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The fairy becomes a child.

The little Pae opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. Somehow, she felt different. There was a warm tingling sensation creeping throughout her entire body, and there were small jolts of energy running down parts of her body that she'd never felt before.

Could it be?

Looking down at her body, which she had not yet seen, she giggled. There actually was a torso! And arms! And legs! And there were fingers and toes, and a stomach!



Throwing her hands up in the air, Astrid gleefully shouted. "I've grown!"

Jumping out of the rather cramped basket she'd been laying in, her feet hit the floor, and she immediately wobbled, then tried to correct herself. It was the first time that Astrid had used her new legs, and things were going to go slowly. Flapping her wings to keep herself balanced, she finally got ahold of herself, standing straight up and down, and looking rather confident for a first-timer.

She walked toward the mirror that had been set up inside her cottage, and gave herself a look-see. And her reflection pleased her more than she'd thought it would. "WOW!" she exclaimed, "No way! I'm cute!" Practically plastering her face up to the mirror, Astrid took in her appearance, taking special care to examine her hair, which looked as if it was filled with stars. It was beautiful!

After a brief period with the mirror, Astrid threw the door to the cottage open, and walked outside into the sunshine. After long days of not being able to walk, she was ready for a long saunter down the lane. And perhaps she'd meet more Pae. You just never knew what could happen on such a good day...

((ooc note: Astrid became an adult before I really got to RP her, so please note that I will show her growing in this thread when my RP catches up to her growth. Thanks!))

Stargazing

Looking out her window, Astrid watched as the sun sank slowly below the horizon. The colors of the sky gradually deepened, from tangerine orange to coral pink...and then fuschia, violet, indigo and finally a deep black-blue. As the sun made its departure, the moon rose, bright and large in the sky. It would be an hour or so before it made its way higher in the sky, shrinking in size and allowing for better viewing of the sky.

Shaking her head, waking her from her trance-like state, she realized that her dinner was cold. The little Pae stood up and took her plate to the sink. She had grown accustomed to living by herself, and doing chores were something that passed the time. She had started to teach herself to read, and liked tending to her small garden in the late afternoon and early morning. It was too hot outside for Astrid during the day, so she did most of her chores and indoor activities during the heat of the day. For some strange reason, she was bothered by the bright sunlight. She found muted light and darkness most appealing.

Once she was finished washing the dishes, Astrid swept the floor, brushing the dirt outside through the door. She stood in the open doorway for a second, looking down at the meadow below, and the path winding through it from her house to the main road. It was just starting to become springtime, and she could smell freshness in the air. It was a pleasant time of year, and she looked forward to seeing her flowers and vegetables grow.

Noticing the darkness of the sky, Astrid turned to go back inside and get her things. She headed toward her study/library, and picked up her small telescope, her book of star charts and a flashlight. She needed to learn more constellations. Walking back outside, she drug a blanket behind her. Once in the meadow, she spread her blanket out, and layed down on it, taking one last look at her home before gazing up into the sky. She thought back to the first days of her memory, when she had found this place.

Somehow, the cottage had been abandoned, and Astrid had come across it after her hatching. Hiding in the trees next to the cottage, she watched the house for several days. Not seeing anyone go in or out, she flew to the house, and through a broken window, examining the cottage. It was dusty, and there were cobwebs in all of the corners, and there was food, past the point of decomposure, on the kitchen table. Astrid had cleaned the place up, and had lived there ever since. It was a comfortable home, and she hoped no one would ever come and kick her out. After all, she had nowhere to go.

The stars were bright against the indigo velvet sky, and Astrid had an easy time picking out most of the constellations. Of course, there were the brightest stars, named for the Pae elders. Most of these stars formed constellations, or were a part of large constellations. Astrid took extra care to identify constellations, tucking them away in her memory. It was one hobby that she truly enjoyed.

After hours of stargazing, Astrid's eyelids slowly began to feel heavy. And there, in the middle of the meadow, the little Pae fell asleep, only to awaken at dawn, when the dew misted her face.

Taking control of gravity

It was dusk, and Astrid was again outside, enjoying the crisp evening air. It wasn't quite Spring, but the trees were beginning to bud, and Astrid could see the shoots of her flowers starting to come up from the dirt.

Staring at the ground where the shoot rose from the deep brown earth, Astrid saw a stone in the flowerbed, rolled back from the edging where she had first placed it. As she spaced out, thinking about how the stone could have possibly rolled backward without her noticing it, she stone suddenly began to shake slightly, and as Astrid took closer notice of it, it started rising into the air, a few inches off the ground.

"How is this happening?" she asked herself aloud, truly amazed at what was happening. Was she doing it? Concentrating on the stone some more, it hovered higher into the air, now about a foot off of the ground. Somehow, Astrid could control the movement of the stone up and down. She concentrated harder, thinking hard about making the stone move right and left...The stone bobbled in the air, but wouldn't move...Perhaps she wasn't strong enough yet to move it around so easily.

Suddenly, there was a loud chirp behind her, and Astrid jumped, losing her concentration entirely. The stone fell to the ground, and rolled to her feet, as if unhappy that she had dropped it.

Astrid smiled to herself...she'd finally found her power. But how did it work? She'd have to study it more before she could make that call. It may take awhile, she thought, but she'd master this power.

The Fae Pae Grows Up!

It seemed that summer had come early, as temperatures in Telyruna soared, much higher than usual for this time of year. Astrid was a bit upset about the growing heat, and she preferred to stay indoors during the day now, hiding out from the bright sunlight and heat of the daytime. She much preferred the evening and the dark of the night, when the planet cooled and calmed itself.

Astrid had taken to sleeping during the day, and being awake at night, and she kept an odd nocturnal schedule. She could do most everything she did during the day at nighttime too, so that was never an issue. She just felt more alive at night, and she relished in the chirping of the crickets and the sound of bats flying over her head as she looked up at the stars.

She would bring her telescope outside, and gaze at the planets through the lens, wishing she could visit the places she saw so magnified. Squinting with one eye, the other one opened, exploring the unknown reaches of the universe.

As soon as she adjusted the scope to view farther to the west, she felt a strange tingling sensation in her limbs, and it slowly crawled up her body. Standing up, she shook her arms and legs, wondering how they'd fallen asleep. She hadn't been sitting at an awkward position, so why was she feeling so strangely. It was a vaguely familiar feeling, but she couldn't quite place it.

But instead of making the feeling go away, the shaking of her limbs only made the tingling increase in intensity, and it was as if every cell in her was vibrating. Slowly, the Pae's body began to rise off of the ground, and eventually, Astrid felt the weight of her body leave her, as if she was now standing in zero gravity. She flipped upside down, giggling to herself, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness. It was then that the Pae noticed the change in herself.

She had grown again! So that was the familiar feeling!



Astrid screeched with delight as she soared up into the air, flipping and spinning around effortlessly. She was glad she'd finally grown up. She'd been feeling older than her age, and she thought it was about time. And, not only had she grown, but she'd come into her powers almost instantly. She now had control over the gravity put on objects--much more control than she had before. And with extra practice, she could increase her skill even more by the time she qualified to become an Elder.

Astrid Adopts!?

Astrid was napping, reveling in dreams, when she heard a tapping sound on the door. Typically, the faerie Pae was a sound sleeper, but today, she had been tossing and turning fitfully, not really able to get any good rest. The tapping noise was faint, and the taps were few and far between, but they woke Astrid nevertheless.

Pulling herself up off of the bed, the Pae rubbed her bleary eyes, and stood up slowly, stretching as she did so. She hadn't been expecting company, though the tapping certainly hadn't sounded like a knock on the door. Walking over to the wooden door of the cottage, Astrid opened it...and saw nothing.

She looked around the yard, seeing if she could spot the culprit, but there were only bugs flitting about. There were no animals in sight either...strange.

Taking another glance at the yard, Astrid almost closed the door on the little bundle that had been placed at her feet.

Finally looking down, Astrid was amazed to see a little face peeking out of a basket, the Pae's body wrapped in a blanket. It was a child!

"Well who are you?" she asked the little Pae, who just stared at her with wide eyes. "Can you speak?"

The Pae squirmed in the bundle, looking as if she was ready to be out and about.

"Aaah, let's get you unwrapped. That way you can move around better," Astrid said, picking up the seemingly infant-aged Pae. She carefully unwrapped the swaddling blankets, and as she came to the last wrap, she saw that the Pae was not an infant at all. She was a bright yellow angel Pae...and she was a child!



"Hi hi!" the little Pae said, waving to Astrid as if she were the most exciting thing ever. "Who's you?" she asked, her face cheerful but questioning.

"I'm Astrid," she said, waving back to the child Pae. "Do you have a mommy and daddy?"

The little Pae suddenly looked sad. "Mama and Dada?" she asked, her eyes growing wide, and looking as if they were going to tear up.

"Oh, no, it's okay little one! Don't cry. It'll be alright," she said, lifting the child into her arms. "Don't worry. We'll find them." She nodded at the little girl, hoping that it would calm her. "And if we don't...well, you can stay with me."

The child Pae's face brightened, as if she had understood that Astrid would care for her, whether they found her family or not. "Astwid!!" she exclaimed, throwing her small arms around the Faerie Pae's neck, and giving it a hearty squeeze.

"Yep, that's right," she said, giving the little Pae a little tweak of her nose. "Welcome home for now little one. While you're with me, we need to give you a name. I certainly can't call you Little One...So, since you're so bright and shiny, I'm going to call you Soleil."

The angel Pae clapped her hands, as if she were excited to be given a proper name. "So-EEL!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up in a rather gigantic smile.

"That's good! Welcome home Soleil. Welcome home."

((Reserved: Astrid and Soleil walk to the HQ))

Walking down the path to the Pae HQ, Astrid held Soleil's hand tightly, giving the little Pae help as she learned to walk more comfortably. "Look, you're doing great!" she said, complimenting the little Pae as she stumbled across the pebbles in the road. "It just takes some getting used to."

Soleil had been a bit frustrated with her inability to walk properly. She was eager to explore the world around her, but it was hard when you toddled around like she did. Soon enough, she hoped to be using her wings instead. The little Pae had come to enjoy living with Astrid, who took care of her like she was her own daughter. Though the fae didn't particularly like traversing around in the daytime, Soleil loved the sun, and wanted to be out in it constantly. So Astrid would take her outside, and they'd go on walks, exploring the land around Astrid's cottage.

"Where are we going?" the young Pae asked her adopted mother, squeezing her hand more tightly as she kicked a rock down the path.

"Aah, you shall see," Astrid replied, giving Soleil a wink. "I think we both might be able to make some new friends today," she said as they approached the HQ. "This is the headquarters for the Pae'il. I was hoping there might be some people around to talk to. And I'm thinking there might be some kids here too. I thought it might be fun for you to meet some others your age." With that, they walked up to the door and entered the HQ.

((Reserved: Soleil's Diary))