I know I haven't posted in ages, but this is me finally getting the desire to start up this story again, and probably my others too. Hopefully there won't be another break like this before the completion. Enjoy. D
Chapter Nine
Skylar blinked sleepily into the early morning haze, straining for a few moments to make sense of her unfamiliar surroundings. Dazedly breathing in the spicy sent of Kavi she rubbed her cheek against his silken hair. With a much more optimistic attitude than the night before, she stirred under the soft woolen blanket wrapped around her, and faced Skif with smiling eyes for the first time in almost a week.
"Thanks." In the delivery of that simple syllable Skif knew that all of the barriers Skylar had walled around herself were starting to crack. He rose from his half crouched position, automatically running a hand through his hair. To hide his sudden irrational discomfort around Skylar he fumbled for the tray in the snow behind him.
"You didn't sit out here all night with me, did you?" Skif dared a glance at her eyes, then quickly had to look back at the tray.
"No. I just thought that being newly chosen and all you might be more comfortable having breakfast out here with..." He looked at her significantly.
"Kavi." He smiled at the glow in her eyes when she thought about the stallion behind her.
"Kavi." He repeated with a nod. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, the snow crackling crisply beneath his soft boots. He could feel Skylar's eyes on him and to his chagrin felt himself slowly turning a brilliant red. To cover her smile at this reaction, Skylar twisted around to look at Kavi. Once again she lost herself in those bottomless blue eyes, the golden lashes blinking lazily. She heard soft foot-falls behind her and knew that Skif was taking this opportunity for an unnoticed escape. She whirled around and stood up quickly, struggling to untangle herself from the blanket.
"Skif, don't go." The emotional force behind those words startled her almost as much as Skif. He met her eyes again in surprise and took an unconscious half step back towards her. Slowly she smiled. "Did you bring enough breakfast for two?" The look that came over Skif's features was almost enough to make up for the hurt of the night before. Skylar struggled to keep from laughing at his innocent surprise. It touched her in a way that came very close to making her uncomfortable, and she felt that yesterday it probably would have. But this morning...with this gorgeous companion standing there, HER companion, it was a welcome change.
"I suppose so. I mean, I wasn't expecting to be," Skif stumbled over the words, grinned, and forced out a couple more. "But yeah, I would love to." Skylar spread the blanket over the ground so that neither of them had to sit in the snow and using Kavi as a backrest Skif and Skylar spent the first of many meals together, finally relaxing in each other's company.
...... ...
Selenay looked up at Talia with a brief smile of thanks as she wrapped her fingers around the hot spiced wine.
"Any progress?" Talia asked hopefully, pulling up a second chair. Selenay shuffled blindly through the parchments that covered the table in front of them about half a foot deep.
"Not much that I didn't already know. I did find that she had whites when she was here last time, and that they were locked in a trunk somewhere waiting for her return. I'm guessing that at that time the location of the trunk was general knowledge, which is why they didn't feel the need to specify where it is." Talia studied Selenay with critical eyes, sipping her wine.
"How could she have had whites though? She was never chosen, she couldn't have even had grays." Selenay shrugged helplessly.
"I don't understand how she could have had or done any of this. Apparently she showed signs of every gift possible, but none were that strong. Yet when the situation arises, using her power alone, she could out-magic any full herald-mage or herald in existence. And this was without any training." Talia shook her head for no apparent reason. She idly began leafing through the papers in front of her. Selenay rubbed her temples wearily. "Where is she right now?"
"Out in the field with Kavi of course. Skif's with her." Selenay looked at her pointedly.
"And she's not biting Skif's head off?" Talia shook her head again, this time with more purpose.
"No, not as far as I can tell. In fact, today she seems almost, heyla!" Talia sat up bolt straight in her chair.
"What?"
"It says here that when she arrived at the Collegium last time she just appeared in the middle of a classroom, looked straight at Vanyel and Tylendel, and calmly asked them 'so who's going to be my Skandranon this year?'" Talia looked at Selenay triumphantly.
"I don't believe it." Selenay said looking at Talia suspiciously. "I pour through these records for hours and find nothing, yet you can just sit down and pick up what we need." Talia smiled. "So she's been here more than once."
"Actually I'm not sure why I didn't realize that before. When we had our conversation in the courtyard she kept saying 'every time I'm here people die.' I took that to include her prediction of death this time too, but now that I think about it, she was probably speaking solely from experience." Selenay ran a hand through her hair looking more dejected than before. "What's wrong? We're finally starting to figure her out, shouldn't you be happy?" Selenay looked at her with hollow eyes.
"Talia, if she knew Skandranon that means she was here during the Mage Wars. So she gets dragged into our world for the extinction of magic, and then for the extinction of herald-mages. That doesn't exactly bode well for the world right now."
... ... ...
Skylar stared at Skif in disbelief, one hand unconsciously going to Kavi's side for support. Skif blushed, flustered at her reaction.
"I just thought, I mean, you were just chosen, and that's always, I mean not that you're, it's just..." Skif swore in frustration. He thought that the bitchy parts of Skylar were solely caused by her barriers. The girl looking at him now definitely held more of the sarcastic, cynical, manipulative, Skylar of yesterday that the smiling, open, and adorable one of this morning. A dimple flashed briefly than disappeared. Skif now knew to take that as a warning sign. Skylar pushed off of Kavi.
"Come here." Skylar walked a few steps away from the companions and gestured for Skif to follow. Kavi whickered uncertainly but stopped when Skylar sent him a hard look to quiet him. Skif uncertainly walked over to her. Cymry chuckled mercilessly in the background. Skif grimaced. "I hear that you're good at throwing knives."
"Yes," Skif said uncertainly, wondering what this could possibly have to do with anything. "I'm teaching some of the trainees."
"Ok then, good. If you're good enough to teach it then I don't have to worry about this little experiment getting botched up by incompetence." She smiled blandly. Skif's eyes hardened. After seeing her the way she could be he didn't find the way she used to be nearly as compelling or exotic. "I'm assuming you have one on you."
"I always do, but what does that," Skylar cut him off.
"Throw it at me."
"What?!" Skif looked at her in shock, there was no way he was going to throw a knife at someone he cared about.
"You heard me. Throw one at me." She spread her arms to indicate an open target, but only resulted in looking strangely angelic framed against the while snow. Skif just stared. She shook her head disgustedly. "Ok Skif, I never thought you were this stupid. Do you see either of our companions stopping us? Obviously they know that neither of us is going to get hurt." Skif blushed slightly realizing the validity of her statement.
"Your funeral." He muttered under his breath, expertly flicking the knife out of his boot. Skylar's eyes widened slightly, before now she hadn't actually believed that this small dark boy could actually have that much power over life and death. But then she smiled again and the moment was lost. Skif took aim.
"And don't aim to miss, that just ruins it." Gritting his teeth Skif altered his aim slightly. Forgetting all about the fact that she was chosen momentarily he panicked. She was so upset last night. What if this was some perverse attempt at suicide?
:Don't worry love. She knows what she's doing.: Put at ease by his companions confidence in the situation, Skif let the knife fly. He didn't even see the knife turn; all of a sudden the glittering blade was flying straight at his unprotected neck.
"Holy!" Swearing Skif stumbled backwards to get away from the flying death, lost his balance, and felt the wet snow seeping in the back of his tunic. An inch away from severing him fatally the knife stopped cold, hovered for a minute, then dropped harmlessly into the snow. Skif closed his eyes briefly, trying to get back his breath. Skylar walked up mockingly and picked up the knife.
"And I thought you were supposed to be acrobatic." She studied the knife callously. Skif looked up at her, his eyes bright from adrenaline, and his words panting and breathy from fear.
"Well I am normally. But I really did think I had the hand up in this situation."
"Well, you know Skif," She tossed the knife back to him. He caught it automatically. "Only a herald with a death wish isn't always on guard."
"How did you do that?" She wordlessly helped him up. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she studied him.
"I don't need training. Please have the decency and the sense of self-preservation to not suggest it again." She turned and walked back towards the Collegium, picking up the breakfast tray as she went. Skif let out a sigh of relief and started to clear his tunic of the sodden snow with shaking hands. All of a sudden he was hit behind and did a face plant straight into the slush. Alarmed, he flipped over to find Cymry prancing around in glee.
"That was not a funny trick!" Skif cried angrily, picking up a handful of slush and hurling it as his companion. It hit her neck in a splatter of grey and brown, and she looked at him, affronted. Skif shook of his hand wondering if he had meant what Cymry had done to him, or what Skylar had done to him.