Destan lay awake for a long time that night. The old rag of a blanket kept falling to the floor with all his tossing and turning. For the first time in ten years, ten years, he'd spoken with his little sister. But she wanted nothing to do with him.

No, it was worse than that. Julia didn't merely want nothing to do with him, she was scared of him. Terrified, of her own big brother. It was so wrong. Destan felt like he could cry every time he pictured her face. Her wide eyes as she stared at him. Her knees trembling. Her hiding behind Nero.

Nero... That bastard! It was him she was meant to be scared of, not Destan. Nero was the one who kept hurting her, who kept shouting at her and fighting with her. Not Destan. All Destan did was try to protect her, cheer her up when she was upset. Like a proper brother.

Destan turned over on the bed once more and, in his anger, accidentally bumped his elbow into the wall. A sharp pain shot through his arm and he bit his lip to stop himself from shouting out. He cradled his painful arm with his other hand, feeling more sorry for himself than he ever had before.

Nero had everything that Destan had ever wanted. And he wasn't even happy with it. It wasn't fair. Destan would've given anything to swap places with him. Anything.

Giving up on sleep, Destan sat up in his bed. He reached into the pocket of his trousers, lying on the floor, and took out the piece of paper he'd hidden there. His hands almost automatically folded it open. A delicately drawn girl with two braids and a handful of flowers floating around her head, stared back at him. A fresh wave of sadness overwhelmed him, when her eyes reminded him of the fear in Julia's eyes, earlier that day.

First his brand-new team had turned against him, then his little sister had done the exact same thing. What a wretched day it had been.

Folding the paper back up into a small square, Destan stood up and threw on his clothes. Without making a conscious decision, he left the house and stepped into the cold night air, shutting the door behind him softly so as not to wake his mum. The Kavora mountain cast a huge shadow over the entire camp.

His feet took a slow strolling pace into the forest, while his mind raced. Destan knew he'd made a huge mistake today. He should never have jumped in between Nero and Julia. He should never have shown himself. Who knew what the consequences might be?

He felt sick even considering it. Not only would he never see Julia again, because she would never come to her spot near the forest again, he'd be in deep trouble if the tribe found out what he'd done. It was a good thing Inops and tribers didn't talk; maybe, just maybe, his secret might stay with the Inops. Perhaps people wouldn't believe him if Nero told them about the mages in the forest.

On top of that, he'd ruined two non-existent relationships in one day: the one with his team and the one with his sister. A hollow emptiness in the pit of his stomach was all he had left now.

When Destan looked up, he found himself in the forest, near what he recognised as one of the largest trees out here. It grew higher than Destan could even see and as wide as the length of his cottage. Its strong roots slithered through the ground like giant immobile worms. The bark had deep crevices in it and the weight of it had bent the thick trunk. Underneath it sat a girl.

Destan stopped in his tracks when he spotted her, but it was already too late. Keara had heard his footsteps and turned to face him.

"Destan!"

Was that shock on her face? He got a lot of nasty looks over the years, sometimes even fearful ones, but shock was a new one. Maybe he'd misinterpreted it.

As she jumped up from underneath the tree, Destan put his hand up and muttered, "Don't worry. I'll go."

"No, wait!" she said, surprising him. "Please."

Destan paused with his body already half-turned away from her, wondering what she could possibly want from him.

"Listen, I..." Keara hesitated, fumbling with her sleeves as if uncomfortable.

Of course she was uncomfortable, Destan thought bitterly. Tribers were always uncomfortable around him. He was an outcast, after all.

"Destan, I'm sorry."

His jaw dropped. "You... What?" Keara had all but whispered the words and Destan couldn't be certain he'd heard them right. Surely she hadn't just apologised. Never in his entire life had anyone ever apologised to him. He couldn't have heard that r –

"I said, I'm sorry." Keara spoke louder, more confident this time. There was no mistaking her words now.

Shocked at this new turn of events, Destan could only splutter in response. It had been ten long years since anyone apart from Aruna had said anything nice to him. Except maybe for Lys, though his words were always dubious and ambivalent. Suddenly a whole new light seemed to shine on Keara, as if an angel had taken her place. Her grey hair seemed to turn silver, her eyes seemed softer, her lips fuller... He shook his head to clear it of these intrusive thoughts. "W-why?"

Keara lowered her gaze. "It was wrong, what we did this morning. Blaming everything on you, just to make things easier on ourselves. Especially after you saved my life..."

Destan felt red blotches crawl up his neck. Not only had she just apologised to him, she also complimented him. Gave him credit for saving her. He hadn't even given himself credit for that. Hadn't it been Elias getting her out of that lorry? All Destan had done was cause a distraction. It didn't feel right that she was saying these things. It didn't feel right at all. "I-I, uh..." It was all that came out of his mouth, after his brain shut down.

All of a sudden Keara tilted her head back up and smiled at him, her eyes softening even further. Or maybe he just imagined that. "It was actually pretty stupid, wasn't it?" she said, scratching her right temple. "I could've just saved myself, if I hadn't frozen like that. That lorry was made from bloody metal! I could've just bent it and created myself a way out. Instead, I stood there like an idiot, waiting for you two to save me." She shook her head, silver curls bouncing off her shoulders. "I'm so embarrassed. My brother asked me what happened earlier, and I couldn't even tell him. It was the first time in my life I'd lied to him."

Destan perked up, his brain rebooting itself. Shame. Now that was a feeling he could identify with. "It sucks, right?" He grinned stupidly. "I know how it feels to be embarrassed. Don't worry, it gets easier."

Keara chuckled. "Yeah, well, I'll try to do better from now on. We made some mistakes, but it's okay. We'll make up for it next time. We'll get that mission done and Remus won't have a reason to banish you."

She gave him such a confident smile, that Destan couldn't help but to believe her. If only for the moment. "Yeah," he said. "I guess we will."

Keara nodded happily. "Well, I'm off to bed. Better get some sleep, tomorrow's an important day."

She chuckled and he did the same, unsure how else to respond. Then her face turned serious again. "I really am sorry. I hope I can make it up to you tomorrow. That you can forgive me someday."

"Uh... Yeah," said Destan, stumped for a response. "Yeah, of course."

She smiled again and with a last "Goodnight!" she walked off, leaving Destan alone in the forest.

For a few long moments, he just stood there, staring after her, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Keara had apologised to him. Twice. She'd comforted him and told him they'd sort it all out. As if they really were a team. As if they'd accept him now.

Did he believe her?

She sure was confident. That smile on her face... Nobody had smiled at him like that in a very long time.

But then he remembered how she'd looked just this morning, when she nodded in response to Remus' question, putting all the blame on him. How much did she really mean that apology?

Destan sighed. He shouldn't get his hopes up. It'd only make things harder, later on. It was nice of her to try and make him feel better, but there was no point. He wasn't even sure how much longer he'd be on the team.

Or in the tribe, for that matter.