The Outcast

Lily was not allowed out of the house in the next few days. Her parents had kept her under house arrest as though that was going to protect her from the decision that had been made.

“We’ll take it in turns to have days off work” Her father had planned as though this would stop officials coming in and dragging Lily away in the middle of the day. Perhaps it was even working initially, every time someone came to urge Lily into preparing for her journey they were chased off by whichever parent was still home.

The two cats kept telling Lily that they would give up eventually, but the logic and the pessimist within her knew the reality. If this was the best plan for the Kingdom, then they wouldn’t stop coming until she had started on the journey.

If they were going to have given up, they would have done so already. Instead, the Elders seemed to have leaked the information to many of the central city and more citizens were turning up day by day on the doorstep to plead with Lily’s parents to stop being protective. It was the ones who were sympathetic but logical that her parents struggled to make leave. Apparently, the reality of the situation was beginning to sink into them as well, but none of the family spoke outwardly about it when they weren’t hounded by others.

At least, they didn’t until six days after shutting Lily in the house.

Her mother had walked into Lily’s bedroom to let her know that dinner was ready and to get washed up, but before any word could leave her lips she let out a shriek instead. The sound caused Lily’s father to come running through the house, his feathered wings flexing behind him.

“What is it?” He asked before gasping as he followed his wife’s line of sight “Lily!”

Lily stood in her bedroom with a sheepish and guilty expression on her face, except, she didn’t look like Lily Rosales now. Her hair was a soft chocolate brown and the eyes which screwed up a little expecting punishment were a gentle but deep green colour. Even the shimmer on her skin was gone, replaced with flattering freckling over her pale skin.

“What have you done?!” He demanded instantly.

“I… well…” Lily started, glancing at the bowl which she had been mixing magic in. “I was trying to make a less strenuous way to change my appearance rather than constantly focus magic.”

“You are not going!” Her mother yelled.

“Mom…” Lily tried to interject, but she faltered at the sight of fear swimming in her mother’s green eyes. Gulping back the lump in her throat, she started again “You know they aren’t going to stop coming to get me to do it; it’s the first time they’ve ever thought I’d be useful.”

“But you are…” Her mother was cut off by Oscar who yowled loudly as though to stop her talking, though this got him a very vicious glare sent his way.

“I just thought that when, if,” Lily corrected herself quickly, “they wear us down, I should be as ready as I can be… so I can definitely come back.”

It pained her parents for them to see Lily already resigned to such a dangerous plan. It wasn’t that she was being brave, it was simply that she didn’t see that she had any choice. Lily was the outcast of the Kingdom, everyone other than those in this house would be all for her being the one in danger. And there was literally no other fairy who could do it as there had never been another without wings.

“Besides,” Lily tried to force some kind of cheerfulness into her voice now, voicing the only piece of optimism which she could think of about the prospect of going out of the boundaries of fairydom “If I managed to pull this off, not only could I save people, but some people might actually be willing to look and talk to me when I’m older.”

“Oh…” Her mother breathed out a small sob. This was the first time in many years that Lily had spoken about how her rejection by society affected her.

After glancing at Oscar and Kiki, both of whom looked like they were resigned to the unspoken decision in the air, Lily’s father sighed. “Are you sure about this Lil?”

Lily let her shoulders shrug slightly “It’s not like there’s really much choice, so I just want to be ready. I don’t want to be found out.”

A heavy silence filled the room, broken only by the sniffs of her mother who was trying to keep her sobs from properly starting out again.

“So, you’ve been experimenting with potions?” Her father queried with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, not quite. It looks like a potion, but it’s mostly water magic with the right levels of light and shadow mixed in to make it something I can drink for a lingering effect.” Lily commented, sounding a little less nervous. This was something she had played with a lot when she was younger but had given up on the idea of changing how she looked after realising that no matter what she looked like if she still had no wings it wouldn’t help her.

“Well, it’s nothing I’ve ever seen done” Her father smiled softly, it was forced but he was clearly trying to keep his tone light rather than add to any concerns unspoken between them all. “You’ll be able to convince a lot of people if you pick up skills this easily without teaching.”

Lily smiled softly up at her father, silently grateful for the message he was passing on. If she did do this, he would believe that she would do it well and come back to them without a problem.

It was certainly difficult for her parents to accept, but two days later when an official turned up to parley with them for agreement, they let them cross the threshold of the home. That day it became set in stone that Lily Rosales was going to be heading out to the witches’ boot camp.

And she wasn’t given long to prepare either; seven days.

The first day was spent standing in front of the Elders again, then telling her all the things that were expected of her. They lectured her on the behaviour that both she and her companions should display, though as Fairydom had only seen Witchdom once a century in a battle for the last god-knows-how-many millennia, none of the Elders really knew much about this subject.

“Your companions shouldn’t speak and should act like normal cats unless it’s clear that Witch companions can speak. They also should not fly, I don’t believe there’s ever been a record of a Witch’s companion flying when they have been seen.” Clara Lior explained after a lengthy debate over what they knew for sure and what they didn’t.

Out of all of them, the Light Elder seemed to be the only one who thought this actually had a shot at working. The others seemed to be more of the mindset that it just didn’t matter if it didn’t.

Lily, who hadn’t spoken throughout that day, simply nodded to show she understood what Clara Lior was saying to her. She was white-haired again, the potion only working for a span of twelve hours so far, and she stood without her companions who had been ordered to wait outside. They had a habit of trying to stand up for Lily where she wouldn’t speak up, so they weren’t welcome to interrupt the instructions she was given.

By the time she came out of the Elder council room, Kiki was stalking up and down the corridor growling and hissing while Oscar stood by the door like a guardian statue with a glare in his expression.

“So…” Kiki snarled, obviously very angry about being left outside. “What did they have to say?!”

Lily bent down to run her shimmering fingers through the small cat’s short black fur, trying to soothe her. As she scratched behind the kitten’s left ear, Kiki relaxed a little, though she quickly caught herself and lifted a paw to bat Lily’s hand away.

“Don’t do that!” Kiki grumbled, causing Lily to smile fondly.

“Let’s head home, Lil can tell us on the way.” Oscar piped up, padding across to them and nuzzling his head into Lily’s right thigh as she crouched there in the corridor.

On the way back, with the cool autumn breeze relaxing her muscles somewhat, Lily went over what had been ordered of her.

“So, we can’t talk?” Kiki asked indignantly “But what if someone is horrid?”

“Nope, not unless we hear their companions talking as well,” Lily said.

“Can we scratch them instead then?” Kiki chortled.

“Ki…”

“Of course! If they are mean, we can bite and scratch them… that’s normal cat behaviour” If Oscar had a human expression, he would have been smirking evilly as he spoke now.

“Guys, be nice”

“Only if they are” Oscar grumbled in a warning.

“Anyway,” Lily continued, quietly feeling as grateful as always when the felines stood up for her when she didn’t have the strength to do so “They also tried to tell me about witch customs, typical spell work and all that, but it turns out that we only have their attack magic recorded in the history files and those are all incredibly vague as they were recalled from people who survived the century attacks.”

“That’s not helpful!” Kiki snapped. “How are you meant to act like a witch if you’ve got no idea how they act in the first place?”

Lily shrugged.

“I guess they are hoping that because you are so quiet, you’ll just be the silent one at the back and observe everything without being paid attention to?” Oscar interjected thoughtfully. “I mean, if you look like them, you’ll just be the quiet kid who can slip away from groups to look around.”

Lily thought about it for a moment before shrugging again, this time a little more like she was resigned to that if that was how her fate would go.

“If they leave me be for being quiet then it might be an ok experience?” She mused, hopping across to the next interlocked tree branch. “I can just learn more magic and find out the information without any hassle.”

“That would be easier than going to school here” Oscar chortled. Lily’s lips twitched into a smile, a small glimmer of hope rising in her chest. If it did work out that way, if it was a simple case of her blending into the background and finding out something that could save her parents without her getting caught, she would be very happy with her lot.

“Lily?” A male voice sounded out close behind her causing her to spin around on the balls of her feet. Her silver eyes didn’t really need to confirm who the awkward, low voice belonged to, but she was stunned to have actually been approached by Jared Linwood. He only ever interacted with her to help her out of a potentially dangerous situation.

Jared was about a head taller than her, and he still kept his black hair short and cropped close around his ears. Lily noticed that the top of his hair was a lot messier now than it had been when he was younger.

“Erm… yes?” Lily’s voice was always weaker when she spoke to anyone other than her family and companions if she spoke at all. Jared was no smoother though, his wings flicked nervously behind him, the black feathers rippling a little in the breeze. Lily never would understand how the son of an Elder could end up with no people skills and no desire to be around others for long. But, perhaps having a mother so strict had made the guy feel it was safer to just stay away from anything that could get him in trouble?

“They, I mean, the elders… they forgot to give you this,” He said in a timorous voice holding out his right hand to her.

Lily’s eyes dropped down to the object in his open hand. It was a prettily designed stick. She felt her eyebrow raise as she stared at it in silence.

“Witches use wands? They um… told you about that… right?”

Lily shook her head dumbly.

“They left out a piece of vital information like that?!” Kiki cried, causing Jared and the stoat companion on his shoulder to flinch and jump in surprise before looking down at her.

“They should have told you, Jared was sent to go pick this up” The stoat sounded reproachful as her fur bristled a little. “You don’t think they sent you so it would be too late to get to her?” She spoke to Jared who had an understanding and somewhat ashamed expression on his face.

“My mother is…” He stopped himself before he could finish that whisper, his body shuddering as though he had caught himself before he could do something that would bring on an onslaught of suffering after.

“Your mother is being cruel if she knowingly was going to let Lily walk into this without something so critical!” Oscar growled “As are all the other Elders. Oh, one day I’ll scratch them so deeply they’ll never heal.”

“Oh! Do a letter on each face so when they stand in their order they spell something rude!” Kiki piped up excitedly.

“Good idea!” Oscar chortled, ignoring the judging look he was receiving from the stoat.

“Anyway. At least we caught you” the stoat, whose name had never reached Lily’s ears, spoke loud over the two cats chuckling evilly together on the branch while debating what they could write out that was incredibly rude but five letters. “It’s been made with your hair in the centre, your mother provided it, so hopefully you’ll be able to target your magic through it easier to keep up the pretence.”

Lily blinked at the wand again before reaching out and taking it. It was light to hold, and it seemed so slim and breakable. But it was engraved carefully, becoming thinner towards one end.

“How?” She breathed.

“What?” Jared seemed to be surprised when her silver eyes looked up to meet his own black ones.

“How am I meant to target magic through there?”

For a moment, Jared stammered over a word before he looked at his stoat companion and then back at Lily. “I, I don’t know” a small awkward flush rose under the black shimmer on his skin. “I’m sorry.” He added quickly at the mixed look of both confusion and worry that crossed Lily’s face.

Lily shook her head. “It’s ok. Thank you for bringing it to me.” She couldn’t help the little twitch that pulled on the right side of her lips. Once again, Jared Linwood had come into her path with something that would save her from potentially severe danger.

Raising his hand to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck, Jared glanced away “No problem. Erm… good luck, be careful.” With that he was gone, his wide wings giving a strong beat to lift him from the branch and take him back to his home.

“You’re blushing.” Oscar’s voice stated bluntly, causing Lily to snap back to reality and force her eyes off the black feathered wings.

“Am not…” She grumbled before turning back in their direction of home.

The following six days were all spent inside, trying with all her might to learn how to make her magic to direct itself through the end of the wand that was given to her. It was constant practice and by the time she had gone to bed that final night she hadn’t got anything but light to appear at the tip of the wand.

“I’m so in trouble…” She had mumbled to nothing as she fell asleep that night, both the cats already snoring at the end of her bed.

The morning Lily was going to leave her cosy home and set out on the mission she had been given, she did not find herself faced with much of a send-off. Not that she had expected one, but this fact seemed to be something that her mother had focused on.

“They forced her to do this and they can’t even turn up to give her one last word of luck or advice” Lily’s mother bristled as she stood by the front door. It was likely that she was focusing on what annoyed her about the situation to prevent herself from crying again.

“I’m glad they didn’t turn up!” Kiki mewled with a small growl. “Those elders are the last thing we wanna see before leaving!”

Oscar nodded in agreement as he pawed at the ground. They were both waiting for Lily who had taken the potion she had matured for longer effects, and to change into what they could only guess was a fitting attire for a witch.

When she finally emerged, Lily wore a mid-length flowing dress that hung off her shoulder and had long flared sleeves. It was fully black in colour, the only colour in her attire now being the glittering blue-green jewel on her necklace.

“Stop tugging at it” Lily’s mother sighed lightly as she watched Lily pull on the hem as though trying to make it grow longer and cover more of her pale skinned legs.

“You know I don’t like dresses,” Lily grumbled.

“I know, but this is the only kind of record they had of what witches wore” Her mother started kindly.

“Yeah, a century ago…”

“Your mother modified it as best she could to make it look modern, but we can only guess what they wear now” Lily’s father sounded out behind her, his hand reaching out to brush Lily’s now brown hair out of her face as he came to a stop in front of her.

“I know.” Lily conceded. “Sorry.”

Her mother smiled weakly and moved over to Lily and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. “I know you don’t like dresses, but we couldn’t risk it.”

Lily nodded mutely. She couldn’t believe that she was actually going to do this. She had never been away from the safety of her home for long, and now she was going to venture further than anyone ever had done previously. Well, not in the last few centuries anyway. Fear gripped her. It seemed to fill her stomach with a lead that made her body feel heavy and unbalanced as she pulled back from her mother and attempted to give her a reassuring smile.

Lily couldn’t quite do it, so she turned to her father instead and wrapped her arms around his waist to give him a hug goodbye as well. She took the few moments that her face was hidden to furiously blink away the prickling at the corner of her eyes.

She was terrified. More afraid than she had ever been in her life, more afraid and uneasy than River and her gang had ever made her feel. But she had decided to not let her parents worry any more than they already were.

“I love you both” Her voice was muffled against her dad’s chest, but both of them were smiling woefully at her when she pulled away and picked up her small bag of stuff.

“Love you too sweetheart,” they said in unison before looking at the cats “Look after her ok?”

“Of course!” Kiki flew up onto Lily’s shoulder and stowed her wings.

“Forever and always” Oscar assured them as he sat smartly beside Lily’s right foot, looking up at her with his green eyes fondly. She was so glad that she didn’t have to do this without these two, Lily was certain she wouldn’t have the strength without them.

With one last look towards her parents, Lily turned to open the door and summoned a long vine to move through and wrap around her wrist and arm. She paused only to allow Oscar to jump up and steady himself, back feet on her bag and front feet on her free shoulder. Then, she stepped out the door and dropped towards the ground, the vine steadying her descent to one that was graceful and steady.

The woodland floor was quiet when Lily’s feet came into contact and the cats jumped down from her shoulders. It was very strange to be outside the barrier which protected their home. For one, she felt like a giant. Up in the kingdom, she lived inside a branch, down here she could have snapped that same branch but trying to climb it with the height and weight she had now.

For a while, she just stood there looking around the woodland. It was a beautiful bright day, so the sun picked through the canopy and illuminated the undergrowth with golden strips of light. The ground was littered with fallen leaves of the autumn days and the orange and red hues from above made the sight before her somewhat magical in its own rights.

The fear within kept her feet rooted to the spot though. She had no idea what was out here, what kind of creatures lived out here and what kind of people she might meet.

“Come on. We got your back!” Oscar nudged the back of her calf, giving her a gentle push to get her legs working.

“Yeah, we might not be able to talk when we get there, but we’ll always be with you!” Kiki added.

Lily smiled softly, feeling the lead in her stomach ebb away a little as her right leg moved to take that first step, followed by another, and another, until she had fallen into a slow but steady walk away from the kingdom she had called home for so long.