A/N: You know... on my computer, I have all the chapters saved as Werewolf1, Werewolf2... etc. And my upload document tags are always w10, w9, etc... Yet the story's real title is Herald In Black. Does anyone else do this? Give their stories sub-titles that only they use? Just a thought... And now, thanks to...
SuzSeb- I'm glad you enjoy it!
Kathleen G. McCrory- Thanks! Yeah, I drop the description some in the Collegia because I'm not entirely sure about the layout and what it looks like and it just takes too long to go look it up (although I do use my maps in the Valdemar Companion). It'll go up once she's outta there- but I'm not telling anything. La la la...
Stormy Phoenix- Fun is right! Mwaha.
Glaciours- That is definitely the most interesting review I've recieved in a while. My response: Um...?
mugglepirate- Yeah, sometimes I start forgetting about flashbacks so I put some in and then I don't put some in... it gets kinda spastic. There is just so much I need to put in and keep hold of! huggles outlines
Mad-4-Manga- Hey, that was a great review! (I had a dream where the pregnant girl from Lost had her baby. I'm watching the first season on DVD. My bf owns it so if anyone reading this knows what I'm talking about don't tell me anything that happens beyond Disc 5 of Season 1.)

Faolan walked through a bustling hallway towards the spare classroom that she met privately with a tutor each day. Those around her seemed to not notice her, but Faolan could feel the eyes as she slipped through tall bodies that just seemed too big. I don't feel like I'm the small one… Faolan mused, wishing she had something to fidget with as she pushed open the door to her classroom. For the past week she'd been meeting with a member of the clergy, an old priest that had long taught small children, however, he'd hinted she'd be taught by Heralds soon.

Sure enough, the person sitting in the room, on the window ledge, was wearing the Whites of a Herald. Long brown hair spilled over her back in a ponytail and an unseen face gazed out of the window over the courtyard that this particular window looked down upon. They were a single level up, and Faolan was sure the Herald could still see the trainees running around, trying to get to their classes on time.

"Hello?" she ventured cautiously, stepping in, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Hello Faolan," a familiar husky voice said and the Herald turned around, in the same movement straightening up and moving a lanky figure more towards the middle of the room.

"Rathmir!" Faolan exclaimed with delight, feeling excited as her blue eyes looked up at the other Herald. She wasn't to meet someone new!

"Yes," the older Herald nodded, her almost-teal eyes shadowed in the room, "I told you I was a teacher, didn't I?"

"You did," Faolan agreed, "What do you normally teach?"

"I teach Gifts," Rathmir said, but then at Faolan's expression she smiled gently and added, "But I'm to teach you whatever comes to my mind. The Dean gave me an overview of what you'd need to know before entering the normal classes but basically I have free rein to impress my will upon you. They chose me because I'm the only teacher here who has children- none of the others knew quite how to 'deal' with you, so they claimed. Of course, I tried to explain you don't need 'dealing' with, but whatever. I'll enjoy having you as my pupil. Any questions?"

"Will you be teaching me Gifts?" Faolan asked, feeling a sort of nervous excitement as she asked, and then, "Can I meet your kids?"

She wasn't sure why she asked, but when Rathmir had mention children she had suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to see someone who acted their own age. She knew she wasn't truly four and especially at times like this she felt an acute desire not to have those memories and simply… be herself. Be four. Which, of course, was silly, because even that desire to be four wasn't part of a four year old.

"Yes to both those," Rathmir said with a laugh and then grabbed a chair and sat down on it, motioning to Faolan that she could do the same, "But neither today. First of all… your old teacher explains to me you are quite advanced in the areas of basic reading and math. I'd like to see this myself. There are several books on the shelf over there, behind me. Pick whichever you like, and copy the first few lines onto the board. You may stand on a chair if you wish."

Rathmir spoke quickly and easily, almost without breaks, as if she had planned everything out, and the thing Faolan found strangest was that she held no assumptions and treated Faolan the way she'd treat anyone else. Faolan decided she liked her, and she moved over to the bookshelf the woman spoke of, reading the titles until one caught her eye, Horses Through the Shin'a'in, and she pulled it out.

"You like horses?" Rathmir asked as Faolan carried it over to the chalkboard and rest it in the tray for chalk, flipping it open to the first page of text.

"I guess so," Faolan said, the question taking her slightly off guard as she fetched a chair and pulled it to the chalkboard. She had ridden them an awful lot in her past lives, and in her most recent one she recalled finding a quiet joy in training her horses- especially the gelding she used in scouting. Suddenly, she wondered what happened to him. It had only been about five years since her death- he had to still be alive. But Fao had no way of finding him, nor anyone else she'd known, and, thinking about it more, she figured that was probably better.

"Can you ride?" Rathmir inquired as Faolan fished for a piece of chalk.

"Yeah," Faolan nodded, thinking of her long journey on Raul, but as she said it she realized no one had ever taught in this life, and she felt a leapt of fear inside her- what if someone caught that? Then she realized that no one was going to track down her parents and interrogate them about her life before being Chosen.

And Rathmir then fell silent because Fao had picked up a piece of chalk and climbed onto the chair and was copying the first sentence onto the board. Faolan felt grateful then- that the woman recognized that she couldn't answer questions and read and write at the same time. The chalk felt strange in her hand, and as she made a clumsy mark on the board with it, she realized that in all her recent lives, she had not often used chalk.

Ten minutes later Rathmir called for her to stop, and had her put away the book and wipe the words from the board. Faolan, who found herself quite interested in the book, was reluctant to be done with it, but she did as she was told and then turned to Rathmir for further instruction.

"You write well, for a student of your age," Rathmir acknowledged and Faolan winced inwardly, "But I suppose not every child is reluctant to learn. Now, get back up onto that chair and do these problems as best you can, and take your time…"

The hours sped by and Faolan would hardly have noticed if not for the hourly breaks they took, and then class time was over and Faolan found herself at the door to the classroom, her mind buzzing in a strangely nice way and Rathmir was standing beside her, hovering before the open door and the two of them watching the students wind through the hall.

"Rathmir," Faolan started, looking up but the Herald shook her head to silence her.

"How do you like having me as a teacher? Would you be interested in having me teach you until you are ready to enter classes with other trainees?"

"I would," Faolan said, leaping at the chance.

"All right then," Rathmir smiled and Faolan found herself smiling back, "It's settled. And Faolan?"

Faolan looked up once more- she'd been about to leave, "Yes?"

"If you ever need to talk to anyone who isn't a mystical know all horse shaped person, you can come to me, okay?"

"Okay," Faolan grinned up at the Herald and then left, making for the library, to which Christopher Alaska had introduced her to before she started taking classes and was still following him around. When he had done so, she wondered how much he suspected about her, because although he showed her where she could find books more suited to a younger child (and there weren't very many of them), he didn't restrain himself to just that, and told her where to find everything and how to find a certain book, almost as if he expected her to want to read. And Faolan had found she did. In her past lives reading was one of those things you did if you wanted to learn something, not something that was fun or particularly interesting, and she wasn't even that good at it. But being young, and unable to communicate with the rest of the world her mental age, she found herself turning to books for that company, for that fascination one normally got from good intellectual conversation.

Pushing open the solid doors of the place, the smell of old books assaulted her nose and she breathed deeply, moving quickly into the large room and to the sections that fascinated her most- history, and not books recounting this or that about Valdemar's history, but the primary sources. Here was the only place in all of Valdemar that she could find such wondrous accounts…

"Hey," a feminine voice said and Faolan looked up, pausing before entering an aisle of books. A trainee was sitting at a desk, a few books open. She had dirty blond hair and it was neatly tied back in a ponytail; her eyes were soft, and friendly.

"Hi," Faolan said uncomfortably, glancing back at the books that were calling to her.

"So you're Faolan, huh?"

"Yeah…" Faolan glanced around again- where was this leading? She was bored already.

"Want to study with me? I mean, I know all the stuff I'm doing wouldn't interest you, but if you're bored or something I'll hang out with you. Play games, you know, whatever…" the trainee's voice had a condescending tone to it- the kind that Faolan hadn't encountered much of in the people she often associated with, namely Rathmir and Alaska.

"Uh," Faolan said and suddenly a few gray blurs zipped into the room and flopped down in other chairs around the table.

"Aine… did you hear what happened today?" one voice exclaimed, emerging from a wild haired and bright eyed girl.

"No, but uh"-

"It was hilarious!" another exclaimed, this one with hair of brown. Faolan had the impression she was presented before a bunch of squirrels- fierce ones, but squirrels nevertheless.

"Oh hey- it's Faolan," the third and last said, turning dark eyes onto Faolan. She had a slight accent of some sort, and her hair and skin were darker than usual.

Faolan smiled sort of nervously as three new sets of eyes focused on her and she felt like just walking away. These were the sorts of people that she really didn't want to have to deal with. Why does everyone have to know my name? She wondered, thinking that that was an aspect she hadn't quite expected when she thought of coming to the Collegium.

"Hi," she finally said, thinking sadly that those history books would have to wait to be read by her… She'd never get to them in privacy now.

"You're cute," the dark girl said, "I'm Maura."

"Do they really let you run around on your own all the time?" bright eyes inquired and then added with a smile, "That's a big responsibility- I bet you're proud, huh?"

Faolan was too disgusted to even answer and she gave them all a blank stare, as if to say, 'I don't know who you are, what you're doing, nor do I care.'

"Ever played chess?" the final girl asked, the one with brown hair and suddenly Faolan's interest was piqued, "I'm Dunne."

Chess, she thought, an involuntary passion rising in her from deep within her memories. Now there was something she could enjoy! And before she realized it she was nodding.

"Interested in playing a game?" she asked- in a calm tone, unlike the way she'd previously screamed "hilarious!"

Faolan glanced back at the books and then sighed. It would be better than be trapped as these girl's play doll. "Sure," she said and the girl motioned to a chess table nearby, that Faolan had not noticed. Intrigued, she moved over and sat down at black, while the other girl took white.

"So what happened?" Aine asked, turning to the remaining two girls before her.

"Tobie almost burned down the shed they practice in!" the bright eyed girl exclaimed, "I was there- we have our Gift class together and you wouldn't believe it! I was fine, but that's because I got out really quickly, what with my Fetching and all- you know its weird."

This is an age of weird things, Faolan thought to herself, glancing sideways, half interested in the conversation. She recalled Tobie quite well- he was the calmer, nicer one of Alaska's friends. So he could burn things? Was that a Gift? And what was Fetching?

"How did he burn it down?" Faolan asked of Dunne.

"Oh!" Dunne seemed to suddenly realize that Faolan was not aware of all these Heraldic things, "He's a Firestarter!"

"As in… he makes fires?" Faolan inquired, her eyes widening. She knew she could hear thoughts and sometimes feelings, but… fire starting? As a Gift?

"Yup," Dunne's grin was wicked, "I have Farsight. It means I can see things that are far away."

"Cool," Faolan said, realizing she knew so little about Heralds. Seeing things that were far away. If she could do that- she could have seen the werewolf coming and escaped from it. Although, if what Raul said was true, her Gifts wouldn't have surfaced then so… nothing could have changed it.

"Do you have Gifts?" Dunne asked and suddenly Fao found four sets of eyes on her again. Why did they do that?

"I think so," Faolan said slowly. She hadn't spoken about Gifts to Rathmir, or gotten any training except what Raul had taught her, and so she wasn't sure she should go blabbing on about what she could do before talking about it with anyone else.

"Can you speak to your Companion?" Maura asked and Faolan moved her blue eyes upon the darker girl and nodded.

"Mindspeech then," Aine announced, leaning back and then added, "Continue your game and let's continue our discussion of Tobie."

Something in the way Aine said 'Tobie' rang a bell in Fao's mind and she frowned, feeling sort of hot and cold all of a sudden. They sounded like wolverines now, plotting over a prey, or something… It was disturbing, and she realized she had never understood that sort of talk from an outsiders point of view, because the only time she'd been interested in it was when, well, she was interested in it. And she wasn't now, not yet anyway.

Odd, Faolan thought, I'll be able to see puberty approaching and know what it is... And now that I don't really think about things like that, it's kind of scary.

"Right- so you know all the pieces?" Dunne asked and Faolan looked up, shaken from her thoughts as Dunne added, "You sure are quiet."

"I haven't felt the need to say anything," Faolan explained, then paused, wondering if she was being a freaky intelligent mature child again. So, fidgeting in her seat, she reached up and plucked the black king from the board- Dunne had been pulling pieces from a drawer under the table, and she ran her fingers over the roughly hewn stone.

"That makes sense," Dunne said with a smile, pushing pieces into places.

"And I know the pieces," Fao added herself, putting the King down, "That's a King."

"Right," Dunne grinned encouragingly, "How much do you play?"

"Not much," Faolan shook her head, figuring a four year old probably wouldn't normally enjoy chess, "It gets boring a lot."

"Yeah… I can see where you're coming from. It's a long, thoughtful game," Dunne nodded, "I'll make quick moves for you, okay?"

"Okay," Faolan agreed and sat up on her knees to get a better view of the board- sometimes being short had disadvantages.

And then the game began. It was a long game, despite Dunne being good, because Faolan kept forgetting that she was four and made a few intelligent moves. Luckily Dunne figured she was just doing that by luck and figuring out the game. By the time it was over Dunne had won, (Faolan would have gotten unneeded attention if she had won herself), and the other three trainees were falling asleep over their books, even though it wasn't that late.

"Let's go for a walk," Aine sighed, slamming shut a book and making Fao jump. She had started daydreaming while Dunne put back the pieces.

"Okay," Maura agreed.

"Wanna come?" Bright Eyes asked Faolan and she shrugged, not really caring.

"All right, then let's go!" Aine shouted, leaping to her feet. A few people scattered around nearby looked over and silence seemed to penetrate the area as Aine turned bright red. Faolan grinned and then shoved her fist into her mouth to stop from giggling.

"Taste good?" a voice breathed down her back and Faolan jumped, nearly falling off her chair as she whirled around to see Dunne standing behind her, her long hair falling around her face and shoulders in a way Faolan had never managed in any life. Certainly not in this one- her hair never got long enough.

"Not really," Faolan admitted, running a hand through her tangly hair and deciding she should really brush it more often.

The other girls stood up and Dunne offered a hand as Faolan slid off of her chair and after a moment's hesitation, she took it. The older trainee's hand was large and warm and Faolan felt a strange sort of happiness wind through her body and she grinned up at Dunne.

Aine, Bright Eyes, and Maura wandered ahead, and Faolan found herself walking only with Dunne. They quickly emerged outside, where the day was already turning into night, and a warm summer breeze wound through the cooling air. Faolan breathed in a deep breath, realizing she missed the closeness to the outdoors that she had when spending time with Raul in that Waystation.

"I want to be a circuit Herald," Faolan said out loud, although to herself, not realizing that Dunne would hear.

"Really?" she asked, looking down at her smaller companion.

"Uh," Faolan looked up, glancing at those they followed as they wound over cobblestones towards the Gardens, "Yeah."

"Personally…" Dunne said slowly, looking up at the purple sky that was beginning to dot itself with stars, "I'm not really sure what I want to do. I'll do whatever the Crown needs me for… you know?"

And then Dunne laughed, as if at herself, for asking a four year old such a philosophical question. Faolan sighed- she would have loved to answer it, but she had a feeling she wasn't acting very childish. Funny, she thought to herself, Most people don't want to act childish.

"We going to the gardens?" she decided to inquire instead and Dunne nodded.

"It's a hangout that we like," she said and Faolan on shrugged. What else could she do?

They got to the Gardens, where the four girls sat down and Faolan was dragged up onto Dunne's lap. She didn't really mind- she liked sitting on people's laps, and people seemed to enjoy having small kids sitting on their laps so it was a win-win situation. Aine and Bright Eyes talked about stars and Maura was silent- as was Dunne. And thus the evening slipped by…