He had left hogwarts behind, the school year had been over for a while, and there was nothing to stop him. No one noticed him as he stepped on to the train headed for london, or else no one cared. A few stopped to shiver as he passed, but they probably thought it was some chilling breeze, and nothing to pay attention to. He had gotten off the station alone, his foot stepping softly on the platform just a moment before a drop of bright red blood. A tear, he realized. He was crying.

This train had been where he had met his first friend. The little girl who had become family, only to whisk herself away and out of his grasp. A small trail of blood spots marked the path he had taken out of the magical station, and into muggle london. Into chaos.

An old lady leaned over to offer him a bandaid, clearly thinking that he had cut himself. He took the thing, and walked quickly away, wiping at his eyes, and fiddling with the wrapping, trying to determine what this was. It sounded a lot like bandage, so that was what he used it for, placing it over his left eye, to see if that would help quell the tears. He was too far removed from his own emotions to care that he was crying, he just wanted it to stop.

Muggle london was a blur of terror, a blur of people and chariots pulled by invisible beasts that roared and growled as they moved along. Kaegen moved in between the alleys and side streets, keeping as far away from people as he could. He couldn't find a place to be alone anywhere, but after a few days of scavenging the trash cans, he did manage to find a car that said "Scottland or bust" on it, which he assumed meant that the car had to go to Scottland, or it would blow up. That was fine with him, Scottland was where he wanted to go. So he climbed on top with some luggage that was tied there, pushed aside a little hole, curled up, and went to sleep.

He found it hard to sleep longer than a minute at a time, large bumps constantly jarring him awake. The smog filled chaos of the city was soon replaced by green countryside, little birds chirping, and some sheep grazing here and there. It was another hour before Kaegen hopped off, rolling on the ground to avoid hurting himself more than was necessary. The ground tore at his arms leaving scratch marks he knew would hurt for days.

Kaegen lay there for a long time, not wanting to get up for fear of hurting himself more. His whole body felt bruised, and there was a ringing in his ear. He couldn't afford to have a concussion, not here by the road. It was only after he heard another car coming that he stood up, tired eyes facing north, north towards the fens. He was sick of this, sick of all of this. When he next set foot in hogwarts, things would be different. He would be different.

Setting one foot in front of the other, Kaegen set out to complete his quest.