Within the Forest's Shadows

-Please PM me before joining! I'd like to ok your char first!-​

Hi there! My name's Terei. I'm one of the many fairies you'll find in Gormant Forest... That is, if you know how to look for us. We're everywhere, really, but most humans have a very hard time finding us. Nothing against you personally, Reader, but most humans aren't very welcoming of Fairy Folk. For some reason you seem to think we have magic that can benefit you. Aside from the Fairy Nectar, I'm not really sure if our magic would be of any use to you, and it would certainly take a lot of that Nectar to do anything for you!

The majority of my time is spent keeping tabs on forest creatures, as one of the newest of the Queen's Patrol! It can be boring, but my friends and I find ways to make it fun. To you these creatures may seem pests or annoyances, but to us, they're almost all such good friends! There are the few creatures that we'd rather avoid; nasty things that think we'd be fun to eat, or other things that- um, well... No, we don't really like those types of creatures. I'm still learning the ropes on that department, but my friends are very good teachers.

I've been told that animals look different for humans, and behave quite differently around you. I can see why; rumors say that most of you aren't very nice to creatures. Mister Mouse seems ever so kind to me; offering me to stay in his home, cooking me the most delicious of breakfasts, and taking me tours of his gardens. And for a Mouse, he dresses quite eloquently! But you say he runs around on all fours in nothing but his fur to steal your food? I highly doubt that!

"Terei?"

The strawberry blonde's head shot up from the leaf she had been scrawling on, shoving it beneath her acorn desk as the Captain of the Patrol poked her head into the room. "What are you up to in here? Why aren't you in uniform yet?"

"Sorry, Gineen. I'll get right on that. I was just... updating my diary."

Gineen smirked, resting in the door for a moment. "You were writing to the humans again, weren't you? How many times must I tell you, Terei? Humans are never coming near this place. And besides, even if they did, why would they read anything scrawled out in your tiny little writing? They'd most likely destroy this place for one of their vehicle roads or a mall." She tapped a finger against her shoulder, indicating the scar along it. "Don't forget, dear. I've seen those beasts. I've seen what they can do, and felt the damage they can inflict. They are not your friends. Promise me you'll stop these foolish letters."

"But... Gineen...," Terei started to protest, only to frown as Gineen shot her a glare.
A glare of warning.
-Do not cross me. -

"I promise," She finally replied with a sigh, taking the leaf out and crumpling it up. "No human letters."

"That's my girl!" Grabbing Terei's wings, she yanked the girl out of her room, shoving her into the hallway. "Now go on and get to your patrol!"

"But my uniform-!," She squeaked out, trying to claw back into the room.

"Not my problem. I gave you time. Shoo!"

Hastily flying from the doorway before Gineen could throw anything at her, the fairy took to the skies, flying above the sprite kingdom around the oak tree. The Queen's army and patrols all lived in the tree with her; the higher branches for those of higher ranks, the lower for those just starting out, and the small mushroom homes at the base for those who lived under her rule. Numerous creatures came to visit the small kingdom regularly, to report any issues that may have been bothering them, or to simply visit the shops helmed by the sprite folk.

Speaking of which.

Before any patrolling could be done, Terei needed to be sure her belly was satisfied; a reminder given by the loud rumble that nearly knocked her from the sky. Oooh. She -was- hungry! Landing in the middle of the Fairy market, she peered about for something to nibble, as well as to find any of her friends that may have been wandering about.

Enter Fierabras

Fierabras woke to the sounds of a day well along, the rustles of small foraging animals in the leaf litter, the songs of birds and the hum of flies. The sun was high enough to reach the forest floor. Fierabras startled awake to find himself sitting on a middle branch near the fork of an aspen tree, his clothes and pack hanging from a twig nearby, a nearly empty vial of nectar slung around his neck. He still did not know what woods these were, and still had not chanced upon anyone who might inform him. Still, he was carefree and happy to be in the shade on a hot summers day, and happy for the smells of loam and resin. Most of all, he was happy to still be free.
He had come across the plateau and down into this valley, making haste though there was no sign of his being followed. The humans in the last town perhaps had not noticed what they were missing until well after his stealthy departure, or perhaps that beautiful daughter of the town had stayed their wrath in his support. Either way he was happy to once again be out of the human domain.
But, he noticed, his provisions were whittled down to nothing, and he was mightily hungry for breakfast.
He decided to get down and trudge along the forest floor, sniffing about for the smell of smoke or baking. His pack was too unwieldy for flying. Perhaps among his faeiry kind he could find a warm reception, and play for his keep, before moving on towards what he thought was home.
He inspected his wares, the various trinkets and valuables he had favored and pilfered in the year since escaping his captivity, and smiled--somehow the glitter in his bag never failed to lift his spirits.
And so he continued on his way, remembering that in a forest, a straight line seems like a circle and what seems like a straight line is actually an endless turning, so taking the most circuitous route he could devise, while humming a pleasant melody that the lady of that last town had been singing when he first flitted through her window...

Terei sniffed at the air as she came to land in the center of the square, happily moving to her favorite stand filled with sweet honeyed rolls and various breads. "They smell so good," she crooned to the beaming baker behind the counter, snatching up a few spares after shoving one of the small sweet rolls into her mouth. The little gold badge that hung from the choker about her neck reminded people of her status as a Patrol Guard, gaining her the freedom to freely take, within reason, what she pleased from the shops.

She usually didn't abuse this power.
Unless the rolls were fresh.
Like now.

Another grabbing handful and a grin from around the treat in her mouth, Terei was on her way, wandering along to the rest of the shops. Such wonderful treats needed a worthy drink along with it! The berry juices that was left to ferment in the acorn barrels had such a wonderful taste to them, Terei already anticipating a nice cup of one of them before hearing a curious sound off in the distance.

"Hrmm?"

The bite still in her teeth, she cocked her head towards the sound; a musical light tinge in the air. She rather liked it.... She needed to find its source. Flitting up into the air a few inches, she started for the sound, still clinging to her free treats.

A sprite! She spied him now, though he didn't look familiar at all. Curious.

Well, as a member of the Patrol, it was her duty to welcome fellow Fairy and Sprite folk. Touching down, she waved to him, finishing off the bite in her mouth quickly before smiling! "Hello to you!," she called, her other arm full of her treats. "Welcome to Gormant, traveller!"

Fierabras' and Terei's meeting

Fierabras had quickened his pace when the first smells of woodsmoke and cooking had stirred his nostrils. He'd eaten handfuls of some delicious, unfamiliar berries that seemed to be everywhere, but they had hardly served to quell his hunger. What's more, he was eager to encounter the magical creatures of these cheerful woods, for he felt their effects all about him. It had been nearly a weak since he'd fled the town, he missed the company of that human woman there, and the scenes of their magical interludes looped through his merry brain, with only a slight hitch of remorse that he'd left so abruptly, while she lay deep in the net of dream and of magic.

Such were Fierabras' thoughts as he tromped through the morning woods, gaining on the smell before him, and detecting the soft murmur of a distant clamor.

But then of a sudden, who was this welcome young faery? She was making right for him, her smile visible even from this distance. Her form crackled with multicolored magic to Fierabras' trained eye. There was a brimming abundance and force of good magic in this one. He thought to spellbooks, elixers and alembics in his pack.
He reached in and pulled out a small bronze oil lamp, empty, from among his treasures. It was finely wrought and polished. He held it aloft above his head in both hands, offering it dramatically to the nearing faery.
He could now see that whe wore a sort of medal around her neck, and there was a line of glistening dark juice slowly dripping down her chin.
"Hello my dear young faery, I am the traveler Fierabras whose good fortune has put him today in this very wood of yours. What did you say it was called? I offer you this small token in gratitude for your welcome, and promise to withold no story or song so long as we go now to the table where you of late were drinking your berry juice". For Fierabras was all to familiar with berry wine and recognised it. He watched as the girl faery briefly examined the lamp before tucking it under her arm, did not fail to notice the flicker of fascination in her eyes, fleeting though it was.
The girl looked fresh from a tranquil sleep, glistening with health, magic and youthful carelessness in the noontime sun. Fierabras felt a sudden urge to be off with his pilgrims coat and hobnailed boots, and to lighten his load beside the fire.

A gift?

Terei took it hesitantly, but the smirk on her face refused to leave. What an interesting thing this was! She'd be sure to find a use for it soon. She certainly liked the sheen to it, and it looked as though it could-

Oh, wait. He was talking.

Terei looked up at him with wide eyes, giggling softly as he pointed out the mess on her chin. Wiping her hand quickly through it, she tucked the gift under her arm and nodded. "This is Gormant, traveler Fierabras. Our Queen welcomes all visitors, and to escort you to our village would be an honor."

Keep her manners in good check. Be nice, be kind, be inviting.
Her impressions were also those of Gormant... And the Queen.

"The berry wine is fresh and delicious! I'd love to hear the stories of your travels here, Fierbras! This way, I'll show you! There are plenty of great foods to nibble on as well, like- oh. Like these." She offered one of the breads she had swiped earlier, smiling at him. "To trek this far must have been exhausting. Here, have this! Freshly baked and sweet with clover honey."

Leading him back into the main hub of Gormant Fairy society, she brought him to the Greenhood Inn, a place run by her own uncle. The older man was more than happy to accomodate the new arrival, offering up a large cup of his own brew of Berry Wine and a large room, as well as the most comfortable chairs in his foyer for the two to talk.

How Frierabras

Fierabras noted that the faery seemed to be holding something back; there was an unabashed, penetrating and playful wonder in her eyes that was not echoed in her words, kind and inviting though they were. He had seen such faces before, often they spoke of something indulgent, lecherous, secret or forbidden that stirred the quick the person. Fierabras sympathized fully with the sort, stirred as he had always been by such a kernel in his heart. It was common enough among the traveling set, who seemed helpless to their desire to always move on, to grapple with the new, the strange and the potentially harmful, and treated of such experience with a connoisseurs sensibility. But it was much less common among the sedentary.
He took a still warm bun from the hand of the faery, and with no shame and great aplomb set to cramming it into his smiling maw. The girl giggled to see this earnerst, childlike display. He felt immediately comfortable as the object of her mirth.
"Take me away then little one, with no more delay," He managed to mumble when he'd choked down some of the roll.
She flitted up and off, and was soon fluttering high above his head, where she stopped to look back.
"I've too many things to carry, so I won't be flying," he said,"Perhaps we can walk instead, if you'll oblige. I promise that I am not usually one to ruin the fun, and would myself much rather that we flew. If you'll lead the way by foot I'd be most grateful."
The faery returned to the forest floor beside him, looking at his satchel.

"Sheesh, what all do you have in there anyways".

"Oh just the usual bric-a-brac and claptrap of the journeyman. Its all very precious to me though. Maybe I can show you some of my finer pieces. But really, all this walking has me famished, and there is still a little more yet to be done before we are at the table."

"Come on then," she said, and took a few steps onward. Fierabras followed without a word. The sounds of activity grew more louder as the went, though it was a little while before he spotted an Inn nestled between the forked buttresses of two great trees.

As they walked, he behind, they did not speak. Her mind seemed preoccupied. Simple faery girl. Yet still Fierabras could not deny that despite her youthful simplicity, and maybe more because of it, there was something tantalizing in the young nymph, the bounce at the end of her step, the wiggling of her wings, the rosy shine of her exposed skin in the sun. Fierabras felt the early flush of a warm attachment to the girl. It was some time since Fierabras had had much to do with his faery kin, perhaps to long. What a welcome homecoming to the magic realm of the world as yet untouched by mankind!

Eva

Appearance: http://www.quizilla.com/user_images/...ktopfairy4.jpg
Hair: Black with purple streaks
Eyes: Purple
Wings: mainly purple and green
Outfit: dark green and black to match the forest's looks when she normally patrols

Eva woke relatively early, not long after the noonday sun had reached its peak in the sky. She normally patrolled after the same Sun had began to sink into the West, and through the night by the light of the beautiful moon. However, going back to bed just wouldn't do so the young fairy grabbed her sketchbook and headed out from her home in the oak tree, where the others who served their Queen lived.

The pale young fairy blinked rapidly in the brightness before taking off to the crowded square that was largely the center of community life for Gormant. Smells of people and food, flowers and delicacies invaded her nose while the joyous chatter and laughter played like music through the community. She wondered briefly if she could try drawing a nice crowded place, capturing the life and personality of the people of her town. She loved to draw and did so often. She decided to head to the Greenhood Inn, always a bustle with people.


As the fairy entered she saw several people she recognized, it was a close community after all. She also noted the presence of someone new as well as Terei, another of the Queen's patrol seemed to be siting in a comfortable chair and talking to the stranger. Immediately intrigued, Eva glided over to the strawberry blond. Terei was friendly, a kind patrol whose personality was bright and sunshiney. Strangers often had tales of interest to tell, and for all her usual antisocial nature, Eva was immensely inquisitive.

"Hi Terei, how are you this afternoon? Who's the stranger?" she asked impulsively, then covered her mouth as her pale cheeks colored. Eva didn't deal often with people, as she tended to just draw them from afar, and as most of her patrolling was in the evening. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding" she said hurriedly, fearing she might have just interrupted something that shouldn't have been intruded upon. She suddenly wished she could turn invisible s humans claimed her kind did or sink right into the floor.

"Uncle can take your bags for you, Fierbras," Terei offered, smiling as the older sprite nodded in agreement, picking up the parcels and heading towards the rooms separating off from behind them. Peeking over the back of the chair to see how far off the Sprite had gotten, she looked back at the newcomer, a curious gleam to her eyes.

"I bet you're tired," She mused, cocking her head at him as she watched him settle in, the cup of Uncle's drink in hand. "Perhaps after you've warmed and eaten, I can help you... relax?" She smiled again with that, crossing her legs and letting her raised foot tap in the air. "You can ask Uncle. I've got a wonderful technique... Even the Captain of the Patrol says I can make the most tense of fairies just melt into a puddle."

"It's all about touch, you see. Knowing exactly what feels good, and seeing it in the other person." As she spoke, she got up from the chair, going around behind his and running her hands along his back, massaging the base of his wings. "From lugging so much stuff, I'd guess your back is rather sore and tight... and your legs aching as well..."

"Your friend is all set, Terei!," Uncle announced as he re-entered, pausing as he saw her and the current stance she was in with the newcomer. "Ah...." He simply shrugged, turning to head for the kitchen. "Making him very welcome, are you, dear?"

"Hrm." She glanced back at him, smiling sweetly. "It's part of my duty in my service to the Queen!"

"Well, you are good at what you do, dear." With that, the older Sprite left the room.

"He's not my true uncle," She explained at the newcomer's curious look, slipping back around in front of him. "I simply call him that because he took care of me when I was young. My parents were killed by a rabid badger... Uncle took me in. When I came of age, he taught me all about everything I needed to know in this world... And how many wonderful uses both our Nectars have. He said that every Fairy and Sprite have a different flavor, a different special something about theirs."

She paused, blushing slightly.

"Perhaps... Perhaps I could find out if-"

She nearly jumped out of her skin as her name was called out, jumping up quickly to find Eva standing on the other side of the chair.
"EVA! I- um- hi...."

The other girl's shock and stammering only f'urther confirmed Eva's belief that she had indeed just intruded horribly. Her pale face was now flaming set off even brighter than it would be by her long black and purple hair. "I-I really am sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude, Terei, I just hadn't seen you in a while and was excited and-I really shouldn't have said anything." her words rushed out in a tremulous fashion, and she was shaking slightly.

Eva should have just stuck to her original plan and only drew instead of interacting with people. And now I've gone and ruined it all anyway, thought the fairy miserably as she apologized again to Terei. This was half the reason the girl preferred the solitude of the night patrol-she really was no good at social situations. And now that she had messed up she was at a loss on how to fix it.

Finally she settled for apologizing again and making a hasty retreat.

"Umm, anyway. Nice to see you again, and nice to meet you stranger, I will be leaving you alone now" stammered the young woman and she curtsied politely, before turning to walk as quickly out the door as she could without drawing attention to herself. Of course, in her fluster she didn't notice the other fairy holding some berry wine until she smacked right into him and spilled it over both of them. Now the embarrassed fairy was near tears as she apologized again and began trying to help clean up the mess.

"Eva, wait!"

Terei shot an apologetic look in Fierbras' direction, quickly going after the other fairy. Wincing at the sudden mess between her friend and the other sprite, she grabbed some cloths from Uncle's counter and stooped to help her.

"There's no need to run off," she murmured, glancing to the other girl. "I was simply showing mister Fierbras around the village. Uncle's given him a room, and he was going to tell me some stories about his travels. You weren't interrupting anything, really."

Other than Terei's horribly wandering mind.
Which could use the interruptions.

The mess mopped up, she plopped the wet cloths back onto the counter and smiled to the drenched sprite, who in turn just frowned and headed off into the guest rooms. With a sigh, she looked back to Eva, offering her a hand. "Come on. Let's go hear what Mister Fierbras has to tell us. Though we probably should go on patrol soon...." She trailed off, shrugging. "I'm sure Gineen is so far off by now she hasn't even noticed I'm not out. Besides, I found something interesting- HIM!"

She giggled with that, thrusting a thumb over her shoulder to the waiting traveller.

Eva smiled and thanked the friendly fairy. Terei was so sweet and so very pretty. When they finished mopping up Eva's mess, she shyly but more than gladly accepted the graceful hand Terei offered her.

She giggled with Terei, her dark eyes dancing with glee and mischief. "We are supposed to look after those new to the area aren't we?" she asked softly "That is part of our duties and we will be doing just that"

Eva had went from mortification to pure bliss in moments, she would get to sit with Terei and the stranger, and hear his tales. She could almost skip, but that would be disastrous. So hand-in-had she let Terei pull her back to the stranger more than willingly.

The message was an unexpected and welcome surprise for Fierabras. Under Terei's practiced strokes he felt layers of tension erode in his back, experienced a slight vertigo of falling as he sank into his chair and into the pleasure of her touch. After his time with the humans and on the move, he had forgotten much about the faery ways. For instance, the humans were so guarded about their bodies, so jealous of touch. They'd inverted their senses and morals so that what felt good was often considered bad. Fierabras had never quite understood the reasons for this, nor was he in the least prone to altering his own appetites.
But here there reigned a blissful innocence as to such taboos or moral complications, and to Fierabras it seemed that Terei was moved to touch him, to heal him this way out of clear and unmuddled impulses, with a playful and light, easy spirit, and a masterful touch which expressed it.
The sinews about his groin were beginning to get tense amid the relaxation the faery's hands brought him, when the girl stopped and cried out to the other, whom he had heard and felt nearby a moment ago, but only seen blurrily through slitted and gummed eyelids.
Now Terei had left his chairside and made off towards the door, out of Fierabras' sight. Fierabras, sated, warm and growing blissful, sank even further into chair's downy seat, entertaining mirthful thoughts of the faery, relinquishing himself again in his mind to gentle force of her touch, extrapolating and returning to the brief massage just ended. Drifting off....
When he woke Terei was hunched before him, a quizzical half grin on her face. After his years in strange lands, Fierabras had honed his first moment upon waking into a suspended second of pure sensory examination and analysis, and complete inaction and stillness.
He first caught the emerald sparkle in Terei's eye, as she searched deeply within his, fiery pulses of verdant light. She was seeing deeply inside him, and he allowed it, offering her his depths. he then moved his eyes down her slender neck, between her shoulders and down the ravine created by the pressure of her breasts against one another, smallish and pert, he was disappointed by the cloth that concealed their lunar roundness. Looking back to her eyes, still locked on his, level with his, he saw over her head another faery, this one also with the same medal about her neck, a parcel in her hand, and an expression of reservation that was peculiar in a faery. In fact it was almost downright human, the way she was looking at him as if not to look. Fierabras drank all this in in the moment before Terei's words gathered in his mind.

"Eva here wants to hear your stories too, Mr. Fierabras. I'm so sorry to have left you like that, right in the middle of the healing as it were, I hope you are not to upset. It's no way to introduce you to our land, to tease you that way. Perhaps we can accompany you to your quarters, so that you can fully relax." Both girls were devouring him with their eyes, as if nervous of his response. But there was only one way he could imagine responding.

"Yes. Yes, by all means, take me away girls, just don't forget to bring the bottle".

"But of course!," Terei replied in a rather louder-than-needed tone, grabbing up the bottle he spoke of and grinning. "Uncle's wine makes everything all the better!"

Giving a glance to her scout companion, she gave a quick half-shrug, getting up from the floor and reaching for Fierbras' hand. "I'll show you to your room so we can all be comfy. Uncle gave you the best one of the whole inn; a perfect view of the stream and a wonderful fragrance from the blooming blossoms outside. You really did wander in at the perfect time, Mister Fierbras. Gormant is in its prime this time of year!"

She didn't want to scare the man by bringing up the less-than-fun times of the year, especially when some creatures were first waking from hibernation. They were far from friendly then, and took it out on just about everyone; especially the Fairies that tried to calm them down. Terei's toosh was was still sore from some rather foul tempered creatures earlier that year.

"Here! Isn't it comfy?!"

Terei had shoved open the door, plopping down on the bed and sprawling herself out. "I could just lay here forever," She crooned, giggling before she sat up. "But that would be a bad idea. We have lots to show you, and a little work to do along the way." Getting up, she stretched hr back, letting her wings flitter out a bit before smiling at him. "Speaking of which... How are those muscles feeling, Mister Fierbras? Are you still needing a massage?"

This faery girl Terei would require no spells or enchantments from Fierabras, he could tell, she had already shown herself to be beyond yielding. This was such a pleasant departure from the intricacy that his human relations demanded, although he did always enjoy their every turn. Now the faery was splayed before him on the bed as he took in the room. Ornately carved wood lined the mantle and the headboard, a delicious fragrance of the days blossoms and the chill, damp of air of spring flooded the room. There was a fire already crackling in the hearth.
The vision before him on the bed enlivened his animal spirits instantly, and he was met with an impulse to force himself upon her, to put the limits of her coquettish entendres to the test. But such pleasures would be fleeting and of course could cause him quite a bit of grief were he to be rebuffed. He like Gormant so far, and already was hoping for a prolonged sojourn.
Her wings fluttered, then sank into a languorous opening and closing motion, like that of a butterfly in the sun. Her knees too were subtly opening and closing, unselfconsciously, as she arched her back, grinding her faery ass into the down mattress. He sat on the edge of the bed so softly that it did not shake, so as not to alarm her with his courseness of motion. He recalled himself to the ancient techniques of love and seduction he had learned in the palace of Elendin, the kingdom where magic was prohibited but which had perfected the alchemy of the flesh by common means. He made not a sound, matching her breathing, entering her simple abandonment.
He placed his hand on one of her bare legs, down near the ankle, to fingers lightly settled upon the bone of her shin. He drew it up with a slight pulling motion towards her knee. He had forgotten the extent of the ethereal softness of the faery skin in his years among humans and other courser beings.
He closed his palm gently upon her knee. She had laid her head back before, sighing slightly upon his touch. Now he called her eyes to his with his mind and his hand's gentle pressure. He held them for a moment, penetrating her as moments before in the tavern she had done to him, flames of orange and red swirling in her green arbors.
"Yes, my girl, I have had a long and difficult journey. Such is my life. I was only just beginning to shed my weight before when we were interrupted. I beseach you, if you will it, to continue. You won't regret it, for once I am restored I have much that will find your fascination, I am sure. Don't hold back."