“So, how was it?” Snuffkin asked, noticing the special twinkle that had arrived in Yesenya. Smile curled different, eyes brighter, it felt like she had won a game, or found a rare potion to solve all the problems that had weighed heavy the last they spoke.

“You were right, Snuffkin.” She beamed. The promise of a great story tucked into her cheeks.

“I could look at you eternally” He smiled. His gaze as adoring as ever. “Tell me everything.”

Yesenya paused. Took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Where to begin?

“You know Snuffkin, when I was an ordinary shapeshifter, days were easeful for me. When I journeyed out of this winterless forest, to the mountains on the horizon, the landscape lulled me to take my form as a deer.”

Snuffkin nodded, attentive and eager for her to continue. Triangular green hat upon his head, pipe in his pocket gripped with one hand.

“And when I went to the ocean, the salt-swept air brushed wings from my body. There I became a bird, and flew with my friends. We circled and darted, partied on the white surf of crashing waves. It was an easy life for me then.”

Most human eyes can’t see. The faeries, or the elves, the mythical realm that lives in the shimmer of sunlight on a lake, in the dart of colour that flashes on a bird’s wing as it flies, in the peripheries of what most care to focus on. Those humans would tell you Yesenya is just a girl. An ordinary, albeit quirky girl dressed in patchwork, with an affinity for the forest she spends so much of her time in. Those humans may tell you made-up tales about the weird and wonderful of Yesenya’s ways, but they would never quite tell you the truth. The truth is out of reach for them.  

You’d have to be of her realm, to know her truly - like Snuffkin. To meet Yesenya and bear witness to the magical and ethereal way she moves. 

Yesenya began to walk, as to coax the next words from her body. Without hesitation, Snuffkin followed. Eyes fixated on his dear Yesenya. The delightful Yesenya. The squares on her patchwork dress woven from bark and petals, ocean water and star dust.

“Tell me, Yesenya. I’m listening.” Snuffkin assured her, with a wrinkled sniffle and glimmering squint of the eyes. Yesenya, still walking, continued.

“One day, I found that I couldn’t shape shift anymore. If I chose to fly from the ocean to the mountains, I continued to fly as a bird. It was only when I returned to the forest that I became a deer. It was as though there was a delay in my shifting. My friends in each of the lands that I live in, no longer recognized me. I couldn’t play with them. I didn’t know how to belong. But you know this, remember? That’s when I last saw you.”

“Of course I remember, my dear. How could I possibly forget? Your face was so heavy with worry that day. I suggested you go to see Hermit.”

“Yes that’s right” Yesenya smiled, reflecting on her journey since then.

“Did he manage to help? I can see something has happened for you.” Snuffkin prompted her to share more.

The twinkle in her eye all the more bright, she went on, “Yes exactly. I took your advice. I went to see Hermit. I found him in his usual spot, crouched under the giant sycamore tree. That psychedelic hat filled with pondering and potions.” She chuckled at the memory of their last meeting, pleased to have such a mentor friend in her life. “Our medicine man, isn’t he? Our magician. Our trickster.” Yesenya reached her hand out to a low hanging branch and stroked the leaves hello.

“How lucky we are to have Hermit in our lives” Snuffkin smiled. 

“Yes, so lucky” Yesenya beamed, “He gave me a cup of tea to drink. Popped in a couple of droplets of a potion for me, and encouraged me to dance. Oh Snuffkin, the way that I danced there. All the forest danced with me. We partied so hard. It was brilliant. As I was dancing, the putter and swirl of the rivers, the hum and crackle of moss and twigs, they all played this astonishing song for me. All the critters under the rotting wood of this fallen tree danced with me. And the birds that fly in the sunrays above the canopies, they sang. I was magical, it truly was.”

“How wonderful” Snuffkin felt a little jig erupt in his step, excited by the vision of his dear friend dancing. “And you are such a tremendous dancer my dear Yesenya, I know that would have been such a treat for anyone lucky enough to see.”

“You know what happened then? As I danced, I started to learn how to become all the shapes at will. I was a bird, and then a deer. Then plain ol’ me” She lifted her skirt and gave a little twirl. “I used to only be able to take the form of a bird when the ocean lulled me, or a deer in the mountains. But there I was, in my dance, shape shifting with complete control.”

Yesenya took this moment to show off her new ability. Deer. Bird. Girl. “Do you see Snuffkin?” she smiled.

Snuffkin had no words. Utterly joyous, his eyes hosted gentle tears of joy for Yesenya. It was his first time seeing her shape-shift.

“And you know, Snuffkin. I used to think I wanted to just be a bird by the ocean, or a deer in the mountains. But It’s so much fun to play with my shapes and change it up from time to time. I recently went to the mountain and flew there. My feathers felt a snowy chill I had never experienced before. It was magnificent. And then I tried out being a deer by the ocean. I walked the clifftops and saw how beautiful my bird friends were, dancing on the surf of waves. I got to see myself there, got to know how beautiful I look when I fly.”

Yesenya paused. Marvelled by the memories of shape-shifting by choice. She turned to catch eyes with her dear Snuffkin. He slowly, and intentionally spoke. “Yesenya, imagine what might happen if you travel even further. You might find new forms, new friends. I think it’s time for you to adventure now. The world is waiting. Just know, that any time you need your dear Snuffkin, you come home and I’ll be here.”

“To gaze at the stars?” Yesenya affirmed.

“Yes to gaze at the stars.” Snuffkin nodded.

“To play our music and build a house?”

“To play our music and build a house.”

“To tell you my stories?”

“All of them, Yesenya. Live them. Live all your stories so I can hear all about them.” A little wriggle of excitement burst through his body. “Oh Yesenya! I can’t wait.”