@      The snow began to fall. Jonathan’s shoulders slipped back into a slump as they walked, and neither girl noticed. Serenity had gotten Robin into a fit of laughter, and it was a rare thing. Robin wiped tears from her eyes, warmed by laughter, and somehow, the high, staccato sound made his head throb. He strode ahead of the giggling girls, and ran a hand through his hair. His palm was glowing a cool, soft green. The snow melted beneath his fingertips, and the flurries of white surrounding him dissipated.

      What was his magic, really? He weighed the pros and cons, shuffling his feet as he trudged up the road, hands stuffed into his holey pockets. His fingers poked through the tears in the thin fabric sewed into the inside of his pants, and the brisk night air that blew through his pantlegs burned his fingertips. Magic. He could defend himself from anyone whose intentions were to harm him. He could start fires, warm and cool his temperature to comfort at will, and he could make it snow.

      Just thinking about it brought the flurries back. Every time he thought about anything too hard, or for too long, they accompanied him. He blew out a deep breath, watching the air crystallize before him.

      Magic was power, but what was power without comfortable living? Ezra Quarter could provide him with everything he needed, and more. He sighed, and lifted his head, forcing a smile onto his face. His corrected his posture, feeling his muscles tense as his shoulders broadened. He looked over his shoulder at the girls, and quirked his eyebrow upward.

      “Are you coming, or not?” he teased, crouching down to a racing stance. He planted the toe off his boot into the mud, and the fingertips of his right hand just as far into the dirt. Serenity laughed out loud, in disbelief.

      “You're going to race me?”

      Jonathan nodded with his eyebrows raised, a silent invitation that screamed “just try.”

      Seren unclipped her cloak, holding it out for Robin to take. Robin let out a low whistle and smiled as Lark settled on her shoulder. This would be good. Serenity strutted forward with a confidence in her step that no other could match. She lined up with Jonathan, planted her hand in the mud, and looked over, her light brown eyes glistening.

      “On your mark...get set,” she exhaled deeply, eyes concentrated on the road in front of her. “Go.”

      Robin watched as the two took off down the road, kicking up mud. She chuckled and watched as Jonathan stumbled over his cloak a few times, betting that he wished he had been as smart as Serenity had. She started after them, walking at a good pace, not wanting to get too far behind in the dark. She met up with them a few minutes later. She could see Serenity’s face faintly in the moonlight. Her eye twitched in annoyance, her arms crossed over her chest. Robin shook her head and smiled. Jonathan poked his finger in Serenity’s chest and laughed overdramatically, his lips curled up in a coy smile.

      "Nobody beats me.”

      Serenity huffed and bit her thumb at him. He rolled his eyes, feeling in much higher spirits, and nudged her arm playfully. She eventually smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, ignoring the feeling of the freezing mud that had dried on her hand. She looked over her shoulder at the pale figure lingering behind them and whistled.

      Lark rose off of Robin's shoulder and flew over, settling back onto Serenity’s. Robin walked over quietly and stood on Seren’s other side, clutching her friend’s olive cloak in her grasp. Serenity wrapped her other arm over Robin’s shoulder and pulled her close.

      “We win some and we lose some,” she commented, exhaling deeply.

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      Serenity listened to the crunching of the leaves beneath her feet as she walked across her yard. Jonathan and Robin had left her on her road, and headed their separate ways. Two high-pitched yips came from the back of the house, and a small white terrier ran towards her, weaving in between her feet and tripping her up as she walked. She knelt in the grass and took the small hound’s face in her hands, rubbing him behind his alert ears. She laughed and gave the top of his head a pat before standing up, surveying the scene. Her lopsided brick house stood fifty or so yards off. The wooden door was splintered and the windows were covered in pitch to keep the cracks in the glass together. Something was off. Her large gunmetal hound was nowhere to be seen. She cocked her head to the side and took a few hesitant steps forward.

      “...Tucker?”

      A loud bark came from around the house and she tiptoed around the corner, looking for him. She spotted him in the dark, his tail wagging fervently though he was facing away from her.

      “Tucker?”

      The dog’s ears perked up and he turned around, and a figure that had been hidden in the dark slowly rose to its feet, tall and lean. Definitely a man. Something in the back of her mind made her more aware of the stiff knife that was folded up and tucked into her boot. She opened her mouth to scream, and the shadow’s hands shot up in surrender. The dog leapt back and forth on his spindly legs, jumping at the stranger in excitement. Serenity heard a laugh emerge from the dark, and she stepped forward until she could see the man it belonged to clearly. A boy her age, maybe a year older, was trying to calm the dog down, a smile plastered on his face. 

      The muscles in her shoulders untensed. She stared him down until he had calmed the dog enough to throw a glance her way. His dark eyes met hers, and she clenched and unclenched her hand into a fist as Lark shifted on her shoulder.
   
      She didn't know what to do. He was smiling at her.

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      Robin skipped the road she knew would take her home. The wind tugged at her thin shirt, whipping the hem of it against her legs as she walked up the road, bathed in moonlight. Her short brown hair fell in her eyes, hiding from view the fact that they were multicolored. She tugged her sleeves further down over her hands, and curled her small fingers into fists. She looked up at the sky, and stared for a second. The stars were barely out. She wondered if they were too intimidated by the moon’s beauty to show themselves.

      Her feet carried her to a plot of land where no house stood. The grass was shorn down to the dirt, almost. She stopped at the edge of the bumpy terrain and just stood, debating whether or not to stay for a while. Ghosts and all sorts lingered here, the kids in town would tell her every time they saw her walking down this particular road. She shuffled her feet, a pit growing inside her stomach as she thought about it. It was offensive to her, but she couldn't blame them. They were just children.

      She eventually took a step onto the thin layer of grass and started up and down the many rows of dirt patches, some small, some significantly sized. She made careful not to step on the shallow heaps of dirt as she made her way to the back of the plot. One rectangular patch stood away from the rest, almost at the tree-line. She ignored the howlings of the wind, determined not to have her mind changed by any eerie sounds. She shuffled forward until the toes of her fraying and well-worn boots peeked over the edge of the patch, disturbing the smoothness of the dirt.

      She just stood there, frozen, until she had been there for so long that she barely remembered arriving. She tried to picture him, lying beneath all that dirt.

      She couldn't. She barely remembered the details of his face anymore.

      She exhaled, upset at herself for forgetting.

      “Hello, Kastle,” she started, eyes downcast.