Heyla everyone! *Big smile*
Shadowwalker: *explains * She got more reviewers ... how vain. *gets flamed by Sunwing.* Or not.
Winddancer: Darkfyre had a good point, most ghosts need a focus to appear in the material plain. Let's just say that Cal was Van's focus. *shrugs* Well, it works.
***
Tal'aren, or Aren, as he preferred to be known as, *was* Tor's nephew, Tor's brother's son. He had been Chosen in Haven when he had been invited to visit his uncle. He and Sasha had just been returning to Haven from a vacation at Aren's family's farm when they had come across Cal.
The last two weeks were, needless to say, much more interesting with Sasha's dry sense of humor and Aren's friendliness.
***
:Cal. Hey Cal. Chosen, wake up!: Calsa was quite nicely asleep, and Josh's nagging wasn't about to wake her up. Aren sighed.
'We're nearly there too. Let me try.' :HEY CALSA! WAKE UP!:
She sat bolt upright and glared indignantly at Aren. 'I was asleep,' she muttered.
:I never would have guessed,: came Sasha's dry mindvoice. :Here I was thinking that you were on your way to Haven, which, might I add, is less then a day away.: Aren decided that, for politeness' sake, he would only repeat the part about Haven.
Calsa shot out of bed like she had found a snake in it, and had Josh saddled and ready to go before Aren could even register that anything could go from zero to ... however fast she had been moving, much less something that had been soundly asleep less then a minute ago.
*Will Josh's Chosen ever stop surprising me? Or should I get used to this?* Aren contemplated this while he got on Sasha. :How far are we from Haven, anyways. Or will we arrive at two in the morning?: he asked Sasha.
:A couple hours, you'll be there for lunch. And Weaponry.: He groaned inwardly. Even if Tor was his uncle, he'd never go easy on him. Sometimes Aren was certain that Tor was *harder* on him then the other Trainees.
:I think that Tor just cares about you a little more and doesn't want you to get hurt or killed.:
:Or to quote Weaponsmaster Alberich, what you have already seen, you can already guard against. But it *hurts.*: Sasha made a noise like a chuckle, and Aren returned to his contemplation of his traveling companion.
She was so *quiet,* it made him wonder what she was thinking about. Or maybe she spent a lot of time in Mindspeech with Josh. Some Heralds were like that.
And her Gifts, those were amazing. He had been considered impressive with five, she had six. But she didn't have Firestarting, and his Empathy was much stronger. As for Foresight, well, if it was going to happen, he'd rather not have to see it twice, and was grateful for a lack of the Gift.
*It's almost like she doesn't know how impressive she is, or like she's scared to put herself forwards. Why you would be scared when you're stronger then most, I don't know, but then again, there's a lot of stuff that seems to make no sense that really does.* He shrugged it off, not being one to worry overly much about what he didn't understand.
Josh's Chosen sat quietly and stared for a couple hours, barely registering any comment he made. After a while, she started muttering her annoyance, and finally, once she had finished all but her apple, asked, 'Did we *have* to get up this early?' Aren smiled slightly.
'You were the one yesterday who was all, "We should go a bit further, I'm not tired. No, I won't be tired in the morning, I'll be fine."' Looks like it catches up after a while, oh wise one,' he teased the other.
She gave him a long-suffering look, then, with a sudden mischievous grin that gave him no warning, chucked her apple at him, hitting him squarely on the forehead. Giggling, she urged Josh ahead into a canter.
It took Aren a couple moments to recover, giving the two time to get out of sight. :Are you going to let him beat you, Sasha? That's a challenge if I ever saw one.: Sasha's pride would never let her lose a race to her brother.
:Of course not,: she mock-snapped, breaking into a smooth canter. *Companions and their sense of pride - * he thought with some amusement, *where would I be without it?*
Apparently he had projected that last, for he heard Calsa say, :Further behind?:
:Hey, you were eavesdropping!:
:No, you were project- oh gods that's *huge*!:
Aren wondered just what it was that had caught Cal's attention. *No, not Cal, Calsa.* he reminded himself. *You don't know if she has a preferred name, or even if she'd let you call her by it.* :Hey, Sasha! Where are we?:
:Just outside Haven. I *did* say that we were less then a day's ride away, and I wasn't counting on cantering.:
:Well, that justified her reaction of 'oh gods that's huge.': Haven was rather large, and as Calsa had just topped a hill, the view would be amazing. It sprawled over the landscape, looking for all the world as if someone had just scooped it up and placed it in a wilderness.
'This is Haven,' he announced to the stunned fifteen year-old. 'The Collegia are in the center, and the roads are all twisted, so it'll be a while afore you can get off of Josh's back.' One eyebrow was raised, obviously she had recovered enough to get the joke.
***
The city's roads twisted and turned, giving Aren time to remember what he was supposed to do with a newly-Chosen. *I think that she already knows what to do,* he decided once they reached the wall that separated the nobles from the merchants. *And if not, well, Josh should.* He wondered why he was suddenly worried about the girl.
:Whoa. That is amazing.: He smiled. :The palace. And Collegia, all four of them. And the House of Healing, and a Guard-house.:
:Well, if there's that much stuff in it, no wonder it's so huge.:
The Palace-Guardswoman, recognizable by her dark-blue silver trimmed uniform looked up at him. 'Trainee Tal'aren and the Companion Sasha?'
'Yes.'
'And this would be...' she regarded the list that showed Companions out on a Choosing. 'Joshaylin and his Chosen, right?'
'Yes.' That was Calsa, not as shy as he would have expected.
'Go right on in.' Almost ritual, those words were.
'You have to go to the Dean's office,' Aren was explaining to Calsa, she being to his right. 'They'll get you registered and -'
'Hey Aren!' called a voice to his left.
'Mph?' He turned to see who was calling him. Calsa was faster, having already seen the caller.
'Tor!' she shouted, and flung herself at his uncle.
Much to Aren's surprise, the Weaponsmaster returned the embrace. 'Cal,' he crowed happily, 'I knew you were going to show up. You're Journeyman now?'
'Yup! Look at me, I went and got Chosen. Aren't you so happy?'
'Of course I am. So who's your Companion?'
'Joshaylin.'
'Yes, Sasha's brother... oh, you met Aren, my nephew?'
'More like crashed into. Sasha has a sense of humor...' Aren's Companion gave what sounded suspiciously like a snicker. Aren himself still hadn't gotten over the shock of *anyone* throwing themselves at his uncle. *Well, he *did* train her.*
'You just go on and get unpacked, Aren. I'll take Cal to the Dean's office.' And the two walked away, talking about everything and anything.
:They were good friends,: Sasha commented. :It's a shame that they ever had to part. You know, she was the one who had the dream that warned the spies to leave.:
:Really?:
:Really. And he called her a street rat the first time he saw her. Not to her, of course, but to Kaya.:
:Gossip.: Aren remarked. :Is there *anything* that you know that you haven't told me yet? On second thought, maybe I don't want to know.:
He went to the stables, unsaddled Sasha, gave her a good brushing, and then left her to her food. Waystations are supplied very well, but nowhere near as well as the Companions stables. :Is that good, kechara?:
:I'll be fine.:
:Ok, I'll go unpack then.:
:You do that.:
*Companions.*
***
'And guess what I used the necklet for.'
'I don't know,' Tor admitted after a while. 'What?"
'A spell anchor for the illusion,' Cal said proudly. 'So that I didn't have to panic every time someone looked at me funny.'
They walked in silence for a moment, then Tor asked, 'You get along alright with Aren, don't you?'
'Yes, why?'
'Because having the two most powerful Trainees in a contest is not high priority for the Collegia now.'
'Is it ever?'
'No.'
'Darn.'
'Here's Ashayen's office,' he gestured. Cal pushed the door open, and was surprised at the neatness of the room. The Dean in Van's time ... *Was only one person,* she reminded herself, *And long gone besides.* The room was the same though.
The Dean herself was brown haired, brown eyed, a feature combination that always made Cal feel stand-outish. She wore dusty, worn Whites, but carried herself with pride.
'Trainee Calsa, Chosen of Joshaylin?" she inquired.
'Yes ma'am.'
Ashayen raised an eyebrow. 'Please, names are fine. So you'll need training for Mage-Gift, Mindspeech, Foresight... anything else, Tor?'
'Fetching and minor Empathy too.'
'Beats Aren's record, doesn't it?'
'Oh, he's fine with it.'
'I'll have one of the other students act as a mentor to you for a while. Trainee Meyra, I think her schedule is open. Tor, would you?'
'Go get her? Certainly, she gets out of History soon, right?'
'That is correct. Feel free to pull her out early, though.' They waited in silence till Tor arrived with the Trainee Meyra. The girl was dark-haired, though it was lighter than Cal's black. She had cheerful green eyes and sharp features, giving a hint of a bit of the blood of the Lady's people. Not one who's features would make Cal feel odd.
The Dean dismissed them, and the second that they were around the corner, the older girl turned to her. 'Hello,' she said. 'I'm Meyra, but Ashayen's probably already told you that. I'm here for Mage-Gift and Mindspeech, and I'll going to be showing you around. So who are you.'
'I'm Calsa, um, Journeyman level from Fire Mountain. I got Mage-Gift, Fetching, Mindspeech, Farsight, minor Empathy and minor Foresight. That's what Tor told me, anyways.'
She didn't look surprised. 'Well, Tor's never wrong so looks like that's what you got. Poor thing, so many classes. Here, I'll show you to your room.'
And that was the beginning of their friendship.
***
Shadowwalker: You guys know the drill. Review now, make Hawk happy. This was a longish chapter, appreciate it.
Sunwing: Chirps agreement.
Hawk: Zhai'hellva.
Shadowwalker: *explains * She got more reviewers ... how vain. *gets flamed by Sunwing.* Or not.
Winddancer: Darkfyre had a good point, most ghosts need a focus to appear in the material plain. Let's just say that Cal was Van's focus. *shrugs* Well, it works.
***
Tal'aren, or Aren, as he preferred to be known as, *was* Tor's nephew, Tor's brother's son. He had been Chosen in Haven when he had been invited to visit his uncle. He and Sasha had just been returning to Haven from a vacation at Aren's family's farm when they had come across Cal.
The last two weeks were, needless to say, much more interesting with Sasha's dry sense of humor and Aren's friendliness.
***
:Cal. Hey Cal. Chosen, wake up!: Calsa was quite nicely asleep, and Josh's nagging wasn't about to wake her up. Aren sighed.
'We're nearly there too. Let me try.' :HEY CALSA! WAKE UP!:
She sat bolt upright and glared indignantly at Aren. 'I was asleep,' she muttered.
:I never would have guessed,: came Sasha's dry mindvoice. :Here I was thinking that you were on your way to Haven, which, might I add, is less then a day away.: Aren decided that, for politeness' sake, he would only repeat the part about Haven.
Calsa shot out of bed like she had found a snake in it, and had Josh saddled and ready to go before Aren could even register that anything could go from zero to ... however fast she had been moving, much less something that had been soundly asleep less then a minute ago.
*Will Josh's Chosen ever stop surprising me? Or should I get used to this?* Aren contemplated this while he got on Sasha. :How far are we from Haven, anyways. Or will we arrive at two in the morning?: he asked Sasha.
:A couple hours, you'll be there for lunch. And Weaponry.: He groaned inwardly. Even if Tor was his uncle, he'd never go easy on him. Sometimes Aren was certain that Tor was *harder* on him then the other Trainees.
:I think that Tor just cares about you a little more and doesn't want you to get hurt or killed.:
:Or to quote Weaponsmaster Alberich, what you have already seen, you can already guard against. But it *hurts.*: Sasha made a noise like a chuckle, and Aren returned to his contemplation of his traveling companion.
She was so *quiet,* it made him wonder what she was thinking about. Or maybe she spent a lot of time in Mindspeech with Josh. Some Heralds were like that.
And her Gifts, those were amazing. He had been considered impressive with five, she had six. But she didn't have Firestarting, and his Empathy was much stronger. As for Foresight, well, if it was going to happen, he'd rather not have to see it twice, and was grateful for a lack of the Gift.
*It's almost like she doesn't know how impressive she is, or like she's scared to put herself forwards. Why you would be scared when you're stronger then most, I don't know, but then again, there's a lot of stuff that seems to make no sense that really does.* He shrugged it off, not being one to worry overly much about what he didn't understand.
Josh's Chosen sat quietly and stared for a couple hours, barely registering any comment he made. After a while, she started muttering her annoyance, and finally, once she had finished all but her apple, asked, 'Did we *have* to get up this early?' Aren smiled slightly.
'You were the one yesterday who was all, "We should go a bit further, I'm not tired. No, I won't be tired in the morning, I'll be fine."' Looks like it catches up after a while, oh wise one,' he teased the other.
She gave him a long-suffering look, then, with a sudden mischievous grin that gave him no warning, chucked her apple at him, hitting him squarely on the forehead. Giggling, she urged Josh ahead into a canter.
It took Aren a couple moments to recover, giving the two time to get out of sight. :Are you going to let him beat you, Sasha? That's a challenge if I ever saw one.: Sasha's pride would never let her lose a race to her brother.
:Of course not,: she mock-snapped, breaking into a smooth canter. *Companions and their sense of pride - * he thought with some amusement, *where would I be without it?*
Apparently he had projected that last, for he heard Calsa say, :Further behind?:
:Hey, you were eavesdropping!:
:No, you were project- oh gods that's *huge*!:
Aren wondered just what it was that had caught Cal's attention. *No, not Cal, Calsa.* he reminded himself. *You don't know if she has a preferred name, or even if she'd let you call her by it.* :Hey, Sasha! Where are we?:
:Just outside Haven. I *did* say that we were less then a day's ride away, and I wasn't counting on cantering.:
:Well, that justified her reaction of 'oh gods that's huge.': Haven was rather large, and as Calsa had just topped a hill, the view would be amazing. It sprawled over the landscape, looking for all the world as if someone had just scooped it up and placed it in a wilderness.
'This is Haven,' he announced to the stunned fifteen year-old. 'The Collegia are in the center, and the roads are all twisted, so it'll be a while afore you can get off of Josh's back.' One eyebrow was raised, obviously she had recovered enough to get the joke.
***
The city's roads twisted and turned, giving Aren time to remember what he was supposed to do with a newly-Chosen. *I think that she already knows what to do,* he decided once they reached the wall that separated the nobles from the merchants. *And if not, well, Josh should.* He wondered why he was suddenly worried about the girl.
:Whoa. That is amazing.: He smiled. :The palace. And Collegia, all four of them. And the House of Healing, and a Guard-house.:
:Well, if there's that much stuff in it, no wonder it's so huge.:
The Palace-Guardswoman, recognizable by her dark-blue silver trimmed uniform looked up at him. 'Trainee Tal'aren and the Companion Sasha?'
'Yes.'
'And this would be...' she regarded the list that showed Companions out on a Choosing. 'Joshaylin and his Chosen, right?'
'Yes.' That was Calsa, not as shy as he would have expected.
'Go right on in.' Almost ritual, those words were.
'You have to go to the Dean's office,' Aren was explaining to Calsa, she being to his right. 'They'll get you registered and -'
'Hey Aren!' called a voice to his left.
'Mph?' He turned to see who was calling him. Calsa was faster, having already seen the caller.
'Tor!' she shouted, and flung herself at his uncle.
Much to Aren's surprise, the Weaponsmaster returned the embrace. 'Cal,' he crowed happily, 'I knew you were going to show up. You're Journeyman now?'
'Yup! Look at me, I went and got Chosen. Aren't you so happy?'
'Of course I am. So who's your Companion?'
'Joshaylin.'
'Yes, Sasha's brother... oh, you met Aren, my nephew?'
'More like crashed into. Sasha has a sense of humor...' Aren's Companion gave what sounded suspiciously like a snicker. Aren himself still hadn't gotten over the shock of *anyone* throwing themselves at his uncle. *Well, he *did* train her.*
'You just go on and get unpacked, Aren. I'll take Cal to the Dean's office.' And the two walked away, talking about everything and anything.
:They were good friends,: Sasha commented. :It's a shame that they ever had to part. You know, she was the one who had the dream that warned the spies to leave.:
:Really?:
:Really. And he called her a street rat the first time he saw her. Not to her, of course, but to Kaya.:
:Gossip.: Aren remarked. :Is there *anything* that you know that you haven't told me yet? On second thought, maybe I don't want to know.:
He went to the stables, unsaddled Sasha, gave her a good brushing, and then left her to her food. Waystations are supplied very well, but nowhere near as well as the Companions stables. :Is that good, kechara?:
:I'll be fine.:
:Ok, I'll go unpack then.:
:You do that.:
*Companions.*
***
'And guess what I used the necklet for.'
'I don't know,' Tor admitted after a while. 'What?"
'A spell anchor for the illusion,' Cal said proudly. 'So that I didn't have to panic every time someone looked at me funny.'
They walked in silence for a moment, then Tor asked, 'You get along alright with Aren, don't you?'
'Yes, why?'
'Because having the two most powerful Trainees in a contest is not high priority for the Collegia now.'
'Is it ever?'
'No.'
'Darn.'
'Here's Ashayen's office,' he gestured. Cal pushed the door open, and was surprised at the neatness of the room. The Dean in Van's time ... *Was only one person,* she reminded herself, *And long gone besides.* The room was the same though.
The Dean herself was brown haired, brown eyed, a feature combination that always made Cal feel stand-outish. She wore dusty, worn Whites, but carried herself with pride.
'Trainee Calsa, Chosen of Joshaylin?" she inquired.
'Yes ma'am.'
Ashayen raised an eyebrow. 'Please, names are fine. So you'll need training for Mage-Gift, Mindspeech, Foresight... anything else, Tor?'
'Fetching and minor Empathy too.'
'Beats Aren's record, doesn't it?'
'Oh, he's fine with it.'
'I'll have one of the other students act as a mentor to you for a while. Trainee Meyra, I think her schedule is open. Tor, would you?'
'Go get her? Certainly, she gets out of History soon, right?'
'That is correct. Feel free to pull her out early, though.' They waited in silence till Tor arrived with the Trainee Meyra. The girl was dark-haired, though it was lighter than Cal's black. She had cheerful green eyes and sharp features, giving a hint of a bit of the blood of the Lady's people. Not one who's features would make Cal feel odd.
The Dean dismissed them, and the second that they were around the corner, the older girl turned to her. 'Hello,' she said. 'I'm Meyra, but Ashayen's probably already told you that. I'm here for Mage-Gift and Mindspeech, and I'll going to be showing you around. So who are you.'
'I'm Calsa, um, Journeyman level from Fire Mountain. I got Mage-Gift, Fetching, Mindspeech, Farsight, minor Empathy and minor Foresight. That's what Tor told me, anyways.'
She didn't look surprised. 'Well, Tor's never wrong so looks like that's what you got. Poor thing, so many classes. Here, I'll show you to your room.'
And that was the beginning of their friendship.
***
Shadowwalker: You guys know the drill. Review now, make Hawk happy. This was a longish chapter, appreciate it.
Sunwing: Chirps agreement.
Hawk: Zhai'hellva.
