A/N: Okie dokie! Here's the President's Day chapter! On sale now! (Lol just kidding.) Thanks to...
Stormy Phoenix- Yeah, I try and put new stuff in every chapter... sort of.
Glaciours- Don't worry, I won't give up. Even if I get stuck I'll force myself to keep writing- no more half finished stories for me!
mugglepirate- All right! You will learn, don't worry. XD. Can't give you an estimation since I'm not there yet but you shall know!
Mad-4-Manga- About the gryphon scene, that was meant to further establish the time frame. (It's before gryphons were found to NOT be fairy tale creatures.) Sorry if that confused you!

And so Faolan once more slipped into a new schedule. It was a bit hard at first, transition from nocturnal to diurnal, but being young she quickly adjusted after several awkward nights sleep- of which was awkward also because she was not used to such a large, soft bed in a large, empty room. Several outfits of her size were made along with a pair of boots and softer shoes that were a size or two too big. She continued sitting with Christopher Alaska and his friends during meals and found she enjoyed listening to their conversation, even if her age prevented her from joining in. Raul, on the other hand, faced a less compromising Haven. The Companions, she said, were still suspicious of her actions and doubtful as well.

However, one thing did interrupt the joyful monotony of the days. Alaska came up to her in the morning as she was leaving breakfast, looking, as usually, either sleepy or in a daydream.

"Hey Faolan," he said, staring at a point above her head, "The Queen wants an audience with you. Since I'm still sort of your designated trainee mentor I'm to bring you there."

"Why?" Faolan asked, quickly following him as he strode down the hallways and into a part of the Palace that was no longer Heraldic Collegium and of which Faolan had never been into.

"I don't have any idea," Alaska shrugged and then stopped before a door where a uniformed guard stood. He saw the two of them and gave them a brief nod before pulling open the door.

Apparently it was a private audience because there was no one else in the room except for the Queen. Standing before a window that was partially cracked open and allowing a warm, flowery breeze to flow through was a lady dressed entirely in white. The door shut behind Faolan and she glanced backwards to realize she was entirely alone.

"Your Highness," Faolan said and gave a small curtsy before realizing a four year old child of farmers probably wouldn't know palace etiquette and hesitated, unsure of what to do. The Herald-Queen continued to gaze out the window for what seemed like a long time. When she turned around to face Faolan she saw that the woman was old, but proud, and Faolan immediately liked her. Streaks of gray ran through black hair and wrinkles formed at the corners of her eyes, and she looked like she'd been handling a lot of stress recently.

"I see your teachers have been showing you more than reading and writing," the Queen said, and her voice was a powerful one, one that would, and was, leading a country to war.

"Uh, yes," Faolan stuttered, before realizing the Queen was referencing her curtsy, "Your Highness."

The Queen moved over to Faolan with a swish of skirts and then kneeled down to look Faolan more directly in the eye. I can't wait until I'm tall again, Faolan thought, picking up her gaze to meet the Queen's deep brown eyes.

"I have been told by Aram, my Companion, that you are something he called a 'werewolf'," she said, her voice turning soft and kind.

"Uh, yes," Faolan nodded, her noble past life kicking her angrily at her stuttering, "If it weren't for Raul I would have died from the bite though."

Where is Raul when I need her? Faolan wondered, recalling that her Companion had said that the Queen would need to be told about her relation to the moon, but she hadn't expected the Queen to actually speak to her about it.

"Are you a danger in any way to people?" the Queen asked bluntly and Faolan wondered if that was all she'd been told or if the Queen was just a naturally brusque sort of person.

"No," Faolan shook her head quickly, "Raul taught me to control the change before bringing me here. I'll be fine alone in my room. I, I can change on days that aren't the full moon of my own will, not that I'd want to, but I can."

"All right Faolan," the Queen nodded and her eyes scanned the girl's face for another long moment. Faolan got the deep impression of being intensely studied, and she knew the Queen was wondering, as was everyone, including Faolan, why it had happened.

"All right," the Queen nodded again and then stood up, "I look forward to watching you become a Herald. Thank you for coming and good luck."

"Um, thank you, your Highness," Faolan said with a nod and then, with a glance upwards she turned and pushed open the door, startling Christopher Alaska who was apparently in mid conversation with the Guard at the door. Both looked sheepish as Faolan pushed the door closed again.

"Need help getting back?" Alaska asked and Faolan nodded with a smile. They walked back to the Heraldic Collegium in silence and from there went their separate ways, with Faolan heading down to the Companion's Field and Christopher off to his classes.

"Raul!" she shouted as she crawled under the fence, peering at the huge field and at the white shapes dotted here and there.

:Right here, beloved: Raul said and Faolan whirled around to see the filly coming out of the Companion's Stable. Another Companion followed, this one older and peering at Faolan cautiously.

:Faolan, this is my mother, Companion Dayvar: Raul said with a slight toss of her mane as she stepped up to Faolan, her hooves pressing lightly upon the grass.

"Hi," Faolan said, staring at Dayvar cautiously, wondering if Companion family bonds were like humans.

:Come, let's find a more secluded place: Raul said and then, in a way that seemed far away, :I'll speak to you later Mother.:

"Okay," Faolan agreed out loud and Raul dropped to her knees, allowing Faolan to scramble up onto the filly's back, to the curious stares of the other nearby Companions.

:What are you learning in your classes?: Raul inquired as they disappeared into the brushier areas of the Companion's Field.

"Basics, it's not too interesting yet, although it's a good review after four years of dormancy," Fao answered with a grin, running her hand down the filly's white and silky mane.

:Let's stop here: Raul said, coming to a halt in a small opening in the trees where it looked like lightning had downed a tree and grass was now growing. Faolan nodded and slipped off the filly's back, landing on the ground in boots a little too big.

:Now: she began, looking up a the sky momentarily before focusing her gaze upon Faolan, :We're going to do some exercises They won't have you do. Physical and mental ones. You are due to change in a few days, and you need to be prepared for your first change in a populated area. I won't have you change of your own free will, that's too risky. But to get you warmed up I want you to climb some trees.:

Faolan grinned up at Raul and said, "You call that an exercise? I call that fun!"

:I did that on purpose: Raul admitted sheepishly with a tilt of her head, :I want you to enjoy the things we do. Heraldic training shouldn't be work.:

"So far it isn't," Faolan said, looking at the trees around them for one with low branches she could start on, "They've had a different Herald each day with me, going over reading and writing. I told them I could read, but they don't believe I'm really doing it when I read a page of a full text in a minute, so they're keeping me on easy stuff and quizzing me. My hand writing is atrocious, which is weird since I can remember being able to write neatly. So they're having me copy the stuff I read and things like that. I'll probably be doing math soon and they'll claim I'm guessing… Am I being too smart Raul?"

:No, you are not: Raul shook her small head, :You are doing fine. It sounds like they see you as an intelligent young lady, nothing special. You need to learn quick, but at the same time you can't reveal the origin of your knowledge. And Faolan- learning too quick can get you into trouble later, when you reach a subject you've never studied before. You need to move quickly but quietly through your training, not raising any questions. Be a shadow, be a wolf. And climb a tree:

Faolan grinned at the Companion's last statement but then nodded solemnly to show she understood what Raul was saying. Then she turned around, her movements strange in strange clothing and ran over a pine- sticky, but with low branches. I can always wash my hands, Faolan figured, grabbing the lowest branch and climbing up onto it.

FLASH!

One more branch, I thought desperately, stretching out my hand for the skinny, sticky branch high above my head, Just one more and I'll be done! And then I felt a vibration in the branch beneath my foot and a creaking sound filled my ears.

SNAP! The branch beneath me cried out in pain and then I was falling, sharp needles brushing against my skin and branches whipping me. Somehow I'd ended up falling on the side that didn't have any branches, and the ones that reached more grabbed and tore at my skin.

Crap, I recall thinking and then I hit the ground in a painful thump. The air rushed from my lungs and a pain filled my chest as I tried to breath and no air would come in. Fear grasped me and I pulled myself to my feet, staring wildly at my brother and his friends before air suddenly rushed in with painful slowness and I heaved in breath after breath, finally leaning against the pine for support.

"What did I tell you?" Jonathan inquired, swaggering over to me, a smirk upon his pretty face.

"I almost made it," I said defiantly, feeling embarrassed and angry at the same time.

"But you didn't," he pointed out, his eyes flashing.

"So? I fell, and you don't even ask if I'm all right! Some big brother YOU are!" I cried out and ran off, tripping over my skirts in my hurry to get away, back to the bakery and the sweet smell of bread where my mother rolled thick lumps of dough with arms like iron…

"Uh, Raul?" Faolan asked, blinking her eyes and looking at her fist, white and tightened around a branch a little above her head.

:Yes, my sweet?: Raul asked, looking over at me- a figure of white amidst the green and brown.

"I was afraid of heights in a past life," she answered tensely from a few feet up in the tree. Her hands held tightly to the branches and she stared at the ground that wasn't beneath her feet.

:So?: Raul said and for a moment Faolan wanted to leap back down and lash at her. How could she be so uncaring? Wasn't she going to help her? But then the rational parts of her surfaced and Faolan realized Raul was helping and she took a deep breath, loosening her grip and relaxing in the tree. 'So?' was the perfect response.

My past lives are not my life today, Faolan thought to herself forcefully and looked up the tree, And in this life, I'm not afraid of heights.

She shoved away her bread-maker self with a sort of 'piss off' attitude and reached for the next branch, closing her eyes against needles and smaller branches that scratched against her face as she pulled herself up. Her hand shook as she did so, and nausea almost swept over her, but not quite.

Quickly after that she sped up the tree, finding holds and lifting herself as if she'd done it a thousand times before, when in truth this was the first time she'd climbed a tree in this life. It was strange to think of it, but Faolan didn't dwell on it because to her, things she'd done in this life weren't really relevant in terms of firsts.

When she reached the top the branches were thin, and an adult wouldn't be able to perch up there for the weight would cause the top to bend too much. It was windy, so high, and the few branches she clung to waved back and forth. Far beneath her she could make out a bit of white that she knew had to be Raul, and around her other trees reached up to the sky. A sigh slipped from Faolan and she leaned against the miniscule trunk of the tree, closing her eyes as the fresh breeze played with her lengthening hair.

:Faolan: the voice of her Companion inquired, touching her mind gently, like the breeze and the girl pried her eyes open, noticing a grin was plastered upon her face as she did so.

:Yeah Raul?: she asked back, looking down at the whiteness below her.

:You at the top?:

:Yup.:

:Are you going to come down?:

:I don't really feel like it…: Fao said with a sheepish smile that Raul couldn't see but would probably sense.

:It is not time to reminisce, Fao! I have things planned for you.:

:But this is supposed to be my free time…: Faolan pointed out, her eyes catching the towers and tops of the Collegiums above the trees.

:It is my time for you: Raul answered and Faolan bowed her head, agreeing, and she slipped down, half sliding in some points, dropping from branch to branch.

:Wait: Raul said when Faolan was half way down.

The girl stopped and looked down, and now she could make out Raul's bright blue depth filled eyes and she raised an eyebrow quizzically, inquiring to the filly as to her request.

:Look around at the trees around you. Do you think you can get into any of them from where you are?: Raul inquired and Faolan shrugged to herself, but did as she was said and looked.

The other trees were pines, and their branches intertwined to an extent. She had thought the request was an odd one, but as she looked she realized that it would not be too difficult to walk out on a thicker branch, holding onto the ones around her, and then be in another tree…

:Yeah I can do it: Faolan answered, looking back down at Raul.

:Then do it: Raul answered.

:Gee Raul- you make me do such hard things that are no fun at all…: Faolan teased and then, with a wicked grin on her face, she studied carefully the branches before choosing the ones that would suit her needs.

Slowly then, she moved over to them and grasping one above her head, she edged out on a branch. It bent under her weight, and suddenly the new branch she was aiming for was just out of reach of her toes. Crap, Faolan thought, and stopped, tightly clenching the higher branch in her hands and then she pulled her hands out as far as she could reach and using it like a swing she pushed off the branch and jumped, reaching out booted toes for that other branch. With a sudden rising of delight inside her, her feet touched and she let go of the branch above and now behind her, moving her hands to the branch above this one- but they missed. And with an anger that boiled up in her at the student mistakes she'd made that made her fail- she fell.

:Faolan: a voice yelled what seemed like ages later and the girl pried open her eyes- momentarily confused. Wasn't she falling?- Oh, Faolan realized, sitting up to an aching body.

"Ow," she said, remembering now how she'd hit the ground and a warm nose touched her shoulder, nervously, anxiously.

:Are you all right? I'm sorry- I shouldn't have asked you to try: Raul said, her mind voice hurried and worried.

"Damn!" Faolan suddenly said and leapt to her feet, turning at Raul, "I could have done it! I could have done it Raul! I'll do it this time, I will!"

:No: Raul shook her head, :Another time maybe. But I don't want you to get hurt.:

"I won't get hurt!" she yelled and suddenly, to her horror, she saw tiny, prickly hairs rising from her arms and hands, dark and definitely not human. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Raul and then back down, shame filling her and her face reddened.

"Sorry," she whispered, feeling scared- did this mean she couldn't actually control the Change as thoroughly as she thought? Looking back at her arms she realized the hair was gone, and she was completely human.

:Oh Faolan…: Raul whispered and pulled Faolan close to her body, wrapping her neck and head around Fao in a horsey embrace.

"Raul," Fao whispered back, her voice hoarse, "What's wrong with me?"

:Nothing, my sweet. You're living in a new environment, encountering new things and many people- it's very different from living alone except for me, and we were living like that for almost a year. The stress and pressure from changing your lifestyle like that- and I doubt you're getting much sleep from switching out of nocturnal. A lessening of control was to be expected, that's why I wanted to do exercises with you.:

"Oh," Faolan said, feeling a little better but no longer confident.

:Now sit down and do some meditating: Raul said and Faolan dropped down to the needle littered ground by Raul's legs and closed her eyes.

As she sunk into trance she did not see the other pairs of blue eyes that appeared from around the trees, inquiring and suspicious. And she didn't hear the conversation that sped through the minds around her….

:That is not a normal four year old…: