#long post-

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch. The sound of snow going under foot went in a rhythmic pattern as a young girl wandered through a winter wasteland. White as far as the eye could see, trees covered from head to toe, and clouds of a strange deep purple covered the sky, blanketing the land below in a strange light, despite the lack of moonlight, or sunlight, it was easy enough to see without getting lost.

While most people would be terrified, afraid, or just a bit lost, the girl was rather smiling! The pace picked up, and while she stumbled, she picked herself back up, before coming to a stop, and climbing herself onto a rock, scurrying aboard, and taking a seat, before happily kicking her feet to and fro.

The girl, who couldn’t be more than ten years old, didn’t appear like any normal child, while most of her body was covered in a rather elaborate (Yet not very fancy) dress with a swirly pattern near the hem of the skirt, with a pair of ribbons trailing behind, a pair of boots with a fur trim, and at the top, a very finely made cloak, going down to her back also covered in fine, warm fur, with a pair of adorable puff balls in the front for decoration. Such a dress wasn’t what one would expect to see in such bitter cold, especially on a child.

But the most striking thing about the girl…. Was her face. Where one might expect a natural skintone, they would only see a light green tone on the girl’s face, unnatural, as if she was dipped in a green dye at birth, with similarly striking green eyes, and a blonde head of hair, not quite well kept, but enough to not be considered “dirty”, with just enough locks combed enough to look appealing, and a singular one going upwards, but strangely enough, if one looked past the hair, they would also see a set of triangular ears pointing outwards… and finally, a butterfly pin rested atop her head, completing the rather “Cute’ look of the strange girl

Humming a small tune to herself, the girl looked up towards the sky, smiling and letting the falling snow hit her face. It may have stung for a brief moment, but her body was already adapting to the cold and making herself feel at home again.

It had been far too long since she had returned here, to the place she could return to and unwind in times of stress, or when she had free time.

Free time wasn’t exactly an alien concept to Changelings, those servants of the fair folk of the hills, but when they had it, it was always highly valued, Adalynn was no different.

Whenever she was finished with a long journey, she relished the chance to return to the Winter Court and see her master once again.

It might take a bit longer, but any trip home was worth it to see her master once again.

There’d be time enough for that soon enough, stretching out and making a noise, the changeling girl leapt from her rocky rest and fell back onto the snow with a resounding crunch. 

It wouldn’t take too much longer to return to her home, but it’d be best to get moving before it got too late out. While Adalynn wasn’t exactly helpless, she certainly didn’t feel like wasting any of her magic transforming a wild fae bear into something much cuter.

Looking up at the sky, she resumed her journey back home.

Once more  humming to herself, the girl took note of her surroundings, it was oddly early for it to be snowing again in Winter Court lands, surmising that a fae must’ve been bored, she picked up the pace, just in case someone would notice her, and want to make some bullshite offer to join them, only for her to point to the changeling mark on her neck to let them know who she belonged to. It was always such a bother, but every time she showed it, she felt relief knowing that no one else could have her, unless her master wanted to get rid of her… which would thankfully never come to pass.

It truly was always a roll of the dice when a mortal would be spirited away to the Fair Lands and be made to be a Changeling, aservant, slave, soldier, or plaything of the fae. The mortal’s master could be cruel, unjust, and unforgiving, or they could be strange, mercurial, and as strange as fae can be… but just as often, they could simply be a fae that wanted a friend, or someone to help them with chores and company.

Adalynn’s master, the esteemed Princess Grimoire, was thankfully, one of the latter.

Thinking about her dear master… who was more like an older sister, really, made Adalynn’s heart race and warm, making it so the snow that surrounded her felt more like course mud, than anything, and her face began to glow a bit blue from the thought of hugging her friend once more.

She couldn’t help but smile and picked up the pace!  And unsurprisingly, something snagged her foot, her momentum coming to a complete halt as she faceplanted into the snow.

A moment passed, and the girl popped out of the snow like a gopher coming to greet the sun, shaking off the loose snow, she lightly shook her fist at whatever made her trip, and pulled herself back up to get a steady foothold. Grumbling, she looked around at her surroundings.

A wide open field, blanketed in white, covered in snow… with a few rocky outcroppings here and there, like the one she had taken a seat on not too long ago. Folding her arms together, she tilted her head. “I guess this is one of the more mountain-y areas… it’s got more snow than usual…” Adalynn said, placing her hand on the snow and pressing down, narrowing her eyes.

Looking up, she would see a mountainous peak looming overhead, it looked more close to the ground than usual, and she sighed. It would seem that her hunch about a fae making it snow was on the money. She was just a little turned around, and looked around.Trees were off in the distance, too her left. She was getting closer!

To avoid tripping again, Adalynn changed her course and began navigating more northwest, still hitting a few rocks here and there, but managing to make far more progress, though she hope that there would be more rests in case she fell over again! The last thing she needed now was a rock or something in her boots.

She continued her journey, simply making sure to be aware of her surroundings, the last thing she wanted, or needed right now, was a bored fae doing the whole “Riddle” game, or something worse. Fortunately, every house, dwelling, and outcropping with lights around it was more acutely visible in the darkness  of the white, so she would be sure to stay at least 12 feet away, and move faster when she came by a house.

Time passed, and past a veritable parade of footprints in the snow, Adalynn had managed to enter the snow covered forest. If she were anyone else, she would say “Now’s where it gets tricky”, but “anyone else” wasn’t Adalynn, or a member of the Winter Court, she knew this forest like the back of her hand from years of playing with other members of the court.

The fact there were a number of complimentary lanterns only helped matters. Reaching towards one hung on the wall, she lit the flame inside, and began walking into the woods. It was magically enchanted to never run out, and return to it’s resting place once done, so it would more or less be smooth sailing from here on out.

While the darkness of the trees above, the dead silence, and the only sound being the crunching of snow would unnerve most people, it gave Adalynn peace, who continued to hum to herself as she walked forwards, taking a left there, a right there, that was seemingly random, but was essential to arriving at her destination.

The peace and quiet (aside from the buzzing of a few fairies above) allowed Adalynn to peacefully recall her first days here… and her first days as a changeling!

It was so easy to get lost, so easy to do something wrong, and fear reprisal and punishment from the fae for doing something wrong, especially since they were so… different, so alien. Something that might be considered “wrong” by humans doesn’t mean anything to a fae, the concept of time was completely lost on them, as well as how different they view “safety”...

But, it didn’t take long for Adalynn to roughly understand how things went around here, and shift her way of thinking to better survive and live in this new place… while it was only around 3 years since she got here, she was happier here than she’d ever been in the “Mortal world”, as the fae called it. Always being stuck inside, never being to do anything special…

But here, thanks to her dear Grimoire, she always had something to do, something interesting was always happening… and best of all, when all was said and done, she could return to her dear friends side and tell her all about the journeys she had gone on! And she was always, always listening and so caring. She was more family than Adalynn had ever known. And she was thankful for it.

Just as the girl was beginning to smile and blush again, she looked up, her eyes beginning to sparkle as a wide smile came across her face.

A beautifully carved castle of gray, with some parts made of translucent white (No doubt ice) sticking out in stark contrast stood above a frozen lake, with a single bridge connecting it to the forest. Vines of the purest white creeped up parts of the walls, with a single large tree jutting out of the center, and numerous sculptures dotted the lands area around.

Adalynn’s heart fluttered. 

She was home. Gently placing the lantern down to the side. It sparkled for a few minutes before vanishing.

Well, no reason not to, right?

The girl broke into a full on sprint, leaping from the trees onto the bridge, running towards a pair of double wide doors, before coming to an abrupt stop. Of course. With a sigh, she knocked on the door. A slit on the door slid to the side to reveal a pair of dark blue eyes looking back at her

The girl stood straight, and placed her right hand across her chest, bowing slightly.

“I have returned from my quest to the Dusk Court, Ser Page” She said in a very formal tone of voice.

“Oh, Adalynn, we didn’t expect you back so soon. What did they say?”

“In their words, not mine, they said “We have no intentions of having the Twilight Prince attend meetings yet.” “ An audible sigh came from behind the door.

“That’s alright. And did you…”

Reaching into her cloak, Adalynn pulled out a small leather bag.

“Whiskers of an Axolotl, just like you asked.”

“Splended! Alright, come in…”

With the sound of a click, a pair of large, heavy doors began to open, embossed with the sign of a tome inside a snowflake, revealing the beautiful interior of the castle, and the eyes behind the door were revealed to be an unbelievably tall figure with even longer ears, he reached out his lanky hand

Grumbling, Adalynn tossed him the bag. “I won’t even ask… is…?” “Her Highness is in her room. Try not to scare her this time”

With a wide smile, Adalynn took off like a Lizard running across water

“What did I tell you about running in the… eh, forget it.” Page held up the bag. “You are gonna fuel so many good curses” He said to himself… and the bag.

Up the stairs Through a hallway. Through the pure ice ballroom

Adalynn ran like a child possessed up and down the castle, before coming to another abrupt halt, a light emanated from the end of the hall, and the sound of a music box filled the air.

There was no mistaking it, that was Grimoire. Well, after last time, Adalynn decided she would take less of a “Dog missing its master” approach this time, and quietly walked down the hall, until she saw the light. A beautiful room with all that one would expect in the room of a princess. Ice sculptures, the finest furniture one could imagine, a mirror, a bunch of objects for one’s hobby… and a music box.

Taking quiet steps, Adalynn crept into the room, and gently knocked on the door, which was already open.

The music box stopped.

A girl with slightly iridescent skin, like the sun catching the morning snow looked at the changeling. Her hair was perfectly cut, square in some places, with some bangs, but it was unspeakably beautiful. Light blue eyes, with pupils in the shape of a snowflake, with thick, white eyelashes  looked back at Adalynn.

Her soft, dainty hands pressed down on the music box, and shut it closed, and she reached a warm, gloved hand towards Adalynn as she stood up… revealing she was rather short and petite, taller than the Changeling girl, yes, but undoubtedly short when compared to Ser Page

“Adalynn… my little snowflake, you’ve returned!”

She couldn’t hold it in anymore, the changeling girl rushed to Princess Grimoire’s side and embraced her in a hug, pressing her head against her master lightly and nuzzling it affectionately

“I couldn’t stay much longer away from you, Grimmy!”

“I missed you a lot too, Ser Page already told me things didn’t go well with the Dusk Court, but that’s ok! Did anything interesting happen?”

“Heehee, I could tell you, but it’d take all night long!” “You know I wouldn’t mind that at all…” Grimoire said, gently pushing Adalynn away and taking a seat on her bed, the changeling soon joining her, kicking her feet happily

A smile came across the princess’ face as  she chuckled slightly. It was always such a pleasure for her changeling to return, full of energy. Especially since she was always in such high spirits, this being no exception.

“Well, why don’t you start by telling me about that “Twilight Prince”, dear?” She asked.

Adalynn, leaning on the princess’ side began telling a tale.

“Well, he’s really purple…” “Purple? Do go on…”

“Yeah, and his freckles are like stars-’” “How amazing!”

The two stayed in the room for a long time, telling each other tales of what they were doing while they were away from each other. With the door wide open, light flowed into the hallway.

Footsteps approached, and a familiar tall figure leaned into the room.

“Your Majesty, you’re being requ-...”

Ser Page saw the Princess sitting on her bed, with her eyes closed, haven fallen asleep… and in her lap was a very tired, but happy looking green skinned girl. Both were snoozing and clearly resting.

Quietly, he reached towards the handle, and closed the door as soundlessly as he could.

“I’m sure they can wait a bit longer…”