Reserved

Destine watched Ora test the sky. She smiled at her youthful exhuberance. The sun glittered off her golden wings. Destine could still feel Lazuli; he hadn't gone far. Good, she thought. Dawnsong would take good care of them. In fact, Dawnsong was already chasing Ora as she bounded off.

Forgetting her place, Destine felt a spotlight. She turned to face Oerttena and Kyrylo, waiting expectantly. She could feel her face burning.

"Oh, well," she was lost for words. "I'm Destine. Wait, I already said that." She couldn't be any more embarrassed. She took a deep breath.

"It's so good to see more of my family in the Gardens," she smiled. "And to be welcomed by the Oracle herself! That's a luxury not everyone gets."

She looked nervously away. "But, I'm sure your excited to see the place you will now call home. Come, let me show you the Thousand Gardens."

Destine smiled and motioned toward Oerttena and Kyrylo, beckoning them to follow.

Kyrylo merely smirked at Destines obvious difficulty with words. Curiously he wondered why it mattered so much since introductions had already been made and they had already made their first impressions. Looking away from Destines' blush he felt himself beginning to feel uneasy as well , and flapped his wings to rid himself of the feeling. He couldn't wait to actually be able to get the tour over with and explore a bit with Calliope.

Feeling no need to answer the comments, he looked around to make sure Calliope was out of the way before leaping into the air, beating furiously to gain height. Hovering once he gained a height he liked, he watched his moth carefully to make sure she could keep up before glancing at the still grounded Destine. "Shall we?" he questioned, trying to hide the impatience he felt.

Oerttena was ready to explore her new home so gladly followed Destine when she was beckoned. "I am ready," she stated.

'Destine seems so shy,' she thought to herself. She wanted to comfort her and let her know she had no reason to be uneasy. Somehow Oerttena knew that offering comfort to the girl would only make her feel more embarrassed. So she gladly followed Destine being patient with the shy girl, in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable around her.

Oerttena watched as Kyrylo flew ahead, demanding attention. She was annoyed at his rudeness but made no show if it. Instead she waited for Destine to lead the way and gracefully followed.

Destine furrowed her brow and brought her hand to her mouth.

"Before we go, I must warn you. It is in our nature to favor the shade. You may be full of energy now, but be wary, the sunlight will certainly drain you. I have seen my fair share of overzealous Whisperers plummet from the sky," Destine said with caution as a soft look of worry washed over her face.

"When we are in the Gardens that our kind favor, you need not worry, but whenever I travel through the main gardens, I always take my time and find a quiet, shady respite from my travels here and there." Destine rolled her shoulders a few times and readied her wings. "Try to conserve your energy by gliding."

Destine gracefully knelt down on one knee and extended her wings. She looked at Oerttena and Kyrylo; there was a glint of spry youthfulness in her eye. She smiled in a way she hadn't before since being in their company. It was a mischevious smile full of excitment.

She loved to fly. And she was good at it.

"Ready?"

Before waiting for a response, Destine launched herself corkscrewing into the air. Along with a heavy woosh, she left behind the pungent odor of lilacs. When she reached her apex, she paused, let herself fall, only for a moment, and fully extended her wings. They bubbled out and caught hold of the current that the three would use to glide toward the Evercommon Garden.

Why was it that they were so much for the shade Kyrylo wondered. Stashing away the interesting tidbit of information for some later research he took note of Destines words of wisdom. Surely the elder Whisperer knew much more about what they could and could not do; their limitations as it were. Brows now furrowing he wondered if Calliope was also restricted to these, inter-species limitations.

"Does sunlight also.." he began before Calliope's soft voice in his head interrupted him, Sun or shade makes no difference Kyrylo, I just have to be wary for creatures that eat insects. Pleased that Calliope would be able to accompany him wherever he went he returned his attention to Destine, just as she launched herself high into the air.

As Destine leveled out and began to glide on a soft draft a few feet above him, Kyrylo beat his wings to keep up. He wanted to explore certainly, but he wasn't so cocky as to believe that he would be fine if he didn't keep up.

Good, Destine thought as she glided and deftly caught even the slightest change in breeze with her wings, at least they can keep up. She looked back to double check. Oerttena followed her lead, shakily at first, but eventually she found the current. For new to the Gardens, she expected Oertenna to be more like Kyrylo, impatiently zipping back and forth, like a bee looking for its next meal. Instead, Oerttena had a peaceful look on her face. It made Destine feel good. She smiled and giggled in her direction when Oertenna lost the current for a moment and wobbled back and forth in the air. She's a quick leaner, Destine thought, she'll manage.

Looking forward to the task at hand, Destine ever so slightly leaned into the wind and began to gradually descend. Beneath them lay rolling hills and shimmering bodies of water. She motioned for them to land at the bottom of one of the bigger hills carpeted in a lush blue-green grass.

Destine landed ((perfect gymnastics 10 style)) and watched as the fledglings attempted to do the same. Without too many injuries, the three stood together.

"So, we've arrived," Destine said with a grin. "I hope you're not too fatigued; there's a perfect place to rest right over this hill, where I used to frequent as a youth. We may even run into some fae familiar to me." In truth, Destine hadn't been here in what had seemed as eons. She was secretly excited, and tried very hard to hide it.

Seeming a bit too eager, she rushed to the top of the hill. As they neared the apex, a giant tree, loomed in front of them, seemingly enveloped in a soft, mystic mist. Iridescent insects and prismatic animals dashed in and out of its branches.

"That," Destine motioned toward the tree,"is the Center Garden. "That is where the Oracle lives. Take note, she may call you there sometime, and she's very insistent on punctuality." Destine then turned and waved her arm over the valley that lay below them. "This is the Evercommon Garden. It connects all of the Gardens."

From the top of the hill on which they stood, crystalline water rushed down and emptied into a lake. Unnoticeable at first, numerous fae frolicked by the shore and lay listlessly in the luxorious grass.

Pointing across the lake, she directed their attention to a grove of purple wisteria trees, bowing low to the ground, dangling their extremities in the water.

"Feel free to explore or to come rest for a moment with me," Destine sighed a bit, feelilng their journey already. "But don't linger too long. We have much to see."

Destine stood at which she thought was the highest point of the hill and dove toward the trickling brook with her wings pressed closely to her sides. A moment before she would've splased into the water, she fully extended her wings, and caught the current that carried her toward the wisteria grove. She turned over on her back and looked back at Oerttena and Kyrylo, smiling. She raised her hand in a sort of half salute and continued on her way.

((Go ahead and do one or two exploration posts and/or meet me under the wisteria trees.))

Kyrylo followed Destine the rest of the way in silent musing about the terrain they were passing. Every so often his eyes would flicker to an area of interest: a pile of haphazard stones , a certain type of bright fiery flower, a bubbling brook. Noticing that Destine was starting to fly in a downward slope he followed, slowing his speed drastically so he wouldn't crash into her should she suddenly decide to land.

A few moments later he was glad he had slowed when the elder Fae made a graceful land. Face set in determination he attempted to do the same and once again failed horribly. It seemed landing was something he was going to have to practice after they were let out on their own. He wasn't keen on their being in another group meeting in which he landed on his face in front of a crowd. He frowned at the grass stains now in semi-permanent residence right where his knees, the sound of Calliope's ringing laughter echoing in his head. Deciding that he would have to worry about the stains later he stepped up next to Destine to see what there was to view from the hill she had chosen to land on.

The giant tree that rose from the ground below them was amazing, it seemed flying to the top of the tree would be an adventure in itself. He made sure to memorize the location of the center garden for later reference before turning to look at the second garden below them that Destine had pointed out. This one was as beautiful as the last, with beautiful running water that bubbled its way around the garden. Flowers of all types bloomed in profusion and between them peeked the beautiful lush blue-green grass that seemed to carpet all the gardens they had seen so far. A calm lake seemed to be the center of attention for several Fae frolicking in the shallows and a grove of wisteria trees at the far end waved slowly in the light wind, dipping their heavily laden branches into the water.

When Destine flew off after giving permission for them to explore a bit, Kyrylo was at a loss for what to do. Flying was fantastic, but landing and having all these beautiful sights unveiled before you one by one was a bit overwhelming. Not to mention, he was itching to try out the stunt Destine had pulled at her departure. Staring at the water below them for a few moments he shot a sheepish grin at Oertenna before diving off the side of the hill towards the water. Timing his wings to open when he had thought he had seen Destine to it he managed to rise for a second before teetering over and falling in the brook. Hoots of laughter echoed around his head from Calliope making him burst into laughter himself not long after. Dragging himself out of the water he looked down to notice the grass stains had come out, laughing even harder he managed to gasp out " best way to get clean" before he was overcome with laughter once more. Coming to the conclusion that there would be no flying with soaked robes he began walking slowly to where Destine had said she would be waiting.

Oerttena tried to glide through the air like Destine, elegant and effortlessly, but she found flying difficult. She struggled to maintain altitude and couldn't find a current to glide on. Oerttena flapped her wings too much, which made her tired and the bright sun drained her energy fast.

She looked over to Kyrylo, he was having such an easy time with flying and he looked so happy and excited. He seemed to fly as effortlessly as the older fae.

Oerttena was relieved when Destine decited to finally land. Oerttena couldn't help but chuckle a little at Kyrylo's crash landing. 'At least he still had something to work on,' she thought to herself. Now it was her turn to attempt the landing. Supprisingly she found it quite easy. Her double wings allowed her to adjust them individually to glide gently to the ground. Now she could feel the air currents! Why couldn't she do that when they were flying?

Oerttena committed the sites to memory as she tried to catch her breath. The oracle's tree was amazing! She looked forward to the adventure it would be climbing to the top, if she ever learned to fly properly that is.

After Destine released them to explore, Oerttena decited she should conserve her energy for the rest of the journey. She decited to sit with Destine, in the shade. She was amused by Kyrylo's attempt at showing off. She was worried for a minute when she heard him splash into the water below, but she gave a giggle when she saw him walking towards them all soaking wet from yet another crash landing!

Destine let her fingertips skim the surface of the water. Below it, playful shadows dashed back and forth in such a fashion that they started to blur together and form a shape that was approximately her size. The shadowy blob then finally congealed into a watery distorted image of her ((think chibi version)). It smiled, then stuck its tongue out teasingly. Destine almost giggle snorted. Faerie fish, she thought as she spalshed the water with her hands, immediately dissolving the image.

Coming to the shore, in a powerful yet still graceful movement, Destine threw her wings forward effortlessly and came to almost a complete stop, hovering in midair. She lowered herself to the ground and looked back for Oertenna and Kyrylo. Oertenna walked slowly, stopping here and there to examine a flower more closely or gaze into the water for a moment, but would be joining Destine momentarily. Kyrylo, on the other hand, was walking quite a bit farther behind, bobbing his head to one side or the other to knock out the water. Destine giggled. She could see the dew spray off his wings as he tried to ruffle them dry.

Of all the wisteria trees in this vast grove, Destine had chosen this one. She knew every knot of it. She brushed aside the hanging buds like curtains and sat on the plush grass at its base. Its roots were small, but still jut in and out of the ground. Budding from them were what looked like giant seeds -- about the size of one's fist. Growing from the lowermost parts of the tree's truck were a dozen or so hollow reed-like extensions -- some sticking straight out, others curling here and there.

Destine sat cross-legged and twisted one of the giant seeds off of its root. She cracked it open - and it was empty. She looked pleased. She sat them down, hollow sides up, and cracked open another. She took a half of one, positioned it under one of the reeds, and placed her hand gently on the tree trunk. A dark brown, almost black, watery liquid filled the seed to just the right spot -- a fresh, steaming tea particularly suited to the Whisperers' taste.

Kyrylo strolled behind Oerttena slowly trying to dry himself suitably before he reached Destine. Spreading his wings wide, he gave a few soft fluttering to shake any excess water off, all the while peeking around as he walked. His long bangs were plastered to he side of his face made it look almost as if he had chest length sideburns. Grabbing a handful of wet hair he ran his hand down it to squeeze the water out before dropping it and reaching for another lock of hair. He slowed more the closer he came to the tree Destine took respite under wondering vaguely if she had already guessed his reason for being drenched.

Plopping down heavily to the ground next to Destine, he watched as she took a sip from her seed cup. Flying had given him a horrible thirst and he hadn't realized how much a nice drink sounded until he saw her happily sipping - whatever it was she was sipping. Reaching tentatively out, he prodded the reed he had seen the liquid come out of a few times before touching the place on the root Destine had touched. The same dark brown liquid poured out as before and filled the seed cup beneath it before Kyrylo snatched it up and brought it close to his face so he could look into the liquid. Unable to see through it he dipped the tip of his pinkie in to see the temperature and finding it warm but not scalding took a deep gulp of the liquid. Face contorting in disgust he swallowed the liquid and hastily put down the cup, scooting as far back from the offending object as he could and nearly falling into the pond a second time. Laughter filled his head as Calliope landed on his knee wings fluttering with her gaiety, I take it you didn't like the drink? she asked unable to stop her laughter. Swallowing the taste down he looked at Destine happily sipping away, "What IS that?".

The splashing of water behind him drew his attention. Turning around he looked into it to see only his reflection and the few telltale ripples that something had surfaced. Watching the water carefully he was surprised when a spray of water splashed into his face. Scooting back from the edge of the water he dried his face and glared at it as his reflection laughed back at him. Calliope , who had been knocked from her perch by Kyrylo's sudden lunge away from the water, alighted on his cup and took a sip from his abandoned drink Fairy Fish she muttered in an exasperated tone.

Oerttena joined Destine at the base of the wisteria tree. She flopped herself onto the ground, taking deep breaths to try and regain herself. "Phew, flying is more difficult than you make it look Destine." She commented as she watched the older fae 'play' with the faerie fish.

Oerttena leaned against the massive tree. It was comfortable in the shade, she was beginning to regain her strength. Oerttena stared through the swaying leaves, watching the sun attempt to pierce the shadows of the tree through any breaks in the foliage. This place was beautiful, she was glad that Destine shared it with them.

Kyrylo, sopping wet, sat down next to them and tested the tea. After his adverse reaction, Oerttena wasn't so sure she wanted to try the apparently foul drink. She wasn't so sure he drank it correctly, however. Destine seemed to be sipping the drink, where he drank it in large gulps. She finally decided to try it. Taking small sips, she discovered that the drink did have a bitter taste, but it seemed to be energizing, which was just what she needed. She finished off her tea and continued to lay back against the tree, quickly regaining her energy as she watched the other Fae play with the Faerie fish.

Destine couldn't help but giggle at Kyrylo's boyish boldness and curiosity -- hastily guzzling the soft, bittersweet tea that many, but not all, Whisperers took to very well. She covered her mouth while she giggled and tried to compose herself. Still, she side-glanced Oertenna with a sly grin, having noticed her happily, and carefully, sipping her tea.

"Well, if this tea doesn't suit you, dear Kyrylo, the water from the lake is perfectly fine, or you could even try that which matches more the Lilthe taste." Desinte motioned through the branches, across the lake where one could barely make out a scattering of stone tables and chairs, and the flash of sun catching the wings of gossiping fae flitting this way and that. "But theirs I find too thick and sweet." Destine sipped from her cup.

She gazed off nostalgically into her cup, but quickly shook herself from it and smiled, directing her attention back to Oertenna and Kyrylo.

"But the Gardens provide a bounty of food and drink; I'm sure you'll find something to your liking." She paused for a moment.

"You've both taken very well to flying, I see." She rolled her eyes at herself. "I really don't mean to be a show off, it's just what I did a lot when I first arrived in the Gardens. You'll become truely accustomed to it soon enough."

Kyrylo looked hesitantly back at the water next to them wondering if he could hop over, get a sip of water, and skip back before whatever it was that squirted him with water the last time did it again. Edging towards the water carefully he cast a sidelong glance at Destine as she mentioned the "thick" and "sweet" tea the Lilthe liked. Not entirely sure if sweet was what he liked he voted for the water and continued his painfully slow creeping to the waters edge.

Standing at the waters edge for a few moments with no water squirting at him or any funny business with his reflection he knelt down and cupped a few drinks of water in his hand, sighing happily when he had his fill. "Mmmm, that helps tons" he grinned back at Destine while listening to her talk about the bounty that was the gardens. Tummy rumbling a bit he wondered if they would stop for one of these many foods she talked about some time soon since he couldn't see anything nearby that looked remotely edible.

"oh! flying is nice, i like it very much. I don't think your going to fast, just.. the landing" he trailed off and blushed slightly, "i have a lot of trouble with landing".

Oerttena sat back an watched Kyrylo get a sip from the waters edge. 'He's so full of life,' she thought to herself, and smiled. It's not that Oerttena wasn't excited or happy that she was seeing the gardens, she just liked observed.

Oerttena turned to Destine when she mentioned their flying aptitude. "I don't know, Destine. I can't get the hang of it and I seemed to be getting more worn out than either you or Kyrylo." Turning then to Kyrylo, she covered her mouth and let out a small giggle, "Though I must say, I don't seem to have much problem landing. I can feel the air currents better when I'm descending. Do either of you have any suggestions?"

Just then Kalias chimed in, "I could help you, Tena." Tena ((pronounced with an ehh sound)) apparently being a nickname he had chosen for her. "You say you can feel the air currents when you are landing, but not when you're trying to glide right?" Oerttena nodded at this statement, for it was true. "The problem is you are trying to raise as you glide. Instead you need to float on the current, you will descend slightly as you are doing this. When you have descended further that you would like you flap your wings to gain altitude once again. Doing this will greatly conserve your energy." It all seemed to make sense to Oerttena, she could feel herself gliding on the currents as she landed. Perhaps it would be similar while in flight. She wasn't sure though and decided she would have to try for herself when she was airborne once again.

Kyrylo thought on what Orttena said for a short time before brightening, "you don't suppose" he started slowly " that the reason you get so tired is because you have four wings and are therefore doing twice the work Destine and I are doing?" he queried happy that he had come to some conclusion. "And maybe" he said eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "that maybe i have more trouble landing because i don't have as much wingspan, comparatively, to yourself and haven't quite gotten the hang of gliding. Where you seem to have more control gliding with all 4 wings?".

Curiously he alternated his gaze from Destine to Oerttena waiting for one of them to confirm or deny the possibility of his theory. Grinning he wondered if what he had blurted out might really be able to be a cause and then promised himself that he would learn to land as soon as possible since it was so obviously noted that he was very bad at it.

"That's a good point Kyrylo. I wonder if that could have anything to do with it?" She gave Kyrylo an inquisitive nod. "Maybe there is more drag on my wings since I have two pair. I wonder if I tuck the bottom wings up a bit under my top wings if that will help." Oerttena began trying to independently move her two sets of wings, which she actually found quite difficult. When she tried to move her bottom wings up, her top wings rose as well. when she moved her top wings down her bottom wings began to fold against her body. She looked helpless, "Well this might be more difficult than I had anticipated."

"Perhaps if you create more drag on your wings as you are landing you'll slow down more and have more time to react when you hit the ground, since you'll be going slower." She hoped what she said was correct. The last thing she wanted to see was Kyrylo seriously hurt himself in a crash landing.

Oerttena kept trying to move her wings independently of each other. She seemed to be making some progress, all-be-it slow progress.

Kyrlo watched curiously as Oerttena tried to move her wings independently. He had a hard enough trouble controlling one set when it came to landing, having two must be double the work. 4 wings was something he certainly didn't envy. Figuring that he might as well join her he tried to jiggle first one of his wings and then the other, bending and flexing them in various different positions that he would have to try out when he tried landing next. Bending one wing at a time was really proving to be more taxing then the actual flight itself had been so he soon gave up promising himself to stretch his wings that way a little each day.

Flopping down on his stomach and picking a blade of blue-green grass he thought about what Oerttena had suggested. It seemed to make perfect sense and he graced her with a warm smile before nodding, "I'll try that". A bit more drag when he was trying to lag would certainly stop him from crashing onto his knees or face like the last few times, and his knees were already sore from the abuse of landing improperly. Glancing over at Destine he quipped "did you have this much trouble at first?"

Oerttena's wing and back muscles soon began to burn as she struggled to move them about independently. She decided that this is something that would take time to accomplish. She vowed to keep exercising her wings so someday she would be as graceful as Destine and the other adult Fae.

Oerttena enjoyed Kyrylo's smile. It made her feel more confident in both of their abilities. She returned the smile, and hoped they would be friends for many years to come. Also curious if Destine had this much trouble when she was young, she flopped down next to Kyrylo and awaited the wisdom of the older Fae.

Destine was spacing out, staring through the draping branches. From far away, it seemed, she was pulled back into the conversation.

"...Did you have as much trouble at first?" Kyrylo inquired.

Destine turned her head slightly, "Hmm?" then returned, blushing. "Oh, well, um....." As usual, Destine stumbled over her words when she was put on the spot. "I had to learn quickly. Unlike your birth, I sort of......sighed into the Gardens. There wasn't nearly the fanfare that you had." She looked down, almost embarassed. "So, yes, I did have some trouble, but I took to it quickly. I also had a lot of time to practice by myself. When I first arrived, other fae....avoided me, because of my gift." Destine looked shamefully at her hands, but quickly tried to change the subject.

"But enough about me," she smiled nervously. "You must have questions about the Gardens, yes?" Destine paused expectantly.

Kyrylo watched Destine curiously as she snapped out of her thoughts and answered their question, "What IS your ability exactly?" he asked, wondering why anyone would stay away from the shy but nice Whisperer. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't quite sure about his so called "gift" either. He had yet to see himself do anything extraordinary, not that he knew what would be considering his limited experience in the world as it were. Pondering over the thought, he looked towards Calliope musing, maybe it was talking with moths that liked to laugh and make fun of him. A horrifying thought entered his mind, what if it was bad landing, what if his "special trait" was never being able to land in a decent graceful way. No one had ever said anything about these "gifts" having to be something positive for the Fae or their peers.

"You must have questions about the Gardens, yes?" asked Destine, snapping Kyrylo out of his ludicrous thoughts.

"Not about the Garden so much . . " he started looking around before finally deciding that a leaf on a branch was a good place to look for such a shameful question; one he thought he ought to know already, "are all our "gifts" good?". Fretting about the answer he plucked nervously at his long bangs as Calliope fluttered as if dancing around him.

Destine wrung her hands and smiled nervously, as she often did.

"Well, I can't speak on the why this is or how it comes to be, but every fae who arrives in the Gardens is blessed with some sort of gift -- a unique ability." She glanced at Kyrylo. "I can't say that I've ever seen any manifest that are of any terrible consequence. I've heard of fae who can perform amazing physical feats, or transform themselves. Some may see the future...or the past..."

Destine began to trail off, but shrugged her shoulders and seemed resolute to be straightforward.

"When I was younger, I could sense what people were feeling by just touching them. I couldn't read their thoughts, but I could see through their eyes and feel their emotions." Desine's cheeks blushed. "I spent my time by the shore, gossiping with other fae. But I knew who was being honest, and this never really seemed to work out for me."

"But I suppressed it and told everyone I had. They said they believed me, but I could see it in their faces that they hadn't forgotten. But, I really had lost the ability."

Destine looked at both Oertenna and Kyrylo and smiled earnestly.

"But that was ages ago. Since then, I've only been able to ready objects -- where they've been, what they've experienced." She arched her back, stretch and ruffled her wings. "As you come to know the Gardens, you'll also come to know yourselves, and what you're capable of."

She smiled jokingly. "And in the least, I'm sure you're both very capable of flying and landing."

Letting out the breath he had been holding for her answer, Kyrylo glanced at Oerttena to see her reaction. He was certain he didn't know what his ability was and wondered if she had any inkling as to what hers might be. In any case a unique ability sounded very interesting and he wondered how he might be able to figure out what his was. Seeing as he had no clue where to even begin he listened attentively as Destine relayed about her past ability and the experiences she had.

The more he heard about the troubles that Destine had to go through as a younger fae the more annoyed he got at these supposed "friends" of hers during that time. She had just told them that they didn't pick the special ability that each fae got, so why weren't the "friends" more understanding of what her gift was. Irritated he rustled his wings and fidgeted trying to keep from spouting off about something he didn't really know about.

Gazing off across the lake he considered the possibility of his ability being like hers had been before, only to realize that he didn't especially feel as if he could read peoples emotions in that way. Closing his eyes he concentrated on himself trying to look deep within to what defined him, slowly but surely a faint gold glow began to surround him and cast a soft warm feeling of security. Glancing up he grinned and almost instantly the golden glow evaporated into nothing.

"Maybe one day" he muttered to himself; referring either to Destine's comment about flying and landing or being able to find and control his "ability" better. "Will we be exploring more of the gardens soon?" he quipped curiously, eager to see if all the gardens were as open as this one, "Will we see where you live?".

Oerttena did not understand why Destine was ashamed of her gift, it seemed like a neat thing to be able to do. Oerttena wished she could read people's emotions. "That sounds like a neat ability, Destine." Oerttena said with a bright smile. 'The Oracle said I had the ability of healing!" she said excitedly. "But I'm not exactly sure how it works yet." Oerttena looked at her hand, turning them over a few times. "Oh well," she shrugged her shoulders, "I'll have plenty of time to figure it out I'm sure."

Oerttena hoped up off the ground. "Well I'm well rested now. Shall we be off to see the rest of the gardens?" She wiped her hands together brushing off the dirt, ruffled her feathers and stretched her wings. She was ready to try flying again. This time she would try the techniques her and Kyrylo discussed.

Destine smiled at Oertenna and Kyrylo's eagerness -- like children at the zoo. Destine stood and made her way through the branches to stand at water's edge. She looked over, waiting.

"Of course, we'll make it to where I live. I'm sure you'll enjoy that the most. But, there's one more place I must take you first." Destine stretched her hands to the sky and shook her wings out.

"Mirror Lake Garden. Possibly the most beautiful of all of the Gardens." She quizzically glanced away for a moment. "Well, I can't say that I've seen ALL of them, but that's what they say anyway." Destine bounced into the air and hovered for a moment.

"But there's someone you have to meet. Caer, the historian. I can take you to the Garden, but I can't take you directly to her." She smiled warmly, but with that playful, mischeivous undertone that shined through ever so often. "You'll have to let her find you."

Destine dove toward the water and extended her wings, gliding just barely above the surface. She angled her wings and began to rise, making sure to not go so fast as to lose her company.