Forgive the long wait, but I've been busy with life and…er other stuff. And I know Gar's story is going to be weird but I'm trying to make him talk like an old myth, or rather, how I see an old myth.

This chapter might be the longest of the story because there's no real way to split this well and it sets up the entire world that this story takes place in.

Beta-ed by OMG Pterodactyls.

A changeling dressed in an 18th century suit jogged up before taking off his hat and bowing his head "Master Ganrel is returning." his face showed that he wasn't really expecting the master to be happy.

Robin asked Yorick "Who is Ganrel?"

The small changeling sighed "Garfield is a relatively new name, Ganrel is one of the earlier forms and is Master's name."

Liz whispered "Well there he is and he's not looking all that happy…"

Indeed their friend looked exhausted and he made his way to them waving at those who offered their greetings, meaning everyone. As he approached he turned to face the crowd "I have tried to speak with those of us who dwell in the forest." mutterings came from every face in the crowd before he continued "I have asked them to come to the council for the new elder and they did not reply. I asked them what I could do to show them that I wish them to come from the bottom of my heart and they did not reply." his face took on a very soft smile, like the kind somebody who watched his child come home from a long trip "A youngling asked me to tell the Creation Stories. And I said yes." a cheer went up from the crowd.

Yorick looked concerned "Master…you know what that will entail."

Gar, or rather, Gan nodded but said "Yorick, why don't you and Liz make sure things are set up right. I've got to explain things to my friends."

Robin muttered "About time." but they followed him down the street. The buildings were unmarked but they were all made of a beautiful wood that seemed to have an invisible barrier some millimeters from the actual surface, the road, while simple pebbles, was designed with keep dry even when torrential rains pounded the area. Though the city was walled there was never a lack of room and the city itself seemed to exude an aura of open skies and plains.

As they made their way to what they could only guess to be a park set on top of the highest hill inside the walls everyone was shocked. The city was massive. The walls must have been easily ten stories tall and curving slightly inward giving the four statures, each in a cardinal directions, the feeling of watching over the people.

Beast Boy-no, Gan, Raven reminded herself sat down on the grass which was like a thick cushion and patted the ground beside him with his trademark smile, though much less blinding and far more real. He started slowly "Okay, here's the top things you need to know for tonight if you don't want to get everybody angry at you." his eyes were pleading honestly "I need you guys to listen and not talk, we don't have much time before I have to go to the meeting." he took a deep breath as they nodded "Alright, here's the thing-these stories are very intimate. When you ask someone to tell them they will tell you as they happened for them, so a child would tell you the story word for word from the book, for me…I was old before any civilization had written languages." Starfire's eyes bugged and all of them were suddenly very interest in how old he actually was.

Gan pushed his shoulders back and subtle pops sounded "Okay, the Forest Ones, back after the second of the three wars that engulfed all four races the other elder died, we only have two at a time, one of them, Alkona was of the mind that we should have recompense for all we suffered. He wasn't chosen and he called for his supporters to leave until the rest of us realized that we were superior warriors. He died shortly there after but for the most part the Forest Ones don't really have contact with us." he swallowed hard "And these stories will have the three wars. They are the creation of the races, the places and people that define the world." he said quietly.

Cy opened his mouth but Raven silenced him with a glare, this was the only time she had ever heard a changeling talk about their history.

Standing their friend gestured to the four statues, three of women and the final of a cloud with two circles barely touching in the middle with a bar running across the width of both "These are the four…mothers of our…the changeling's…world. The All Mother, God in any other culture, The Great Mother of the Sky-the sun, The First Mother, earth, and The Honored Sister of the Sun, the moon." he gave a smile "I don't really have to tell you about them any more since they're part of the stories!"

As they stood he looked to Yorick and Liz who had just come up behind them some distance and nodded. Raven watched for a moment before asking "How is it that nobody's found this place, no offence but it's just too huge to hide."

Now the seven of them were meandering their way down one of the main roads when Gan answered "It's a combination of things…which unless you marry a changeling and have kids with them you won't get an answer for."

Robin spoke up "That's a really weird condition."

Liz answered as the master was speaking to a runner "It's not, I mean what better way to get someone to keep a secret than when they have a huge stake in what it's loss would mean?"

Star watched as several other runners came in quick succession and the two male animorphs quickly spoke to each in tern "Friend Liz…may I call you that?" the 'youngest' nodded and smiled brightly "How is it that the other races do not think it suspicious that yours is the only city hidden?"

She looked over to her mate who came back "We have spent dozens of our generations perfecting the act that we are children, most of them think Home either doesn't exist or is a cave where we spend our time picking moss and mud pies or whatever juvenile fantasies they concoct." he said with a dismissive wave.

Raven watched quietly as Gan waved at them and darted off, to the meeting no doubt, before she turned to Yorick "What are we going to do until these stories start?"

The fake child looked up at the sky and seeing the sun high in the sky glanced around "If it would be acceptable shall we go back to the room? I must make sure the preparations are going well."

Liz nodded "Yeah, I need to check my email anyways."

Cy stopped walking "Email?"

The youngest changeling nodded "Yeah, we've get better wi-fi here than anywhere else in the world, and we've got all the GPS stuff totally butchered." at his confusion she thought for a minute "Um…your wi-fi? A humming bird?" he nodded happily until she continued "Ours? F-16."

The rest of the trip passed in silence and soon they were in the room chattering amongst themselves at their revelations about not just a person or a group but an entire race.

When the evening sun lit the world in golds and reds the group of four was led out by a sleepy looking changeling dressed like he just got out of bed. The place that was chosen was the park from earlier but now it was filled with what they didn't know was every changeling. The Forest Ones were easily recognizable by the heavy use of white paint on their bodies and, what would be considered, rags they wore.

They were ushered up the stage where Gan smiled at them before gesturing at the four chairs that sat right behind him. As they took their seats their friend started speaking with a voice they didn't realize he had, it carried over the entire audience without hesitation or echo and was only added to by his greatly emotional gestures.

The All Mother once existed in the Silent Realm, where those dead and those not yet born walk together, but the All Mother grew saddened by the souls, their lack of connection, their lack of feeling. With sadness in her heart she sought a remedy and retreated to the void and quietly created a number uncountable of daughters but only three stayed with her and became our Honored Mothers. Sun, the light for all, Earth, the bed of all and Moon, the comfort of all. She asked her daughters to help her-allow those of the Silent Realm to feel, to form emotions and love each other. Thus was the creation of the World.

The first story of the night was told and everyone not speaking took a moment to make a gesture, those not native to Home mirrored it only a few moments behind everyone else. They knelt and pressed their hands together and bowed their heads, almost like they were in prayer before they took their seats as Gan continued to the next stories.

While Humans were not the first life to come to the First Mother they were the first from the other realm and quickly they came to love her as we do. But they were suspicious of each other and of those that were different. Then came Dwar, the first of us, born from two humans he was blessed deeply and it was reflected in both his skin and eyes. When humanity rejected him his parents lived with him on the edges of their camp. Dwar's knowledge came not from the humans but from his father, his mother, the animals around him and the Earth herself. When he reached the age of marriage he bowed his head and spoke to his parents "Father, Mother. I must go to seek my wife. It is the way of things."

His parents were saddened but they understood and gave him their blessing.

Dwar wandered from camp to camp for four seasons until he could find no one that shared his blessing. After thinking about his choices for many days he called to Earth "First Mother!" she did not respond "First Mother!" he called again but still she did not answer "First Mother!" He called a third time and she did not heed him.

He turned his eyes to the sky and it was the moment where both Sun and Moon watch the world. He called out "Great Mother of the Sky!" again he called thrice with no reply.

Before he could contemplate what to do next The Honored Sister of the Sun descended and asked "Lonely Dwar, why do you call for my sisters?"

Dwar fell to his knees and bowed his head "Honored Sister, I wished for guidance."

Sister Moon asked "What do you wish to know?"

"Where I can find others like me." he replied.

Sister Moon spoke again "I do not know where there are others like yourself, but I will guide you to my sister."

Dwar could only thank her. It came to be that Sister Moon led him across the lands, he traveled further than any other person of his time. They came to the mountain man called Vanattil Tottu or 'touches the sky'.

Moon had become his companion and the start of the mountain trail forced them to separate and before she bid him farewell she spoke "Little Dwar, from here I cannot lead you anymore. I wish it otherwise."

Dwar bowed until his head touched the ground "Honored Sister, you have done more for me than I will ever be able to thank you for. "

Moon did not answer him but said "I wish you much luck to find people like you. Goodbye little Dwar." and she left leaving him alone to continue up the trail.

It took the First Shifter many days to climb the mountain before he stood before Sister Sun. Bowing before her he called out "Light of the Sky, Sister Sun please hear my prayers!"

Lady Sun came down and said "Little Dwar" To the Great Sisters each and every one of us were tiny, no bigger than an ant, "You have traveled far to come here. Tell me your story."

Dwar told his tale before asking "I have three questions, please tell me how to honor Sister Moon."

Lady Sun replied "I do not know how you would honor my sister."

Dwar asked "Do you know where I can find another like myself?"

Lady Sun replied "I do not."

Dwar asked, desperation filling his voice "Do you know how I can speak to Mother Earth?"

Lady Sun replied "I do know. There is a land back to the east where there are jungles so thick not even I can see to the ground, where there are so many animals that none can count them all."

Kneeling Dwar asked "How shall I honor you Light of the Sky?"

Lady Sun watched him "I do not know."

He bowed and she left leaving him to journey to a new land. It took him many seasons to cross the land and the ocean to go where Lady Sun spoke of. As she said there were creatures he had never seen before and colors he could never have found anywhere else. Wandering the land he came across a cave that pulled him in like the sweet smell of ripening fruit, he traveled down it's depths to see Mother Earth.

Mother Earth smiled as he came and bowed "Little Dwar! How far you've come!"

"Yes Mother of us All. I have come to ask questions." Dwar said.

She bid him "Ask, ask me Little Dwar."

Dwar asked "Please tell me how to honor the Sisters of the Sky."

She smiled "When the time comes you will know."

Dwar asked "Please tell me how to honor you."

She smiled "By coming this far from home you have done me great honor."

Dwar asked "Is there another like me?"

Mother Earth smiled "No. you are the first of your kind, but do not despair Little Dwar. From this clay I will make you a wife and I will make you a home where your kind can grow."

Before he could say anything else he found himself here, on top of this hill with a beautiful green woman. That was the creation of our race.

Gan took a moment to catch his breath as the listeners repeated the gesture they had after the first story. A child in the front asked "Can you please tell us about you?"

For a moment he froze but a small smile came on his face "I will if that is what you wish." as the child nodded happily he laughed "But first I need a break, all this talking has dried me out!"

Those around him laughed but slowly they made their way to the other side of the park where food was sat. Yorick looked around before pulling the group off to the side, he looked at Cyborg specifically "Changeling's do not eat meat." before the big man could protest he continued "We have something similar, Gan told us that you like meat…"

All of them quite happily admitted it was some of the best food they ever ate, and to their great surprise several changelings came over and sat with them and just listened to them talk, never saying anything but when asked nodding or shaking their heads. Gan had made moves to be diplomatic and ate while moving about the Forest Ones. He came up to them several times and chatted with them but even Cy knew that if he was trying to get a diplomatic relationship going with what would be estranged countrymen then he needed to be with them.

When the group came back to the stage the sun had just fully set and solar lanterns kept the area bright. The only difference was a small stool set on the stage that Gan took, he smiled "I hope you don't mind if I sit, these old bones aren't what they used to be!" the crowed chuckled but went silent as his smile fell "These next stories are hard for me, those I've lost, the wars…but if I'm to ever get over them I'll need the help of my family." his eyes scanned the crowed before coming to stop on the group that he lived with.

Every voice in the city rang out in a cry of support. He smiled and bowed. He started quietly "These stories are together for me-made into one, because to me it's not history. It's my past, I lived through it and it will never be anything different for me."

There were many like us before I was born, but my grandfather-Dwar never let me forget that no matter where we came from we were family. My parents had died shortly after I was born but Grandpa never let me down and when I was only 114 a knock came to the door, it was noon on the summer solstice when a lady named Katli gave birth. My grandfather, grandmother and myself rushed to the house when something amazing came upon us.

Katli's child had orange skin and locks of red hair. The babe wailed and cried but someone was watching other than the parents and doctors. My grandfather bowed and called her "Lady Sun."

She told him "You asked how you would honor me. This shall be how. I wish to know what two gifts above all others you would give the first of my people."

Grandfather gently held the newborn girl's head, his fingers touched around her head and his thumbs touched her right above the eyes. In a voice like a whispering god he said "I would give her vitality, the life full of energy. Compassion as well, emotions that link all people and the gift that the All Mother gives to all from the Silent Realm."

Lady Sun asked to hold Katli's child and the mother allowed her. The Brightest Light of the Sky asked the child's name, then she held the baby Tameran above her head and proclaimed "This is the first of my people, those of the Earth blessed by the Sun."

Thus was the birth of the Tameraneans.

Everyone but Gan had turned to look at Starfire who seemed to glow at his retelling, her smile grew blinding and at the end her friend, the storyteller turned and smiled at her. Everyone that saw the smile she returned could believe that she was the daughter of the Sun.

Gan's face was strained and he looked every bit of his many, many years.

In my long life I have loved five women. The first was a human named Onia. We were together until she died, in those days eighty was a very long life and due to an accident we never had children. It was very hard to lose her. She was my first wife and remembering her loss always cuts me deeply.

Seven hundred years after that Gwendolyn, a changeling, and I were married but that did not last long as the Great Plague took her within two decades and many of all the races died in those perilous months.

After the plague receded I was one of the eldest left and my only senior Lady Quail decided to have two advisors for the entire race. It was during this time that I received my greatest honor.

It was deep in the night when the call for me came. Roona had been in labor since sunset and it had been very hard on both her and the child. All of our healers were there to ease her trial. When I arrived Roona was radiant, her labor of love left her exhausted but she looked at peace as she held her babe.

Again a stranger stood in the room and even having never met her before I knew who it was. Lady Moon. We all knelt but she was very informal and told us to stand. She looked around and for some reason she chose me. Lady Quail was there too but she chose me.

I'll never forget it.

She said "I remember you were there for the first of my Sister's people. What would you give mine?"

I thought long and hard about what Lady Moon meant to me. I looked at the babe, moon kissed skin and hair like the Moon's own crown. I cut my hand and let a drop of blood fall on the newborn's head. "I would give her all my knowledge. I wish for her only the greatest of peace. Those would be my two gifts."

Roona handed the Goddess her baby who said "These gifts would honor both myself and Azar."

Gan slowly showed his hand where a deep silver cut lay across the middle, like the moon had pressed it's light into the cut. Raven suddenly felt the reason why she usually felt so…off around him. If it truly was his blood embedded in her bones it would mean that he was there when…everything…had happened. It would be like her history books given life and shaped into a person who could answer all her questions. Something akin to a god if she thought about it deeply.

Looking at him in a new light she noticed how he looked at her. Her eyes dilated and her heart started to hammer, her blood seemed to run backwards. He smiled at her with a peerless warmth and she smiled back, just a small one. The group watching her looked at her differently, something akin to understanding in their eyes but she missed it.

He turned back to the crowd and she noticed how sad he looked.

Then came the wars. Two thousand years ago was the first of three wars that shaped the world as we know it. The first hints of unrest were whispered in dark rooms with doors pulled shut and too much drink. Humans whispered 'why don't we have the gifts they do? Aren't we the first?' this tension made it's way through the small villages for years before a man named Khan was born on the very outskirts of the world.

Khan was human resentment given life. He killed and maimed his way to chief of his village before he started conquering the rest of his kind. In his bloody revolution he destroyed all banners that would fly other than his own. He paid for the first real kingdom of men in twenty-seven years and countless dead.

His first royal decree was that no one not of human blood was allowed within his borders. Those of the Sun and Moon allowed it because they believed he was quelling internal strife. We did not. We had been watching him for years and realized how blood soaked he would become given a chance. Within two years of creating his empire he attacked a settlement of Tamaraneans and killed everybody.

Very quickly everyone realized he wanted to have unrestricted genocide. He stormed every home he could and killed everyone he could lay his hands on that wasn't human. Almost worse was what he did to his own people, every male older than 12 was conscripted to fight and die for him.

The Tamaraneans and Azarathians quickly mounted their own forces. We did not. We are not warring peoples, in the years since the creation of the races we are the only ones who have not taken up arms against ourselves. The others have had dozens of civil wars yet we have never followed that.

We gathered to discuss our actions like we are now to reflect on them. We did not have the numbers or violence in us to oppose them in aggression so we opened Home to those of Sun and Moon who were injured.

That led to our discovery.

In our blood is both predator and prey yet we were unconnected to our hunting instincts.

Home was attacked. It was a large army led by Kahn himself to wipe us out and those we were caring for. He marched through the gates with nearly 10,000 people behind him. At that time we numbered 3,437. The fighting took place in our streets and in our homes. It was brutal in ways that I still have nightmares about, many of us died, so many that I fear one day I won't remember all of them.

But we made them pay in blood. Kahn and his army were destroyed and only a handful survived, men we deemed had no will to fight. But we lost 1,287 brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and children. We ended the war but had to write the treaty in our own blood.

Reparations are part of war and one of the few elders who had the will to oppose Kahn became king in order for the repayments of our blood to be made. To the Tamaraneans went a huge section of land including a huge vein of silver, the Azarathians took a copy of every book the humans possessed. We asked for a headstone for every one of our people that died.

Robin and Cy felt a great sadness at the realization that their species would-could destroy these people. Even when they were intruders they were shown respect, there was dislike yes, but it was tempered by these people who knew they were not their ancestors. They didn't have a chance to say anything when Gan continued.

The second war came seventy years after the first. Seventy years is a long time to both humans and Tameraneans and a significant time to Azarathians but to us it is a day.

In seventy years the Tameranean royal family had changed, the king of the first war was long buried and his grandson on the throne and his son was his heir and took trips around their nation. His delights were atrocities. He thought it was his right to torture humans. He spent many days destroying them inside and out.

Then he overstepped his boundaries and went into the human nation. Riding a horse down in one of the many villages he trampled a small girl to death. The parents were distraught but he did not care. He offered no apology and had no remorse. The people chased him back to his own country where he rallied a battalion of troops to crush those who drove him out.

The few survivors rushed to the king who demanded recompense for the senseless death of so many of his people. The Tameraneans refused. They said that their prince was right, humans were nothing more than violent cattle meant to be used.

Some Tameraneans openly refuted this and were thrown in jails or cast out of the country.

Humans demanded that the prince be given to them for execution as was their right but the Tameraneans sent out another battalion to destroy another village and war was upon us once again.

The Azaranthians begged that the Tameraneans stop but they were declared traitors by the Crown of the people of the Sun and war was thrust upon them as well.

Changelings have always had other races as lovers, husbands and wives. My wife was the daughter of a minor Tameranean noble, she and a delegation of Tameraneans that loved our people went to ask the King to promise us no harm.

Instead they were tortured, my own wife was drawn and quartered. I had gone discreetly to find why they had been gone for several months when I came across the cheering crowd watching her struggle against the ropes that ended her.

We did not go to war. We went in like shadows in the night, soft and fleeting, we came down like a scythe on wheat and filled with a great rage. The Royal family was poisoned and died quickly, a fate far kinder than what they did to their countrymen who disagreed.

The only one with Royal ties that was not killed was a cousin of the King who had been in jail since the beginning as he refused to allow the war to happen. The recompense for both humans and Azaranthians was nothing physical, instead, he rooted out those who would continue that horrible war.

The changelings flinched at the tears in Starfire's eyes, how sad she was that her own people would harm those she would come to call friends. To harm their own because they asked to protect their loved ones.

The princess was on the verge of crying openly when a changeling in the crowd, old enough to remember the war, said "You are descended from one of the last Changeling Friends! You carry his strength and none of the sin!" this set off a riotous cheer for the princess who smiled at the people in a taste of bittersweet joy.

Gan's hand on her back was joined by her other friend's and it was the greatest comfort she could have asked for.

But it was the new king's attempts to bring those who would continue to fight out that was impetus for the next and final war. There were far more who were willing to continue than he expected and many of them were in the army forcing him to go into hiding after sending messengers to the other three nations when they turned against him.

But the messenger sent to Azarath convinced the High Council that the General now in wearing the Crown of the people of the Sun was right in trying to subjugate the humans. They had proven themselves too violent and thoughtless to rule themselves and they needed a strong hand in order to not hurt themselves or others.

We pleaded but they did not listen. They joined with those that only a few years prior called them traitors and were at war with them.

We decided to openly oppose those who were of the Sun and Moon. They argued that they were claimed by the Sun and Moon and thus divinely guided and that they were evolved from us.

We countered that we were never claimed, Dwar had asked and his parents had told him that no one came to ask to bless him and that they were attacking innocent people.

In our eyes we had just lost too many of our own and the world seemed to be going insane with war and want to murder. We knew that war was beyond us, we had too few but learning from our first attack we sent out small numbers to creep into the strongholds of those who would wage war and slaughter them in their sleep.

Our guilt consumed us but the memories of that first attack on us were burned into our memories and we would have done anything to prevent that from happening again.

That was the end of the war. The High Council was warned that if they started war on us again we would destroy them again, that we would protect our own and the Tameranean king was placed back on his throne.

Starfire had been comforted by the changelings before but Raven felt alone, bare to those around her. Her anger at the hypocritical High Council was the highest she had ever experienced but she had never been this sad. That these peaceful people were still wracked by guilt for killing to protect their own after they had been protectors for so long without bloodshed. That her own people would push them to this made her sick.

Gan slowly stood "Those are the stories. It is late and I am old. Those of you who wish to vote should come tomorrow at noon so that we may decide. Good night."

Gan gestured his friends to come with him and quickly they stood up and followed him. The night streets were pleasantly cool and lit by glass lamps.

Robin said quietly "I never would have expected that sort of history…or that you're old enough to remember that."

Gan smiled tiredly "History is not always written by the winners, on occasion it's the series of events that lets those involved loose the least sleep. Could you imagine how tense racial relationships would be today if they knew how badly they had been treated by the others in the past?"

Cy muttered in agreement before saying "But you guys would be hailed as heroes!"

"Or feared as monsters." Gan countered "We're already an unknown to most people but by feeding them the 'we're kids' spiel we convince them we're not dangerous, that we're harmless."

Liz appeared as they got closer to the building and said seriously "Tomorrow's gonna be it, huh?"

Gan nodded but Raven asked "What's happening tomorrow?"

The two changelings looked at each other and Gan said quietly "We vote. To either accept you as the first Changeling Friends in almost 1500 years."

Robin prompted "Or?"

"Or you die."