Summersea Saga

by crosseyedbutterfly

Sequel to Twisted Tortallain Tale! This time, our fav group of teens are sent to Summersea...and it's crazy boy mage who runs things behind the scenes! Chapter 22 up!

13.

Chapter 13!! Supposedly the most unlucky number there is, but...I don't think it's going to affect this chapter any. Thanks to those of you (even the few who reviewed for the first time in a long time ^_~) who took the time to press that little button at the bottom and give me your thoughts. I love you guys!! And now, presenting, CHAPTER 13!! *DUN DUN DUN*

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Ben sat on his cushion below the dais, knowing better than to look anywhere but at the floor as he played on, a soft lullaby of sorts that the Master had requested through one of the guards before he'd entered the hall. His guest was another noble like himself, similar to dress and everything. Ben wouldn't have been enable to tell one from the other, personally, but apparently there was some difference there from the deference the Master paid to this man. Hanging on his every word, replying instantly and respectfully to every question, humbling himself through his choice of words, he might as well been the servant and his guest the Master in a way.

Past that, though, he ceased to think about the pair and instead let his own thoughts wander, letting his fingers and tongue do the work for him while the rest of his attention ran free. He'd actually learned the base for this tune from Amanda, it was one of those pieces she'd put together for the two of them...he could hear the chords as she moved up the rise with him, then her slightly offbeat part there as she fingered through some odd intervals, just loud enough to be heard over his own part...

He still missed her very, very much. It had been over three months, almost four, since  the 'incident' had happened. He still didn't know how she'd died, or even if she had died at all. But if she hadn't, why hadn't she come for him yet? Ben knew without a doubt that she would never willingly leave him where he wouldn't be safe, and would anything and everything to get him back. If she were still alive, and able to reach him, she would've at least sent him word by now, he was sure of that.

So she was either...gone, which Nana had said was most likely when dealing with the Master and his underlings, or unable to come and get him somehow. Could they have hurt her so badly that she'd never be able to, say, walk again? If she lost a leg she wouldn't be able to fight very well, or any major limb for that matter. Or what if they blinded her or cut out her tongue so she couldn't speak....Ben shook his head and forced his imagination to settle down, pushing the images that had come up out of his mind and focusing for awhile on his music instead. He couldn't break down right now, not while he was supposed to be playing for the dinner entertainment. To do so would ensure a very rough beating later on, something he'd rather avoid right now.

He came to the end of the lullaby and went straight into another tune very similar to it, but with a more perky, but calming feel to it. It was made more to put you at ease, and revitalize, rather than to put children to sleep. Or adults, as he remembered with a slight grin the baron who'd fallen asleep in his pudding the last time he'd played the first piece. Granted, the man was exhausted from his day's journey to get there, but it was funny none the less.

Both the Master and his guest rose suddenly, bowing to each other as they retired to a smaller room behind the one they were in now and Ben was dismissed back to his other duties. Glancing down at his fingers, he grimaced and headed for his room where the bandages where. He'd best build up some calluses on his fingers soon, or he was going to ruin his flute from his blood blisters that popped at random.

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Libby could hardly contain her joy as she bounced down the hall to breakfast, following her nose with the sweet aromas of pancakes, bacon, and fried apples in the air. "You're up early," commented Jem as he met her at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I have pink hair!!" she exclaimed as she grabbed his hands and danced him down with her, the little boy following with a surprised look on his face as he could do nothing by try not to trip over his own feet in the process. "Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling everything's going my way!!"

"And good morning to you too!" said Kaitlin as she brought out plates and fresh cups of juice for them. "Sleep well, Jem?"

"Like a rock."

"Good. What about you Libby?"

"I don't need sleep," she declared as she sat down, taking some pancakes for herself and liberally pouring the syrup over them. "I am beyond the normal limits of all mortals with my pink hair!"

"Does that mean you're willing to take Cheek's job of plowing the fields today for the spring planting?" asked Brenna as she sat down beside her, serving herself as well and thanking Kaitlin for the coffee she brought her. "Because I'm sure he'd love to have you take the job for him...."

Libby frowned as she stuck her nose up in the air arrogantly. "Those with pink hair do not lower themselves to the chores of those who do not."

"Libby, you do realize in about two weeks it's going to start growing out, right?" asked Brenna as she glanced at her rather pointedly, helping herself to the syrup as well. "It's just dye, it can't really give you super powers dear. If you want, I can find something that'll remove it just like we did with your skin...."

"Never!!" Libby clapped her hands on her hair protectively. *sniffles* "I love my pink hair...."

"You could always re-dye it when the roots start to show," Kaitlin reminded her as Cheeks came downstairs as well, the only one of the group who wasn't present being Rupal and her being buried underneath a mountain of books on her desk as usual.

"Will you Brenna??" begged Libby as she gave the farmer lady the biggest puppy eyes she could manage on the spot. "Pretty pretty please with a thousand pink bunnies and a cherry on top???"

"Yes, I'll help you re-dye it when it needs to be done," promised Brenna, taking a sip of her coffee as she did. "We'll have to be careful, though, I don't know how your hair's going to react to multiple dyes....and I'd hate for you to go bald because you used it one too many times."

"Bah, my hair'll be fine," retorted Libby as she busied herself with the task of eating again. "After all, it's the color pink...and pink shall never, ever hurt me!"

Brenna sighed as she rolled her eyes. "Right..."

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Nicole sat with Jenny in her cabin, playing checkers on an old board they'd found in one of the storage lockers below deck. Jenny moved her newly crowned king to the right next to one of Nicole's pawns. "Your turn."

Nicole levitated above the board, and then landed beside one of her pieces, using her wind powers to jump it over Jenny's king. "Gotcha!"

"Wait, you can't do that," protested Jenny as she jerked back in surprise. "Pawns can't move that direction, only kings can go both...."

"Your pawns can't move that direction," Nicole informed her pertly. "Mine can, remember?"

Jenny sat there for a moment, recognition dawning in her eyes as she did. "Ohh...well in that case, can we redo that?"

"I don't think so!"

"I let you when you forgot Kings could move both ways."

"...so?"

"Nicole!! That's not fair, I was being nice..."

"And you never said I had to be nice back, to there." Nicole stuck her tongue out at the captain childishly. "Heh."

"Now that's just-" Jenny was cut off as the whole ship tilted to the side, righting itself again a moment later with half the items on Jenny's desk now sitting on the floor and their board completely flipped over wtih it's pieces scattered every which way.

"What was that?!" demanded Jenny as she scrambled up from where she'd fallen from her seat and threw open the door of her cabin. Lightning bolts threaded their way across the sky, waves rising higher and higher to crash over the sides of the ship, flooding the deck with treacherous waters that hid the planks below. "Oh great..."

"Captain, we've got us a squall to deal with!" yelled Trevor as he scrambled down from the mast, the sails all gathered in already even as the heavens opened up and the rain began to pour. "Tanner says it shouldn't last more than an hour or two the way the weather's been going, but he'd like you to stay below deck with your other friends just the same...we'll handle it from here!"

"I don't think so!" snapped Nicole as she flitted past him, tugging on his ear as she went by. "I'll take care of this little mess, thank you kindly..."

Tyler tried to grab for her as she raced up for the crow's nest. "Don't, Nicole, it's dangerous to toy with nature...she is as wild and free as a beast and could turn on you even worse than before!"

"If she's a beast, she'd best stay out of my 'cuz I learned how to bite back from the best!" Nicole yelled back as she stopped near the top, feeling the winds whip and tear around her in their frantic search to pluck everything that wasn't tied down and toss it to the sky. Letting her mind flow free as she'd learned, she followed the weather patterns and found it was moving away from them steadily, it just needed a little 'push' to send it on it's way. "Hm..."

Gathering the winds that would allow themselves to be harnessed around her, she used them to weave a net ropes of air, closing it around the storm system and slowly, gently, tugging it away from the ship towards other waters. The storm moved, though grudgingly, and the skies slowly began to clear.

"Okay, then, never mind..." Jenny stood next to the drenched Tyler and Trevor, Tanner hailing them from the helm with an usual look on his face.

"What was that for?" he asked indignantly as Jenny came up with Nicole sitting on her shoulder. "I was doing perfectly well, thank you..."

"Her ship, her rules," cut in Nicole, smirking as he glared in reply. "Heh, typical egotistical male."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

Jack suddenly popped up from below deck, shaking an accusing finger at Tanner. "Now do you see what I mean?!"

Nicole's eye twitched. "Who asked you to join in?!" She flicked two fingers towards him, two twin blasts of winds sending him flying over the rail of the deck to the waters below.

"Stupid....feminist....nymph thing!" sputtered Jack as he struggled to keep his head above the waves.

Nicole just smiled innocently as Tanner got a line and hauled Jack back over the edge of the boat. "Who me? Never!"

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Bryanna could feel it creeping towards her, it's empty, black depths yearning to swallow her alive, to devour her whole. And this time she couldn't escape...writhing, screaming, fighting it's bonds only to have it latch on to her all the tighter and attempt to drown her in it's presence...

The healer student sat up, her throat hoarse from the held in screams as she shook horribly, tears streaming down her face as she tried to call out for help, to even say a single word, but she couldn't! Olivia, who'd had to share a room with her again, looked up from where she sat still reading in the corner.

"Something wrong, Bry?" Bryanna's movements had grown more and more violent, her eyes begging for help as her chest began to freeze up like her throat had and she could no longer breath, feeling something choking her from the inside out.... "Bryanna?!"

Olivia was up and at Bryanna's side in an instant as the healer collapsed completely, grabbing her wrist and feeling something dangling from it. Ripping it off and holding it to the light, Bryanna immediately began to relax and calm herself even as Olivia recognized it as one of Randy's.

"It tried to kill me," whispered Bryanna hoarsely, the tears still flowing down her face as she tried to curl up in a small ball. "It was consuming me, I could feel it..."

"Oh my gosh," whispered Randy from where he stepped out of the shadows, Olivia angrily throwing the medallion in the fire before placing herself protectively between him and Bryanna. She might not be particularly close to the healer girl, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to defend her when she couldn't take care of herself.

"Easy," she murmured to Bryanna, putting a hand on her back as she reached over and grabbed the bottle of spirits she'd gotten earlier that day for a special occasion. "Drink some of this, it'll help..."

Bryanna took a sip and gasped as it went down her throat like fire, bringing with it a pleasant feeling of being slightly disjointed from reality that buzzed at the edge of her senses and kept her from doing any serious thinking at all. "Ah...thanks..."

"Sure thing." Olivia left her with the bottle and advanced on Randy, her eyes flashing dangerously. "And as for you..."

"I swear, I didn't know she'd react like that!" cried Randy as he backed up quickly, finding himself between her and a wall a few moments later. "It must've been a defective one or something...mine never did anything like that!"

"So you thought you'd prove a point by doing it when she was asleep and when she woke up you could say all her fears were completely baseless?" ground Olivia through her teeth as she advanced on Randy a few more steps. "Idiot! You knew she didn't like them! And I'll bet that medallion wasn't defective, it's just like the rest of them, which means we've left some of the best instructors we've had with a little piece of death in their hands!"

Randy's hands shook as he went to his neck. "A little...piece of death?" he whispered quietly.

"Yeah, death," replied Olivia as she pointed towards the door for him to leave. "And you'd better hope that medallion gets you before Bryanna does when she'd fully coherent again, because I doubt she'll leave you in one piece. I wouldn't."

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Kristen very, very slowly went inch by inch across the beam, moving her feet as slowly as possible without coming to a complete standstill. In her hands was a pole that she held crossways in front of her, and attached to her waist was a harness connected to a sliding pin above her so if she fell she wouldn't go more than a few feet at the most and he could haul her up to start all over again.

Jon walked along the beam next to hers, the only two that went straight across without cutting off at one point or another or with hole in them that forced the user to make a small jump or take an alternate route. Occasionally he'd wobble slightly to one side or the other, but he never fell, which was probably a good thing since he wasn't wearing a harness like she was.

"You're going to trip and break you neck!" snapped Kristen as she edged forward a little further, feeling herself lean to the right slightly before she quickly righted herself. "In fact, if I weren't so sure I'd fall with you and there'd be no one to haul me up, I'd probably push you off and save you the trouble of waiting for your luck to fall out."

"Thanks, nice to know you appreciate everything I'd done for you," muttered Jon as he rolled his eyes, running a hand through his usual mess of spikes that passed for hair. "You know, it would probably help if you moved faster than two inches and hour, snail..."

"I'm not a snail," growled Kristen. "Shut up."

"Ok, ok....just trying to get a laugh is all. See this? It's a smile, you might try doing it sometime."

"I don't smile," huffed Kristen, taking a few steps forward at a slightly quicker pace. "I smirk."

"So I noticed..."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing you'd understand, probably."

"WHAT?!" Kristen turned and swung at Jon with the pole, feeling him grab it and then jerk it from her hands as she suddenly found herself looking straight down with the floor coming closer....and then the painful jerk as the harness caught her and she was suspended in midair.

"This is why you wear the harness and I don't," commented Jon as he sat on the rafter and watched her hang.

"You truly are a bastard, you know that?"

Jon shrugged with a smirk. "So they keep telling me."

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Alyse and Landon sat side by side on a pair of horses, blindfolded after having left the city gates with their 'escorts' so they wouldn't know the way to wherever it was they were going. After what seemed like ages later, they stopped and were allowed to see again, blinking in the torchlight that lit the small courtyard they were in. Following the still gray-swathed figures down a set of hallways with a pair of guards that had attached themselves to the rear of the group, they dared not say a word to each other and waited in tight-lipped anticipation for what might happen next.

Alyse's hand was constantly tracing the handle of her fan, and Landon had taking to toying with the hilt of his short sword, but both hoped deep in their hearts it wouldn't come to blows. Alyse because she didn't like to kill, and Landon because he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the weapon he'd been given.

They stopped before a large set of double doors, the taller of their escorts knocking in some specific sequence before it was opened from the inside and the four of them with their guards staying behind where allowed to enter.

The hall behind it was huge, a dais at the far end holding a table where five or six important looking people sat going through papers, talking with others, or watching the work going on below. Below the dais were several long, wide tables where many people in both mage's robes and soldier's armor sat around talking, eating, drinking, drawing out plans and in general creating the atmosphere of controlled chaos that permeated the place.

"You're back early, Less," said one of those closer to the door, a young woman dressed similarly to the pair who'd silently led them thus far. "And with some visitors as well. Best have a good reason for that, Elcarth doesn't like just anyone to be allowed in ya know..."

"Yeah," replied the taller of the two, removing his head piece to show he had sandy blonde hair that stuck up in all directions, his dark green eyes intelligent and calculating and a crooked smile on his face. "I'm aware of that, Kes. We left Rio to take care of it, she should be back soon..."

"Actually, I beat you back!" called someone else from the other side of the room, waving before sitting back down to finish whatever it they were doing.

"Never mind then," coughed Less, who shrugged his shoulders and tossed the head thing into a bin near the door, stripping his other outer grays as well to reveal a light brown sleeveless tunic and trousers. Their other escort did so as well, revealing a broad-shouldered male with thick black hair and bushy eyebrows that wiggled that caterpillars upon his brow. "Come on, you two, time to go find out why you were brought here."

"It's nice to know someone hasn't forgotten we exist," coughed Landon dryly.

"Patience," murmured Alyse, watching all around her while following their guides through the maze of tables. "We're rather outnumbered here, if you haven't noticed..."

"Yes, but according to Devan, you're completely immortal, so at least one of us would get out alive," replied Landon with a wink.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not have my soul being torn in three different directions while my body takes its sweet time pulling itself back together," sighed Alyse with a slight blush.

"Less, Teren," acknowledged one of the six sitting on the dais as they stood at the edge of it, the six standing as well. "You've returned, and it was successful. Well done. However, I am curious to know who these are...?"

"Mages, sir," replied Less respectfully as he stood a little taller. "The woman, she can sense the taint, and the man, he can see it."

The one who acknowledged them froze for a moment in surprise. "She can sense it, you say? What's your name, miss? And yours, sir?"

"I am Alyse," she replied simply. "My friend is Landon."

"Obviously you have control of these talents of yours," went on the man quickly. "Who trained you?"

The two from another world traded glances. "Sir Devan," replied Landon hesitantly.

"Haha!!" Both mages jumped slightly, backing away as the one who's greeted them danced in a circle and whooped as loud as he could. The entire group in the hall got to it's feet and did so as well.

Alyse backed up another step, reaching for her fan as she grabbed Less with her free hand and forced him to look her in the eye. "What the heck is going on?"

Less just smiled his crooked grin and laughed. "It means you're now one of us, the Gray Hunters."

Alyse and Landon looked at each other, then back at the wild assembly around them. "Oh boy..."

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Briteyes sat by herself in the attic, going through the box of things Rosethorn and Lark told her she'd left behind on her last 'trip', Silven downstairs with them sharing an afternoon snack. Apparently the dedicates were aware of who and what Silven was, for they treated her the same as they did the performer, but she couldn't remember how they knew though Silven had assured her that it wasn't important enough to explain it all to her again.

The first thing in the box was a lute, one that she ran her fingers over in recognition as she pulled it out and placed it in her lap, checking each string as she did. It was newer than the one she remembered, but then a thread from the past came through the mists, reminding her of being presented with this one after she'd recovered....recovered from what? The strings were still new, and it had obviously never been played for the fret board didn't have a single mark on it in the least. Why hadn't she played it? It wasn't that she didn't know how, for she had only to pick it up and think of a tune to begin to play it, she was sure of that much at least.

Setting it aside, she went on and pulled out an old, patched travel bag. Inside she found a few scrolls with tunes written on it, ones she'd heard or made up, she guessed. A few obviously weren't her creation, but there was one or two that had a certain 'feel' to them....she couldn't quite describe it, but she was sure they were hers none the less. Stacking them neatly beside the lute, she went on and pulled out another item.

This one was a hat, a blue one with a bell on each of it's peeks. They'd called them 'jester hats' back home, and while she was rather certain it wasn't hers, it had a very familiar feel to it. A feel that was similar to the one she had when she was told she'd given up whatever old name she'd have and only answered to 'Briteyes' now. That much, at least, she'd accepted thus far. However, had the hat belonged to someone she knew very well? And if it did, why did she have it now?? So many questions and so few answers...

Pulling out the rest of the contents, she found nothing else that might help her figure out her past and put it all away again, taking only the lute with her as she headed out of the attic and to the floors below.

"Going somewhere?" asked Rosethorn from where she sat at the kitchen table nursing a small, sick plant with a tender care few ever saw.

"Just out to the main gardens to practice awhile," replied Briteyes over her shoulder, grinning slowly as she wave to Lyssa who lay on the window sill in the warm sunlight.

#Be careful# her ever watchful animal companion called sleepily.

"I will," replied Briteyes with a nod. She walked on out the gate and to the path, following it a ways until she came to a garden that was more familiar than the rest, hidden away in a nook against one of the walls. She'd been here before, but why was beyond her once again. Taking seat beneath one of the trees on a stone bench, she began to tune her lute and go through some technical and warm-up exercises so her fingers wouldn't cramp halfway through.

"...Brite?" called someone from nearby, very familiar as it's owner came into view. Still wearing the same novice robes and with her strawberry-blonde hair just a little bit longer than before. Briteyes blinked, then grasped at the name that danced on the tip of her tongue.

"T...Tany? Tan...Tanya!"

A shy smile split the younger girl's face. "You do remember me!"

"Better than I remember most of anything else," admitted the performer wryly. "But please, have a seat! It's been a very long time since I actually talked with you, hasn't it?"

"Mmhm." Tanya sat slowly on the other end of the bench and watched as Briteyes finished her tuning and began to play a soft lullaby. "Not since you played here for Midsummer nearly a year ago."

Briteyes frowned. "I was...happy then, wasn't I?" she asked carefully, feeling bits a pieces of her fragmented memories reach her. "Everyone liked the music, and I think I sat with you at a fire afterwards until almost the next morning..."

"That's right," affirmed the novice, wondering how much she should say since the Honored Moonstream had made it very clear none of them where to ever even mention her deceased brother Scamp or anything that happened with the two of them together. "Say...there was a squirrel with you that night, right? Is she still around?"

"Silven? Yeah, she's still alive and kicking," replied Briteyes as she rolled her eyes. "And biting for that matter..."

Tanya tugged on her ear lightly, the same one where Briteyes now sported a set of fang marks. "Is that what those are from?"

"Oh, yeah." Briteyes fingered her ear gingerly. "I'm not sure why she bit me, but I was told I deserved it and they're probably right."

"....right." Tanya suddenly titled her head to the side, the sound of someone calling her name coming from the distance. "I'm being summoned again. I hope to see you again soon, Briteyes."

"And you too, Tanya!" Briteyes called after her with a grin and a wave. "Please, if I'm ever at Discipline and you know of it, come and visit me! I'd have a legitimate excuse to get out of chores for once!"

Tanya chuckled as she ducked out of sight, hurrying down the paths as fast as her legs would let her. "I will!"

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Jem came scurrying back into the house, his hands as grubby as ever with a childishly pleased look on his face. "Kaitlin?" he called hesitantly as he entered her domain, seeing Cheeks there with her as the later tried to persuade her to give her a few of the cookies she'd just baked.

"Come on Kaitlin, they're best when they come straight out of the oven, and we'll never eat them all tonight..." said Cheeks genially, a hopeful look in his eyes. "You know you'd love to give me one."

"Hang on a sec, Cheeks." She turned to Jem, smiling at him as usual. "Hello Jemmy-kins! Do you need something?"

"These are for you!" Jem held forth a bouquet of withered and crumpled flowers that he pulled out of his pocket, a sunny smile on his face as he righted one of the bent ones gently with his other hand.

"Awww!!" Kaitlin whisked them from his hand and pulled out a vase she happened to randomly have stored in a cabinet. Placing the flowers in it with some water, she set them in the sunlight and then took two of the cookies from the tray and gave them to him with a smile. "Thanks, sweetie!"

Jem smiled back, and accepted the treat. "Didn't you make some tarts today too?" he ventured with an innocent smile, taking a bite of one of the cookies with a sigh of satisfaction.

"As a matter of fact I did, let me get you one...." Jem grinned at Cheek who just watched in amazement. "Here you are, Jem!  Now you run along and play."

"Thank you, Kaitlin!"

"You're welcome, Jem."

"But....he..." Kaitlin glanced over at Cheeks, who was sputtering in coherently as Jem skipped away.

"Something for you?" she asked, raising one eyebrow ever so slightly.

Cheeks rolled his eyes and turned around to walk away as he shook his head in disbelief. "I'm going, I'm going..."

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Gwen and Tanner walked ashore at the next port, the rest staying on board to help with repairs and getting fresh water and food stuffs while the pair went and got the crew some extra cash. Not that it was seriously needed, but they'd had to cut into their emergency funds to replace one of the sails, some ropes, and a few iron parts and it needed to be replenished again.

Carrying a bag each, they stopped off at each vendor, showing them their goods and sitting down for formal talks each time. Gwen never said a word, but gave the owner a innocent, needy puppy face that seemed to mesmerize each one into whatever price they wanted within a semi-reasonable limit. It wasn't the sort of money they'd make if they'd entered into the usual Trader days and days of deal making, but it was better than they'd normally do. And as it was they didn't have time to be picky, they had a delivery to make and they were barely on schedule as it was with a nymph on board.

After the third one Tanner glanced at Gwen as they walked along, an odd look coming across his face.

"What?" she asked after she saw him do it for the fourth time. "Something wrong? Do I have something on my face or what??"

Tanner studied her a moment, and the said, "Are you sure you're not a mage or something? Because I swear you're spelling every single person we go and try to sell things to... I wouldn't mind, really, I'd just like to know."

"I'm not a mage!" exclaimed Gwen. "I have not magic, alright? NO MAGIC!! I'm just...hypnotically cute when I want to be, that's all. Sort of like Libby with her boobs, only that's more along the perfect anime girl who's top heavy line...."

Tanner slowly raised an eyebrow as he turned away, going on to the next vendor with Gwen skipping along beside him. Hypnotically cute? Perfect what-ya-call-it girl? Top heavy?? He never would understand these strange friends of theirs completely, and he wasn't sure he wanted to either. "Right..."

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Bryanna sat weakly at the table in her and Olivia's room across from Randy, Olivia standing off to the side watching a kettle they had over the fire. There was still a dull pounding in her head from the spirits she'd drunk until she'd finally passed out into blessed oblivion, and her body felt like it had been put through a wringer and then stretched until it was nothing but rubber. If it weren't for the fact that this conversation needed to happen now, she'd probably still be in bed asleep like Olivia wanted her to be. But she'd argued that it couldn't wait, and the ice mage had finally relented.

"The medallions need to be destroyed now," stated Bryanna abruptly, breaking the silence that had filled the room since Randy had entered the room some time ago. "All of them, even the one you usually wear...you don't have it on now, do you?"

"I took it off," admitted Randy reluctantly. "It could be dangerous, I will admit that much....but the Master could not have known what he was giving out! He would never have reason to harm one of us..."

"Randy, Bryanna has been having reactions to every medallion she's come into contact with," Olivia pointed out icily. "They're all dangerous. And how could he not know?! He's a Master Mage for crying out loud! He wouldn't be stupid enough to send out something like that without knowing it's purpose, Randy. That's why he told you not to tell me or Bryanna about it. Me because I'd mention it to her, and her because it would tip her off that something was wrong with them."

"Why would he do that?!" cried Randy angrily. "He was a good and honorable man, Olivia, to hurt someone like that-"

"He gave you something that nearly killed me!" snapped Bryanna harshly. "Do not talk about him as being honorable or nice, because it's not true! Get rid of those things, Randy, now! Before they hurt someone else!"

"There's only one way to know for sure if they hurt people who aren't healers," temporized Randy quickly. "We have time, let's retrace and go back to check in on our last teachers. If they're fine, and all is well, then you have to admit I'm right."

Bryanna blinked, then replied flatly, "I just went through a night of torturous nightmares because of you, ones that left me half dead and would've probably left me sleepless for another 24 hours if Olivia hadn't been kind enough to send me into a dreamless oblivion with that alcohol of hers. And you want me to tell you that you're right?" She paused, Randy turning away in embarrassment. "Like hell. You'd sooner find me willingly going back to the nightmares the medallion brought than for me to do that."

"Ok, alright! You've made you point," ground Randy through his teeth. "I was...partially wrong. He couldn't have done it on purpose, though! I know there'll be an explanation for this if we go and ask him..."

"I refuse to go back and see him," stated Bryanna firmly. "In fact, I refuse to leave until the medallions are gone. Reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash."

Randy stood up suddenly, slamming his fists on the table. "That's enough! You know, after all we've been through you'd think you'd trust my judgment a little more than that!!"

Olivia placed her finger on the edge of the table and a thread of ice spun from it, freezing his hands to the tabletop as she mercifully took away the cold so they wouldn't go numb with frostbite. "You've lost all right to talk about having good judgment," she growled deep in her throat. "Do it, or face me. I didn't like this 'Master' very much, and I sure as hell don't like what he's done to you or her. The medallions are gone, we're going back to check on the teachers, and only if everything's alright with ALL of them are we going back to see that guy. And that's final." Olivia released Randy's hands and took the teapot from over the fire, setting on the table with a thud before pouring them each a cup and making one for herself as well.

"See, this is why an all female anything gets things done better than males, because we make reasonable decisions and then stick with it," said Bryanna as she accepted her drink gratefully. Randy just grumbled under his breath and sipped his tea with a pout. Women were fun to be around most of the time, but occasionally they were an absolute pain the neck...

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Cam watched from below as Jon moved Kristen on to the next set of the course. It was on one of the outer crossbeams, where she would have to step across a foot-wide gap twice in order to get over to the other side. Once again, he hadn't fully explained what she'd be doing until she was already up there, and once again blocked bodily her entrance when she tried to get out of it.

"I...I have something I have to do!" protested Kristen as he tossed the harness at her, just standing there silently with his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for her to put it on. "Come on, we go do this later..."

"No, it's the only time we both have free and you know it too," replied  Jon with a shrug. "Get going, I haven't got all day and neither do you, but if I have to I'll Cam teach your next class and Mike mine if you're going to be stubborn about it and make me wait an hour before you'll do it."

"Guys like you are the reason women commit suicide, you know that?"

"Well, girls like you are the reason men become alcoholics. Come on, get going. We had an agreement, and you're going to stick to it."

"Jerk."

"Let me tell you how much it hurt to hear you say that," said Jon in a flat monotone. "I've been called worse by my teachers."

"Good for you." Kristen finished strapping on the harness and took the lines from one of the catch ropes, clipping it to her harness. "Alright, I'm hooked up, ok?"

"Took you long enough..."

"Come on, Kristen, you can do it!" called Cam from below with an encouraging grin on his face.

"Why don't you try it and see how easy it is?" called Kristen back rather sarcastically as she made her way slowly across the beam. Making it up to the gap wasn't going to be a problem, she could walk across them rather easily as long as she didn't go to fast now. It was the gaps that gave her the problems...

"Oh, I already have."

"You what?! Jon!!"

"Hey, I didn't let him up here, per say," replied Jon with an innocent shrug as he walked along beside her on another beam. "I just happened to leave a harness and rope out one afternoon while taking my break while you just happened to be gone and he just happened to have nothing else to do..."

"You know, the sooner you get across the sooner you can smack him for it," Cam reminded her as she stopped and glared at him impotently.

"Unless I stay up in the rafters after she'd done, that is," Jon reminded him with a grin.

"You can't stay up here forever," snapped Kristen as she approached the first gap. "And when you'd come down, I'd be waiting to smack you silly for first off letting him do it unsupervised and second for making me wait to get to smack you!"

"You know I find it especially amusing to taunt you up here where you can't retaliate," commented Jon in reply as he watched her eye the gap in front of her and slowly try and make her way over it.

"You know, I will find it especially amusing when you finally fall off that beam because you've done one to many stupid things and break your neck on the floor below."

"Ouch, you're not in a good mood, are you?"

Kristen rolled her eyes, her fear for once taken over the by her annoyance. Who ever it was who had placed her with these five, well, she was going to wring their neck the first chance she got!

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Alyse and Landon sat across from each other in the room that had been allotted to them, very small space-wise but large enough that they could both move around freely without getting in the other's way. Two bunks stacked on top of each other sat along one wall, a clothes dresser occupying the rest of the space on the same wall. Across from it was the fire place and in the middle a small table, one end of the room having the door and the other a partitioned off space where they could change and wash in privacy. Each room was equipped with it's own water pump and sink so they could heat their own water for baths without having to haul it up, and the water closet they'd share with the rest of their floor's occupants was at the end of the hall. An oil lamp lay on the table, and another onto of the dresser, lighting the room decently.

"This is not what I was expecting when I was told I would be given new experiences in America," sighed Landon as he laid his head down on the table. "Wonders of technology, I was fine with that. Moral codes being supposedly thrown out the window, I would deal with it if it ever effected me. Taking classes I never knew even existed just to learn more about it's subject, hey, I was all for it. But being sucked into another realm with a magic spell...." The poor young man buried his face in his hands and sighed. "Had I known this would happen, I might have just stayed in bed the day the plane left for America."

"Nice to know you appreciate my company just as much as I do yours," replied Alyse dourly as she rolled her eyes. "I know things aren't what you expected them to be, but you're just going to have to deal with it..."

"Hey, I'm still here with you and not out there somewhere declaring that I've gone insane, am I?" retorted Landon lightly. "Though I feel like it sometimes, believe me..."

"You think I didn't my first time?" asked Alyse with a shrug. "Your magic didn't manifest itself, either, without your knowledge. You were given warning, and you had me to help explain things to you. I had no one, and when I did find someone they were as lost as I was."

"Ok, so you had things a little tougher than I do, still..."

Their conversation broke off as someone knocked on the door.

"Come on in!" called Alyse, rising as the door opened to reveal two people standing there in the hall. One of them to recognized immediately, the other she'd never seen before in her life. "Hey, Less. I said come in, and who's your friend?"

"Afternoon Alyse, Landon." The tall man with his straw-colored hair gave them both a twisted smile as he walked in, his companion following a moment after. "It's good to see you've settled in so quickly. I've brought your partner, the one Elcarth mentioned the other night."

From the shadows the young woman slid into the light, the first thing catching Alyse's attention being her eyes. One glittered an emerald green in the flickering light, and the other glowed with an unusual violet gleam. "I'm Revlis Ssenogard," she said with an easy smile, her voice sending shivers down Landon's spine from it's unnatural beauty. "An animal mage, specializing in cats. Panthers, to be exact." Taking one of the free seats at the table, she sat down between Alyse and Landon, Less doing so across from her.

"Pleased to meet you, Revlis," replied Alyse with a smile of her own. "I'm Alyse, and this is my companion Landon."

"Yeah," added Landon with an embarrassed cough when he realized he'd been staring. "Pleased to meet you."

"Now that we all know each," said Less with a satisfied nod. "On to what it is you will be expected to do here..." Alyse tuned the young man out as she studied Revlis more closely, wishing to be sure she'd never forget her face in case they were separated later on. The young woman was probably between 15 to 18 years of age, obviously still in her teens though she had a very confident air about herself. Her ink-black hair was braided back at the moment, but would reach her waist if let free and contrasted greatly with her very pale skin. Her nose was arched ever so slightly, her eyes slanted like that of a cats and it's pupils slits instead of circles like the rest of theirs were.

Each movement she made was with a fluid grace that added to the cat-like nature about her. Even without the eyes, there was something definitely feline about Revlis that Alyse couldn't place her finger on. Dressed in the same dark gray leathers as everyone else, hers were closer to a faded black that most and hers were not of the same full-body-coverage design either. Her tunic was sleeveless with a short fringe around the armholes, it's length going to her waist where it split off into four pleats that came to her mid-thigh. A braided belt around her middle, the clasp was of a crouched panther, its eyes two emerald studs. Silvered armbands above her elbows, they connected to the fingerless gloves that covered her hands to her wrists with a finely-woven wrist and forearm cover of leather, wire, and metal studs.

"Do you understand?" asked Less suddenly, bringing Alyse back to the present.

"Yeah," replied Landon with a serious look on his face. "Though...could I have a few minutes to talk to Alyse?"

"Certainly," replied Less with a nod. "Come on, Revlis, you have to go see Elcarth before they can get their first mission, anyway."

"Alright. I'll come find you to during dinner hour and talk with you more then, alright?"

"Absolutely," replied Alyse with a nod. "See you later, Revlis."

"Same to you!"

"Now," said Landon in a low voice as the door was closed behind the pair, leaning in towards Alyse in a conspiratorial manner. "About all this mage-hunting and unmagic dealings...I'm not so sure this is safe, Alyse. Maybe we should duck out now while-"

"I wasn't really paying attention," cut in Alyse with a sheepish shrug. "Want to tell me what he said?"

Landon's face went blank as his shoulder's sagged. "You're kidding, right?"

"...no?"

"Sweet mother..."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Ben followed the old woman through the servants quarters and up to where the privileged guests and those who were hired to work in the mansion for only short periods of time lived. Creeping along on tiptoes, he stuck to her closer than a shadow through the dark and gloomy hallways, past the huge, imposing doorways that lined either side of the hallways and occasionally skirting around the patches of moonlight from the skylights overhead.

The 12th bell rang, it's echoes vibrating through the household as Nana paused and pulled him into a curtained nook on the side of the wall. A set of guards came shuffling by, both yawning to themselves as they walked on and then turned at the next side corridor, two others come out a moment later to replace them at one of the guest's doorways where a very important man was staying. Having slipped past the original two unnoticed, Ben wondered if they'd be able to do the same with these two.

"Let's go," murmured Nana when they'd gone out of sight, slipping back out into the hallway and scuttling along towards their unknown destination as before. Coming to a set of stairs, she began the laborious work of forcing her old, arthritic bones and weak muscles to climb them in succession. Ben was at her elbow in a flash and helped her as best he could, letting her lean on him and occasionally helping her sit for a pause in the middle of the steps so she could get her breath back.

"Why are we going if it hurts you so much?" whispered Ben during one of these breaks, watching as she rubbed some feeling back in her numb limbs.

"Because the reward is worth the pain," replied Nana with a conspiratorial grin. "And it is a reward that comes only every few weeks, and then in those few times it is present the conditions are right only two or three times to fully enjoy it during the year."

"Oh..."

Helping her to her feet again a few moments later, they reached the top of the stairs not long after and then walked through what appeared to be the attic. Coming to a short ladder that went through the ceiling, Ben went after Nana who slowly made her way up those as well, slowly and surely though it was obvious she paid a high price to get up them. Ben followed quickly after, coming up on the roof of the mansion, looking up and seeing the heavens above alight with shining stars and brilliant full moon that lit the surrounding area as if it were day.

"Is this what you wanted to show me, Nana?" he whispered in awe as he moved closer to her, huddling in her cloak as he shivered from the cold, night air though his eyes were still focused on the wondrous expanse above.

"Yes, youngling, it is." Nana sighed in content as she sat on an old stone bench up there, putting an arm around him as he sat beside her. "It is the one thing the Master can never spoil, try as he might. He has destroyed the forests that were once here and turned them to swamp, he has destroyed the once prosperous town beside him and turned it into his slave. He was taken his servants' once enjoyable life and turned it into a misery. But this is the one thing he can never take from us...nor touch with his filthy hands. He can cover it with his clouds of doom and ill luck, but even then it finds a way to break through every once in awhile. Luckily for it, it is too far away."

Ben felt himself smile in the dark as he nodded. "It's beautiful, Nana. Thank you."

"Oh, I'm not done, youngling," chuckled the old, wizened woman merrily. "Now you shall learn about them. That one up there, to your right, is the Guide Star and those around it form the Compass Rose..."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Brenna walked along the fields, Jem following as he'd taken to roaming over them and plucking what weed flowers he could find and giving them to Kaitlin to get treats. A weed she'd never seen before had taken over most of them, one that had a thick stalk and four broad leaves that protruded from the center and no more. None of them grew taller than a few inches, but they were a nuisance none the less. The strangest part was their coloring, being of a sickly grayish-green but never dying off on their own even after having been there for weeks, and spotted with random patches of black.

"Is the crop going to come in alright, even with these weeds?" asked Jem as he followed Brenna on her inspection, refusing to touch the weeds but looking at them with her just the same.

"I don't know," admitted Brenna with a shrug. "They shouldn't cause anymore of a problem than the regular weeds, but where they came from is beyond me... It's like they just came out of nowhere."

"Oh..."

"Did you want me to start plowing the south fields today?" asked Cheeks as he came jogging up, eyeing the weeds as he did. "We're going to have to get the wheat planted soon if you wanted to get an early harvest in about midsummer like we couldn't last year."

"Yeah, south fields would be the best place for that," replied Brenna with a firm nod. "Go ahead, I'll get over to the compost heap and see how that's doing as far as fertilizer for this year and then get to the seeds for those fields as soon as I can."

"Ok, see you around dinner then..."

"South fields used to be where the little red flowers would grow," whispered Jem as he and Brenna turned back towards the house. "But they were all choked out when the weeds cam in."

"Don't worry, they grow out in the forest too," replied Brenna as she gave him an affectionate pat on the head. "I'll show you someday, ok?"

"Ok!"

**later that evening...**

Cheeks dragged himself in for dinner, drenched in sweat and tired to the bone.

"Cheeks, you didn't do all the fields in the south range, did you??" scolded Brenna as she shoved a glass with some water towards him. "I told you part of it could wait until tomorrow last night..."

"I didn't even get a single field done," replied Cheeks wearily as he gulped down the water. "The weeds....my gosh....they don't look like much on top, but their roots go a foot or so deep and as like wood! See??" He pulled a root out of his pocket, as thick as his wrist at the top and tapering down to a mere thread at the tip, more than a foot an a half in length and so tough that Brenna had to saw through it with her good belt knife to see it's center.

"Holy cow...it is practically wood..." she murmured as she inspected it, then took it and tossed it in the fire. "Look at it...the fire's hardly even leaving a mark on it!"

Libby came in right then, a frown on her face. "Well, we almost foundered to horses," she sighed as she sat by Cheeks. "I don't know what you're planning on doing, but the horses can't pull the plow through fields like that in pairs."

"This is insane," snorted Brenna as she sat back down as well. "I can't believe it, you didn't even get through one field Cheeks?? Are you sure??"

"There's four down there, right?"

"Yeah?"

"I got halfway through the right corner one."

"Lord..."

"Something bad happen?" asked Kaitlin as she came in with a pot roast, seeing all the serious faces in the room.

"Nothing that we can fix right now," replied Brenna with a shrug. "Come on, you guys, let's eat and we can discuss this some more after dinner. Rupal, Jem, dinner's ready!"

The pair came from upstairs where Jem had been taking another reading lesson and sat around the table, the 6 of them partaking of the meal as one. Whatever it was that was happening, they'd face it together. They were a family, and that's what families did.

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Trevor lay staring at the ceiling above his head, his thoughts swimming around in his aching head as he tried to make sense of the dreams that had driven him from sleep once again. None of them made sense at all, and while none of them was anything like the last he somehow got the feeling that they weren't connected at all. Trying to puzzle it out some more, Tanner came by his hammock and touched his shoulder, seeing he was already awake in surprise.

"You didn't sleep again?" the older brother asked in worry.

"Couldn't," replied Trevor with a shrug as he levered himself from the hammock wearily. "My watch?"

"Yeah, everything's pretty calm tonight and Nicole's waiting for you at the tiller. I'd hurry if I were you, she tends to have a little bit too much using her winds to steer the ship since she's not big enough to use the helm..."

"I'm going." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Bro...something's not right. I don't know what it is, but...be careful and watch your back, alright?"

"You don't think the Captain's got something planned she hasn't told us about, do you?" asked Tanner suspiciously.

"No, it's not her," replied Trevor with a weary shrug. "It's not this crew, or the ship, or the weather...I don't know what it is, but something's not right. Just be careful, alright? And keep a close eye on Tyler, he has a tendency to do dumb things like you used to."

"Yeah, I will," replied Tanner with a good-natured shrug. " He's my brother as much as he is yours. Go get to your watch, Trev."

"I'm going..."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

The group finally finished their present course of study and moved on, heading out north a few days like they were supposed to before doubling back on their trail and heading to the south towards where their last teacher was, intent upon checking in as planned upon each and everyone they'd had since Randy had gotten the medallions from the creepy teacher.

Randy hadn't been thrilled about it, as had been expected, but due to Olivia's threat to being frozen solid and then tied to his horse for the trip if he didn't cooperate, he came along quietly enough and kept his grumbling to himself most of the time.

"We'll reach the last town we stayed in by tomorrow around lunchtime," commented Olivia from where she led the group, the map spread out in front of her as she trusted her horse to stay on the road long enough for them to figure out where they were. "Anyone figured out how we're going to check on things without being noticed?"

"You mean students randomly returning right after having left isn't normal?" replied Randy sarcastically. "I don't know, this wasn't my idea after all."

"In that case, we'll give Randy a beard and dye his hair gray and send him in the store as a 'customer'," said Bryanna from the back. "Or we would if we thought we could trust him to come out with the truth."

"Hey, are you calling me a liar?!"

"No, just a stupid dupe who doesn't know what the truth is."

"ENOUGH." Olivia rubbed her temples slowly. "I'm not your mother, so would you both kindly stop acting like children?"

"You could just leave us here to starve like children, then," shot back Randy. "Freeze our horse's hooves to the ground, or something like that."

"Don't tempt me."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Jon stood on the other side of the training hall on one of the raise platforms, Kristen slowly walking across her original beam with nothing but a safety rope about her waist, the harness left on the floor below. She wobbled ever so slightly halfway through and paused, Jon watching impassively as Cam stood beside him holding his breath and with fingers crossed.

"Easy," called Jon as Kristen began to freeze up. "Don't think about the beam, or what's underneath it, focus on the fact that Mike was in your room again today and probably left you a nasty surprise somewhere in there..."

"He was what?!"

"Yeah, I saw him come out while you were in the kitchen eating breakfast."

"He wasn't upstairs, he was down in his room puking up everything from the night before since he'd gotten himself drunk again at Brak's," whispered Cam in confusion.

"Yeah, but she doesn't know that," replied Jon in a low voice, winking at the younger boy as Kristen squared her shoulders and forced herself to keep going, reaching the other side faster than before.

"Thanks for the lesson, I have to go find Matt and beat some sense into him now," said Kristen as she untied the rope and went down the ladder as fast as she dared, going to find Mike with her right eye twitching.

"Uh, shouldn't you tell her that was a lie?" asked Cam carefully as he watched her go.

"And turn that wrath upon myself, no thanks," replied Jon with a shrug. "Besides, it'll be good for Mike, take his ego down a peg or two."

Cam just arched an eyebrow as Jon slid down a rope to the floor below, then sauntered off in the opposite direction. "I will never understand grownups...."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Landon sat beside Less on one of the benches in the practice courts, Alyse and Revlis sparring lightly for the practice as well as to gauge their new partner's skills. He couldn't follow their movement's half the time, and the flash of Alyse's fan confused his eyes to the point he wasn't sure he could ever follow it well enough to put up a solid defense against it.

"Wow..."

"They are amazing," admitted Less with a shrug. "Revlis is one of our more noteworthy knife users. And she's always got a spare pair hidden somewhere in that outfit of hers if she drops or loses one in a battle." A sharp hiss rang through the air as Alyse twisted her fan around one of Revlis's expertly and sent it flying in the air. "Like that. See if you can figure out where Revlis has got her other pair hidden today when she brings it out in the open."

"Ok..." Landon watched and was surprised when, as the younger woman jumped back suddenly, she discreetly flicked her hand up under her other arm and produced a smaller, but similar dagger to her first. "Ah! There, under her arm..."

"Yes, that is where she usually keeps them, tucked in those armbands of hers," confirmed Less with a nod. "They had many uses, that they do."

"Does Revlis use any other weapons besides her daggers?" asked Landon quizzically.

"Oh, all of us are given rudimental training in sword, staff, and weighted ropes," explained Less with a shrug. "But she's also taken a liking to the bow, and is very good at it indeed. Not as good as her knife use, but then again she doesn't get to use it nearly as often..." Less paused as Revlis came close to disarming Alyse, then was driven back again. "Man...one fan only and she's kept it up this long...I think we could get her another if she'd let her use her original one as a pattern. What do you fight with, Landon? You must be as amazing as your friend is if you've had the same training..."

"I have a short sword," replied Landon slowly. "But I am not nearly as good with it as she is her fan. I'm still not very comfortable with any weapon, actually, I was more of a peacemaker than a fighter back home."

"Which is why we put you with her, actually," admitted Less with a shrug. "Your friend shall seek the source of the taint, you destroy it, and then Revlis has been trained to destroy it's inhabited body, whether it be human or beast. That's why her chosen shift-shape is a panther, a powerful hunter that slips through the darkness unnoticed."

Their attention was drawn from each other as Alyse suddenly knocked both of Revlis's weapons away again, the young woman backing up a step and grinning wickedly. She said a single word and dropped to the ground, landing on all fours as a giant, black panther that charged towards Alyse, knocked away the fan with a single sweep and knocked the woman over with her sheer weight before pouncing on her and sitting on her stomach.

"Holy cow!!" Landon stood up and ran to Alyse's side, trying to skirt around the panther that was on top of her. "Alyse!! Alyse, come on, say something!!"

"There's a very large panther on me," said Alyse in a dazed voice, her eyes looking right past him as he bent over her head to the ceiling above. "Ack....kinda hard to breath with all the weight..."

"Get off her, Revlis," ordered Less as he came over as well, the panther doing so immediately. Pausing a few steps away, it stood on its hind legs and was Revlis again, with a sheepish smile on her face. "Revlis, you know better than to do that without warning them first..."

"Sorry," she said apologetically as Landon helped Alyse to her feet. "It's habit, really, to go panther when I've lost my weapons in a fighter. Are you ok, Alyse?"

"A little banged up is all," replied Alyse slowly as she dusted herself off and stretched. "A little warning before you do that next time would be nice..."

"Yeah, sure!"

"Now that you've seen Revlis shape-shift for the first time, why don't we head over to the mess hall and get some food," advised Less as he took Alyse's other arm and picked her fan back up off the ground. "That was a very well fought battle, and deserves a bit of a celebration in honor of it!"

"We get to celebrate because I was pounced on by a panther??"

"You don't have to put it quite like that, you know!" protested Revlis with a pout. "I did my best not to hurt you, just to scare you a bit!"

Alyse rolled her eyes, her lips forming into a quirked smile. "You succeeded, believe me."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Briteyes sat in one of the abandoned side gardens of Winding Circle again, Silven frisking about and exploring the place as she sat there and played in meditation as Niko had advised her to. She's met him right after she'd 'recovered' the second time, and had been taking a few lessons from him to prove she had full control over her powers. He had admitted she had control, but hadn't fully explored the complete scope of her abilities and made her promise to experiment a little bit under controlled conditions before she left Winding Circle while he was absent.

Someone tapped her on her shoulder, bringing her out of her trance in surprise. Seeing a tray had been set before her with lunch on it she picked up one of the sandwiches and bit into it, glancing about questioningly. Tanya sat beside her with a tray of her own, eating just as hungrily and drinking from the mug she had set beside her.

Glancing down, Briteyes found a similar mug next to her and took a sip from it cautiously. Tasting Rosethorn's mint tea, she gulped it instead and grinned when she's drunk enough to wet her throat. "Thanks, Tanya. Rosethorn send you out here?"

"Mmhm," replied Tanya with a nod and a shy grin. "I was supposed to study with her this afternoon on some herbs she alone can grow in her garden, but she's been called to the hub and told me to take the afternoon off with you."

"That was very kind of her," said Briteyes with a nod. "And I'm glad to see you again, how've you been?"

"Well fed, and well worked," replied Tanya with a wry grin and a shrug. "Novices are worked to the bone, no one can deny that, but they also can't deny that we're given a decent place to sleep, better than decent meals, and lives that actually mean something. All the work we do is for the good of the temple when we're not studying or learning something new."

"It sounds like a good life," said Briteyes softly.

"I wish I were free like you, though, sometimes," went on Tanya. "Wandering from place to place, never having to listen to anyone, keeping your own hours and with magic to boot...like must be great for you!"

"You forget to add in sleeping on the ground in the rain when you can't find shelter, going hungry when there is no work, and having parts of your past forgotten that you'll probably never reclaim again," Briteyes reminded the younger girl gently. "In a way, I would much rather have your life than my own. I could be a novice here, I think, if I'd never been introduced to the ways of the performer. They have me by the throat, though, and won't let go. I'll probably leave again before long, and see what fortune I can find on my own again."

#Not entirely on your own# Silven reminded her as she popped up on her knee suddenly.

"Not entirely on my own," admitted Briteyes with a shrug. "I'll always have you to tag along, won't I, Silven?"

#That's right you will!!"

"Aww....come here, little squirrel, I'll give you a treat..." Tanya reached forward coaxingly with one hand as she pulled some candied nuts out of her pouch. Silven began to drool as she tried to resist, tried to back away...

#Is it wrong to give into animal instincts???# she asked Briteyes as she tried to wipe the drool from her mouth without being obvious.

"Go on, it's just a few nuts," replied Briteyes encouragingly.

Silven shot forward and grabbed the nuts, letting Tanya pet and scratch her behind the ears. #Ahh...nothing wrong with giving into temptation occasionally...I'm just making her happy, right?#

Briteyes just shrugged, a teasing gleam in her eyes. "She's a very docile little squirrel, isn't she?"

"Yeah, how'd you train her?"

"Oh, I didn't, she's just smart like that, she knows where the candied nuts are...and if she cooperates, she gets as many as Gorse can stuff down her throat."

#Fattest squirrel in the land!# replied Silven happily as she patted her rounding tummy.

"Fattest squirrel is right..." Briteyes wiped her mouth on the napkin that came with the food and sipped the last of her tea, picking up her lute a moment later and beginning to compose a song as Silven and Tanya played together on the grass nearby. She wasn't sure what it was for, nor what the words would be, but she had a melody, and it was a start.

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Jem helped Kaitlin in the kitchen, as content as ever with his new home but with a frown on his young face for once. "Something wrong?" asked Kaitlin with a frown of her own as she handed a pot to him to wash off.

"Oh, no!" he replied quickly, putting his usual, open smile on in an instant.

"Are you sure?" she replied carefully, checking the pie she had in the oven before coming and leaning on the counter beside him. "It's not like you to look so serious. Cheek's been mean to you? Or did Libby say something? I'll make you a nice rabbit stew if she did, you know..."

"No, of course not!" he replied in shock, his dropped jaw turning to a smile as she winked and he realized she was just teasing him. "Everyone's nice to be like they've always been, and even though you guys keep my busy I like my work...it's just..."

"Just what?" prodded Kaitlin, taking the now-clean pot from him and drying it with a towel from the rack.

"Just...bad luck seems to follow me everywhere I go..." Jem bowed his head as he began to clean off a particularly stubborn dish. "And now here with the weeds in the fields...I feel bad about it but there's nothing I can do to help."

"Oh, Jem, you're worried about nothing," Kaitlin assured him quickly. "There's nothing you did to cause all this, understand? Brenna and Cheeks will figure out a way to pull through it, they always do. With Rupal to manage the money, those two the crops, Libby the animals, and me my kitchen there's nothing that's going to happen, you hear me??"

"I hear you." Jem smiled sheepishly as he handed her the plate and she dried it and put it away as well. "And I know you're right, because they were able to save me and bring me here like they did."

"Then you're going to stop thinking and worrying about it?"

"Yes, ma'am, I will."

"Don't call me ma'am," replied Kaitlin, making a face. "It makes me feel old, and I am not old!! I'm not even 20 yet, thank you kindly. Now, Amanda, she might be old...heck, I think she'd be around 20 or even 21 by now!! Yeah, she's practically ancient compared to the rest of us..." Jem laughed as he handed her the last dish, sparkling clean as always. Aunt Kaitlin sure was funny sometimes...

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

"Are you sure there's anything out here?" asked Jenny worriedly as Tanner expertly guided them into the desolate cove.

"It's back here, and you promised if I could find it without going past it we could stay and visit for a fortnight," replied Trevor with a grin.

"That I did," admitted Jenny with a shrug. "Very well, if it's back here we'll stay. If not, and you scrape my baby trying to get her back out of here you're paying for the damages, you two."

"Fine by me," replied Tanner with a shrug. "Because I know we're home."

"Ease her in through that opening there, to the other bay," instructed Trevor. "And remember, stick to the left until you're past the overhand and then move her out to the middle..."

"I know, I've piloted these waters before when we had a ship, same as any family," replied Tanner shortly. "Used to do it all the time with Father before he lost his legs..."

"How'd he lose them?" asked Jenny as they eased their way through a fifty-foot wide crack in between two sea cliffs.

"Pirates," replied Trevor softly. "It started out as just a slice that went across both shins, but he let them get infected and lost them up to above his knees."

"Oh..." Jenny paused, and was about to apologize for asking at all when she was shocked speechless, the sight that unfolded before her amazing as any she'd seen before.

A small town sat right on the edge of the protected bay they'd sailed into, thriving with people as fishing boats went to and fro throughout the bay itself. A high sea cliff

"Auntie!!" yelled Tyler as he scampered over to the edge of the boat just as they passed a small canoe on the portside. Scouts on the walls had spotted Trevor and Tanner at the helm and trumpeted a greeting to those in the bay itself, giving the signal that the ship was welcome and no threat at all. "Aunt Zella, we're home!!"

"Tyler!! Good to see ye, lad!"

"Bring her 'round to the old dock!!" yelled one of the fisherman in tradertalk as a few of the faster crafts took off towards the shore. "We'll have her cleared up for you there, Tanner!"

"Thank you, Jaden!" replied Tanner in the same language with a wave.

"A word to the wise," called Trevor over the deck where the offworlders had gathered. "Don't speak Common while you're here. Tradertalk is what's taught, mainly, and only those who ever plan to leave the town are taught Common."

"That's going to take some getting used to," said Jack in slow tradertalk, his tongue fumbling around the unfamiliar syllables. "And my grammar's perfect when I speak in this language. It...it's horrible." He dropped back into Common with a grin. "I just realized there's no word for 'sucks' in trader. Or 'blows', either. Not with the right innuendo, I mean."

"Isn't that a big word for you?" asked Nicole as she flew overhead in trader. "It has more than five letters, after all..."

"Shaddup, you!"

"Make me!"

"Stop it now, both of you!" ordered Jenny as they neared the dock. "Tyler, Jack, get the ropes ready you're jumping if they don't have anyone there to catch the lines for us! Gwen, get the gangplank ready for once they've got her tied up, and Trev you give her a hand! Tanner, watch how you're bringing her in because I'd like to get her back out in one piece..."

"Yes, Captain," he replied laughing. "I will be very careful, I swear."

"Trow de line right hea!" yelled one of the fisherman with only half his teeth as he ran along the dock, stopping by one of the posts and holding his hands out at the ready.

"Catch!" called Tyler as he tossed it out, taking one himself and jumping from the deck to the dock the moment he was sure he could make it. Jack followed a moment later, helping them haul the boat as close to the padded edge of the dock as they dared and secure it there. Gwen had the railing taken down and the gangplank in place a moment later, settled as well as it would with the slight roll of the boat in the gentle waves of the secret bay.

"She's in place, Captain!" called Tanner as he tied the helm in place and then jumped over the railing to join her on the main deck. "It's all set, Jen. Shall we?"

"It's your home, by all means, go!" replied Jenny with a shrug.

"Thank you, ma'am!"

"They're sure happy to be home, aren't they?" asked Gwen as they followed their three companions out into the throng of people waiting to greet them.

"Yes," replied Jenny with a nod. "And I would be too."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Bryanna sat at the pub across from the mage's workshop, having traded her student uniform for some wench's rags that they got with a hood to cover her face. Sipping her watered-down ale and slowly eating the still-hot plate of beef stew and bread, she sat there for a better part of two hours as she watched and waited. Nothing seemed wrong at all, nothing on the outside, anyways. He was still the same healthy, albeit a little sour old man they'd known when they'd been here last. If only there was a way she could speak with him to be sure, then she'd feel for certain. But they'd agree not to speak to him at all, and simply observe, so she couldn't.

Heading back to the Inn where they were staying, she went up to their room and shrugged at Olivia and Randy's questioning looks. "I'm not sure," she explained as Olivia raised both eyebrows slightly. "He looks good enough from what I saw, he's still alive and kicking. But I really want to just have a few words with him..."

"No," replied Randy simply. "We had a deal, and he's fine, see? I told you, there was nothing to worry about. I say, since it's obviously nothing, we head back towards the University and hand in the seals we have thus far. It should be almost enough for graduation into our Mastery, after all."

"The deal was we're going to check on all the teachers, not just this one," replied Olivia firmly before Bryanna could even open her mouth. "Therefore, no. After all, he could be immune to the effects, just like you are, but the next one may not've been so lucky. You saw what it did to Bryanna, and that could kill someone if they don't know how to stop it. We're going on like planned."

"Fine..."

Bryanna went over to the window and looked out at the town below, the people bustling along like there was absolutely nothing all and going about their business as usual. It seemed very peaceful here, and she hoped the mage who they'd been taught by was fine, regardless of the medallion. Little did she know, no matter who you are, nor the type of mage that holds it, the medallion's power, the taint within, will eat anything living and leaving naught by a human-shaped husk in it's place...

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Mike and Matt sat on the same side of the table during dinner, Kristen and Cam across from them with Chris and Jon at either end. The remains of a loaf of bread, a full roasted chicken, and a bowl of greens sat in the middle of the table, three of the people nursing ales and the other three sipping their tea or coffee.

"So tell me, Kristen, how's the new class going?" asked Matt in a taunting voice as he glanced at over of the rim of his mug. "Obviously you've managed to make it across once you'd still be there instead of here with us at dinner. Unless of course Jon had to pick you up and carry you to the other side..."

"No, he just gets her to go across with promises of beating one of us as soon as she gets to the bottom," replied Mike dourly as he gingerly touched the top of his head where a large knot now resided.

"Hey, I got just as much as you did out of that," Jon reminded them as he picked up his ice again and put it on his black eye. Kristen didn't have much of an arm, but her aim with apples could be deadly when she was quite upset.

Cam touched Kristen's arm, the young woman still sipping her coffee as silently as ever, refusing to even acknowledge the others' presence at the moment.

"If you think its so easy, why don't you go do it then," offered Chris as he sopped the last of his gravy from the chicken with his bread. "I bet you could even do it without the safety rope."

"No, I wouldn't want to impose on Jon like that," replied Matt quickly. "He's so busy, after all, giving Kristen her extra classes plus his regular ones..."

"That, and I wouldn't trust him," added Mike quickly. "I mean, no offense Jon, but you're not the most trusted person in the world. Now, maybe if it were Matt running the ropes and not him I'd do it, but Jon you wouldn't want to teach Matt your secrets, right? And the time it would take, well, we're all busy people...it just couldn't be done."

"Oh, no," replied Jon quickly with a smirk on his face. "I'd be more than happy to take the time to show Matt how to run the ropes, and that wouldn't take more than a minute or two at the most. I could show you too, Mike, so you could do it for Matt so he wouldn't be wasting my 'precious time.' How's that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Chris with a teasing glint in his eyes. "What do you say, boys?"

"I say Marlin is about to open his pub for the night and I don't intend to miss a minute of it as I'm meeting one Miss Angelic there tonight," replied Mike as he rose quickly. "Later."

"Yeah," added Matt as he got up as well. "I'm with him."

Kristen watched them leave with a slightly satisfied smirk on her face. "I hate to say this, but thanks, Chris."

"Oh, so I'm not entirely a male chauvinist pig?" he asked lightly.

Kristen shook her head as she rolled her eyes. "No, you're just an anti-feminist swine."

"Ouch..."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

'The Hunters are hunting Unmagic, or the Taint as we call it normally, not people. Our call and duty is to protect everyone from the taint in anyway we can, even if it means killing someone else who's been possessed by it or willingly took it upon themselves in the process...'

Alyse brushed her hair out of her eyes as those words still lingered in her mind, words Less had said to her right before they left the place with Revlis in tow. It was their first 'mission', the one they would use to start off their career together.

All of them were dressed as usual, Revlis in her special gray leathers, Alyse in her skirt and leathers and Landon his leathers and pants. They'd been given a set of matched, gray mares with silver manes braided so they wouldn't flow in the wind.

"You do know the way, right?" asked Alyse as they topped another hill, Revlis the lead as they continued at a steady trot.

"Check and see," offered Revlis with a grin. "You're the mage, after all, I'm just a cat girl." Alyse fell into her trance after securing herself to the saddle, looking ahead with her mage vision and scanning for the presence of Unmagic they were supposed to be headed for.

"We're turning left here," said Landon as close as he could get to her ear so she'd hear him without having to come out of the trance. "Will that take us closer?"

Alyse gave the barest of nods, slowly falling back into her body and holding tight to the reins as her world righted itself once more. "It's just up ahead," she said as she shook her head to clear her vision of the dancing light spots. "How long did Elcarth say they'd let him alone because there was no one would could deal with the cache of unmagic that'd be left?"

"About two years, so he'll be very deeply rooted in," replied Revlis with a shrug. "And probably overly confident as well. Unmagic seems to have that affect on people..."

"So do you think it'll be easy or hard?"

"Oh, rather easy," replied the cat girl with another shrug. "All the first assignments are. Even though I've been on circuit since I was 13, it's still your first time so they're not going to expect anything bit of you."

"Yet." added Landon to the end of that.

"Yeah, yet," admitted Revlis with a shrug. "That should be it right up there...the horses should be fine if we leave them tied out of site in the woods."

"Very well." Dismounting, Alyse tied up her mare behind a thicket before going back to Landon and giving him a hand down. He still hadn't gotten used to using beasts as a means of travel, and had trouble occasionally getting on or off them.

"You're good at everything, you know that?" he complained as he tied up his mare next to hers. "It's not fair."

"I never said it would be," she replied with a shrug. "Now be quiet, we'll be in hearing range in a few moments."

"Yes, ma'am...."

With Revlis leading the way they walked through the woods, coming into the clearing where the unmagic mage was said to be a few moments later. No seeing anyone, Landon sat down and took out his short sword, plunging it straight down into the ground in front of him and trancing out like Alyse had. She and Revlis stood guard as he did his work, running his magic self through the ground and destroying all tint of unmagic that he found in around the area as far as his reach would go. Once he was sure every bit had been destroyed, and then converted back to magic of life itself, he pulled himself back out into reality.

"Tired?" asked Alyse in a low voice as Revlis slowly approached a body that hadn't been there a few moments before. The man, whoever it was, was obviously in a great deal of pain as he twisted and writhed on the ground.

"Very," he admitted as he stumbled to his feet with her help.

"Go out into the woods," said Revlis suddenly. "I'll join you in a minute." She glanced back and met Alyse's eyes with her own, jerking her head towards the woods as she did.

"We can't leave her here," protested Landon as Alyse nodded and turned her back on the young woman.

"She'll meet us," explained Alyse quite simply, taking his arm and bringing him with her in a firm, but gentle manner. A few moments later there was a scream, and then silence. Revlis appeared a few moments later, cleaning her blade on a bit of cloth that she tucked in her pouch when she was done. "It's done?"

"He won't be bothering us again," replied Revlis with a wry grin. "And now on to the next town. We're just doing a sweep from now on, right?"

"Unless we meet up with another one like him, yes."

"Good."

Landon watched, completely baffled, as both young women simply turned and went back for their horses, untying them and mounting again as quickly as possible.

"Are you coming?" asked Revlis in a confused manner as he just stood there, staring at them.

"Yeah," he replied as he snapped out of it. "It's just...you seem to think of taking another's life as so easy...or at least in my opinion."

Alyse gave him a strained smile, her eyes seeing something from the past that he could only imagine. "It gets easier, unfortunately, with time. In war, it's kill or be killed. That's the way I see it right now."

"We could get out of this war, though, if we really wanted to, right?"

Alyse sighed and shrugged, turning her horse in the directions of Summersea. "I don't know."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Briteyes sat in the kitchen of Discipline cottage facing Rosethorn and Lark, all three with somber looks on their faces. "I'm sorry, I don't want to seem ungrateful," whispered the performer as she adjusted the strings on her lute again. "But...something's been pulling me to go back out again for awhile now. I have to go..."

"We knew you would eventually," said Lark soothingly as she laid her hand over the young woman's gently. "And in hoping to make things a little easier for you we have some things for you..." She glanced over at Rosethorn, who stood and brought a staff and two packages from one of the closets.

"You didn't have to..."

"We wanted to," said Rosethorn gruffly as she handed them over, letting Silven scamper up her arm after she'd deposited them on the table and scratching the small beast behind the ears gently. "It's been an unusually long while since either Lark or I had a student, and having you around has been a change for the better."

Briteyes smiled as she inspected the staff first. It was just the right height for her and perfectly weighted as well with a silvered cap at either end, it's length smoothed and polished to a perfect shine with a leather handle grip towards the middle. "It's wonderful..."

"It's so you can protect yourself without getting yourself killed next time," came a low voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Frostpine standing there, a satisfied look on his face.

"Thank you very much." Briteyes nodded to him graciously, then turned to the first package. She undid the strings and pealed back the cloth, pulling out a set of clothes similar to her original ones with a few simple changes. Her pants were still the same midnight blue with a silver fringe at the bottom, but the top now consisted of three pieces that she could mix and match any way she wanted. The first was a long-sleeved shirt with a high collar, in a lighter shade of blue than the pants. There was a tunic to go over it with sleeves long enough that it could be worn without the shirt the same color of the pants. The last part was a short poncho of sorts, a blue-gray with a hood that had been waterproofed to keep off the rain and cold in any weather. Briteyes was surprised beyond belief. "Lark...! I can't accept this, it's far nicer that what I had before..."

"Respectable performers but look respectable and not like walking rag bags," replied Lark with a wink. "And what's left of your old ones are nothing but rags!"

"That is very true..."

"Open your last one, dearheart," said Lark with a grin. "It's something I think you will appreciate as well, seeing as you were worried if your scar would cause you a problem..."

Briteyes touched the mentioned line that ran down the length of her face, and then the side scar that had been added to it from the edge of her eye to her ear sometime during...well she wasn't exactly sure when she'd gotten it, but it must've been rather recent as it hadn't fully healed yet and was still pink around the edges. Picking up the package, she unwrapped it carefully and pulled out four pots of paint, a brush, and a white, wooden mask. Carefully she put it on, feeling it mould around the edges of her face. It went from her hair line to below her right eye and over her nose, then across and down to the edge of her left cheek to completely cover all traces of the scar. Gently pulling it off, she glanced up at Rosethorn who was paying more attention to Silven that usual. "Rosethorn..."

"It was a favor from an old friend," the dedicate said roughly with a shrug. "And I know how important appearances are to a performer. I have lived with one for many years now, you know." She looked up and gave Briteyes a slight smile.

"Thank you."

"There is a condition on that mask," added Rosethorn as Briteyes began to pack it back up again. Briteyes gave the dedicate a questioning look as she went on. "You have to come back to visit. Promise?"

The performer smiled in relief, then nodded. "I promise."

"When do you plan to leave?" asked Frostpine as he came in and sat down at the table with them.

"Tomorrow at dawn, if I can," came the quick reply.

"Well, best of luck to you," said the smith as he shook her hand warmly.

"You've promised you'll return," said Lark as the bell ran at the hub, signaling the change of dedicates who had to watch the fires. She rose quickly and gave the performer a quick hug. "You'd better do so or I'll hunt you down, missy! I wove those clothes you're wearing, I could find them anywhere."

"I don't doubt that you could," replied Briteyes with a grin. "I will come back soon when I either find what it is that's calling to me or I tire of looking for it and want someplace warm to sleep and a few decent meals again."

"I'll hold you to that..." She left at a fast walk for the main temple, pulling her hood up against the soft patter of rain outside as she did.

"I wish there was something I could do in return for all this," murmured Briteyes as Silven came back to her, tugging on her ear playfully as she settled on her shoulder.

#You could always write them each a song# offered Silven with a wicked grin.

Rosethorn, who'd been let in on Silven's 'range' by Moonstream, paled. "No. Absolutely not. Don't you even think about it..."

Frostpine glanced at her a puzzled look on his face. "Rosethorn, is something wrong?"

Briteyes chuckled to herself as Silven winked at the dedicate who floundered to save herself from sounding crazy without giving Silven's secret away. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun..."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Libby sat by Brenna on the back porch, watching the sun set as Jem and Cheeks wandered out in the distance towards the woods before dinner. "This is going to be a very tough season, I think," commented Brenna as she continued to go through the seed packs from the bin beside her, half of them ruined by some unknown disease that shriveled them up into nothing more than black dust. "Weeds tough as nails out in the fields, and now this...one has to wonder if we haven't been cursed or something like that."

"I didn't want to say anything while Jem's around because he's so worried about everything thing, but some of the animals aren't doing well either," said Libby tiredly as she ran her fingers through Pinky's pink fur lovingly. "It's mainly the goats, but a few of the sheep are catching whatever it is too. I think it's from eating some of those black-spotted weeds out in the pasture, but I'm not sure. One of the goats already died, though he was pretty old to begin with, and when Cheeks chopped him up to be made into stew he found most of the meat and the intestines had been rotted out already."

"Oh Lord..."

"I think we should sell the ones that are left while we still can," offered Libby with a shrug. "It's the best thing I can think of, anyways. We don't know how to fight it, and when I asked that animal-healer guy down in town when I went with Rupal that other day, he looked at me like I was crazy. I've got some potential buyer already, and if we can't make a profit we'll at least break even..."

"Have any of the other animals come down with it yet?" asked Brenna with a hint of fear in her voice, running a hand through her long, black tresses.

"No, not yet, but then again all the rest of them are fed hay and oats from last year's harvest," replied Libby quietly. "I'm keeping an eye on them, though. If some of them so much as start to sniffle, well...we just might have to sell the whole lot of them."

"I hope it doesn't come to that, because if it does your bunnies are going to have to go as well."

"I could maybe give up some of them..." replied Libby slowly. "Just not the original ones, like Pinky, Rose, and Iforget."

"Have Rupal go with you to the market tomorrow and see what you can do," stated Brenna as she rose slowly, taking with her the seeds that were still good and leaving those that were left for Cheeks to dispose of somehow. "She's better at making a bargain that any of us are. Don't tell Jem why, though, if he asks. If he won't let it alone, we'll say there's a better market for cows this year than for goats and sheep."

"You really don't want him to worry, do you?" asked Libby in surprise as she stood up as well.

"He's always so concerned for us...he needs to worry less about life. He's only a child," replied Brenna sadly. "If anything, we should be more worried about him than he us. As long as he's with us, until he's a little older at least, I want him to be happy anyway I can."

"Auntie Libby! Auntie Brenna! I got flowers for you!" Jem suddenly called from the distance, running to meet them with a few dandelions in his hands.

Libby smiled as she waved back. "Yeah, he deserves it."

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Jenny couldn't believe how easily they'd been adopted into the clan upon arrival, all of Tanner, Trevor, and Tyler's aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, and parents making them like one of their own. Even Nicole had been accepted, as strange as she was, and was a favorite with a children who were amazed at her flying abilities and laughed at her silly antics. Jack had settled in with the other single males as they eyed the females and acted tough and manly around each other. Gwen, of course, had found herself her own little group of oddlings and had a great deal of fun running about with them and causing all sorts of mischief.

They'd been there just about a week when Jenny was drawn aside by Tanner's mother, a slim woman with slightly darker skin than her sons and bright eyes that never missed anything around her. Gwen and Jack were busy munching away at anything edible and the three brothers messing about with their cousins and siblings, so she went along with the older woman and followed her to a small secluded spot in the house where they were staying where they wouldn't be overheard and no one would disturb them.

"Is something wrong?" asked Jenny nervously when she noticed the slight frown on her host's face. "If it's something one of the others did, I apologize for their actions..."

"No, no, I just never realized how short you were," replied the woman with a shrug. "You do not look so small when you're on the deck of your ship, ordering the village men around for what repairs need to be made. But now standing next to you...not that it matters, looks have little to do in relationships."

"I feel small, believe me," replied Jenny, feeling slightly confused. "What was it you wanted to speak to me about, though?"

"Oh, yes. I was wondering how you feel about the eldest son of mine, Tanner..."

"Tanner?" Jenny gave the woman a blank look.

"Yes, he is the closest to your age after all." The woman patted Jenny's hand affectionately. "I know he's a bit tall, dear, but he's very handsome you must admit and a very hard worker. He would make some woman very happy someday, a very good match for any prosperous woman..."

Jenny felt the blood rush to her face in embarrassment as she realized what the woman was suggesting. "Oh! Uh...well, I'm very sorry, Mistress Yejan, your son is very nice and handsome, as you said, but I could never marry him..."

"Many a marriage have started as business transactions and ended in deep affection," the woman reminded her quickly. She paused, then continued, "Unless you are already spoken for...?"

"Yes! That' it, I am," replied Jenny quickly. "I'm really sorry, but it is an agreement that I can't break..."

"Is it one that your parents set you up with before you left your village?" drilled Mistress Yejan quickly. "For if it is I will speak with them and see about getting it changed if you like my son better..."

"No, he's one I chose for myself," replied Jenny carefully. "His name is Sean and I met him on my travels."

"Then you plan to return to him someday?" asked Mistress Yejan regretfully.

"I do." Jenny added mentally, {At least I wish to...}

"Well, then, I suppose it cannot be helped." She sighed and shrugged, leading Jenny back to the rest of the group and going back to whatever it was that she had been doing before.

"Jenny," said Tanner nervously as he slipped up beside her. "She didn't just try and sell me off like a piece of property to you, did she??"

"Don't worry about it, I set her straight," replied Jenny with a teasing wink. "You're still as free as you ever were."

"Shurri defend me, I'd hoped you would..." He gave her a grateful smile before heading back to his group of friends, one of the young woman attaching herself affectionately to her side.

Jenny just chuckled to herself as she went off to find Gwen or Jack to talk to. Being proposed to by a mother for her son without him knowing wasn't something that happened to you everyday!

%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%

Olivia, Bryanna, and Randy sat together at the tavern on their way to the next teacher, just north of Summersea where Randy very desperately wanted to go. "Oh, come on you guys...please?? Just to hand in our seals and we'll go out again, I swear..."

"We would be there right now if it weren't for you and your medallions," replied Bryanna with a shrug.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" snapped Randy with a hint of anger.

"Not until you admit I was right."

"I won't."

"Then I'll never let it go."

"Mind your manners, Briar," said a tall, older man who was dressed nicer than most other there as he sat across from his well-scrubbed but rather ornery companion who was a boy no more than ten years of age.

"Huh, never had t'use no forks er nuthin' in th'streets," muttered the boy under his breath. "Hands do jus'as good."

"You'll eat with the forks and knives or nothing at all," replied the older man as cheerfully as ever, giving the boy a penetrating look. Shrugging his shoulders in defeat, the boy picked up the knife and fork and began to eat the dinner set before him as neatly as possible.

"Master Nikolaren, is that you?" asked Randy suddenly.

"Yes, that's me," replied the older man as he glanced up, looking at Randy in surprise. "Have I...oh, I remember you. You were Winding Circle once, weren't you?"

"Aye, looking for some research in the library as well as some new spells," replied Randy with a nod. "You helped with illusions one afternoon..."

"That's right! You should be nearly finished with your Journeyman schoolings, I should hope," replied Niko as he gave both Bryanna and Olivia courteous nods. "Which means you'll have to finish your paper on magical theorems. Have you decided where you're going to do it at?"

"Winding Circle, if they'll let us, sir," replied Randy quickly with a triumphant look on his face. Both girls looked up quickly with quizzical gazes.

"Oh, I can get you approved for that so you don't have to go back and bother your supervisor, which will probably make him or her all the happier," replied Niko with a shrug. "I'm actually headed there myself with this young one..."

"He looks more like a gutter rat than a novice to me," said Olivia out of the blue, staring down the young boy as he dared to glare at her. "Watch it, kid, or I might turn you into an icicle."

The boy's eyes widened slightly. "She used street talk!"

"That she did." Niko nudged the young boy with his toe. "Go back to eating, Briar, before your good gets cold. As for you three, I assume you'll be joining us, then?"

"Certainly," replied Randy before either of his two companions could speak. "Thank you, Master Nikolaren." He looked over and saw the other two had finished their meals and wished to head upstairs. "And if you'll excuse us..."

"Of course."

Olivia stood up and grabbed Randy by the ear, dragging him up the stairs with Bryanna trailing close behind ignoring the strange looks they were getting.

"What was that for?!" demanded Bryanna after she'd shut the door behind her. "We had an agreement, Randy..."

"It's just a slight detour, and we already know that our teacher is stopping through at Winding Circle on his way back home from visiting his relatives in the north so we'll be killing two birds with one stone and can observe him without looking suspicious," replied Randy with a cocky grin. "I'm good, right?"

"You're an idiot is what you are," snorted Bryanna in reply.

"It works," admitted Olivia with a slight shrug. "But next time ask before you do something like that!" She glanced over at him, the glint in her eyes suggesting that he was getting off very easy this time.

"Yes, ma'am!"

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Kristen calmly walked the length of the first beam that was solid with only her safety rope, then untied herself and moved to the next beam and retied herself before completing it as well, carefully stepping over the gaps without ever breaking stride (it had taken her a week to feel comfortable with that one) before she reached the side she'd started on, untied herself, and crossed her arms, facing Jon.

"Is that good enough?" she asked lightly, though her hands shook ever so slightly from the strain of stuffing her fear down inside herself and forcing it to remain there even now.

"You've gotten better," he admitted with a shrug. "But you still can't do this...." He jogged off the platform and onto the main beam, following it to the other side and then hoping over one without ever touching the platform and jogging the length of that one too, hopping over the gaps like it was child's play and coming to land beside her after the final leap with a grin. "Wanna try it?"

"Without my safety rope?" snorted Kristen. "Not a chance."

"You're going to have to eventually to pass the course," Jon reminded her with an evil grin. "That's one of the requirements, to be able to run the whole thing without falling and without wearing a safety rope."

"How do you ensure that your students don't die, then?!" demanded Kristen. "We can't afford this time's version of a lawsuit, you know..."

"They all signed a release for before they entered my class," retorted Jon. "Besides, I have a safety net that goes from one side to the other of rope like the acrobats use for when they do it. It won't be a very comfortable landing, but it'll be far nicer that the padding they'd get if they hit the floor."

Kristen winced at the mental picture that brought, "Mother of pearl..."

"I'm putting a limit on this, too," he added suddenly. "You've got a year to be able to complete it. Personally, I don't think you'll ever manage it, but who knows...maybe you'll surprise me." His voice held a sarcastic note, betraying his true thoughts that she hadn't a chance in the world.

"Well thank you for that vote of confidence," replied Kristen sardonically. "If you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach..." She climbed down the ladder and walked to the room next door with frown, forcing it off her face as she greeted the few that were there with her usual wry grin and instructing them to begin their warm ups. She really wanted to prove him wrong just because the look on his face would be so satisfying when she did...but then again she wasn't sure that she could.

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Alyse and Landon sat across from Revlis at a table in a tavern, the later two sipping their small ales slowly while the aforementioned mage carefully scanned the city with her mage-sight for anything that even smelled like unmagic.

They'd arrived the previous day with every intention of locating and ridding the city of any unmagic they found with in it's boarders as quickly as possible. So far, they'd gone through The Mire, the East District, and were in the Copper Triangle at the moment. Nothing yet had turned up, to their relief. It made their job far easier just to scan and move on when nothing turned up for there was almost no chance of blood shed.

"Find anything?" murmured Landon as he noticed Alyse 'wake up' from her 'nap' as they'd told the waitress who'd asked about her condition, half-laying on the table like a dead body.

"Nothing of use to us," she replied as she rubbed her eyes slowly. "Hmm...I heard something about a nap...?"

Revlis chuckled. "That's just the fib I fed the waitress so she'd leave us alone," replied the cat girl lightly. "How long do you think you'll need before you can move on? It's about noon, and we could get through the next district too if we hurry..."

"However long it takes you to get me some bread and ale," replied Alyse as she shook her head to rid herself of her ringing ears. "I'm not tired, just a little depleted is all..."

"Will do. Wench!"

"You weren't expecting to find anything down here, were you?" asked Landon in a low voice as he slid his ale over so she could wet her dry throat.

"Unmagic is something only the wealthy can by," replied Alyse softly. "And it goes after the healthy more often than it does the sick. The Mire, Easter District, and Copper Triangle are the three poorest sections of town besides the fishing village. Few unmagic mages are free to themselves, and their masters will all be wealthy folks or ones who live in remote places where they're least likely to be detected. If we find one in Summersea at all, I will be surprised."

"Did ye feel dat tremor yesterdy?" asked one of the men seated nearby of his companion.

"Yar, nearly spooked me herd to death...h'ain't had a good quake in years..."

"Wench," asked Alyse when the girl brought them the bread and ale Revlis had called for. "How many quakes have there been recently?"

"Naught but a few," replied the young one shyly. "An' they be hardly more than a treble, mistress."

"I see, thank you."

"Yes, mistress. Be ye needing anything else?"

"No, thank you."

"Something wrong?" asked Landon as he noticed her slight frown as she tore the rough bread into bits and began to chew it thoughtfully.

"I told you I read the books about this place, right?" she asked in a low voice so only he could hear.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"I think I know where we are in them."

"...is that bad or good?"

Alyse paused with another bite halfway to her mouth, considering his words carefully as she compared what she knew to how it could affect them. "Neither."

"That makes absolutely no sense, you know that?"

"What are you two whispering about?" asked Revlis curiously. "Secrets, secrets are not fun unless they are for everyone!

"I'll explain it later," replied Alyse as she finished the bread and drank down the last of the ale, standing and handing a few coins to the barmaid who appeared at her side out of nowhere. "Let's go, we have work to do."

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And that, my dearest readers, is chapter 13. And up sooner than anyone expected, either! ^_^ Just incase I haven't mentioned it before, there WILL BE SPOILERS in the next few chapters for the four Circle of Magic books. In other words, unless you don't feel like reading them and will get a pretty close rundown of what happens regardless, read on! If you want to wait until you read them, don't go past this chapter until you do! You have been warned, so you can't blame me if you forget. : P

There is one thing that I definitely have been lax on, and I feel kind of bad about it. So here it goes.

Happy Birthday to You!!

Happy Birthday to You!!

Happy Birthday dear Cheeks, Ben, Rupal, Gwen, Cam, Chris, and Alyse!!

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

That's right, since the start of this story or very close to it Cheeks, Ben, Rupal, Gwen, Cam, Chris, and Alyse have all had birthdays and I'm fairly sure I forgot to mention them, so here they are now!! This chapter is dedicated to YOU, lucky 13!! : P If I missed yours, sorry, chances are I didn't know when it was or if I got it wrong and your birthday isn't for another six months, well, consider it a really early birthday gift.

Please review and wish them all happy belated (or really early) birthday!! ^_^

~Crosseyedbutterly~

'Best friends are the ones who smile when you're happy, hug you when you're sad, and smack you when you're being stupid.'