"Now slowly breathe in...And out. I want you to listen to the sound of my voice and." The man's voice, enhanced by his abilities, rippled through the air, and rolled over the collected students. He sat cross legged in the center, on the top of a flattened rock. As he spoke, the air ripple outward in a near invisible wave, spreading laxness and peace to the thirty-odd people surrounding the rock.

This hypnotic wave moved unchecked and each person felt their minds become free to focus on inner issues. What challenges must they overcome in their physical training? How can they better understand and utilize their abilities? Are they harboring any excess baggage that holds them back? When will their meditation techniques be competent enough to privately meditate on their own?

All movement quieted as everyone pushed inward and deeper.

Wind dove into the clearing like a playful bird. It swept through branches, gently making music of the rustling leaves. Next it ruffled hair as it briefly visited each person. In return for such affection, it collected a bit of their scents, only to lose its treasure amongst the grass. The grasses sighed and breathed, trying to collect the precious breeze for themselves. The wind paused for just a moment, letting the grasses think they had won, and then, with a mighty push, it gusted free, and sailed away.

As it dashed away, it swung low the ground, teasing small creatures. They didn't pay it any mind they were used to its games. The grasses were fast becoming too small and sparse to hope to grasp it, and the trees were coming fewer and fewer. Finally the breeze sailed free of the green world and coasted across a near flat, land filled with a wealth of tiny golden crystals. It kicked up a small cloud of them in its wake.

A wide expanse of the golden world passed beneath it, and the breeze grew bored and began to lose strength. Its form slowed and waned, no longer kicking up gold. Just as it was almost sucked into the still air, a man rose, far away and off the right. Suddenly new purpose filled the wind and it spun crazily across the expanse.

It reached the man and, intent on play, pounced on him. It missed. It lept again. And missed, again. It jumped all around the man, kicking up a small whirlwind of sand, but seemed to simply pass through him. The wayward wind was almost shocked into disastrous stillness.

Two more people were moving toward the water's edge, where, in a creature of dead wood was another human.

Pulling free of the boring, quiet air, the breeze chased after them. As wind is far faster than any other thing on this world, it caught up with them within seconds. These humans were fun! They had long hair to toss, and their outer coverings danced with the wind. The people swatted at it, but were too slow for its game.

The skipping air noticed the people were even closer to the water, and tried to pull them away. The humans ignored it, and didn't slow.

On the flat land, the wind was free to do as it pleased, but near the water, stronger drafts of air rolled heavily through the clouds, disrupting weather and destroying infantile breezes.

The breeze stretched like a thread, clinging to its playmates while trying to remain on land. It mustered as much strength as a small island breeze can, but its hold was slowly being shorn as the humans walked further away, and the edges of the sea breezes' strength tried to absorb the small land draft into them.


Iria squinted against the wind assaulting her face. A tall, bronze man bellowed, "Iria!" and steered the white sail boat nearly onto the island. She held Quatre's limp body awkwardly in both arms as she fought the wind to reach the boat.

"Iria! Give me your hand!" Sand and spray formed a difficult barrier to cross, but she struggled past it. Something was driving her so hard she could taste the danger in the air.

She had to dance in the surf to avoid being knocked over by the boat itself and didn't care that her ridiculously expensive, custom designed sundress was ruined and clinging uncomfortably.

Her missing shoes only bothered her slightly.

Iria started to shift Quatre to one arm and to take Rashid's hand, but thought better.

"Take Quatre first!" She lifted a comatose Quatre in both arms, still dancing against the waves, and breathed a sigh of relief as Rashid's strong hands took Quatre from her. Her breath squeaked out of her when his large hands closed around her midsection and plucked her from the water. Something inside of her relaxed.

For a moment Iria let herself forget she and kicked her heels and laughed.

A surprised smile tugged at Rashid's mouth. He hadn't seen Iria this care free since she was a teenager. Rashid swung her into the narrow boat and looked her over. Her hair, a mix between Quatre's white blonde and the rest of her siblings' black, was in disarray and littered with clumps of sand and her pretty white dress was soaking and clinging to her form in a way that a sixty year-old goat like him wouldn't appreciate.

He grunted, "Forgive me Mistress, I would have a towel and refreshments befitting a lady of your stature ready if this tug boat had enough room to fit more than just us three and few buckets of water." Rashid scowled at the water sloshing into the vessel. He looked at her reprovingly, "Master Quatre might catch his death with all the water and wind chill and you're no better running around in-"

Iria tossed her head back and laughed again. Then, pressing a hand over his mouth she said, "Oh Rashid! Shush! You never miss an opportunity to complain, do you?" At Rashid's disgruntled look she said, "Yes, I know, 'Only when there is ample reason'. Well you can complain later, once you've gotten this 'tug boat' as you called it back to civilization!" She gave him a mock stern glare and turned away from him, ignoring his good natured grumbling.

Turned nowhere really because the 'tug boat' really was small. There was only a thin old-looking board for sitting with supplies stacked under it and Quatre slowly twitching back to life on top of it.

She knelt and opened her senses to the pure warmth shining from him.

In the past fifteen years Iria had wielded her empathy so sparingly she'd honestly forgotten what it was like to unfurl her senses and just enjoy the taste of another human's mind. Quatre was already so much stronger than she was that he filled her senses. And if she stretched old muscles she could sense a faint weariness muddying the stark clarity inherent in all normal children. Iria reached even further.

His consciousness exploded under her nose. Excitement, contentment, and wonder manifested in a flurry of physical and mental sensation.

That had always been a peculiar and often undesirable quirk of empathy. The body knows first and the mind catches up a second later.

For an incoherent moment she felt itchy, weightless, and short of breath.

Then silver, blue, violet, green, red, and orange filled her mind. There were a thousand matrices ranging from horse size to house size interlocked and connected at bead shaped pockets of shimmering... vibrance! Together they twisted in irregular shapes that should have made their very existence impossible, and yet a disbelieving blink and a fresh glance revealed an even larger-

Now his constant distraction and the strain of anxiety that felt like her skin tried to stretch a little too tight made complete sense.

Iria felt a sharp quiver of doubt. How would he cope with this burden alone?

She pushed it aside and ducked out of his consciousness, but not his mind. She instead drifted somewhere between his active psyche and the subconscious. Memory.

Quatre's sister gasped.

The blackness of space stretched out around her and thousands of winking stars dotted the distance. Trails of cosmic dust painted wide swathes of blue and green. Thin strings of gold hid amongst the other colors. There was sound too. Like the quiet moans a blizzard makes. And motion. At first she hadn't noticed it, but now it seemed impossible to miss. There was a subtle, definite drifting downwards.

They were all memories. Each spec of glittering dust, each star, and each moan. She reached out to one but paused mid-reach.

These were Quatre's private memories and feelings.

She pulled away.

Iria suddenly felt a strong urge to go upwards. Though there was no direction or measure of distance in any human mind, she focused on that feeling and let it guide her. The higher she went the closer together the memories clouded until she couldn't avoid brushing against them. Iria managed to quickly call up shields she'd long forgotten she could use. Still some emotion leaked through.

Quatre happy, Quatre sad, Quatre excited, Quatre peeved...

The memories became so thick she couldn't make out their individual shapes and colors anymore. Just an increasingly enticing feeling to go up.

Quatre bright, Quatre hungry, Quatre amused, Quatre...

It was like moving through thick whitish mist.

Quatre scared, Quatre upset, Quatre angry...

Then she was swimming.

The strange luring feeling was. Abruptly dissappeared and Quatre's sister was suddenly much farther in his mind than she had meant to be.

Where was in? Or out for that matter?

Iria began to panic.

The lure wasn't gone it was everywhere! There was no longer a gentle insistence, but a sucking, snatching, devouring presence! It wasn't just tugging her, but her sense of self. She flailed wildly.

Iria hadn't practiced her empathy in years and she found herself floundering, caught in the first mind she explored. She was literally drowning in Quatre! She needed to breathe.

Suddenly Iria broke the surface and tried to suck in air she shouldn't even need here. Her own mind didn't seem to want to listen and she gasped and reached out for some sort of anchor.

searingburningheatpain

Iria cried out and flinched back. And opened her 'eyes'.

Brilliant incandescence blinded her. As she stared, bits and pieces of herself began crumbling and dissolving. She started to forget things. Names, dates, faces, cares, and worries were stripped away.

Iria vaguely realized that she was being immolated. She didn't care. She never wanted to leave.

It was like embracing the sun.You know it will destroy you. But it's so, so beautiful.

The boat dipped sharply and her knee banged against the bench.

Rashid shouted back over the flapping of the sail, "Careful!"