Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Author's Note: This chapter was a little hard to write, mostly because I had to make a character I rather like do something that makes you hate them, so…yeah. This chapter turned out way longer and very different than I had intended.

-/-/-/-

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.
~Author Unknown

-/-/-/-

The afternoon was crisp and quiet, the way autumn afternoons were supposed to be. Not like the constant rain that had barraged the grounds for the past three days. Laundry was hanging on lines and Yuan really hoped that they would dry before the rain started up again—as it was bound to because they could never get any good weather this time of year—because otherwise, he'd have to start all this over again.

But until the clothes dried, he had little to do because he couldn't simply leave them out there. Yuan glanced around to see if anyone was around before grabbing a stick and crouching in the still muddy ground. He wrote what he could remember from the book that the old man had given him to study.

Spells and runes traced the circles that dictated the simplest spells. He had yet to be able to summon any magic—the old man said that that would take practice and that he could help him with that—but he could feel that this was right. Whenever his hands touched one of the circles, something would jolt beneath his fingers.

"Yuan?" His hand jerked as he heard his name, whirling around to face the speaker. Alina was watching him warily, a new basket of laundry in her arms. "What're you doing?"

He tried to brush away the evidence of his learning away with his foot, but the mud was stubborn and mostly held its shape. Alina came closer and she stared at the designs and words written in the mud.

"Yuan, you-you know how to read?"

"Of course not." He lied quickly. "I've just cleaned up Kratos' schoolwork so many times that I know what some of it looks like. I was bored and started doodling, so I guess that's where all this came from."

"These don't look like no doodlin's that I've ever seen. These look like you were doing them on purpose."

Yuan could see that there would be no convincing her otherwise. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Fine, I can read. But you can't tell anybody, okay? Promise me."

Alina stared at him, eyes suddenly wide and a little fearful. "That's against the law."

"I know, and if you tell anyone, then I'll be in huge trouble." Yuan didn't mention how much more trouble Kratos would be in because Alina didn't know that Kratos was the one who had taught him.

"You're asking me to break the law, Yuan." She hissed. "Do you know what happens to half-elves who do that? They're hung or-or flogged and then they start going after the family. My cousins are here. I can't risk them getting hurt because of me."

"You can't sell me out!"

Alina backed away from him. "I-I don't want to, Yuan, but the humans, they'll find out! They always find out and when they do, my family will be in danger and I can't risk that!"

She turned and ran, dropping the laundry basket and Yuan was frozen for a bit, unable to believe that this was happening because he and Kratos were supposed to have forever to have their secret. They were never supposed to be found out like this and by the time he managed to unfreeze himself, Alina is out of sight.

Yuan sprinted to Kratos' classroom, wondering how the hell he was going to get him out of this. He knocked on the door before entering, head down.

Yuan could feel how much the teacher despised him. It was thick in the air, like grease. "What do you want?"

"The headmaster wants to speak to Master Aurion." The title was heavy on Yuan's tongue and it felt strange. Kratos had never been Master Aurion, never.

The teacher sighed. "Fine. Go, Aurion. And you'll be expected to make up any missing work."

"Yessir." Kratos hurried out after Yuan. As soon as the door closed behind them, Kratos asked, "What's the headmaster want me for?"

"He doesn't." Yuan glanced up and down the hallway. "We need to get out of here."

"Get out of here?" Kratos repeated.

"Yeah, we need to get out of this school."

"Why?"

"We've been found out."

Kratos stiffened. "What? How?"

"I'll explain later, but we have to leave. Otherwise, they'll kill me and either lock you up or kill you too."

Kratos nodded and they ran for their room to pack quickly. It was as they were running down to the kitchens for something—anything—to take with them that Kratos looked at him and asked, "What about the old man?"

Yuan paused for a moment as he shoveled bread into their packs. "...We can't waste time looking for him."

Kratos didn't like it. The old man had mentored them, had listened to them argue and complain about the school, had made sure they could survive here and Out There. But he knew that Yuan was right. Time was not something that had enough of now.

It was as they were halfway outside when Kratos stopped, grabbing Yuan's elbow to make him stop and turn around. "Your book—the one that the old man gave you to study magic…where is it?"

"Back in the room."

"Hide by the stables. I'll go get it and bring it back. Me running around is going to be a lot less suspicious. Actually," Kratos shrugged off his pack. "Take that for me, please. It would give me away."

"No, Kratos, don't—" Yuan snarled softly under his breath as Kratos started dashing back inside. "Of all the times to be brave, you stupid…" The mutterings continued, even as he hoisted Kratos' bag up and started to head out to the stables.

-/-/-/-

It wasn't difficult to find the book, but it was difficult to avoid people in the corridors. Classes were being let out and the students were going to their next subject and Kratos suddenly felt like he was from another world. The students all seemed so normal and, strangely, young.

Kratos had been going to take Noishe as well, but the small bowl that the protozoan had been living in was in pieces, water soaking into the floor. The fish was nowhere to be found, though the window was open and the chilly breeze made Kratos shiver a little.

He had been looking for something to hide the book in and, finding nothing, had decided to hide it beneath his shirt. As he turned to leave, he froze at who was at the door.

"Kratos." His father had always been a tall man, but never had he seemed so large as he was in this instant, taking up the entire doorway.

"…Father. I didn't know you were on campus."

"I arrived this morning. I heard the most interesting thing while I was speaking to the headmaster. Do you want to know what that is?"

"Yes, of course I would, but…I'll be late for class." The old inferiority before his father was inching its way closer, threatening to engulf him, but Kratos kept Yuan's face firmly in his mind.

Sandor Aurion waved a hand dismissively. "You'll be excused. Now, as for the rumor, it seems that your slave is capable of reading."

Kratos felt something inside him go very cold. "R-really? Where would he have learned that?"

"That seems to be the question of the day." Sandor looked down at his son, who was still rather scrawny and awkward, nothing of a warrior. "You didn't teach him, did you?"

"Of-of course not." Kratos could feel his hands shaking. He would have run out a long time ago had his father not been blocking the door. "Isn't it against the law to teach those half-breeds," He had to spit that word out. It tasted like poison. "Anything?"

"Yes, yes it is." Sandor linked his hands behind his back, walking into the room. His son only came up slightly above his elbow. Still such a small boy. "So, you don't know anything about this?"

"No. I hadn't heard about it until you just told me. Have you found him?"

"No, not yet. But there's a search going on."

"I really hope you catch him, father." The lie tasted like ashes on his tongue. "I have to get to class." Kratos made a break for it, nearly running into a group of students as he barreled out of the room.

"Kratos!" Sandor shouted as he followed him, but Kratos kept running, slipping the book out from beneath his shirt as he did so. He was grateful for his size for the first time because it allowed him to weave in and out of the crowds.

He nearly tripped going down the stairs, but he managed to keep a hold on his balance. Once he was out on the training fields, he all-out sprinted for the stables.

-/-/-/-

Yuan nearly leapt about a foot in the air when he felt something nudge his back. When he turned to see what it was, he swore his heart nearly burst. He'd thought that perhaps it would be a horse whose stall had been left open.

It wasn't anything near a horse.

The bird was as tall as a horse though, with a long slender neck and a sharp beak. It had large eyes, slender around the edges like a hawk's, and they shifted color with how the sunlight hit them. Its plumage was silverwhite and tinged with green like limes and the grass after the rain.

At first, Yuan backed up a bit because really, what else did someone do when there was an enormous, strange bird standing right behind you? But the bird shuffled forward, nudging at his chest gently with his beak. The colors were familiar, but the body they were on was so changed that Yuan couldn't quite believe it.

"Noishe?"

The bird trilled a little and Yuan could only stare in wonder. Where had the little fish gone? This creature was powerful and beautiful and nothing at all like the small animal that had swam circles in the bowl.

Noishe raised his head, eyes focused on something in the training fields. When Yuan followed his eyes, he saw a familiar person running straight for them.

-/-/-/-

Yuan steadied Kratos when he reached them. Kratos grinned tiredly at him. "Got it." He panted, holding up the book triumphantly.

"You're a moron, d'you know that?" Yuan said.

"I've been told." Kratos said, straightening up. "We need to go. My dad—he found out. He says that there's a schoolwide search going on for you."

"I'm so flattered." Yuan muttered. "Here, we'll take turns riding Noishe so we don't tire out as fast. You're taking first turn."

"You'll hear no objection from me." Kratos stared at Noishe, who only cocked his head and stared right back. "Looks like you really are a protozoan."

Noishe chirped and knelt low enough so Kratos could clamber on his back. Yuan gave him their packs to hold—it only made sense because he wasn't the one running—and hesitated before saying, "…You could stay, you know."

"What?" Kratos looked at Yuan, not understanding.

"You could stay here, with your people. They don't know that you helped me."

Kratos shook his head. "Not a chance."

"You're sure? There won't be no going back after this."

"Any." Kratos corrected quietly. "Any going back. And yeah, I'm sure."