Hicky: What is up all my little peeps and peepettes?

Trent: I'm here! I suck! Get use to it!

Hicky: Here's the deal. My brother and I are always going to write the chapters go they update together. When this goes up, LoTC2 goes up, and neither goes before. So, yes, I was done this about a week ago and Sassy wouldn't hurry his ass up!

Trent: I'm here! I suck! Get use to it!

Hicky: Shut up you stupid block! ENJOY! You've love the ending in this chap!

_

When We Were Apart

Dane stood on top of the same hill of sand that he had watched Chacer leave from a year ago. He had come many times and looked down at were the camels had stood, would follow the path they had taken with his eyes. He had watched Chacer wobble back and forth on top of his camel until he could not even see the speck that was him on the horizon.

"Dane," a voice called and he turned. Tanned skin, bright eyes… how much she looked like her brother, save the pretty blond hair. "Hi Dane," the girl said clasping her hands in front of herself.

"Hello, Mysotsu," Dane said sighing lightly. "How are you?"

"I'm fine Dane," Mysotsu said happily.

Dane gave her a lopsided smile. The kid was sweet, sure, but she was still such a baby. Dane actually got along with Takima better. Takima had Chacer's pizzazz, and her mothers attitude. Mysotsu was like a flitty Hoopoe, and Mynako was just… a cold hearted bitch for the age of six.

"Mysotsu!" Came a high pitched, yet stern voice.

The girl jumped and Dane grinned. "Hi there Mynako."

"Shut up! Mysie, mom says come home right now or I get to throw sand in your eyes!"

"She did not!"

"Okay, I added the last part, but she should have said it!"

"Oh Dane! Say me!" Mysotsu cried as she threw herself at the boy.

"I don't want to!" Dane said as he promptly pushed her away.

"But Daaaaane! She wants to hurt me!"

'Yeah? Can I help?' Dane thought as a smirk made its way to his lips.

Mynako stomped her little foot into the sand. "Home. Now. Mysie!" She said angrily. Next she turned to Dane who went rigid under her glare. "And you, you go see your aunt. She wants you to look after Magus for her."

Dane rolled his eyes and sighed. He didn't mind looking after Magus, but his aunt... she was creepy and he didn't like her much.

"I'll walk with you a bit," Mysotsu said as she took Dane by the hand.

"S'okay," Dane said quickly before making his way down the hill at a run.

Mysie waved after him until her twin grabbed her hand and began dragging her home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*deet*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dane sat on the floor of his aunt's home. His eyes stared, unblinking, at the baby sitting across from him. He thought Magus didn't look any different from what he had been a year old. Maybe he'd gotten a little bit bigger, but Dane couldn't tell.

"Day!" Magus said happily, causing his cousin to jump in surprise.

"What do you want Magus?" Dane asked, resting his elbow on his thigh, and his cheek in his hand.

"Pay!"

"Play what?" Dane asked, looking very bored. It was rather amazing that there were no other boys to play with in the village except Magus. And the next best thing was Takima. But now he was babysitting and he'd have to be nice to the squirt.

"Hideseak!" Magus said happily as he got up and waddled over to Dane. "You say the nubers."

"Fine, I'll count first." Dane said as he covered his eyes. "One, two, three, four..." He continued until he was sure Magus had had enough time to make it across the room and find a pathetic hiding place. "Oh, I wonder where he is..." Dane said looking right at the little form that was Magus.

Magus was curled up with his eyes shut tight and his hands covering them. It seemed he thought that if he could not see, no one would be able to see him either.

"Could he be over here?" Dane asked as he walked in a different direction than where Magus was. He couldn't help but grin as he caught a quiet giggle. "Nope, nope, he isn't here."

Magus got up onto his feet when he heard Dane coming closer and dashed off, thinking he was invisible, and collided with a stool. He uncovered his eyes and looked at the, now toppled, stool from his place on the ground. "It topped game Day!" he said angrily as he poked the three legged piece of furniture.

Dane rolled his eyes at his young cousin. He was sure he never acted in such a manner. Running into chairs and being so silly. He was much too mature to have ever been like that. He walked over to Magus scooped him up and spun his around though the air.

Magus giggled with glee as he feet, and the rest of his body, flew through the air. He trusted his cousin completely, as Dane had swung him around for over a year now.

Dane slowed down and put Magus on the ground before plopping down himself. "You know Magus," he said looking at the very happy toddler, "I'm going to be leaving in a year."

"No more Day? Where Day go?" Magus asked, his eyes getting sad.

"I have to go to the temple. I'm going to be a mage," Dane said. He couldn't wait, and he was so happy that he'd get to see Chacer again.

"I come too. I be mage!" the little one said.

"You have to be twelve, and you're only two. You have to wait."

"But I have no one to pay wit if you go away," Magus crawled over to sit in his cousin's lap.

"There are Chacer's sisters still, and there may be more babies soon-"

"Who Chacer?" the two year old asked.

"Chacer is my best friend," Dane explained.

"Then where is he Day? You pay wit him?"

Dane sighed. "No, he's already at the temple. He's been gone for two years... I really miss him-"

"Poor Day!" Magus said as he fell against his cousin to give him a hug. "Oh, look Day! Mommy back!"

Dane tuned his head to see his aunt, Dancrofae, as she stood in the doorway.

"Dane," She said in a monotone voice, simply regarding his presence.

"Shall I go home now Aunt?" Dane said, shuddering slightly at the sound of his aunt's voice.

"Yes. You may go. Magus, Magus my son, come to mother," she said, with no emotion at all in her voice.

Magus climbed off of Dane and made his, wibbly, wobbly, way over to his mother, who scooped him up in her arms in what seemed like slow motion and looked down at him. Not really a look of love or of any warmth, but more of a blank stare, as if she was a machine.

Dane watched this for a moment before hurrying out of the little home belonging to his aunt and uncle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*deet*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh Dane! There you are!" A now seven year old Mysotsu said cheerily as she skipped over to where Dane was emerging from his aunt's house. "Was Magus a good boy?"

The brown-haired boy looked at her as she skipped up. "He was fine."

"What is your aunt always up too? You seem to have to look after Magus for her more and more," the girl said as she gave a curious tilt of her head.

"Oh, she's just keeping busy. Plus, I think Magus needs someone to play with," Dane said as he started walking, only to have the blond follow behind. 'I go to get away from you!' he thought, feeling her soft breath on his arm.

"Magus could play with Takima, I bet they would have fun." She moved next to Dane and looked up at him.

'Oh, look at that hole, right in the middle of where she's walking,' he thought. "Well, I meant a boy. His father is always away so I think he needs a bit of a male presence around, for his own good."

"Oh you are sooo very sweet Dane! Always thinking of other- AH!" And with that she fell, face first, into the sand, her foot having got stuck in the hole.

Dane mentally laughed as he held out a hand to help her up.

"Ow! Ow, Dane! I think I hurt my ankle! Will you carry me?"

The boy rolled his eyes. He picked up Mysotsu and threw her over his shoulder like she was nothing but an annoying sack.

Mysotsu moaned and groaned about more comfortable ways to be carried, but Dane paid no attention to her.

"Hi Mynako," he said as he dropped Mysotsu onto her bed.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked glancing at her sister.

Dane motioned for her to follow him outside.

"So?" Mynako asked again.

"Well, do you mean right now? Or did you want the whole list?" Dane said grinning.

"Well, I know the list Dane," she said laughing lightly.

Dane joined her for a moment before continuing. "She stepping in a hole and fell."

"What an ungraceful thing she is- Dane?" Mynako asked, eying the boy.

"Yeah?"

"Did you see the hole?" One of her eyebrows was raised in curiosity.

"Why... yes, I did see it," Dane said giving her a grin. They gave their 'I hate Mysotsu' club salute before Mynako went back in to deal with her sister. Dane smiled up at the sky, the hot sun on his face. "Soon, soon I'll be coming Chacer." He walked up to the top of the hill where he had watched his friend leave, and followed the path that he'd soon be taking with his eyes.

A young person crept up behind Dane, as quietly as they could so as not to make their presence known. Then, suddenly, they leapt, tackling the unsuspecting twelve year old and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Takima!" Dane shouted, his face held in the sand.

"Mmmhhhmmmmm?" the girlish voice that was no doubt Chacer's youngest sister was heard clearly.

Dane pressed his hands against the sand and lifted himself up. He brushed the sand off of his face and blinked at Takima. "What are you up too?"

"Well, I've achieved my sneak-attack for today. I bet I am as clever as a jackal!"

"Are you now?" Dane asked getting to his feet and looking out towards the horizon.

"Yes. I am so clever I know that you will be leaving, not soon, but tomorrow in all truth. For there is the caravan, coming through the valley."

Dane squinted and saw exactly what Takima had said. "I'm only half packed!" Dane shouted as he spun around and dashed toward his home.

Takima looked out again. "They'll be here in eight hours," she said to the wind. Dane was a little too enthusiastic about leaving, so the right thing to do would be to tell him not to freak out so much. She turned around and walked down the hill and over to Dane's home. "Heh! Dane!" She called inside.

A boy poked his head out a window. "Takima? I'm busy," he said before pulling his head back in.

The young girl walked over, grabbed the bottom of the window and hoisted herself up. "Dane! They won't be here for more than seven and a half hours! Calm down!"

Dane made his way back over to the window and helped Takima climb in. "You sure?"

"Positive, you know how good I am at that kind of stuff."

Dane sat down on a stool looking fairly miserable. "I just wish they'd come faster. Not that I want to go-"

"You just want to see Chacer. I know."

"Is it that obvious?" the blue-eyed boy asked, looking at Chacer's sibling.

She nodded sweetly. "You were best friends, and obviously loved each other."

Dane smiled a little. Of course he loved his best friend, they were like brothers. It felt so good to know that soon they would be reunited. "We still are best friends Takima, three years can't change that."

"Well, tell him we all love him and miss him alright? I'm going to tell everyone else about the arrival of the caravan." She ran out the front door and made her way around the village.

After Dane was sure he was done packing up every little thing he needed, including every one of the poems Chacer had ever wrote him, he sat down and looked over everything. He combed his hair and made himself presentable, which took a rather long time seeing as how he had been tackled into the sand earlier that day.

By the time the caravan had made its way into the village it was dark out. The sky was deep blue and the stars where shining. Dane walked out with some of the adults to greet the camel riders. The camels were taken to pens, their packs removed and put inside the storage hut. The men were given accommodations for the night.

Dane and his mother walked the young man, that was to be staying with them, to their home. He was fairly tall and thin and carried a staff. He was going to explain what it meant to be a mage and what was expected of him before he got to the temple. It was odd though, he wore something that would always cover his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*deet*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The journey from his village to the temple was not terrible. It was not especially long, the weather was as expected, and the company was most enjoyable. Dane had learned many things already from the young man. He knew the ways of the temple, when he would move up, if he was good enough, and what he would be trained in. It seemed he, like Chacer, would learn skills of black magic. He was also asked questions; about his mother, his father, if they had abilities, or if they were plain, and so on. These questions were to figure out the ground level of where Dane's training would begin.

Although everything had gone well, the caravan was behind in their schedule, and to make up for this, they rode through the night, set on coming into the temple at the appointed time. Dane tried hard to keep his eyes open, as everyone else was doing, but it was hard and he was younger.

The young man maneuvered his camel beside the one Dane, and all his little belongings were on. He wrapped his arm around Dane's smaller form and lifted him from his camel, turning his around and placing him practically in his lap. He wrapped the younger boy's arms around his waist and held him with one arm. "Sleep Dane, I'll keep you safe."

Suddenly a wind blew across the dessert and the material covering the young man's face was sent flying about. Long black hair danced, and leapt in the breeze.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Hicky: Oop! What did you think? Who could it be?

Trent: Even I know!

Hicky: So you must! Come on and guess away! Also, the LoTC quiz is still here for those who want it, and those that have taken it, I'd like it back to mark.