Wednesday Morning

Tristan dried his hair roughly, whistling. He felt great. He'd woken early, the water was warm, and nothing could ruin his--

He glanced at the mirror and frowned. His reflection was blurring, and not from the steam. He leaned closer, squinting to get a better look.

"Tristan! Breakfast is ready!"

With one last look at the mirror, Tristan left the bathroom and got dressed.

__________

He ruffled his little sister's hair as he walked into the dining room. "Morning, Liz."

She smoothed the short, straight strands and glared at him. "Tristan!"

He just chuckled and sat at the table. Eliza was a cute little ten-year-old, with sky-blue eyes and fair skin that made her bright red hair look that much brighter. Some of her classmates had made fun of her once or twice, but in her case, the stereotypes about redheads were completely true. Now no one made fun of her hair or anything else, and everyone was better off for it.

Then Tristan blinked and looked closer. Was she...different? The aura was very slight, almost nonexistent, and he couldn't confirm whether or not she'd changed. There wasn't anything unusual about her, but there hadn't been anything unusual about Jared or Blair either.

"Tristan, what're you looking at?"

He shook it off. "Nothing. How'd you sleep?"

She shrugged. "Okay. You?"

Another frown. The faintest wisps of a dream lingered in the back of his mind, but no matter what he did, it refused to leave him alone or let him remember. "Okay, I guess."

"Good morning!" his mother said, walking out of the kitchen. Emily Young looked like Liz, with the same red hair and blue eyes, but while the daughter was stubborn and short-tempered, the mother was cheerful and accommodating. She put a plate on the table in front of her son. "Hurry and eat, or you'll both be late!"

"Yeah Mom."

"Sure Mom."

the Dream

Tristan lay in the darkness of his room, still trying to figure out what was happening. His mind had been churning all day, through homework and dinner and everything else. He knew that Destiny, Blair, and Jared were different. He also knew that Destiny had taken Blair somewhere, but that was all he knew. He didn't have enough pieces to finish the puzzle, and it frustrated him.

Finally he decided to just wait. If Blair wasn't in school tomorrow, he'd know something was wrong. If she was, he'd try to talk to her. He knew Destiny wouldn't talk to him, but maybe Blair would.

Satisfied, he rolled over and in moments had fallen asleep.

__________

He walked down the street of an unfamiliar city, warm sun beating down on his head. A quick scan of the street told him that the team was still around, blending into the crowd so well only he could see them. They'd spent all their lives training for such a hunt, and they did their training proud.

He glanced at the girl walking beside him. The culling process back at the Citadel may have left them with only the best warriors, but he didn't know those warriors. He only knew her.

She felt his eyes and turned to give him a reassuring smile. She'd had no problem trusting the others, but for all he knew she'd grown up with them. "Don't worry so much. Everything's going to be fine."

"I just don't want to hit my head again," he lied.

"The zorn-dust caused that paroxysm, it won't happen again. See anything?"

"Well, the guy trying to bilk Wolfe talks to birds, but that's it."

"I'll get his name. Keep looking, they're around here somewhere."

"I know they're around here somewhere," he muttered after she left. "Otherwise we wouldn't have been sent here." He looked around again, sighed, and kept walking.

Without any sort of warning a rock dropped into the pit of his stomach, and the world spun around him uncontrollably. He stumbled to a storefront and leaned against it, trying not to lose the lunch he never ate. The girl shook his shoulder and tried to talk to him, but he couldn't hear her over the screams resounding in his ears. He bit his tongue against a scream of his own as an echo of agony rippled through his body. Someone--an empath. An empath was being hurt and she was calling for help the only way she could.

He pushed himself off the wall and looked towards the cry. The source was a tall office building, no different from any of the others in the city, and one he'd already dismissed. But now he could see the darkness exuding from the windows, a thick sludge of pain and suffering three blocks away. He shivered, wondering how he could have missed it before. "That one."

The girl followed his gaze. "You're sure?"

"Yeah. It's that one."

She nodded. "Then it's time."

__________

The dream faded into darkness, and when Tristan woke the next morning he barely remembered it at all.

In the Library

Tristan opened the door and looked around. The library was fairly empty, the quiet murmur of students and the dry rustling of pages a pleasant backdrop of sound. Tristan liked the library, and often spent his afternoons in it, but he didn't plan on doing any actual reading today.

He walked to a shelf and pulled off a book, looking at the pages without seeing them. His hazel eyes scanned the aisles, searching for anyone who could be described as a "blonde pixie". Short and thin, he guessed, with short hair and maybe green eyes...

And there she was, pushing a full library cart. While her sprite-like appearance seemed to suggest a cheerful or even frivolous nature, her demeanor was sober and shy, eyes fastened firmly on the books as she put them away. The same thing around Destiny and Jared was in equal evidence around the freshman, an aura more felt than seen.

Blair turned a corner, heading for the fiction section. Tristan almost followed, but something made him take a step back instead. A moment later, Destiny appeared and started to browse. Tristan watched her deliberate movements, and knew she was here for more than a little light reading.

Tristan meandered a few aisles closer, making the movement as casual as possible. Destiny reached the blonde girl and murmured something that made Blair glance up sharply, then return to her work with a forced nonchalance. Tristan moved closer, and heard Blair mutter, "You know nothing about me."

"I know you're different," Destiny replied.

Blair's voice lowered further. "Yeah. I'm different."

There was a small smile in Destiny's voice. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Blair shook her head and walked away. Destiny followed, eyes fixed on the shelves and the books they held. When she spoke again, it was outside Tristan's hearing, and he just knew they would hear him if he went any closer. He scowled, but there wasn't anything he could do but watch and wait.

They kept talking as Blair worked, and eventually came to an agreement. Destiny pulled a book off a shelf and walked to the check-out counter. Blair finished shelving and returned the cart to its place. The two girls grabbed their backpacks and left together, Destiny leading the way with quick strides.

The door closed, and Tristan shut the book with a snap and a sigh. So much for today's answers.