Briar, Sandry, Tris, and Daja were going for a walk.
"It feels so good to be together again at last." Sandry said, always the
sentimental one.
"Yeah," Daja said. "Even if it does mean I have to hang around you kaq's
again." Sandry punched the trader girl with a delicate fist.
"I thought I had cured you of that habit, calling everyone kaq's, but ever
since you've been in Namorn, I guess you've stopped taking my advice." Her
voice was mock sorrowful. They went on like this for a few minutes before
Tris butted in. "Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to listen to the
winds, but I can't here anything with you two talking so loudly." Sandry
and Daja burst into gales of laughter, and Tris found it hard to shut them
up long enough to find out. "What's so funny?" she kept asking, until she
got sick of it. So instead she yelled it in her mind. WHAT'S SO FUNNY? The
girls yelped as they covered their ears in a futile effort to keep the
voice to a minimum level. It didn't work, needless to say, because the
voice was in their minds, and could not be heard by their ears. "It's
just," Sandry said, still smiling. "That we've missed you ordering us
around like that." Tris was about to say something scathing in reply when
Briar, who had been quiet the whole time, pointed to a bundle on the side
of the road and said, "Guys look."
The bundle looked suspiciously like an unconscious girl, and soon the four
had started running towards it.
Briar and Sandry knelt down beside her and checked her life signs.
"Breathing's fine." Sandry said.
"Pulse is fine," That was Briar.
There was a bloody patch from were her head must of hit the ground. Briar
examined that. It would need to be cleaned.
Meanwhile, Tris had unslung her sling, which carried Chime, and had taken
her out. Chime, who had been asleep up until now, protested at being woke
up with a shrill and loud whistle.
"Chime, go get Niko, and Lark and bring them to us." The dragon, getting
over being woken up, nodded and flew off on crystal wings.
"We shouldn't move her," Daja said as Briar got ready to lift her.
"Well, how do you think Niko and Lark will?" he retorted and started
lifting.
"Briar wait," Tris said.
"What is it Coppercurls?" he asked wearily.
"I have a better way." She replied and started undoing one of her 'wind
braids'. He stopped lifting the girl and stepped back to let Tris do her
work.
Sending out her magic's to make sure that the winds didn't move any part of
the girls body, she created a large oval disc of air, which lifted the girl
up in the air, and with Tris guiding it, the four started their walk back
to the Winding Circle.
***
They got the girl back to winding circle with no difficulty, and placed her in Discipline, once they had made sure nothing was broken and all she had was the nasty scrape on her head. Daja volunteered to give her bed up for the girl. "She can have my bedroom, I'm sleeping in the forge tonight, so I can get an early start on my project." Daja's project was another living metal creation, similar to her vine, but this one just a single flower. As Briar tended to that with one of his ointments, Rosethorn brewed a vile energy giving drink to be given to the girl when she woke up. Niko, Lark, their students, Briar, Daja, and their students discussed the matter of the girl while eating an afternoon snack of biscuits and fruit. "Who do you think she is?" Tris asked. "There's no telling, but when she wakes up, we're sure to find out." Was Niko's only reply. "Until then though, we must not let this event be placed before our own lives. You all need to take turns in watching her when she wakes up, but other than that, just continue with what you were normally doing." The 9 others around the table nodded their heads in agreement, and they all went off on their ways, except Briar, who volunteered to take the first shift.
Abadia, or Abby as her friends called her, was extremely sore when she woke up. First she coughed and tried to get up, but the pounding in her head wasn't making it easy. Then it was strong hands that held her back. "No," a warm voice said. "You need to slow down. You've been injured. Here," the voice said as she was gently lifted and then lay back on her pillows in an upright position. Abby slumped back. She had a look at her savior. He was tall with brown hair, and brown eyes. His frame was that of a street boy, and he had a daring grin. In his eyes, Abby saw kindness and a haunting look, which passed quickly out of there as he noticed he watching. The man/boy held out a steaming mug of what she took to be herbal tea. "You have to drink it if you want to get your energy back." He said. But one sniff of it and Abby retched. "That's stuff disgusting." She said with a revolted look on her face. "Well," the man said unkindly. "It tastes like mangoes." "I don't like mangoes," Abby said, crossing her fingers behind her back. "Well, then." The boy said. "Put up with it." Having one last despairing look into the glass, Abby sculled it, trying to ignore the burning in her throat as it went down. "Did not taste like mangoes." She said when she gave him back the glass. Slowly she felt her mind slipping away into gentle sleep as she sagged against the pillows. As the man laid her down properly on her bed, he said, "I'm Briar." Abby opened her eyes briefly to look at him. "I'm Abby." She would have shook his hand, but ended up just holding it as she went into the blissful darkness.
Rosethorn walked in through the door. "Any luck yet?" she asked. Briar looked up. "She woke up a few minutes ago, we had a bit of an argument about whether the formula you gave to me for her tasted like mangoes or not, and she fell asleep." Rosethorn snorted. "You know very well that formula doesn't taste like mangoes." "Yeah," said Briar looking up. "But she didn't. She does now, but she didn't then. Her names Abby by the way." Rosethorn nodded. "When she wakes up again, bring her down to the table and get her something to eat. You can be in charge of looking after her now, seeing as she knows you." Briar groaned. "Not another kid to look after." Rosethorn just raised an eyebrow and walked out of the room. Popping her head back in she said, "Oh, and by the looks of it, she's the same age as you." Briar just stuck his tongue out. "I'd be careful with that boy, or else I'll chop it out." He shut his mouth quickly. Briar was beyond being scared of Rosethorn's threats, but she still held authority. She walked out of the room, and Briar settled in for a long wait.
Even though it seemed like an eternity, it wasn't very long before the girl woke up. Only a few hours. She groaned and opened her eyes against the brightly-lit room. Looking out the window she saw that it was evening though. Briar was sitting by a candle-lit lamp, reading a book. "How long have I been asleep?" Abby asked. Briar looked up from is book and smiled. "Only a few hours." He said. Abby nodded, and was preparing to go back to sleep when he said, "Come on, we'll get you something to eat." Without a word of complaint, Abby pulled her sore body up with only a little assistance from Briar. Then, leaning on the boy, she made it to the doorway, before needing a rest. "Maybe you should go lay down and I'll bring your food to you." He said, concerned. Abby shook her head. "No, I've had enough of laying down. I'll make it." As he helped her downstairs, she noticed everyone at the table, preparing dinner, or sitting there, waiting. All eyes turned to her, and she wanted to sink into the floor below. All the girls were wearing old fashioned dresses none of them ornate, but one girl with blonde hair and blue eyes had embroidery hemming hers. The men wore pants and baggy shirts. Abby wrinkled her nose. They say history repeats itself, especially in fashion, she thought to herself, but this stuff will never be cool. A woman with Asian styled eyes came and took her other elbow gently. "Come, sit down." she said. "My name's Lark. I'm one of the dedicates here at Discipline." Abby frowned. "Discipline?" she asked, confused at the name. It was a synonym to punishment, not a name of a place. The dedicate laughed. "I know it's a weird name, but don't worry, no one here is here because they need the discipline. We teach magic here." She had finally steered Abby to a seat besides a red headed girl with braids in her hair. Briar sat on her other side. "Magic?" Abby asked disbelievingly. Once again, all eyes turned to stare intently on her. "What's the matter?" another woman said. "Are you deaf or something?" Abby laughed, feeling a little stupid. "I might be, I could've sworn you just said magic." The woman shot her a steely glare. "Yes, Lark did say magic- why, you got a problem with that?" "Rosethorn, lay off," Lark said. Turning to Abby, she said, "Yes, magic." Abby shook her head. "There's no such thing as magic." She was staring at them, and they were staring at her. "Don't be daft, girl," Rosethorn said. "Of course there's such thing as magic." Abby shook her head again. She would have said something else to prove her point, but the red head to her side said, "Look, I'm getting sick of hearing you two bickering, we'll settle this once and for all, what's you're name?" She said this in one big rush. "Abby," the lost girl said, confused. "Alright, Abby," the red head said. "I'm Tris." She began to pour out some pepper from the peppershaker in the center of the table. "Abby, watch the tornado." As Abby watched, a little tornado began to form in Tris' hands. Then suddenly, it jumped and made a clear path for the pepper. Abby couldn't watch anymore. She covered her eyes with her hands and counted to twenty, and took a peak out of them. Every thing was still. But there, in the pepper, was her name in neat cursive. She yelped and backed away. "You mean, magic is real?" she asked Tris, not taking her eyes off of the pepper. "That is what we've been trying to tell you," Rosethorn grumbled. Seeing that the girl was obviously unsettled by what she had just seen, Lark stood and dished her out some food. "We'll talk about this later, but now, you have to get some food into your belly." Abby nodded, feeling dumbfounded. Briar looked at her, worried. "Are you okay?" he asked, placing a hand on the small of her back. Abby gave a bark of laughter. "Considering that all the things I've been led to believe about magic have just been turned upside down, yeah, I guess I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring smile and let her eat her dinner. After she had finished eating she was led into a room with Lark, Rosethorn, two other adults she didn't know, and Briar. By this time she was feeling very tired, and regretted going down to dinner at all. I should've gotten Briar to bring me up some food, instead of tramping down to get it myself, she thought ruefully as her head spun. When she stumbled at the door, a brown skinned man with a balding head and long hair hanging on the bottom of the bald patch caught her. "I think we should wait to talk to her." He said to the others. "She's looks half dead." Abby only heard a little bit of this. Rosethorn sighed with exasperation. "Alright. Frostpine, you take her up stairs, I'll get a potion ready for her to drink." (A/N: I can't remember if that's what they call tem in winding circle books, potions? If anyone can help me, I would mucho graciously appreciate it.) Frostpine helped Abby as she stumbled up the stairs, barely seeing where she was going. By the time she was at her room, she had nearly passed out. From here, Frostpine picked her up and placed her on the bed. After Briar had forced some of the potion down her throat, she fell asleep. The last sound she heard was Briar and Frostpine leaving the room.
***
They got the girl back to winding circle with no difficulty, and placed her in Discipline, once they had made sure nothing was broken and all she had was the nasty scrape on her head. Daja volunteered to give her bed up for the girl. "She can have my bedroom, I'm sleeping in the forge tonight, so I can get an early start on my project." Daja's project was another living metal creation, similar to her vine, but this one just a single flower. As Briar tended to that with one of his ointments, Rosethorn brewed a vile energy giving drink to be given to the girl when she woke up. Niko, Lark, their students, Briar, Daja, and their students discussed the matter of the girl while eating an afternoon snack of biscuits and fruit. "Who do you think she is?" Tris asked. "There's no telling, but when she wakes up, we're sure to find out." Was Niko's only reply. "Until then though, we must not let this event be placed before our own lives. You all need to take turns in watching her when she wakes up, but other than that, just continue with what you were normally doing." The 9 others around the table nodded their heads in agreement, and they all went off on their ways, except Briar, who volunteered to take the first shift.
Abadia, or Abby as her friends called her, was extremely sore when she woke up. First she coughed and tried to get up, but the pounding in her head wasn't making it easy. Then it was strong hands that held her back. "No," a warm voice said. "You need to slow down. You've been injured. Here," the voice said as she was gently lifted and then lay back on her pillows in an upright position. Abby slumped back. She had a look at her savior. He was tall with brown hair, and brown eyes. His frame was that of a street boy, and he had a daring grin. In his eyes, Abby saw kindness and a haunting look, which passed quickly out of there as he noticed he watching. The man/boy held out a steaming mug of what she took to be herbal tea. "You have to drink it if you want to get your energy back." He said. But one sniff of it and Abby retched. "That's stuff disgusting." She said with a revolted look on her face. "Well," the man said unkindly. "It tastes like mangoes." "I don't like mangoes," Abby said, crossing her fingers behind her back. "Well, then." The boy said. "Put up with it." Having one last despairing look into the glass, Abby sculled it, trying to ignore the burning in her throat as it went down. "Did not taste like mangoes." She said when she gave him back the glass. Slowly she felt her mind slipping away into gentle sleep as she sagged against the pillows. As the man laid her down properly on her bed, he said, "I'm Briar." Abby opened her eyes briefly to look at him. "I'm Abby." She would have shook his hand, but ended up just holding it as she went into the blissful darkness.
Rosethorn walked in through the door. "Any luck yet?" she asked. Briar looked up. "She woke up a few minutes ago, we had a bit of an argument about whether the formula you gave to me for her tasted like mangoes or not, and she fell asleep." Rosethorn snorted. "You know very well that formula doesn't taste like mangoes." "Yeah," said Briar looking up. "But she didn't. She does now, but she didn't then. Her names Abby by the way." Rosethorn nodded. "When she wakes up again, bring her down to the table and get her something to eat. You can be in charge of looking after her now, seeing as she knows you." Briar groaned. "Not another kid to look after." Rosethorn just raised an eyebrow and walked out of the room. Popping her head back in she said, "Oh, and by the looks of it, she's the same age as you." Briar just stuck his tongue out. "I'd be careful with that boy, or else I'll chop it out." He shut his mouth quickly. Briar was beyond being scared of Rosethorn's threats, but she still held authority. She walked out of the room, and Briar settled in for a long wait.
Even though it seemed like an eternity, it wasn't very long before the girl woke up. Only a few hours. She groaned and opened her eyes against the brightly-lit room. Looking out the window she saw that it was evening though. Briar was sitting by a candle-lit lamp, reading a book. "How long have I been asleep?" Abby asked. Briar looked up from is book and smiled. "Only a few hours." He said. Abby nodded, and was preparing to go back to sleep when he said, "Come on, we'll get you something to eat." Without a word of complaint, Abby pulled her sore body up with only a little assistance from Briar. Then, leaning on the boy, she made it to the doorway, before needing a rest. "Maybe you should go lay down and I'll bring your food to you." He said, concerned. Abby shook her head. "No, I've had enough of laying down. I'll make it." As he helped her downstairs, she noticed everyone at the table, preparing dinner, or sitting there, waiting. All eyes turned to her, and she wanted to sink into the floor below. All the girls were wearing old fashioned dresses none of them ornate, but one girl with blonde hair and blue eyes had embroidery hemming hers. The men wore pants and baggy shirts. Abby wrinkled her nose. They say history repeats itself, especially in fashion, she thought to herself, but this stuff will never be cool. A woman with Asian styled eyes came and took her other elbow gently. "Come, sit down." she said. "My name's Lark. I'm one of the dedicates here at Discipline." Abby frowned. "Discipline?" she asked, confused at the name. It was a synonym to punishment, not a name of a place. The dedicate laughed. "I know it's a weird name, but don't worry, no one here is here because they need the discipline. We teach magic here." She had finally steered Abby to a seat besides a red headed girl with braids in her hair. Briar sat on her other side. "Magic?" Abby asked disbelievingly. Once again, all eyes turned to stare intently on her. "What's the matter?" another woman said. "Are you deaf or something?" Abby laughed, feeling a little stupid. "I might be, I could've sworn you just said magic." The woman shot her a steely glare. "Yes, Lark did say magic- why, you got a problem with that?" "Rosethorn, lay off," Lark said. Turning to Abby, she said, "Yes, magic." Abby shook her head. "There's no such thing as magic." She was staring at them, and they were staring at her. "Don't be daft, girl," Rosethorn said. "Of course there's such thing as magic." Abby shook her head again. She would have said something else to prove her point, but the red head to her side said, "Look, I'm getting sick of hearing you two bickering, we'll settle this once and for all, what's you're name?" She said this in one big rush. "Abby," the lost girl said, confused. "Alright, Abby," the red head said. "I'm Tris." She began to pour out some pepper from the peppershaker in the center of the table. "Abby, watch the tornado." As Abby watched, a little tornado began to form in Tris' hands. Then suddenly, it jumped and made a clear path for the pepper. Abby couldn't watch anymore. She covered her eyes with her hands and counted to twenty, and took a peak out of them. Every thing was still. But there, in the pepper, was her name in neat cursive. She yelped and backed away. "You mean, magic is real?" she asked Tris, not taking her eyes off of the pepper. "That is what we've been trying to tell you," Rosethorn grumbled. Seeing that the girl was obviously unsettled by what she had just seen, Lark stood and dished her out some food. "We'll talk about this later, but now, you have to get some food into your belly." Abby nodded, feeling dumbfounded. Briar looked at her, worried. "Are you okay?" he asked, placing a hand on the small of her back. Abby gave a bark of laughter. "Considering that all the things I've been led to believe about magic have just been turned upside down, yeah, I guess I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring smile and let her eat her dinner. After she had finished eating she was led into a room with Lark, Rosethorn, two other adults she didn't know, and Briar. By this time she was feeling very tired, and regretted going down to dinner at all. I should've gotten Briar to bring me up some food, instead of tramping down to get it myself, she thought ruefully as her head spun. When she stumbled at the door, a brown skinned man with a balding head and long hair hanging on the bottom of the bald patch caught her. "I think we should wait to talk to her." He said to the others. "She's looks half dead." Abby only heard a little bit of this. Rosethorn sighed with exasperation. "Alright. Frostpine, you take her up stairs, I'll get a potion ready for her to drink." (A/N: I can't remember if that's what they call tem in winding circle books, potions? If anyone can help me, I would mucho graciously appreciate it.) Frostpine helped Abby as she stumbled up the stairs, barely seeing where she was going. By the time she was at her room, she had nearly passed out. From here, Frostpine picked her up and placed her on the bed. After Briar had forced some of the potion down her throat, she fell asleep. The last sound she heard was Briar and Frostpine leaving the room.