"Um... Vas...?" Anna said hesitantly.  Every attempt at conversation she had made had been rebuffed.  "I... that is, would you mind... I mean, I...."  She shook her head, wincing at the expected outburst from Vas.
          "What?" came the irritated response.
          Anna bit her lip, wishing she hadn't come with the irritable other girl.  "I was wondering if we could stop and maybe get something to eat... or to drink?"
          "Feh," the girl replied. "You just want me to let him out, don't you?" she scowled.
          "Let...?" Anna repeated.  "I-- I don't understand...."
          "You will soon enough," the girl said dismissively.
          Anna looked down unhappily and followed.
          A short while later they reached a river. "Hope you like fish," Vas muttered before stiffening.
          The black haired teen slowly relaxed, then turned. "Sorry," the voice was lower and blue eyes looked at Anna compassionately. "She's not very good at dealing with other people."
          Anna looked up, blinking a bit.  "Vas...?"
          "Not at the moment, no," Val smiled. "She let's me out because she's no good at fishing."
          "Let you out?" Anna asked, completely clueless.
          Val hesitated. "It's a long story," he half explained. "Are you thirsty?"
          "A bit," Anna admitted, bowing her head.  "I'm sorry to be a bother...."
          "Don't worry about it," Val smiled. "You're not a bother. Vas is just... not good with people," he finished after a hesitation.  "Here, wanna see a neat trick?" he asked.
          "What?" the girl asked in confusion.  "Vas...?  Why are you talking in third person...?"
          "Anna, look," The black haired teen pointed to his eyes. "See? They're blue now. It's not Vas. It's Val. Vas has reddish eyes." He smiled. "And her voice is a bit higher pitched then mine as well. Makes it easier to tell us apart."
          "Val...?" Anna asked with a shaky smile.  "Like... like before...?"
          The teen nodded.
          "I don't understand...."
          Val smiled kindly. "It's okay. Just think of it as Siamese twins gone horribly wrong," he joked.
          "So... so you're Val now...?  Like before at the cemetery?"
          He nodded.
          Eyes overflowing tears, Anna threw herself into the boy's arms, shuddering and sobbing against his chest.
          Val startled a moment, then hugged her back. "Um...  It's okay, It'll be okay..." he said awkwardly, looking unsure of what to do. "Are you okay?"
          "Mama-- Mama's dead!" Ana sobbed, clinging to him.
          Val grimaced, not knowing what to say. Awkwardly, he tried his best to comfort her.
          Anna sobbed brokenly for a few more minutes.  As her sobs died down she wiped her eyes and pulled back.  Clutching something under her shirt she looked down at the ground.  "I'm sorry," she said, voice thick from her crying.
          "It's okay," Val assured. "It has to be hard on you."
          "Mama... mama was my only family....  I'm all alone now...."
          Val looked at her sadly. "Treasure what you had," he said softly.  "Keep her memory close."
          "I-- I know...," Anna said, looking down.  "But... I'm just so confused...."  Anna buried her face in her hands.  "Why, Val?  Why did something like that happen?"
          "I don't know. Nobody knows why things like that happen." Val gently took the girl in his arms again. "I know how you feel, in a way."
          "You lost your Mama too?" Anna asked, sniffling slightly as she relaxed into his arms.
          Val gave a sad smile. "I don't remember my parents at all. Neither Vas or I remember anything from before ten years ago."
          "That's horrible," Anna said, face showing compassion.
          Val gave a small shrug. "Hard to miss what you never knew..." he said in a slightly sad voice. "All I know is that I feel... at home when I'm near water, so I think we lived by a lake or river or such, but..." he shook his head. "Vas hates all water, so..." he shrugged. "Anyway, you were thirsty, right?"
          Anna bit her lip.  "Yes...."
          "Here, watch this," Val grinned. He walked over to the river and crouched by it before smiling at Anna and waving her over. "Watch the water," he nodded.
          She crouched next to him, looking at her reflection in the murky water.
          As she watched the water began to clear, loosing it's sediment and impurities. Val grinned proudly. "Taste it," he urged.
          Eyes wide with childish wonder, Anna leaned down and took a handful of the water, bringing it to her lips.  She smiled.  "It's so clean."
          "Neat, huh? No clue how I do it, but it's neat! And makes living off streams and such much nicer." Val grinned.
          "Living off streams?"
          "We don't really have any other way to live. I can fish real well and Vas can get a fire going in under a minute."
          "But... where do you live?  Who takes care of you?"
          "We take care of ourselves. We're on the go all the time, safer that way," Val nodded.
          "Safer?  Safer from what?"
          Val grimaced. "It's... a complicated story," he said, fidgeting slightly. "The place Vas and I ran from... wasn't very nice, to put it mildly.... and they weren't very happy that we left." He looked nervous a moment. "So! Are you hungry? I can catch a fish or two for you. I saw a few in the river. Decent sized too!"
          "Val...." Anna said, putting a hand on his arm.  "Are you in trouble?"
          The teen hesitated. "Not... so much being in trouble as... well..." He hesitated again. "It's complicated," he finally finished. "We just don't want to go back there, so we keep moving..."
          The girl blushed slightly, twining her fingers with his.  "I'll protect you," she offered softly.
          Val blinked a moment, then gave a soft smile. "I don't know if you can... but thank you..."
 

          Hawk pulled into the long dirt driveway. "This is the address the report gave..." he said looking around. "Ah, there we go," he nodded, spotting the sign for the school. "All right, Nav, you stay in the Shut Yer Yap, Cole, you stay and make sure I don't have to kill him when I get back."  He said as he put the station wagon in park.
          "Kill him?" Cole repeated in a worried tone.
          "Yeah, like anything that would fuck up the car, or anything like that," Hawk replied, exiting. "C'mon, Kim," he smiled, opening the back door and reaching for the girl.
          Kim slid out of the car and took Hawk's hand, looking at the building.  "Shin here?" she asked.
          "He may be. We're going to go check, okay?" Hawk smiled.
          Kim bit her lip, looking at the door, then tugged Hawk's hand over to the side of the building.  She looked at Shin's tree, pouting when he wasn't there, and then went for the kitchen door.
          Hawk opened it for her. "Hello...?" he called.
          A large woman wielding a cast iron frying pan as a weapon approached.  "Who's there?"  She look Hawk over and then noticed Kim.  "Well, you've given us a fright," she said to the girl, putting down the pan.  "I have a cookie for you anyway."  She whisked the girl into a seat at the big table, then turned to Hawk.  "Who are you?  How did you get our Kim?  Why did you come in this door?"  Turning to a large pot on the stove she brought out a ladle.  "And while you're at it, does this need more salt?"
          Hawk chuckled. "Name's Hawk. Hawk Valdis." He obligingly tasted the soup. "Nah. Fine as is. Mind you I tend to have more simplistic taste in foods, so..." he grinned. "But very good tasting. Might need a bit more chicken when it's getting ready to be served, but good stuff." He smiled. "As for the other questions: Kim decided my companion was fuzzy and silly and tackled him, much to his distress and my amusement,  and Kim led the way to this door." He chuckled slightly. "So, may I ask your name?"
          "No," the woman decided.  "You're the one with our youngest.  Now sit.  It's getting late and you must be hungry."  She pushed him to the table and put a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes in front of him.  "Where did you find her and why didn't you bring her back immediately?"
          "About a mile or so from here, a bit in from the highway. Brought her over soon as I heard the report on the scanner of where she lived." Hawk stated before digging in. "Nice. From scratch?" he asked
          "A mile?  She's a small child, Mr Valdis.  And of course they're from scratch."  She placed her hands on her hips.  "What do you take me for?"
          Hawk chuckled. "Haven't had from scratch potatoes in a long time," he admitted. "And I'm not sure how far she actually wandered, just know the spot was about a mile or so from here. And you can call me Hawk," he smiled.
          "Hmph," the woman said with a raised brow.  "You look like an honest boy, so I'll believe you.  Now then...."
          "I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl, Maggie," another woman, this one trim and dressed in dark clothes, said on entering.  "She is utterly infuriating."  She paused, seeing the pair at the table.  "Well, I see one of our runaways has returned."
          Kim's lip trembled and she hopped down to hide almost under Hawk's chair.
          Hawk shifted to protect and hide Kim, taking the girl's hand in his own.
          "And who is this?" the new woman asked with asperity.
          "Hawk," Maggie answered, bustling around her cooking.  "He brought Kim home."
          "That is an animal, not a name, Maggie."
          "Like you should talk.  My friend the letter," she said, putting a glass in front of Hawk with a conspiratorial wink.
          Hawk gave a smile. "It is the name I was given," he stated. He squeezed Kim's hand before turning to her. "Hey, Kim. You want to sit on my lap?" he smiled.
          The girl climbed up into his lap, sucking her thumb while watching Mrs F with wide eyes.
          "Where did you find her?" Mrs F asked.
          Hawk hugged the girl in his lap, bouncing her slightly. "She was in the woods off the highway about a mile from here."
          "Whatever was she doing there?"
          "Find Shin!" Kim piped, snuggling against Hawk.
          Hawk nodded. "Has he been back here?" he asked.
          "We haven't seen him and our telepaths can't find him."
          Hawk was quiet a moment. "Hey, Kim, want to wait here with Maggie?"
          She hugged him tightly, face crumbling.
          "It'll be okay," he comforted, hugging her tightly. "I'll be back, promise. Here:" He reached into his pocket and took out a small sword shaped piece of metal. "This was the first thing I made in metal shop. You hold on to it until I get back, okay?"
          She clutched it in both hands, lip still trembling.
          Hawk gently stroked her cheek and then leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "It'll be okay. I'll be back soon, Promise."  He gently picked the girl up an put her on the ground before turning back to Mrs F. "May I talk to you elsewhere?"
          The woman ushered him out of the kitchen.  "My office is just down the hall."
          "This is going to sound bizarre, but..." Hawk summarized Aralu's visit. "And I know the ..." he rolled his eyes instead of swearing. "She doesn't make stuff up, she gets perverse joy in telling the truth to cause chaos." He sighed.
          "So you believe that Shin has been abducted?"
          "I'm not sure," Hawk answered honestly. "Would he seem the type to just get up and leave for 'training' or whatever, leaving his little sister to be so worried that she went out into the woods looking for him?"
          "Shin?  Never."  She paused.  "He was talking about a dream he had last night and impending doom earlier."
          "He gets easily spooked by that kinda thing? Enough to run?"
          "Shin has a Dream talent," Mrs F explained.  "In other words he dreams lucidly and can contact others through dreams.  He has had a block on it for most of his life, however, causing him insomnia and other sleep problems.  We've been working with him to try and break the block, but whenever he actually dreams it's a cause for concern."
          Hawk nodded thoughtfully. "So..." he pondered. "Best I can figure, he ran and got snatched up, else Kim would be more frantic or your people would have found a trace of him somewhere. Assuming he doesn't have a good shield and that your people have decent talent."
          "Julian is rather too talented for his own good," Mrs F acknowledged, "And has a mental attunation to everyone from the school.  If Shin were anywhere in the area he would know."
          Hawk nodded. "So..." he said slowly, thinking. He gave a sigh. "Blasted Aralu..." he muttered. "She knows where he is, enough that she came over to give Kim a message...." He gave a long exhale before looking up. "Does Kim have any other family here? People she's close to? Or was Shin it?"
          "Kim is an orphan and was placed in our care because of her telekinetic ability.  She has no family and Shin was her primary caretaker."
          Hawk swore softly. "So... who would be taking care of her until we get him back?"
          "Miss Tensou, possibly," Mrs F said with an expression of distaste, "As Shin's sister.  With luck, I can get Maggie to agree to take her on."
          Hawk raised an eyebrow. "I take is Shin's sister is disproved of?"
          "Miss Tensou has some extreme notions of her own importance," Mrs F said drily.
          Hawk was quiet a moment. "With your permission, I'd like to take temporary custody of Kim til Shin is found."
          "Where will you take her?" Mrs F asked.  "And what will you do with her?  Do you have any experience dealing with small children?"
          "Not very far. Probably be camping in the area tonight, not really going anywhere in particular. Can even stay in the area til Shin's found. And I have plenty experience with kids. Raised my younger sister, and I'm sure I even have some baby-sitting references in the car if you want them," he smiled. "Took a few child development and child psych courses as well, was even a camp counselor for a year at sleepover camp. They gave me all the first timers," he smiled.
          The woman looked own and wrote a few things on a piece of paper.  "This is the number and address here.  You're to call at least once a day to let me know what you're up to.  If you meet anyone, say that you're her cousin taking her out for a few days."  She passed the paper to him.  "I trust my first judgements, but if I find out that Kim has been in any way mistreated you will not have a place to hide."
          Hawk smiled, accepting the paper. "If I mistreated her, I'd have to kill myself, don't worry." He tore off the bottom half of the paper and wrote down a few things. "Full name, licence of my car and my soc and drive's licence number, if you need it, for whatever reason."
          Mrs F looked the information over quickly, then put it in one of the boxes on her desk.  She rose and held a hand out to Hawk.  "Very well.  I will be expecting your calls."
          Hawk smiled, accepting.  "So, any info I should know about her? Allergies? Teddy bear she can't live without, medical?"
          "I'm sure Kim can bring you to her room to gather whatever she'll need.  Keep careful watch for her wooden trinkets.  Shin's something of an expert carver, as it's one of the few things he has the stamina for.  She treasures them until they're lost.  And the wolf.  Make sure she has her wolf.  It reminds her of Shin." She thought a moment.  "Do you travel with any young women?"
          Hawk shook his head. "Currently, just have myself, Nav, and Cole. Why?"
          Mrs F nodded.  "I understand that Kim's mother was rather young and she was the primary abuser in that home."
          Hawk tensed slightly, face darkening. Slowly he regained his calm.
          "Believe me, if I knew her to still be alive, she wouldn't be," Mrs F said, tone dark.  "I gather that her father wasn't the kindest man either, but he was more neglectful than abusive.  She killed them both a few months back; brought the house down around them and she was the only one left alive."
          Hawk nodded slightly, expression unreadable. "She's lucky..." he said in a soft voice before looking up. "I'll take care of her."
          "I will hold you to that," Mrs F said, then gave a very small smile.  "Hawk."