A/N: Ayo all! Been having nice weeks? Mine's been okay. La la la... Vampires are cool... I hope this chapter is more interesting than the last! Thanks to...
Stormy Phoenix- It does? That's good to hear!
for reviewing the last chapter!

Before anyone realized it, Faolan had fallen asleep. Leaning up against Dunne and watching the stars come out was just too relaxing, and her eyes began to droop, and she was asleep. When she woke she was being carried, cradled in a pair of strong arms like a newborn babe. It was pitch black out, and Faolan could tell they were still outside, by the freshness of the air.

"Where are we?" she whispered, and Dunne's strong face peered down at her.

"Going to dinner," she said, "We were going to drop you off in your room… but now that you're awake, do you want some food too?"

"Yeah," Faolan nodded sleepily, reaching up a hand to rub an eye, "Dinner sounds good."

"She's awake?" Aine whispered and Dunne nodded as Faolan found her eyes slipping shut again- but she wasn't falling asleep again.

"She's so cute!" Bright Eyes whispered and Faolan wasn't sure whether she should be amused or pleased at that comment.

Suddenly they went through a pair of doors and noise assaulted Faolan's ears. She opened her eyes and with a glance up at Dunne was set down on shaky legs to peer around at the great hall where a myriad of Heralds and trainees were all gobbling down dinner. And it smelled excellent.

"I'm drooling a waterfall," Faolan commented softly, rubbing her eyes again and peering around, feeling still partially asleep.

"Me too," Dunne agreed, then asked, "You seen many waterfalls?"

Many, Faolan thought but said, "Yeah. They're cool."

I'm making metaphors- do four year olds make metaphors in their speech? Faolan wondered as Dunne led them to an empty table. As they moved she saw Christopher Alaska a few tables away and momentarily caught his eyes. She gave him a grin and he waved before turning back to what seemed like a passionate conversation with Ranae. Feeling a twinge of loneliness she sat with the girls, sort of wishing they could have sat closer to Alaska's table. One of the trainees on kitchen duty brought over a fresh selection of the night's meal.

"Yes salmon! I love salmon!" Bright Eyes exclaimed. What IS her name anyway? Faolan wondered, feeling as delighted as the unnamed girl about fish.

Have I always liked fish so much? she wondered, feeling like just leaping on it and sinking her teeth into that soft orange meat… No, Faolan decided a moment later, I didn't always like fish.

Once dinner was over Faolan felt wide awake once more- she suspected it had to do with the close proximity of the moon, but she no longer felt anywhere near sleeping. As Dunne and Aine and the others stood up, also finished, Faolan found herself following them. Dunne took her hand again and Faolan wandered away with them, feeling a contented sort of awareness, not really caring where exactly it was they were going.

It turned out to be Bright Eye's room. And her name was Danielle, or so claimed the name plate upon the door that they slipped through. It was dark in the room, but Danielle moved quickly through the room, lighting a few oil lamps and pulling a book from a shelf above her desk.

This is cozy, Faolan thought, looking at the old and ornate rug beneath her feet and the murals done directly onto the wall. She wondered who did them- was it Danielle herself or someone else?

"Come on Fao," Dunne said, picking Faolan up onto the bed, where everyone else was crowding.

Story time? she wondered as Danielle flipped through the book and then started speaking. Fao settled herself cross-legged and leaned her chin on her hands.

"Gwyn crept through the forest, her sword held out and ready. The night was silent, but the enemy was quick as a sparrow and could be behind any tree, or any boulder… Rymbn was miles away now, and everything was left to Gwyn. There was no one left to help her… Hey you guys sure this is stuff we should be reading to Faolan?" Danielle stopped and Faolan looked up, feeling momentarily pissed- of course she could hear stuff like that- hell she'd lived through stuff like that! Suddenly the words clicked. Gwyn? Rymbn? Her eyes slowly widened and she reached out a hand.

"Can I see this real quick?" she asked and Danielle handed her the book. Aware that four sets of eyes were on her Faolan put her thumb in their spot and looked at the cover.

The Tale of a Lost Soldier, it read, By Ryan Night.

No way, Faolan thought, remembering the man in her memories that had once read her a story about werewolves. He had been a writer- it was his wife that ran the bakery Faolan's previous life had inherited and run. Thinking back, Faolan realized that life had probably been a hundred years ago or so, which would make this by now a relatively old tale. She smirked, wondering if 'Ryan Night' (which was his penname), would have expected that any of his books would reach Haven.

This is so weird, Faolan thought, handing the book back to Danielle and saying, "I'm not scared."

I suppose it had to start eventually. My past lives weren't these vague dreams, they actually happened so it makes sense that I'd encounter evidence of them, but I never expected something like this! With a sigh and shake of her head she turned her ears back to Danielle, who had started reading the familiar tale once more.

As the tale stretched on and the lamps burned on Faolan suddenly realized that Dunne had began running her fingers through Faolan's tangly and totally unstyled hair. Looking up she met a pair of calm brown eyes. Dunne gave her a small smile and then leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Your hair is a mess."

"I know," Faolan grinned back.

"Hey, you want the story or not?" Danielle demanded and they both quickly turned back to look at the storyteller.

"We should just dress up Faolan," Dunne said, a hint of joking in her voice, "Instead."

"Okay," Faolan said.

At this and Fao's response Aine shrugged and Danielle put the book away. Maura, ever calm, just nodded, and then said, "These uniforms are fairly androgynous and I bet Fao doesn't have anything nice, right?"

Faolan nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. She didn't feel any desire to get something 'nice' but she wouldn't mind having something 'nice' either. Of course, she wasn't sure the pocket money that the trainees received was enough to buy a dress- was that what they had in mind?

"We can do her hair… but none of our stuff would fit her," Aine pointed out and Faolan found herself turning redder. Were they going to play dress up with her?

"What about Herald Rathmir? Her kids are a little older than Faolan, I bet she has some old stuff of theirs…" Danielle pointed out.

"I'll ask her about it," Dunne put in, "Why not we just do her hair for tonight? It's getting late- we don't have time to fully deck her out anyway."

"Sure," Aine nodded and suddenly Faolan had the feeling that she was a mouse beneath several hungry hawks.

"Uh," she said as Danielle leapt up to get a brush and Aine disappeared out the door to get ribbons, Do I want to be their doll? At that question Faolan realized that, yes, she did want to be their doll. With a sheepish smile she looked up at Dunne, thinking that although mud and dirt was all fun, she wouldn't mind having some girly fun too…

And a candlemark later, Faolan found herself a new person. On the top anyway. She still had on the too baggy trainee grays, but her hair… It was a totally different story. All the tangles had been brushed out in a way that Faolan had never managed and one single blue ribbon had tied up part of her hair, pulling it from her face. After exclamations of cuteness Dunne escorted her back to her room and Faolan's longest day came to a close…

For once, I feel like a girl, Faolan thought wryly as she fell asleep, the rays of the moon shining in through her window.

Two nights later Faolan found herself changing into a werewolf for the first time in an inhabited area. Raul moved close by, in fact, she stood just outside the window, where the moon that would change Faolan would turn her hide as white as snow. Faolan went to bed early, claiming sleepiness to the two groups of people that vied for her attention- Dunne's and Alaska's. She had been distracted all day, and now that night was coming on, her wolf self was itching to be out, and although the moon wasn't up yet, it was all Faolan could do to stop herself from changing as she fumbled with the lock on her door, her fingers made clumsy from need and fear.

:Raul: she said desperately as the lock finally clicked shut and she stumbled over to flop on her bed, and then, after a moment's thought, she pulled off her shirt and shoes- the two things that might not fit once she turned wolfish.

:I'm here, Chosen: Raul whispered back and Fao looked over at her window to see two shining blue orbs peering back in at her, and relieved, she sank back onto her covers.

:Hold it back as long as you can, sweet: Raul advised to the shaking child on the bed, :I know its hard but the harder you try the better you will get at controlling it.:

:I know: Faolan answered, clenching her hands into fists.

And then her eyes slipped open, but they were unseeing, and a thick layer of gray, brown, and red fur slipped up from Faolan's skin, turning her into a strange humanoid looking creature. Her nose stretched out and reshaped, as did her legs and then body. A tail pushed out from her backbone, curling up uncomfortably in Faolan's pants, but soon her smaller size made those loose.

:I'm back: Faolan growled a moment later, shaking off the last vestiges of the pain of the change, rolling over and pulling herself up onto her paws, her keen eyes that were not quite blue anymore taking in the room, :So THIS is what the Herald's Collegium looks like through a wolf's eyes:

:Don't: Raul warned and Fao wasn't sure if she was warning her not to lose control or not to go explore the Collegium.

:I look like a puppy: Fao growled in Raul's direction, pacing over the bed and marveling at the way her paws sunk down- it was so soft!

:Its not worth the risk: Raul said and Fao hopped down off the bed and then- using her chair, she hopped up onto the windowsill and pressed her nose against the rough glass, meeting Raul's gaze harshly.

:That is your opinion, horse: Fao snapped and then leapt away from the window, landing in a sprawl on the floor as there was the thud of hooves hitting the wall outside.

:Heh heh: she giggled, enjoying acting big and bad- although both her wolf self and her human self knew that she wasn't going to do anything.

I might as well sleep… she said, feeling a bit regretting. Wolf was such a fun form, yet because of Raul's Choice, the only thing she could do was curl up like a good puppy on her bed and sleep the night away. When she woke- it would be to change back. Feeling said, she picked herself up off the slippery wooden floor, ignoring the slight gouges her claws were making, and she leapt up onto the bed, immediately curling up, tail to nose and falling into an uneasy and dreamless sleep.