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And here is chapter four of "The World Over." Thank you all for reading, it's far from over, believe me.... whew.... I hope you enjoy this one. No sex, I know, but there really wasn't a place for it in this chapter. Meh....

As a side note, I know that since I'm not going to retype the series name but rather each chapter name it may be very difficult to follow some chapters. So, here is my idea. I will set up a mailing list for this series. It will be a very extended series, so if you want to stay current with the plot, the characters, developments and news related to the series, please, send me an email and I will be sure to add you to the list. In this mailing list, I will send out announcements on the series at large, new chapter names, as well as a list of all the current chapters thus far. I will also have openings for any suggestions to the themes and the plot twists that the story contains. As well, there will be opportunities for all members of the list to ask me questions one-on-one about the series and maybe have some misconceptions cleared up.

Again, if you're interested in the "The World Over" mailing list, send me an email stating something in the title something to the effect of "The World Over list" and I will be sure to add your address.

I know I've taken much time away from your reading, so I thank you for putting up with this announcement and I bid you adieu.

Enjoy!

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Slight Margin of Error

And so it was decided, or rather, forced, that Miria should join the band of two and swell the number to three. Varian was indifferent. The hover was fast, and he mentioned it every time he saw Sara, who was becoming annoyed at his constant reminder that she was with the lioness at all. Ever since they set out in the large--huge actually--hover, Sara had slept away from the other two, if for no other reason than to make Miria feel unwanted. Though as a side effect, Varian felt that way too. Sara did not know this however, and so remained alone for some great length of time.

This was one such time. Sara was alone, sitting atop the highest perch on the highest deck. The sun was setting, wind rushing past her, and the next town, Vivel, the city in the mountains, was days out of her reach. Her hover would have taken, she estimated, at least 2 weeks to reach the southern mountains, this one would shave off only a few days from that time. It may have been faster, but only marginally so.

With Sara up top, Varian and Miria were in the mess hall two floors down.

Varian was trying to comfort the giant lioness, for, despite all of Sara's stubbornness, Miria was trying to become at least more than enemies with Sara. She was weeping now onto the table for her colossal failure.

"If I had known she would hate me so much I never would have done anything. I swear! And I only brought my hover here to help. I thought she might forgive me!" cried Miria.

"I think she sees it as more of a prison than a helping hand. You did come on rather strongly, picking her hover off the sand like you did."

"But--"

"Sara doesn't know if she can trust you. She thinks you'll drug her and stuff her up... there again. She thinks you're just a big ball of sex."

This only worsened the fits Miria was put through, and soon Varian left her to weep and find Sara. He would have to talk with her himself.

He found it strange in some ways that Miria still hadn't guessed that he was a psychic. Neither he nor Sara told Miria about his powers, and despite his power slap back at the tavern in Beraag, she hadn't a clue as to his potential. For the time being, Sara and Varian decided it was best left that way. No need to arouse any unnecessary trouble.

Being a psychic had its advantages: he never had to guess what others were thinking. But it had its downfalls too: he never had to guess what others were thinking. It was a bit of a double edged sword. In one sense he could predict with almost absolute certainty what a person was like and what they were going to do by reading their thoughts like word bubbles. On the other he could read the thoughts he didn't want to. Sara's lately were no picnic. They had nothing to do with Miria. It was her nightmares. She was over the ones about being swallowed, as they had for some reason or another come true. These were whole new ones. A war was brewing in her mind, and she could see with brutal accuracy the fighting going on. Varian hadn't the foggiest idea if it were real or just a fabrication of the imagination, but either way, he was up many hours of the night trying to remove the thoughts from her head and allow her some peace at night at least. She had enough going through her mind during the day as it was.

Varian found Sara on the topmost deck of the hover, not that it was hard. She was saying his name in her head and calling him up there. Though when he saw her up on the very topmost perch, more like the crow's nest from a ship, he had to stop. His leg wouldn't allow him to go any farther.

Sara spoke first.

"Are we there yet?"

Varian knew this wasn't really on her mind, and called her on it, "Would you come down please?"

Sara hopped down and stood a little ways away from him. They had become distant, almost like divorced lovers, as of late, and Varian couldn't help but feel a little anxious about talking to her.

"She's not so--"

"Stop. I don't want to hear it," interrupted Sara, crunching her fists.

"Just because you're stubborn doesn't mean you have to be mean too. She's honestly trying to befriend you. Take it from me, who can read her mind. She wants nothing more to do with you for sex. She only wants you not to be so god damn angry all the time!"

And with that Varian left her alone again. She hadn't turned to face him, always looking away, but as he left, he could hear her sniffling. She cried because she knew what he said was true. Miria had done everything in her power to make Sara comfortable the last few days. She served hot meals, gave her the purest water on the hover, let her have her own bed and bedroom, never interrupted her when she was speaking, which wasn't often, and just all around behaved like a wonderful friend should. It was Sara with the big grudge. Sara was always keeping the distance.

But still. Why should she trust anyone that used her like Miria did?

All at once she hated Miria for putting her through what she did, hated Varian for pointing out her fault, and hated herself for being like she was. She knew how to fix things, how to set things right again, and so, in her head, so that Varian could hear her, she said "send her up here."

It wasn't long before a teary eyed lioness appeared on the deck. Sara was sitting, facing away from the entrance to the vehicle, on a short flight of steps towards the bow. Among its other similarities, this hover was built like a ship too.

Miria approached slowly, and as she did, Sara's ears sank in sorrow.

"I'm sorry... Miria, for being such a jackass." Were the first words out of her mouth.

It took Miria a little time to recover from that, and her tears began to dry.

"And I'm sorry... for being so angry all the time... and... and..."

Two huge arms wrapped around Sara's body then, and she was hoisted into the air. Her back was against Miria's chest, but she could still feel the warmth of the lioness' breath on her shoulders and neck.

"I'm sorry too. I won't do anything else to you or to Varian ever again."

That seemed to satisfy them both and for a moment they stayed like they were. Miria hugging Sara round the chest and Sara doing her best to hug the gigantic arm around her. Varian watched from inside, knowing what each was thinking, but wanting to see it for himself anyway.

"Does this mean we're friends now?" asked Miria hopefully.

Sara paused a moment and said, "I guess I can give you a chance... for old time's sake."

Miria was elated at the news and spun Sara around and around as high as she could hold her. Then she gave Sara one last big hug and put her down, leading her back inside. Her tears were dried now, and she invited Sara down to the mess hall for dinner, as the sun was now just barely over the horizon at all, casting a huge darkness over the sand dunes.

The next few days passed rather easily, now that there wasn't so much tension between the three of them. Varian was able to sit next to Sara without her snapping, and Miria was able now to properly introduce herself to the duo.

Apparently she was what she liked to call a doctor. In reality though she really only knew the art of acupuncture. It was a little odd at first to hear such a claim for Sara, but Varian backed Miria up in saying that she was telling the truth.

"And on top of that," he said, "She gives great massages. At least on the parts I could feel." He never elaborated on what parts Miria had examined, so left Sara to draw her own conclusions. Varian never told her that it was just a simple back massage.

Varian seemed in better spirits now too. He must have an acute sensitivity to negative thoughts and feelings, which was why he had been so irritated, thought Sara. She made a mental note to try not to be so negative in the future. Varian gave an inward smile at this, but didn't tell Sara about over reading her.

Sara smiled at his comment, and exclaimed that she would have to try a massage too sometime. That crated an awkward silence for some time, and then Miria went into the kitchen and brought out a large tray of raw meats and cheeses and breads of every kind. The smell of which made Sara's mouth water. She pounced on it as soon as it hit the table, and was gorging herself with more food than would fit in her muzzle at once. She choked a bit, but it was easily downed with some water and strong swallowing. Miria was just overjoyed that she wasn't the target of anger anymore, but the target of what seemed like a perfect new friendship. At least Sara wasn't so removed anymore. Miria much preferred Sara the way she was now than to the way she was previously.

And so went the remaining days of the desert journey to Vivel.

They were rudely awakened from a morning doze on the 12th day of their potentially 14-day trip by a loud crash below them. Miria was first to burst from her overly sized room, followed quickly by Sara and then Varian, who hobbled as best he could as the hover began to tilt back and forth. When Both Sara and Miria came to the outside of the hover they saw instantly what had happened. They had mired on outcropped rocks at the base of a huge range of mountains. Sara, while cursing their luck, scrambled up to the crow's nest again to try and see farther. Miria however took out her map and exclaimed that they had reached where they could no longer use the hover. No hover was designed to cross anything but desert, which was emphasized with the full name: "desert hover."

"I guess we're walking from here on," said Miria.

In reply, Sara said something to the effect of "Screw that!" But it was muffled by a gust of wind blowing the scarf she was wearing into her face.

Varian came to the deck shortly after and looked around.

"Well, it's not safe to leave the hovers here by themselves is it? They'll be completely pilfered! And we're not coming back this way."

But Miria had a plan. Her hover was powered by an actual engine, which required a caretaker for much of its use. Sara and Varian had never heard of such a thing, so she explained. There was an engineer in the very bottom of the hover who kept the engine running. She could have "it" steer the hover to the next real desert town and wait for them there. She had used it like this before, and had no problem. She explained then to them both to collect their things, they would set off as soon as they were ready.

Then she was gone, and left Varian and Sara with several unanswered questions. What exactly would steer the hover? What exactly was this "engine" she spoke of? How long until supper?

Varian accepted quickly though, and Sara was quick to follow his lead. She collected things from her trunk on her hover, slipping them into a bag over her back and then carried her bow staff with her, for good measure, as a walking stick. She was ready, and since Varian had only his cane as his possession, he was ready too. But not before Sara called him on not taking anything on his back. He could at least carry a small satchel of food and water around his shoulder. She strapped those articles around him and then met with Miria, who was all packed and ready as well.

They hopped off the hover, Miria helping Varian down, not before giving him a big hug and a few seductive words though. Though she had promised nothing against Sara, she still wanted Varian. She couldn't help herself. He was so adorable! Excusing his bad eye, his limp, his raggedy clothing, his blank half stare, his seeming lack of memory, his intelligence, his gorgeous good eye, his wonderful chest, half muscular, half not, his touching smile, his sense of humour and wit, and lastly, his charming nature. Honestly, what did she see in him?

It made him blush though when he read all this in her head, and he was for that day a little embarrassed to speak very much except on safe subjects like "it's getting dark out."

And it was. The sun set quickly now that they were in the mountains. They turned around and could see the trail of dust kicked up by the hover steering itself to the Port town of Girard, but thought very little of it. They crested the first mountain and looked over at the magnificent fading landscape. There were trees and endless greeneries as far as the eyes could see, and on the peaks of every mountain were snow caps, glistening white in the fading sunlight.

"We ought to find some place to sleep quickly, or we'll be lost in the darkness down below," said Varian, rather matter-of-factly.

It was true though. Now that they were in a range of mountains, much taller than sand dunes for one thing, the sun disappeared and left gaping holes of darkness at the bottom of their slopes. Having never seen mountains herself, Sara gaped for a long while before finally continuing down the path. Varian took everything in stride, and was neither impressed, nor dismissive. They were beautiful, yes, he would admit that, but really, he wasn't looking so much at the mountains as at Sara, whom, in absence of thought, or rather, absence of care, her thoughts were more entertaining. Miria saw his fascination with Sara and grinned.

"So, I can't win him over. He's too far-gone. Okay then, I'll help him along!" she thought. Varian picked this up immediately, and it sent a cold shiver down his spine. He was no longer distracted, and followed Sara into the shadows of the mountain.

It was dark in no time at all. In minutes the sun had sank past the border of the horizon and left nothing but shadow and darkness. And without the moon's light to guide them as of yet, they stumbled and tripped their way down the slope to the bottom. Varian at one point fell face first and began to tumble, but Miria was quick and hoisted him up, volunteering to carry him the rest of the way.

"She is considerate," thought Sara; "To him... he's probably infatuated with her by now..." Again he picked this up and sorrow filled his limbs. He didn't know what to think right now. He hadn't even thought of Miria coming on to him, though he had read her thoughts of intercourse. Still, he never thought of her like that, nor did he think of Sara that way either. This was a confusing business, and so he dismissed it for now.

After several more hours of searching, the trio finally came upon a large tree, with roots overhanging its base, creating a perfect canopy and cave-like dwelling place. They decided that none of them wanted to walk anymore in this darkness, and so set down camp and started a fire.

They didn't eat all that much that night, in fact, very little considering their travels. They hadn't walked so far for a long while, and Sara felt sore all over. She was out of shape. Perhaps it was a good thing that they couldn't use hovers here. With that in mind she asked Miria what exactly was steering her hover to Port Girard and the only response was that "it" was something very rare and very expensive.

"But that doesn't tell me anything!" said Sara, frustrated.

"I know, but it says I'm not allowed to tell anyone..."

"So it's sentient. Why couldn't I--" But Varian cut himself off there, not wanting to tell Miria about his psychic abilities.

"Why couldn't you what darling?" asked Miria.

"No, it's nothing," replied Varian.

"Oh, no secrets between lovers little one. Come on. Tell me... please!" said Miria, leaning forward and pouting, making the best "puppy eyes" she could, which, on a lion, was more humourous than cute.

"Sorry I--"

"Varian's psychic, happy now?" said Sara, making Miria turn to her with a confused expression on her face and then back away quickly from Varian, who looked down on the ground.

"Sorry," he said.

"A psychic! But... but... that's impossible!"

"It's not, I assure you," said Varian.

"Okay, what number am I--"

"Sixty-nine. Now 24, 30, 98, 10,436,592,375, and "holy shit!" isn't a number."

Miria was taken aback. There's no way anyone could be so lucky as to guess her 10 billion number. But that meant...

"Yes, I can read your thoughts."

"No! I don't want you in there! Don't read my thoughts!"

"I can't help it! If I could turn it off I would! But I can't! I don't want to read private thoughts!" Varian turned his head farther to the ground. "Why did you tell her? We could have been perfectly fine without telling her."

"She was bound to find out anyway. Better now from one of us than somewhere where it counts," replied Sara.

"But... it's impossible! There are no more psychics!" cried Miria, craning against the wall the roots made. She was huddled in a ball just like when threatened by Sara in the tavern.

"Oh, you're a piece of work, you big baby. Varian's just about the nicest guy I've ever known. I don't think there's been a single time since I've known him that he hasn't used his powers for anything but good. And they don't get in the way anyway. When did he ever reveal your thoughts, or mine, to the world? Never! You can treat him with a little respect you know!"

Sara's speech seemed to have little effect on Miria, who remained as far away as she could get.

"But, it's impossible! The psychics were wiped out! There are no more!" she yelled, almost in tears of fright.

Varian could read the thoughts coming from Miria, and saw wars, and killing, and death; he shuddered.

"What is that?" he asked quietly.

"You're reading my head again aren't you? Get out! No more!" screamed Miria, now more distressed about the thought of him reading her mind than of the thoughts inside.

"Shut up!" yelled Sara, coming over to Miria's side and grabbing her collar. "What is your problem? If he could help it then he wouldn't be in there. And by being like this you make things worse. Your mind is racing about things that are raising more questions than they're solving, so tell us, what do you mean by there are no more psychics?" Sara backed up and left Miria to huddle to herself and, with teary eyes, explain what she was thinking.

"There was a war 10 years ago. Psychics were being hunted and exterminated. They had for some reason, gone crazy and started a killing spree. There was a mass extermination and they were all wiped out. So you see, it's impossible that you're a psychic, because they were no more 10 years ago. If you are, it means... something went wrong!"

"So you're scared of me because I was one of them? But... I don't remember that... The last memories I have were being locked in the basement in Lesharad."

"Varian..." said Sara, "But he couldn't have done that. If it were 10 years ago he would have been... 6? Seven? He wouldn't be capable of killing anyone, right?"

"Psychics don't need age to be powerful. They are simply because they exist. Please, I don't want to die!" cried Miria.

At that Varian got up from his seat and wobbled up to Miria, who brushed at the ground in vain to press herself farther away from him. He sat down right in front of her and stared, then held out his hand for her.

"No harm will come to you while I live Miria. None. Just like Sara. I will protect you with these powers." He looked at her with dead serious in his eye, and sat there in front of her until she had stopped crying and was able to look at him too.

When she did, she stared at him a while in silence, then a smile softened her face and she leaned forward.

"You'll really do that for me?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied simply.

She smiled and hugged him tightly. "Then I won't be scared anymore, my little friend."

He hugged back, as if there really wasn't anything else to do.

"Yes, well, now that that's been cleared up, can we get some shuteye now? We've got a long way to go tomorrow," said Sara. As much as thought it appropriate for them to make up with a hug, she still didn't want him to get too comfortable. He was still going to come with her after all.

They agreed and Miria lay down quietly, despite her size, and pulled Varian close to her for warmth. Miria, who until this point had done nothing to him so forward closed him in with an arm over his waist, and then he was stuck. Instead of arguing, he fell asleep with his head on her arm, the fire still flickering lightly.

Seeing them there like that, Sara didn't know what to think. Should she be happy for him? For her? Should she be angry? Why was Miria constantly making it so difficult? Thought Sara. She became frustrated with these thoughts and so walked over to where Varian was sleeping and lifted Miria's arm, snuggling close to him as well, if for no other reason than not giving full satisfaction to Miria. She wouldn't be the only one to pull Varian away from the other. It never crossed Sara's mind, but she was supremely jealous of Miria's ability to just snuggle right up to Varian without a second thought. And Varian seemed to think nothing of it. But if Sara did something like that, there would be something going on. Despite her wanting not to be seen in that light, she smiled when it crossed her mind that they should be seen as a pair. She fell into the most restful sleep in weeks that night, and slept right until morning.

Which came too soon for all of them. They woke groggily as the sun peeked at them from over the mountains. Then Sara realized that they had slept late because the peaks blocked out the sun until much later than in flat land.

"Shit!" screamed Sara, who gathered their things and shoved the others to wakefulness. Varian got up without question, but Miria complained for a moment while she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"But it's still dark out!"

"Only because we're under the shadow of the mountain! It's close to noon!"

Miria then got up, and collected her things. There was a slight debate about whether to eat that morning by fire or on foot, and because of Sara's stubbornness they crested the next mountain before breaking food out at all.

It was the same for the next 3 days. Because they were on foot, Sara had to extend the amount of time it would take for them to reach Vivel by a factor of roughly four. But, now that they had been walking constantly for so long, they were about to make it.

The sun was setting just above the western mountains, and the moon was coming up in its place opposite. The mountains; Sara loved them. Even though they were inhibiting her journey somewhat, she loved the scenery. It's lush green and the white snowcaps caught her eye, and her breath, more than once. Varian suspected that her extra cheeriness as of late was due to this fact, and her thoughts were far more pleasant. He liked what the mountains did for Sara, even though he couldn't see them properly. Miria was indifferent to them. She had explained that she had grown up in a very small village in the mountains, but left years back in search of a more exciting lifestyle. Sara suspected that she knew what Miria meant by exciting, but didn't say anything.

They came to a narrow pass between two mountains, equally great in height and stature, as threatening as they were magnificent, and it slowed their progress a bit.

"You know, I hear Vivel has so many lights at night, that you can hardly see the stars," began Sara wistfully, "I couldn't imagine growing up and not seeing them. I love the stars. They're always so peaceful."

"I like them too," added Miria, without offering any explanation.

Varian said nothing, as his eye wouldn't allow him to see the stars even if he wanted to. He merely followed Sara over a rough hill in the pass in silence.

Then they came to the end. Sara came to the peak of the pass and stopped in awe and wonder at the sight before her. There was Vivel, in all its glory. The sun disappeared, and the city gave off a radiant glow of red and yellow, candles in every window, and along the streets in lamps. Sara's eyes sparkled at the sight, there destination after such a long and arduous journey. Finally, a nice bed and full breakfast. They would finally be comfortable for a change. In all her happiness, the best pace she could manage was a reverent walk down the slope of the mountain to the city. The others followed in stride. At least Varian could keep up this time.

They all came to the borders of the city as the moon dangled from its place in the sky, just above the mountains and seemed to stop. Vivel was truly a magnificent place in the eyes of its newcomers.