"Linh!" Tam yelled trying to find his sister in the grass. " Where are you?" the toddler yelled trying to make his way through the grass. A small hand poked out of the grass holding a flag. Their parents had given them flags so that they wouldn't get lost in the tall grass. Their heads barely came up above the grass and they were quite hard to see. He felt like a shadow. He would run quietly like how darkness came over a room. It was sudden and it took a moment to realise what had happened. Then he wouldn't be there. Tam had dropped the red flag . On purpose. Yeah it definitely wasn't an accident, no way. Linh waved the flag around.

"Over here!" She yelled in case he had missed the flag. He ran towards her pushing the grass out of his way. As soon as they could see each other Linh started running away.

"You can't catch me!" She laughed trying to start a game of tag. Tam followed trying to catch up to his sister. Even though Tam was slightly taller (and there for had longer legs) Linh moved more fluently than her brother she could run almost like water and when she did run she felt as though she was water, almost like a rushing stream in the field that would appear in the grass for her. Did everyone feel that way? Tam grabbed a handful of mud and through it at her. It hit her square in the face . Some girls Linh's age would have screamed. Linh herself may have screamed had it been someone of whom was not her brother, but this was Tam. She had to reign victorious. Linh grabbed mud and threw it at him getting it all through his hair. Linh started laughing at the upset look on Tam's face. She started laughing harder as Tam reached down and hit her with more mud. Tam started laughing too as they threw mud at each other.

Linh and Tam collapsed on the ground laughing ;both covered in mud. Linh sat up.

"We should get home." She said

Tam sat up too. He had a very serious look on his face. He sighed. Maybe they didn't have to they could run away and survive alone, but Linh wouldn't want to. He wouldn't go without her. They both stood up. Tam pulled out a leaping crystal. They both only had two. One to get to the field one to get home.

As the walls of Choralmere sparkled into view Linh sighed. They were late , and their parents would not be happy. Linh shook out her shoulder length black hair ; attempting to get the mud out of her hair. Only some came out.

"Do you think they'll be more mad about mud or if we come in soaking wet?" She asked her brother grabbing his hand. She knew the answer would probably be soaking wet, but she liked water and wouldn't mind jumping in the ocean right now.

"Soaking wet." Tam responded firmly, he always looked more mature at home; she supposed she did too. Tam let go of his sister's hand. Linh followed him as he started to walk towards the crystal structure. It created no shade. It was a nightmare in every way; except each other. That was the only thing keeping Tam from running away. They entered the house Linh thought of it as a nightmare that looked like a dream to everyone else. It looked like a sparkling water to her; shining water that had been trapped into an idealistic elven home.

Their mother and father came up. They were the perfect couple but their children were less than perfect. In the eyes of nobility their family would never again be whole, not in their own eyes and not in the eyes of many others. They gave their children a look that said it all. Linh grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him outside. She took of her cape. She always wore a tank top and shorts under her dress in case her clothes got wet or dirty. She pulled off her dress and fell back into the ocean. Linh was only afraid of water when she was fully under the water; otherwise she was fine. She washed herself off watching the dirt disappear into the ocean. She walked back to shore and shook off getting a considerable amount more water off than she had with the mud. She slid her dress back over her head and fastened her cape around her neck. Tam stood up from his small shelter in which he was hiding from the rain. Linh hadn't noticed when it had started raining since she was already rather wet. Tam wrapped his cape tighter around him to keep out the cold. The two of them walked inside. They shared a look before both walking to their rooms.

Linh sat down as her mother braided her hair. As her mother finished the simple hair style Linh stood up. She ran to her room but then stopped at the door. She still hadn't said goodnight to Tam. She tiptoed to her brother's room.

"Tam?" She whispered, tapping his shoulder.

Tam turned around and wrapped his arms around his sister.

"Night Tam, love you." She whispered hugging him back.

"Love you too Linh" Tam whispered back, letting go. Linh tiptoed back to her room as Tam layed back down. He closed his eyes as he fell asleep. He didn't know the way his life would play out. He didn't know he would leave his noble status for Linh , and one thing he really didn't know, he didn't know the Moonlark.

AN:Carin: I wrote another one shot, and this one is a colection of one shots, and they won't just be about Tam and Linh. All of them will be before the first book though, basically about different charecters before they met the Moonlark aka Sophie Foster. So yay for that. any ways hope you enjoyed.