Aysel sat amongst the books in the large Brunnhold library. She was hunched up with the adventures of explorers open in her lap. She had read this book so many times it opened at her favourite pages. Her small brown reading glasses were perched perfectly on the edge of her nose. Right now she was with her hero, making their way through dense unexplored lands.

The heat stuck their hair to the back of their necks the green leaves tickled their legs. They swung their deadly knives skillfully and silently waiting ready and alert for any sign of danger. The smell of a rain forest is strange almost overwhelming.It smells like danger and unknown plants and fruits.

The Rainforest was an explosion of colours and the constant hum of life kept you alert but also in a strange way humble.
Just as they loosened their defences by just one knotch-

Aysel was back. She was in the library, the quiet startled her which was strange since she had loved it from the beginning.
The silence of the library, it always intrigued you made you wonder what wonderful things could be happening in all that silence. But at that moment in time, the silence disturbed her made her suspicious...

Khymarah wandered through the libarary, running her fingers along the spines of the Romance Fiction section. Her duel colored eyes were far away, and she didn't seem to actually want to borrow a book. Mostly, she was just remembering. Her mind was conflicted, filled with thoughts of warm human hands and dreadlocks. She missed Ivan...but...at the same time, perhaps it was safer this way. For him.

Pulling herself from her memories, she picked a book at random and took it to the soft reading seats. Moving with a soft swish of her golden skirts, she sat down. The dress was new, picked up in the stacks. Golden wasn't exactly her usual color, but sometimes change was a good thing. She'd even pulled her hair into a new style, long whisps of fringe either side of her face, silver chains and bells weaved into an intricate bun. It felt good to have her long hair off her neck.

Opening the book, she ran a finger over the letters, not really sure she was going to read it, but not ready to read anymore grimoires today. She'd had a huge study session last night, going over the spells she knew and reading the ones she didn't. There was yet a suitable mentor in the grounds...or at least, no one that seemed suitable. What she really needed was to talk to Ceres. However...that seemed harder than anything. Again, she daydreamed, mind wandering. It was hard to stay focus with so much on her mind.

Aysel rested her head against the book shelf and sighed. Something was missing, something was wrong and she didn't know what. It was like there was an itch just below her rib cage and she couldn't get to it. She sighed again, picked up her book but gave up after a sentence. The rain attacked the windows, tiny marching feet pounding the panes. The world outside was warped and twisted by the constant downpour Aysel found it hard to concentrate.

She took her glasses off and rubbed her temples. She rested her head against the book shelves and closed them breathing deeply, the smell of worlds yet undiscovered. She smiled. She remembered the time when she was younger she had borrowed a load of books from the library before she came to Brunnhold and they were so heavy! When she complained to her nurse she merely said that it was the weight of all those wonderful worlds she hadn't travelled to yet and she said it as if she were shocked Aysel hadn't known that.

Aysel smiled wider as she remembered her cool voice. Always soothing and calm. She missed it all, the simplicity of childhood. Snooping around the house when her Nurse's back was turned, finding the library underneath the trapdoor. The itch grew worse, and once again she sighed staring out at the grey world.

The young woman flicked at the corner of the first page of her book, staring almost past it, eyes distant. She couldn't keep her mind focused enough to concentrate on the words, or even the title. Softly, a sound caught her attention. Looking up, she scanned the rest of the libarary. It wasn't completely empty this afternoon, but it was certainly very very quiet. Quiet enough to hear a pindrop.

Frowning, she closed her book as she heard yet another soft sound. A sigh. Standing, she moved toward the sound, peeking around the corner of a bookshelf. A young girl sat on the floor, surrounded by books, her head resting on a bookshelf. Smiling as she rounded the corner, Khymarah took a few steps foward.

"Bells and chimes, such a huge sigh for a small girl. It can't be that bad can it?" Her voice was light, pleasant. How could someone so young sigh so heartily. Was Brunnhold that harsh on her? A little twinge of nostalgia pierced her heart. It was that bad for herself.

Aysel was startled to see someone coming towards her, the girl smiled and talked to her. Aysel realised her expression was startled but she quickly rearranged that to a hopefully welcoming smile. Maybe she knew how to get the itch away.

She sat up and looked at all the books surrounding her and flushed with embarassment. She rearranged them in a more orderly manor and closed them all with a careful loving touch that one might have seen being given to a small child, not ten fat books. She looked up again and smiled wider, hoping she couldn't see how anxious she truly was.

" I think, I might be home sick. Or just sick. I don't really know anymore. My life at Brunnhold has been pretty simple, I haven't had friends but I have had books to confide in but now I'm wondering if thats enough."
Aysel was startled that she had told this stranger all of her inner worries. She looked at her, waiting for the mocking laugh or a snort or even a quivering mouth surpressing laughter.

Khymarah's smile softened more, and closing the distance between herself and the younger galdor, she sat down across from her. Running a hand across one of the covers of the closed books, the redhead looked up at the girl.

"If your happy, its can be enough. I didn't have many friends when I was here for school - none in fact - so I spent a lot of time here myself. It's a good place to just, get away from it all." Tilting her head slightly, she rested on one arm.

"My name's Khymarah Theraldon, I'm doing some outside studies at the school for a while. Tell me, why do you think you might be sick?" The older woman asked, looking the girl over and touching her field with her own. She seemed to be healthy enough...maybe a little paler than most, a little thinner than some. But she didn't seem sickly.

"By sick, I didn't mean physically sick, I meant...well I can't really explain it. I'm not complete, something important is missing and i don't know what."
As confused as she was Aysel felt a strange feeling of relief as she told this woman her feelings. She was very pretty, with long red hair and beautiful eyes she wondered why she never had any friends. She opened her mouth to ask but then closed it remembering her manners. " I feel like I've been hiding in books all these years. I haven't even tried confronting people, I just...can't. I want to though. I don't know how to explain it so I'll just show you."
Aysel took out the letter her mother sent her a few days ago. It said
Dear Aysel,
From the letters I get from you I can tell you are very happy and have many people to support you and be your friend. I was very worried that you were lonely. I am very sorry I can't be there to hear all these wonderful stories about your days at Brunnhold. They're turning out to be as eventful as mine!
I love you always.
Your mother.
" I don't like her worrying about me, when she went here she had everything and I don't want to let her down, or my father not again."
Aysel looked away tears threatening to spill over, she held them in sniffed and coughed. Why was she telling her all these things? Why did she feel she could confide in someone she only met a few moments ago?

Khymarah read the letter quietly, smoothing a crease with her fingers. It seemed like Aysel had been telling her mother lies about her time at Brunnhold - delcaring it a wonderful experiance. In fact, she was miserable, but didn't want to show it to her family. Folding the letter lightly, the older woman gave it back.

"Your mother sounds like she care's about you very much. Don't you think she would rather hear that your not really happy? I think, you consider their feelings too much over your own." Pausing, she tucked back a stray strand of hair.

"What happened with your father?" She asked quietly, knowing that youth didn't mean that she couldn't dissapoint. Khymarah had dissapointed hers since the day she was born - and she didn't even have to try!

"It was at my fathers annual party with all of his co-workers. They had recently done amazing work so the party was even more extravagant than usual. I was quite small at the time, i was a welcome guest.

They would talk to me as if I were an adult, I liked that very much, I liked it so much that I tried to be like my father. I ended up telling them my fathers secrets. Even though I didn't know what it meant I knew I had done something bad.The party ended early. My father didn't look me in the eyes for months."

Aysel took a deep breathe and fussed over the books so Khymarah couldn't see her tears. She sniffed and sat up again.