The outside door made a soft sound as it was pushed open, and a large canine nosed into the garage. It stood between Hawk and the door, staring at him silently.

Hawk paused in his work, looking over with a raised eyebrow. "Can I help you...?" he ventured after a moments pause, setting down the slightly greasy wrench that had bene in his hand.

The animal continued to look at him steadily as several others began to come in behind. Once they had spread out, sitting watchfully, the first lowered itself to the ground and turned into a man. "You have my children," he said in a deep voice.

Hawk gave a small nod, mostly to himself. "Wait here a moment," he advised before climbing up the ladder to the loft.

It was a long moment before there was a response. Then a face poked warily down from the loft. Seeing the adults, there was a squeal and a young girl dropped directly to the floor, darting over to cling to a wolf that licked her face. Hawk followed soon after, with the rest of the children hesitantly coming as well, some of them hiding behind Hawk as they stared at the wolves.

He smiled fondly at them, putting his arm around the smaller ones. "No one you know?" he asked gently.

The one adult in human form looked around at Hawk's voice, then looked at the children. "Not all of our clan still live," he said sadly, arms around a pair of boys and with a small girl clinging to his leg.

Hawk nodded. "Is there anyone else who can take them in? I don't know how many I can adopt..."

"We look after our own," the man said, turning to flash his eyes over the others around him. Several of the adult wolves brushed by Hawk to nuzzle against the children. "It was good of you to protect them."

"Hawk wolf too," Faolan said, clinging to Hawk's hand tightly. "Wolf spirit. Great wolf!"

The man looked taken aback, then looked at Hawk again, eyes the same as they had been as a wolf.

Hawk looked down at Faolan in mild startlement. "What do you mean?" he asked, crouching down to be on eye level with the boy.

"Great wolf!" Faolan repeated eagerly. "Like from the stories! Great wolf saves us!"

Hawk blinked. "Faolan, I'm just a man," he smiled kindly. "You don't have to be a great legend to help somebody."

"Hawk is wolf who is always man," Faolan insisted. "Like the stories say. Hawk is wolf."

The man gave a soft, fond smile, gently mussing Faolan's hair. "Do you know what totem sprits are, Faolan?" he asked.

The boy blinked at him.

"Werewolves are our own totem spirits," the man, still the only adult in human form, answered.

"Where as humans can't be their totems," Hawk continued with a nod. "We can be connected with animal sprits, but we can't become them. Not truely, anyway," he added in after a moment. "The wolf is my totem, but that doesn't mean I am one. Not the way that you are."

"Hawk is wolf," Faolan insisted again in a whine, clinging to Hawk. "Wolf who is always man."

Hawk gave a soft laugh, hugging the boy close. "If you say so."

"The legend is direct," the adult admitted. "A man who is always a man but holds the spirit of a wolf will save us from servitude." He looked at Hawk holding Faolan, the boy nuzzling close against the man. "Our kind do not tend to... have affection for humans."

"Your kind never really has had a reason to," Hawk pointed out, helfting Faolan up into his arms as he turned to face the adult. "Humans tend to be pretty nasty to those diffrent, and werewolves always were campfire horror stories."

The man's laugh rang loud and clear, causing echoes from the children and wolves around him who were eager for his happiness. "Stories from men who fear the animal inside everyone. We don't turn from our animal. We are our animal. And you, man?" he asked. "Are you your own animal, or do you cringe from it as well?"

"Somewhere in between, I'd think," Hawk answered honestly.

"Hawk is wolf," Faolan repeated softly, nuzzling his face against Hawk's neck and wrapping his arms around the man's shoulders to help hold himself close.

"It certainly seems you've helped free us from servitude," the man said to Hawk, looking at Faolan affectionately.

"Glad to have. Bastards deserved to be taken down in the most painful way possible." Hawk's expression darkened. "No one gets away with exploting and hurting children...." he half growled, hugging Faolan protectivly.

"Perhaps you are a wolf after all," the man said, looking at Hawk curiously. Every other eye in the room turned to Hawk as well, wolves and children blinking curiously as they gazed at him.

The man blinked, feeling a bit nervous with the attention of the entire room suddenly on him, part of him was wondering if he was suddenly in rather over his head.

Suddenly the man smiled. "Well, it's time for the stories to come true. Others will know that the great wolf has come, and the Alliance will tremble." His arms tightened around his boys. "Faolan, will you stay with him or come with us?"

Faolan looked up. "Stay," he said firmly, arms tight around Hawk.

With a nod, the man ushered the rest of the pack out of the garage. "You haven't seen the last of us, man," he said to Hawk before following.

Hawk stood there a long moment, blinking. "Wait, what?" he finaly managed.

"Hawk is wolf," Faolan said in a satisfied tone. "So others will come to Hawk to learn how to be wolves again."

Hawk blinked down at him. "What...?" he repeated, utterly befuddled. "Don't... don't you already know how to be wolves? I mean... you guys are wolves, partly, right? How the heck could I teach someone how to be something they already are?"

Faolan's brow furrowed as he searched for words. "We've lost a lot because of the Alliance. Lord Omadon takes us away from what we are when he can. So we have to learn what we are again. That's why you've come to save us." He nodded as if that settled everything.

Hawk blinked again. "More of this aliance thing," he frowned, brow furrowing. Where was Aralu when he needed explanations? he signed internaly.

"Hawk need help with the car?" Faolan asked eagerly. "I can help. I can get things Hawk needs."

The man nodded, greatful for the distraction. "You know where the can of oil is?" he asked, setting the boy down on his feet again before reacing for his wrench.

Faolan dashed off for it.
 
 
 
 

"Oh! Oh! Ara!" Jack waved near franticly as he ran down the hallway. "You've GOT to see this!" he grinned manicly as he grabbed the redhaired woman's arm and began tugging her towards his room. "I was reviewing the Shadow cam logs for today, and Señior Icy Freeze got his call from the HeadNut while on the Castle grounds!"

Aralu chuckled. "And what happened? He left, obviously, so it must have been something important."

"IL Lab number 27 got trashed," Jack grinned, pushing the door open and flicking on a switch. The wall of monitors and electronics instantly flickered to life, showing various locations around the castle. "I only managed to get about half of the converstation was saying, but you can kind get the grasp of it all from what I did get," he comented, clicking a remote.

"And I already told you that there was no signature to what was done on that building. If it was IL then one of their cursed experiments probably turned on them," Gabriel snapped, phone in his hand as he sat at the desk in the room he'd been given.

"Then find proof and present it!" Omadon's voice was scratchy and distorted. "The sooner the rumours can be flattened, the better!"

"Rumors that werewolves could destroy your scientists are not my concern," Gabriel snarled. "They are your concern, sir. Deal with them yourself."

"Are you preseuming to tell me what is and is not my concern?" The voice was cold. "Your JOB, Gabriel Versailes, is to quell trouble in your asigned area. THIS is a trouble orginating in your area, one you did not forstall and thus the burden of correcting the damage of it lies on YOU."

"If even a cursed werewolf has the ability to destroy your scientists it would seem they've done you a favor, sir," Gabriel said, voice dripping with scorn. "Werewolves! They haven't the art to destroy a house on fire."

"Then find the responsable one that's hiding behind that rumour! TWO labs in your area, Gabriel. TWO. That is no accident!"

"Two labs, one of which was kept secret from me," the dark man raged. "I will not be held responsible for something I was not aware of. If your scientists do not report themselves for my protection then they can rot on their own for all I care!"

"You were made aware when it was destroyed, giving you responibilty for letting the destruction of the second occur when you did not find the one who caused the first one to fall! If there is a third to fall in your area, it will be YOU who will be held accountable!" There was a click as the connection was severed.

Gabriel swore loudly before storming out of his room. The recording ended.

"Well," Aralu said, voice amused. "It seems the werewolves are revolting."

"Yep!" Jack grinned. "And it's all cause of Shinkou!"

"What?" Aralu protested. "Shin had nothing to do with it!"

Jack giggled. "Oooh, yes he did! Remember how I comented how he's like an unconcious avatar for change? Entropy on a stick?"

"On a stick?" Aralu asked, brows raising in amusement.

The man looked embarased, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know, he's all really skinny and all, so his legs are like sticks, but anyway!" He pointed dramaticly. "This is all because he broke through. Cause then he came up and the girl who adopted him went looking for him and you found Hawk and the werewolf kid when you went looking for her and then he went and attacked the lab. This is so going in my thesis!" he giggled.

"You're incorrigable," Aralu said, shaking her head with mock sadness.

"And you're not?" Jack grinned.

"I'm not the one looking for any shred of evidence that Shin's mere existance is changing the world," Aralu retorted.

"Hey, I don't have to look, it's all around!" Jack spread his arms wide with another grin. "'sides, everyone's existance changes the world. His just seems to tip over scales and make things happen more. It's facinating stuff!"

"So now we don't have to worry about his royal frostiness," Aralu said, changing the subject, "So we should be able to get everything back to normal around here, finish with Shin, and let him go."

"Ariel's still here," Jack grinned impishly.

"What?!" Aralu said in sharp startlement.

The darkskinned man nearly giggled. "He didn't want to leave," he grinned, eyes sparkling. "Shinkou's fault again."

"You mean that Gabriel didn't just forget him? Ariel CHOSE to stay here alone?"

"Yeeeeeeep," Jack's grin grew almost inhumanly large. "Gabriel went to grab him and Ariel said no. Think about that, Ara! Ariel said NO to his BROTHER. It's almost unfathomable!" he giggled, bouncing on his toes.

"I need to sit," Aralu declared, plopping into a chair. "Ariel refused his brother," she repeated. "What's he doing now? Is he still sane?" She thought about that for a moment. "As sane as he ever is, I mean."

"He's researching the nature of animal souls," Jack informed. "He hasn't moved since the Ice Man went-ith so no doubt he'll be having a freakout or be hiding behind Shinkou later, but..."

"Animal souls?" Aralu asked, brows raised. "He's so busy reading about animal souls that he hasn't noticed that his brother is gone?"

"Oh, he's noticed. Gabriel was very clear when he was leaving. He's twiched peroidicly, but he's still very intently studying, which means he's probally planning on going back to Shinkou's school so he can debate with that other girl who can see dead people."

"Ariel Versailles debating with some random girl about animal souls," Aralu said with a shake of her head. "What is the world coming to?"

"Chaos!" Jack answered chearfuly. "Told ya. Entropy on stick legs," he grinned.

"But at least we don't have to worry about Gabriel anymore. He can't be watching us when he has to look for Hawk." She giggled. "Not that he'll ever FIND Hawk, of course."

"Or that he'd even beleive it was him." Jack strightened his back in mock of Gabriel's posture. "'Non Alliance riff-raff! Pish!'" he comented, noise in the air before he near colapsed into giggles. "And a low-powered metal worker at that! Omadon'd never beleive him even if he did! It's so perfect!"

"Almost as believable as werewolves," Aralu agreed with a grin.

"Organized werewolves no less!" Jack flopped back into his chair with a huge grin.

Aralu giggled. "They've never been organized. I wonder what changed that?"

"If the rumours have any truth, it looks like their messiah arrived. Looots of whispers about the wolf that is always a man who will lead their people to a golden era and similar. Each tribe's got a variation on it but the root is all the same."

"So there's a werewolf messiah on the loose," Aralu mused. "Wonder where they're hiding him."

Jack giggled. "I've got a good idea..." he practially sang.

"You think you know everything," Aralu snorted.

"Only because I often do," Jack grinned. "I've got an uncountable amount of Shadows I can tap into the experances of hiding in every location. All I have to do is search. And becides, you should have a good idea too. Think about it; everything started after the first lab went down...."

"Hawk's not the messiah!" Aralu protested with a laugh. "I was in high school with him."

"So?" Jack grinned. "He fits the bill. And you deposited about 50 werewolf children in his lap. Children that he rescued! That's pretty mesianic from the view of the werewolves, especialy since I don't think there's any record anywhere of a human helping them out before."

Aralu shook her head. "Hawk is not the messiah," she repeated. "He's just not."

"Doesn't really matter if he is or not. If they think he is, he will be," Jack shrugged. "He fits the rumours and legends pretty well, so if they want it bad enough, he'll become it." He gave a grin. "Ya know, this'll be the first messiah I'll get to research as a nine. The last big one I wasn't even mobile yet!" he giggled, spinning around in his chair.

"You're incorrigable!" Aralu repeated with a laugh.

"Whaaaaaaat?" Jack defeneded with a laugh. "Humanoid studies is what I do! This is a pretty awsome set up for that! You get just as bad when you find another halfbreed!"

"I do not!" the woman protested. "I don't think anyone gets as bad as you do."

"Bah," Jack waved his hand dimissivly. "Only because you have to sleep."
 
 
 
 
 

"Miss your puppies?" Aralu asked, entering Hawk's cabin.

Faolan growled at her, as if reminding her that there was still a puppy left. She absentmindedly patted him on the head, earning a good attempt to bite her hand off.

Hawk looked up from the peice of metal he had been rolling around in his palm. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about werewolf myths, would you?" he asked, seeming almost distracted.

"A bit," Aralu answered, helping herself to a seat. She watched in amusement as Faolan nuzzled up against Hawk.

The brown haired man gave the boy a smile, running his fingers through Faolan's hair. "Had an... intresting.. conversataion, mostly one sided, earlier," he said softly. "When the parents came to pick up the kids. 'A man who is always a man but holds the spirit of a wolf...'" he quoted, rolling the ball of metal so that it rested on his fingertips.

Aralu blinked a few times. "Well...." she said after a moment. "I'm going to have to tie him down to keep him from rubbing this in my face....."

Hawk turned to look at her with confusion. "What?"

"Jack was spouting off earlier," she answered. "Some nonsense about you being the werewolves' profecied messiah. I told him he was full of it, but apparently not...."

The man gave a chuckle. "So it's not something they were just saying to be dramatic then." He leaned back on the couch with a sigh, tossing the metal ball in the air and catching it. "I had kinda figured since this stupid thing wasn't helpful. It does that when Ma's stuff is right too."

"When she's not too stoned to see this world clearly your mother is often quite accurate. Maybe that's why she smokes so much."

The man shrugged. "Can't ever tell if she's actualy seeing stuff or if she's just out of her head again. Personaly, I'd think she'd want to smoke LESS so she'd know what's a real vision and what's just freaking tapdancing pink elephants, ya know?"

Aralu shrugged. "Would it be any better seeing things and knowing they were true but that there was no way you could change them?"

"You could at least TRY if you weren't so hopped up," Hawk scowled.

"Sometimes," Aralu answered with a shrug. "But we've gotten off the subject. You were told that you're going to save the werewolves, remember?"

"Kinda. It was more a cryptic 'Oh, by the way' sorta thing." Hawk shook his head slightly. "Saving them from servitude was the wording. Like I'm gonna sic a plauge of locusts on someone or something. I don't know." He sighed again. "They were gone before I realized what the hell had just happened."

Aralu chuckled. "At the moment you're serving as the figurehead for a revolution," she said. "Hearing of your existance, werewolves in subjugation all over the Alliance are killing people to get free."

The man blinked. "That's it? Well shit, I can do that!" he laughed, looking a bit more relaxed.

"Well, after that you get to return them to the ways of the Wolf."

"That's what's got me confused. I mean.. how can a human teach someone who's practicly half wolf how to be what they are? You'd think they'd be pretty in touch with their inner wolf and all that."

"It's not the inner wolf they need help with, really. Omadon doesn't like people to do things he doesn't tell them to. This means that there are a lot of werewolf traditions that have been lost because he's forbade them or changed things. You get to tell them how to remake traditions that will make them stronger."

Hawk rubbed his forhead slightly. "Sounds like this Omadon seems to have done alot to mess them up," he half muttered. "Do I get to off this jerk in the process?"

"Sadly, probably not. One of these days someone will get him when he's not paying attention, though."

"I'll help if I can," Hawk smiled. "So do you have anything on what the werewolves used to do in your library of knowitall-dom? Cause hell if I know anything about em... Didn't even knew they really existed til Faolan showed up." He smiled at the boy, mussing his hair affectionatly.

Faolan perked up at the attention, looking up at Hawk and smiling.

"Dad must have something," Aralu answered, smiling in amusement. "He knows everything, after all."

"Really knows it all or just thinks he does like his daughter?" Hawk smirked.

"I will have you know that Lord Kajiro, the King of Shadows, knows everything that happens everywhere at any time. It's all written down, nice and neat, in books that are kept all over the world."

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "King of Shadows?" he repeated.

"Shadows get everywhere. No way to stop them," Aralu said with an impish grin. "Dad's army of little drops of darkness are half of my know-it-all-ness."

Hawk blinked again. "So you're talking like... real shadows, not metaphric ones." He gave a sigh, shaking his head. "As here's where Nav would be making some stupid ass coment about locker rooms," he half muttered. "So if the Shadows know so much, how come you have to take notes?"

"Because Dad has the worst handwriting I've seen. Add to that the fact that he writes in languages that were dead when people started writing things down, and it takes too long to read his notes." She made a beckoning motion and a patch of darkness flitted to her hand. "I think Jack calls this one Mikey. It's his job to watch you these days."

Hawk's eyebrow rose again before he gave a small laugh. "You really are a stalker!" he smiled, shaking his head. "So who's this Jack guy anyway?"

"Sort of like a brother," Aralu answered after pondering for a moment. "He's Dad's second in command. Takes care of everything too modern. You know, things since Rome fell." She grinned.

"... kay." Hawk blinked. "Assuming he's also some kinda astral sort then?"

"No," Aralu said with a shake of her head, "he's a Shadow. Claims he used to belong to the library of Alexandria before it fell into the sea, but I'm never sure if I should believe him or not."

The man shook his head slightly. "Sounds worse than you," he comented dryly.

Aralu laughed. "I'm hurt, Hawk. You think that anyone could be worse than me?"

"Good point," the man smirked. "You know, you got a lot more tolerable once you stopped jerking Nav around."

"Well," Aralu drawled, sprawling back and releasing the little Shadow, "I'm not as creative as he was about outrageous things to do to other people."

"He only was when you were around. Like two kids with a bag of candy," He shook his head slightly. "It was like I needed a freaking leash to hold him back when you were around. Had to show off." He snorted. "Lot of good it did him..." he muttered.

"I think it's because you were always the sensible one and held him back. I never did." She grinned wider. "And that boy was made for mischief if anyone ever was."

Hawk nodded. "Ma never liked him. She'd always start saying the weirdist shit when he was over. And things like how he'd get me tanged in--" he paused. "Well shit," he smiled. "She was kinda right on that one, in a round about way."

"Hm?" Aralu asked in curiosity, tilting her head to one side. "What did he get you into? Other than a lot of trouble."

"I doubt you'd be spending half as much time poking at me if you hadn't been stalking him before," Hawk pointed out. "And I doubt you would have dumped a load of little kids in a stranger's lap."

"Probably not, but then without you they wouldn't have gotten free right at this second. If I were going to do something I'd have to prepare more so that I wouldn't be handing myself over to death."

Hawk chuckled. "Where as since I'm not in your messed up club house, I can do whatever the hell I want, long as I don't leave a sign pointing where I went after."

Aralu snorted. "Even if you did, no one would believe that someone outside the Alliance would be able to pull what you did. Certainly, they're having a hard time believing that the werewolves are sowing chaos and werewolves are known."

Hawk chuckled. "Kinda fitting, really, that a group who's all about petagree it's being torn at by a group of wolves."

"Well, werewolves pride themselves on their pedigrees," Aralu answered. "That boy you're petting could probably tell you who his great-great-great grandparents were."

Faolan's head lifted from Hawk's knee. "Faolan is Hawk's," he said solemnly.

Hawk gave him a fond smile, hugging him with one arm.

"And now you're not only the werewolf messiah, you're also a foster daddy," Aralu said dryly.

"Hey, I don't mind being a foster daddy," Hawk half scowled. "Long as it's not to a whole litter."

"Just as well you're doing it. It'll silence some nay-sayers that a Germanic werewolf calls you daddy."

Faolan blinked at her, then looked up at Hawk. "Should I call you daddy?" he asked in confusion.

"You can call me whatever you want to," Hawk assured with a smile. "And what nay-sayers?" he asked Aralu

"Not everyone will believe you're the wolf who walks like a man," Aralu said as Faolan settled back against Hawk's knee. "The fact that you're not a werewolf will give you enough problems to start with from some groups."

Hawk shrugged. "It's not like I'm gonna be out there giving speaches or anything. What does it matter if some beleive it and some don't? It's their legend and their fight, innit it?"

"And after the fight's over, you're supposed to be the one picking up the pieces, remember? Not everyone's going to want to listen to you, and some of them won't be nice about it."

"I'm a big boy, Aralu, I can take it if someone thinks I'm full of it," Hawk replied with a snort.

"When that someone has claws and fangs it might be more difficult, Hawk. Werewolves don't have to reach for weapons."

Hawk gave her a look that bordered distain. "I can handle it, Aralu. I'm not defenceless, and I've done barehanded hunting before. And before you open your mouth again, I KNOW a wolf is more dangerous than a bear, but there's always metal somewhere that I can call on if I need it. Worrying about mights and possiblies of things that could go wrong of something you don't even have a clue of how it'll end up is just stupid and a waste of time."

Aralu laughed. "And that's the Wolf talking right there. I think you'll silence the opposition."

Hawk blinked a moment before giving a small chuckle. "Specialy if there's anyone like you in the bunch. Instagator," he smiled.

Aralu grinned impishly at him. "At all times," she answered.
 
 
 

"Shin," Aralu said, popped her head in around his door, "Dad doesn't like anyone in the library after nine. Go get Ariel."

The boy looked up from the homework he had brought back with him. "What?" he asked, seeming a bit confused. "Why do you need me to do that for...?"

"Because you're the one he's most likely to listen to," Aralu answered, closing the door again as she left.

Shin blinked at the door a moment before giving a deep sigh. Very carefuly he slid the chair back and got to his feet, reaching for his walker.

"Ariel...?" he called as he half hobbled through the library, almost wishing he had brought the chair with him.

Ariel was staring into space, hands loosely holding a book in his lap. "My mother wasn't lovely," he said softly in response to Shin's voice. "Gabriel looks very like her in the face. If he weren't male there wouldn't be anything of his father in him." His face was sad. "All I have of her is her eyes," he added softly.

Shin carefuly sat, exhailing softly as he did so. "But aren't the eyes the most important part?" he asked. "They say that the eyes are the windows of the soul..."

Ariel started slightly, looking at Shin. "Gabriel and I have the same eyes," he said. "Does that mean we have the same soul?"

Shin shook his head. "Eyes aren't the soul. Just a window to," he corrected. "They're the most expressive part of a person, really."

"Then sharing eye colour is no better than sharing hair colour," Ariel said reasonably. "Gabriel's hair used to be as black as mother's. But I think you must be right. My brother's eyes can hold love, even when he turns from me, or hatred when kissing a woman's hand."

Shin gave a small nod before noticing the book in Ariel's hands. "What are you reading?" he asked, curiously.

Ariel's fingers clenched and the book was closed with a soft thunk. "It's Albertson's treatise on the nature of animal unconsciousness. It's quite rare."

Shin gave a small smile. "So you'll be prepared to debate next time you see Dallas?"

"It was on the shelf, so I thought that if she meant it maybe I should do some research," Ariel answered diffidently.

Shin nodded. "Probally good thinking," he smiled.

Ariel smiled shyly at him. "I suspect that she was only making polite conversation, but I don't think this is wasted research."

"I'm sure she'd enjoy the debate," the paler boy smiled. "You can always ask next time you see her. She's probally used to not being taken seriously the same way you are."

"I'm... not certain if I will see her again," Ariel said, hands winding nervously around each other. "I'm-- not certain of many things right now...."

Shin blinked. "Why's that? Did something happen?" he asked, voice conserned.

Ariel looked down at his clenched hands. "My brother is gone," he whispered.

"Gone?" Shin repeated, eyes widening. "What happened?"

"He-- was recalled by Lord Omadon. I told him I didn't want to go...."

The paler boy smiled softly. "And he let you stay here?"

"He left without me," Ariel said.

"So you got what you wanted... right?" Shin ventured.

"I-- I suppose," Ariel answered, voice shaking slightly. "If this is what it feels to get what you want, I'm glad I rarely have wants to be met."

"Ariel..." Shin's voice was slightly pained. "There's a diffrence between the thing you want and how you received it. You wanted to stay here, right? How does it feel, just that part? Putting aside anything that happened to get that."

"I-- was able to continue my reading...." Ariel said, hugging the book close. "Gabriel doesn't like theoretical works. He would never have let me read something like this."

"So that was good, right?" Shin smiled gently. "That made you feel happy? That you got to do something you wanted?"

"What good is that when my brother has left angry?" Ariel asked, looking up again. "I-- should go to him tomorrow and beg his forgiveness...."

"He's been angry alot, hasn't he?" Shin asked. "He would have been angry no matter if you had been with him or not, I think." He hesitated a moment. "I think you should stay here," he continued. "Or at campus. I talked to Mrs F, who's in charge of us all, and she said it'd be fine if you wanted to stay. You can work with Maggie, if you'd like, so you'd always be able to trust the food because you'd be helping her make it."

Ariel stared at him. "But-- but my brother...."

"I'm not saying you can't see him, or spend time with him... just... When you don't want to go with him... when you want some time where you can do what you'd like without people hurting you or being mean to you... you can stay with us," Shin smiled softly. "And maybe with some space between you... he'll realize how much you mean to him."

"You think he'd take me back?" Ariel asked, eyes lighting with a touch of hope.

"If he loves you, why wouldn't he?" Shin smiled, wondering if he was being self-defeating.

Ariel's gaze faltered. "He-- was very angry with me, for not going with him. And after everything I've been doing to anger him the past few days...."

"If he doesn't take you back just because you made him angry, then he's not a very good brother," Shin pointed out. "I'm sure once Gabriel calms down, he'll stop being so angry."

"Gabriel has never been this angry with me," Ariel said softly. "And-- and I-- don't want to stop seeing Mother."

"Then you should spend more time away from your brother so you can..." Shin said gently.

Ariel's eyes darted back up to Shin's. "I-- I always thought it was madness.... That he made the madness go away. Do you know what it really was, Shin?" he asked, voice half desperate.

"I don't know for certin, but I know it's not madness. It's the same thing that lets Dallas see people who have died. Something in your mind is a little bit diffrent, which lets you see things others can't. Like how something in my mind is a little bit diffrent which lets me walk through dreams, and something in Kim's mind is a little bit diffrent which lets her move things with out touching them, or like how something in Judy's brain is a little bit diffrent so that she can do calculus in her head. It's not madness to be diffrent...."

"But how could Gabriel make it stop?" Ariel asked, hands twining around each other nervously again.

"I'm not sure," Shin admitted. "It could be the coldness, it could be something else. Something he does makes it so that whatever it is that's diffrent that lets you see your mother can't work."

Ariel looked down. His hands had stopped moving. "In the Alliance," he said softly, "there are Children who are used for their power. Another who has power can steal from the Child and use it for himself. Gabriel-- my brother had a Child, but the boy killed himself." The redhead's hands shook. His voice sounded near tears. "Is that all I was to my brother?"

"I don't know..." Shin answered honestly.

Ariel buried his face in his hands. "Nothing is certain anymore, Shin," he said, voice muffled. "Before, I just had to follow my brother, but now even that is unsure.... I don't know what I should do."

Shin hesitated a moment. "You should come with me," he said softly. "Come back to campus with me and have your debate with Dallas," he smiled. "And see if you want to stay..."

Ariel peeked at him through gloved fingers. Finally he nodded. "I will," he said softly.
 
 
 
 

"I thought you were going to going to work with him?" Jack asked as he stepped out of the shadows of the hallway to peer over Aralu's shoulder.

Aralu gestured at the room. "Listen to them. This is more than worth waiting half an hour."

Jack leaned towards the closed door, listening. After a moment, his eyebrow went up. "Are they... debating the nature of soul and the afterlife...?" he asked, looking at Aralu in disbeleif.

Aralu nodded, making further notes in the book in front of her. "I'm assuming Shin asked Ariel what he was reading from what it sounded like when I got here. Then Shin started arguing back."

Jack's other eyebrow rose. "And Ariel kept going? That's amazing!" he comented, barely remembering to keep his voice low. "How long have they been going on, do you think?" He paused a moment. "Two hours, according to the insides," he answered himself. "Since a little after Shinkou woke up. I got Kajiro's Threes writing it all out now."

Aralu shook her head. "Ariel Versailles holding a conversation for two hours. Who even thought he could hold one for two minutes?"

"Being he never said more than two sentances at a time anytime he was here, I don't think anyone." Jack grinned. "Walking force of chaaaaaange," he taunted, jabbing Aralu lightly in the arm with his elbow.

"Stop it, you," Aralu said lightly. "We had to leave the boy alone so much because of his royal annoyance that it only figures that he'd take up with Ariel. Ariel's the only other person who was being ignored."

"And this discredits the fact that Ariel's talking more in two hours then he's spoken his entire life time?" Jack smirked.

"Shin's showing an interest. More than anyone else ever has." Suddenly her eyes narrowed. "Hopefully Ariel's friendship is all he's interested in...."

Jack looked at her quizitivly. "As oposed to...?"

"Shin's gay, Jack. Tell me you remember that. You cried when you had to write it in his book."

Jack made a face. "I did not," he defended.

"If you had tear ducts you would have," Aralu said airily.

"Hey, I minic a human male body perfectly with this form," Jack defended, sounding mildly insulted. "I even have working intestines and blood vessles! Of course I have tear ducts!"

Aralu patted the man's shoulder. "Of course you do, Jack," she said tolerantly. "Just like you have working testicles. I remember the one date you went on."

"Hey, they were physicaly perfect!" Jack pouted. "And I fixed that so they do work right now!"

"Yes, dear, now hush. I'm eavesdropping."

Jack pouted, then stuck his tounge out at Aralu before vanishing back into the shadows again.
 
 

"So, are you ready to work, young one?" Aralu said in greeting as she pushed open Shin's door.

Shin looked up, giving a small smile. "Un," he nodded. "But I had a question. Well, actualy, more like an idea I'd like to run by you. You said you wanted me here because I needed sheilding while I was learning how to work my ablity, right? But since I keep having to go back and forth to campus everyday for things, I was wondering if it would make more sence to set up sheilding down there as well, and I could just come up here for lessons? Or you could come down to campus for them?"

"You want to leave now that I finally have the time to work with you properly? Ungreatful pig."

Shin blinked, a bit taken aback at the insult. "I'm not saying I wouldn't take lessons..." he said, sounding abit uncomfortable. "It's just..." he hesitated a moment. "There are things I can do there that I can't do here. And Kim.... And I talked to Mrs F about Ariel moving into campus and she said it would be fine and we were talking about him working with Maggie...."

"The shields here have been built up over centuries, Shin. I can't slap them up like they're made of plaster."

"But you can do something so that we can go home, right?" Shin asked, tone almost pleeding. "I've got it mostly undercontroll, right? It's not going to cause anything to go horrible wrong if I sleep in my own bed, is it?"

"If you can impress me enough with your personal barriers I'll consider it. So that's what we're going to work on now."

Shin nodded, shifting slightly in his chair to be more comfortable.
 

When they broke for lunch, Aralu was frowning. "You're farther along than I'd expect you to be," she said. "Are you sure you're not doing things you oughtn't?"

"Like what...?" Shin asked, blinking at her in confusion as he sat on a low tree branch.

"You're doing things without seeming to know you are, and that's something that an amateur can never do. I mean, I commented the other day on leaving with only a stuffed animal to watch you, and you have a home security system with an alarm and camera in there."

Shin rubbed the back of his neck in mild embrassement. "I figured visualization in a dream is half the battle and went from there," he explained. "Shiroi helped."

"And you don't seem at all loose. Most people learning - or relearning - how to Dream have trouble staying in one piece. Bits of your mind want to be doing different things so they always seem scattered. You're just as solid there as you are here."

Shin blinked. "Gij is never scattered when I've visting over there... Or is that because I'm doing the Dreaming there too?" he asked curously, feet swaying back and forth a bit.

"It's probably because he's focussed on you. That boy has an ability to focus like most people never achieve."

"When I'm not battling exaustion, I can consentrate pretty well too," Shin pointed out. "And since I don't have to worry about being tired here, that might be it?" he sugested.

"That's another thing. Mental exersion is just as tiring as physical exersion and you seem better than you did when we started."

"This doesn't feel like exerision, though," Shin pointed out. "It's like... almost like playing a game, almost. Once you get the hang of it and start getting good, it's real easy and kinda exelerating. And I can actualy DO things here." He hopped down from the tree branch, gently floating to the ground. "Everything when I'm awake is always so exausting that being in a place where I can do what I want without worrying about my back or being in pain is almost like-- like being on those caffeene pills they tried me on, but without the side effects and frustration."

"Shin, you know how when you try something new it tires you out faster than anything else no matter what? It's like you've skipped that part. Your dreaming is a new muscle for you, but it's as toned as if you've been benchpressing with it for years."

"It doesn't feel like a muscle..." the boy said softly, leaning back agaist the tree and looking up through the branches at the sunlight that was filtering through the green canopy above. "It's more like riding a bike. Once you know how to, even if you don't for years, you still remember how and can pick it up like you never stopped."

Aralu shook her head. "What do you want for lunch?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Maggy said she was going to make something special when we came down. Sort of a welcoming thing for Ariel," the boy smiled, looking back over at her. "She's all happy at the idea of having someone helping her out in the kitchen volentarily," he laughed.

"You know, when I was young Helena always told me that there were people who would literally kill for any food at all. What are you turning your nose up at?"

Shin blinked at her in confusion.

"Is there something wrong with the food we have here?" Aralu demanded.

Shin looked a bit taken back. "I never said there was..." he said in a small voice. "It's just..." he hesitated a moment, trying to find the words. "It's like how your mother's cooking will always be better than any place you go out because your mother made it," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "And Ariel doesn't trust anything that he doesn't know where everything in it came from...."

"Ariel may not hallucinate but that doesn't mean that he's sane. There's nothing wrong with the food here."

Shin gave a small shrug. "He gives a very good argument." He made a small gesture, pulling a large stack of papers from mid air. "He's done alot of reseach on it, and he managed to actualy find a few peice of it in the library," he said, shifting the pile into a small bound volume, which he handed to Aralu. "Just because he has a diferent opinion doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's talking about," he said softly.

Aralu scowled. "And for everything he knows, I can find chapter and verse to prove the opposite. No matter what he says."

Shin gave a little, almost impish smile. "I dare you to."

Aralu sighed. "Get out of here already. You're coming back after lunch and I'm going to work you into a stupor this afternoon."

Shin nodded was a smile before fading to the waking world.
 
 
 

"What now?" Hawk asked as Aralu entered, not looking up from under the hood of a rather old looking car.

"I need someone to harrass and you're an easy target. What're you doing?"

The man paused, turning to half glare at her. "Trying to rebuild an engine, what does it look like?" he replied, tone abit irratated. "You don't have any more deserving schmucks to annoy that it's got to be me?" he asked, arms crossing.

Aralu pretended to think for a moment, crossing her arms and putting a finger up to her chin. "No," she said cheerfully after a moment. "Get used to it."

Hawk muttered something under his breath before turning back to the truck. "So any idea when Shin's comeing back?"

"He's having lunch with his baby girl right now."

"Good. She's been getting worse at night. Past two I got paged to come down because she was refusing to go to bed unless Shin was there to keep her nightmares away." He sighed, shaking his head. "And between that and the freaking religous nutcases, I can't get any real work done. Not that I mind being there for Kim or anything, but everything going so damned weird it's just one more thing, ya know?"

"Religious nutcases?"

"It's like every few hours another group pops up. This freaking messiah rumour just..." He sighed, putting down the wrench and running a hand through his hair. "They have the WEIRDIST ideas, ya know? And they keep doing this 'Ooh, it's the messaiah! It's the wolf that's always a man!' and then theyt start freaking groveling!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "Takes me five minutes to get them to just get up and shut up!"

"Bark at them," Aralu said, amused.

Hawk gave her a glare. "Har, har, har," he deadpanned.

"Threaten them with a wrench?" Aralu suggested, chuckling.

"Did with a few. Some of them were trying to camp out in here. Would you beleive that all the hotels with in ten miles are full?"

Aralu whistled. "You're doing wonders for the local economy, Hawk. Be proud."

"Like I give a crap about that," the man muttered under his breath. "I've got two fatherless families shareing the house and a small group of kids up in the loft. It's a shit load of presure, ya know? This people are looking to me for some sort of mirical."

"So give them one," Aralu said with a shrug.  "You're not exactly Joe Average Guy."

Hawk raised an eyebrow at her.

"Between your mother's visions, your metal work, and the fact that they ARE looking up to you, you're definitely a special guy."

Hawk fidgeted slightly. "That doesn't mean I can pull a mirical out of my ass," he half mumbled. "And Ma's visions don't play into this."

"Visions play into everything, whether we want them to or not.  And anything you can do for them they'll see as a miracle.  Don't sit there thinking you have to make the sky pink and the bunnies sit up and beg to be eaten or anything like that."

"But I have no idea what TO do, ya know? Unless you know of another lab I can go blow the shit out of or something..."  He ran his hand through his hair again.

"Take them hunting.  Teach them knife fighting.  They're wolves."

"I can't take a wad of 200 people out to go hunting, ya know. Haven't even had time to take Faolan out, with everthing going on. It's like--" He paused a moment, noticing a timid shape at the door. "Something happen, Jake?" he asked, voice conserned.

"Mail came for you, sir," the young man said politely, entering the workshop.

"I told you, drop the formal stuff," Hawk half sighed, walking over. "Just Hawk is fine, kay?"

The young man nodded, holding out the letter. "I'll try, s-- Hawk," he corrected.

"Aw, they fetch," Aralu said in amusement as the werewolf left.

Hawk gave her a death glare. "His little brother was in the group of kids from the first lab, he feels he owes me a life of servitude for rescuring him," he explained, rolling his eyes slightly. "Trying to convince him he doesn't is like convincing you to shut the hell up."

"You have a tough job there, then," Aralu giggled with a look that showed she was trying to seem commiserating.

Hawk muttered something under his breath before looking down at the letter and swearing. "And to add more to the mix..." he sighed, turning it over to open it.

"Who's it from?" Aralu asked, peeking over his shoulder.

"Mom," Hawk said, moving to sheild the letter as he read it. After a moment he gave a short, almost bitter laugh. "Little late, Ma!" he exclaimed.

"Let me see!" Aralu whined, grabbing for the letter.

"Geeze, what are you, three?!" Hawk exclaimed, lifting it up out of her reach.

Aralu hopped slightly.  "I'm a nosy person.  Let me see!"

"Ask nicely, or no way!"

Aralu made a face at him.  "Prithee, good sir, mayst I peruse yon scrap of correspondance that I might calm the fevers of my curiosity?"

Hawk gave her a disbeleiving look before shaking his head and holding it out. "I didn't say 'ask like you were at a renfest,' ya know..."

Aralu glanced through the letter and giggled.  "Just a little late. But that might have something to do with being sent by mail.  Since she knows where you live, why didn't she just bring the news here herself?"

"Because she's not sober yet. Or didn't you read that far down?"

"I'd think werewolves trump sobriety."

"Not if she can't tell what's a vision and what's the drug talking," Hawk said, tone irratated. "You wouldn't happen to know any rehab places that understand about the whole visions crap do you? Cause now her excuse is that she's afraid that they'll think she's insane."

"Ask the lady at the campus.  I tend to kidnap them."

"Might do her some good," Hawk muttered. "Then she couldn't cop out of it." He gave a long sigh. "At least she's asking about it now. Every other time she just brushed it off.  Guess it counts as an improvement."  He reached out, taking the letter back. "So, I take it that this what's his name overload dude is the 'Far away menasisng figure' that I'll eventualy be fighting with the usial rag tag group of heros that always show up in these things?"

"I'd say werewolves since it's you, Darkchylde," Aralu said, somehow managing to pronounce the y.

"You aren't allowed to call me that," the man glared, arms crossed. "Ma's the only one who gets away with it. And somehow I don't think it's just the werewolves," he said, looking over the letter. "Else she would have said something that they were all the same, or that there were millions of em or something. Here, see, it's '.. alongside other lights, a rainbow in colour alongside your dark fire,'" he read.

"Shin's gay," Aralu said flippantly.  "Maybe he's showing his rainbow pride."

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with Ma seeing a group in rainbow lights? And isn't he a cripple? Kinda not idea when you're haveing a battle..."

"He's also a powerful Dreamer.  Good to have on your side in a fight."

"Not on a battlefeild though. Though Ma's probally being more symbolic than anything. Either way, they aren't all him." He gave a sigh. "I should to talk to Mrs. F about rehab places and give Ma a call. Hate feeling like I'm just... using her for info though."

"Do you want her to be sober?" Aralu asked.

"Of course!"

"Then you're not using her."

"For the vision thing, I am," Hawk half muttered, tone uncomfortable.

"You want her to be sober so you can stand to be near her.  You'd like to have her visions to poke at as well, but that's just extra.  You're not using her."

The man toyed with the wrench in his hand, not looking over at her. "Is it a bad thing that I'm already seeing this in terms of tatics for war?" he asked after a long moment, tone almost soft.

"Good!  At least someone will be prepared when it hits."

Hawk looked up. "Shit, you mean it's actualy gonna happen?" he asked, grip on the wrench tightening.

"Hopefully not, but Omadon's got a lot of power.  If it stays only the werewolves it won't come to that.  If anyone else gets involved, and I think they will....  Omadon won't go down without something big."

Hawk gave a slow exhale. "I was kinda hoping for an easy 'Go in, off the bad guy, and get out' sorta thing," he admitted unhappily. "Ya know, blow up a few more labs, some how assasinate the head schmuck and everyone's happy and free again."

"He has a cult of personality.  Communism didn't go away because Stalin died."

"Yeah, I know. Never that easy," Hawk sighed again, running a hand through his bangs before looking back down at the letter. "Wonder if Ma's one of the lights..." he almost whispered.

"Only one way to find out," Aralu pointed out with an almost kind smile.

Hawk sighed. "Yeah. I know."
 
 
 

"Ok, Dad.  What's the most important thing that you haven't told me about Shin?" Aralu asked, stalking into the library.

"That is an unanserably wide quiry, my daughter," Kajiro replied, pen at his desk stilling. "What catagory of inquiry are you looking for?"

"The thing that ~I~ would find most important."

The Shadow gave a chucken. "Again, a most wide inquiry, with referance to your curiosity."

"The most important having to do with his powers, then.  THIS time!"

There was a moments hesitation. "To put it in the most plain way possible... He has already surpassed the ability of all of his generational line, and may very soon surpass the combined ablity of all of his ansestors. He also is already displaying ablities that are rather unusial for a regular dream walker." There was another pause. "There is speculation that if his growth is not impeeded, he may very well become the most powerful dream walker who has come to maturity since before the Aliance began."

Aralu rested her head in her hands.  "Dad, if he's becoming the next Dream king, why can't you just tell me!"

"While it is a strong possiblity, there are too many factors to declare it will be. It has been centuries since the last king of Dreaming emerged from a human conciousness, as the last one expired before chooseing an heir, due to the same decree that keeps the elder Gods in stasis."

Aralu made a face.  "Omadon cares so much for his power that he stomps on things he cannot control," she muttered.

"Thus is the way of all dictoatorships," Kajiro agreed. "The Dreaming is a realm that touches all, yet cannot be touched by those who cannot walk its ways. Omadon is a being of flesh, and thus, cannot even comprehend it.  Your father is looking at Shinkou's development with keen intrest, as are many other of the Astral. To prematurly declaire Shinkou the next Dreaming King could be very unwise."

"There's a difference between warning me that trying to run him ragged won't work and declaring that if you dream you'd better have a passport, Dad...."

The darkness of the Shadow shifted around in confusion. "I fear your metafor has not the proper translaton in my working knowlage."

Aralu sighed.  "Shinkou Tensou.  Does not get tired when working on dreaming.  This makes my work getting him to pay attention to me and be careful difficult.  If I'd known about it, I would have been able to do something about it before it became a problem."

"I do not beleive any changes should be made in how his lessons are to go," Kajiro said, pen slowly rotating in an almost distracted measure. "Unless you can do more to further the speed of his growth. Time has... become something that I must consern myself with, I fear."

Aralu blinked.  "Dad?" she asked in concern.  "What's wrong?"

"The Great Wolf Spirit of the werewolf religions has begun reviving."

Aralu relaxed again.  "If you're talking about the werewolves thinking that Hawk's the messiah...."

"Beleif has returned to their God, and with it, It has begun to grow in power once more, and the rest of the Elder Gods have taken notice." The pen continued slowly twirling. "This is not a devlopment I had expected to occure with in this time span."

"So we now not only have werewolves running around smiting scientists for the good of the pack and their lord Hawk Valdis, we have gods waking up and looking for someone to bring them coffee and the newspaper?"

"You may see that as a valid comparason, yes," Kajiro said slowly. "When a God asks for someone to bring Him His morning ritural, there is often quite a ripple within the human population. When many elder Gods start activly reaching out to the human realm at the same time, those small ripples become a great wave, and those who are aware of these actions will seak to move before the wave begins to break." The pen began rotating the other direction.  "I have been asked if I will suport the vampires in their breaking away from the Aliance. This is the time where they are strongest, as faith in the old Gods has not yet returned, and faith in the Alliance has begun to crumble."

"So are you going to help them?"

There was a short peroid of silence as the pen turned. "None shall be deniled the shelter of the Shadows," he finaly said, voice rather soft.

Aralu blinked again.  "You're really helping them?  Dad, are you feeling ok?"

The Shadow gave a soft chuckle. "There is a long history between myself and the vampires. They have always in the past been able to call upon the Shadows for shelter from the sun.  It would be... breaking of that long standing agreement to deny them this protection when they seak to break the chains of the Aliance.  Does it suprise you, this deviation from my passive watching and recording?"

"Yes," Aralu said plainly.  "I've never known you to act on anything within the same century that it happens.  I'm obviously the exception because I nag you until you pay attention to me.  But that you would actually put yourself out, no matter how passively, is outside my previous experience of you, Dad.  You're breaking character."

Another soft chuckle. "Ironic, that observation. It would suprise you, my daughter, that to many, these past centuries have been my break of character. I do wonder if perhaps, with the rest of the old Gods begining to revive, the time has come for my own revival is comeing at hand." There was a small peroid of silence as the pen continued to move. "It is, however, the first time that I shall have consern for the welfare of those more mortal than I in my mind as I plot my actions. This worries me greatly."

"I can take care of the mortals, Dad," Aralu said, smiling affectionately at the Shadow.  "Plot to your heart's content."

"You are one I fear the most far, I confess, as you are the one I am most close to."

Aralu's smile deepened.  "I love you too, Dad," she said softly.  "You know my father won't let anything kill me."

"He would be quite perturbed if something caused your end before he felt the need for a representative in the physical world had also ended," Kajiro agreed. "Though I think he need for a physical avatar will extend far past the end of the Alaince. So, how are you finding Shinkou's training to progress?" he asked, chaning the subject.

"Almost too fast," Aralu answered with a sigh.  "He does things without realizing he's doing it or understanding why.  That could make things messy later.  Dreaming is a talant that's easy to lose control of if you don't have it right from the start, and I'm not sure if he does right now."

"Dreaming for him seems like breathing is to you, is it not?" Kajiro asked. "Has he shown any signs of loosing controll? Any inpermanance in his structure?"

"Not yet," Aralu admitted.  "But he's taking the advice of a mental construct and not thinking about things.  His wards still bother me."

"The construct left by his father, the wolf? It advises him? Most facinating..." The pen had resumed its writing. "What about his wards are troublesome?"

Aralu thought a moment before answering.  "They're just kind of there.  They aren't a part of his structure but a slapdash addition because I told him he needed them.  They feel lax.  I'm sure the alarm would go off and the camera would take a picture, but that won't necessarily stop anyone from getting in."

"Have you informed him of this?"

"Yes.  He said he'd work on it.  The way everything else has been going, I expect that next time I'm training him I won't be able to get in until he takes them down again.  And that's the lack of control that worries me the most."

"It seems not so much of a lack of controll, but a lack of awareness," Kajiro mused. "He is just now discovering and exploring his newly relased ablities and may not realize how strong his reactions to things are. And no disrespect intended to you, my daughter, but if even you cannot get into his Dream, then would not his defences be quite proper?"

"As long as HE can get through them they're fine," Aralu muttered.

"Quite a correct view, and as I have not year heard of any instance of a Dreamer locking him or herself out of his own mind without bringing his or her keys, I would say it is a safe assumption."

Aralu chuckled, smiling at Kajiro again.  "Yes, Dad," she agreed, blowing a kiss to the Shadow.

"And it may please you to know, the Zeros who have been observing our dear aquantance Gabriel Versails have reported that his controll and ability levels continue to slowly sink, and he has had no luck or respect in his investigation of the IL labs as of yet.  I have... a bit of a wager going on with a few of the Astral as to the reaction if another lab were to fall in a maner diffrent that the first two and was wondering if you would be so kind as to pass the sugestion on."

Aralu chuckled again.  "I have just the person for the job.  He's jumpy as a jackrabbit already."

"A good stress release for the savior of the werewolves?" Kajiro replied with a humorous tone. "It still is astounding to me that no one has made any note of the large migration of them to this area. They truely are invisable to the Aliance's blinders."

"If you don't have a certain type of showy power you're not there."  Aralu thought a moment.  "Or a father who could kill everyone without even thinking about it.  If that wouldn't make his meals go away."

"Amusingly, I have heard many a rumour that your father is nothing but a boast.  It will bring me great joy when he once again lets himself be known."

"I'm sure it will bring him great joy as well.  Terror was always his favorite meal."

"It makes me glad that you do not share such tastes," Kajiro replied.

"After being raised by you?" Aralu asked in amusement.  "I find a good book suits my taste more than terror.  Blood makes it so hard to read."

The Shadow gave a fond laugh. "And it makes for poor ink," he agreed. "And it would appear Shinkou is ready for his evening training.  I assume that you will be giving him premission to return back to the school for his nights?"

Aralu sighed noisily.  "We'll see how much trouble he gets into tonight.  Other than not doing things by halves, there's no reason for me to keep him here exclusively anymore."

"Placing him back in his home environment may also be a good exersize in judging how he interacts now that his ablity is growing." There was a pause. "I have told the Zeros to report to me if he begins sleeping more than normal. With his physical condition, there is a large possiblity that he may unconciously want to escape from his injuries, which may account for part of his rapid acceleration."

Aralu sighed.  "It might.  He's said that he likes it better in the Dream where he can do things that he can't in real life."

The Shadow almost seemed to knod. "That may be best."
 
 

There was something that sounded like a knock on the door in his Dream.

Shin startled slightly, getting to his feet. "Who is it?" he asked, carefuly approching the door. It didn't feel familar at all...

The door opened slightly and a small girl, perhaps ten, peeked in.  Her eyes lit up as she saw Shin.  "You're here!  You're really here!" she exclaimed, coming fulling into the room and clapping her hands excitedly.

The boy blinked in confusion. "Erm..." he stammered. "Who-- who are you?"

"I'm Leila," the girl said, dropping a curtsy.  "And I'm a Dreamer too, but nothing like as strong as you are, sir.  You're so cool!"

This didn't abate Shin's confusion the slightest. "I... Has there been a mistake? I-- I've only been able to Dream a few days, I'm not very strong at all at it!" he protested.

"My Daddy said I shouldn't bother you in case you got mad or told someone about us, but there you were and without all those fences in the way, so I decided to come over to be neighborly."  The way she said it showed that she had heard it from someone before.  "I brought a cake.  But it's not very good.  I can't make cake right yet.  Daddy says I'm too young."  She produced a cake out of thin air.  It was somewhat lopsided and partially frosted.

"Told someone about you?" Shin repeated with utter befuddlement, carefuly catching the cake before it wobbled out of the girl's hand and setting it down on a newly formed table. "What fences?"

"There were fences that would have been really hard to get past and people would know I was here," the girl said matter-of-factly.  "But now they're gone!  So I came to see you and see what you looked like, and gee, you're not at all old like my Daddy.  He thought you must be old like him because of how you're so strong and everything."

"But I'm not strong," Shin protested again. "Didn't I have sheilding up?" he asked, almost worriedly.

"There's a lock on the door and stuff, but it's not like all the fences and pitbulls that were there before."  The girl sat on Shin's bed, kicking her legs.  "Do you always ask silly questions?  I have a big brother.  He asks all kinds of silly questions, but then when I laugh at him he pulls my hair."  She pouted.

"...Pitbulls?" Shin repeated with a small smile. "And I won't pull your hair, promice," he assured, sitting down next to her.

The girl beamed up at him.  "My brother said you'd be a stuck up prig, but Mummy said you were probably a nice man.  Daddy thought that you must be part of the Alliance since you weren't hidden at all well like we are."

Shin nearly grimiced. "No, no I'm definatly not part of that," he assured. "... Though I think the woman who's helping me is, I'm not sure," he mused aloud. "Hidden how?" he asked, curiously. "And the sheilds weren't hiding me before?"

Leila's eyes widened.  "So that means that you're a Child, then?" she asked.  "I should go home immediately.  If you're a Child then Daddy's right and you'll tell people about us!"

"Eh? Child?" Shin repeated in confusion. "But I'm twenty two..."

"You're not at all like Daddy said Alliance Children were," Leila said.  "And everyone knows that most Alliance Children don't get to be Dreamers.  But you're so powerful that maybe they thought they might as well."  She bit her lip.  "But if you work for an Alliance member then you must be!"  She jumped to her feet and dashed to the door, then paused and turned, curtseying.  "Ever so nice to meet you."

"W--wait!" Shin exclaimed, getting up again. "I don't work for anyone... Aralu's just giving me lessions so I don't hurt somebody by not knowing what I'm doing," he explained. "I'm not even really too sure what this Aliance thing is past some sort of bully's club house..."

"Really?" Leila asked, easily pacified.  She trotted back over to him.  "You don't know much, then.  I thought everyone who was a Dreamer knew about the Alliance!  Mummy makes sure that no one ever suspects us.  And she tends the goats.  Daddy keeps us hidden from everyone and runs the rest of the farm.  My brother doesn't do anything except play rap music in his room and write bad poetry and smoke things that smell very bad.  And I take care of the chickens!"  She beamed.

"I haven't been able to Dream since before my parents died," Shin explained. "It got sealed so that nothing bad would happen until I could get taught. Why do you have to hide?"

"Oh!  I thought EVERYONE knew that!" Leila exclaimed.  "We need to hide so that the Alliance won't find us and make us Children and do horrible things to us."

"How can someone make you a child?" Shin asked, confused.

"You're silly," Leila said with a giggle.  "Not a child like meeeee!  A Child like Daddy was, where you can't do anything and you're sleepy all the time because they're taking all your power and you can't do anything at all and if you try you get hurt."  She nodded.  "Daddy got away because Mummy and her family helped him.  But we haven't been able to help anyone 'cause they're so much harder to get to now."

Shin stared. "That-- that's what Ariel ment..." he said softly, mostly to himself in shock. "That--- that's horrible...!"

A small hand slipped into his.  "So I'm glad that you're not one.  Because you're really cool."

Shin blinked down at her a moment before giving a small smile. "Thank you."

"And maybe since you're so strong YOU can go and find the Children that we can't!" Leila exclaimed, bouncing a few times.

"Eh?" Shin asked in confusion. "How?"

"Well, because they're all hidden like we are so they can't do anything.  But you're all strong so you should be able to find them even if they're tied up and thrown in closets!"  She tugged at Shin's hand to pull him down to her level so she could whisper, "Daddy says that they did that to him once."

Shin's eyes went wide. "That's horrible...!" he exclaimed. "But-- I-- I don't know how to find someone I don't know yet.... How would I look for them?"

"Don't you know that?" Leila asked.  "I thought every Dreamer knew that!"

"I've only been able to dream for the last few days, there's alot of things I don't know," Shin explained.

"Oh."  Leila blinked a few times, then tugged him to the door.  "You just open the door and look for stars."  She peered out.  "Look!  There's one!  I think that's Daddy!"  She waved.

"How can you tell? There's so many of them..." Shin stared at the sky he hadn't even know was outside his door, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. "And Aralu said I shouldn't go out without leaving a gaurd... a real one and not just Shiroi..."

"I have a lock on my door.  It's a really good one!  And I unroll a thread back to me so I can find my way home again."  She pointed, and Shin saw a thread vanishing off into the distance.  "It's not really as far as all that, it just looks that way."  She looked around.  "Do you see that little one there that you can barely see?  That's a Child.  They do things so that Children aren't as bright as they should be.  You're really bright, though!"

Shin looked at the barely there twinkle in a distracted way. Almost unconciously he reached out towards it, keeping one foot firmly in his door way as he closed his eyes, arm streaching.

There was a breif flicker of something, a three second contact that was almost frantic and scared before it abruptly cut off.

Shin opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. "He woke up... Did-- do you think I startled him? I just tried knocking..." He bit his lip, nervously.

Leila clapped her hands.  "You can reach them!  You really are strong!  Even Daddy can't reach them and he's as strong as anything 'cause he's Daddy."

"So you found me this way?" Shin asked, looking down at the girl. "By looking out at the stars?"

Leila nodded vigorously.  "I have some friends, but Daddy doesn't let me go out much because of the Alliance."  She pouted slightly.

"The Alliance can get here too?" Shin asked, suddenly nervous. An almost invisable bubble rippled out around them, protecting them both as well as his doorway.

"If they know that there are Dreamers around they have ways to find their magic if it's not hidden."  She snuggled close against his side.  "But I think they'd be scared of how strong you are!"

Shin gave a small smile, reminded of Kim as he put his arm around the girl. "But I'm not that strong," he protested. "And certinly not anything I think anyone would ever be afraid of," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Unless I get angry, but I try not to."

Leila blinked up at him.  "You're very very very strong," she said solemnly.  "Like how the sun is all big and strong and stars are little dots.  Looking at you can almost blind people."

"Really...?" Shin blinked at her in confusion. "But I can't do anything much, I'm still just learning..."

"That doesn't mean you're not strong," the girl pointed out.

"I... I guess..."

"Leila!"

Shin looked up as a rather worried looking man ran towards them. Almost unconciously, the barrier lowered to let him in.

"Daddy!" Leila crowed, launching herself at the man.  "This is....  Goodness!  I never got your name!"

"Shin," the boy introduced with a small boy. "Shin Tensou."

"This is Shin, Daddy.  He's not a Child at all.  But he can reach them!  He really can!"  She bounced a few times, expression begging her father to not be angry at her.

"You shouldn't have come here," the man said severely.  He looked up at Shin.  "I'm sorry she bothered you.  We should be going."

"She wasn't a bother," Shin assured with a smile. "Just a bit confusing. I hadn't realized..." he trailed off, looking up at the stary sky, feeling abit overwhelmed.

"Well, if you're not a Child you should get yourself hidden very quickly, boy.  It's dangerous for Dreamers out there."

"I'm afraid I don't know how," Shin admitted, a bit nervously. "I thought I had sheilded but if Leila found me..." he trailed off.

"You were better hidden before with all the wards you were behind.  So many blankets smothering you, you were hardly seen.  Now you're like a lamp going on next to my eyes you're so bright."

"He made the pitbulls go aWAY, Daddy!"

"Hush," the man said, pulling the girl a little closer.  "There's more to shielding yourself than making sure nothing can get in your head when you're gone."

"I'm... not in the same place I was before," Shin explained, wringing his hands slightly. "How... how do you make sheilds that hide you?"

"Pull a lampshade down around your power.  Or a blanket.  Something that will block all the light from escaping."  The man smiled slightly.  "It's hard first getting safe, but it's necessary for someone with our powers, especially someone of your strength."

Shin nodded, closing his eyes in consentration as he tried to visualise what the man had said.

There was almost an audible sound as the light from Shin's room was curtained away.

"Very good," the man said with a nod.  "You learn very quickly, but I'd expect that...."

"Expect it...?" Shin repeated, sounding a bit nervous again.

"Nevermind," the man said.  "We should head back."

"But-- but I want to stay and plaaaaay!" Leila wailed.

Her father looked sternly down at her.  "I told you not to come here.  You must be punished for disobeying."

Leila's lower lip wobbled.

Shin bit his lip, "Don't--  She-- she didn't do anything wrong," he interjected. "She-- she was going to go back home but I asked her to stay," he admitted, looking down a little. "I haven't really met anyone else who could dreamwalk since I was little. She wasn't a bother at all, really!"

"She shouldn't have come here without permission," her father said.  "It can be dangerous doing that.  If you were part of the Alliance, or a plant...."  His arm tightened around Leila's shoulders.  "Thank you for defending her."

Shin gave a small smile before croching down to be at eye level with the girl. "Next time listen to your father, okay?" he said kindly. "You have to be careful."

Leila flung her arms around him.  "But I want to come back and see you!" she said.

"If Mr Tensou says it's ok, you can come and practice with him another night.  But we have to go home now, Leila."

Shin hugged her gently. "It's fine with me," he smiled. "If I'm studying, the pitbulls will be back up, since I go to the Castle for that.  Other than that, just knock."

Leila beamed up at him.  "Ok, then!  I'll see you soon!"  Taking her father's hand again, she waved vigorously as they left.

Shin waved as they vanished from view before giving a deep sigh and looking up at the sky again. There were so many things he was going to have to ask Aralu about tomorrow...