"We were morphs too! Why didn't you bring us with us?" Andrew shook Ollie so hard his brain rattled.

"What did you think that guy did to us after you disappeared with Nick?" Rob loomed in Ollie's vision, sadness and hatred in his eyes.

"We had to join him." Andrew hissed. "Otherwise he would have killed us." His tongue lengthened out into a fork, much like a snake. "Now we come for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ollie bolted up from his bed, clutching his sheets to his sweating body. Clutching his heaving chest, Ollie saw that it was still night. He looked up, realizing that if he was an inch taller, he would have surely banged his head into the ceiling.

Slowly, he lowered himself down the ladder and crept out of the room. The house was cold and quiet, making the darkness ever more evident. A light was on at the end of the hall, and Ollie couldn't help but follow it.

When he reached the living room, he saw Chris sitting on the couch staring at the helmet previously worn in his hands.

"Chris, I'm sorry!" Ollie made the move to leave.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked gently, looking up at Ollie with a bit of sadness in his eyes. He patted the couch when Ollie shook his head. "Me neither..." Chris trailed off, letting his fingers trace the edge of the visor.

Ollie didn't quite know what to say, but he had the feeling that this was a time to listen, not speak.

"My life was much like yours." Chris said softly after a minute. "I was different, but I never dreamed of how far people would hate me."

Ollie continued to listen, there for support.

"I never dreamed that my own twin would want me dead." Chris sighed and seemed to slump under the weight of his invisible burdens. "I'm sure you've noticed the relative happy mood of everyone here?"

Ollie nodded, not trusting his words.

"Don't tell anyone else, they don't need these burdens as well."

"Then why are you telling me?" Ollie braved to ask.

"Because you're different, Ollie. I noticed it the moment I saw you. You've seen the darkness for what it is, and I also saw that you have potential."

"That's what Hope said." Ollie breathed.

Chris nodded, locking eyes with Ollie. "She is a very perceptive woman and sees things like I do." He looked away again, putting the helmet off to the side. "The others don't think a war will come to us, that we are safe here, but I have seen what Charles has amassed. He will bring war to us, I just don't know when. You have shown us that we can do more than just become one animal."

Ollie was shocked at that revelation.

"Your gloves didn't work against the nightmares?"

"How did you?" Ollie breathed.

"I'm very perceptive."

"I usually get them." Ollie tried to shrug off how much the dream had scared him. He tried hard to pass it off as nothing, but his dreams often held truth in them.

"Take this." Chris pressed a glowing purple necklace into Ollie's hands. "It's a stronger form of protection and should give you a restful night of sleep. Be wary though, only use it at night, otherwise it will start to have effects on you. We might be immune to small effects of Moon Dust, but we are only so resistant. "

"What is the Moon Dust?" Ollie looked at the necklace now in his gloved hands, wondering what was in it that made it terrifying but required.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Chris gave him a very tired smile. "Phoebe could tell you more, but it is a special mineral that reacts with the signals sent through the neurons in your body. Because our bodies function slightly different than normal, these reactions help tame our more erratic nervous system."

Nodding Ollie waited for Chris to follow him to sleep.

"I need a little longer." Chris waved him away. "But I will get some sleep."

Ollie sighed and left the room, wondering what it must be like to have all of that weight on your shoulders. He crept up the ladder, wincing at a creak one of the rungs made. Only Ryan shifted, mummering something about a very long mathematical equation.

As Ollie closed his eyes, he thought about poor Chris, his own brother trying to kill him. He put the necklace on, glowing a pretty purple. His world slowly faded into dreamless sleep, as his exhausted body fell into slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Morning sunshine!"

Ollie groaned and shut his eyes harder against the sunlight. "Just a few more minutes." He muttered into his pillow before he realized where he was. "Whoa!" Ollie shot up in the bed again, miraculously not hitting his head for the second time that day. Quickly, he remembered Chris's warning and took the necklace off.

"How are you boys?"

Ollie looked over to see it was Grace in the doorway, and his roommates were all looking very sleepy. Nick's hair was a definite mess, and his eyes were half open.

"Mornin' Grace." Nick slowly got up from his bed and wandered into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Grace sat down on the now unoccupied bed and braided her hair back as much as it would allow. She was wearing a simple white top over blue jeans. Her boots looked like they were ready for a hike though, and Ollie wondered if the group was going anywhere.

"Ollie," Grace addressed him as he half fell to the floor. "Chris wanted me to tell you that Thomas is unavailable at the moment, he is off with Phoebe doing some engineering.

"Ryan." Grace now turned towards the more awake man, her hands resting comfortably on her knees.

"What?" The mustached man groaned.

"Don't wear your suit, you need the gloves. We are going to figure out what grouping Ollie is in." Stress hopped up after Nick came out of the bathroom looking much better now. "Meet me in the Wolf Clearing!"

Stress slipped out of the door, leaving the three of them to get ready. Nick left the room as he was done, letting Ryan and Ollie change at the same time, Ryan in the bathroom, Ollie in the bedroom.

"Hmm, Scar's clothes look like they fit you." Ryan came out adjusting his black T-shirt. He had chosen loose work jeans and work boots for this occasion.

Ollie simply nodded, looking down at his long sleeve shirt and jeans. He had decided on rolling up the blue sleeves to get them out of the way. He couldn't help but notice how the pearl embroidery on his gloves sort of glowed in the morning light.

"Well, let's get you some food and into Wolf Clearing." Ryan walked out the door and went down the central stairs. Below was a quaint kitchen, and Ollie critiqued it. Some nice mahogany cabinets would compliment the area nicely.

The food was simple, yet wholesome, much like his dinner last night. Ollie found himself eagerly devouring it, all thought of last night's chat gone from his head.

"Hello Ryan and Ollie." Chris walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of tea. Only Ollie noticed the dark circles underneath Chris' eyes. He wondered how late he stayed up, looking at that helmet and thinking of his brother.

"Hello Chris, off to do some engineering?" Ryan smiled at his fellow friend. At a quick glance, Chris looked normal and composed, happiness crinkling his cheeks. Chris taught Ollie to be observant, and Ollie was using his newfound ability. Faint stress lines were etched into his face, and the slight stiffness gave Chris away.

"Sadly no." Chris sipped the tea slowly. "I'm off to do some scouting in an area of suspicion."

"Stay safe." Ryan finished his breakfast and prepared to leave.

"You too." Chris locked eyes with Ollie and gave him the slightest of nods. They all walked up the stairs together, but Chris left for the front door, while Ollie and Ryan headed for the back.

"What's Wolf Clearing?" Ollie followed Ryan down a path to the left, deeper into the forest.

"A clearing for the ground morphs. They have training there, but off to the side are some Star Dust trinkets. Of course there are trinkets everywhere, this area has just accumulated a lot over time." Ryan replied as he nearly tripped on a root.

Ollie seriously doubted that engineering was his thing, it looked so complicated. Part of him told him to tell Ryan that he thought he was an architect, but the people closest to him at the moment were engineers, and he wanted to fit into their circle.

They came into the clearing to find not Grace, but an Arctic Wolf. Or Grace was the wolf.

"Hello boys!" She called as she pelted full speed across the clearing before leaping through a hoop. Grace was clearly well experienced in her wolf self, and she stopped effortlessly and trotted to them. Her eyes were ice blue, unlike her pretty brown ones while she was human. "Follow me Ollie." Grace didn't transform back, but instead walked over to a covered area.

"So Star Dust isn't that complicated once you get a hang of it, but I'll give you a kick start." Ryan handed Ollie some shimmering sliver powder, and a handful of copper and gold gears and metal items. "The dust acts as a little bit of a magic startup so to speak, and the gadgets will hook together and meld if you compact the Star Dust onto it."

"Seems simple enough." Ollie put the items on the small table and even pulled in some odd stone contraptions. He thought he had done well until it exploded in his face.

"How?" Ryan seemed at a loss as everyone was covered in a fine layer of soot. "Star Dust never explodes, and it wasn't like there was dynamite in it!"

Grace took this opportunity to morph back, not covered in any soot anymore. "Looks like Ollie is an architect! I seem to recall having certain issues with that stuff, but nothing nearly that bad."

"Does Star Dust normally explode?" Ollie scratched his head.

"No.... As far as I know." Ryan continued staring at what used to be Star Dust.

Ollie was at a loss at what to do now. He had figured out what to do, now what?

"We train." Grace shifted back to wolf and started running through the forest, somehow reading Ollie's unspoken thoughts.

"Wait!" Ollie started running, only stopping when Ryan flew past him as a bat.

"Fly. It is the only way to keep up with her."

Ollie tried to protest, but Ryan had already vanished in the trees. He couldn't fly, right? Lifting his wings to catch the sunlight, Ollie studied them. They didn't look bad, in fact they looked elegant. Hope and Chris said he had potential, so what if it was this?

Ollie crouched and leaped high in the air, preferring the tops of the trees over the thick underbrush. Potential to fall a great height, Ollie thought as he hovered for a second, looking for movement in the trees. Spotting it, Ollie tracked its course to another clearing with many objects dotted around it.

Leaning forwards slightly was all it took to go zipping like a lightning bolt across the tops of the trees. Ollie panted slightly when he landed, tucking his wings safely back. Stress and Ryan arrived a moment after Ollie caught his breath.

"Well that was unexpected," Grace was clearly shocked. "You've got speed."

Ryan and Grace both morphed back into their human counterparts, Ryan looking slightly exhausted.

"Right o!" Grace clapped her hands, making torches light on fire around them. "Everyone here is adept at PvP-"

"Pvp?"

"Person versus Person," Stress continued not missing a beat. "But Chloe and Nick are the best at melee fighting, and Hadix and Thomas are the best at long range. You'll be training with Hope today, I have to help Nick with his newest Star Dust build." Stress stuck out her tongue. "In reality I'm just encouraging him and making sure it looks decent."

A chestnut mare came galloping into the clearing and trotted to a halt. She had a white star on her forehead that seemed to glow. Every part of her body screamed 'power.' Ollie was pretty sure she was not one to be messed with.

"That's my cue!" Grace effortlessly morphed into the wolf yet again and started loping through the undergrowth.

"How does she do that?" Ryan looked worse for wear, reminding Ollie that morphing cost precious energy, something that Ryan looked to be running out of.

"Wolves are endurance runners. She knows how to spread out her energy. In fact, she could run for hours at the proper pace without losing much energy." Hope turned her head towards them. "I hear I'm here to teach you melee fighting. Including you Ryan."

"Hey!" Ryan protested. "I've never been much of a fighter, you guys know that I'm the least adept at any PvP."

"Chris told me to do it." Hope finally transformed back, revealing that she was a few inches taller than Ollie. But everyone was taller than Ollie. She had thin black hair and safety goggles perched on her forehead, ready to be used. She also had gloves, but hers looked thicker, like she was ready to grab some power tools and start grinding away. "I do most of the machinery around here. Not the fancy Star Dust stuff, but the machinery."

Ollie nodded, feeling overwhelmed yet again. At least he wouldn't have to work with the exploding Star Dust. "So what do I do?"

"Grab a training sword," Hope pointed at a stack of blunt wooden weapons. "If you manage to get a hit, it won't do anything but leave a bruise. You too Ryan."

They both complied, noticing that she had a training sword on her belt as well.

"You're not good at Pvp?" Ollie asked Ryan as he picked up one of the swords and felt the balance.

"Not one bit!" Ryan shrugged and grabbed a sword, regardless of its balance. "I should have guessed it when I got a squid and bat morph. I make up for it with my engineering."

"Here," Ollie handed him a different sword. "This will balance better for your height."

"How do you know?" Ryan looked at it with curiosity.

"Just knew." Ollie shrugged.

"Boys!" Hope yelled out impatiently, making both of them scamper over. "Come at me."

"Come at you?"

"Come at me."

Ryan shrugged and tried his best to get past Hope's guard, but failed. She easily used one arm and shoved the blade away, anticipating the move before it even came. Ollie studied her posture, making note of where she held the blade. Ryan had gone for her left side, he was left handed, but so was she. Hope tended to favor her left side over her right side, leaving that more vulnerable. Ollie knew where to make his move.

Hope narrowed her eyes, probably scrutinizing him as well. Ollie started to come, but he faked, and Hope went with it. Her eyes widened as she realized her mistake, and quickly tried to fix it. It was too late, Ollie had struck the blow.

His sword was a centimeter away from the side of her neck, proving that if she was an enemy and this was a real sword, she would be dead. She looked straight into his eyes with a mixture of fear and amazement.

"Well done Ollie," Hope bowed to him, Ollie returning the gesture. "I look forward to training you. You have much potential."

Ryan looked at him, mouth agape, clearly stunned. He had watched the entire scene unfold in front of him, yet he still couldn't believe his eyes. Hope stepped back and gestured for the stunned Ryan to come back.

"I'm going to have to teach you some techniques," Hope went over to Ryan's left side and moved his blade higher. "Push your chest forward more." She instructed, Ryan following her instructions. "Ollie, I want you to get into a ready stance, it's clear you've done sword fighting before."

Ollie didn't protest, although he wanted to. He had never done any sword fighting of any kind, although his friend Rob had. Rob would sometimes show him the basic stances and movements, as well how to move around the proper way. So, using his scant previous knowledge, Ollie bent his knees and spread his legs out, balancing his weight properly.

"Very good!" Hope called out, examining Ollie's posture. She turned back to Ryan, and gave him more instructions. "Alright, spread your feet out shoulder length apart..."

Ollie watched with mixed curiosity and humor as Ryan struggled to keep his balance. It probably didn't help that the man with the mustache was mostly legs and a little bit of torso. After about thirty minutes of it, Ryan practically gave up and pulled out some trinkets that would go in different contraptions.

"Oh Ryan..." Hope smiled as she took the training sword from his hands. "You'll get better at it eventually."

Ryan raised his eyebrows at that. "We've been over this before." His tone was light, and his eyes clearly indicated that he was not mad or frustrated in any way. "Sword fighting just isn't my thing. It might have been if we lived a couple centuries ago."

"We have to be well practiced in all weapons." Hope put her training sword away and sheathed a shinning steel one.

"Why do you think they'll play fair? They're going to use top of the line weapons, and swords aren't going to cut muster against those."

Hope looked around rapidly, seeming to search for eavesdroppers. She even went so far as to signal Ollie over so she could speak in a lower tone. "Please, trust Chris in this. He's been working with Phoebe on the Star Dust for ages now, but he had us start working on sword training ever since he started."

She stepped back and handed Ryan back his sword. "You and Ollie do some basic fighting. Maybe you just need a new teacher."

Ollie looked at her with shock, he was no teacher, especially in something he barely knew about! "I don't think-"

"It's going to be fine Ollie." She seemed to understand Ollie's hesitancy. "Even just knowing what you've showed me so far will go a long ways." Hope had a point, so Ollie turned and started doing his best to teach Ryan. It felt weird teaching someone a skill that he barely knew.

It went back and forth like that with Hope chiming in sometimes, for the next few hours. When she wasn't watching them, she was practicing against straw dummies. She would leap higher than Ollie would have thought possible, and he caught himself multiple times watching her though the corner of his eyes. Hope was just so, fluid. All her movements were so perfectly timed. He shook himself out of that thought process so he could focus on training with Ryan.

Just like that, it was already noon. The sun beat down on them, although Ollie reckoned it was the same temperature where he used to live. It was fall right now, and the leaves were starting to turn all sorts of pretty shades of red, yellow, and orange. There was still a lot of green left in the forest around them, as many pines were among the deciduous.

"Lunch boys!" Hope broke Ollie out of the little bit of a trance he was in and turned back into a horse, running down the path.

"How did you do that? Very few people can beat Hope, and they usually have years of training." Ryan put his sword away and started walking down the path, Ollie following suit.

"I looked at what side she was favoring, then I faked and struck." Ollie felt a twinge in his stomach. How did he know what to do? He had never held a blade in his life, yet it came naturally to him. He supposed that all the little tib bits of information Rob gave him had helped

"Well, let's eat, then you can work on your building by teaming with me on my projects. Is that okay?" Ryan looked at his friend.

"Fine with me." Ollie smiled. It did sound like fun.

Unbeknownst to them, Ollie's wings were starting to turn black at the base, and the recent flight had caused it to spread ever so slightly.