Kea didn’t get in Night’s way, which was certainly odd from her past experience with kids. He stayed silent and closed the whole time. A few times Night checked on him to see how he was faring over the terrain and constant movement, but he’d never seemed fatigued or even slightly tired despite the climbing, walking, and running they’d both done all day. His nimbleness surprised her, too. He almost seemed to have been born to the world and climbed and sprang with such balance and control she almost felt clumsy and graceless herself. She, who could almost outrun and outclimb Tristan.

And another strange thing. It was the anniversary of losing everything she knew, so naturally it was filled with pain and memories… or not, since she’d run into Kea. It felt like there was a new presence at her mind, one that was directing the rushing, tumbling waters of her thoughts into a smooth and placid stream, and somehow filtering away the memories and troubles. It was concerning, almost to the point that it scared her, like a wound that had suddenly gone numb.

One time the presence was so strong that she felt it getting into her mind and thoughts. She shook her head vigorously and it dissipated, but only to creep back a moment later. It seemed so curious, worming its way through her miles of defense and seeing what they were really made of, on its way knowing there was something much deeper inside. She whipped around to Kea.

“Is that you?” she asked, half in anger half in disgust.

What?

“Oh, I’m sure you know what,” she scoffed. Her mouth was twisted up from the feeling of something foreign inside her mind.

No, what? What is it? he asked, sounding and looking as if he were purely wondering.

Night shook her head. “Is it you that’s getting in my…” But she trailed off, realizing how ridiculous she was being. “Never mind. It’s just a… headache or something.” So he looks strange, she told herself. That’s no reason to instantly suspect him of weird… abilities… too.

The hours seemed to hurry by in an unnatural flurry, and she found herself nearly at sunset again without knowing what she’d done with her time. Kea still was silently and alertly gliding along behind her. She had climbed up ahead of him to the high spot again that she’d sat last night and now sat in the silence of the wind. She lived through every monotonous, painful day for this, made herself keep going when she didn’t want to for this. There was always a sunset to look forward to; a time where she could collect, settle, and even sometimes forget her thoughts; a time where nothing was expected of her; a sunset where she could gather strength for the next day. The one thing she could ever be sure of was this.

How did you know Verene? Kea’s voice sounded suddenly, startling Night a bit by cutting through her thoughts. Was she your friend?

“No,” Night sighed. “More like… a helper, I guess.”

Helper how? Apparently the kid was bent on hearing as much about the girl as he could.

“Look, I’ve already asked you how many times to stop talking about this subject? Zip it or I won’t bring you home.”

Kea’s eyes shifted to the ground and he tugged at the edge of his short tunic, bringing the fabric over his knees. Night watched him out of the corner of her eye. For appearing not much older than a baby, he certainly acted peculiarly – not only was his balance more than perfect, his pronunciation and ability to put sentences together, as well as how he recognized and responded to reactions, were more than usual at his age. She wondered where the “nowhere” was that he’d lived before she found him. Of course he meant he wandered, like most of the living did, but where exactly he’d wandered she had no idea. Any place she knew of would have killed such a small child on his own, but he didn’t have so much as a scratch. And where had he hidden that he’d kept his eyes? She hadn’t quite realized how long it had been since she’d seen any other than the bleached color – aside from Tristan’s, that is, but even his didn’t really count as colored compared to Kea’s vivid, piercing blue. Maybe it was just that her memories had faded and all eyes used to be like that.

Night shook her head with a huff. She didn’t want to think about Kea, she wanted to think about the sunset. Somehow his presence was distracting. She suddenly realized she’d never taken anyone up there with her. It wasn’t on purpose, really, just that anyone who had been with her at the sunset time either couldn’t or didn’t want to climb up the rickety building, or they had better things to do in an hour. Kea didn’t seem to care about any of those things, but sat in silence like Night, though it was obvious he wasn’t paying attention to the softly colored light or any of the surroundings, for that matter. It seemed out of place, somehow, since the rays over the edges of the mountains lit up his face and form like they were clamoring at him while they had the chance. He didn’t glow any more than anything else, but there was something about him that was so natural in this—

There she was distracted again. She turned her head quickly in the opposite direction of him and kicked her legs fiercely against the wall, sending bits of its crumbling face down towards the ground. This was frustrating.

She tried to focus, but on what? she realized. I don’t ever focus up here. That’s the whole point. Kea’s ruining everything and I’ve only known him for a matter of hours. Tristan had better appreciate this when I get back. Not that bringing him home will do any good. He’ll just be another person to feed and take care of like everyone else… or… almost everyone. A hint of a smile went across her face like a fleeting shadow as she thought of Sonora. She took extra care and pretty much only gave worry, but somehow she was different from everyone else in Night’s mind. Sonora didn’t do anything, but Night’s usual judgement of worth – how much a person did in relation to how much he could do – for some reason, didn’t seem to apply in her situation. Kea, on the other hand. So far his worth was about zero. He’d never be like Sonora.

Who’s Sonora?

Night groaned. “Let’s go.”

Huh?

“Get up. We’re going home. Now.” I don’t know what you just did, but that was the last straw, she thought. His worth in her mind went down. It was the first time she’d left the sunset early.