I Noticed!

Vires wandered the halls of Basalt School of Magic. He could hear the first years whispering stories about The Outcast to each other. Stories that the Upperclassmen, like himself, had told them. He smiled at their naivety as they passed. During his first years at Basalt he had spent every spare moment looking for The Outcast. He had wanted to be her friend. The thought of no one loving him bothered him. If The Outcast felt that way, he wanted to change that. But not once, during his first nine years at BSM did Vires see hide or hint of her.

He turned the corner to continue his methodical circuit around the school. Take in the Gardens that were always well maintained. But as he started passed the windows, something outside caught his eye. Vires stepped closer to the window to where he thought he saw movement. The sun lit up the garden in a warm and inviting glow, but nothing else. Still, he thought he had seen something. He watched for a while, but nothing else moved. Slowly, he turned and walked away. Vires returned to his room, figuring he was beginning to see things since he was still tired from the journey back.

He woke a couple hours later to a soft knock on his door.

"Come in," he called.

There was no sound and no one came in. Confused, he got up and looked outside his door. He saw the Headmistress coming down the hall.

"Vires, why aren't you in class? Are you sick?" she asked.

"Sorry, Headmistress. I have lost track of time. Will you excuse me?"

"Of course."

He left for class.

Vires tried to pay attention in his classes, but the more he tried to focus, the more he found his mind flashing to the movement he thought he had seen in the garden. He could almost bet something had been down there. If he was right then what was it? When classes were over, he walked outside to the garden. All was peaceful. The only sign that anyone had been out there was the little bit of freshly turned soil where vegetables or weeds had been pulled up.

They had a gardener? Why had he never seen him? Vires turned away from the vegetable bed. He continued to observe the plants growing in the garden. Continued his slow mosey along the various bush or tree lined paths. He thought it was very well taken care of. Almost magically so. The shadows around him grew as the sun began to set. He stopped among a small group of trees and closed his eyes. Vires inhaled deeply, drawing in the calming scent of the rose.

A calm that vanished with an unfamiliar ping to his senses. Opening his eyes, he turned. He didn't see anyone at first, though the ping felt like most first years did. He continued to look around. It wasn't one of the magical creatures they learned about either. He took a step away from the bushes and saw a dark haired girl smoothing the disturbed dirt in front of her.

"What…?" He shook his head then asked, "Who are you?"

She reached for and pulled another weed as if she hadn't heard him. She shook as much of the dirt as she could from the roots then smoothed out the dirt. Vires blocked her hand as she reached for something he could not see. She turned to face him slightly then backed into deepening shadows. He watched her every step until she stopped where the shadows were darkest. After a moment he started to search the shadows for movement. The feel of her had dimmed that he wasn't sure if she was still there or not. But then she took a step and he barely caught the movement.

"I know you're there. Who are you?"

She didn't answer.

"Why won't you speak to me?"

"Vires?" a male voice asked.

He turned. "Professor Reks."

"Who are you talking to?"

He turned back to where he had seen her last, but she was gone. "No one… I guess."

"Then come inside. It's getting late."

"Yes, Professor."

Vires rose early the next morning to walk his circuit before class. He walked closer to the windows to see if he could catch another glimpse of the woman in black that he had run into. He varied his time each morning too in case there was a pattern to when she might be there or not. But each morning he saw nothing. His days were full of classes and post class work so he didn't have another opportunity to mosey by the windows.

A month passed before Vires finally had a Friday to explore the gardens again. The plants all looked the same as he looked for the figure in black. He picked out the places where the dirt had been smoothed over. Small disturbances that were becoming more frequent as he neared the far end of the garden. He turned a corner and thought he felt her, but could see no one. And there was nothing in the shadows. He took several steps forward to continue his search. He turned his head when he saw yet another disturbance in the dirt.

Movement behind him made him turn.

"You are here," he said.

She girl turned his direction, but he wasn't sure if was looking at him or not because she wore sunglasses.

He took a step toward her.

She protectively covered the caterpillar in her hands and hurried away.

"Hey, wait," Vires called after her.

Her steps quickened. He increased his pace as he continued to follow her. He could see large, odd shaped, bumps on her back that noticeably stuck out underneath her long sleeved turtleneck.

"Hey, wait up!" he called. "You're The Outcast, aren't you? Do you...?"

She abruptly turned a corner.

Vires had to stop to follow, but when he turned the corner she was gone again. Jogging along the rows of bushes, he glanced down the side paths trying to find her again. He turned the last corner and nearly ran into the Headmistress.

"My Apologies, Headmistress," he said.

"What are you doing out here, Vires?" she asked.

"The woman in black. She's…?"

"The gardener. Someone you need not concern yourself with."

"But I saw the bumps on her back as if, 'wings had started to grow in, but would not.' She's The Outcast. Isn't she?"

Headmistress Caung didn't respond.

Vires took that as confirmation and asked, "Why the black? Why the long sleeves? Why will she not speak? What…?"

"You will learn those things in time, Vires," Headmistress Caung interrtupted, "but you are not yet ready. Return to your room and forget everything you have seen today."

"No, I want to understand why she is called The Outcast." 'I want to be her friend,' his younger self added in thought.

Headmistress Caung sighed. "Very well. Come to my office this evening after dinner and I'll answer your questions, but... you will not talk to the other students about it. They will learn more as they continue their schooling. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Headmistress. Thank you." He bowed respectfully then left.

He returned to his room to work on homework until dinnertime. After which he walked down the long halls to Headmistress Caung's office.

Headmistress Caung sat behind her desk, her head bent over some paperwork. "Have a seat, Vires," she said, not looking up.

Vires sat by the desk and waited. Soon the feeling he had first felt in the garden entered the room. He turned. The Outcast stood in the middle of the room, with her head bowed. He stood, confused by what he saw.

The Outcast wore nothing more than a black bikini. Her hair was pulled up in a bun. Vires approached and slowly walked around her. Every inch of her skin, save her hands and her face, was covered in small squares of different animal skins. The wing buds on her back had visible blood vessels in them. Vires lifted her chin. Bright turquoise eyes, set in a face hardened by anger, looked back. The longer they kept eye contact the more angry her expression seemed to turn.

"What are you?" he asked, letting go of her chin.

Her eyes relaxed and her mouth twitched up into a smirk, but she refused to answer.

"Tell me!"

"She won't reply, Vires," the Headmistress said.

He turned to her. "Why not?"

"The Outcast has no vocal cords."

"What?"

Vires felt around her neck, but couldn't find the place. He was startled by her touch as she gently slid his hand a little higher to feel where they would have been. After he felt they were missing, he backed away.

The Outcast bowed respectfully before leaving through a panel in the wall. Vires was stunned. His younger self cried for him to go after her, but his present self was troubled by all the questions that tumbled through his head. To think that he had wanted to be friends with...whatever that was. She was non-magic, yet it was almost as if she had bathed in some form of magic. A magic that allowed her to blend in, while not being able to blend in entirely.

"Why do you keep… that thing?" Vires finally asked, turning back to Headmistress Caung.

"The Outcast lives to carry the weight of her parents' sins. If left on her own with nothing to do, The Outcast may come to find a way to end her life before redeeming her parents. Therefore, she is kept here so she can remain alive until such a time comes."

"Then why all the secrecy?"

"There are no secrets. She moves out in the open freely. No one notices her is all."

"I noticed!"

"Yes, you did, which is why you must keep her presence quiet. Even among those of us with magic, too much attention to what she is could have the same result as leaving her without something to do."

"I understand, Headmistress."

"You may go now, Vires."

"Yes, Headmistress." He bowed slightly and left.