(Hey! Topaz once again. Augh...finally...DONE! Sorry I haven't updated in so long...midterms...blaagh. Tell me what you think of the story now it's done! -Topaz Fox)

"What is it?"

"Ack, a Clavat! It's a Clavat kid!"

"I think it's dead, kupo."

I became dully aware of voices floating over my head. Oh, my head…it ached so much, I was sure it had split open or something. What had happened? Where was I…?

"You sure it's dead, Berculane?

"Move aside, all of you! This little one needs our help!"

The voices above me lowered to grumbles. One muttered, "Mur Kiah, it's a Clavat. Leave it…No! Don't do that!" I felt myself being lifted by two strong, sweet-smelling arms. I was being hugged against someone now. It was so wonderfully warm, and everything smelled vaguely of cloves. I felt no pain at all. Was I dead?

"She's still breathing! We're not too late!" A woman's voice. The voice came from whoever it was hugging me, and it was sounded sharply melodic, sort of like violins. I pictured a violin embracing me tightly. I couldn't think clearly. Had a musical instrument rescued me?

Fur brushed against my cheek. "Kupo! Wake up now!" I opened my eyes and shrieked. Hovering before me was a bizarre little ball of ivory-colored fluff with a face. It had pointed ears, tiny leathery wings, and appeared to be quite armless. Armless, as in without any sign of arms or hands at all. It had to be the strangest little enigma I'd ever laid eyes on. I wonderingly reached out and touched the red pom-pom dangling from its head, and it shook itself and recoiled.

The weird fuzzy thing snorted. "What? Haven't you ever seen a moogle before, kupo?" I heard laughter from somewhere around me, and became suddenly aware of my surroundings. I saw three shockingly handsome young men, all in strange clothes and with lean muscles. The tallest one had shortish hair the color of grass and big, mischievous eyes. The second tallest was quite plain, with muddy hair and muddier eyes. The shortest of the three was a compact and beautiful creature, barely more than a boy, with long platinum-blue hair and eyes that looked like they belonged to a wolf.

I looked up carefully at the one who was holding me and gasped. Never had I seen someone who looked more like an angel. Her face was fine-featured, yet powerful. She wore dark tights with patterns cut into them; a short, assymetrical pleated skirt; and a shameless, strapless top that showed a well-toned midsection. She had stunning mistake-black hair that was loosely braided in some areas. Her eyes, however, were the most breathtaking of all. They sparkled different colors as the light hit them, sort of like butterfly wings.

People this lithe, this untamed…they couldn't have been Clavats, although they looked sort of like us. I remembered reading about people like this once. They were called Selkies.

The amazing girl grinned and smothered me in a hug. "Oh, good! You're all right! We thought you were dead there for a while. Are you all alone? Are you…an orphan?" Orphan. I guess…I guess I was one now. I nodded slowly. "I knew it. It's okay, though, sweetie. We'll take care of you."

The green-haired one's eyebrows shot up. "We…will?"

"Of course. We can't just leave her to die."

"Where will we take her?" cut in the plain one. "None of our friends or family will accept…" He gulped. "Accept a Clavat." I was puzzled. Why not?

A gaze from the wolf-eyed boy grabbed my attention. He smiled. "What's your name, young one?" "Alice," I said timidly.

"Where do you come from, Alice?"

"Tida."

Tremors of shock reverberated through the Selkies' eyes. "Tida," muttered the girl that held me. "Tida was…do you know what happened to it?" I shook my head no, even though I did know. I just wanted to verify my assumption. The girl cast her eyes down.

"Tida was destroyed. They say that something happened to their caravanners. For some reason, the villagers didn't send out an extra caravan or a search party or even try to escape. They just…died when their Crystal did. Is that what really happened? Does that sound familiar to you?"

No speech came. I could only nod as one, two tears, pure and hot, zigzagged down my cheeks. I had known this was going to happen. Why was I crying?

I felt so confused. I had no loved ones left alive and knew nothing of the outside world. Maybe…I would have been better off dead.

"Oh, baby…don't cry…shh…it's okay…" The Selkie girl was cradling me now, just like my mother used to. More silvery tears trickled down my face. I gasped a little and began to sob into her shoulder.

The young men around us stifled themselves in an awkward silence. I just went on crying into her shoulder, letting my tears soak into her smooth skin, until I heard a tiny voice over my shoulder.

"Kupo! Don't cry!"

It was, needless to say, the moogle. It had perched on top of the plain boy's head and appeared to be performing some sort of dance. It hopped up and down and twirled around and around, causing its red pom-pom to jiggle about. The Selkie boy tried to shake the moogle away. "Ouch! Hey, cut it out!" I stopped crying and watched the silly spectacle, and for the first time in weeks, I began to laugh.

The Selkie girl smiled. "Nice going, Berculane," she said softly. The moogle took a little mock bow. "Anytime, kupo."

Sensing that I felt better, the Selkie girl grinned down at me. "Alice, allow me to introduce you to my crazy friends here." She gestured toward the green-haired boy and said, "This is Tre Gat. He's the tricky one." Tre Gat winked. The girl pointed at the brown-eyed one. "That's Lor Thek, the boring one." She snickered at Lor Thek's agitation. "I'm not boring!" he protested. "I'm just…mild." The moogle flew down and hovered at eye level. "I'm Berculane," he chirped. "Nice to meet you." Next, the Selkie girl took the longhaired boy by the shoulder. "This here is my own little brother, Orys Re. He's the baby. Only thirteen years old, can you believe it?" Orys Re gave me a look that sent shivers down my spine. Maybe it was just his gorgeous eyes, but something in that gaze seemed to…give me a weird kind of hope. For the future, and for life in general.

The Selkie girl sat down on the ground and pulled me down with her, so we could both look each other in the eye. "Most importantly," she said, "I'm Mur Kiah. Alice, if you don't mind, we want to give you a name like ours. A Selkie name."

"What? Why?"

"We can't…keep you with us. We're caravanners, and it's dangerous to have a little girl hanging around with us. You might get hurt. We need to find you a home, you see, and none of ours friends would accept a Clavat." She blinked at the befuddled expression on my face. "Oh…you don't know about the war, do you. You see, the Clavats and the Selkies have been fighting for almost a year now, and obviously, our friends are Selkies. Narrow-minded Selkies, may I add. Anyway, if we pretend like you're not a Clavat, we can get you a home. What do you say?" I didn't really have a choice. I said I was okay with the idea, and my transformation began.

The whole caravan sat down on the ground and argued over a name for me. Tre Gat crossed his arms over his chest. "How about Kre Zia?"

"Are you kidding? Much too rough."

"Van Cara is good."

"That's a terrible name!"

"How about…Fresialla?"

"Berculane! We don't need moogle names!"

The conversation went on in this manner for half an hour. At last, Orys Re, who hadn't said anything yet, piped up. "Mina Lyr."

Everyone was quiet. The name resonated with everyone, even me. Mur Kiah beamed. "I like it. What say you, Alice?"

I looked at Orys Re. His eyes were wide and smiling, watching me. I nodded at him. "I think it's a really pretty name."

"Perfect!" declared Tre Gat. "Mysterious, innocent, mellifluous…it's perfect."

"Melliflu-what?"

"Never mind! It's good, okay?"

And that is how I gained my Selkie name.

With my name in order, the next thing to do was find me a place to live. Another argument ensued. What about Leuda, the hometown of the caravanners? No, too far away, and too risky. Where else was there, then, that was nearby? I remained silent through the whole thing, wondering to myself if any place would ever be as good a home as Tida was.

Mur Kiah suddenly remembered an aunt and uncle of hers living in Alfitaria, the Lilty city, one of the few remaining neutral territories. She said it would be good for me to grow up surrounded by people, peace and pleasure. "The three Ps," she said, finding herself rather clever. On top of that, Alfitaria was but a short distance away. Thus, my new home was planned out.

Before we set off, I had to be visually transformed. Mur Kiah brought me into her group's caravan. I marveled at the ornate interior of the thing. Cushy red velvet and gold thread decorated everything in sight. I gawked at a Crystal Chalice sitting in the center of the room, half-full of myrrh and glowing with a divine blue light.

Mur Kiah threw open a wooden door and showed me at least ten exotic, skimpy outfits. She pulled out one that she said was too small: a tiny black tube top with the Selkie emblem embroidered in silver; a short, jagged skirt quite similar to the one Mur Kiah was wearing; and sandals, which looked like they could actually fit my little feet.

I dressed quickly and was then told by Mur Kiah to take a seat. I eased myself onto a luxurious red velvet couch and was perplexed and a little scared when my new Selkie friend approached me with a knife.

"What are you going to do?" I whispered. Mur Kiah saw the terrified look on my face, threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, you silly! I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. I'm just cutting your hair." To my slight horror, Mur Kiah stood behind me and chopped my honey blonde hair quite short. She then proceeded to twist the uneven locks into an updo that fanned out from behind my head, like a peacock's tail. For a finishing touch, she smeared a bit of glittery makeup over each of my eyes.

There was a tall mirror in the corner of the caravan. I glanced into it and saw a reflection I was far from familiar with. A girl wearing almost nothing (yet a very stylish nothing), with pretty hair and a pretty face; an exotic…beauty, or a beauty yet to be. I was shocked. I didn't see a plain farm girl in the mirror anymore, and that scared me a little.

But…it was exciting.

I was ushered outside and displayed to the three Selkie boys. "Wow, what a change," breathed Tre Gat. "Not bad at all," said Lor Thek, grinning. Orys Re said nothing. He only smiled at me like he knew something I didn't.

Everything was in order. I was ready to go to my new home.

Our trek to Alfitaria was a happy one. I got to learn lots about the Selkie race, which was totally necessary, seeing as I was about to become one. My four new Selkie friends, and even funny little Berculane, told amazing stories about their homelands and their lives. I knew that they might have only been being so friendly because I had just lost everything. That didn't bother me, though, for some reason.

The Selkies seemed fake sometimes…all except for Orys Re. He would ask me things about my home when nobody else was listening. He didn't avoid the topic like the others did. I told him about everything: our house, our neighbors, the cheerful marketplace, my mother's cooking, the way the sunrise would burn up from behind the buildings like they were on fire. I even told him a bit about those last few painful days in Tida. Once, I started crying, but he didn't mind. He comforted me, and I was more than grateful.

Finally, we arrived in Alfitaria. I was taken through the grand city and introduced to my new "parents". They seemed like nice enough folks, but I dreaded to think of how they might have reacted if they had ever been told I was a Clavat. I guess I was a pretty convincing Selkie, though, because they accepted me.

I lived an exciting city life. Each day brought a new adventure, a new drama. I enjoyed the ever-twisting plot of my life; nothing fun had ever really happened in Tida. I never stopped missing my old family and friends, though. Oftentimes, I would cry myself to sleep, wondering what would have happened if they had just listened to me.

There were some bad times, but my life was mostly good. Surprisingly, I matured into a Selkie, not a Clavat: I grew into a toned yet curvy body, and my face became delicate and lovely. I learned to be agile in work and play. The only way I could have been more of a Selkie was to have actual Selkie blood running in my veins.

Time passed. The Clavat-Selkie war eventually ended. I went from child to woman, raised lovingly by my foster parents. My caravan friends who had rescued me came for occasional visits.

On one of those visits, Orys Re proposed to me. We were married quickly, and settled down in a small house in Alfitaria. We had two beautiful children, named Plo Kris and Yila Nena, hybrid children who never knew their true heritage. Together, our life was a happy one.

Now Orys Re and I live alone. Our children have long since moved away to start families of their own. Many, many years have passed since I was a little girl living in Tida. In all this time, I have never seen anyone else from that town. I was the only one who escaped.

I once heard someone say that Tida had produced no survivors. Go to Alfitaria, if you can. If you ever see an old Selkie woman there, hobbling about like she has been places never imagined, and if it looks to you like her life is more than meets the eye, then you will know that Tida produced one survivor, at least.

I survived. And that, as the say, is that.

-Fin-