The Naming (part 1 chapter 2)

Liquid Silver

Andrea was leaned up on the low wall of the training yard watching the boys be put to the test; she carefully scrutinized the minutia of the training exercise watching for the tell tale signs of fatigue and rough technique. She was only staying over at the Watchtower for a few days and she wanted to check on the progress of her brothers before she left for Wright City to rendevous with Elizabeth's safe house informant. Andrea watched her brothers pair up and take on the older boys in thier group and she was once again struck by the symetry of their technique. Apart Gavin and Magnus could hold thier own but together; well together they were breathtakingly lethal. It was like watching the Yin and Yang in perfect harmony when one struck high the other struck low; like a dance a beautiful, deadly dance; it took her breath away everytime she witnessed it. Just as the training exercise wound to a close Andrea's cellphone beeped a warning.
"Oh flying ninja panda spunk monkey's I forgot to charge the blasted battery!!"
Remembering that her charger was in the library she left the training yard and headed back inside to charge the phone. As Andrea was leaving Magnus was bending over to tie back his leg wraps when a cold unsettling feeling washed over him. He snapped his head up and narrowed his dark eyes looking for hidden danger but saw only his comrades and his dad Androse. Gavin sensing the sudden alertness of his younder brother stilled and cocked his head to the right side as if listening to someone only he could hear. They searched the training yard on high alert all senses flaring and once thier eyes met they were in perfect agreement. Together they took off for the library knowing, but not knowing how they knew, that something was horribly wrong.
Androse was finishing up with the rest of the young neophytes when he realized that Gavin and Magnus were gone. Grumbling to himself that they would run laps till thier legs fell off for thier disobediance he closed his eyes and honed in on where they were. He was shocked to find them in the library and to feel the intense disquiet that darkened thier life lines. Quickly dismissing the rest of the boys and Page he headed as quickly as he could back to the library. Androse's steps were clipped and authoritative as they echoed down the marble hallways and came to an abrupt halt outside the library door. Standing in the hallway with him with thier heads craned inside the doorway were Gavin and Magnus. Sensing the ominous preseance of thier father both boys heads, one light and one dark, slowly turned to regard him with wide and frightened eyes.
"Boys what seems to be the matter here? Why did you feel the need to leave practice without my permission?"
Gavin being the unoffical spokesman of the two piped in with thier feelings of wrongness at the practice yard and thier sense of urgency to get here as quickly as possible. They didn't realize yet that what they were describing was the life line that exists between all Watchers and thier children. It is especially strong between siblings.
Androse stole a glance into the library but saw nothing amiss other than the fact that Imelda his bookish warrior princess was no longer in the room. Not understanding the urgency Androse, ever the warrior and never the scholar, had a belated idea to locate Imelda through the matrimonial link and make sure everything was ok. Unfortunatly all he got from the bond was a dark penetrating blackness as if a dark wall had come down between himself and his other half. It was rather disconcerting to say the least. The hard press of alarm stole through him as he came to the realization that something was horribly wrong. Not wanting to alert his two sons to the gravity of the situation Androse slowly opened his eyes and announced that the boys were to go find thier sister Andrea and meet him back in thier parents quarters.

"What do you think Magnus? You think dad's really as calm and cool as he plays it? Or is something else going on?"

"You know how dad is, if somethings out of whack he'll never tell us it'll be up to us to read between the lines"

"Yeah that's your forte so i'll leave it to you. You got your cellphone on you? Maybe we could just call the Queen of Hoodie Freaks to meet us in mom and dads quarters instead of walking all the way to the other end of the watchtower to get her."

Magnus reached inside his hidden belt pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He dialed Andrea's phone number and waited for her to pick it up.

"Ahh butt nuggets it went to voice mail. She probably forgot to charge the battery again."

"Why does she own a cellphone at all if she's never going to charge the battery?"

"Like i'm supposed to know the inner workings of our older sisters mind? She's female that makes her impossible to understand they are a totally different species from us."

"Truth"

Resigned to making the treck across the watchtower yards the boys set off to find thier big sister Andrea aka Sissy aka Hoody Freak for her penchant for wearing anything and everything with a hood no matter how ugly.