Private Tales Crosswinds

[Khehe]

The village of Ecrin sat on a rise at the center of the fertile valley, safe from the temperamental river and central to the meadows surrounding it, carved up by fences for livestock and pastures. Beyond them, fields patterned the landscape like quiltblocks blanketing the rolling hills. Beyond that still, the forests capped the high peaks of foothills, the mountains looming like misty giants at their backs.

As dusk approached, the village was making preparations for the final day of planting. To outsiders, not all of the festival preparations were uncommon. Townsfolk hung garlands of dried flowers and herbs over their windows and doors. Children and unwed youths wore flower crowns as they searched for coins hidden around their homes and braided grass into bracelets to be traded for dances. Fires were lit and stalls were set up with food and drink. Benches, chairs, stools, and even logs had been set out for folk to laze about, but the sounds of a band practicing promised lively entertainment for the evening.

But Ecrin did not receive visitors often, and the oddness of the festival was revealed in one very inconvenient reality: every building in town had been cleansed with burning incense at noon and sealed. This, unfortunately, included the modest inn with its two rooms.

The rooms will be available at midnight, the innkeeper promised. After the Wind is caught.

For the uninitiated, the locals sprung at the chance to explain the festivities. Planting, cleansing, and then searching the valley for the Wind. An old superstition, they explained, of a bygone time when gods had lived in the valley beside mortals. Nowadays it was an excuse to celebrate after the hard work of planting their fields had ended. None of them really believed they could catch the Wind. The Lady was a myth the elders prattled on about to scare their grandchildren. Nothing more.

The last seed was planted in the field as the sun slipped behind the mountains. The iron lanterns were lit and the townsfolk would venture up the long hills toward the forest in search of a single bloom.

To Khehe, it was all the same. She watched from the forest on the slopes high above the village in the valley. Every year they planted for a week, each hour of daylight filled with sowing in shifts that never ceased. Every year they burned the stinky herbs and closed their homes to her. Every year they ventured into every corner of the valley and sought the Wind, her flower blooming somewhere in the light of a full moon.

They no longer caught her, as they once had. They no longer did many things.

Still, she wrapped herself tightly in glamour and ran deep into the woods when dusk fell. She had until midnight to avoid them as they crossed into her domain. It would be the longest night of her year.

|| Vulpesen ||​

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen smiled a bit as he watched the folk of the village dance, sing, and make merry. Seated on the roof of a sealed barn, he simply hoped that the swishing on the back of his cloak would be mistaken for the wind rather than known for the invisible tail that lay beneath it.

On the road once more, the warlock's presence in the village was a fortunate coincidence. Though, it seemed that in so many places he went, there was a celebration upon his arrival if not soon after. Whether by fate, Varos' design, or pure dumb luck, he neither knew nor had an inclination to question. As it was, he was simply happy to live in the moment and accept the boons that life had granted him.

"Catch the wind," he murmured to himself, his glowing eyes scanning the forest. "Sounds like a feat worthy of us." The last words were to more than himself and he heard a small chuckle in his mind by way of response.

[Then go on. If you are to be my champion, then I suppose you should do some great works in my name. Vulpesen e Varos, heir of house Torrevaso and catcher of the wind. I think it has a nice ring to it.] As low as the voice was, Vulpesen could hear the mirth that filled the conspiratorial tone.

"Think they'll mind if I take liberty with the rules?"

[Wulren certainly would. But I always learned to keep Rerreno on my side.]

Such was the case in so many of the Varos' legends. The trickster taking on the lord of honor. While Wulren would always plead the spirit of the law, all too often did Varos convince his more litigious brother to follow the word of it. In that spirit, Vulpesen spread his arms and closed his eyes. He wondered what a stranger earned for catching the wind. He supposed he would have to ask after he succeeded, and what better way than to be a creature beholding to the air.

His form collapsed inwards and the fabric of his cloak bristled and burst into feathers. Since his master had first taught him, he had become faster, even with such drastic changes to his form. Even if the farmers had amazing eyes, he doubted they could scan the wilds quite as well as a falcon. Flapping towards the woods, he darted through the trees, his newfound perception taking in all that he could to ensure that he came out victorious.


Khehe

 

[Khehe]

This was as far as she could go. Khehe could feel the invisible line between her and the rest of the world. Nothing was visibly different. The forest continued to march over the hill, tree after tree after generic tree. Yet some imagined border kept her here.

She lingered in the dark at that edge, ears alert for every sound in the night. Hopefully this corner would go relatively undisturbed. The townspeople were neither as thorough nor as driven as they once had been; they had come close by accident a few years, driving her further out with their iron lanterns, but it had still been forced to suffer a day as a flower for them.

A terrible deal, in hindsight. It used to be far more fun.

Waiting, listening, she could hear the distant laughter of a group traversing slowly up the hill. The wildlife fled and sheltered, leaving her alone to her prison. But there, between the usual sounds of night and the hunt for the Wind, was a stranger. Khehe tipped her head. A bird was flying through. Its wings were quiet, stealthy, sharp.

She uncurled her arms from around her legs as she stood and shifted. Flying up to a high branch as a little dove, her waiting now took a new curious turn. What in the gods' names was a bird of prey doing at this hour? Suspicion high, she flitted closer.

It was not far away, yet the moment she laid eyes on it, she could plainly see that it was no ordinary falcon. She might have been in this valley for millennia, but she knew fae magick when she saw it at work.

Why was there another fae here? Had she really been so careless as to let one slip past her careful guard of this valley?

Whatever the case and in spite of this being the worst night of the year to be confronting it, Khehe fluttered to the ground as the falcon drew near. She flapped her little gray wings and puffed out her white chest, but as the wind stirred around her, magick bled from her feathers. Bowing her head, the transition from bird to body was as seamless as pouring out a glass of water into a lake.

Clothed in naught but the beauty which her mother had given her, she reappeared from her dove shape. She stood slowly, dark silver brow furrowed and pale eyes glowing with warning. Her hair shimmered in the moonlight and, between the rivers of silver down her back, her wings flickered turquoise and magenta.

"You!" she called, speaking the faerie tongue. "What are you doing in my valley?"

 

[Vulpesen]

The wind beneath his wings kept Vulpesen soaring eye in the sky, his amber eyes darting between the trees at every observed movement. Eventually, he would find something worth locking onto, a large dove which fluttered to the forest floor. Most such animals would swiftly flee from such a predator as he, but this one stayed where it was, even seeming to puff itself up. Of course, his surprise at the oddity was only enhanced as it started to brow, feathers turning to flesh and a woman rising up from the grass and leaves. 'Oh hell," he thought. While he hadn't known what to expect in searching for the wind, he certainly hadn't expected to run trespass into the realm of another fae. [Umm... Varos?]

[Don't look at me, I haven't seen her around the courts. But its probably best that you introduce yourself,] his patron offered.

Trusting the advice of his master, Vulpesen tucked in his wings and pointed down, diving towards the forest floor and flaring his wings just before he could hit the ground. Once his descent slowed, he released his hold on his current form. Wings narrowed and turned to arms, and wide tailfeathers blended and lengthened into a bushy black tail.

Rising up, the black clad Zorren offered a bow to the stranger before him. "I assume I'm looking for you, miss. Something about catching the wind." Despite his surprise, he wore an easy smile which belied the way the tip of his tail constantly flicked to and fro.

 

[Khehe]

The bird landed and, just like her, took a humanoid shape. The man who formed before her had eyes that glittered like gold coins in the moonlight and his cloak... swished? He straightened -- and towered over her small glowing figure in the darkness. His dark form was outlined by the silver light and she narrowed her eyes to peer into the shadows across his face.

Khehe caught his scent on the wind and frowned. The expression only grew sharper when he spoke. She felt the magic like a fist around her torso. The sidhe hissed and clenched her tiny fists at her sides. No!

“You’re no fae! You’re a warlock!” There was a distinct whine of complaint to her girlish voice. “You tricked me!” Damn it all! Now she was actually going to be caught and would have to be their stupid flower for two weeks until their new moon. She hated being the flower. Khehe began to step back slowly, pausing only briefly between feet.

“What is a warlock doing chasing the Wind?” she asked, watching him warily. “They don’t even believe it anymore. Why would they send you after me?”

 

[Vulpesen]

Though Vulpesen was a bit separated from the ley lines, being other than a true fey, he could already feel the shift in energy as his arrival took its toll on his new acquaintance. Remaining silent, he let her words and accusations flow out to help paint the picture he was trying to decipher.

Her questions did give a few answers, but frustratingly, not enough to tell him the whole story. "I appreciate the confidence in my cleverness, but I assure you, I'm almost as confused as you are," the warlock finally said, now stepping closer towards the fae. "Truth is, I was simply here to follow a tale. Legends are secrets long losts and so I took it upon myself to find that secret. No one sent me."

For every step she took back, he matched her, the lower end of his cloak flicking occasionally as if by an invisible wind as he kept her in his sights. "So the question is, why would they want me to catch you? And what are my options now that I have? I assume that hired or not, there's some sort of reward."

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

They hadn't sent him. Khehe's wary observation was furrowed and her eyes scanned the dark cloaked figure, blatantly reassessing him entirely.

"No one sent you," she repeated. She took another step back even though he matched the pace. She felt the line of her border creeping up behind her but kept her gaze fixed on the warlock. Her demeanor slowly shifted, her calculating expression softening as the cogs in her mind began to turn.

“If the villagers catch the wind, it will live in their home until the new moon and will bring prosperity to their year’s harvest. They surely told you that,” she clarified slowly, carefully. “Your prize for taking me back to them will be the satisfaction of victory and as much whiskey as you can drink in an evening. But…”

Khehe took another step back to maintain the distance between them. But what? She could hear the voices nearby growing closer and she dared a nervous glance toward the faint glow over the gentle rise of the forest floor. There was something wild in her pale eyes as she met those of the man once more and drew a deep breath, lifting her chin and standing at her full height (however little that was).

“But I can offer you something better.”

Tempting the warlock of another fae was a dangerous game, but it had been centuries since she’d had a chance like this. She might never get another. For the promise of leaving, of going home, she was willing to take that risk.

 

[Vulpesen]

The sound of whiskey and satisfaction was enough to get his ears and tail twitching beneath the glamour. Furthermore, helping the local harvest was a boon in of itself that would be a worthy deed. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite deny that the creature before him was a sentient being who seemed rather unwilling to be used for such a purpose.

"I do enjoy my whiskey," he purred, his golden eyes still fixed on her with an almost predatory gaze. Truth was, she had little if anything to fear from him. His was a life of service and aid to others. But that didn't mean he couldn't make someone sweat and get a little extra pay for his service and aid. "What could you offer that would outdo their gratitude and that delicious treat?"

In his mind, he could feel his master's rising curiosity. Other fae were filled possibilities, and this one was no exception. To make a deal didn't always consist of a binding pact, but it could easily turn into one if one wasn't careful, and Vulpesen would have to play his cards carefully to not become overdrawn on his account of available servitude.

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

If he was trying to disarm her, it was working. At least it didn't show outwardly. Her face retained the same wary calculation. Inside her mind, however, was a clamoring panic. How desperate was she to get out of this godforsaken valley? How reasonable did the terms have to be for her to agree? How outlandish did they have to be to rescind her offer?

Leaf litter crunched quietly beneath her foot as she stepped back once more. She still didn't trust him. All it took was for him to grab any part of her and poof -- she'd be stuck as a flower for two weeks.

"A favor for a favor," she offered. "You take me beyond my borders in this valley and I will give you a boon in return."

Khehe held out her hands, palms up, and smiled sweetly. "No tricks. Just a simple exchange. Once our transaction is complete, we will part ways and never meet again. Surely the favor of a sidhe is more valuable than one night of revelry."

 

[Vulpesen]

[Tread carefully. The game is fast and it is only now beginning,] Varos whispered into the warlock's ears. Fortunately, the truth was already apparent to the zorren who's strides had ceased. He had her where he wanted her. Now the trick was closing the trap without getting himself stuck in it.

"It would depend on the boon. A night of revelry holds much sway to a wanderer like myself. A sidhe's aid may come in handy, but I know more than most that the powers of the fae are wild and varied. For all I know, your boon could be some extra freshness in the flowers I smell for the next week." Fae were tricky creatures. Their deals were often vague when they could help it, offering them room to maneuver around the words which they used to twist mortals into a bind.

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

Ah, a clever one. She should have expected as much from a warlock. Had he been this prudent about his pact or was it borne of bad experience? She grinned for the first time in pretty amusement.

"Clever, but I do not mean to fool you. The more important question is what would a wanderer -- a warlock find useful?"

They were into the parley. This was already farther than she imagined he'd go. Khehe still wasn't letting her guard down and only stopped when he stopped -- beyond arm's reach, of course.

"If it is a night of revelry you desire, then I can show you a far greater time than what this valley has to offer. I can loosen purse strings, bend a woman's ear, and make sure your cup remains full all night. If that is what you want."

 

[Vulpesen]

Finally, they had some common ground. He had the advantage, having found and caught her. He was faster and if a mortal man was meant to place her in their grasp, he doubted that she stood a chance against even his meager magical prowess. "I was a scout in the military. My step is quiet enough to rob any place I see worthy of ire. Pleasurable company is so much better when earned by my own voice and merits. A full cup sounds nice, but I don't like to imagine the headache that would follow in the morning."

Still hidden by illusion, his tail flicked gleefully beneath his cloak, batting its tail end up for a brief moment. "I desire knowledge. My master has given me power and affinity, but his skills are over shadows and secrets. Back home I watched our wilders with wonder. I wonder if perhaps you in your humble forest would know ways of such magicks.

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

Even if he had her backed into a corner and they both knew it, there was something charming about his clever wit and thoughtful response. Mortals rarely knew what they really wanted, but this one seemed to have his affairs in order. And his answer drew one of her slender, silver brows upward. Knowledge. He even had a mind to what kind.

"I am the rain that quenches the thirst of beast and crop. I am the wind in the valley that blows gently on hill and home." Some more of the tension went out of her and she tipped her head to the side in contemplation. "I could teach you to channel air and water, but such magicks are far more valuable than even my freedom."

Khehe looked over this cloaked figure once more, eyes slowly taking stock of him. When she had her measure and had weighed her options, she propped her fist on her hip curled a finger beneath her lip. There was, for the first time, something playful in her eyes.

"If I am to part with precious secrets, I want something else: I want to go home. You carry me beyond this valley and see me to my homeland, and I will teach you as much of air and water as can be fit inside of six months -- the time it takes to journey there by beast and cart."

The voices and the light were drawing closer. Khehe spared it another wary glance.

"No games, no wordplay, no loopholes, no tricks. I will teach you as much or as little as you desire of my elemental magicks between here and there. For six months -- no more, no less, and no strings attached." She met his eyes again. Their time was drawing short.

 

[Vulpesen]

A wide grin touched Vulpesen's features as he heard the deal. Water and wind were perfect for a man of the sea, and while he had learned some basics while at sea with his own practice, having an actual teacher would make his learnings far more effective. Unfortunately, there were obligations taht prevented him from making deals at face value, even if they were on a bit of a time crunch. ['Varos?']

Rather than a vocal response, Varos poured his power into his warlock who outstretched a hand towards the voices. The woods would darken as his magic took its hold. Varos was a lord of secrets, and Vulpesen as his champion, could seek and maintain the force of such a domain. Without quite knowing why, even the most ardent of hunters would find themselves wandering away from the fae inhabited clearing.

"My master's desires come first. I can promise to get you there in as reasonable time as possible. You will teach me so long as we travel to your home, but if my master calls me to a task along the way, you will understand if his desires come first. Obviously, your teaching will be appreciated on such excursions, but not required. Furthermore, I will make your safety a priority no matter the mission, and will negotiate with my master to ensure that we continue forward on the road."

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

Darkness coiled around the trees, and Khehe could feel the ripple of magick in the air. A ward, of sorts? She had been so removed from her own kind and the ley lines for so long that her heart fluttered with excitement. Magick. She could have real magick again!

"Of course. It would not be very becoming of me to impose on another fae's territory. In spite of living in the woods, I am a lady," she agreed with a widening smile. It was a perfectly reasonable counteroffer. What was a few weeks, or even months on the small eternity she had already spent here? Besides, she had been idle for far too long. Some adventure and excitement was self-prescribed.

In the quiet that followed their concluded negotiations, Khehe felt the return of her trepidation. There came a moment for every fae where they realized the danger that a deal carried. She, especially, knew how wrong it could go when the terms weren't specific enough or left the room for the collar to be slipped around her neck.

Her smile faltered for just a moment before she finally stepped closer.

"Return to the village but do not tell them you found me; they will find the decoy I left for their revelry. Keep me hidden on your person and when you retire to your room this evening, crack the window and leave me on the sill to feel the breeze and take the morning sun. Tomorrow, carry me beyond these borders while the sun is still shining."

She drew a deep breath to contain her nerves and her excitement. Extending her hand, her smile returned. Wind stirred, rising from around her feet and swirling toward his legs.

"You may call me Khehe."

 

[Vulpesen]

Sensing her palpable excitement, Vulpesen couldn't help but smile a bit, an expression which only broadened as she accepted his terms. "Well then my lady, we have an accord." Committing her instructions to memory, reached out to take her hand, finalizing their deal as magic started to surge around them. "And you may call me Vulpesen." It was a fae's introduction. Offering not a name, but a method of gathering attention. Though, idly he wondered what would happen if he ever made such a mistake. Was his name his to give?

No doubt this new arrangement would give him plenty of time to familiarize himself with the ways of the fae in a more in depth manner. With Varos in his head and Khehe at his side, his life was no doubt going to become much stranger. Whether that meant more trouble or less, he couldn't quite be certain.

In his mind's ear, Varos whispered in amusement. ['This should be interesting.']

 

[Khehe]

She smiled as his hand closed around hers. Magick rushed into the clearing, a gale that pushed them closer together and yet passed right through their bodies. It slithered into the space between their palms and Khehe felt the prick of a hundred needles.

"Vulpesen," she repeated. Their pact was formed. Her time was up. All the magick she had scraped out of the land over the last year was spent. She had fought a very old, very powerful spell for as long as she could.

It happened in a moment. Her small, round face contorted into agony and she gasped in pain. Her wings, hidden beneath a thin glamour until that moment, hummed frantically before her form folded in on itself like taffy. One moment he held the hand of a sidhe, the next…

A flower. A lily with curling white petals and long, wiry stamens extending from its blush pink throat. It glowed as bright as a piece of the moon itself. Caught by the hand of a mortal in a beautiful prison, she kept her old promise for what she hoped would be the final time.

 

[Vulpesen]

Vulpesen's brows knit together with worry as Khehe let out a sound of agony. His tail flicked and bushed out behind him as he beheld the horrifying visage of the fae turning into herself. Horror would of course turn into shock as he stood in the clearing with a flower in his grasp, the terror replaced by a small thing of beauty. "Son of Torrevaso... and catcher of the wind." Tucking the bloom carefully into his cloak, Vulpesen would leave back to the town, and to his lodging.

It was easy enough to sneak her into the inn where he had taken residence. It was far less easy to prevemt crushing the lily as he drank and danced his way through the villages "victory" celebration, though he would manage it in the end.

Locking the door behind him as he entered the room, Vulpesen produced the flower to be placed delicately on the sill of his window which was then opened as requested. Taking in a deep breath of the night air, Vulpesen prodiced a flask from his cloak and took a swig. "To adventure and knowledge," he toasted before collapsing back on his bed. Tomorrow would begin the newest chapter in his strange life and he was looking forward to seeing what stories lie ahead of him.

 

[Khehe]

Unsurprisingly, becoming a flower was unpleasant business. In this state, Khehe was blind and mostly deaf. She was only aware of the sway of being carried, the distant voices of the villagers celebrating -- the sound muffled as if she were deep underwater. The world tipped and swayed, cradling her in the swaying arms of a dance.

At last, she settled. A breeze rustled her petals and she felt the full moon tingling with power. Relief washed over her. So, Vulpesen had done as she had instructed. Good. Khehe was one step closer to freedom. She basked in the dawn rays, her pearly white darkening into a dull amaranth and closing.

The villagers were cleaning up after a long night of celebration. One house was shut tight against the morning light and its occupants, a family whose members had enjoyed the spotlight the night before, were among those taking down the garlands and sweeping up any remains from the festivities. Inside their home, a simple pink lily would be sheltered in the dark where it would feel neither sun nor moon. They would bury it in two weeks, and everyone would prosper from the Wind's generosity.

The true Wind, however, remained on the sill of one of the rooms above the tavern. The lily had not moved and Khehe had not changed back into her former self. She listened and waited, feeling the magick that kept her pinned to this valley and this shape. Soon. Until Vulpesen left the boundaries of her ancient spell, she would have to rely on him -- not an easy task for the proud little sidhe.

 

[Vulpesen]

As the first rays of sunshine crossed over his face, Vulpesen growled and rolled over, flinging his blanket over his face. His claws bit into the material and his tail swept up beneath the covers to cover his face. His head buzzed lightly from the previous night's libations and the light against the veneer of his eyelids was an unwelcome presence.

[Get up. You have a task this morning,] Varos hissed into Vulpesen's head, prompting the warlock to wonder if his master ever slept. With a groan, Vulpesen simply rolled over, curling himself into a tighter ball within the sheets. To say the least, he was not a morning person, a facet of his personality he had been happy to set free upon his retirement from the military. [I said get up!] This time the voice came louder, somehow booming despite sounding like a whisper and making Vulpesen jump and fumble in his blanket. His hand shot to his waist, drawing a dagger and slashing up with it. Of course, he met nothing but cloth which hung up on the hilt and twisted to send him tumbling off the bed with a loud thump and a groan. [I did try to wake you gently.]

"You're lucky I'm a thousand miles away," Vulpesen finally grumbled as he worked to extricate himself from his self made prison. After a couple minutes of struggle, his head finally popped out from a hole and his eyes blinked away at the morning sun. "Crux... She said while the sun still shines, not at first light."

[She interests me. Now get yourself cleaned up and go.]

With a low growl, Vulpesen obeyed, grabbing his cloak and belongings as he freshened up for the day. With Khehe once more tucked away, he took his leave of the inn and then the village, quietly absconding as just another traveler who needed to be on his way.

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

Outwardly, Khehe was naught but a flower closed against the harsh sunlight. Nothing was odd about her, and one might never know the bloom they possessed was a sidhe in disguise. Inside, however, she had retained all of her faculties. Her mind was alight with fear, worry, eagerness, hope. She clamored against the bars of the cage she had made for herself to listen and wait.

Vulnerable and uncertain, she hung on every step the traveler took. She could hear the innkeeper's friendly, booming voice, the chatter of through townsfolk, the rattle of a cart and the heavy thudding steps of the beast that pulled it. It all quieted and she felt the breeze slipping beneath Vulpesen's cloak to stir against her petals, heard the rustle of grass and leaves. And every step he took, she could feel the barrier slipping closer and closer.

For her newly acquired pupil and partner, it would just be another three steps along the path through the woods. Nothing impeded his progress and the flower in his pocket remained inanimate.

To Khehe, however, it was like being dragged beneath sand and gravel. While no physical force held her back, it scraped her mind and stretched her consciousness thin. She heard the words of the pact drumming through her, driving in nails that would pin her to this pit forever. She felt the loophole, a pocket of air that she squeezed herself through to escape.

Then she snapped onto the other side.

Had she more magick, perhaps her transformation might have been more graceful. As it were, the wind whipped and swirled around Vulpesen until the flower was yanked from his cloak and tumbled on the ground. Its petals opened in a thin shimmer of light and her small body unfolded from its pink throat, something impossibly large climbing free of the delicate flower. Khehe was grimacing and squeaked with pain as she stretched out. Her gossamer emerald and lavender wings hummed and she panted for breath for several moments before she drew a long, sharp breath and abruptly sat up.

As though nothing had happened at all, the small sidhe stood and whirled around. She bore a triumphant grin, balled her tiny fists, and leaned back with a mighty cackle.

"Take that, Errett!" she cheered. She pointed at a wall of nothing that Vulpesen couldn't see but that she sensed nonetheless. "I win!" She slung a string of colorful insults at the nothing in the faerie tongue and danced briefly on her bare feet before drawing another long breath and collecting herself.

This time when she turned to Vulpesen, she looked happy but weary. In the sunlight, she was a milky, pearlescent white. Her silvery, pinkish eyes were half-lidded and her silken hair disheveled, but she squared her shoulders and held her chin high. Regal as a queen, she sketched a bow to him.

"You have fulfilled the first part of our agreement," she said far more sweetly. "I am now truly in your debt."

 

[Vulpesen]

Khehe's jubilant dance was largely missed by Vulpesen who had instead buried his face into his large pack, rifling through cloth, tools, and supplies. As the fae finally turned to give him her attentions, she would be met with only a brief glance at his bright red face before a flurry of black fabric descended upon her. "You are far too bare to be jumping around like that. Do you have any clothes, or am I about to smuggle you into the next town?" He asked, paying no heed to her apparent debt.

Upon their first meeting, he had been quite concerned with keeping his freedom, and focusing on all the attention that a meeting with the fae required. Now, safe after the deal being struck, he found he had time to be conserned with the troubles of impropriety and the logistics of civilized travel.

 

[Khehe]

Her celebration came to an abrupt halt. He wasn't paying attention. It wasn't as fun if she celebrated their victory alone. Khehe pursed her lips in confusion. What was he digging in his bag for? She leaned to the side to peer over his shoulder.

Not that she had to wait long. Her champion emerged from the bag with a swath of fabric large enough to make her a comfortable tent and quickly draped it over her. Not so quickly that she didn't catch the scarlet blazing across his face.

"Are you blushing?" she laughed, drowning in a cloak fitting a man much taller than her. Khehe worked her way to an edge and peered out -- still not sparing his evident propriety.

"Ah, well. The last of my clothes were worn to tatters years ago and it did not seem becoming of a god to appear in rags. My villagers were not so bashful. Nor did it ever occur to them to make offerings to me with gifts of silk and linen."

With a very dramatic sigh, she dropped the edge of the cloak and moved about beneath its cover. It was comically large on her. She found the clasp and poked her head up through the hood, which slouched and covered her face. A silvery hand slipped free of the cloak to push it back.

This was not going to work.

"I don't suppose you have anything smaller?"

 

[Vulpesen]

Her question was met by a quick, "Hmph," as Vulpesen repacked his bag to be slung back over his shoulders. "Of course, I'm blushing. Wild Fae or not, you are a lady." He tightened the straps and turned his eyes to the road while she situated herself with the cloak. "The villagers thought you were some sort of goddess probably. I know what you are and I know that the fae are quite fond of wearing clothes."

Her plea drew his attention back to her and the Zorren had to suppress a laugh as he looked over at her. "Maybe when we find some time to stop, I'll cut and hem one in for you. Or we'll get lucky and find a cart to hop on to the next town where we can buy you something a little more... less."

Khehe

 

[Khehe]

Her laughter was light and soft, smoother than her sharp, girlish voice. She did not argue to contradict his statement, as many wyldfae made their way through life without ever donning a scrap of clothing. The remark proved that he must be more familiar with society fae. Interesting. She added the knowledge to her growing understanding of him.

His offer to mend something for her was generous. What a gentleman she had snagged. She tipped her chin up and smiled to herself.

“A kind offer which I will accept. Keep in mind that I will look best in pastels,” she added. “In the meantime, perhaps a form that isn’t as immodest. Here, take this.”

Khehe politely turned her back before she unfastened the clasp and removed the cloak. She held it out for him, all but shoving it into his hands under the full assumption he would once again avert his gaze. As soon as she was relieved of the burden, a gossamer flicker extended from her back. Her wings beat up the air around her and she shook her shoulders.

The next moment, a little gray dove had replaced her on the ground beside Vulpesen. She hopped, spread her wings, then fluttered up to sit on his shoulder.

“Better?” she peeped. Khehe the bird ruffled her feathers and settled. “I prefer to ride anyways.”