A/N: Damn... I didn't save or anything so all the blab I put here got erased! Oh well. I think it was something on the lines of Hello Everyone! And then I made a stupid science joke which probably no one will get so I won't repeat it... And then I got to the thanks, but I pretty much just said thanks four times to everyone and made a comment about how if you want me to say stuff to you ask questions and stuff, ya know... stuff I can respond to... And then to kytana I said something about using classes for your own reasons... Or something. Well. In that case... since I don't have the list of reviews listed anymore, Thanks to Stormy Phoenix, mugglepirate, Glaciours, and kytana! And here's the next chapter!
"Raul!" Faolan shouted, spying the filly immediately as she and Christopher entered the field.
Raul picked up her head and cantered over, coming to a slow halt to stop before the four year old, dipping her head down to gently nudge Faolan on the shoulder, her white mane hanging long about her neck. Nearby, a Companions stallion had come up to meet Christopher, and Faolan could feel both sets of eyes upon the two of them.
:How have things gone, Faolan?: the filly inquired, her blue eyes looking soft and curious.
"Great actually," Faolan grinned, speaking softly as she reached up to stroke the Companion, "I have a uniform too big for me and my own room- also too big for me, but I've been following Christopher Alaska, that's the boy I followed here, in his classes and they're fascinating. In my last life I was a scout, but I never got any higher education, and none of my memories have recent events. It doesn't sound like they're going to have me continue following him around though… You probably know more- what's the response?"
Raul tossed her tail and took on an agitated appearance as she answered, :Not good. The first response was 'Are you INSANE?' I wish I could explain but Companions have a tendency to leak to their Heralds and this is really something private. I managed to convince everyone that I would speak only to the Groveborn, that's Rolan, the Companion of the Queen's Own. I told him everything, about you being a werewolf and the emergence of past life memories. He stills doubts it was a good idea, especially because I'm young to be Choosing, but a Choice is a Choice and there isn't anything anyone can do about it.:
Faolan had the distinct impression that Raul was smirking, but then the filly glanced over at Noland and Christopher Alaska and she snorted softly, continuing, :They've been watching me all day. Have you been getting a lot of stares?:
"Yes," Faolan nodded, "Everyone seems to think I'm some novelty or something but most people think I'm cute, I think, more than anything, and they seem more confused about why I was Chosen than anything. Christopher Alaska is cool, he's been taking it all in stride."
:Well, they've come to the conclusion that you'll be trained, just like any trainee. I told Rolan you could read and write, so I suspect you'll be put in some basic classes. Do your best, the most they'll think is that you're a highly intelligent child, so don't hold yourself back. When the time comes to change, lock your door and try and keep quiet. The Queen and the Queen's Own know you're a werewolf, but the rest of the Heralds don't, nor do their Companions. It won't be so terrible if they found out about that but do not let your past lives slip. Intelligence in scholarly areas is all right but you must take care Faolan. And Faolan, I mentioned this before, but, I think there is a reason this has all happened. That I've Chosen you young, that you remember your past lives. Let those memories come, don't hold them back in your mind. They may make a difference someday.:
"Okay," Faolan nodded, picking at the grass with her bare toes, "Do you know when they'll figure out my schedule?"
:Actually… they already have. You're something new Faolan and no one is putting you at the bottom of the list: Raul said and this time she was definitely smirking, :You're to rise at the same time as everyone else, eat breakfast, and come down here to the Field. Because I've Chosen you they've decided I'm going to have to deal with you. So most of the morning you get to hang out here with me, play with the Companion foals and etcetera… After lunch you'll meet in your room with whoever is free and they will educate you in whatever they know. Like I said, it'll probably be basic math, reading, and writing until they realize you already know most of that. Your Gifts aren't strong yet so they're being left alone- in fact Rolan is surprised they've manifested themselves already, but traumatic experiences often awake them young, just not this young in most cases. No weapons practice scheduled, but we'll see if we can change that. I think no one really likes the idea of a small child with a sword, real or practice. How does that sound?:
"Wonderful," Faolan said and then hugged Raul, "I can't imagine anything better. Can we go for a ride? Christopher's next class isn't for two bells."
:Of course: Raul said with a bob of her head and lay down gracefully for Faolan to pull herself up onto the white back.
"Hey, uh Faolan?" Alaska shouted over as Raul pulled herself up and Faolan clung like a burr to Raul.
"Yeah?" she shouted back, peering at the boy and his Companion.
"Let's go ride together, okay?" he asked and Faolan nodded. Raul moved into a smooth trot and stopped beside the other two just as Alaska was pulling himself up onto the large stallion with surprising ease.
"This is Noland," Alaska said as he adjusted himself onto the stallion's back, "And Noland, that's Faolan. I assume you know Raul."
:That's right we know each other: Raul said with an amused snort.
"Hi Noland," Faolan said, smiling a bit nervously at the big Companion.
The Companion snorted amiably and Christopher Alaska said, "He'd like to return the greeting."
The two white creatures moved on their own accord, setting off across the long lush grass, green despite the summer heat. Faolan's feet, still bare, brushed up against Raul's sides as they moved, and Fao could almost imagine that it was wild out here, that the Companion's Field wasn't in the middle of the city because here she could not hear the sounds of city life unless she listened closely. Only that noise of the crickets the wind and nearby shouts of people from the Collegiums.
"Noland actually wanted to speak to Raul, he just didn't have a good excuse," Alaska said with a wink to Fao, which she returned with an unsure smile, "But you're fun to talk to yourself."
"That's good," Faolan ventured slowly, glancing over at the other trainee through dangling threads of messy red hair, and then, on a spur, she asked, "Do you learn archery?"
"Yeah, actually," he nodded and then paused a moment before asking, "You interested in it?""I've learned a little of it already," the girl admitted, winding her fingers through Raul's mane and looking at the spot between the filly's ears and thinking of the mind just beneath it, wondering what her Companion was saying to Noland.
:I have my reasons for Choosing her, just as you have yours for Choosing Alaska. What more can you need? The Groveborn accepts my Choice and that too should be enough for you…:
Faolan blinked. The Mindspeech had been faint, as if it were far away and with a sinking, guilty sort of feeling Faolan realized she was probably not meant to hear it. Was her Gift becoming stronger? Did Gifts do that? Grow? How long did a Gift continue to grow? Were those old Heralds carrying around Gifts so powerful from years of use that they could read every mind in Haven if they wished?
Faolan gulped and glanced over at Alaska, suddenly blurting out, "Do you have any Gifts?"
"Funny you should ask," the boy said with a mysterious chuckle and Noland's ears momentarily flicked in their direction, "I have thought projecting. It's not the same ask thought sensing and Mindspeech. Thought sensing allows you to hear the thoughts of others and combined with thought projecting forms Mindspeech, which is exactly as it sounds- speaking mind to mind with something and if they also have Mindspeech they can speak back, but they don't need it to hear. Now, thought projecting by itself in general allows you to put your thoughts into the minds of others, allowing them to 'hear' you speak to them, in other words. Sometimes it manifests itself by first projecting dreams, but that's usually clamped down on quick because no one wants to experience someone else's dreams. Mine however… it's a bit different. Instead of forming words in others' minds or creating dreams I can create illusions. Not the sort that Mages did back in Vanyel's times, because these ones are only in one's Mind and can only be seen by those who are being projected at. It's hard to explain… Watch."
Faolan suddenly saw a bear standing in front of them, huge and brown and looking almost unreal in its cuteness. It stood up and sniffed the air for a moment before dropping to its feet and disappearing. And then, a creature appeared that was not one of reality, and only one of stories. A gryphon. Huge and golden with brilliant red eyes it spread giant wings and clacked a huge beak before bursting into a shower of red and gold sparks and the Companion's Field was totally normal once more.
"Neither Raul nor Noland saw that, nor did anyone else in the Field," Alaska explained, a smile hovering about his dreamy face as he turned back to face Faolan, "It was only in our minds. My imagination becomes reality if you believe in it. Illusions a normal person can walk up to, touch, and it will go away, or something like that. They are simply pictures set out for all to see. Mine are thoughts. Thus, if you walked over to that gryphon, you could touch it, because it is a thought, and thoughts do not restrain themselves simply to sight. Trained Heralds usually have sheilds up though, so they only see my Illusions if they want to."
"That is amazing," Faolan whispered, staring at the untouched spot of grass where moments before she'd seen the mystical form of a Gryphon and then she turned her gaze back upon Christopher Alaska, "When did you first learn about your Gift?"
"A little after I was Chosen. A few weeks into classes here at the Collegium the things I started imagining became solid- in my eyes I mean, and then others started seeing them too. I'd be thinking about my father and then I'd see him as if he were there, and others would see him too. That's when I started getting training for it, and now my thoughts only project when I want them to."
"Do they… um, get stronger?" Faolan inquired carefully, playing with some of Raul's mane as her body relaxed into the Companion's movement. They were moving through some trees now and Fao's ears were picking up the sound of a river.
"At first, yeah," Alaska nodded and ran a hand down his Companion's neck, "Just as your bond with your Companion grows, but eventually they reach full capacity. Some people, like Vanyel in the tales, had their Gifts forced out all at once, and in that case they don't grow much but naturally they slowly come up on you and grow a little faster once you start training. You ever heard any Vanyel tales?"
"Yes," Faolan nodded, because even though she hadn't in this life she had before and she figured it was something she could allot to this life safely, "But I haven't read any of the in depth histories."
"Uh," the other trainee paused and glanced over at her, "Can you read? I mean, you seem a bit young to have had much schooling…"
Damn, Faolan cursed in her mind, thinking to herself with amusement that that was something else she seemed a bit young to know and then she grinned at Alaska and replied, "I got a little before Raul appeared."
"I suspected so," he nodded, "You're a smart kid." He ran a hand through his hair and then added in a teasing voice, "No wonder you were Chosen so young, you're probably some sort of genius."
Not quite, Faolan thought with a sigh, feeling an odd twisting in her stomach as she wondered, Why was I Chosen so young? It wasn't just because I needed Raul to recover from being bitten because she was already nearby, already out to Choose when I met the werewolf. I suspect even she doesn't know exactly why she Chose me…
:Actually, it was very strange, Faolan: Raul put in suddenly, making Faolan jump, :I had the feeling that someone of Heraldic making was nearby, not in distance, but in time, and I needed to be there when they came. As you know, you weren't very close to Haven at all, but I made the distance in four days traveling by myself. And sure enough, although no one was nearby at first, on the night of the full moon you came along.:
:How did you know…?: Faolan inquired.
:And don't worry about the idea that if you hadn't been bitten you wouldn't have been Chosen, because I'm fairly sure you would have been Chosen normally around the usual age if nothing had happened and you'd become a normal Herald: Raul answered and Faolan nodded, satisfied and then she wondered, :Am I not to become a normal Herald now?:
:Ah Faolan… Somehow I doubt it. Look at yourself and you'll see why: Raul said with an amused tone of voice for the last bit. She tossed her head to rearrange her mane and peered over at Noland with a snort.
"How well do you ride?" Alaska asked then, turning once more to peer at Fao.
"Uh," Faolan answered, realizing she wasn't entirely sure. She knew how to ride a horse from her past lives, but most of that didn't apply to Companions. She could stay on at most gaits, especially since a Companion's stride was so smooth, but she didn't have the muscles or the balance to do it herself.
"I'll take that as a no," Alaska said with a chuckle and patted Noland, "So we'll skip the log jumping for today. But a good run around the Field would be nice, wouldn't it?"
"Sure," Faolan said with a shrug and Raul step picked up along with her head and she flicked her ears back at Faolan before saying, :Don't worry, I won't let you fall- gallop is just a fast canter…:
"Okay," Faolan said and tightened her hands around Raul's mane as they came out from the trees- the river noises were fading so she figured they must have moved away from it and then Noland was bursting past the two of them, his mane and tail billowing behind him like flags and Alaska hunched over and appearing small and burr like compared to the big stallion. And then Raul picked up her feet and her muscles bunched beneath Faolan and they too were flying across the ground, the wind was blowing back Faolan's hair and Raul's feet beat out a hard but graceful rhythm on the ground.
And Faolan closed her eyes, feeling for once, and thinking, :I'm free.:
A/N: Please review! You're done... just click review! Ask me questions, I will answer them, as noted above!