Author's note: At the risk of sounding repetitive, I'm truly grateful for the positive response. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This is an unusual little story, so I was afraid of taking a chance with it - but I'm incredibly happy to see it's been so well-received. :) It's looking more like 7 chapters now, probably.

Since a few of you asked (mostly on FFdotnet) about the significance of Tatia's daughter to the story: she's just a girl, who happens to be an ancestor of Elena and Katherine. Since the Petrova doppelgängers are all descended from Amara in canon, and Tatia was revealed to be a widow on The Originals, it makes sense that she probably had a child with her late husband before Elijah killed her (in canon – but certainly not on this story :D). Last chapter just introduced her more explicitly.

1490 – England

A heavy wind swept the shore as young Katerina Petrova stepped off the gangway of the ship that had taken her away from the only home she had ever known. The weather was absolutely brutal compared to her comparatively sun-kissed native Bulgaria. She instantly felt a chill in her bones, though she suspected it was not entirely due to the temperature.

It had scarcely been a month since she had given birth – her beloved Nadia ripped from her before she could even hold her in her arms once, soothe her, say goodbye, while her father cruelly shouted that she had been an embarrassment. The following days were cold, distant. Her mother barely looked at her. Her father sneered and called her insults that no gentleman should ever utter, least of all to his daughter.

Then came the news that she would be banished to England. Perhaps with her gone, the family's honor could be restored.

A veritable plate of ice began to form around her heart at that announcement – long-seeded bitterness threatened to devour her whole, but she knew she couldn't give into her feelings yet. She had to survive. And to do that, she would need a clear head.

Having been raised in an aristocratic family, Katerina had been privileged to learn five languages with near-native fluency. England, being the farthest from her home, seemed like a suitable punishment for her, her family argued, but at least she would be able to communicate effectively – perhaps even be welcomed into society, given that the secret of her illicit affair had likely not traveled that far – at least not yet.

A part of Katerina wondered if this was always to be her fate. She knew her father came from a family of witches – a fact her both resented and desperately hoped to hide. When Katerina began showing the first bouts of elemental magic a year ago, great gusts of wind protruding from her hands, he promptly locked her in her room for a week and demanded that she cease such uncouth behavior at once.

The trouble was, she couldn't. She could no more control the air as it swept forth from her very being as she could her ability to breathe.

It called to her, and she desperately yearned for it. She had no idea what to call herself, though she thought she heard her father whisper the word "Traveler" in a disgusted sneer whilst discussing her with her mother.

Having come from a wealthy family, Katerina was relieved that she could easily find accommodations, seeking refuse for the night at an upscale hotel, where she would be able to pen letters to some local relations and perhaps find a more permanent residence. She would find a way to make it through.

Katerina was a survivor.

Within the next month, Katerina was able to make contact with distant relations who stayed past the summer in their lackadaisical travels abroad. With October nearing soon, they would sweep off to warmer shores, but not before bringing her into society. The past two weeks have been an endless parade of home visits, shopping excursions, and even two balls. Normally, this would have thrilled Katerina – to be out of her overbearing father's reach and given free rein to sample the delights of English aristocracy.

But since having to give up Nadia, she felt a deep tremor in her very being, slowly eroding a hole in her heart. She missed her daughter – a daughter she had barely been given a chance to glimpse.

Although her relations beckoned her to stay in London, a strange whisper called her to Wiltshire. A pulling at her soul would refuse the idea until she caved to it and purchased a cottage in Salisbury.

It was on the second day of having made her home there that Katerina found a mysterious woman standing in her garden.

Perhaps what was most noticeable about her to Katerina was her aura. Although she never considered herself terribly intuitive, there was something almost otherworldly about her. Her eyes twinkled as though she kept the very secrets of the cosmos, while the mysterious smile that curved her lips beckoned more than just Katerina's curiosity.

Objectively, she had to admit that the woman was beautiful.

Her wild, flowing hair that rode the winds themselves; her smooth, sun-kissed mocha skin; the very elegance with which she held herself. Katerina rarely found herself speechless – had been branded too sharp-tongued and headstrong for her noble household by her father all her life – but now could not seem to find any words to bestow upon this stranger.

"Hello, Katerina," the woman smiled. "The winds of change have been quite active since your arrival a month ago."

Something inside Katerina seized at that phrasing. Since she turned seventeen, she had been creating wind – entirely by accident – and often at the most inconvenient times. It had been one of the greatest sources of strife between her and her father, who vehemently disavowed his own magical lineage and anything to do with her uncontrolled bursts of elemental manipulation.

"Winds of change?" She could only ask, hoping to convincingly feign confusion and keep anxiety from overriding her heart.

"Divinatory patterns manifest in all aspects of nature," the woman explained patiently, her voice a soft, soothing timbre. "My family has long been attuned to its language. Your energy, in particular, seems best suited for Air. I imagine you know exactly what I mean, and are quite curious. Air Witches often are."

"Does your… coven," Katherine tasted the word on her tongue, and found it to be quite fascinating, "consist entirely of your family?"

"The coven certainly feels like a family, but we are not all Bennett Witches."

"Forgive my bluntness," Katerina replied, sounding anything but apologetic. "But who are you?"

"I'm Aurelia. Aurelia Bennett," extending an open palm for Katerina to take." We've been waiting for you."

I was originally going to give Katherine one long chapter, but then I figured I should split it into two, to update faster. Needless to say, Katherine's partnership with Aurelia and her coven is going to be very important for the rest of the plot.

This also seemed like a particularly mean place to place a cliffhanger, but I guess I'm just in that kind of mood! Mwahaha! :D

Your comments are truly appreciated. Please be sure to review and let me know what you like or dislike, what you'd like to see – or really anything. I find any and all feedback delightful! :D