a lot of important things take place there."
"Looks like there's a bad storm coming," Pasco interrupted. Maybe we ought to go inside. The wind had picked up and the sky was a mass of black clouds with flickers of lightning. Suddenly, rain began pelting down and lightning flashed everywhere.
"Everyone inside!" Briar yelled over the roar of the storm. Everyone called slowly toward the hatch. The wind picked up even more and it became hard to see and hold on. Evvy was the second to last in as she was farthest from the hatch. She could see everyone peeping through the hatch at her anxiously. She reached the summit of the roof, and everyone gasped in horror as a strong gust of wind blew her tiny body off of the roof.
"Evvy!!" everyone cried fearfully. She had been blown up and was very high and falling fast. Her fall would be very damaging or maybe even fatal. A swirl of breezes suddenly whipped up out of nowhere and carried the girl back to the roof where she was gently deposited through the hatch.
They pulled her downstairs and dried her off. "Who saved her?" Sandry asked.
"Someone saved her?" Pasco asked.
"Yeah," Briar said. There was magic in that wind. "But, Tris didn't do that did she.
Sandry pulled out the thread circle. "No, she's still a few hours away from here." The girl frowned. "But if she didn't do it, then who did?"
"Umm…I think it might have been me," Daja said sheepishly.
"But you don't have wind magic," Briar said.
"I know, but I put out my hand to try to grab her or something and I felt air whip around me. My magic felt like waves washing over me."
Sandry tilted her head. "You know," she began slowly, "I felt a tug when the winds came."
"I did too," Briar agreed. "But we don't usually feel stuff when someone else uses magic. I mean, we're aware of it but only because our minds are linked. What's going on?"
~*~
In Summersea Harbor in Emelan:
Tris descended from the boat and joined the group waiting for her. "I had to catch Shriek," she explained.
"We were wondering what had happened to you," Niko said. "Now then, let's go to an inn because we don't want to be caught on the road during the storm. The group got into the wagon waiting for them and the driver took them to an inn near the port.
The group stayed holed up as they waited for the storm to subside. The two adults talked while Tris entertained Glaki. Suddenly, Tris felt a jerk and doubled over, not with pain, but rather with surprise.
"Tris!" Glaki screamed, startled by Tris's movement.
"What happened?" Niko demanded, darting over to the two.
"I don't know," Tris answered. "I felt something pull on my magic and I bent over from reflex. It didn't hurt."
Niko frowned. "I saw a piece of magic fly past me. Are you saying your magic is running away from you?"
"No, something pulled it. I think someone used my magic." she smiled weakly. "I feel like I used magic for something."
"Someone stole and used your magic?" Kethlun asked.
"I guess so," Tris answered.
~*~
In Discipline Cottage:
"So you're saying that Daja has now acquired wind magic," Frostpine asked the group.
Daja nodded wearily. The storm had passed an hour ago and the adults had finished their conversation a few minutes after. The incident had been the object of discussion since then.
"But magic cannot somehow appear. You are born with it. This doesn't make sense," Miron said.
"Rosethorn smiled. "Believe me, anything concerning these four doesn't make sense. I believe they have broken about half of the rules of magic so far."
"Daja had my magic once," Briar said. "When she made the plant."
"But we're not tangled up anymore," Sandry answered. "I separated us and the thread circle doesn't show mixed magic."
"May I see the circle?" Moonstream asked. She had always wanted to examine the magical contraption but had never had the chance. Sandry drew it out and placed it on the table. Miron reached out to pick it up.
"Don't touch that," a voice yelled from the door. Niko stepped in followed by Tris, Glaki, and Keth. The startled group looked up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell," he apologized to the indignant man. "But that is too strong for you to touch."
Sandry, Daja, and Briar had not paid attention to the mage and instead had run past him to the red head. There was a group hug and excited questions were being asked when they separated. "This is Glaki, and Keth," Tris said. "Glaki's and academic mage and Keth has glass and lightning magic," she added in her mind.
"And who is this beautiful creature?" Moonstream asked.
"Chime's a living glass dragon," Tris replied. "Oh, and you already know Shriek and Little Bear, but this is Rose, Shriek's mate from Hatar. The collection sat at the table and caught up on what had been happening since they had separated. Daja was starting to recount her story of summoning winds when Tris went pale.
"When did this happen again?" she asked.
"Right at the beginning of the storm," Sandry answered. "Why?"
"Well, I was in Summersea and about the time that Daja summoned wind, I felt something pull a part of my magic away."
"So you're saying that I took your magic?" Daja asked.
"Umm, I think so," Tris answered. "But…our magic is supposed to be separated."
"Maybe your magic isn't bleeding over," Sandry said slowly. "I separated us with glass barriers and they're still there. Maybe Daja is taking your magic to use. After all, our magic is linked so Daja could have pulled some of your magic to use."
"Is that even possible?" Briar whined.
Niko, who had been listening to their discussion, stroked his mustache. "Well, that should not be possible but then again, I used to think it was impossible to interrupt pattern magic."
Moonstream sighed tiredly. "Why do we even bother having laws? They're just going to break them all," she muttered.
~*~
The four spent the night at Discipline with Sandry sleeping in Daja's room while Glaki and Evvy slept in Tris's room. The next morning, they decided to have a picnic on one of the bluffs overlooking the sea. They ate lunch and the group climbed on the rocks and side of the bluff. Evvy examined the rocks with Glaki, leaving the four to do as they pleased. Pasco was at Yazmin's.
"Hey, hurry up your girls!" Briar called from the top of a pile of rocks.
"We're coming," Tris yelled back, annoyed. She was falling behind the others because her skirts slowed her down. 'I know skirts are proper and all, but they're so annoying.' Exasperated, she grabbed her skirts out of the way of her feet and pulled them above her feet so that she could move her legs freely. However, she seemed to have yanked too hard because a huge tear formed at the side of her legs. Her skirts were now just long pieces of cloth wrapped around her legs.
Nearby, Sandry, who was sitting on a boulder, leaned forward and fell off. "Sandry, are you alright?" Daja cried. Tris and Briar quickly ran to their sister. "What happened?" Daja was asking as they arrived.
Sandry looked up shakily. "I felt something pull at my magic," she said. They exchanged glances.
"It was me," Tris confessed, showing them her mangled skirts.
"Tris," Sandry said indignantly, forgetting her experience. "How could you do that?" Her eyes were full of reprimand.
"I didn't mean to. They were annoying me so I pulled them away from my feet and then…" she trailed off.
"Are you hurt?" Briar asked.
"No. It just felt…weird."
"What's happening?" Evvy asked as she and Glaki ran up.
"Nothing," Briar said. "Just more borrowing magic stuff."
"I'm okay," Sandry reassured everyone. "Let's just enjoy the rest of the day." The group agreed and was soon having fun again.
~*~
"This way," Sandry called. They had decided to explore the wilderness outside the south gate of Winding Circle. "Come on. I found this place a little after you guys left. It's really beautiful," she said as they arrived at a broad meadow. Colorful buds were all over and a sweet scent filled the air.
"Wow," they breathed when they arrived. This time, Evvy, Glaki, and Pasco were also accompanying them. They group split up into smaller groups. Briar went to play with Little Bear. Tris showed Glaki they flowers with Chime and the sparrows. Daja, Evvy, and Pasco walked around the meadow.
"It's pretty now," Sandry began, "but it's absolutely gorgeous when the flowers are blooming. I wish you guys could see it." She closed her eyes and remembered the meadow in all its glory. Her eyes snapped open when she heard exclamations of delight everyone except Briar, who cursed.
"Okay, who was?" he demanded, storming over. He stopped mid-rant when he saw the flowers.
"It was me," Sandry said guiltily. "I remembered what it looks like when it blooms and then they all bloomed."
"Jeez, it felt really weird. Just don't do it again."
"Maybe you guys should talk to your teachers," Pasco said. "If it's a problem a I mean."
"It's not quite a problem," Briar said. "It just feels weird."
"And we already told our teachers," Daja added.
"Hey guys," Tris interrupted, "can we just enjoy the rest of the day and forget about the magic-borrowing thing for awhile. I'm beginning to get a headache." The others seemed to agree and they spent the rest of the afternoon doing things that normal people would do.
~*~
"So let me get this straight," Niko began, "you are actually taking each others' magics to use? And it's not just magic leaking over again."
"It's not leaking over," Sandry said, highly affronted.
"I beg your pardon, Lady Sandrilene. I did not mean to say that I doubted your skill to map your magics. It's just…nothing like this has ever been known to happen before."
Rosethorn chuckled dryly. "Niko, most of what they do has never been done before."
"Is this new power a problem?" Frostpine inquired. "Does it hurt or affect your magics at all?"
The four looked at each other. "It didn't hurt me," Sandry said. Tris and Briar nodded agreement.
"Yeah, it's just uncomfortable and unexpected when the magic is taken from you"
Niko sighed. "Well, if it doesn't cause problems, I guess that you'll just have to train and learn to control your new ability."
The young mages groaned. "Just great," Briar said. "Something else we have to learn to control."
~*~
Briar strolled through the crowded marketplace, not really going anywhere in particular. The teachers had given the four a day off from magic and sent them to the marketplace to enjoy a day of relaxation.
'Let's see, Tris has her nose in some book at the booksellers', Sandry's in the fabric area, and Daja's down near the harbor watching the boats.' None of the options sounded particularly enticing to the boy. Briar occasionally visited the area where magical supplies were sold, but usually he just wandered around until something caught his eye. Unlike his foster-sisters, he did not have any place in particular that he liked to go. Passing the area for metal and stone work, Briar paused. 'Oh no, I almost forgot. Daja's birthday is next week. I should get her present now.' He cringed, imagining what his foster-sisters would do if he forgot Daja's birthday gift.
He didn't have any idea what to get the trader, so he ambled down the lanes, hoping to see something to inspire him. He saw a small shop selling stone and metal objects and ducked in. The walls were lined with shelves sagging under the weight of the many oddities displayed on them. He went to the aisle at the far end, intending to work his way across to the other side.
He had just reached the second row when he heard a loud 'Thud' from the front of the store. The ex-thief sidled along the shelf and peered around the corner. A tall, rough-looking man was menacing the clerk with his knife.
"Give me all the gold, now!" he demanded. The shopkeeper seemed to be cowed and his legs trembled, as though his knees were about to buckle.
"Stop!!" Briar shouted, stepping into view. The robber turned around.
"Get lost kid. Before I knife ya good," he snarled.
Briar grabbed his knives as the man rushed him. The man swung his knife at Briar and would have badly cut the boy's shoulder if Briar had not jerked to the side. Briar brought the hilt of his knife on the man's wrist and rammed him with his shoulder, slamming the robber into a wall. The man seemed to be unconscious so Briar went to reassure the obviously frightened shopkeeper.
"Are you all right?" Briar inquired. The man nodded. Briar stuck out his hand to pull the man to his feet.
The clerk reached to grab it, then suddenly cried, "Look out!!"
Briar blessed the gods as his old instincts took over and forced him to duck to the side. He turned to see another man as well as two others helping the first thief to his feet.
"Too bad for you boy, had to stick your nose is," the one who had tried to kick him sneered. Five more men entered.
'Uh oh,' Briar thought. 'Nine to one. Better get some help.' Two men headed for him with ugly looks on their faces. One circled around to the boy's back and the others blocked the exit. 'Sandry, Tris, Daja, *HELP*,' he screamed.
He felt the girls responding to his call and closed his connection to them. He wet his lips and sized up his opponents. The one who had attacked him while he helped the clerk looked to be the leader. The others kept shooting glances at the man before doing anything. Briar kept his eyes on the leader; the gang would only attack when he signaled.
Briar saw the leader's eyes flick to the man behind him and dodged to the side as the man barreled past. The man who had been behind him ran into the two who had been approaching him.
"C'mon you clumsy oafs," he taunted. "A 5 year old could beat you knuckleheads." He knew he shouldn't try to provoke them, but old habits die hard. Suddenly, the leader waved his hand at Briar and the boy felt something wrap around him. Looking down, he saw blue fire binding his body. 'Oh, great; a mage too. Why, oh why, did I get up this morning?'
The boy frantically struggled to free himself as the members of the gang surrounded him. "Got you now boy," one man said, chuckling evilly. They all rushed him simultaneously, knives brandishing.
'GODS!!' he thought, closing his eyes against the impending attack. His heart was hammering like crazy and he felt something pop in his chest. He cringed, expecting blades slicing his skin. When nothing happened, the boy peeked cautiously and gasped at the sight that greeted his eyes.
9 metallic lumps lay on the floor, and the storekeeper's shelves were empty of metal objects. He felt the girls in the doorway and turned to face them. "Thanks Daj'" he said gratefully. The trader was leaning heavily on her staff. "Wow, you must've run a long way," he remarked.
"It's not weariness," she drawled. "Apparently, you just took my magic. She rubbed her neck. "Ahh, I feel so tired. I used some magic this morning so now…" she trailed off.
"Sorry," the boy apologized sheepishly. "Didn't know."
"Guys, could we just forget magic for now and enjoy the day?" Tris asked.
"Yeah," Sandry agreed. "It'll be great to act like normal people. Let's go."
"Umm," the clerk began hesitantly, "could you remove the thieves before you go?"
~*~
When they got back to Discipline, they immediately related their story to their teachers. Upon being informed that they would now need to practice their newfound 'talent' there was much grumbling and glaring which ultimately resulted in their evening spent in an isolated area just outside of Winding Circle.
"I can't believe their making us practice more magic stuff," Briar growled. "As if we don't have enough magic to deal with."
"Well, I admit that it is rather inconvenient to have more magic to learn, but at least we will be able to control our powers," Sandry pointed out.
"I suppose," Tris assented, "but I still don't like it."
"At least we're able to borrow magic when we want to and we're used to having them borrowed," Daja chipped in.
The young mages practiced until it got dark and they had to go back to Winding Circle. They trooped back to Discipline and found a note informing them that their teachers were at the Hub for dinner. The four decided to go to the Hub as well and eat in the cafeteria. It was early evening and glow globes lit the path to the Hub, although they did not need help to find their way to the spelled Hub gleaming like a beacon. They chatted amiably until a group of six young men about four of five years older that them moved into their path.
"Well, well," drawled one. "Look at what we have here."
"A quartet of jumped up mages, it looks like," another commented.
Tris didn't like the look of them and clouds were gathering overhead.
Sandry had immediately stiffened when she had seen the youths and her foster siblings inquired as to what was the matter.
'The group, they're mages from Lightsbridge. When you guys were gone, they visited a few times and they seemed to dislike me,' she explained.
"Children shouldn't be walking alone at night," a tall blond man who seemed to be the leader said. "After all, there are powerful people around here who could hurt you."
"Of course," Sandry said politely. She moved to walk around the group but one of the men moved to block her.
"What's your problem?" Briar snarled. The way that the men had been talking annoyed him and now they were just picking a fight.
"Be quiet, little boy," the leader ordered. "We're way stronger than you and your pitiful Winding Circle mages.
Thunder rumbled in the distance and a forked branch of lightning flashed across the sky.
'What's wrong with them?' Daja asked Sandry.
'They kind of…jealous,' Sandry replied
'Jealous?'
'Well, they were kind of prodigies a few years ago, before us.'
'Prodigies… oh wait, I think I heard about that. They became mages really early,' Tris said.
'Yeah, they were really famous because their talents surpassed many of their teachers and they got their medallions when they were only sixteen. Then, we got our medallions three years later,' Sandry explained.
'Oh, I get it. We came and suddenly they weren't so important,' Daja said.
'Yes. And when you were away, they said that we weren't really gifted and that Winding Circle only gave us medallions at fourteen to try to top Lightsbridge.'
'What?!' Tris exclaimed. 'How dare they insult us. We earned those medallions those four years ago.'
The group of men had been joking about the four and insulting them while the girls had talked. Briar was steaming and looked ready to feed them to his plants.
"Excuse us," Sandry said politely, "but we really must be getting to Winding Circle." The girl moved to go past the group. The man who was blocking her path shoved her and she fell onto the grass at the side of the past.
Briar and Tris had started towards the group, and Daja tried to restrain them. Lightning was flashing and thunder was booming as the wind kicked up and tangled their clothes. The men didn't seem to see anything odd and jeered at the fallen girl. Then, the one whom had pushed Sandry spit at her and all hell broke lose.
Rain and hail pelted their bodies and the lightning blinded them while the thunder rattled their bones. The wind had reached hurricane speeds. A tongue of lightning struck very close and a loud explosion echoed throughout the area.
Tris, Daja, and Briar had gone to help their sister when the storm had broken loose. Sandry shielded the group as the debris flew everywhere and winds blew around them. Tris tried to break up the storm which she was sure was not completely hers, and Daja tried to help everyone stay steady as the ground shook from the explosion. Plants sprouted from the ground and twined around their legs and bodies to hold them to the ground. Sandry's barrier flickered out of existence as she was already weakened from their earlier practice and the assault on their shield was very strong. Luckily, the worst had past and the winds that threaten to blow them away were not strong enough to break the plants' hold on them.
The winds subsided and dust hung in the air. Tris' winds dispersed the dust and debris and the four could see fragments of buildings scattered around them. They Hub no longer gleamed in front of them and when they looked up, they did not have to look quite as far as the top half of the tower had been blown up.
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Hi, this is Madison. My BFF gave me the chapter to type so that's why it took so long to get posted. Anyways, Lily's fics are on temporary hiatus because of her screwy family. She gave me the plotline, but I don't like to write that much so I don't know when I'll write the next chapter. However, if you want to type the next chapter, e-mail my BFF (it's in her account) and I'll send you the plot for the next chapter. You'll e-mail it back to me for editing and I'll post it with proper recognition for its typist.