Once Upon a Time…

---

Arcadia. A place where anything can happen. A place of magic and wonder. A place where, in one little town called Larken, a wild adventure took place. I'm here to tell you of that event in Larken. Oh, I know you've heard rumors, but I can tell you the real story. You ask how my story is better than the rumors? Well, you see, I was there. I was part of the quest. I was present at the start, and I can tell you how it all began.

It started innocently enough. It was a sunny morning in spring. A young woman of about 16 years of age stood outside the town's tavern. She was wearing jeans and a blue shirt that could just barely be glimpsed through the blue hooded cape she had on. The hood was pulled up, and it cast a shadow over her face. All you could see was a faint grin touching upon her lips as she cast her gaze upon a small dragon at her feet.

The small creature was me. I was about the size of a young cat then. Now of course, I have matured to my full size, that of an adult cat. But I was younger then, and not as wise. I was on my hind legs, wings opened slightly for balance, and I had just exited the tavern. In my hand-like claws, I held a medium sized loaf of bread, and a flagon. I looked up at her, and held up the items she had requested. "Here, Missy, a flagon of fresh Jaro , and a medium sized loaf of bread. Be careful, it's hot! Fresh from the oven!"

She gently took the bread from me. "You're right, it is hot. I better let it cool before I try to eat it." She sipped the Jaro. "Mmm…nothing like fresh Jaro." She sat down on a bench nearby the door. "Any change?" she asked as she took a careful bite of the cooling bread.

I nodded, and reached into the pouch on my neck. "You gave me one Bronze. It cost a total of ten Coppers. We received six Coppers and four Nickels back." I held out the change to Missy.

She set the bread down on her lap and took the change, tucking it into a pouch at her waist. She reached out and scratched my head. "Thanks Naomi." She returned to her bread, and broke off a hunk at the end. She tossed it to me. "There you go. Just let me finish this and we'll explore."

I caught the bread in my mouth. I held it in my claws as I nibbled at it. "Thank you. I can't wait to explore," I said. "Maybe we can stay here," I added hopefully.

She finished her bread, and stood, chuckling. "Maybe," she said. "Come on, let's go." She started wandering down the street.

I ate the last of my bread and loped after her on all fours, peering around curiously. We turned the corner, and that's when we saw it. That was the beginning of the adventure.

Let me stop a second. For those of you who don't know much about Arcadia, let me explain something. Each town is more like a province. They all have their own leader. The leader of each province lives in a small castle similar to the one stamped on all of our coins. The leader is hereditary in one family through a direct line. If the leader is the last of that line, they must chose a new leader who will be the best for their province. Each family is assigned a guardian. This guardian is one of the Arcadians living in the province who has the immortalie gene. This gene allows them to appear young, around sixteen to twenty, until they die. They cannot die of natural causes, and they cannot get sick. The only way they can die is if they were killed by a mortal wound. When a guardian is killed, a new one must be chosen. There, now we can get back to the story.

To Kitara's Fictional Writings
To Kitara's Writings
To Kitara's House