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Author's Note:

The start of this chapter is a little awkward because I decided to skip a chapter where Sara wanders the Docks slowly starving and talking to a turtle. The chapter may come back in a future edit, but for now we will see how the story looks without it.

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Sara could only see a hint of the bushy green crown of a tree over the roof of the buildings enveloping it, but she knew it was there. She had seen it before when she had scouted the magiker guilds when she first arrived in Minserta. This tree sat in the courtyard of one of the guilds. Sara could not remember the guild's name, only that the guild restricted membership to Level Threes or higher. Sara had been a Level Six before the Burning, but now she could barely do anything above a Two, both for Moving and Making. She had not paid the guild much attention before, and she hoped now they would treat her the same. She also knew that there was a small bakery inside, she was suddenly glad she had been hungry on her initial visit.

Her stomach growled. She had been living off the few coins she had with her, spacing out her meals as much as possible. Since she had been Boxed, she had gotten used to feeding off the magik, in order to use her earnings on other things she needed. All the extra money she had saved was still in her apartment, but she had not returned since the disasterous day with Lama, in case Lama had spread rumors she was a Maker. A Maker wandering around the city with no Mover would definitely be worth attention.

Sara adjusted the scarf around her neck. She was glad she had found it, since it hid the link collar from casual observers. She needed the collar off. Need food. Need to stay out of the box. The easiest way to get it off was magik. The only way for a Maker to use magik with it on was to use the link chain to connect her to something that Moved magik, typically a Mover, but some animals, plants and natural geography also had the potential to Move. She did not currently trust any person with that responsibility, and her few attempts at getting near the gangs of feral street rodents had not been successful. The ocean, although it contained diffuse magik, would not work either, since the water would have to be moving past her quickly to produce enough Pull for her to do anything. There was another option though. Plants.

Trees were the her best hope, since smaller flora did not Move enough magik to be useful. After stashing the rods under a bridge, Sara had been hiding in the forgotten corners of the Docks since Lama had gotten the collar on her, but to get near a tree she would have to get close to people again. Her best chance was the small tuft of green poking above the building in front of her. Sara would have liked more time to prepare, studying the guild inside the building, but she knew she was running out of money and time. She tapped the few coins left in her coinpurse for luck and started her shuffle towards the entrance of the building that led to the tree and courtyard beyond.

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There were a few people in the courtyard, most congregated around the small restaurant. Sara shuffled in that direction, but she kept most of her attention on the tree. A cursory inspection of the small crowd made her conscious  of her well used clothes compared to the neat attire of the others. She hoped she did not smell too much like the fish-pits where she worked. She clutched her stomach to stop it from growling as she stepped into line at the bakery, but it growled anyway.

Sara studied the tree while she waited in line. There were benches underneath its tangled branches, with a few customers seated, eating a variety of foods. There was one bench near the gnarled trunk, but Sara suspected it was too far from the trunk to make contact with the tree while sitting.

"What can I getcha? Soup?"

The question took Sara by surprise, with most of her attention still on the tree. That line moved fast. "Uh...no." The soup smelled rich and delicious, but Sara knew not to be tempted. She had eaten only small amounts of real food for the last half year, even with the collar off. Rich foods were a bad idea after not eating real food for as long as she had. She tried to think of something safe to order, but her mind had trouble focusing on the simple menu in front of her. "Biscuits?"

"Right then." The heavy-set woman moved back from the counter and scooped a handful of biscuits into a paper bag before turning back and handing them to Sara. Sara moved her arm slowly to grasp the bag, not wanting to rattle the link chain wrapping her arm under her sleeve.

Sara could feel her hunger growing by the time the biscuits were in her hand. It had been too long since she had a proper meal. She tried to keep her hand steady as she reached to drop her coins on the counter.

Sara saw the surprised look on the woman's face while staring at her skinny wrist poking out of her sleeve, but the woman just said "Biscuits are free for the Makers here, hun."

Sara's hand adjusted her scarf involuntarily. "I'm, ah...not in the guild though." Sara said, torn between the guilt from her charity and the hope of another meal.

"Don't worry about that then, hun. Those'll be free anyway." She gave Sara a wink, so Sara nodded her thanks and picked up her coins as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the feeling of others staring at her. The smell of the biscuits were a good distraction though, and Sara moved quickly towards the bench near the trunk of the tree.

The safety of her few coins did not cover her guilt entirely, and Sara sat with her back to the bakery when she reached her table near the tree.

Sara had been correct with her assessment from the line. It would require some awkward stretching to reach the trunk of the tree from her seat, so she turned her attention temporarily to the biscuits. One problem at a time. She opened the bag of biscuits. She could feel the warmth in them and her mouthed ached trying to salivate. She paused reaching in to the bag and brought out the first biscuit, nibbling gently at the soft warm morsel. She felt much better after the first biscuit, tired with relief after solving one stressor. She wanted to reach in immediately for another, but decided the tree contact was still important. She needed the bag of biscuits as an excuse for staying in the court, and she was not sure how long it would take to figure out how to unlock the link collar. She sighed and closed the biscuit bag, moving off the bench to sit with her back against the rough bark of the tree.

There was an itch on her back as Sara sat, and she realized she could feel the tree already, just pressed against it. She experimented with moving her link chain wrapped arm down onto one of the roots near her legs, and she was rewarded with the warm green glow of an earthy strand of magik pulsing through the link. She drank in the small stream of magik, but it was not enough, the one biscuit hand not been enough to satiate her hunger.

Sara closed her eyes and drifted into her small euphoria. She could feel her brain slowly becoming more aware with every slow breath. She sank into the tree. Sara could feel it closing in around her from the outside, filling up her mind on the inside, until suddendly she was the tree, standing tall in the courtyard, branches gently caressed by the wind, peeking over the roof out into the street. I can feel the sun warming the tops of my branches...and...and I am not a tree!

She tried to move, to prove she was still human, but the whole world around her resisted any movement. The more she struggled the more she sank into the depths of the trunk. Her legs began lengthening and spreading like roots under the cobblestoned court. Her toes reached out and touched something cool running far beneath, until knots of panic began growing with her limbs.

She finally jerked herself out of wherever her mind had been, and she found herself still sitting, nestled in the nook of the tree. Cold sweat covered her brow. Maybe I should eat a little more before trying again. She lifted her hand off the root and waited, listening to her pounding heart, steadying her shaking, raspy breathing. She felt drained, worse than she had been when she arrived. She stared at her shaking hand , willing it to come back under her control, and waited until the tremors were almost invisible before reaching a weak hand back into the biscuit bag.

The top buscuit was soft but cool, and smaller wave of panic swept through her. How long have I been sitting here? She debated leaving immediately, but her exhaustion and hunger overruled her fear, and a quick look around assured her the few people in the court continued to ignore her. One more biscuit and then I go. She leaned away from the tree before taking a bite, too tired to stop her contented sigh.

"What are you doing?" Sara did not even know her eyes had been closed until she opened them to reveal a pair of sturdy gray leather booted legs in front of her.

"Uh...?" Sara tried to mentally claw her way out of trees and biscuits and back to her body, still sitting with a bag of biscuits in her lap.

"All Makers need to wear their armbands at all times." The girl snatched the partially eaten biscuit out of Sara's limp hand. Sara gave out a cry of protest echoed by her stomach as the girl threw it to the ground.

"Armband?" Sara repeated numbly, still focused on the biscuit lying in the dirt. Her lethargic brain struggled to keep up with the new arrival. She just wanted to close her eyes and make the loud girl disappear.

"Armband. The one you got when you registered...?"

"Registered?" Sara was having a hard time focusing on the girl. She was talking too fast, and Sara's mind was still dwelling on the dirty lump of biscuit, calculating how much was still edible. Sara tried to slink back into the protective embrace of the tree before belatedly remembering the traumatic mental tree-melding from moments before. I won't be trapped! There has to be a way out!

"Yes! Registered." The girl interrupted her thoughts. Again. "Ugh. As in what you did when you joined the Guild...?"

"Oh! Um,...I'm just..." Sara tried to piece together an excuse, explain how she was just visiting, but her mind's focus was still fractured. The girl only waited a fast moment before growling, hoisting Sara up by her arm. Sara was not coordinated enough to fend off the attack and dropped her bag of remaining biscuits to the ground. "Wha- Hey!"

"Come on! Let's go get your band." She dragged Sara towards one side of the courtyard and Sara tried to resist, but just did not have any strength left. It took all her concentration to keep herself from tripping and landing them both on the hard cobblestones.

"So?" The girl shook Sara by the arm. Sara reflexively struggled back, but the girl did not let go. "Which one is yours?"

"Which one?" They were staring at a wall. This girl keeps talking in riddles. It did not help that there was a soft link forming where the girl held her, despite a cloak and tunic between her hand and Sara's arm.

"What? Having trouble understanding Turanian, barbarian?"

"I can understand fine." Sara could not think of any witty retorts. "Are you...having trouble making sense?" That made no sense.

"Which. Room. Is. Yours." The girl growled. Sara realized there were quite a few doors in the wall.

Sara could tell the girl was losing patience and debated staying silent just to goad her. The girl seemed to be waiting on Sara this time though, so Sara finally spoke up. "I. Am. Not. In. The. Guild." That made the girl pause, and Sara raised her chin and decided to add a belated "Yet."

"Okay." The girl deflated a bit but Sara still stayed tense. The girl still stayed latched onto her arm, a ghost of a link tickling the back of her mind. Sara did her best to keep it blocked. "You are one of the transfers?" She said after a few blinks of thought.

"Sure." Sara said definitively, not knowing what a 'transfer' was.

"Well," she said dragging Sara to another side of the courtyard, "then why don't we get you checked in."

"Um, now? W-wait!" The panic was starting to rise again in Sara as was dragged into an office near the entry. "That was my-" Sara tried to pull them back towards her bag of biscuits on the ground but the girl outmatched Sara's malnourished strength.

"Everything alright Tess?" They had reached a small office near the entrance, and a small woman sat behind a relatively large desk.

"Yes," said the girl holding Sara's arm. "No. I mean its under control. A new Maker just needs to be checked in." She pushed Sara forward.

The woman at the counter just stared at Sara, and pinned between the two strutinous inspections Sara seriously considered an immediate escape, even if she had to abandon her biscuits and the tree. "Ah, maybe I should just come back later on..." Sara mumbled shifting as stealthily as she could towards the doorway.

"Nonsense." The desk lady said. "There are-"

"Later?" Tess interrupted. "Do you know how much work we have right now? Do you know how much we need to do? And you just want to show up 'later'?" Tess leaned over the desk reaching for something. Sara used the opportunity to discreetly detach her link chain, keeping it hidden in her sleeve. Tess finally came up with a wax tablet. "No." She said with finality. "We are getting you set up. Right now." She held the stylus poised and ready to strike over the tablet. "Name?" Sara did not respond quick enough so the girl grabbed the tags on the front of Sara's link collar. "Sara. Hmph." She held on to the tags for a long moment before letting go, Sara could feel an echo of a link forming again, even in the brief contact. Tess grunted as she started scratching at the wax. Sara was a little stunned. She had not realized the tags had real information. How did you know, Lama, and how did you get a custom link collar for me? In only half a day!? Sara reached up and tried to feel for anything else engraved in the metal tags while Tess mumbled and continued marking the tablet. Before Sara could puzzle out the words on the tags with her fingers Tess pulled out a link chain. "Tag does not say what level you are, but you feel...fuzzy." She cocked her head to the side. "Maybe around a four?"

"No! Not that high at all!" Tess started moving menacingly towards Sara, brandishing the linkchain. "I'm a two! I'm a two! Honest!" Sara said backing up quickly but Tess was too quick for her sluggish response, and Sara felt the snick of the link chain attaching.

"We'll see." The jolt of magik took Sara by surprise, and she could not put any resistance in place before her half-conscious brain was lit by the surge of magik.

This is bad! She reached up to unhook the chain herself but Tess was drawing the magic in too fast. "I'm Bur-" Time seemed to slow for Sara and she felt her hand finally reach the chain, just as the magik reached her limit and exploded in her mind. Everything went black.