After finishing my breakfast, I drifted off to sleep and was woken up by the car stopping at the edge of the desert for a toilet break. It was a single shack drop toilet that had some of the younger agents with bigger imaginations freaking out about the big black hole. The sun told me it was about midmorning.
"What if something crawls out of the hole?" a young girl squealed in fright.
"Then you shout and run out and we'll come in to help you deal with it," one of her teammates said. "Just remember to put your pants back on."
"Ugh. It stinks."
"Be quick," Mr Holt ordered. "There are still people waiting."
Big Brother had found his way over to me in the crowd and he brushed the bruises on my face. I turned away.
"Were you in a fight or were you bullied?" he asked me. "These aren't training injuries."
"I was protecting a baby and got beaten up for it," I told him with a wrinkled nose. "While I might not be great at fighting, I am pretty good at taking a beating. Don't you think?"
"You did pretty well at the annual assessment," Big Brother stroked my head. "You're improving."
"What happened to the baby?" Mr Holt came over to join us at the side, while we were waiting in the line for the toilet.
"I managed to get it to safety," I reassured them. "It's been sent somewhere safe."
"Was this a part of a mission?" Director Worth joined the group, wrinkling her forehead. "I don't remember seeing or issuing such a mission."
"I came across it by accident, Director," I wrinkled my nose. "I went out for a walk to clear my head and stuff happened. I couldn't just let the baby die."
"Good work, Kim," Director Worth tousled my hair, making me scowl at her. "Write me up a report anyway. Just in case."
"Yes, Director," my scowl deepened at the additional homework.
"Don't give me that look," the Director messed my hair up again, laughing when I gave her a long suffering sigh. "Information and reports are what feeds our organisation. Keeps the world going round. Why haven't I heard about this, Apricorn? Shigure?"
"It only just happened yesterday when she went AWOL," Apricorn glanced at me and gave the Director a sweet smile. "She only reported it to us this morning."
"Ooh, Kim," teased the Director. "Someone's in trouble."
"I didn't do it on purpose," I protested.
"I hope you have a suitable punishment in store for her," Director Worth looked at me with a twinkle in her eyes. "You probably won't get many chances in the future."
"What are you talking about?" Apricorn raised her eyebrows in mock horror. "Don't you know that Whisper's a huge handful? I don't even know how she gets into half the scrapes she does."
I pursed my lips at Apricorn, knowing she was teasing me. I had no idea what scrapes she was talking about.
A heavy arm draped around my shoulders and a familiar scent filled my nostrils. Chlorine, musty caves and salty sea water. I shuddered and went still for a moment, fighting my memories for control. It was like a shutter coming down and blocking out the sunlight. Like a computer going through a sudden shutdown process.
"Little Bluebird is never any trouble. She's such a good, obedient little sweetheart, aren't you, Kim?"
Immediately, people had separated me from the man and Big Brother had me in his arms, while people stepped in between me and the man formerly known as Chad the serial killer. Shigure checked in on me mentally with Apricorn through our chat group and both seemed to give huge sighs of relief when they saw the dark veil that had dropped down over me slowly lifting. The shutdown procedures in my head stopped and reverted back to normal.
"Wing Blues," said Director Worth in a laid back tone that carried a hidden blade, "what have I told you before about keeping your distance from Kim? Do I need to send you back to the city?"
"Aww, Director, I didn't mean anything by it," Chad said. "Look, there are so many people around watching. What could I do to her?"
"Keep your distance," Director Worth warned him and then waved him away.
I heard Chad's teammates asking him what the exchange was all about and why I was being so protected. Chad just brushed their questions off and redirected their conversation.
"Is Kim ok?" Director Worth's assistant, Ena Leavenworth asked. My friends crowded around me.
"I'm fine," I managed to spit out the words. "Fine."
"Let her go to the toilet and then go back to the car to rest," Director Worth looked at me and pressed her lips together. "I'm sorry about that Kim."
I nodded my understanding.
Apricorn rubbed my cold hands in her warm ones, while Shigure knelt down to look into my eyes and examine me further.
"Toilet's free!" someone shouted. "Next!"
"Kim, you go next," Director Worth ordered.
It was only when I was in the little shack trying to close the door bolt that I realised how hard I was shaking. My hands trembled so hard that I had trouble locking the door.
After finishing my business, I glanced down into the drop hole. Something moved and eyes gleamed. Something struck my mind hard, making me reel back. A dark animalistic presence bit at my mind. A mind eater. It was an animal who feasted on the mental powers of others. It had likely been attracted by the number of people.
I heard Shigure yell and pound on the door in alarm, startling the creature away. His presence enveloped my mind in a protective shield.
Somehow I opened the toilet door, feeling dizzy. Someone looked down the toilet but whatever had been there was now gone. Someone helped me wash my hands and then led me back to the car where I was laid down on the back seats to sleep.
Despite the rising desert temperature, I felt like I was freezing cold. Covered with a jacket, I curled up and slept.
The rest of the day was muddled.
Although I knew we had stopped for lunch, I wasn't very hungry and didn't feel very with it.
I ate and drank automatically when Apricorn and Shigure insisted. There were no more public toilets this far out in the desert and someone dug a deep hole with a spade instead. Once everyone was done, the hole was filled back in.
At night, we stopped to make camp before the light faded. Two campfires were built and tents were set up. Apricorn slept with me in the tent, while Shigure slept in the car.
I dreamed of the Desert Father finding and pinpointing the dark lizard that had attacked me during the day. With a thought, he crushed the lizard to death, sending out an angry warning to all the desert creatures about staying clear of his daughter. His presence wrapped around me and cradled me as I slept, humming a low tune.
The impression I got from him was that he thought of me as his kind, born in the wrong skin. The Forest Mother had specifically told him that I was his child and he had taken her at her word. He seemed to wonder how his child had been born into the wrong species. Perhaps that was why my growth had been stunted.
While slightly confused by his rapid emotions and thoughts, he wasn't actually talking to me, so I couldn't ask. He was intent on cradling me to sleep.
Shigure caught a glimpse of what was going on and shared it with Apricorn. Apricorn hugged me tight in her arms and we slept the night like that.
I felt a lot better in the morning. The Desert Father gave more clear directions to Shigure via me and we set off after breakfast.
A big hill rose in the distance and Shigure stopped a good distance away from it.
"We're here," Shigure said.
"Where is he?" Apricorn asked.
Everyone got out of their cars, wearing hats and sunscreen.
"Are we here? Where is he? What does he look like?"
Shigure shrugged and looked at me. All eyes turned toward me and I sighed, looking at the big hill where I could feel the Desert Father was sleeping. To be more accurate, his body was sleeping, but his mind was active.
"Stay here," Shigure told the rest of the group. "Over there is one of the most sacred grounds of the tribes in this region. Their stories tell of great unknown dangers within the sacred grounds. It seems that the creature we are meeting lives in there. Many of those who enter these grounds do not come out again."
I had already started walking to the hill and Shigure ran to catch up, but he ran into a wall.
"Uki-chan. Kim Na!" Shigure shouted after me. I heard him speak words in that language I couldn't understand and the invisible wall shivered, but ultimately remained firm.
I stepped out of the barrier with ease, looking at Shigure with confusion.
Shigure gritted his teeth and gave me a hug.
"Be careful," he told me. "I can't enter with you and our mental link seems to get cut off once you step in. Run if there's danger you can't fight. Don't take any risks."
I nodded at him.
Shigure reluctantly let me go and I stepped back across the barrier. I felt the silence when it blocked the mental links. I had gotten used to being in touch with someone all the time and I wasn't used to the silence for a moment. Without the mental links, I felt off balance and partially deaf.
Glancing back, I saw Shigure standing there, watching me worriedly. He nodded at me and I nodded back, touching my head, still adjusting.
I didn't know why he said it was a dangerous area. There were no creatures around. No danger at all. Maybe the Desert Father had warned them all.
It was quite a distance to walk to the bottom of the big hill and I was getting tired. When I glanced back, I saw that Shigure was returning to join the rest of the group who had climbed back into the air conditioned vehicles to wait.
"Desert Father?" I called into the wind, probing in his direction with my mind.
I felt the jolt of recognition from him and the awakening of a sleepy giant. The ground beneath me shook and the shifting sand made me sink. The hill shuddered and cracked.