Legend of the Lost Star

Chapters

Chapter 1: Meeting the Hunter
Chapter 2: The World Outside the Gate
Chapter 3: The Wild Heart
Chapter 4: The Encounter
Chapter 5~ Ride
Chapter 6~ Soul

Chapter 1: Meeting the Hunter

Chapter 1~
Meet the Hunter

Princess Estelle leaned back on the leather seat, trying to decide on which song to listen to next on her miniature tablet. Her ears felt tense, a result for having the earphones on for so long. Despite the pain, they did help in canceling out the sound of her mother speaking into her cell phone. Every now and again she would raise her voice in an authoritative manner. If it weren't for the headphones, Estelle would have jumped every time she did so.

As always, Queen Luciana was dressed in her finest clothes. A long purple gown that reached her ankles and a pair of black stilettos on her feet. A light magenta shawl was wrapped gracefully around her arms and her long dark brown hair, streaked with streams of bright gold and purple, was held back into an elegant bun. A single bang swept up elegantly over the left side of her forehead, kept together by hairspray which made it shine like the surface of a silver coin. Anyone who had ever laid eyes on their queen would agree she was the textbook definition of flawless. Her skin was of a sun-kissed tan, smooth and completely devoid of any blemishes or birthmarks. Soft light purple eyeshadow adorned above her eyelids while brought out her dark brown chocolate eyes, as did her boysenberry lipstick. Purple was Luciana's signature color, and it was incorporated into all of her clothes.

As princess, naturally, Estelle was expected to wear some shades of purple as well. But, in her opinion, too much purple on herself made her feel like a walking, talking grape. Her mother and her came to a compromise, that Estelle would wear any color she wished, just so long as she had at least one thing that was purple. Estelle complied by wearing a purple jacket over her light grayish blue dress. Pearl earrings dangled from her earholes, her nails painted silver, matching the bracelets that adorned her wrists, making dangling sounds whenever she moved.

Estelle kept her legs crossed the entire time, hesitant to move even by an inch in her dress, fearing she would wrinkle it. The dress reached towards her knees, though she wished it were longer, at the very least to her ankles or a few inches bellow her knees. Her mother believed that too long a dress would hide her daughter's lovely legs.

This really confused Estelle. Why would a seven-year-old care about how her legs looked? To make matters even more frustrating, she had to wear a pair of platform heel sandals which were easy enough for Estelle to walk on, but were a nightmare around her ankles. She must have eaten half of her lip bomb by now at how much she was sucking in her lips to try and fight the urge to scratch her feet. Her mother had already caught her doing so several times already. Estelle froze on the spot whenever her mother laid her frigid gaze upon the child. She knew better than to anger her.

Luciana groaned in frustration once she had ended the call at long last. She noticed the vehicle has stopped. She lightly leaned forward to look at the main car window, seeing that the driver had to stop due to a traffic light. Estelle noticed her mother take in a calming breath and sat back upright in her seat. Her eyes darted towards her daughter. A loving smile perched her lips and she placed a loving kiss on Estelle's head, tracing a gentle finger over her child's abnormally colored hair, careful not to mess up the curls.

While it wasn't anything new for people to dye their hair color, as Luciana often did, Estelle's hair was of a natural midnight blue while her bangs were an azure shade. Another attribute that made Estelle different in comparison to her mother was the fact that her eyes were more of a dark grayish blue, and her skin tone was nut-brown. But, what stood out, probably even more so than her hair and eyes, was the four-inch star birthmark on her forehead. None the less, anyone who laid eyes on the young princess could agree she was a natural beauty all the same, despite her rare hair color and unique birthmark. She was often showered with adoration and praise.

The royal family waited patiently for the light to turn green again, and Estelle took this moment to look outside the window. There weren't any other cars blocking her view this time, so she could observe the citizens of Somorrah going about their daily routine. They had stopped not too far from a sandwich shop when a couple and their son exited the establishment. The boy, no more than a year younger than Estelle herself, opened his jaws as wide as he possibly could to take a bite out of his large sandwich.

The little one managed to take a bite, but unfortunately many of the condiments fell off. Mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes and cheese landed on the floor, much to the young boy's dismay. The father gave his son a sympathetic look and pulled out a long curled stick from his back pocket. With a graceful wave of his wrist, the stick emitted a bright glow from its pointed tip, and sparkles flew out, circling the boy's sandwich and restoring it into its original form. The mother laughed as she picked her son into her arms and the two men in her life fist pumped. Estelle's smile remained as she watched the family disappear behind various cars once the limo started moving again.

"Mommy." the young princess gently patted her mother's forearm, getting her attention. Luciana turned her head gracefully, her dangling amethyst earrings shimmered in the light as they moved. "After this is over, you think we could go there for dinner?" she pointed her thumb behind her.

"Go where, baby?"

"The sandwich shop we just passed."

Luciana elegantly tilted her head, giving her daughter an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, honey, but no. Not today. If you want, I can get our chef to make us sandwiches when we get home." Estelle forced a smile to hide her disappointment. Not that it would do much help. Estelle was never a master at hiding how she felt.

The rest of the ride remained uneventful. At long last, they arrived at their destination. Estelle squinted her eyes as cameras already started flashing from her window. Luciana remained unfazed and flawlessly composed as always once the limo door opened. The driver extended his hand, escorting the queen out from the vehicle. The roars of the crowd grew louder once she stepped out. Estelle marveled at the way her mother greeted her subjects. She flashed them a dazzling smile, teeth as white as the purest ocean pearl, and waved her hand in an elegant yet very tamed manner. Her posture was perfect. She didn't flinch at the flashing lights while Estelle twitched every time she heard the click and a blinding light went off, clouding her vision. There was a reason Luciana was known as the Queen of Queens by the citizens.

Noticing her daughter's struggle to see past the repetitious lights, Luciana took Estelle's hand, helping her child out of the vehicle. She wobbled a bit but quickly regained her balance. She held herself high, taking in slow deep breaths, but couldn't help flinching at every other click and flash.

"Don't think about the cameras." Luciana whispered to her daughter. "Focus on the path ahead."

Estelle squinted her eyes, seeing multiple colors which made it harder to pinpoint exactly where she was going. She held her mother's hand tightly, listening to the sound of her heels clicking as she walked ahead. Estelle followed her example. She was able to spot the long pathway ahead of her. Paparazzi alined on opposed sides, but Estelle kept her gaze on the end of the path as she followed her mother.

"Eyes on the path." she repeated in her mind, trying to keep her gaze straight ahead rather than what was around her. "Eyes on the path. Eyes on the path." The entrance doors grew larger and larger as they approached. The clicking sound fell upon deaf ears and the bright lights slowly, one by one, diminished from Estelle's point of view. Once they walked though the doors of the building, Estelle smiled in both relief and glee. She did it. She managed to get through the maddening lights thanks to her mother's advice.

"See?" Luciana said with a gentle smile. "I told you." Estelle giggled. Her mother always knew just what to do in a dire situation.

Once inside, the queen and princess were greeted by a tall man in a suit, standing at the entrance of the lobby. He placed his right hand on his stomach and his left behind his back, curled it into a fist, and bowed before the queen. Luciana nodded her head gently, swiftly moving her left foot to behind her right ankle and gave a light curtsy. One hand held Estelle while the other ever so slightly moved upwards in a graceful manner, reminiscent of a ballerina's movements. Estelle self-cautiously tried to mimic her mother's movement, but wobbled and nearly lost her footing in the process, only to quickly regain it once she shifted back to her previously straight posture.

They followed the man down a darkened hallway where Estelle saw a large doorway emitting a bright light at the very end. She squinted her eyes, absentmindedly shielding her vision until her eyes adjusted.

The stadium was gigantic, consisting of various trees and stones which hovered over the green fields, making it resemble the forests from Estelle's fairytale picture books. A stream of sparkly water fell from one of the rocks, creating a pond. A large stage rose from the ground, completely constructed by tree roots and lush green leaves adorned the strong sturdy branches that curved around upwards, creating almost a veil-like appearance with its long vines. Around the stadium were rows of seats alined with people of all shapes and sizes, their happy cheers, chatters and laughs were like music to her ears. Moments like these reminded Estelle why she loved her city so much. It was always so filled with life and energy.

The floor of the stage was straight and flat, and a row of people, men and women, stood in a straight line. Each one carried a specific weapon, be it a crossbow, a shotgun, katana swords, axes and whips. Their faces painted with various symbols, some resembled either exotic birds or wild beasts, such as chimeras, centaurs and basilisks. Their cloths varied, each one unique to their own individual style, but by the looks of it they were comfortable and functional enough to engage in a fight with. Some had sleeves ripped off, others had different styled belts and some wore either gloves of metallic accessories. How Estelle envied their luck.

Estelle was so beguiled by the strong looking people that she did not notice her mother calling out her name. It wasn't until her forth attempt did Estelle finally react to Luciana's voice. The young princess followed her mother, walking down the stairs where rows of citizens rose upwards from opposite sides, bowing their heads as the royals descended downwards.

Estelle's eyes darted back and forth between the people and the stage before her. Two guards stood at the end of the trail, raising their hands into the air. The golden bands around their wrists sparkled and their hands glowed. Once they placed their palms onto the surface of the grass, vines and flowers began to spread upwards, creating a rose covered arc as the queen approached. Estelle gasped in awe as more flowers blossomed and grew around her while she and the queen made their way towards the stage. Once on top, Luciana gracefully turned to face her subjects, the row of warriors straightened behind her, unwavering their perfect postures. Estelle was led by the man who escorted them and stood beside him and a few other men and woman, all of which wore suites and elegant looking skirts, jackets and high heels, but their cloths were adorned with images of the wild beasts corresponding the face paintings on the hunters.

Luciana pulled her own wand from her pocket. Unlike the others her subjects owned, Luciana's was slightly longer and had a golden handle encrusted with pearls and sapphires. She willed the tip to glow and spoke into it. Her voice amplified for all to hear. The crowd was silent, aside from the few mumbles and whispers Estelle managed to hear.

"Greetings good people of Somorrah!" her voice boomed and the audience inside the stadium roared with applauds. Estelle hesitantly rose her hands, eager to clap alongside them, but quickly stopped herself. She wasn't supposed to clap alongside the people, at least not so soon and certainly not at the start of the ceremony. Instead, she gave a soft nod and placed her hands behind her back, wrapping her hand around her wrist tightly as she tried to resist the envying sounds of cheers and laughter. Her mother continued her speech.

"Today, we welcome the city's newest hunters. Brave, intelligent and noble men and woman who have dedicated their lives to protecting our fair city from the monstrous creatures that lure outside our borders. This morning, we witness their transition from students, into graduates, but afterwards, we shall witness them become true huntsmen once they pass through the gates and bring home the head of their first beast!"

The crowd's cheers grew louder and louder, to the point where several even tossed their hats into the air. Men whistled at the female hunters while women fawned over the tall, lean and muscular men. One of the hunters flashed a grin and winked, causing a few girls in the audience to swoon and faint. Estelle rolled her eyes in amusement.

Luciana extended her hand towards a curtain behind the aligned people behind her. The red velvet curtains rose upwards and several women dress in long green gowns, adorned with flowers around the helms and transparent lacy capes fell elegantly against their backs. Each one wore an upwards hairdo, decorated with a variety of exotic looking flowers. In their hands they carried either a glass case containing a wand, a back strap with closed wings stuck to opposite sides, and a pillow with golden hand bands.

"Traditionally, we receive our respected elemental gift at a young age." Luciana continued, keeping the illuminated tip of her wand close to her mouth, "But today, these hunters shall place aside their old wands, wings and bands in favor of those befitting of a true huntsmen, in tribute to the ones who granted us these gifts. Let us all bow our heads and give thanks to the Arions."

Luciana lowered her head, closing her eyes as she placed her hand over her heart. Everyone followed her example, each one standing upwards in respect. The hunters and the finely dressed people beside the princess did the same. Estelle also lowered her head, but couldn't make herself close her eyes as she listened to her mother speak. "Long before the first word was spoken, our land was once nothing but forrest. Each day, our ancestors struggled to survive in a cruel land filled with untold dangers. It was only due to the merciful Arions, who heard our prayers, and gave us the magic to fight against the beasts did we finally gain our freedom. Today, we carry on that tradition to continue what our protectors have started long ago. Every day, and every moment, we give thanks for our beautiful city, our health, our friends, our families, and our magical gifts, which have allowed us to grow and progress into the perfect, ideal society we are today, and may we continue to expand until out greatness is revealed to the rest of the world!"

The stadium bursts into a roaring applauds, flurries of "woohoos", and whistles were heard amongst the wildness of the audience. The queen nodded her head to the hunters. "Nadeen. Step forward." the hunter with long black dreadlocks, dark skin and black eyes approached the queen. He wore a brown pelt around his waist, dark torn pants with chains and black bicker boots. On his arms were markings of a bear strangling a snake to death. His face was sharp and stern. Unlike several of his fellow graduates, he did not have a weapon in hand. He got down on one knee, bowing his head and placing his hands on his bent leg. Luciana nodded to the maiden with the glass case. She bowed and Luciana took the wand from the case.

It resembled a normal wand in structure and design, but unlike the others, this one had a handle, much like Luciana's did. The handle, however, was not integrated with any precious stone, and instead was wielding out of the finest of gold with vine-like design.

"Rise." she said. Nadeen complied and she handed him the wand. He outstretched his hand, willing the wand to work. In a flash of light, the wand extended in length, resembling a sword. It was still in the same curled fashion, but was much wider and sharper than before. Sharp enough to piece a man in one swoop.

Estelle awed at the new weapon. She had seen this trick before, but she had yet to grow bored of it. She couldn't help but imagine how it must feel like to wield a wand like that. Though she knew her mother would never allow it unless she was old enough. But even if she was, she was a princess. Why would a princess need a sword anyway?

The next hunter went by the name of Cyria. She was a lovely young maiden, with pale white skin, mesmerizing dark blue eyes and long straight raven hair that cascaded from her head down to her lower torso. It almost resembled a cape by how long it was. Unlike Nadeen, Cyria had a crossbow for a weapon and handed Luciana the strap with wings she wore on her back.

One of the maidens handed the queen another strap with a metal buckle and Luciana proudly gifted it to Cyria. Once she said her thanks, she stood straight, strap now on her back and willed her new white wings to outstretch. People applauded and Cyria bowed in gratitude.

The third hunter went by the name of Draco. He handed Luciana his old golden bands, replacing them with longer ones that reached his wrist all the way towards his elbows. One maiden handed him a bowl filled with rocks, to which he levitated without struggle. He manipulated the stones to soar into the air, creating the symbol of a bird. Luciana smiled in approval before Draco bowed in respect, placing the rocks back into the bowl. The rest of the ceremony proceeded with Estelle's mother bestowing the new hunters their updated weapons. Once they had all received their gifts, Luciana once again addressed the crowd, standing proudly beside the graduates.

"It is with great pride that I welcome Somorrah's newest huntsmen!"

This time, Estelle knew it was the appropriate time to clap. And she did so without restraint. She clapped and cheered with infectious enthusiasm until she took notice of one of the nicely dressed professors eyeing her with a risen brow. Estelle's cheeks burned from embarrassment and recoiled herself, standing stiffly with her hands behind her back. Her eyes darting back and forth from the professor to her mother. Once certain she was no longer looking at her, Estelle relaxed, though moderately.

Her eyes darted upwards at the sound of wingbeats. More maidens appeared above her, though these instead had straps with wings on their back. Some had pink plumage, others had white, yellow or even orange and green. Their gowns billowed gracefully like gentle sea waves around their bodies and their elegant drapes sparkled like stars in the daylight. In their arms, they carried baskets of flower petals.

Taking a fist full each, they dropped the multicolored petals down onto the graduating class, while another pair, wielding bows and arrows, shoot them into the air. Once they collided an explosion of streamers and confetti fell upon the princess and the audience.

Estelle could not bottle up her laughter anymore and jumped happily at all of the beautiful colors that surrounded her. She felt as if she was inside a rainbow. A feeling of exuberance began to overtake her body, influencing her actions. She laughed louder and twirled under the dancing colors of streamers and flower petals. She stomped her feet, moving in a strange looking, yet surprisingly graceful, dance. She only stopped once she noticed that she had twirled herself onto the front of the stage, where her mother was still standing.

The crowd continued to cheer, visibly unsurprised or frazzled by her actions. All, except for her mother.

Luciana stared down at her daughter, black brown eyes piercing into her own dark silver blue eyes. Estelle dared to dart her eyes towards several of the huntsmen, who had clearly noticed the princess's impulsively sudden dance. Several looked at her as if she were some unknown species of animal, while the rest simply smiled warmly. It wasn't new for a child to get so caught up in the festivities that she would start doing something silly. In fact, they found the scene adorable and felt touched their future queen was so enthusiastic about the graduation as the huntsmen themselves.

But Luciana did not share this mindset. She was relieved the audience did not seem bothered by this action, or rather they were simply too drunk on the celebration to even pay attention, but simply because the people didn't bother to notice, that still did not give Estelle free access to act in such an undisciplined manner. For the moment, she withheld the urge to school her child in the matter, and simply decided to hold it off for until they were alone.

Estelle froze at the look in her mother's eyes. She didn't need words to know exactly what she must have been thinking. The child cleared her throat and stood up straight. She wasn't sure if to walk back from where she was or to remain where she stood. Luciana helped her with that decision by wrapping her arm around her daughter. Estelle knew she was still going to get a lecture about this, but she was thankful her mother would rather try and cover a slip up than risk embarrassing their family in public.

*(~)*

After the ceremony, friends and families gathered together at the academy's cafeteria, where they served the most deletable cuisines, pastries and exotic drinks. The scent of the alcohol stung Estelle's nose and she cringed in disgust. Thankfully, the intoxicating aroma of chocolate, honey cakes and cream cheese crackers were enough to distract her from the strong liquids. The little princess saw the desert table not too far away while her mother spoke with the school's staff. She didn't take notice if it was a teacher or a secretary, or whatever, for it did not matter to her at this point. For now, her presence as a princess wasn't needed. The ceremony was over so she was allowed to loosen up a bit. Estelle made her way towards the table, her blue eyes darting everywhere, trying to decide what to eat first. Her first choice was the honey cake. She reached out her hand to grab the cake, until she noticed a five-year-old boy struggling to get a slice of pie. The poor thing grunted and jumped as high as he could, but failed miserably due to his smaller stature.

Estelle reeled back from the honey cake, her eyes focused more on the poor boy, who looked like he was on the verge of tears. She kindly approached the child, who looked at her oddly, tilting his head to the left and giving an adorable "huh?" sound. Estelle simply smiled, took the plate of pie and handed it to the little boy. He beamed and laughed happily before darting away with his plate. Estelle watched him leave until he suddenly stopped. The boy hurried back and gave Estelle a firm handshake.

"Thank you!" he said happily before running off again. Estelle gave a small wave and returned to get her honey cake…only to bump into her mother.

"Oh, hey Mom." Estelle nervously fiddled with her fingers, noticing the honey cake she had set her eyes on was currently in her mother's hand, having fallen into her palm during collision. "Are…are you mad?"

Luciana answered her question by giving her the honey cake back. Estelle hesitated before taking the pastry. She dared not to take a bite right then and there. "No, I'm not mad." Luciana said in a half whisper, "But what was that?"

"I just…I just felt happy. I saw all the confetti, and pretty colors and everyone was cheering I just…I got caught up in the moment."

"I understand. I'm not upset that you were happy, but during these kind of events, it's crucial for the queen to remain neutral and in control all throughout."

"But I'm not the queen, and everybody else got to cheer and celebrate, why not me?"

"You may not be queen yet, but even as princess you must set a good example."

"But, aren't we allowed to celebrate alongside them?"

"Yes, we are, But time and place, my child. Time and place. Now, is the time and place for you to relax, but before…." Luciana gave Estelle 'the look', Which consisted of an arched brow, partly pouted lips and a slight tilt of the head. Estelle caught on very quickly.

"I understand. I promise to control myself next time."

Luciana smiled and squatted down to the child's level. "That's my girl." she kissed Estelle's forehead before walking away to speak with yet another adult Estelle concluded as a member of the staff. She didn't bother to guess who it was. The young princess took a bite of her honey cake, savoring the sweet taste.

After eating her cake, Estelle wandered aimlessly around the room, taking a cup of fruit punch to wash down her pastry. She was caught off guard once she heard loud laughing. Her ears felt as if they were vibrating and followed the sound, bypassing several party goers as she did so. The sound came from a corner of the grand room, where a group of grown men, most likely in their thirties of fifties, laughed out loud at some joke the other had said. One of the men, who was much older given the traces of gray hairs and his bushy beard and spectacles, slapped his knee.

"You can't be serious!" he said to a younger looking redhead.

"No, really! I sliced his tongue in mid flight with just one swoop of my spear and one good arm. I've still got the scars to prove it." he rolled up his sleeve, revealing his toned muscular arm and a long dried up scar starting from his thumb all the way across his elbow.

"Who did that?" Estelle asked, startling the older men. The eldest of the bunch elbowed the scarred warrior on his good arm.

"Cover that thing up, will you boy?"

"How was I supposed to know she was there?" the man quickly pulled his sleeve down, his cheeks red in embarrassment. "I apologize, princess."

"It's okay." Estelle replied with a shrug, "I'm not bothered. I think scars are actually kind of cool!"

The older gentleman stroked his beard tentatively. "Hmmm. A fearless little one, ey?"

Estelle blinked innocently. "I guess so."

"Forgive me, where are my manners." he gave the princess his hand, "The name's Howl Kurosawa."

Estelle shook his hand. "Oh yeah. I thought you looked familiar. You brought that giant minator head as a gift for my mom on her birthday. She said you were the best hunter ever!"

"Well, I wouldn't say ever." Howl said, his old cheeks tainted with red. He introduced Estelle to his two companions.

"These two blockheads are my two colleges, Charlie and David." Howl said, introducing the two men to the child, who both narrowed their eyes in annoyance. "Don't get me wrong, they're great but they can never hold a candle to me."

"Are you guys hunters too?"

"Well, not me." Howl replied with a chuckle, "I'm retired."

"And I hung up my crossbow long ago after I got married." the redhead said, nodding to his second companion. "Dave here too."

"The life of a family man just took up more of my time." Dave said.

"So what's it like?"

"What's what like?" Charlie asked.

"Outside. Outside the gate." Estelle repeated, becoming instantaneously interested. "My mom told me it's filled with monsters and evil plants, but you guys go out there all the time. Or, used to. Is it really as bad as they say?"

"Oh, you better believe it, kid!" said the redhead, "Sure, some animals might be harmless, but the rest. Ha! Like I tell my sons; You'd be lucky if you came out with your whole arm in tact like I did--Ow!" he exclaimed when Dave slapped him behind his head.

"Charlie, don't scare her!"

"What? She asked a question so I answered."

The other man shook his head and sighed before addressing back to Estelle. "Please excuse him, sweetie. He tends to speak before he thinks."

Estelle simply smiled politely. "So, how many beasts did you kill?"

The three men look at one another in bewilderment. It wasn't every day that a seven-year-old girl would ask such a question, let alone a princess. The two younger gentleman didn't know how to answer her question. Or rather, they didn't know any way to sugarcoat it.

"Quite a gutsy question for a little one." Howl said. Estelle tilted her head innocently and the man gave a light chuckle. He had this inviting presence about him that made Estelle just want to jump into his lap and listen to his stories. "Well, I honestly lost count when I hit seven digits." Howl said, his emerald green eyes sparkling. Estelle had seen many people with green eyes, but for some reason, Howl's were somehow brighter in color, which was unusual to see. Never the less, it only made him all the more fascinating. He had strange green eyes, and Estelle had strange blue hair with a star birthmark on her forehead. Not to mention, he seemed perfectly relaxed when talking about monstrous creatures and facing them head on. Finally, someone who she could safely regard as strange as she was.

"But, if I'm being honest, I can't recall all of the beasts I killed." Howl continued, "Some better than others, while some are blurry in my mind. If anything, the one beast I remember the most. The one animal who's face I still see crystal clear in my mind's eye, as if it happened only yesterday…was the one I didn't kill."

Estelle gave a soft gasp in awe. A creature he didn't kill is the one he remembered the most? How was that possible?

"Why didn't you kill it?"

"Well, who knows, really. Maybe I was just getting too old. Maybe I lost my touch. Or maybe…" he paused for effect, giving the princess a sly grin.

"Maybe what? Tell me!" Estelle pleaded before catching notice of her manners and cleared her throat before asking again. "I mean, please?" she asked, this time with tameness in her approach.

Charlie and Dave exchanged uncertain expressions and looked back at Howl, who simply nodded his head, complying. "It was dusk. My team and I had a very slow hunt. Either they had finally came to accept that we were to be feared, or it was just one of those days. I was just about to return to my jeep, when suddenly a shadow loomed over me."

"Was it the monster?" Estelle asked.

"Oh, it was." Howl said. He noticed Charlie roll his eyes, but Howl ignored him.

"What did you do?"

"What I always did when I saw one of them coming my way. I pulled out my wand, ready to cut its stomach open. I heard the sound of wingbeats, followed by the crushing of tree branches and loud screeching sound afterwards." Howl's tonality subtly shifted from serious and erie to dramatic and suspenseful, making gestures with his hands in an effort to capture the moment. His movements were a tad over the top, but it still kept Estelle eager for more. "I followed it up a small hill where it landed. I heard the crushing sound it made when its feet touched the ground. It stood on all fours. Its body was completely covered in scaled and fur unlike anything I had ever seen. It outstretched its massive bat-like wings that nearly blocked out the sunlight. I approached it as quietly as I possibly could, but I guess I made a wrong move for the creature spun around."

Estelle gasped, her eyes widened in shock but listened attentively as Howl continued, lowering his voice to increase the looming eerie atmosphere. "Next thing I knew, we were staring directly into each other's eyes. I extended my wand, aimed it at the beast, when suddenly…" he paused again, the eeriness suddenly gone.

"What? What?" Estelle gripped his arm, shaking it, anxious to hear what had happened next.

Howl took a long pause before continuing. "Nothing." he finally said, placing his hands on his knees and leaning back against his chair.

Estelle gave a puzzled look. "What?"

"Yeah. Nothing. The creature just…stood there." he leaned forward a bit, intertwining his fingers together and resting them on his knees. His tonality shifted drastically. He went from charming and vivacious, to dramatic and theatrical, and now he was just…calm. His voice became softer as he proceeded to continue his tale.

"It was…strange to say the least. I was so used to them attacking me first but this had never happened before. The creature had large eyes. I felt, the longer I stared into them I felt as if she would see my innermost self. A self I never even knew existed. Its long slender tail whipped across the grass, but did not harm a single blade. It had three horns sticking out from its head. Just by looking at them I knew those beautifies could cut me open and slice any of my limbs off of it could. But, that never came. It didn't know what came over me, but I suddenly found myself walking closer. The creature stepped back, almost as if it were afraid. Its ears pressed against its head and it gave a whinny sound. I lowered my wand and put it away. The creature still didn't move. Then, as quickly as it came, it left. Spread its wings and took off into the sky. That was the first, and last time I ever saw the beast. I never looked at the world outside the same way again."

Estelle was silent. She blinked, trying to paint a picture of the beast Howl had described. A creature with fur and scales, massive wings and three horns with a long tail. She had heard that there were many strange creatures out there but this one sounded…beautiful.

"Still curious as to why I didn't kill it?" Howl asked, noticing the princess's sudden silence, in contrast to her joyful demeanor beforehand.

Finally, she shook her head. "No. I think I know why." she said. Estelle smiled and placed her hand over Howl's, who smiled in return.

"I still think you should have killed it." Charlie said, making Estelle narrow her eyes in disapproval. "It could have made a nice wall decoration for the palace. Or maybe a rug."

"How can you be so cruel?" Estelle snapped, clenching her fists tightly and stomping her foot. "If the creature didn't hurt Howl, then maybe that means not all of them are bad! Maybe some of those monsters are good."

Charlie shook his head, "Impossible. Monsters have one instinct and one instinct only, and that is to kill anything in sight."

Estelle huffed angrily and looked back at Howl, her expression softening. "Is it possible, Howl? Could it be that what you saw was a good monster?"

"Well, I can't say for sure. There could be a lot of reasons why it didn't attack. Maybe it was pregnant, or old or maybe it was a baby itself. Some monsters are known to be every big, even as an infant, so there's really no way to know for sure."

"But, even if that's true, do you believe these monsters could be good?"

Howl's lips formed a kind smile and opened his mouth as if to answer, only for him to be silenced when another voice called out. "Estelle!" Luciana quickly found her daughter with the elderly man. "There you are! I thought you had gone outside without my permission again."

"Don't worry, your Majesty. She was in good hands." Howl stood up, bowing before the queen.

Luciana studied the man's features before shaking his hand. "Howl Kurosawa. It's been a long time."

"I certainly has."

"I apologize if my daughter disturbed you."

"Not at all. She's quite the charming young lady. Just like her mother."

"Well, we should get going. The first hunt starts in three hours."

"Ah, yes! I almost lost track of time." Howl said, dusting his suit and adjusting his tie. He took Estelle's hand, lifting it towards his lips and placed a gentle kiss on top of it. "It was nice stalking to you, Princess Estelle."

"It was nice talking to you too, Howl."

The man bowed once more and made his leave, with Charlie and Dave close behind him. Even after he left, Estelle couldn't stop thinking about his story. The description of the beast made her curious, and the fact that it didn't attack him? It only made her all the more fascinated. Suddenly, the world outside was sounding more and more fascinating by the minute. Maybe even more so than the city itself.

*(~)*

The trumpets sounded and the graduating hunters and huntresses hopped onto their respected jeeps. Two rode on the driver's seat, while two more rode in the back. The jeeps each had the emblem of the hunter; A crossbow with the dripping head of a beast, the arrow piercing right through it. Estelle watched on the sidelines, a couple of the royal police officers stood opposite sides of the princess. Her eyes darted back and forth, feeling a tad uneasy at how inhumanely straight and stoic they were. It was amazing they had not lost their minds in staying so perfectly still for hours during an event. She certainly knew she would.

Queen Luciana stood in front of the great gate, the very thing that interlock the world of Somorrah and the world outside. Estelle felt like an ant standing before the colossally sized gate. It was almost as large as the palace, if the palace had an entree pair of gates stacked on top of it. And another extra pair stacked on top of those. And another extra, and another. Needless to say, it certainly was tremendously larger in person than it looked from her palace balcony. The gate itself was made entirely out of metal, locks upon locks aligned the thin line between the twin doors and twin towers with metallic wires around the edges stood on opposite sides of the gate. Estelle could see people within the clear unbreakable enchanted glass. Inside the control room, people observed the events happening down bellow via live-cam.

Luciana rose up her hand, giving the workers the signal. Gears twisted, ticks and clicks grew louder and louder as, one by one, the extremely complex looking locks opened up. The crowd became silent as the gates began to separate, sliding open in a matter of minutes. Estelle was astonished at how such large objects could move so quickly. Of course, she knew it was mostly thanks to the inserted wands that accelerated the process way up in the control room. She didn't learn it from a book, her mother just explained it to her once.

Once the gates were open, Estelle was left breathless. There it was. The world outside the gate. It was at that moment when everything she had ever been taught about this mysterious and unforgiving realm completely flew out the window. Yes, there was an endless forest as far as the eye could see, but she also saw the sun's rays illuminating the pathway downwards away from the city. Her eyes followed the trail, only to see it disappear amongst the trees. The sky was as clear blue as the sky above Somorrah, but the clouds had shades of pink, pale yellow. Streaks of silver, purple and blue adorned the edges. They all came in a variety of colors, far more mesmerizing than the clouds she was used to seeing every morning, where the weather patrol would move the clouds to their liking to give the people shade or rain when needed. The sky was theirs to control, always, but the sky out there seemed to have a mind of its own. It was kind of scary to think about, but at the same time it exhilarated Estelle's restless spirit.

As for the trees, they were also different in comparison to the ones of her world. Her's were grown by the humans themselves thanks to the earth bands around their wrists. Farmers cultivated the country region of the city, while florists would grow plants that gave the land its beauty and vibrance. Despite what she had been told, the trees before her certainly didn't look like the kind that would eat a person's head if they got too close. The tips of their leafs were sun-kissed, their trunks gray with black spots around them, and the leafs themselves seemed move in a silent dance against the breeze. They were larger, stronger, more powerful looking compared to the trees her people grew. And to think, these grew without a human's inference.

Estelle didn't see any creatures yet, but she was more than certain they were out there. Either eating their latest catch, or patiently waiting for the new generation of hunters to come out and play. She looked up at the sky in hopes of catching at least a glimpse of the creature Howl had described. Her eyes were so fixated on the world she could never reach, the world she was forbidden to ever step foot into that she almost didn't hear the sound of the trumpet horn. The hunters gave their mighty battle cries and their engines ignited.

The people cheered, clapped, howled and whistled with such raw energy that, for a moment, it almost scared Estelle. These cheers weren't like the ones she heard back at the stadium. The people before were cheering in such a way it warmed her heart. Mothers and fathers paraded around when their son or daughter received their new weapons. Families and friends laughed and jumped for joy. But now, while they were still cheering for their loves ones, their words didn't have the same effect as they did before. They bellowed and roared, almost in anger.

"Kill that beast!" she caught one said.

"Bring its head!"

"Make em bleed to death!"

Estelle squeaked. Her previous conversation with Howl now made it very difficult for her to take part in the festivities. Her mother, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm. Her face unwavering, her hands placed together in front of her. A small smile curled her lips as she watch the jeeps take off one by one, leaving a trail of dust and burned rubber in their wake. The cheers only intensified as the proud new hunters rode off into the distance. As if possessed, Estelle took one foot forward towards the still open gate, but was immediately stopped by one of the officers. She quickly stepped back, watching with a longing gaze as the doors closed once more.

That world. That strange, mysterious, no doubt dangerous world was not a place for her. She knew she had no business even so much as caring about it. But, the sky, the plants, the sun. Everything about it was so new and rare. Even if there was danger…could all of it be bad?

*(~)*

Chapter 2: The World Outside the Gate

Chapter 2~

The World Outside the Gate

Estelle kept pacing back and forth inside her extravagant room. Her nightgown moved with the elegance and effortlessness of flower petals being blown in the soft spring breeze every time she spun around. She held a book in her hand, one of her old favorite fairytales about undersea kingdoms and exotic hidden villages. She read the words, but they did not stick. She forgot what she had just ridden a few short seconds ago. She thought walking while reading who exhausted her enough that she would eventually fall into a deep slumber once she hit the bed. Estelle leaped and landed belly first into her bed, the sheets wrinkling in the process. Despite how soft and inviting the bed was, the young princess just couldn't sleep.

Her mother had to return to the city to welcome back the huntsmen after the first hunt, bringing their winnings with them. Estelle had to remain in the castle due to her bedtime being at nine, and the huntsmen would return an hour latter. Her mind was swarming with questions. What could those hunters be doing out there? Have they already killed their first beast? Did they kill the one Howl had seen? Were they injured? She had never thought about these kinds of things before, but the elderly man's words left her baffled. There was no way she could possibly see the outside world again.

Unless.

"No." she said to herself. "Mom will never let me. She'd have a fit!"

Estelle tried instead to get her mind off of the whole thing by reading another of her favorite books. Placing one hand behind her head she casually flipped through the pages. She skimmed through the words, uninterested in the story itself. She quickly gave up, groaning in frustration and pressed her face into her pillow. She sat upright, jumped from her bed and walked out her window, gazing out at the vast city before her. The buildings were lit with the same identical colors of gold. The sound of honking cars and sirens had long gone deff in her ears, after hearing them every night since she was a baby. They often helped her sleep at night, but not tonight when her mind was was overflowed with new thoughts.

As expected, her eyes went back to the gates. They were so far away from the palace she could never get there on foot and return back before her mother discovered she was gone. Even if she was smart enough to take the buss she would be immediately recognized by either a pedestrian or the royal police. The only other way for her to get there in time…

Was to fly.

A mischievous grin formed on her lips and the princess reached for her wing straps. The feathered wings rivaled the color of silver while the strap was blue with a silver buckle. Estelle placed on a pair of long pants, hiking boots, black gloves that covered her hands to her elbows, a long sleeved shirt and an equally long sleeved hooded jacket. A rather wide scarf wrapped loosely around her neck, covering the lower half of her face. Her hair was tied into a tight ponytail, her bangs held back.

Estelle crunched down on the windowsill, looking down at the sentries who guarded the palace courtyard. Pulling her hood over her head, Estelle waited patiently for the sentry to leave in order to scout the rest of the perimeter. Once he was out of sight, Estelle sought her chance and leaped, using her wings to glide downwards.

She crunched down once she landed and quickly ran towards the fountain which resided in the very center of the garden. She hid behind it when another sentry walked by. Her heavy breathing muffled by the scarf. Estelle reached for her boot, making sure her wand was still there. She breathed a sigh of relief feeling the familiar spiraled surface and went onwards. Upon reaching the garden gate, Estelle instinctively tried to open it. She grunted as she yanked on the bars, only to come to her senses at the sound of juggling chains.

"Right, it's locked." she whispered to herself, feeling a tad embarrassed for having forgotten that detail. She couldn't break them with her magic, for the sentries had enchanted them with a special password spell only they knew about, so she was out of luck there.

Seeing there were no other sentries present for the time being, Estelle took a few steps back, keeping a long enough distance between herself and the gate. Once certain it was enough, Estelle ran forward at top speed. At just the right moment, with all the strength she could enforce on her legs, she pushed herself upwards with all of her might, her instincts taking over. She leaped high over the gate, using her wings as momentum to keep her airborne until she reached the other side. She slid across the ground, stopping at a perfect three-point landing. Her wings partly spread.

The princess took in slow deep breaths, smiling victoriously at her surprisingly impossible accomplishment. No seven-year-old could achieve that without the proper training. Estelle didn't think much of it, mainly because it was just too awesome to even try to logically explain it, and ran off, hiding herself in the bushes before taking off to the skies. She flew right above several more sentries before landing on a tree branch, hiding amongst the leafs. One of the sentries jerked his head, having felt the small gust of wind when something flew right above him. He simply shrugged it off, assuming it was only a bird.

Estelle rolled her eyes in amusement and pulled the scarf around her neck upwards to cover her nose and mouth. Once the cost was clear, Estelle sprouted her wings once more and flew off past the palace gates and into the city. It was just as alive and vibrant at night as it was during the day. Normally, it wasn't anything rare for someone to be flying about at this hour, but Estelle's understandable fear of getting caught prompted her to land on every other building she came across to see to it she seen as much by the public. She also avoided flying too close to other citizens who flew by.

Every time she would land on another roof, Estelle turned her head back to the palace, which grew farther and farther away with each passing moment. The reality began to take its toll on her. This was crazy. She was doing all of this just so she could see the outside world one more time? Why? Everyone was safe here. People were happy and free. The skies, the ground, even the technology was at their very command, why would she even care about a world she didn't know about?

Her answer came as quickly as the wind did, blowing on her scarf and at the ends of her jacket. She held her hood in place and looked out at the gate. That sense of longing swept over her again and her choice was made clear once more. There had to be more to this world than everyone believed. There just had to be.

Estelle continued on, this time she flew without stopping, keeping the gate as her main goal. Her mother's words rang in her ears. "Keep your eyes on the path." The guilt reminded Estelle how disappointed her mother would be if she discovered this. But she knew she would never be able to rest, or sleep again unless she saw this world just one more time. Just one more and the she would let it go. That was a promise.

Estelle flew over a large crowd, quickly spotting the royal limousine not too far bellow. With a fearful yelp, Estelle flew down to hide amongst the crowd and silently made her way across the audience, careful not to bump into anyone, while at the same time making herself inconspicuous to any of the bypassing police officers.

People cheered fanatically, some accidentally bumping into the princess to which she simply glared in annoyance. Normally, they wouldn't think twice about bumping into the future queen, but Estelle had to be one of them for now if she wanted to see that gate open. Estelle spotted her mother not too far off. A few people forced their way to front, unknowingly causing Estelle to be pushed a few feet to the left, and farther to where the queen was. Her eyes widened and she hurried back, forcibly shoving a few bystanders in her desperate attempt to sneak away from her mother.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" one random man exclaimed, unashamedly showcasing his annoyance.

"Sorry about that." Estelle replied back, her voice partly muffled by her scarf. "Excuse me. Coming through." she said to more of the people she had to gently shove aside in order for her to get through. Some of their words were a tad "mature" in a sense, but Estelle was already accustomed to this language so they entered one ear and went out the other.

Once she was out of eyesight from her mother, Estelle breathed in a huge sigh. Seeing how far her mother was made Estelle realize just how close she was to the gate itself. The trumpets sounded once more and the street lights lit up. The locks of the gate opened once more and, just like before, the giant-sized doors opened with little effort. The sound of speeding wheels was heard, and the headlights of the jeeps were seen in the not too far distance. The crowd cheered louder than ever before while Estelle quickly positioned herself close enough to the entrance. The jeeps came speeding in, one by one with the hunters hollering like maniacs. The stench of raw meat hit Estelle's nostrils, making her stomach turn.

At that precise moment when the final jeep came zooming back into the city, Estelle made her move. She ran out to the other side and proceeded to run fast downwards from the hill slope, the grass crushing underneath her feet and the large gate closed once again. The light from the city which illuminated the pathway for Estelle had disappeared and now she met with only darkness.

She lost her footing and tripped over a vine, tumbling down, screaming as she did so. With a loud thud, Estelle stopped in front of a large oak tree, grimacing at her already sore body as she stood back up. Removing her hood and scarf, Estelle inspected her body for any serious injuries. She had none, thanks to her cloths covering so much of her skin. A few small twigs did manage to wedge their way onto her cloths, to which she effortlessly removed. Once she fully recovered from her collision with the tree, Estelle gasped at the sight around her.

The world outside looked just as beautiful at night as it did during the day. The full moon hovered overhead, resembling a stunning flawless pearl as if it had just been swept up ashore by the powerful ocean current. The stars flickered beside the gigantic glowing orb, reflecting its cool light which cascaded down, kissing the tips of the grass Estelle stood upon. She was almost hesitant to take another step in fear she would crush the beautiful green fields, which radiated with hues of blue and silver like something from a timeless dream.

She took one hesitant step and proceeded down the small hill. The city was perched on a large hill, almost like a mountain if the upper half of it had been cut right off, the city placed above the missing half. Estelle walked on. The trail was fresh with tire tracks, broken twigs and leafs, as well as traces of animal fur. The metallic smell of blood hit her nostrils and Estelle recoiled back in disgust, pinching her nose.

She stepped away from the pathway and instead proceeded to examine the forest world before her. The princess tried not to trail too far off as to loose sight of the gate. Though, it would be hard considering how large it was, and she knew she would need to return eventually. But, for now, she wanted to take in this one moment of freedom. Away from her mother's rules, away from prying eyes. Just one moment.

Estelle quickly grew more confident as she walked on ahead. She was well aware of the man-eating plants her mother had told her about, but the royal officers had long since killed off any of those types of monstrous vegetation around the boarder, so the plants that surrounded the outskirts of the gate were harmless enough. Her eyes darted all over the place. First left, then right, and all around, feeling dizzy at how may times she had to turn her head and body. She wanted to be sure to take in every little detail. There was such a variety of plants, each one with bizarre looking leafs with odd shapes, some similar to arrows or stars and even in a strange triangle shape, adorned with a diverse mixture of colored Estelle never even knew were possible.

Every waking moment was something the little princess wanted to preserve in her mind for as long as she could. She slowly came to a halt upon seeing a large tree with a thick dark brown trunk. The tree itself towered over her like a skyscraper. The multitude of leafs rustled in the wind, thought compared to the leafs of the other trees, when Estelle approached closer, she could have sworn she heard the sounds of a woman's soft, low whispering humming in the night.

Another sound came from the branches, this time a fierce crack followed by the sound of a hiss. Estelle gasped, instinctively reaching for her boot and pulling out her wand. Estelle gripped its ends, pointing it in the direction from which she heard the sound. She saw an indescribable shadowy figure rustling in the branches. She waited for a few seconds to see what it was before striking. The tip of her wand glowed ferociously, prickly sparkles bursting out and falling to the ground before disappearing like the sparks of a firework stick.

The energy of magic slowly diminished once the shadowy creature stepped into the moonlight, still perched on the branch. The creature was completely covered in blue fur, and from the looks of it several stripes, shaded with a darker blue color, adorned its body. It was a bit hard to tell due to the branches cascading a shadow upon its back. A stream of hair stuck out from its spine and went downwards towards the upper half of its long tail. Its paws were a lighter blue, as was its face. It had a lime green underbelly with traces of gray and a pair of large bat-like ears stuck out from its head. Its eyes were rather red, seemingly glowing in the darkness, prompting Estelle to step back, her hand trembling as she tried to keep a firm grip on her wand.

"W-what do you want?" she asked the creature.

To her surprise, the furry thing only tilted its head and rapidly began spiraling down the trunk on all fours. Estelle saw its tail. Long and slender with tree elongates pieces flapping behind it. Once it reached the ground, the creature stepped into the moonlight, allowing for Estelle to make out its stripes much more clearly. She got a clear view of its eyes. No longer a glowing blood red, but rather a deep brown, with only a tint of a red shade.

The creature wasn't all that large, and only reached up to Estelle's knee once it stood up on its hind legs. The creature tilted its head once more, its tiny dark blue nose twitching up and down in the most adorable manner. Estelle slowly lowered her wand, the last bit of magic fading entirely along with her fears.

Estelle didn't flinch, nor did she yelp when the creature made an attempt to approach her. The furry thing was within touching distance but quickly stopped. Its left front paw hovering over the ground and the princess caught sight at how tiny they were. It dared to look down at her boots. Slowly and carefully, it took a small whiff. Estelle slowly crunched down, doing ever so gently as to not scare the thing off. She placed her wand back into her boot and with that same hand reached for the creature. Her finger tips nearly brushed the wet surface of its nose. The creature sniffed them, tickling the human's skin.

A feeling of relief and joy swept up inside Estelle when the creature started licking her fingers. She had never had an animal lick her before. In fact, aside from a few birds, the city rarely allowed animals in fear of any one of them being dangerous. The furry creature stuck out its tongue, which rested on the side of its mouth, opened wide as if smiling. Its long tail wagging happily. Estelle giggled and petted the creature's head. Its ears pressed down and its eyes closed, taking in the gentle touch of the princess. With new confidence, the creature leaped into her arms, giving out the cutest little sound she had ever heard. Estelle's laugher became louder as she hugged her new companion who licked her face.

"Okay, okay, stop that tickles!" Estelle said between laughs. She looked at the creature, now cradled in her arms. "Where did you come from?" she asked. "Do you have a family?"

The furry creature whimpered sadly, its ears dropping. Estelle looked down in regret before a smile formed on her face and he lifted the creature higher, lifting his spirits in the process. "Well, you do now!" she said. The creature beamed, its ears rising up in reaction. "My name's Estelle. And, I think I will call you…" she pondered. She wanted a name that would best suit him, but Estelle had never named a creature before. She didn't want to give him just any ordinary human name. She wanted something special, personal. She traced her fingers across its furry back, over the stripes.

"Stripes! Your name will be Stripes." The creature, now forever dubbed Stripes, leaped from Estelle's arms and rapidly spun around, jumping up and down, its tail whipping all around, a strange yet happy sound emitting from its mouth.

"I guess you like it, huh?" she said. Stripes nodded its head, which surprised the princess. "Weird. Everyone always said animals were dangerous and only wanted to kill but…" she crunched down, petting his head. "You're not dangerous. And smart too. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you understood what I was saying." Stripes got up on two legs and licked her nose once more. Estelle giggled.

Her eyes darted at the tree from which Stripes had just climbed down from, noticing something illuminated at its side. She knew it wasn't from the light of moon, the light was coming off of the side of the tree trunk itself. Estelle stood back up, with Stripes loyalty following her, she walked closer to the tree.

The cool air brushed against her cheek as she traced her fingers across the trunk. The surface was soft, almost like the wooden mahogany desks of her bedside table, yet the tree clearly had never been touched by human hands. The bright glow intensified as she walked around the wide trunk. It felt as if it could go on for ages. As she did, her eyes never once darted away from the surface. She stopped for a very brief moment, taking notice of a shimmering trail that seemed to cascade in very thin streams downwards from the tree's trunk. They shimmered like sequins.

She stopped in front of a hole formed onto the side of the tree. It was almost the same size as Estelle herself. An inviting aura loomed over her. The glow from before came from a small pool of water inside the hole. The waters reflected a silver light that danced above the interior of the hole. More of the shimmering streams formed above, and several twinkling tiny stones were sprinkled all around, resembling the night sky. Even the waters themselves seemed restless, constantly pushing and pulling like the ocean current. Foam formed upon the small waves and hit against the tree trunk. Droplets splashed out from the side of the tree, wetting Estelle's pants. She had never seen anything like this before. There was nobody around using a wand to create such a display, and her wand was safely tucked in her boot.

Stripes also poked his head in, sniffing the waters. He dipped the tip of his paw on the surface, causing sparkling ripples to form. Estelle didn't want to take her eyes off of the waters. In fact, she could have sworn she had seen something like this before when she slumbered. The princess boldly tipped the surface with her finger, creating the same sparkling ripples from before. With a giggle, Estelle dipped her hands deeper into the waters, causing several droplets to splash upwards, wetting her jackets to which she payed little to no attention to, her eyes looking down to the sparkling diamond waters towards the ceiling, smiling broadly at the entrancing display of stars and lights dancing above her head. She wondered, if she got in deeper, would she enter and entirely new world?

Estelle was determined to find out, so she stepped right into the hole. The waters glowed as she walked deeper inside, her boots getting soaked. She traced her fingers over the wall to the very end, seeing that this was as far as she would go. Never the less, Estelle didn't feel she was standing inside a hole within a tree. She felt she was in an entirely new plane of existence. A plane she never wanted to depart from.

"Over here!" a voice called out, startling Estelle and Stripes. The little creature's ears perked up and squeaked in fear. Estelle froze in place, hearing the voice again. "I think I saw something!"

She quickly stepped out of the hole, the glowing waters dripping off of her boots, and drying off surprisingly fast. Estelle scooped Stripes into her arms and followed the voice. "Hello?" She called out. She squinted her eyes when flashes of light came beaming her way.

Shielding her eyes from the intensity, Estelle saw two royal officers using their wands to illuminate the way. "Princess Estelle!" one of the officers exclaimed, followed by the other who sighed in relief. "Thank the Arions you're alright!" he crunched down, placing a hand on her shoulder until he took notice of the animal she carried. "What is that?"

Estelle quickly took a step back, shielding a now trembling Stripes in her arms. Her eyes narrowed protectively at them. The second officer pointed his wand at the creature. The light glowed brighter, ready to cast a spell upon the innocent animal. "Your highness, step away from the beast!"

"He's not a beast!" Estelle shouted defensively. "His name is Stripes. He's my friend!"

The two men looked at each other in confusion until they heard the animal whimper in fear. Estelle held him closely, trying to sooth him. This creature didn't look dangerous, and the princess seemed perfectly in tact. One of the officers told his companion to lower his defenses and spoke calmly to the child. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Good. Come along now." the officer gently took her had and lead her back towards the gates. Only the lower porting of the gate was open, allowing portions of the city's light to illuminate the pathway. "One of the watchers saw you on the surveillance cameras. We came as quickly as we could to find you."

As she walked back towards the gate, Estelle's head turned back to the magical tree. "But wait!" she exclaimed, trying to rush back. "There's something you have to see!"

The officer yanked on her jacket, gently pulling her back in his protection. "There is nothing out there to see. We must hurry, your mother is worried sick."

"But it's beautiful! This place isn't scary after all!" Estelle once again wiggled from his grasp, only for the second officer to grip her shoulders, crunch down to her level and stared directly into her eyes.

"Listen to me, your highness. Whatever you think you saw, it wasn't beautiful. That's how this world gets you. Using beautiful trickery to decisive and kill you. You are safe in the city. Safe with your mother."

Her mother. Estelle had nearly forgotten about her mother's punishment for her, being so enamored with the world she was exploring. The princess looked down in regret while Stripes whimpered, mirroring her emotions. The officer stood back up, grabbed Estelle by the hand and led her back home.

Estelle took one final look at the tree and at the world outside. Knowing this would be the last time she would ever see it again.

*(~)*

"What were you thinking?!" Luciana's voice boomed within the walls of Estelle's bedroom. Her face was almost as red as a tomato as she stomped back and forth, all the while Estelle sat dejectedly at the foot of her bed. Stripes quivered in fear within the iron cage he was trapped in on the other side of the room. His eyes darted back and forth between the queen and princess, his tail curled around his crunched body.

"You know nobody aside from huntsmen and officers are allowed beyond the gate! Estelle, this is so unlike you!"

"I'm sorry." was all the young girl could say, hanging her head in shame.

Luciana sighed in exasperation, rubbing her temples. Her hair had been let down, her makeup, accessories and crown were all absent. She still wore her gown but had replaced her black stilettos with a pair of black flat shoes. She looked down at her feet before shooting a fierce look at her daughter.

"But, it's not so bad." Estelle said, causing her mother to freeze in place. She gulped before continuing. "Really! I saw something. Something beautiful. I was in front of this tree with a hole, and inside there was water. Water that sparkled like diamonds, and inside I saw a sky filled with stars and rainbow lights! It was beautiful!"

Luciana fiercely shook her head. "I bet it was that Howl." she said, venom oozing from her voice. "He filled your head with this nonsense!"

"No mom! Don't blame him, it's not his fault!" the princess protested, her hand reaching out pleadingly.

"What did he tell you?" the queen demanded to know. She looked down at Estelle, who trembled at her mother's deadly gaze. "What. Did he. Tell you?" she repeated. A subtle hiss could be heard in her tone. "Answer me!" she snapped.

Estelle flinched. She knew she couldn't tell her mother about what Howl had told her about the beast. She just couldn't. She couldn't let someone get in trouble because of her own actions. Howl was a kind and sweet man, how could she rat him out like this? Guilt swelled up within her heart at the idea of the man facing his mother's punishment. What made it worse was the reality that she did not entirely regret venturing outside the city walls. She had fun in the outside world, there was no denying it. However, as memorable as it was, Estelle refused to allow Howl to face her mother's wrath.

She looked up at Luciana, fists tightened to the side of her legs, back straight as a pole, her lips sucked in and eyes narrowed. Her chest partly puffed up in a futile attempt to appear fearless. "He just told me what was like out there." Estelle said, trying to keep her tone steady. "That it was dangerous, like you always say. But, when I saw the gate open. I thought it was beautiful. I wanted to go see it. It's not Howl's fault, honest. Mom, please don't punish him."

Luciana turned away. The room became stone cold silent until Estelle dared to speak up once more. "I know you say it's dangerous, but…maybe it's not as dangerous as we think. Stripes isn't dangerous. What I saw inside that tree wasn't dangerous." she caught wind of her mother's slight flinch at the mention of this. Estelle took a step further. "Please mom, just let me show you."

"Estelle, don't you dare!" Luciana warned when she saw her daughter rush towards Stripe's cage and unlocked it. Stripes whimpered in fear when Luciana turned around. "Estelle, I mean it!" she marched on over, "Stay away from--!"

Estelle managed to grab Stripes and hold him in her arms. He nuzzled against her chest, looking up at the queen in fear. Luciana stopped in her tracks. The creature didn't do anything to harm either her or her daughter. If anything, it looked almost as innocent as a newborn child. Estelle stroked his back gently, a soft purring round emanated from his chest, making the young princess smile.

"You see, mom? He won't hurt us. He's just scared. And, if he isn't scary, maybe not all of the creatures out there are scary either."

Luciana eased down. The coldness in her eyes melted away and stared at the creature without prejudice before looking back at her daughter. She blinked in realization. "Did…did you really jump over the gate?"

Estelle blinked. "Y-Yeah. It wasn't that hard, really."

Luciana slightly tilted her head. "Huh…only a hunter in training could pull off something like that." Estelle became silent at her mother's words. The queen walked closer, causing the young princess to instinctively shield Stripes. "Calm down, I won't hurt him." Luciana smiled, putting Estelle's worries to rest. "But, there is one thing I need to show you."

*(~)*

The grand doors slid open. The room inside was dark and cold. Stripes trembled in fear, still being cradled in Estelle's arms as they walked further into the room, following Luciana. Estelle had never seen her mother behave this way. She had been silent the entire time, she didn't even look down at Estelle, her eyes fixated only on the room, which was still shrouded in darkness. Luciana raised her hand, tracing the wall until she reached the switch. One by one, a lamp from the ceiling lit up, their golden lights cascading downwards illuminating the entire room.

Estelle gasped in awe, which quickly morphed into gasps of pure horror. Luciana gently took Estelle's hand, encouraging her to continue walking. Billions of portraits hung on the walls. Pictures of men and women carrying spears, swords, axes, crossbows and any other dangerously deadly weapon Estelle could imagine. The frames were made of sterling silver, sharp and polished as if they had just been forged. She walked closer towards one picture which depicted a man with a scar across his face, raven hair and almond shaped eyes. He held a wand in his right hand, and on his left was the severed head of a dragon. Its eyes deadlock, frozen in time forever, its mouth open so wide it was physically impossible. The creature's jaw just hung and dangled from its head, blood dripping from from its pierced eyes and nose. Estelle's stomach turned and her dinner threatened to rise upwards to her throat and out her mouth. She couldn't stand the sight, yet she could not look away.

Underneath the portrait was a stone pedestal with the hunter's name engraved on it, as well as a list of the many heroic acts he had accomplished in his lifetime. Estelle proceeded to look at all the other hunters, who's portraits made up the majority of the apparently endless hallway of the room. Each one had the same silver frame and pedestal, all with their names and information.

"Come." Luciana said, her voice faintly echoed. She extended her hand towards Estelle and she took it without question.

Estelle skimmed through the pictures and pedestals, only managing to remember a few bits and pieces of their names and deeds. Finally, Luciana stopped at one portrait which, unlike the others, wasn't placed in a silver portrait. The portrait was bigger, almost colossal in scale and its frame was made out of the purest of gold, emeralds and rubies engraved in its corners.

Unlike the others, the image inside the portrait did not portray one hunter, but hundreds. Each one wielding a sword with one hand and a shield in the other. They wore full body armor, made out of bronze, the sunlight reflecting off of the surface of the breastplate. Their eyes were as blue as the sky on a clear sunny summer day and skin that rivaled even the whitest of clouds. They wore no helmets, but rather allowed their long golden locks to flow in the wind like capes. On their backs grew a pair of massive white feathered wings, larger than any Estelle had ever witnessed. They flew up into the sky, slicing away the monsters that came their way.

Beside these mighty warriors were humans, wearing nothing but ragged clothing, their faces smudged with dirt. For women, their hair was as tangled as a thorn bush as was for the men, who's beards were just as unkempt. They looked so thin, almost as if they had not eaten in days, but despite their disheveled appearances, their eyes were red with furry and courage. In their hands they wielded wands, golden bands on their wrists and wings strapped onto their backs, fairly smaller in comparison to the wings of the beautifully radiant knights.

Each of the humans fought against a monstrous creature with such aggression and boldness. They fought alongside the knights, many of which stood right alongside a human, shielding them from an unseen creature from behind, or simply wielding their sword right alongside them as they shot magic beams from their wands.

The setting in which the battle was taking place was beautiful, with exotic plants and a mesmerizing sunset. The golden rays radiated across the land, reflecting off of the heroic knights.

One knight, however, stood on high on a rock, one knee bend, with his sword held up high at the very center of the battle. His hair was long with streaks of white, eyes as clear as the sea, the most beautiful shade Estelle had ever seen in her entire life. She stepped closer towards the painting, her eyes fixated on the one knight who appeared to be leading the fight. His shield to his side and his wings spread out, the heavenly light of the feathers cascaded downwards, bringing light and warmth to all.

Estelle tilted her head slightly upon noticing the eight-inch star imprinted on the knight's shield. The four inches were purple, but the other four were a pale pink. It looked a lot like the star birthmark on Estelle's own forehead, which was in the exact same style and had the exact same colors as the one on the shield. She boldly rose her hand, tracing her fingers over the canvas. She flinched upon feeling her mother's hand on her shoulder, catching her off guard.

"Do you know who these beautiful beings are, Estelle?" Luciana asked, looking up at the painting with the same wonder as her daughter.

"They're the Arions. Right?"

"That's right. Long before this city was built, our ancestors lived in the world outside the gate, constantly on the run from monsters."

"I know the story, Mom." Estelle interrupted, "Then the Arions swooped down and gave everyone wands to cast spells, wings so we can fly and control the weather and gold bands to grow food and control the earth and plants so we could fight against the monsters."

"Indeed they did." Luciana nodded, "And from the ashes of that battle, we build this great city in honor of our saviors. But do you know why we send hunters beyond the gate?"

"To kill monsters." Estelle replied, "But I don't get it. I already know why they go, how come--" she was silenced when her mother rose her hand.

"No, you don't know. I've been waiting to explain this to you when you were old enough to understand. But, as it seems, you're more than ready now. We send hunters to kill the beasts, yes, but it's not just for amusement. The Arions fought to protect us from the monsters."

"But, if the Arions are so powerful why don't they just destroy the creatures themselves?"

Luciana was silent and simply led her daughter towards another portrait, placed on the left side of the portrait. The image confused Estelle. She saw another Arion, a female, but she didn't resemble the others in any way. She had wings, of course, but hers were torn and withered, and in some areas even burned right off. Her hair was wild and sharp like thorns, razor blades for teeth and pools of black tar for eyes. Her dress was a dark purple with patches of black and was barefoot. Her toenails sharp and unkept as her long, gray and filthy fingernails. An army of people surrounded her, throwing chains which wrapped around her ankles and wrists as she struggled to break free. On the left hand corner of the picture stood a man in a long yellow robe, which adorned the same star symbol in the center. He rose his hand forward to the creature, giving the impression that she was shouting at her. His face was calm and relaxed, yet stern and focused.

"Who is that?" Estelle asked, "Is that an Arion?"

"Yes, she is." Luciana replied, in a surprisingly cold and disapproving manner. "But not one you wish to know, or even serve."

"Why?"

"Arions are a different kind all together. While divine in nature, they can marry and have children, hence their descendants shall watch over us." Luciana's eyes narrowed in a deprecate manner. "But Llamrei was different. " she spatted at the mention of the name. "She did not approve of humans being able to posses magic. She believed the Arions alone should have been the ones with all the power. She didn't think we were worthy enough to have it. One day, Llamrei attempted to take the magic for herself, pretending to be our friend. But, a wise and devoted follower of the Arions, Sage Javan, saw through Llamrei's deception and rallied everyone to fight her." Luciana's tone shifted, lowering in depression. "Unfortunately, since she did not give birth to any Arions afterwards, she became the last one. The other Arions eventually descended onto the heavens, and have since watched over us as unseen spirits."

Luciana led Estelle to the right hand side of the portrait, where she demonstrated an image of the Sage Java, holding a book in his hands, underneath the Arions, who watched over him and the rest of the city from above. Estelle was left in awe at the beauty of the image.

"Don't you see, dear? That's why we have hunters go out there and eliminate these monsters. We do it in memory of the ones who did so for us and to finish what they started long ago."

"What do you mean finish what they started?" Estelle asked.

"To complete their mission. Our mission. Our mission to vanquish the very last monster out there, so that we no longer have to live within these walls. So that one day, we can expand our great city so that the earth may finally be cleansed of the evil that has plagued it for centuries. There is a whole world out there, unseen by human eyes. It may take a while, but we are getting closer and closer to that goal each and every day. In fact, Somorrah is even bigger now than it was in the years when I was a child."

"I…I think I understand." Estelle said. "But, Stripes is from the outside world, and he's not dangerous."

Luciana smiled warmly, caressing her daughter's cheek. "I know. That's something else I wanted to tell you." the little princess blinked in confusion and her mother tilted her head to the picture of the Arion knight on the main image. "Do you notice anything familiar about this picture?"

Estelle squinted her eyes and walked closer, her eyes immediately landed on the star symbol on the Arion's shield. She pointed her finger at it. "There! That star, it's the same one I have."

"That's right."

"What does that mean?" Estelle asked, turning around to face her mother.

"It means, you're special. I always knew from the moment you were born that you would become a mighty queen, maybe the greatest Somorrah had ever seen." Luciana said. Estelle noticed there was a sparkle in her eyes, something Estelle had never once seen before. "But, after tonight, what you did, those skills and the way you tamed this…" Luciana gestured to Stripes, who remain hidden behind Estelle's legs. "This creature, I think I finally understand."

"What, mom?"

Luciana crunched down to her daughter's level, tears already streaming down her cheeks. "Estelle… The Arions have blessed you with their symbol. You are clearly gifted with incredible strength and courage, befitting not only a queen… but a mighty hunter as well."

Estelle gasped. "Are…are you serious?"

"Well, you definitely need a bit more training, and you still need to learn some restraint but, yes. You clearly have a lot of physical capabilities, even at your age, and such tactful thinking… it's astonishing.

"But, wait! Does this mean I have to…kill every creature I see?" Estelle hesitated to ask.

Luciana thought for a moment until Stripes walked up, rubbing his head against her leg. Luciana giggled and held the furry creature in her arms, stroking his head. "Well, maybe not every creature from now on. Maybe, with your help, we can spare innocent little ones like these."

"Do you mean it, Mom?"

"Yes. See, you're changing things already."

Estelle's smile widened. She couldn't keep herself still any longer. She leaped for joy and began doing cartwheels across the room, shouting victoriously. "Woo-hoo! I'm gonna be a hunter!"

"In training, for now." Luciana stated as she stood up and Estelle stopped her cartwheeling. "And still future queen. So you're going to have a lot more learning to do."

Estelle's enthusiasm immediately dropped, as did her shoulders. She slumped. "Uhh…"

"But we can worry about that tomorrow." Luciana allowed Stripes to leap off from her arms and lifted Estelle's chin to face her. "Right now, try and get some sleep. And no sneaking out this time, got it?"

"Got it."

Luciana kissed Estelle's forehead, right above her star shaped birthmark and started walking out of the room. She turned around to see Estelle still gazing at the large portrait. "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah. Can I…look at it one more time, please?"

"Alright. You know where your room is."

Estelle nodded her head and her mother left her to gaze once more at the portrait. She studied the Arion Knight, mimicking his pose. She looked over to the statue of Sage Java. The old sage definitely looked the part. Wise and old, but also kind and welcoming. She noticed that, on his forehead, he had somewhat of a diamond shaped mark on his forehead. Estelle's hand rose upwards, her fingers tracing over the surface of her own mark. Her mother's words replayed in her mind over and over like a recording. She pulled out her wand from from her boot, wielding it like a sword, pretending to stab something. She looked once again at the image of the Arion. Clenching her fists, Estelle placed it over her heart, bowing her head.

"I promise to be the best hunter and queen I can be. If that's my destiny, then I won't give up. I will keep my eyes on the path."

*(~)*

Chapter 3: The Wild Heart

Chapter 3~

The Wild Heart

If they didn't know better, it would be safe to assume that the cocky grin on Estelle's lips was permanently sculpted onto her face. The princess leaped into the air, a jump that would be nearly impossible by human standards, dodging the incoming blasts of magic that came her way. With her will power alone, she extended her wand and wielding it as a blade she blocked the incoming attacks, which made a clanking sound upon each impact on the surface of her weapon while she was in midair. Once she landed, one of the boys commanded a rock to rise from the earth and hurled it at the princess, to which she managed to break into small pebbles with one swoop of her blade.

The boy with sandy blond hair and dark gray eyes pointed his wand, creating strikes of lightning which bounced off of the ground, aiming at the princess. Estelle's wand had extended further in length, now resembling a staff, and absorbed the rays of light by rapidly spinning the staff with one hand. Once all of the energy had been absorbed, she pointed the tip of her wand at her two opponents. Bolts of electricity came shooting at rapid speed, but the two nimbly avoided the attacks, which ended up striking a nearby stone instead, breaking off the tip.

The blond boy came charging towards Estelle, unleashing an ice blast from his own wand. Estelle remained unfazed, casually redirecting the attack, which came in reverse and hit the boy right on his chest plate, knocking him down on his back.

The second boy, one with brown hair adorned with green streaks, came up from behind Estelle. His golden bands shimmered in the light and continuously pounded his fists to the ground, commanding it to rise beneath her feet in an attempt to knock the her off balance.

Feeling the earth tremble, Estelle leaped into the air once more, flipping in mid air and landing feet first onto the ground, right behind the boy. She flashed him a brooding smile, her flawlessly white teeth bare as she pounded her own fist into the ground with crushing force. Her golden bands glowing intensely, creating small earthquake. Boulders rose and the ground broke apart knocking the boy flat on his back. Never the less, the boy flashed the princess a grin. She arched an eyebrow.

With his hand pressed to the ground vines began to sprout. They wrapped themselves around Estelle's ankles and her wand glowed brightly. In a blinding flash, Estelle cut through the vines with ease and leaped into the air, doing a double flip and landing right behind the blond haired boy, who had gotten up after having melted the ice away with his heat spell. The moment he stood back up he had fallen to the ground yet again. This time, flat on his face. Estelle had jabbed his back with two fingers, knocking him unconscious. Several of the students laughed at seeing their fellow classmate now laying on the ground, snoring.

Estelle came charging towards the brunette standing, who in turn levitated two rocks beside him, also charging forward. He hurled them both at the princess, who actually took the chance and used the stones as momentum to jump on and lift herself up into the air. She flipped and sent a stream of fire at the boy as she descended downwards. The blast was so intense that the boy was pushed back, tumbling away. Once the flames had died down his face and cloths were coded in ashes, his hair was entirely singed. He got down on his knees and laid on the ground, completely disoriented.

Estelle spun her wand rapidly with one hand before placing it back inside her left side pocket. She wiped away the sweat from her brows with the back of her wrist. The students watching from the bleachers cheered, hollered and whistled wildly while Estelle approached the boy and offered him her hand.

"Good match, Chase. Really brought your A game today. I'm impressed." Estelle said as the boy, Chase, took her hand and she hoisted him up back to his feet. He placed his hands on his knees, panting in exhaustion. "Thanks, Estelle. Who knows, maybe I'll finally best you before you graduate."

"Unlikely, but I like that persistence." Estelle giggled and playfully punched his left arm. Chase laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the area she had hit. Estelle walked on over to the now sleeping secondary boy and gave a gentle jab on his neck. "Rise and shine, Zach!" she said.

The boy, named Zach, sprung awake, jumping up to his feet, lazily pointing his hand to nothing in particular. He calmed once his hazy vision cleared, seeing Estelle standing beside him and noticing the laughter of the other students. His friend Chase was not attacking, a clear indication that they have lost to the battle. Zach hung his head in disappointment, his arms dragging to his sides.

"Aww, man! I Thought we had her this time."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Princess." a man said as he approached her. He looked to be around his mid to late thirties with a high and tight haircut and a silver earring on his left ear. His skin was sun-kissed tan, his bulging muscles out in the open, the sleeves of his coach unicorn having been ripped right off. He wore black jeans, sneakers and a whistle around his neck. He smiled at Estelle, who bowed her head in respect.

"My pleasure, Coach Gunderson." Estelle replied, smiling politely.

Coach Gunderson smiled at the princess, beaming with pride. His expression melted into a stoic one upon looking at both Zach and Chase. "As for you two!" he spatted, speaking in a booming voice which caused the two young men to flinch and straighten themselves. Estelle remained collected and unfazed as the coach approach the boys. His tone softened a bit in addressing to the brunette.

"Chase Matthews, excellent performance with your earth magic." he said. Chase let out a sigh of relief, his muscles relaxed and nodded his head in gratitude. "But you gotta be more ferocious. Estelle was able to slice through your attacks and outmaneuver you with ease. Work on your timing and learn to think ahead of your opponent."

"Yes, Coach." Chase said, bowing his head. "I will definitely work on it."

"You better." Gunderson then turned to Zach, his eyes narrowing, his fist clenching as he approached the blond haired boy. The coach's voice rose once more, nearly blowing off his student's ears and his breath creating a breeze that whipped his bangs. "Zachary Flinn, your performance was pathetic! Your spells were lackluster and you lasted even less than your classmate! I expect more from you next time, soldier!"

Zach gave the coach a salute. His eyes widening in fear, his knees buckling. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Now give me twenty laps around the arena! MOVE IT!!"

Zach immediately high tailed it out of there and proceeded to do the twenty laps. Chase sighed in relief, thankful to have been spared of running the laps this time. Coach Gunderson looked down at his wrist watch and turned to the rest of the class. "Dismissed!" he shouted.

The students dispersed, grabbing their bags and heading to either their next class or to the lockers to clean up. Chase shook Estelle's hand once more before parting ways. Several of the students approached Estelle, congratulating her on her latest win.

The last two students to congratulate Estelle were her two best friends, Dahlia and Cecelia. Dahlia was a very fit looking young girl with olive skin, dark chocolate brown eyes, and long flowing light brown hair. She had a pair of golden hopped earrings, red eyeshadow and blood-red lips. She was considered one of the most beautiful girls in the academy.

Cecelia was a foot shorter than Estelle and Dahlia. A bubbly young woman with peach skin, dark yellow green eyes and bright fiery red hair styled into a tight ponytail. A patch of freckles were sprinkled onto the surface of her nose and shoulders and had on a pair of elegant glasses. She too had an athletic build, though not as full as that of Estelle or even Dahlia.

Cecelia was literally jumping for joy when Estelle approached them, taking the bottle of water from her gym back, swallowing down the pure liquid. "Oh, my Arion!" the red-head squealed, "Estelle, you were beyond amazing! I mean, you were flipping, and zapping and--"

"We get it, Cecelia." Dahlia interrupted, rolling her eyes, wearing a deadpan expression. "She was awesome. But seriously, Coach couldn't have signed you against Vincent, or Steve?" Dahlia's deadpan expression melted into one of disappointment while the three girls made their way to the locker room. "For crying out loud, you're one of the school's top seniors! Battling a couple of sophomores is just a warm up. Heck, more like a warm up to a warm up. That fight lasted, what, five minutes?"

"Dahlia, chill. It was just training, not a real test." Estelle said once they entered the locker rooms and started removing the armor platting she was wearing during the fight. "Coach's assistant was out sick so I volunteered to help out. Besides, I like training these guys. It helps build character."

Dahlia groaned in exasperation. "Whatever. This year has been a drag for new competition. I've battled nearly everybody at this school and its getting boring."

"But, you lose to Estelle every time, remember?" Cecilia reminded her. She immediately stepped back upon seeing the fiery look in Dahlia's face.

"Well, yeah." Dahlia admitted, flipping her hair and retreated to her locker. "But, really, who can beat Estelle? The prime example of a hunter?"

The blue haired princess rolled her eyes at the statement. While it was indeed true, hearing it over and over again did eventually lose its novelty and just became repetitive and dull.

Estelle removed her armor, revealing to have been wearing a light aqua shirt, long midnight blue pants and a pair of gray magenta boots with light gray pink outlines and gray purple platform heels. She pulled out a gray purple one shoulder shirt from her locker and wore it over her aquamarine one and a long cape that wrapped around her ribcage and two straps on her shoulders where her silvery white wings were. The ends of the cape were long, with two beads, one purple and one pink. Around her waist was a pink belt with a rounded yellow buckle.

"Dahlia, please, who are you kidding? I got creamed during my freshman year, remember?" Estelle said, placing her wide braid over her shoulder and wiped the remains of sweat from her face with a towel before tossing it into her locker.

"Yeah." Dahlia agreed, gazing at her reflection in the mirror that hung inside her locker door. "For like two minutes. It didn't take long for you to start from the bottom and reach the top in less than a week." she said.

"It's like you're supper human!" Cecelia commented, brushing her now loose red hair while Estelle drank from her water bottle. "Everybody knows it. You're the most popular and adored girl in all of Somorrah. Not surprising, since you're also the princess!"

"Which means, there's a lot more to this gig than just being popular." Estelle tossed the bottle into the locker before slamming it shut. Leaning against it she crossed her arms, resting one leg over her right. "If I'm going to lead these people one day I have to learn to treat them as equals and motivate them to be the best they can be. Even if it's something small like being a temporary teacher's assistant."

"But, you love punching people and taking names." Cecelia said.

Estelle chuckled under her breath, grinning. "Yeah. I do." the princess suddenly felt her nose twitch, feeling a sneeze coming. Dahlia has ambushed the princess by spraying some perfume onto her face, hair and cloth. Estelle coughed, fanning the powerful aroma away. "What are you doing?!"

"You smelled like sweat. You're welcome."

Estelle narrowed her eyes, snatched the perfume out of Dahlia's hands and sprayed her friends right in the face. "Hey!" Dahlia exclaimed, stepping back, "Not too much!" she laughed.

Estelle laughed as well, surprising Cecelia with the same perfume as well. The red-haired girl squealed in shock but then laughed along with the others. Estelle tossed the bottle back at Dahlia, flipping her blue bang. "Revenge is sweet."

*(~)*

The bell rung for the final time that day and students swarmed out from the building. Estelle, once again, was being greeted by many of the students and faculty. She jumped down from the stairs, not bothering to use them and was once again met with Dahlia and Cecelia. The three friends walked along the streets of Somorrah to their usual after school hang out.

It was Estelle's favorite time of day. After spending long hours listening to boring teachers go on and on about stuff she already knew it as nice to take a breather and just explore the vast and beautiful city she called home.

For anyone who has ever lived in this city, they all agreed it was close to paradise. Buildings of bronze metal and glass rose high into the sky. Window reflected shimmering colors of the rainbow. Houses adorned with stunning flower gardens grown by the people themselves, and vendors with fresh fruit and mouth watering slices of meat, curtesy of the hunters' latest killings, aligned the sidewalks. Cars drove by at such accelerating speed it made Estelle excited just by looking at them. The sound of a revving engine was like music to her ears.

Above her head, up in the clouds hovered airships, which served as offices for the weather patrol. One ship opened its hatch, and a flock of humans with wings on their backs flew out. They wore goggles over their eyes and full body jumpsuits with fingerless gloves, boots and high tech belts around their waists. They moved the clouds with their hands, commanded the winds with their wings and made it rain in specific areas for the plants, vegetables and fruits that needed the most in order to assist the farmers. Inside the airships, people used their wants to power the controls of the machine, as wands were often used for everything else in Somorrah. If not for magic, this city would not be the thriving metropolis it was today.

The three friends stopped at a sidewalk cafe, where they sat at their regular table outside. Umbrella canopies hovered above the table, with a single wand sticking from the top, powering it. The waiter arrived and took the girls' order. Cecelia looked around, pointing her finger directly at a dress shop on the other side of the road, opposite from where they sat.

"Oh, look at that one!" she exclaimed. Estelle turned her head, looking in the direction her friend was pointing at a particular dress on display. A couple of other teenage girls had already gathered around to admire it.

Estelle tilted her head. The dress appeared to be strapless, or at least she thought so. The so called "straps" were so thin she could barely see them. The dress was split to the side, exposing the mannequin's leg entirely, and the upper half of the dress was styled far too low that if Estelle ever tried it on she'd be desperately searching for a towel or anything just to cover herself up. The only positive thing she found about the dress was the seemingly effortlessly the blue and purple colors blended together. No doubt her mother would approve of it, due to the combination of the two colors. But the rest of the dress definitely needed some more work.

"It's perfect for your coronation/graduation dress!" Cecelia exclaimed, excitedly clapping her hands.

Dahlia tapped the side of her chin in thought, studying the dress and nodded her head. "Oh, totally! Plus, it's a Stella Moneh original. Your mother owns like a million of her gowns."

"Yeah, I know." Estelle replied in a bored tone, turning away from the dress and taking a sip from her glass. "But, I already have my dress picked out, so it's fine."

"Come on, Stelle! Your coronation is still a month away, plenty of time to make a switch. Not to mention it's on the same day as graduation. It'll be the first time anything like this has happened in, like, ever! It'll be one for the history books, all the more reason to put as much effort into finding the perfect dress as to finding the perfect boots for when we go out there and kill those beasts." a wide smile formed across Dahlia's face, clenching her fists with delight. "I can't wait to shish kabob my first manticore!"

Cecelia rested her chin on her palms, sighing dreamingly, "And I can't wait to have my picture up on the wall next to all those great hunters. Do you think I should dye my hair before graduation?"

"Why do you ask that?" Dahlia asked in confusion.

"Well, since we were talking about looking our best I thought maybe a new look would help commemorate the occasion. Oh, what about a bright honey yellow?"

"Oh, sure!" Dahlia said, smiling excitedly, right before quickly morphing her smile into a deadpan frown. "If you want to stick out like a midday snack for the monsters."

"So, that's a "no" on the honey yellow?"

Estelle sighed, letting her two friends continue their discussion about hair colors when a faint sound rang in her ears. Estelle jolted her head in alarm, focusing on the sound. She immediately identified it as a scream of some kind, but it was muffled due to the speeding cars. Estelle turned her head around, seeing on the other side of the road, a few blocks away from the dress shop, she spotted a pawnshop owner being harassed by a couple of roguish looking men in leather and silvery accessories and multiple piercings in their ears and noses, along with a variety of tattoos on their arms.

Estelle narrowed her eyes when she noticed that Dahlia and Cecelia were still debating about hair coloring, but rather than try and get their attention, Estelle boldly made her way across the street. Only then did the princess's absence grabbed the two girls's attention.

"Estelle? Where are you going?" Dahlia asked, only to face palm once she saw where she was heading. "Oh, no."

"Your payment is overdue, old man!" the apparent leader of the gang said as he lifted the defenseless man by the collar of his shirt. He was as buff as Coach Gunderson, and twice as large with a bald head which had a shark tattoo that went downwards to his back. On his shoulder was the shark's fin. Three more thugs stood behind him, each one with their arms crossed, smiling maliciously as their leader threatened the trembling shopkeeper.

"P-Please, I just need a little more time and I'll pay you, I promise!"

"I've given you enough chances already, old man." the thug said, his voice deep and threatening.

"Let him go this instant!"

The thug spun around, still holding the shopkeeper by the shirt, only to see a young blue-haired teenager standing before him. The princess stood firm, her posture straight and with her wand in hand, which she had used to teleport herself. The thug laughed, lowering the shop owner down while still gripping his collar.

"Or else what, little princess?"

"Or else you'll have to answer to me." Estelle wasted no time in unleashing a stinging blast that strike the thug's wrist directly. He cried out in pain, feeling as if a sharp needle has pierced his skin, prompting him to release the shopkeeper who quickly ran inside, locking his doors.

The thug growled in anger, pulling his own wand from his back pocket, only to hold back when one of his followers tapped his shoulder. "Boss, don't you know who that is?"

"Of course I know who it is, numskull!" the brute grinned, gripping his wand in his large hand. "She would make a fine little ransom." he said right before shooting a beam at the young woman, who immediately blocked it with a shield she had magically manifested. One of the thugs, a shorter one in comparison to their leader with dark skin and a green colored mohawk, outstretched his arm and a vine-like whip grew from his golden bands and lashed it at the young woman.

Estelle immediately caught the end in her fist, and pulled it back with brute force, taking the mohawk thug with it. Estelle grunted as she swung the thug around, making him crash into the nearest dress shop, knocking down the mannequin which, coincidentally, had the dress Estelle had mentally rejected moments ago. Various cars stopped to watch the events unfold.

Another one of the thugs came charging at Estelle, who evaded his punches and send a sucker punch to his stomach, pulled on his ear and forced him to the ground. A shadow loomed over Estelle. Looking up she saw another thug high in the sky. He was a bit slimmer in comparison to the rest, but still just as muscular. With his raven-black wings spread out, he flew higher into the air before landing downwards with a knife in hand ready to slice her in two. Estelle flipped out of the way the minute he came down with crushing force, his blade creating a crack on the sidewalk.

The second he landed Estelle zapped at him with her wand but the man immediately noticed that he was completely unharmed. The zap went right over his head. He laughed. "You missed!"

Estelle smiled smugly. "Did I?"

The thug arched an eyebrow. The smell of fried chicken reached his nostrils and noticed that his retractable wings had been burnt, preventing him from being able to fly. Seeing her chance, Estelle kicked at the man's hand, causing him to drop his blade and sucker punched him square in the jaw.

The leader, and the last one remaining, pulled out his wand, the tip glistening in the light like a sharp knife. Estelle used her own wand to create a powerful beam of light which blinded the man long enough for Estelle jump kicked him in the gut…three times.

The impact sent him flying backwards and landed on his back, inadvertently dropping his wand in the process. Estelle quickly picked it up and stepped on the man's chest, pressing her foot so hard he could hear his ribcage cracking. Estelle pulled out her own wand and extended it. The thug gulped upon seeing the incredibly sharp tip mere inches away from his face, daring to look up and gaze into Estelle's fierce dark silver blue eyes which burned with a fiery inferno that send shivers down his spine and sweat to perspire from his body. And, possibly wet his own pants.

"Unless you want another hole in that nose of yours, you and your buddies will come along quietly." Estelle spoke in a cold, menacing and unforgiving tone. The thug was now one hundred percent sure he would need a change in underwear.

Before he had the chance to answer, the sound of police sirens filled the streets. Pedestrians stepped back as the uniformed men came rushing out, aiming their wands at the thugs, each one disoriented from their fight with Estelle. Dahlia and Cecelia, who had been far too stunned to move, watched in awe with dropped jaws at Estelle single handedly besting four fully grown men twice her size.

The officers quickly cuffed the men and the two girls approached Estelle, checking her for any possible injuries. "Estelle, are you okay?" Cecelia asked, looking at her friend from top to bottom, "Are you hurt? Did you get a cut somewhere?"

"What were you thinking?!" Dahlia exclaimed in frustration. "They could have killed you!"

"The shopkeeper was in trouble, what was I supposed to do?"

"Uh, call the cops?"

"I'm a hunter-in-training and future queen, this is my job."

"Estelle, hunters are supposed to hunt monsters." Dahlia said, empathizing the last word. "Cops hunt criminals. And the queen is supposed to look dignified and solve everyday problems… not go around punching people like a maniac without warning!" Dahlia's breath quickened, her nostrils flared and her hands were half clenched.

Estelle placed a hand on Dahlia's shoulder, "Lia, chill. I'm perfectly fine. Not a scratch on me or hair out of place."

"Well, there is one." Cecelia pointed out, gesturing to Estelle's slightly unkept left bang. She quickly adjusted it.

A young police officer, around twenty or so, approached the three girls. Cecelia immediately blushed at his presence, adjusting her ponytail and slightly shoving Dahlia aside for him to get a better view of her. She batted her eyes flirtatiously, already so entranced by his attractiveness that she was nearly oblivious of the fact that his attention was solemnly on the princess.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" he asked with a look of genuine concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Estelle replied. The shopkeeper opened his doors, still trembling in fear, but upon seeing the princess he rushed towards her, getting down on his knees, practically weeping with his nose to the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you, your highness! Bless you, bless!"

Estelle blushed at his admiration. While used to people bowing to her, but this was a tad overdramatic. "It's okay, you don't need to bow." she said sweetly. When the man refused to get back up, Estelle bit her bottom lip awkwardly. "Seriously, please get up."

The shopkeeper complied, gripping both of her hands, shaking them in gratitude. "Is there anyway I can repay you?"

"You really don't have--" Estelle began, only to be cut off when Dahlia intervened.

"You think we could get a discount?" the brunette asked, only for Estelle to angrily elbow her in the cut, knocking the wind right out of her. "On second though, I'm more of a retail kind of gal." she said in a faint squeaky voice.

"Princess Estelle." The young officer called to her, completely oblivious to Cecelia staring at him dreamily. "Is it my obligation to inform you that we shall be escorting you back to the palace.

"That won't be necessary. I know the way home." Estelle said, already about to make her leave before the officer stood in her way again. Cecelia moved right next to him.

"I'm afraid t--" the officer noticed Cecelia's really, really presence and arched an eyebrow. "Could you politely step back, miss?" he asked. Cecelia only giggled and complied. Dahlia face palmed. Cecelia was always rather slow, but when it came to attractive men her entire brain just seemed to turn into a pile of pudding.

The officer cleared his throat before speaking. "As I was saying, I'm afraid there is no option. We will escort you home."

"Why?" Estelle asked, already growing a tad impatient. The officer sighed and showed her the caller ID on his cell phone. Estelle's eyes widened in terror. "Oh…"

*(~)*

The massive throne room had not changed over the years. It remained the same for as long as Estelle could remember. Whenever her mother was in a bad mood, the room became cold as ice piercing through one's skin. It was a feeling that felt like second nature for Estelle. The massively long size certainly added to the cold and distant feel. The two massive doors stood at least ten feet away from the throne.

Stone cylinders carved from hard stone towered over Estelle's head, the sides engraved with pearls, diamonds and amethysts. Slim golden poles aligned the hallway, resembling forks with elongated candles. Their amber flames flickered whenever the queen moved, her long cape quickly following, wrapping around her body before its ends rested onto the perfectly polished floor.

The walls were adorned with paintings of the Arions in shimmering armor and wielding their swords. At the very end of the room stood the throne, trimmed with gold and silver with an elegant silk cushion. Small stairs led up towards the regal chair. Above the throne was a circular stained glass window, which originally hardly ever experienced any light. Only when the windows on both the left and right hand sides of the room were open on a bright sunny day did the lights enter the room and danced on the walls in a dazzling, dream-like display. But, most of the times, the colorful masterpiece of a dashing Arion knight remained colorful, but hardly vibrant.

Luciana herself was as regal, flawless and mesmerizing as ever. Her skin remained as clean and clear as it did in her youth. Her long black raven hair was now often loose and curled with strands of shimmering purple and gold streaks. She wore a purple v neck dress that reached her knees, exposing her long legs while wearing a pair of black purple heels. Her sleeves were long with floral patterns, colored silver around her wrist. The same pattern was around her waist and on her V neck which reached towards to reach her said waist. A large pinkish opal stone engraved into a buckle sized broach rested on her front, laces of purple castrated downwards. The same fabric could be seen on both the left and right side of her skirt as well as a long cape behind her.

On her head she wore a small elegant hat on the left side of her head, made out of purple velvet with a while feather, held together by pink diamonds. The same diamonds dangled from her earlobes.

"Well. This is quite the predicament you've gotten yourself in." said the queen. Her voice piercing through the silence like a knife.

"I did what was expected of me." Estelle replied. Over the years, the young princess had grown become much bolder in addressing her mother. However, that still didn't diminish the reality that the woman was still as intimidating as she had always been. Estelle made sure to still hold the queen in high respects, but her teenager rebellious spirit often failed her at the worst of times.

"What was expected of you, you say?" the queen replied. Her eyes unwavering, her posture stiff and still, her hands held together close to her stomach. "You mean, causing a riot and destroying public property?"

"It was just a window and a mannequin!" Estelle said, "Nothing a replacement spell couldn't fix. Besides, I'd rather there be a broken window than innocent people getting hurt."

"Except people did get hurt."

"Yeah, the men who were responsible for harassing an innocent!" Estelle's voice grew higher, while taking a step further towards her mother.

"It is the police's job to apprehend criminals, not yours." Luciana replied, her voice also increasing in volume, her eyes slowly narrowing.

"What did you want me to do? Just sit there and do nothing? There weren't even any cops in sight at the time!"

"You should have called them the minute you saw what was happening. They would have arrived instantly at your command and you still could have saved that shopkeeper. There was no need to endanger yourself."

"That's a bunch of hypocritical crud!" Estelle spatted.

Luciana's eyes widened in shock. Her lips tensed as if trying to hold back her mouth from shouting. "Excuse me?" she asked tensely.

"I'm going to become a hunter soon, which means I'm going to be placing myself in danger every time I go outside that gate! If I can't handle a bunch of pea-brained thugs then how else am I going to deal with a man-eating monster? Besides, you're the one who keeps saying I'm blessed by the Arions and that they always keep me safe. Why is this such an issue all of a sudden?"

Luciana's shoulders rose as she inhaled slowly. Her eyes narrowed further and her frown was tense. Seeing her mother's state Estelle immediately reeled back. Once again, her temper flared and she acted without thinking. Luciana finally exhaled. Her shoulders lowered, her mussels relaxed as did her expression. She was silence for what felt like an eternity.

The silence was cut when the sound of clopping heels against the stone floor echoed throughout the room. Luciana stood before Estelle, apparently frozen, before spontaneously hugging her daughter. Estelle was tense, unsure on how to respond. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around her mother. Her body eased under the warmth of the embrace.

"You're not mad?" she dared to ask.

"No." Luciana replied, still hugging her one and only child. "I'm not mad. I'm actually really impressed with what you did. It's just…I worry about you. You've always had this fervid spirit that it's unpredictable." Luciana finally ended the hug, caressing her daughter's cheek. "I know you are capable of taking care of yourself but… I wish you had more restraint and control."

"I try." Estelle answered truthfully, her voice low and soft. "It's like an instinct thing, you know?"

She didn't even need to look at her mother to know what she was thinking. As talented and gifted as Estelle was, her wild-hearted spirit was still an issue. But, even if it was her duty to be the queen her people wanted, she still felt compelled to act when needed. At times, it served her well, but other times--like today--it didn't.

"I'm sorry I scared you." Estelle said, lowering her head.

"It's okay. I'm sorry I snapped." Luciana said, the intense fire in her eyes evaporated. Despite the dark coloring of her brown orbs, Estelle saw the genuine love and compassion behind them. "I know as a hunter you will be facing many dangers, but as future queen you do not engage in violence with your citizens, even if they are criminals. We are all a part of this city."

Estelle hung her head. "I'll…try to work on it."

"You better. Your coronation is in a month. I expect some improvement by then."

At these words, Estelle wanted to pull on her hair. She could already feel her restlessness bubbling to the surface but she swallowed it. She could always blow off some steam latter. For now, she would make her mother happy.

The teenager nodded her head and Luciana allowed her to retreat to her room to rest. As Estelle walked down the halls, her eyes darted upwards at the Arions on the walls. Their eyes looking down upon her. The princess walked up the stairs which led to her bedroom and the moment she did she fell flat on her pillow, groaning in exasperation.

A familiar furry creature poked his head from underneath the bed, wagging his tail happily and leaped onto the princess's back. Estelle lifted her head up, seeing the nyx's upside-down face staring at her. His tongue stuck out and he licked her nose and as a result Estelle's earlier funk instantly vanished. Stripes always had a way of putting a smile on Estelle's face. She was thankful to the Arions every day that her mother allowed the friendly furry creature to stay in the castle.

Estelle positioned herself onto the side of her bed, giggling as she wiped away the slobber from her face, which proved futile sine Stripes only licked her once more. "Okay, okay! I'm happy to see you too, boy!" Stripes finally ceased his licking and sat on her lap, still panting happily. While she continuously scratched behind his ears, Estelle reached for the drawer of her night stand, pulling out a perfectly wrapped gift with a note attached to it. Stripes fiddled with the yellow bow until Estelle kindly pulled it away from him before his claws could accidentally ruin the gift.

"Sorry, boy. This isn't for you this time." Estelle said before standing up form from her bed. She walked towards the glass doors that led to her bedroom balcony. Stripes trailed behind her, leaping onto the railing as Estelle rested her arms upon it, leaning forward. Her blue locks blowing in the cool winds. Stripes whimpered sadly at Estelle's longing gaze. Her dark gray eyes automatically drawn to the large gate at the very far end of the city from where she currently stood.

She remembered the events as if it was only yesterday. The night she dared to defy the laws of her kingdom and boldly stepped outside the gates after they closed. Every small detail, from the leafs to the individual subtle markings of the tree bark and the colorful blends of the flower petals were still fresh in her mind. She wondered if any of it had changed in the past ten years.

Rarely anyone within the city ever spoke of the outside world, and when they did it was often negative. Every professional hunter she had ever encountered shared the exact same opinion as everyone else. The highlight of their time outside was to kill the creatures they saw as a threat, but aside from that, any other experience outside was seen as a burden. Of course, they were more than willing to sacrifice their own personal disdain for the outside in order to eliminate all of the monsters in existence so that their city can finally put the untapped land outside to good use.

Still, Estelle oftener wondered if, perhaps, they wouldn't need to destroy everything out there. She didn't remember her first and last experience ever being a dreadful one. The rare trees, the plants, the full moon, the fresh otherworldly yet intoxicating aroma, it was also when she met Stripes, it was all wonderful. If anything, seeing all of those severed monster heads and dripping blood was the dreadful part of the experience that made her stomach turn. Her huntress training helped immensely so now she had managed to surpass it to the point she no longer flinched whenever she saw a rotting monster corpse.

Still, she didn't want to go out there again and return with nothing but dreadful stories where the only highlight was the killing portion. No, she wanted to experience it completely the same way she did as a child. Who knows, maybe there could be more innocent animals to save like Stripes. or maybe some rare plants or herbs they could use for medicine and such. As helpful as magic was, it did have its limits. It couldn't guarantee a cure for any disease and it couldn't expand one's life either.

As much as Estelle loved every bit of her fair city, she could never shake away that longing feeling of there being more out there. More that could help their city grow and expand just like her mother said it would one day. She couldn't wait for graduation and her coronation day. It would be the beginning of every she had ever strived her. Ever she had ever dreamed of. Everything she had ever wanted.

"Soon, Stripes." she said, "Soon, we'll see that world again. And we'll make our city even better."

Stripes gave a soft growl in agreement. Estelle's eyes then shifted to one corner of the city, where there was mainly farmland, trees and meadowy fields with small humble homes. Estelle looked over at her watch. It was only five fifty seven in the afternoon. She made a mental note to be out of there in approximately one hour and and two minutes.

If there was anything else, besides fighting, flying and practicing magic, that excited Estelle, it was to see her old friend on his day.

*(~)*

Chapter 4: The Encounter

Chapter 4~

The Encounter

Estelle didn't waste a second once the clock stroked seven. Spreading her silver wings, she flew all the way towards the countryside. She had already informed her mother on where she was going long beforehand. Luciana complied with her daughter's wishes.

As much as Estelle loved the urban city, she was just as drawn to the vast countryside, if not more so. Her boots pressed upon the soft blades of grass. Stripes leaped from her shoulder and landed on his paws. Thanks to the magic of the farmers, the land was always lush and new. Rows of freshly grown vegetables went on for what seemed like miles. The surface of the tomatoes shinned like a precious ruby. Stripes attempted to take a bite but immediately stopped when Estelle told him 'no'.

It was already nightfall, so the farmers had all long retread to their homes, cozying up with their respected partners by the fire place to either talk, read a good book or watch some television. The lights of the houses were still on, so nobody had gotten to sleep yet, save for a few.

Estelle and Stripes walked along the brown road up a small hill. On her left stood a lone cottage with a rounded fence made entirely out of rocks circled around it. The half broken metal gate hung loosely from the left side. The old cottage was made entirely out of wood, save for the rusty metal roof. The windows were partly open, allowing for the cool nighttime breeze to enter the house. The old and worn curtains billowed.

While the grass was well trimmed, large bushes with small blossoming flowers grew near it. Vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the pillars sustaining the roof. A lawn mower was parked right outside the nearby tool shed, which by the looks of it had seen better days.

The front porch had a single rocking chair and a few pillows had been spread out, where small little creatures slept soundly. These were the animals the hunters had managed to rescue and brought to Somorrah. Many of them had breaded, creating new generations of these said creatures. The majority lived in the fields while others became house pets, like Stripes was to Estelle. Though, she didn't really consider him a pet so much as a companion.

The creatures came in several sizes. One small furry creature had ears so large they served as wings. Its nose was tinny and pink, which twitched on occasion, and a pair of long slender legs with tiny talons. Its tail was long, slender and pink in color. Several animals were a tad larger, their backs reaching up to Estelle's waist, with necks that reached all the way to her head. They had long, slender legs with antlers on their heads and decorative floral-like markings on their backs.

Another variety was harrier, yellow with brown spots, and smaller horns on their heads. They were very sweet, but had the terrible habit of spitting in one's direction. Several of the creatures rested on the rusty old roof. Creatures with either four or six legs, with long bushy tails with white, gray and black stripes across. Large transparent membrane-covered wings were attached to their arms, allowing them the ability to glide.

The largest of the creatures, ironically, was the laziest and the friendliest. Many wondered how it was able to survive in the outside world. It probably didn't considering he was the only one of his kind whom they had managed to find. A creature completely covered in brown fur which was colored green over his back, making him appear like a poll of grass. It had cloven hooves, a large wet nose which frequently made snorting sounds. A pair of large curved horns stuck out from its head, which had resulted in many mistaking him for a threat. But, given how his naturally passive nature they decided he was worth saving. The poor thing probably no longer had a heard of its own.

The beast sniffed Estelle, its large brown hairs partly covering its warm eyes. The princess gently pushed him back, politely asking him to not lick her again this time. The last time he did she smelled like saliva for an entire week.

The young princess knocked on the door, awaiting patiently for the owner to reply. Stripes played with a few of the colorful creatures of various shapes, sizes and colors. Some were furry, others were scaly. Some a mixture of both. One winged animal with purple plumage landed on Estelle's shoulder. The creature let out an adorable "hoot" sound from its tiny beak. Light colored feathers formed over its eyes, resembling strange winged eyebrows. Its eyes were black, but shimmered like stars. It nuzzled its face against Estelle's cheek.

The door opened and the hooting animal flew from Estelle's shoulder over to the owner of the cottage. An elderly looking man with slender eyes and a warm smile. He wore a plain gray shirt, old and faded with a few stains here and there. Over his shoulders he wore a black jacket and a pair of dark pants, rolled up halfway above the ankles and a pair of flip flops on his feet. His hair had become whiter over the years, his beard had grown longer and bristly. He still wore his signature spectacles over the bridge of his nose.

"Happy Birthday, Howl." Estelle said, holding his gift behind her back.

"Estelle, my bell! I didn't think you'd remember."

The princess laughed, "Howl, you say that every year."

"And it never gets old."

"Eh, it kind of does." Estelle replied with a shrug.

Howl tilted his head back in laughter, stepping aside so the young woman could enter. Estelle made sure to keep her gift hidden. Stripes walked inside, the scent of steaming hot potato soup entered his nostrils. The little nyx panted excitedly, his tail wagging and ran towards the kitchen.

"Stripes, no! Where are your manners?" Estelle said, her voice soft yet stern. Stripes lowered his ears and whimpered sadly, apologizing for his impulsive reaction.

"It's okay. There's plenty for everyone." Howl said, approaching the kitchen. The cottage itself was small, with a simple kitchen only three steps away from the living room. A few stools and a couple of old cushion chairs were set around a small coffee table, which was where Howl ate his meals. Bowls were placed either inside or outside the shack.

The place was adorned with paintings that either hung on the walls, or were placed near the floor. Every time Estelle came to visit she saw a brand new painting, yet they were all of the exact same thing, all done in an eye catching nouveau style.

Estelle took a seat, placing Howl's gift beside her, while the old man poured the hot boiling soup into the bowls. He had one special one for Stripes. He stuck his tongue into the liquid, only to immediately jerk back due to the hot temperature. Estelle giggled under her breath while the poor little creature fanned on his tongue with his paw. He blew on the soup before tasting it again. He purred with delight.

"Would you like some too, Princess?"

"Yes, thank you."

Howl poured the soup into another bowl and offered it to Estelle, spoon and all. He sat opposite her direction on another chair, crossing his legs, blowing on his soup before eating. The soft potato pieces melted in Estelle's mouth. She never complained about the food in the castle, it was always made perfectly by their gourmet chef. But, there was just something oddly charming about having a meal that wasn't so overly decorated or complex. It was just heated liquid with sliced potatoes with a pinch of salt. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Mmm, still so good!" Estelle said, savoring the taste.

"Glad to hear it. So, how's life in the big city?" he asked, sparking the conversation.

"Pretty good. Same old same old."

"How are those friends of yours, um…" he squinted his eyes in an attempt to remember, "Daisy and Chloe?"

Estelle laughed, "Dahlia and Cecelia. They're fine, Dahlia is already planning her dress for graduation and Cecelia is…well, she's still her sweet self."

"Still gets her brain fried whenever there's a handsome young man within two feet?" Howl asked.

Estelle compressed her lips to try and keep herself from laughing hard, considering she still had some soup in her mouth. She swallowed before answering. "Okay, that's just mean!" she said, unable to suppress her giggles.

Howl rose his hand in surrender, "Hey, you're the one who hangs out with them."

Estelle chuckled, "Come on, they mean well."

"What about the next generation? How many of em have you sent to the infirmary week?"

Estelle rolled her eyes, "Ha, ha, hilarious. You can rest and easy, nobody got on my bad side so I allowed them to live." she joked.

"Lucky sacks. Of course, I can't say the same for those punks you pummeled earlier today."

Estelle nearly chocked on her soup. She cleared her throat before speaking. "You heard of that?"

"I may be a hermit but I do still have a radio." he said with a knowing grin. "I take it your mother didn't react very positively."

Estelle bit her bottom lip, stirring her soup. "You could say that."

"Well, to be fair, I was pretty worried too." he said. Estelle looked up at him with a look of regret. The old man smiled, "After all, this was the same girl who gave a senior a nose bleed and a black eye during her freshman year. Those scumbags don't got a dime of a chance!" Estelle and the elderly man shared a laugh. "That fact your mother was more worried about you rather than those poor souls is surprising to me."

"Oh, speaking of surprises." she pulled the present from her side and handed it to Howl.

The old man's green eyes brightened once he held the gift in his hand. "Aww, little one. You didn't have to get me anything." he said. Once he unwrapped the gift, the former hunter reached out to Estelle, giving her a warm hug.

"Aww, aren't you the sweetest thing." Howl said, graciously accepting his gift.

"I noticed you were running out of paint, and this way you won't have to go into town to deal with those jerks at the store."

"Good thing, too. I'm working on a new one. Wanna see it?"

"Of course!" Estelle replied without hesitation. Howl stood up from his chair, feeling his legs fail him for a moment. Estelle sprung from her chair and rushed to his aid. "Howl, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." he assured her as he slowly straightened his back while Estelle held his hand and supported his arm. Stripes scurried over, his large ears perking in curiosity. Howl gave a low wheezily chuckle once he had fully straightened himself. He patted Estelle's hand in gratitude and led her to his room and switched on the light. The bedroom was old and rustic, but partly well kept. It needed to be in order for him to keep his large collection of paintings. Small ones hung on the walls, while bigger ones were stacked into perfectly placed rows with a white blanket over them.

Beside his bed was the painting he was working on. He always painted while sitting on the side of his bed. The jaws of paint and used brushes were placed on a small stool right beside it. Estelle studied the image while Howl placed his gift on his nightstand.

The princess's eyes sparkled in curiosity and stepped closer towards the painting. Howl sat on the corner of his bed, allowing his guest to take in the details of his work. The drawing had yet to be fully painted, and was just a fully done sketch, depicting a creature running across the fields. Sketches of leafs, some painted green, flew all around him. Sketch lines that resembled grass had been drawn around it, as well as a few trees in the background.

The creature appeared as if it would leap right out of the page at any given moment. The hair on its head as well as it long elegant tail billowed in the none existing wind like an elegant ball gown when twirling. Estelle tried to resist the urge to reach out and stroke those majestic locks that extended all the way to the back of its long strong looking neck. Its body was wide with rippling muscles, its pointed ears pricked forward and its legs appeared as if they were touching the very air that separated it from the grass. It was an animal that moved freely, without restraint, both physically and, from Estelle's perspective, spiritually. As if by magic itself, she could see the creature frolic across the fields. The wind caught in its hair and tail while its body thrusted forward with no signs of stopping, making surrounding mountains look blurry in its wake.

This wasn't the first time one of Howl's paintings had this kind of impact on her. Every single one of his paintings depicted a creature of incredible strength, majestic beauty and unyielding freedom radiating in its eyes. Every creature came in a variety of colors, some even had wings and a curved horn coming from its forehead, resembling a wand. These had long slender tails with cuffs of hair at the end. The same cuffs came from their ankles. Several paintings depicted only the creature's head. Some had beaks and talons on the side of their hooves and blue feathered wings. This specific creature was the exact same one Howl refused to kill all those years ago.

Nobody had ever witnessed a creature such as this before, and Estelle had always secretly hoped they would find it and bring it to Somorrah. For how could a creature as wild and breathtaking as this could ever be evil? Allas, such a specimen was never found.

Estelle reluctantly snapped herself awake from her hallucination of seeing the creature move before her eyes. Howl noticed her crestfallen expression and patted the side of the bed, inviting her to sit beside him. Estelle sighed sadly.

"Anybody else would probably ask why you never get tired of painting the exact same thing over and over again. But I think I know why." Estelle said, giving him a warm smile.

"Do you?" Howl asked, curiously raising a brow.

"Yes." Estelle nodded her head, "They're not just drawings on a piece of paper they're…" she paused for a moment to try and think of the right words to say. "They're alive, in a way. I can actually see them running across the landscape and I can feel the adrenaline. The same adrenaline I feel when I battle or cast spells. The same adrenaline you must have felt during your days as a hunter."

Howl sighed, turning his gaze away from the princess. When he didn't speak, Estelle became concerned. "Howl? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. "

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, kid, nothing 'wrong'. You just said what the art makes you see and feel."

"I just wish they weren't stuck in here all the time. If people saw your work they'd love them just as much as I do."

"Kid, I doubt anybody would want to see anything from a wash-out hunter."

"You're not a wash out!" Estelle said defensively, "Everyone still remembers you as the greatest hunter ever. My professors use your exploits as an example to motivate the other students. Plus, your work is amazing!"

"These paintings weren't meant to be in a museum to show off."

"What's wrong with people seeing them? What's wrong with others realizing how talented you are?"

Howl stood up, struggling to keep his balance, placing his hand on the wall for support. His fingers traced the corner of one of his portraits. His bright green eyes reflected the light coming from the lamp. "I've worked my backside for years killing monsters. Getting awards and parties in my honor. And yet, after all these years, people are still out there risking their lives, killing every dangerous man-eating monster they come across. Sometimes, it's not even the monster that gets his or her head chopped off. While the names and the weapons may change, the pattern repeats itself over and over."

Howl hung his head, his hand still pressed to the wall. Estelle reached out her hand, comforting her old friend. "I know you're scared. But, I'll be alright. I believe in the Arions and they will protect me. Besides, I'm aware of the risk. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help my people. To ensure a better future."

"Will it make you happy?"

"Of course it will. I'm going to contribute to my role to the city. It's what I've always wanted."

Howl stroked his beard tentatively, turning around to face her. "You sure that's really the reason you want to go out there again?" Howl asked, giving her a knowing smile. "Because, as I recall, you didn't always show an interest in becoming queen."

"I was just a little kid."

"Yes, you were."

Estelle opened her mouth to reply, but she was genuinely stuck. Her mother had trained her for years to become the ideal queen, as was top of her class. Everyone knew she was talented, and she knew it as well. She had grown up knowing her desire to become a hunter so she could defend her city from monsters. However, there was another reason why she wished to go outside the gate. She never said it out loud due to fear of sounding selfish.

Howl walked around the room, admiring his work. Estelle observed and listened. "I remember the first time we met. You were this lively little thing, asking questions that made a grown man gasp." the princess giggled at the memory. "The way you lit up when I told you the story of the creature."

"The one you spared." Estelle said.

"Yes. Since then, hunters have stopped killing every single creature in sight, and instead took the time to rescue those who were innocent. Like your friend Stripes here." Howl gestured to the little creature, who had crawled up to Estelle's shoulder, nuzzling her cheek with his wet nose.

Estelle looked at the painting beside Howl. Her mind pondered at his words. As if by lightning, the answer came to her. "That's why you really paint them, isn't it?"

"Now you're getting it!" Howl said with an enthusiastic snap of his fingers, "I spared one life long ago, and that in turn spared so many others. Because you listened." he paused for dramatic effect. "My trophies have rusted. My image in magazines have been replaced by newer, younger faces, but that one moment left a grater impact on my life than anything else I have accomplished. Something so small in comparison to everything else that's big and loud, it's more eternal than anything. Real change can only start once you've learned to listen."

A light buzzing sound caught Estelle almost off guard. Pulling out her phone she witnessed that it was already eight thirty four. "I'm sorry, I have to go. My mom wants me home before nine."

"That's alright. Thanks for visiting." Howl gave the princess a warm hugh before parting ways.

"Happy Birthday. You're coming to my coronation, right?" Estelle asked hopefully.

Howl did not answer right away. Instead, he patted the top of her head and ruffled her abnormally blue colored hair. Estelle natural reaction was to laugh at the gesture.

"Don't you worry about that, kid. I'll be there. Promise."

Estelle gave him one last hug before calling to Stripes. She opened her arms and her loyal companion leaped into them, his furry face nuzzling her cheek. She spread her silver wings open and flew out into the sky. Howl waved farewell from down bellow, his animal companions gathering around him.

"Alright, alright, I've got plenty of soup leftover. No pushing."

*(~)*

The sounds of honking cars was heard from down bellow as Estelle flew across the nighttime sky. Stripes was securely fastened in her arms. Estelle looked the time on her phone, seeing it was eight fifty two. She was supposed to be home by nine. Two to five minutes late at the most. Thankfully, Estelle was not only top of her class, but also the fastest flyer in Somorrah. Sometimes, while she would have a casual fly around town, some of the boys would request for a race. It was mostly to try and impress her, but Estelle hardly ever declined. Any chance to showcase the boys she was not so easily attainable. That, and she enjoyed any excuse to taste the intoxicating adrenaline rush that came with it.

Her silver wings flapped harder to facilitate the process. Stripes held on tighter, his claws grasping the edged of Estelle's jacket. The sound of car horns suddenly flared and multiplied, followed by a collection of screams and gasps from down bellow. Estelle noticed various pedestrians suddenly stop in their tracks. Apartment lights turned on and windows flung open, the residents poking their heads out in curiosity. Estelle slowed her flying, looking down with concern puzzlement. She pulled her attention away from the people down bellow once Stripes let out a terrified shriek.

Estelle gasped upon seeing a strange, large creature flying right towards her. Estelle stopped in midair, only for whatever it was to collide with her. The princess screamed in terror as the weight of the mysterious object started to force her down. The stars blurred with the city lights as she fell. Estelle grunted as she rolled onto the top of a building.

Stripes had fallen from her hands, but was thankfully unharmed. He had fallen right beside her, shaking his furry body as he stood. Estelle heard a strange animal-like sound a few feet away from her. Estelle gasped and recoiled in terror once she witnessed the creature slowly rose up on its four legs.

The creature was bigger than Estelle, with a slender yet muscular body, a long almost reptilian-like neck and massive wings stretching from its back. A long slender tail wiped as it moved. As it struggled to stand back up, Estelle got a much more detailed look on the mysterious beast. Its body was entirely covered in red scales, which changed to a green color around the front of its hind legs. Its legs were long, slender but powerful looking. Her front legs were covered in a pinkish fur, and traces of hair came out from the ankles. It stomped opts cloven hooves as it rose. The underbelly was pale yellow, which blended with the city lights. The beast wobbled once she stood, visibly disorientated. It shook its head, the long pale pink locks, streaked with purple and dark pink/red streaks moved like satin silk being billowed in the wind. Its ears were long and pointed. Estelle caught a glimpse of two small golden hoops attached to them. The creature's lower half of its face was yellow like its belly, while the bridge of its nose began with green scales, changing to red around its forehead. Speaking of its forehead, a long curved horn rose from its head, its messy pink bangs bounced off of its head as it moved. Two more horns grew from the left and right side of its head, and the same colored spikes cascaded downwards from its back, all the way down to its long slender tail, with a cuff of hair at the end, the same color as its mane.

But, perhaps its most distinguishing, and intimidating feature, were its wings. Massive, red scaly wings with green membrane. When they opened, Estelle felt a million times smaller in comparison. Stripes stepped in front of the princess, growling and hissing at the beast as it regained its composure. Around its neck, Estelle noticed what appeared to be a satchel of some kind. The beast locked eyes with the princess, who froze in place. Its big almond shaped eyes were a striking shade of green. Vibrant and radiating with a sense of warmth and empathy. They reminded her a bit of Howl's eyes, only, if possibly, brighter.

The anatomy of the creature also triggered something in Estelle's memory. Its powerful yet slim build, the long, finely handled mane and large expressive eyes reminded her of the wild, mystically enchanting creatures from Howl's paintings. Its nostrils flared, making a snorting sound. Its ears flickered back and forth in a curious manner. The beast suddenly growled when Stripes snapped his jaws at it in an effort to protect Estelle.

The princess petted his head to calm him down and Estelle stood back up. Stripes stared in bewilderment as Estelle stood still. The creature didn't move either. It made no attempts to attack Estelle. Its wings were tucked in, its tail moving softly and gracefully above the cold building's surface. The words from Howl's story seven years ago seeped into Estelle's mind as she took a tentative step forward. The creature didn't flinch, nor react. Instead, the princess caught what appeared to be a soft smile forming across the creature's mouth. A small smile began to form on Estelle's face as well.

"It was…strange to say the least….I didn't know what came over me, but I suddenly found myself walking closer."

Stripes kept a close eye on Estelle, making sure his mistress would keep an approvable save distance from the creature if it attempted anything. Both human and creature kept their eyes locked, feeling as if an invisible cord were pulling them towards the other. The distance between them minimized and Estelle's palm hovered over the creature's nose. Her eyes sparkled with such emotion unlike anything Estelle had ever seen. For a moment, she had forgotten this was even an animal at all. Standing beside her felt as natural as if she were standing next to a human.

The sound of a gunshot caused the creature's pupils to morph into cat-like slits. Its ears presiding back on its head as it let out a powerful whining sound, seamlessly merged with infuriated growling noises. Its mouth opened wide, revealing its razor sharp teeth. Its front legs rose and kicked the invisible air, and its massive wings spread out. Stripes hid behind Estelle's leg and she looked up, seeing several police officers flying above her, each one wielding a gun, shooting at the beast.

The creature galloped and trotted in place, snarling at the winged humans. Its chest puffed up before opening its mouth. Estelle's eyes widened in both terror and shock. Intense, powerful flames came shooting from the creature's mouth, directly at the police officers. They hardly avoided the incoming blasts, several loosing momentum and fell on the building. Estelle knew of only one animal who could create fire from its mouth. But how was that possible? There was no denying the creature indeed resembled the mighty, terrible lizard of lore, but she had never heard of one with three horns, hair or hooves. There was no mistaking the homogeneous anatomy. Still, if this creature could breath fire yet wasn't entirely a dragon, then what exactly was it?

One officer quickly hurried to Estelle, shielding her with his body, while pointing a gun at the beast. "Wait, no!" Estelle cried, but the officer had already pulled the trigger. The bullet came flying at top speed the poor beast hardly saw it pierce right through her wing. The creature roared in agony as blood began to spill from the cut, and another bullet hit its leg. Estelle quickly knocked out the officer by jabbing on his shoulder, paralyzing his body and rushed towards the creature, now whimpering and groaning at its injury. Droplets of blood fell upon the ground, tearing a hole into Estelle's heart. Memories of the traces of blood that came from the severed heads of the beasts the hunters had slayed when she was seven years old came flooding back. Years and years of overcoming such an experience had faded as quickly as pulling away a bandage.

A indescribably urge seeped into Estelle and she stood right in front of the beast, using her body as a shield to protect it from the gun wielding officers. "Don't you dare shoot!" she ordered.

One of the officers told his companion to hold his fire, to which he complied. Estelle rushed to the creature's side. Pulling out her wand, Estelle attempted to use a healing spell on the beast. But, the moment it saw her wand, it growled in terror, trying desperately to get away.

"Shush, it's okay. I won't hurt you." Estelle tried to sooth the creature, but it continued to squirm, crying out in pain. Its head bobbing up and down before finally stopping due to exhaustion and pain. Small snowflake-like particles emitted from the tip of her wand, landing on the bloody wound on both the creature's leg and wing. The wound on her leg had closed almost instantly, but the hole on her wing still remained. The blood ceased spilling out, but the poor beast was still in a state of shock and recovering from the treatment. While healing spells could indeed fit any injury in a matter of second, the aftermath of the injury would still linger. The beast would need bed rest and plenty of fluids.

Estelle reached out her hand for the creature's face, gently feeling the soft texture of the scales, and even a few traces of fur that brushed against her skin. How odd, a creature with scales and hair at the same time? It was impossible. Was it?

The officers landed beside her, seeing the creature completely defenseless, wheezing in pain. The officer who Estelle had knocked out eventually came to, one of his fellow law enforcers assisting him back to his feet. From down bellow, Estelle could hear the distant sounds of people cheering in victory at the supposedly dead animal. The princess payed very little mind and she softly patted the creature's head. Its breathing leveled, its large green eyes became warm and innocent every time it looked at Estelle. It looked so fragile and scared. Estelle felt as if tears would roll from her eyes. A monsoon of questions and emotions wrestled inside of her. She could't explain why she felt such a strong sense of protection for the beast. It wasn't the same as when she first found Stripes. This felt different, almost as if she were seeing a family member laying injured on the cold floor.

One of the officers finally dared to speak, "Uh, Colonel."

"Yes, sir!" the said officer replied with a salute, though there too was uncertainty in his tone.

"Contact Headquarters. Tell them we…found something and--"

"Casualty." Estelle answered. Her eyes still on the creature.

"Your highness?"

"Tell them we have a casualty." Estelle replied, finally turning her head to face the officers. "Better yet, get an ambulance."

"Princess, this is just a…it's an animal. A beast. What do you suggest we do with it? Perhaps we should contact your mother before--"

"No need." Estelle said, standing up to face the officer, standing firmly. "I will inform my mother." she pointed a finger at the officer's chest. "You and your men see to it this animal is taken to the palace. I will decide what becomes of her."

"Her? How do you know it's--"

"Is there a problem, Officer?"

The man straightened his posture. "No, none at all, Princess. I will get right on it."

Estelle nodded her head and the officer quickly got on the task. Meanwhile, she sat back down beside the creature, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry." she whispered in a kind, soothing tone, which seemed to have a positive effect on the creature. "You're going to be alright. I promise. Nobody will hurt you."

Stripes finally amped up the courage to approach the creature. He sniffed her head, to which she snorted. The air blown from her nostrils ruffled his fur. He quickly adjusted it with his paw and wagged his tail. The creature gave a soft smile, and a growling sound that resembled a chuckle. Estelle smiled at the two only to revert her attention back to the satchel around the creature's neck. Gently, Estelle adjusted the bag so as to not bother the creature as she laid her body. She didn't flinch and allowed the princess to pull the bag over her stomach. It was leather made, almost as if it were made y human hands. A golden button kept the bag closed. Upon feeling the bag, Estelle felt something hard inside. Taking a small peek she saw a hard cover and white pages, yellow and stained due to age.

Estelle looked curiously at the creature, who slightly rose her head and whinnied, almost as if warning her. Estelle had never seen anything like this. Who had ever heard of a creature carrying a book? Could an animal even read?

More and more questions popped into her mind, one overlapping the other over and over. Would her mother try to lock the creature up? Would she allow Estelle to keep her just as she did with Stripes? Could she really be one of the creatures Howl had said to have witnessed all those years ago? Could there be more out there?

The poor creature's painful groan helped Estelle conclude that she would those bridges once she got to them. Right now, the important thing to do was to make sure the creature was somewhere safe. As she dialed the number on her phone, Estelle prayed to the Arions that her mother wouldn't kill her once she got home.

*(~)*

Chapter 5~ Ride

Chapter 5~

Ride

From down bellow, pedestrians aligned the streets, while several police cars surrounded the building from which Estelle had landed on. The residents of said apartment looked out from their windows, while a news crew had arrived to report the scene.

The creature's ears flickers anxiously at the sound of the constant high pitched wailing, the frightened screams, gasps and murmurs of the crowd, as well as the constantly shifting helicopter lights that hovered over her and the princess. Estelle made certain the people kept their distance from the animal, who snapped her jaws every so often whenever one of the officers even so much as dared to inspect her. The only human she allowed to be near her the entire time was Estelle, and even she wouldn't allow anyone else to come near her unless the ambulance had arrived. Estelle narrowed eyes in a way that mirrored that of the creature at the officer's constant asking if the princess needed anything.

After the ambulance had finally arrived on their helicopter, the crew were…more than startled to see the wounded unidentified creature. The paramedics weren't sure how to take this large animal to the palace, even with the ones who possessed wands, one levitation spell wouldn't be enough to rise this beast off the ground. They would need more wand users in order to complete this feet. They also did not have a gurney big enough. Thankfully, one of the crew members knew of a growing spell and made the gurney into the perfect size to carry the creature. More and more paramedic wand users were called, and using their combined magic were able to place the beast onto the flying contraption.

Estelle remained by her side the entire way back. The officer had alerted Queen Luciana of what had happened. When Estelle asked what her mother had said, the officer only gave her a look of discomfort. Estelle didn't ask anymore questions after that and returned her attention back to the creature, who continuously whimpered in fear. The electric lights above and the strange contraption she had been placed on felt very strange and foreign to her. Estelle could feel the creature's heart pounding heavily inside her chest, as if it were about to pop right out.

Estelle took a wet rag and placed it over the bullet sized gapping hole on the membrane of her wing, wiping away bits of the already dried blood that caked the surface. Her injured leg had been bandaged. Whenever the creature became anxious, she immediately relaxed when Estelle either whispered into her constantly twitching ear, or placed her hand over the surface of her scales. Estelle had noticed that the scales shimmered like pure garnet stones, while the pink part of her body had a soft furry surface.

Once they had arrived at the palace, the creature was taken to the queen's throne room. Luciana promptly rose from her chair once the doors had opened and the creature was levitated before her. It was lawed that every animal that came into the boarders of the city would first be presented to the queen, in order for her to decide the proper usage and outcome of the creature. This had been the law since Estelle suggested to instead save innocent creatures rather than kill everything in sight. Before, the dead animals and whatever remained were given as offerings to the queen, and she would decide which carcasses would be used for either decoration, or be prepared as food for her subjects.

Estelle desperately hoped her mother didn't plan on harming the creature. She remained by the animal's side as Luciana descended from the small stairs towards the beast. The animal became aroused, its teeth partly visible and a sound that resembled an angry growl vibrated in her throat. Estelle rubbed the creature's chest in hopes of calming her down. Even if her mother believed her to be a threat, Estelle would not allow any harm to come to the creature.

Luciana wore an austere expression, even when it seemed the creature was threatening her. She turned to face her daughter. "So, this is why I had to cut my meeting short?" she asked, her voice calm and composed, yet cold and forceful at the same time. "Why did you bring this creature here? From what I heard, she attacked our police force."

"She didn't attack until she was provoked." Estelle firmly stated, gripping her fists tightly. The creature's ears flickered upon seeing this. Her emerald green eyes gazing up at the queen and her said ears pressed back against her head.

"Did she hurt you?"

"No. She didn't even try."

Luciana studied the anatomy of the beast. There was no mistaking the wings, spikes and horns, though the middle one coming from its forehead was a feature she had never heard of before. "I have heard of dragons." she said. "They are known to be one of the most deceitful creatures out there. They are the reason many of our huntsmen did not return. I thought we had killed the last one ages ago."

"I don't think she's a dragon, mother." Estelle said, "Well, at least not entirely. Yes, she breathed fire but--"

"Then she is a dragon." Luciana interrupted, her lips pursing and stared daggers at the beast. "Or at the very least of the dragon family. All the more reason she should be sentenced to death."

Estelle swiftly placed herself in between her mother and the dragon-like creature, outstretching her arms to block her mother, who took only one step forward. Her brows furrowed. "No! I won't let you do that!"

Stripes hid behind Estelle's legs, nodding his head as if he were agreeing with his owner, but Luciana payed no heed. "Estelle…"

"I told you, she didn't hurt anyone! She didn't hurt me!" the young princess turned around, removing stray strands of the creature's mane from her forehead. Luciana's eyes partly widened, though the rest of her face and body remained still, she noticed the way the creature's eyes softened upon Estelle's touch…the same had happened when she found Stripes all those years ago, as well as the result of many creatures that turned out to be innocent. They were immediately soothed by her touch.

Luciana became irresolute. Every bone in her body told her to eliminate the creature right then and there. There was something about the thing that made her skin crawl and her hands wanting to clench into fists just by being near it. The creature's eyes were large, and admittedly beautiful unlike anything she had ever seen. Luciana willed herself to look up at the paintings of the Arions above her head, silently asking them for some assistance on the matter. When nothing came to mind, Luciana wanted to yell at her daughter and make the final decision, no matter how angry she became.

Still, seeing Estelle affectionately petting the creature, who became so at ease in her presence made Luciana think twice. Perhaps this was another sign of the Arions in regards to what made Estelle so special. Maybe, this was just part of another test she had to complete. Who was she to question the will of their gods? Their beautiful gods who represented all of the most wonderful aspects of humanity and their virtues. More than anything, her mission was to follow their example, which she had done all her life.

"Guards!" Luciana's voice rose, causing Estelle to flinch and the beast to whimper in fear. The queen quickly adjusted the volume, having unleashed some of her kept up anger in the process. "Take this animal to the prison chambers." she said in a more tamed manner.

"What? Mom!"

Luciana rose her hand, commanding her daughter to be silent. "She shall sleep there for tonight. Place her in the corral in the garden meadow by morning. Gag her as well, just to be safe."

Before Estelle could utter a word in protest the creature was already being pushed away by the guards. Estelle's hand remained on the creature's side, only to have it slip right off once she was out of arm's reach. The creature let out a desperate whining sound, its mouth wide as if she were crying. Estelle felt a stab in her chest. Seeing the creature being taken, while still in her frightened and injured state, cased a fervid flame to ignite within the princess. Her fists clenched even tighter than before, her nails digging into her skin. She sucked in her lips as tears already threatened to roll down her cheek.

"Mom, you better not harm her!" Estelle warned, her nostrils flaring while barring her teeth, almost in a similar manner as the creature. "She didn't do anything!"

"You will not raise your voice at me, young lady!" Luciana's voice finally rose to its full extent. She had kept her composure the entire time the guards were present, but now that it was just her and her daughter she had no more reason to withhold herself any longer. She calmed down before speaking again. "I assure you, no harm shall come to the creature. But we can not allow her to use her fire breath on anyone else. I only spared her because you seem to have some kind of power over her. She listens and obeys you, much like how our royal pets do. We shall keep her as a form of study. I believe this could serve as a great cause for our people."

Estelle stared at her mother in confusion. "Obeys me? What are you talking about? All I did was…" Estelle stopped. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened. All she knew was that she felt an immediate compassion towards the creature, and seeing her injured and frightened was as painful and unbearable to handle as much if she were someone of her own flesh and blood. Estelle…didn't understand why. Was it…was it that she did have some kind of secret power? The power to sooth even the most ferocious of beasts? Was that what led her to the outside gate all those years ago?

Her thoughts halted when Luciana placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Get some sleep. I promise, she will still be there once you wake up tomorrow."

Estelle nodded her head and turned around, pushing the large doors, exiting the throne room. Stripes trailed close behind. Once the doors had closed, Luciana took a moment to clench her fists. She picked up one of her throne pillows, and digging her sharp, long purple nails into it, she tore it in half. Clunks of cotton and silk fabric fell slowly onto the floor as the queen hung her head and got down on her knees, praying desperately to the Arions for forgiveness. However, once she looked up again, seeing the beautiful faces of her gods immediately relieved her of her transgressions. She got back on her feet, placing all of her trust that the Arions would knew exactly what do to in regards to everything that has just happened.

She trusted them with all of her heart and mind, and that was what gave her the peace and joy to sleep soundly that night, and every night afterwards.

*(~)*

His eyes widened in alarm, clenching his chest as he groaned in pain. With an outstretched hand, he held a handful of his beautiful black muck, bits dripping through his fingers before dipping his elongated fork tongue into it and took a large pile of it into his mouth. He licked his lips, savoring the addicting taste. His lair was filled with holes, all pouring in the slimy, black sewage that came in so many colors, all tainted with a dark tone. Nothing delighted him more than staring and eating the muck to his heart's content.

However, just now, he saw what he feared to admit…a bright silver color, transcending into white. No wonder he felt such a sting in his chest earlier. But, thankfully, it didn't take too long for it to become gray once more. Sometimes, it would show signs of whitening, but it was very short lived, and grew more of a darker shade as the years went by. It wasn't entirely black, but he knew it would be soon enough.

Unfortunately, today the sting felt alarmingly different. It didn't just feel like a needle piercing his chest, no. This time, it felt almost like the very tip of a dagger was hovering over him, digging two times deeper than normal. Not deep enough to stab him, but enough to cause him to squirm.

The sludge that poured out, with traces of dark purple color that made it nearly impossible to distinguish between the two, satisfied his pain in an instant. Whenever he feared the silver color would turn entirely white, the dark purple sludge would pour over it. The two mixing together was more delectable than anything he had ever tasted. With the right amount of time, he knew the two sludges would one day merge together as one.

He drooled at the idea, for that very same day was drawing near.

*(~)*

The sunlight peered through the open window of Estelle's bedroom. Stripes outreached his body in the form of an arc, yawning as he awoke. He felt a tiny itch at the back of his ear and scratched it with his hind leg. He blinked several times before scurrying towards the sleeping princess. Estelle's blue hair was loose and unkept, traces of her lighter colored bangs hung over her forehead, though her star birthmark was still perfectly visible.

Stripes gently patted her shoulder with his paw. When she didn't respond he proceeded to lick her cheek. This was enough to make the princess's eyes flutter open. She instinctively covered her face with her blanket once she felt the sun's rays reach her eyes. It only took a few short moments for her to adjust before yawning and stretching out her arms. The events of the previous night flooded her mind and she sprung from her bed at rapid speed. Estelle quickly changed into her normal day cloths, her signature blue shirt with the one shoulder gray purple one underneath, and her long corset cape that reached the back of her knees. Her hair was once again styled into her signature over the shoulder braid.

Estelle dashed for the door until she heard Stripes screech out to her in alarm. He stuck his head underneath the princess's bed, his long tail moving swiftly across the floor, and pulled out an emergency kit with his mouth. Estelle slapped her forehead at her own obliviousness.

"Good thinking, Stripes." she petted his head in gratitude, placed the kit into her shoulder bag and turned the knob.

Estelle rushed down the palace corridor, the run's rays seeping through the glass windows, illuminating the elegantly detailed tapestries that adorned the hallways, as well as portraits of long deceased ancestors of the royal family line. The guards startled when they saw the princess run pass them at incredible speed, nearly tripping over one of the servants, carrying a tray of waffles with maple syrup, a bowl of strawberries and a tall glass of apple juice.

"Princess, what about your breakfast?" she called out, trying to regain her balance while sustaining the silver tray. Droplets of apple juice flew off, landing on the floor.

"Just leave it in my room, Scarlett!" Estelle called out, running backwards for a moment before dashing again towards the door. "I'll get to it, thanks!"

Stripes hurried behind his mistress, already almost out of breath. Even for a mammal on two legs Estelle could run as fast as one on four. It was downright unnatural, even by animals standards. Estelle hurried down the spiraling row of stairs to reach a wooden door in an old storage room, filled with gardening tools such as rakes, shovels and many more garden supplies. Peaking her head out, the sunlight entered the dark room and a couple of yellow colored butterflies flew by.

Estelle stepped out, walking underneath an arch made entirely out of roses and strolled along the long white trail of stones and soft white dirt that made faint crushing sounds as she went. The path outstretched farther ahead to reveal a stunning garden meadow, filled with an assortment of flowers and wildlife. Luciana didn't wish to have too many animals roaming around, of course Estelle knew it was mainly because her mother simply didn't find all of the animals as attractive or cute and cuddly as she found Stripes.

The main creatures she had allowed to live in the castle were the stags and deers. A few stags resided in the country with Howl, but these deers and stags had a different outlook to them. Their legs were as long and elegant as a showgirl's, their noses bright white with pink hues, long pointed ears that outstretched over their heads and tended to flop or bend the tips at times. Their furs came in the color of gray, white, yellow and turquoise, with elegant patterns that looked like ocean waves, and patches on their legs that resembled bubbles. They also had long beautiful manes outreaching from the back of their necks, much like the creatures from Howl's paintings, only thiner and not as long or flowing. Their tails were short and fluffy like cotton balls, which looked so adorable when they shook. They mainly preferred eating carrots or any other vegetables, fruits and flowers that grew in the meadow. They especially loved the apple trees. When they were done, they would spit out the seeds and from there a new tree would prosper.

The males, especially the stags, had long, brown antlers where birds often sat on and chirped their lovely songs all day long. The antlers gave the impression they were wearing large majestic crowns, probably another reason why Luciana favored these animals so much.

Estelle walked along the path near the wooden fence, overlooking the deers until she saw the corral not too far off. The corral had been placed there for whenever any of the fawns were in labor so they could have their child peacefully without distractions. It was also used to place any rouge deers or stags that started fighting over a mate, or whenever one misbehaved. Estelle saw the creature laying on her belly, her body rising and lowering, indicating she was breathing normally.

Estelle leaped over the fence and rushed across the meadow. The deers and stags immediately spotted the princess and rushed on over to greet her. While Luciana mainly kept the deers as mere accessories to look at, Estelle enjoyed interacting with them. They were very friendly towards most humans, but for Estelle, they were instantly drawn to her, so much so that whenever she arrived they would completely forget about everybody else and pay all of their attention on her.

Estelle used her wand to levitate a few apples from the trees nearby and handed each one to the deers, who caught them in their mouths. As they ate Estelle then approached the corral, seeing the creature slumbering in a curled up position. A muffler covered her mouth, but holes were punctured allowing her to breath through her nostrils. It had powerfully strong straps, which prevented her from being able to claw her way out. Not that she could, considering she didn't have any claws.

Estelle felt Stripes scratching at her boot, making high pitched growls in distress. Estelle placed her index finger over her lips, shushing him. She didn't want to disturb the poor creature's slumber. Estelle tried looking for the hole in her wing, but the task proved to be difficult due to both wings being tucked in. One slightly moved in reaction to a small butterfly hovering over it.

Estelle didn't see any food either. The ground in the corral wasn't made of grass but of the same white sandy rocks that made up the pathway into the meadow. Estelle became irritated, but at the same time she wasn't that surprised. The guards may be the best security Luciana could hire, but they were still no trained hunters. Either that or they didn't know what kind of food to give the creature. Not that it would matter on account of her mouth being covered.

With a sly grin Estelle pulled her wand from her boot. Magic sparkles emitted from its tip, only for Stripes to cock his head curiously. His brown eyes darted back and forth from Estelle to the slumbering animal. The furry creature gasped as he watched Estelle slowly, and steadily, unbuckle the straps around the creature's mouth. With her levitation, Estelle slightly lifted her head, careful to not wake her up, and removed the muffler from her mouth. Stripes bit on his claws the entire time, but let out a heavy sigh of relief, his eyes dropping as a result and he laid his belly onto the soft grass.

The creature did not stir as Estelle took the muffler, placing it around one of the wooden pillars of the fence. She levitated a few apples from the trees and stacked them into a pyramid near the animal. One of the apples rolled down, colliding with the creature's elbow. The animal stirred and attempted to return to her slumber, until she noticed the uncomfortable feeling on her face had suddenly disappeared. This slow revelation, added with the gentle nudge from the apple was enough to awaken her. Estelle didn't know if to leave or stay, Stripes was on the side of leaving. Just because the creature had not harmed her last night he doubted she would be on friendly terms now.

The beast's eyes fluttered open, her head flightily jerking upwards in alarm before easing herself. She moved her jaw, the fresh scent of nature filled her nostrils unlike before when she had to breath through those holes, and even the muffler itself had a terrible smell. She wondered if the humans ever cleaned that thing. The creature spotted the apple that had assisted in waking her and stared curiously at it until she saw the rest of the apple pyramid beside her. She blinked several times, her ears flicking until she took notice of the princess outside the gate.

"Hey. Sleep well?" Estelle asked. She honestly didn't know why she had asked that, it's not like she would have been able to reply.

The beast stared at Estelle with its bright green eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Estelle wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but the creature smiled softly to her before picking the apple into her mouth, devouring in mere seconds.

The beast then tried lifting up its injured and bandaged leg. Estelle gasped softly, staring at her with great remorse. The sound of the loud gunshot echoed in her ears. The princess flinched and winced at the sight of the creature struggling to stand. The wound was mainly on the upper half of her leg, but placing pressure bellow her knees caused the creature to loose her balance and was forced back down to the ground.

On impulse, Estelle leaped over the fence and approached the creature. "It's okay, it's okay." she whispered in a soothing voice. "You're going to be fine." Estelle traced her hand over the bandage and pulled the kit out from her bag.

As a huntress-in-training, Estelle was also educated in medical care. After all, a hunter is never truly a hunter without being able to tend to his or her own wounds. The cotton was completely dry with blood stains, so all Estelle was going to do was replace it with a brand new one. From what Estelle remembered, the gunshot didn't penetrate her skin entirely last night, so the hole wasn't as deep, yet looking at it still made her heart ache. Estelle poured a bit of a white creamy substance on her two index fingers and gently rubbed it on the creature's wound. She stopped for a short moment when she spotted what appeared to have been sparkly particles on the surface of the creature's skin, now coded with the cream. It was very brief and Estelle quickly regarded it as simply a trick of the light.

The creature let out a soft whinnying sound, her muzzle hovered over Estelle's cheek, tickling her. The princess laughed and gently petted the surface of beast's nose with her clean hand. "You're welcome."

The creature tried standing up once more. Estelle quickly got on her feet, watching in hesitation as the creature managed to regain some strength in her legs, now able to stand straight and still. She blinked before tentatively taking one step forward, followed by another, then another, and then another. Before long, the creature galloped all around the corral, her long slender tail wiping along as she went, her wings tucked to her side as she shook her head, her long pale pink colored locks bouncing.

Estelle was enthralled by the creature's movements. Images of Howl's paintings flashed before her eyes and a wide smile grew on her face. Stripes's ears perked upwards in awe, watching the creature move before stopping in front of the princess. The creature smiled, her emerald green eyes sparkling like their namesake. Estelle wiped her hand clean from what remained of the cream and tentatively rose her hand up and placed her palm on the surface of the creature's forehead, feeling the soft scales against her skin. The long pale pink hair tickled the surface of her hand and her fingertips collided with the curved horn on her forehead. Estelle had never seen anything like it before, but the exterior somehow felt familiar, yet she couldn't place why.

The creature's ears flicked, the two small golden hooped earrings captured the sun's rays, and the long multicolored braid dangled on the right side of her head. Estelle examined the colors, wondering how the creature managed to get her hair like that. There was no possible way she could have dyed it herself. Could she?

Estelle let out a surprised yelp when the creature suddenly pulled on her over the shoulder braid with her mouth before immediately letting go. It was a harmless, playful tug, but there was very evident strength in the gesture given that Estellewas yanked forward, nearly loosing her balance. The creature then gently shoved her to the side with her head, playfully leaping back, her cloven hooves trotting the ground and letting out a playful whinny sound.

"So, you want play, huh?" Estelle concluded, arching a brow while smiling in amusement. She turned her eyes towards the still locked gate. Seeing this, Stripes squeaked to get Estelle's attention, tilting his head towards the palace. Estelle only shook her head, smiling softly. "Relax, Stripes. Besides, where else is she gonna go?

Stripes pointed to the creature's wings, which one opened up, revealing the hole which had been made from the gunshot. The creature whinnied sadly, attempting to flap her wings. Her hooves managed to hover over the ground for a few short moments before quickly landing back. The creature's ears pressed back, indicating her sadness. Estelle examined the injured wing until she noticed the creature suddenly moved her front hoof over the ground, creating various lines which merged into a single shape.

Estelle stared in shock, her jaw hanging. Stripes shared the same reaction as the creature continued making the symbol on the ground. It was a drawing of her wing, with the single gapping hole in the center. Estelle dared to look back at her.

"You…you can…draw?" she hesitantly asked. Even saying it out loud sounded crazy. The creature nodded her head, revealing that she understood what Estelle had just asked her. She then carefully erased the hole on the drawing of her wing. Estelle cocked her head, trying to understand.

"So, it will heal on its own?" she asked rather unsurely, still questioning if wether or not she was dreaming all of this. After the creature nodded her head in reply, the princess took a step back, shaking her head in disbelief while rubbing her temples. Estelle looked over to Stripes, who shrugged his furry shoulders, his long, big ears pulling back.

The creature approached the gate, stomping one of her hooves onto the ground and nodding her head towards it. Estelle knew what she wanted. Stripes was still unsettled with the idea, after all, there really was no telling what this creature could do, even without her capability to fly at the moment.

Luciana did say dragons were deceitful creatures, but Estelle found nothing dangerous about the beast. Not to mention, she was clearly a highly intelligent creature who knew how to draw and understood Estelle at the same level as Stripes did. Estelle looked out at the garden meadow before her, and then back at the creature. She could tell by the longing look in her eyes how desperate she was to go out and stretch her legs. The corral was just too small for her. Gazing into her green eyes, Estelle could sense that same yearning as she herself felt at times whenever she was in the meadow, as well as that untamable desire for speed she got whenever she looked at Howl's paintings.

Her face morphed into a look of pure determination and unlocked the gate, allowing for the creature to gallop ahead in rapid speed. The dust around the corral rose upwards, and Estelle's braid billowed in the wind created by the creature once she dashed out with a wide smile. Stripes held for his dear life onto the fence, his hairs already standing on end and his stomach arched and trembled. Estelle wiped away the stray hair from her eyes and saw the creature running freely across the meadow. The dears who had been eating peacefully looked up, their long ears perking upwards in reaction to the new addition to their home. Many of them leaped away as the creature dashed on by, not attempting to harm to them, while others simply cocked their heads. This creature appeared to pose no real threat, and was simply enjoying her freedom.

Estelle couldn't contain her laughter as the animal pranced and galloped along. At that moment, it really did feel like one of Howl's own paintings had come to life. She could hear the wind whipping through her mane, her hooves crushing the ground as she went, and the lack of walls, fences and barriers granting her untold freedom it was…it was…

It was too much for Estelle to continue resisting.

With a loud cheer, Estelle ran ahead, her blue hair whipping behind her as she caught up with the creature. The beast smiled and joined the human. The two ran across the fields, side by side. Estelle at first struggled to keep up but was astonished to realize, before long, they were neck and neck. The creature flashed the princess a sly grin, a grin Estelle returned. With her eyes set forward, she accelerated her speed at the same time her new friend did and the two raced across the meadow together.

Stripes was left baffled by the sight. Estelle and the mysterious creature ran over the flower fields and bypassing the various fawns and stags. Flocks of birds who were eating the seeds on the ground flew off once the two dashed their way. Estelle always knew he was fast, but to be able to keep up with a creature on four legs was astonishing to her. The creature let out a happy whining sound and galloped instead around Estelle, prompting her to come to a stop. She playfully shoved her with her head, careful not to poke her with her middle horn. The princess laughed and started to chase after the creature, both playfully laughing.

The creature playfully taunted Estelle who continued to chase after her, until Estelle tripped on a stone in her path and rolled down a small hill slope, the petals of the yellow tulip flowers getting caught in her hair and cloths. Splotches of of dirt now covered the lower half of her boots and pants, as well as the tail of her long jacket. She laid on her back when the creature came galloping down to inspect her. Estelle had her eyes closed and the creature sniffed the human, only to be taken by surprise when Estelle blew right into her nose, which made the creature sneeze. She whinnied in a form that came off as a laugh and Estelle ruffled her pale pink mane before getting back upright. The princess continued to laugh as she stroked the creature mane and nose, mesmerized by her emerald green eyes.

The creature whinnied again, as if attempting to say something to Estelle. The princess sighed in disappointment. "I really wish you could talk." she said. The creature flared her nostrils at Estelle's face before playfully nuzzling her cheek, encouraging her to run again. Estelle happily complied and ran alongside the creature once more.

Stripes managed to calm himself down a bit as he watched the two race one another. It was always wonderful to see Estelle so happy, and seeing her being able to just let go and frolic the way she was doing so filled his heart with delight. The creature ran up a few feet ahead of Estelle, looking back in her direction. The princess caught sight of a sly grin on her face.

Before she had time to properly react, the creature dashed forward back towards Estelle, prompting her to stop, only for the creature to narrowly pass her. The creature's teeth grabbing Estelle's shirt and pulling her along with her.

"Hey, what are you doing? Quit it!" she demanded, but the creature continued to yank on her short sleeve with her visibly sharp teeth. "This isn't funny! You're gonna rip it!" Estelle grunted as she tried to pull away, only for the creature to suddenly let go of the sleeve and scoop Estelle with her body.

"Whoa! Hold on!" Estelle cried out, causing Stripes to squeal in terror and cry out for help. His cries were overlapped by Estelle's cries to realize she was now on the creature's back…while she was still running, all the while whinnying victoriously as Estelle gripped the creature's long slender and scaly neck for her dear life. She knew she was running fast, but actually being on some other beast while she was going equally fast made her heart race, her body tremble and the entire world go by her in a blur.

And she was loving every minute of it!

Her previous fears were so brief that she had already forgotten them completely. She managed to adjust herself, both legs on either side of the creature's body, positioning herself on her back properly as if she were sitting in a chair. A scaly, and furry, and very, very fast moving chair. Estelle's earlier cries of protests converted into unconstrained yells of jubilance which caused even the most at ease fawns and stags to immediately leap in alarm. Their ears pressed against their heads, fearing for the well being of their mistress's daughter.

Thankfully, the broad smile on Estelle's face as the creature dashed forward was evidence enough that she was far from being in danger. The creature ran towards the small slope once again, but rather than sliding downwards like she did before, she leaped into the air, at a height Estelle had never seen a creature do before. She leaped higher than even the most happiest of stags during the spring time. This was almost as high as a motorbike during a motocross race, only rather than the sound of a revving engine, Estelle was hearing the booming sound of her rapturous howling for joy as she outstretched her arms, feeling the wind against her face as the creature spread out her wings, despite her injury. She could hear the sounds of the creature's triumphant sounds, which nearly overlapped her own sounds of joy.

The way the creature moved, the indescribably feeling in her chest, her heart pounding so intensely she believed it literally wanted to burst right out of her ribcage. Images of the beautiful creatures from Howl's paintings flashed before her eyes. The emotions from when she observed the creatures and right now riding on this majestic, graceful yet incredibly powerful beast was uncanny.

"I can actually see them running across the landscape and I can feel the adrenaline. The same adrenaline I feel when I battle or cast spells."

The creature finally landed onto the ground, panting from exhaustion, but still leaping and stomping its hooves enthusiastically, all the while Estelle continued to laugh. Her hair was no doubt an unkept mess, but the thrilling sensation that overtook her when the creature dashed off was unmatched by anything she had ever felt in her life.

"That was amazing!" Estelle boldly hugged the creature's neck. "Man, you're seriously fast." the creature whinnied in reply, flipping her long pale pink mane. Estelle hoisted herself off of the creature's back, but once she did she nearly stumbled, still feeling rather lightheaded from her earlier experience. "Whoa, whoa." Estelle managed to stabilize herself, the world around her spun for a moment until she regained her focus. "Okay, I'm good. I'm good."

The sound of an unsuspecting ringing vibrated from Estelle's pocket, which sent the creature leaping back in alarm. "Oh, no, no, no, it's okay, sweetie. It's just my phone." Estelle pulled the said object from her pocket and demonstrated it to the creature. She slowly approached, her ears flicking an sniffed the strange contraption, only to reel back a bit when it rang again.

Estelle pressed the talk button and held the cell phone to her ear. "Hey, Dahlia. What's up?"

"Oh, thank the Arions you're still alive!"

Estelle looked at the creature, who tilted her head in curiosity. "Well, yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"We saw the news last night! You got attacked by some large monster! Are you okay? Did they manage to cage it? Please tell me you sliced its throat already."

Estelle groaned in frustration while face palming herself. "One: I was never attacked. Two: Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Three: No I didn't slice any throats, and Four: She's not a monster."

"She? Wait, how do you know it's a she? Hold up! Where do you have the thing?"

"In my mom's garden."

"WHAT?!" Estelle had to remove the phone from her ear, from felt it would blow right off at Dahlia's incredibly loads scream. Even Stripes and the creature cringed, their ears pinching from the noise. "You're actually keeping the thing?! What is it anyway? Was it a dragon?"

"Uh…I don't know, maybe. I've honestly never seen anything like her before." Estelle said as she calmed the creature down by caressing her bangs.

"Oh my Arion, girl you have got to show us!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there Ds. The poor thing was shot last night, I don't think she's really in the mood for anymore surprises."

The creature looked like she was about to nod her head, only for her ears to perk upwards and her eyes to widen in alarm. She suddenly started looking around, and even back at the corral, frantically stomping her hooves while whinnying in terror.

"Hey, calm down, what is it?"

The creature took in heavy breaths before returning back to the corral and drew again on the dirt.

"Uh, Dahlia, I'll call you back."

"Wait, Stelle, wha--" Dahlia was cut off once Estelle hung up the phone and observed as the creature created what appeared to be a square shaped object, followed by another with wave-like scribbles on it. Estelle squinted her eyes at the image. It didn't take very long for her brain to click.

"The book." she whispered to herself before speaking aloud. "The book that was in your bag!" The creature nodded her head while stomping her hooves, in her own way saying Estelle was on the nose. "Why were you carrying a book? Can you read too?"

The creature shook her head sadly before desperately stomping her hove beside the image. Estelle already knew exactly what the creature was trying to tell her.

*(~)*

Author's Note

I apologize for the long absence, but just letting you know the story is still in the works, just been side tracked with other projects, and I've been polishing the world of Lost Star. I really hope this chapter did not disappoint. Once again, constructive criticism is advised and well appreciated. Thank you, God bless *kiss kiss*

Chapter 6~ Soul

Chapter 6~ Soul

Luciana leaned in closer into the mirror as she put on her mascara. The queen was dressed in her finest daytime outfit, as usual, with various shades of purple with silver accents. A single silver diamond ring rested on her fourth finger, multiple images of herself reflected off of the facets. After applying her blood red lipstick, Luciana stepped back, admiring the stunning image before her on the full length mirror.

"Perfect. As always." she said to herself with a soft smile. A knock on the door caused her to frown in annoyance. She took in a deep breath before kindly replying. "Yes, come in." she said, masking her slight frustration at being interrupted. One of the servants entered the study. He appeared to be holding something behind his back, yet Luciana did not fully notice until she forcibly turned herself away from the mirror.

"Your Majesty." the man bowed. "Forgive the intrusion, but we found something you need to see." he pulled whatever it was form behind him, revealing it to be a book.

Luciana rose a brow, her lips pursing in thought. In the man's hand was a book, old and rather withered with a velvet-like surface with worn thin rope bindings holding it in place. Unlike all of the books in the city, this one looked completely horrendous in comparison. Its pages were tainted with light brown and yellow stains, and the paper itself appeared hardened, almost as if one single touch would be enough for it to crumble into dust. The covering, while of a lovely red velvet color, was smudged with dirt, brown spots and a few black stains, yet the golden corners remained in tact. There was no lettering on the cover to be seen, and the book wasn't as big as most of the books in any of the libraries in Somorrah.

Luciana approached the man and took the book from his hands. Her fingers traced over the old and somewhat dusty surface. "Strange. Did you use a rejuvenation spell on it?" she asked. Whenever a book was showing signs of old age, they would simply restore it with a rejuvenation spell. That way, it would remain preserved and last for all time.

"Yes we have." replied the man.

"And…?" Luciana awaited for an answer. When she did not get it she asked in full, "Why does it look like this?"

"That's just it, my Queen. Nothing we tried has worked."

Luciana's eyes partly widened before scoffing smugly. "That's impossible."

"I assure you, we have tried every spell at our disposal, but nothing has worked. It's as if it is immune to any spell."

Luciana rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand from her pocket, pointing the end at the surface of the book. Magical energy sparkled from the tip and whirled around, wrapping the book in a blanket of energy. A satisfied smile forged on Luciana's face, the light of the magical forces illuminating her features, giving her a heavenly glow. Her smile slowly morphed into a frown, her mouth in ajar as the magical energy began to loose its glow, transforming into dried up sand which broke apart like stone. Luciana dropped the book and took a horrified step back as the sand disintegrated once it reached the floor. Traces of the dust got on her boots, much to her disgust, but was far too horrified by what had happened to care as much as she should.

"I told you. This has been happening all day." the man said, standing right behind the queen, staring in horror at the still ancient looking book.

Luciana used her wand to levitate it, refusing to touch it again. "Where did you find this?" she sneered.

"One of the servants did. It was in that satchel the beast from last night was wearing around its neck."

A chill went up Luciana's spine. This book came with that creature? Why would an animal even have a book? Did it steal the book? Could it read? Was it intelligent? And if the creature was from the outside world, then… could it be there were more civilizations they were not aware of? Could there be more humans out there?

Luciana had accidentally allowed some essence of her composition to waver when her head jerked upwards in alarm. She detested showing any signs of confusion or weakness in front of her subjects. The man payed little mind to it, for he empathized with her majesty. He too was shocked by the book's unusual resilience towards their magic and feared it signified a bad omen.

The alarm on her phone went off in her bag. Luciana quickly pulled it out and shut it off, ignoring the words on the screen. She opened a drawer from her desk and levitated the book inside above a bunch of old paper work that was no longer required and locked it with a golden key, which she then levitated inside the pocket of her bag.

"I shall see to it after I return from my meeting regarding the new monorail system." Luciana said to the man, who nodded in agreement. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she whispered closely. "Nobody is to know of this until further notice."

"Yes, Your Grace. But, do you really think it would be unwise to keep this a secret?"

"I'm sure whatever this is I can get to the bottom of it. Besides, the last thing we need are the people going into either a panic or worse, having those conspiracy theorists buffoons popping out again." Luciana sneered between her teeth at the thought of those crazed rapscallions once again attempting to taint the good name of the royal family and the city.

"Not. A single. Word." she turned her head towards the man, her eyes like knives piercing at his soul. "Was that clear enough for you, or did I stutter?"

"N-No, my queen." the man stuttered and bowed and Luciana made her leave. "Clear as crystal."

It would have probably been wise to try and make sense of this strange phenomena at the moment it was addressed, but Luciana could not cancel this meeting. It took her a long time to squeeze it into her busy schedule, she owned them that much. One thing was certain, the minute she returned home, this would be her top priority.

No matter what.

*(~)*

Stripes hid behind Estelle the entire time the creature kept on stomping and neighing like crazy. "Settle down, please! If anyone sees you going berserk my mother will have a cow!"

This odd expression was, surprisingly, enough to get the creature to stop and stare at Estelle with a look of confusion, which even the princess would admit was pretty adorable. Estelle gave a light giggle, which also doubled as one of relief.

"Okay. Are we calm now?" Estelle asked, still holding her hands up close to her waist, hoping the animal wouldn't go crazy again. The creature herself dropped her ears but snorted in reply, nodding her head. "Good. So, maybe you can tell me more about this… this book?" she asked, still rather baffled she was actually having this kind of conversation with an animal.

The creature walked around Estelle, her eyes to the ground, pondering until she jerked upwards while she grinned. She started stomping the ground once more, attempting to draw what she hoped Estelle would understand. The princess, and Stripes, payed close attention. The further she went into giving the image more detail Estelle and Stripes cringed. It became abundantly clear that while the creature could draw, that didn't automatically make her an artist.

The creature stuck out her tongue, focusing on the image she was making, which was a rather disorderly body of a creature, resembling herself, but with feathered wings, a straighter horn on her forehead, and a long slender tail like herself. The legs came out like sticks, the neck was a tad too long and the wing's feathers looked way too sharp to even be considered feathers. She stepped back, jumping happily while flipping her mane in satisfaction at her work. Estelle looked at the odd image, tilting her head in confusion.

"Uh…. okay." she said, very unsure about what to make of this.

Yet, the closer she studied the image something itched at the back of her memory. The princess crunched down, tracing a finger over the sharp looking wings, the single horn and long slender tail. It did resemble her new companion in a way, but not entirely. There was something unique about the image, and yet, at the back of Estelle's mind, she saw something else. Before the image could fully manifest, Estelle shut her eyes and shook her head, feeling rather lightheaded before standing back up and she turned her attention back to her friend.

"Okay, I have no idea what it is you're trying to tell me. But if that book is so important then I'll just get it back for you. I'm sure one of the staff members still has it. Come on, Stripes." The furry nyx leaped onto Estelle's shoulder and she petted her new companion's muzzle. "You wait here, I'll be back with your book, okay?" she said before allowing her hand to slip away and make her way back to where she came from.

The creature looked at Estelle, then back at the fields behind her and then back to Estelle again. She sprung forward and stopped right in the human girl's path. "Relax, I won't be gone long." Estelle tried to move past the creature, but she blocked her path once more, trotting around anxiously. "Hey! Look, if I'm going to get your book I need to get inside. Do you really want it back or not?"

The creature snorted before walking away, whipping its tail at Estelle, a gesture mirroring a human waving his or her hand in a 'whatever' manner. Estelle and Stripes shared a confused look and watched as the creature stopped midway and motioned her head forward, inviting Estelle to continue onwards.

Estelle, though a bit suspicious, complied and did make her way towards the floral arc from which she had walked in through and reached the wooden door. The creature was right behind her, her big green eyes zooming in on Estelle as she cautiously turned the handle on the door. Estelle's dark gray eyes shifted back to the creature. It wasn't that she wanted Estelle to stay in the meadow… she wanted to stay with Estelle.

As fast as lightning, Estelle whipped around to face the creature, who stumbled back in alarm. "No! You can't come in with me." Estelle said, her hand still on the knob and her back pressed to the door itself. "You stay out here." Estelle emphasized, pointing her free finger towards the meadow. "I go in there." she pointed her thumb towards the door and the entire building attached to it. "No following. Understand?"

The creature cocked her head, her eyes to the sky in thought. One ear was lowered while the other stayed upwards, her lips pursed for effect. She gave Estelle a happy nod, but the human rose a brow. Like the full pledge huntress she would soon become, Estelle kept her guard up as her hand turned the knob, her eyes still on the creature. Slowly, the door creaked open and…

The creature flashed a sly toothy grin and, using her head, though careful with her horn, shoved Estelle inside. The princess landed on her back inside while the creature leaped over her with ease, landing on the other side before standing on her hind legs and using her front legs to close the door shut. Estelle panted in surprise, the creature was now hovering above her, smiling slyly with her hooves pressed against the door. Estelle got on her feet and dusted herself off, the creature remained in that very position until Estelle got back up and lowered herself down, but still kept her body pressed to the door, with one of her front legs crossed over the other.

Like a boss.

Stripes had flown off of Estelle's shoulder and landed back first against the wall before sliding down. The nyx was a tad disoriented once he landed. He rapidly shook his head in order to regain his sight and knocked on his own head to get his rolling irises back into their rightful spot. Estelle traced her fingers through her hair, her eyes widened in astonishment.

"Okay. So, you did understand me, you just didn't care. Well played." The creature whinnied, the form of a laugh no doubt, which only made Estelle roll her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." she sighed. "Alright. We can make this work." Estelle pulled her wand out from her pocket and aimed its tip at the creature. "I'll just do a quick cloaking spell, which should last about thirty minutes, so we have to act--"

The moment magical energy began to form from the tip of the wand, the creature's eyes widened, its irises shrinking and she rose up on her hind legs, whinnying loudly, merging with that of a roar and frantically backed away from the object. She spun around, slapping it right out of Estelle's hand with her still injured wing. The wand landed on the floor, with Stripes leaping away in fear.

"What is wrong with you?!" Estelle exclaimed in anger as she reached down to grab her wand. "This was my father's!"

The creature whinnied sadly, yet kept her distance from the wand. Estelle stared down curiously at it, then back at the creature. Was she… afraid of her wand?

Estelle dared to try and aim the wand at the creature once more. Her skin trembled when she noticed the creature's eyes became slits and bared her sharp teeth. Her gaze was not aimed at Estelle, but solemnly on the wand she held. Once Estelle placed it back into her pocket, the creature calmed down a bit.

"Okay, then. No cloaking spell." Estelle said, which seemed to sooth the creature all the more. Stripes ruffled his fur and sat right beside the creature, looking up at her. She lowered her neck down and sniffed him before sneezing due to the fur. Stripes only squeaked happily, almost laughing and pressed his front paws onto the side of her leg. At least they were finally becoming friends.

Estelle started pacing back and forth, tucking from strands of hair behind her ears. "I suppose it wouldn't be too much to ask if you stayed down here while I retrieved your book?" Estelle asked hopefully. The creature shook her head, decisively. Estelle dragged her arms in frustration as she panted, hunching over a bit for dramatic emphasis. "Thought so." she groaned and then straightened herself, gripping the back of her neck with her hands.

The creature then began stomping her hoof again and lowered her head close to the ground. Estelle studied her movements to try and figure out what she was trying to convey. The beast rose her head again, sniffing the air around her and then sniffing Estelle's long hair. At first, she thought she was trying to play, until she noticed the creature using the ends of her long wings to point at her nose, which she flared.

"You can track its scent?" Estelle asked, "Is that what you're trying to say?" The beast nodded in reply, happily whinnying and stomping in place, only for Estelle to try and silence her by grabbing her muzzle.

"Okay, okay, okay, you made your point, now quiet!" Estelle gripped the creature's face and tracing her hand across her pale pink mane. The human princess inhaled deeply before exhaling. "This is turning out to be a very weird day."

*(~)*

The three friends poked their heads out from the corner of the hallway, observing as one of the castle maids adjusted the old tapestries. Using her wings to lift her upwards, while one down bellow with golden bands on her wrists straightened the lower half. The creature's ears perked in curiosity, a single brown rising. She had never seen such objects before. Long, thin objects, made out of some kind of soft material with an image of a human, wearing elegant clothing, golden jewels, a large crown and a scepter in one hand. The sunlight coming in from a nearby glass window was caught in the golden surface of one of the maid's bands. The creature snorted in alarm and attempted to go forward and see for herself.

Estelle quickly pushed her back right before the maids turned their heads to the source of the noise. They quickly shrugged it off once they saw that nothing was there. The sound was too faint and quick for them to even comprehend what it was. Probably the princess's pet running around again, playing catch or hide and seek.

Estelle breathed a sigh of relief hearing the sound of footsteps grow farer and farer away, all the whole covering the creature's mouth with both her hands. Stripes had long since climbed onto the beast's head, also attempting to cover her mouth with his little paws. The creature shook her head, swatting their hands and paws away, narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

"Sorry." Estelle said. "But remember what we agreed on. Nice and easy, slow and steady. Okay?" The creature rolled her eyes, but still nodded her head. Estelle let out a soft chuckle as she scratched the back of her ears. "I know, it sounds boring. Just bare with me here, will ya?"

The creature nodded her head in agreement, putting Estelle more at ease. She pressed down her cloths, made sure no strand of hair was out of place, took in a deep breath and nodded her head towards the currently empty hallway at the beast while Stripes rode on its back. Estelle and the creature remained in perfect sink, the sound of her hooves resembled that of her mother's heels whenever she roamed the long, cold hallways. The only taste of warmth came from the windows themselves.

Estelle kept her eyes peeled for any of the castle staff members popping up unexpectedly. The creature started sniffing the air before pressing her nose close to the ground and then upwards again. She nodded her head towards down the hallway and Estelle quickly followed. She stopped in front of the creature, her arm blocking her path when she heard the sound of someone approaching. Thankfully, a secondary hallway was to her right and nodded her head in the said direction. The creature followed suit, walking down the small set of stairs down to another hallway, lit up by a skylight, filled with various portraits and pedestals with priceless treasures.

The three friends stopped in front of a large wooden door with a golden knob, styled to look like a lion's head. More sounds were coming from the other direction. Estelle let out a low groan. "Oh, come on, really?" thinking fast, she opened the door and the creature hurried inside, with Stripes clinging on for his life. The noise grew louder and just as Estelle was about to rush inside, a voice called out to her.

"Princess Estelle?"

The voice belonged to a maid with long raven hair styled slickly in a shinny up hairdo. Five other maids stood behind her, all wearing their hair in the same manner. Some held wands in their hands, others wore golden bracelets on tier wrists, and several had straps with feathered wings.

"Is everything alright?" the maid asked.

Estelle pressed one hand to the door, while the other landed on her hip. She shrugged, trying to act casual. "Yeah, sure, everything's fine." she replied casually. "Why do you ask?"

"We were just about to clean your mother's collection room." a blond maid said.

Estelle wanted to face palm herself. Of course one of the first rooms they would attend to would be her mother's priceless collection of priceless artifacts and trinkets. "Right, of course. Um…" Estelle bit her bottom lip before an idea crossed her mind as quick as lightning. "Actually, ladies, today that responsibility falls upon my shoulders."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't my mother tell you?"

"Tell us what?"

"The Queen and I had a little… dispute last night, and… I allowed my mouth to run wild."

"But, she hasn't told you to clean this room in years." said a red haired maid.

"Yes, well, I was very… boiled up, sort of speak, so this was the best punishment my mother assigned to me. I apologize if you guys weren't informed about this."

"No need for apologies, your highness." the raven haired maid said with a bow. "If it is the queen's wish, then so be it."

"Thank you for understanding." Estelle said with a polite smile, only for her to flinch when a loud sound from the other side of the door.

"What was that?" a blond maid asked in alarm.

"Stripes!" Estelle replied rather quickly. "I better take care of that before he breaks somethings, okay great talk, bye!" Estelle gave them a thumbs up before rushing into the door and slamming it shut. The sound of a click sounded off from the inside and the two maids left the premise, both eying the door skeptically.

Estelle let out a deep sigh of relief, her back still pressed against the door. The sound had come from the creature having tapped the side of an antique piano with her hoof, having caused it to partly tumble forward. Thankfully, the creature managed to keep it steady with her body and push it back in place. Some of the dust rose from its surface and made its way into the creature's nostrils, which then began to twitch. She let out a small, adorable, but also somewhat leather sneeze. A small stream of fire came spewing out, nearly singing off the tips of Stripe's tail, which had already caught smoke. He immediately stomped it with his back paw. There was very minimal damage, but the smell of burning fur was still unpleasing for his sensitive nostrils.

The creature snorted and rubbed its nose with its knee in a similar manner to that of a human. With every moment that passed, Estelle realized the creature's mannerisms were a close parallel to those of a normal human being. She was hardly an animal at all. She was intelligent, self aware, and could comprehend normal human speech despite her inability to converse herself.

The princess giggled lightly as she watched her friend wiggle her nose, as if expecting another sneeze to appear. Stripe's large ears pressed back in annoyance. He nearly had his tail burned off and Estelle was just giggling as if nothing serious had happened.

"Sorry, Stripes." Estelle apologized, still trying to stiffer more of her laughter. The creature also apologized to the nyx in her own language. Stripes accepted the apology, but only if she would promise never to do so again. The creature nodded.

"Okay, let's go and look for that book again." Estelle said, reaching out her hand towards the currently locked doors. She stopped when she noticed the creature did no attempts to follow her, but rather was struck by curiosity at the marvelous objects around her.

Queen Luciana was a woman of exquisitely impeccable taste. She was a lover of history, and kept many, if not the majority of the city's most priceless mementoes in her collection room, such as the classic piano painted with gold, along with various other priceless antiques placed securely within enchanted glass cases that were nearly unbreakable. The room was lit with a diamond chandelier, illuminating the shinny redwood floors, covered by long and perfectly ironed rugs with images of beautiful winged humans blowing on trumpets, sitting on vines that emitted a golden glow, and other wielding swords while piercing through the stomach of an unusual monster that appeared to be some kind of winged, reptilian with a strange, almost human-like head with giant tusks, a massive snout and talons on its hands and back feet. One wing was feathered, the other similar to that of a bat.

The creature studied the image, tilting her head curiously at the image of the monster before drawing her attention to the rest of the room. She saw a faded reflection of herself as she gazed at the vases within the glass, mesmerized by their shimmering texture, but also careful not to allow her tail to hit anything in her way. A rectangle shaped container carried old antique silver weapons, long like a snake, with gold encrusted handles. By the walls were closed glass cabinets with antique silverware, decorative plates and clay sculptures of beautiful men and woman and another one filled with flowers in crystal containments, keeping them alive and fresh as if they had never been plucked.

The creature spotted some stairs at the corner of her eye and her eyes widened to see that there was two more rows of treasures yet to be seen. Scrolls, jewels, tapestries, radios, weapons, paintings, leather books opened up with strange writing on them. While the creature studied all of these objects, Estelle was studying the creature's movements and reaction to everything she saw.

She carried the same sense of wonder and whimsy, akin to that of a child seeing a real museum for the first time in her life. Gently, she rose her cloven hoof to try and reach for the objects, but was stopped every time by the glass, yet she still marveled at whatever it was she was looking at. She started galloping from side to side, even spinning around, her mouth wide open as she smiled broadly, her wings partly opening due to her unrestrained excitement. Even inside an extravagant room there was no containing her spirit.

Estelle leaned against a pillar, admiring the way her new friend just took in everything she was looking at. She knew they still had to search for the book, but no reason why they couldn't take a small detour, right?

The creature trotted towards Estelle, still jumping with joy. If she would do an ariel flip right now, she would. Estelle laughed and petted her muzzle. "You are so incredible. Are there more like you?"

The creature nodded, only for her expression to waver, turning into a frown as she slowly shook her head. "Oh. So, you're all alone?" Estelle asked hesitantly. The creature managed to nod completely this time around. Stripes's ears lowered in sadness and he nuzzled against the creature's front leg, while Estelle hugged her neck.

"I'm so sorry." Estelle said. The creature looked away sadly, but still allowed Estelle to affectionally pet her head, while caressing her hair in a maternally loving manner. The creature's eyes then caught sight of something right above from the left corner of her eye. Her head jerked upwards, with Estelle looking up in her direction.

It was one of the glass cases with an antique model of an old styled car from many years ago. Back from when Luciana's grandmother was only Estelle's age. The creature's tail swaged like that of a happy dog and she smiled, using the tip of her wing to point at it.

"That's a one of the earliest models of the Somorran automobiles." Estelle explained. "We call it a car for short."

The creature suddenly sprung upwards in excitement, unlike before. Her tail whipped around and she began whinnying happily. "Whoa, whoa, lower the volume!" Estelle warned, shushing her by placing her finger over her lips. She couldn't' allow anyone to hear her.

The creature complied but still pointed at the vehicle model with her wing before gesturing to herself. Estelle rose a brow. "What?" she asked. Her new friend kept stomping one hoof in place and rose it upwards as if striking a pose, while still using her wing's tip to point at the mobile car then back at herself, whinnying once more.

Estelle cocked her head, her eyes darting down towards Stripes, who simply shrugged in confusion. "You.. want to be a car?"

The creature snorted and shook her head. She stomped her hooves twice in a rhythmic pattern, her wing still pointing at the model. She stomped a few more times in the same rhythm, still pointing at the car. Estelle's eyes widened.

"A… car… a car… acar?" she asked, placing the two words together. The creature nodded her head, the gestured to herself. Estelle gasped. "Wait! Are you… are you trying to tell me your name?" Estelle asked in awe. The creature nodded her head, the tip of her wing now pointing at her nose.

"On the nose." Estelle translated. "You are! Okay, so, your name is Acar?"

The creature shook her head and then stomped her other hoof twice, using her wing to point at them. "Oh, okay, two words." Estelle said. "Firs word, "Acar"."

The creature gent gestured back to herself and then at Estelle. She repeated the process several times and Estelle tried placing two and two together. "You and Me?" the creature shook her head. "No. We?" the creature nodded. "We? Yes! Okay, second word of "We". Acar…we…" Estelle repeated to herself, with the creature nodding. The creature then pressed the tips of her wings together before separating them, rising only her left one.

"E… Acar…E…re." a smile forced across Estelle's face. "Akari?" she asked, feeling a sense of victory when the creature galloped happily in place and spun around as if after its own tail.

"Your name is Akari." Estelle concluded. "That's so pretty." the creature blushed at the compliment. "I don't believe it. You actually have a name. Wait, did I ever tell you mine?" The creature shook her head. "Oh, well, it's Estelle."

Akari whinnied happily once more, offering her hoof for Estelle to shake like that of a person. Estelle was still dumbfounded, but overwhelmingly astonished at this discovery, yet she shook her hoof. This creature--Akari-- could draw, understand her language, was smart enough to make her own choices, and she was genuinely curious about human-world objects.

"Wait, your book! We still have to find it!"

Akari's ears perched forward in alarm. She had nearly forgotten about her book. Estelle was right, they had to find it. She sniffed the air and gently tapped on the door. Estelle unlocked it and Akari sniffed the air. She caught its scent and prompted Estelle to follow her.

*(~)*

Akari sniffed the air, walking at a fast paste, faster than before, with Estelle managing to keep up. Stripes still rode on her back. They somehow managed not to stumble upon any of the castle staff, with Estelle following Akari up the stairs and down the left side of the hallway. Akari stopped abruptly when she stopped in front of a door, taping it gently with her cloven hoof.

"Are you sure?" Estelle asked. Akari nodded in reply. "That's my mother's study. Why would she have your book?" she asked, already beginning to feel unsure about this. If her mother discovered she was in her study without permission no doubt the woman would punish Estelle by having Akari locked up. She knew her mother still did not trust the creature, so this one small act could very much seal her very fate.

Nevertheless, Akari refused to leave without that book. Estelle sighed. "Alright. Just be careful. If my mother sees anything out of place, we're both done for."

Akari nodded in reply. Slowly, Estelle opened the room to her mother's study. The lights were shut off so Estelle flipped the switch. A soft, lunar light filled the room, giving it a serene yet mesmerizing presence. Akari sniffed the room, searching for the book before she abruptly stopped in from of something that smelled very off to her. She looked up and nearly tripped as she backed away in alarm at a white statue of a stunning woman with wings. Akari regained her composure quickly and studied the object.

"That's my mother's Arion." Estelle said. Akari looked at her in confusion, letting out a soft snorting sound, indicating she wanted her human friend to continue explaining. "You don't know about the Arions, do you?"

Akari shook her head, which took Estelle by complete surprise. "Really? Oh, wait, you've probably never heard of them because you were living out there." Estelle pointed with her thumb somewhere to her side. Akari turned in that direction but found nothing other than the door. Estelle chuckled lightly. "I meant the world outside the gate." she corrected.

Akari pursed her lip in thought then cocked her head again. She tilted her head to the statue, no doubt asking for more information. She shrugged, physically saying she still didn't know exactly what Estelle was talking about. The princes decided to explain their history to her new friend.

"Long ago, our world was mainly made up of forests and jungles. Humans struggled to survive and were powerless against the many monsters that roamed the land." Akari nodded her head, her eyes darting back and fort while snorting. Her body language suggested she was trying to say "Yeah, that sounds about right." Estelle knew that body language anywhere. Dahlia was a mater at it.

"That is, until the Arions gave us our wands, wings and bracelets, allowing us to control magic. Together, we fought against the creatures and created this city. We owe our very existence to them." Estelle gestured to the statue. "Each human is born with a personal Arion who guides them all throughout their lives, but we generally worship all of them and not just our own. We humans are all one, then so are the Arions."

Akari looked at Estelle and them back at the statue, looking visibly fascinated by this tale. Her vision shifted to something else right above the statue. It was the image of a man with medium olive colored skin and black hair. He wielded a wand, resembling a sword, whole holding a decapitated monster's head. It had pointed ears and a large snout with sickly grayish and wrinkly looking skin. Its jaw was disfigured and its eyes were fogy, which made Akari cringe at the sight.

Estelle patted the back of her neck. "That's my father." she said and Akari calmed down a bit. "He was one of the very few royal hunters. My mother keeps his portrait here in her study rather than in the grand hall." Akari whinnied, giving Estelle a questionable expression. "That's where we keep all the portraits and mementoes from all of the great hunters that came before." Estelle explained. Akari whinnied once more, again, asking a question. "What are hunters?" Estelle questioned. Akari nodded her head, indicating that's what she was asking. "They're highly trained assassins, trained to kill any and every monster beyond those gates." Estelle explained, completely unfazed.

Akari, on the other hand, looked anything but unfazed. She was very fazed. Very, very fazed. Her eyes were wide, her ears dropped and her mouth opened in ajar. Estelle cringed before attempting to explain herself better. "Oh, no, no, no, not you! Evil monsters, like the ones in the painting." she pointed her finger to the image. "I know it sounds a bit brutal… okay, a very brutal, but it's part of our greater mission. The whole purpose of the hunters is to rid the world of all evil, the same evil that killed us humans all those years ago. The same evil the Arions rescued us from when they gave us their magic."

Even with this explanation, Akari still didn't feel all that secure. "But you don't have anything to be afraid about. Nobody is going to harm you." Estelle said. The wild creature snorted and opened her wing, revealing the gapping hole in her membrane. Estelle cringed again and rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "Right. But that was only a misunderstanding. Stripes came from the outside world too and he's been living with me ever since."

Stripes nodded his head and spoke to Akari in his own language. The reptilian creature whinnied again, her face a mixture of uncertainty and hopefulness. To ease her worries, Estelle caressed her cheek and rubbed her nose affectionately. "When I was seven-years-old, I kind of broke out of Somorrah and went outside the walls." Estelle said, reliving the memory as she told it to her new friend. "A lot of my people normally can't even stand the thought of what is outside. Not with so many evil creatures roaming about. But, when I went out there…" Estelle paused for a brief moment, a soft smile forged across her lips as she relived the moment. "It was like stepping into a dream. A dream I never wanted to wake up from." the princess's voice became soft with a sense of longing as Akari listened attentively.

"I found Stripes and, he became my first real friend." Stripe scurried from Akari's back and onto Estelle's shoulder, nuzzling Estelle's cheeks. Her smile slowly morphed into a frown. "Then the guards found me and took me back inside the city. At first, my mother was furious. Then, I showed her Stripes wasn't a threat so… she allowed him to stay." Estelle slowly stepped away from Akari, moving closer towards the portrait of her father, right beside the Arion statue, who bared a stronger resemblance to her mother, except for longer hair and more angular features and such flawless body proportions that were nearly impossible for any human to posses, yet it made her appear all the more breathtakingly gorgeous. She was an Arion in which Luciana took great pride in calling her own.

"She took me into the hall of hunters, and revealed to me what I was meant to do with my life." Estelle said, still gazing at the painting. Akari whinnied, asking what exactly was it that Estelle was meant to do. Estelle slowly turned around to face Akari and pointed to the star on her forehead. "See this? It's the symbol of the Arions." Estelle pointed to the shield the statue held, which was identical to the symbol Estelle had. "My mother says it means I am blessed. Kind of vague, I know, but she concluded that I wasn't only meant to become queen of this city, but also a huntress."

Akari's ears perched upwards in alarm. Estelle nodded. "Yep. I'm a huntress too. Well, until my coronation/graduation ceremony next month." it was then, Akari showed sighs of uncertainty again. "You don't have to be afraid, Akari. I would never hurt you, or any innocent creature. We don't kill every animal we see anymore. We spare those who are of no threat to us, like Stripes and many of our animal friends that live here in the city." Estelle walked back towards Akari, gently lifting her chin. "I promise, so long as I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you. Nothing."

Akari's large green eyes softened and she nuzzled against Estelle, who hugged her head. She let out a sad whinny, looking at the image of Estelle's father. The princess sighed. "Yeah… He's gone." she answered. "He died when I was just a baby. He died defending his home… his family."

Using the ends of her wings, Akari wiped away the tears that managed to escape and roll down Estelle's cheeks. She then proceeded to whip them off herself, sniffing a bit while regaining her composure. "Okay, so about that book?"

Akari reacted in alarm, realizing they still needed to find that book. Thankfully, she caught the scent coming from the cabinet drawer of the queen's desk. Estelle quickly pulled out her wand, which once again caused Akari to reel back in alarm. Estelle looked at her wand then back at Akari in confusion.

"What's us with you? Why are you so afraid of my wand?" Akari kept stomping her hoof and nodding her head towards said wand, but Estelle simply shrugged in confusion. "Look, nothing is going to happen, okay? It's perfectly safe."

But Akari did not listen, and instead began to whinny again, very, very loudly. Estelle hurried to her side and covered the creature's mouth. "Be quiet!" Estelle hissed, silencing the creature by force. "Okay, fine, no wands, happy?" Akari nodded her head once and Estelle released her. She placed her wand back into place and proceeded to try and open the cabinet the old fashioned way.

"This is going to be a lot harder without the key." Estelle said to herself.

"Princess? Is that you?"

Estelle gasped, but quickly covered up her mouth on impulse. Akari hurried to the door, using her large body to keep it closed while the servant struggled to turn the knob and open from the other side.

"Princess, why are you in your mother's study?"

"I, uh, I was just, looking for an old beret my mother borrowed." Estelle lied, surprisingly managing not to stutter. Akari gave her a reassuring smile while keeping her body perfectly still, leaning hard against the door to give the impression it was locked.

"Oh, very well then. I just wish to inform you that your friends from the academy are here and they wish to speak with you."

"Oh, no." Estelle whispered to herself, nervously tracing her hand through her hair. "Um, just…" she looked at Akari, who shrugged her shoulders in an uncertain manner. "Could you please let them know I can't see them today? I'm very busy with… these tasks my mother assigned to me."

"Very well, Your Highness." the servant bowed from the other side of the door. Akari pressed her ear to the door, listening in on the footsteps which became more and more faint the farther he walked. After a few more steps, both Akari and Estelle breathed a sigh of relief.

Now to find that key.

*(~)*