Chapter Six

The next day Hali was the first to wake. Having had yet another nightmare, Hali decided to just give up on sleep and see what she could do to occupy herself. Being so early in the morning, she didn't want to wake anyone. She found it a better idea to go out instead. After dressing in her freshly washed clothing of all black, she silently opened her door to sneak out. Thankfully she found the house to be solid and quite silent beneath her feet as she crept to the staircase easily.

She was about to take her first step upon the stairs when she sensed a presence too close behind her. Spinning around agilely she ducked low to reflexively dodge an attack. But none came. Instead she found herself crouching in front of a more than startled Sage. Frowning darkly for a moment, she rose to her feet trying to play it off with slight embarrassment. To her credit, Sage relaxed visibly, but not before giving her a curious look.

"Sorry," Hali whispered. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be up."

"I didn't mean to startle you. I'm usually the first one up. I didn't know it was you out here."

"You heard me?" she whispered in surprise as she started down the stairs.

"Sort of," Sage replied somewhat uncomfortably.

Hali followed silently as Sage made his way to the kitchen. As she watched she couldn't help but notice just how easily he maneuvered around the unseen furniture in the darkened house. It was almost as though he sensed where things were rather than saw them. Either that or he had as good of night vision as she did with her almost super human senses.

Thinking again of the differences she held from most others brought a dark shadow to her pale face as they entered the kitchen. Turning on the light, Sage sensed her dark mood and turned to her curiously.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. So, how come you're up so early?" she asked casually as she took a seat at the table.

Shrugging Sage turned to make some tea to take the edge off. It was colder than normal this morning. Maybe going out wasn't such a good idea after all.

"No reason. I've always been an early riser. I like my quiet time and with everybody in the house there isn't much of it."

"I can understand that," Hali said as she nodded her head, gazing distantly out the window. "I was thinking about going outside for a little while. It seems nice out this morning."

Now standing beside the table Sage gave her a look of mild surprise. "Isn't it a little chilly out?"

"I like the cold," she said, still gazing out the window into the false light of dawn. Slowly she smiled almost sadly with memory. "People used to call me cold-blooded because I was always so cold, but they could never understand my love for cold weather."

"Cold-blooded and you're always cold. Hmmm. Must be interesting," Sage said with a teasing glint in his one visible eye as though he were about to say more.

This statement brought Hali's gaze back to him. Meeting his eyes she gave him a wicked gleam as she reached out and grabbed his uncovered hands in hers. The look of surprise and shock in his eyes as he felt the iciness of her hands made his eyes widen in shock. Still grinning, she took her hands back and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I see what you mean," he said with a slight shiver. "If you're that cold in here, I can imagine what it much feel like most of the time."

Hali only shrugged as he turned to fetch two cups of steaming tea. Carefully he placed one in front of her as he sat down.

"Take this. It'll help."

"Thanks," she said, wrapping her hands around the cup to warm them as she returned to her distant gazing out the window.

Seeing his opportunity, Sage began to study her. Ever since his first encounter with her by the river he hadn't been able to study this girl. There was something about her that sparked his curiosity more than anyone else he had ever met. She was beautiful in a way he couldn't even begin to compare. But her beauty was in the age she bore. So young, yet her spirit was one filled with age and wisdom born of hardship and willpower. She carried within her a power unlike anything he had ever seen before. Every time he so much as thought of her, his psychic abilities went crazy. It was like he was being overloaded—and he wasn't even scratching the surface of what she was!

Curiously he eyed her using his psychic senses. There was so much pain and suffering in her heart. It was almost as though she had shut herself off from her emotions thinking that there could be no good left. But the goodness she radiated was unmistakable. His heart ached to see her so miserable when she seemed so good. He just couldn't understand how one with so much kindness and goodness could have suffered so much in such a short time.

What secrets did this one hold? Sage found himself wondering off on this other track. But then his mind began to circle around once more. Not for the first time he found himself wondering just what she was really like under that mask of peace and calmness she always wore. He wondered what kind of person could survive so much and still be able to live, to feel.

Again Sage found himself drawn to her. A part of his heart reached to her in a way he could not describe. He more than liked or admired her. There was something there that pulled him closer to her. But at the same time he found himself pulling away from her. Something in his psychic senses resisted her. They resisted one with so much power and no obvious explanation. Even he had a reason for being so psychically gifted. If for no other reason than the fact that he was—

As if sensing his thoughts, Hali suddenly turned around to face him. He blushed slightly as he lowered his eyes knowing he had been caught staring. For a few seconds she only eyed him with slight amusement before he finally looked up once more. The myriad color eyes hypnotized him even as the teasing look of amusement made him want to turn away.

"Trying to read my thoughts?" she asked devilishly.

Sage started almost knocking over his cup of tea. For just a second he wondered if she knew the power she held. Staring at her blankly, she only grinned wickedly.

"Don't be so surprised. There's no missing what you've got," she said almost teasingly. "You're not like the others. Yours is strong. I've seen your kind before. Your friend Sai has it somewhat too."

Glancing taking a sip of her warm tea Hali's face grew serious as she averted her eyes. "I have it too. But let's keep that between us."

Sage only nodded, eyeing her warily. She seemed on the verge of saying more, so he kept silent.

"I'm-I'm sure you've noticed…other things too," she said softly, unable to meet his gaze. "I can't stop you from being curious. I know you are. But could you please not say anything. I-I know I'm a freak of nature, so to speak. But, people can't accept what I am as easily as you could."

Seeing her discomfort at this situation, Sage resisted the urge to comfort her. Instead, he reached across the table and touched her hand so she would meet his eyes. Even as she looked up, he gave her a reassuring look.

"I know what you mean," he told her. "I won't say anything, I promise. I just can't help myself sometimes. Someone with as much power as you is going to get my curiosity up."

"I know," she nodded slowly. "It's just something I don't like to get into. I didn't exactly ask for it."

"You're no freak," Sage told her softly, seeing how much she had been hurt by this. "I don't care what anyone else says. You're a special person, not a freak."

"If only you knew the half of it," Hali said, giving him one of her quiet smiles.

After this Hali finished her tea and stood up. Stretching with an almost feline quality, she sighed contentedly.

"I think I'm going to go out and enjoy the morning. It's beautiful outside," she said, looking at the first rays of the sun on the horizon.

"Would you care for some company?" Sage asked, rising from his seat.

"Actually, I would," Hali told him pleasantly in her whispery voice.

"I know some really great spots to walk in," he mentioned as he grabbed his jacket by the door.

The two of them walked in silence for some time as they roamed aimlessly around the woods that surrounded the large property. In keeping with the season, the leaves had all turned to golden and red hues giving the place an almost fantasy-like quality. As the sun broke the horizon low in the sky everything seemed to glow with natural warmth that was peacefully relaxing. The crystal clear sky above was a dazzlingly azure blue that gave a cooler tone to the warmth of the scene before the two. All around them the leaves glittered and gleamed with the quickly melting frost throwing crystal-like rainbows of color in a cascade of light.

Slowly the two wandered in peaceful calm for a time as they took in the scene before them. Rarely had either one been witness to such natural beauties that warmed the soul so. Both were lovers of nature and earth and times like this were to be cherished for every moment they were worth. It didn't take them long to find a perfect spot in which to stop and rest upon a great rock that lay in the middle of a clearing far from the rest of the world.

Sighing happily Hali took a seat beside Sage on the flat top of the stone. Her eyes took on a distant look as she gazed out upon the peaceful landscape. It had been so very long since she had last been able to truly enjoy a day such as this so completely. But, as with all good things, they are often short lived and soon forgotten. Little good was left in this world anywhere it seemed to her.

Sage watched Hali for several seconds. She seemed so sad yet so happy at the same time. Over and over again he wondered what could be going through her mind that could make her so sad at a time like this. Finally he dug around himself and came up with the courage to ask her, if not face her.

"What are you thinking?" he asked curiously.

Hali's pale lips twitched ever so slightly in the barest hint of a sorrowful smile. Her eyes never left the fantasy-like picture of beauty before her as she curled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them. Slowly she began to speak in her almost surrealistically soft voice.

"I'm in the sanctuary of my mind.

Lost eternally for all to find.

It's the ultimate security

Of darkness and obscurity.

It's the total freedom of thought.

A haven of treasures sought.

All is known here to me

(At last I am truly free).

I am God, I am Satan.

I am angel, I am demon.

I am all there is to know,

For this world is mine in which to grow."

Even as she finished this last, she still didn't meet Sage's wondering gaze. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that she didn't want to tell what was on her mind. It wasn't even that that had caught his attention so. It was the poem. Something in the sadness and loneliness in that poem had touched him. The poem spoke of how much she liked being alone. But her voice told him that is was a likeness she had long ago been forced into.

Didn't anyone care about her thoughts? Sage wondered.

"That was beautiful. I'm sorry for intruding. You're right. Your thoughts are yours," he apologized.

Now it was Hali's turn to look abashed. "No. I'm sorry. I'm just not used to talking to others about my thoughts. They're not exactly a light subject."

"No. Probably not," he told her sympathetically.

Finally Hali relented. "I was just thinking about how little beauty and goodness is left in this world. It's so hard to find something good anymore. And what little good that is found is so quickly lost."

Hali's eyes grew more distant that before as she spoke, yet Sage knew he could hear her as he told her, "Sometimes. But if it isn't worth searching for, then what's the point?"

"Maybe there is no point," she sighed softly. As an afterthought she whispered too softly for anyone to hear, "Maybe it's not worth fighting for anymore."

But Sage did hear. This statement startled him. Though it could have been anything she had been referring too, he somehow just knew that she had been fighting for the good of this world. Much like he and his friends, she seemed to bear the scars of a long and painful battle for good. Only now did Sage notice this. Perhaps that was what drew him to her so greatly. They shared something that so few people in this world could ever even hope to understand.

Yet, how could she have fought so greatly? Granted, she had more power than he had ever seen in a single person before, but what had she fought?

Still, in some ways, it didn't matter to Sage. All he really knew is that he had found someone that could understand him in ways the others couldn't. She could understand many things he couldn't even understand fully himself. While these thoughts comforted him and drew him ever closer to this one, it was the search for answers that pushed him ever further. Now it was just a question of which one would overrule the other.