Chapter One

"I swear if I have to hit any more stationary targets I will scream!" I yelled across the field to James, the man in charge of my training for the day.

"Yah well, how about you go to camp and ask for some volunteers? Hmmm? No one want to be your target! You would kill them insantly!" James through a temper, screaming in frustration from the glen.

I sighed and realised how right he truly was. I had made it my own personal mission to prove to all the men in the camp that I was able to fully and easily beat them in a fight. I looked over to the other side of the field where Tristan was working on his aim.

He was trying to hold back a smirk but failing miserably, not to mention he looked like a fool the way his face was twitching.

"Airizeale, you know that we can't give you any moving targets, its to dangerous" I froze the second I heard my full name. Only an idiot would use my full name and no one, except for Robin, walked away without bruises.

"James, you have about three seconds before I come over there and fling this arrow straight into your heart." I snarled turning swiftly towards James, a glare just screaming Try me flat on my face.

"Woah! Airi! I didn't mean it!" his face screamed pure terror. James was no idiot, he saw me take down John, the largest guard once, and that man was a Goliath reincarnated.

I shook my head and paused to take in his shaking form. James was not a big man, he had stubby blond hair, and his green eyes always look like they were in panic mode.

He was Robin's third in command, he trained the new recruit, and when Robin was away on missions he would attempt ot train me and Tristan. Robin was currently on a scouting mission, he was out to see if there were any magistrates on their way to meet John, they always carried way t much gold. They were practically begging to get robbed.

I flopped onto the grass, "James I refuse to practice until you find me a moving target!"

I tended to be a little stubborn at times. James just grumbled and went over to Tristan to give more instructions. I watched Tristan fail miserably with a bow and arrow. His long fiery hair blew in the wind covering his face making aiming a whole lot harder.

He had leaf green eyes with small specs of silver, his only visible trait from Robin. Robin had the same eyes but thick brown hair that reminded me of cinnamon. I looked at the clouds over head until a heard a snap. I went down into a crouching position and scanned the trees. Suddenly a scrawny boy stumbled from the woods.

I glared at him for about 30 seconds before he snapped out of his stupor, but that was long enough to already give this newest solider a strike in my book.

Ever since we decided to recruit teens I have had my work cut out for me trying to convince all fans that I didn't need their chivalry. At the ripe age of 18, I viewed myself as strange but other viewed it as exotic. Almost white blonde hair cascaded down to the small of my back, but held back in a loose brais at all times, my body was about as curvy as it gets before you start to take on the appearance of a prostitute.

My lips were permanently stained red, and my cheeks quite prominant. But my eyes were one reason I feared for my identity to be revealed, they were blue with noticeable rings of silver. They were different from any eyes you might see on a human. I do look at my reflection though and wish that I could have been more plain like my mother. Her beauty was hidden but in the end her inner beauty outmatched even the most beautiful princess.

I couldn't walk into the camp without a whistle or a cat call, it was impossible to tie down my flaring temper. I was normally a non-violent person, but when degrated like that I would snap.

"What the hell is it?!" I barked at the boy.

He looked dazed for a minute before snapping his head up.

"Robin sends his regrets, he is going to be gone longer than expected", with that he turned towards camp and scampered off. I wasn't so much annoyed as I was disappointed.

Without Robin I tended to feel alone at the camp for he was the only one aware of my situation. Well there was always Tristan but he was a teenaged boy who really need to work on his comforting skills. He was my best friend but not a very good confidant, his advice rarely worked out. Not to mention our stubbornness always seem to cause us to clash heads a lot more.

As I looked towards the west, a new wave of depression hit me. The clouds were fairly pink. Sunset, that meant that the illusion was going to fade. My voice came out more startled then I intended it to, "Tristan! Where is my cloak?" I looked about, becoming more panicked as I didn't spot it.

"Airi, you better run back to the tent to grab it", our personal code for you won't make it in time, hid in the forest and I will get a cloak and find you.

I nodded and sprinted off into the forest. I never liked nights like these where I had to sit in the forest. After a few minutes I had made it to my favourite glen. This small clearing was the place that held the most memories of my mother, each night she would walk out to the small stream and gaze into the water.

She never wanted to hide her markings for she was never ashamed to show them, yet she hide for my sake, if someone found my mother in her true form she would be hauld away, there would be no one left for me. In the middle of this clearing sat peacefully by my mother's oak.

When she first arrived in the eastern lands she planted this tree as a friend and protector for us both.

I scaled the large trunk and sat on an uncomfortable branch, but of course it was the only one hidden enough to conceal me when I transformed. I could have call branches forth to hide me in the high leaves but I tried as much as possible to do without using my other abilities. It made me feel more human this way.

The last of the sun's rays left my form as I could feel my appearance change. The vines slithered across my left arm and shoulder blades. Wrapping themselves around my torso and down my right leg. My skin tingled with warmth and recognition as they wrapped around my neck and stopped on my right cheek.

The worst part about my transformation is that the vines came upon my face, making concealing it all that much harder. With my short attention span I became bored staring at the dancing leaves front of me and I walked over to the nearby stream.

The fireflies in the forest floated over to light the path as they normally collected around any dryad nearby. They slowly began to hum small beats which slowly seemed to form the notes of my mothers lullaby.

I approached the reeds and sat within them I looked across the water. Just it has always been there to haunt me there was my reflection, my true form. In this form, the silver in my eyes tended to sparkle more and glow in the moonlight. My skin just absorbed the soft particles of light, giving my skin it's inhuman beauty.

Any beauty I had became enhanced in this form, which made it all the harder to keep Tristan from staring when ever he found me at night.

When my mother was alive, the night was my comfort, my joy. Darkness betrayed me and now it is my most hated enemy. It was like losing my greatest love, I no longer enjoyed the moon for it's curse plagued me every night.

The night always did try to make amends, it hid me from the world that wanted me dead, it shielded me from those that could see my tears.

A sob racked my chest and left me breathless. I fell to the ground, allowing the reeds along the edge to grow and catch me. As they wrapped around my torso I felt safe once again, which just made me sob all that much harder. I never wanted to find comfort in the part of me that I hated.

I sobbed as the pain racked through me, whenever a reed grew to wipe away my tears I pushed it away cursing myself for my lack of self-control.

I heard rustling in the leaves, I had been tricked by the wind before but I doubted that this rustling was from anything other than a man. Using the wind, I propelled myself to the tree and forgot all promises to myself by calling the branches to wrap around my arms and haul me to the top.

I was glad for once to have disobeyed myself for not a second later did a tall man step out of the woods. His eyes seemed to dance with amusement as he looked to the top of the oak.

His long, charcol brown hair became caught in the wind and whipped wildly around his face, adding to the feral glint in his eyes. A ghost of what must have been a smile lost graced his lips. From the back of his throat he became making small clicking noises, the kind made to call stray animals.

I became furious, how dare he treat me like some savage animal! I glared through the leaves while spitting, "I am no animal! Do not call me like a pet!"

Smirking, he looked up to the area where I had revealed myself to be, and calmly began to state, "I did not mean to insult you madam, I merely saw the glint of silver eyes from the trees and thought that is was a mountain lion and was only trying to save my skin by not aggravating it."

Stepping closer to the tree, he placed his hands inside his bag and pulled out a black piece of cloth. He then proceeded to hang the cloth upon a small twig sprouting from the tree.

"Since it seems that you are not willing to show your face, I offer this cloak to you that you might come down and start a conversation with me, for I am very interested about the girl who hides herself with such a fierceness"