"Alright, you two! It's time to move out!" Charmer's father opened the door to the room xe shared with xis sister. "It's been three months since I asked you to get out of here. You can come back when you find someone to settle down with."
"The sun's not even up," groaned Charmer's sister, Warrior. She slept on the bunk below Charmer in a wooden room decorated with colorful dried flower petals hung from the walls. The curtain over their window was another flower petal, which their father briskly removed. A hint of sunlight glimmered around from the other side of the mountain.
"It's up alright, there's just a mountain in the way." He said loudly. "You're both old enough to find spouses to start adding to the clan. I want you to have a spouse and seeds on the way in less than two years!" His feathered brown wings flapped once to stir up the room, sending blankets flying.
"Hey!" Warrior exclaimed, sitting up. "What if we don't want to get married?" She snapped back. Charmer remained quiet in xis bed, hoping xe wouldn't draw any attention to ximself.
"Then you can't live here. I'm tired of taking care of a pair of dead weights. All your older siblings have already gone out and started families or moved out of my house." Their father yanked the blanket off of Charmer and threw it on the floor. Xe yelped in surprise. "No lazy xon or daughter can mooch off me anymore! Time to head out!"
"Where are we supposed to go?!" Snapped Warrior, leaping out of her bed. Her feathered brown wings opened to protect Charmer from their father's eyes. Xis sister always protected xim like that.
"Warmton! There's plenty of suitors there that aren't related to our clan. Find some new blood." He took Warrior's pale wrist and pulled her aside, then yanked on Charmer's tail. Xe was trying to hide ximself in xis blanket, but evidently xis tail peaked out. Pain shot up xis yellow fur and the tuft of red hair on the tip of his tail curled away harshly. "Out!" Charmer's father practically pulled xim out of bed and flung xim out the door, shoving xis sister along the way. "You have until the sun rises past the mountain to get out of my house."
"What?!" Warrior exclaimed, scampering past her father to start gathering a bag. She buckled her sword in a belt around her waist. Her tail lashed, bare pale skin with a tuft of curly brown hair on the tip, and the brown hair on her head flailed from her quick movements. Charmer watched xis sister with wide eyes and stood in the doorway between their room and the rest of the house. Xis father pulled on xis fluffy wrist.
"You heard what I said. Out. I'm tired of putting up with you two. That includes you, Charmer! Don't just stand there bewildered! Get your shit together and get out of my house!" His long, wavy, red hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. Charmer's father's name was Hawk, and he was named after his brown and white speckled bird wings, which Warrior had inherited. Charmer got xis wings from xis mother, fluffy reddish moth wings. Xis yellow fur designated xim as a xe rather than a he, and Warrior's lack of fur or horn designated her as a she instead of a ze. Charmer had two curly bronze horns, which were quite different from xis father's two small bronze bull horns.
"Which way is Warmton?" Warrior demanded, placing her hands on her hips and slinging a bag over her shoulder.
"Follow the waterfall down to the river. Where it forks, follow the river left. You won't be able to miss the town." Hawk explained. "I've met Warmheart before, he's the organizer of that town, and he's very kind. He'll let you live there, but he won't let you mooch without contributing like you do here. You'll need to get a job there. It's time to be adults."
"Fine." Warrior snapped, grabbing Charmer's wrist. She already had a bag slung over her shoulder. "Come on, Charmer. While you were standing there dumbfounded, I packed you a bag." She shoved a small bag into Charmer's hands.
With a twitch of xis yellow and red fuzzy tail, Charmer finally spoke. "What's in here?" Xe asked in a timid voice.
"It's some clothes. Since you don't know any weapon skills, I figured you wouldn't need a weapon." Her tail lashed, peachy skin brushing the floor.
"I don't like fighting," Charmer justified. "And I don't need a weapon. I can solve problems with words."
Warrior rolled her dark eyes and pressed one hand against the hilt of her sword. "Whatever. I'll do the hunting, I guess." She crossed her arms and turned toward their father. "Can we at least have breakfast here?"
"If you can eat before the sun rises over the mountain." Hawk's tail lashed as well, wavy red hair touching the floor and lifting up again.
"Fine!" Warrior opened the cupboards and pulled out a bag of rat jerky. "Come on, Charmer. Let's go." She shoved some meat in her mouth and opened the door of their large wooden house. The view of the mountainside, barely lit by the sun on the other side, was gorgeous in the freshly autumn morning. Dew glistened on the green and yellow forest of grass that towered over the small fairies. Massive pine trees reached into the sky when Charmer looked up. Before Charmer could say a word, xis sister launched herself into the air, her feathery wings beating against the air like a hummingbird. Xe had no choice but to follow her, since xe didn't want to be left behind and face xis father's wrath.
They rose up above the blades of grass, into the air far enough to see down the mountain, but not higher than the sparse trees that dotted the mountainside. Charmer could see the Queen's palace far below, on top of a tree with mostly green leaves that were starting to turn yellow for the season. It was much larger than a bird's nest, and partially built into the wood. There was a waterfall that careened down the side of the mountain, melted snow and ice from the peaks, though it was thin at this time of year. It fed into a river that forked into two.
The flight was long down the mountain, until they reached the forest at the base of the mountain. The river split into two, a right and a left. It was around noon when Charmer and Warrior reached the split in the river, where they decided to rest and eat what was left of the bag of rat jerky.
"I always feel guilty eating meat," Charmer admitted to xis sister.
"Of course you would," Warrior said affectionately, shoving Charmer on the shoulder.
"Well, if you just think about it, this animal had a life. It probably had rat things to do and rat plans for the rest of the day, maybe a rat family, and we cut it all short just for a bit of meat." Xe explained.
Warrior thought for a moment. "What else are we supposed to do? Starve?" She argued.
"No," Charmer sighed. "We could eat just fruits and vegetables, not meat."
"Maybe the plants have plant lives and plant plans," Warrior argued. "Either way, it's survival. You have to kill to live, Charmer. Not everything in the world can coexist peacefully."
"I don't think that's true," Charmer's voice wavered slightly. Xe hardly ever raised xis voice, and this wasn't likely to be one of those times, xe thought. "I don't want to kill anything or anyone, ever. I don't know why you're so obsessed with fighting everything."
"It's my name, Charmer. I'm Warrior." She said, exacerbated. "You're supposed to have fairies flopping at your feet. Name's work that way. I don't know what's wrong with yours."
"They obviously don't work that way, because I'm not that charming." Xe argued. "You don't have to be what your name describes."
"Then what would I be?" Warrior asked, suddenly agitated. Xe hadn't realized this was such a sensitive topic for her.
"I don't know," Charmer backed away defensively, xis back to the river behind xim. "What do you want to be?"
"What do you want to be?" She snapped back, lashing her tail. "Because it seems like you don't want much of anything, Charmer. You're meek and quiet all the time and you have no dreams or goals. At least I have a direction in my life."
"Woah." Charmer blinked a few times. Her words stung. "I didn't realize this meant so much to you," xe murmured.
Warrior lashed her tail once. "Sorry, I'm just in a bad mood since this morning." She explained gruffly. "But I am serious. You're the reason father kicked us out."
"I am?" Charmer asked, baffled.
"I am?" Warrior mocked. "Of course you are! All you do all day is draw wistful pictures of pretty fairies and sit in your bed! Do you think he kicked us out because of me? I practice with my sword every day. I can defend the clan, so there's no reason to kick me out. You don't do anything useful."
"Oh." Charmer felt xis tail droop into the water behind xim, which surprised xim so much that xe lost xis balance. Xis tail flailed and xe floundered backwards, spreading xis wings wide to catch ximself, only to suddenly hit the thick surface of the water. Xis wings were quickly soaked, and the water was sticky and heavy at xis size, quickly adhering xim to the river.
"Charmer!" Warrior suddenly leapt into the air, batting her wings as fast as she could, but the river ran faster. The water swept xim away, and the harder xe tried to right ximself, the more xe stuck into the water. Little bubbles of air left xim as xe struggled, those stuck to xis fur. Xis fur became sticky, wet, and heavy with every movement. Warrior helplessly followed xim for as long as xe could remember, but she couldn't pull xim out of the water. It was so sticky from surface tension that just touching the water would suck a fairy in. If Charmer hadn't squirmed so much, the air bubbles would've remained on xim and pushed xim to the surface where xe could fly off, but since xis wings were wet now and the bubbles were lost, xe had no hope of getting out of the water.
The fairy that was now faced with xis death had always held an immense fear of dying. Death before falling in love, before having children, before having ever experiencing true happiness. Charmer was afraid. What was the point of having lived a life without ever being truly happy? Did anything make Charmer happy? Xe fantasized constantly about futures where xe would be happy, loved deeply by someone, and never ignored. The center of someone's world. Xe wanted someone to smile thinking about xim, xe wanted to smile thinking about someone, xe wanted to be loved. That, xe believed, would make xim happy. And xe was terrified of dying before xe ever had a chance to experience true love.
Charmer awoke in mud on the edge of the river. Xe could hardly stand from the weight of the mud that clung to xim and matted xis fur. Xe immediately realized xe was lucky to be alive. Water could be deadly for fairies that weren't adapted specifically for it.
Trees towered above xim. It took a moment of balancing and shifting xis tail to stand up straight. Ferns and grasses shaded xim from the sun far above. As xe looked up, twisted branches mingled together into a grand canopy of shadow. A twisted maze of wood, crossed by the flutter of giant hungry birds, with no sight of fairykind anywhere. The dizzying tweet of robins far above filled Charmer with dread. Xe was entirely weak to predators on the forest floor like this. A crow's distant caw made xim jump. In the air, xe could fly away from predators. But on the ground, xe was only roughly as tall as a chickadee, and had no magical abilities other than xis ability to spin glowing silk from xis tail.
Xe knew better than to call out for help. There were predators all around xim, and bringing attention to ximself would only get xim eaten sooner. Xis wings were mangled from the water and mud. The pain was sharp and searing, but xe couldn't stop to repair xis wings. Xe needed to find shelter. Xis life depended on it.
Everywhere Charmer looked, there was green and brown and the skittering of creatures larger than xim. Xe nearly expected a massive bird to dive upon xim, or a jumping spider to leap onto xis body and bite xim with massive fangs. As Charmer walked through the tall grasses, xe jumped at every sound, xis wet muddied silk dress slapping against xis ankles with every startled pause. Xe wished xe had the bag of clothes that xis sister packed for xim. A row of ants bustled past xim, bigger than xis foot. They were small, but there were many of them, and with xis wings injured as they were, many ants could easily kill xim.
Xe needed to get to high ground to see where xe was. Xe found a tree with rough and cragged bark, then sunk xis claws into the small grooves. It wasn't as hard as xe thought it would be, xis small body and claws were designed for climbing, but it was tiring. Xe secured ximself with strands of xis silk every few minutes, creating a glowing trail winding up around the trunk. The strands tangled with xis red curly hair on xis tail; professional silk-spinners cut the fur and hair off of their tail. As xe climbed, xe remembered what Warrior had said. Was xe really the reason their father kicked them out? Xe didn't have any future plans, other than one day falling in love and having children. Xe spent all xis time imagining dramatic love stories between fairies from very different upbringings, royalty and peasants, the likes of epic poems, but xe didn't think xe could write an epic poem. Maybe xe could be a silkspinner, xe did have very rare glowing silk. That had to be worth a Queen's Favor.
From what xe'd heard of the Queen, she was very frivolous and loved parties, dressing up, things looking fabulous, and also executions. Xis grandparents worked as servants in the Queen's palace. They sent all their Favors home for the wealth of the clan and lived in, according to what Charmer had heard, fairly rough conditions. Xis father was constantly worried about their execution, though. Apparently, the Queen had it out for her own servants, chopping heads off right and left. She was notoriously known for the guillotine that had been installed in her window, and the heads that rolled down the city at the roots of her grand palace tree.
Charmer didn't often think about the Queen, though. Other than having distant romantic fantasies that some member of the royal family would come sweep xim of xis feet. Probably not the Queen, though; xe didn't think xe'd want to marry her.
There were also the royals who lived at the peaks of the mountains. Whether they had any legitimate ruling was constantly debated. Charmer didn't really know the story, but Xing Frostbite was entirely unrelated to the Queen, and she didn't like that xe ruled over the mountain.
Finally, xe reached a branch of the tree xe was climbing. From xis vantage point, xe could see above the grass and survey the forest below. In the distance, something caught xis eye. There was a small sapling with exposed roots. The peculiar part was its flowers, which seemed to have some sort of luminescence. A sign of fairies! Xe nearly leapt off the branch but caught ximself with xis tail when xis wings refused to open. Hanging by xis tail, Charmer anxiously held xis arms out and tried to balance. Part of xis wings opened, but they seemed to be twisted. There was no way xe would be able to fly with xis wings like this. Instead, xe curled around and clung to the branch. Xe held firmly with xis arms and legs, upside-down on the branch, and freed xis tail. It took a moment for xim to adjust, but xe carefully maneuvered xis tail to wrap the branch in silk, then let go, xis arms and legs outstretched to balance xim.
In a moment of panic, Charmer was unsure the silk would hold. The strand proved to be strong enough to hold xis weight, and xe supposed that it had to be, or else what was the point of having silk in the first place? With great caution, Charmer slowly lowered ximself, spinning xis silk as slowly as xe could. The wind shifted xis position, bending the strand of silk and causing xim to waver, but Charmer was heavy enough that the silk continued to lower xim smoothly.
As soon as Charmer reached the ground, xe was on xis feet again and heading towards the direction xe thought the tree with glowing flowers was in. Xe couldn't snap the strand of silk with xis hands, but xis spinneret easily cut the strand.
Xe walked as quietly and delicately as xe could, careful not to cause too much movement in the grass. Too much movement and something might come investigate. A cricket as tall as Charmer's waist was perched on a blade of grass above, chewing away. Charmer made xis way over massive twigs and leaves with grass poking up between them. Xe had eaten crickets, ants, aphids, and all sorts of beetles, but the meatier mammals were considered prize meat, and Charmer's father always had a good stock of red meat from his hunting trips with other members of the clan. Xe realized that after spinning all that silk, and nearly drowning, xe was fairly hungry. Cold and hungry. Xe wanted to find a place to rest soon.
As if xis thoughts summoned them, a voice spoke to xim from above. There was a fairy in the air above xim. "Hello. You're in awfully poor condition." They said. A moment later, the fairy landed in front of xim. They wore a tunic made of several leaves tied together with plant fibers, and pants of the same. They had leaf-shaped wings with clear wings underneath them and brown skin. Their green wings matched their startling green eyes. In their hand, they held a bucket of water.
"Oh!" Charmer felt immediately relieved to have been found by another fairy. "Can you help me?"
"Of course." The other fairy blinked, as though Charmer's question had an entirely obvious answer. "What happened?" They carefully scooped a glob of water out of their bucket and immediately placed it on xis wings.
"Hey!" Charmer nearly stepped away. "I fell in the river! Why are you putting water on my wings?"
"I need to clean them off," the other fairy said calmly. "And I'll need to moisten your wings to untwist them." Their hands deftly touched Charmer's wings with careful movements. They seemed entirely at peace, as though they'd done this before. Charmer felt completely at ease, despite them being a stranger. They just had such a peaceful air about them. "This'll hurt a bit," they said apologetically, then Charmer yelped from a twisting, unraveling agony. Xe struggled to stay in place and keep xis wings relaxed under their touch. "Tell me about yourself." The other fairy inquired.
"I'm Charmer," xe said, wincing from another one of their touches. "I was traveling with my sister, to Warmton, and I slipped and fell in the river."
"Interesting, but not what I asked. Who are you?"
"Ow- what?" Charmer felt a red haze creep over xis vision from the pain, but xe tried to focus on the stranger's voice. "I just said. My name's Charmer. Who are you?" Xe decided to chuckle nervously at the question.
"My name is Dawn." The stranger said, untwisting Charmer's lower pair of wings. The top pair of wings felt ragged and sore, but at least they were in the right place now. "I'm the fairy that lives alone in the woods."
"Oh. I guess I'm the fairy that..." Who was Charmer? It was a hard question to answer. "Is lost in the woods."
"Well," Dawn stepped around Charmer with a smile. "It's a good thing I found you. There aren't many fairies this far from the palace."
Charmer felt xis tail droop. "How far are we from the nearest town? I need to get to Warmton, that's where my sister is."
"You're in no condition to travel," Dawn replied. "My home isn't far from here. You should rest there."
After a small amount of convincing, Charmer agreed and followed Dawn home. Dawn's home was the sapling that Charmer had seen earlier, with glowing flowers and exposed roots. Built in between two roots was a circular door made of twisted twigs, which Dawn opened. The inside was very small, a bed and a kitchen, with no windows. The walls were entirely dirt and supported by roots. The room looked like it had been dug out between the roots of the sapling.
"It's not much, but it's better than being alone in the woods," Dawn said. They opened the only closet, which contained stacks of clothes and blankets. They handed a blanket to Charmer. It was woven out of leaf fibers. "Use this to wipe the dirt off your fur. My bath's in this room, I'll bring some water from the river." Dawn opened a door, revealing a small room with a wooden bath carved into a root. Charmer briefly wondered how they kept it clean but didn't bother asking.
Charmer waited in Dawn's house for several hours while Dawn gathered water for xis bath. After the bath, Charmer dried ximself off with the same blanket before, xis yellow fur fluffy and relatively clean. By then, the sun was setting. Dawn served a small dinner of roasted cricket wrapped in rose petals. When it was dark, Charmer strung up glowing silk on the dirt ceiling. Dawn got Charmer another clean blanket and they went to sleep for the night, Charmer on the floor on the other side of the room and Dawn in their bed.
146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2NWdEZ0NI
