Vexing

Vex grumbled as he woke from what had quite clearly been Dreamwalking. He was a solitary type, tending to wake himself as soon as he found himself among other Faelyn while dreaming or observe from a distance. It was not that he disliked his own people, merely that the ones he had encountered thus far held no interest to him. They all talked of the same things, boring details of their daily lives.

Many of them used Dreamwalking to try to broaden the pool of people from which they could find a potential partner, whether for business or otherwise. It was common to Dreamwalk into a chattering group trying to learn more about crafts or where could use their expertise so that they would feel more valued.

He did not have much choice in his future role in the Faelyn territories, considering he was one of the younger princes. If he did not end up taking charge of the upkeep and safety of several settlements as their Warden, he would likely end up becoming a member of the royal guard.

If he was extremely lucky, and proved to have the proper magical aptitudes, he might become a Judge. They tracked down those the Faelyn crown deemed to be dangerous criminals or traitors to the people and passed judgement on their actions.

Of late, few Judges had returned with prisoners in tow. The members were becoming, it seemed to Vex, somewhat jaded. They decided the guilt of the person they were pursuing based only upon the crimes written on paper and never bothered to get their side of the story anymore. It had come out more than once in the recent past that a dead Faelyn criminal had been coerced in some way to act as they had.

While the news had not spread far, the people were slowly beginning to wonder if the Judges were even necessary. He honestly hoped to join the Judges, and to be given the rank and power necessary to reform them and rid them of the jaded members for the betterment of the Faelyn.

His mind drifted back to his Dreamwalking for the night and he frowned as he sat at the edge of his bed, golden-furred ears twitching slightly. The Faelyn he had encountered had been a stranger, which was nothing new to him. The location of the encounter, though, had him perplexed.

The glade in which he had found himself was one of a few places considered almost sacred to the Faelyn, as the crystalline fruit of the trees could be used to make the stones they used to determine magical aptitude. He had visited the glade near the capital many times, had wandered in its beautiful serenity. It was one of his favorite places.

It was the first time he had seemingly been the one to initiate a Dreamwalk subconsciously, as he normally joined other Faelyn in locations they were familiar with, often the walkways or forest floors surrounding their settlements.

The Faelyn girl he had seen had also been of great interest to him. She practically exuded a sense of magic with every move, every step. He had found himself Ghostwalking to avoid her scrutiny almost immediately. Seeing her, he felt something he had never experienced before, a feeling of inadequacy. Her magic was so much more than his, so much more than anything he had ever seen.

He was the most magically gifted of his siblings, despite being one of the youngest, and great things were expected of him. It felt as if she could one day accomplish all he was supposed to and more with a simple flick of her wrist.

Her ears were long, silver-furred, with tufted black at their tips. They moved constantly as she took in her surroundings, twitching at the slightest of noise. Her keen observation made him more cautious in his movements, using the chiming of the leaves to mask as much of his own noise as possible.

Her tail was different from what he was used to. Most in the capital had slender tails, some like his own tufted with fur. Her tail was oddly fluffy, though not so much as to seem disproportionate to her small frame. She was close to his own age, perhaps within a few months to a year or so, judging by her size and appearance. Her features beyond her tail and ears were relatively normal, except for her eyes.

At one point her violet eyes turned in his direction, looking right at his hiding place in a tree. He froze, not even daring to breathe again until she had turned away once more. From time to time, she mumbled to herself, chattering about the surroundings and about how it felt like she was Dreamwalking, yet she was alone.

Part of him wanted to show himself, to greet the other Faelyn that his Dreamwalking had drawn him to. He chose not to. The idea of approaching her, of being seen as weaker than her, annoyed him for reasons he did not understand.

Eventually, as his internal clock told him dawn was approaching, he turned away, grumbling to himself "I'll catch up to you. I'll stand beside you. I won't accept anything else."