Slowly they came with little pomp but quite a bit of pleasure. Tithe was reserved and she glanced at him with her special smile once more for he did seem the knight in shining armor kind of male. It was a bit of a surprise that he had such a close companion like Taika who bounced around with the joy of life, a joy that Sorcha appreciates, her own body sedate but her mind eager to begin. A story of honor perhaps? It would come as she begin her weaving but she waited, watching as the excited boy comes first. His playful growl is met with a widening of her smile, a soft chuckle that rumbles from her. "I hope that it will be exciting. It shall be a wonderful story, when the others arrive," she says, her musical voice heady with amusement. Then comes another boy and a girl, the boy moving towards Taika with a single-minded purpose. He would grow to be a strong, silent type, she thinks, watching him swat at her then glance at Sorcha as if curious to her reaction.

"Hello Samia, it is a pleasure to meet you," she says softly to the girl, noting her timid nature that is instantly star-struck and her mossy green eyes lift up to spy a familiar princeling walking this way. Her smile turns into a grin, her eyes twinkling as she winks at Rhaegal who had managed to somehow find a way here. Whether he tried to hide it or not she knew his excitement for stories, how enraptured he became. He was her favorite out of the princes, if only for his vivid imagination and his love for her stories. "Welcome Rhaegal, and you Moonfeather," she says, glancing at the young girl she knew by name but not by actual meeting.

"Let us begin, then, if you are all ready," she says, her voice rising above the den of playful growls and waiting until they all settled down into a quiet. "In a land far away from here, in a time long past, there was a mighty cougar called Peter. Peter was a clever riddler and a cunning hunter. All the lands talked of how he could hunt even the greatest of creatures, even a grizzly bear! Naturally, all this talk of hunting and greatness went to his head and Peter was known to boast. Everywhere he went he would flash his claws, as thick as the roots of an oak tree and as sharp as the jagged peaks of Spirane. 'I am the greatest of us all!' He boasted, over and over and over, until the other cougars grew tired of his boasting. They grew envious of him and together they went to the circle."

She pauses, watching the children for a moment, before continuing on. "The circle was a magical place. A group of trees taller than the cliffs of Glorall that surrounded a pond as deep as the ocean. Within this pond dwelled a spirit of the earth who possess magic and would grant favors for a price. They complained of Peter, of his boasting, of how he had only vanity and pride, that he did not help them anymore because he said he didn't need their help. The spirit listened to their complaints and agreed that something had to be done. It called from deep within the bowels of the earth a summoning for Peter who went to the pond with a strut in his step and a flick of his tail. 'Why have you called me here when I need no favors from you?' He said and the spirit wavered, furious at his remarks. 'You have been summoned so that I might place a curse upon you. The others were right, there is no helping you, you are selfish and greedy and care for none but yourself!' 'But why should I care for others when I need only myself?' 'For now you need only yourself but one day you will need more.' And with that cryptic message the spirit disappeared but so did Peter and in his place stood not a handsome cougar, all claws and teeth, but a lumbering moose. Peter lowed, furious at his predicament, and he waited for days by the pond to see the spirit again. But the spirit did not come back and Peter began to realize that he was not going to be turned back into his beautiful self. He was stuck as a moose, a thing to be hunted and no longer be the hunter.

In fear, Peter fled for his life, not wanting the other cougars to find out and eat him. His fangs were gone and his claws as well and he was left with hooves and antlers as the only means of survival. Life was no easy for Peter then. He found a herd to move with and knew the taste of death as he was chased by wolves and fled from cougars, crying all the while about how he had bene wronged. Yet as the years passed, one, two, three, he grew used to his life for he had no other choice. He found among the other moose friends, although he felt contempt for them at first. 'Weak,' he said, 'you are all weak!' But they merely nodded and let him continue on. Winter hit hard three years after his change and those around him began to perish. His own belly grew numb with hunger and he knew fear. A doe had died and left behind her calf, a young girl who cried constantly in hunger until Peter grew annoyed. 'Stop your crying, girl, and look for food,' he yelled and she quieted, fearful of him. Much to the frustration of prideful Peter the girl took his lesson but also took up a place beside him, never leaving his side no matter how much he yelled at her. 'I am not your father and I do not like you! Leave me alone lest you get me eaten by cougars!' But the girl never left. He hated her, he thought, because she wouldn't leave him alone, but as winter turned to spring he began to look for her when she took too long to return from foraging. One day she disappeared and as the herd began to move on he waited and waited and waited. The sun dipped low and he called for her. 'GIRL! GIRL! Where are you, blasted girl?' But it was fear that made him yell this time, not frustration, and he watched as the herd left, his one chance of safety.

'I want to go,' he thought and he almost did but he missed her. Over the months he had grown used to her presence and her quiet ways and he feared for her. So Peter turned away from the herd and went in search of his friend. Deep into the woods he went, not realizing that the path led towards the pond that had been the beginning of his misfortune, and he heard a cry of fear. The girl was trapped with a ring of cougars surrounding her, their tails snapping behind their bodies as they edged inwards in hunger. 'NO! YOU WILL NOT HURT HER!' Peter shouted and he raced forward..." She pauses now, taking a deep breath....