The Wastelands

Tyson grabbed Lilia's foot to twist it to the side, but he couldn't budge her foot, even an inch. "I wouldn't if I were you." Lilia learned a little, putting more weight on his c.h.e.s.t. She could see Tyson's teeth gritted in pain. "I don't want to break anything."

'Okay, I'm a little pissed off.'

Suddenly he twisted his whole body and kicked her other leg. Exactly where she was injured. Lilia couldn't help but wince in pain, putting her off-balanced.

Tyson took advantage and flipped their positions. Lilia managed to get one of her knees up, but he also pulled out yet another knife to her neck.

Lilia felt her figure tips itching; they were the perfect giveaway that she was Lumeye, so she dug them into the ground to release her claws without being noticed and retract them back again.

*What are you doing?* Sil commented, shocked. *Giving him an opening like that, are you out of your mind. No wonder you're so bad at chess.*

"Shh, I'm testing something out." The boy looked confused but held the knife study. "No, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to him." He tensed up, but he didn't turn his head.

'Just like I thought, he's well trained.'

*Sil, can you make your presence known?* Lilia asked.

The falcon didn't hesitate, he hopped down to a lower branch, and with his feathers puffed out and his wings spread out, he screeched a long imitating sound.

Lilia felt the boy jump. She grabbed his knife arm and dragged it away from her neck, and at the same time, she kicked her bent leg up. Tyson folded onto a back, gasping in pain.

*Brutal.* Sil winced.

*What are you talking about?* Lilia asked, flipping the knife she took from Tyson up and tossing it up and catching it mid-air. *I didn't hit anything s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e, just a nerve. He'll snap out of it soon enough.*

*Somehow, I don't feel reassured,* Sil replied while he eyed her with the knife.

Lilia didn't even try to understand. So she focused her attention on Tyson, who was still prone on the ground. "Get up." When he didn't respond, Lilia repeated. "Get up. I know your faking." Tyson looked up at her with a glare. Good, she didn't hurt him too much. It's sometimes hard to tell with humans. "So why did you attack me? You certainly didn't intend to kill me. I gave you a lot of opportunities, and I don't see Tessa sending you."

Tyson widened his eyes in shock. "How..."

'He speaks!'

"How I know your Tessa's bodyguard? Let's just say that I know someone whose behaviour was similar." Either he was protecting Tessa, or he was her secret boyfriend. Although he didn't mind Tessa getting closer to Terran, so they were probably not dating. But how he watches Tessa, every move was so similar to Shadow that he might as well scream bodyguard. Excluding for Shadow's stalkerish tendency, of course. Lilia couldn't help notice right away. Though just as quickly, she dismissed it as none of her business. "So, the question is, why did you leave Tessa alone to come after me."

"Because you're a threat," Tyson stated.

Lilia laughed. "We're in the middle of the Wastelands. I think you have better things to worry about." She stopped laughing. "Wait, this can't be about Terran, right?" Being in pain hadn't made Lilia blind to Tessa's jealous stares. Can't say it wasn't amusing, though. "I really don't have those sorts of feelings for him."

"What? No, I meant what happened earlier. Your unpredictable behaviour. How fast you moved. You're a threat." Tyson explained.

Lilia smiled bittersweetly. 'It is about the Conner incident.'

"Ah, so you're here to determine if I'm just a threat or if I am a threat to your charge." Lilia nodded her head in realization. "I really don't care about Tessa one way or another. Or you, for that matter."

"If she would, I don't know, take Terran back to Towa. What would you do?" Tyson asked.

'He doesn't see Terran as a threat. Understandable, Terran does give off an innocent puppy dog kind of feeling. Still a mistake, though.' Lilia observed thoughtfully.

"And you said this wasn't about Terran." Lilia crossed her arms and leaned against the tree.

"No, that's not what I meant" he shook his head. "It's not romantic, I agree, but you can't say that your relationship with Terran, hell with Heather too, isn't strong, right?"

"So you think I'm unstable enough that I would, I don't know, lose control at a drop of a hat if something doesn't go my way?" Lilia asked incredulously.

'To be judged just by my confrontation with Conner, this guy doesn't leave anything to chance.'

"Yes," Tyson stated.

Lilia couldn't help but chuckle. "You know…never mind." She didn't want to tell her life story to a perfect stranger; it was embarrassing enough that she lost control as it was. "So I'll tell you this. If Tessa was going to ask Terran to come back with her, then she is going to be disappointed and surprise it has nothing to do with me."

In truth, that was a half-lie, but saying he's a Lumeye and permanently attached to five other people was hitting too close to home. Good thing Terran had a reason all on his own.

"What are you talking about?" Tyson asked.

"Not my secret to tell." They stood in silence for a moment. "Did you make a decision yet?"

Tyson gave you a thoughtful look. "I think your still a threat, but a threat to us is still unclear."

"Nothing changed, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that." Shaking his head in denial. "I have determined that I am not skilled enough to defeat you. So can I ask for your help if needed?"

"Let me tell you this, believe me when I tell you this, I have no ill will toward you and Tessa, and if that time arises, why don't we help each other out instead." Lilia didn't want to risk her life for someone she barely knows, and others would kill her if she did that again. Sher learned her lesson. "That's all I can offer you."

*Hopefully, the lesson would stick this time,* Sil piped in.

*Shut it!* Lilia hissed out.

Tyson nodded his head in agreement. "Fair enough." He looked a little nervous; his gaze kept looking in the direction of the camp. "I've been gone too long. I have to go."

"See you back at camp then." Lilia waved goodbye.

"See you." Tyson turned to go back. "Conner has always been a jackass, and it was nice to see him taken down a little." Tyson, his usual stone face, broke into a smile, a smiled which surprisingly showed his true age. Then he walked away with a limp.

'Their fight must have taken more of a toll than he wanted to admit.' Lilia watched as he disappeared into the trees. "That was interesting."

*Indeed, are our secret guest still here?* Sil asked.

Lilia's eyes moved up into the branches above. She could only catch a little bit of orange. *Yes, and he has a friend too. A woman.*

*Really? Are you going to do anything about it?* Sil asked.

*No, I'll tell Captain Terrance that the Nomads are still watching us, but nothing else. I don't want to get in trouble like last time.* Lilia informed Sil. She stretched out her arms. *Let's finish up. I'm getting hungry.*

***

The two Nomads watched the girl and the bird left. They waited for a moment until they nodded at each other and climbed down.

The woman stepped forward to inspect where there was eight finger wide holes burrowed into the dirt. "Did you see that Lair? Are they what I think they are?" the woman asked, not to the man but to the grey fox coming out of the bushes.

The fox cried out in acknowledgment, pawing at the fingerholes.

"See, I told you these people are trouble." The man said. "We should just leave them alone."

The woman got up. "We can't, Cousin. They need to be taken care of, just like the others, before it's too late." The woman went up to the man and gave him a shove. "You're just mad that that girl almost caught you."

"It's not like that," the man denied. "Come on. We need to report back. We have no time to waste." He jumped back up into the tree.

"That's what I just said." The woman sighed and jumped up after him.

Lair, the fox, was not watching the Nomads; instead, she looked in the direction where the girl and the falcon had gone off too. *Mistress, at last, we finally found her.*

*Good, wait, for now, our chance will come soon enough.* A female voice ordered.

*Yes, Mistress.* As the fox jumped back into the bush.

***

Camp

Heather was bored, and she wanted to go after Lilia. She shouldn't be left alone, but Terran stopped saying that Lilia needed some time alone.

"Hmph, what does he know?" Heather mumbled as she kicked the dirt with frustration. "He didn't see the look on her face. Aren't we supposed to help each other?"

Then he went with his new girlfriend, looking for herbs, trying to impress her, no doubt. Heather was so mad.

She stopped and eyed the sled with new zest. If she finally sees how that sled works, then that certainly would make her worries fly away.

'Hmm, make I could bribe him? Oh, I have a much better idea.'

As soon as that thought passed her mind. She quickly got some cooked meat from the fire. Captain Terrance was punishing Conner so no one would notice and ran directly back to Spike.

All the while, Daniel and Katy were watching the whole thing. "Um, aren't we going to stop her?" Daniel asked.

Katy took a sip of her coffee and answered. "Nope."

"Doesn't this look good?" Making sure the spiked haired wolf had a good whiff of the tasty meat. "Do you want it? Then go get it." Then Heather threw it into the woods. She even used her pyrokinesis to make sure to carry it even further. Spike soon ran after it.

"Yes!" Heather jumped into the air. She ran to the sled with her tools in hand. "Now all I have to do is…" As soon as her hands touched the sled, she felt hot breath on her neck.

Heather couldn't get out of there fast enough as Spike nipped at her heels. Finally, he gave up, and Heather leaned over, exhausted.

'Ah, that was so disappointing!' Heather kicked her feet. Suddenly she face-planted onto the ground. 'Ah, this sucks!'

As soon as she got herself sorted, something caught her eye. Heather turned to find Sonia, the Towers teacher walking away from the camp. "Ha, you shouldn't go alone."

Sonia turned to give Heather a smile. "It's fine, Heather, right?"

Heather nodded her head warily.

"I have so private business to take of. Being a girl, you know what I mean?" Sonia continued, with a wink.

"Yes, but still it's not safe to…"

Sonia interrupted, "I'll only be but a moment, and you can wait here if you like. I'll be but a shout away. Isn't that fair?"

Heather reluctantly agreed. "If you say so."

"Good, I'll be right back."

Heather watched as the teacher walked away, holding her head a little. 'Why's everything so fuzzy? What were we talking about?'