Set after Everblaze, told from the point of view of an OC of mine, and possibly Biana, I haven't decided yet. :)

Chapter One

I've never been great with heights, so as I stare outside of this treehouse the Black Swan has us living in, I have to blink back the fright. Biana pops into view beside me, and I don't even jump this time. I'm just used to her by now.

'Beautiful view, isn't it?' Her stunning Vacker accent echoes around the wooden room, and I turn away from the window.

'I dunno. I'm not one for heights.'

'They're not my favourite,' she admits, glancing once more at the moss covering the edges of the frame. 'But it's still pretty gorgeous.'

'I guess so.'

'Wait, who's room is that?' Biana points across, and I look back, avoiding staring at the ground at all costs.

'Not quite sure. I think it's Keefe's.'

'You two are close, huh?'

'Well, he is my cousin.' I sigh internally, thinking about that relation. Keefe is my cousin, but we've always been pretty close. Cassius's sister is my mom, and she was friends with the traitor I refuse to name, even before they got married.

Both of our families were pretty horrible, so we stayed together and avoided them at all costs. I'd say we were like twins, but Elves have some odd beliefs. I don't always get them, and sometimes I think I'm not an Elf.

Or, rather, I feel separated from everyone. Like a fire burning inside of me that I can't control, and don't understand. Keefe gets that, I think. We're basically like brother and sister.

'Want to check on Sophie?' the pretty Vanisher asks, gesturing towards the door.

'Sure.'

We walk down the hallway, but not too far. Sophie's room door is right next to mine. When we arrive, I see that her room also has a view of my cousin's, and I feel a little better. That night on Everest…

Well, let's just say that he's still feeling awful. I am too, because… Well, I might as well tell you. There's no point in not telling you.

Apparently, not only was Keefe's mom a part of the Neverseen, but apparently so were, get this, both of my parents. Both of them! And now we can't find them.

It isn't like with Aunty G-G, not like she did some Ogre thing to get away. We found their blood on the snow, and some scraps of their robes. But they were gone. I don't know whether to feel sad, triumphant, or depressed. I guess Keefe decided to go with the last one, so I either have to follow him deep into a cave of misery, or be the strong one. And Keefe needs a strong one in his life.

Sophie's mostly been filling the role, ever since we left Everglen she's been paying my cousin special attention. I can't tell how concerned I should be, she hasn't told me much, probably because she worries I'm gonna, like, break down and leave. Which I honestly don't want to do.

'You okay, Kara?' I hear Sophie say, and I realise I was staring out the window.

'Yeah. I'm fine.' I turn back to the conversation, in which Biana has somehow steered towards fashion. Although, she always looks perfect, so she has no need to try so hard.

'At least they have decent taste in clothes,' she says, spinning in a pale pink gown through Sophie's room. She had these flowers around the top of her canopy bed, that the kind gnome called Calla had said would help with her nightmares.

Nobody said they'd help with my nightmares. I have them even more often than Foster. I'm always surrounded by flames, even though Fintan is dead. Isn't he? I don't know why I'm so afraid of what can't hurt me. But the fires always seem so real.

Sophie turns to the twirling brunette, looking slightly annoyed, even though she looks pretty too. 'Seriously? What's with the gowns? Aren't we supposed to be fighting rebels and solving conspiracies?'

Honestly, I agree with her, which is partially why I chose this simple grey dress to my knees, and back leggings. I don't care about formalities, so if anyone says anything about my lack of heels when they look down and see plain black lace up boots, I'll just ignore them.

But then Della, who I admit is friggin amazing, speaks up. 'Actually, right now we have an important meeting, so why not look our best?' She glances at me and sizes me up. 'Do you want to change?'

'No.'

'Are you sure? You know, Karalahni, it isn't a bad thing to dress up.'

'I know, but I just don't like to.'

'But why do we have to look like pretty-pretty-princesses when the boys get to wear pants and tunics?' asks Foster.

'Of course.' She turns back to the confuddled Moonlark. 'Sometimes I forget how your human upbringing has altered your world view.' She let out a small tinkling laugh, and gestured to the dresses we were all wearing. 'Our society has not been plagued by the inequalities you've grown up with.'

Biana nods in agreement, but I inwardly sigh. Just because we're better at some things than humans, doesn't mean we're amazing at all of life. If we were, we wouldn't be hiding in a treehouse with a wrinkly old man refusing to reveal his identity,now would we?

'No one views gowns as a sign of our gender's lesser status, we don't have a lesser status. So if you truly hate wearing a dress, you can choose to wear anything you'd like.'

They start into a conversation about fashion, and noble city requirements, and stuff, but I stop paying attention again. Keefe? I transmit, hoping my odd telepathy tricks won't be noticed by Sophie, now that we share a wooden house in the middle of who-knows-where-land.

Kara?

Yeah, it's me. I'm just checking up on you. You still okay?

I guess so. Fitzy has a stuffed animal with him, but I didn't get a good look at it. I guess I can use that as blackmail or something.

Come on, Keefe. What're you gonna blackmail WonderBoy for?

I can almost see him shrugging as he sends, I dunno, I'll think on it, my way.

I haven't told anyone but Keefe about my telepathy yet, because it's been acting up. I actually manifested a while ago, and practised with my cousin, but that's it. It was normal, until Everest.

Dad was a Telepath, and I think he did something to my brain before he… Died? Before he did whatever he did. But I think he did something, because ever since then, I can make other people transmit to me.

I know how that sounds, but it's just how it works. If I have a mental connection, then the other person can send me their thoughts like a Telepath can, but only to me. I asked Keefe if it works with Sophie, but it doesn't.

By this point, after so long practising with Keefe, my brain automatically connects with him. It's like he can subconsciously send me thoughts that he wants me to hear, without my brain trying to connect to his. I probably need to talk to Forkle about it, though I guess he might not know. He only knows about the Moonlark's genetic mutations, so I doubt he'd know if this was something up with me.

'Kara?' Biana asked, and I realised she'd been trying to ask me a question.

'What?'

'Do you want to go and find the guys now?'

'Oh, uh, sure.'

We leave, but not before I quickly transmit, I'mma tell Forkle, not you, to Keefe.

Suure Kae, suuuure.