The Wastelands

She removed her headband. "Sil! Shh!" Lilia whispered. He was screeching and being a falcon, he was attracting a lot of stares. "You're standing out too much."

Lilia could feel foreign gazes itching on her skin. The exact opposite of what she wanted.

*Standing out?* Sil cricked his head to the side. *I'm not the one trying to hide in a truck.*

Lilia wanted to argue, but… "You're…um." Lilia stopped talking, embarrassed, she covered her eyes with her eyes. Lilia kept forgetting that Sil was talking to her telepathically. Lately, she's having a hard time deciphering between telepathy and talking. Maybe because of Sil and Va, or might have taken in more power than she could handle or both. Probably both. Like a layer in her mind peeled away. *You're right.*

She could feel Sil's piercing gaze, but she didn't dare look back. Lilia didn't want to see the questions, or the knowing, staring back at her. He sighed. *You know, if they have trucks, you probably have to ride in one,* Sil warned.

Lilia flumped over with a groan. *I haven't thought of that.* She really didn't like to ride in trucks, any automobile really, she couldn't stand the rumbling of the engine, it made her nauseous.

*Yes, you have,* Sil stated.

*You're right, I thought if I ignored it, it would go away,* Lilia admitted.

*I try.*

"See, I told you I spotted her." A very familiar voice shouted out.

"Heather, please, not so loud." A boy's voice scolded.

Lilia scrambled over the box to get out of the truck, disturbing Sil's perch. "Ha, watch it!" He spread out his wings to balance himself.

"Sorry, Sorry." As she ungracefully tried to untangle herself from some netting. "Terran, Heather, I thought I smell... um I mean spotted you too. Thought I imagined things, but here you are." Lilia laughed nervously as she kicked the netting away. "What are you doing here?"

The twin looked at each other for a moment that shrugged. Terran was the one who answered. "Same as you, we're here for the Initiation Trials. This is the spot for the meetup, right?"

"Yes, yes, at least this is where Captain Terrence dropped me off." Or dragged me and told me to stay put, I'm surprised he didn't handcuff me to something. "I surprised you haven't gone through the Trials yet. Aren't you turning fifteen in a couple of weeks?"

"Ha, you're even worse, aren't you turning seventeen soon too," Heather said in a huff.

"Ha, I'm the lazy, anti-social, troublemaker. I'm supposed to do stuff like this." She answered.

"And I'm the scatterbrained inventor type with no sense of time," Heather confirmed right back. They both stared at each other before breaking into laughter. "But what's Terran's excuse." They both turned to Terran.

"Heather," He sighed before turning to Lilia. "My job kept me busy, and I don't really see the point, I'm quite happy being a Blue Sash." Terran worked as an apprentice healer and Heather as a mechanic. Both jobs were time-consuming, so it wasn't surprising they missed the trials.

"Captain Terrance got you too, huh?" Lilia said.

"Yes." They both said together with their heads down. 'So cute.'

"I don't know what his deal is. He usually leaves us alone. What's so different this time." Lilia wondered.

"Oh, how cute." An unfamiliar voice spoke up. Looked behind her to see a girl, that Lilia hasn't seen before looking closely at Sil. "I never saw a hawk this close before, and his wings are so beautiful."

Lilia grabbed a glove from her back and beckoned Sil to step up. "You shouldn't get too close, and he's not a hawk, he's a falcon."

The girl didn't seem to mind how abrupt Lilia was being. "Hmm, a falcon, I wonder what's the difference?"

"Falcons are smaller, and their wingspan is longer...um...who are you?" She was very pushy and doesn't seem to respect personal space. She wasn't dressed in fatigues like every other student but expensive-looking outdoor gear, and she smelled like the City.

'What's going on here?' Lilia thought bewildered.

The girl straightened up and flipped her hair back. "I apologize, my name is Tessa Castie. I am a student from Towers Academy here because of an exchange program. "

'Tower Academy? Wasn't that the famous school Bryson used to go to? Must be a promotional thing that the headmistress hatched up. Nothing to do with me.' "I'm Lilia."

"Heather, nice to meet you." Heather waved her hand enthusiastically.

"Terran Collins, um..." Terran stuttered out.

Lilia looked at Terran strangely before turning back to Tessa. "Okay. Tower's, huh? You must be talented."

"And rich too," Tessa replied with confidence. "I'm here to study herbal medicine, but I got so fascinated by seeing so many animals in one place. Animals are rare in the Cities, so I just couldn't help being curious."

Lilia looked around to some students, and a couple of teachers had animals near or on them. One even had a ferret. "By the way, why are there animals gathered here?" she asked Sil.

Sil ruffled his feathers. "You are so dense sometimes."

"Ah, they must be here for the Trials." Heather piped up. "Did you know that animals are immune to the Wastelands' malice, so they only have animals and people to worry about?"

"Really!" Tessa seemed excited.

*Is that why you're here?* Lilia asked Sil.

*Someone clearly needs to take care of you,* Sil confirmed.

*Thank you for your confidence in my abilities,* Lilia replied dryly.

Having Sil and Va close by needed a cover story and them being animal companions was a convenient one. It did generate more attention than she liked, though.

"And you know that Lilia actually has..." Heather kept on talking.

*Heather, she's an outsider, be careful,* Lilia advised Heather, telepathically. *If you talk like that, you might let something slip. Not only about us, but this compound as well.*

*Oh, right.* She sent back, looking a little sheepish. *She just seemed so nice.*

*She probably is, but we still need to be careful.* Lilia sighed, wanting to hold her head in frustration, did Terran feel like this all the time. She pitied him.

She glanced his way to find him staring unblinkingly at Tessa. 'Okay, not dealing with that, right now. Then again...' An idea forming.

Anyways that Tessa girl was in dangerous territory, it didn't take a telepath to see where her mind was going. "You know that the animal chooses their companions, not the other way around. Right?" Lilia stepped in.

"Oh, that's too bad," Tessa said, disappointed. "Having an animal friend sounds fun."

Lilia guided Sil to the nearby tree. Forcing herself to form words with her lips, not with her mind. "But if you are studying herbal medicine than there no better teacher than Terran here." She walked over to him and patted him, firmly. *Don't think I did nothing for you, buddy. Just keep your head.* Lilia whispered in his mind.

Terran perked up. "Yes...um... I can help you."

The girl brightened. "Really, that will be great." Someone called her name. "Oh, I have to go. Bye." Before walking away.

A few seconds walked before Heather chatted. "Terran has a girlfriend, Terran has a girlfriend."

"Shut-it." Terran hissed, embarrassed.

Lilia couldn't help but laugh alongside Heather. She could even hear Sil chuckling up in the tree. It was nice sometimes just goofing around, acting like a kid.

When the laughter died down. "Now, we know why Captain Terrance is cranky."

"Yeah, having a bunch of outsiders invading his precious Trials, must be tough," Heather stated, nodding her head.

"Ha Trial participants line up, we're about to leave," Captain Terrain yelled.

"Before I forget." Terran dug in his side bag. "Here some motion-sickness medication, and as soon as we get to camp, I have some eye drops for our eye situation," he said while handing out the medication.

Lilia grabbed the bottle, touched. As soon as she slipped it into her own bag. She hugged Teran with gratitude. "Thank you very much. You're the best!"

"Can't breathe. Your strength," Terran gasped out.

Lilia instantly let go. "Sorry."

"No problem."

Heather was laughing. "Oh, that was funny to watch."

They both glared at her until she stopped laughing.

"Come on, we might as well get this over with." Lilia walked toward the lineup, and Terran and Heather followed.

*And you wonder why you need a keeper,* Sil grumbled as he took flight to follow them.