Someone else had dropped next to me. I glanced at the face of the unexpected tagalong Leinard had identified as Colin Treinaton.

_"Freend? Where we? You okay?"_ I heard Small Cap's voice stir back to consciousness and detected his rustling in the belt pouch.

Fortunately, he was pa.s.sed out inside the pouch throughout the whole affair with Possessed Death. Since his body couldn't handle the freezing cold.

I sighed with relief that he hadn't suffered any serious impacts. Especially to his brain. It seemed being in a warmer place was able to awaken his body.

"Ok, I guess." I slurred with drool oozing out of my mouth.

I roughly wiped it on my sleeve and winced at the jarring pain I felt to my arm.

The break was healing, but the pain was still present. I allowed myself a moment to deal with it; warm up and be less of a stiff. It was hard to ignore the heated gaze I felt on my face.

"I'm Famine." I blurted before the man had a chance to voice his question on my ident.i.ty.

The man huffed, scornfully. He moved around to push himself up off the ground.

He seemed the same age as Trix and taller. I guessed over six feet and was leaner. He was far from being a skinny runt like me, based on the way his dark patchwork overcoat was fitted, smoothly, to his body and his broad shoulders.

Like Trix and the others of the Wisteria Garden Squad, he wore a white s.h.i.+rt, navy-blue vest, tie and pants tucked into black calf-length boots.

However, his vest had a pair of slit pockets where a Single Albert chain, of silver quality, was dangling down between the loop hook connected to the middle b.u.t.tonhole and the left slit pocket. It had the top of a fob watch peeking out.

He wore stylish thin-framed gla.s.ses, which drew out his green eyes rather than hide them. They sparkled, especially, against his smooth tanned skin. His hair was as black as mine; cut short and slicked back off his face. He carried an impression of stoicism, and a mild manner prince due to his delicate features.

I suspected he had an acerbic att.i.tude and astute mind despite his appearances.

My eyes widen when two of his fingers did a swooping scissors action near his chest. Was he using sign language?

I decided to test the theory and responded back with my name. Spelling it out by raising and closing my fingers in a certain sequence. And making a paw here and there against my chest. I added further hand movements to say that I wasn't the idiot he had earlier mistaken me for.

The man's features relaxed into one of laughter. He flashed me a lopsided smirk.

"Fine. I'm Colin, Captain of Orion Squad." He signed his name, t.i.tle and some additional chatter.

"Now that formalities are out of the way. Let's get out of here."

I c.o.c.ked my head to one side with curiosity when Colin had pulled a smoky white gla.s.s coin from his right slit pocket. He pressed it to his natural right eye, causing the coin's material to transform into a thin layer of silver gray film, which clung to his eyelid.

"What's that for?" I signed my questioned and growled at his response.

"A maplink. I can't be bothered to explain it to a dumbdora." He signed and moved around the red-brick room we were in for a way out.