The academy should have been easy to reach. It stood above the town like a giant palace built into the cliffs. White towers. Dark navy roofs that might have been black once, but had weathered into something lighter. No matter which street I followed, I could see it above the rooftops. Which was fortunate. Because I had understood almost none of Lynne’s directions. Past the main entrance. Up the stairs toward the Headmaster’s office. Beneath the green banners. On the left before the courtyard. It probably made perfect sense if you already knew where everything was. But I did not. I still had time before classes started. Enough time to get my uniforms. Find my dorm. Figure out what classes I was even supposed to attend. Probably. I carried my stained uniform beneath one arm. Mrs. Daniels had also packed bread and fruit into a little cloth bundle despite me telling her several times that I had already eaten. The nametag was pinned to the borrowed shirt on my chest. Xu XiaoXing. Probably not my name. But good enough for now. Morning had fully settled over the town. Shopkeepers were opening their shutters. Bakers arranged fresh loaves behind their windows. Fishermen pushed empty carts away from the harbor while seagulls circled above them, screaming at anyone who refused to share breakfast. Typical seagull behavior... The streets were mostly pale stone. White cobbles. Faded brick. Beyond the rooftops, I could see the sea. Almost everywhere I looked, there seemed to be some glimpse of it between the buildings. Picturesque, vast, and blue Even the wind smelled like salt. There were more guards around than yesterday. They stood at intersections and outside shops, watching people pass. Near one street, two of them questioned a man beside a wagon while another looked beneath the canvas covering the back. People were talking quietly in doorways. I caught pieces as I passed. The Massinos breaking into the academy. A man crushed beneath a construction platform. The Daniels girl who spoke to ghosts. I kept walking. A few people looked at me. One woman carrying flowers stared at my face, then at the ruined uniform beneath my arm. Two academy students whispered after I passed them. Maybe they remembered me from the first day, when I turned that crystal blue and everyone started freaking out. Or maybe they were wondering why I was wearing clothes several sizes too big while carrying a crunchy uniform that looked like its previous abode had been a swamp. Students passed me in groups as I followed the road uphill. Some wore uniforms like Lynne’s. Two older students walked past with swords hanging from their waists like that was a completely normal thing to bring to school. I watched them go. But then again my first day had involved ghosts, gangsters, a crossbow, and a shovel. Maybe I should bring one too. Or at least have access to that shovel... ...such a good shovel. The road curved around a low hill. That was when I saw the tree. I stopped. I knew it belonged there. That was the strange part. Because when I really looked at it, the thing looked almost alien. For starters, there were no other trees like it. It stood alone on a grassy rise just off the road, larger than every other tree around it. Much larger. Its canopy spread wider than the tree was tall. And the tree was very tall. The trunk was thick and crooked, twisting upward before splitting low into massive branches. Roots pushed through the earth around it, lifting patches of grass and stone. Its leaves were small and dense enough that from a distance the whole crown looked almost fuzzy, and deep. Like the light was playing hide and go seek with it. I stood there longer than I meant to. I remembered this place. Not the tree exactly. The ground beneath it. But I remember waking up to the sky above me, and Lynne looking down at me. It was literally only yesterday. Yet it felt much longer. I took a few steps toward the academy. Then stopped. I looked back. The tree was still there. I mean ofcourse, it's a tree. It can't walk, I dont think. I couldn’t explain it, but something about leaving it behind felt wrong. Like I had forgotten something there. I sighed. Uniforms could wait five minutes. Probably. I left the road. Wet grass brushed against my boots as I climbed the small rise. The sounds of the street began to fade behind me. Carts rattling over cobblestones. Students talking on their way toward the academy. Shopkeepers calling to one another. Until there was mostly the wind moving through the leaves. Up close, the tree was impossibly large. The trunk was broad enough that several people probably couldn’t wrap their arms around it together. Its bark was gray-brown and deeply ridged. Not smooth at all. The surface twisted with the trunk, split by cracks and grooves deep enough to fit my fingers into. I stood near where I thought I had woken up. Then placed my hand against it. The bark was rough, dry, and warm from the morning sun. I looked up. It was a tree. A very large tree. I touched it again. The breeze moved across the hill. I closed my eye And an odd feeling of peace. I opened my eyes. There were small thorns among some of the younger branches. Not many. But enough that grabbing the wrong one would probably hurt. The lowest heavy branch stretched out just above my head. I looked at it. Then toward the academy. Then back at the branch. I wanted to get going back to the academy. But my eyes kept darting up, looking at the easiest path to the top. I compromised with myself and sat at the base of the tree instead. I leaned back against the trunk and looked toward the academy. For a moment, I tried to remember what I actually knew. I remembered waking beneath this tree. Before that nothing. Well, there was something actually. A dream. One of those strange jerky dreams where you repeat the same movement over and over. Walking. Running. Climbing. Swimming. Then something happens. You trip. Or fall. And your whole body jerks awake. I tried to hold onto it. Most of the dream was already gone. There was only one part that still felt strangely clear. I couldn’t walk. But I could climb. Dreams didn’t have to make sense I suppose. I looked up again. The branch was still there. “Naw, it's stupid...” I said it out loud shaking my head. Apparently that did not stop me. I placed the folded uniform and Mrs. Daniels’ food bundle between two of the roots. Then reached up. My fingers closed around the branch. I pulled myself off the ground. My shoulders immediately reminded me that yesterday had happened. So did my back. I hung there for a second. “…This is a terrible idea.” One foot found a groove in the bark. Then the other. I pushed upward. The first few movements were awkward. Jonathan’s shirt caught against a twig. My boot slipped against the trunk. I nearly dropped back to the ground. I should have stopped there. Instead, I reached for the next branch. Then the next. Something changed. Not suddenly. Just enough that I noticed. My hands started finding places to grab without much thought. My feet did the same. A branch appeared in front of me. My hand went around it. Another crossed above my shoulder. And I naturally duck beneath it. A thorny shoot stuck out near my face. I avoided it by turning my head. I stopped. My fingers were wrapped around a thick limb. I couldn't see it, but I just knew there would be a thorny branch behind the leaves above. And ofcourse I was right. I tenatively avoid the branch and keep climbing. From the bottom, it looked like this tree would be a difficult climb. It's all twisted and bushy, and I could see thorns. Yet, It almost felt easier than walking. I mean walking required significantly less...you know, falling to my death. But the higher I went, the more natural it felt. Until one boot slipped badly enough to make my stomach drop. But even then my other leg hooked around the branch almost immediately. Before the panic could fully settle in. I stayed there for a moment to let teh feeling catch up and pass. My breathing momentarily speed up, I could feel my heart violently pumping through out my entire being. I looked down. I shouldn't have... The ground was much farther away than I expected. “…Okay.” Going higher suddenly felt safer than going down. So I kept climbing the ancient tree. Some of the larger branches were smoother than the others. Not naturally, it felt smooth from being worn out by many hands. Like hands had grabbed the same places for years. Feet had stepped into the same grooves. Children had climbed this thing over and over until the tree had started showing them the way. My hand settled on one of those places. It fit. It was stupid, but that it made me smile that it did. Eventually I reached a thick branch close to the trunk. It stretched almost horizontally through the canopy. Wide enough to sit on comfortably. I pulled myself onto it. Then looked out. ... The town opened beneath me. From the road, I had only ever seen pieces of it. From here, I could see almost everything. On one side— the academy town. It looked beautiful. White and pale stone streets curved between orderly buildings. Roofs were red, blue, and gray. Shops opened beneath striped awnings. Small gardens filled spaces between houses. Smoke drifted gently from chimneys. People moved along broad streets. Carts rolled toward the harbor. Beyond all of it, the academy stood against the cliffs. Huge. White towers rising above dark roofs. Courtyards hidden behind stone walls. Long wings connected by bridges. Students crossed toward the gates in little streams. From the ground, the academy had looked enormous. From up here, I could finally see how much of it there actually was. It really did look like a palace. I turned the other way. The town changed, just short of being abrupt. The streets gradually became narrower. The buildings crowded closer together. Wooden upper floors leaned over lanes that barely seemed wide enough for two carts to pass. Roofs overlapped at strange angles. Some were patched with mismatched tiles. Others looked like they had been repaired with whatever material had been available. Laundry hung between windows. Smoke gathered lower between the buildings. The pale stone disappeared beneath darker cobbles, mud, and packed earth. There were more people there. A lot more. Market stalls crowded intersections. Children ran through alleys. People carried baskets, tools, sacks, pots. The whole place looked older than the rest of the city. More like a medieval city that was still trying to figure out the merits of sanitation as opposed to the clean streets surrounding the academy. It was definately congested and dirty, but it also felt very alive. The buildings seemed pressed together so tightly that the entire district looked like it had grown without anyone ever deciding where the next house was supposed to go. I stared at it. it almost felt like some kind of tumor growing out of the rest of the pristine harbor. But my eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the labyrinth of streets below. Jumping along rooftops. Hiding on a narrow lane disappearing between two tall buildings. Running toward a cluster of market awnings. For a second it felt like my eyes were running towards something that they could never grab hold of. I looked between the two halves of the town. Then down. The tree stood almost exactly between them. Its roots disappeared toward both streets. Branches stretched over both sides of the hill. I leaned back against the trunk. The wind moved through the leaves above me. For a while, I forgot I was supposed to be doing anything. My mind was still trying to adjust from the terror and fear of falling. My body, strangely didn't need to. I mean it's still definately sore from yesterday. Probably worse now that I've climbed what feels like a fucking mile. But sitting there felt right. I looked toward the sea. The harbor glittered beneath the morning sun. Ships rested along the docks. Farther out, sails moved slowly toward the horizon. The wind hit my face. I closed my eyes. Something warm spread through my chest. I opened my eyes again. I was happy. Really happy. Enough that I laughed. The sound surprised me. Nothing was funny. I was sitting halfway up a tree when I was supposed to be getting clothes. Jonathan’s shirt was probably going to be ruined. My uniform was sitting on the ground. I had no idea where my dorm was or if I even had one or what I was going to eat or where I was going to sleep tonight. And yet— I couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe it was the view. Maybe it was the wind. Maybe it was because Lynne had been kind to me. Because her family had fed me. Because Mrs. Daniels had packed food for me even after I told her I didn’t need any. Because she had expected me to come back. That thought made something in my chest ache. I looked down at my legs. They rested against the branch. Both of them. I moved one foot. Then the other. For some reason, the happiness became almost unbearable. My eyes started burning. I blinked. “What the hell?” I rubbed them with the back of my hand. I didn’t understand. I was tired. Sore. Confused. Alive. And for one moment— free. The word appeared in my head before I knew why. Free. I pressed one hand against my chest. The emotion was enormous. Much too large for climbing a tree. It felt like it surrounded me without quite belonging to me. Like I was sitting inside the quiet center of a storm. I could see what was happening. I knew the feeling was there. But I couldn’t understand where it had come from. My fingers curled against the bark beside me. It was strange. Since waking up, my body had mostly felt like a cage I was stuck inside. A pained thing that hurt, which I had to endure. An awkward thing that was frustrating to navigate and control. But the first time, it didn’t feel like something separate from me. My hands knew where to go. My legs had carried me here. They had caught me when I slipped. My body had wanted something. And I had listened, and we worked together. I didn’t know why that thought made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I rested my head against the trunk. The wind moved through the leaves. For a while, we had anything to complain about. I stayed longer than I meant to. Eventually, a bell rang from the academy. I opened my eyes. “…Right.” Go get my uniform, pray I actually have a dorm, and find out what classes I'm supposed to take. I looked down. That seemed significantly worse than going up. I started climbing anyway. Going down was considerably less enjoyable. Mostly because I could see exactly how stupidly high I had climbed. More than once, my stomach tightened when my foot searched for a branch I couldn’t immediately see. But then my body would find it. A groove. A fork. A thick limb hidden beneath leaves. Again and again. I started trusting it. Just a little. Eventually I reached the lowest branch. I lowered myself as far as I could. Then dropped. My boots hit the grass. I stood there beneath the tree and looked back up. I could barely see where I had been sitting. It was so far up it was blurry, almost completly hidden in the web of branches and leaves before it. The fear arrived properly now. I stared upward. “…Why did I do that?” Whatever strange feeling had pulled me toward the tree was satiated. “Next time, I’m not climbing that high.” The thought made my shoulders droop. I looked up again. “…Maybe.” I straightened my borrowed shirt as best I could. Picked up the uniform. Picked up Mrs. Daniels’ bundle. The academy bell rang again. I turned toward the towers. Then stopped. Behind me, was the ancient tree. The other part of the city stretched beyond. I stood there. Something heavy whirrled in my core, but it felt like it was whirrling above me. Not like the happiness in the tree. This was quiet, heavy and complex. I suddenly felt like a child leaving home for the first time. Travelling somewhere too far away, far too soon. For a life-changing opportunity, after spending years dreaming of it. Only too look back home. Process in your under-developed mind the price your reality had to pay. For your dreams to come true. My vision blurred, it didn't feel like before. Just before I could fully grasp the individual emotions that colored the complex painting of what I was feeling. It vanished, before I could really look. I turned back at the tree. Then toward the academy. I started toward the road. After a few steps, I looked back one more time. The giant tree stood quietly on the hill. Its branches shifted in the wind as if it was waving me farewell. I tightened my grip around the uniform beneath my arm. And turned toward the academy. Just after waving back.

Chapter 13