"I am so glad you are here! I thought I would be dealing with strangers." she says as she picks up her paints. She taps me and whispers, "you're body was fidgeting again by the way.”

                 I nod and smile. This is how it is supposed to be. Her real smile, my… oddness, and silence. And Silver. The warm, minty-sweet smell of our safe little bubble. Even the soft melody of the music they play is somehow silent, a lulling nothing that is everything.

                 But it isn't that wintergreen scented silence that fills the air. I go back to painting as the others introduce themselves to Ebony, and I note that Masy does not explain the masks to Ebony as she did me. They make small conversation about trivial matters such as weather, but eventually Ebony leads the conversation towards a much more interesting topic; their magic studies.

                 I get carried into the work once again, this time being more aware of my gentil swaying, for I want to appear as pleasing and normal as possible to avoid the others attention. I do see now that they were glancing at me as I was working before, giving me curious looks before choosing to ignore me, and I am embarrassed all over again.

                 I listen to the conversations as I drone, for I am quite the fan of that which makes witches so damned in the eyes of man.

                 "I want to finally move into connection magic, but my mum must think that healing magic, the beginning class, of course, is all I'll ever need to know" says Iren.

                 "Me and Evika learned that a while ago, why don’t we teach you some time. You know, when we're not just painting masks" she jests. "Evika is really good at plant connection, and I can help with animal connection."

                 "That would be great! You guys want to come?" Wey says, looking to Masy and Iren. They nod eagerly.

                 "What about after we finish the masks! Its all there is left to do." Iren turns now to me "that work with you? I know your usually somewhere else" I panic and automatically nod, not having the guts to say no.

                 Ebony.

                 How could you.

                 I thought we were friends.

                 We finish the masks about an hour later, Masy having over exaggerated just how much was left, and Bbony brings us all to the edge of the coven near her house. As it turns out, Masy and Iren both live in the same cluster as Ebony, so we are near that familiar cottage. I stay towards the back then move to sit next to Ebony as we get settled, however, Masy beats me there. I stand in utter horror for moments far too long, fidgeting, before sitting next to, but behind enough to not be to near them, Wey and Iren. I look to Ebony for guidance and she smiles mischievously.

                 "Connection magic is all about opening yourself up. If you are defensive, what you are trying to connect to will be on guard as well." she leans forward towards a slug and slowly extends a hand. The slug first starts away, but then it slows and looks back. It tentatively slithers forward, and slowly starts to her hand. Their skins meet, and Ebony closes her eyes in contentment. Her skin gains a slight sheen, and microscopic scales start to riddle her skin. She opens her eyes and looks around and squints. Her pupils are big, almost blocking out the whites in her eyes.

                 "Never done a slug before. Its bright. And cold" she slurs. Her mind is split, and she is trying to focused on us instead of what the slug has on its mind.

                 Ebony pulls away and the slug looks around, almost gathering its bearings, as does she. Taking a deep breath, she smiles again.

                 "Plant connection is usually easer to start with. Evika?" she sneers jokingly. Everyone’s eyes turn to me. I avoid them all.

                  I thought we were friends.

                  I gesture to Ebony and force sounds out of my throat. They feel foreign. "Um… Like En- Ebony said," I cringe. Why must my mouth betray me so? "T-the- it's pretty simple. Nus- Just clear your mind and have your only goal be conns- con- connecting with the… thing. What you wish to connect with" My tongue feels of ten pounds of lead and my mouth swollen. I sink into myself, yearning for my dear Willow, and burn from the inside out.

                 Ebony looks surprised at just how bad that was and diverts their attention. "look at the grasses you are sitting in front of. Think only of the grass, get everything else out of your mind."

                 They reach forward and touch the grass. After a moment, Iren's eyes shoot open and relax, now a bright green.

                 "Wow... Sun... Warm... Food... Hurt." Ebony draws Iren's hand back for her, and Iren blinks. The green fades back to her usual blue.

                 Ebony shares my worried expression for only a moment and nods at me as we mentally mark this place for later. "Connection magic is the base work for almost all the other magics, so I am not sure why your parents have not taught you it yet. You connect with the very atoms of the earth, though not as extremely as we are doing now obviously, and we push things to be as we want them." Ebony lectures, letting Iren regain her since of self. "every time you do it you get faster at regaining your conciseness and it is easier to stay yourself during the connection." She lays a hand on Irens back supportively.

                 The group, looking sufficiently disturbed yet exited, takes turns basking in the sunlight and getting tips from me whenever I can muster the courage. Or I am asked for help. Much to my surprise, the sun drips past the treetops and my mind until Masy says hurriedly "we should get back, Its already sundown!"

                 I look up with the rest of them. The only time this happened was when I was playing in the forest with Silver, or, on the occasion, Tom. Its been a while since being with people felt this nice.

                 We stay only a few minutes longer chatting before rushing back, laughing.

                 After we had all parted ways, I having done so proficiently, bringing me a spark of such joy, I turn and take a step towards my cluster.

                "Hey!" Ebony's cry stops me and I turn. She smiles her sly smile again and nods, saying, "you did good today," she then wags a finger at my face and says  accusingly, "and I can tell you liked it."

I blush at the feeling of being caught, not entirely sure why it feels like such.

"See you in a few days?"

I pause for a moment, considering my feelings, surprised and elated that I feel like saying, "I'd like that, yeah."

                 The last time I had wanted to be around people for the sole purpose of their company was with Silver and his band. I had been yearning for them to come back, to fill the slowly-collapsing hole in my chest that they made when they left, for Ebony and Lory to go off and do whatever they did in private. I could tell that she was hurting just as much as me when Lory left with the rest of them, as much as she tries to hide it. The only difference is that she can move on, and not stay stuck in the same routine as before, no matter how crumpled it is.

                 "You're not still mad at me about the willow tree right?" she says, snapping me out of my reverie.

                 "What?" confusion leaks into my voice. I was never mad, I was just mourning the last bit of normalcy slipping away. Did I give off that impression?

                 "Are you coming?" she draws out each syllable in such a dramatic fashion that I interrupt her on the last syllable, unable to bear it any longer.

                 "Yes! Yes," I realize what I just agreed to and hurriedly add on, "when, where, and what will we be doing?"

                 "We'll see" she says, already walking away. As per usual, she likes to keep things hanging out in the air as if she wasn't afraid of it all blowing away.

            I set the faded basket of wash next to the crystalline stream and run my hands through its waters. The wind snakes through the trees in a calming rhythm as I take the cloths out piece by piece and scrape all the dirt and sweat from their tinted fabrics.

            I have only three items left when I hear a branch snap, and that familiar spark of hope flares as I look around.

            Silver would sometimes find me doing my chores when he and the band had one of their scuffles, and he had been able to track me to this very stream side many times before...

            But the faint hope is extinguished as Ebony comes sneaking up from behind me, Iren in tow. Today, she and Ebony have the flowing, floral tinted witch-style skirts. Ebony chose to stick to her usual pine greens and Iren also stayed to the oak-bark color of her pants, her blouse also a heavier brown material to fight off the dipping chill of the past few days.