It all started as a usual June day for James, school was out, so he could hang out with his friends all summer long, lounge around play some video games, or go out to the local beach.. The Problem with that idea however is James isn’t like most of the boys his age.  He had an hourglass like figure ever since he hit puberty.  Which made him a bit more conscious of what he wears when he goes out.James seemed to have a knack with friends. Girl or Boy didn’t really matter, they just seemed to gravitate to him.

“Hey mom, can I head out to the park?”, asks James.
“Be back in a couple hours” she replies.
“OK mom”, he grunts.

He grabs his backpack and passes his dad (whom is on his way home from work) on his way out the door.   Today is not just any other day, today is his birthday. He’s 15 today, and he has to go find his friends at the park. He grabs his Rollerblades from the porch, and stopped only long enough to secure them to his feet, and stow his shoes in his bag. His skates or “blades” as he and his friends call them are not the nicest pair at the park, nor is he the best skater at the park, but he is proud of his skates, and of his talent, and reflects on this whilst tightening his gear, and heading off.

“Earth to James, Come in James..” calls one of his friends as he sits looking off into space, almost as if he is in a daze.

“Huh what?, oh hey Erik, didn’t see you come in bud” James replies.
Now Erik is not the smartest boy on the planet earth but he is James good mate, they had been that way since the 1st grade.

“Dude, you where a space cadet there for a second, where did you go?”, Erik laughs , “It’s your birthday today man and well we figured we would all chip in and get you some new blades”

Erik hands the box over to James, and steps away, giving James the chance to take a look at the blades and appreciate the gift. At the same time, everyone else seems to crowd in, and look at the shiny new skates.

“Thank guys, oh crap what time is it?”, asks James as he looks down, noticing for the first time that he’s not wearing his watch.
“2:30 why?”, chimes in one of the girls in the back.
‘SHIT!’ he thinks, then he calls out to his friends, “Thanks guys for the blades, I’ll wear them tomorrow promise, I have to go now”, grabs his stuff and takes of towards home.
On his way home he feels a tingling in the back of his head, but he doesn’t really give it a second though, assuming he might have forgotten something.  It’s one of those “hair on the back of your neck” type feelings, one of those instant jolts that just get you thinking for a second. He stops on the porch briefly to take off his blades. it’s of course one of his mom’s biggest rules ever since she agreed to let him do the sport, that he remove the blades before entering the house.
“I’m back!”, James yells into the house as he opens and then closes the door.
There is no answer from anyone in the house. He is an only child, and since both his parents were home when he left, he thinks it weird that no one would answer him on his birthday. At the same time, he notices that tingle at the back of his neck was back, and he is starting to feel strange.
“Hello, Mom? Dad? I’m home!”, James yells again. still no answer from his parents. Tossing his backpack to the side of the doorway where he keeps it for school, he walks around the house looking for his parents.  He is thinking, that maybe they went out and where getting me some presents or something. He starts to wander a bit, “Maybe a new video game like a pre-order on Dragon Age 2 or something”, he says softly, but even  that didn’t sit right with James. His parents usually get his presents for him earlier in the week, and he can’t think of a good reason for them to not be home.
James....
He thinks he hears his name, and jumps up. He looks around the house again, for any sign of his parents, or maybe a surprise party he missed.
“Who's there?!” , he starts yelling at whatever it is that was sharing his house at the moment.
James....
There it is again, this time James a bit freaked runs to the door and then all the sudden the world goes dark on him.
Nothing.
No voice anymore.
No light,
It’s like when you close your eyes and the lights are off and your trying to look through your eyelids kinda dark.  
James it’s time to wake up...

“Is she OK?”,  James hears someone in the darkness ask.
“I’m not really sure, she is  breathing however so that’s a  good sign.”, says a deeper, smoother sounding voice.
“I didn’t mean to run into her like that. It was as if she popped out of no-where.” says the first voice. It starts to sound more and more female as the darkness starts to get lighter.
James is lying there, wondering who they are talking about. His head is pounding and hurts, and he figures he must be a mess.  The darkness is slowly fading as the voices keep talking back and forth.
“What the hell?” squeaks out a girls voice, that is definitely not his own.
James' vision is still fuzzy but is starting to clear up, He could see a really big man standing over him. James is surveying the room with his eyes, and spots another person. “That must be the other voice” he thinks, when suddenly his eyes open wide.  
You know how when you talk to yourself in your head, you always sound the same as you do when you talk out loud?  Well that squeak that he heard  is in his head too!
He looks straight at the male figure that is hovering over him and asks “Who are you?”
“Ah, the name is Mizual Tesignal, but you may cal me Mizual young one”
His voice, it is guttural but is somehow  soothing at the same time. It is almost magical.
“I'm Terra , and I'm so sorry I hit you like that!” says the girl lying on the other table. She sounds like one of the girls from the park, one of his friends.
Unbeknownst to him however, they are not speaking in English, despite the fact that  he could still understand them. Looking over at the girl named Terra his eyes fully adjusted now, he could see she has pointed ears.
“OH MY GOD!, You have pointed ears!”, James exclaims as he falls off the table that had been turned into a makeshift bed.
“So do you girlie”, Terra points back to him
James at that point, looks down and sees something on his chest that was not there just a few hours ago. He is terrified of what his parents would think, I mean he has breasts now. This is definitely getting close to being more than he could take.
“What the hell did you do to me?!”, he exclaims.
“Calm down young one”, says Mizual, with his magically calming voice. “Calm down and  tell us your name, and how you got to the market?”
“My.. My name is James..”,at that point  Mizual quirks an eye,” And I have no clue how I got here!”
“James is it? You sure do not look like a James”, Mizual says seriously.
“Well that's the name my mom and dad gave me!”, James squeals in anger, “And I suppose you glued these on my chest while I was asleep to make me angry?”, It is  more of a comment then a question. He decides to reach down, and pull one off, but finds out that they aren’t fake. “Oh God!” he screams. At least he thinks he screams, but by the reactions of the others in the room, it had just been in his head.
James always knew he was different, even though nobody ever said anything to him.He was aware that he had a quite girlish figure.  He knew something deep down was not totally right with his body, but this? Breasts? “What the hell” he tries to scream again.
“Well young lady” Mizual says, “No matter what your parents named you, we can’t really go around calling you buy a male name. Not even a human male name.” Mizual pauses for a moment, to let that sink in and then continues. “so let me find your real name”, with that Mizual  raises his hand over James face and starts to say some words in a language James doesn't understand.
“I believe the spirits call you, Arura”, he  says at last in a language James knows.
“What did you just say?”, James asks..
“I was speaking in Dragon. It’s  a  very ancient tongue around here.”
“Hey that's a pretty name for an ugly full-elf!”, pipes Terra from the other bed..
Looking over at Terra, Arura sticks her tongue out, and Terra smiles back.
“Very becoming of a full blood”, Terra says. James is just thinking “Wow, what a bitch” when he comes to the sudden realization that maybe she is just jealous.
“I wasn’t  that bad of a looking boy, I have a lot of friends.” he thinks. .
“Can I look in a mirror?”, James asks.
“Sure young one, There is one on the wall behind you”, Mizual says.
James tries to stand up, but his or was that her legs are a bit shaky still. She stands, steadying herself with the table,  turning around slowly and looks at herself. It is definitely herself now James, no Arura thinks. “I’m, I’m pretty” he squeaks.
Arura is oblivious to the giggling titter coming from Terra. Aura is too busy noticing all her body’s new attributes, including her pointed ears. It is at that point that Arura remembers Terra’s comment from earlier “What did she mean by Full-Blood” she thinks.
Arura is about to open her mouth, to ask Tera about the Full-Blood comment, when Terra volunteers, “I'm only a  half elf. My mother was an elf and my father was a human”.
“Oh” is all Arura can think of to say.
Turning around to Terra, Mizual looks at her and a small smile appears on his face, “You are an adult in your family’s eyes Terra. Since you found Arura, and you hit her hard enough to make her think she was a human boy”, Mizual pauses for a moment and then starts again, “ It will be your duty to make sure she gets some nice clothes, other then the robe I have given her. You must and see she is safe as well.”
“Whatever” Terra says then lets out a huge sigh “She can handle herself can't she?  I mean look at her she looks like Full-Blood Royalty!”
Mizual  nods, ”Even so, you where the one that brought her to me and  I've given you the task. I’ve provided some money to take care of the basics at least.”
Terra looks over at Arura and sees Arura looking  her over in return.. “Stay close to me, but out of my way. Got it?”
Arura nods her new female head,  and feels her long reddish hair fall forward, resting over her eyes. “This is going to take a lot of getting used to” Arura thinks, whilst moving her new bangs out of her vision with a burst of breath.

The outdoor market is huge.  Arura has never seen this many people gather in one place to sell stuff.  There are so many shops and street vendors, the closest thing Aura can compare it to would be a farmers’ market, inside a huge mall, but even that doesn’t come anywhere close to being like this.

“You don’t recognize any of this?” Terra asks.  Arura shakes her head no, deciding that her long hair is going to get annoying.  Arura has all kinds of questions in her head that she can’t answer, the most basic one being ‘Am I a boy or a girl’, and the amount of thought she’s putting into it is about to make her head hurt.

“Hey Miss,” calls one of the vendors, holding out a very pretty necklace, “For a pretty young elf only five silver.”

Terra pipes in, “We can go four down and get the same thing for two.”  A grin spreads across her lips, and the man’s smile slightly fades.

“I will go as low as three silver.”

“Hey, don’t I get a say in what I’m going to wear?” Arura says whilst looking between Terra and the shopkeeper. The man at the outdoor shop just gives her a weird look as if he doesn’t understand what she’s saying.

Not seeing Terra’s hands at work as the Shopkeeper and Terra are bargaining over a necklace for her new outfit, Terra swipes a ring from him.

“Ok three silver it is,” she replies, handing it over and receiving the new necklace.

A lot of people pass them on their way to the clothing store. “I think Mizual would want to see you again in a dress Princess.”  

Again with the teasing, thinks Arura as Terra grabs her arm and pulls her out of the way for the guard on horse back to pass without running her over.  “Being ran over once a day should be good enough for you shouldn’t it?  There is a place over here you can change into that dress.”

Terra drags Arura over to a changing stable.  “In here, and you can change.”  

Arura climbs into the stall.  It isn’t very big but not exactly small either: one of those things for people to use who buy new clothes in the market.
In the stall, Arura stares at the dress confused, as she has never worn one before and is not sure how to put it on.

“Terra, how does this thing work?” Arura, a bit confused, asks through the door. Terra opens the door and steps in, making the stall even more crowded.

“You dope; you have to step into it first then pull it up.”  Terra opens the top of the dress for her.  “Get undressed and step in.”

Arura looking shocked at Terra, insists, “But you’re in here,” a slightly embarrassed tone in her voice.

“You got nothing I haven’t seen twig girl,” Terra snipes at her then adds, “Oh whatever, I’ll leave.”  Terra steps out of the stall and closes the door standing guard outside, waiting.  After a few minutes Arura steps out of the stalls.

“Well don’t you look all pretty in that, Princess.”  Terra gives her best at being a real bitch to Arura, but she can’t help grinning.  

“Thank you, I guess,” Arura stammers, slightly embarrassed, still confused how things happened, and why she isn't a boy anymore.   Arura’s stomach growls suddenly.   “I’m hungry; what now?”  

“Follow me I guess, you silly twig,” Terra says, pulling Arura along.   They pass by a lot of stands and through a lot of people, weaving in and out of the crowd.

They pass by a stand that is selling fresh fruit, and one that selling fresh baked bread and cheese, weaving their way through the crowds and making their way down to the pier. The pier is  always a lot quieter than the rest of the town, with only a few dock hands keeping rounds for all the ships in port.  

Arura suddenly finds herself being dragged to a giant tree in a small park, with a picnic table in the same style she had back home.  The birds are chirping loudly, as if anticipating a handout from the newcomers, and the slight breeze makes things even more like home for Arura as the smell of the sea air drifts ashore.
   
“But-but we didn’t get any food,” Arura complains as they get to the table and sit.

“Don’t you worry your twig head about it,” Terra states with a sneer.  “I got us some food.”

Terra then proceeds to pull a loaf of bread, a small wheel of cheese and two apples out of her sack.  As Terra lays out the food on the table, Arura starts thinking: why did I end up here; where are my parents?  Why the hell am I a girl?  Was I just James like three for four hours ago?  

It’s my freaking birthday, I’m in some strange messed up place, and to top it off I’m a elf!. Elves are from Dungeons and Dragons, a game back home!  Tears start to form in Arura’s eyes. “Oh god.. I want to go home!” she yells at Terra.  

Completely taken off guard Terra quips back, “Well why the hell don’t you go back home then?”   This is about too much for Arura, and she just starts to ball, tears flowing from her eyes, her chest heaving.  

“I.. I.. I want my mom and dad”, she sobs.

Concern starts to creep over Terra as she watches Arura cry.  Sitting down next to her, she puts her arm around Arura.  “It’s going to be ok, Princess, I’m sure Mizual will figure things out.”

Arura, still crying, asks, “Why am I here?  And why am I a girl?  I was just a boy, and-and its my birthday today!”  Her sobbing makes all that run together and hard for Terra to understand all of it, but she does get the birthday part, and some of the other.  Terra stands up and walks over to the other side of the table then cuts some of the cheese and bread, placing it down in front of Arura.

“Well if I knew it was your birthday I would have gotten a gift for you worthy of a Princess.”  Trying to get Arura to smile a little, Terra reaches into her bag and starts rummaging through it for something to give her as a present.

As if on cue a voice from behind the girls speaks, “I see you got her some better clothing then what we found her in.”  Startled, both girls jump, though Arura is still sobbing a bit.

“Arura, as for your parents, they know you are here, and are very excited for your return.”  Moving closer to the table the dragon-blood Mizual, stands tall with his long black hair, and shinny gold eyes, smiling at the girls.  “I also have a gift for you Arura: it was your Grandmother’s.” He takes a moment to let out a memory soft sigh.  “ I was supposed to wait to give it to you, when I take you to your parents, but I think you deserve it now.”

Arura stares at the big man, confused , her eyes all puffy from crying.  “How did you know my Grandmother?”

“She and I were once close, my young Elf.  I have been a guardian of your family for a very long time, and that’s all you need to know for now.”  Terra now starts to feel confused on how Mizual knows the elf's family and how she even fit into the picture.  she knew that he had caught her trying to steal from his shop a few years ago, and took her in as family, and feels confused why he didn’t tell her anything.  

“We will set out for your parents tomorrow young one, the three of us.  For tonight I have a job to do here.”  Turning around, he starts to walk off , but before he leaves, he adds, “When you’re done here, take her back to the shop.  There is a lot to be done before morning.”  

With that said he leaves, and the girls finish their food in relative silence, save for a few sobs from Arura as they eat their bread and cheese.

“You know you’re a very strange Elf, Princess.  I have never seen Mizual take to anyone besides me like he has you.”  Grabbing her apple Terra takes a bite and looks at Arura.  “Finish the apple, and we will head back.”  

Stopping before she grabs the apple,  Arura looks the locket over that Mizual gave her.  It’s heart shaped and very elaborate design, small hinges on the side.  Arura gently opens the locket, and inside there’s a picture... of a very pretty elven female, standing next to what looks like Mizual.  The Elven woman has a smile on her face, as if she was happy. Arura quickly closes the locket and takes a bite of her apple.

“Do you think my parents will be happy to see me?  And will they even know who I am?” Arura squeaks out as she swallows the piece of apple.   

“Look Princess, If your parents love you, they will be really happy to see you, and well as for knowing who you are, why wouldn’t they?”  Taking another bite of her apple, Terra slides over a bit and puts her hand on Arura’s shoulder.  “And if they don’t, and kick you to the streets, you always have me an’ old  Mizual to take care of you.”  Terra sounds very assuring when she says that,

Arura takes another bite of her apple. ” I can’t eat anymore; can we just go back now?”  She still feels a bit sad, but her mood picked up a little after she received the locket.  

A trash receptacle like they have back where James was from sits right next to the table, and Terra throws the rest of her apple in it.  “Well then lets get going.” Arura puts her apple in the trash as well, as Terra grabs her hand and starts to lead her back to the shop.

Back at Mizual’s shop, the two girls sit and wait for his return.  It’s getting late, but there is still light outside so its not too late.  Arura wishes she knew what time it was.  The shop is set back up, and looks a bit different then when she first woke up on the table. The bell above the door rings, starling the two girls, and a gentleman wearing a black and purple robe enters the shop.

“Hello young ladies, is Master Mizual in?” he asks very slyly.  

“No, He’s gone to finish the preparations for this year’s Ritual.”

The man looks the two girls over.  “Ah ok well then can you give him this?”  Pulling out a small bag, the man sets it on the table, turns around and walks out quietly.  Standing up Terra walks over to the object and places it behind one of the counters.  

“I hope this year’s closing is better then last years, and they get rid of some more of those pesky portals.”  Arura looks up at Terra now with a confused look on her face.  

“What do you mean by portals?”  

Smiling, Terra replied, “Oh well, there are these portals you see, and well people vanish through them all the time.  You can’t really see them unless you have dragon blood, and well um nobody knows what happens to the people who walk through them.”  She stopped for a breath,

“Some people say you die if you go through one; others say you go to a different place.  Nobody is sure really because once someone walks into one they never comes back.”  

Arura gets a connection look on her face, the sort you get when you put two and two together and make a whole.

“I bet it was one of those portals that brought me here!  And if I go back through one, I will be able to see my parents again!”  Excited, Arura stands up and hurries for the door.  

“Hey wait up!” calls Terra as she stands up from her stool, a bit too late as Arura slips out the door and runs down the street, Terra chasing foot behind her several paces.  “Slow down!”

Arura races down the almost empty street towards the town square.  As they run down the street, the crowd of people starts to get thicker, Terra finally catching up to Arura,  “Damn you’re fast, Princess.”

Terra reaches for Arura’s arm and smiles.  “What do you hope to accomplish by going through a portal?  You could die you know?  Not that I care or anything, but Mizual might.”  She is still smiling as they make their way through the crowd now, trying to find Mizual and the other dragon blood.

“Over there!”, Terra tries to direct Arura through the crowd of people towards a group of very fancily dressed men.  “You see them I hope, Princess, if not you’re blind.”  Arura nods slowly as they make their way to the men.

“I see them just fine,” Arura says with a bit of sarcasm.  “Mizual can show me which Portal to go through can’t he?  I really want to go home!”  She’s almost in tears again.  

“I  droubt it.  The Portals are dangerous; that is why they close as many as they can every year when they open stronger,” Terra replied almost caringly that time.  Mizual, noticing the two girls approaching steps back from the others to greet them.  

“Greetings children, the Ritual will begin when the sun has set.”  He smiles at them both.  “I see you have a question for me child,” he states, looking at Arura.  Arura seems kinda happy because she’s thought of a way to get home, looking up at Mizual,

“You have to show me the Portal to my home Mizual, please?!”  Mizual frowns at her, not a mad frown, but an upset frown.

“I told you child, You will be reunited with your parents soon, and after this Ritual I will take you to them, but now is not the time for such things.”  

Taken back by Mizual’s words Arura, steps back a few steps and almost backs into Terra.

“Hey watch it Twig head, those are my feet you almost stepped on.”  

Mizual still looking at the girls, a bit upset  at Arura’s request of him, asks, “Would you two girls mind finding a place without me for now?  I will join you after I complete my part of this ritual.”

Nodding, Terra grabs Arura’s arm and drags her through the crowd again.  “I think over by that tree near the town center will be a good place to watch the going-on’s of the Ritual.”

Being dragged to the tree, Arura looks upset and feels down.  “I want to go home Terra; I don’t like it here!  I don’t know anyone but you and Mizual, and well I just meet you both.”   Stopping under the tree, Terra looks at Arura and sits down, “Sit down and we can talk.  Id like to hear more about your home.  I haven’t been outside this city ever in my life.”  

Arura nods her head, and sits down next to Terra under the tree.  “Well where I'm from there are no pointy eared people, and I was a boy.”  

Terra looks over at Arura.  “You don’t look like a boy to me, Princess.  As a matter of fact, you look like you never were a boy to begin with.”  

Arura’s eyes start to mist up as she and Terra sit beneath the giant tree.  “You know I don’t care what the hell you say, I am a boy.  At least, I was.”  Tears start to fall now from Arura’s face.   

The sun seems to go down a bit more, not all the way yet.  “And screw this place, I want my parents!”  Crying harder now, Arura puts her hands over her face.

Terra moves closer to Arura and slips her arms around her to hold her close.  “It’s ok princess.  I’m sure Mizual will bring you to your parents.  He doesn’t lie.”  

“Screw him too,” Arura bawls from behind her hands.   Terra, a bit unsure of what to do or say, just holds Arura close,  “This’ got to be a nightmare; I swear its a nightmare!”  Suddenly Terra leans over Arura’s shoulder without thinking on her part, places her lips against Arura’s as Arura moves her hands away from her face.. and kisses her.  The kiss seems to last forever, and by the time Terra releases Arura the sun has finally gone down.

The music starts up just as the last rays of light disappear, and chanting can be heard.  What seemed like fireworks shoot up in the air.   Arura is still dumbfounded by the kiss, and Terra has a big grin on her face.

“See, things will work out, Princess.  You just got to have patience.”  The two sit under the tree quietly as the fireworks and music go on around them.  People from all over the continent are here for this ritual, which in the last several years has turned into a festival of sorts.  

Thinking about what just happened to her Arura is lost in her thoughts and doesn’t notice the people walking by, nor does she notice Mizual coming.   “The Ritual is complete and some more of the portals are closed.  It takes too much magic to close them all.”

Arura jumps when Mizual speaks,  “I didn’t see you there.”

Mizual laughs.  “That is because you were lost in your mind for some reason child,” he says, looking over at Terra, still smiling, “It’s late.  Why don’t you take Arura to the estate before we leave in the morning to get some rest?  I have some things to take care of at the shop.”  And with that Mizual turns around and walks away.  Standing up, Terra offers her hand to Arura,

“Lets get going.  It’s not too far from the town center.”  

The two girls walked in silence all the way to the large house at the end of another street, the street lights’ glow lighting their way.

The Estate house is huge - two storeys tall as far as Arura could tell.  Terra unlocks the door, and they both entered the home.  “Let me show you to the room you will sleep in tonight.”  

Terra once more drags Arura around, this time up the flight of stairs.  She opens one of the great oak doors to a very girlish room, “You can sleep here tonight.  My room is right next to yours if you need anything ok?”  

Arura looks around the room as Terra closed the door quietly and slips off to her room.  Laying in the big pink bed, Arura stares at the ceiling till she final falls asleep.

“Hey James I love your new skates bro!  Did you get them for your birthday?” Erik asked as they were getting ready to start skating on the pipe in the park near his home.  

“Yeah my mom and dad bought them for me,” James replied.  

“Cool man.  Let’s do some skating then,” Erik replied back.  

Before James could get to the pipe however, he heard a voice: a somewhat familiar voice.

“Arura, it’s morning; time to wake up!  Mizual is waiting for us downstairs!”

Arura stirred a bit, and opened her eyes.  It was a dream?  She sighed and looked around the room.  The room she was sleeping in was decorated in a lot of pinks; the blankets were even a pink colour.  Teddy bears lined the walls.  They looked like birthday gifts, and most of them looked as if they had never been moved.

Looking over at the door through her sleepy eyes could see Terra standing there already dressed..  

“I have some clothes you can borrow in the Armour.  I think they might fit you.”

Closing the door Terra headed downstairs to wait with Mizual.  Getting up Arura sleepily walked over to the armour and opened it.  Inside Terra’s “Closet” Arura found a lot of fancy dresses some leather armor.  Thinking to herself ‘God Terra is a girlie girl but looking at her you would never know’, she chose an outfit that looked comfortable for the ride she was about to take.

She quickly changed into them, “You know I will never get used to putting these damn things on,” she grumbled as she started with the girlish underwear that Terra had bought her in the market then put on their selected outfit and stepped out of the room.  

Terra stifled a giggle knowing full well if she laughed at Arura that there would be a come back that she didn’t want to hear.

“So are you ready?  Ole Miz is waiting for us in the shop.” Terra  quickly asked, avoiding making a rude comment.

“I guess I’m as ready as ever,” Arura sighed, coming out the room in a long purple travel dress, “I thought you only wore boy clothes Terra.” she commented without making it sound like a question.

“Only when I’m in town, twig.  Anyway, lets go so we can get you to your parents.” Terra grinned.

Arura shook her head, walking out of the room and down the stairs to where everyone was waiting for her.  Everyone turned their heads to see her flowing down the stairs and a few of the men bowed to Arura.

“Why are they bowing to me?” Arura looked over at Terra as she asked.

“As if, twig.  No but really, for a full blood you’re awfully naive.”  Terra shook her head at Arura.

“What!? Seriously why are they bowing like that to me?” Arura looked really confused.

“Seriously girl is your hair colour is starting to shine through and showing your intelligence.  Get a clue Arura!  You’re a full blood elf, and you’re a Princess!  Duh.  I wasn’t calling you Princess JUST to insult you.”

“You know Terra you could be part of the mean girl crowd that’s always fucking with my friends.” Arura sighed.

This time it was Terra’s turn to give a stupid look, as she and Arura descended to the bottom to the stairs, then she shook her head as the guards and Mizul all got ready to leave.

Terra looked over at Arura one last time as they left the Store and boarded a carriage outside. As the day went by the girls sat in quiet as Mizul was reading a book.

“You two are awfully quiet,” he finally said, winking at them both while secretly wishing they would stay that way.

Terra stuck her tongue out at Arura after Mizul said that, and then Arura returned the favor, making Mizul chuckle a bit as he went back to his book.

“Now now, that’s quite enough of that,” the old wizard chuckled warmly.  He then turned to Aura and asked “Arura, what do you know or remember of your family here?”

Arura answered with honest confusion.  “To be honest, nothing.  So why did Terra call me a Princess?  I don’t know the first thing about being a princess or even a girl for that matter.”  She started to cry and think to herself, ‘why did this happen to me?  More to the point how and what do I do now?’

Mizul looked at Arura as he wondered how in the world she could not remember anything.   ‘Maybe all the time in the mortal world of earth did something to her.  She says she is a boy named James and wanted to go back home, but her name is Arura and her parents are the elven king and queen. This is going to be hard to explain to them that their youngest daughter does not remember them, but then again maybe she is telling the truth?  The portals have been known to do some unusual things.’

Mizul finally cleared his throat and spoke, “This is not going to be easy, but here it goes.  You are a full blooded Elf, and their only daughter.  “You are a Princess, and though it can’t be easy I’m sure things will work out.  Whatever you remember, or whatever you believe - the truth of things is that your parents are missing you very much, child, and they will be overjoyed at your return.”

For the next several hours Mizul educated Arura about her heritage, the basics of how to behave as a noble,  and his long friendship with the Royal family.  Arura listened intently as he went on about how nice it was to find her safe after she left for earth on a mission a week ago and never returned.  During this time Terra seemed to be getting irritated - or bored -  at the old man’s prattle.

Finally, Terra piped up “So Princess you can’t even remember leaving?  Personally I never saw or heard of you till I got stuck leading you around the other day, and now all of a sudden people around here keep telling me that you are the missing Princess.  If you don't remember this then you really are blonde.”  She grinned and poked Arura’s arm.  “And a twig.”

Arura was about to retaliate when the carriage suddenly stopped and the horses started to whine outside.  Mizul looked out the window and turned around to the girls with a semi smile on his normally flat expressionless face. “You two would best to look outside,” he said calmly.

Both girls looked at Mizul then back at each other with puzzled looks on their face wondering what was going on.

Then they looked back at Mizul and said at the same time, “Why?  What's up?  Whats going on?”

“Just look out the window girls.  This will be a once in a lifetime for you both.” Mizul insisted with an even broader, knowing smile.

Both girls looked out the window.  Outside the window both girls could see a spectacular sight that hadn’t been seen on this planet in over a thousand years.  A very large herd of Unicorns around a thousand or better, were grazing in the field and holding up the carriages path as well.

The driver looked back and called, “An hour tops sir.  They should move on or out of our way by then, if they’re anything like normal beasts.  Till they move from the road I’m afraid we stay put.  Me old mother, may she rest in peace, would come back to haunt me if I harmed a single hair on their heads!”

Mizul looked out the window and called back, “That’s fine Jarric.  How far are we from the city?”

“About four hours  Sir.” Jarric called back.

The girls chatted away about the unicorns and marveled in their beauty as they grazed in the plains.  As one of the creatures brushed right up against the carriage, allowing the girls an up-close look, Terra looked over at Arura and smiled.  “They are very pretty aren’t they Twig?” she teased, almost, but not quite giggling.

Arura, tired of Terra’s twig comments, decided to come up with one of her own, “Sure are, halfie.” she teased back.  “I always dreamed about seeing one, but I could never tell anyone about that.  They would just laugh at me.”  Arura frowned then smiled again after a moment or two.  “But seeing this many at once is amazing.”

Jerric looked back and called out, “They are moving out of the way now Sir,  I’m going to start moving again.”

Several hours more in the cart, the girls kept staring out the window hoping to catch some more exotic sights like they had just witnessed as they passed through the great plains of Est.  About four hours, later the carriage pulled closer to a very large city that seemed almost to have been intentionally “grown”, carved into a mighty forest of giant trees.

Arura yawned and leaned back, closing her eyes, and fell asleep.  Terra looked over at Arura and smiled, leaned over and kissed her softly on her lovely perky lips, “Goodnight twig, sleep well.”  she smiled and finished, “When you wake you will be with your family again, and you can forget all about that stupid half elf that teased you.”