Chapter 16: Fairy Fae Folk
Skye’s eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her head. She stared hard at the tiny, lifeless body in front of her with shock, awe, and a gaping mouth. It was a fairy; a Real friggin’ fairy! And Skye had swatted the beautiful creature like a housefly. She inwardly cursed her stupid reflexes.
Shaking herself from her shock and self-pity; Skye gingerly scooped up the tiny body. She held her close as she picked the bits of grass from her luminous white clothes and hair. She was the most beautiful anything, Skye had ever seen. Her ears were pointed, and her wings were almost transparent. Her hair was long and wispy. She was everything Skye had imagined a fairy would look like when she was a child. She marveled at the wonder in her hands..
When the tiny woman moved, the lass nearly dropped her. Panicking; Skye ran a few steps in one direction, only to turn back and take a few steps in another. She did it two more times; huffing and sputtering her panic out loud.
Realizing how crazy she must’ve looked, Skye stood still and yelled, “Umm.. Ima sorry! I seemed to have injured yer friend-accidentally! If any of ye Fae folk be about, Please announce yer selves! I don’t wanna take her with me, but I cannot leave her here alone like this... HELLO?!”
Skye stood as still as the forest. She tried focusing on anything other than her own heartbeat, but to no avail. She pid and took a step in the direction she needed to go in, but stopped dead in her tracks. A very large bear stood before her on it’s back legs.
The very top of it’s head was glowing, and Skye could see a tiny person standing by the bear’s ear. The glow had a red hue to it, which only made the danger before her terrifying. She yelped at the sight and stumbled back slightly, but kept standing. She swallowed her fear and said, ” C-can ye help her? Please?!”
The bear quirked his head as the fairy did: resembling a marionette. It stared at Skye a moment before the puppeteer spoke; “Why did you attack my Wife?”
.....
The male fairy’s voice did not match his size. It was deep and masculine: not at all what Skye had expected. She figured it’d be more.. Melodious, than it was. She didn’t know why she’d even had expectations. ‘Fairy stories from childhood, maybe?’ She shook her head before her mind decided to wonder.
The halo of red around the bear’s head was growing more intense. The male fairy yelled his question again; fury apparent in his voice. Skye shook slightly as the bear took a step towards her with a hostile growl. Realizing how bad the situation was, the lass looked about for a water source; just in case. When the Fae saw her head swiveling about, he yelled with hostility; “You’d be dead before you could find any.. Don’t be so stupid, human.”
“Well excuse Me, but yer kinda terrifying! Of course Ima gonna panic and try and arm me self! But I mean ye no harm.. I didn’t mean to strike yer wife. I saw something outta the corner of me eye.. Ima on me way to find me horse after a, umm.. wee battle. And since ye seem to know what I was lookin for, ye must’ve seen me fightin’. Are you really surprised that Ima wee bit on edge?!” Skye flung her arms about in the air as she’d spoken.
She hadn’t meant to yell at him, but her entire body was shot at this point. Skye was wet, dirty, cold, scared, sore, and tired; just to name a few of her issues. Tidas needed help now, and this fairy, riding a giant freaking Bear, was now in her way. She was afraid, but that was Skye’s usual thing: Didn’t want to feel it, just convert it into anger.
“If I had Wanted to hurt yer wife, I wouldn’t
have called out for help! Ima just after me horse so I can save MY future husband. Now, lower yer... beast; and come collect yer wife so I might be on me way,” Skye finished with clear irritation.
The red light slowly dimmed, then turned a purplish color. The bear went to all fours once the Fae lifted off his head. It nodded to the fairy, then Skye, then turned and left without incident. Skye’s mouth instantly hung open at the bear’s acknowledgment of her. ‘Are bears normally that smart?!’
“It’s quite rude to gawk; Lady Skye,” the male fairy stated flatly.
Immediately closing her mouth; Skye looked abashed. She knew it to be a rude gesture, but couldn’t help it. The day just seemed to get crazier as it went on.. She looked back to the fairy and said, “Rude, but not unexpected.. Like that was.”
He nodded his understanding, then fluttered over to his wife; hovering next to Skye’s hands. His features were filled with concern. He gently cupped his wife’s face momentarily before scooping her up into his arms. He examined her face closely before a sigh of relief escaped him.
The two were striking in their beauty. The male had sounded older and stern, but looked like a young demigod. His face was long and chiseled. His chin and jawline were strong, like Tidas’. His pearl colored skin made the purple of his hair and clothes seem darker than they actually were.
“Thank you for giving her some of your magic. I hadn’t realized that you were trying to help her; not take her, or worse.. Humans aren’t normally so kind to our people,” the male Fae explained with a pained smile as he looked at her.
Skye’s expression twinged with empathy. She could never understand what they’d gone through, but she understood the feeling of true fear: that was something she understood well. Skye nodded in acknowledgement, but immediately looked back in confusion.
“Ye just said that I gave her me magic; what did ye mean?” Skye moved her hands to her sides as she spoke.
The fairy quirked an eyebrow at her and asked, “What do you mean? Did you not realize you were doing it?”
He looked down at his wife again and back to Skye before saying; “You must’ve wanted to help her very much. Did you not know that you’re a Shepherd?”
“WHAT?!” Skye said dubiously.
“Well, that’s the only explanation for it.. Although; I’ve never heard of an Elemental being an aspect Shepherds could possess before...That is more than a little disconcerting..” the male fairy trailed off as he contemplated the information.
A full minute went by before his eyes lit up and he said; “Wait here for six minutes. If I don’t come back by then, you may leave. I will attempt to fetch the elders so they may meet you. They might have information on your powers.”
Skye was annoyed she had to wait. She’d already been gone around thirty-five minutes or so. Even though Petrie said he’d stay with Tidas until she’d returned, Skye did not want to test his patience.
The lass sighed lightly before replying; “I will stay put for six minutes, but I must leave to find me horse. My betrothed isn’t doing well: he was greatly injured, due to the battle.. And sorry again, ye know.. F-For swattin yer wife..”
“Cough, Umm.. It’s all right, Lady Skye. It was an accident, and you have righted it. I will go as quickly as I can..”
The male fairy went to leave, still carrying his wife in his arms when Skye called out to him: “Pardon! But, I’d forgotten to ask yer names!”
The fairy turned back around, gave a curt smile, and replied; “My name is Aero, and my wife is named Celestia!”
Skye smiled warmly and waved him off. As she waited; her mind processed what had just happened. She’d not only seen; but met, talked to, and touched Real fairies! The stories of the Fae folk had always been her favorites. When Tidas had told her the reason people never went into the forest when they’d found it; she immediately went in. It became one of their favorite places, and came often as children.
One time; they’d gotten lost. Skye kept saying she saw a light, so they followed it. It had just started to rain when they spotted the large, odd tree, growing in an odd place. The two children wound up needing to seek shelter until they could be found.
Their hollow had turned out to be a saving grace for them. It had rained hard that night, with massive thunderstorms rolling through in constant waves. The tiny trickle of a stream next to the hollow had more than tripled in size due to the amount of rainfall.
Skye had no doubt now that if they hadn’t followed the mysterious light, they would’ve never found the tree, and most likely died. They were found first thing the next day, but had they not followed the light, the two would’ve easily wound up dead.. Still; it had always saddened Skye that not once, did they see a fairy. Now, she had just assaulted one.
“I still can’t believe I almost killed a fairy.. But I Finally met one! ...But, because I almost killed his beloved wife..So stupid.. but YAY! Ack! Ima way too excited about this... Wait. Was the light we followed from a fairy?!” Skye spoke out loud as she waited, lost in her thoughts.
“I’m glad to see that you’ve grown strong since then, child... I worried when you and Prince Tidas stopped coming around,” an old, kind sounding voice echoed against the trees.
Skye whirled around to see an old male fairy. He had a white undershirt with long, deep red robes that flowed around him as he hovered in place. The hair on his head was pure white, and his long beard matched it in color. He was heavier set; making his face look round. His cheeks were rosy from his efforts, and his nose was slightly rounded and red as well. He had a bunching of pine needles that looked like a Yuletide brooch. The tiny pair of reading glasses on the bridge of his nose completed the look. Before Skye could stop herself; she tilted her head to the side with a childish, quizzical look before blurting out; “Santa?”