Slipping one of his white gloves off slowly, he stretched his now bare hand out toward the bark; his fingertips brushing across the rough surface only moment before his entire hand met with the tree. And almost immediately after his hand was placed against the harsh shell of the plant; a warm calm feeling washed over him, his body losing all form of tenseness, his eyes falling closed. He released a relaxed sigh as his shoulders sank, his forehead pressing against the tree carefully. He could sense it, a living presence within the tree that pulsed softly like a gentle heartbeat. It brought a small smile to his lips.

Kirnathous must have sat at the base of this tree for a good half-hour; the only movement seen coming from him was the slight expanding of his torso as he breathed, he was otherwise perfectly still. Though it was the middle of the night, the area that surrounded him and this particular tree glowed, providing the man with tranquil lighting. This place; it was beautiful. Peaceful. Calming... To him, this sanctuary of beauty was home. The only home that had not faded or disappeared throughout the decades. It was the only thing in his life that was constant. The only thing he was sure would never disappear with time and age, and the only thing he would never forget...

"The princess..." A soft, motherly voice whispered within the mind of Kirnathous; causing him to stir from his zen-like state. His eyes opened. "The Princess of Rashmaal..."

Kirnathous lifted his head up from the tree, his gaze rising to stare up at the leaves that gently bustled in the breeze. "The Princess of Rashmaal?" He asked aloud. "What of her?"

There was no response, the woman's voice had fallen silent, leaving Kirnathous to stare in confusion at the tree before him. Yes. The tree had indeed spoken to him, and this was no surprise to him. It was a rare occurrence, but she did speak and usually only to him. And anytime her voice echoed in the depths of his mind, it was very brief, usually to give the blue mystic instructions to follow. Very... Confusing instructions that barely made any sense. Her sentences were usually cut off or broken up, as if she had difficulties speaking. And he was expected to understand it and make the most of it. And today's mission was the Princess of Rashmaal... What he was supposed to do with the princess he had no idea, but he wasn't going to question his orders.

With his glove slipped back on his hand, he got up to his feet and moved away from the tree; disappearing into the darkness of the forest without a word further. He moved along swiftly but silently, passing by creatures of all sorts without alerting any of them to his presence. He had done this so many times throughout his life, slipping through the untamed flora unnoticed had become one of his specialties, and it was the only place where he was sure not to trip over himself. He knew the forest well, probably better than most humans. He did live here after all.
As he headed in the direction of Rashmaal, his quick stride came to a full stop as he watched a shadowed figure pass by a few yards ahead of him. Instinctively he ducked behind a tree, pressing his back to it as he held his breath. Yes he held his breath. He had learned over the years that too many creatures in these woods had superb hearing; and to avoid being spotted by them, he had to learn how to stop breathing, or at least slow his breathing down. He'd gotten pretty good at holding his breath though, he could hold it for at least a minute!... Which to him was impressive. After a moment, he breathed slowly and peered around the tree toward where he saw the figure. And there he had seen the figure had joined with another in an embrace. His brow furrowed. It was not often he saw two strangers hugging in the middle of the forest at night, in fact he was pretty sure he had never seen two strangers hugging in the forest in the pitch blackness of the night. The only type of hugging he had ever seen take place at night was a special kind of hug that wasn't actually a hug, but more like stabbing and fighting and awful painful violence between the residents of the forest. So this... This was a very odd sight.

Kirn moved closer toward the embracing figures, his footsteps slow and precise as he did all he could to not crunch any twigs so he wouldn't alert the couple; keeping trees between them so he could not be spotted. Once he was close enough, he peered around the tree slightly to see it was two humans, a man and a woman. He remained silent, watching the two curiously with partially squinted eyes, wondering what two humans were doing out here in the middle of the woods at night. Of course, he didn't have to wonder for long, as they soon began kissing each other's faces off, not literally of course, but still. Kirn's eyes went wide and he yanked back behind the tree, pressing his back up against it as he clenched his teeth. Whoops. He just walked in on something rather private.
He took a wide step away from the tree and proceeded to take lengthy steps further and further away from the couple in love. When he was sure he had put a good amount of distance between them, he proceeded to sprint for dear life. He had pretty much given up being quiet at this point, because he last thing he wanted was to hear was anything he really didn't want to hear.
And, thankfully, this sprint was making the distance between him and Rashmaal shorter and shorter by the second. He knew he would soon arrive in the massive city of bitter, angry people who disliked outsiders and would... Do... Something. That involved the child princess. What was he supposed to do with the five year old princess anyway? Throw her a birthday party? Was it even her birthday?... Thinking about it though, he did like birthday parties. Maybe he would throw a party for her anyway even though it probably wasn't her birthday--

"Aki?" Kirn came to another immediate halt, stopping in a mid-run pose as he heard the tiny voice squeak out a name. He stood there, completely still, as the tiny voice called out the same name again. "Aki?" It cried out. Had he been spotted? Or was it a new type of animal that cried out Aki as its animal noise? Like how a raven caws and cat meows, this thing akis? His gaze shifted toward the direction of the squeaky voice. "Akiyama, this is no time for games. Mama and Papa won’t be happy if you aren’t home in the morning so you come home right now!"

Okay so it wasn't an animal. That was another person. Kirn eased a bit as he returned to a regular standing pose, his gaze still focused in the direction of the voice. It... Sounded quite young, possibly a child, or a girl who had a very squeaky childish voice. Once again curious, Kirn made his way toward the source of the voice; and who should he find? A young child. And the Princess of Rashmaal no less. He watched her from around a tree as she walked through the forest, completely alone, with a stuffed pony tucked in her arms. She was even in her pajamas, like she had just gotten up from bed and walked out into the woods without a care in the world. Kirnathous couldn't believe what he was seeing. The young child princess was out here, in the darkness of the night, completely on her own. Who let her out here? Were her parents even aware? Was anyone aware that the future of Rashmaal was completely vulnerable right now? That a bandit could snatch her up at any given moment and hold her for ransom? He gave a soft sigh. How could her parents be so careless? Better yet, how could her father even be fit to rule an entire kingdom if he hadn't even noticed his daughter was now wandering a dark, dangerous forest by herself?
His train of thought almost immediately took a sharp turn upon the king of Rashmaal being brought forth in his thoughts... Kirn was right, the king of Rashmaal was not fit to rule; he was a buffoon sitting on a big fancy chair, completely clueless about the beautiful world around him that he so often shut out of his kingdom, along with all the people he would banish for one reason other another... But his daughter, his daughter was young, she was still very capable of being molded into a perfect leader; one who shared her land and opened her gates to all creatures. A smile formed on his face, he was sure that was what she, the High Goddess, wanted. She wanted Kirn to help the princess become the perfect, flawless leader Rashmaal deserved. She would be the one to bring about the peace this land so desperately needed, to put an end to all the unnecessary fighting. She was the key.

Kirn took a step forward toward the princess, who was still calling for her Akiyama and came to a near halt when watched as the princess froze with fear. He had accidentally caused a near by bush to rustle as his leg bushed against it and it scared her; as her voice had grown more desperate for her Aki and she had hid her face within her stuffed pony. Kirnathous' expression filled with sorrow at the sight of the poor frightened child, and he finally moved out toward her, slowly and carefully in hopes he would not scare her further.

"There is no need to fear," He spoke up softly as he saw the child princess lift her face from her pony, he smiled to her and held his hand toward her. "I can help you." The child ran to him almost immediately, staring up at him in hope and wonder.

"You can help me find Aki?" She asked as she let go of her pony to grab hold of his silky robes, possibly clinging to him like she would her own mother. Or to whoever this Akiyama was. Kirn's gaze and smile softened more at her innocence and he kneeled to her, placing a hand gently on her head.

"I can do much more than that for you."

Kirnathous stood to his feet and backed away from the child who watched him with confusion. Kirn's hands lifted out to his sides as his entire form began to glow with magic, his hair and clothing flicking about around him as if a breeze had picked up despite no wind being present. His eyes began to glow a bright blue as he began chanting a spell beneath his breath in some strange language. Streams of magic began wisp down from the heavens and up from the earth as they engulfed the princess in a brilliant, bright display of glitter and light. Kirn moved his hands out toward the magic encased princess and in a split second, he moved his hands to the sides once more, as if to slice the air. The magic that once cocooned the princess popped off her, revealing that the once child princess was now full grown.
The glow that surrounded Kirn vanished and his eyes returned to normal. Upon seeing the now adult princess, his eyes widened with surprise. He couldn't believe it. It actually worked! He had not used a time speed spell on a person before, only ever on plants and some animals. And... Thinking about it now he... Probably should have tested it on another person first before actually trying it on his only hope of peace between the kingdoms. But whatever, it worked! The princess was now an adult! Now the true molding could begin.

"Now this must be kept an absolute secret," he said, his finger raised toward the princess as though he were scolding a child. "Should you tell anyone of this, the spell will the broken." He had to ensure no one knew that it was he that gave her such a gift. If anyone knew of his existence, of his power... He, and probably many others, would surely be in danger. For who knew what the rivaling kingdoms would do to own such a power.

"I won't! And thank you so much!" The princess responded as she gathered up the plush pony she had dropped earlier. Kirnathous smiled at her, his chest swelling with pride, before he tucked his hands behind his back.

"Princess Kiyomi," Kirn began as he turned away from her. "I am afraid that the gift I have just bestowed upon you comes with a price. It is nothing dangerous and I require no payment like gold or jewels--though that would be nice--but my price is something you are very capable of doing. Ruling." Kirnathous lifted his head as he stared up at the tree tops and the stars that could barely be seen through them. "I wish for you to take your father's throne and rule in his place, I wish for you to become a powerful, respectable queen who will do all she can to ensure peace and happiness for not just her own kingdom, but for all the kingdoms. You see, we are on the brink of war; and the kingdoms are just looking for that one thing to set it all in motion... And if this war does happen, lands and people will be lost, forests will burn, creatures will perish... We need someone who is kind, loving and generous to put an end to the rising war before it begins. You are that person, your majesty. You are the future hope of our world... So I only ask that you return to your kingdom with me. And together, we will do all that we can to stop your father's reign so that you may take his place and save us all." His head lowered as he paused for a short moment, he then looked toward the princess. "I know this seems like a heavy burden, but trust me when I say that it is your--" He stared at the now empty spot where the princess used to be standing. "--dest...in...y..." He finished as his voice trailed off into the empty forest around him.

She... Was gone. The princess was gone. She was there a moment ago, and now she wasn't. She had just up and left in the middle of his very important, but highly boring, lecture and he hadn't even noticed she disappeared until now. And to think, just before all this happened, he was being so hard on her parents, thinking so low of them for losing their only daughter and not even noticing she was gone. Now HE lost the princess! Parenthood was far more difficult than he originally believed.

"Prin....cess...?" He asked, his voice loud, as his eyes slowly scanned the now vacant area. Maybe she had just... Dropped something near by and went to get it? Maybe she was still in the area and could hear him? When she did not respond, his eyes widened with fear. He lost the princess. HE LOST THE PRINCESS. What kind of idiot turns a five year old girl into an adult and then LOSES HER? This guy, clearly.

Kirnathous sprinted off into the woods quickly, his eyes still wide with fright. He had to find her. He had to find her before someone else did. If anyone found out who she was, if they found out how she became an adult! There was no good end to this situation; especially for the princess who wandered off into a world full of danger and people probably waiting to kill her; a world that was just waiting for that one thing to push them to a full-fledged war.

What have I done...?