I wanted to write a story about a spin-off of Nymphs. This is it so far. I know where it's going, but I need to know if it sounds okay so far. It will be Mature eventually I think... This is more of an intro of course. Let me know thanks!

Dryad- Forest Nymph

Nereid- Mediterranean Nymph

Limoniad - Meadow Nymph

1

I am no Echo longing for a love that couldn't be obtained, or a Calypso entertaining Odysseus but part of the Dryads. Of course that's a fancy term for our nymph heritage. A person or thing could just call us forest nymphs. It's been thousands of years since we've been accepted into a human society like the Greeks. We live our own ways nomadically in secret due to the modern world. Now that society has changed we can't just be the beautiful nature spirits that choose whether or not to seduce young men who are lost. Plus, that's still kind of the Siren's job to the lost sailors. Any who, people are just too careful nowadays and they'd have us found out by museums and Myths-Come-to-Life people.

Of course there aren't just Dryads out there. There are other nature nymphs too, but we learn to travel in our groups for now. I have no idea what continent we are on currently or what country since we have been traveling so far. Our mental leader got us lost weeks ago, still proclaiming he's on track. Since life has changed for us, satyrs, who usually target us for pleasure, playing their little flute and all, are our leaders now and so we follow them across the lands to make a living. Luckily I've been on his bad side most of the time to never get called. His name was Alec. A short scrawny blue-green colored thing that can be nice only when he was serious or not 'wanting.'

Our group only had twenty left out of the nearly two-hundred, and I'm pretty sure we'd get along with out him with our small numbers now... but the power got to his head where he still believes that he controls us. So, currently with our dumb satyr, we are in a large forest settled down. Go figure. I look down into the stream to get some water and see my reflection. All of our skins are green, hair yellow-brown and eyes glitter a golden-blue and only half of us have that DNA to metamorphosis into plants or animals. We've lost it over the years I know. But we aren't dying off because of disease or lack of food, it's simply because we haven't been reproducing and the old have lost the ability to transform. So, ten out of our twenty are the only ones who can reproduce and transform. Lovely, isn't it?

There are two major differences to state in our nymphean people. First, there are male nymphs now. Don't know how it happened, but one just popped out. That male must have really kicked out our powerful line of strong chromosomes to break tradition. Any way, that was about three hundred years ago and now there are a couple of them out there. I only know of two in which one of whom is in our group... but he's too young to mate with... And I think the only other one is in a Nereid group. I've heard he's about my age around a hundred and nineteen. And without being in contact with humans or now male nymph groups we can't reproduce. The satyr is so off limits to have children with due to our new rules, but some still fool around. We are also forbidden to do anything with nature due to the modern world affecting the forests. We don't want dud children after all. And the second major difference in our culture is about us being immortal. That's now ancient history. All nymphs who were immortal aren't anymore, and so we are equally able to die along with the ones who were able before.

Actually, there's a long story with that... Hades got annoyed one day with us -always running away from his 'wishes' - and so he somehow removed our eternal life belt... We are all free to die now by natural causes or other reasons.

I stood up from the stream and walked lightly back to the camp. Alec was in the center playing his flute with my sisters and laughing.

"Oh look who's here," he said standing up looking at me. "It's nice of you to join us. I've been meaning to tell you Vera that our camp is in trouble. Another elder has just died leaving us down to nineteen of you Dryads. I know that you have all banned me from producing any of your children but I hope we aren't one of the smallest groups left when we have the next meeting with all the other nature nymphs."

I coughed, "You don't even know where we are. We are lost and are supposed to meet on the Mediterranean with the other groups within a month to trade and mate. You know, reproduce the old ways... maybe some of us will consider you then, but we aren't allowed now. You remember what we all proclaimed at our last meeting. Our ways are totally different from thousands of years ago, Alec. We don't just sit around and mess with Gods producing Cyclopes anymore."

"That was only Thousa who did that," he rolled his eyes and sighed. My sisters laughed, once again all over him. I nearly gagged not seeing why they were interested. They had to be desperate.

"You know what I mean. When we get to the Mediterranean Shore there are bound to be other Dryads. We'll all split up into large groups, but it doesn't mean that the only forest nymphs are right here," I shot every word at him. I did not want to deal with this scrawny thing today. It was probably due to the fact that he was barely paying attention to what I just said and too preoccupied with my sisters' all-too glittering eyes.

"Whatever you say Vera," Alec breathed as he always did when he didn't care what was going on that day. I wished he was serious today.

I walked over to the group of nine elderly nymphs who saw no point in going on and sat down.

"Does anyone know how the hell he became our leader again? For the past year it's been a living nightmare," I looked at all their faces. My mother who was the eldest one, probably the next to die, looked up to me.

"It's only until we get to the shore. You remember what we decided at the last meeting. Then we all are going to devise new plans and such... You won't have to be with Alec anymore. Besides, I think only your sisters would stay with him since they seem to take a liking..." she managed to get out.

"They're only all over him because its time to settle for the night, and they are extremely bored. There's nothing left for us anymore. Only humans, nymphs and satyrs seem to exist anymore. We can't even go and catch some humans with out a freak out. The Gods ditched us and all the demigods died long ago. I have no idea what happened to all the other monsters. If we don't get to the shore soon, we are permanently going to be mythology."

She just stared blankly and said calmly, "I'm not going to repeat myself anymore Vera, now please let the day go on...."

I knew that if she could change into a rock right now she would do so just to avoid my conversation, or any other form of object to pacify her annoyance. I decided to just continue my rant.

"I know when we all met, we declared the satyrs to lead us, to find better ways of life, since we have to go on, but please Alec is just hell," I protested and she shook her head.

2

It was later that day and I was starved. I didn't eat since the morning before and the group moved a couple miles. It was hard to move when we had to help the elders. I had to get out of here, but it was wrong to do so... We had to abide by the rules made by the last meeting or we couldn't attend anymore... Confusing I know... I'm not explaining them all now since they all are going to be changed in the next week or so.

I walked back into the center of camp and gave Alec the look of hunger so that he knew I was going to get food. He simply nodded and I turned and left the camp. Each one of us was allowed to hunt for ourselves for about an hour, whenever hungry, every other day. I was in the mood for chicken but we weren't around any farms. Instead we were in a huge forest full of random deer and rabbit. I knelt on my knees and stretched my back to a black furred, sharp clawed white - no... let's say orange eyed panther and smelt the surroundings. There was a fresh trail of some kind of animal... it actually smelt like it was cooking not alive... that means there had to be a camp... it seemed far though... Oh well, a lot could be accomplished in an hour.

I began running... I don't know how fast I was going because the trees were becoming blurs of greens and yellows in my peripherals as my front views were zooming in. I squinted as I began to pant, how far was I going? I've been at it for about twenty minutes... but the smell of deer roasting became stronger.... invigorating. Then I ran into a camp of Limoniad nymphs. They all were surrounded by a campfire eating parts of venison and staring at me. But they weren't alarmed, as if they knew who I was. Their satyr, old, gray and blue stood up protectively with intense purple eyes. I felt the cool mid-fall leaves and dirt beneath my feet and stood my ground but then took a breath. He was only doing this because he thought I was a predator unlike the nymphs.

"Grrl...aarrawrrrarrr..." came out of my mouth instead of 'I'm not a panther.' So I grasped the ground, spread my spine and stood tall so my skin turned green, hair yellow brown, and my eyes changing back to their golden blue to show I was a Dryad. The satyr's shoulders released pressure. I chuckled, "I'm not a panther," I said matter-of-factly.

As I looked around there were only about fifteen surrounding the fire and saw five deer poached up on long branches cooking. They all gave me a crooked smile and made this an awkward situation by not saying anything at all. I was surprised to see that they had three males in the group, two about the same age, my age, though I couldn't be certain and another who looked younger sitting by them. They all had their colors of purple eyes, light green-blue skin and black hair.

"Okay, this is strange. Is anyone going to say anything?" I finally spoke. I thought about turning around from this isolated group in the next second... "I guess there are groups that don't socialize with outsiders then." They just looked at me... I noticed that only the males were the young ones in the group and the other ones were elderly. I blinked and then one of the males stood up and walked over to me.

"I guess I'll speak for the group..." he chuckled placing his right hand behind his head. I looked into his eyes. I don't know why everyone was so cautious, it's not like I was going to kill anyone off. I was just curious to see if there was another group near by.

"Uh... thanks. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing any Limoniad thing going on..."

"No... You're not. This isn't an original group. We just formed a couple days ago. My brothers and I along with Damon, our satyr, are the leaders. Our original group had some sort of plague... and as we walked in these woods... on our way to the meeting to let all know what happened we encountered others of our type who also encountered our epidemic. It seems only the Limoniad nymph groups faced it. And the strays are right here..." he looked across the group. His baby brother smiled with bright teeth, as the other still looked cautious.

I breathed, "So, you think I am also a stray and my group had some sort of disease also?"

"Not exactly, but since we have met up with about five nymphs three days ago another yesterday and now you, we don't know what to think.... So?" his eyes wandered back to mine in thought. I gave him an apathetic look and smiled.

"No, though my group is currently dieing off and is really small because we got stuck with the majority being old and our leader satyr being a dumb ass," I mumbled. He looked at me weird.

"What?"

"In other words no, I'm not a stray. I was just out hunting and smelt a campfire... so I went to see if there was a nymph tribe nearby. Well, we aren't nearby, but whatever," I covered up. "But I hate my group and would do anything to get out..."

"Well, you are welcome to join us... I mean we are all just a bit in shock and getting used to each other... I'm sure the amount of strays coming in will die down eventually, and you could be happier," he smiled. I thought. I could be better off. I wanted to get out. It had been a bad year after all.

"But isn't it against rules to leave a group?"

"Rules, smules.." he mocked. "Just be a stray... you got lost hunting lets say."

"They know how much I hated it there and so they'll know I literally joined you guys," I retorted and sighed not wanting to think of 'consequences' Alec might have in mind. The male nymph put his hand on my shoulder.

"They probably will be happier with out you then... come on, we need someone who is young for this group besides me and my brothers," he smiled. I looked at the group and back at him.

"I guess its okay, as long as you guys know where you are going..." I nudged him in his chest. After all, it's not like my group would make it far.

"Of course," he smiled.

3

The moon was in the sky half-full as the stars glistened over the campfire. Most of the elders were gathered near for warmth. They seemed to be settled in for the night while I sat there wondering if my mother or if any of the other Dryads in that group were thinking about me. It had been about three hours. Ever since I got here I haven't been really stressed which was good. I was just really tired. Right after one of the twin male nymphs let me join he just smiled and said to sit down before I introduced myself or anything. I didn't even get his. It seems like this whole group of nymphs are that way. I guess it's because we are all strays and don't know each other that well. Those who do just talk to those they know. Well I sure don't want to spend the next week or so walking to the border not talking.

Sure I was tired, and much rather preferred sleep but I managed to get myself to stand up and walk over to the three brothers' sides that were playing cards and talking. The satyr was observing closely.

"Hey," I smiled. "I didn't get any names from any of you, except that you are Damon." I looked at the old satyr.

"And that's all you'll need miss," Damon spoke. "You are welcome to stay with us, befriend any of us, but our names we will not give. Since I am supposed to be the group leader I have to give my name. I don't want to have these three give theirs since they were part of my original group for protection reasons. All the others near the fire can give theirs if they please."

I didn't understand. The three brothers looked at me; the one who let me in the group gave me a sympathetic look. The satyr wasn't his father... He didn't need protection...

"I don't understand what would I do to hurt them? It's not like I'm going to yell their names to the world and scream that they are rare male nymphs. You are going to have to except that they are more prevalent nowadays..." I countered.

"They do. I don't want rumors that there are male nymphs in our group. Since it is a group of strays, any of you could just leave including you. If you simply say 'there are male nymphs' they'll say 'do you have proof of names' and such," he fought back.

"That's so stupid. They wouldn't do that, you have weird ways of protection, satyr man. That's it I've lost respect for your species," I walked away back to the fire. So much for finding a better group for myself...

I wasn't even tired anymore, just a tad frustrated. I couldn't even make friends. I wanted to, but I would probably be stuck having that satyr around. I didn't want to hang around with the elderly because they could die any moment. The three boys were my only option. It's a new adventure for me, I need new excitement, but that is just getting shot down.

Thinking that my efforts were lost at trying to make friends I walked near a patch of grass about six or seven feet from the center of camp. I sat down and saw the whole camp was pretty much sleeping. About an hour later the satyr was asleep next to the youngest male. The two brothers seemed to be out also. I stared at my feet which had dry dirt on them and brushed them off. The air was cold and the deer skin covering my body wasn't helping. I looked up sensing someone was there.

"Hey," both brothers said together as I jumped back. Then the one who initiated me in the group earlier in the afternoon sat right next to me. His brother still stood up. I then noticed that they weren't identical at all. The one sitting had deeper more intense purple eyes and a leaner body as his brother had the lighter eyes and bulky muscular body.

"I'm sorry our satyr... is crazy," the leaner one spoke. I didn't say anything.

"Yeah he thinks that we are more adaptive to this environment and doesn't want us to be messed with," the bulkier one said. He held out some kind of blanket and handed it to me. "You know you don't have to sit that far from the fire... It's chilly out tonight."

"Oh, well I like to think," I took it being annoyed at the bad cover up.

The bulkier one sat in front of me and grinned. His brother next to me breathed.

"Well, Miss Dryad. I'm Rainn. I really don't care that you know," he chuckled. "And this is my brother Nolan. Our younger brother's name is Heros."

"Well nice to meet you all, I'm Vera," I looked at them both.

"Vera," Rainn said. "Cool." I smiled at my feet and then looked to Rainn.

"Are you sure your 'papa satyr' won't wake up and flip a shit?" I retorted. He shook his head.

"He sleeps like the summer when Persephone's in the Underworld." I wonder if that still going on... We haven't had contact with immortals in centuries ever since the Roman takeover and crash. I don't see how they could've died off... The demi-gods yes... Unless they were just scattered like us.

Nolan stood up and stretched his back, "Well, I'll leave you guys be. I want to go to sleep actually." I nodded. From the look of his eyes being not as vibrant as Rainn's it was obvious he was lacking in the sleep department.

I looked over his taller, yet smaller twin whom chuckled. "So, tell me. What's up with your original tribe?" I shook my head. I was happy he was asking, but in no mood to talk about it. I breathed; well at least I wasn't frustrated. That's good. We talked the whole night, and I don't know when we fell asleep, but my stomach wasn't a fist tonight.

4

I woke up the next morning, noticing Rainn was still there. Fog surrounded us, and the air was still cool. He was still sleeping, breathing lightly with his blue-green chest canvas moving slowly up and down. I sat up and shook my head. What happened yesterday? Oh, right. I remembered I was in a new place now. I sighed happily wrapping the blanket around my body.

I looked over to the campfire to see blurry versions of Damon talking to Nolan. He seemed angered as he paced back and forth. I could hear a whisper while Nolan shook his head. Well, I'm comfortable right here. I'm not getting up. If he wants to talk he'll come over.

Rainn started to move in the next moment. "Hmm..." he made a small moan and moved underneath his bear blanket. His skin was paler this morning then it was last night. I was assuming he was reacting to the fog this morning. I stretched out and sat up.

"Oh... Oh! Vera! Hey," he blinked. "It's morning right?"

"Yes, Rainn," I rolled my eyes. "I don't remember what time we went to sleep either. But apparently we didn't sleep too late."

"Yeah... the majority of the camp is still sleeping," he smiled looking around. His eyes locked on Damon. "Well this is going to be interesting."

"You think so?"

"I did spend the night over here. And knowing Nolan he told the satyr everything," Rainn shook his head. "This is stupid. I'll be right back. You don't have to be involved."

"I'm coming, I am the cause of all of this," I stood up. He sighed.

"Well, knowing your stubbornness and what you did to get here, I'm not stopping you," he nodded.

"You never fight back do ya?" I poked.

"I'm going against Damon now, durr. Come on."

We walked up to the campfire, which amazingly was still going, thank Hades. Damon gave me a quick glare and patted Rainn on the shoulder. He sat down near Nolan which gave him a sarcastic look. Heros was still wrapped up in fur sleeping a foot away. I still stood, not feeling welcomed in this environment. Yet I let out a small laugh over the awkwardness. Rainn smiled. I noticed all of their skins were pale.

"Okay, Vera. I'm letting you off the hook... for now. I don't trust you worth a shit. But these two over here seem to. Just don't cross any of my lines," his emotionally constipated face was a tad red.

"Promise," I smiled. There's nothing I could really do wrong. I mean I was just going to travel with them for a week more then figure out from there what I was going to do.

"I'm not one for much talking, so let's get a move on," Damon said. Just as our discussion started, it ended and he started walking over to those sleeping. "EVERY ONE UP!" He walked to couples and singles alike in this Limoniad group and kept yelling. "UP! UP! UP!"

They all squirmed and woke up slowly. Heros moved around and Nolan walked over to him.

"Hey buddy!" Rainn walked over too helping him up. Heros was so young. He must have been only about ten years old. That reminded me, I told Rainn about my tribe all last night but he didn't say anything about his... just about what happened to everyone else's.

Nolan held up Heros and walked over to me. Rainn followed folding the skin he wore the night before. "Vera, this is my brother Heros. He's rather new to our family..."

"Hey there..." I smiled patting him on the head. I looked into Rainn's eyes and noticed his skin turning back to normal color.

5

It's been a couple hours, and chatting here and there with others I've learned that being with the Limoniads was different. They seemed to respect each other as we walked together. My older group would always nit pick at each other, and I could see why we only made a short distance everyday. I don't know how my Dryad group came close to this one... because we walked about twelve miles today. About four hours to calculate with everyone around. My other group wouldn't get as close.

We used to just chill out and relax, but since the meeting was a week now, we had to get a move on. They liked reverting to the ways nymphs used to be; by not traveling very far. I walked up to Rainn, since he seemed to have left me earlier today to walk with Damon.

"Hey... So I've been getting used to the others around here," I smiled.

"Well, don't get too used to them. They could just leave or die you know," Damon chuckled.

"Hey." Rainn rolled his eyes. "Let's move to the back so we can talk, okay?" I nodded. We let the others pass as we kept pace in the back.

"Listen, Vera, it seems that you are fitting in as expected," he nodded then looked away towards the meadows around us. I gave him a weird look.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked. "You seemed to say that as if I were an experiment. I know I'm different, but I'm still one of you."

"Oh no. I know. It's just Damon was using today as a test day to see how you were going to react to all of us. To see if you were trustworthy or not. You know how he was with the name thing..." he chuckled. I shook my head.

"Well... You can't know everything about me from just a few hours," I retorted. I gave a smirk and looked over towards Damon in the front. He was holding Heros while walking.

"Well, Damon is a Silen Satyr. Therefore he is wiser. You know-" I interrupted him.

"I know what a Silen is Rainn. I wish I had one for my older group..."

"Yeah.... The Limoniads were luckier... and that's what I want to talk to you about. Well not really. But-"

There was a tension bubbling across his face as his skin turned a more bluish color. He stopped walking and for some reason I followed suit. Something was going on.

"We had contact."

"What?"

"Our species... had contact with spirits of the Underworld."

"What do you mean? That Hades and everything still exists? Are you kidding?"

"No. Uh..." He looked ahead to see Damon looking back at us. We resumed walking. "Listen. I'm not supposed to be telling you any of this. So let's just keep our space." He thought. From his facial expression, he negated the space idea. "You know what? Let's piss Damon off. Come on."

His eyes turned from purple to black signifying a transformation. He blinked making his eyes change back to normal. I nodded. He grabbed my wrist, pulling me up to Damon.

"Listen. Vera needs to talk to her group. She's worried of what they're going to do to her for joining us," he told Damon. That was made up. It sounded convincing though. Nolan gave me a weird look in which I winked at him.

"What are you talking about? She said they wouldn't notice if she was gone," he countered. "We can't stop the group because she decided to stray. It's all or nothing Vera!"

"I'll just run back. I know it's a distance. But I'll find you. I mean you guys are only moving a couple more miles today. And I'll transform... So it'll be faster." This was complete bullshit. It'd be amazing if he was buying this.

"....and nine out of ten her group is within the distance we traveled today. Don't worry Damon," Rainn supported. "I'll go with her."

Damon's face wasn't happy about that one. His eyes squinted. "I don't want any funny business... You know what I mean Rainn. I don't fully trust her blood yet!"

"I know."

6

"That was fun. You know. Messing with Damon like that," I smiled at Rainn. It was about an hour later, and we were alone in the trees a couple miles back. We stopped after transforming into white tailed hawks and flying a distance. Sitting down near a swamp area wasn't the greatest looking or smelling area to talk. But it worked.

"Yeah it was. I don't want to do that again. But now that you are apart of us, I feel you should know what happened. Not that a cheesy epidemic came and destroyed us all," he looked calm. I breathed.

"Well, for only knowing me for about a day, I'm happy you're opening up to me so soon."

"You told me everything yesterday."

"True... But still. That wasn't things I truly cared about telling others," I pointed out. His chest canvas was moving slowly, and his face wasn't as flushed as it was when we first got here. He was calmer.

"Vera, you're of good blood. You just want some place where you can fit in. I can tell that you feel safe with us. I don't know where Damon is getting at," he was looking out. He knew me well. That was kind of creepy.

"You can trust me; I just don't want to intrude on your lives so soon. That's why I'm not pressing for you to tell me anything so quickly," I grinned and reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

"And you should know you can trust me along with my brothers. Just don't worry about Damon... He'll get there." I nodded as he said this. "So let me tell you..."

"About the spirits?"

"Yeah... It was weird. I thought it was just our group, but apparently it happened to the other Limoniads around. We were in our group and going strong. This was about two months ago. To give a time set," he looked at me. He thought, "Nolan and I were walking ahead and came upon a huge cave in the ground area, and it was glowing red and yellow. We thought it was an area with volcanic rock or something like that."

"That must have been an interesting site," I said.

"It was. Then Heros walked up. And being the little dimwitted kid he is, wanted to go on in. We prevented him, due to the horrid smell of acid protruding. We decided to leave the area. The group had no fascination."

"How big was yours?"

"Our group was about thirty or forty. Our kind is rarer then a Dryad so we started off with that many and stayed the same," he noted. I nodded. He was right, his kind wasn't as prevalent.

"Lucky many didn't die off as usual, continue though." He smiled.

"It was weird. Because the second we lost site of the cave, my mother just stopped walking. Her eyes turned black as if she were about to change shape. And we knew she couldn't due to her being older. Then she just collapsed. She was the first of our group to lose. And she wasn't even at the age to, you know, die."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. So her spirit was brought back up by another. So technically her dead body was being possessed, which is pretty funny when you think about it. Anyway... It spoke of the gods and how they were going to be at the boarder. They were locked away like the Titans were long ago by Zeus. But they never said how..." he stopped then.

"So..."

"So, that night, being freaked out, we tried to sleep. But when the moon was full and in the peak of the sky I woke up to see white spirits floating all around me. They were all whispering to me and those whom were still sleeping that the ways of the ancient days are to return. That we will understand soon. I was too tired to notice that they were the spirits of almost every one in the group. The following morning, the only ones who woke up were Damon, my brothers, and well, me."

"Wow... And the others experienced this too? I'm sorry I said I wasn't going to press."

"No, its fine. Yeah. I mean they didn't have the exact same experience. But they were all spoken to. My assumption is that we were supposed to tell all the other species to prepare but I have to agree with Damon. They'd think we're crazy."

"Yeah... it's been so long... I mean especially if you bumped into Alec. He'd defiantly think that nymphs have gone crazy. And I'm sure that you guys aren't even positive that it's even the gods talking to you. It could just be some sort of demon."

"Exactly... So we don't know what to expect in the next few days," he nodded. "I'm glad we're on the same page with this."

I smiled. I looked out to see that the sun was making its end to the day. "Hey, Rainn?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's pulling the sun if Apollo's gone?"

"Let's get going. I think everyone assumes it knows it own course by now. He only guided it..." We blinked.

7

I was growing fond of Rainn. Over the next few days through walking together we hunted together and always talked. I always had questions for him about what happened, but remembered that I wasn't supposed to know. Damon still gave me death glares every now and then. But I still pulled my weight around by helping others walk, and set up camp. I even babysat Heros every once in a while, creating a bond with him. According to the Silen, we were expected to arrive in the next day or so. I could be there tonight if I just went all animal and ditched. But I knew that it was group 'til the end. Plus everyone was expected to arrive within the next couple days, so I might as well arrive with those I'm comfortable with.

We were settling in for the night and I was about to unfold my new bull skin I used the last two nights. Nolan walked up to me and plopped a spot. "So, is everything going good? What do you think you're going to do when we get to the big meet?"

"I don't really know... I've been good with you people lately. I don't really want to disperse. I know we are probably going to have to though... I mean I know this isn't family..."

"Well Rainn is always talking about you. He's probably going to make you stay with him or something," he smiled.

"You just want me in the family, don't you?" I gave a small laugh.

"No I'm serious. He just doesn't want to tell you how he feels because of everything going on. And Damon, you know..." he looked away. "I can tell you'd be a cute couple."

"He's not even in the correct species..."

"Oh, come on Vera. Nymphs mate with Satyrs, nature, or whatever. What's the difference if you're a damn Dryad? And don't worry if anything happens tomorrow... I know you know what happened. He told me, and don't worry him and me both decided to tell you."

I sighed. I shook my head. "Nolan, I appreciate your thoughts. I just have to know what's going on with me first before I get mixed up in anything."

"Alright... But if he makes a move."

"He hasn't, and he doesn't seem to be."

"You never know... He tends to be a random spirit, ha." That was interesting hearing from Nolan. I smiled at him, and he released his tension as I saw his shoulders ease.

I shook my head, and he left leaving me be to get some rest. I was wondering where Rainn was anyway. He used to sleep near me at night, ever since the first time I came here. I was so tired.... I started gazing at the fire and fell asleep.

"Vera!" I shot up. Rainn was kneeling by me.

"What? Oh... Rainn. What is it?"

"I've been working on something. I want you to see it," he smiled. "Come on... Please?"

"Can it wait 'til morning?" I rubbed my eyes to see him wide awake. His skin was a vibrant green against the firelight.

"No... You know we're walking and I need to show you by this stream over here." He moved closer, eyes intent on mine. I could feel his body heat, his breath, he was focused.

"Well, you seem as if you're going to pick me up if I don't go. So stop being a creep and give me room to get up," I shook my head. I could feel blood flowing through my body as I fully woke up and my skin turned its typical green-yellow.

We were at the stream nearby, and I could feel the cold chill in the air. The weather was obviously becoming closer to winter. "This is where you were all afternoon?" I asked.

"Yeah," he smiled. He was unusually happy. He walked towards the water's edge. As he did so I could here whispering all around, and the wind began to blow harder into gusts. It calmed down and I focused my eyes on Rainn.

"This is what I wanted to show you Vera. I was out getting water for our trip tomorrow and I touched the stream and it glowed..." he removed his hand and ripples started to form. But they didn't disappear.

I walked to his side. They started glowing as they got bigger and bigger. "What's happening?" I asked.

"I don't know. Earlier the same thing happened. And it just calmed down and stopped. It's just a strange site it seems," he went into thought. I kneeled down next to the stream, noticing there were no fish. The sound was delicate and beautiful. But then the bright blue ripples began to fade and the wind came back along with the cold, ending the event. Rainn sat next to me. His body was tense, and he held my hand.

"I think its-" But then I felt light headed. My hand went weak in his. "Vera?"

I felt like my skin was being drained and my eyes clouded. "Vera!" Rainn's eyes were intense. He turned towards me. "Don't.... No..." That's the last thing I heard.

8

"Welcome Vera!" a dark welcoming voice spoke. I opened my eyes. I was in some sort of cave area. The walls were red and green, and I smelt the burning of iron and steel. I looked around to see nobody there. I looked down to see that I had no feet. Well, I did... I was just floating around... Was I dead?

I saw a large dark figure walk towards me. He smiled with sharp grey teeth. A woman walked with him to his side. She had a tank top on and a skirt... and apparent tan lines? That was odd...

They walked further into my light and I saw that they were Hades and Persephone. But why would they welcome me into the Underworld? Wasn't I supposed to cross the River Styx first?

"Um." I couldn't speak. My voice was literally gone. I mouth 'wait.' Hades smiled his cooked grin and nodded. "Vera... you are only dreaming. We are among your dreams... You are unconscious. We are here to tell you, that we still are here."

"So many things have happened over the centuries," Persephone said. She walked with her skin losing its summer glow by the second. You will all know in the next couple days. We must reinvent the old times. You may think that we all left, but we haven't. For Apollo still pulls the sun."

My eyes started to cloud. "This isn't your time to die. You just passed out because we decided to take your soul for a bit," Hades snickered. His skin was a sickly orange.

"You may go on up to the surface..."