"That girl is a child, She doesn't belong in jail" rang through Arrow's head as she slept. She remembered Ms. saying the same thing. She tossed and turned as she slept

Arrow was trying to sleep but she couldn't

"Matthew all I'm saying is that she's young"

"Reese how many times have I told you, she's like us"

Arrow was 6 years old at the time. She got out of her makeshift bed and grabbed her blanket. She wore a large dark blue sweater and gray sweatpants and she was barefoot, she also had shaggy curly blue hair. She lived in a messy rundown apartment and everything that was there was stolen to make the place a little "Homely"

She peeked to see two adult elves talking in the kitchen. The man was a blue elf while his wife was a pink elf. The male elf had scruffy blue hair and he wore all black. The female, in contrast, had pink hair with blue and purple highlights and she wore a grey hoodie and blue jeans

"But unlike you Matthew, she's a child, She doesn't belong in the world of crime, We need to own up to it, we have a problem with stealing" Reese fought, demonstrating the entire apartment with the items they stole

"I don't have a problem with stealing Reese, I steal from time to time, what's wrong with that"

"It's extremely addictive, like a drug, but we're parents and we need to set a good example for her"

Matthew then raised his voice "If it weren't for this stealing, we wouldn't have a place to live now would we, Reese, and by the way, she isn't my child" Little Arrow started to back away to her room

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me, Matt, She's a child, she doesn't belong in jail, she might have a future, it's not too late-" Then Arrow's foot slipped, alerting the adults of the girl's presence

"Alright kid, I know you're listening," Matthew said annoyed

Arrow then made herself known and she came out from hiding, clutching onto her blanket.

"I'm sorry sweetie, we didn't mean to wake you up" Reese kneeled to comfort Little Arrow

"I was already awake...I-I just had to potty," Arrow stuttered

"Listen, kid, don't try to lie to us because I know a lie when I smell one" Matthew kneeled to the girl's level

"Matthew" Reese growled

"I had to go, honest Mr."

"Okay okay, I'll go with you to the bathroom, okay hon"

"Okay, Ms." little Arrow smiled. As the two girls rushed to the bathroom, Mr. rolled his eyes

Arrow then woke up. The sun showed brightly in her eyes and tried to cover her eyes, only to see Blazey trying to sniff her backpack

"Uh UH, get out of there" Arrow called, waving her arms shooing the poor dragon away. She then got out of the couch, only to discover that She is wearing a large shirt and nothing else underneath

"Well good morrow young maiden" Barley called to her from the dining room table. He had his Quest of Yore board set and he was about to play

"Alright where are my clothes," Arrow asked stomping towards him

"I don't know," Barley replied

"I said where are they?!"

"They're probably still in your bag"

Arrow then stomped toward her bag and discovered that her clothes were there in her bag and her boots were next to it. She carefully dug into the bag and saw the ruby still in its beautiful glory

She sighed in defeat. She knew she was dead meat since those guys are after her for the gem. She couldn't take that chance of being seen with it. All she could do was stare at it in dismay

"What's that you got there?" Ian asked coming downstairs

Barley then took a look at what she was holding and he got ecstatic

"No way…. It's a blood ruby"

"I'm sorry, a what?" Arrow asked

"A blood ruby, it's one of the rarest gems around, this is the most expensive gem," Barley said rambling through his Quests of Yore book.

He showed Arrow and Ian the page of the ruby. The teen was astonished that he can find it in the book. She had a look of guilt

"The better question is where did you get it?" Ian questioned.

"I-I-I," she sighed heavily "I stole it"

Laurel and Colt came in from the commotion and they saw the gem too.

"You stole this didn't you," Colt asked her pointing to the gem

"If you heard me I said yes, and If I don't do something with this thing, I am dead" Arrow repeated

"Dead, from who," Laurel asked.

Arrow sighed trying to calm down, because thinking about the gem, and about those guys made her want to explode

"Listen, I stole a gem from some men with black suits, I don't know. I didn't mean for them to come after me...I just wanted to make money off the gem... I don't know do something useful with it… If the cops didn't catch me, I would've used the gem to have me and Shadow live somewhere else…" Arrow admits.

"What were you thinking kid," Colt sighed rubbing his temples.

"I wasn't thinking at the time, and now, these guys are after me, not you, ME!"

"Okay, Why don't we just give it back" Ian suggested.

"Easier said than done, those guys had guns on them and I have a gut feeling that they might be killers" Arrow grumbled

"First of all, how did you even steal it in the first place?" Ian asked.

"One of them had it in their back pocket...Which is a rule of thumb, never put anything in your back pocket, observe..."

Arrow walks around Ian and she swipes his wallet from his back pocket.

"See," Arrow said waving Ian's wallet in the air. Ian then took it back annoyed

"The reason why I know this is because I...I was raised by thieves," She continued.

"That explains why you steal" Laurel replied.

"You know the saying, whatever a parent does a child does it too," Colt said with his directed toward Arrow, who buried her face.

"Ok, ok, I steal but if it weren't for the stealing, Shadow and I won't be alive, would we?" Arrow snapped crossing her arms

Seeing the tension between Arrow and Colt again, Ian decides to defuse it

"Hey, uh, you know what why don't Me, Barley and Arrow go out for the day, maybe even take Blazey and Shadow for a walk

On cue, the two dragons knock over Ian and gave him a bunch of licks

"I think that's an excellent idea," Arrow said, grabbing her clothes and stomped away upstairs to find the bathroom.

She continued to stomp up the stairs and she stumbled upon a bedroom. She saw a board full of pictures. But there was one particular one she paid attention to.

It was the one with Laurel, a man, and a younger version of Barley. Laurel appeared to have a large bulge in her belly at the time of the photo. Arrow continued to stare at it, She somehow felt confused about it. They were all happy in the photo.

It was a strange feeling that came over her. She tried to compare it with her own family life. Being raised by thieves for a quarter of her life and then living alone with a dragon for 5 years was lonely for her and on top of her not having any friends besides Shadow. All she could do was sigh through her nose sadly as she looked at the other photos of the family and could feel nothing but loneliness.

"Uh.." She saw Ian at the door. She then realized that this was his room

"I just got lost okay," She then walked out of the room brushing past him.

Ian saw the look of gloom on her face and couldn't help but feel sorry for her

She finally found the bathroom and got changed. She looked in the mirror and she parted her hair so most of her blonde hair was taking over her blue hair. She also saw that her blue roots were growing in

"I need to re-dye my hair," She said to herself before leaving the bathroom.

"What do you think of Guinevere," Barley asked Arrow while the trio were outside.

"Hmm not that bad...I mean I've never been in a van before" Arrow said carrying Shadow in her arms. They got inside the van and the boys saw how impressed Arrow was with the inside of the van

"Looks sweet," Arrow said looking around. She settled on the beanbag while Shadow curled in her lap. Then Ian got his wizard staff and Barley started the van. Once Barley started driving, the van began to float through Ian's magic.

"Uh, what's happening," Arrow asked clutching onto Shadow

"Well, dear maiden, we are floating with Sir Ian

Lightfoot's spell," Barley answered

Arrow and Shadow looked at each other and the poor dragon began to barked wildly, the result of Arrow trying to calm him down

"You've never seen magic before?" Ian asked

Arrow shook her head "Mr. always said that magic was some stupid fantasy… not that I believed him"

"Well, dear girl, today is the day you get to see magic before your eyes"

Arrow then had a small smile. She hoped to prove Mr. wrong about magic

Then they arrived at the park. Arrow got out of the van and saw a playground across from then. She stared at it and she remembered something else

7-year-old Arrow stared at a park with a playground and she looked at her guardians who were mostly focus at a bank that was across the street from it. They were hiding in an alley

"Ms. Mr., can I play at the park?" the girl asked pointing to the park

"No"

"Matthew…" Ms. tried to defend the girl

"I said no, we need to focus on the bank"

"But why…"

"Money… and that's what we need, and we need to get you shoes," Mr. said pointing to her.

Arrow was wearing a large ugly sweater and oversized shorts and she was barefoot at the time.

"But I don't wanna steal from the bank" Arrow said stomping her foot

"Well that's too damn bad" Matthew yelled at her "Now come on before someone catches us"

"Realm to Arrow" a voice called. The young girl turned to see Ian and Barley tilting their heads at her.

"You okay?" Ian asked her

"Yeah, I'm good" Arrow replied

"You sure you don't-"

"I said I'm fine, can we just go?" Arrow asked firmly.

"Okay okay," Ian said putting his hands up.

"Geez, what's the attitude…" Barley asked defending Ian.

"I don't wanna talk about it, is that okay with you" they saw a few tears rolling down her face which she roughly wiped off.

"It's something about the park isn't it"

"No, it's not...I just, really-" She ended with a sigh, then she walks past them to a tree

The brothers knew that there was something wrong with her, Something about the park that upset her. They decide to give her a few minutes to cool off.

Arrow sat on the tree and a bunch of tears slipped from her eyes, thinking about that day that Mr. wouldn't let her play at the park like a normal kid would, instead she had to help steal from a stupid bank.

Then she sees Shadow being floated toward her and she saw the Lightfoot brothers walking to her

Arrow then began to pet Shadow and rubbed his belly

"Ugh, Shadow, Why is being a person so hard…." She asks him

The brothers then hear the softness in her voice.

"Look, We're sorry for pushing you back there," Barley started

"No...I'm the one that should be sorry...It's just that this park reminded me of something that happened when I was younger"

"What happened?" Ian asked her

"When I was 7, We were about to rob a bank that was across the street from a park like this, and I wanted to play in the park but Mr. said no, Stealing from a bank was more important than playing in the park"

"I'm so sorry about that" Barley said

All the kid could do was sigh. "Can we see the magic now?"

After a half-hour of showing off magic, which amazed Arrow, they decided to visit the mall, When they were about to go inside, Arrow began to back away

"Hey what's wrong?" asked Ian

"Too many people…" Arrow replied clutching onto Shadow.

"Hey, we're not going anywhere" Barley assured her

"Yeah, nothing's going to happen to you" Ian added

Arrow looked from the brothers to the mall. She glanced up and down at the large building, seeing a lot of people go in. It made her nervous and she was still unsure.

"Hey" She turned to Barley "You got this" the burly elf said extending a hand to her. She was reluctant to take his hand but she slowly gave in and took his hand while holding Shadow in her other arm and the trio go inside the building

The interior was bigger than the outside and Arrow was blown away

"Woah…" She said softly "You see that Shadow?" Shadow chirped in response

"So what do you want to do first?" Barley asked her

Arrow was still looking around, seeing a lot of people going into stores and the bright lights reflecting the white floor they were standing in

"You've never been to a mall before have you?" Ian asked her

Arrow shook her head

"I guess we're doing everything"

"No everything" Ian replied pointing to his watch

Arrow then spots a photo booth not too far away from them

"How about there…" She points to the photo booth

"Okay," the trio go in the photo booth. They instruct the child on what to do in the photo booth. They told her to pose when the camera is about to go off.

The photos came out pretty decent for Arrow's first try. She had a confused face in the first photo, by the second and third picture, she knew what to do.

Next, they went into a Quests of Yore store, via Barley's suggestion. Arrow then got a Q shirt like Barleys. Barley got a few more figurines for Arrow as a starter pack for a collector. Barley then came out of the store pretty happy

Next, they went to a store. Arrow then tried on a few things. She mostly liked the men's stuff because she liked to dress baggy and loose. She walked away with 3 beanies, black lipstick, black eyeliner, and dark sunglasses with a red rim.

They took a break and ate lunch. They went into a burger joint.

"So How do you like the mall?" Ian asked.

"It's pretty cool, considering I've never been to one before" Arrow replied with her mouth full. "I wanna go back in the photo booth again

"We'll go back after we finish eating." Barley then heard a whimper. He looked down and saw Shadow giving him the puppy eyes

"No Shadow, This isn't for you" then the dragon tilted his head.

"No, boy, not for you," Ian told him

"Shadow, here, you happy" Arrow then gave up a chunk of her burger and Shadow yipped with glee, eating the food.

"Put that dragon on a leash" a cyclops yelled.

"Oh Shut up" Arrow yelled shaking her fist. Shadow then ran into the girl's arm.

"Okay we should get going," Ian said ushering Barley and Arrow away from the food court

Arrow gave it one more round in the photo booth and this time took pictures with Shadow. She stepped out feeling proud of herself.

She then saw a hair salon in the mall and decided to get a root touch-up. But instead, she ended up with a platinum blonde and an enhancement to her blue color but it still had a bit of a messy bounce to it

"Did you have fun?" Ian asked when they were leaving the mall.

"Duh, I had fun" Arrow replied

"See, now you're not in the dumps anymore," Barley said smiling at her. Arrow then peeked behind the big elf and saw that the sun was setting halfway. She began to panic began to race toward the van

"Woah Woah, what's the hurry"

"We have to get back, right now!" Arrow said almost yelling.

"Why, what's wrong-" Ian asked, seeing how tense Arrow is.

"I can't be out at night" Arrow spoke as she began to tug on Guinevere's doors.

"Relax, Okay, we'll take you back, just calm down" Barley soothed her as he got into the van. Ian, Arrow, and Shadow followed in suit

Arrow was keeping a lookout on how fast the sun was setting, She knew she had to hurry home.

"Why are you so worried about getting back?" Ian asked

"It's-It's Personal," Arrow said putting her new sunglasses on her face to hide her eyes

Barley looked at her through the rearview mirror.

"Take off your sunglasses," Barley said

"No" Arrow replied back

"What's going to happen to you at night?"

Arrow saw the moons were about to rise and she puts her hoodie on to hide her head. Shadow began to whimper. Arrow then roughly hushed him

Then Ian went to the back to check on her.

"Are you okay," he asked

"No," she said, tears streaming down her face.

He tried to remove her glasses so he can wipe her face

"Stop!"

"I just wanna see your eyes"

"No please stop!" She blindly swatted at Ian and he successfully removed her glasses and he saw her eyes glow from Hazel green to red with dragon slit pupils and back. Ian steps back

"Barley…" Ian said speechless

Arrow turns to Barley and her eyes did the same thing and he looked at her eyes.

"Holy Tooth of Zadar…"

Arrow then raced to place her sunglasses on again, but her hoodie slipped revealing small horns growing from her head, scaring the boys further.

"We need to get her home," Ian said. Barley, fortunately, stepped on it

When they arrived at the house, Arrow was the first to race out of the car. Ian and Barley follow behind her. They then saw wings beginning to sprout from her back. Arrow looked back as she saw the moons began to fully rise. Barley then unlocked the door and she raced inside. She covered everything to block the shining mons from the inside. No one was home to see her halfway transformation, thankfully. She then slowly turned back to normal.

"Arrow…" She turned to the brothers who were staring at her in horror and awe at the same time.

"Not a word about this...Not a SINGLE word!" She demanded. She then stomped upstairs with Shadow following after her

The brothers exchanged glances. "WHAT...was that?!" Ian asked speechlessly

"I have no….Idea" Barley replied