26323 her memeriors of the fight before she left.

Vin said. “Something deadly but harmless and you are not going to ask? Should you at least find out where? I mean I don’t know how deadly and harmless go to together, but I don’t want to find out by running into it.” John said, smiling. “There is a dragon staying in the village across the line. I wanted to know how big it was before the reports started. Sis says it is small enough to ride on her shoulder, and we can meet it next Saturday. Deadly but harmless means she wont attack without cause and is not easy to provoke.” Rob said. “Yes, and cameras will work over there. I hope she will let me take her picture. I bet that you will have to take a few relative to meet her, so best warn her.” Petter said. “Sounds like fun and I think that I can go. Where you and John will be there they shouldn’t have to big of a problem. Wait you said the other was big enough to ride. You have ridden on a dragon! What was it like? There are a lot of unverified stories, but they do really?” Kat said. “I didn’t say that I had done so only that he was larger enough to. I wanted to let you know that there was indeed a larger one that could turn up. Mastais, the Dragons king, might feel it needed. He wasn’t happy about me come back to the uncivilized lands, but did agree that it was needed. For all it was highly uncomfortable that I be so unreachable. Dragons are funny, it takes a lot to where you can understand them. Riding on them is cold windy, and fun. I was permitted to do so as I had yet to learn how to make my wings. The ones you have heard of are likely Masties peoples, they are partners to the Dragons and so do ride them. I am not and so it was only in an emergency that it happened. They do not often agree to take people that are not theirs.” “Found your wings?” Jasper said, softly. “So have you found them? A cat with wings. Or did they not mean actual wings?” Kat said. “Come on before the food is cold, then you can look at my books.” She waited until they were sitting down then, as the food was put on plates, said. “Yes they meant real feathered wings. I am a changeling. I didn’t shift until I was eight, but I am a full blooded changeling. As strong as any born in the middle of a node during a magic storm. It was a year of tutoring from them before I was able to fly, but yes. I can grow wings at will, for all I am more at home with my cat form. Hence my name. Yes Seal is a seal, Tiger a tiger and so on. That is where we get our manes, most of us can take any, but it is the one that calls to us the most that gives us our name. All Justu are changelings, with adapt abilities in at least two lines. We can work spells in any from we take, most can talk in two or more, not just their named from.” She stopped to eat a bit, hoping that she wasn’t doing the wrong thing. This was not the way this should happen. Yet her parents had years to tell it their way. John said. “Eight. Before you crossed or after? Just why? They wouldn’t let you tell. They. That is why they would glare at you anytime there was a question about magic or reports of line work. Just when did you know, when did they?” Kat said. “Before, I didn’t cross until that school trip we sunk onto. That was why I was so sick. I needed to be there to complete the changes, but they didn’t want to believe it couldn’t be stropped. I am not sure when they knew, likely not long after I was born, as most babies are checked. I knew when I garbed a line at seven. Mr Rich was teaching the class at the time and said that if I told everyone would see a monster. That it was something that I had to hide for everyones safety, if I didn’t they would lock Robbie up. I was to young not to believe him. The next year Mrs. Phillis started teaching us and so I learned more about what I was and wasn’t as scared, but still it felt best not to say anything. Then my eyes started changing, I was trouble seeing, but Mom said it would go away if I stopped being bad. That I was causing it. I told her that it hurt to be out of touch with the lines. She insisted that if I stopped I would get better. I was just sure that I need more to get over it, that I need to cross. So when the chance came I talked Rob into going on the trip. They had made sure that Rob and I thought the break was far away see, we had no idea how close it was. Once I knew I started making trips on my own. As a result I started recovering. Mom was sure that I listened to her. Dad never said anything to me about it. Not then.” She looked at them. “They were, are, scared. They don’t like to know that we are different, to be reminded that the other is there. They didn’t intend to hurt me, just didn’t want it to be true. Nether of them had a sibling that showed the changes, they thought that they were safe. That the genes were gone from them. Then I came along. Mage gifts will sometimes go dormant if ignored and denied. I think they thought that my changes were the same. You know how good they are at picking facts they agree with with and ignoring those they don’t.” John said. “They had the class on the changes. They knew. They had them in school just as we did, and the state had them take them when I was ten as the test showed that the Elven blood was indeed awake in me. That is why I was in the after school program. Just how did they hide yours? You should have been in classes and making trips with teachers, not sneaking away on your own.” Kat looked at Rob. Rob said. “Remember Dr. Adams had us on that medicine until we were ten. That meant that we couldn’t be tested in school, he had to run different tests. Which of course all came back as fully dormant. I knew that wasn’t right, but didn’t think it was important. After all I was getting lessons from Mrs. Ester and sis went to the guard with you, and got classes for her gifts.” Kat said. “He agreed that it the changes should not be accepted, but that I should be taught to fear and hide them. I was a child. I believed them when they said it would hurt you. I learned better, but by then you were both fighting a lot and I didn’t want to make it worse. So didn’t say anything. It was silly of me, but at the time I didn’t see it. So things went, and then gap year was getting close. I was done with school, I had my certificate already, for all they had me go back. I wasn’t going to go for senor year, I gave them one that was it. I was to join Dr. Blackhills expedition. That was what the fights were about. It had nothing to do with Black Rock at all. That was just the cover they insisted on.” Rob said. “You were. No wonder they didn’t care you were gone four days out of the week more often then not. I was wondering how you got away with it. I got called in for missing two days in a week. One was fine at that point, but two was not. Even after I got my letter from Scholars. Being accepted would be a big deal. There was a lot of competition for those spots. I am surprised they didn’t try to use it.” Kat said. “They were all for it at first, signed the papers and every thing. Only after I was accepted did they read them and find out that it was two years spent over the break. That was when they had a problem. I was never to go into the wild den of evil. If I went there it would make me a monster. It was far to much danger. It wasn’t safe for one like me. I was far to ill. To week to stand the dangers. That place should only be studied by those older and stable. And more such, for over a month. Meantime my gifts were getting stronger and harder for me to mange. I needed help, and knew it. So I changed my plans and found a school. It wasn’t easy to track down and harder yet to make contact. I wasn’t sure they would let me in, but I had an agreement for a meeting. I just had to get to the coast. So I apologized to Dr. Blackhill, explain that I had to get schooling for my gifts, that they were close to being unstable. He agreed and said he might know someone. I told him that I had a contact that had promised to see I found a teacher. Then I was planing on tell you. First I had to get Jasper to understand that he needed to move on, that he couldn’t wait on me. I started on it. Of course I would have to tell him more than once, but breaking it off would start it. So I did so. He of course didn’t think I meant it anymore than I had any of the dozen other times I told him it was the last time.” Jasper laughed and nodded. “I knew you thought you meant it, that you truly wanted me to believe it was over. That you didn’t want me to tie myself to you. Yet I didn’t expect you to stay away more than the week that was normal. After all you needed someone and I want you.” Kat nodded. “I planed to tell you again daily until l school was out. That would be a week. On that day I was going to tell off you that I was leaving and would be gone at least four years. That I would do my best to write you, but it would be best that you didn’t try to find me. I needed to do this for me and you needed to live your liefs not try to keep up with me. It still would have hurt, but not quite as bad as it did. For the record I the school I was going to, was in Pickes Brurg, it is tiny, and not well known, hard to find. And it turns out is a primary school for Jusern. Still I didn’t plan on cross the ocean, after all I didn’t even know that we had ships that had done so.” Petter said. “What did they do? You would have left like that if not pushed. Not when you had a plan. I thought it was odd at the time, not like you to run off.” Kat said. “I was upset. No matter what it hurt every-time I broke it off. For all it was right, is right, that doesn’t mean I wanted to do it. So I was on edge when I got in. It was late, of course. They hadn’t said anything before, but that time Dad had waited up. He started out by telling me was an hour late for curfew. I didn’t laugh, but it was close. I said that I was with Jasper and it was early than I normally came in after being with him. That I had thought it was agreed I could spend the weekends out of the house, and there was no school the next day.” John winced. “That went over well. Still you didn’t Laugh. I did. All the same he would have started on my house my rules and you will honor this family.” Rob said. “Likely, but I didn’t hear that part. So it didn’t get to loud. I was wondering what you were doing home. After all you always spent the weekends with Jas or at Fern House. I thought, though now I wonder how many of those were spent across the line. I knew you made trips alone. After all you knew Mark the first time I met him.” John coughed. “Fern House? You. At. I am going to kill Garth!” Kat said. “I knew what the house were before Garth told me and he is not the person that let me in. I had to do something, there was only so much that I would let Jasper help. You know how the stress acts. Add in energy build up from half controlled gifts. It had to go some place. Their were those there that needed pain. I hate that it is needed, but it is.” John said. “You were to come to me, not go there. That is not the place I wanted my fifteen year old sister. It is strange enough to think of you there now. It was enough that I knew you and Jasper spent nights together.” Petter looked at him. “We were sixteen the first time it went beyond kisses. She was fourteen.” Kat said. “I was let in a side door and taken directly to a room where a person was waiting. It was simply for the stress, and there was a monitor to see to that nothing illegal went on, after all I was under age. I did not see what was going on in the front of the house before I seventeen and old enough to be there. I never used my fake id there. Only only Cpt Walaces, who knew full well it was fake and gave me the drink all the same.” He shock his head. “I wasn’t out all weekend, just the first night most of the time. I honestly didn’t know I was to be home that night. However, yes it was the whole my house, don’t shame your family. I gave the normal nod, and tried to leave as I had the other times. He said he wasn’t done talking. Told me to sit down. So I did, wondering what it would be. If I would have to tell him that the doc said I didn’t need to worry, I couldn’t have children, and besides that I drank a cup of Mudrot tea each morning. Not that I did, but hay it took care of Mom and Aunt Alice’s yelling about me fooling around with boys when I told them. Like they didn’t think I had brains enough to make sure I was safe from that complication. See anger. I am trying, but it still stings. Anyway that wasn’t it at all. He didn’t even ask what I was doing with Jas. I don’t think he was upset that I was out, just that he had to wait to talk to me. He said that he and mom had talked it over and there was no way I could go on the expedition. It was just far to risky for someone my age. Besides I still had a year of school. I didn’t yell, but did say that no, I was done with school, that I had gave them one extra year and that was all they got. I was not going to spend another wasting time in classes that I didn’t need, taking up time that should be spent with students that need the classes. I did not say anything about the trip or crossing. He replied that I was not going to drop out of school I was going to finish it and then Robbie and I were going to go tour the civilized lands for our gap year. He would not have me bring down the family! This time I did raise my voice as I told him that I had already complected high school that there was no reason for me to even be there next year. If he just once listed to me or read the damn papers he would know that. I gave them this year, but I was not doing it again. He got louder and repeated that I was going to to go to school and the trip was set. I would not be going to the wilds. It was unsafe for something like me. Well he likely said someone, but that is not how I remember it. I told him I wasn’t. He said I lived in his house. I was going to do as he said. I said fine and stood up. He told me that he wasn’t done. That he wanted to me to write that Professors and tell him that I had come to my senses and would not be going. I told him. He might not be done but I was and I had bowed out of the trip a week ago, having found that schooling in my gifts was more urgently needed. I was going to leave at the end of end of school year to see to it. However as he was so embarrassed by me I would just go now. And went to my room, blocked the door packed my bag and went out the window. It was dumb, childish and I am just lucky I didn’t get hurt.”