My name is Ethan Peregrine, and this is not my story. This is the story of a girl, a girl who could not avoid fate. I guess I couldn’t escape it either, but at least my fate was to end with a “Happily Ever After.” Well, at least it was supposed to.

My whole life changed the day I met her. Kit Sparen, the most confusing, weird, wild, absent minded pain-in-the-rear I had ever met. Kit changed everything, or maybe, it was always meant to be that way. Either way, the ending was same. I was alive, and Kit, was dead. I was saved, and she was destroyed. And not just from some random enemy or accident, you see, the one who killed Kit, was me. Her blood is on my hands, and so, I have taken it upon myself to tell you this story so that something like that will never happen again. This isn’t a good versus evil, Romeo and Juliet, or a finding your own path story. This is Kit’s story.

The day I met Kit wasn’t exactly a good day for me. I had just been kicked out of Saint Ritter's’ Training Academy for Aspiring Knights. In my defense, how was I supposed to know Sir Empoté was deathly allergic to mushrooms? So what if he had told me before, it wasn’t like I was the only one who never listened to their mentor.

I grumbled as I packed my bags up in my dorm room. The letter, explaining my delinquency and ignorance, sat crumpled in a small ball on my woolen bed sheets.

To my left, my dorm mate, Quinn, shook his head at me. “I told you to listen when they talk to you, and now look at what happened.”

I scowled, I knew he was right; I just didn’t care. “I’m on my way out of this dirt hole, that’s what happened.”

“Well, this dirt hole is supposed to make a lot of us rich someday.”

“How?” I asked, “By teaching us to bow down to the upper class and pray they bless us with a few scraps? No thank you.” Quinn rolled his eyes.I stuffed the last of my belongings in my bag with anger, shutting the clasp with a sharp “click”. I lugged it off my bed, turning towards Quinn. “Well old buddy, I guess this is goodbye.”

“We aren’t buddies.” He replied, monotone.

“Hm, no matter.” I said, shrugging it off and brushing my dark bangs away, only to have them fall back down and cover my vision with a blanket of curls all over again. I turned towards the door and marched out, pretending not to hear Quinn's snide whisper, “Good riddance.”

As I headed for the way out, I felt the sharp prickle of eyes turn towards me, and the ruthless whispers of teens with something new to gossip about. I knew none of their words were kind. I was a troublemaker and not well liked. But I was too proud to care about what others said about me. So, I did what I always did, and held my head high, ignoring them.

Fresh air greeted me at the exit, and I breathed in deeply, reveling in the new found freedom. My mother would be very disappointed, but I was glad to be rid of this place. Ever since my father had died, my mom had been working as hard as possible to keep this small, broken family, consisting of me and her, afloat. This school was supposed to be a way for me to get started on a career and earn us some more cash.

Unfortunately, for my mother, I wasn’t exactly an obedient, hard-working child. I was lazy and disrespectful. I knew my flaws; I just never tried to fix them.

I wasn’t stupid, I knew I would never amount to anything, but in my mind, nobody did. Death took everybody in the end, regardless of how powerful, rich, meek, or poor they were. And if the world didn’t give a damn me, why should I give a damn about the world?

I continued my march home, taking my time and walking at a slow gait. I finally reached Wayward forest after about a mile. A “Cursed” forest, most travelers avoided it at all costs. But curses were for fairy tales, and fairy tales for the ignorant. So I ignored the yanking in my gut and whistled as I entered the forest. Nothing happened for the first few minutes, but after about a mile, I began to notice something weird.

It sounded as if something in the trees was whistling with me. I shook my head, probably a figment of my imagination. I began walking again, this time very cautiously, I whistled a different tune now, and listened carefully. There it was again! I was being followed.

“Alright, who’s there?!” I called out. Silence. Then a small chuckle.

“Wow, you’re good! I never thought you would figure me out!” A small figure leapt out of the tree, landing in front of me.

“AGH!” I jumped backwards, tripping over my feet as I stumbled away, screaming. With a loud rush of air, I landed on my rear. The figure leaned over me and I managed to get a better look at this startling person.

It was a girl. She was skinny and lithe, with pale blonde hair cut into a short, choppy bob; loose strands curling around her face. Her skin was incredibly pale. Not in a sickly way, but in an almost china doll way. She was smooth and fragile looking. 

Her eyes were what startled me the most. They were a hypnotic bright green color. Like sunshine on grass. They were big and questioning, almost like she was a small child, learning about the world for the first time. 

Her appearance just got odder as I realized she wore male clothing. Close fitting pants, a white shirt, thick traveling boots, and a thin cloak, which was a shade of emerald that I had never see before.

In other words, she was confusingly beautiful.

“Close your mouth, you look like a fish.”

I snapped the mouth that I hadn’t realized was open shut and glared at her. Despite how pretty she was, her words spoiled the illusion. “Who are you?” I asked. The girl tilted her head, smiled, and stood up straight, her hands on her hips.

“My real name is a secret,” She winked and put a finger to her lip.

“But you can call me Kit! Kit Sparen, if you require my full fake name!”

I groaned as I stood up. This girl was beginning to get on my nerves. “Nice to meet you Kit. Name’s Ethan. Now leave me alone.”

And with that, I walked away with what little pride I had left. But it was to no avail, Kit began walking right beside me, and started talking.

“You know, I’ve never met an Ethan. It’s an interesting name. So’s mine, but you wouldn’t understand since I didn’t tell you it. Hey, are you from that academy at the edge of the forest? You came from that direction, but you aren’t super buff like most of the boy’s there, and your hair is too out of control, which I like, much better than those military cuts. I bet you learned how to fight there! I think it’s pretty cool to learn how to fight, do you have a sword? I have a dagger, it’s not as big as a sword, but it’s pretty handy for when you get close to your enemies. Do you have any enemies? I bet you do, someone who is training to be a knight must surely have a reason to do so. Oh! Are you going to fight them now? Is that why you’re leaving the acad-”

“SHUT UP!!!” I screamed in frustration.

Kit wrinkled her nose in disgust, as if she had just tasted something gross. “Well that’s not very nice.”

“Yeah, well, you asking me all these dumb questions and stalking me isn’t very nice either!”

Kit pouted and crossed her arms, “Maybe if you actually answered some they wouldn't be dumb anymore, and, for your information, this is my forest so yeah, I’ll be walking with you the rest of the way and there’s nothing you can do about it.” And with that said, she glared at me, waiting for an answer.

“Fine, yes I am from the academy, and no I don’t have a sword. Right now I’m considering making you my enemy, and if this keeps up I’ll fight you, and no, that’s not why I’m leaving the academy, also, you have a dagger?” I gazed at her questioningly. Girls didn’t normally carry weapons.

“Yup, and before you begin all that ‘but you’re a girl’ nonsense, remember that I am a trained fighter and have lived in this forest for a long time and defended it from bandits and such."

“Wait, you live here, like, in the trees?”

“Well duh, I said it was my forest, didn’t I?”

“Alright then.”

I began walking faster hoping this strange and backwards girl would leave me alone. But she just lengthened her strides and kept following me. Was there no escape?!

“Listen, could you maybe, go back into the trees and let me be on my way?”

“Nope.”

I growled and just decided to ignore her. Which wasn’t easy, because she just kept talking, and talking, and talking. Right before I snapped, Kit grabbed me by my hair, and yanked me to the ground behind some bushes.

“Wha-!”

“Shhh!”

Kit pointed over the top, revealing two burly and ugly men trampling across the forest with loud thundering footsteps. I quieted down and crouched lower, rubbing my sore head.

The first man was the largest, fattest, and ugliest. Greasy black hair sat in thick patches scattered around his head, scars adorned every inch of his body and his eyes sat like dried prunes in deep eye sockets. The second man was shorter, but just as ugly. He reminded me a lot of a peach. His hair looked like peach fuzz and his eyes reminded me of peach pits.

Prune dude was talking to Peachy in a loud, gruff voice.

“Listen here, I’m sure Aeron is in this forest, all the signs point to it. I mean, listen, do you hear any birds?”

I listened intently and realized Prune was right, no birds could be heard, and, to my shock, I realized I couldn't hear any forest critters running about either. There was just silence.

I had heard of Aeron before, it was supposed to be a creature of evil, whose only goal was to bring destruction to mankind. It was considered a myth, however, a story meant to scare children into obedience. My own mother had used Aeron to get me to do my chores when I was younger!

Supposedly, wherever Aeron hid, animals scattered. But there was no way it was real! There was no proof of it’s existence, and besides that, it was just a fairy tale. Why on earth would grown men be obsessed with something like that?

“You’re right!” Said Peachy “I really can’t hear anything!”

Next to me, Kit had frozen, she was crouching down, glaring at the men, she looked like a cat about to pounce on a mouse. Tense and quiet, ready to spring at a moment's notice. That notice came when I accidentally snapped a twig when shifting for a better view.

“Shh, do you hear that Alastor?” Said Prune warily, “Someone’s watching us…”

Kit leaped through the air, pulling a silver dagger from a hidden pouch on her waist. Prune and Peachy didn't stand a chance. In a split millisecond she had them both on the ground, weaponless, her dagger by their throats.

“What the-” Peachy began, but a punch worthy of a true knight smacked him across the face, and he was silent.

Kit turned to Prune with her eye’s glowing, “You have trespassed on sacred ground. By the power given to me by Druantia, I declare you both Unwanted. Leave now with your friend, and life, before I make you leave without them.” What on earth was going on? Sacred ground? Druantia? Unwanted? Who was this girl?

“Y-yes ma’am, we had no idea this was sacred ground, so sorry for trespassing, please forgive our foolishness and we’ll just be on our way.” Prune shook with a mixture of fear and anger, and stumbled over to his friend whom he quickly began dragging to safety.

Kit turned towards me, her eyes still glowing. A cold ran down my spine as she approached me, her dagger swinging in her hand. Who was she? Perhaps those “Ignorant Travelers” were right, this forest really was cursed. And I had foolishly ignored the warnings. What exactly had I gotten myself into?

When she reached me, Kit smiled, as if she didn’t just take out two men twice her size and declare this place sacred ground. She stuffed her dagger back into its pouch. "Well, that was fun." She said nonchalantly.

“B-buwaaa...y-you just, why aren’t you kicking me out too?” Confusion racked my brain as I tried to comprehend what had just happened. In her defense, Kit did try to hold it back. Unfortunately, my reaction was just too funny for her, and she burst into laughter.

“Ki-kick you out?” Kit was bending over, laugh’s bubbling up and filling the air with euphoric energy. “I would never kick you out silly!”

“Why not?” I grumbled, a little bit miffed about her over-the-top reaction.

“Simple," She replied, "Because you aren’t a threat, plus, I like you Ethan, you’re different than most human men.”

Human men? She acted like she wasn’t human herself, which might explain a lot. The big question, however, was why she believed I was different then most human men. Was it my lazy nature? My ‘I don’t care at all’ attitude? My boring looks and personality? As far as I knew, there was nothing amazing or interesting about me, at least, that’s what everybody told me.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked, it took a while a for Kit to calm down enough to answer my question.

“I am, what most of your kind choose to call, a ‘Forest Druid’.” She explained. "An ancient deity chosen by the goddess Druantia to guard this forest and protect it from those who would seek to harm it."

An actual Druid, and not just any Druid, a Forest Druid. There were different species of Druids in the world, the most common being a simple Tree Druid. There were also River Druids (more commonly known as Naiads), Animal Druids, Bush Druids, etc., but a Druid with enough power to protect an entire forest was quite rare. Huh, some day this was turning out to be.

“Ok, but what does that have to do with me?” I asked, still confused as to what exactly my importance in all this was.

“Simple, I could sense that you meant no harm to this forest; those men, however, would gladly burn down this entire place to find Aeron; that, I could not allow.”

Kit’s face darkened, and suddenly she seemed a lot scarier to me. I needed to get out of this creepy place, and fast, how did I end up in this mess?

Just was quickly as it had happened, the dark face disappeared and gave way to a bright smile and I could almost believe I had imagined it, almost.

“Now,” Kit clapped her hands together, “Let’s continue our walk through my forest, shall we?”

“But wait, is Aeron really in this forest?” I wondered out loud. A branch whipped down from a tree and slapped my hand, leaving a red mark. I cried out in pain and cradled the injured limb.

Kit glared at me, “Do not ask what you do not understand. All will be revealed in time Ethan Peregrine.” She then smiled, and began whistling as she lead me deeper into the forest.

How I now wish I had not ignored that ominous feeling in my gut from before. Perhaps things would have been different. This story could have a happy ending, I wouldn't feel the wrenching regret I feel now, and Kit would not have died.

But I shook it off, and just like that, my day continued, now complete with a new fear of girls, a powerful and ancient deity whistling a tune next to me, and a belief that once I was out of this crazy place I could continue my lazy lifestyle and forget that any of this had happened. I was so wrong, and, little did I know, that my life was about become engulfed with adventure, and tragedy.