by Spoor, Garry
As Kile was returning from the quartermaster with her new uniforms, she noticed Kaza sitting on her window sill tapping on her shutters trying to get her attention. Since she wasn’t in her room, his enthusiastic tapping was getting him nowhere. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to acknowledge the bird or not. She hadn’t seen Morgan or Kaza since that day with the rabbit, and although she never blamed Kaza for what happened, she wasn’t too sure about Morgan.
“Looks like you’ve got a visitor.” Alex laughed as he pointed at the crow.
“Probably after some bugs or something.” Carter remarked.
She wasn’t sure if she liked the implication that she had bugs on her window sill, but it was better than trying to explain that the crow came to talk to her.
“So, who’s up for some sparing this afternoon?” Carter asked. “I borrowed some blanks from my father’s shop.”
“Blanks?” Kile inquired.
“Yeah, not quite swords, not quite large hunks of metal.” Carter laughed. “You have to pour a blank before you can make a sword, at least for the cheaper ones that is.”
“So what good are they to us?” Daniel asked.
“Oh no, my father worked them up a bit, even put hilts on them, the quality of the metal sucks but they're good enough for banging around, they may not have the precise balance of a good sword, but they have the weight, and that’s what’s important.”
“Not me, at least not right now.” Kile replied.
“Come on Kile girl, you need all the help you can get.” Alex teased.
“You could use a little more practice with the sword before we return to the real thing.” Carter agreed.
“Maybe later this afternoon, right now I think I have an appointment with Morgan.”
“Since when?” Daniel asked.
“Since right about now.” She replied as Kaza, who was fed up with knocking his head against the shutters had just turned around and noticed her walking toward the dorms.
“How do you know?” Alex asked.
“I little bird is about to tell me.” She replied, unable to avoid the pun. “I’ll meet up with you guys later.”
“If you don’t mind the company, I wouldn’t mind seeing Morgan again, I did have something I wanted to ask him.” Daniel said.
“Not me.” Alex replied. “That dude scares me, he’s always yelling at me every time I try to make an illusion. It’s hard to concentrate.”
“Good, then I’ll just beat up on Al for a while until you guys get through with your mystic meeting.” Carter said as he grabbed Alex by the back of the neck and pushed him forward.
Kile took her time changing into her new uniform before opening up the shutters to let a rather irate crow into her cell. Kaza hopped onto the bed then flew up to the dresser.
-What took you so long girl?-
He asked as he ruffled his feathers.
“I had to change.” She replied calmly as she folded up her old uniforms.
She would have to bring them to the quartermaster later today, what he did with them was something she didn’t want to know about, she didn’t want to even thing about the number of hunters who had worn the uniform she was wearing right now. The pants were a bit loose and the tunic was a bit snug. It was a mix matched set since they didn’t have much in her size in stock. Alex probably got the worst of it, with his stature, nothing they had really fit. The Quartermaster did say they had to order some new uniforms, but the way this place was run, they would arrive some time within the next decade, long after they graduated.
-Morgan wants to see you.-
“I’m not sure if I want to see him.” She replied as she went into the lavatory to brush her hair.
-You’re not still blaming him for… you know.-
“I don’t know Kaza. I still don’t think he really understands.” She replied.
- Probably not, but then most vir wouldn’t. You have to realize that you see things from a completely different view than everyone else. You have to understand that they don’t see the world as you see it now. Did you see the world as you see it now?-
A timely knock on the door prevented her from having to ponder that as she tied back her hair and proceeded to answer the door. She knew who it was before she even opened it.
“I’ll be right with you.” She told Daniel as he stepped into the room.
He looked rather fetching in his new uniform, but then his uniform fit, where as she looked as if she fell out of the laundry cart.
“Tell him I’ll be there.” She told the crow.
-Considering he doesn’t understand a word I say, that will be very difficult to do.-
“Then sit on his head until he gets the message. What’s he want me to do anyway? Has he found something else to torture me with?”
-Actually he doesn’t want you to do anything; he wants you to meet someone.-
Kaza replied as he hopped onto the window sill and took to the air.
“You were actually talking to that Crow… weren’t you?” Dandle asked her.
“It was more like being talked at, but yeah, that was Kaza.” Kile replied as she grabbed her brother’s old floppy wide brimmed hat from the back of the chair and stuck it on her head; it completed the mixed match ensemble. She then grabbed the belt with the tattered old pouch from the end of her bed.
“You coming Vesper?” She asked, not that she really had to. The Yarrow had already jumped into the pouch before she even had a chance to fasten it around her waist. Daniel watched it all with quiet amusement.
“I have to say, for someone who swore to me a year ago that they had no mystic arts, you definitely have something.”
She looked down at Vesper, who was staring up at her from under the flap of the pouch.
“I have interesting friends.” She replied.
“That’s an understatement.” Daniel laughed as he stepped out into the hall.
She closed the door and the two of them left the dorms to cross the compound together. In three days time classes would begin again, the only difference was that this time they wouldn’t be the first years. They would also be able to choose what chores they wanted to do, and the class structure wasn’t nearly as strict, but the work load was harder, and she was sure that Master Boraro was already looking for new and inventive ways to inflict pain.
“So, what’s it like?” Daniel asked.
She looked at him for a moment, unsure of what he was asking.
“You know, what you do.” Daniel said looking around the compound to make sure that no one could hear them.
“What do I do?” She asked.
“You know.” He said, then bent down closer to her and whispered. “Talking with animals.”
“Oh… I don’t know.”
“Come on. Last year you asked me what it was like to use my mystic arts, is it anything like that.”
“Not really.” She replied, although she couldn’t really remember what he had told her last year. “It’s kind of just like… talking to you.”
“You mean animals can communicate with… words?”
“Some can, although most of it is a combination of feelings and visions. Sometimes it’s not so much of what they say as how they say it, or how if feels when they say it. It’s kind of difficult to explain.”
“It’s just really weird.” Daniel said, and then quickly backtracked. “I don’t mean weird as in you’re weird, I mean it’s just really…”
“Weird, yeah I know.”
“No I mean weird as in how it works, how the animals take to you and… well… really how you take to the animals. It’s like… when we brought Charles into the stables, and you came out with Oblum’s two mastiffs on either side of you. When I saw those two dogs the first day we were here, standing with Oblum, they made me nervous. They were intimidating, but when I saw them standing with you, for a moment I was terrified, not so much of the dogs… but of you.”
“Me?”
“Well... Yeah, it's hard to explain but when yo
u came out with those two dogs, it was like there were three dogs there… wait, that didn’t really come out right.”
“No it didn’t. I’ll give you a little time to think about that.” She replied. The idea of being referred to as a dog was not helping her ego much, and dressed the way she was, she was having one of those low self-esteem days.
“What I meant to say is that you took on dog like qualities.”
“How about this, we quit while we’re ahead.” She told him as she reached Morgan’s door. She knocked three times, then walked in. She had learned long ago that if you wait for Morgan to answer you’d be standing on his stoop for a long time.
The room was rather comfortably cool and dimly lit, as it had been all through the summer. She could hear Morgan speaking to someone or more like at someone, and he didn’t sound like he was in a very good mood. Why she would want to see him when he was like this was beyond her. There was the sound of fluttering and then someone laughing. Kile looked at Daniel who just shrugged. She walked around the bookshelf and looked into the main room, there, sitting on the overstuffed wing backed chair, was a woman she had never seen before. It was difficult to tell whether she was old or young, there appeared to be no age to her at all, something that was common with mystics. She was dressed in the same yellow robes as Morgan, but she had flowing sliver white hair and bright pale blue eyes. Her face was very delicate except for a rather angular nose, although it didn’t distract from her beauty. She was sipping a cup of rosemary tea, or was trying to in-between fits of soft laughter. Morgan on the other hand was not as amused. Each time he tried to talk, Kaza would land on his head. He would angrily wave the bird off and it would retreat to the safety of the higher shelves out of reach of the mystics flailing arms, only to fly back down and sit on his head again when the mystic calmed down. He turned when he heard Kile enter the room.
“I suppose you put him up to this.” He said with the crow still perched upon his bald head.
“I think he got the message Kaza.” Kile replied trying not to laugh. The crow took off from Morgan’s head and came to land upon Kile’s shoulder.
“Thank you.” Morgan replied as he straightened out his yellow robes and brushed back what little hair he had.
“You must be Kile.” The woman said with a gentle smile. As the woman turned in her chair, Kile noticed the small white bird with the yellow and blue crest that sat upon her shoulder. Did all mystics own birds she wondered?
“Yes ma’am.” Kile said as she looked from the woman to the bird.
“Kile, this is Vanessa, one of my colleagues at the tower and the scholar for the new first years, Vanessa, this is the young cadets I was telling you about.”
“The one that supposedly speaks with animals.” Vanessa finished for him.
First off, Kile didn’t like the fact that Morgan was telling anyone what she was able to do, she was under the impression that the Hunter’s edge was a secret known only by the hunter and the scholar that taught her, and secondly she didn’t really appreciated the condescending tone in the woman’s voice. The one that supposedly speaks with animals, it was a not so subtle way of accusing her of lying.
-It is true though, isn’t it?-
Kile looked at the small white bird that was sitting upon the woman’s shoulder, and the bird was looking at her. It was a soft spoken almost melodic voice, much more gentle than Kaza’s and it carried with it a feeling of calm. She should have known the bird was able to speak more fluently than most of the wilder breeds since she, like Kaza, hung around mystics for so long.
“It’s true.” Kile replied.
“It's not that I’m doubting your claim or anything child, it’s just that I have been searching for a means of communicating with animals for the last twenty years, and so far, those that claimed they could… couldn’t.” Vanessa said, mostly directing her explanation toward Morgan.
-But you can, I can tell. I’ve tried to speak with vir before, but none has ever understood me, you are different.-
“What do you mean, different? How?”
-Different than most vir. I have always understood that communication with the natural world was possible, but only by the Alva, I have never heard of a vir being able to speak with us, but you possess a different light than most.-
“A different light?”
-All living things give off light, to those that can see it. The vir’s light tends to be dark; they are closed off from the natural world. Whether this is a choice of their own or not, I do not know, but your light is different, yours is brighter.-
Kile suddenly realized that everyone else in the room had stopped talking and instead were watching and listening to her, it was not something she was very comfortable with. She never liked being the center of attention. She caught the look on Vanessa’s face and wasn’t sure if it was skepticism or intrigue.
“So, are you communicating with my bird right now?” Vanessa asked. “I mean, most of the people I’ve tested that claimed they could communicate with the natural world had to work themselves into a trance first. You appear to be carrying on a simple conversation.”
“I assure you Vanessa, she is different.” Morgan replied.
“So you claim, but there is still the matter of proof.”
-Don’t mind her, she’s been studying the natural world for many years now, and has yet to find someone like you. She has grown a little cynical.-
The small white bird told Kile.
-Just tell her Vinaldie-
“I have documented her achievements, what more proof are you looking for?” Morgan asked.
“No offense Morgan, but your studies have never been in the natural world. You wouldn’t understand. Tricks can be played on even the brightest of minds.” Vanessa replied. “But there are ways to disprove such claims.”
“Vinaldie?”
Vanessa suddenly turned and looked at Kile. “What did you just say?”
“Vinaldie. It’s something you’ve told Seki, that she’s been trying to tell others. The idea, I guess, being that if someone could truly speak with your bird, they would know the word.”
“How did you know that?” Vanessa asked.
“Seki told me. She also said that you’ve tested over two dozen people and she has not been able to communicate with any of them on any level, not so much as a stray thought.”
To punctuate this, Seki took off from Vanessa’s shoulder, circled the room twice before landed on Kile’s shoulders, the one not occupied by Kaza, who seemed a bit put out to be sharing a vir with another bird. Kile was starting to feel like a tree, with a bird on each shoulder and a yarrow in her pocket.
“Then it is true.” Vanessa said turning completely around in her chair so that she now faced Kile. “You can really speak with Seki.”
“Not only that.” Morgan replied with a burst of pride. “She can even perform the Maligar.”
“No, no I can’t.” Kile said, shaking her head, she would never do that again.
“Can you or can’t you?” Vanessa asked her.
“Sorry… I can’t.”
“We had a bit of a problem during one of the experiments I’m afraid.” Morgan explained. “She was a little upset. I was hoping once she got over it, she would…”
“No.” Kile replied. “I won’t.”
“Fair enough.” Morgan said, throwing up his hands in defeat, but Kile knew the debate was far from over. He would try to persuade her again.
Vanessa looked between the two of them. “What exactly happened?” She asked.
“I’d rather not talk about it.” Kile replied.
Morgan was about to say something more but one look from Vanessa and he quickly changed his mind. He looked from Vanessa to Kile and finally noticed Daniel standing quietly in the doorway.
“Cadet Leary.” He called out “What brings you here?”
“Sorry sir, I hope I’m not interrupting, I was hoping I could talk to you about… something.” Daniel replied.
Kile
had forgotten all about Daniel and felt bad ignoring him, but she hadn’t expected to be dragged into this conversation.
“No need to apologize.” Morgan said a he crossed the room and gently directed Daniel out. “We can discuss it outside.”
“Tact was never one of his strong points.” Vanessa smiled. “Please Kile, sit.”
Kile took the overstuffed wing backed chair that had been recently vacated by Morgan. She made sure to shift the pouch that she wore, so as not to sit on Vesper. Kaza was obviously not comfortable with sitting and quickly flew up to his perch on the high shelf. She was sure he only chose that location so that he could look down on everyone else.
“I won’t ask you about the Maligar, I can guess what might have happened, but I would like to know more about what you can do.” Vanessa said as she poured out a second cup of rosemary tea and handed it to Kile who gracefully accepted it.
“I’m not sure what I can tell you.” Kile replied.
“Then let me tell you something about me first.” Vanessa said as she leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know what, if anything, Morgan has told you, but I’ve spent my life studying the natural world, both the flora and the fauna, I’m one of the few mystics who are influenced by the sphere of wood.”
“He told me that no mystics were influenced by the sphere or wood.”
“Well, there is some truth to that. You see my dominate spheres are that of earth and wind, but I have been touched by the sphere of wood and that connection to the natural world has fueled my curiosity and my studies. About twenty years ago, I stumbled upon a manuscript written by one of the alva, and with the help of Morgan, I was able to translate it. Within those pages there was an account of a young alverian girl who could communicate with animals. I spent the next ten years trying to prove it was possible to connect with the natural world on that level, and then the next ten years I spent disproving it.”