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Falling leaves flutter down, discarded, some green, most crisp and browning; sparse in the cold morning air. They hit the ground lightly, making no sound- as hushed as the boy who padded through the forest like he weighed the same.

He cut through light green thickets of moss that sprout to life with the breaking of dawn, and Ivy thorn bushes which pricked his skin. He didn't mind. The earth, darkened, felt moist under his feet. Alec had always known he was different, try as he had to convince himself otherwise. He was smaller in comparison to the other boys, a feat remarkable in its own right considering that most of them were no less a day older than twelve.

But his frame portrayed a false frailty. Where they were tall, he was strong, and when he wanted to, which was often, he could move as inconspicuously as their shadows. That boded well because he liked to keep to himself most of the time.

He also had an eye for adventure, so wander the forest he did, mapping out almost every inch of it, even the restricted sections.

No one knew the woods quite as he did, and that is how he continuously got stuck with guard duty during the hunt.

It was a rite as old as time - all the boys who wished to join their ranks had to complete it. The tasks that the initiates undertook were perilous, as the participants seldom made it back unscathed. But victory assured a thing many of the forgotten children longed for, a place they could call home. So those who could find the forest flooded it in droves, each chancing to meet a being as divine as the mother.

The scent of moss and lichen be-fowled the air, and he knew was close. He caught a whiff of something else too, and instinctively looked up.

Crows swarmed the orange sky above, hauntingly silent, save for the flapping of their wings as they flew below blushed, drifting clouds.

They suddenly clatter towards a nearby clearing but stopped short of the tree line. Alec watched the branches, bereft of leaves, lean towards the ground with the weight of birds as dark as the shapes that moved in between the trees ahead.

The wind whistled around him as he cut to his right, veering deeper into the forest. Towards the Eastern borderline the trees thinned, as the sun rose above, its light streaking through the branches in bright beams, slowly taking the cover of darkness with it.

It would take a little longer to get to the brook now, but this way he could avoid the wolves. There was nothing more vicious than a hungry wolf, save for an insulted one, and crossing their terrain at this hour would bring out both.

The trail, riddled with colorful rose hips and squirrels that dove into bushes at the sight of him, began to slop up and down, and he knew he was venturing uncomfortably close to the ravine that marked the Eastern border.

After a moment or so, the sound of rushing water permeated through the soft susurration of bushes below. He broke into a clearing soon after, braking wildly against the edge, as mounds of dirt and rock catapulted into the water.

The stream, wide, blue and uncommonly glassy, fell over little cascades in its rush, swaying past large rocks littered across it. The water hammered against a muddy bank, littered with the trampled remains of wild red roses that once stood proudly.

They happened to be one of the items the initiates were required to bring back. They also only grew across this bank and deep within the ravine at the Eastern border, a fact privy to all the initiates. But it didn't take any effort on his part to deduce what had happened.

There was a hint of movement from the trees behind, and a pale boy, much taller than he stepped out of the thicket. His light hair was tousled as f he had just woken up, and a large grey-white spotted horse galloped past him.

"You were supposed to wait for me" Alec frowned. "And I said no horses."

"No, you said I couldn't ride the horses," the boy corrected, starting towards him. "I didn't hear anything about gliding behind them."

Alec unhooked the bridle from its neck. The rest of its body, muddied and bruised, was lathered in sweat, casting little doubt that it had been on its feet for most of the night.

The wind wisped its dark mane into the air as it eagerly galloped towards the stream, leaving the wooden contraption it had dragged along behind.

Up close, the boy looked much older. There was just a hint of hair scattered across otherwise prominent cheekbones, and above a nose just long enough to be perfect.

His eyes were wide set, and a washed out green, as light as the grass they stood on, and they echo an unfounded innocence. His shoulders were broader too, and his sweat-stained tunic clung to them like a second skin.

The boy held out his hand, and a small smile played on his lips as Alec indulged him. It was their custom never to turn anyone away.

He tore away from his grip soon after and leaned towards the flowers. Etched in boot prints, they looked lifeless and decayed. It was a terrible thing, watching something so beautiful wither and die.

He turned to the boy in frustration, "Do you even realize what you have done? They will take months to blossom again."

The boy shrugged, in the way only a stroppy child would. He did not even try to deny it. Alec reached for one of the trampled roses. Its petals fall off as soon as he touched it.

Dislike was a sentiment he hardly ever experienced, yet he felt a semblance of it fester as he stared at the boy.

It was not prejudiced. None of his brothers could stand him either.

"Why are you still here?"

"We are a team, right?"

Alec's impossibly thin lips narrowed even further, as he rose to his feet.

"Oh come on, where is your sense of comradery?" Zo asked, playfully draping his arm across Alec's neck.

He reached for the horse and pulled it away from the stream. It reluctantly complied, stomping robustly to voice its discontent. He pulled his bag from its back and rummaged through its contents until he resurfaced with a single, wild rose.

"Here," Zo said, tossing Alec the flower.

Alec watched him curiously, "What are you doing?" he finally asked, burdened with uncertainty.

"Nothing" the boy swore. "I know you're not allowed to actively participate, but like I said, we are a team, plus it's always nice to feel included."

Alec cast a doubtful look. It took another second or two for his actions to make sense, and when they did, it was all he could do not to laugh. There were about a handful of water nymphs in the forest, but only one could give Enzo cause for concern.

"They gave Helena this territory, didn't they?"

The smile on Enzo's face faded as quickly as it had come. "This stupid hunt is rigged" he whispered and glanced furtively across the clearing, worried that their conversation might not be private.

"Did you show her the rose?"

"Yes," he gritted his teeth.

"And?"

"She told me where I could put it."

Alec sighed at the boy's imprudence. He had warned Enzo on several occasions to leave the nymphs alone. They could be as rabid as they were beautiful. But he didn't listen, he never did.

Enzo attempted to take his frustration out on a mole that was burrowing through the earth. It stopped at the sight of them, its head cautiously peeking out of the ground. He swung his right foot but missed wildly as it ducked back into his hole, the momentum sending the former splashing into the stream. Alec watched in muted amusement as the boy stuck out a severely drenched arm.

"How have you gotten this far in life?" he asked, pulling him out of the stream with the relative ease.

"Grit. Determination. Perseverance...hey" Enzo flapped his arms wildly in the air as Alec let go and he went tumbling back into the stream.

"What gives?!?" he groaned, slapping the water hard with both hands. The horse's ears pricked, and it looked up warily, its muscle tense under its spotted coat.

Alec was not paying attention. He had heard something. His eyes set on the surface caught between two large rocks. A labyrinth of dark string lingered under the surface. Enzo followed his gaze and got out of the water the sooner he realized what Alec was looking at.

The water beneath the surface began to bubble, and a girl surfaced soon after. She had flaming orange eyes, as bright as the sun that now shone above, and they adorned an exceptionally bronzed face.

Her nose was dainty, with a sharp bridge and it anchored below ears that poked out of flowing dark brown hair which, crushed well over her shoulders, covering her otherwise bare breasts, and trickling down to her stomach. The rest of her body shone in the watery light.

"Helena, " Alec called out.

She ignored him.

He placed the rose gently on the bank and waited. The water moved softly around her outstretched fingers as she stretched, pretending not to notice the bright red flower, even though it was directly in front of her. She carefully rolled onto her back and floated around the stream.

"Helena," his voice was firm, much louder than he had intended it to be, yet it garnered her attention.

The water rose and swirled around her as she kicked towards the stream. Her arms found the bank soon after. They were as silky as the rest of her, darkened only by intertwined short inky lines that ran up her forearm, age markers, and hers echoed youth.

She stuck her head out of the water and smiled, but in a convoluted way, masking frustration.

A voice, mellifluous and as beautiful as the nymph flooded the air.

I drink, but not from glass,

I thirst, but not for water alone,

My true face I never show,

Save perhaps, for when it snows

My friends leave me often in the fall,

I remain resolute,

Always standing tall.

Her voice trailed off slowly, and she turned her head, casting Enzo a long dark look before falling onto her back again and floating away.

Enzo rushed to the edge, "That's it?" he called out in frustration. "It took days to decipher the last clue, and for what? Thirty of the most wasted and confusing seconds of my life."

"Frustrating isn't it? Now you know how I feel," her soft, milky voice trailed above the water.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Enzo called out incredulously.

Alec had to pull him away from the water to keep him from plunging back in.

"Let me go. Let me go" the boy protested, as he was dragged away from the clearing like a wanton infant.

Alec only let go once they got to the tree line, "We got what you came for, you can have your screaming match some other time."

"What did we get?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Alec said, turning and starting towards the rough path that stretched back into the forest.

"No" Enzo called out in even more frustration as he trailed after him, "Why would I ask if it was?"