I should have known, too. The flora here is completely different from where I’ve been the past few days. Add to that I’ve been flying through airship plumes and sleeping under redwoods and accidentally lighting forests on fire… of course I’d smell like an outsider to them! No wonder they think I’m a Loner!

Enyll chuckles to himself, “Well of course she wouldn’t know that, Kuro. As if loners ever get to smell their own.”

Kuro’s ears twitch and she flicks her gaze to Enyll. He grins and raises his copper wings in a shrug.

Was that supposed to be an insult? Did I just get burned by a Lithan?

Kuro turns back to me with her friendliest expression yet. “I’ve never heard of a Loner visiting the Farlands. So, what were you doing there? Hunting?”

Oh, gosh. Now I’ve really been put on the spot. What should I tell her? Should I still lie and act like I have no memories of my time in the Farlands? Or will she see through it like she saw that I had been there recently?

Lying is still my best option, I think. How could I possibly explain to them who I am and where I’m from? It’s not like memory loss makes a whole lot of sense, either. I could just tell her I only remember certain things and what I was doing in the Farlands is one of them. Then I just need to pivot the conversation…

…

I stare deep into Kuro’s face and those inquisitive, Lithan eyes of hers.

When I was still a Lemur, I occasionally had to attend posh dinners or other formal events where the royal family would be present.

It happened to me all the time — I’d be beside myself, trying to avoid all the attention mom loved to attract. Someone would approach me and try to strike up some small talk with the future Queen. I’d tell them about my time volunteering in the garden, or maybe some of the botany books I was reading.

I could watch the interest drain from their faces as I rambled on.

But in Kuro, I see the same spark of curiosity I saw in people like Professor Willow when we talked about plants, or in Sofl when we worked in his lab. There’s a genuine, heartfelt desire in her to learn more about those strange lands on the other side of the moon.

How could I possibly lie to her, then? I know I have to do everything I can to safely return to Varecia, but how could I deceive someone so kind and pure?

“Um, w-well,” I stumble, anchoring my talons to the ground, still unsure if I’m really going to tell them the truth. “I’m from… there. I—I live in the Farlands.” The words leave my mouth as if someone else spoke them.

“What?!” Kuro recoils like a wing slapped her in the face.

Enyll wheezes, nearly choking on a piece of meat. “Live in the Farlands?! Is your head full of sparrows?”

Erk! I knew this was going to happen! Why did I think being honest was the right thing to do!? What’s wrong with me?!

Kuro’s eyes narrow and she takes a defiant step toward me. “Just where can you live in the Farlands and be safe from those monsters that roam the sky?”

‘Monsters’ that roam the sky? Could she mean airships? Surely Lithans aren’t concerned by the threat an airship poses, right? They could down one in seconds with a single blast of fire!

“I live in…” I trail off in thought. Again I want to lie to her and try to salvage the conversation, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. “…Ellyntide. I flew from the mountains on the far end of the southern continent.”

Kuro’s face goes crooked. She swivels around and appeals to Enyll for help, but the boy seems just as confused. “What’s a continent?” he asks.

“Ellyntide… I’ve heard that name before, but I c—“ Kuro abruptly stops mid-sentence. A second later she turns to face me, all the kindness in her heart dissolved. Her brow furrows and she opens her wings wide. “How did you learn that name, Loner?”

“What?” I squeak, gasping for air. Unconsciously I retreat a step, but the soot-plumaged Lithan matches me and adds another two paces to close the gap. Her sprawling wings cover the sun, and it feels like they could stoop down and suffocate me.

“Ellyntide. That’s a Farlander name,” she growls. “Only Kin who come of age learn knowledge of the Farlands.”

Wha…?

Farlander? Kin? Argh, I wish I knew what she was talking about!! Damn it, Asha, why didn’t you just lie to them?! Why am I so stupid?!

Enyll flattens his ears and steps out from behind the Redaga. “You can’t be Exiled-Kin, you’re too young. If you were exiled, I’d recognize your face.”

Kuro nods. “That’s right. I’d recognize you, too. So tell me the truth, Loner. Where did you learn that name?”

Oh, man. This is bad. This is almost as bad as it was back in the hollow. It might even be worse because this time I can’t rely on my instincts to come to my rescue and save me. All the goodwill I’d built up with Kuro has completely disappeared. If I had just lied to her then surely she would have believed me! They don’t need to know I’m from Ellyntide, they just need to help me long enough so I can learn how to survive!

I feel the urge to turn and flee, but there’s nothing but dense forest behind me. And even if there wasn’t, where would I go? If I could somehow flee Kuro and Enyll, would anyone else truly help a Loner like me? Would I even survive long enough here to locate someone else?

I... I have to be honest and tell them the whole truth about who I am. The truth of my royal lineage, the attack on the hollow, and my supernatural transformation. For whatever reason knowledge of Ellyntide seems to be forbidden information here. So much that they’ve gone completely cross at just my mentioning it. But If there are teachings of Ellyntide and the ‘Farlands’, could there also be teachings of my family? If I told them I’m a Lordanou, would they know what that means?

It’s a long shot — and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately — but what other choice do I have?

There is always a choice, but this one isn’t particularly pleasant. But I will choose it.

“Um… well, I…”

No, no, no, this won’t do at all. I have to project confidence to them. Mom never carried out diplomacy with a hostile kingdom stuttering like a child. She spoke slowly, and with distinction. This situation is no different, and so I should do the same.

I ruffle and shake away my apprehension. Muzzle up. Back straight. Feathers and wings relaxed. Chest out.

“Kuro,” I say, staring straight into her. Our eyes lock. “You have been wonderfully kind to me, so I won’t try to deceive you. I should tell you my name. It’s Asha, Asha Lordanou.”

I pause to gauge their response. Enyll’s face is stony, but Kuro’s brow is raised. Has she heard of my family’s name, too?

“I know Ellyntide because… I was born there. As a Lemur, in the city of Varecia. I am a member of the royal family and a Princess.”

I pause again. Enyll’s expression is wavering towards annoyance and Kuro looks more confused than ever. Damn it, I think I’m losing them!

“Two days ago something terrible happened to me and, impossibly, I became…” I open my wings wide and curve them inwards like they were wrapping around me. “…This. I took the form of a Lithan.”

I pause once more, but instead of looking at Kuro and Enyll to see their reaction, I avert my eyes to the grass below. I can’t possibly make the next request looking them straight on. Not when I know how just how cross they are right now.

“There’s no easy way for me the make this request, and I’m sorry to drag the affairs of my world into yours, but… I need help. I don’t know how to live this way, hunting for prey and being self-sufficient. I have to find some way to survive and let my family know I’m safe. It’s imperative to so many people that I live to safely return to Ellyntide.” I raise my head to meet Kuro and Enyll’s gaze. “Please, I’m pleading to you… help me!!”

Silence stretched between us.

Enyll is staring at me incredulously as I’d expect, but Kuro… Kuro’s face is firm. This time, I don’t need to second guess what she’s feeling.

She’s disappointed in me.

I feel my heart sink as she releases a sigh and shakes her head. “And here I thought you weren’t one of the weird ones…”

“Kuro…” I trail off. My wings collapse, feeling numb. How could she hear my story and still say no?

Enyll growls, “We’re wasting our time, Kuro. Some rotten exile spoke the words of Kin into her ear and now she’s gone completely mad.”

Completely mad?! “That’s not true!” I object. “Kuro, you—“

“Agreed,” she raises her voice to drown out my own. “Leave her to her madness. We fly to Flat Rock from here.”

Common sense departs me and I thrust headlong towards the natives, shoving myself in-between them to prevent them from leaving.

“Wait!”

Kuro tenses, quicker than a heartbeat, baring teeth and raising the hackles on her neck. Reflexively I pull back into my own defensive posture, raising my wings to try and appear bigger than the larger, soot-plumaged Lithan in front of me. A thunderous growl rises from Enyll, as menacing as any I’ve ever heard before.

Threaten me all you want, I don’t care. If I can’t get through to these Lithans and convince them to help me, then I’m as good as dead anyway. For those back home who are grieving for me now, I’ll risk my life if it means the chance of seeing them again. A life where I can’t return home to my family is a life not worth living.

“Kuro,” I say, panting heavy and locking my gaze with hers. “You’re profoundly curious why I smell like the Farlands.”

She stares at me a moment before flicking her eyes to Enyll, then back towards me.

Adrenaline surges through me. Why is she being so stubborn? Why won’t she just admit that she wants to learn more about me? I try to suppress it but a growl escapes me in frustration.

“Yes, that’s right. You’re just embarrassed to admit it. Tell me, would a Loner stricken with madness truly be fit to make the crossing from the Farlands?”

Kuro says nothing, and her expression is unwavering. Behind me, Enyll shifts his wings uncomfortably.

“I can tell you everything. If you’d just listen, I—“

“Listen to me,” Kuro rumbles in a voice that drowns out my own. “I’ve had enough of your nattering, Loner. Return to your lands, wherever they may be.”

I shake my head. “Kuro, ple—“

“SILENCE!!” she shrieks, opening her wings wide and lowering herself into an attack posture. I try to hold steadfast, but the sheer power of her voice echoing through the field is enough to make me cower in fear. For the first time, I truly understand why Lithans are such feared creatures.

She lets out a brooding warning growl. “Leave. Now. If I so much as see a feather of yours in Kin territory again, I’ll—“

SKREEEEECH!

A sharp call from above interrupts Kuro’s threat. Everyone present turns skyward to see a blond-colored Lithan circling down from the sky, flapping its wings hard and coming in fast.

“Hmph,” Enyll grunts behind me. “Well, it’s about time someone responded.”

‘Responded’? Do they mean…

My stomach knots at the realization. Did they hear Kuro shrieking and come to help her?

Kuro grumbles, raising from her crouched position. “Good. Maybe he’ll be able to get through to this featherbrain.”

“Enyll!! Kuro!!” the blond Lithan yells as he descends, coming in fast and flapping his wings hard for a landing an order of magnitude quicker than anything I’ve been able to do so far.

Enyll glances toward me and Kuro, neither of us willing to loosen our aggressive stance. He scowls, then trots forward to meet the newcomer. Dipping his head in greeting he asks plainly, “Blue skies, Ykuvi?” as if we weren’t even there.

In front of me, Kuro hisses under her breath.

Ykuvi flicks anxious eyes toward us but doesn’t seem overly concerned about the situation. “I’m afraid not,” he says, short of breath. “Down by Vito’s Forest, an airship-prey has been spotted off the edge.”

“A-Airship?! I gasp, unable to believe my ears. There’s an airship here?!

“Of all times…!” Enyll cries, splaying his wings wide. “That wretched beast!” Hearing nothing from Kuro I turn to see her staring at Ykuvi, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“No, no, no…” I mutter to myself, panic exploding in my chest at the realization of just where that airship came from.

The territory directly south of us is Sarlain, but this can’t be one of their vessels. Sarlain wouldn’t retaliate against a single Lithan stealing breakfast from a logging camp. Appearances by Lithans in Sarlain are far too common. A Nortanian ship would have absolutely no reason to come here, so it can’t be that, either.

No, there’s only one place that ship could have come from.

“It’s my mother!” I announce to the Lithans. “Kuro, my mother sent the airship here! Can’t you see? She’s looking for me!”

That’s a ship from Ellyntide. Mom sent it here to try to subjugate me for taking her daughter’s life. My life.

Oh, mother, have you gone completely insane?! Sending one of our ships across enemy airspace to avenge the death of your daughter?! The territory directly off the edge of the Northern Continent is considered neutral territory, but to get there you have to fly through Sarlain or Nortane’s airspace. Either she flew through the country we’re currently in a border dispute with, or she flew through the Kingdom we’re technically still at war with. Either way, mom’s just done something indefensible.

Ykuvi looks at me and folds his ears. “Enyll?” he asks, deferring to the copper plumaged Lithan.

“Ignore her,” he says. “That one’s gone mad.”

Requiring no further explanation, Ykuvi nods. “Okay. Come on, we must chase it away at once!!”

Enyll acknowledges, and the two males unfurl their wings for take-off.

KREE!

ROOAR!

They call out to the sky above them and thrust into the air, catching a breeze and flapping hard to gain altitude over the tree line. When they pass overhead they bank right and begin flying in the direction of the edge of the continent, leaving me and Kuro alone in the field.

Why is Kuro still here, how come she didn’t take off with them? I relax my aggressive posture and to my surprise, Kuro does the same. She sighs and turns to me with a worried expression. All the aggression and anger I saw in her just moments ago has been replaced by genuine concern. Surely, she intends to join Ykuvi and Enyll, so why stay behind with me?

“You’re going to chase away the airship-prey?” I ask softly, still shaken from our confrontation earlier.

“Of course,” She nods. “They steal prey and attack Kin.”

Her voice had become docile, more like the one I heard when we first met. Is she truly that concerned about the airship?

…Wait a second.

A twisted idea enters my head. One so completely deranged, I just have to suggest it to her.

“Let me handle it,” I say. “I’ll talk to the airship-prey and tell it to leave.”

Her face twists in disbelief. “…You can do that?”

I nod. “Yes. I’m a Farlander, Kuro. I know everything about the airship-prey, including how to communicate with them. I’ll make it leave before it can fly into your territory and hurt anyone.”

Kuro pauses, unable to reply. I see the dissonance in her face, the conflict roiling in her head. A part of her doesn’t want to believe me, but there’s something else that’s telling her she should.

“Please,” I say, taking a step forward. “You can trust me, Kuro.”

A breath of silence passes between us. She looks to the ground and releases a sigh, then back towards me.

“Alright. Follow me.”