Chapter 1 - Losing hope

The small room was barely fit to cage an animal never mind an actual person. The walls were covered in damp and stained with the room's past occupants. Bloodied scratch marks where nails had been dug into the wall and possible urine stains decorated this dim and lonesome place, as well as something else I was unwilling to investigate. A small hole, which I assume was meant to be a window, lets in teasing smells of the outside world and a sense of time as light creeps in. This room had seen many a desperate man crumble to pieces. I was determined not to join those broken men, for I was not meant to be here. I know what you're thinking; almost everyone says they're not meant to be in prison, or their innocent when actually guilty.

But I'm telling the truth, not like anyone in this damn place would believe me. Stretching my body out on the world's most uncomfortable bed (if you could even call it a bed) I think of the past events and my predicament, both offer little comfort. The king laid there covered in blood. His murder stood there watching the life drain out of those compassionate green eyes. Frozen in place I watched realizing I had arrived to the king's rescue a little too late. The murder had been one step ahead of me. He fled, as the guards came in and I was found in the same room as the dead king and labeled his assassin. I had shouted the real events until I had lost my voice but it had done little to help, as with no proof of another person, along with no name and only the description of brown eyes to go off, the guards refused to believe me.

So here I am in prison, watching the world go by, living the rest of my days in this hell hole, constantly getting questioned about why I killed the king and who I worked for and me repeating the same story again and again and no one willing to believe it. This will go on until the guards decide I'm useless and execute me… oh the joys of the justice system. I need to find proof of my innocence, but how? I'm stuck in here and even if I could get out where would I go? I don't have many people I can call a trusted ally and those I do I wouldn't want to endanger. It's hard to think of a plan when this room offers little hope of any brighter future. The sound of heavy metal boots snapped me out of thought, my ears turned to the sound recognizing it at once. Guards.

I got up and walked over to the metal bars that trapped me in this room. Peering out I see two heavily armed guards leading a hooded man to a cell. My eyes lingered on the man, something about him seemed oddly familiar yet I couldn't place him in any memory I have. As I watched the guards lead the man to the cell opposite my own, the man looked up, straight at me revealing dark green eyes, a scared face, a few graying black locks escaped the dark shadows cast by the hood. A smile creeped across his face, I think it was meant to be comforting. But something about the smile made me duck back into my cell.

Usually new prisoners pay no attention to those already in here, unless they know someone inside, so for someone to point me out and even seemed to show something that resembled comfort made me uneasy, especially since I couldn't remember ever seeing this man. By tail twitched at the sound of his cell door slamming shut and guards started to leave, mentioning something about when food would be here. Before leaving however the older guard shot me a dirty look, and checked the time, before turning on his steel boots and walking away. I sighed I'm guessing it meant it would soon be time for another interrogation.

Suddenly the hooded man coughed, I turned to see him removing his hood showing more of his face that had started to wrinkle, his hair was short and definitely beginning to grey suggested he was in his 30's or 40's. He had a few battle scars which looked as though then been a part of his face since he was a young boy. He had a stubbly beard which had a small gap due to a scar near his mouth; there were two more scars on his right cheek and another near his left eye. He was moving closer to his cell bars and looked as though he intended to talk to me. I however had no intentions of talking to this man or drawing any conclusion that I might know him, knowing the guards would take it as a sign that there was more to the story I'd been telling them for the past month and well even if that is technically true (more on that later) I wasn't going to give them the impression that I was involved with criminals such as this man.

I quickly stretched pretending to yawn and dove to my bed, it squeaked under the sudden weight of my body. My fluffy brown tail wrapped around my body, providing a little warmth and comfort. I didn't dare to use the filthy blanket having heard some of the stories about what lonely man get up to under blankets. I closed my eyes pretending to be asleep. I heard the man sigh and his shoes scuffled on the floor as he went away from his cell bars. Conversation with this strange man was averted for now and I hoped he wasn't persistent in making conversation, as I knew I couldn't pretend to be asleep every time he wanted to talk. I laid there thinking about my plans to avoid the hooded man and what I should call him as without his hood, the title 'the hooded man' didn't really suit him and since I didn't want to know his name I'd have to revert to referring to something else. I also thought about my plans for proving my evidence and before I knew it my fake sleeping turned into a deep slumber, full of nightmares.

2: Chapter 2 - Nightmares
Chapter 2 - Nightmares

The nightmares took over my mind, images, events rushed past blurring together, the king's death. Then prison, then words of execution. Then I'm standing at the gallows hearing the hateful words of the citizens, being pushed to my knees, head resting on the wood in front. Forced to look at the crowd, then in the middle of the crowd the new prisoner is there with his hood down his calling my name telling me to fight, to run. I try telling him I can't I'm bound up and I know by the sound of footsteps the axe will soon be coming to end my life. Fear is everywhere; the whole place reeks with it, fear and hate. I'm out of time, the assassin has won. I close my eyes I can hear screaming such a terrified scream, it echo's around the city walls, but no one pays attention.

Something is wrong very wrong, why can no one else here the screaming but me? It's a horrible blood curdling scream but no one notices, and then I realise it sounds like a child. I try to tell the guards, the executioner about the scream but it comes out in sputters as though I've got fluff in my mouth. Then the new prisoner is in front of me, his shouting at me 'FEATHER! Damn it girl wake up! Feather!'

I jolt up the fear still racing through my body, I'm surrounded by darkness, my body sweating. What's happened? I wonder. When my eyes adjust and my heart stops racing I realize I must have been dreaming, the cotton feeling in my mouth was a pillow. I was on the floor dripping in sweat and shivering, the dream had felt so real. Tasting salt on my lips I realised the tears which streaked down my face. I slowly descended back into the real world, shaking my head I muttered to myself, 'it's just a dream,' I knew it was so why did it take so much convincing to believe that.

'Are you okay love? I heard you thrashing and screaming, I tried to wake you before you fell out of bed, it didn't work too well.' Said a rough but kind voice behind me, I jumped at the sound of it and turned to face them. It was the hooded man, he was as close to the bars as he could get, bent down to my heights, his eyes were full of concern. I picked myself up and wiped my face.

"I'm fine," I mumbled while kicking at the floor, "just a bad dream is all."

He'd risen too, "that wasn't a bad dream Feather I know it wasn't," He spoke in a whisper, just loud enough so I could hear. My tail twitched with discomfort and suspicion at his words.

"Well what else would it of been if not a dr…wait how on earth did you know my name?"

"Ah you don't remember me do you? I didn't think you did. My name is Eldrakar, Eldrakar Talnor. I was a friend of your fathers, I've known you Feather since you was yay big." He moved his arm up to his knee, suggesting he knew me when I was a toddler.

Despite his effort to sound like an ally, I didn't trust him. Many who had said they were once my father's friends had turned their back on me when he died; they offered little help to me. So even if Eldrakar did know my father once, that didn't mean he could be trusted to help me. He continued without waiting for me to respond, "I know all about you, I was a close friend of your fathers, when he died I was too far away to reach you in time before you'd disappeared to fend for yourself. Which given the circumstances, it was a wise move, your father always knew you'd grow up to be a clever girl to give them a handful." That's when I interrupted. "Them, who are them? The people who murdered my father you mean?" Rage burned in me, as I realized this man knew things I'd tried my hardest to forget. My tail lashed angrily at the memories threatening to burst into my thought process. This is not the time for that I thought.

Eldrakar shook his head at my question, "Now is not the time for answering questions, you've got yourself in quite a predicament here. Once we're free of this," he raised his arms suggesting to the prison. "Then I'll answer your questions. For now however you and I need sleep. Therefore I will bid you good night and sleep well Feather." He whispered, then turned away from me and clambered into bed. Anger still burnt through me. A mere few hours ago I wanted nothing to do with Eldrakar, I didn't even want to know his name. But now he tells me he knows things about my past, knows stuff about me and he clearly knows more than his telling me. Also the way he causally said 'Once we're free of this,' annoyed me.

It's been drilled into me enough times by the guards that I will never be free of this place unless I'm dead. So to talk about freedom so lightly when knowing I will never get it was just pure insensitive. Tail lashing in anger and my mind crowded with bitter thoughts of Eldrakar getting freedom, I crawled back into bed, picking the pillow up and slamming it on the bed, before flumping on it.

I lay there for most of the night, my head whirling with questions and trying to keep those dreaded memories of that night entering my thoughts. They'd been locked away for a reason and I had no desire to remember them. I decided then to avoiding Eldrakar was definitely a good idea. I saw the happy rays of sunlight that sneaked into my cell and the first sing songs from the birds when I drifted off to sleep. This time it was a dreamless sleep

3: Chapter 3 - Out of time
Chapter 3 - Out of time

The world was spinning underneath my feet, which were being dragged across a cold hard floor. My head was ringing out in pain making it harder to move my chained feet. This irritated the guards as it meant they had to put effort into taking me back to my cell, as I kept tumbling. I watched droplets of my own blood spiral down to the floor, splashing it with tiny crimson circles. "For fuck sake move it murderer!" Yelled the old guard to my right, as he yanked the chain attached to my hands sending me flying to the floor.

"Oh well done Steve just launch her to the floor that'll make her move faster," Sneered the younger guard, to my left, his voice was thick with sarcasm. Steve just grumbled under his breath as I got to my feet.

Going back to my cell wasn't usually much of a hassle, but then again I don't usually get punched in the face by Jerek , there's a first for everything I suppose. Tell you something though getting punched in the face hurts. Jerek had finally lost all patience with questioning me and struck me. Chained as I was there was nothing I could do when a steel glove hit me square in the face. The glove plus the force behind the punch had left my face bruised and cut, my nose had bled. Despite the fact I'm being accused of being the beloved King's assassin, Jerek had never struck me before during interrogation or at all really. The guards had issued threats but never acted like this. But they were desperate for answers ones I couldn't give.

But this wasn't the worst thing to happen this morning, albeit it was the most painful thing, but definitely not the worst. Do you remember I mentioned possible execution? Well that had always been a looming threat, but one I thought was in the distant future. It turns out I was wrong about it being in the distant future. Jerek had set a date. That date was tomorrow morning 9 o'clock sharp. It was now around 6pm, my life was to end in 15 hours. Since hearing this fear had coated my thoughts in a dark blanket. So with only fear and pain to guide all chances of proving my innocence seemed very unlikely.

We were close to my cell. I could hear hushed whispers from the other prisoners. I looked up ever so slightly and saw Eldrakar pressed against his cell bars, green eyes wide with concern, upon noticing my condition, that concern turned to anger. I was about to mouth that I was okay but the creak of my cell door opening caught my attention. As I walked towards the entrance, one of my legs gave way underneath me and I stumbled. I felt something grab me by the scruff of my shirt, it was Steve the old guard. However instead of helping me to my feet, he threw me into the bars of my cell, with a force that made my head clash with the iron rods.

A new wave of pain spread through my head, before I could even move Steve grabbed me again. I felt his hand connect with my stomach, winding me and then I was shoved into my cell. My battered body greeted the floor before I could catch myself. The younger guard gently removed the chains which kept my limbs restrained; he muttered an apology before backing out and locking up my cell. I curled up on the floor and wrapped my tail around me trying to hide myself from view. I began to drift out of consciousness. When I heard a loud metallic bang.

Peeking out beneath my tail I saw Elrakar had his hands around Steve's throat. The younger guard just stood there watching in shock. "Hurt her again and I swear it'll be the last thing you do, old man" Eldrakar muttered into Steve's ear before shoving him away from his cell. Steve caught himself before he collided into my cell; he turned on his steel boots to face Eldrakar.

"No point protecting that bitch, or treating her like she's the king's advisor anymore. She's a murderer and tomorrow morning she pays for her crimes with her life." Sneered Steve then he walked away with the younger guard following him like a lost puppy. When the clanking of their boots faded, Eldrakar turned to me. But before he could utter a word I slipped out of consciousness.

I awoke to world of the living a few hours later. Nighttime had taken over the sky and moonlight lit up the dreary cell. I uncurled myself from the ball I'd passed out in, slowly stretching my aching body. Each movement made me groan with pain. "How are you feeling?" Asked a concerned voice. I jumped and turned a little too quickly towards the voice, which made my head spin a little. I turned to see Eldrakar who still had concern written all over his face like it had been carved into his expression.

"I'm okay, I suppose," I mumbled. Eldrakar nodded then turned away from me toward the hole in his cell which was meant to be a window. He muttered something to quiet for me to hear and shot 3 fireballs out of the window. My eyes grew wide with curiosity and I longed to know why on earth he'd done such a thing. But Eldrakar was just gazing out of the hole. When he turned back to me he had a satisfied smile on his face which confused me further.

"Get some rest Feather; we have a long night ahead of us." Said Eldrakar, I tried to protest but he silenced me every time and pointed to my bed. Reluctantly went to it and laid down swishing my tail as I thought about what had happen and about what the morning will bring.

A few hours later, I was about to give up and let sleep take over. When the wooden door which was the entrance to this cell ward, flew off its hinges and hit the wall. Splintered wood sprinkled the floor. I got up and went to see what caused this. I expected guards with a new rebellious prisoner. But there stood two hooded figures, weapons in hand. Their hoods seemed to be made of the same material as Eldrakar's. When I turned to him his face was lit up with delight and welcoming words seemed to be on his lips ready to greet the two mysterious figures. What was going on here? The two figures began to approach us.

4: Chapter 4 - Escape
Chapter 4 - Escape

The figures walked with determination and had a clear goal. Which made me nervous, what were they doing here? I heard what sounded like hooves gently clip clopping on the floor. A fawn? Why would a fawn be here? Fawns are citizens of Mereillia (not a well favored decision) however they often keep to the wooded areas, with most being herbalists. So what would a fawn be doing here, especially a heavily armored one? The fawn and the other hooded person stopped at Eldrakar's cell.

"Hello old friends, it's been a long time,' spoke the fawn in a rough but friendly voice

."I hope this chick is worth the hassle El, sir." Interrupted the other person, I couldn't see his face but by the tone of his voice I guessed he was frowning. The fawn tutted behind him and turned to me.

'Is this the Thereian you spoke of?"He asked, turning slightly so the question was directed to Eldrakar.

This movement revealed blue eyes and a small beard plus the odd scar. Eldrakar must have nodded or give some indication to the fawn that I was the person they were looking for. Why did they want me? I thought frowning to myself, tail flicking slightly. The fawn brought his attention back to me. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Raikon, but call me Rai, ignore the elf his just grumpy cause his all nervous about a prison break out, anyway no time to chat, we need to get you and our arses out of here." Informed Raikon, his voice was friendly and welcoming. The elf he'd referred to grumbled at his words and pushed past him. The elf glanced at me then went to work on the locked cell, however despite him acting indifferent toward me I noticed he stopped a couple of times to look at me.

Raikon was working on Eldrakar's cell door and within minutes the cell doors where unlocked. I stumbled getting out of my cell. Eldrakar caught me and steadied me, his eyes still full of concern. I still hurt from Steve's punches and now my body was ready for sleep, so pain plus exhaustion meant I'd become a tad clumsier than usual. When Eldrakar was satisfied I could walk we took off down the cell ward. A few prisoners who were still awake yelled at us to take them with us but their pleas where ignored. It appeared that Raikon and the elf had come for me and Eldrakar only. I had no idea where they were taking us or why and although I didn't trust any of them, I followed them and if it came to it I knew I would fight with them.

Even though they'd made quite the spectacular entrance which was sure to have caused enough noise for the guards to notice Raikon insisted we take our time and sneak through the prison. When I'd asked where the guards where the elf had rolled his brown eyes at me as if I'd asked them whether a moose could fly. Damn him, I barely knew him and he was getting on my nerves. However to answer my question, we came across a guard past out on the floor.

We'd gotten close to the exit when Raikon signaled for us to stop. On the other side of the door movement could be heard. My ears pricked up listening for any sign someone was approaching the door. However it sounded like fighting. When a woman let out a cry of pain, Raikon seemed to forget all caution and barreled through the door and into the thick of the fight. He helped up a woman, another fawn, she had long blonde hair, a few strains had been braided. She was armed and armored like Raikon and the elf. As soon as she got to her feet Raikon grabbed his bow and shot a stream of arrows at the oncoming guards. Turning to my right I saw the elf had also joined the fight, swiftly ducking and dodging the guard's attacks, while he nipped them with his blades, cutting them down.

A guard charged straight for me, I prepared myself to take the hit as he'd be on me before I could duck out the way and I had no weapons to strike him with. Just then a ball of fire shot past me, burning the guard on impact, he screamed in agony and fell to the floor, waving his arms to put out the flames that had engulf his face, licking at the unprotected skin. Eldrakar placed himself in front of me protecting me from any more attacking guards. As I watched the others fight I felt kind of useless. I was unable to do anything, I had no weapon and as for magical abilities, from what I'd been told while my working days as the kings advisor, they were present but still developing, so hadn't really presented themselves yet as useable.

The fight had almost come to an end when a horn rang though the prison. Some had discovered either the knocked out guards or our empty cells. Shit, within a few minutes an army of guards would descend on us. There was no way three men, an injured fawn and myself could take out that many guards. My head was swimming with thoughts, when I was lifted off my feet, brining me back to what was going on. The elf had hold of me and was carrying me princess style, Raikon had the female fawn and Eldrakar had fireballs at the ready. Before I could say I could walk or run on my own the elf and the others took off.

I twisted my ears to hear heavy footsteps, suggesting the guards where gaining on us. I closed my eyes in dismay. Why did I follow these men? We're going to get caught and they'll never believe me now.

"They didn't believe you anyway," Spoke a voice inside my head, "you followed because you had no choice, or did you forget that as soon as the suns up, your life ends. Stop whining and get out, these people are your only hope of freedom." The voice was right, with a fresh wave of enthusiasm going through me I leapt out the elf's arms and began running, not wanting to slow the elf down and get him caught. Plus I was no damsel in distress so I shouldn't act like one. Despite him not liking me much I was grateful for what he'd done. However as soon as my feet touched the ground the elf had stopped and was looking at me in confusion.

I saw the first guard turn the corner and looked behind me to see the entrance in sight. We had no time to stop I grabbed the elf's hand, making sure I had a firm grip. I turned towards the entrance and sprinted to it, dragging the elf behind until he began running to. We soon caught up with the others. "THE GATES! CLOSE THE GATES!" Yelled one of the guards. The Iron spikes which were the bottom of the gate began to reach for the floor, at a quickening pace. Would we make it? The female fawn shot an arrow at the guards, who where closing the gates, which interrupted the pace of the closing gate.

Following her lead, I swiped one of the elf's daggers and threw it at one of the guards. I hoped he'd duck or it'd hit him in the arm or leg and slow him. However it went straight into his eye, not killing him but certainly ending his career as a look out, it also coated his face in a nice shade of crimson. I couldn't feel guilty for a man who was ready to send me to the gallows, part of me was concerned about that. He was still a person I shouldn't feel so indifferent about hurting him. I shook those notions off; they would do no good here.

We got past the gate just as it closed behind us and we crossed the rope bridge which led to land with archers shooting at us. I was struck in the arm with an arrow, but I barely noticed the pain as we hit land and ran to the woods. I smiled to myself as the wind embraced my hair making it flow behind me. A new wave of energy surrounded me as the smells of the forest greeted me like an old friend. It was beautiful, the trees danced in the gentle wind, lit up by the moon and the stars that decorated the sky. If I listened closely I could hear the scuttle of nighttime animals on the hunt. It didn't matter that I hadn't been here for months or that I hadn't seen these woods. I moved swiftly finding my feet here instantly for I was home.

5: Chapter 5 - Sleeping under the
Chapter 5 - Sleeping under the

We'd been walking for mere hours but to my exhausted body it felt like days of endless walking. We walked in silence, no one dared to talk until we were a safe distance from the prison. Our ears strained for any sound of steel boots or horse hooves racing across the forest after us. Our eyes searched for guards or hidden predators, which could be lurking behind every tree or blending with the shadows. We followed Raikon who I assumed had a destination for us. He seemed the most knowledgeable about the forest, which isn't surprising since his a fawn. Raikon was supporting the injured blonde fawn and he guarded her protectively, which made me wonder what the relationship was between the two of them.

I knew I could leave these strange people behind and find my own way through the forest. But I didn't want to; I wanted to learn why these people had come for me and how Eldrakar knew my father. When I first met him I'd sworn against ever speaking to him, but despite that my curiosity had gotten the best of me. Plus I didn't want to admit it at the time, but it was nice to see a friendly face in that hell hole. It was good to have someone who didn't jump to conclusions, someone who was concerned about me. I hadn't had that in such a long time not since my father…. I couldn't continue down that train of thought, not now, not ever.

Suddenly Raikon raised his hand signaling for us to stop. My hands went straight for the dagger the elf had given me once we'd gotten into the woods. The elf also seemed ready to face any attackers, only Eldrakar seemed calm. Raikon turned to us with a smile and spoke "calm down you two, no one's going to jump out of the trees to get you here. I just wanted you to stop as this is going to be our camp for the night." With that he gentle sat the blonde fawn down and Eldrakar began building a fire.

I looked at our surroundings. We were in a clearing with trees closing it off. Their branches where entangled together providing shelter from any rain that might come tonight, however it also let in just enough moonlight for us to see. I walked over to and fallen log and flumped down to it, logs had never felt so comfy before. I sighed with relief as my aching limbs finally got to rest. Raikon was busily tending to the blonde fawn's injuries hushing her and telling her she'd be okay and in return she gave him soft looks. I hoped she would be okay.

"Hey, I didn't really introduce myself earlier, I'm Aziel," murmured a voice next to me. It was the elven boy. When did he get so close I wondered? Aziel was sitting so close that our legs touched. He'd taken his hood down showing messy brown hair that went down to his to the bottom of his pointed ears. He had brown eyes and if I looked closely I could see flecks of amber in them. He had the slightest bit of stubble on his chin.

"Erm Hi Aziel." I mumbled as I turned away to hide the blush that had creeped across my cheeks as I realized I was staring.

"Er I hate to sound rude but are you like a fluffy cat or something?" Asked Aziel

"What?"

"You're a Thereian and I was wondering if you're a fluffy cat because I know they can be part feline."

"I'm a wolf"

"A wolf really?!"

"Yes!"

"Woah sorry I didn't mean to cause offence Feather it's just well the way you jumped out my arms back there in the prison made me think you were a more feline than any other. Not saying that you look like a cat but the ears and tail, I thought you were a fluffy ginger cat."

"It's auburn not ginger! Furthermore I'm not a fluffy cat, my tail is fluffy because it's a wolves tail as are my ears thank you very much." I humphed at Aziel tail flickering back and forth as I got agitated.

"So if I scratch you behind the ear you won't purr?"

"Is that meant to be funny, I'm not an animal! I'm a thereian."

"Well it was a joke, wow talk about fiery red-head." Chuckled Aziel, who clearly found the whole thing funny. Frustrated and annoyed with the stupid elf I let out a huff moving away from him and sliding down to the soft grass.

"Oi! Aziel play nice will you and stop teasing the poor girl, you haven't even known her for a day yet," sighed Eldrakar, a smile showing his amusement. He'd lit the fire and was now settling down with his back towards it so he was facing us. "Well love how you holding up?"

"I'm fine, just tired…. What's going to happen now?" I replied, pondering what we're going to do. There was sure to be wanted posters for us all over Merellia by morning. It's not often someone break into a prison and rescues prisoners. Eldrakar smiled at me, seeming a lot more relaxed now he was out of his cell, not that I could blame him.

"We're going somewhere safe and I know you've thought of it but there's no point in leaving, because I will track you down and get you there even if I have to drag you by your tail kicking and screaming. I owe it to your father that I get you there and I will not fail him or you this time." He promised, flashing me a grin that gave me the impression that he meant every word he said and something in me wanted to trust this man and follow him blindly to this safe place he spoke. But too many people had told me they'd help and they either got hurt or wanted something from me in return and though I wanted to trust Eldrakar I couldn't, not yet anyway. Not until he proved that his promises weren't just pretty lies designed to get him what he wanted.

I was about to ask where this safe place was when something lightly brushed my right ear. I flicked my ears thinking it was a fly and hoped the movement would discourage it from settling on my ear. However something brushed my ear again. Before I could turn to look, a hand scratched my ear. I rose to my feet twirled round and slapped Aziel across the face. The sound from the connection caused Raikon and the blonde fawn to look towards us. Aziel froze in shock his hand still raised from scratching my ear.

"Do that again and I swear I'll break your damn hand you stupid elf!" I spat at him furious with what he'd done. I turned on my heels and strolled to the other end of the camp fire and sat down against a rock in a huff. Folding my arms I glared at the trees. The thing that annoyed me most was the fact my cheeks burned as the blood rushed to them forming a blush.

After a while I started to fall asleep. The camp was fairly quiet, Raikon hadn't said much since making camp and he was now sat by the fire with the blonde fawn's head on his lap stroking her hair while chatting to Eldrakar about something. I was wondering if Aziel was still sulking when the elven boy sat down in front of me. At first he said nothing just sat there pulling at the grass and occasionally looking at me and then back to the grass. His cheek was still red from where my hand had connected with it. I felt bad about the force I'd put behind it now that I'd calmed down but before I could say a word, he spoke. "I'm sorry if I offended you I didn't mean to I was just messing around, guess I should have backed off when El told me to. But you did do this cute flicky thing with your ear when I touched it and the slap was worth the cute noise you made," Aziel chuckled to himself, causing my anger to spark up slightly again, my tail swished and I glared at him. "I mean I'm sorry Feather, I mean it I didn't mean to offend you or anger you really I didn't and I won't do it again… so please don't break my arm. So er can we kiss and make up now?" He murmured with grin on his face and he leaned slightly closer to me as if he did expect us to actually kiss. I glared at him in response and he slouched back, "okay we'll leave the kissing for now. But can we just say I'm a huge idiot and start over? Please." He pleaded the grin traded for a frown and worried eyes as he realized how far he may have gone. He looked like a puppy that'd just been told off but despite the slight arrogance his apology did seem sincere.

"I supposed I can forgive you," I responded rolling my eyes at him. With that his frown was replaced with a grin that lit up his face. Back when I first met him Aziel seemed to have no interest in me, but now he was grinning at me with delight because I'd accepted his apology. Somewhere along the lines he seems to have changed his mind about me and decided I was worth getting to know. I had no idea what might have changed his mind though. As I pondered this I felt my body give in to exhaustion and I slipped into sleep. Finally I was sleeping under the stars, just like old times.