A young woman lays across her golden throne, her chin resting on her hand, her elbow on the arm of the chair. Her dress drapes magnificently over her, the blacks and golds weaving and merging into an amazingly beautiful design, matching her dark blonde hair perfectly. A man stands beside her, their facial features exact replicas and the resemblance astounding, the only difference being the colors of their eyes. The boy’s smooth voice echoes through the room, his chocolate brown eyes meeting her crystal blue ones, "Goodbye, sister. I'll see you when I get back from my search.'' She gets up and they exchange a quick hug before he stalks out of the doors, giving her one small smile as he leaves, his short brown hair swaying as he moves. 

The girl sits back down, relaxing once again until the doors slam open and a group of guards swarm the room. She sits up straight and sighs, searching through the guards until she picks out one. “Melody, what happened?”

They all bow as the one addressed steps forward, her strawberry blonde hair shimmering in the early morning light. "My queen, a wanderer is coming into pack territory.”

"A wanderer?" The queen raises her eyebrows in concern, waving her hand at them. "Very well, find them and bring them here." She walks over to the window of her throne room, looking out at the rising sun. “It’s too early for this,” she mutters to herself, sighing.

Melody sets off running, her caveat following on her heels. The queen waits, returning to her throne. She starts when the party walks through the front doors to their queen, holding the unconscious figure, and she peers in interest when the guard holding the intruder sets the figure down on the ground and pulls the hood off, revealing a teenage girl with stark red hair. The girl’s eyes open as the guard nudges her with his sword and forces her to her feet. She refuses to look up at the woman on the throne, pulling her hood back over her head in a panicked movement.

The queen’s eyes widen in surprise. "Well, would you look at that?" She adjusts her crown and sits up straight, assuming a regal position. The small girl yanks away from the guards, wincing as she steps down on her injured leg. The queen tilts her head. "What's your name? And more importantly, what are you doing on my grounds?"

The girl stares at the ground, staying silent, then bolts, her wound slowing her down. She heads straight for the doors but is stopped as the guards grab ahold of her arms, keeping her in place.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk.'' The queen shakes her head, clicking her teeth in disapproval. "That wasn't a nice answer.” A loud roar sounds from outside, shaking the castle and causing her to groan in annoyance. "The dragon," she mutters. "Leave him be," she commands the guards before turning her attention back to the girl. "Now, please answer me. I would love to hear everything from you and not from your background." At the young woman’s silence, she commands, "Miles! Bring me the papers!" 

Her guard nods and disappears into a dark doorway to the left of the thrones, returning with a scroll. He hands it to back to his queen. "Thank you, Miles." She scans through the parchment, looking up with a sigh as she notices the man banging through the throne room doors.

A tall man with fluffy light brown hair and beautiful gray eyes stalks into the room, running a hand through his hair, aiming a smirk at her. “Hey, Amity. It’s been a while.”

"Zander, I expect your little trip was nice. It has been a lovely week." Amity inspects her nails, raising her eyebrows at him, muttering softly, “Without you here.”

Zander wrinkles his nose. "It's cold and foggy outside. You call that lovely?" He scoffs, glancing at the person being held by guards in a silent question.

"She refuses to tell us. Have you seen her recently? She's awfully quiet and we don't want anybody's temper to overflow and force her to talk," the queen explains, her voice becoming lethally quiet.

He nods, stepping towards the girl, and tries to look under her hood, giving her a weird look when she shies away from him. "I think I’ve seen her once. She wandered by my territory.”

"Did you see her do anything? Do you know why she is on my grounds?" Amity asks, curiosity taking over her.

Zander runs his hands through his hair once more. "No, I just saw her one time near my spot. I would never spy on someone.” He focuses on the girl in the middle of the room as he hears an exhale of relief.

Amity sighs in disappointment. "Well, this doesn't help, does it?" She pauses for a minute, lost in thought. "She will have to stay here until we figure out the reason for her appearance. I will read more about her. No matter what, make sure she stays in her assigned room. Take her food and water when she needs it."

Zander frowns, rolling his eyes, "Okay, Princess. What now? Do you need anything from your dearest friend?" He smirks, narrowing his eyes in mocking glee.

"Let me go and I'll leave and never return," a quiet voice emanates from beneath the hood’s darkness before Amity can answer back.

Amity grins, tilting her head, "Now maybe if you cooperated before, that wouldn’t have been a problem. But I can smell fairy blood on you, which means you could be a threat. So until we get answers, you're staying here." She looks at Zander. "Try and get her to open up with that strange charm of yours," she quips, her exasperation showing through.

Zander glances back at the queen from the spot he had wandered over to, pointing to a photo, "Hey, Amity? This is your uncle? He's pretty ugly, to be honest." He shrugs as Amity glares at him, standing up and sweeping out of the room elegantly. He walks over to the girl, holding out a hand, "Ma' lady." The young woman steps away from him, her timid form like a mouse. He inspects her for a minute, deciding to use another tactic and starting towards the door once he motions for the guards to release her, "Well then, just follow me." he smirks to himself cockily as his senses notify him that she is indeed following.

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He leads her into a small room down the corridor just outside of the throne room, "Sit on the chair, I'll help you heal." The room is little with a cot and a table with medical tools spread across it. The hood shakes in defiance, halting in the doorway. Zander stares at the girl seriously, "Do you need help getting to the chair?" He walks up to her slowly, holding his hands out like she is a wounded animal, “I promise you I am just going to help. I don’t want to hurt you and I am not going to.”

The head shakes once again, this time more weakly, her strength obviously beginning to fail her. Zander stops, sighing sincerely, "Look, you need help or the wound is going to get worse and hurt more. Please allow me to give you a hand." He reaches out his hand once more, finally getting a response. The girl sits down in the chair, her body tense. He bites his lip and picks up some scissors, "I'm going to have to cut the pants around the arrow so it’s not in the way, okay?” The girl just nods so he cuts around the arrow slowly, making sure not to hurt her. 

He pulls the area of cloth away from the arrow, revealing pale skin. He places a hand on the shaft, bracing himself and her, "Slow? Or fast?" The hood nods and looks down at her leg. He frowns. “Fast?” The hood nods again, and Zander counts to three, yanking on the arrow and pulling it out of the soft flesh quickly. Blood spatters and he shakes his head as he throws the arrow to the side, flinching as a high-pitched yelp emanates from the young woman, “Deep breaths.” He grabs some dressing and gauze, putting them on the flesh wound. He looks back up at the girl, "Did that hurt?" he asks, trying to make light of the situation as the blood quickly turns the gauze from white to red. He reaches back and grabs some more cloth, tying it just above the puncture and tightening it so the bleeding will slow.

At her silence, he sighs, getting up and walking over to a drawer. He opens it, glancing back, "What is your name?" He rummages through the compartment, eventually pulling out another pair of black pants. The girl takes the pants quickly, ignoring his question. He stares at her, pursing his lips at her refusal to talk, “Okay.”

The girl motions for him to turn away with her hand and he does, rolling his eyes slightly, "I'm not looking, you can change." He leans his forehead on the wall, deciding to try and gain her trust by trusting her,  "My name's Zander and I'm 19. Are you mute? Or not talking because you just don't want to?" he asks curiously, bored of facing the wall without anything to do. The boy sighs, "I'm not a wolf. I promise. I'm pretty lonely out in the skies, the only real friend I have is Amity." He bangs his forehead on the wall, trying to stop himself from forcing her to talk.

A sigh is heard from the girl’s direction and a quiet voice floats his way, "Aspen."

Zander stops hitting his head, smiling softly. His plan is working, "I like that name. It sounds pretty.”

"Done," Aspen says simply, her sweet voice melodious to his ears.

He turns around, raising his eyebrows at her. Her hood had fallen from her head and her straight red hair flows across her shoulders, reaching down past her chest. Her green eyes are wide and wary, a tall wall blocking anyone from seeing her thoughts, "You’re pretty." The words burst from him mindlessly as he smiles at her.

The girl’s, Aspen’s,  eyes go wide and she yanks her hood over her head frantically, muttering, “No no no no.”

Zander frowns, confusion etched across his face, "You're beautiful. Why do you hide it?”

"F-Forget my name and m-my face." Her voice stumbles over itself, her panic taking over.

Zander raises his brows, "Well, I'm going to be seeing you a lot since you'll be here until they get your documents." He turns to the door, gesturing for her to follow him as he walks out of the room.

"What?” Aspen gets up, crying out as she steps forward, pain splintering through her.

Zander stops and turns around, concern lacing his eyes, "You okay? They are looking for the documents that detail who you are so they can decide what to do with you."

"I can’t-I can’t stay.” She grits her teeth and forces herself to limp through the doorway, looking up and down the hall in a desperate attempt for a way out.

He stares at her, his voice becoming stern, "You can't leave.”

"Why?" Aspen demands as she pulls her hood lower, her emotions becoming too much to bear.

Zander's hand forms a fist as she becomes even more closed off and he sees that his plan is not working, "You just can't leave." She looks at him once then bolts, pushing through the piercing pain in her hope for escape. He runs after her small form, "You don't need to do this!" he shouts, “You’re just going to hurt yourself!” The girl doesn’t stop and he groans, inspecting how much space there is in the hall, “Sorry, Amity,” he mutters and shifts, his mottled gray and green form taking up the entire hall.

Aspen hears strange sounds and looks back, her astonishment stopping her from seeing the dead end. She runs into the wall, holding onto her face as the dragon walks towards her, smoke trailing from its nose and its light gray eyes shining in the dim light.

Zander lays down in front of her as she backs up into the wall, breathing heavily from the run and the pain. He looks up at her, satisfied that she’s given up on escaping. She pulls her hood back and he tilts his head, looking into eyes that are not the same color as they were before. The stark blue eyes stare at him, glowing just barely. He narrows his eyes in confusion as she whispers an apology and runs away through the corridor, her form vanishing through the wide-open front doors of the castle. A sharp pain echoes through his head, shattering his sight, limiting his hearing, and damaging his sense of smell. He shakes his head in pain, banging it against the sides of the hallway. He roars, stumbling through the corridor until the elegant doors to outside, smashing through them and crashing down the stairs to the ground. 

He huffs as he lies in the dirt, waiting for a few minutes until his senses come back. He picks up her scent and takes flight, tracking her down through the trees. He spots a small black form and tucks in his wings, landing heavily beside Aspen, who backs away from him and wipes at her freckled cheeks, throwing the tears to the side. He growls a warning softly, his anger at being tricked reflecting in his dull eyes as he glances down at her leg, which is oozing more blood. He nudges her with his large head, knocking her to the ground. As she falls, her hood falls from her head, revealing her shimmering red hair and her once again green eyes. 

Zander flinches slightly as her eyes are revealed, snorting when they are back to the first color he saw. He morphs back into his human form, ruffling his hair and clenching his jaw, “You can’t leave. I already told you that.”

"I can.” She glares at Zander, her fear of capture overriding her fear of social interaction.

He sighs, leaning against a tree and trying to hide his exhaustion, "Tell me your full name and I'll let you go." He wipes sweat from his forehead with his arm, flinging it away in disgust.

"Aspen.” She hesitates, biting her lip and glancing between Zander and the ground before blurting, “Aspen Adlberg.” She turns and trots away through the trees, holding onto her leg and babying it as she goes, the man watching as she fades into the trees.

Zander stands up once he can’t see her, shifting back into a dragon and taking off, following her from high above.