Rosemary nodded."of course.can't all Fae feel them? I always thought you all could.why,is it unusual that I can?" She asked, confused.

Kaigen was impressed to hear of Rosemary's empathy for almost every living thing around her. Though she spoke of the feeling the trees, he doubted that she could truely comunicate with the trees. He listened to the young women speak and analysed the girls speach. The way she moved as she spoke and every blink and breath told him everything he needed to know, though he already knew inside who this girl really was.

"Yes, I remember it now." Kaigen said standing unsteadily as he fought to claim his balance. He stood behind Finx and looked at Rosemary. "Your father was of the royal blood line, though his was rather thin. He served under the king and queen as a guard. While on duty as the humans first began arriving, he faught to keep the shores safe from their rape of the land. He died serving his kingdom." The aged mans face, etched with sorrow by the chizzle of time, frown deeply as he remembered the young pair fondly."Your mother was near birthing at the time and soon passed as she brought you into this world. It was that night you were taken to the humans. You replaced a child who had died in the evening hours and saved the parent's broken hearts. It was their you would be cared for and raise." He let the information fall on the changeling's ears and settle in before adding,"You have your father's eyes but look just like your mother. She was my grand daughter's aunt threw her mother's blood line."

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From outside of the home of the elder, Syn was amazed to see the human girl with hair white as the moon. A pine of envy shot threw her belly as she wished for hair as radiant, but she didn't have the time or emotion to waste. Listening to the idle chit chat was begining to grow old before Absynthia's grandfather offered up what he remembered of the girl.

Instant and intensly baited by the conversation, Syn crawled from the spot where she'd been spying and fell threw a soft part of dirt that constructed Kaigen's bedroom. Embarassed she quickly recovered and stood to her feet bowing to her grandfather.

"I'm so sorry, I was... uhm... I was picking flowers... and..." She paused in the middle of her explaination receiving an annoyed and blank stair from Kaigen. The old man was no fool, he probably already knew she was out there. "So she's supposed to be my cousin huh?" Syn said being blunt about the fact that she'd heard everything. She looked Rosemary over, smiled, and offered her a hand. "Hi, I'm Absynthia, but you can call me Syn."

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Andrew ran his hand threw his hair, pushing his shaggy bangs out of his vission. A final sigh escaped him before he emptied his mind of Shu and her foolishness. He looked over Leo's gun, slightly intimidated by the cutting edge of fire arms the man always seemed to get his hands on. Digressing from the thought, his attention fell to Link who'd asked if he could join them on the hunt.

"Maybe you can gut what ever I shoot." Andrew said finally shaking himself from the annoyed slump Shu had put him in. There was just something about that girl, she got under his skin.


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Link's heart nearly burt with joy when he was accepted to join the two older men in the hunt. Finally he wasn't such an outcast, and maybe being seen with these two men would help the other people of the settlement start to treat him as an equal too! Getting caught up in his thoughts, Link nodded to Andrew when the offer of gutting and animal came up. He didn't really want to, but it was an experiance and he wasn't going to let that stop him from behing part of 'the guys'.

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Rosemary sat, stunned, as she listened.so not only was she a changeling, but she was related distantly to the princess, and cousins with the elders granddaughter.and even more importantly, in her opinion, was that she was an orphan.without realizing it, after finding out she was Fae,she had hoped, however slightly, that her real parents would be there.but they weren't.she had lost her parents all over again.before she could fully mourn this fact, a girl fell through the ceiling, and then proceeded to reveal that she was the cousin the elder had spoken of, and that she had been eavesdropping.Rosemary shook the girls hand, dazed, but recovered enough to make an observation."nice to meet you, Syn.I am Rosemary.I have some experience in the field, so I'll give you a tip: next time you are eavesdropping, put a little less emphasis on the 'dropping' part." Her voice carried a note of warm teasing.

"I remeber him." Finx said "He always snuck me sweets. Blake took his place after he was gone but blake doesn't give me sweets." she huffed slightly she liked blake but he could be so commited to his job it was like he was married to it. "hi syn nice of you to drop in on us." she said smiling at the fairy.

Absynthia was put off by the comment Rosemary had made about how she had fallen through the dirt ceiling. To her, she was being critisized by someone she'd just met. A sly smile took her face, masked by a friendly grin and trust worthy green eyes.
"Hello Princess Finx, I hope you are doing well today." Syn said with a polite and costomary bow. She sat on her dirt covered bed and continued to listen as the three spoke about the past and blood lines.
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At that moment a knocking came from the front door. Kaigen, whom had taken to looking the new sky light over, answered it to see Victier towering over him. Openly he welcomed the royal guard in, only half assuming her was here for Princess Finx, though he knew their magisties had already heard about the seemingly, human girl in their kingdom.

"Welcome Victier." Kaigen said reclaiming his seat at the table. It was rude, he knew, but his old bones where shaking and it was begining to take to much energy for him to remain standing. "I have to guess you are here about our little Rosemary here."

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Fallowing Leo, Andrew found himself at peace in the woods. It was quiet here, a man could really unwind and catch his breath and sanity. With a relaxed smile now on his slender lips, he looked Leo's gun over, noting how much newer it was then his fathers. Link fallowed close behind as to not get lost.

"About how far before the animals stop being afraid of the town?" Andrew asked noticing that there was no sigh of any life here otherethen birds, bugs and the occasional squirell.

Rosemary felt from Syn that her comment had hurt."oh, oh I'm sorry! Syn, I didn't mean to make you feel put out.I was only joking.I've done plenty of dropping in my time, especially through ceilings." She explained hastily.she didn't want to start off any friendships with hard feelings, especially if the friend was also family.

"But I don't want to go back I'm having fun with my new friend." Finx said ducking behind gemini using her as a shield. She was acting like her usual self she never wanted to go back going back would mean not having any friends and having no friends and having to sit there being drooled over by boys wanting her and in marriage.

Rosemary looked behind her at the princess who she was very distantly related to."princess? If you'd like, I'll come visit you when I'm done here.that is, if your parents will let me.I would like to learn more about my parents.we could talk, and I could keep boys away from you." She said shyly."but you'd have to go with that man first....and ask your parents if I can come over." She added, being truthful but also trying to make things easier on the guard.

Shu walked from her home and stood on the outskirts of the village holding a letter. She was to take it to the lady doctor in the clinic a way from the town. She had never been there but she heard the doctor was quite the beautiful girl. Not that Shu really thought about romance. Ever.

She was dressed head to toe in such manly looking clothes that one could easily mistake her for a boy. She didn't really care though. She took a deep breath and started to walk down the road. Pretty soon she came upon the clinic, it looked bigger than any building she had ever seen. She had never been to the castle herself, so to a country bumpkin like her this was new.

She came up to the front door of the clinic and started to knock on it. She didn't know what was in the letter, only that she was to deliver it.

"Oh I hadn't thought of that." Finx said "Ok lets go." she charged off leaving them confused and wondering what was wrong with her some times.

Rosemary smiled."she seems nice.oh...that's odd..." she had been standing up, but a wave of dizziness caught her and she stumbled."is everything supposed to be blue? Oh, now it's purple.what a lovely shade of lavender.but that wall has a face..." she was seeing such odd things, and only a small part of her mind registered that she had been duped.that part, like a star in the darkness, reached out to the source of the problem.once found, the hallucinations lessened by half, and she suddenly felt another heart beating with hers.empathy? No, it was me giving the feelings...reverse empathy? But who is on the other end? she wondered, looking around through the haze of shifting colors.she spotted Syn and something in her mind clicked.she sent a feeling of betrayal and hurt at the girl who was suddenly sharing half of everything she felt.

Kaigen was please to see the princess accept that she was to return home. She was begining to grow up, even if it took a little prompting from the changeling. There was something special about this girl, maybe there was a reason the trees called her here. When Rosemary began to speak about different colors and walls having faces, Kaigen knew immediately what was going on. He gleared at his grand-daughter, angry with her for her devious was and jelous behaviour.

"Are you truly so hateful that you must play such horrid pranks on such an undeserving person?" Kaigen's voice was cold yet remained steady and wise. The elder fae shook his head and began to tend to Rosemary. He took some herbs from his pantry, ground them together in a bowl and filled a small wooden pipe. "Here dear, it's an herbal remedy to the poisons on your skin. It will take a moment for the effects of the herbs to work, but things will begin to return to normal soon. Breathe slow, the smoke can be harsh at first. A couple of inhalations should be enough."

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Red cheaked having been caught in her mean prank, Syn's gaze fell to the floor before she rushed from her grand-father's house. She was dizzy, feeling the effects of her own poison's returned to her by the changeling. Her stomach turned with anger and shame as she raced from the kingdom to the water falls and lake just outside of the kingdom limit on the oposite side from where Blake stood guard. There were hardly ever guards there due to the fact that the only way into the kingdom from there was a 1,000 foot drop. Only skilled fae with strong wings journeyed beyond these limits.

Syn climbed the face of the mountain and sat ontop of the waterfall, watching the water rush down the vertical face. Stupid girl, stupid grandpa... damn them both. With an angry grunt Syn pegged a rock into the water, her wings fluttered in frustration as she once again blamed her faults on those around her. Suddenly something loud rang out over the forest tops. It made the birds scatter and cry, the rest of the forest then stood quiet and still. Syn stood up, her heart racing in surprise and from her escape of the kingdom's limits.

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Looking ahead, Andrew noticed how much quieter things where getting as their small party made their way into the depth of the woods. In was seemed to be a flash, Leo had spotted, sighted and shot something small off in the distance. The sound of the gun echoed off the trees and the birds above scattered in fear, singing their warnings to the other animals around them.

"I guess that means my father's gun works." Andrew asked looking into the shadows of the trees. "Did you get it?"

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The pop of the gun made Link jump. His attention then fell on a small mamal in the under brush that weakly began to run.

"YOU GOT IT!" Link shreeked in excitement, taking off to trail the animal to make sure wolves or cyotes didn't find it first. The blood trail was thick and the rabbit didn't get far before the blood loss took it's life. Link lifted the brown snow shoe by the ankles and returned to where he'd left Andrew and Leo standing. "This is the biggest bunny I've ever seen!"

Doing as he promised, Link laid the rabbit on the forest floor and began to gut the animal. When he finished he wiped his hands off on some dead leaves and tied the rabbit to a stick. The first of many kills he thought proudly.

Rosemary inhaled as she was told, and coughed instantly.she quickly got used to the smoke, though, and her head began to clear."I feel terrible.I didn't know my empathy worked in reverse.I didn't mean to use it on her.now she'll hate me.I just wanted to be friends and maybe find out what family is like..." she said, instantly blaming herself for the whole thing.just then, a sharp pain, as if some part of her had died, accompanied a gun shot in the forest."oh no! Leo and Andrew!" She cried, tears streaming down her cheeks at the loss of a life she had never known.

"Do not fret for her. Absynthia has been an the center of attention for most of her life. She is threatened easily but means no harm, she only plays mean tricks." Kaigen said before Rosemary began to real from the death of the rabbit a handful of miles away. He placed a hand on her back to comfort her though he was instantly concerned about the names she'd said. The humans where in the forest, the trees confirmed it moments later. Deeply conserned, he stood in the doorway looking out onto the kingdom. "They are friends of yours?" Kaigen asked Rosemary.

Rosemary shook her head."not exactly.Andrew is...well, he's my closest neighbor.his family is like royalty in the settlement.I don't know him except his name.and Leo, I see him in the forest sometimes.he's a hunter, but he is good.he prays over his kills, and never takes more than he needs.I..." she stopped and blushed."well he's handsome.in fact between him and link..." she blushed more.clearly, she had a bit if a crush on one of the males."but no, I can't really call any of them my friends.I don't have any friends."

Wandering through the forest yet staying still slightly close to his small hut, Drake had Oren sitting on his left shoulder. The two of them were simply looking for some food to bring home and eat as they usually did. Even though he was exiled, that hadn't changed the obvious fact that he was still part of the Fae, never once had he touched a single piece of meat before in his life. All he ever ate since he was a child and up til now was simply all vegetarian food. "I'm booorrrreeddd Drake. Lets go do something fun already!" Oren blurted out randomly causing Drake to come to an immediate stop, turning his head over toward Oren; he couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself before shaking his head. "Do something fun? like what? There's really nothing to do around here, and you know that's true." He replied back before continuing to venture around for some food. His skull sheathed blade stayed holster on his side as Drake made his way through the forest. He wasn't allowed anywhere near the Fae's village, so he had made sure to know exactly where he was walking and that he wouldn't accidentally go stepping into their village.
It hadn't taken too long for them to find a large berry bush around the forest as Drake had come to a stop. Only to kneel down with Oren quickly jumping off his shoulder and running up toward the bush as well."Mmmm, these look really tasty." Oren once more blurted out as he had tried to take a whole handful of berries to try and eat them; only to be quickly stopped by Drake. "Wait a minute you little pig. You don't even know if their poisonous. If you get hurt, I don't exactly have any cure to help you." He explained, Oren had remembered how he had first met Drake; being hurt all over and thinking how horrible it would be to have to be hurt again and have Drake take care of him once again. Both his own ears slowly lowered down in a bit of sadness, thinking he had done really bad. The last thing Oren had expected was when he felt several pats on top of his head, causing his ears to perk right back up and look up at Drake. "Although, I know your really hungry. Don't worry, no matter what happens I'll make sure you'll get enough food and remember Oren. I'll always protect you, no matter what happens. That's a promise." Drake explained, causing Oren's light frown to turn into a quick joyful smile.
Once the two of them had a large bag of berries with them both. They had began to make their way back to their hut. "I can't wait to get home, I want to finish that book you got me. I'm almost done with it, and it's getting to the best part too!" Oren explained, causing Drake to chuckle once more. Although by the time the two of them had reached back to their hut, hearing a loud gunshot echo throughout the whole forest. Oren and Drake had both nearly dropped their bag of berries before turning around to look in the direction it had come from. "Oren, you stay here. Lock the doors and make sure all the lights are off. Stay hidden." Drake explained before Oren grabbed onto both their bags of berries, looking up at Drake with worry and concern. "But Drake, a-are you sure thats a good idea to go out there? It could be dangerous." Without a single reply, Drake quickly bolted out into the forest toward the direction he had heard the gunshot from. All the while, Oren sat within a corner of the hut with the doors locked and the lights off just as he was instructed to do. Shivering in fear, a small gulp escaped his small lips.
It had only taken Drake about a minute or so to reach the source of the sound where the gunshot went off on. Quickly landing onto a tree branch high above where the sound of the gunshot went off. Drake kneeled on top of the tree before glancing downward, it was humans. What were they doing this far into the forest of the Fae? Whatever the reason they were here, the dead rabbit tied onto the large stick gave away where the gunshot was fired toward. Mentally cursing to himself, he couldn't help but clench both his fists tightly as well as folding both his wings against his back even tighter. Just seeing the dead rabbit caused the thought that these humans were here to kill more Fae just as they had done to his own parents. 'Filthy humans...'

Finx hurried to the castle in search of her parents. "mamma pap im home." she yelled into the castle heading for the throne room were sh knew the would be entertaining some random noble person. She entered the room slowly nodding to the nobleman and his son before approaching her parents. "There is a changling in the forest I wish for you to meet her." finx said with a smile "Why didn't you bring her with you!" her mother said descending from her throne followed more slowly by her husband "I didn't think it would be right." finx said lowering her head. "Bring use to her." her mother ordered finx looked over at her father who nodded "excuse us but we have a something important to take care of.'' he said to the nobleman as finx took the lead ''here we are. kaigen I have mother and father with me is it al right if we enter."

Rosemary jumped at the voice of the princess at the door.looking over, she saw two Fae that could only be the king and queen.a fearful instinct sparked inside her, forcing her to her feet and into a clumsy curtsy.