I'll admit it was slightly daunting, riding a bus with almost a complete stranger, to go somewhere I didn't want to go, to meet my sister who I didn't I had until yesterday. Mr. Damia wasn't exactly pleasant conversation either. He seemed like one of those adults who didn't have kids, so he stayed away to avoid embarrassing himself in front of teenagers. To be fairly honest I don't think I would have done any better, considering my mental state.

    What would she be like? I hope she wasn't mature and commanding like Aurora. I could handle that in a friend but I don't think I could handle it in a sibling, especially if we're the same age. I glanced down at my hands to study the slowly growing pale patches. I wonder if she was like me, timid, modest, with a thing for girls and guys, which was something only Felix knew about. I wonder if her skin was like mine, all broken up and blotchy.

    "What's Agrios like?" I asked quietly, so only Peri could hear me.

    He looked thoughtful. "It's a lot more green that the North, and there's a lot more bugs."

    You would have expected someone to look disgusted after saying that. Peri only drooled thoughtfully at the thought of more small insects to eat.

I not entirely sure what happened next, it was late and I was having one of the longest days of my life. To think just this morning I was having my familiar ceremony. To put it simply, at one point I fell asleep. Some time later I was suddenly awakes by a gentle nudge from Mr. Damia.

It was really dark outside, my body felt like a wreck. The wolf rep lead me though a bit of jungle. I would give you a better reaction but it was way to dark to see much as I was about to drop. The last thing I clearly remember was stopping a a strangely round shaped house and suddenly there was a bed. I fell asleep in said bed. I'm not even sure where Peri went after that, probably to go eat something.

Then all of a sudden it was morning.

I woke up to discover I was not in my regular bed, but one I had never seen before. There was less animal pelt. Any fur was thin and pitch black, strange. Worse yet, there were other people I didn't know. Actually, I was over reacting, there was one one person and a lot of empty beds. It was a cute looking boy, who gave me a sharp look before leaving the strange dome house and stranding me alone.

Where the heck was I? Where was Peri?

My confusion was only added to when an older man ducked his head in the door and a warm smile alighted on his face when he saw I was awake.

"Please to see you're up Craig, I imagine you must be very confused." He started. "My name is Jamal, I'm in charge of the boy's ward, and I can answer any questions you most definitely have."

"Where am I?" I squeaked.

Jamal walked fully into the small housing and I suddenly took in the fact he looked kinda like me, dark skin, dark hair. Only he didn't look like a teenage wreck.

"You're in the village of Agrios, in the South. My fiancé Bee and I run a small orphanage of sorts-"

"I'm not an orphan." I snapped suddenly, I'm not entirely sure what came over me, I couldn't hear much over the pounding of my heart in my ears.

Jamal gave me a pitiful look, which I immediately resented but didn't have to courage to speak up for myself. "I know, your chaperone informed me of your predicament. For now, we'll call this your temporary housing? Is that all right?"

Something about the way he spoke was somewhat calming. This 'temporary housing' thing I could agree with, because this would only be temporary. I would make sure of it.

"That's okay." I replied, calming down a bit.

The man smiled. "Alright, I think you're gonna like it here. If not, you've got a friend in me? Alright?"

I nodded, then my stomach growled. "What time is it?"

Jamal shrugged. "Late morning, about breakfast time. I assume you're hungry,"

Late morning? I had slept in in, like a lot. "I would love something to eat."

The I remembered my familiar. I needed to sort out my priorities. "Where's Peri?"

Jamal's eyes widened with amusement. "So that's his name. Everyone's been outside admiring him, most of the kids here are underage you see, no one else has a familiar except for Bee and and I, and...well your sister!"

Sweet Spirits I had nearly forgotten. I really needed to sort out my priorities. "Is she here?"

I didn't want to say sister because the word still felt weird on my tongue.

"Of course, I will warn you, she isn't the most talkative to be around most of the time." Jamal explained.

No wonder we're related.

"Oh! One last thing. I've gotten you a change of outfit, they'll help you fit in better. Think of them as temporary clothes." Jamal produced a stack of neatly folded fabric and handed it to me. "Get changed quick and then we'll see to breakfast."

He left and I observed what was in my hands closely. It was a black shirt with short sleeves and darker green leggings. There was also this big clumsily thing I soon figured out was a shawl. It fit surprisingly well and was pleasantly comfy.

    The Southern Jungle was a whole lot different in the daytime than it was at night. I can say with utmost certainty that first thing I noticed was the blistering heat. Not to mention everything was green. I blinked a few times to get used to the sight. I was standing in a clearing of sorts, there was a similar dome shaped structure a few feet away, with a few girls clustered around it. I took a wild guess and assumed that's where the girls slept. Then I noticed the cluster of kids chattering loudly around a small parrot, Peri to be exact.

    I walked over hesitantly, not sure if I should introduce myself or just grab my bird and run. The latter seemed a tad dramatic.

    "Craig!" Peri gasped with glee upon seeing me, he flew up and landed on my shoulder, giving me a friendly nip on the ear.

    Then to my horror, the attention was on me now.

    "That's your familiar?" A kid missing a few teeth asked.

    I nodded weakly. "Yep."

    There were more collective gasps at my expense, a few murmurs, then a loud, verbal realization.

    "You must be Ryan's brother!"

    The same round of amazement zipped through the crowd, only slightly louder and more annoying. I took a few steps, honest to goodness just wanting some food. Then the information sunk in. My sister's name was Ryan, huh.

    Some pushed through my small crowd of PeriFans™ until I was face to face with a girl my height. She was wearing a similar style of shawl that I was and her skin just about matched as well. She had long silky chocolate hair, with two blonde streaks next to her dark orange eyes. I though it might have been dyed until I noticed the small flecks of paler skin on her forehead (exactly where her change in hair color was) and peeking out from her collar bone. She had the same skin disease as me, only she was probably rocking it even better than I was.

    "Are you Craig?" She asked, after we had stared as each other for a good three seconds.

    "Yeah..."

    She held her hand. "I'm Ryan."

    Oh. I blinked once, trying to figure this all out. She didn't bother waiting for me to shake her hand, she simply grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me away from the clowder and behind one of the dome shaped buildings.

    "Listen, I mean no harm!" I squeaked, seeing as I hadn't been dragged behind any building by any girls in my life, ever.

    "Sorry, I didn't want to make a scene in front of all the other kids." She mumbled somewhat quietly. "I don't like audiences."

    She crouched and leaned back against the wall, then patted the spot in the dirt next to her. I sat, criss-cross, and prayed to all the spirits I knew that I didn't screw up this conversation somehow, it was kind of monumental.

    She looked me up and down again, as if she could hardly believe I was real. I felt the same way if I'm being entirely honest.

    "You're not exactly what I had imagined when they told me my twin brother was coming to pay a visit." Ryan admitted honestly.

    I shrugged. "You're not either, but I'm not exactly sure how I imagined you would be."

    Ryan nodded in mutual agreement. "I like your hair."

    I felt a surge of gratitude fill me and felt a little better. I wouldn't say I hated my looks but overall, I didn't have the best self-esteem. Compliments, however small, were important to me.

    "I like your hair too, familiar ceremony?"

    She shook her head. "No it's completely natural, see I have this skin..."

    She paused, and glanced up at my blotchy face. "You know already. Gosh you have a lot more spots than I do. They look cool though."

    I blushed with embarrassment. I wasn't used to comments on my looks, it was a weird feeling. It felt nice though.

    "Ooh!" She gasped suddenly. "You wanna see my familiar?"

    Ryan reached into her hair and brought a sleeping cockatiel, who ruffled his pure white feather and spread her giant yellow crest in alarm, probably because she had just woken up.

    "This is Lucy." Ryan explained. "I got her yesterday, although I assume you did too."

    Peri, who tended to drift off when I started talking with other humans, make a weird, low sounding squeak. Lucy hopped off of Ryan's hand and onto the dirt next to Peri and started up a conversation. If your wondering, familiar magic only allows us to hear our familiar and our familiar only. So it was like watching a weird one-sided conversation.

"H-hi, I'm Peri."

Quiet squawking.

"Oh! That's really cool."

I shook my head in dismay and saw Ryan had a similar amused look. She grabbed my hand and lifted me up suddenly, I nearly fell because I was not expecting it.

"Come on, I wanna show you around Agrios." She commanded. "I don't want you to get lost."

"O-Okay." I replied nervously. "Sounds nice."

Peri looked up. "I'm coming too."

A few minutes later I was walking next to in a semi-busy street. I amazed by all of the color packed into this tiny little town. People wore vibrant scarves all over their whole bodies. It made my bright green shawl blend in easily. We walked past a small band looking for tips on the street, they group of them had colors on their faces. It was hard to explain, but I liked it and wanted to try.

"What's that?" I asked, point to the band. "What's the color on their faces?"

"You'll have to forgive him, he's not very smart." Peri rolled his eyes at Lucy, I decided not to say anything about him trying to impress her.

Ryan blinked at me. "It called omorfiá, or as most people call it, makeup. Do they not have it where you come from?"

I shook my head. "What is it?"

She smiled. "It's like paint, we use it during parties or formal events. I heard other areas use it for beauty. Here's its just for fun."

Ryan paused, pursing her lips. "It's like dancing, just another way of expressing yourself. You use it to show emotion. I have some if you wanna try it?"

"Really?" I blinked, this omorfiá stuff, sounded like a lot of fun.

In the Pack, there wasn't a lot of chances for self expression. We had bonfires occasionally, sometimes there was some mediocre dancing, but nobody dressed up. From what I had seen so far, the people of Agrios were almost like the birds themselves, beautifully bright colored and expensive. It was intoxicating and I liked it.

"Of course." Ryan grinned at me. "Well, I don't have a lot of money it, but I have two colors."

She pulled the two of us out of the middle of the path, against another, pale, dome shaped house and rummaged through her bag. Her smooth hands reappeared with two discs that opened up to reveal a small palette of paint-like substance I assumed was the omorfiá. One was green and the other a sunset-colored orange.

"They're brand new, Bee got em for my birthday, my familiar ceremony." She paused and looked up at me, then handed me the green one. "Here, happy birthday Craig."

I took it a blinked at her in disbelief, warm, gushy emotions flowing through me. I hadn't felt this good since Felix gave me my other birthday present. My hand rested gently on the necklace beneath my shirt.

"Thank you." I replied, trying not to sound overly emotional.

Ryan tilted her head and let out a small chuckle. "It won't work it you cry silly. Here, I still have the brushes in my bag from yesterday."

A few minutes later she'd painted it over my eye lids and I'd done the same to her. I didn't want to say I was giddy, but I felt pretty freaking good. I don't want to say I hated my looks, but back with the Pack being the only one who looked weird has it's downsides. Now I just as colorful as everyone else. I was normal here, I had never felt like that before. 

"You look very handsome." Ryan nodded, putting a hand on hip. "In a comforting non-romantic sibling way."

I blushed, more compliments I wasn't used to. "Thanks...you too."

She grinned. "You know, out of all the people who could have popped up out of the blue claiming to be my long lost twin brother, you're not so bad."

"You should've been there when I first met him." Peri added, fully aware Ryan couldn't understand him. "He gave me one look and screamed."

I ignored him. "You're not so bad either."

I'm sure we were about to continue throwing mushy one-lines at each other but at that moment I spotted a woman carrying a basket of weird round orange globes.

"What's that?"

She gave me another amused look. "Oranges?"

"I know they're orange, what are they?" I replied, still confused.

"Oh boy!" Peri added sarcastically. "More fun."

She laughed. "No, they're called oranges, you eat them."

I handed her a disbelieving look. "No way..."

She raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yes way."

I tried to convince Ryan her explanation was enough, but she was determined and used what little money she had to buy an orange for the two of us to share. I think the look on my face when she peeled it open was worth  it.

"This is insane." I said, as she handed me a small sliver of orange.

"It's the only color you can taste." She replied cheerfully. "I love these things."

I smiled warmly as the incredibly sweet taste filled my palette. Felix would love oranges, I think he would love Agrios period. I would see him and my mom again though. This wasn't permanent. I glanced up at Ryan, as kinda as she had been, as amazingly accepting this town had been, I still wanted to go back. For now, just for today, I was content.