Kaisnahniik rubbed her bright red hands in excitement as she hurried through the warm, wooden halls of her tribe's home as quickly as she could, her mind entirely occupied by the upcoming meeting that she very much wanted to be on time for. She shouldn't be late because she'd purposefully left early, but that didn't mean she should dawdle. No, the most positivity came from being punctual and productive. As the youngest member of her, admittedly small but relatively powerful tribe, she needed to live up to the standards set for her. She would do her duty and be where she needed to be and they would find a way to end this potential disaster.

They all would.

The fact that every other tribe they knew of had been allowed to send representatives had surprised and pleased her. It hadn't seemed like an idea that the elders would even entertain, but they'd eventually concluded that this was a problem every fae would have to deal with, and so the invitations had been sent. The representatives had been arriving throughout the day, although she'd not met any of them yet.

She wondered briefly what it would be like to meet a fae not born of happiness. The family of lower fae she'd been born to initially had all lived with, encouraged and depended on joy. Once she'd gained her higher reasoning and ability to feel more than just joy, she'd left her home and sought out the nearest tribe of higher fae that fit her personal ideal of Creation and good luck.

She'd come to understand that higher fae rarely embodied or represented the exact same personal ideal, but they often overlapped. So, like-minded higher fae came together to form tribes, usually near human settlements. Sometimes they were worshiped as gods, other times they were feared as demons. She found that a little silly because they were really neither, but her teachers had said that humans needed to label things, especially things they didn't understand, and so the fae usually let them do whatever they felt they had to and helped them as best they could. Humans were, after all, a source of power, entertainment and life, all of which should be protected and encouraged.

Kaisnahniik herself didn't understand more than a couple emotions so far, and so had limited power, but she was okay with that. Some days she wondered what it would be like when she reached Khikhin's age, but for the most part it was nothing more than an idle curiosity. She respected the older fae a great deal, as he was the oldest and founding member of her tribe. She'd heard rumor that he claimed to have begun to understand – to feel and even use – dark emotions. What an interesting idea. Some fae didn't seem to like that, but she had never felt concern or wariness before, even if they had been explained to her, and so she couldn't help but be curious.

There were other, older light tribes – the Tribe of Knowledge, the Tribe of Hope and the Tribe of Love to name a few – who had even older members than Khikhin. Like Oronn from the Hope tribe (who would head the upcoming meeting). And now she could meet them all!

So focused on her thoughts, Kaisnahniik didn't notice the shadow in front of her until she ran straight into it. For a moment, the world almost ceased to be as a spark unlike anything she'd ever experienced raced through her body and her eyes met glowing yellowish-green ones that turned to her in surprise. Then the world sped up again, and both she and the shadow went tumbling to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said hurriedly, trying to climb back to her feet and disentangling herself from whoever she'd run into.

"Yeah, you'd better be sorry," came the rough, hissed voice back. Kaisnahniik froze and turned to really study the person she'd collided with, because that was not a normal response. Then her eyes widened and she let out an excited squeak.

"Oh, wow! You're from another tribe!"

Due to the poor lighting, she couldn't make out any details except for the green eyes in front of her. Said green eyes turned to her with an expression she couldn't quite understand and said, "No, really?"

Kaisnahniik tipped her head to one side, confused. "I don't understand. How could you not know you are not from this tribe?" Unless he was new, but he didn't feel happy... at all.

The green eyes closed and Kaisnahniik heard a groan. Fascinating.

"It's called 'sarcasm'," the shadow replied, opening his eyes and glaring at her. Oh, how strange. She'd never been on the receiving end of a glare before! "And I'm not going to explain it. Just know that, yeah, I'm from another tribe."

Kaisnahniik thought about that for a moment and then decided to brush it off for later. Then she held her hand out in front of her, three fingers held up in the gesture of welcome and greeting.

"I am Kaisnahniik from the Tribe of Joy."

"How original."

Kaisnahniik tipped her head to one side. "Is that more of that 'sarcasm' you used before?"

Another groan, louder this time. "I didn't realize that dealing with all you lights was going to be this annoying."

"Annoying?" Kaisnahniik asked, eyes widening. "You're from a dark tribe! Oh, this is wonderful! I've never met someone from a dark tribe before. What is your name?"

"You know, I'd put up a fight, but I'm really too tired to right now. My name is Yortiig, from the Tribe of Pain."

Kaisnahniik's eyes widened even further and she leaned in closer, trying to study the fascinating being in front of her. She'd heard of the Tribe of Pain. It was one of the worst and no one had expected said tribe to answer the call.

"It is a pleasure to meet you!"

The green eyes just stared blankly at her. "How do you happy ones even survive?"

The bright red girl cocked her head to one side. "I don't understand."

"Exactly."

Somehow that just confused her more, but she merely brushed it off and smiled at him again. "Are you the only one here from your tribe?"

The shadow seemed to flinch and looked away. "Yes. No one else would bother to come. I almost didn't. Kind of wish I hadn't."

"Oh, don't be like that! It's a wonder to have you here! Come, I'll escort you to the meeting room."

"You know, I think that I should really just return to my tribe," the shadow replied, backing away from her. By doing so, he stepped into the light and she saw what he really looked like for the first time. Black fur covered his body and large ears on his head. A tail stuck out behind him rigidly and whiskers adorned his face.

Kaisnahniik squealed and practically tackled him.

"You're a cat! And you're adorable! Oh, wow, those ears are amazing! And—"

"Get off!" the other fae practically hissed, pushing her away.

Kaisnahniik gasped as something new tore through her. Something she'd never felt before. For several seconds she could only stare at the dark fae before her as he sneered at her.

"That's what you get, you stupid, naive, happy—"

"What is this?" the red fae interrupted weakly. The other fae stopped and pulled back a little, looking wary. She pulled her hand away and numbly stared at the sparkling liquid that she saw there. Was that blood? She'd been told that higher fae had blood, but she hadn't really understood. "What is this I feel?"

For several seconds, the black fae just stared at her before he folded his arms and looked away. "That's pain."

Kaisnahniik's head shot up towards him. "Pain?" she asked, voice in awe. "You...shared one of your feelings with me?"

The green eyes didn't seem too happy or welcoming, but Kaisnahniik couldn't really understand why, even now. He'd shared something of his with her...why wasn't he happy about it?

"I guess I did. It's not like I meant to."

"Oh, thank you!" Kaisnahniik said.

The cat-like fae blinked at her incredulously. "Don't tell me you liked it?"

"Oh, no! I didn't like it at all. But you shared it with me and I could feel it. I...wonder why. I've never felt it before." And she hoped she never did again, really, but still, it was a new experience, and those were always good.

"Like I'd know," the black cat muttered.

Then his eyes widened in shock when Kaisnahniik stood, a pink light flowing over her body and healing the scratches on her chest.

"H-how did you do that?" he practically shrieked. It was his turn to rush forward and examine the skin that had been damaged not too long ago.

Kaisnahniik blinked in surprise at his sudden change. "My ideal is creation," she replied. "Healing isn't that different and was one of the first uses I found for my magic. Although, I've never had to heal myself before. Just humans."

"B-but that's not possible," Yortiig whispered, rubbing his hand over the smooth skin and then staring at his hand as if it had betrayed him.

"Why not?"

The cat fae locked eyes with her. "My ideal is destruction. No one has ever been able to heal damage I dealt."

"Oh!" Kaisnahniik replied, her smile returning. "Is that it? Well, there's a first time for everything! Now that you've shared your feeling with me, let me share mine with you."

"What? No, wai—" he cut off as she leaned forward and kissed him. It was something she saw humans do all the time and it almost always drew her to them, so she figured it would be the best way to show him something.

For a moment, nothing happened. And then, she sensed it inside him. Small and faint, but it was there, and growing.

After a moment, she stepped back, grinning at him as he staggered away.

"W-what was that?" he asked, clutching at his chest and looking incredibly overwhelmed.

Kaisnahniik giggled. "That's pleasure. What do you think?"

For several seconds, the black cat didn't answer. Kaisnahniik waited patiently for him to respond.

When he finally did, he sounded almost begrudging.

"Well, I didn't hate it."

xXx

The rest of the tribe seemed torn between amused and wary when Kaisnahniik escorted (dragged) Yortiig to the meeting. She introduced him to Khikhin excitedly, noting the older fae's surprise before escorting the dark tribe member to his seat and then retreating to stand at her place by the wall. After a few moments, conversations they'd interrupted started back up. The meeting hadn't started because there were still a few who had sent word who hadn't arrived yet.

Kaisnahniik just looked at all of the different fae around the room. Some tall, some short, some very human-like, some animals, most somewhere in the middle (like her and Yortiig). Of course, that thought drew her eyes right back to the darkest member of their meeting so far. She wondered why he seemed so uncomfortable as he sat there. People kept shooting strange glances at him, was that why? Or was it his accommodations? Perhaps she could get him something more comfortable to sit on? Although, those chairs were some of her tribe's best furniture. Hmm, how could she make it more comfortable?

Oh!

She called on her power and a small, red-spotted bundle of softness appeared in front of her. She ran up to him and held it out.

He just looked at it, skeptically. "What is that?" he asked.

"You sit on it. It will make you more comfortable."

Yortiig could only stare at her. "What is...comfort?"

Kaisnahniik returned his blank stare for several seconds before she exclaimed. "Right! Well, it's hard to explain, but here, sit on this and it might help."

Now looking between her and the pillow suspiciously, he slowly reached out with one, clawed hand and took it. Then he stood and put it on the seat. Before he could lower himself again, Kaisnahniik grabbed his tail and pulled it behind him.

"YEOW!" Yortiig yelped, startling more or less everyone before he whipped around to glare at her. "What did you do that for?"

Kaisnahniik just cocked her head at him. "Don't sit on your tail. That should make you more comfortable. Doesn't it feel better?"

His narrowed gaze relaxed and he stared at her for several seconds before turning back around. "Oh. Yeah. I guess it does." Why did he sound so...unhappy about that?

A snickering sound drew both of their attention and they turned to see another sitting at the table a little further down. It was female, covered in orange-brown fur and Kaisnahniik couldn't see the color of her eyes because they were closed.

"Wow, Yortiig," the figure said through sharp teeth pulled into a grin. "I never would have thought I would see the day that you would back down."

"Silence, fox," Yortiig returned angrily. "And I didn't back down."

"Ah, how sad," she didn't sound sad, and Kaisnahniik could feel something positive within her, although it wasn't fully light. And was that more sarcasm? "You can't even call me by my real name."

"When you stop being such an annoyance that I strive to forget every waking moment, I might be bothered to remember your name."

"Aw, Yortiig, your words hurt me! Look, I'm dying!"

"I'm not that lucky."

The fox snickered. "Of course not. Part of your ideal, Mr. Destruction, is bad luck."

"Wow," the red fae watching them breathed, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two in fascination. "It sounds like you know each other so well."

"We do not!" Yortiig growled, standing suddenly. The quiet that followed his outburst only lasted for a few seconds, but people were looking at him again and he still didn't seem to like it.

"Oh, don't listen to him," the fox said, standing from her seat and coming over to them. "My name is Atixel, from the Chaos tribe."

Kaisnahniik gasped in delight. "You're from a dark tribe too! Oh, wow!" She held up her hand in the gesture of welcome again. "It is a pleasure to meet you!"

The fox raised her eyebrow in amusement and then returned the gesture. "You're interesting, little bug."

"I am?"

"Yeah," Yortiig muttered.

Both of the girls turned to him.

"Oh? What is this? The founder of the pain tribe finally learning some positive emotions? You who swore them off."

Kaisnahniik's jaw dropped as she turned to him. "You did? Why would you do that?"

Atixel leaned forward, studying Kaisnahniik carefully. "You really are just curious, aren't you."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"And she's still not mad! I officially don't understand light fae!" Yortiig lamented.

The fox snickered again. "He thinks light emotions make fae weak, to answer your question."

"I see. And you're the founder of the pain tribe?" Kaisnahniik turned to Yortiig excitedly.

"Oh, this is too adorable," Atixel said, that strange grin still in place.

"Shut up, fox." Yortiig grumbled again from where he'd put his head in his arms. "You don't even know what 'adorable' feels like."

"Please, just because I originated from a dark tribe does not mean I don't feel light emotions. I never avoided learning them, unlike some fae. And just so you'll know, 'adorable' isn't something you feel. Well, I guess you can, but I never have."

"Ha!"

Somehow the grin widened and Kaisnahniik could sense amusement pouring off of her in waves. There was something to it that she couldn't quite place though – something she couldn't actually feel yet, apparently.

"It's something you say when you think something looks attractive in an endearing way."

"Exactly!" Kaisnahniik said, a grin splitting her face.

"I swear you're speaking another language," Yortiig grumbled.

"Oh, don't mind him," Atixel said, waving her hand at him and glancing back at the red fae.

"I don't!" Kaisnahniik replied. "I mean, I don't think he can make me unhappy, I've never felt unhappy before, but I do find him fascinating. You too, I've never met dark tribe members before today."

Atixel's amusement seemed to fade, although the red fae couldn't understand why. "What's wrong?"

"I know you didn't mean to, but you just kind of brought it home that Yortiig and I... we're the only two members from a 'dark' tribe here," Atixel replied. "It's upsetting that so few of us could see how important this is and uncomfortable being here."

"Oh," Kaisnahniik said softly, even though she didn't really get what 'upset' or 'uncomfortable' were, even if those had been explained to her too. It wasn't the same as feeling it.

"That brings up the question," Yortiig cut in, green eyes fixed on the fox girl. "Why do you think this is important? I thought you liked chaos. Isn't what's going on now chaotic enough for you?"

"Oh, Yortiig," she said, leaning down and patting his head, smile back in place. He hissed at her, but she went on like nothing had happened. "You don't understand the bigger picture. Humans are too complicated to not encourage chaos! If we don't do something, then what fun would I have?"

The cat fae shook his head. "I should have guessed."

"But that makes me wonder, why did you, of all fae, come?" the orange-furred fae asked, standing up and tapping her chin with one clawed finger thoughtfully.

"Oh, yes, I'm quite curious too! Kaisnahniik chirped up.

Yortiig shot her a dry glare before returning his gaze to his fellow dark fae. "To humans, life is pain. If we rid ourselves of humans, I lose a food source."

"Oh, this just keeps getting better!" Kaisnahniik said excitedly. "You're a feeding fae?"

The room around them went quiet again, and it took the girl a little time to figure out why. Most fae were like humans in the fact that they used the land around them as food, but some fae could (some even had to) actually subsist off of the emotions of others. They were rare and, supposedly, dangerous, but if Yortiig really was one of those fae, he didn't seem so bad.

In her excitement, the red fae forgot to keep quiet and then she heard a few gasps around them.

"Oh, look, there's the fear. Must be some old lights here to produce that kind of emotion," Atixel commented nonchalantly, although she still seemed to be enjoying this somehow.

"Oh, is that not a good thing, to have him here?" Kaisnahniik asked.

Atixel laughed and patted the red fae on her head, right between the antennae. "You must be young indeed, little bug."

The red fae smiled and rubbed the top of her head like she'd seen others do. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes," both of the dark fae said.

"Well, this is interesting," a new voice commented. All three looked up to see the ancient butterfly fae, Oronn, had come to join them.

"Sir," Kaisnahniik said softly, bowing. She could feel his amusement.

He was one of the oldest lights in the world, his tribe being one of the first known higher fae tribes. It was said that he could feel almost as many emotions as the humans and could even use most of them to fuel his magic.

"Such a strong light, an equally strong dark and someone far more neutral, all drawn towards each other."

"Says the other neutral in the room," Atixel replied.

Oronn nodded to her, and Kaisnahniik could feel his own amusement grow, although he never took his eyes off of the red fae. "And yet, I can feel that you are not quite as light as you were a short time ago, just as you are not as dark," he turned to the black cat.

"What?" Yortiig asked, standing again. "How can you say such a thing? Of course I'm dark! I'm as dark as they come, and no one should forget it!"

Kaisnahniik cocked her head as she regarded him. "But what about the pleasure?"

Atixel actually choked and even Oronn's eyes widened in surprise. Then both of the fae turned their eyes to the cat.

"What?" he stammered, then he folded his arms. "I have no idea what she's talking about."

"Oh, you've forgotten already?" Kaisnahniik asked. He didn't respond, instead turning his nose away from her. For a moment, she didn't really know what to do. Did all dark fae forget the positive feelings this fast? Was that why they remained dark?

Then she got a brilliant idea. She'd just remind him.

So she walked over to him, grabbed him and pressed her lips to his before he could say anything.

And there it was. Stronger this time... and everyone in the room felt it.

This time the silence was deafening as she pulled back.

"It's okay to feel this, you know," Kaisnahniik said softly, remembering what one of her teachers had taught her about how some fae don't think it's right to feel more than one emotion or one kind of emotion. That sounded awfully boring to Kaisnahniik. "I don't like your pain, but I'm glad I experienced it. The more I can feel, the more I can understand, and the more I can understand, the more I can heal. I think that it works with destruction too. Isn't it easier to destroy if you know something?"

He just stared at her, eyes wide, and didn't respond.

Actually, Atixel was the first to break the silence by cackling loudly.

"Well, it looks like the little bug has tamed herself a cat."

xXx

Don't ask me how the romance sneaked in. I'm still asking myself that. I like all sorts of dynamics between Plagg and Tikki so...yeah.

Anyway, I wanted their cultures to seem a bit medieval - a little crude, a little cultured, a little unique and a little inexperienced and like they're all still carving their way in the world. If that makes sense. Hope I pulled it off.

By the way, 'Kaisnahniik' (pronounced kyes * nah * neek) is supposed to mean 'born of joy' or something to that affect. Yortiig means misery or 'they who are miserable'. Atixel means mischievous. Oronn means wise. This is all completely made up. FYI. :)