A humming sound caught her attention, and she turned to see a little dragon fly coming towards her. It was still several feet away, and a silhouette in the foggy light, but already Aise could tell that it wasn’t like her little friend. It was about three times larger, and it’s wings were different from any she’d ever seen.

     It chirped happily, and Aislin smiled as a rush of warmth washed over her. This was definitely no normal dragon fly.

     “You’re right there,” came a voice. Aise blinked and looked around. Had it come from the ‘fly? The voice giggled and the little dragon fly landed on the railing. Aislin decided that the voice was female, wherever it had come from. “Right again! Good guesses, little Aislin.” Alright, that time she’d definitely seen the dragon fly’s mouth move. “All except for that. It’s Uni’Dragon~Fly. Dragon~flys are a creation of mine.”

     Aise blinked and stared. A... creation? Did that mean...?

     “Got it in one!” the uni’dragon~fly chirped, and the girl watched in amazement as it’s form shimmered and shifted, growing and changing to that of a human, maybe twice her age.

     The woman smiled and knelt down before Aislin. “You called?” she asked, amusement evident in her voice.

     Suddenly shy, Aise could only nod, and the woman laughed. The woman wore a blue-green dress and soft leathern boots. She had brilliant red hair, the color of life and love, and green eyes that flashed with an inner power Aise could only guess at. The deity’s smile broadened, and, though amused, it wasn’t in the least unkind. She reached up to touch the little girl’s shoulder, then cup her chin between gentle hands. “I know, it’s hard to live out there on your own. But don’t worry, you won’t have to do so very long. Keep at your learning, it’ll come in handy. You won’t have to worry about changing your appearance, but do pick a new name for yourself, and the ship.”

     The woman stood, and paused, looking at Aislin with something akin to sadness, or perhaps thoughtfulness. “I thank you for choosing this path,” she said after a moment, and touched her head in a gesture of blessing, “And I tell you to look within for the gift that I give you.”

     “How cheesy can you get,” a cynical female voice sounded behind the woman, who paused and looked sheepish, shattering the illusion of elite saintliness about her. Aise peered around her to the other form, also human, in a white outfit much like her own, only with a cape, and little red triangles along the hem of the shirt and cloak. This one had golden eyes and black hair, with little black feathers sticking up out of it in places.

     “Hey there,” the new woman said, smiling genuinely, and Aislin smiled back shyly. Who on earth was this now? She didn’t look like the death and destruction deity.

     The creation deity sighed. “Time to go already?” she asked, turning to see the other woman, who nodded.

     “It’s nearly dawn already. We need to get back and get on with the mage-hunt,” she said, looking impatient.

     What? Aislin was confused now, but that shouldn’t really surprise her, should it? This was a dream, after all. Dreams weren’t supposed to make sense.

     The red-headed woman turned to join her companion, but Aise glanced at the little dragon fly and called out “Wait!” Both stopped, and the girl continued “Could you please heal him?” she pointed to the little black form curled up on Oku’s head. “He can’t fly, and I don’t want him to starve if I can’t get him food every day.”

     The two women smiled at each other, and the red-haired deity held out a hand, gesturing for the other to step forward. Which she did, and hovered a hand over the ‘fly’s sleeping form. A blue light surrounded and swirled about him for a moment, while the woman worked her magic.

     “It’s a girl, by the way,” the deity clarified, watching the other heal. “There,” she said as the other straightened, “All fixed. And don’t worry about her running away from you, she won’t. Think of her as a thank you, from me to you. For helping me out.” She smiled and nodded her head in a sort of bow, then she and the other vanished, leaving behind only a swirl of mist in the fog.

     That was the weirdest dream ever.

     When she awoke, Aislin stretched and noticed that the sun was just rising over the mountains. She’d slept in too long. What had that dream been again? Something about healing the little dragon fly, and some instructions...

     She tried to remember how it went, then gave up in frustration. About that time Oku woke up, and yawned. He stretched too, then stopped and peered at Aise.

     “What?” she said, wondering what he was looking at.

     *You changed. What happened to your hair? And you have str...* he trailed off there, his eyes going huge and excited. *WOW! Hey! You got wings! How come I didn’t get any wings?* he said, pouting a little.

     WHAT? Aislin turned her head and looked over her shoulder, and, sure enough, a pair of fluffy, new, feathered wings stretched with the effort she was putting into seeing them. She experimented with making them move, and was delighted to find that she could control their motions without too much thought.

     She peered over the side of the railing at her reflection in the water, and was surprised to see that she now had orange-ish streaks in her otherwise pale gold curls. And she could see darker stripes that looked like odd tan lines on her neck and arms, almost to the elbows. Well, that certainly changed things.

     Gee, she really wasn’t kidding when she said there wouldn’t be much trouble changing her appearance.