We four teens had been sent out from our respective kingdoms to basically make sure that the other kingdoms weren't planning attacks. This was pretty common but none of us had ever done it before. No one expected us to meet each other and become friends.

It began with Taiga and I. Having been wandering around for a few days, I was kind of awed at the world outside my home. I had lived on a very remote stretch of ice and hasn't actually seen jungle trees until l wandered into a jungle forest. It wasbeautiful. The moss and vines on the trees were so amazingly soft and green.

Eventually I had to stop wandering around in awe and get ready because the sun was setting. I decided to climb one of the few trees without a house on top.

I reached the top of the tree, relaxing in the wide stretch of branches. I was good at balance because I'd lived on ice my whole life. The stars had just started to come out and the lights in all of the Foresters tree houses had come on. The view was beautiful. I sat watching the sunset in awe, I hadn't seen anything this pretty since I had left home.

"Hi." The voice practically startled me off the branch. I turned to see a shape stand and hop over to me. His name read TKing.

"Uh, hi? Who are you?" I was nervous, this was my first interaction with a non-Azulien.

"I'm Taiga, I live here. Who're you?" As he sat on a branch nearby, I thought about my options. I could tell him the truth and risk my cover, or l could lie and keep my identity a secret. I chose the third option, partially lying.

"You can call me Lucy." It wasn't my name but I didn't technically lie..

Before he could ask questions I butted in, "You said you live here? Why are you outside this late?"

He thought for a moment.

"Well, I'm supposed to be spying on the other kingdoms but I didn't want to leave without seeing this view." I immediately felt guilty. I had lied to him when he was in the same position Iwas and being truthful. Oh well i guess it was just my name. Lucy was pretty, I could get used to that.

I then realized Taiga was waiting for me to say something and I blurted,

"Yeah, I'm kinda in the same boat except this is my first time here." I bit my lip, hoping he wasn't lying. He smiled at me, his grin was lopsided and it made me smile back. I wasn't that worried anymore.

"In that case, I had better show you around!"

"Sure but probably tomorrow, I definitely need some sleep." We set up a little camp in the tree and went to sleep, though I laid there and looked at the stars for a while. I wondered what the future held for me, and for Taiga too. Would I get caught and sent back, having failed my first job? Would I be caught and enslaved? Only the Peaks and Muselias were known to do that but there was still a chance. And what would happen to Taiga? I kind of thought of him as a friend and didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

Eventually I sighed and decided to try to sleep.


I awoke to a colorful flurry of feathers. There were hundreds of parrots swarming Taiga, who was sitting up on his branch, and laughing heartily. I guess I looked startled because when Taiga saw me he called out, "It's okay! I feed them every morning." I stared as he reached into his bag and pulled out tons of seeds, holding them up above his head. The birds rushed in, eating every last seed and then dispersing into the foliage. Taiga laughed as they all disappeared.

"That happens every morning?" I asked, confused. Taiga nodded and began packing his bedding up. I followed suit, but slower, trying to process what had just happened.


"What do you want for breakfast?" Taiga glanced over at me. I paused in my packing.


"Do you guys eat fish?" Fish was really the only thing we Azuliens ate. It was he only food we had access to.


"Uh, no. But you should try steak!" ! sighed and followed Taiga down the trunk of the tree. We got to the bottom and he told me to wait there. I looked around, taking in all the details of the forest in the morning light. It was beautiful the way that the light was sprinkled in leafy patterns along the grass carpet. There was a moo in the distance that was cut off sharply. I winced, poor baby.

By the time Taiga got back, the sun was quite a bit closer to the middle of the sky and I was bored, and very hungry. I hastily gobbled down the steak, not pausing to taste it until I was finished.

"Well, uh, okay then. Did you like it?" I paused to taste it and nodded.

"Yeah, that was almost as good as fish!" Taiga laughed at that and sat down next to me.

"So, now that we've had breakfast, what do we do?"

I shrugged, "I guess we finish our jobs. If you want to do it together we can."

Tai had immediately agreed to that..