OC Male (Flyer) & OC Female (Panther)

Flyer leads


The smell of dried blood. It always came back to that in his dreams. Dried blood and screams. All these years later and the nightmares of his past still haunted him. Cao had tried to forget it, tried to make peace with the past. He couldn't. He hid it away, deep inside, even his siblings had no clue what had happened to him nearly five years ago. This time, though, the dream turned personal. Before him wasn't the scientists or the royal guard, it was his family. He felt hatred, yearning to destroy the creature from his past. Cao looked down, there was a torch. The young prince threw the torch at the beast, holding back a sick grin as the creature burned. The black beast ran off and the forest caught the sparks, the licks of the fire. Within seconds the inferno reached a crescendo, and it turned on the last Dreamfire. Accepting fate, Cao smiled and..

-----

“Cao Shun Dreamfire, I swear if you don't get up right this instant I'm sicking the royal hounds on you!" A rather portly woman was shouting besides the sleeping prince, who mumbled in a still asleep but waking up sort of way "Urgh... W-what Merga? You'll wake up everyone else..“ "Indeed I would," the royal nurse said, "assuming anyone was still here and WASN'T running late for their own marriage.“ That woke him up in a hurry. Immediately he was up and about frantic and yelling about how nothing was where he left it. EVENTUALLY he was dressed in his almost trademark green clothes and the "Lord High Lord" was ready. The People's Favorite was quickly rushed out of the castle and directly in the abrasive company of his royal guards. Oh they would make it to the gathering of the other young nobles, but the guards would finally get their comeuppance as they traveled to it.

-EVENTUALLY-


What felt like an eternity of mocking came to an end as Cao flung himself from the carriage once they reached their destination, but he was quickly flanked by the laughing hyenas he called an entourage. The royal guards, who regained their composure as they exited the carriage, made quick work of spotting other guards and thus young nobles. Unsurprisingly they immediately went off to inform the senior nobles, king and queens, that the youngest of the princes of Vinelock had safely arrived. His posse once more begun their meandering, ensuring the area was 'safe' for the prince. Or as safe as it was going to be with emotional young adults with wildly different opinions being forced to marry absolute strangers from countries they may or may not despise. Raising his right hand and bringing it to his chin, he began tapping as he surveyed who was already here. His light blue eyes immediately picked up on Phlox and his "rocks."

A short ways off from the soon-to-be char broiled brother was Arista and two humans. Cao had never really met humans, well except for the old mushroom pickers who rescued him. What was it like being human? Was it any different from how it felt being a Silverwing? His chin tapping continued until he was 'Ahem'ed by one of his guards who thought it necessary to remind him of the purpose of this. He did not need the reminder. Full scale war was being averted through this nobility planned game of matchmaker, but he didn't enjoy it. Somehow luck had been on his side when it was determined he and Arista were marrying into Nazareth line, the human line. Which meant her husband would become Cao's brother in-law. 'Would it be a good idea to head over there or just wait here for.. whoever it was I was chosen to be with.' Again the chin tapping and that evolved into him placing his hands in his pockets and firmly grasping the contents. In one pocket was a regular brush, the other: The Hand Of Vinelock.

In the end he decided.. NOT to go join Arista or his eventually brother-in-law. In fact he didn't even go over to Phlox, instead he decided to do as Phlox had done and set about lying in the grass. "Satchel." He demanded, and his was quickly produced by a royal guard. Opening it he removed the only item inside it: a leather bound stack of parchment, colloquially called 'an book'. It was light enough for him to hold in one hand, with his other hand he brought out the regular brush. Unlike the magic one which brought all art to life, this one merely never ran out of ink. This gift from an enchantress for 'furthering the advancement of magic art' was perfect, what with it NOT bringing everything into reality. Now the waiting game, and the draw-everything-around-Cao game, began. The wait for the woman he was destined to, the one who would try to tame the Silverwing. Would she succeed? Who knew. He only hoped that she and Arista wouldn't be 'buddy buddy', after all who wants their mistakes and embarrassing past revealed?


To watch clouds and be a designated "cloud watcher" takes many of skills. It requires creativity, an open mind, and innovative thought. It requires a clear mind, which means a cloud watcher could not hold grudges or reflect on the past. It also requires a bit of patience; sometimes the clouds would not appear or they would clump together and so Vanya would sit calmly on the tree tops to watch the clouds roll far away into the distance. Vanya was a great cloud watcher. So far, the elf had spotted a bee among flowers, the ever elusive pixie within the forest (at least, what Vanya thought this mysterious, invisible race would look like), and an elf in ancient robes performing a long forgotten ritual. Some hours ago she had easily climbed up on a large oak tree some thirty feet in the air until she found a branch thick enough to hold her weight. Her back was pressed against the base of the tree, the branches hanging low enough for her to mindlessly watch the sky. She was currently playing with her matted hair, picking apart her recent run in with a swarm of sticker bushes.

"Vanya....Vanya, oh by the gods! Guards, here she is! I have found her! Alert the King and Queen!" a rumble came from the bushels and out popped a high elf with four guards following behind him. Vanya looked down and smiled in response, waving at the new company she recognized.

"Oh why, good afternoon, sir Arwen! What a lovely day to go out strolling the forest. I've never seen you out here before. And with friends! Must be good company."

"Wha....well, huh...hmph, good day to you too, Princess Vanya," mumbled the high elf, perplexed by her calm response. He pressed on with certain exasperation. "Do you you know what today is?" Vanya dropped down some branches and met with Arwen face to face, except she was upside down hanging by her legs from a branch. She tapped her chin in deep thought. She heard him gasp at her birds nest of hair that nearly touched the ground, so perfectly combed just this morning by a swarm of nurse maids. It took the maids what felt like years to properly tame Vanya's hair. Now look at it!

"Well I suppose today is the beginning of the week.....it isn't anyone's birthing day.....oh! Do you know some wood elves in legions far away celebrate the afternoon in honor of their Gods, every day? Is that what you're referring -"

"No....I mean, yes, I've heard of these stories but.....Vanya get down! We have a carriage to place you in!" His booted foot stomped on the ground for emphasis. Vanya complied and was on the ground in an instant. Arwen, being a high elf of special blood (as he liked to tell everyone) stood tall and lanky. With great ease he towered over the short female elf. Arwen took a moment to look at Vanya before letting out a high pitched wail. She jumped at the response. "Oh Gods, what happened you?" the high elf frantically waved his arms towards Vanya's figure. Her dress, once shimmering green with golden lace, was covered in splotches of dried dirt and purple berry stains. The sparkles had faded into a dull, lifeless green. The gold had lost its shine. The ends of her dress were not terrible as compared to the rest of the problems, but still had dirt and a tear in the back. This dress had been so exquisite, Arwen had thought, that even Vanya looked good in it just a few nights ago during her fitting! Now it was just an infested piece of cloth and she looked nothing like a princess of the high and mighty Analith! Vanya replied, seemingly unaware of what the high elf was referring to.

"Oh, well, you see, a wonderful squirrel was chirping at me this morning so I followed him, but he scurried into the deep thickets of the forest and -"

"This was a dress designed by Louiswen Vuitkon especially for this day." A blank stare. "Louiswen Vuitkon!" he screeched a second time, horrified by Vanya's lack of concern as to who designed her special gown. Arwen was kneeling down at her seams, cupping the tattered threads to his cheek. It was once a soft chiffon, but now it felt like coarse gravel touching his immaculate face. Vanya placed her hands together in front of her, biting her lip to hold back her giggle at this awkward display of affection for her clothes.

"Where are we supposed to be headed again?" she piped up after a moment. Arwen stood up, brushing his royal court robes from dirt.

"Where are we going, you ask? Well, today was supposed to be your destiny with your betrothed, but now.....now....we'll just have to make due!" He touched the tip of his nose and pinched at it, sighing heavily. He tugged on her arm anxiously and began pulling her towards the Analith tree. "If anyone remarks about your attire today.....tell them that Sir Arwen was not responsible for this!"

"Oh, well alright," was her meek reply, following Arwen and the guards. She didn't understand why this was such a big deal to him. It was only a few spots.....her soon-to-be-husband would hardly notice....!

✖ ✖T I M E S K I P

The Analith siblings were arriving late to the Tree of Luna. Vanya wasn't the only one to blame on their tardiness, but it certainly didn't help her case when Arwen immediately requested all the nurse maids and seamstresses in the royal house to come fix Vanya up. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to fix in such a time crunch so two maids were ordered to go with Vanya in the carriage and try mending her hair. They were frantic and pulled at her hair to get out the matted knots. After nearly an hour their arms were sore and they gave up on trying to turn her hair into luscious locks again. Most of the prickly stickers and absurd knots were out of her hair, but certain parts were still frizzy and wild looking. Vanya cringed, her poor scalp was aching as the carriage came to a halt! A servant opened the door, extending his hand to cup Vanya's hand as she stepped out. "My....what a lovely tree. I wonder what cloud watching would be like from up there," was her first whisper as she got out of the carriage, looking at the marvelous tree of Luna. She had heard vague stories about the tree and the magical powers that supposedly kept elders from aging and taught the blind to see. Vanya scurried over to the tree to watch in awe.

After some minutes of walking around the perimeter of the tree, she noticed someone plopped down on the grass, a gentleman in green with guards placed next to him. Noblemen and royals were walking around the tree, laughing and gossiping about the day ahead of them. He was the only one on the grass away from others. Oh, a fellow lover of nature! she thought happily, skipping her way over to the grassy plains while humming to herself. She came by his side and laid down next to him.

"Why, hello! My name is Vanya," she introduced herself happily, her face bright and inviting. She continued with her babbling. "I see you like the grass here. I do too! It's a very vibrant shade of green, don't you think? I've never been to the Tree of Luna before. Have you?" Her belly was touching the grass, and her chin rested on the ground, playing with the fine stands of grass. Her green eyes flickered over the top of the grass, which stood tall enough to tickle the bottom of her nose. She furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought. I wonder if the those pixies are found here, too.... Sitting up quickly, she stared at the boy with a smile. "Did you know that there is a race of pixies that is invisible? They're tinier than the average pixies and hop along the tops of flowers. You can hear them singing alongside the birds of the forest at dawn! They are quite dreadful to spot. Have you ever seen them?" All of her jabber was happening very fast and she seemed to be talking a mile a minute; hopefully the poor prince could keep up. She was giving him quite the earful. Vanya could easily test another person's patience. She paused as she got a full look at him, finally noticing the object in his hands. Her eyes brightened even more. "Oh....what are you reading?" In less than a second she was suddenly sitting uncomfortably close to him, her head in front of the parchment in his hand, unknowingly blocking his view. Vanya was not one for proper social interacting norms.


This was not according to plan. Well that would be the case provided Cao ever had a plan. Usually those revolved around going out into the towns and hamlets situated around the forest, and ended in him making himself at home. "The People's Prince", as he had been dubbed, swapped brushes with the quickness of a pickpocket. He was interrupted from his private thoughts and muses when his light blue eyes caught sight of a carriage rolling up to the Tree. 'I shouldn't be surprised but I wonder who's in there. Could be anyone.. well not really, but it could ALMOST be anyone. Now will the mystery guest reveal themselves.' The guest did as he thought, and the sight before him was an odd one. An elf, however he lacked the common sense to tell which kind the ginger was. All Cao knew was the girl had pointed ears, a not that presentable looking dress and hair that looked like she had just woken up while camping: like she had WALKED to the Tree.

What happened next was rather strange, as well as invasive. Cao turned his attention back to his absent minded doodles and unfortunately he had forgotten he was using THE brush and not A brush. The letters he had written were beginning to squirm around, reforming themselves into different words. He looked.. displeased by that but at least no one was around to see it. No problem, right? Wrong. The fire haired girl had, for some reason, come over to him and assumed a rather too close position to the young man. She introduced herself and before he could get past the I in "I'm Cao" she had begun talking again, this time about grass and the Tree of Luna and if he had ever been here prior. "No I've nev-“ Cao was once more cut off my the princess who easily could have passed for a Silverwing if she was smaller, had wings, and lost the points on her ears. Was she how most assumed the Silverwings were like? Sure they were usually rather upbeat but THIS... This was beyond anything he had known or cared to know.

Vanya had begun her reign, and rain, of dialogue once more. This time it was about invisible tiny pixies on flowers or something and whether or not he had ever seen one. "How can you see them if they're invisible?" Was this person a real princess? Maybe they killed the real princess and that's how the dress got dirty. Maybe this was an imposter who looked SO like the princess even her guards couldn't tell the difference. Before he could think up any more fantastical conspiracy theories about a princess it finally dawned on him that he did not recognize her AT ALL. Was this the woman was supposed osupposed marry? 'It cant be.. can it? Was it Vana.. Vana.. the elves I was supposed to marry into? No that was Phlox... Couldn't have been Silverkeep.. that leaves Phaelaeh.. Phaelaeh? Pheasant? The human one.‘ Thinking over, he decided she was NOT the chosen one.

Problems escalated when Vanya did the unthinkable. No not violate his personal space in a way that made him exceedingly uncomfortable. She peered into the Forbidden Zone: his art. Within moments all hell had broken loose and the living art quickly brought itself into the real world. Flocks of painted birds flew off the pages, an inky squirrel ran off towards The Tree. The bubble had burst and the whole book was now one ticking time bomb of drawings. Wild beasts, houses, mops, flora of all kinds. The book was a powder keg of things, but there was trick he knew. Cao tapped the non-brush end of the Vinelock brush against the page and suddenly the drawngs stopped, returning to how they once were: inanimate. Well at least the ones that hadn't left the page yet. He managed to scoot himself over so he could sit up without their heads colliding, and closed the book. Putting the book down Cao sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Lets try those introductions again. I'm Cao, Dreamfire that is."


Vanya only caught a glimpse of what looked like sketches before a flock of birds came charging into her face. Completely caught off guard by it (for she never peeked into a book and have it pop out at her before), she yelped and jumped a bit closer to the prince. She stared in bewilderment at the parchment. Drawings suddenly moving out into a new realm and leaping off out of the page towards them - this was nothing like she had seen before! One bird had the unfortunate mishap of colliding with her mane of hair as it tried to fly away and began pulling at her hair and squawking. Instead of cringing in frught, Vanya instead giggled at the whole scene and calmly loosened the knot in her hair. This bird is most certainly real! Once released, the bird flapped its wing in her face and drifted off to the sky to regroup. The whole hour of nurse maids feverishly clawing at her hair had, in the end, been for nothing once again. The flocks of birds dispersed quickly from the page and a squirrel hopped into her lap, scrunched up his nose at her, and scurried off towards the large tree. The whole event only took seconds to complete and by the time she started laughing and had a true chance to be flabbergasted, Cao already closed the book and reintroduced himself. How could this man be so calm after all of this? Was he trying to change the subject and pretend this didn't happen? If this was his plan, unfortunately he would not be able to get away with it.

Why was he asking for her name at such a time like this?! She complied, however, taking his hand and giving him a good shake. She had seen other men do this and knew it was customary in certain cultures. "Oh, well, I'm Vanya Orrak ...of Analith...but...but...." Vanya appeared to be shaking as her voice trailed off, unable to just excuse an event such as this. "Cao! That....that came from there!" Vanya nearly shouted explosively as she closed the gap Cao had so desperately tried to reestablish between them, pointing to the book in his hand. "That was absolutely indescribable! You must, must do it again! Oh please, you must!" Vanya had gripped one of his wrists, shaking him with excited fervor. Her voice was breathless and green eyes wide, as if she had been the one to hop out of his page and run away! The squirrel that only moments ago had been smacked between pages was now hobbling up on a branch. Vanya's eyes never left the newly living creature. "Amazing....." So real, so lifelike! She had never seen anything like this, or heard of any magical tales of drawings coming to life. Was it him or was it his brush that created this? A special kind of parchment only found in the most guarded castles of the world? It must have been a form of magic; a magic that she had never seen or read about.

Could this be what the Analith people referred to as "dark magic"? Vanya wasn't entirely positive what dark magic was, and most of the people in Analith were also left in the dark. The night elves had always been a private species of elves and kept to themselves within the Analith tree, especially during times of customs and ancient practices. They ventured out at night deep within the forests that wrapped around the tree. Vanya remembered watching the blackened forest through her bedroom window one night, and seeing lights flicker along the tree tops with howls that could send even a lycan chills down their spines. However, the Prince of Vinelock looked nothing like her night elf relatives. Unless he was casting an illusion spell......

Without asking Cao (which, she had to admit, was quite a lot considering they just met), her hands reached up and gently pulled at his ears to see if there were any purple spots he might have carelessly forgotten to cover up when casting his spell. She inspected it closely, but frowned when she saw nothing but pale skin. In fact, his whole body was pale and he didn't even appear to have very fine, pointy ears. What was he? He seemed so......odd. Vanya stared at him, bright eyed and curious. "Are you a mage, o-or a halfling? How do you do that?"


She yelped. Cao, for better or worse, had grown accustomed to the sound of people being startled. He had also grown accustomed to getting slapped or belittled in some way following his antics with the Vinelock brush. Oddly enough neither of these things happened, rather something far stranger still happened. Well aside from the inky fledgling getting trapped in Vanya's hair and her attempts to free the imprisoned fowl. She was now closer to the prince before and his unease was readily apparent. Unfortunately his desire to escape was ALSO readily apparent and he was rewarded with her bewilderment, her laughter, and the annoyed glares of both his and her royal guards. They were definitely not happy with this, especially the captain assigned to Cao: Sir Antilles. The war hero took absolutely no pleasure in his 'guard's duties, which really amounted to glorified baby sitting and NOTHING else.

No sooner had he tried to stand was Vanya, of Analith, grabbing his wrist and pleading him to use that magic brush again. Cao was now essentially pinned down, a prospect that in current light could have been worse. One thing, though, was her reaction. He was used to people being scared, horrified and appalled by this very vagrant defamation of Vinelock's will. What mortal had the right to create life? What man had the authority to wield such devastating power at will? Why if Cao wished he could draw a huge fire breathing dragon that could swoop down and wipe out everyone at the tree, if he desired. He could paint a massive tsunami that would wipe out a kingdom if he wished. Yet he didn't wish that. At most he had drawn a rain cloud to water plants that received little natural water. Such a tool capable of the gross perversion of nature, and Vanya wanted him to it again? She WANTED him to keep drawing new life and watch it leave the two dimensional prison it was housed in?!

Now would have been a good time for Cao to exercise so willpower, to say "No Vanya, this brush is not a toy. You cant just go around playing with it." He SHOULD have said that, but of course the Silverwing did the exact opposite and had a stupid grin on his face. Cao Shun Dreamfire. Lord High Lord Of The Silverwings and second in line to the throne. Bumbling idiot manchild. Truly the prophecies of greatness were true: he would usher in an era of peace. Using his ungrasped hand, Cao managed to release himself from Vanya's grasp. He raised his brush to the air and began to trace clouds. As soon as it was done a cloud formed several feet above Vanya and himself. Now of course he did not recognize her as Phlox's bethroed, which he should have, but he did at least know he wasn't paired with Vanya. As far as Cao was concerned this whole event was a mere get-together of the future leaders of the kingdoms so they all could learn some tolerance to prevent wars.

Then things got odd. Right as he was finishing up a flock of birds, Cao felt hands on his ears. These weren't the cold metal gauntlets of his guards trying to get his attention. Nor was it the fierce tug of an angry mother. It was a tug though, almost like the soft one his maid would do to ensure he cleaned his ears (which he almost always sometimes did without being reminded). It was like Vanya was looking for something and finally the question on her mind was released. Cao cocked an eyebrow and turned to face her. "Mage? Halfling? I'm nothing like that. As for how I do this." Cao paused and finished the stroke of his brush, the flock of birds he drew taking off into the wild blue yonder. "Is through this.“ He finished, holding the Hand Of Vinelock up. It was a gnarled ancient piece of woodwork that fit the user's hand no matter who it was. To demonstrate his point he drew on Vanya's face, as in actually on her face. Within seconds the ink was replaced by newly formed glasses.


For a while, not a peep came out of Vanya as she watched Cao show off his talent more. Birds once more flew from thin air, this time free handed, and it amazed Vanya he didn't even need a solid piece of paper or parchment to create life! When he turned to start drawing on her face, her nose scrunched up from the ticklish sensation. The elf princess gasped when she suddenly felt tingles on her skin and soon she was seeing through spectacles! Bewildered, her small hands tapped at the glasses and she took them off for further inspection. Like everything else he had created, it was genuine and she giggled while putting them back on. With her wild red hair, tarnished dress, and now her wide brimmed glasses she looked like a frenzied wizard, but she was more than happy to accept such a generous gift. "Oh, why thank you! They look so lovely. I've never owned glasses before!"

Cao began explaining the secret to his drawings and Vanya surprisingly did not speak or interrupt him with her usual blathering. So he was not a night elf, or a mage with unique powers, but rather possessed a brush fit just for him. It was a beautiful brush, however, and she wondered if she could ever find a brush like that one day. How did he obtain such an object? With a light thump she was lying on the grass, staring up at the cloud Cao just created. It gracefully hovered upwards to join the others in the serene sky. The elf raised a hand to the sky as if trying to touch it.

"Just think of everything you could do with it....you could repair damaged cities, start a new species of plants or animals, create a somebody for every lonely soul, make people smile at the touch of your brush..." she trailed off for a moment and sat up to look at him, smiling genuinely. "You have a wonderful power."

She said nothing after that, but rather sat in silence for a few moments, peacefully watching his drawings fade away into the distance. She wondered if his drawings lasted forever among the living, or if they eventually had to dissipate. For whatever reason, she did not ask. She found the squirrel Cao had drawn moments ago once more, this time further up in the Tree of Luna. It discovered an acorn from the ground and was desperately trying to find an open hole to call home.

While staring at the squirrel an idea immediately popped into her head. This should be fun! Vanya suddenly jumped up and excitedly turned to the prince. Her glasses fumbled down her nose from the quick motion, and she clambered to place them back on the base of her nose. Some of the guards surrounding them jumped from the burst. "Come on, Cao!" She gripped his hand and pulled him up from his sitting position. Cao's guards didn't quite know what to do with the sight of the youngest prince being dragged off by this unusual elf. What a peculiar sight to witness. She was like an eager child tugging at a parent to look at something interesting they found. Vanya swore she heard one of them whisper, "Can we trust her with the Prince?" It was no matter, for she continued to pull at his arm until they reached the base of the Tree of Luna. Just as before, Vanya stared at it in awe. No wonder this was the destination the royals decided for this day. It was almost as beautiful as the Analith tree. She let go of Cao's hand to walk closer to it, looking up at the leaves with hands on her hips as if contemplating. Vanya turned to her new found friend.

"You do know how to climb trees, don't you? This is the perfect kind of tree for such things! I bet a marvelous view awaits us at the top!" She clasped her hands happily from the mere thought of it! Without awaiting his response, she hopped up and grabbed a branch that hung to her left. She steadied herself and began kicking off her shoes on the ground. Her feet were aching from her tiny pointed shoes. Normally she always went barefoot, but Sir Arwen insisted her feet be placed in shoes fit for a princess on this special occasion. "The stench and look of your unkempt feet would definitely discourage your betrothed," she remembered he told her with a sour look. That's preposterous, she had combated: she was positive her soon to be husband was very accepting and very open minded to things such as smelly feet. That explanation, however, did not suffice for Arwen and the maids struggled to find ladylike shoes to smush her feet into. Vanya wiggled her now free feet and smiled, continuing her path to the top of the tree.


Despite Vanya talking about the brush and its applications to help the world, Cao's attention had drifted to something completely different: his bethroed. At most he had a description of what she looked like and a name, but it did little to prep him for the coming storm, and all he really knew was she was human: which meant she had a dragon. He began to wonder the implications of this strange cross-species symbiotic relationship, but it was rapidly drowned out by the strange idea of whether or not mating between these different types of people. Could there be half elf half Silverwings running around? He decided NOT to pursue that line of thinking and instead tried to focus on the current situation. "Could do that or I could not meddle in things like that." His guards were not happy with the prince, many felt he was a bit too doolally, and that may have been true.

Perhaps the young prince was crazy, but no matter where he went it always seemed to be the right kind of crazy. Less 'Wife chases husband with knife' crazy and more 'I can taste sounds' crazy, starkraving insanity hidden behind the veneer of creativity and outward joy. It wasn't surprising that Cao's guards were on edge then. One of them had just returned from reporting to the kings and queens: None of them were pleased with what was going on. Oh sure they were going to be siblings via the marriage of Phlox, but it did no good for Cao to be making friends with his brother's bethroed. Well that and flagrant misuse of the brush, which was the only point of annoyance for the royals of Vinelock. Cao was sure to receive flak for this and it was not long until he would hear from Sir Antilles Highwind. Cao hardly had time to react to Vanya when he felt his feet leaving the ground and his wings suddenly spurred into action.

If she listened hard enough she could probably make out the sound of wings beating fast and furious, like a hummingbird desperately searching for nectar. Very quickly, however, his feet were planted on the ground and Cao regained the noble, and not silly, tippy-toe walking posture that the Silverwings preferred. Unlike most other Silverwings he was neither graceful nor all that smart. He may have been the 'Lord High Lord Of The Silverwings', but that didn't mean he wasn't the tiniest bit mental. He had begun experimenting with different types of rocks, determined to recreate an animated picture he drew. He had dubbed it a 'rocket', a long tube with fire on one end and it moves at a high speed. Cao had become obsessed and it wasn't long until he had mobilized the minds of the Silverwings to tell him how such a thing would be made. The answer: Impossible. Regardless he thought it would be possible and disregarded the highest minds of the pixie people.

That was why he woke up late. Reminiscing over, Cao found himself staring at the rather large tree before him, and the redhead barefoot princess who was climbing it. "I used to know how to when I was younger." He turned around, looking at Phlox and Arista as if he was trying to ask them what to do with his eyes. Concluding that he would get absolutely no answers from them, in fact he half expected them to take joy in his confusion. Bravely deciding NOT to climb the tree, and deciding NOT to float up alongside Vanya, Cao stood there and watched her, ever aware of the eyes of both hers and his guards on them. He was slightly batty, not stupid: the guards would keep their distance unless they felt otherwise. He wondered for a moment if the elven guards also didn't like their jobs: royal babysitting was the term he had heard used once. He wondered what Phlox thought about having to marry a elf, sexual preference aside. If Cao was crazy then Phlox was an absolute fruit cake.

-END-