Long Ago.

"What!?" Dorothy nearly fell out of her seat; in total disbelief of what she was hearing. "Gran, you're joking, right?"

The old woman avoided meeting her eyes. "It's true, dearie. I was once a part of them. Not for very long mind you, and it was very, very long ago."

Cuu had his arms crossed, his ears twitching as he continued to keep an eye out for trouble. "I'd believe it. You seem dangerous enough to join them, Elder."

"Oh please, little Cuu. I was younger than either of you when I joined." A small smile crossed her face; then it vanished with a sigh. "I doubt they'll leave any of you four alone, now. They're persistent..."

Dorothy's concern was clear on her face; and visible in her shaking hands. "What are they called?"

"They call themselves the Tags." Her grandmother walked over to a shelf of bits and bobbles; books and bottles. "They believe themselves to be above the law; above everything, save the Author himself."

From behind all of the junk, she pulled an old, faded wooden mask; shaped like an green-skinned crone. The size of the mask was miniscule compared to the ones worn by those that had cornered Dorothy and Shesh; a child's mask. The old woman was visibly upset, just from holding the old thing.

"I'll tell you what I can. I'll tell you everything."

...

A long, long time ago, in place far, far away from the old township of Antiquity, a little girl, no older than four, hid away inside of a cave. Weak to her knees, she shivered in fear as the sound of pouring rain rattled outside. Burns dotted her body; having been scorched onto her by the early droplets of rain that had come hours prior. All the poor thing could hope for was an end to the storm, and for her faulty, old shoes to hold out any droplets still staining the grass when she continued her flight from what had been her home.

Then, there were noises outside; footsteps.

The girl, thinking that the villagers had finally found her, then scampered quickly to a darker corner to hide. When she finally found her respite, she held her breath; eyes affixed to the entrance of the cave.

"Ollie, come on! We can't let those supplies get too soggy!"

The two that entered the cave wore cloaks; a tall one, and a short one. The taller of the two was holding a lit lantern; the girl pressed her back against the cave wall, hoping to somehow manage to be even sneakier by doing so. The taller one took off her hood, tossing the soggy thing into a heap. It was a young woman; little more than a teenager by the looks of her. The girl had never seen hair as dark as the stranger's, only every having seen the usual white of an Ozon, or the grey of an elder. More curiously were the little protrusions atop the woman's head, and a large, bushy tail at her rear.

A wolf's tail.

The woman's companion points his finger.

The companion had pointed directly over to where the girl had been hiding; she panicked. Fires of emerald hue erupt at her fingertips and feet, scorching away her shoes and putting holes in her ragged dress. She shrieked as she whipped the fire around like a snake; **** for safety.

"No! Go away!" The girl cried, holding back tears; she couldn't die, not now, not here.

The woman with the wolf ears quickly backed away, grabbing her companion by his cloak, and chucking him hastily out into the rain. Then, The Wolf took a deep, deep breath. The breath never seemed to end, and the fires of the little girl flickered and died as she began to feel dizzy. She was having a hard time breathing; it felt like every small, panicked gasp was just sucked straight out of her lungs. She stumbled, then fell to her hands and knees; too dazed to think properly. She regained her senses for a moment, looking up to see the big, bad wolf baring down on her.

"No! Please!" She held up her hands, trying to stop the monster from eating her alive. "Mommy! I want Mommy!"

Tears finally escaped her eyes; visibly burning her cheeks as they streaked downward. She expected some horrid stabbing pain, or a sickening crack of her bones being broke. Instead, she felt weight around her shoulders. It was an embrace; a warm, kindly thing that had been lacking for well over a month now. The Wolf pulled back slightly, only for the girl to refuse to be let go; shoving herself against the woman in desperation. The tears only grew in number as she finally felt the first modicum of safety in so, so long.

The girl pulls away slightly, looking up at the woman with the wolf ears; trying to stifle her tears and toughen up. "I-I'm Theodora."

The voice that whispered to her was as gentle as a summer breeze, and just as calming.

"Hi, Theodora." The woman rests her hand on Theodora's head, gently brushing her hair in a gentle, calming way. "I'm Minse Louve; The Wolf. I see you're a Tale, like me."

"Not a good one..." The girl looked away, then peered over the wolf's shoulder; seeing Minse's companion finally get back inside the cave.

"Oh, now who said you're not a good Tale?" Minse's brow furrowed, she put a fist in her hand as she motioned with great drama. "I'll give them a few bumps on their head."

Giggling, Theodora shuffled a around a bit, finding a more comfortable seating on the woman's lap. "My Mom said it was really bad. She said it's why my Dad wasn't around..."

The other hooded one removed their cloak as well; a boy with strange eyes, no older than six. He ruffled around in his cast off cloak, and pulled a strange book out from it's depths. Wolf motioned to him an "ok" sign, and he held the book up; an array of lights spewing forth and scanning over Theodora. Once the lights ended, the boy flopped across from Theodora and Minse, scouring over the book in deep study. He motioned with his hands in odd ways, but it seemed Miss Minse understood him.

"This is Oliver Oswald." Minse says, pointing to the boy. "He's my little helper; he helps me find more people like us. People the Nots don't want around."

...

The weather had finally cleared; Theodora, Minse, and Oliver emerged from the cave, with Theodora riding on Minse's shoulders. Ollie motioned again with his "hand signs" to Minse, getting an "eh?" In resoponse. Theodora didn't really care; she was just happy not to be touching the wet grass.

"So, where is your Mommy, Theorable?" Asked The Wolf; that silly nickname being something she came up with during the rain.

The little witch, however, stayed very quiet for a good, long while; finally whispering. "Gone. The village... she..."

"Shh..." Once more, The Wolf's voice had grown as sweet and gentle as a trickle of honey. "I understand. Which village are you from?"

"Sasnak." She whispered back; sounding as if she was worried the villagers might hear her from here.

"Well, lucky for you, we're headed nowhere near there, Theodorable." Minse picked up the pace a bit, but made sure not to make it an uncomfortable ride for her passenger. "We're going to go see our family! Mine and little Ollie's, I mean... but they can be your family too, if you want. Trust me when I say this; they won't hate you for what you are. Heck, I'm sure Ol' Uruk will love to have you."

"Uruk?" Theodora giggled. "That's a funny name. It sounds old."

"Mhm. Really old. Uruk's been around a long, long time." Minse said, looking up to check the time of day. "Ever heard of the times where men were all giants? That old. Suuuper old. Very old."

Ollie rolled his eyes as he hurried to keep up, doing another set of strange hand signs; pulling a plain, flat wooden mask from his cloak, and donning it.

"Oh, right. We're getting close." Minse ruffled about in her cloak, pulling out a wooden mask, shaped like a hungry-looking wolf, and putting it on her face. "Oh, Theodorable. Our family also gets these funny masks; I don't really know why, but Uruk sure likes 'em."

...

(Back in the Present)

Woodrow could hardly believe his luck; the Green Knight of Ozon not only hand picking him for a secret mission; but accompanying him on it as well. The older man' green robe concealed him well in the woods of his homeland as the two roamed across the yellow brick road. The Hunter could feel the soles of his boots wearing away unnaturally quickly as they walked.

"Sir Oswald, where are we headed?" Asked young man.

The Knight did not respond, instead simply increasing his pace.

They come to an intersection; one that Woodrow actually remembered; having used this stretch of road on his last trip through Ozon.

Towards distant Antiquity.