"Where Fools Walk Freely: chapter eight" by Meg J Milano

William Tompson had been receiving visions of the future since the age of two. At first, though he was very young, he thought they were just dreams, successions of random images passing through his brain during sleep. As he grew older however, he began to realize that other peoples dreams didn"t happen the next day. Or they day after, or ever really.

His father learned of his ability one day when the young Will ran to him wailing about how he KNEW he was going to fall today, but did it HAVE to happen in front of Timon, the blacksmith"s son, who had laughed at him for it.

Will"s father was a highly respected sorcor and was able to help Will refine his ability. By the age of 10, the boy only saw the future when it had to do with something he was about to do or say. Will"s special talent had it"s limitations though. The boy was not able to control what he saw, and the visions came whenever they felt like it. But still, they were useful.

After Will had left home and become Win, he used his visions to help other people, and himself during challenges. Sometimes he saw what would happen to another challenger. If it was something bad, he would keep an eye out and try to help, or save, depending on the situation. So far, nobody even suspected him of being one of the fey. The non-humans.

Win still helped though, every challenge. He won, and he helped others. And if he died in the attempt, well, that was okay with him.

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The Girl rocked back and forth on her paws. She had taken the shape of a dog, and was outside the home of a young woman about the same size as the red-head. All she needed to do was wait for dark, and sneak in. Then she could grab a few dresses (and other things), and make her way back to Zayn.

The village she was in was very close to Zayn. A sign on the front gate read ""Merwin"". The townspeople had taken extreme security measures, with a wall surrounding the entire area. At every exit of the wall there were posted at least two guards. The town"s layout was also very protective. In the middle was the meeting place, as well as a few stores, This put the most important building in the middle of the town, and the lesser on the outside. Then if it was attacked, the city would be able to hold. The Girl wondered if all of Clary was built in this way.

To enter the city, The Girl had simply changed into a bird, and flown over the wall. She had several bird shapes committed to memory, so she didn"t have to find an example first.

The Girl flew over the wall, and had found a dog standing outside one of the houses on a dirty street, waiting to be let in. It was dark brown with cream colored spots all around his head. She quickly changed from a bird to a cat, (also from memory) and ran down the street, toward a little shed she had seen on the flight over. It seemed forgotton, and was out of the way, hidden partly by the trees. Luckily, the dog followed her, unluckily barking his head off.

The Girl ran behind the shed, and changed into her true form. When the dog came around the right corner she grabbed him, and clamped his snout shut. Then she quickly ran around to the front of the shed, opened the door, and stuffed him inside. He made the most awful noise, but the walls were thick, and it could not be herd, unless someone put their ear up to the door. She trusted that that wouldn"t happen, but the girl was worried that someone would open the door to the shed and discover the animal. Then, the owners would probably wonder why they had two dogs that looked exactly the same. The Girl felt bad for the beast, but she couldn"t risk it ruining her plan. "I'll be back for you later," she promised, and ran around to the back of the shed once again. She leaned up against the wooden wall and worried that someone had seen her, but it was mostly for her nakedness than her hair color.

She had already committed the dogs shape to memory, so all she had to do was concentrate. The familiar pain behind her eyes assured her that she now looked like a house hold pet. She begain to wait.

***

Night had finally fallen. The dog"s owners had eventually let the Girl in, and she had played the part of the exhausted pet well, by curling up by the fire and pretending to sleep. Fortunately, the girl who"s clothes she needed lived right across the street.

About an hour after being let into the house, the owners, a dark skinned man and his blond wife, went to bed, The Girl didn"t feel guilty about decieving them, she"d done similar things many times in the past. Fear was a much stronger emotion then guilt, she had discovered.

When she was sure that everyone was asleep, she changed back into a bird and flew out the window, and over the street. There was no glass, because the temperatures of the islands made it impractical. The heat was year round, so the people had no need to shut the windows, ever.

The Girl flew with practiced ease over to the house, and through another window. Now all she needed was to find where the other girl kept her clothing. The bird shape couldn"t see too well in the dark, so she switched back to the cat she had been earlier.

In the room she arrived in , was a small bed with an even smaller dresser. A little form slept soundly underneath a quilt, unaware of the visitor. The shape was too small to be who the Girl was looking for, so she moved into the adjacent. This room was some kind of living area, with a hallway leading on to more parts of the house. She moved on to the hallway, and to the next room.

Kitchen. She tried the next

Storage. The next.

In this room was a bed a mirror, and a large closet. In the bed was a form, that was too still to be asleep. The Girl waltzed over and jumped up on the bed. She used the cat"s teeth to pull back the sheets, and found a pillow, stuffed to be in the shape of a human. Ha! Someone suck out she thought. The girl changed into her true form, not having to worry about herself in an empty room. She walked over to the closet, carefully avoiding the mirror (she had no wish to see herself, so thin and bony,) and opened the door. About ten different dresses of various colors hung before her.

In her form, the girl could see better in the dark then even the cat. She chose three of the dresses, and one shift she found folded neatly in a small alcove. She also took a pair of black sturdy shoes, made for work. She would need them for when she wasn"t competing. She stuffed all of the items in a canvas sack she found under the bed. She also found a cloak hanging near the door. She took that and wrapped it around herself. The girl couldn"t carry the bag as a cat, because it was too heavy. So she left the room as herself. Back in the hallway, she stopped in the storage room, and took a few jars of food. Just in case she needed it in the future. She also took two knives from the kitchen, and blanket from living area. These also went into her bag. Then, with one last look behind her she left the house through the front door, which was located in the living room.

Back on the street, the girl went back to the shed. She opened the door, and jumped quickly away as the dog came barreling out. She looked him over , for any signs of injury,( she had been afraid that he would have hurt himself trying to escape,) and finding none, let him go on his way.

She sat in her spot behind the shed, and began to think of a way to get out of the village. She could fly again, but any bird shape she knew that was big enough to carry the bag, was not native, and would probably draw too much attention if seen.

The Girl figured she had about five hours until morning, and then she would be stuck. She considered walking out one of the doors pretending that she was a visitor, but the guards would probably question her, and that would take to much time. Plus, the Girl didn"t have a suitable excuse as to why she would be leaving now.

Finally she had a reasonable idea. She would climb the wall with the back strung across her back. The Girl was very nimble, considering her bony figure, and she was sure she could make it. The Girl walked to a part of the wall hidden by the back of the shed, bent her knees, and clutched the bag underneath her arm. Then she jumped. Climbing the wall was as easy for her, as she"d predicted, though for a human it would have been near impossible. She made it to the top, and climbed over. On the way down the other side, though, her foot slipped of one of the few holds.

She fell all the way down. The wall must have been twelve feet high. Landing on her bottom hurt. This is definitely going to bruise she thought. But it will only take an hour to heal. She once again thanked her healing powers. The Girl stood up painfully, and began to make her way back to Zayn.

Halfway there, the girl lay down and let the healing process begin. An hour later she awoke. It was still dark, with four hours remaining until dawn. There were many meters of woods left between The Girl and Zayn, so she l changed into her red headed shape, before putting on the borrowed petticoat and then one of the dresses she had chosen. It had a white blouse, with a brown bodice. The skirt was a yellowish color. She also donned the shoes which were only a little too big. The cloak went back around her shoulders, and she continued to make her way.