The young girl shivered. The snow swirled around her feet, gathering in great drifts where the wind blew it up against hills and trees, and above her the great mountains loomed overhead like rough stone giants.

“This is where I leave you, m’dear.”

She turned, her long white hair blown into her face by the wind. “Why?”

Her teacher’s human form fidgeted uncomfortably, one hand going up to brush away the bunch of gray hair that flopped over one eye. Where his feet faded away into the snow a large gray cat, tipped with the black points of a Siamese and white stripes like a tabby, was curled up—she knew that this was her mentor’s current form, the human shape above him nothing more than a physical thought. “I have things to do.”

“Are they so important that you can’t take me with you?” She pulled her thin white overshirt more closely about her slim body.

“It’s not that.” He held a ghostly hand out to her and she reached for it, pulling her hand back when her pale fingers passed right through his. “I just feel that it’s better if you learn about the world on your own.”

“Liar. You just don’t want to have to deal with me.”

“Getting you as a student was rather unexpected, I’ll admit, but I do not want to dump you here and let you freeze—I’m not that cold, if you’ll pardon the circumstances. I know you can survive, Kass.” The hand fell to his side, the cat below standing up and shaking off the snow that had blown over it. “And it’s not like I’m throwing you out—I’ll come to your aid when you call for it.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Kassix sniffed, her entire body beginning to tremble from the cold.

“You’ll know, don’t worry.” His form shimmered at the edges, like he was being blown away in the wind and snow. “See you ‘round, kiddo.”

“Davri, wait!” She lunged forward, reaching for his fading form. “Take me with you!”

But he wasn’t there anymore, and a sudden gust of wind caught her unbalanced, knocking her down. The snow bit at her exposed flesh as she stared, desolate, at the place where her mentor had vanished.

Mentor indeed. He hadn’t taught her anything, really. But, a small voice in the back of her mind interrupted, hadn’t he found her where she had been hidden away? Hadn’t he taken her away from there and taught her things she had forgotten, like speech? Hadn’t he given her clothes to wear and food to eat?

She stood up, looking down towards the valley below. There was a small group of houses there, huddled together against the storm, warmth and protection given to them by the lofty mountains that they hid behind. Staring down at it, she began to run.

She was free now. Someone would help.

This hope she held in her chest and it kept her warm as she sped down the slope, kicking up snow as she went and racing the wind that caught the snow and tossed it about. Sometimes she would hit a snowdrift and sink downwards into the white dreamtime, but always she swam up and out of the drift, only to be caught by the wind and start her race once more.

Kassix howled, banging on the door. She had reached the huddle of houses at last, racing through the endless snow and wind, and now she pounded away at the thick wooden door, screaming like a small child—which, she reminded herself—she was.

The door opened and she, losing her balance, fell forward onto her hands and knees, looking up into the room with wide startled eyes.

It was nothing like she’d ever seen before. There was a fire, and people—living people! There was a plump, dark haired woman staring down at her, a shocked expression on her face, and a trio of boys about Kassix’s age hanging monkeylike off the arms of an older man. They were gathered about the fire, and the room had the startled air of interrupted festivities.

The woman shut the door after dragging Kassix forward, and it was a while before anyone spoke; Kassix lay huddled, limbs shaking from the sudden warmth, her hair hiding her face. But through the curtain of her hair, she stared at the people, watching them. True, living and breathing people…

“Who’re you?” The man suddenly asked. His voice sounded deep and guttural in her ears, fitting for a man of such size—he was a big man, with a full beard and mane of dark brown hair.

She shivered. The warmth didn’t burn so much now. Now it ached—she ached, all over, especially her head.

“You a ghost? Certainly pale ‘nough to be one.”

She shook her head, her whole body quaking now.

“Gailen, stop it. She’s freezin’.” The woman crossed her arms and stared stonily at him, then ordered one of the boys, Jakob, to get a blanket. The oldest, looking to be about 14, hopped off to what appeared to be a closet, reappearing with a thick tan blanket.

“The storm’s as such that even wee ghosties would be shiverin’ out there, Abby,” the man Gailen retorted.

She ignored him, draping the blanket around Kassix’s shoulders.

“Abby, lookit her!” He pointed. “Her hair ‘n skin colors—they ain’t natural!”

The oldest boy stood by the man, watching Kassix suspiciously, but his younger siblings didn’t seem so close-minded—the second oldest, looking 10 or so, crept forward until he was face to face with her.

“Todd! Git away from it!” Gailen ordered.

“Aw, Da. She ain’t throwing chairs or knives about, so why should I be afraid?”

Now the youngest boy inched forward as well, reaching out to take a handful of the girl’s hair.

“Dun look like a ghostie,” he stated bluntly. “Is she stayin’?”

“What’s your name?”

Kassix whimpered. There were so many questions! Grabbing the edges of the blanket, she cocooned herself in it, wailing, “Not a ghost! Not a ghost!”

“See there, Gailen?” Abby crouched down to comfort the shaking bundle. “If anythin’, she looks like she got attacked by a ghost!”

“There ain’t no travelers ‘round here, not in weeks since the storm started. So where’d she come from, eh?”

The warmth was finally settling down. Kassix slowly drifted into sleep, murmuring, “Not a ghost. Not a ghost. Not a ghost.”

Dreams still reached her. She wasn’t on the island anymore, but the nightmares still chased her across the Planes, cornering her where she slept and wrapping her in black velvet screams. Kassix had been a prisoner on an island, kept there for reasons she didn’t fully understand—but they had something to do with her magic.

Davri could explain it, couldn’t he? But he wasn’t here—he’d abandoned her. Just like—just like…someone. She couldn’t remember whom, but she knew they had been important to her. Special.

She was awake now, and in a strange room. But it was comforting, the corners filled with small things she didn’t recognize but knew to be made lovingly of wood. The feeling of it, a room filled with love-made things, was a foreign sensation but one she liked. Getting up, she padded over to the only window in the room to see what was outside, but latched shutters blocked out the snowy world; she unlatched them and pushed one open, met with a blast of icy wind. Wincing, she ignored the cold and clambered up onto the sill, staring out at the whiteness.

It sounded like the ocean. Closing her eyes, she let the sound take her back, trying to remember the feeling of the sunlight that had burned her skin whenever she snuck out of the building to stand on the beach. But the frozen wind kept coming and telling her that this was not the sunny beach, but a snow-packed valley wedged between stone giants. Reluctantly, she released her dream to the cold night and slid back to the floor, closing the shutter.

It was okay—this place would do until her teacher came back for her.

(Five years later)

She liked this spot. From here, she could see the whole village, and no one could see her, standing beside the waterfall. It was perfect in the summer—now, when the trees were green and the birds darted from one to another, splotches of blue and gold plumage visible where they nested.

The rock where she stood was next to the rushing water, but nature had placed it just so that when she peered out over the edge, she could see the swirling pool below her. At first the drop had been dizzying—it had taken her days just sitting up on the rock to master her fear of the descent; now she could stand at the very tip of the rock without fear.

Arching her back, she stepped out to the edge of the rocky outcropping and inhaled deeply, spreading her arms out like a swan’s wings. Then she leapt, pushing off and out with her feet.

The roaring of the waterfall was a buzzing in her ears, the wind pushing her arms to her sides and pulling her hair back. Frowning with the effort, she pulled her arms out again, grabbing the flared-out sides of her jacket as she did. Pull in. Inhaling, she dragged her clothes closely about her body.

It wasn’t working! She could see the water getting closer and closer, and finally she gave up, pulling her body into a ball and tightly shutting her eyes.

But there was no impact, no hitting the water. Carefully she opened her eyes, and there he was waiting for her.

“Davri!” Kassix uncurled and got up. This place wasn’t like any she had seen before—everything was smoky grayness, giving her the strong impression she was floating. “Did I do it?”

Grinning wryly, her teacher shook his head. “Nope. You’re not really on the Plane anymore, but you certainly aren’t on a tie. We’re at the edge of the Plane.” He jerked a finger over his shoulder. “The tie’s back there, and the Plane is the other way, behind you.”

What Kassix had been attempting to do—and had finally done—was Planewalk. Few are gifted with the ability to “walk” the ties that connect different places, or Planes, but Kassix and her teacher were two of the few who were able.

“Which is closer?”

“The Plane. You left it rather belatedly, so you’ve just barely gotten past the boundaries. Take a few steps backward and you’ll be floating in the water.”

Kassix blinked. “So, what do I have to do to get past the edge?”

“Leave it sooner.”

“But how do I do that?” she wailed. “I’ve been tryin’ for weeks!”

He sighed, crossing his arms. “Don’t let yourself build up velocity. Once you push off, pull yourself in and drill through the edge to the tie.”

“You got very strange ways of explainin’ things.”

“Ditch the accent, Kass. You’ll be leaving this place soon and I would much prefer it if you were articulate.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. Despite the five years, she looked closer to 12 than 15, and he hadn’t changed a bit from when she had first met him. “Why do I hafta leave?”

“They’re getting suspicious again. One third of them have accepted that you aren’t a ghost, one third hasn’t, and the last third doesn’t know what to think.”

“I haven’t done anything to anyone!”

“Yeah, but you haven’t aged much either. They’re not stupid, Kass.”

She stuck her chin out. “Then I’ll let them drive me out first!”

“Kass, that—”

She stepped backwards. There was a jerking, falling sensation, and then she was surrounded by water; it was a very disconcerting experience, and for a second she thrashed and struggled, wondering where she was before remembering where. Swimming to the surface, she headed towards shore, coughing up what water she’d swallowed in her panic.

“Hey Kassie!”

Great. Jakob had found her. She ignored the catcalls and finished her swim, clinging wearily onto a rock when she reached the shoreline and continuing to cough.

“Cut your hair,” she taunted back when she’d caught her breath. “You look like a girl!”

He brushed his black hair back out of his face and met her eyes squarely. “I saw what you were doin’, ghostie.”

“And what was I doin’?”

He stepped back as she crawled out of the pool. “You vanished. You jumped from up there and then you were gone. Where’d you go, ghostie?”

She let her hair hang dripping over her face and opened her eyes wide, creeping forward. “Went to find your grave, Jakob. Gonna dance all over it.”

He paled very slightly. The lore of the place was that if a ghost danced on your grave spot, you would die within the next full moon, and Jakob was fully convinced that Kassix was a ghost. “I’m gonna tell everyone, and we’ll get you.”

“Ghosties ain’t afraid of the livin’, Jakob,” she teased, raising her hands and wiggling her fingers. “Lil ghostie’s gonna gitcha.”

“We’ll gitcha first!” he yelled back, scrambling out of her reach.

Davri watched from a nearby rock. Neither had noticed him, so he sat there calmly, watching the two children through slitted eyes and twitching the tip of his tail irritably. Cat form was much favored over human form, particularly for sneaking and spying.

He stood up and stretched luxuriously while the two finished arguing, then the boy ran off. Leaping down from his perch, he trotted over to his student, who was wringing out her clothes as best she could.

You do know you could just vanish right now, m’dear.

She jumped, then turned to stare at him. “Yeah, I know. But they’ve been nice to me, and—”

And what? Davri snapped. You don’t want to leave them hanging on as to your fate? He spoke directly into her mind, so that to any observers an albino girl was talking to a large cat.

She nodded, looking down. “But…I ain’t gonna leave them as a ghost, Dav, I ain’t. I’ve got it all planned out.”

So what you’re telling me is not to worry, you’ve been planning this for a while? She nodded and he sighed, a short huff of air. Fine. Do what you want, but if something goes awry, I’m snatching you and we’re outta here, got it?

“Yep.” She kneeled and reached out to scratch under his chin, a gesture he accepted. “But it won’t go wrong.”

They walked back to the village together, and as they neared it, Kassix began using her magic. It was in small, subtle ways, but suddenly things started happening—as they passed a small flowerbed, the tulip-like blossoms changed color from a dull yellow to a bright and vibrant red.

Davri smiled to himself. She was doing what he had done not so long ago and using her magic to help the people who had taken her in. It would probably be that as the day—or week, however long she decided her grand finale would be—progressed, her acts of magic would become larger and showier.

He was right. That afternoon, she did multiple little spells, one making butterflies out of a patch of tiny wildflowers, and anyone who already didn’t openly stare at her already did now. But it wasn’t as if she went out of her way to make these things happen—she went about her day normally, slipping the spells in where they would be noticed.

A day passed like this, and everyone was relieved when night fell. But the next morning, people would wake up to find small gifts left out for them, and the miraculous occurrences continued to happen wherever Kassix went, Davri trailing along at her heels. She confided to him that she was planning on leaving that evening with the sunset in a single fiery moment.

Like a phoenix?

“A what?”

I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it—it’s a mythical firebird that seems to be one of the reoccurring themes in this string of Planes. Magical properties—and it bursts into flames when it dies.

“Oh. Okay then—I’ll go out like a phoenix.” Davri almost regretted mentioning the bird to his student later, when he was forced to help her design a magical structure cloak. It was a particularly tricky and tedious piece of work that took a long time, but resulted in a complex spell that can be triggered instantaneously—in this case, an exceptionally lifelike illusion.

Despite the fact that Kassix was untrained, the cloak was finished in a matter of hours. Davri led her through the steps carefully and showed her what to do, and with two powerful magic-users working in it jointly, it was finished quickly. Kassix spent the rest of the day wearing it disguised as a simple black apron.

Finally, evening came, and Kassix had gained a rather large crowd following her about and seeing what she would do next. She led them out of the village to the waterfall.

The setting sun painted the sky red and gold, the graceful waters of the fall reflecting it, and when Kassix stopped and turned to face the group, there was a serene smile on her face.

“Thank you for everything, Abby,” she murmured. The roar of the fall seemed to dim, everything quieting down so as to hear her words. “Thank you all. This has been a trying time for all of you, I’m sure, not knowing what to think of me. But I’m going to save you from that uncertainty now.” Raising her voice, she took a step backward and lifted her arms slightly. “Know that I have never meant any of you any harm. Anyone who says that I have is sadly misled, and I hope to clear my name in your hearts before I go.”

The sun finally dipped below the horizon, letting the shadowy twilight creep over the solemn assembly, Kassix visible almost purely through her lack of color. Davri smiled to himself. She certainly had timed the thing well, dramatic little artist, and was speaking eloquently even for her. He was impressed in spite of himself.

“I’m leaving now. I just wanted everyone to know before I left, and assure you that I leave you with no ill-will and hope you do the same for me.”

Stepping back once more, she raised her arms above her head, triggering the spell structure. As she motioned, a pair of fiery wings spread out behind her—an illusion only, but a very effective one; the entire watching group gasped and murmured. Davri slunk around the group until he reached Kassix, and then curled up around her feet, ready to drag her off the Plane at a moment’s notice.

In the meantime, the spell unfolded beautifully, morphing the air behind the two into a bird woven of flames; it raised its head to the night sky and spread its illusionary wings to their fullest length. The more delicate details of the spell took effect next, wreathing Kassix and her teacher in ghostly red flames.

“Goodbye.”

The flames suddenly grew in intensity, making all watchers shield their eyes. When they looked again, the phoenix had shot into the sky and was lazily spiraling into the distance, a dwindling flare in the darkness. The two Shifters were nowhere to be seen.