Ami, or<em>Armin</em>as she was known, had been drawn to her window by the commotion outside, along with quite a few others. A woman was a tempting prospect for the many repressed young men within the Keep's confines, especially one in distress. Whatever they may have said around the instructors, she could all too easily imagine the ribald jokes they would tell amongst themselves about finding the lass and offering her a place for the night. Not that they would ever act on such fantasies, the punishments for sneaking out were...<em>severe</em>, and would be doubly so if it was discovered that they were off tramping about and polluting their minds with a member of the 'lesser sex'. Bringing her here would probably send the old masters into apoplexy, which might be funny to watch but she wouldnt want to be on the other side of whatever task they invented to punish such a infraction.<br/><br/>And yet.... Ami lifted her hand to the light, letting the rays shine through the liquid-blue crystal on the back of her glove to paint her room in rippling aqua hues. The crystal had come flying through her open window one day, and smacked right in the center of her scrying bowl... shed been trying to see her future at the time, but that was rather more of a omen than she had wanted. While she had initially suspected some kind of prank, no one fessed up and no amount of magic she directed at it seemed able to damage or ferret out its nature. Picking it up on the other hand... had showed her a great deal. She had only experimented with its power very carefully in private... fortunately flashes of light were not a uncommon occurrence at the Keep, but as yet had never truely put it to use.<br/><br/>Hermes its self was a studiously misogynistic organization, Boys Only, so when her parents had died leaving her with nothing but magical talent and a keen mind, Ami had little choice for her future but to pass herself off as a boy and apply. It was with some smuggness that she had aced their Trials Of Entry, and gender issues aside, was everything she could have hoped for... there was a great dedication to their craft here, the distractions of publicity and politics were as firmly rejected as the female gender. She could perhaps have spent her life here... wandering among the stacks of tomes, learning more of the Arts and eventually teaching others, resigned to spending her life living as a man... since truthfully she had been young enough that she would probably be totally lost at this point trying to be a proper woman.<br/><br/>But now things were different. She felt restless, it was hard to focus on her studies, her mind kept going in circles, could she not learn more about the world by living in it, than cooped up here? Could she not achieve greater heights of magic by using it for a purpose than by merely learning it? To make matters worse things she had long since gown used to were coming more to her mind recently; her chest and sides ached from her binding, and the wraps she used to cover the fair skin of her arms itched, the deeper tone she had trained herself to use was hurting her throat. It was the crystal, she was sure, but she could not bring herself to throw it away.... because most of all, it made her want to do something... something<em>good</em>, and she liked that feeling.<br/><br/>Ami could feel the sympathetic connection through the crystal, and maybe even knew more about the metaphysical mechanics of such things than the strange woman did; what she did not know was how and why there was a connection. Did she know something that Ami did not? Something she couldnt find among the books here? Could she help the woman?<br/><br/>The thoughts sent a thrill down her spine and she shivered slightly.<br/><br/>In the end, letting go was as easy as.... letting go. Ami dropped to the ground, using alittle bit of magic to slow her fall, satchel full of magical paraphernalia under her arm. Almost painfully aware of the scores of eyes on her back, she hurried after the departing woman.<br/><br/>Whew, when had she last run? She ran out of breath embarrassingly quickly, and huffing, she was eventually forced to call out to the departing figure. "Hey, wait!"<br/><br/>