When lunch came, Gabby had to make a quick get away from Emily's healing class. Some of the students had been following her around the whole time, and she was now in desperate need of personal space. She hadn't figured that the campers would know so much about her and Lindsay.

Riding away on Amity, she went to find Lindsay. They had promised to meet at the tables set up behind the manor. Once she turned around the corner of the manor, she searched the crowd. Near the back corner of the yard, she saw Lindsay engaging in an excited conversation with a tall blonde girl decked out in armor. The two of them were standing next to the table, each stroking the beak of their griffon. In contrast to small, black Silence, the other girl's griffon was large, nearly twice Silence's size, with a brown body and white wings and head. Its pure white feathers were speckled with gold feathers. When Gabby and Amity trotted over, Lindsay stopped her conversation to introduce them.

"Oh, Elena," she said, "This is Gabby and Amity. Guys, this is Elena and her griffon Glimmer. They are in my advanced flying class."

Elena nodded very seriously at them as Gabby dismounted. "It's very nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you and Lindsay's time here."

Both Gabby and Lindsay looked at her nervously. "Yeah, apparently we have celebrity status here," Gabby joked.

"Maybe that status can get us into the lunch line quicker," Lindsay laughed.

Elena smirked, and they headed to the manor for food, leaving the griffons to save their table. As Gabby opened the back door, she nearly slammed into Keller, Anna's brother. He stumbled backwards to avoid her, and Gabby steadied him before he slipped.

"Thanks," Keller sighed in relief, "Sorry about that."

"No problem," Gabby said, releasing her grip on him now that he was stable.

After a moment of awkward silence, Keller asked, "Do you mind if I sit with you guys? My sister ditched me for her friends."

"Sure!" Gabby agreed, "We are sitting all the way in the back corner. Look for the table with the griffons."

"Uh," Lindsay hesitated, "You might want to go with him, Gabby. Silence doesn't know him and might try to bite him. He knows you now, so he should behave if you go."

"True," Elena agreed, "You said Silence doesn't like strangers. We'll get you food though, Gabby. You go with him."

"Is that alright?" Keller asked nervously, "I don't want to cause any trouble."

Gabby smiled to reassure him. "That's fine. Come on, we'll go sit."

They made their way back to the table, dodging other campers chasing each other around the yard. Silence went to snap at Keller, but Gabby stopped him and assured him that Keller was okay to sit with them. When they sat down, there was an uncomfortable silence at first.

To chase away the awkwardness, Gabby asked, "So how do you like it here so far?"

Keller offered her a small smile. "It's really different. I've definitely not been to a camp like this. I like it though, even if I'm just getting used to how things work here."

"That's good. I'm glad you like it!" she said enthusiastically, "I'm getting used to being back after so many years, but it's been really great so far. What classes do you have?"

"Well, my bond is a Pegasus, Celic," he explained, "so my first class is Beginning Flying with Lindsay. She's really strict and a bit impatient, but it's hard to control that many people when everyone is falling. I like the class though."

"Yeah," Gabby laughed, "She came grumbling to my healing class with a few campers. She definitely was losing her patience with people. What else?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I said before I was a Blazing Star, so my second class was with Kara. I'm the only guy there. It's a bit awkward. My next class is Beginning Combat. I don't know who teaches that. I'm kind of nervous for it though. I'm not very good at that sort of thing."

"Beginning Combat?" Gabby repeated, and after he nodded, she continued genuinely excited, "I teach that class next! You're probably in my class! Don't worry about it though. You'll pick it up easily."

"I probably will, if you're teaching it," he laughed.

A bit embarrassed, Gabby asked, "And what makes you think I'm a good teacher?"

"You seem really patient," he told her, smiling kindly.

"Yeah, sure," Lindsay snickered, walking up to the table with two trays of food, "She seems patient until you can't keep up with her."

Gabby snatched her food from Lindsay and scowled at her. "Be quiet! I knock you down once when you weren't ready, and you never let it go!"

Elena sat down with Lindsay and asked, "Hey, where did Amity go?"

"She wanders a bit sometimes," Gabby said, shrugging, "I can usually find her by the nearest source of water," turning to Keller, she asked, "You're bond is Celic, right? Where is he?"

But Keller wasn't paying attention. His eyes were fixed on a boy about their age leaning against a nearby tree, sketching furiously in his notebook. The boy's ginger hair draped over his face as the hunched over in concentration. Next to him, a pure white mistwolf with stormy grey eyes leaned over his shoulder, critiquing the boy's work.

Everyone's eyes followed Keller as he got up and kneeled next to the boy. "Hey, why don't you come sit with us instead of sitting by yourself? Unless, you prefer to sit alone?"

At first, the boy didn't even look up from his work. The mistwolf nudged him, and when he looked up, he blinked in confusion and asked, "I'm sorry. Were you talking to me?"

"Yeah," Keller said and smiled invitingly, "Do you want to sit with us?"

The boy beamed. "Sure! 'Cmon, Finn," he said to the mistwolf.

The mistwolf, Finn, nodded patiently and walked over with him. When they sat down at the edge of the table, Lindsay had to brush Silence away. The boy fidgeted in the silence and pulled out a Carnelian worry stone, rubbing it energetically.

"So," Keller said, "We should do introductions. I'm Keller and this is Gabby, Elena, and Lindsay," he explained, pointing to them one by one.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Mitch," the boy said, smiling, "And this is Finn, my bonded."

"Nice to meet you," Gabby said, "That's a really cool worry stone."

Mitch lifted it to reflect in the light. "Yeah, but I don't rub it when I'm worried. I usually rub it to release energy when I'm not focusing on a task."

"Release energy?" Lindsay echoed, "You seem pretty mellow to me."

Finn scoffed, So long as he has something to do. After too long without something to focus on, he becomes unmanageable.

"Well, that's why I draw," Mitch defended himself, glaring at Finn with his emerald eyes.

"What sort of thing do you draw?" Elena asked.

Mitch shrugged. "Whatever I'm thinking about."

Thunder ran up to them from out of the woods then, saying, "Hey, Lindsay! I'm going to join that wolf run they have after lunch. You won't need me, will you?"

"Nope, just a combat class," Lindsay assured him, "But are you going to run with me later?"

Sure! Thunder agreed happily, Can't run too many times a day!

Wolf run? Finn said, That's what we're doing after this. Maybe we'll see each other.

Thunder eyed her with interest. Cool, I'm Thunder. You are?

Finn and this is Mitch, my bonded.

Well, see you then! I'm going to go find Caramel! I'll introduce you guys later, Thunder blurted as he ran off into the woods.

"I think she's with Amity by the clearing!" Gabby called after him.

Lindsay smiled at Finn. "He was certainly excited to meet you."

Really? I thought I scared him or something, Finn said.

Mitch snickered and nudged Finn. "He likes you!"

At Finn's growl, everyone burst out laughing. Gabby took a look around the table at their laughing faces, knowing that they would only make more friends here. She couldn't shake the feeling of being home.

By the end of lunch, Lindsay was feeling much better. Ending her flight class with a victory, talking to Elena about the joy of flying, and sitting around with friends without anyone to set her off, she was much more stable than in the morning. Her last class was all the way back at Owl Creek again, so she rode Silence all the way to the Portal Field, left him there to relax and hang out, and ran the rest of the way.

Only a few students had beaten her there, though they still had a few minutes left to wait. Elena had left lunch a bit early so she could ride in clear skies with Glimmer before class and now lazed in the grass waiting. Lindsay sat next to her, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive. Elena took it upon herself to warn her of troublemakers. She explained that some kids were kiss-ups, which wasn't a big deal unless it irritated the other kids and started a fight, some kids were rule breakers, which was obviously a nuisance, and others were just plain annoying. Usually, these kids were known to stick out right at introductions, she mentioned. However, Lindsay's luck went downhill even before introductions; a familiar face sat down next to them in the grass.

"Hey, you're actually happy and enjoying a conversation," Alex said in awe, "You're emotions don't look like they want to eat someone."

Lindsay slowly turned her head to look at him. The fire in her glare was menacing as she growled, "What sick joke is it that I have you in two of my classes?"

"Oh, never mind, they want to eat me again," Alex laughed nervously, inching away from her, "I don't think it's a sick joke though. Maybe it's for the better!"

Elena pitched in, "This is a combat class, Alex. Maybe it is for the better."

Alex cringed. "The way you said that kind of freaks me out. Luckily, you'll have other people to worry about in this class. I heard you met them this morning."

Lindsay ignored him and called the class to attention. As they went around for introductions, she followed Elena's advice and watched for signs of troublemakers. Most of the kids were very laidback, nothing to worry about. Some were very serious, like Elena. Others were exactly what she had worried about.

"Hello, everyone! I know most of you from last year, but I'm Jenna!" One girl introduced herself enthusiastically and turned to Lindsay, "I can't wait to learn from one of Zach's first apprentices! I heard you're really good!"

Lindsay stared blankly at her for a moment as most of the other kids rolled their eyes. Then, she realized that Jenna was the irritating girl from breakfast, the one that sucked up to Gabby. She was the one that insisted on learning balancing. Completely unimpressed with the same trick, Lindsay continued her blank stare at Jenna, waiting for to realize she wasn't buying into her act.

Jenna shifted uncomfortably under her stare. "Are you as good as they say? If you trained with Zach, I bet you are."

"And Zach put up with you?" Lindsay asked, unmoved.

Jenna blushed as a bunch of the kids snickered, including Alex.

Lindsay sighed. "I really don't appreciate people sucking up. I really hate people who suck up and lie. Who here can honestly say they've heard positive rumors about me? Who hasn't heard I'm a psycho or just plain scary?"

No one raised their hand. Most of them looked away awkwardly.

"That's what I thought. Who's next?"

Introductions went smoothly, though a bit uncomfortably, after that. Not until they got near the last kid, did things go downhill again.

"Hey, I'm Gavin," the kid next to Alex said, "Nice to see you all again."

Lindsay had to do a double take before blurting, "You! You're the idiot with the bird! Mr. 'Just observing' who ruined my breakfast!"

He and Alex looked at each other and burst out laughing. Once they had recovered their breath, Gavin gasped, "That was a better reaction than we had hoped for!"

Clenching her fists and boiling with rage, Lindsay spit, "Is this some sort of game to you?"

"Pretty much!" Gavin laughed, "Don't freak out on me again though! Alex here asked me to make some observations, so I did."

Alex smacked him upside the head. "You weren't supposed to tell her that, idiot!"

Taking a deep breath and attempting to calm down, Lindsay growled, "That was your doing?"

"Possibly," Alex said, shrugging.

Ignoring him, Lindsay let the class finish introductions. She picked a few kids to run over to the portal field to pick up supplies with her and left Elena in charge. When they got back, they laid the weapons and armor out in the grass.

"Most of you have your own armor and such with you," she explained, "But for those of you, who are missing something, feel free to pick from this pile. You know the rules, I assume. None of this should be out unless in this class or practicing under supervision. The infirmary isn't a fun time."

"It's odd being lectured from someone our age," Alex pointed out.

"Even odder is waking up in a white room with a healer standing over you."

"How would you know?" Alex countered pointedly.

Lindsay glared at him. "I told you to stay out of my business."

Alex gave her an innocent smile. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You're a headache."

Everyone geared up. The students were required to wear helmets, though Lindsay hated wearing one. Luckily, being the teacher, she didn't have to wear one. She drew her two short swords, spinning around with them to readjust; it had been so long. The students followed her lead, testing out their long-neglected weapons.

Counting off, Lindsay paired everyone up and instructed them to practice dodging. Partner One was to try to hit Partner Two using whatever trick possible, and Partner Two was to dodge using whatever trick they had without attacking back. It was a simple drill that she and Gabby had often done. Most kids got the idea. They could use any trick they wanted, meaning any magic they possessed.

Everything was going fine until Lindsay saw that Jenna had paired up with Alex. Jenna was coming at Alex with everything she had, though he was easily avoiding her attacks. As Lindsay supervised, she noticed Jenna had a certain flame in her eye. She was taking this more seriously than a simple drill required. Alex was clearly uneasy with her ferocity. The last straw was Jenna's jab at Alex's neck. Her blade missed his throat by a neck.

Immediately, Lindsay stepped between them and kicked Jenna back, causing her to fall on her back. She stood over her with one sword at the girl's neck. Everyone stopped their drill in astonishment.

"Tell me what you did wrong," Lindsay demanded.

Jenna stared up at her with wide eyes. "I don't know."

"Sure you do," Lindsay insisted, "Think a little harder. Were you treating this like a drill? Did you see Alex as a comrade or an enemy?"

Jenna just gawked at her.

Lindsay sighed. "I didn't need Alex's power to see that you were directing your anger into your fight. That's fine, if you were sparing with a dummy. Unfortunately, you were directing that anger at a person, your comrade. No matter how you get along, these people are your comrades. Treat them like it. When you're in this class or practicing with a friend, leave your anger out of the fight."

Finally, I got off my lazy butt and wrote some Story of Two! Review!