The several machines made beeping or humming noises. Some of the displays on the apparatuses showed colored curves or numbers. A tube pumped oxygen into a clear plastic breathing mask which covered Ahito's mouth and nose.

The unconscious boy lay on the bedside, wired with the uncountable machines in the room. He hadn't been moving for an eternity now and it didn't look as if that would change in the next few hours.

For the sixth time in less than a half hour Dame Simbai changed the cold, wet flannel on Ahito's forehead. The boy's temperature was over the forty-degrees-limit and the fever was still rising, but his hand was almost as cold as ice when Thran touched it.

"Wake up, little brother", he whispered imploring and squeezed his twin's right hand. Ahito didn't show any reaction. He just lay there. Motionless. With deadly pale skin and dark circles around the eyes. He was only a shadow of his former self. "Don't leave me alone!"

Arch stood at the door and watched everything from the distance. From time to time he exchanged a few words with Dame Simbai, wanted to know how Ahito was, when he would wake up, if he would be ok again. Actually he didn't even expect answers however the weird silence was just insufferable. But worst of all was Thran: It was horrible to see him so droopy and depressed, sunk down next to his brother's lifeless body.

"Arch?", Dame Simbai yanked the coach from his thoughts. "What about that girl?"

"The one who has found Ahito and brought him here?"

The medic nodded. "I want to talk to her."

"To thank her?"

"Yes. But I also want to know where she has learned to treat people. I mean; you saw what she did when we came in here! She knew immediately what all of my apparatuses are for and how to use them to treat Ahito. And it took her only a few minutes to stabilize his condition." Simbai looked almost thrilled when she came to speak of the stranger and her abilities.

This time it was Arch who nodded. He had been amazed of her, too. With a smile stealing over his face he pointed at the transparent glass door. Outside, the blue-haired girl sat on a bench and looked out of a window. She hadn't spoken a word since they had supported Ahito to the treatment room. She didn't even introduce herself.

Dame Simbai opened the door and walked across the hall. The girl turned around and stood up when she saw the woman. With her ice-blue eyes she looked the medic over. Her mien stayed sullen, even when Simbai smiled at her.

"What's your name?", the medic asked.

"Nin." The blue-haired looked after Thran who still kneed next to his brother. She didn't seem to be very interested in conversation.

Dame Simbai thought about how to talk to Nin. The solution was easy: Not asking too many questions and not beating around the bush. "I've got some questions", she started.

Nin just looked at her with her head cocked to one side.

Simbai took that as an invitation and said: "Where did you learn treating ill people?"

"I figured it out by myself", was the short answer. As the medic wanted to go on asking, the girl cut in on her. "I wasn't finished yet", she clarified. "I'm fifteen years old, my parents died a while ago and as an orphan you have to know how to cure yourself in case of an emergency. So that's why I learned everything about doctor's stuff. I hope that answers your other questions."

Slightly surprised the medic looked at Nin but immediately regained control over her features. She smiled again. "That would be all. I just wanted to thank you for bringing Ahito back and treating him."

The girl's look focused on the treatment room behind Dame Simbai, where the unconscious goalkeeper mumbled something in his sleep. "You can stay at Arch Academy if you like so you can watch over him", Simbai said as she noticed it. "I think Arch won't mind."

Nin took a slight bow. "I'd be delighted."

"Please wait out here for a moment", Dame Simbai asked and split back through the door.

Nin could see how she talked to Arch and how the white-haired man nodded slowly and approvingly. Then the Snow Kids' coach turned his head and caught Nin's eyes. With a nod of his hand he intimated her to come in.

"Sir?"

Arch laughed quietly. "I haven't been called 'Sir' for ages now. Please just call me Arch."

"Ok."

"I heard you'd like to stay?"

"Yes … Arch." The man's faithful manner towards her was strange. Guess I just have to get used to it, Nin thought.

"You can move into Yuki's room. There's still a spare bed and enough space for the two of you." When he saw her almost aghast face he quickly added: "But you can also have your own chamber. After all the academy isn't what one would call small and there are plenty of unused rooms."

Everyone could see how the girl relaxed again. It was obvious that she didn't like being among other people. She was a loner. And she didn't plan to change.

"I think we should leave Ahito to Simbai now", Arch said. Then he turned to Thran. "For the moment we can't help your brother, Thran. Let's go back to the others."

The defender didn't react. He only moved closer to Ahito. There was no way in hell he would leave his little brother!

"Please Thran, it's not good for you to stay. Tomorrow there will be training again and you have to be well-rested", Dame Simbai tried to persuade him. "You should learn a lesson from Yuki: She's calmness personified!"

"Leave me alone."

Suddenly somebody took his right, unhurt hand. "He'll be fine", Nin said with her calm, low-pitched voice. "He's your twin, so you should be able to feel that."

She got him. "I'm going to come back tomorrow, bro", Thran whispered, let go of Ahito and scrambled to his feet. With a melancholy glance he followed Arch and Nin out of the treatment room and back to the assembly room where the rest of the Snow Kids waited.

Yuki was the first to ask: "What's wrong with Ahito?! Will he be ok?"

So much for 'calmness personified'.

"He'll be all right, but that will take some time. We'll talk about it tomorrow before training. I want you to go to bed now, it's late already."

"Um … Coach …?" Instead of asking Micro-Ice pointed at Nin, who stood next to the tall man.

"Oh, that's Nin", Arch explained. "As you all likely noticed, she's the one who brought Ahito back here and probably saved his life by doing so."

General nodding.

"Nin will stay with us for some time. I want you to be nice to her."

"Yes, Coach", the Snow Kids answered, but Nin noticed that D'Jok – who she knew from TV – grimaced. At least he didn't comment meanly about it when Mei gave him a dunning glance. The next moment Micro-Ice grabbed his arm and dragged him along to their room.

The two were followed by Mark, Rocket and Tia. When Mei passed by, too, she stopped. "Don't worry, D'Jok always is like that with newcomers. He doesn't really mean it."

"I hope so …"

"Good night."

"And thank you", Yuki added gratefully, "for helping my cousin."

Then the two girls left with the others.

The only persons left were Arch, Clamp and Thran. And Nin of course.

Although the Snow Kids' defender looked completely disheartened he stepped up to the blue-haired girl and offered her hand. "Thank you for taking care of Ahito", he said. His dark grey eyes searched Nin's ice-blue ones.

The girl grasped the hand and squeezed it slightly but hurried to let go of it again. "Don't mention it." She wiped a strand of hair out of her face.

Now Arch piped up. "I think you should go to your rooms now, too. Tomorrow morning will be training so you should be up at seven o'clock. Nin; you can watch the training if you like to."

She only nodded.

"Thran, please try to get some rest. And Clamp: Would you please show our guest her room?"

Clamp took a slight bow like Nin did before. "No problem, Arch." He beckoned the girl over and left the room. Thran came with them. His chamber was in the same direction and for the moment there was nothing worse for him than being alone. Normally Ahito was somewhere around all the time. Sleeping or not, he never was far-off. It had been like that since their childhood. The twins had always hung around together. But now …

Clamp's voice yanked him from his thoughts. "Here we are. This is your room." The technician opened the metallic looking door by pressing a button on a small key panel next to it. "This is the button to open it. And this one's the bell if someone wants to visit you. And here you can choose a numerical code if you want to lock the door while you're out. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Thran's room is the door after the next one. If you have any problems you can ask him for help, right Thran?"

"Sure." The defender smiled a bit. He looked much nicer without his sad mien.

"Then have a good night's sleep", Clamp said friendly and left with a smile.

Thran waited until Nin entered her chamber, then went over to his and Ahito's room and buckled onto his bed. The room was big and tidy, with a huge TV screen and an even larger window. It had always been quite empty but without Ahito, it was like being all alone on a giant football pitch. Thran stared at the white ceiling.

You have to get better, little brother, he thought. Slowly the tiredness caught up with him and pulled him into a dark dream world. Some minutes later he was sound asleep.

In Nin's room

Nin stood in front of the window and watched the snow covered landscape. There wasn't a single animal. It looked like the whole world was asleep. Even the wind had stopped blowing his cold breath over the scenery. The empty, lifeless scenery.

It bore analogy to Nin's room.

The chamber was big and blank and fast explored. There was this huge window which spanned the whole southern wall of the room. Against the wall right to it stood two exactly alike looking beds, each big enough for at least two persons to sleep in. Next to the beds were little bed tables with alarm clocks on them. On the opposite side of the room a quite big TV screen and a table with an up-to-date computer on it had found their place.

A plain white door led to the bathroom which was equipped with a shower, a tub, two basins, a wide mirror and a washer. Nin didn't know one could need so much stuff just to keep oneself clean.

She went over to the TV and pressed some buttons on the remote control. The first program to appear was Arcadia-TV – of course. Nork Agnet, the news reporter, had just finished the weather forecast and now spoke about a friendly match between the Cyclops and the Lightnings that had taken place that forenoon. Callie Mystic, another Journalist of Arcadia TV, commented the Lightnings' play as very dynamic and unerring. A short extract of the game was shown where the Lightnings' captain Warren scored a goal by dodging three of the Cyclops' Brainwaves.

Nin changed the channel.

Another report of the friendly match. Boring.

She zapped through the variety of channels.

Football.

Weather.

Infomercials.

Football again.

Documentation about the Shadow Archipelago.

Another Documentation about a new team in the Galactik Football Cup.

The Rykers' Channel.

Commercial again.

Nin hurried to change back to the Documentation where the new team was introduced. At the moment one of the players was shown. He looked a bit cat-like with his pointed ears and the flat nose. Instead of eyebrows he had a little dot above each eye and some tiger-like stripes on his auburn skin. But the strangest things were his eyes. They were bright green with narrow pupils and the part which normally was white shimmered deep black like tar.

The reporter spoke about the team's incredible agility and about the amazing training sessions he had seen but apologized for not being allowed to publish the film material. "Not much is known about the Fieras Flux yet but that it makes the players extremely fast", the man reported.

Fieras.

So that's how the new team was called.

"Let's see what they've got going on", Nin spoke to herself and went on watching the documentation. Unfortunately only some shots of the Fieras planet were overlaid and the reporter told something about the planet and its landscape.

Musing Nin switched off the TV again, sat down on the bed which was closer to the window and looked at the scenery again.

"Fieras …"

She yawned and made herself comfortable on the bed. The documentation had sure made her curious but now something else came to her mind.

Ahito …

How he lay there in front of the holo-trainer on the cold wet ground. He had been calling for help and even when he had passed out he had still whispered his brother's name. Nin felt sorry for the Snow Kids' goalie.

The next day she would look him over again. If there was a way to cure him from that illness he had she would find it. I promise …

With this thought she fell into a light and uneasy sleep.