The sky outside was dreary and gray, a thunderstorm was on its way. Pheonix Goldwing, a 19 year old freshman at Keaton University found himself at the mall for some strange reason.

Pheonix's skin was a dark brown color, a shade of almond, but not dark enough to be chocolate. His shoulder-length hair were in his traditional cornrows: braids that hung down the back of his head. Pheonix's hair was dyed multiple colors. A few strands red, a couple blue, some white, a few purple, and even a dash of yellow or pink here and there. He had been experimenting with different colors and never really bothered to wash the dye out, so it has stayed in his hair.

He shook the beads of moisture from his umbrella with a quick flick of his wrist. The umbrella was black with a flame design on it. Just like the rest of his outfit. He wore a plain black, short sleeved shirt. His leather jacket, with several pockets, had small chains attached to them that dangled down and jingled when he walked. His pants were more covered in metal. They were black cargo pants, decorated with (the last time he bothered counting) 17 pockets. Most of them weren't even pockets and were just flaps that appeared to be pockets. They also had chains dangling from them, but criss-crossed around in a spiderweb like pattern before the other end became attached to either a belt loop or another pocket. His pants also had flame designs up the side.

You could call him counter-cultural. He didn't care what other people said when they saw him. He was black but loved punk rock. He didn't see a problem with that. Basically dragging the umbrella along the tile floor after him, he began into the mall.

"Why the hell am I here?" he asked himself. Looking around the brightly colored corridor. "Too many bright colors for me..." he whispered. He stopped looking around long enough to notice that the mall was quite crowded despite the fact that the echoes of thunder could be heard clearly.

This was his chance. Maybe he could find someone to hang out with. His eyes quickly searched the small crowds of people but no one really stood out to him. He just cleared his throat and continued walking, his umbrella still dragging on the floor behind him...

Deg stood in the mall, his reasons for being there rather fatherly and somewhat out of his natural character. Damn fatherly instincts to hell. Probably because he liked to watch people. It'd gotten to the point where he'd decided that Raven had to be in Bayfield and that eventually they would accidentally cross paths. Until then, he would wait calmly, while watching his little sister and her little group of friends. Degla made no secret of his presence to the fourteen year old. Actually, he'd much rather have those boys in the group knowledgeable of his presence.

That’s the difference between a father and a brother. A brother would rather spy and catch the kid sibling in the act, there in getting them in trouble for doing something wrong. A father would rather make his presence known, allowing and forcing the person or persons in question that he was there and watching and there in prevents whatever it is the brother is waiting to catch in action before the action ever occurs.

The man stood leaning on one of the tall support columns in the hall, one shoulder against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other, and his arms crossed over his chest. His hair was flaming red, as were his eyebrows, and at a length that was just too short to pull completely back but long enough to make a low ponytail with many stray strands around the face. His face was narrow and thin, hansom even as was his body. His clothing hung on his frame loosely in a way. His eyes were sunken a bit, blue, but they were glazed, as if he were thinking of other things, as if his mind were somewhere else.

His clothing consisted of a pair of heavy black boots. They weren't very tall, only coming slightly above the ankles. They were laced, like normal boots, with one strap over the ankles, the entire strap covered in silver studs. His plain black jeans were long and baggy all the way around and they sat perfectly on his hips with a studded belt wrapped around that slim waist. The pants were tucked into the top of the boots and he wore a white shirt. It was a tight, white, short sleeved under shirt and over the under shirt was a button-up black shirt with dueling dragons in red print. The shirt was worn unbuttoned. The red looked dulled next to his natural red hair. From his belt loop hung a set of keys that jingled against his leg as he moved and a single long wallet chain running to his back pocket.

He, unlike the other who had just entered, was neither dark skinned (quite the opposite actually) nor had he come to ‘hang out.’ He was attending to some unwanted chaperone business. And his odd blue eyes were gazing emptily at the store in front of him.

Pheonix listened to the bell-like jingling of his chains that nearly drowned out the sound of his heavy foot steps and the sound of the umbrella dragging against the tile floor.

He was thin, but not too thin. Only slightly muscular. He wasn't very tall, either. About 5 foot seven or so. He scratched at his pierced eyebrow before a yawn forced its way out of his mouth. He allowed the yawn to open his mouth wide until he remembered that he was in public.

He couldn't let anybody see his pointed teeth. They were dangerous even to him. If he moved his tongue in the wrong direction, his tongue would surely bleed from scratching against them.

He looked around and hoped no one saw the tiny daggers.

No... He wasn't a vampire.

Another thing that he didn't want many people to see were his ears. They were pointed and narrow, but the earring that dangled from each didn't make it seem that way.

No... He wasn't an elf.

A distortion of air followed him as he walked. It was a swirling of pale green air that sparkled in the dimmest of light. There weren't many who could see it and those who did see it believed that it was just a trick of light. But if Pheonix stood still, the swirling air would make his chains jingle ever so slightly.

Pheonix was a Dryad... a forest nymph if you would. But only partly so. He was half-human and half-dryad. Able to speak to and hear the voices of plants and some animals. He could even fly if he wanted to. But he was in the world of "whole-humans" and he knew the strange beings would think he was crazy if they saw him talking to plants or animals... They would think the sharp teeth in his mouth were fake and ask him to take them out or question where he got them from... They would think he was deformed if they saw his ears without his earrings... They would believe he was other worldy if they saw the thin trail of pale green smoke that followed him...

That's why he hid himself. He still attended school, but he let no one know what he was. He never widely smiled to keep his teeth hidden. He would use his earring, a hood or his hair to conceal his ears. He would ignore the voices of plants that called out to him when "whole-humans" were around. It had been almost a year since the last time he flew.

He hated doing this, but he knew he had to. With "whole-humans", he didn't know what would happen if they found out.



Pheonix felt a pair of eyes on him and snapped out of his thoughts to look around. Standing about eight or nine yards away, leaning against a wall a short distance away from a group of kids that appeared younger than him, was a fairly tall man with red hair that rivaled the brightness and intensity of the design on his pants and umbrella.

His eyes were a deep blue and seemed to see right through Pheonix. For a few moments, the two stared each other down. The first thing that went through his mind was: Oh no! Does he know about me? He ran a finger over his ear to make sure they were still hidden beneath a braid or two. Can he see my 'trick of light'? Will he catch me and turn me in? Pheonix hesitated, stopping in the middle of the wide hall. He couldn't move. If he turned around and left, the man would surely think he's up to something.

Pheonix sighed and pushed the thought from his mind. "Don't get yourself scared... Don't sweat... Don't get nervous." He whispered to himself, trying to calm his heart down. He knew he was being ridiculous with his accusation of this stranger, but he tightened his grip on his umbrella, just in case he needed it.

Degla had heard the soft jingling and had turned to investigate the source of the sound. When his empty blue eyes landed on the young man, he held the stare for several breaths. Such a wonder, how many things can become known about a person by simply looking at them. Degla’s soulless eyes found fear in the other, fear of what? Fear of attack? Fear of eye contact? Fear of discovery? Yes. Degla’s eyes could see the shimmering about the other. And had he been a normal person, he probably would have shaken it for tricks of the light or a play of shadows. But Degla was not a normal person, far from it in fact. His mind worked differently, and though unninitiate to the world, other then his baby sister and another girl he’d once known, his mind would not dismiss the unusual but rather look for the true explination.

And then, had the other man not acted so suspiciously, the red-head would have never thought a second thing about him. But the other had been suspicious. But Degla did not have time for this boys possible nonsense. No. He was here to watch someone else. He’d been staring steadily at the other man, his gaze unwavering and enough to drive someone wild. But suddenly he slowly turned his face away from the young man. His gaze turned back to the group of young teenagers in the store, the red haired, pretty, freckle-nosed girl in particular.

Were the other to be up to something, Degla had all confidence it could be delt with without making too much of a mess. But he doubted it. He also doubted the other was a normal man…if fact, he did not believe the other was a man at all.

Pheonix sighed as the other man finally turned away, focusing his eyes on the group of younger teens a few yards away. His grip on his umbrella loosened so much that he nearly dropped it. The muscles in his arms and legs all relaxed and he was surprised at how tense he had been.

He picked up his umbrella so it wouldn't drag against the floor. "See...? What did I tell you?" he told himself in his mind. "Nothing to worry about..."

Pheonix closed his eyes as he finally began walking again.

"Look, there's one!" came a shout.

Pheonix gasped before looking in the direction of the sound and was relieved when all he saw was a group of potted plants lined up against the wall.

"You! Yes, you!" One of them said. "It's hard to believe the number of dryads that come into this teenage sanctuary... But you must be one of the only ones who hear us."

"You're boring him... Can you come over here? We need a favor."

Pheonix was about to walk the short distance over to them, when he remembered that people would find it strange that he was talking to them.

"No! I can't! No one can find out!" he practically screamed at them and backed away quickly before ramming into someone, sending both of them to the ground. "Great... Just great." he whispered when he noticed that people were beginning to stare worringly at him and he did his best to ignore the vulgar words shouted at him from the young woman he bumped into.

Degla's eyes darted away from his sister to the short distance from where the sound of what can only be described as 'comotion' came from. What expected to find was beyond him, but whatever it was, his mind had comprehended that it must have something to do with the suspicious young man. And of course, blue eyes saw that he was correct in asuming so because...well...it did.

He knew the kid was hiding something. He also knew that the comotion had drawn a lot of attintion to that specific area in the hall. His mind told him he did not care if attintion was on him, or his hidden wepons were found. Of course not. A sane careless man would be slightly nervous. An insane and careful man would not care. Also, his mind told him he didn’t care what was going on. But still, he was slightly curious. And so, the red head strode over, towards the woman and the young man.

Degla reached out with a strong hand and lifted the woman to her feet with ease while saying, “What took you so long?” He reached out and pulled the non-man to his feet, one hand on the kid’s collar, the other on his arm. He looked into his eyes, Degla’s blue eyes were piercing, haunted even, and they bore into the others eyes with such a command that it was impossible to ignore. Or maybe they didn’t look into the others eyes, the eyes looked through the others. They were full of an emptiness compared to nothing, almost as if soulless.

Catching the man’s gaze in his own cold stare, Degla continued to speak, directly to the boy. “I’ve been waiting for half an hour.” He sounded frustrated, a good actor. The tall man turned to the little crowd and the woman. “Forgive my friend; he’s a bit of a klutz.”

With that, Degla pulled the kid by both, the collar of his shirt and his arm, away from the crowd. One glance told him that Ronnie had used his curiosity in this other man to take leave from his watching. He swore. Then he looked at the kid he drug along, released his shirt and arm, and his eyes demanded an explanation. And from his appearance and his eyes, and from the way that he’d swept the kid out of the crowd, it was obvious that the explanation he expected had nothing to do with running into a woman and causing a scene.

Pheonix's heart was still pounding from the past few moments. He did his best to slow it to reasonable pace as he regained control of his breathing.

The older man seemed to stare straight at him, the icy blue eyes demanding something, but Pheonix couldn't tell what it was.

Of course, Pheonix was glad that the other man had 'saved' him from the angry woman who was still in the process of picking up the bags she had dropped while stuffing what was in them back inside.

Pheonix turned his eyes away, as if hoping that the man wouldn't question the way he was behaving, but when Pheonix looked back up, he stared straight into those icy blue eyes.

"What does he want from me? A thank you, perhaps?" Pheonix thought. He shrugged. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Um... Thanks for saving me. I don't know what the woman who have done or said if you hadn't come and snatched me out of there..." he said, hoping that he didn't have his mouth open long enough for the other man to see the sharp teeth within.

Thank you! That's all the kid's giving me! A thank you?! Fuck his thank you! Degla didn't want a thank you obviously. He didn't care for it. There was no need for it. Degla could care less for what would have happened if he'd left the kid with the lady. He had only 'rescued' the kid to quench his own curiosity.

Degla watched the kid avoid his eyes, answer in the way that Degla didn't want. It didn't matter, he let his eyes wander. Eventually, Degla knew, those eyes would come back to him. And they did.

The moment Degla had the kids eyes caught in his crystal gaze, the insane man walked the boy, or more like hearded the boy, aginst one of the hallway walls that were fairly empty and lead to the bathrooms. He pinned the kid into the position where the younger man was pinned between the wall and his body, a position where the kid couldn't get away.

Without saying a single solitary word, Degla watched the boy. He reached up with a strong hand and grabbed the kids jaws, forcing his mouth open. He peered into the younger mans mouth and saw the teeth. It didn't suprise him, though it should have because he knew not much about magic and vampires and the like. He released the kids jaws and looked at him once again, expectingly.

Pheonix was quite shocked when pale fingers pried his mouth open. He had struggled to the best of his ability to keep it clamped shut, but the stronger man was persistant and it wasn't long until he couldn't struggle anymore.

"No..." Pheonix thought, shutting his eyes. "It's all over..."

But when Pheonix finally opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that the other man didn't seem a bit scared, although it was obvious that a single bite could puncture a blood vessel.

Pheonix relaxed when he saw the man's rather calm face. "Well... If you must really know, I guess I should tell you that I'm a dryad... Is there anything else you want to know?" he almost whispered.

A loud roll of thunder interrupted the short silence that followed and Pheonix noticed that the mall's lights dimmed for a short moment...

The empty haunted gaze didn't falter with the loud clap of thunder, nor did he look up to investigate the dimming lights. It was as if the only thing he could see, or at least cared about at the moment, was the boy and keeping that boy pinned in place.

"Name?" He cocked his head slightly to the side, then blew out the corrner of his lips to get the strands of red hair from his eyes. He lifted his eyes from the kid, looking down the hall.

Damn. He'd lost his sister. At least she was smart enough not to go out into the dtorm...at least he hoped she was.

Pheonix hesitated when the other asked for his name.

The two stood in silence, the other man's gaze only wavered for a moment as he glanced off to the side.

"Pheonix Goldwing... You aren't going to turn me in or anything, right? My uncle will be worried if you do..." Pheonix said, getting nervous.

"Why would i turn you in?"

He didn't bring his gaze back to Pheonix as he spoke to him, but he continued to stare down the hall. People were begining to gather their things, buying last minute unbrellas, and leaving out into the rain. Why did people always leave when the lights faltered?

Finally the icey blue emptiness returned to the young man and the deep voice contined it's sentance.

"You owe me a favor now."

He was refering to himself saving the kid from total discovery in the middle of a crowd. Degla always was one to never miss an opertunity. Somthing in his twisted mind made him that way.

"Besides, you made me loose my sister." Technically, the commotion of the young man and a woman falling and his own curiosity had made him loose his sister, but he could always place blame. "Now you have to help me find her." Not like he couldn;t find a fifteen year old himself.

Pheonix couldn't help but smile. "Help him find his sister? Doesn't seem like a very difficult task... But this is a pretty big mall..." Pheonix thought.

Remembering about his teeth, he quickly shut his mouth, the smile fading, but then he remembered that the man already knew about them, so he relaxed, feeling strangely at ease with this person.

"Hey, since you made me tell you my name, why don't you tell me yours?" Pheonix asked, hoping he wouldn't make the other mad upon requesting.

Plus, he was still pinned up against the wall by a strong hand.

Degla looked sharply at the other younger person...or non-person. A name never came freely from his lips. Not that he cared that someone knew. His mind simply worked in a complicated way.

The red head shifted his body away from Pheonix's, allowing the kid to move away from the wall. He dropped his hand finally and let his empty eyes roam back down the wall. He was looking, but it was almost as if he weren't actually seeing.

"Deg." He replied finally. "She's got long red hair, blue eyes, this tall," he continued, siml=ply expecting him to know who 'she' was. He held his hand up to mid-chest on himself. "She's with a group of kids, dresses oddly."

Pheonix listened to the man's rather descriptionless description and tilted his head slightly to the side, as if trying to create a basic image of the person in his mind. There was no such image forming in his mind, in fact, he wasn't thinking about too much at all.

He looked up at Degla. "This is the first time I've seen a red-head with blue eyes... All the ones I know have either hazel or brown eyes..."

Pheonix mentally slapped himself for being so forward and probably downright rude, but since the words had already escaped, he simply kept going.

"Are you wearing contacts, perhaps?" he asked, trying to sound polite, but he wasn't so sure if he pulled it off.

His blue gaze came back to Pheonix. For some reason, even if he weren't threatening at all, if a person felt intimidated around him, that blank stare seemed dangerously threatening. He could see it in the young man's face that his description of Ronnie was not hitting any imagination. Stupid boy, in his oppinion if he says a description it should be easy for everyone to understand. But, of course, that was just the way his mind worked.

Degla rolled his eyes. "She almost looks like me."

There. That should be good enough. When mention of the contacts came around, he once again stared blankly at Pheonix. Contacts?

"No." Simple reply. No, he was not wearing contacts. "Are you trying to say something?" DDefensive about the emotionless gaze, he assumed that maybe the kid were trying to say something about his empty eyes.

"No... I've got better stuff to do with my time than talk about people. I was just wondering if you had contacts..." Pheonix stated.

He walked towards the main corridor, looking around for any sign of anyone who looked like the man behind him. None came.

"Look, there he is!" Came an annoyingly perky voice.

"I thought we had scared him off." Came a gruff voice.

"Not again..." Pheonix whispered, turning to his left to see the same potted plants that tried to gain his attention before.

He looked behind him, seeing Deg follow a few paces behind.

Pheonix stepped over to the plants, no longer caring about what others would think. "What is it you need?" he said to the large-leafed plant.

"The little one is in need of assistance." Said the gruff voice of the plant.

Pheonix looked down to his right to see a small bush of off-white flowers. "No, not me." It's perky voice stated.

Pheonix continued to look around until he noticed a smaller plant tucked behind the larger ones. It was hard to see.

"Since its so tiny, the workers often forget to water it... He needs your help."

Pheonix shrugged and reached inbetween the tall plants until he felt his hand come in contact with the tiny pot pushed up against the wall. He pulled the pot from behind the larger plants and held it in his lap, looking at the dying flower.

Carefully, he pushed a hand into the dry soil and his fingers began to numb slightly as his body seemed to experience the dryness and weakness that the plant was going through. He felt his stomach growl, but shut his eyes to concentrate.

It only took him a few moments for his magic to take root in the plant and he could feel the soil begin to feel moist with fresh water. Magically, the small flower seemed to repair itself, standing up straight and brightening considerably and it wasn't until now that Pheonix could even recognize what it was: a sunflower.

He felt his own body begin to fill saturated with cool water and he no longer felt hungry. Satisfied with the results, he pulled his hand out of the soil and wiped the brown dirt off his fingers.

He sat the plant right next to the larger ones so it could be easier seen.

"Thank you, sir." Said the plant.

Pheonix smiled, finally glad he helped them out.

Degla watched the scene before him with no emotion what-so-ever. After seeing a 'mirical' such as that being preformed before your own eyes, you'd expect someone to at least smile a little. Bit a smile did not touch those lips, not emotion at all.

When pheonix withdrew his hand from the dirt, Degla sighed irritably. Then he turned around and scanned the quickly emptying halls for his baby sister. The adults seemed to have drained out already, careless teenagers remaining all over the halls.

"Great, a good simeritin. Of all the cretures I should run into it had to be a plant doctor." He reached back and found the back of the kids shirt with a large hand. "Help me find her now." It was a demand, though it was not spoken in a demanding way. One of those subtle demands that people obey without a second thought.

Pheonix was practically jerked to his feet by Deg's hand, but he didn't struggle or complain.

Pheonix took a look over his shoulder at the plants he had helped, but they were silent. As if there wish had been fulfilled and they no longer needed to speak. Pheonix found that rather odd, or maybe it was because he was used to his talkative plants back at home.

"Do you think we can find her on our own?" Pheonix asked, then looked around at all the plants that added a touch of green to the silver and white of the tile, metal and glass of the mall.

An idea sprung into his head. "Maybe I should ask around... If you think I should." he said, gesturing towards a nearby group of plants, but when he looked up, Deg didn't act like he heard.

Degla began to walk, his fist still clutched around the kids shirt, his his fingers released the shirt just as soon as his first step jerked Pheonix in the direction he was walking.

"Sure. Go ahead and ask your little shrubs."

He meant no disrespect, really, thats just the way his mind worked. Degla was taking a great leap into new territory by even bothering to speak to the Druid. He usually kept to himself, even in crowded places. And besides, if he were trying to be rude, his words would have been more harsh, if he were trying to be disrespectful, he'd say the kid were stupid, if he were trying to be mean, he'd tear up the plants. But he wasn't trying to be any of these, so he said:

"greenery isn't for making conversation to, it's there to look pretty and be quiet."

That last bit was mostly said to himself, though loud enough to hear.

Pheonix was slightly shocked at the man's statement.

"Never mind..." Pheonix whispered upon hearing the remark.

For the first time since he remembered, he felt bad because he was half-dryad. His eyes fell to the floor and he wished that he had been born a normal "whole-human". This thought didn't last too long in his mind.

"Some people are just less tolerant than others... This is what I get for messing with them... Now I remember why I have to keep my mouth shut..." He thought.

Pheonix held his breath for a moment, imagining what his life would be like if he was a whole-human. He imagined a life of ease, but also one of tormenting others who were different in ways other than just having magical blood.

He shuddered at the thought. Not liking the idea of being a whole-human. He then imagined what life would be like as a whol-dryad, with rough, dry skin, leafy wings, beady eyes, and being small enough to be thought of as a small child. He pushed the thought from his mind, once more being satisfied with being both of them.

"Don't let him get to you." He thought, finally breathing again. He looked up. "That's alright... We can find her the 'whole-human' way. We can wander around this place for the next half hour and wonder if we're getting any closer to finding her." Pheonix said, a sly grin on his face as he spoke in the same tone Deg had with him.

The inne man simply smiled at the way the youth had retorted. Truth was that Degla was not a 'whole-human'. He had been once, but you can only truely be 'whole' if you entire mind was there. Degla was not 'half human' having a full blood but he certinally wasn't a 'complete human.'

Besides, insults fell upon Degla like water on a stone. They didn't phase him, not in a short run.

He turned and looked at Pheonix. Another question rose into his deep vast emptiness called eyes, and it was obvious to Pheonix, or anyone else looking at him, that he had a question.

"Why?"

He turned and began to walk. Why what? The red head motioned for Pheonix to follow him and begin looking around for his sister.

"Why bother in this hell hole called a human world?"

"Why? I practically have nowhere else to go... My uncle and I..." Pheonix started. Wondering if he should tell something so personal to the man who was still basically a stranger to him. It took him only a few moments to decide against it.

He looked up, trying to think up the reason he was putting up with 'whole-humans' or just Uninitiates in general. "It's the best I can do for now... Once circumstances become a little brighter for me and my uncle, we're going to leave this place... Gather up as many halflings as we can... You know, a Noah's Ark type thing. Just gather up all that are willing to go and find a new place to stay."

Pheonix had only meant to keep this thought in his mind, but it wasn't until the last moment that he realized that he was saying it outloud.

Since he had already began, he might as well finish. "We both decided to wait until after we graduate from Keaton..." Pheonix looked up at the back of Deg's head. "Something tells me that you don't seem all too interested..."

Oh he was interested. He may not seem like it, and under different circumstances, he would not be, but right now, he was interested. He didn't bother to look over his shoulder when Pheonix said he didn't think he was interested.

"And your uncle?" That had aroused his interest. "What about you and your uncle?" He paused in his step until the other had caught up with him. "You and he are both in college?"

He looked at the kid. Those deep eyes piercing deeper then anytime before, but only for a breif moment before his looked away. "You plan on taking halflings away from the unninitiate world. Where too? When?" This particularily interested him. Were his sister not showing symptoms of half blood, being from a different mother from himself, he would not be so interested.

"Yeah... His name is Sion... Sion Goldwing... He's half Scaid, a fairy of shadows... Just because he's half fairy doesn't mean a thing... He's as tough as nails and will beat anybody down if you rub him the wrong way... He wanted to take me to a bar called 'Dark' tonight, but I refused and came here instead... He should still be there..."

Pheonix decided to pick up the pace a little bit, a light ache in his stomach told him he was hungry, but he decided to ignore it. At least for a little while.

"We're both in college because we're both the same age... His sister is eighteen years older than him, believe it or not... She gave birth to me the same day his mom gave birth to him... In fact, I'm eight hours older than him, but you could never tell. That might be why we are so close..."

Pheonix looked over at Deg.

"We haven't really decided where we are going with all the willing halflings... Maybe we can rent a boat and sail down the Lacroix 'till we find an island... I don't know... The only thing I do know is that I'm not the only halfling having problems dealing with his lineage... There are half-humans, half-anythings out there that I know are having trouble adapting to both lifestyles... It's hard to find a path in the middle... You either have to go this way or that... But whichever path you take, you'll always have to hide something... Like with me, I have to hide the shape of my teeth and ears... I have to ignore the voices calling out to me... It's hard to do that for a long time... That's how this crazy dream got started between my uncle and I."

There was a moment of silence.

"Since I said something personal to me, why don't you tell me something personal? It's only fair..."

"Soemthing Personal?"

Degla looked over breifly, but then resumed his looking about the hall for his sister. On the corrner of his lip, where Pheonix could barely see, a smirk appeared.

"I'm insane." He replied flatly. It was not apparent wheter he was kidding or not since his face was straight and his voice was as flat as always. "Now, what will happen to these Halflings once you get where your going? You and your younger uncle set up some sort of corupt government where you two are the leaders and run things like this fucked up country does and claim it's better? No government? What happens when some of the halfings you enroll are half 'were'. What happens to them when they change and unconciously eat one of the other halflings?"

Pheonix had never thought of that. "I never really thought that we'd have to start a government and all of that... I was thinking just a secluded place." Pheonix got quiet for a moment, as if deep in thought. "It's not like it's ever going to happen... No one would want to believe in the deluded pipe dreams of two teenagers... That's how things go. I don't even really care about it anymore... Sion and I stopped talking about it years ago, but I still dream of how it would be like if we all lived in one place... Where we didn't have to hide anymore."

Pheonix was quiet for another long moment before something Deg said registered in his mind.

"To be insane, you sure are calm... Are you 'get the men in white suits to take you to the happy hotel' kind of crazy, or are you 'dangerously in love' crazy?" Pheonix asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the subject.

"I love no one except for my Sister."

He was also rather calm with that answer, still it was undeterminable whether or not he was kidding. There was another personal answer though, so he was free to ask another question. By this time, he wasn't really looking for his sister, only providing an excuse to walk with Pheonix.

"It must still be important to you if you will bring it up to a complete stranger after being discovered." Degla continued to walk at a steady pace, appearing to look for his little sister. "You think like a human." Degla noted flatly. "Just because your a teenager does not mean other innitiates and halflings will not listen to you."

"I guess that's just the way society thinks nowadays. You know, teenagers are only known for getting into trouble and terrible mood swings. They think they know the world, but they are just ignorant." Pheonix said in a sarcastic tone, running a finger through his braided hair.

"I guess with that kind of attitude, kids like me don't take initiative or assertiveness anymore... We probably never did... I suppose it's just one of those things that we were never meant to understand..."

Degla chuckled. It was the first time he bothered showing any emotion. "I supose that is why teenagers think in such a way. But I will tell you what I tell Ronnie." He dosn't bother explaining who Ronnie is. "Think, you may be just a teenager, but in ten or fifteen years you'll be in their position and doing just as well and they'll still think the same of you. You might as well get a head start."

Degla looked at him. "What happens if you really do get all of this togather? will there be certian ages that can't go? Or can anyone who wants to go get to? You need to think it through more. YOu can't just gather up a bunch of people, leave and expect things to be perfect."

"There are many things that Sion and I didn't talk over when he first told me about his dream six or seven years ago. Way back then, we were basically children and didn't really think about all the details. Every now and then, we'd bring it back up and see how our ideas evolved...

But we stopped talking about it very suddenly. I guess Sion just grew out of it. I don't know for sure. We're still close and we talk about a lot of personal stuff, but he doesn't mention it anymore... I think he just matured and realized that it was a silly little idea... Or maybe he was just mad at the time, but as time went on, he realized that there was no need for such a thing... I could go on and on listing reasons but probably would never get close to the real answer... That's just how complicated Si is." Pheonix said.

His stomach growled once more, but he continued to ignore it. They only had a few more minutes to walk before they got to the food court.

Despite the fact that it was thundering violently and the lightning lit up the hallways through the sunroofs, there were still many people out walking just as calmly as those two...

Degla looked at him breifly again. At least the kid had gotten away from personal topics on his behalf. He'd mentioned he was insane in hopes it would end that nonsense and it had.

“I think…that I would like to speak with this young uncle Sion of yours.” The red head continued to look about. “He has some opinions that I would be interested in discussing.” Of course. Degla had become deep into his studies of halflings, magic and the such since Ronnie began to show signs of unnatural things.

"How can I get a hold of him?"

"As of right now, he's at the nightclub called 'Dark'. Since the storm is so bad, neither of us will probably get back home until later on tonight. We both stay in a dorm at Keaton... He'll probably stay at Dark all night. He's told me that he always wanted to do that.

He's always told me something that is true... No matter how bad life treats you, no matter how sad you feel, you always have your shadow." Pheonix said, pointing to his shadow on the ground off to his left. "No one seems to care too much about their shadow... Probably because everyone has one."

Pheonix found himself smiling at the thought.

"Why care about your own shadow when there are living breathing shadows walking around on their own, bodiless."

He remembered seeing one such thing. Shadows had lives, like real people. Degla looked around slowly, his eyes scanning the area for Ronnie, but not as deeply as they would if he were really trying to find her.

"Maybe I'll make a special trip over there tonight." A little rain storm never scared him any.

Pheonix just nodded.

"See, I told you this was the whole-human way to look for people. Constantly wandering around, never getting a bit closer..." Pheonix shrugged and looked around, as if trying to say that such a method will always bring you up empty-handed.

He looked up at Deg and smiled, wondering if he'd get the sarcasm.

Degla looked at Pheonix, then smiled as if he knew something the kid did not. He was a great secret keeper, so had he not wanted Pheonix to know he had one, the kid wouldn't. He was obviously flaunting it in the kids face purposfully, with an 'got you!' sort of expression.

"Human way found her quicker then talking to plants. You see." Degla stopped walking and turned to the kid. "Human instincts tells me to think about what Ronnie always does. She follows the rules. It started raining. I'm sure your plants couldn't tell you that Ronnie is at home right now. Her friends and her were told to go to my place if it rains or plans get changed." He put a solid hand on Pheonix's shoulders. "Come on. I will get you something to eat."

Pheonix was quite shocked at this information. It seemed almost... ironic. Pheonix couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks... I normally don't walk around hungry... Even though Sion says a eat like a bird, I only eat when I get hungry..." Pheonix said, as if embarassed by the statement.

With a nod, he followed Deg towards the food court. Pheonix could tell that the storm was on its way out. The thunder wasn't as loud and the flashes of lightning weren't as frequent, but the pounding of rain on the roof of the mall could still be faintly heard.

Pheonix had almost forgotten about the umbrella he held in one of his hands. It was just his luck that it was today that Sion allowed him to borrow his motorcycle. Motorcycles aren't the best thing to ride around in pouring rain.

Pheonix laughed at his thought.

Degla nodded. "Wise. That way you don't get fat." To the point. Forget beating around the bush. That was how he lived as well. He only ate when he needed to and drank when he wanted. When your bored, why eat yourself silly, if your bored, get up and do somthing.

“What do you want to eat?” He didn’t really care what, he wasn’t hungry. And he had plenty of money. After all, you get a lot of money when your in the line of bussiness he was in.

"A slice of pizza would be fine... Just something to hold me over 'till I get back to the dorm." Pheonix says, thinking about how empty the dorm would be, since Sion would be at the club all night. Pheonix's eyes narrowed. He'd have to get over it tonight.

"Very well." As they entered the food court, Degla walked towards one of the Pizza stands, then stood off to the side of the line waiting for Pheonix to get to the front and order. He pulled his wallet out.