[Night Wish]

I love your new character, Jenny! So glad you joined.
Great first post, Lemony and Popcorn. Yay! I'm so glad Cadence finally got to speak. Especially since she didn't get to in DTB. And Lemony, thanks for being willing to change your character's name!
Haha, thank you Alexa and Liri! I'm glad you guys like Ansell, though your character might not. Okay Liri, that sounds great to me! I'd love it if Ansell and Talia were friends.

Jenny, if it's okay, I, um, didn't intend for Ansell to "find somebody" this early on in the story. You don't have to change your post or anything, but... This is my first time ever writing from a guy's POV, and it doesn't help that he's so much older than me. I might be really awkward with Ansell at first, so I'd prefer if he didn't have a crush on anyone right now. I really, really, hope I didn't offend you with this! I would still love it if they became good friends.


"Haven, wait!" I yell after her as she disappears off into the forest.
I could've kicked myself. How could I have messed that up so badly? I've looked all those Dai Li agents in the face and told the most absurd lies. I managed to get them to believe me. Why... Why can't I talk to one thirteen-year-old girl?
Is it because I've spent so long telling lies, I now suck at telling the truth?
I groan to myself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
It's not like that was my first attempt to tell her the truth. There'd been numerous other occasions, always ending with me chickening out and mumbling some excuse. However, this sort of thing doesn't exactly just slip into casual conversation...
Hey, um, Havvy? Did I forget to mention that I'm actually part of a clandestine group that specializes in rescuing and helping out Gifted kids, but I'm currently on a mission spying on the Dai Li and posing as one of their members... Oh, and I've kind of been completely and totally lying and deceiving you this whole time?
I'm so preoccupied in my thoughts, I somehow manage to completely miss seeing the Clann agent coming my way until I crash right into her.
"Ugh!" she tumbles to the ground, her sword falling out of her hand and landing a couple feet away. She scrambles for it, but my reflexes finally kick in and I'm faster, flipping it up with my foot to catch it in the air. I have no intention of hurting her, of course, but I have to make sure she's who she seems to be.
I study the sword in my hands. Engraved on the hilt is the symbol of the Clann, and I relax slightly.
"What do you want?" the female agent asks, getting up to face me at eye level. She's a few inches shorter, but her rigid stance makes up for the height difference. I stare back at her, carefully keeping my face unreadable. My agent face.
"If you give me my sword, we can play this out fairly."
I can't help myself - I laugh out loud. "Wow, where did you get that line from? Seriously, what are we teaching our agents these days? Okay, ma'am, let's play this out fairly. How about you meet me for a duel at sundown? Your pick, swords or daggers." Pfft, like you would stand a chance.
She stares at me in shock and anger, keeping her battle face on. "You're mocking me? Give me back my sword, and I'll show you just how much of a 'chance' I would stand."
I raise an eyebrow. Her answer is too precise, too close to what I'd been thinking. A hunch begins to grow within me... We had started training some of the Gifted to become agents, back before I left for the Dai Li.
"You were once Clann?" the agent asks in surprise, confirming my suspicions. Immediately, I begin to build the mental wall I'd long practiced. Since telepathy was a "minor" power, there were ways to defend against it - and it wasn't as if telepaths could read all of your thoughts, just the ones going through your head just then.
"Don't you recognize me?" I ask, gasping in mock indignation. "Why, I always thought that my reputation preceded me! How dare they not teach all the agents in the Clann to know who I am. Why, I - " I give her a mischievous grin. "I am Ansell Vaile." I pull out a small dagger with the symbol of the Clann on its hilt.
Surprise crosses her face for a moment, but then hardens into suspicion. "The spy with the Dai Li? The Clann hasn't heard back from you for months. How do I know you're still on our side?"
"How could I not be? Seriously, I don't know why anyone would want to be Dai Li when you have to dress like this all the time - " I gesture to my black riding pants, shirt, and long trailing cloak. "Someone really needs to teach them about the virtues of pastel colors."
"Do you ever answer anything seriously?" she exclaims.
I sigh. "Well, thanks for raining on my parade there. Okay, fine, have it your way. The truth is, I've been assigned to this boring, dead-end village for the last three months, investigating all sorts of reports of a possible Gifted presence. Can you believe it, all of my talents being wasted like this? Ren and Galy must have set me up." Studying her, I ask, "Now, time for you to answer something... Who are you, exactly?"
"I'm Agent K," the Clann agents replies in her calm, serious voice.
I throw my hands in the air in mock exasperation. "Seriously? We can't all be telepaths, you know! That is totally unfair. I just told you my real name." Then I add, "If you still can't trust me, go talk to Talia. Or Cadence, or Ezra. Those guys and I go way back."
Before she can say anything, there's a loud clap of thunder, and lightning lights up the sky. A freak storm stirs up, seemingly out of nowhere. I gasp.
"Havvy," I breathe. Then I spin around, toss "Agent K" back her sword, and sprint in the direction of the storm. "Come on!"
All traces of the sarcastic, mocking Ansell go flying out the window as I imagine the Dai Li agents, who are no doubt already on their way. How much time had I wasted, joking around with the agent? I couldn't stand the thought that she'd be captured because I was too much of a jerk to answer those questions seriously.
"Please be okay," I whisper, not caring if Agent K heard me.
I'd come to care for Haven like a little sister, and I couldn't bear the thought of her being forced to join the King's mindless army.
No. I cannot lose one more person I care for to this cruel man, this cruel world. Not Haven, not Talia or Cadence or Ezra, or any of my other friends at the Clann.

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The next day... (This happens at Dai Li headquarters, right after Tori is rescued).

The look on Ren's and Galadriel's faces when they walk in and see me there is absolutely priceless.
"What is he doing back here?" Ren demands.
"I think it's clear that we've unrooted the Gifted problem in the village of Calian," one of the King's advisers, a superior to all of us, informs her. "As we no longer have any villagers there labelled as suspicious, Ansell no longer needs to be stationed there. Therefore, he can rejoin your team, Agent Walker."
"About time, too," I add. "Being 'stationed' there was an utter waste of my many talents. About time someone saw that. I mean, without me on your team, you guys have lost... what? Three Gifteds in the last two days? It's obvious how desperately you need me." I feel myself slip back into the arrogant, smug version of myself, the persona I showed around the Dai Li.
"That is quite enough, Agent Vaile." the adviser says coolly. Then he turns to Ren, Galy, and their team. "However, he does bring up a good point. Losing this many Gifteds in such a short amount of time is absolutely unacceptable. A clear show of - "
" - incompetency?" I supply mischievously. The two of them shoot me a death glare.
"With all due respect, sir," Galadriel begins. "I don't believe having Ansell back is... necessary."
"Sure, whatever you say, Galy," I say, rolling my eyes.
If glares could kill, I would've dropped dead then and there. I always called her by that forbidden nickname, on the pretense that I couldn't pronounce her real name. In reality, it was because I enjoyed seeing the look on her face when I called her Galy.
"It's Agent Darklighter," Galadriel growls.
"Alright then, Agent Dorklighter," I grin at her.
"That is quite enough." the adviser snaps.
"What? Was it something I said?" I ask, with false innocence. I lean back, enjoying the irritated exasperation everyone felt towards me. It went a long way towards improving my disguise - this way, I could practically sneak around headquarters all I liked. People literally run the other way when they see me sometimes.
Still, in my heart of hearts, I have to admit that I'm not enjoying this nearly as much as I pretend to. I miss the Clann - my friends there, especially Talia, one of my best friends. And now Haven. I was grateful that she'd made it to their sanctuary, of course, but I know it's going to be a long time before I see her again. Before I see any of them again.


(Bleh. My first time writing as a guy. I'm sure it wasn't very convincing, but I tried!
I'm very, very sorry for being mean to your guys' characters! Ansell promises to apologize someday but only if Ren and Galy do first. )




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Thank you so much to the very talented Twi and Alyce!