When it seemed like TS wasn't going to say anything else, I asked, "So?"

He frowned and then laughed. "Sorry! I think you might be the first magic who hasn't, you know, known all about magics, that I've ever hung out with. I haven't really stopped to think about how much you don't know."

"Oh... Are all werewolves colorblind?"

TS nodded. "Makes seeing at night super easy, though."

"You can see in the dark too?" I was a bit jealous that Mariana and Dani had been able to sit in the dark and read.

"You could, too," he laughed. "You have a wand."

I grinned; I hadn't really taken the time to think about what exactly I could do. "Like a flashlight!"

TS chuckled. "I was thinking you could just give yourself night vision, but I suppose that works, too."

Wow, that sounded even better. I reached into my sweatshirt pocket and felt my wand. I couldn't wait to try. The thought of night vision gave me an idea.

"Aren't there any spells that could let you see colors?

"Been there, done that," TS said. "It was, em... interesting. It was nice to get an idea of what something like red actually is, but it was a bit disorienting, too. And a little overwhelming." He shrugged. "In my opinion, I'm not missing anything."

"Wait," I said, confused. "You're human now though, right? If werewolves are colorblind, can't you see colors during the day?"

"I may be human right now, but I'm still a magic. And more importantly, a werewolf." To prove his point, he leaned across the table and licked my cheek. It was both disturbing and adorably dog-like at the same time.

He went back to his studying, and I tried to do the same. But I couldn't concentrate. All of the plant names and species on my study guide kept swirling together, and I couldn't get over the fact I was sitting at a table with a werewolf. My thoughts wandered back to how Thomas had mentioned familiars. I was curious about them. I'd never had a pet before, and the thought of a talking animal was exciting. I also worried about what had happened to Thomas' too.

"Hey, TS?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think there are things you could tell me that Thomas can't?"

TS set his pen down and looked at me curiously. He tilted his head, exactly like a confused dog, and if he hadn't looked so worried, I would have laughed. "What things?"

"Like, about familiars."

Understanding flashed across his face, and he sighed. "I can do that."

"So," I said, glad he was going to answer my questions, "What exactly is a familiar? I mean, I've read about them."

"Oh?" I could just see the tip of his tongue and realized he was trying not to laugh.

"What?"

"You've read about them. In fantasy books?" TS laughed and closed his notebook. "This might take a while," he said, ignoring my indignant look. "Humor me; what have you read?"

"Well..." I thought of all of the different books familiars were featured in and tried to summarize them. "They're like an animal or a spirit or something, and a wizard summons them, and they help the wizard?"

TS burst out laughing. "This is why I stick with Sci-Fi," he said, shaking his head. "Right, shall I assume that up until a couple of days ago, you didn't believe any of the nonsense you read?"

I nodded.

"Keep it that way. To be fair, sometimes, very rarely, there are a couple of things that someone gets right. However, if I were you, I'd keep a healthy dose of skepticism about all of that. In fact, if you ever have a question about something, please don't just assume that what you read was right. Just ask it."

"That's sort of what Thomas said."

"Then, we're both right." TS scooted his chair a bit closer to me and leaned forward. "Back to your question: familiars," he said softly. "Familiars, first of all, aren't just an animal. They're just as intelligent as you and me. Fend is a raven, but he's a magical one. Comparing Fend to a non-magic raven would be like comparing me to a Chihuahua. A familiar is a person. They become your friend. You and your familiar will be partners, equals, and probably closer than friends."

Less than a week ago, it would have sounded impossible. It was hard to imagine, but I knew it was real, and it sounded incredible.

"How does someone become your familiar?"

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"You bond."

"Bond?"

TS chewed his lip in thought. "I'm not sure how to explain it... Werewolves have our own different type of bond, so I've just sort of always had an idea about it. It's a magical bond that allows you to sense each other."

"Sense each other?"

"Emotions, feelings, pain, things like that," TS said. "Even if Fend had stayed in New York when Jon came here, they would have been able to sense each other. They'd know if the other was alright and everything. That's why your familiar becomes closer than a friend. Hell, you'll end up closer than family."

"That sounds amazing."

"Yeah," he laughed. He leaned forward and said softly, "So, if your familiar dies..."

I wasn't sure what to say. I couldn't imagine how awful it must have been for Thomas. No wonder he didn't want to talk about it. "How old was Thomas when his died?"

TS sighed and was quiet for a moment. "He was nineteen."

Oh my god. That was what, only two, maybe three years ago? I had assumed it wasn't that recent; Thomas had acted like it had been ages. Suddenly, an awful thought occurred to me. "When did he lose his magic?"

"Same time."

"Is that…" I paused, wondering how to word it. "Is his magic gone because he lost his familiar, or is it the other way around?"

"Neither. It's not, em... It's not quite related like that. Usually, if you lose your familiar, you get another. And if you do have a familiar, you're normally not going to lose your magic."

"But Thomas did."

TS nodded. "Don't worry though. What happened to Tom was a... a freak thing. It won't happen to you."

"But my familiar could die, right?"

"It's possible. I'm afraid it happens, but you'd be able to get another if you wanted."

I wondered what it would be like to be that close to somebody and then share the same bond with someone else. "It isn't like replacing them though, right?"

"No." The chair next to me scraped out, and Thomas sat down. He set a smoothie on the table and tapped a straw absently on the lid for a moment, and then spoke. "A new familiar is a completely different person. Just because you get a second familiar doesn't mean you love the first one any less. Or any more, for that matter. They both have their own personalities, likes, dislikes." He smiled sadly. "Who knows, you might even get lucky the second time around and have an even stronger bond. But, it still doesn't change how you felt before."

I wasn't sure what to say, so I did the only thing I could think of; I reached out and put my hand on his. Thomas smiled a bit more.

"Her name was Hylay, if you were wondering." I could just hear a bit of a crack in Thomas’ voice as he said her name. "She was a rabbit." He shoved the smoothie at TS. "Brought you something."

"I just had one!" TS cried in dismay.

"I know."

"But..." TS trailed off, and they glared at each other for a minute. Then, with a sigh, TS took the lid off of the new smoothie and chugged it. When he was done, he slammed the empty cup down on the table and made a face. "Right, that was bloody well disgusting."

Thomas wrinkled his nose. "Grody. I may never drink another smoothie."

"You don't like them anyway."

Thomas looked like he was about to reply, but instead frowned in confusion and looked around. "I hear drums."

"What?" I said. I looked around, too, and noticed that quite a lot of people had started to gather on the deck.

"I swear I hear drums," he said. "Actually, I hear flutes, too."

"You do."

We turned to see Dani, Charlie, and Mariana arriving. Dani and Charlie dragged a table next to ours, and they all sat down.

"Why drums and flutes?" TS asked.

"For the equator crossing thing," Dani said. "Which is soon. Or rather, is now."

"Oh, right," I said. We were crossing the equator today, and there was going to be a big celebration.

"Are we close to it?" Thomas asked.

Dani titled his head back thoughtfully. "Maybe... It feels like..." He bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. It reminded me of someone trying to hear a distant sound. Could Dani actually sense what ocean currents were doing? After a moment, he opened them again and grinned. "That's neat. Yeah, we're practically on top of it."

Then, I heard the drums, too, and couldn't believe I hadn't heard them before. There were flutes and shouting and chanting, too. It got a lot louder, and I realized they had come outside. A moment later, a ton of crewmembers banging on drums came up the stairs. They were followed by our Dean, who wore a flowing white robe and carried a trident. Everyone had blue streamers. Cheering students followed them all, and soon, it felt like the entire ship was gathered on the deck. Dean Dave climbed up on the deck surrounding the pool and started to talk. He made a funny speech about crossing the equator and how we were all about to become 'Shellbacks.' We were all welcome, but not required, to participate in the ceremony. When he was done, we all applauded, and the rites of passage began.

I ended up doing most of the ceremony. I jumped into the pool, fully dressed, and kissed a fish, which wasn't quite as gross as I thought it would be. Thomas, TS, Dani, and Mariana joined me. Soaking wet, the five of us rejoined Charlie. The next part of the ceremony was head-shaving, and I had no interest in that. Although, judging from the line, a lot of people did.

"Not going to do it?" I asked.

"Cold water," Charlie said, gesturing to the pool.

"It wasn't that cold."

"I'm a fire. You may not have thought it was cold, but I can't exactly go around jumping into water." He looked at the pool. "Mid-sixties. Yeah, that's way too cold for me."

"You can tell the temperature of the water?"

He laughed. "I can tell the temperature of everything."

That was interesting. I'd been so focused on what witches could do, I hadn't really taken the time to think about what the others were capable of.

"Think I'd look good with a shaved head?" Thomas asked, eyeing the line of students. A few guys were already walking around, showing off their new short hair. There were even a few girls in line. I spotted one in the chair with long hair that fell almost to her waist. The crewmember ran the razor over her scalp and a bunch of hair fell to the ground.

"I know I do," Dani laughed. "Think I should do it?" As he spoke, he ran his fingers through his hair. I watched in awe as it dried. He dropped a ball of water the size of a ping-pong ball on the deck.

"No," Mariana said simply.

"You sure?"

"Very," she said.

Dani hummed and sighed. "I think there was a little too much chlorine in that pool, I'm going to go shower." He left with Mariana and Charlie.

"I should go, too," Thomas said. He looked out over the water. "Going down soon."

"I feel it," TS said. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Take your time." Thomas sighed and flashed me a smile. "Have a good evening, Jennifer."

"Bye," I said.

I watched him head down the stairs. The crowd started to thin out, once most of the excitement had passed. I sat back down and couldn't help but mull over what he and TS had told me before the celebration had started. TS sat down, too, and returned to marking up his study guide. Once I thought about it again, I had a horrible feeling in my gut. "TS?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Of course."