Despite the utopia that was the Gao Kingdom, I always spent my time alone. Even though there were so many human friends asking to play, it seems that I was a bit different than the rest. I much preferred the quiet forest, where you couldn’t hear much aside from birdsong, much less a bunch of children laughing and kicking up dust. It would just be myself, and the fae. Mona perched on my lap, or walking alongside me... Perhaps we’d chase some birds, or maybe sing a tune we’d make up on the spot...

Originally, it was just a preference of mine to explore the woods... But it wasn’t long after when I discovered The Briar Patch...

At least, that’s what I had named it. It was an abandoned rose garden, unattended for decades, with bushes overgrown with bramble and weeds, a dilapidated clearing in the middle with a vine covered fountain which no longer functioned. Finding it was a coincidence, though it was not far from the river path, making it easy to return home. And, it quickly became a special place for me— an oasis within this oasis of a kingdom.

Isn’t it strange? How everything is perfect, and yet, this is the only place I truly feel comfortable in...

As I visited every day, clearing out debris, tending to flowers as best I could, I slowly made the garden my own. A secret base. My oasis, within this oasis of a kingdom...