Ok, so here is my first story for TwoKinds. Since the actual story for TwoKinds has not been completed, I have created my own original characters, and a story for them.

All things TwoKinds belongs to Tom Fischbach. I don't own his characters.

Also, a big thanks to my friend, and fellow Grammar-Nazi, F6F Freak for proofreading this at least a dozen times for me. My OCD would have kept me looking over this document for eight years, but he corrected it all.

A NOTE: Any dialogue that is "inside quotation marks and italicized" is being spoken in Keidran. If it's "like this," it's spoken in Human (English).

With that confusing explanation out of the way, enjoy!

"Who I Am"

Chapter 1

"Are you sure about this, Aaron?" I could tell May was deeply concerned for me; she had the right to be, too. I had only been outside this village once since I first came in about 13 years ago.

I don't know much about my life before I came to live with May's family. I don't remember who my parents were, if we had a nice house, how old my siblings were – hell, I don't even know if I had siblings.

The most distinguishing thing about me, though, is that I have the ears of a Tiger Keidran. No one would ever tell me how I got them, either; I assumed it was the result of some magic that someone had placed on me. Of course, what else could it be?

The magic theory comes from a strange birthmark-like imprint on my left arm. I read books on magic in hopes that I could pick up some skill in that field, but I'm not too good at it. I've also read books about some strange magic techniques, and I've seen markings like the one on my arm before in some of them. They're circles, but with odd markings inside them and I didn't recognize the markings as any language I'd ever seen before. Some of the books said that one was used in a soul-binding spell. I didn't read too much into that, because the circle on my arm doesn't look that similar. I still haven't found what my circle is for, which is part of the reason that I want to go out on my own – hopefully I can find out more about myself.

I was never told much about my family. I was told that my father was a hunter of Keidran. Fox Keidran, specifically. Naturally, Keidran don't take too kindly to humans, what with the slave trade, and all. I never did learn too much about my mother, however. It always seemed like everyone was keeping something form me when I would ask.

We lived in a small village near the border with the Wolf Keidran. Occasionally, there were minor conflicts with humans and Keidran. The people in our village never thought much of it, that is, until it happened to us. When I was about four years old, our village came under attack from the Wolf Keidran. They wiped out our entire village as a means of getting back at some of the slave traders that lived there. Luckily, I was outside of the village when it happened. The Wolf Keidran found me playing in the trees while walking back towards their border.

Ask just about any human, and they'll tell you that the Keidran are "animals, and nothing more." I beg to differ. The Wolves could have killed me just as easily as they did the rest of my village. How they knew who I was, I'll never know. Maybe they saw a painting of my family inside our home; or maybe they saw a resemblance between my father and I. What I do know is that they spared my life. They took me to the Fox Keidran, where May found me and took me in. She lived very close to the border with humans, and there was a village there that welcomed Keidran with open arms. Keidran could go and trade goods and supplies there – even work.

That's probably why I don't share the hatred of Keidran that most humans do. May and her husband could have used me as a slave, like humans do to the Keidran, but they took me in and raised me just like one of their own. And when I say, "one of their own," I mean one of their own. Keidran is actually my primary language; I taught myself Human based on what I knew from my early childhood and a supply of books that Seth, May's husband, had bought at the nearby human village. I began learning Human at age 7, and by 12, I had a vast knowledge of the language.

I was told more and more about how I came to be with the Keidran as I got older. When I was ten, they told me about how the Wolves found me in the trees a little ways from the village. They said the Wolves had been fascinated with how well I moved through the branches. Apparently, I was very swift and agile when it came to running across tree branches. Seth gave me the nickname of "Marlch'ren;" Keidran for "trees." When I was eleven, Seth took me to the human village nearby and I had my nickname tattooed across the back of my shoulders. I haven't tried out my tree-climbing abilities since then, but I've been thinking I might soon. I'll have to live up to my tattoo sooner or later.

May and Seth never had any children of their own. I guess I was close enough to a child for them. Seth even taught me the ways of fighting with a sword. He had my own made for me on my twelfth birthday; something we had to guess on, since nobody knew my real birthday. We ended up using the day that they brought me home.

Now that I'm 17, they're both about 20 years old – close to the end of their lives. I've always wondered why Keidran don't live as long as humans; I mean, they are, basically, humans, but with a little more fur and better sense. Oh, and the ears and tails; I guess that one is kind of obvious, though.

Now that I was mature enough, I had decided it was time to go out on my own, which brings us back to where we were; May was watching me, waiting for my answer. I knew I had to respond soon, or she'd probably never let me leave.

"May, I'll be fine. I think I can handle myself." I tried to sound as convincing and confident as I could, but my voice still came out a little shaky. Even Seth picked up on this instantaneously, and was apparently already prepared for it.

"Aaron," he said, "You're only seventeen – that's still young for a human. Are you sure you don't want to wait at least a few more years?"

"You two are already twenty. I don't want to be any more of a burden on you. You've raised me to be who I am today. I'm actually glad that you two took me in; it's much better than being raised by a man who would hunt Keidran for a living."

"Aaron," May said, "I'm sure your father would have raised you just as well as anyone." Now it was her voice that was shaky. I knew she didn't mean it – how could anyone mean that?

"I'm absolutely sure about this. It's time I went out. Maybe I can find out more about who I am this way." I could feel a lump in my throat. May and Seth were the closest thing I had ever had to a family, so no matter how sure I was about leaving, it was still hard. "You guys are the best thing that's ever happened to me. Thank you. It means so much." Despite my best efforts, I couldn't hold back the tears.

May finally allowed the tears to flow down her cheeks, too. She stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. "We're really going to miss you, Aaron."

"Thank you, May. Thank you for everything you've done." She released me from her hug, and Seth stepped forward, eyes full of tears as well, offering his hand out. I shook it, just like the day that I first met him. "Good luck, son."

"You've taught me what I need to know to make it. Thank you."

With that, I gathered my things; nothing more than my sword across my back, a bag full with enough food to last me at least a few weeks, poles, a tarp, rope, and stakes - for a tent -, and some money for anything more I needed.

I made my way to the village with the Keidran-friendly humans, hoping to get some supplies. My journey took no more than two hours, which was odd, because I expected it to be much farther away. I guessed when I journeyed here before I wasn't really great at gauging distance.

One thing stood out immediately when I went into the town. I expected there to be a few Keidran there, but not as many as I saw. There must have been three Keidran for every two humans. It might has well have been a Keidran town with human visitors, not vice-versa. I also noticed I was getting some strange looks. Some people were pointing at me and talking in hushed whispers to one another.

Once I was done buying my supplies, I rented a room at the inn. After a quick bath, I headed back to my room and slept off the nervousness of being out on my own for the first time.

I woke early in the morning, eager to set out to…okay, so I wasn't sure where I was going. At that point, though, I figured I could head just about anywhere.

From the village, I decided to head north and explore the vast empire that the humans had. I didn't really know the layout of the land, so I was glad that I had picked up a map in town. There were a few towns about a hundred kilometers north, so I guessed that would be where I would head, and started north through the forest. It's not really going to be fun traveling alone, though, I thought. Guess I'll get over it. And hey, who knows? I might run into someone who needs to travel with me.

I don't think you can ever really understand what true irony is until you've witnessed something like I did just after thinking that.

I was no more than a kilometer out of the village when I started to get the feeling that someone was watching me. I took my sword off my back and attached it to my right hip on my belt – hoping that I wouldn't need to use the training that Seth had provided me with. After about a mile, I was beginning to hear the branches of the trees around me move. For some reason, I have hearing that rivals that of a Keidran. Come to think of it, all of my senses were almost as sharp as a Keidran's. In hindsight, maybe I should have asked May if she knew anything about that

Not wanting to get involved in a fight, I picked up the pace. As I started to walk quickly, I could hear whoever was following me speeding up, too. After a few more minutes of them following me, I started to jog. I heard them do the same, and they matched my speed with ease. I began to get frustrated and started running, and again they kept up with no problem.

This is beginning to get annoying, I thought. "Annoying" was one word to describe it; I was also beginning to get nervous – I hadn't run for a long distance in quite some time, and whoever it was, they were quickly gaining on me. They clearly won't give up anytime soon, and I don't know how much longer I can run for. They weren't letting up, either. I could hear them getting close with every second. I was so focused on listening in to gauge where they were that I stopped paying attention to the ground in front of me and tripped over a tree root. I felt my left knee hit something hard, and a wave of pain shot throughout my entire left leg and up my spine.

Dammit! I thought. I'm nicknamed for my ability to run through trees, and I trip over one. How clichéd. Only I could find a way to do something this idiotic.

I rolled over, held my knee with my right hand and unsheathed my sword with my left. I looked around, listening carefully for any sign of where they could be. I heard nothing for about two minutes, so I looked down at my knee. It didn't feel that bad, but it was covered in blood from a very large gash on the top of it. I looked over to where I'd tripped, about a meter away, and saw a fairly good sized rock with a sharp point that was now covered in my blood. Now the pain was starting to sink in, and I was fighting back the urge to scream in agony.

I stopped once again to listen around me and heard nothing. I laid my sword down beside me, and reached into my bag to pull out some bandages. I guess May was right when she told me to pack these. I had said that I wouldn't need them, but she insisted. Just like she had done for the past 13 years, she was still watching out for me – even when she wasn't around.

I guess it was the whole process of recalling books I'd read on how to treat injuries like that, or maybe it was still the shock that I was stupid enough to do something so dumb, but I never noticed my follower – stalker is more like it, really – slowly make their way behind me. I finished bandaging my wound and turned to pick up my sword. What did I see? No sword. Just grass and a shadow.

I jumped up and turned around – which I quickly regretted. Before I had a chance to make out who was standing behind me, I felt another shockwave of pain bolt through my leg and spine, putting me down on all fours in less than a second. My eyes were shut tight from pain, fighting back tears.

I heard them drop my sword and come over to my side. Normally, I would have found some way of going into a defensive mode, but the pain was too great. I was bout to say something, but they spoke first.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" It was a soft, sweet voice…a female voice…and it was speaking in Human, so I assumed she was human.

Great, so I've been stalked by a girl. And I made myself look like a complete idiot. Nice going, Aaron.

"Are you alright?" She asked, holding my arm and helping me sit up. "I didn't mean to cause all of this trouble – I'm so sorry!" she apologized again.

"It's fine," I began. "It's just a cut; I'll be over it in a minute or two." It dawned on me that I was speaking in Keidran. And now you've probably made her think your even stranger than you already are, Aaron. Is there nothing good that will happen to you today?

"You speak Keidran?" She asked, surprised.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's a long story, but it's actually my primary language," I explained.

"Oh, well in that case," she said, "We can speak this way if you like."

A Fox Keidran. A female Fox Keidran, at that. That was who had been following me. That was who had scared me half to death.

That was who my "terrifying stalker" was: a female Fox Keidran. By my first guess, I'd say she was about 168cm tall – about two less than me. She was very thin, had long, light brown hair, and emerald green eyes that glistened in the rays from the sun. Typical of any Keidran, she wore no clothes, so I could see the pattern of her fur clearly. It wasn't anything special; it just looked like the typical pattern of fur for a Keidran. She had bright orange fur, with white fur on her torso and over her muzzle. There was a familiar scent that I was picking up from her, too. She still had her own unique scent that set her apart form other Keidran, but also one that I had smelled before, but couldn't quite place…

She offered her hand out. "Do you think you can stand?" I nodded, took her hand, and stood up, wincing as a less severe pain was sent through me once again. I tried to put some weight on my left leg, which turned out to be a very bad idea. I readjusted my weight accordingly and finally gained my balance.

"I'm so sorry I've put you through all this," she apologized again.

"It's fine," I said. "It could have been avoided if I wouldn't have panicked once I noticed I was being followed. And besides, all I need is a little time to let this heal. If I just take it easy for about an hour I should be okay. I just wish that I could cover more ground before the day's end."

"Well, your knee is going to be fine," she said. "There's plenty of time left in the day. But as for the traveling part…"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You know, I don't think I ever caught your name."

"I'm Lia."

"Nice to meet you, Lia, I'm Aaron," I said, offering my hand out, which she shook with a grip that was firmer than I had expected. Then I remembered I had never found out why she was following me. "Um, by the way-"

"Why was I following you?" she cut me off.

I was taken back a bit. "Uh, yeah, that."

"Well, I saw you leaving town, and I was about to look away, but I noticed your tattoo. What's the story behind that?"

"Well," I began, "Apparently, when I was found by a group of wolves, I was running through the trees. Seth, who I call my father, gave me the nickname, and when I was eleven, I got this." I motioned to my back. "Now, I know there was something else that made you follow me, too."

"Well, that tattoo was interesting, but I also noticed your ears were…" she trailed off.

"Keidran ears?" I finished.

"Yeah," she said. "I haven't ever seen a human with them. Are you somehow half-Keidran?"

I laughed, but she stared at me blankly, waiting for an answer.

"Well, not exactly" I said. "I think that someone used some magic on me when I was young, because I've had them as long as I can remember, but neither of my parents were Keidran…at least, I don't think." I noticed her looking at the mark on my arm. "And that," I said, pointing to it, "is one reason that I think magic had something to do with it. I don't know what it is. But anyway, I don't even think that it's possible for a human and a Keidran to have a child together."

"I've heard of it happening once before," she said. Well, you certainly have my attention now, Lia.

"It has? How? When? Who? I didn't think that…" I was getting frantic with the questions, and my words were beginning to slur together.

"Calm down, calm down," she said, laughing. "I'll tell you. But I think you should get off that leg first, you look like you're in a lot of pain."

Truth be told, I was, but I wasn't going to let her see that. The pain had gone down a bit, but it was still there. She helped me over to a large, round tree and I sat up against it. She put her back against it beside of me and sighed.

"Well," she said, "There was a human and Keidran couple a few years ago. Their names were Trace and Flora. They were the first couple to ever have a child born to a human/Keidran couple. No one even thought it was possible, but they did it. They haven't been seen in a while; rumor has it they went to a place called Orchard Valley, where Keidran and human live together. It's sort of like that village back there, but better."

She continued telling me everything that happened to Trace and Flora. Thanks to the pain throbbing throughout my leg, I was drifting in and out of hearing the story. I caught the general idea of it: they went to Orchard Valley – which was starting to sound like a pretty nice place to live, thanks to its lack of human/Keidran conflict – and raised their child there. I didn't catch how their child turned out, in regards to whether it was human or Keidran; I think that was one of the places where I zoned out due to the pain.

By the time she was finished, it was beginning to get dark out. Around that area, I knew that it would get dark fairly quickly, so there was no time to go back and get another room at the inn I had stayed in before, so I decided to set up camp there. It was strange, though; I didn't want Lia to leave. Sure, she had almost scared the (possibly small amount of) Keidran out of me, but she was great company. To be honest, she wasn't bad at all. Her eyes were gorgeous when the light hit them just right, she had a beautiful face, and was very sweet…Whoa, what am I thinking?

The more we talked, the more we found in common, too. She never knew her parents, either; she was caught by a slave trader while playing in the woods outside of her village when she was very young. Luckily, though, an elderly man from the town we just left had bought her freedom when she was 4, and she had lived there ever since. I decided not to let her go just yet. It would be nice to have someone to travel with.

When I thought this, though, she had just said goodbye, apologized again for distracting me from my path and causing me to trip, and was starting to walk away.

"Hey, Lia!" I called.

She stopped and turned to face me. "Yes?"

"Um," I stammered, "It's going to be dark in a matter of minutes…why don't you just camp out here with me?" I looked around, and saw a good supply of firewood lying within a ten meter radius of us. "There's plenty of wood for a fire."

"Well…" she hesitated. I could just barely make out a blush on her face. "I guess it couldn't hurt. And it would be a little more convenient." She began to make her way back over to me. She picked up some firewood on her way, since I obviously wouldn't be able to move a lot.

Great! I thought. Now if she'll just travel with me, it won't be so bad. I went though my bag to take out the tent…wait…the tent. Dammit, again, Aaron! You only have one tent! Well, it won't be so bad to sleep outside.

"Uhh, Lia?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I just remembered that I only have one tent…so where would you like it to be set up for you?"

"Oh, no, Aaron! You can't sleep outside. I'll-"

"No – you're not sleeping outside," I said, cutting her off. "It will get to be cold outside, and I'm not going to let you sleep in it."

"Well, I guess neither of us will have it, then, because I'm not sleeping inside it."

"I'm not, either."

"Well we can't let it go to waste – we'll both freeze."

I didn't follow. "What do you mean?"

"We can share it, then."

Idiot! I thought. How did you not pick up on that? "Oh…um, are you sure about that?" I asked.

"It'll be fine. I don't mind," It was almost like she wanted to.

"Oh," I felt my cheeks burning. "Well…okay, then."

Lia started the fire while I set up the tent. Well, tried to set up the tent, at least. It's slightly difficult to do when you can hardly move your leg thanks to a near-fifteen centimeter gash on said leg. I was about halfway done when Lia came over and helped with the rest. With the tent and fire set up, I toasted some bread over the fire and cooked some meat I had bought in the village for myself. Lia refused that I even cook her some of the meat, and insisted on finding a stream she knew was nearby to catch some fish. I didn't expect her to return anytime soon, but she came back no more than fifteen minutes later with five fish. She cooked them herself, explaining that she had been taught to cook them by a chef in the village.

With our appetites satisfied, we decided to get some sleep. We both got into the tent, and quickly realized that there wasn't as much room as we had anticipated; a fact that I quickly pointed out to Lia in hopes that she would take the tent and let me sleep outside. She quickly beat that idea into the ground and said that if I 'took one step outside of this tent before morning,' she would either force me to stay in there herself, or come outside with me.

"You know, it's going to be a little cold, even in the tent," she said.

"Um…yeah," I agreed, trying to figure out what she was hinting at. I then remembered that there had to be some reason that she wanted us together.

"I don't think that these two blankets will be too warm," she continued. "Maybe we should find another way to keep warm." I caught that familiar scent again, but still couldn't place what it was or where I had smelled it before. Oh, well.

"Yeah, I think you're right," I said.

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt her slide closer to me until she was right next to me, slowly inching even closer. There was that scent again…even stronger than ever before, now.

"Uh, Lia? I'm not exactly sure this is what I had in mind."

Lia was directly beside me in the tent. Her body was as close as it could possibly be without being pressed against mine.

"Oh, sorry," she said. She blushed and used the rest of the few centimeters of room the small tent had to offer.

"It's fine. It's just a little uncomfortable to have someone I hardly know so close to me." Still, looking into her eyes...those light green eyes, being hit ever-so-properly by the moonlight coming in from the opening of the tent…NO! You can't think like that, Aaron. There's no way you can let thoughts like that come up.

I realized I had begun to stare into her eyes and snapped back to attention. Lia giggled a little when I looked away, and I felt my cheeks turning hot.

"Well, goodnight then, Aaron," she said, turning over and pulling her blanket over her.

"Yeah, goodnight, Lia," I responded, doing the same. I was tired, but with the events of the day, there was no way I was falling asleep soon. Then again, I think the first time anyone goes out on their own, it would be a pretty difficult first day.