You can always tell when a girl is being chased by a spider by the high-pitched, nonstop screaming.  The day that Kantare and Justyne met, they both had revelations about screaming.  Justyne hadn't known that she could scream that loudly, and Kantare hadn't thought that any girl could scream for that long without taking a breath or passing out.  Being chased by seven-foot tarantulas, however, increased a girl's skill in screaming.   Justyne was so scared that she nearly ran Kantare over, but, luckily for him, she tripped.  Kantare very wisely dragged her into a crack to wait while the over-grown spiders thundered past. 
         That was the summer that they were both eleven.  Justyne was quite shy and nervous of people, even those her own age, but she was more afraid of the spiders than of people, so she stayed hidden in the crack with Kantare, peering out at the rocky canyon before them.  It was about fifty yards wide, and the rock was mostly granite.  Some of it had been ground to gravel, but there were large, smooth heaps that were wonderful for sliding on.  There were trees in the rocky sides of the canyon.  The terrain would proceed down at a gentle incline, and then there would be a sudden ten-foot drop that must either be climbed down or gone around.  The ground was covered in smoothed off granite boulders, giving it a treacherous look, but Justyne had found it easy to run and leap from one rock to the next.
          Once the last of the giant spiders had passed, Kantare gently pushed the younger girl off him, and back out into the canyon.  He kept his hand on his rather long sword; these spiders were notorious for backtracking until they found their prey.
          Kantare looked the girl up and down.  He guess she was a little older than he, just a hunch he had.  She glanced him up and down and brushed her hair behind one ear.  Kantare noted she was an elf.  If she turned out to be on Their side, he would have quite a struggle.
          "My name is Kantare Bandoine," the lad said, slightly bowing his head.  He saluted her by placing his right fist over his heart and then placed it flat on his right hip.  Justyne inclined her head and did the same.
          "You are familiar with the customs of my people," she said.  "My name is Justyne Kayce.  Thank you for helping me, my energy was low; I had already disinagreated five of those monsters before I stumbled onto you.  Why are you here in..."  She was cut off by a familiar half scream half growl that was common to the Giant Spiders whom lived in the land of Inkfire, in which they were now in.
          Justyne glanced down at Kantare's sword, then back up at his face.  "You are a Trinitian," she said, displaying much more calm than she had previously.  "I see the write scar over your right eye.  Do you mind if I use your sword for a moment?  I didn't bring a weapon with me, but it seems They have counted on this.  I usually just use my Gift, but I am a little weak right now."
          Kantare nodded and tossed his magnificent sword to Justyne, and they turned to face the Spiders, who had now encircled them.  Kantare estimated there to be at least thirty.  This would be a good exercise.
          The spiders knew their job too well.  Three attacked Justyne at once, and two attempted to leap over Kantare's head to attack her from behind.  Kantare grinned, and blasted them backwards with two large orbs of rather hard water.  They slammed into the wall in a crumpled little heap.
          Justyne easily faced the three spiders. Now that there was someone with her and she was armed, she felt much better. The blade was light and balanced as she shifted it to her left hand. Moving like lightning, she leaped about the rocks, sometimes swinging the sword with one hand, sometimes supporting her left hand with her right. The spiders screeched and jumped, but could not catch the slender figure before she had leaped upon one of them and stabbed the blade into its abdomen.
          Kantare blasted three more and his legs buckled slightly.  The effort was proving too much; he hadn't as much energy as he thought.  "Justyne! Sword!" he cried, and the weapon flew through the air landing nicely in his left hand.  She grinned as he caught it, and cried, "Let us dance, Elf friend."  Kantare laughed and dispatched a few more with his sword, and glanced over to see Justyne disinagrate two.  She held out her hand, and Kantare threw the it back to her as he jumped over her head and traded places with her.
          Justyne herself was beginning to flag, but this terrain was quite familiar to her, and she used it to her advantage, ducking behind rocks and jumping out when the spiders least expected her.  Then she slipped and twisted her ankle.  She knew that she could recover quickly, but she couldn't handle the sword at the same time.  Standing on one foot, she tossed the sword back to Kantare and, using her hands to help propel her jump, switched places with him, landing gracefully and swinging her legs in an arc.  From a sitting position, she turned another spider to dust.
          Kantare exhaled in exasperation, and sliced another spider in half.  Now there were only two spiders left, and Justyne and Kantare stood back to back and fired two orbs at the same time.  The spiders died on impact.  The two breathed like they hadn't had oxygen in a long time.  Kantare wiped the blood from his sword in a little of the coarse grass, then sheathed it.  Justyne sank down onto a nearby rock, and Kantare joined her.  Their first fight had been successful.
          Now that the heat of combat was over, however, Justyne started feeling shy again.  She wanted a companion, but didn't quite know if her decision that Kantare could be trusted was right.  After all, she thought, I'm only an eleven-year-old Elf.  I'm skilled, but I'm still so very young...  She sighed, not certain whether or not to ask Kantare if he would stay with her and a little afraid to speak at all.  She nursed her ankle, which still hurt a little.
          Suddenly, her ankle stopped hurting.  She glanced up just in time to see Kantare's scar sparkle brilliantly, then fade.  "You're already weak," she scolded.  "You shouldn't do that."
          Kantare shrugged.  "There shouldn't be any more need for my energy for a while.  Do you know why They were after you?"
          "They have started attempting to take away my book, and a few of my characters.  I defied them, and they sent spiders after me.  And why are you here, in this land of Inkfire?  There hasn't been a Trinitian in this land for many years."
          "Much the same reason," Kantare replied. "They came after me in Trinity, and I was forced to leave.  I am looking for some place to stay in this land.  It has plenty enemies for my taste, but They are not too close.  Where are you going, and may I accompany you?"
          Kantare's question was the only push that Justyne needed.  "I would very much like it if you traveled with me, although I have no idea where I am going."  And so it was decided.
          They hiked steadily down the canyon.  As Justyne leaped over the rocks a few yards ahead of  Kantare, her foot struck a scabbard, and it clattered down the rocks.  Justyne froze.  Scabbards weren't supposed to clatter like that when they were empty, as this one was.  She pounced on it like a cat as Kantare came up, and her fingers found a hilt that her eyes couldn't see.  She and Kantare looked at each other in surprise.  "An...invisible sword?" said Justyne, puzzled.  They walked around the area and found an invisible short sword and a visible dagger.  The owner was found as well, or, at least, what was left of the poor man: a few scattered bones, two somewhat tattered cloaks, and a blanket.  They wrapped the bones in the blanket and buried them in a hole that they found.  There was no sense buring the cloaks and weapons with the man, they decided.  He could no longer use them, and swords were supposed to be handed down anyway.  The cloaks were too big and very dusty, but they were warm.
          They camped near a creek in a small cave made by two huge boulders leaning against each other.  Both were hungry, and Kantare went to look for food while Justyne washed the cloaks in the creek by scrubbing them against a rock and rising them repeatedly.  When they were as clean as they could get, she hung them in the cave to dry.  Kantare returned with rabbit for them to eat and started a fire in front of the cave.  After eating, they took stock of what they had: three swords, a dagger, the hunting knife Justyne carried in her boot, flint and steel, a sewing kit, two cloaks, and, naturally, what they were wearing.  What ever else they'd had had been lost in their respective journeys.
          Justyne, being an Elf, did not need to sleep and so stayed up late reheming the cloaks to fit them.  When she was finished, she sat and sang to herself in Elvish.  Following the creek with her eyes, she saw and abandoned two-story house in the distance and perked up.  Shelter.
          Justyne tip-toed over to where Kantare was gently breathing near the fire he had started in the cave.  She jumped when she saw his eyes were open.  Raising an eyebrow, she walked around him and squinted down.  She looked at the bright white scar, and bent down to touch it.  Her curiousity was too much for her.  Just before Justyne's finger was an inch away from the scar, Kantare's hand flew up and grabbed her wrist.  She heard him breath a sigh a relief.
          "It is not wise to wake a Trinitian like that," Kantare said.  "I didn't know who you were."
          "You were asleep?" Justyne asked.  "I have never heard of a Trinitian sleeping like that."
          Kantare shrugged and sat up.  "I never thought about it.  I'm vaguely aware of everything around me, but I am also fully asleep.  What did you want?"
          "There is a house down near the end of the valley; I am sure it is abandoned.  We should go there; I am sure it is better than this cave.  I already have everthing packed; all we have to do is leave."
          Kantare squinted his eyes at the girl looking down at him and cocked his head.  "You certainly like long sentences don't you?"
          Justyne smiled and helped her newfound friend up.  "Yes, but I know you do too.  Some of your writings have made their way into the land I lived in previously, and you, my friend, like long sentences."
          More playful verbal bantering continued for a long time down the trail towards the house, and Kantare knew he would get along well with this Elf.
          The house, as Justyne had thought, was abandoned.  It was an old, two story log house with a wide porch that was climbed by ivy.  Inside, the low ceilings were supported by massive pine beams.  The living room floor was wood, and the kitchen, which was seperated from the living room by a huge bar counter, had blue gray stone for flooring.  There was a huge circular study lined with bookshelves and another room that looked like it had been used for weapons storage.  The upstairs was filled with several bedrooms that contained enormous four-poster beds.  They picked their resepctive rooms and settled in.
          Starting from the ground up wasn't easy, but Kantare and Justyne were very resourceful eleven-year-olds.  Through the power of their writing, they began furnishing the house, which they called Poverty Flatts, and Justyne began to delve into the mysteries of cooking.  Dinnertime conversation usually ran like this:
          "What, exactly, are we eating?" Kantare asked.
          Justyne shrugged.  "I found it in a book.  I can't pronounce the name..."
          Kantare groaned inwardly.
          "...but it looked interesting, and I had all the ingredients.  It looks a little like the picture in the book, although I might have cooked it too long."
          Kantare thought that 'interesting' was a very good word to discribe what was on his plate, but he decided not to comment until he had tasted it.  It tasted...interesting.  Of course, neither of them had died of food poisening.  Yet.
          Justyne looked helplessly at her adopted twin.  "I try."  She tasted her cooking.  "I fail."
          "You could just use the recipies that you can pronounce," Kantare suggested.
          Justyne's sense of exotic drama flinched at the idea, but she could recognize the sense of the suggestion, especially since she was just developing her cooking skills.  "Okay."

          One day, during the winter when he and Justyne were fifteen, while Kantare was out hunting for the next meal, of which Justyne refused to tell what it consisted of, as usual; Kantare happened to go back to the cave where he and Justyne had stayed so long ago.  He noticed some thin smoke coming out of the cave, and went to investigate.  There on the floor was a lad somewhat older than he, stretched out near a small fire.  Kantare could tell he hadn't eaten in a long time; he was thin, pale, and drawn.  Kantare decided Justyne should take a look at him, and he commenced picking the lad up, gathering up sword and a cloak that belong to him, and carrying him back to the Flatts.  Throughout the entire journey, the boy did not stir.  Kantare hoped he would be okay.
          Justyne threw up her hands as soon as she saw the boy.  After observing all the proper female affectations of distress and sympathy, she set about tending to him.
          "What he really needs is some food," said Kantare.  "Something normal."  So far the only recognizable things that Justyne had fixed were Elvish Waybread, rabbit stew, and cookies. 
          "Now, Kantare," said Justyne,  "I've been cooking for us for four years now, and we aren't dead.  What do you think I've been serving us?  Frog legs with a garnish of powdered hen's teeth and celery juice?"
          "Well...there were times when I wondered."
          "Oh, very well.  I shall cook something normal for once."  Justyne grinned to show that she wasn't offended and started cooking something normal: venison stew with a version of Elvish Waybread that was less filling and didn't last as long.  When the food was ready, the boy still hadn't woken up, so the siblings ended up spoon-feeding him.  Justyne retired to to the kitchen to make medicines.
          The care of the lad continued for several days, until he finally woke up flailing.  He grabbed for the nearest sword, and it was only until Justyne forced him down did he set still.  After much reassuring that Kantare and Justyne were not Them, the elf finally gathered the lad's name was Theynore.  He too had been on a quest, but he could not remember what it was.  He did remember that he had no parents, however, and so Justyne immediatly made him accept her offer to be their adopted brother.  Theynore and Kantare always seemed to get along, though Justyne thought that was only because they rarely saw each other.  They were always going in and out of the Flatts, and even then usually at different times.  So it was that the Poverty Flatts came to be; indeed, this was only the beginning of the numerous adventures that were sure to follow these three who had taken the title of "author."