Adewen/ LittleSprite

Adewen or LittleSprite as her brother used affectonatly call her, worked at yellow stone national park and was on her way to check on some campers who were planning on hiking further into the surrounding forrested area before stopping for the night.

She wanted to warn them about a storm that was moving in and promised to be a bad one from the reports at the weather station.

Adewen had moved out here when she was old enough to leave there group, tho it wasnt likely they would stop her as she had yet to show any signs of shifting ability. Her brother could shift and he was younger than she by a year.

As could all the other members her age and none of them knew why she had yet to be able to.. Her father of corse was disapointed and refused to speak to her or allow her brother to, and her mother well she was nicer about it saying she was just a late bloomer but Adewen knew that she too was at a loss.

Adewen was allowed to leave with the promise she would of corse keep there existance secret... Adewen you there? Came the staticy question over the radio.. breaking in on her thoughts.

She picked up the CB mike and pushed the button to respond. Yea. i am here just checking on some campers in this section before heading back in.. You know the teen's who came out for a week before going to collage, i didnt see a radio with them earler and figured to warn them of the storm.....If you want go ahead and clock me out and let Keven clock in. I shouldnt be long.

She set the radio down long enough to pull over to the side of the trail she was on and put the jeep she was driving in park.

she couldnt quite pick up what was said from there over the radio because of all the static, but she guessed it was something along the lines that she needed to watch it, and hurry back..

Picking the raido up again she said. I gotta go from here on foot i've got my hip radio if i need you..

With that she got out of the jeep and looked up at the darkining sky, Thunder rumbled still at a bit of a distance but moving in fast it was going to cut lose soon.

She checked her wepon, not really liking the gun, but knowing it was a necesarry part of her job for safty reasions, and she would use it if she had to.

she slid her rain coat on over her rangers uniform, Her red hair pulled back into a braid to keep it out of her way, she put her hat back on, and grabbed her backpack with hiking gear, and first aid kit as well as other esentals.

Everything in order she begain following the Campers tracks from where she had stopped them upon there arrivel. They had camped in this spot for two days before moving further on today. She shook her head over how easy there tracks were to follow.. Teen's she thought..

As she scanned the ground her ice blue nearly white eyes picking up the broken branches, and other obvious signs as to the direction they had gone. If it didnt rain too soon she would catch up to them in no time. From there tracks she would guess they were an hour or two a head of her..

Adewen continued following the campers the teens were making good time and had only stopped a few times to rest from what she could tell, and didnt stop for long periods just short breaks to catch there breaths and then moved on...

It looked however like they were moving up twords Wraith Falls

Trailhead: Pullout ¼ mile east of Lava Creek there was Picnic area there, for hikers and campers to enjoye the view and rest.

It travels through open sagebrush and Douglas-fir forest to the foot of Wraith Falls cascade on Lupine Creek. She would be caught up in no time.

Just as this thought entered her mind the thunder grew louder and she hoped the teens were smart enough to stop and camp there at the falls insted of continuing on.

Picking up the pace she knew they had to be aware of the approching storm now, and making camp. The sooner she reached them however the sooner she could return to the jeep get back to base, and to a nice warm cup of coffee.

As her luck would have it tho they hadnt stopped and insted taken another direction and it was begining to rain. They were now heading twords Bunsen Peak. She used her hip radio to report in, and let them know she would be longer than expected getting nothing but static.. she debated turning back and searching for them in the morning.., but continued on insted..

Whether you start south of Bunsen Peak on the Bunsen Peak road or north of Bunsen Peak on the other end of what used to be the Bunsen Peak road, you will be traveling about three miles along the road.

(now closed to automobiles) before you actually reach Osprey Falls Trail. From the south, the road starts out on level terrain, skirting Swan Lake Meadows. However, the road/trail does become steep and winding before long.

From the north, the old road travels through a small meadow where birds and waterfowl are often seen before it starts a steady climb through up through forested area on the back side of Bunsen Peak.

This route offers good views of Sheepeater Canyon, and moose and deer can often be seen in the area. The actual Osprey Falls Trail starts at the rim of Sheepeater Canyon and drops some 800 vertical feet through a series of switchbacks to the floor of the canyon.

From there, the trail follows the Gardiner River to the base of the 150 foot falls, where vertical cliffs tower 500 feet above you. You can stand at the bottom of the falls and enjoy the spray of the waterfall, but be careful not to lose your balance on the wet, slippery rocks.

Adewen finnaly caught up to the teens as they were making there way back across the slippery rocks at the bottom of the falls and begain trying to help them back onto solid ground, Stupid stupid she thought.. wondering what in gods name they had been thinking..

Once the teens were all on dryed land she explained the saverty of the storm and that they needed to find shelter imedatly.. and pointed to an indenten in the canyon wall that would be large enough for them to take shelter in.. She herself was standing near the edge of the falls and hadnt quite moved away from the slippery area yet.

As tho to imphasize her words ligtnihg flashed in the sky lighing up the canyon walls and thunder rolled across the night sky reminding Adewen of a dragons roar, the wind picked up and the rain poored even harder. The teens hurryed to where she had pointed just as she lost her own footing on the rocks and fell ...

She waited to feel the impact of the water and the rocks but felt nothing... accept the sensation of continuing to fall, before everything became dark and there was nothing... nothing but the feeling of falling, it was both frightining and exillerating all at once..

Then suddenly there was light and she reolized it was because she was waking up.. Had she hit her head and not known it? Had the teens gotten her back to the station? was she in the hospital? or had she survived the fall and floated down river? Damn..

Adewen sat up slowly her head hurting as she looked around.. Nothing looked familiar, and she wasnt in a hospital, or anywhere in yellow stone. Where the hell was she? She stood slowly shakly getting to her feet as she studied her surroundings debating on which direction to head in.

Desert surrounded Adewen on all sides as far as the eye could see. A hot sun shone directly overhead, the heat of noon making the sands shimmer in a haze on the horizon.

From this haze, a shape slowly became apparent. It was moving and soon would reveal the figure of a young, thin woman swathed in black. On her shoulders was slung two skins, presumably filled with welcoming water.

Adewen herself was clothed, but that clothing was different to what she had worn on Earth. She would have to look at herself to find out just how different.

The woman approached cautiously and soon Adewen would see that something was odd about her. Something that caught at the edge of her senses - something otherworldly.

When she spoke, her voice contained - somehow - both calming reasurrance and an underlying menace that seemed effortless, "Welcome, Stranger, to Illusion Vale. I am Wraith and I have water if you wish it..." the strange woman unslung a water skin from her shoulder and stretched it out to Adewen, her smile somehow both welcoming and threatening at the same time.

With the desert surrounding her, and the heat beating down she knew she coudnt stay in one place or she'd get no where fast and die of thurst.. She had just decided to head east when she noticed a figure in the distance getting closer, and wondered for a moment if she were already loosing it.

She raised her arm to sheild her eyes from the sun and get a better look at the figure and noticed the clothing she wore was not her rangers uniform... Things just kept getting weirder..

The figure was close enough now that Adewen could tell that it was antoher woman, tho there was something about her that made Adewen think she wouldnt want to make this particular woman angry. Something .. Dangerous...

She thought about going in another direction for a moment but then where was she going to go.. she had no clue where she was... and this was the first person she had seen, so she starting walking twords her meeting her part way..

As the woman spoke it reafermed Adewens feeling about this woman being dangerious, but the reasurance that was there too let her know she was alright for the time being.. Thank you for the water. Adewen said accepting it as she did so and after taking a sip trying to save as much of it as she could she asked. Where am I ?, How did i get here? , and if you dont mind my asking Who are you?

Wraith smiled, "You are in a place called Illusion Vale. Its a different world to the one you've just left. I'm sorry, but I cannot send you back. Many people from different worlds have come here and I have been trying to work out how to get them back."

She shook her head then, sadness staining her eyes, "I do not know how you got here, anymore than I know how to send you back. But sadly, most people experience near death before waking up in this world."

Then she did smile, "Like I said, I am Wraith, the Caretaker around here. I was the First and have been helping others here for a long time."

She held out her hand and waved it in an easterly direction, "Come, there is shelter, food and water nearby. I'm sure you have more questions and I am more than pleased to answer them. We can talk while we walk. And keep the waterskin, I have no need of it."

Adewen thought her coment about not needing the water a bit odd but followed her to the shelter all the same. There was an odd smell coming from her as well.. she couldnt place it tho.. it wasnt bad.. but well differnent.

I am Adewen, or LittleSprite, Glad to meet you Wraith.. How did you know i was here? She asked as they walked she knew Wraith had said she was the caretaker of this place where ever it was and that she couldnt go back..

Adewen wasnt sure exactly how she felt about that, but then it wasnt like she had much to go back for even if she wanted to. She also remembered Wraiths words about the near deat experance and thought back to the teens and the falls where she had fallen..

sorry i am sure you get these questions alot but its all new to me... dose everyones clothing changed when they arrive here too?, and umm am i dead? i dont feel dead..

"Nice to meet you, Adewen," she chuckled, "LittleSprite is such an unusual name - I like it." Then she paused, pursing her lips a little, "I have the ability to sense some of the people coming here. There are plenty who I don't sense, but you weren't one of them."

She smiled at the woman that walked beside her, "Yes, I do get them, but its part of the job. I am here to answer all that I can - so you being dead. I do not believe you are. You have simply been given another lease on life - granted, in a different world. But you aren't dead, at least. As for the clothing, that seems to be as random as what you become when you get here. Some people come here naked, others in what they were before... others still, in something completely different."

She tilted her head, "I must say that you are not human anymore. If you were human before, that is. For some reason, humans cannot exist here in the Vale - at least I haven't come across any that can."

Adewen looked at her tilting her head to the side a moment thinking before she spoke, her eyes a little sad, but her voice calm and steady... Little sprite was a nickname my brother gave me..., and well i am glad that i havent died.. ummm but what if you wernt exactly human before you arrived here? Tho i may as well have been she thought for all the abiltys she had never gained while growing up as others had.

She shook her head dismissing that last thought she had a chance to start over and she was willing to take it, dwelling on the past would help nothing and no one.

The cloting she was wearing was cloth and covered her, but reminded her more of a jenie's costume, or something that that chick from zena what was her name Gabrialla would wear...

It was comfortable and breathed well, The light blue of the cloth matching her eyes and bringing them out making them more noticable..

She brought her hands up to her her red hair, noticing it was back in a braid held by a peace of cloth the same color.

she looked over at Wraith so what do i do now ? where do i go ?

Wraith smiled, "Well, if you weren't human, you most likely came over here as what you were before. But I cannot tell you that unless you tell me what you were before.... " she tilted her head, thinking, "Perhaps, if you wish to keep it a secret, I can tell you what you are now."

She paused, readying Adewen for what she was going to say, "You are, in this world, a Shapeshifter." She held off on saying any more, her judgement of this new Shifter being held in check.

Her hand clenched into a fist and she had to fight the urge, as she always did around Shifters, to kill. This one, she hoped, was not like the others.

"As for what you do next and where you go, you can come with me to our humble little town. We call it Vale City - though its more of a village than a city." She smiled, her teeth carefully not showing.

"There you can food, safety and shelter... a place to stay until we can figure out how to get you home."

Adewen waited deciding to hear what she had now become and didnt show any surprise when Wraith said that she was a shifter, just a bit of curiousity about how she had known..

She also felt that sence it was very unlikly that her people would be found by anyone here in this relm or vale that she could speak freely of them.. I was a shifter before i arrived here, but i had no powers on earth, my family did, but for some unknown reasion i did not. She watched as wraiths hand tightened into a fist and her face changed as tho she were fighting some sort of urge..

Alonria waited something about Wraith's demenure changed and not for the better was she going to attack her.. should she stay with her? trust her?

Then just as suddenly everything changed again and she seemed fine.. Adewen decided she needed to be wary of everyone until she knew more about this place and its people. I will go with you to the Vale.. It seems as good a place as any to begin a new life.

Wraith nodded, "I have never heard of a Shifter on Earth before..." she shrugged, "But I was human then.." she trailled off and kept walking.

She shook her head, "Please forgive me.... I'm not very well today." She shrugged, "I didn't get enough sleep." It was a lie and both of them would know it, but at least she had said it with a smile. She was just trying to put Adewen at ease, without telling her the reason why Wraith was so wary of her.

She nodded again and began walking once more, the sun beating down on them both, "Thank you. I appreciate you coming with me. Not all people do and I fear that I cannot protect them from this world..." she trailled off again.

"Can I ask, what you could do when you were a shifter?"