Slipped Away

Raye sat at the edge of the dirt road on a large stone, not too far from the castle, with a guitar she had borrowed from the music room.

She strummed softly at the guitar. It had been months since she had touched a guitar. Back when Chaye was still alive.

The Jinn ran her tongue over her lower lip before opening her mouth to sing.

"Na na, na na na, na na
I miss you, miss you so bad
I don't forget you, oh it's so sad
I hope you can hear me
I remember it clearly

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same
Oh"

Chaye's soft smile flickered past her closed eyes as she sang and a small smile curved her pierced lips.

"Na na na na na na na

I didn't get around to kiss you
Goodbye on the hand
I wish that I could see you again
I know that I can't

Oh
I hope you can hear me cause I remember it clearly

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same
Oh

I had my wake up
Won't you wake up
I keep asking why
And I can't take it
It wasn't fake
It happened, you passed by

Now you are gone, now you are gone
There you go, there you go
Somewhere I can't bring you back
Now you are gone, now you are gone
There you go, there you go,
Somewhere you're not coming back

The day you slipped away
Was the day I found it won't be the same no..
The day you slipped away
Was the day that I found it won't be the same oh...

Na na, na na na, na na
I miss you"

Charles pushed a stray hair out of his eye as he walked down the road, a slight bounce in his step. It was an interesting place indeed... Probably even more so if he was not lost. He sighed and dropped his shoulders slightly. He should of not wondered so far. Inhaling, he looked up to the bright sky and smiled, might as well make the most of it.
Continuing on with his unknown path, sound of a stringed instrument and singing drifted into his ears. AHA, where there was music there were living things! Quickening his steps, he was greeted by a girl with the most colorful hair he has ever laid eyes on. Grinning he skipped up to her, batting his eyelashes.

"Hello, pretty lady... You are a lady, aren't you? Anyway, would a colorful thing like you mind telling me where I am?"

Raye yelped when she heard a voice and her turquoise eyes snapped open. She really needed to be more attentive. She was being shocked way too much for her liking.

A snort passed her lips at the boys first question. "I'm female, yes, but I ain't no damned lady." Raye wasn't lady-like in the slightest.

"We're about ten minutes off the castle." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the castle. "That direction."

Her eyes ran over the boy and were immediately drawn to the band of silver encrusted with jewels around his head. Raye liked jewels. They were pretty and (when worn right) could make anything look gorgeous. The only jewel she had ever owned was the ruby on her engagement ring that was packed somewhere in the bottom of her suitcase back in her room.

"I'm Raye, by the way. Raye-Majick"

He smiled slightly as she yelped, before informing him that she was indeed a woman. He quickly put a mental note in the back of his head about where he was, before grabbing her hand and kissing it, bowing as low as the skinny jeans will let him.

"Well Raye, it is wonderful to meet you. I am Oscar Charles Smart, but please call me Charles."

He straighten up and giggled, watching her eyes travel too the silver around his head.

"And of course you are a Lady, all those who state they are woman are, well, a Lady."

"Charles, huh?" she muttered, shaking her hand out of the boy's grip.

"Being a lady involves some degree of manners. Manners that I don't have. Nor want to possess."

She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully, eyes staring intently at him. She could see him okay, so he definitely wasn't human... Those odd golden eyes didn't help her in identifying the boy much past him being supernatural, but she had already figured that one out, hadn't she?

Deciding that she could care less about social etiquette, Raye asked the question that was buzzing in her mind. "What are you?" The question was blunt. Painfully so.

Charles pouted slightly as she quickly removed her hand from his.

"Silly Lady, who cares about manners? All that matters is that you are a woman, which means you are a lady. Plus, that names suits you. You are now Lady coluorful, from far far away." He giggled slightly. Yep, that was defiantly going to stick.

He wiggled his freckled covered nose slightly as her gaze suddenly pierced him, and it struck him that Lady colourful was quite intimidating. He was about to take a couple of steps back before she opened her pierced lips to ask a question. Upon hearing it he grinned proudly, and pushed his chest forward and slamming his hands on his hips in one swift motion.

"I am a western dragon!" He stated beaming.

Raye deadpanned. "Lady...colourful?" She did not like that. At. All.

"Western Dragon, huh? I haven't seen a Dragon since I was... fifty, I think. Could have been younger." She leaned forwards slightly and sized him up. The boy was shorter than her. Huh, she hadn't met any Western men that were shorter than her. He was nothing like the Dragon she had met previously.

"Yep, Lady colourful!" He spoke in a sing-song voice. With a smile, he grabbed both of the hands to steady himself as he rocked on his heels slightly, leaning forward to do so. She did not smile much, which is a shame. He betted that she had one of those cute, yet awkward smiles. Thinking about it made his own smile to grow.

"Okay, my turn! How old are you?"

Ray laughed in disbelief and pushed the Dragon away from her, crossing her now free arms over her chest. "You really don't know much about women, do you, Oscar?" If she were any other woman, that boy would have been sporting a hand print on his cheek right then. But, Raye wasn't any other woman. Raye was... Raye.

"I'm one hundred and sixty two." It seemed they were playing a good game of Twenty Questions. She'd play. She was curious about this dragon. "How old are you?"

Charles stumbled slightly as Raye chuckled to herself. He smacked himself mentally for not catching her laugh, instead too busy looking at his feet.

"I know lots about woman!" He stated as he sat on the large stone. "And I am 119, which makes me younger then you." He crossed his arms and pouted slightly, he thought that he was going to be older then her, she did not look a day older then 19- He looked down at his own form in consideration before speaking.

"What are you then?"

"Lots of people are younger than me," she said with a grin.

"I'm a Wolf Jinn." She lifted her head and gave a proud grin. She was proud of being a wolf. Wolves were amazing animals.

She probed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully as she ran over different questions she wanted to ask him in her head. "Why did you decide to join AALC?"

"A wolf Jinn, hmm? Never heard of one."

He swung his legs slightly so that the heels hit the rock with a light tap and glanced at the sky. From the looks of it, it was going to mist over soon. He was soon distracted from predicting the weather after hearing the next question.

"I was forced to go by my mother." He laughed, embarrassment laced in it. "I guess you could say I was the 'runt of the litter', plus I am no good with hand-to-hand combat. Wait, scratch that, I am terrible." He laughed once more, pink filling his cheeks slightly.

He looked at her in wonder, before his eye drifted up to the crown on her head that was reflecting the bright sun. He was unsure of whether it was some type of gold or just made to look it. Well, no harm in asking. "Lady colourful, what is the type of metal of that crown you are wearing?"

"We're not the most common beings in the world," she dismissed. Jinn had been dwindling in the last fifty years. "We would be much more abundant if we'd stop killing our pups when our mates go mad." Her tone was casual - merely stating facts.

"I know what it's like to be the runt of the litter. I'm the smallest full-grown wolf I've ever met. I only reach 80cm at the shoulders." She smiled awkwardly. "I'm pretty small."

"I'm not the best at hand-to-hand combat. I'm clumsy as an Ox when I dont have a weapon in my hand." She ran her tongue over her lower lip and spiderbites. "I prefer fighting with weapons, anyway."

Raye's hand drifted upwards and she caressed the cool surface of the crown clipped to her hair. The crown that Chaye had given her when he dubber her his Queen. "It's gold."

"I was fortunate enough to have a stable nest, though that did not stop other creatures or the weather." He replied, stretching slightly to get a better look at crown on top of her head. "And at least you got some fighting experience." He giggled, stretching his neck a bit more, before huffing in defeat against the battle with his height.

Now standing on the rock he peered at the crown. "I an guessing... That it is quite close to almost pure gold." He bent down to look at Raye in the face. "Who gave it to you?" He innocently asked.

"You can't be a Jinn without fighting experience. You'd be killed," she stated sagely. "Especially if you've been given the duty of a hunter. You need to be able to fight if you're a hunter."

A small, sad smile spread across the Jinn's face and her bright turquoise eyes darkened a few shades as the emotions beneath them became stronger. "My mate. He was called Chaye."

Charles sat back down on the stone and noted the change in Lady colourful as she mentioned her mate. In all truth she did not look the type to have a mate, too prideful from what he has gathered from there small talk. Well, you never know these things.

He bite his lip, unsure of whether or not he should ask and what should he say? Comforting word tend to annoy people (unless you are close and know what to say), questions may anger her. But then again she may want to talk about it. Charles studied her, she seemed quite secretive, hmm.

A few birds twittered as the flew over there heads.

"I hate birds, they're such a pain to catch." He chirped, grinning from ear to ear.

She chuckled at the completely unrelated comment. "They're quite easy to catch if you have the right technique. I've had to hunt numerous ave Jinn before." She mentally thanked the younger boy. She would have just sat and wallowed in her self pity if he hadn't changed the subject.

"But I prefer to leave them alone. They're beautiful creatures. Have you ever seen the Hawaiʻi ʻŌʻō?"

"No, they are not easy to catch! Not all of us are good hunters, Lady colourful. Whenever I try to catch one they soon head for the dense forest where I have no room to fly." Charles grumbled slightly. "Yet when I was younger, my siblings and I would always fly in and out the forest together, catching them. Though, I would always be left behind of course." He smiled softly at the distant memory, swinging backwards and forwards on the stone. "We hardly ever caught one." He chuckled before he glanced at Raye and patted the space next to him on the grey stone, indicating her to sit next to him.

"I do not see the beauty in birds, colourful and pretty one yes, but in generally they are annoying creatures that try to steal your food and are hard to catch." He pouted, crossing his arms comically. "But we tend not to eat them much, only for a snack... If you have the energy too catch one. " He grinned, shrugging along to what he said next; "I don't think I have ever tried them, let alone seen one!"

Raye laughed loudly. "A matter of opinion. Keep them close to the ground and you've got an easy target. Most birds are pretty defenceless on the ground, y'know?"

"You have siblings?" Raye loved to hear about other peoples family relationships considering she hadn't had very good relationships with her family. She sat down on the stone beside him and slumped her shoulders, foregoing her act of prideful wolf. "Did you have a good relationship with them?"

"They're extinct now. The last sighting was 1934. They were such beautiful bird..."

"But they just fly away." He beamed, to happy that Lady colourful was sitting next to him to grumble to the imaginary prey. He scooted a little bit closer to her as she asked about him about his family. Upon hearing the question he could not wipe the grin off his face.

"Yes, I have a good relation ship with my siblings!" He bounced a little from where he sat. "My brother from the same batch as me is the best brother you could ask for! There was this one time when we where in Russia and we went out in the snow, but we accidentally got lost, so to survive the night and to make sure I stay alive, he gathered up all this wood and managed to start a fire! Most of the time, dragons at that age can not breath fire, but he manged it and kept us alive for the night, all thanks from his stubbornness" He gasped, excitement in his eyes.

He then grabbed Rayes arm, shaking it lightly to grab her attention to point to a tree that was over twenty meters away. "You see that tree over there? Well, my sister from mothers first batch could manage to inflame that when she was just a little bit older then me!" He resumed to bouncing slightly again, looking at Raye to see if she was listening. "And the was this one time when a dragon snatched up and killed my other siblings from the same batch as me and my brother from the first batch battled with this dragon and killed him! Not only that but he stayed with us for the next couple of years to make sure my brother and I were safe!" Charles gasped for are once more.

Realising the speed he was talking at, he blush slightly and wriggled his nose in embarrassment.

"Wow, you have such great brothers," she whispered in awe, staring ahead blankly.

"I have three siblings that I know of," she said absently. "Two brothers and one sister - all younger than me, though we were litter-mates. Nathaniel was an amazing brother. Joe was great at magic. I was so envious of her. And Spyridon was so absent-minded. I dont know how many times I had to save him from following a hinkypunk." She chuckled softly.

"But I left when I was twenty three. I havent seen them since. I don't even know if my parents had any more litters. I could have hundreds of siblings by now without even knowing it..."

She leaned back, lying on the stone and staring up at the sky. "I'm scared to look for them."

"Thank you" He giggled before listening patiently to Raye, fiddling with his hair as she spoke. They all sounded like interesting siblings. She seemed to care for them as well from the way she spoke. His on mind fluttered back to his own family, causing another soft smile. He then frowned slightly at the last thing she said.

"Well, I don't know about your species, but us Western Dragons (or at least the ones I know of) tend to look out for close family. Even if your family has done great wrong, you still need to look out for them and visa-versa. And if they don't accept you as family, then you are not family... So I don't see why you are scared." He shrugged and poked Lady colourful in the cheek.

She shrugged off her large black jacket and showed him the two brands on her skin. "I've been in another pack since then. If they saw me again, they wouldn't consider me their family," she sighed sadly.

"I'm scared that they would have forgotten me. It's been nearly a hundred and forty years. That's a long time for anyone. I wouldn't be surprised if they had forgotten me. I was pathetic back then. Not someone anyone would remember. I was dull and plain and boring."

She stretched languidly, her white shirt riding up, revealing a stab-wound scar on her hip. "I dont even know if they're still in America. Or even alive. I wouldn't know where to start looking for them."

Charles wriggled his nose trying to think of what to say.

"Well then, you will just have to find a new one in the meanwhile." He grinned, bouncing energetically on the spot. His hair flying up and down. "You are deferentially not dull and boring now~! Actually you are really in-" He screeched as fell forwards off the rock after pushing himself a little too much. It was a blur until he found himself in a daze, sitting in a upright position. His hair had fallen into his eyes. He felt his right arm developing a bruise and his right check stung a little, probably lightly scratched up. Tenderly he poked his check to check that there is no blood.

Raye laughed, sitting up when the Dragon bounced himself right off the rock. "Someone's a little energetic."

She brushed his hair out of his eyes tenderly. "Such a mess. Nathaniel's hair used to be like that, too. He could never keep it out of his eyes. His wasn't as pretty a colour as yours, though." She toyed with a lock of his hair idly. "His was grey like mine used to be. We all had grey hair, now I think of it."