Blue Sky; Good Day [Midori]

[Tamsin Craig]

The sky was clear and blue without a cloud in sight. Many people didn’t realize how the sky changed colors throughout the day, but Tamsin did, and at seven-o-clock in the morning, she could see that the sky was not the same blue as it would be at ten, or ten-thirty, or noon. It was lighter, and still a little pink in the east. Turning her head to the west, she could trace the trail of changing colors across the sky until she could see the darkest blue, which wasn’t all that dark at all, on the cusp of the alternate horizon. The sun was rising, and so was she. This was her big day, according to the nuns around camp.

To the teenage girl, it didn’t feel like a big day. It felt like a day that was going to be long and tedious and tiring. She picked at a scab on her knee as she sat on the porch of her dormitory house. Looking across the way, she looked at the wooden buildings, at the chipped white paint, at the kids lolling about and talking. She wondered how many of them would leave to other schools. Would she see any of them where she was going? The strange people in the gray clothes that looked uncomfortable said that she would be the first to go to America. They tried to make it sound like it was a good thing, but looking them in the eyes she could see that they were unsure.

No one could ever say Tamsin Craig was not perceptive.

She stood from the porch at the sound of the breakfast bell. The girls who were inside rushed out, yelling and jumping from the elevated porch to run up the path in a mad rush for the cafeteria food. Tamsin lingered for a moment and took a slow, deliberate pace, ignoring the calls from the others to hurry up. She never listened to them. She would walk at her own pace and do things her own way, regardless of whoever told her not to. She was her own person. She swung her arms limply as she stared at her feet. She had kicked off her shoes again as soon as she could. Being barefoot was better for her. She had been barefoot her whole life, so she saw no reason why she couldn’t continue. The nuns had given her a pair of white shoes and told her how nice they were, but she didn’t like them. They hurt her feet, which was hard to do, since the ground didn’t even hurt them anymore. Rocks, sticks, they were nothing against the toughened skin of her soles. But her shoes, they scratched her heels and made her feet hot. The ladies frowned upon her lack of shoes whenever they spotted her without them. Even walking into the cafeteria, she felt their eyes on her feet as she shuffled into line. They’d bother her about it later, for sure.

The kids buzzed about her, talking in slow and broken English. They weren’t allowed to speak their native language here, as strange as it sounded. They wanted then to learn ‘proper English’ so they could ‘function in society’, or whatever that meant. She had told her Mother about it over the telephone she had been allowed to use once; her mother snorted and said something about a new ‘stolen generation’. Tam had learned about what that meant when she was younger from her Grandmother, Annalee, who had been dragged to the same settlement she was on now- under different conditions, of course. She had a white Father and an Aborigine Mother. Back then, that was bad, or something. Tam had no idea why. She shrugged it off when she was younger, sitting on the dirt floor of her house, chewing on her fingernails to the quick. But now that she was there, in the same place her Grandmother had once stood, in the same buildings, even, she questioned everything. She had been happy in Jigalong, even when she got headaches and she felt like it was hard to breathe sometimes. Why’d they take her away? It wasn’t like she had been dying.

Tamsin was lying to them, though. She was almost certain they knew she was, but she lied anyway. She told them that her headaches weren’t getting worse, and that her chest felt fine, even though she was starting to get bad headaches that made her want to throw up and that any time the wind picked up she felt her breath get less and less. She didn’t want to tell them because if she did, they’d send her even further away, to a small place filled with more people that didn’t like her and thought she was dirty. America was far away enough, she didn’t want to go to that place in Europe that some kids were sent to. Those were the bad kids. She was only a mostly bad kid. Bad kids killed lots of people.

So far, she had only killed one.

That was the reason why she was going to Hammel. They had told her so, in a way. They said she was going because there were very smart people there and there was a doctor who worked with people’s heads and he could help her find out why she did what she had done, even though she already knew why. It just seemed like no one else understood. Maybe they should go see the doctor so he could find out what was wrong with them.

As she sat and ate in silence, her brown eyes watched the other kids and they watched her with their brown eyes as well. There was chatter all across the cafeteria, but then there was a lot more silence then chatter. Only about twenty out of the fifty or so kids were talking, the rest sat in silence and glanced at each other. Normally it wouldn’t be so quiet, but breakfast tended to make everyone groggy so the level of talking was decreased. There was also the factor that many students were staring at Tamsin, even the girls at the table she sat at. She felt their eyes, shifting over to her then shifting away. They were worried. What if the person coming wanted to take them away too? They didn’t want to go to America either, but they were good kids, so they didn’t have to.

After breakfast was over, most of the kids went off to the school and the older ones went to the power building, but Tamsin was pulled aside by one of the nuns on her way out. She called this one ‘grace-nun’, because she was a very nice lady and whenever she walked she never bounced like most people, she looked like she was gliding on wheels across the floor. She was a very nice lady, albeit strange looking, because her eyes were bright green and the black part was slit like a cat’s. She smiled, revealing some sharp looking teeth for a moment, and tucked some hair behind Tamsin’s ear. Most kids would be afraid, but Tamsin simply stood and looked her in the eyes, brown meeting green in a level stare.

“The recruiter from Hammel is coming today. Her name is Midori Hawkins, but you call her Miss or Miss Hawkins, understand?” Silence came from Tamsin’s end of the conversation, but graceful-nun assumed that was a yes and she pushed her along gently as they made their way to her dormitory, where all her things were packed away into a cloth knapsack. Every item she had brought or had been given fit into a bag the size of a standard backpack. “You can lay down for a bit until she comes, or you can wait on the porch. Don’t leave your dormitory area though. Oh, and put your shoes on, please.” With that, graceful-nun turned and glided out, leaving Tamsin to her own devices. There was no one else in the dormitory.

After a moment of thought, the teenager took her shoes from the floor where she had left them, tied the laces together, and threw them over the rafter above her head before picking up her bag. She did not want the white shoes that matched her knee length white dress and shorts, she did not like them. The only reminder of her ever gracing the halls would now be the pair of dusty keds dangling ten feet above her old bed. If she was going anywhere, she was going barefoot. She wanted to feel the earth underneath her feet for as long as she could. It comforted her. As she swung her bag over her shoulder, she could hear the clinking of items inside- her necklaces from Jigalong, her old clothes, some new clothes, and other things she had brought for home or had gotten from the ‘store’ on camp. It was odd, if you were good, you got points, and you could spend ‘points’ at the store. If you were bad, you got points taken away. She was good a lot, and only got points taken off for refusing to wear her shoes. It was only one point each time, so it didn’t matter when she had already gotten ten, or fifteen. She had bought a candy bar at the store the day before but did not eat it. Instead, she had put it into her bag. (She had a bite of the chocolate ‘CRUNCH’ bar once. She did not like the sweetness, it made her feel like she was buzzing and she disliked the feeling.) She vowed that she would give the chocolate to the first person she met at the school. She had given some jerky her Mother had given her before she was taken to the first girl she met in Moore River, and it seemed like a good system, because the girl became a close friend and invited her to sit with the others instead of eating alone like the other new kids did at first. She was out of jerky though, so she hoped American kids liked chocolate. She heard they liked it a lot.

Tamsin stopped on the porch step, sitting on the porch itself and sitting her bag on the step. The stair was tiny, and she could place her feet on the ground. Looking up and down the dirt road, she wondered when the Hawkins lady was going to come, or how. She was expecting by jeep, since the jeep normally parked outside the church was gone. The head man, Mr. Ransburg must’ve went to the airplane port to go get the lady, or something. Tamsin scratched her head and looked at the sky, which had changed colors again. It was now a light blue except at the edges, which were dulled white.

“Good sky today. Good sky mean good things.” Tam muttered, biting her fingernails and spitting them to the ground.

It was going to be a long day.

[Dear Mads: There are a lot of nuns and the head honcho in the camp. You can control all of them however you wish.]

[Midori Hawkins]

Normally, Mii wouldn’t have been looking forward to a flight like this one had been. Over twenty four hours in a plane cabin, with layovers in Los Angeles and Hawaii. But there was absolutely nothing normal about this trip. She’d already reminded herself of that several times. She wasn’t normally one to get airsick, but this trip had been awful. Granted, she knew the reasoning behind it. Thought it might have been a good idea, she couldn’t in good conscience turn down the recruitment. Things had been stepped up in their department since the attack. They had to get to new metas faster. Because they were in danger.

Just the other day, she’d wanted to tell the head of recruitment about a certain situation that had arisen. Only one person knew so far. The one person she trusted above all others. The one that knew her better than anyone. She had every intention to tell the people involved. The people that had to know. That included her boss. But the day she’d tried… she’d ended up with a round trip ticked to Australia, and an assignment.

‘I’m going to tell him today. Him and James both.’ As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the phone rang. Mii jumped, staring at it in surprise. James’ number was on the display, and even though he was her boss, it took her a moment to pick up. “Hello?”

“Midori, can you come down to my office please? I have a job for you.” Inwardly, Mii winced. A job? … Wait. A job. An assignment would mean that she could leave Hammel for a while. Pretend things were normal. She didn’t even care where she was going, or what powers the kid had, or even how difficult the parents were going to be. It was going to be a welcome relief from the mess she had growing here.

“Of course. I’ll be right down.” She dropped the phone back in the cradle and grinned to herself. She’d just bought herself at least a few days. … Okay, that was probably a pretty piss poor attitude to take, but if there was a way, any way, to postpone certain conversations, she’d take it.

She headed down to James’ office, the thoughts of telling him about… well… not everything, but the parts he needed to know, gone. It could wait until after this assignment was complete. … Okay, so the fact she’d already been ill that morning begged to differ, but she was choosing to ignore that right now.

The meeting with James had been quick, ending with Tamsin Craig’s file in her possession, and round trip tickets to Australia to collect the young girl. She’d been warned to be careful, and after a quick skim of the girl’s file, she could see why. Responsible for her father’s death… okay. Though it had worried her, she also knew that it was important for her to get to the girl first. Before one Gabriel Underwood made his way to her.

Back in the plane cabin, Mii reviewed the file one last time. She liked to be prepared. The file told her a good deal of what she needed to know, but the hard part was always, always convincing the student to come back to Hammel with her. From what she understood, there were no parents to deal with this time around. The girl would be handed over willingly, whether she liked it or not.

When she’d told her best friend about the trip, she’d seen the concern in his eyes, but she’d also listened to him. He trusted to her to do what was best. If she needed time to sort herself out, time to figure out just what she was going to say to her boss, to Darryl, then he trusted her. It was a good thing, she supposed. No one was forcing her to deal with it just yet. She needed to take things at her own pace. If that meant she shoved a trip to Australia between herself and her problems at home, so be it.

When the plane touched down, she was grateful. The stuffy cabin air hadn’t helped to alleviate the nausea. Nor did the bumpy landing, but at least she was able to keep it in check with her eyes closed and some slow, steady breathing. Once she was off, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder, she met up with Mr. Ransburg. After talking with him for a few minutes, she climbed into the Jeep and they headed down to the camp.

Australia was so different, compared to America. The landscape, the wildlife, everything. If she wasn’t on business, she would have been taking pictures left right and center. But she had a job to do. She listened to the director of the camp speak, asking him questions about Tamsin. And it seemed all too soon that they arrived at the camp.

She slid out of the Jeep and followed him into the camp, and watched as her recruit was pointed out to her. Putting on her most reassuring expression, Mii approached the young girl and crouched down to her level. “Hello, Tamsin. I’m Midori. I’m here to bring you to the Hammel Institute.”

[Tamsin Craig]

She heard the jeep coming long before she saw it. She could hear it on the breeze, and she could see the dirt rising on the road in the distance. She listened in silence for two minutes before the jeep pulled up in a cloud of reddish-brown dust. Mr. Ransburg, with his peach colored skin, his squinty eyes, and his uncomfortable looking gray clothes, got out of the vehicle. On the other side, a lady got out, and Tamsin looked away. She did not want to see the woman. She swung her head away and stared straight ahead, although from the corner of her eye she saw a gray sleeve and a hand attached to the end gesture in her direction. It was no one but her on the road, so Mr. Ransburg did not have a difficult job of pointing her out. Maybe that was why she had been pulled out of class- any person that hadn’t been around all the aboriginal children for some time would’ve found it difficult to tell all the students apart. Some of the nuns still had problems.

She looked to the ground, listening to footsteps on dirt, raising her head only when she spotted a pair of shoes. She took a good look at the woman and gave a level stare, trying to make some impression of her. She was pretty. White. She had long brown hair which was nice and straight. She had nice teeth and a decent smile. She looked very clean, but seemed a little pale. Was she sick? Was her power spreading sickness? No, she probably had a long drive. Tamsin knew that riding in cars made her stomach turn sometimes, unless there was a window open. Then she could feel the wind on her face without feeling any real wind and she was content. She had screamed for the first thirty minutes of her ride to Moore River, to the point of making herself hoarse, but then the man opened a window and she was silent. Needless to say, he left the window open. She wondered vaguely if the recruiter was the same way.

When she spoke, Tamsin blinked, but made no move to speak back. She realized she was expected to, but said nothing. Instead, she looked away, back to the sky, noting it had changed colors once more. Remarkable. She saw a bird flying and trained her eyes on it, at least until Mr. Ransburg cleared his throat. He had made his way over too, while she was staring at the woman.

“Miss Craig?” She hated being called that. He knew so. It made her sound old. “Do you have anything to say to Miss Hawkins?” Tamsin shook her head no. She did, of course. She wanted to tell her that she did not want to go with her and that she thought she was going to be some old woman but even though she wasn’t and was pretty she still wouldn’t go with her. “Nothing? Surely you want to say something.” Again, Tamsin shook her head. Mr. Ransburg was starting to get that weird glint in his eyes that showed he was mad. She fixed her eyes on him and watched him cross his arms at her. “Very well then. That means you agree with us and you wish to leave, then.”

“I never said nothing like that.” She spoke before she realized she had been beaten at her own game, and she shut her mouth with a click and glared at him. Now he was starting to make her angry. A subtle change in the wind’s direction showed it, but Mr. Ransburg didn’t notice. Instead, he looked to Midori- sorry, Miss Hawkins- and gestured to Tamsin.

“As you can see, she’s quite stubborn, but once you get to know her, she isn’t too bad. She’s even a bit charming in her own way, once she grows on you.” He sounded like a man trying to sell something. It irked her. He ruffled her hair, another habit she hated. She gritted her teeth. The breeze picked up slightly. Little bits of dust were picked up from the road and the breeze carried them away like a broom. She pushed his hand from her head and looked even more sullen, gripping her bag. Even though she had been resigned to her fate a few minutes ago, he was starting to make her want to make things difficult. It was something she was good at.

“I don’t wanna go no place, least of all some place ‘cross the ocean.” She looked over to Miss Hawkins and, while she didn’t glower at her, she at least gave a level stare that showed she was not happy to see her, not anymore.

[Midori Hawkins]

This was a very, very new experience for the young recruiter. All of the places she’d been to so far had been homes. Homes with parents trying to protect their children. More often than not, it was the parents she had to convince to go along with the idea, not the kids. Granted, now she had new perspective. If someone came up to her in ten years or so and wanted to take her child away to a strange school, she’d be defensive too. It was a good thing she knew Hammel so well. From being a student herself to working there as an adult, she knew the environment. It was a good place for young metas to go. They were together, and that was what was important. They didn’t have to feel alone anymore. That was one feature she’d learned to love. She’d made good friends at Hammel. Some she still kept in touch with. One was even her best friend. Here, at the camp, she’d only have one person to convince, however. No parents, no guardians. Just the director, and he seemed to want her to go. This couldn’t be that difficult.

When Tamsin stared up at her, Mii tried not to look like she felt scrutinized. She was just a child. She had the right to know who was going to take her away from everything familiar. Her assessment would have made her blush. Was it really so obvious she wasn’t feeling all that well? Or was Tamsin just that perceptive? Normally, for kids that were having a hard time accepting that Hammel was the place for them, or for parents that needed to know life would be okay for their kids after Hammel, she’d demonstrate her abilities. It was easy when you shifted into friendly, furry creatures. She just... couldn’t right now. Tamsin would just have to trust her. Somehow.

The attitude honestly didn’t surprise her. Some kids were just like that. They wouldn’t speak to their recruiters. She was about to try again, when the director stepped in. She listened to their one way conversation patiently, wondering if Tamsin was just stubborn, or if she was frightened. Fear could manifest easily into stubbornness. She knew that. But finally, she spoke. Mii managed a little smile. It was a start.

She listened to the director’s description, nodding slightly. Yes, she could see she was a little stubborn. But she had patience. She could cope. When Tamsin shot back that she didn’t want to go, Mii smiled and crouched down again, eye level with her. “I know it’s far away, Tamsin. And I know it’s scary. But I promise, Hammel is a good place. I went there, when I was your age. They helped me learn how to control my power, and I made lots of friends. Just try it? For me?” She offered out her hand to the girl. All she wanted was to earn her trust. If she could do that, then this wouldn’t be so difficult.

She just hoped she didn’t want a demonstration of her powers.

[Tamsin Craig]

Tamsin wanted to trust her, or part of her did. Deep down, she wanted to have someone she could trust. She didn’t want to have to analyze everyone to make sure they weren’t going to leave her or do bad things to her or something along those lines. She didn’t want to have to live with the knowledge that every person she had met so far in her life, she would have to leave eventually. It was hard, being so perceptive sometimes. It was hard being old. She missed being a little kid.

If Midori thought she was going to get away with not explaining her powers, she was mistaken. Tamsin was curious, now that she had mentioned that the school helped her control them. The girl listened to the other parts too, about making friends and the like but she wasn’t convinced. She suspected the kids there would be arrogant and mean, like the white kids that she saw around sometimes whenever her Mama would take them off camp for something. They sneered at her and her broken English. She didn’t like it. The silence filling the air as she thought of that was turning stale. The director looked uncomfortable. Searching for a way out, he spotted Tamsin’s bare feet.

“Tamsin, did you lose your shoes again?” Without waiting a beat for an answer, he pointed to a building down the road. “I’ll get you another pair.” He took off like a bat out of hell. It was almost impressive, how fast he managed to get away. Like a snake, almost. The younger female’s eyes burned into his back, showing how much she detested him and his shoes, before she turned her gaze back to Midori. She eyed her hand as if touching it would curse her. If she touched her, would she change her mind about everything and go with her right away? There was a nun that could do that. She only used it to help kids stop fighting, but it was scary. She didn’t want anybody else’s thoughts in her head but her own. That was why Tamsin didn’t touch Midori’s hand, but instead looked up and her, lips pursed in suspicion.

“What powers you got? Show me.”

[Midori Hawkins]

Usually it was gaining the parents’ trust that was the tricky part. Here, Mii got the impression that the sooner Tamsin was out of here, the better. If she could just have the girl’s trust long enough to fly back to Vermont, that’s all she’d ask for. It was unfortunate that she had so little to do with the kids after they were brought to Hammel. Sometimes they came to visit. The good ones, the ones she’d liked. Then there were the ones that retained a certain level of mistrust and dislike for her bringing them to the school. Those, she got the occasional glares from in the halls, if she happened to pass by. But they’d get over it, eventually.

Hammel did help kids with their powers. All of the kids that came through their doors, the staff tried their best to help them. Even Tamsin. She’d seen it so many times before, even as a student. It took a while to adjust to Hammel, but once they were adapted to the environment, most of them tended to really come into their own. She just didn’t know how to convince Tamsin of that. If she could deal with memories, she could have shown her firsthand what it was like. But she didn’t. She couldn’t even use her own power, let alone wish for someone else’s. She sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

The exchange between the director and Tamsin was uncomfortable. Mii hated conflict, especially between a child and adult. (And she still had the teenage years to look forward to with her own child. Hello, conflict.) But her question made Midori withdraw her hand and frown slightly. It wasn’t that she was annoyed with Tamsin, she just... couldn’t. And how could she explain that? ‘Oh hi, I’m a recruiter from Hammel. Why yes, I do have powers, but I can’t use them.’ ... She really didn’t like these hormones.

“I’m a shapeshifter. I can change into any mammal that’s under about sixty pounds. But I can’t show you at the moment.” Not only would it put her at a major disadvantage, as she’d suddenly be much smaller than the girl, but she really couldn’t. And she didn’t want to explain why, either. “Please, just trust me?”

[Tamsin Craig]

The conversation between the two females was slowly but surely taking a turn for the worse. Tamsin squinted at the woman and her eyebrows knitted together. Why couldn’t she change? What was wrong with her? The first thought that popped into Tamsin’s head was that she was lying, but she wrote it off. Many kids wouldn’t believe it without proof, but Tamsin knew something most kids didn’t: adults were good liars. They could pretend to back it up if they needed to. What made her doubtful of Miss Hawkins was that she had mentioned her power and wouldn’t demonstrate. It probably meant that she wasn’t as good as she said she was, and that made Tamsin’s faith in this far away school even worse.

“Why ain’t you not showing me? You sick or something?” She asked calmly, tilting her head to the side. Most kids would’ve hurled it at her, but Tamsin wasn’t the word hurling type. She noted that the director was still gone, and had a feeling he really wasn’t getting her shoes right away. Whatever, that meant she had more time with the lady. She watched some of the nuns cross the dirt in the distance before turning back to the older woman. “You not lying, I can tell.” She said, scratching her scalp. The girl stood, stretching her arms out above her head before picking up her bag and slinging it onto her shoulder. She took a step backward, up onto the porch. “Not leaving ‘til you give a reason. A good one.”

This was a bluff and Tamsin knew it. She would be leaving anyway, regardless. But as sure as the breeze that blew the brush, she’d give them hell before they took her anywhere. She knew how. She rubbed her forehead and attempted to alleviate the headache forming within her skull. She couldn’t think straight anymore and when she looked up, she could see the wind was picking up. She needed to calm down a bit. She took a big gulp of air and held it, willing the wind to die down. It didn’t, which made her even more worried. That in itself caused the wind to pick up, and the slight breeze was turning into a wind that was making her hair get in her face. She took a few more steps back and then turned, retreating indoors and out of the outside. She said not a word- she knew Miss Hawkins would follow anyway.

The blazing heat was staved off by the whirring and clicking box fans, and if she sat in front of one for long enough that actually helped. She had discovered lately that if she was in front of anything that caused air flow without her doing it, she was fine. She kept her bag on the floor as she stood in front of one, eyes closed. Her head hurt. She didn’t make a sound, only gritted her teeth in displeasure.

[Midori Hawkins]

Tamsin’s suspicion, her scrutiny, only made the young shapeshifter that small bit more on edge. She knew she was already mistrusted by the young girl, and she was sure that telling her that she couldn’t perform her own power just made that distrust ten times worse. She sighed softly. She didn’t want to lie to the girl. She just wanted to collect her and go home. Her energy reserves were quickly going down. She didn’t have a lot of time to get this moving. Why couldn’t Tamsin just trust her and go? Oh, right. She was a teenager. (She was suddenly really, really not looking forward to raising her own teenager.)

Her questions were, honestly, to be expected. Mii closed her eyes and sighed softly. Well, she deserved an answer. When she opened her eyes, she glanced across the compound, gathering her thoughts as she watched the activity. It was like nothing had changed. Everyone was still going about their business. Everyone but Tamsin, of course. She opened her mouth to begin to explain, but then Tamsin was up on her feet, and retreating with her bag. Not good. Mii pursed her lips, watching the girl. She knew Tamsin knew she wouldn’t have a choice in the matter. But she could still bluff her way into making this more difficult than it needed to be.

After a moment of debate, Mii stepped up into the building, just in time to avoid the pick up of the wind. She knew the girl’s power. She knew that it signaled stress, and that was the last thing she needed. Especially if she was going to be taking her in a plane. She gave the girl a few moments before approaching her cautiously. She was far enough away that she hoped Tamsin wouldn’t be threatened, but still close enough to speak to her one on one.

“Tamsin,” she began softly. “I can’t use my powers right now. I’m not exactly sick, but…” How did she explain this nicely? … Screw it. She didn’t have a huge amount of time. “I’m pregnant. And because shifting involves my body, it could really hurt me, or my baby.” Regardless of the fact that her so called baby was barely even considered a baby at this point, she didn’t want to risk anything. “If I wasn’t, I’d love to show you. But you’re just going to have to trust me.” She offered a little smile to the girl. “Once we get there, I can get any of the teachers, or even some of the other students to show you what they can do. Can you trust me long enough to do that?” She cast a careful glance out the door, back into the compound. “Hammel has so much to offer. Please come with me, Tamsin. I promise you won’t regret it.” She could only hope that the girl would agree.

[Tamsin Craig]

Why did adults always stay so far away from her? She looked away from the fan and saw Midori standing two arm’s lengths away, watching her, analyzing her. Why were they so scared to get close to her? Was it just her power, or was it for other reasons? Was it because of what happened in Jigalong, because she had killed someone? The thought alone made her hurt and she turned her head again, staring into the box fan with squinted eyes. The fan dried her eyes and any tears that would’ve fallen retreated back into her body, drying up like dust in the brush.

Tam made no move to show she was listening to Midori, but she was. She listened closely and, even though she could smell a lie a mile away, she couldn’t hear any tone of it in Midori’s voice. That didn’t mean she wasn’t lying, though, that just meant she was good at it. She turned her head finally, to look at the woman, and watched her face. She looked sincere. She had one of those looks on her face like she was hurting or something, and Tamsin glanced at the woman’s stomach, then her, and bit her lip in thought. She was a bit afraid at her offer to let her see other people and their powers, if only because she was afraid of what they would do to her.

There was one thing that, kept irking her, though, and as she swung her bare feet off the bed to connect with the wooden floor with a thump, she huffed. “Stop callin' me ‘Tamsin’. Ain’t soundin’ right, makes me sound like I’s in trouble. Tam’s fine ‘nough.” She stood and hovered by her bed, looking outside. The wind was actually dying, which pleased her, but only for a moment. She knew that if there was anything else that ticked her off she was going to start it back up again, and it would be doubled.

She looked back from the window to Miss Hawkins and frowned. “Still don’ wanna go. Don’ wanna miss my family too long. Got little sisters. One’s this big, you know.” She held out her hand to a space between her hip and her knee, designating the size of Kylie, when she wasn’t standing on something to hold onto her. She leaned on one hip, making her almost look like a normal teenager, and huffed, blowing upward and shaking her head to get her bangs out of her face. “Say I go. No fuss. How long am I gone? Wanna come back soon as I can. I got my family.” She sounded like an adult, and while most of the people at the camp would write this off as ‘cute’, or even ‘bossy’, anyone with sense would see that Tamsin considered herself the provider for her siblings. She would go to this place, and she would play by their rules while she was there, but they weren’t going to keep her long.

Not if she could help it.

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[Midori Hawkins]

It wasn’t that Midori was frightened of Tamsin. Quite the opposite. She just wanted to give the girl her space. She remembered how intimidating the recruitment process was. A strange person showed up, told you you had powers, and wanted to take you away to a special school, far away from your family and friends. It had been bad for her, and she’d lived in America. This had to be ten times worse for Tamsin. Mii wanted to tell her she understood, but with the resistance she’d already been met with, she didn’t think it would be received well.

The recruiter wasn’t in the habit of lying, not to her recruits, nor their families. Lying got her nowhere. And why would she want to lie about Hammel in the first place? It was a wonderful place for budding meta-humans. She wasn’t a very good liar anyway. Her brothers could verify that. She’d stutter and pause as she thought about what she was going to say. No one ever believed her. Then again, no one believed her brother, Zachary, either. But his problem wasn’t that he sounded like he was lying. It was that his lies were utterly ridiculous.

The huffy response she got from the girl made her sigh quietly. “You aren’t in trouble. But if you don’t like me calling you that, I’m happy to call you Tam.” There was no need for that kind of attitude, but she wasn’t about to tell the girl that. She didn’t want to risk another rise out of her.

Her point about her family, however, brought a little lump to Mii’s throat. She remembered that part, too. All too well. She’d always been close to her siblings, though they were older, not younger. She hadn’t wanted to leave them, either. Tentatively, she stepped a little closer to Tamsin. “I know you’ll miss your family. I did.” She offered a little smile to the girl. “I have two older brothers. Zachary and Corbin. And even though Zach was always a brat to me, I missed him when I went to school. But when I came home to them, I knew I would be safe around them. I would never hurt them when I shifted. I missed them a lot, but I still talked to them. We wrote letters, and talked on the phone. And it won’t be for forever.” Her question, Mii felt a little guilty about. She couldn’t honestly answer it. It all depended on the student. “It depends on your power, and how well you can control it. Sometimes students are there for a short time, and sometimes it’s for longer.” She just didn’t want to admit that “a short time” could still mean over a year. “Please, Tamsin. I promise you can keep in contact with your sisters.”

[Tamsin Craig]

There was an awkward moment when Tamsin wanted to apologize if her ‘tone’ sounded wrong, because she could tell with Miss Hawkins’ change in her voice and her sigh that she had offended her or something. The words, however, did not come out. Instead, she gulped and looked down at her feet, wiggling her toes. She picked up her bag and shrugged it over one shoulder. The clinking of metal and the rustle of other things inside the rough cloth made her feel homesick.

The girl listened to Miss Hawkins and felt her face soften as she talked about her family. She was so afraid she wouldn’t understand- some adults did not because they were an only child- but the older woman knew. She knew about how she missed her family, even if she had older brothers and Tamsin had younger sisters. She nodded at the part apart her coming back and not hurting anyone anymore- that was part of the reason she had gone to Moore River. She didn’t want to the horrified looks on her family’s faces when she made swirling twisters that sucked up dust and sometimes buildings. It was sad.

“My family don’t have no phone and only my gandmama an’ aunt can read.”

[/b] She muttered. She did not admit that she was not the best writer in the world or that she could barely read chapter books without help, because when she had told that to the teachers at Moore River they thought she was stupid and put her in stupid kid classes. She hated those classes because everyone smiled a lot and took things really slow and even when she told them she understood, they would nod and act like they knew when really they thought she was empty-headed and dumb. She figured that they treated all the aborigine kids like that because they thought they all were ‘stupid backwoods heathens’, like her grandma had muttered about all the time when they first came around Jigalong.

“Can they visit me sometime? If I go.” Tam asked hopefully. She tacked the last part on the end as an afterthought, which was a sign she was considering it a lot more than she had before. Maybe this big American school wasn’t such a bad thing. Her family would be so surprised and impressed with this big school and her sisters would be so happy to get away from Jigalong that they would be the happiest girls in the entire world. They could sleep in her room in her bed like they all used to and she wouldn’t feel alone when she was sleeping. It almost seemed too good to be true. And they’d even get a room that had heat when it was cold and air conditioning when it was hot, like the big school buildings. She smiled slightly, hoping that would win Miss Hawkins over. She was one step away from going as it was. [/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Midori Hawkins]

Honestly, Mii had dealt with a number of teenagers with attitudes, especially lately. Her first few recruitment assignments were admittedly easy. But as she’d gained experience, she’d been faced with bratty teenagers, and difficult parents. Tamsin, she’d hoped, would be relatively easy. The lack of parents, and the compound’s willingness to have her go were both points in Hammel’s favour. But Mii had never thought that the girl would be so difficult. Still, she was trying her best. She’d come this far, and she was not going back home unless she had the girl in tow.

She could see the change in the girl, however, when she mentioned her own family. It was often a good card to use when a potential student had siblings. She couldn’t lie about missing her brothers, even if she wasn’t all that close to one. Even now, Zach was still the hair pulling, immature boy he’d been when she’d grown up. Somehow he’d missed the boat to maturity, while their oldest brother had caught it early. But going to Hammel had been a bright spot in her past. She’d met great people, and learned how to control herself. She didn’t have to be afraid of hurting her family, or her friends, while shifted.

Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best solution. Mii tried to think fast. “... If you wrote letters, could you grandmother or aunt read them to your sisters?” Whatever issues Tamsin had with reading and writing, Hammel could help. And hopefully without making her feel ‘stupid.’ The school dealt with all kinds of various student situations, and she could talk to admissions once they got back. If they ever got back. Even if she managed to get Tamsin to agree to go, she had a tiny fear that her power coupled with flying could be a very, very bad thing. And that made her nervous. Not that she really wanted to voice that.

Tamsin’s question threw her a little. All she did was bring the kids there. If the families lived close, it usually wasn’t a huge issue for them to visit. But in this case... she decided to sidestep the question. “I’m not too sure, Tam. My involvement ends once we get to the school. But once we’re there, I’m sure we can find someone to answer that for you.” For Tamsin’s sake, she hoped there was some way to coordinate that. “We can get everything arranged at the school for you.” If she agreed to come. “If you want to join us.” She tried one last time to get her to come, her hand held out again. “Please come, Tam. We can teach you so much, and I promise when you’re done, you’ll be able to control your power. Please?”

[Tamsin Craig]

Tamsin nodded as Midori brought up a valid point- if she wrote letters to her family, her Aunt would read them to her Mama and her sisters. Auntie was the best reader out of anyone, so Tamsin didn’t have to worry about that. That left that problem cleaned up and tidy, and the girl couldn’t help but feel disappointed. She expected that roadblock to last a little longer, if only because the woman wouldn’t believe they had no phone or that her family couldn’t read. For some reason white people just couldn’t believe it. “Sounds good.”

[/color] She decided out loud, nodding in approval. Fine. She would write her letters to her aunt.

The second question, though, worried Tamsin. She wouldn’t know until she went, and it would already be too late to leave if she went along. Was it a trap? She wasn’t sure. But the woman was proving trustworthy, so Tam would give her a chance. The girl shifted her weight, walking a few steps forward, her footfalls heavy with resignation. She would go, if only for her family. She reached out and gripped Midori’s hand firmly, shaking it once before breaking away. “I’ll go.”[/color] She spotted Mr. Ransburg in the doorway, grinning like he had won a bet. She didn't like it. “But I ain’t wearing no shoes.” His grin faded, and she could tell he was torn between making her wear the shoes and ruin her chances of going without a fuss, or just leaving her alone. He went with the latter. Smart man. She smirked.

“The jeep is right outside, Miss Craig. Miss Hawkins.” He gestured, quick to get her out before she changed her mind. Tam’s mind was made up, so he didn’t have to worry. She wasn’t one to go back on her decisions at the drop of a hat or with a change in the direction of the wind. She left the house, barefoot, and jumped down the steps, walking to the jeep without a word. Children saw her from the dusty windows of the school and within a few seconds, they were pressed to the glass, some staring, some waving. She raised her hand up to those who waved, then dropped it, pulling the door to the jeep open, rolling the window down manually before climbing in, reaching across to do it to the other side.

Her bag was placed on the seat, and she rested her chin on the window as she watched Mr. Ransburg chatter at Midori as they commenced their slow walk to the car. She looked up at the sky and realized the blue color was dark, more medium of a shade now. The sky was blue, and it was a good day. She looked out over the brush and even though she had contemplated running an hour before, couldn’t think of a good enough reason to sprint now.

“She refused a medical examination when she got here. Specifically, she refused to undress for the nurse to assess her skin condition. We weren’t going to sedate her over it, so if you want to do that while she’s in Hammel, you’re welcome to try.” She heard Mr. Ransburg’s parting comments and snorted, leaning back in her seat. She’d never let them see her like that. They’d have to knock her half dead first.

She ignored Mr. Ransburg as he started up the car, content to lean out the window to look out over the countryside, at the rocks to the north and the woods to the west. She smiled.

“Goodbye.”[/color][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]