Me: I don't want to change him back!! He's fluffy this way!!

Pixy: He can't stay like this forever ok so just do it!

Me: Nooooo!! (hugs Locke) He's so fluffy!!

Locke: (annoyed growl)

Sapphire: (pulls her away from Locke before he bites her)

Locke: (thinking "Dammit!")

Salyn: I actually prefer him this way. He's so quiet now.

Locke: (growl)

Me: We can look for a girl wolf so they can have puppies!!

Locke: (O.o… 'What?!')

Salyn: We should just have him fixed. (evil grin)

Locke: (... 'No!! NO NO NO NO!!' runs out of room)

Kona: Salyn!! Now we'll have to go find him again!

Salyn: Whatever.

Me: I can get him back! (points wand)

Locke: (poofs into room) (TT)

--

Chapter 11

Castles in the Sky

Opening her eyes Pixy awoke in a grand King sized bed with velvet quilts and about 10 pillows that surrounded her. The sun shone brightly through the large windows as a maid opened the red curtains and then 

bowed politely to her. Pixy looked confused as the maid walked over to her with a tray of food. "Good morning Sire, I have your breakfast ready." She smiled as she placed the tray on Pixy's lap as she sat up still looking confused at her surroundings. "I see you've already gotten dressed, M' lord."

'Why is she addressing me as a man?' She looked down at her state of dress which answered her question … only somewhat. She had a tan male blouse, tight brown pants with a knife strapped to her left leg, a long red cape with a golden clasp holding it in place, a sword was strapped to her waist from her belt, and her whole outfit was topped off by having her long white hair tied back in a ponytail. She seemed to look like a fairytale prince and by the maid's behavior, it had to be true. Pixy thought back to what happened. She remembered The Lore Master and his ancient book, then remembered as the book opened they were sucking into its pages. She had to find the others. Pixy looked at the maid.

"Thank you Miss." She said to the maid. The maid smiled and bowed once again. Once the maid took her leave, Pixy rose from the bed and went to inspect if everything was intact. She still had her white hair and her black whip-like tail was still in place. She focused her energy to bring out her wings; however, she stopped this and returned them once she felt her wings begin to rip the back of the clothes. She looked down at her right palm and the Black Orb was still in place. So it seems like everything physical was normal but the fact of the matter remains… they were still in the book.

She left the room and began to walk the corridors of the grand palace. She began to feel nostalgic as she explored and remembered things about her past. She remembered running down the halls with her twin brother Seth and her little brother Chase. The oldest Damien would scold them for running and playing in the halls. He was always the responsible one of the four, but he would bend the rules for his siblings if they wouldn't get caught. She walked down the stairway and as she walked past servants bowed in respect. She exited the palace and was greeted by a man riding a brown stallion.

"Sire, are you going to travel? I will accompany you."

"Really it's no big deal; I can travel on my own."

"But Sire you are the crowned prince of this land; I insist, you know it is not wise to travel unguarded." She sighed to herself, remembering how 

the castle guards always wanted to protect them dearly. She nodded her head and followed the man to the stables. There was a grand selection of stallions and mares, all more beautiful than the next. The man stooped before a white stallion and smiled at his 'prince'. "Here's your house Si--…Sire?" He asked confused as Pixy continued on through the selection to find one that was more fitting to her tastes. She stopped before a mare whose body and mane was as black and lustrous as onyx. "My league, that mare is too wild!" He warned but his warnings were left unanswered as Pixy stared into the mare's eyes and it bowed in submission. Pixy smiled and perched herself on the mares back without the use of a saddle. The man was in awe, never had anyone calm the wild black mare that has been deemed 'Nightmare' for her hellish behavior.

"What are you waiting for? Come on or get left behind!" She smirked as she raced out of the stable on her steed, breaking apart the stereotype of the fairytale prince on a white horse.

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"Is she awake? Is she awake?!" A man's voice echoed sounding a bit squeaky.

"Look, look, she's … opening her…. eyes!" Another man's voice, this one sounding hesitant and shy.

Sapphire opened her eyes not knowing where she was or who these strange voices were from. She sat up to find herself surrounded by seven tiny men. She jumped out of bed with a start and looked around. To her attention she was not dressed in her usual brown fur clothes she had made from her hunts. She was dressed in a lovely dress, blue at the top that was connected to a flowing yellow skirt. Her green hair wasn't in its normal style, but was loose and swayed behind her. She noticed a red head band resting just behind her neko ears. What was going on here?

After a long explanation, Sapphire sat outside on a log in front of the small house. 'So some lady wants me dead, because I'm prettier than she is? Wow, and I thought LaRen was crazy.' She sighed from her boredom. 'This is stupid; I should be go look for the others.' She got up from her seat and began to head into the woods, sighing deeply out of worry. However, her movements stopped suddenly as an old woman carrying a straw basket approached her.



…………………………………………………………………………..

Awoken with a terrible headache, Locke found himself sitting under the shade of a large oak tree at the top of a hill. He looked around and could see no sign of the others. He rose holding his forehead in his right palm, groaning from the pulsation he felt in his temples. He looked down on his person and everything looked alright, he wasn't harmed even though he had lost consciousness in front of the enemy. 'Have to find Pixy and the others… but first.' He noticed a small town at the bottom of the hill about 100 yards across the fields. 'I have to see if I can get a new sword.'

Walking into the town he was greeted by hateful stares among the townsmen and looks of fear from the townswomen. He ignored the glares as he continued walking down the stone layered road. The children stopped their playful running and one child dropped his white bouncing ball. It bounced a short distance then rolled to Locke's feet. The child ran to fetch his ball and Locke kneeled down to pick it up. He held the ball out towards the child as the boy timidly reached forward. Before his little fingers could reach his desired object; a women grabbed the boy and held him to her chest as she backed away from the Ookami Lord. Locke rose with an expression that earned him the title of Ice Prince. His face of indifference was plastered to his face as he continued his search for the weapons shop.

Reaching his destination he reached into his pocket for his money pouch. It was gone. He searched through his other pockets and they were empty. Then something dawned on him. "THAT DAMN KITSUNE!!"

………………………………………………………………………

"ACHOO!" Salyn sneezed; maybe someone was talking about her… 'No…' she figured… 'It's all this dust!' She sneezed again as she stood from her crouched position on the floor. She gasped in disgust at her state of dress. She wore a ragged dress with an apron. Her hands wore rubber gloves and an old bandanna held her hair from her eyes. She saw a bucket with a scrubbing tool inside and a feather duster to its side.

She began to hear the tapping of shoe heels against the tiled floor echoing throughout the grand hall. A woman with a cold glare and an appearance of high class was walking toward her. She looked in her forties and was beautiful, however; the same cannot be said for the two younger women following her. The two girls smirked at Salyn wickedly.



"Eww! What are those harried things coming out of your head?" One scoffed. "And is that a tail?" The other continued. "My, my, Cinderella; you certainly take after those animals in the barn." "Woof woof!" The girls laughed. Salyn tried to keep her composure as she clenched onto a tight fist.

"Now, now girls; this little problem can be solved. After all we can't have her coming to the ball like this." Salyn shrugged her shoulders, not interested in any 'ball' that they had planned. As she turned to leave, she was grabbed by one of the two young women from behind. The older woman stood in front of her now holding a long knife. "We'll just have to cut them off."

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Deep into the ocean waters Kana awoke inside of a shipwreck. She began to panic, thinking that she would drown. It was only that she realized the long fish-like tail that replaced her lower body and the small gills on both sides of her neck that she began to calm down. She blushed heavily when noticing that she only wore a seashell bra, but she was very grateful that she wore anything to cover herself. She looked around the shipwreck to find any way out. 'The sooner I get out of here, the sooner I can find my friends.'

To her joy she found a large opening in the rear of the ship that must have been caused by cannon fire. She swam through the exit and began to swim towards the surface. Poor Kona was unaware that she was being stalked by a very hungry great white shark.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

It was about midday when they reached a quiet meadow on the outskirts of the kingdom. The gentle sound of the stream's current brought a smile to Pixy's face. After taking their horses to the stream for a well deserved drink, Pixy sat on a large tree stump that was nestled along the Cliffside. She looked onto the horizon of the ocean and for a moment she felt at peace… as strange as that was. She could hear the soft crashing of waves and the cries of seagulls in the distance. The young man that escorted her to the meadow walked to her and sat by her side. She looked over to the young man to her right and her gaze transferred to her right palm. She could sense Kona to the north of her somewhere in the ocean and for some reason that did not surprise her. Locke was somewhere south of her and 

Salyn was east from him. Sapphire was somewhere to her left and was the closest out of the four. She rose from her seat and began to head to her horse earning a confused look from her guard.

"We're leaving already; we just got here my Lord?"

"I'm meeting up with a few friends and I won't need your services. Go back to the castle."

"I'm sorry Sire, but his majesty, the King has told me to keep an eye on you. I cannot leave your side should you leave the castle."

"Then we'll just have to do this the hard way." Pixy said as she raised her hand toward him and formed a black portal beneath him and his horse, forcing them to return to the castle. She continued to head towards her horse but stopped suddenly.

"It's a good thing that you got him out of here." The Lore Master emerged from behind a tree and casually approached her. His foot-steps were quiet and he hunched over with his hands in the pockets of his robes. There was something familiar about his scent, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Never the less; she drew her sword from a portal in her left palm and stood her ground. He stopped for a moment then grinned. "I see you still remember the lessons you were given as a child by the late King and Queen. They'd be proud."

"Don't you dare talk about them, you have no right!"

"I don't? … Interesting…" He was silent for a moment as he looked on to the path of her neko friend. "Well I didn't come here to fight you… as strange as that sounds. You might want to go to your cat friend, being a princess type in fairytales leads to danger." Pixy looked at him confused but didn't want to risk the chance that he could be telling the truth. She'll just have to beat him senseless later. She jumped onto the onyx black mare and raced off to the direction that she sensed Sapphire.

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Angered from the Kitsune's earlier offence, Locke began his journey in perusing the devious woman. He glared down at the Elemental Orb of Light as he followed the path to Salyn's orb. 'When I get my hands on that Kitsune I'll…' He stopped in his tracks as he noticed a group of angry 

town's people blocking his way, holding torches and pitchforks. "What is the meaning of this?" He glared at the man who seemed to be the group's leader. The man took a deep breath and took a step forward.

"We want you out of here." He said with a mask of courage, but Locke could smell his fear. The man's adrenalin began to kick in and his courage grew. "You damn monster! You'll pay for what you've done!"

"Excuse me?" Locke looked confused and insulted at the same time. The man looked angered as though he were insulted that Locke did not know the crime he committed.

"Don't act as though you don't know Wolf! You slaughtered that poor boy as if he were nothing!" A woman in the group was crying as she gripped tightly onto her pitch fork.

"We should have answered his cries for help… they were real that time around! ... My son was murdered… murdered by that blood thirsty beast! " The woman screamed with her finger pointed at him.

"You wolves are all alike, monsters… all of you!"

"Foul beasts!" "Devil Hounds!" "Ravinous…" "Evil…" Their insults to his kind angered him to no end. A growl roared violently off his chest as his anger grew along with their insults and accusations. The only thing keeping him from snapping was the Elemental Orb of Light. It was flaring in his palm, trying so hard to calm and sooth him. 'How dare they!' He could easily kill them all with no trouble, even if he was unarmed. 'No I mustn't… If I do it will only prove them right.' In truth wolves are noble creatures and though they tarnished his kind's name, he knew it was of ignorance. Humans tend to fear what they don't understand and after all, he was in a story and wolves were never portrayed as anything kind. Thinking quickly, he held out his left palm and the orb flashed brightly. When the light dissipated he was gone.

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"AYAHHHHHH!!" Kona screamed as she swam for her life as the shark was closing in on her fast. She was completely panicked, looking desperately at her surroundings for some sort of escape. In the distance; she saw what appeared to be too mutated eels, beckoning for her to follow 

them. She hurried to the two and followed them into a cavern that was too small for the Great White to follow. Once her heart returned to its normal pace, she looked onto the two with a brow raised. "Ummm… thank you."

The two smiled wickedly. "And what were you doing swimming in such dangerous waters?" They spoke in unison.

"I was just looking for a way to find my friends."

"We might know someone who can help."

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"Pretty, pretty girl… may I interest you in an apple?" The old woman lifted a bright red apple from her basket and held it out to Sapphire. Sapphire looked down at the apple presented to her and cringed. The Elemental Orb of Earth began to react, sensing that the apple was poisoned. 'Oh why did it have to be at the abdomen? It feels like cramps every time it acts up!' she inwardly groaned. The woman looked insistent. "I'm sorry but I learned a long time ago not to take anything from strangers." Sapphire walked past the old woman. The woman glared at the neko as she began to make her way into the forest. The woman's body began to shift into a different form. Now a younger woman with a long black gown with a raven on her shoulder stood behind her. Sapphire stopped immediately when she sensed a shift in environment.

"There's more than one way to kill a princess." Sapphire turned to look at her and was suddenly faced with a large spindle. Sapphire tried to step away but her movements froze. She then lost the emotion in her eyes and fell into some sort of a trance. Her gentle hand reached almost timidly toward the needle and –

"Sapphire!!" Pixy screamed as she entered the scene and witnessed her best friend fall to the ground. The woman turned to face Pixy and smirked when she saw her.

"What's this?" She asked. "It seems as though the young Prince has come to save the Princess." The woman laughed. Pixy drew her sword and charged toward the woman. She slashed at the woman, making the woman back away from Sapphire. Pixy turned to Sapphire's side and raised her head with her arm.