(So I'm trying something new: writing in first person. I don't do this much, so I might accidentally go in and out of first person and third person. Forgive me if I do. Enjoy!)

Jasper's POV

I watched the girls fly down the hill on Morning. He looked happy, which made me happy. I hated animals who were upset.

I watched them a moment longer, then realized that they had probably already forgotten me. I was a little sad at this realization. Those girls had real spirit. But, being princesses, they would probably be restricted from ever leaving the castle again. Thus, I would never see them again.

Sighing, I turned back. The downside of working for HP is the lying. I had to lie to these girls, and to several other people I've helped. I've never seen any of them again.

I shook my head in anger. 'Man up,' I mentally kicked myself. I got so involved in my mental battle I forgot Nick, Pinbal, and Windmer were waiting for me. High low high high came the bird call, snapping me into reality. I returned the call, low high low low. Nick on Pinbal stepped out of their hiding spot, along with Windmer. Nick had a big grin on his face. "Seems like my handsome, rugged, prince-ly looking friend has another crush, eh?" Red slowly crept up my cheeks. "Be quiet Nick. I love no girl. No girl loves me. Well, except Sidny." My attempt at changing the subject. It worked. We both started laughing. Sidny Able Pakston had a major crush on me, and made sure everyone knew it. I was 'hers' and 'no one else could have me.' I was cool with that. In my line of work, I didn't have time for long term relationships anyway. But, Nick believed otherwise, and I wouldn't let him get away from it.

"I hear she likes me, but I also hear someone likes her." That got him going. Literally. He stopped laughing and urged Pinbal to greater speeds. I told Windmer to do the same. Soon all talk of romance was where it belonged, in the wind. Our breed for sped horses soon forced us into racing. We ripped through the little used trail for 10 minutes, until our mounts told us to knock it off. Unfortunately for me, Pinbal was ahead by a nose when we called it. I had lost. But we continued anyway, every 20 minutes swapping between trotting and cantering.

At noon we stopped to eat and rest. Refueled and ready to go, we then continued on our journey. Several hours later we came to HP Headquarters, though you wouldn't have known it. There was no building of clearing for miles. But HP Headquarters wouldn't still be around if we had a log cabin for practice. No, we had our own hideout, very high tech for that day.

Looking left from the trail, we saw the very familiar mound of dirt someone decided to call a hill. It had two random looking rocks in front. Both fake, but you couldn't tell. They were masterfully built.

I gave Windmer a pat and dismounted. Then I handed her to Nick and he walked over to the left rock. Heaving, he pushed it aside, revealing a wide tunnel. That led to the stables and horse arena. Nick brought the horses over there, and I went to the right rock. Pushing it open, then shut, I took a breath of the earth surrounding me, glad to be home. Then, "Jasper!? It that you?" I sighed and rubbed the back of my head, then braced myself. Sidny ran around the corner in her black heels, black dress, and pink scarf, thick, elbow length brown hair flying everywhere. I braced myself as she ran into me. I held her a second, then gently placed her on the ground. "Oh Jasper, you were gone for so long! I missed you!" "2 days." I mutter.

Finally we came to the end of the hall, and entered the Center Room. I calmed down here because that's where everyone is. It's not that I dislike Sidny. She is a friend. I just don't want her to be anything more than that for now.

The Center Room was the biggest in the headquarters. It's about 50 feet at its highest and 80 feet in circumference, as is round. There is a large hole at the top, letting in sunlight, but when it's raining, we pull strings that close an attached hatch. The rest of the time they used open light bulbs. 7 rooms branch off if it to the right. The weapons training room, stealth training, studies, kitchen, girls sleeping chamber, boys sleeping chamber, and the storage. The kitchen was the only other room with a hole in the ceiling.

The second person to welcome me was my sister. Her brown eyes turned to deep pink when she saw me. My sister's eyes have this weird habit of changing color to show what mood she was in. They were always beautiful though.

"Jasper!" she yells, running up and hugging me. I hugged her back, glad to be home. My dad also welcomes me. I sit at one of the tables and Sidny, Jenna, and Nick sit down too. Before I start though, Dexter and Jaxon sit down too. Dexter is like the weapons man, even though he is only 24, like me. We are all between 20 and 24 years of age. Jaxon is the shy genius. Not great at weapons or stealth, but could beat us all in a mind competition.

My father and a few other folks sit down to listen as I tell my story. Luckily, I came home on a Saturday, so no one had practice or studies. When I finished, it was late, and we had to eat dinner. After that I went straight to bed.