A/N: I AM ALIVE GUYS! I am really sorry for not posting anything on here for a while I really really am and I am not going to promise I am going to get better at posting because I don't want to be a lier ... So anyways THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! I think I messaged everyone back but I have been known to screw up. (if you are one of those people I am really sorry) DX

So ENJOY! ... It is a bit of a cliff hanger BUT! I have started the forth chapter my goal is to have it done and posted on Christmas just for you guys.

THIS WILL HAPPEN I will make sure of it!

The day passes and the sun is setting before Fallin opens her eyes and mind to the new world around her. She sits in the cool waters of a rock pool being filled by a trickling waterfall. Realizing the water is plastering fabric to her skin she stands to find that she has different clothes on. The darkened shorts that came half way down her thighs were soaked through and her snug tan shirt has a faint burnt orange leaf print on the collar and capped sleeves. Walking through the water to the falls she feels the pads of her feet slip and slide on the mossy rock.

Reaching the falls she lets the water pool in her hands and run over her fingertips before splashing the cool water on her face. Craning her head back she opens her eyes to the navy blue sky dusted with twinkling stars. Taking a deep breath in she smalls the green grass, hints of wild flowers and the cool water she stands in. "Everything in the world is the same Fallin. You're just smaller now." Turning around she runs through the once still water and then through the wall of leaves. Looking up, again, she stairs in awe at the tree tall flower buds. The faint stars are enough to show that the dark purple buds are morning glories sleeping for the night. Walking up to a fuzzy stalk she reaches out to feel the unusual texture of the familiar flower. Then a noise tares her away from her new world.

The female voice is soft, distant, and full of worry. "What am I going to do?" The girl's heavy sigh tries to expel all the frustration inside her. Walking through the forest of flowers she soon comes up on a few polished pebbles and a white flower girl sitting on them. Well that is if she is still normal sized they would be pebbles but now they are perfect rocks to climb up on and have a seat.

"Ok so Ivey is here, again, and normally she doesn't come unless there is something happening underground. I will have to dispatch more than Ronin's team to figure that out. But there is also festival coming up soon." Her head falls into her hands and she rubs her eyes hard almost like she is trying to clear her mind of something. "What am I going to do?" As she takes a deep breath she sniffles and gives away what she was trying to wipe out of her eyes. "This is my first time dealing with Ivey what am I going to do?" Then the small sobs start.

"No!" Sitting up straight on the rock the young queen turns in the direction of Fallin's voice. "Don't cry." Feeling a little foolish Fallin begins to ring her hands. Oh stop it Fallin! You are in your 30's, stop acting like a little teenager! "Crying won't help things, and if you're anything like me crying will only bring you down and distract you from what you need to do." The queen hunches and wipes her eyes with a small green hand. Walking up beside the queen Fallin stands with her hands behind her back just in case she has to do another nervous ringing. "But if you distract yourself with something else, then, maybe, your problem will seem a little smaller."

"I can't," the huffing sigh gives all the hope she has, accepting the fact that she has a heavy burden on her shoulders, "I need to find a way to fix this problem before it becomes serious."

"When did you learn of this problem?" Her arms cross, her eyes focus and her mind is ready to think. She studies the tear stained and red eyed queen.

"A little after we left you in the pool of water." Fallin's scoffing surprises the queen and her tone even more so.

"You have known about this for barely a half a day!" High pitch and slightly annoying as Fallin is she almost reaches out to ruff up her petal-ed hair for freaking out over something that has just recently happened. "Could you do anything to stop the news from ever ... being news?" When the queen shakes her head then the stomper holds her hands out in front of her. "Well there you go. You shouldn't freak yourself out over things that couldn't be avoided." Walking to the other side of the queen where there is more room on the smooth stone she sits beside the young queen. "There has to be something else you can think about or plan before you have to fall asleep tonight. Something that is a little more fun?"

"Well, there is a festival coming up soon."

Perfect! "Is it a big festival?" Bringing one leg up to her chest Fallin locks her eyes onto the distend ones of the little queen sitting beside her.

"Not really, it will be held underneath the oldest apple tree in the forest," curiously looking up, the queen meets the eyes of the stomper, "and, even though everyone is invited, because it is sort of out of the way not all the jinn will come."

"What is the festival for?"

"It is to celebrate the first harvest moon of the year. The jinn that have nothing planed or have nothing to harvest come and celebrate. It is mostly just a way to keep in contact with each other and …" trailing off she watches the stomper yawn. "Oh I am sorry are you tired?"

"I would like to get some real sleep." A small smile curls her lips. "But tell me a little about what happens at the festival." The queens eyes light up and she leans forward a little.

"Oh my gosh, it is so pretty! It starts around sunset when the glowing decoration on the apple tree can be seen. The fireflies come out and dance around in the air and makes it look like they are dancing stars! Oh, oh and there are all sorts of games like bird racing, firefly hopping, water wrestling. Those are mostly for the adults but there are also crafts for the younger jinn and at shooting contests and musical leaves and a whole lot more."

"Haha it sounds like a really big celebration for not a lot of jinn coming." Leaning back Fallin looks up at the stars.

"Not everyone comes but a little from each of the four kingdoms do so it's enough to be a big enough crowd."

"Really?" With her question slowly molding into another yawn Fallin covers her mouth.

"Oh yes! Your tired. I am sorry I guess I got a little carried away. I am a bit excited for the festival." Her eyes are bright and her voice light. Her green complexion even looks a little more vibrant.

"I can tell. So how do we get out of here? It's like a huge forest in here." Jumping up from the rock the queen grabs her hand so that she would slide off the rock soon after her. "You know your highness I still don't know your name."

"Oh I'm sorry! Allow me to introduce myself," clearing her through she descends into a sweeping bow and changes her voice to that of a noble man's which pulls a grin to Fallin's face, "my name is Gitta, Queen of the Eastern Kingdom. And who might you be?"

Mimicking her voice Fallin also takes a sweeping bow. "Oh your highness, forgive me for not telling you. My name is Fallin Reed of the stompers." The queen leans back, covers her stomach and laughs as Fallin hunches and stomps around a little bit. Thank goodness she has stopped stressing. The queen takes her hand and leads her out of the morning glory room.

The next day she dresses and walks around the rock carved halls by herself. The polished rock walls and tall columns at each corner make her stop every time to touch the smooth surface and gawk at their incredible height. Stopping where two halls intersect she takes some time to look up and unsteadily shuffles around in a circle looking at all the cracks and sear height of the ceiling. How did they make it so tall? Smiling up at the ceiling she stops spinning and looks down each hall. "Oh crap ... which way did I come from again?" Turning another 360 degrees, she catches a glimpse of someone with a white flowing robe walk down a hall. "Hey wait!" Bolting down the hall and slides to a stop, "... what?" Looking down the empty hall she stands in front of she takes note of the three closed doors and one window at the end. Where did ... that person go? Taking a few steps closer she thinks about knocking on one of the doors. But there was no click of a door opening or closing.

"HEY, YOU!" Jumping a little form the harsh words she Fallin freezes. The voice was deep and cut through the air like a blade. "Oh," A little confused at the irritated tone she starts to turn around. "It's just you." Watching a leafman turn the corner she sprints after him.

"Wait!" Almost grabbing the tail end of the white and gold robe he wears she loses her footing and falls flat on her face. Feeling her wounds pulling in pain she hisses in a breath and stands back up. "Wait a second I need some help getting to the room with the morning glories." Taking a closer look she notices that it's Ronin one of the leafmen that is around the queen a lot. "Hey don't ignore me!" Finally catching up to him, she grabs his arm to try and stop him. He only brushes her off. "W-why are you being so hostile to me? I have done nothing wrong." Stopping in his tracks he turns around so fast that the movement startles Fallin.

"Not to me but the people I protect." His eyes caught her attention first, pure outrage and harshness that she didn't understand.

"What?" Taking a step back she stands with a strength in her figure. A silent acceptance to the challenge Ronin has presented her. "I don't understand your thinking at all." He turns around and continues on his path and of course she walks after him. "Hey, why won't you trust me even if it's just a little bit, you know I-"

"So I should trust a complete stranger?" Again a harsh stop and hostel tone makes Fallin jump and feel even smaller then she knows she is.

"N-no that's not-"

"Stomper, you may not know it, but I am the general of the Leafmen. The duty of a Leafman is to protect the Queen and the jinn she watches over. She may not see it, but you cannot fool me." This time he doesn't turn away Ronin means to settle this here and now. His stair makes the sentence she tries to from fall from her mouth like rocks into a pond.

"How- what- fooling you?"

"I do not keep to just the forests Stomper. Sometimes I venture into your world to make sure ours is safe."

He knows about the bulldozing? Then why is he angry at me? When she looks up to ask Ronin is already rounding another corner. "Wait! Can't you at least tell me where I am?" Looking around a pillar he sees Ronin pointing in the direction of the all to her left.

"Down that hall take the second left and then the first right. You will find where you need to go from there."

Following his instructions she walks down the halls this time with her eyes glued to the floor while wishing she had some of her soft socks on.

This would be the best sock skating halls ever. Turning the last corner the shining sun on the floor draws her eyes up to the tall natural doorway. Keeping her eyes fixed on the top of it as she walks through she doesn't notice it leads out of the building until she turns around and gasps at the breathtaking view. The trees tower over the sparkling lake as it reflects ever changing shapes of greens and blues. Looking up at the sky she watches a cotton ball cloud slowly float by. "Oh my god ... this is beautiful." Her airy whispers can only be heard by herself. After taking a few steps her attention jumps to the two lines of archers on either side of her when they snap up into attention. Fallin you need to pay more attention to your surroundings. "Wait ... I'm outside ..." the archers force themselves to remain immobile as the stomper states the obvious and then stands in silence, dumbfounded. "You have got to be kidding me, he did this on purpose." Turning around she hesitates with a heated breath in her lungs and a question on the tip of her tongue, but keeps walking after deciding that the archers were probably as strict as the London Guard.

Walking back into the rock castle she finds herself feeling cast out. No Fallin, no, don't think like that. Queen Gitta wouldn't ... feeling an emptiness she hasn't felt in years she begins to collapse in her shoulders slightly hunched and her eyes staring at the ground while a little voice in the back of her head whispers. Weren't your parents the same?

"Miss, excuses me Miss?" Jerking her head up and turning around she finds a dandelion jinn with a bunch of scrolls in her arms. "Are you lost?" Wiping her face and mentally shoving down her feelings she forces a crooked smile to her lips.

"Yea a bit. I am looking for the morning-glory room that the Queen uses." With a smile and turn the jinn girl walks down the hall.

"Follow me and I will take you there." At first the halls were quit but then there was a bustle of jinn cleaning from the very top to bottom. Watching the bug like creatures have caught her eyes and refuses to let go as they walk down the halls. There beating wings let a small shimmer of rainbow colors flash through the air. Trying to get a better look at one of the low flying butterfly jinn she turns her head to the side a stretches her neck a little back. Orange and black coloring the woman monarch butterfly almost dances through the air as she polishes one of the pillars. "Watch out!" Stopping instantly in her tracks was the worst thing to do but it happened and a bucket of water lands on her head.

"Today is not my day." The bucket lifts gently off her head.

"I am so sorry Miss!" A small lady bug jinn lands in front of her looking her face over to make sure nothing is wrong.

"I'm fine," sighing deeply she pulls a smile to her lips, "I'm fine, promise."

"Come on Miss, we are almost to the room." Not looking up for the rest of the walk she looks in awe at the purple tinted ground and touches each fuzzy flower stem.

This is real, this is really real! She turns a complete 180 as she walks through the flowers. It looks so much different in the day time. Then the voices come into ear shot.

"-is the plan for now but I am sure we will need to do a more in depth search for her. Hopefully this will give a place to start." Pulling back a leaf from in front of her the jinn reveals Ronin standing with his helmet tucked under his arm talking to the queen.

"Queen Gitta your guest got lost while trying to come here."

"I wonder how that happened." No one could hear her and she wanted it that way although she hoped Ronin felt the lazier stair in the back of his head.

"Oh thank you for getting her here! Fallin," shaking the sour look of her face Fallin looks at the Queen, "I was wondering if you could help me put a few things down on paper for the festival."

"Of course I can Your Majesty."

"Good! Now as for the mean to find Ivey I will leave that to you Ronin." She places her hands on his shoulders. "Good luck and be safe." Ronin bows his head and just barely brushes by Fallin and not making any eye contact. "Don't worry about him Fallin, he takes a little while to get used to."

If only that was the only problem.

A shadowy figure with a white robe slides down a thick tree limb and lands silently on a knot that looks over to front entrance of Moonhaven. "Huh," a seemingly lost small stomper walks out of Moonhaven, "I wonder why they have a stomper here again." Sitting on the knot she leans forward trying to get a better look. "I can see the reasoning for the first time, but now … ?" The girl turns around abruptly and stomps back inside Moonhaven. "What about you, what do you think?" The shaded girl tapes her foot on the rather large knot she sits on she. Looks down at it and waits for an answer. "Oh wait it doesn't matter what you think anymore huh Mandrake? You got yourself killed," leaning back so that her core keeps her balance on her butt, "eaten up by the rot you so dearly loved. Well," taking a deep breath she leans all the way back with her hand on the ground above her head and legs curled up to her center. With a grunt she is on her feet and stretching, "that's what you get."

Climbing the tree with only a few leaps and hops the boggen armored girl reaches the top the tree where her red winged black bird is perched. Wrapping the vine reins around one hand she, plants her feet, bends her knees, taps her food, and the bird lurches forward into the sky letting the white robe slide off her shoulders.

The air turns from fresh wooden sent to stale smoky muck in a little over an hour. But that is normally how long it takes to get to the city. Reaching the down town area she finds a charred house that has been overtaken by dyeing weeds and trees. 'A beautiful color palette of grey and black.' As her new employer has said quite a few times.

Flying through the narrow opening in the glass of a window her bird lands in the only patch of sunlight in the rotting room. Slipping through a gap in the floorboards she walks between the floor above her and the ceiling below her. The deep in the darkness so walk the more and more boggens would appear to either ignore her as she walks by or take a jab at her to knock her off kilter. Not fazed in the slightest she walks through the rough opening crack and into a large black room with boggens and a thrown. Seated on that throne is her employer Queen Evina of the rotting Northern Kingdom. Tall and slim, eyes like amber tree sap and a smile that can out sly a fox. She stands and is hugging the boggen woman in a few short moments.

"There you are my sweet, sweet Poison Ivey." The boggen dressed woman rolls her eyes while the queen turns her back and then sets back down on her thrown. "Report."

"There is a stomper."

"The same ones or different?" floating down into her seat the queen crosses her legs and gently places her hands on the uneven arms of her throne. They call her The Ash Queen not only because she burns things for fun but because she carries herself as if she is light as ash.

"Different, this one has no purpose, not even any allies. I am quite certain that general of theirs even hates her."

"Hmmm …" Ivey notes that the queen is thinking but the usual flat line of her lips is curved with a smile that would make any warrior shiver. "Good. So they will be having that harvest festival soon won't they?"

"To my knowledge they are planning it as we speak."

"Perfect!" Standing and throwing her arms over her head the motion picks up enough dust to make the room look hazy. "Now, come with me and I'll tell you what is going to happen."

A/N: So ... good ... bad ... rage at my lateness? Tell me what you think! See you on Christmas!