Cameron Thornhill's Story

Cameron walked around the woods, his eyes watching every movement. Jumping up on a tree, he read a nearby notice. Snorting he climbed the tree, while letting his claws tear up the parchment. Resting on the branch he let out a long yawn. "A masquerade ball..." He snorted, as much as he would've loved to go, he was a cat. There was no way he could've gone.

"In memoriam of the princess, and her father." Cameron hissed slightly. He knew that princess was alive, his heart was destined to marry her. He knew that from what his parents had told him. He halfway closed his eyes as the sunset reflected off his fur. That was until an unusual, and unique, yet somewhat familiar scent entered his nose.

He opened his eyes to see a blonde haired girl, quite unusual around these parts. Purring he leapt down on to the forest floor and sat in front of her his eyes peering up at her.

He let out a fake meow then chuckled. "Your golden hair is quite different in these parts." He said in a cool tone as he laid in front of her exposing his furry belly. "Care to give me a belly rub?"

Cryssie peered around a large elm tree at the doe grazing beyond. It was the first large source of protein she had seen in these forests in months. Raising her makeshift bow composed of long twigs and spindly twine, she blew out a breath softly and hitched an arrow onto the knotch. Just as she was about to loose, a sudden meow sounded from below, causing the doe to raise her head and bolt in fear. Cryssie hissed through her teeth, glaring down at the cat. "Your golden hair is quite different in these parts. Care to give me a belly rub?" Cryssie blinked, surprise coming out through her emerald eyes.

"You...can talk?" She asked skeptically, kneeling down beside the cat. Unable to help herself, she gently scratched his belly, always having a soft spot for cats. "Yes, I'm aware my hair is unusual. I've been told this since I was a child. And it's not hard to figure out anyway, everyone in the village has brown hair." She leaned back on her heels and cocked her head to the side, setting her bow down on the ground beside her. "You are aware that you scared away my game, right? You owe me a deer."

Cryssie stood, brushing off her hunting breeches and turning away from the cat, heading towards the village. She sighed to herself, knowing she would have to change back into her commoner's dress once she reached the village. She hated wearing it. It was always getting too hot and too sticky in weather as warm as this. She looked down at the cat, taking in it's bobcat-like features. "You look very much like a bobcat, although bobcats do not talk. You're lucky I didn't shoot you dead." She looked back up, seeing the village and coming to a halt behind a nearby tree. Her hair made her easy to be spotted by the villagers and palace guards, and she didn't want to risk being seen in men's clothing or with a possibly dangerous feline. "It would be best if you stayed in the trees. Any one of the guards here will kill you on sight, as well as some of the villagers who know how to hunt."

The new commotion had the fox's ears twitching. The forest was unusually unsettled today, he could hear whispers through the forest of peoples voices. Quietly he snuck around the forest with his sneaky fox feet, not making one sound. He hopped into a broken down tree trunk stub near a huge colder in the forest. He sat there in silence as he slowly looked around. Looking behind he once he heard voices, he saw a young woman with golden hair talking to a cat.

Cyclonus, watched these two, he wanted nothing more than his forest to be safe. and if these two were to do something wrong here, he would do something about it. He may love people, but his forest was something he didn't want harmed. A bad feeling curled up inside of him about these two. And his bad feelings were never wrong.

Something or someone might come to this forest soon, and he had a bad feeling that these two might be part of it somehow. The only way to get trouble out of the forest is to lead them out. Cyclonus, kept watching, his three tails split apart from each other and slowly moved. His white/silver fur might stick out, but maybe that would be a good thing. Maybe that might scare them off thinking this forest is haunted. But he just stared as the two had a conversation among themselves.

'If they stay good and pure in my forest I could let them stay.' he thought to himself. Along coming another thought. 'I shall speak to the spirits about these two and find out what I must. For now I shall wait and watch.' And that is what he just did, he waited.

Hearing her questioning about him talking he chuckled and purred slightly at her belly rub. "I can sing too." Coming to sit next to her he placed his paw on her shoulder. "Deer are quite easy to get, if you know how, and I'm a hunter, I know how." He grinned ever so slightly as his green/yellow eyes looked at her.

"Might I ask your name?" He'd say casually making conversation with her, until she warned him about the guards or hunters. "I'm a cat, no one eats cat... at least not this one...." He laid down and looked at her. "If they did, well it wouldn't be to comfortable for them... I'd give them heartburn or something like that." He held up a paw, showing his claws.

"I'm a fighter." As the wind picked up he smelled something quite magical, sitting up and looking around he narrowed his eyes, until he saw something silvery/white. Nuzzling her slightly he mewed. "Take me home with you? I promise, I'll bathe myself, and kill any mouse I see." He placed his paws on her hip to where he was on his hind legs.

"Oh.. and my name is Cameron... Cameron Thornhill." He grinned wildly, "Call me Prince Cameron if you would." Flicking his tail ever so slightly he sighed, "That is if you've ever heard of the neighbouring kingdom Urden... " He'd shrug and drop back onto all fours.

Allena's ears pricked up as she heard Cameron talking about a masquerade ball. "A masquerade ball?" She chipped in. Her hooves made soft thuds against the forest floor as she moved. Her cat friend was up a tree, and she shook her mane out. She tossed her head slightly and sighed slightly. What was a flyer like that doing out in the forest anyway? Allena decided she didn't really care. She wasn't going, no way. She had nobody to go with and she wasn't good with people anyway.

At the mention of the princess, Allena's heart sank. She hated any mention of the princess, it was a constant reminder of her feelings. She suppressed it though, not letting Cameron see her feelings. She looked at the fur on his coat and if she could, Allie would smile. A slight disturbance behind her made her turn.

A golden haired woman with a bow had pointed her arrow at her. Startled, she jumped and galloped out of sight. She shifted, and watched as the silver faded from the tips of her hair. She laid on the ground and watched as her cat friend asked the girl for a belly rub. She sighed to herself, wishing he would ask her to do that. She would gladly do it if he asked.

She complained about him chasing away her game, and Allie looked away, a little protective of the animals. She hadn't seen any deer recently though. She didn't understand sometimes. Allie watched as they moved out of sight, and Allie shifted positions, keeping an eye on her cat friend. She didn't want him to be hurt.

She watched as he introduced himself, and Allie became slightly disappointed. She thought to herself, before hissing his name. "Cameron!" It wasn't too loud, but she was pretty sure it was loud enough for him to hear. She thought about shifting back, but it was only Cameron. She stayed human and was sat in the foliage in her ragged tunic. "Cameron!" She hissed again, a little louder, in case he didn't hear.

"Might I ask your name?" Cryssie looks down at the cat and blinks.

"Cryssie. Cryssie Aurora." She says, peering behind her and seeing that there are no guards near the Aurora home. She takes a deep breath and looks back down, pursing her lips. The cat nuzzles her, and she melts.

"Take me home with you? I promise, I'll bathe myself, and kill any mouse I see." He puts his paws on her hips and she looks at him with a smile, shaking her head as if to say, Sure, butter me up why don't ya?" She sighs and nods.

"Alright, alright, fine. Come on, but don't get caught or I'm gonna pretend I don't know you." She made it clear that she wasn't going to get hung for keeping a wild animal in the house. She protected her friends until death, but this cat screamed sneakiness and trouble, as well as pure adorableness.

"Oh.. and my name is Cameron... Cameron Thornhill." He grinned wildly, "Call me Prince Cameron if you would." She began to walk out of the forest and snuck behind the house into the back door so as not to be seen in men's clothes or with the wild companion she now seemed to have. Cryssie gave Cameron a skeptical look.

"Aren't princes supposed to be...I don't know...human?" She asks, going into the changing room to switch into her commoner's dress. She could still hear him, and she wasn't in view of his gaze either. Even though he was only a cat, she still didn't want him to see her in such vulnerable attire.

She quickly changed into the dress and frowned as she was already beginning to feel hot in it. Walking back out into the room, she brushed through her golden hair and cleaned the dirt off of her face, sighing at how dreary her emerald eyes looked. She turned back to Cameron and sat down on the bed besides him.

"So, since you're supposedly a prince, does that mean you know how the princess died? No one around here seems to know, or they really do know and just won't tell me. All I remember is coming here and then the palace guards suddenly roaming about the town." She braided her hair into a thick braid that went down the left side of her body down to her waist, and placed her leather headband a top her head around her forehead as she waited for his answer.

Dimly, she thought she heard a whisper in the distance, but she assumed it was just her ears playing tricks on her. Surely there couldn't be more talking animals about.

"Cameron!" Cyclonus whipped around surprised at the someone coming up from behind him. "Cameron!" This time the name was loud and quickly he got up to his four paws and flicked his tail. He jumped off the tree trunk stub and bounced around as he ran past the girl with the golden hair and the cat. His speed was fast enough the girl with the golden hair didn't see him, but he made eye contact with the cat.

A flash of bright yellow sparked within the foxes golden eyes. His tail split into three tails split apart and made a 'swish noise'. Breaking eye contact from the cat the fox was gone, vanished into thin air just like that before the cat's eyes.

Cyclonus reappeared on top of the trees peering down as he watch the cat and the golden hair woman walk away. His eyes then flicked to the other woman that called after 'Cameron'. Apparently she didn't see the fox either, which was good for now. The fox thought to himself to get more information and fast. So he did just that, making his ways, jumping through the branches of the trees he was on a mission.

As she was talking to him, Cameron's ears flicked hearing someone call his name. Turning around he saw her eyes and blinked ever so slightly. A smile was on his face as he started to pounce forward. Turning his head and attention back on Cryssie he kept his wide smile. "I'm a cat, we don't get caught." He stuck out his small sandpapery pink tongue out at her before continuing to walk forward. As he stepped a paw forward, that was when he saw those eyes. Cameron stopped as he saw something unusual within them. Just as soon as Cameron blinked, the fox was gone.

Continuing on his way they seemed to have made it to Cryssie's house. As soon as she made the comment about princes being human he gave a feral growl. " I was human once." His ears seemed to have flattened against his skull as they continued walking. His fur standing up on end. "I was a prince coming to see the princess, though I was much much younger. We were arranged to be married but our parents wanted us to know each other, and become friends... then on my way here, I got the news of the King's death, but I still came... to get to know her." Cameron continued telling his story, though he wasn't sure this girl would listen or even believe him.

"I found out about the poisoning of the King, and his brother, the one who now takes the throne, got his little witch to turn me into a cat." Sitting down to lick his paw while Cryssie changed he continued, "I was thrown into the woods, to live on my own. Luckily, Allena found me, and she showed me how to survive as a cat." He laid down as he looked up at her new wardrobe. "Much more suiting."

He slyly said as he got up and stretched, just to end up leaping on the bed, and laying back down. Hearing her question about the princess he snorted. "She never died!" He almost seemed to shout. "Listen, when I was being turned into a cat, and I was still in their little kitty jail, he was saying not to kill his niece, just to remove her memory, and remove her from the castle." His tail flicked wildly as he spoke. "He made rumours that the princess died, and he had caught the assassin who did it, just so he would look like a nice guy." He snorted and looked away.

"Well nice guys do NOT turn princes into cats." He seemed a bit miserable, "I'd want to go to the masquerade and tell everyone the truth, but without the princess, and with me not in human form, I cannot do it." Cameron closed his eyes a bit disappointed. One eye opened and looked up at her, "And true love's kiss won't break the spell either... I need a witch or warlock to do it..."

Sighing sadly he looked up at her. "The thing is, when I was in the castle, I saw a glimpse of the little Princess." He seemed to smile. "Beautiful blonde curls, bright blue eyes, she was 5 at the time, and I was 7... Cryssie, I've been a cat for 13 years..." He looked up at her as if he had just realized that. "The princess is 18 years old.." Sighing ever so slightly he laid his head back down until the realization hit him, or at least it was a small thought.
The princess had golden hair just like Cryssie... and Golden hair is rare around these parts...could she? No... she prefers mens clothing, princesses do not wear pants.... Sighing once more, he flicked his tail ever so slightly as he continued thinking.

[OOC: Nami, Cryssie's eyes are green/gold :)]

Cryssie listened to the Prince's tale about how mean the king was and how he had turned him into a cat thirteen years ago. Right around the time Cryssie had been found in the woods, or so she had been told. She didn't remember how she had come to live with the Aurora's, only that they had told her God had sent her to them as a blessing. They had said they wanted to name her Blessing, but Cryssie had already been embroidered on her blanket. Her eyes flicked over to the door, where the tattered old blanket had been stapled to it so she could always look at it.

"It doesn't surprise me that the king would do that. After all, he is the one who sent the palace guards to patrol all day and night. Do you know how hard it is to sneak about when hunting time comes? Especially in breeches. Not my fault they make the dresses we wear so hot. If they were light and airy, like the beautiful dresses in my dreams, then I would have no problem hunting in women's clothing." She hmmphd, getting into her long time rant about the cons to women's clothing, and how easy the men had it.

"You say the princess isn't dead? That she's here somewhere? There aren't many eighteen year old girls here, only the very young and the very old. Although, Lissa acts like a princess. Always expecting people to wait on her, and how she's going to marry the prince one day. I wonder what she would say if she knew you were a cat..." Cryssie giggled at the thought.

"And golden hair? Well, I'm the only one with golden hair around here, and I assure you, I'm no princess." She sighed exasperately and smoothed out her dress, looking at Cameron with curious green eyes. How long had he been searching for this mysterious princess, and how could he not have come across her before?

Allena sighed as they moved, and guessed that she would attract more attention as a unicorn than a human being. Sighing, and, with a second glance at herself, Allie stood up and went after the cat-prince and the golden wave of almost-perfect hair. A glance at her own hair made Allie feel a little self-conscious. She ran after them hurriedly.

"Honestly, Cameron, you could at least wait for me next time." Allie said, trying to catch her breath, as she caught up with them both. She looked at the golden haired girl. "Hi...I'm Allena, but please call me Allie." She cringed at her words. She stood up, her breathing returning to normal. Allie sucked in a breath of cool oxygen. She caught a bit about not many eighteen year olds being around. "So how old are you?" She asked. She wasn't sure if it sounded rude but it didn't really mind how it sounded. She shot Cameron a look that said; "Be sure you know what you're doing. and flickered her gaze back to the golden haired woman.

"How can you be sure you aren't the princess?" Allie asked her. "From what it sounds like, you could well be." She told her. She smoothed out her un-ripped, un-tattered dress and Allie looked at herself in disgust. She really did look like a hermit that lived in a forest. Well, she supposed that she was a hermit that lived in the forest, but Allie wasn't sure if she cared or not.

In a full stop, halt, his eyes roamed around the forest, looking carefully as he creeped around, being sneaky like the fox he is. Sniffing the air he quickly dashed up the cliff of rocks like a hopping deer bouncing through the fields. When he reached the top edge of the cliff, he hooked his claws and dangled from the edge,swinging his body he jerked up flinging himself up forward into the air, his body started to shift and a bright light formed around him. Like a star in the sky fir but a moment, he was now falling down to his two feet in human form, parly, all but his ears and three tails that is. Putting his ears and tails away wasn't the problem he had either, he just liked them out, helps him hear better and the tails help him be balanced and walk more with elligints.

Shifting his weight in his kimono he pulled out a Japanese hand fan from the inside of the chest to the kimono. Waving it to his face as he walked down the top of the cliffs trail, he kept walking for a long distance to another part of the woods. It was a nice stroll and peaceful. His eyes roamed around looking at all the beauty that he never once got tired of. Peace is how he felt here in the woods. Any other place always made him feel unwelcomed and not himself.

About an hour later he reached his destination. A hidden pond within the forest, where the leaves and grass covers everything in it's path, where pink flowers bloom and animals roam. where a small waterfall drizzles water into the pond. It was the most magical place of the forest, nearly the only place unicorns and other magical creatures felt safe in.
Cyclonus didn't spot there, he kept walking, smiling sweetly at the other unicorns and bowed their head at him and went back to eating the plants. All animals in the forest has accepted him with welcoming arms- I should say welcoming paws, wings, fins and hooves, but that would be to much. To the animals Cyclonus is their protector the one they look up to for if there's any problems. The forest is there home, they all work together to protect it from unwelcomed guest.

Stopping at the bottom of the pond there was a little pond all by itself. At the top of it there was a spirit rock, with little sphere of spirits flying around the little pond. It was peaceful the sound the sphere make, like music in the air; chimes. It is one of the purest place of all the lands.

He sat down at the edge of the pond, across from the spirit rock, the only thing that kept them apart was the body of water before them. Cross cross Cyclonus started to meditate quietly. Back straight up, hands on each knee, perfect posture. The only thing that now moved was his three tails that stuck out behind him. ....Slowly inhales.....his chest slowly expanded, he held his breath for a moment and....Slowly exhales....his eyes fluttering shut and he was now in a trace of the spirits. nothing moving not even his tails, even the air itself and the forest all stopped in time.

(Post is a bit odd! Sorry about that if no one likes it, I could change it :P Thought this was a cool idea though.)

Cameron's eyes opened as he looked at her. You are 18?! and you have golden hair..." His voice was of full shock. Hearing Allie's remark he looked up at her and leapt on her shoulder, sitting on it ever so slightly. "Cryssie, meet Allie, my best friend." He purred lightly looking at his unicorn friend. "She's got the princesses eyes." He would whisper to her, low enough that Cryssie couldn't hear.

Looking back at Cryssie he sighed. She was the closest thing to the princess that Cameron had ever met. "Wait.. I have a way to answer this... a Riddle that my father said the princess and her family always knew."

He pressed a paw against Allie's cheek as he recited it like he would in front of the princess. "If she answers this correctly she deserves what I gave you years ago." He of course was referring to the dress. He had grabbed from the castle, a few years back. He sighed, and licked his paw.

"The riddle is, What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the evening, and three at night." He looked at her with his wide eyes," Think before you answer."

He appeared like a sphinx on Allie's shoulder his tail wrapped around her shoulders, his paws dangling down, resting slightly before her chest. His eyes and ears alert rooting for Cryssie to answer the correct answer.

Cryssie stepped back a little as a newcomer joined the group, whom Cameron introduced as Allie. "Um, hello..." Cryssie said and responded to Allie's question.

"How can you be sure you aren't the princess?" Allie asked her. "From what it sounds like, you could well be." Cryssie scoffed, shaking her head, especially at Cameron's shock when she seemed to fit the qualifications.

"I'm pretty sure I would know if I was a princess..." Cryssie muttered. She narrowed her eyes as Cameron whispered something to Allie. Then, Cameron said he knew a riddle and Cryssie rolled her eyes. "Fine, give me the riddle. Let's see what happens." She only said it to humour him, knowing there was no possible way she could be the princess.

"The riddle is, What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the evening, and three at night?" Cameron settled down on Allie's shoulder and Cryssie thought for a moment, before almost laughing because the answer was so obvious.

"A human! We crawl on all fours as a baby, walk on two legs as adults, and use a cane when we're old, techniqually making it three legs." Cryssie smiled triumphantly, then backtracked, "but that still doesn't make me the princess."

Cameron smirked as Cryssie answered. Leaping off of Allie's shoulder, he sat next to Cryssie and nodded. "It does make you a princess, for that is the correct answer... and only the King and Princess and Queen knew the answer." He nodded to Allie, letting her know to grab the dress before turning his attention back to Cryssie. Getting in her lap and placing his paws on her shoulders, "Cryssie! You are the long lost princess! You don't know how long we have awaited your return... well at least... most of us have." He couldn't help but purr as he rubbed his head against her chin.

Cameron halted his cat like behaviour before looking back at Cryssie. "You're supposed to marry me..." looking down he chuckled, "Not if you want to marry a cat, hell... I'm not sure if I would marry a cat..." Leaping down he pawed at the ground. "I don't think I even know how to be human."

The last part of his statement was more of a whisper as he curled into a ball and closed his eyes, though he was only pretending to be asleep. A soft purr still rustled through his chest.

"It does make you a princess, for that is the correct answer... and only the King and Princess and Queen knew the answer." Cryssie took a few steps back, backing up against a wall.

"You can't actually be serious!" She sank to the ground against the wall, shaking her head back and forth. Cameron got in her lap and she looked, frightened, into his eyes as she felt his paws on her shoulders.

"Cryssie! You are the long lost princess! You don't know how long we have awaited your return... well at least... most of us have." Cryssie turned away from him as his furry head rubbed against her chin, tears pricking her eyes. This can't be happening...I'm a peasant Aurora, not a royal Ayers...

Cameron said something, but Cryssie didn't hear him past the rushing of blood in her ears. She closed her hands in a fist and looked at the pair with tear-filled eyes. "I'm not a princess," she said, before standing up and sprinting out the door. Her parents, or at least the people she called her parents, yelled after her, not having known what just happened, but she didn't respond. She just kept running, into the forest she called her second home. She ran and ran, until the long hem of her dress caught on a thornbush, and she tumbled to the ground.

She wiped away distressed tears and tried to untrap her dress but to no avail. Instead, she growled in frustration, anger, and disbelief, and put her head in her hands, not knowing where to turn, or what to do.

Allena smiled at the cat as he leapt up onto her shoulder. She scratched his ears gently, and he whispered into her ear. "She has the princess's eyes." That simple sentence almost broke her on the spot, but Allie regained her composure very quickly. She smiled at the girl and he issued the riddle. She was thinking about the dress while he did so, and where she had hidden it.

She didn't register it when she answered correctly. Cameron leaped off her shoulder and told her, gesturing for her to get the dress. She watched as she ran away, and Allie sighed softly. "Go on after her, I'll be there soon. And I'll catch up. Don't forget to be a little gentler, it's a lot to take in." She stepped away, her hair turning silver. She leaped away just as she changed into her unicorn form.

Allie cantered all the way to the place she had hidden the dress. It was the purest place in the whole land...And the perfect place to hide something. Wind chimes filled her ears, and she looked around...To find a fox-eared man meditating. She looked a little longer, before tossing her head and walking around to where he stood. She used her long, elegant horn to tap the rocky formation across from the man, as customary for her to do. She was compelled to enter the spirit realm too, but resisted. She knew he could sense her anyway. She walked over to a hollow tree nearby, and carefully hooked the dress with her horn. Once it was safely on her horn, she laid it across her back gently, so it didn't touch the ground and didn't get ruined. She turned to leave.

When Cy came back to reality and out of the spirit world his body was formed back into a white fox. 'So she is the princess, I see and he is the fallen prince. But to help them should be quite interesting' Cy thought to himself.He bowed his head to the spirit rock and dashes off as fast as he could.

Cy wasn't in a rush or anything, but he felt if he was here to long, people would soon find it, so he never made his way to the secret part of the forest much, unless it was needed.

Dashing through tree to tree, rock to rock, hill to hill, Cy came to a up hult stop. Where he first spotted the people in his forest his sniffed around to see which way they headed too. Still they smelt a bit close. 'Hiding in the woods? How troubling.' He thought to himself and quickly dashed over to where he spotted a little house hidden in the forest.

The smell of humans smothered the air, quietly Cy creeped up and looked through the windows, his fox eyes roamed around the inside of the house until his eyes fell on the cat who was talking to them and them talking back.

'This is going to be trouble later, I just know it.' With a huff he jumped down and his tail flicked the window hard. He stat in the front of the door on the ground and stared up at the door waiting.