Private Tales Right Place, Right Time

[Zaria]

Wings lifted as he spoke about the portal stone. One moment she was perched on his shoulder and the next she was hovering over it. Then zipped in front of his face to hover at eye level.

“Well, we’ll, well,” she crowed, “see if you can keep up, princling!” With that, she’d zip forward and leave the empty thimble upside down on his head like a teeny tiny hat. Gossamer wings shifted and between a heartbeat and the next she flew up, up, and ahead. A small, merry laugh left in her wake as well as a trail of something like golden, glowing stardust.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Well, he supposed that answered the 'if you're feeling jumpy' part, at least. Tharu was a duanann of considerable power, but even he had difficulty following Zaria's rapid movements as she zipped up from his shoulder to meet his eyes before flying off into the forest.

Whatever or whoever was headed to the portal stone, San'Seya doubted they would make it there before being seen by an energetic pixie eager to stretch her wings. On the off chance that the Shadow still loomed, however... no, he couldn't risk it; Tharu followed the golden glowing trail into the trees, the wind pushing against his back at his own command, speeding him along at a pace quick enough to at least keep pace with her.

There was no chance he would catch up completely, but he couldn't have her showing him up too much now, could he?

"Zaria! Slow down a little!" The Prince called ahead of him suddenly. He heard the whispers of the trees, telling him what they'd seen and heard. Their story was concerning, and not something he wanted the Pixie stumbling upon alone...

 

[Zaria]

The air began to darken around her. But it was too early for this kind of dark. Small heart beat erratically within her chest. Wings slowed even at the sound of Tharu's voice from behind her.

It wasn't just the darkness.

The air became preternaturally cold. Head dipped down as she searched from her vantage point at the forest below. The underbrush was moving ahead from multiple shapes on the ground. Three different things moving toward the prince from different directions.

Panic rose up in her throat like bile.

"Watch out!" She yelled to him as she dove back toward the forest floor.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

It was too late to change course; Tharu felt it coming before the light around him began to dim. Funnily enough, his first thought was of Zaria's safety rather than his own, but then the Pixie was a deft and nimble one, she'd be fine.

Especially considering the particular grudge the beast that they called The Shadow seemed to hold against San'Seya blood.

The Prince heard her call of warning only moments before the dark figures sprang from the brush, three sets of teeth, six eyes empty and dead, and four sets of claws on each horrific aberration that faced him. They used to be wild cats of some kind, but it was difficult to recognize beneath the thick black layer of rot that covered each of them.

The Shadow consumed and used the corpses of it's victims as weapons, but three at once? This was new, and the implications were horrifying.

A soft buzzing approached from over his head, and reflexively he called out. "Stay back! They're after me!"

 

[Zaria]

Zaria ignored the prince's warning.

Though her mind did wonder why. Why were they after him?

He must realize know she didn't take orders from royalty. She zipped down to one of the three that seemed to be moving the fastest. A horrifying shadow type-beast. The one that would've reached Tharu San'Seya's first. With wings fluttering wildly, a brigh tlight beamed from outstretched palms straight into the creature's eyes.

It growled in pain and frustration, stopping.

Its jaws suddenly snapping up at the air. She felt the slobber coat her wings. A razor's edge clipping the tip of her left one. But it didn't slow her down. She turned and dove again, blasting another bright spark of her ethereal light.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Giving a pixie an order was a fools errand, and Tharu would have recognized that if he'd been thinking with a clear head. Right now, all that was on his mind was preventing Zaria from being harmed even further by something meant for him.

It would seem, though, that perhaps The Prince underestimated her. The beast in the center was hit with a bright beam of light from Zaria's hands, the shining stream burning and tearing at the thick shadowy mire coating the creature's entire body and causing him to melt as though she were a fire to ice.

It snapped at her, but she narrowly escaped and hit it again. This time square between its milky white eyes, burning a hole in its head and sending it down with a thud, the shadow covering it sliding from the rotting corpse of a wolf and spreading across the ground like thick slime.

"Incredibly done! I can handle the other two now!"

It wouldn't be a problem, especially not with the thick concentrated darkness on the ground to work with. Tharu twisted his hands upwards, and the black shadow heeded his beck and call, changing course to twist and wrap around the legs of the other two beasts, tripping them up as they pounced. One fell onto its side, gnashing and growling at the bindings, the other narrowly escaped and lunged at Tharu.

 

[Zaria]

Zaria stared. She was unsure whether it was the darkness itself, making these creatures act the way they were. Or were they the beast beneath? And the prince could control this strange, oily darkness?

Something just didn't feel right.

But her mind didn't have time to sort it out. Head whipped around and her body went into action as one of the two beasts lunged at the prince. There was a strange, sudden popping in the air. A pulse of bright light as her small body shifted and suddenly grew to a being more similar size to the prince. Long, slender legs, arms outstretched as her ethereal light burst forth like a supernova as she placed herself between the beast and the prince.

And in that moment, the shadow and creature were vaporized. Not even a speck of ash left. And as her light receded, she remained the large-size pixie version, eyes snapping over to the beast Tharu had just tripped up. Instead of going for it, she smoothly stepped out from in front of the prince, letting him decide what he wanted to do. Not batting a lash about her size change.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

There wasn't any need for Tharu to fight the other two.

The Prince had never witnessed anything of the sort before, though he supposed he didn't really know much about pixies. Just as another one of the creatures lunged to attack him, a piercing light filled the air in all directions, as if the strength of the sun itself burned within the tiny woman's body and was loosed in a bright fury. Tharu himself was blinded by it for a moment, an arm raising to cover his eyes as they squinted against the unyielding light.

The Shadow wasn't nearly as lucky. The light that poured from Zaria was even stronger than the beam she'd used to dispatch one of them, and the other two had no chance of withstanding this blast. When the glowing pixie finally faded, they were nothing but three mutilated wolf corpses, with long tendrils of shadow quickly slithering through the grass in retreat away from the one who'd staved them off.

Tharu was a little too busy staring at Zaria to notice.

In the blink of an eye, she'd grown. She could stand shoulder to shoulder with him now, as though she were a Duanann of his own kind. What kind of magic was this? Was this something all Pixies could do?

"That was... incredible. What was that, Zaria? You're almost my size now!"

 

[Zaria]

Arms lowered only when she was sure those shadows were truly destroyed. Full-sized, she turned slowly to the prince. He looked a lot smaller now. Her gossamer wings tucked in closely against her back.

She ignored his question.

"What was that back there? You can't just tell me to stay away. You do realize that, right? And what...," she took a step toward him but wobbled slightly. It always took her a little longer to get used to these larger limbs. Especially since she didn't change too often.

"You controlled the shadows. What was that?" Fingers fell to the curves of her hips as she stared his royal highness down.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Tharu was still wrapping his head around what he'd just seen, and what he was continuing to see in the now considerably larger Zaria in front of him. She'd wiped those Shadows out as though they were child's play! She had a point, certainly, it seemed he'd underestimated her.

"I... I didn't wish for you to get hurt. You've only just healed!" The Prince's soft-heartedness was showing. It had been painful to watch the Pixie suffer as she had yesterday, and it wasn't a sight he wished to revisit if he could avoid it. "The Shadow wants my blood. Wants me. You shouldn't be put in danger because you choose to associate with me."

Whatever that dark being was, it had a vendetta against Tharu and his Father, against the whole of Spring. Zaria was an innocent bystander. Dodging his question, he brushes off her own about his power with a blunt answer. "My father is aligned with the Sun, and I the Moon. I can twist shadows to a degree with my power." What actions and words would have been amusing from a Pixie felt somewhat different coming from a full-sized woman.

"Seriously though, what happened to you?"

 

[Zaria]

At his last question, she looked down at herself. Fingers rose to self-consciously smooth away her rich, brown hair from her face. Eyes lifted to meet his again, a warm-hue rising to her cheeks. "I've always been able to change my size but it doesn't last long. And there's a limit on how much I can do it. After being imprisoned for so long, I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to."

She looked down again, smoothing the fabric of her leaf dress which had grown with her.

"Why, do I look terrible now?"

Another brush of fingers through hair, then a drop to rub up and down the bare skin of her arm. "And as for the light...that's just my magic."

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

"N-no." Tharu looked away from her, brushing the hair from his eyes as a tinge of color came to his face. "Quite lovely, really. I just didn't know that was something you could do." Tharu wasn't familiar at all with Pixie magic, so it was definitely a teaching moment for the young Duanann.

"You did splendidly, Zaria. I would have been in trouble without you." It was a bit morbid to admit it, but without her intervention, things could have gone south in a hurry. He owed her. Peering back at her, Tharu bowed his head. "I suppose we're even now, aren't we?"

Stepping closer to her, Tharu peered over her shoulder in the direction the shadows fled.

"So what now? Continue towards Spring?"

 

[Zaria]

Her face continued to warm at his compliment. And then he stepped forward. Toward her. She couldn't help it as that hand that rubbed up and down her arm suddenly reached forward. Fingertips smoothing some of his misplaced white strands of hair away from his eyes. She'd been so used to playing with and braiding his hair when she'd been a much smaller size. The urge now was just natural. Though, she realized a bit too late that it might've been a bit...awkward.

"Sorry," she quickly breathed and dropped her hand to her side.

Brows furrowed in thought. "I'm not going to Spring until you answer some more questions. Why does this Shadow beast want your blood? Don't you think we should try and stop it before it can come hunting for you and catch you unaware?"

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Tharu was almost too impressed with the whole display she'd put on to be embarrassed by the sudden presence of her hand grazing the side of his face, pushing some of the stray silver hairs from his golden eyes. Almost, but not quite. He felt his cheeks turn a shade of red, the implications of such a gesture felt different when they were the same size.

Not that it was a negative feeling.

"It's alright. I certainly didn't mind it." The Prince cleared his throat in admission, shuffling a bit in place as though he suddenly felt anxious over things unseen. "You want answers, and that's fair. We should head back to camp for a while then. I'll make some tea and we can talk about whatever you like." Zaria had done a number on the Dark One; it would take some time before they had to worry about another attack.

"Come. I'll tell you what I know."

The trip back to camp seemed far longer than their initial dash towards the Portal Stone, though it was only minutes, but nevertheless they made it in one piece around midday. The tent was still as spacious as ever, though likely not as much to Zaria with her current size. Seating himself on the bedmat for a moment, Tharu let out a sigh he'd been holding the entire walk back, reaching for the tea at his bedside to prepare for the both of them.

"Too close. I wasn't ready that time..."

 

[Zaria]

Zaria followed closely to the prince. She couldn't stop fiddling with her hair. Couldn't stop looking around at how her size changed the appearance of things. Kept her wings tucked in close so they didn't brush against the tent flaps as they entered.

Her wings were very sensitive.

And though she was normal-sized for a duananan now, she still walked gracefully. Light on her feet. As if her steps still floated and barely touched the ground. Her bones were lighter than the average fae. Even this size. Seeing no other spot to sit, she perched on the edge of his bed. A sparkling powder from her wings dusting the area wherever she sat or walked. Cheeks warmed slightly as she realized where she perched but she focused her eyes on the prince.

Hands fidgeted in her lap as she waited for him to tell the story of what this shadow beast was and why it was after him.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Tharu had been intending to bring the tea to the small table in the center of the tent, but he turned to find she'd already settled in next to him on his bed mat. It was rather silly, but her presence when she was the same size as him was having a slightly... different effect on him than her usual form did.

Funny, he could have sworn this tent didn't usually get this warm.

"A-anyways..." Tharu offered a small smile and gently placed a small pillow with a cup of tea sat in its center onto her lap. Her presence wasn't unwelcome, by any means. "The Shadow, right? We call him 'The Dark One'. He first appeared a few years ago, randomly attacking Spring Fae, usually during the night." When it started, The King at the time, Oberon, chalked it up to wild beasts being riled up by increased expansion from the nearby mortal elves.

Tharu sipped from his own cup, leaning back against the wall as his chest rose and fell with his breath. "It wasn't enough to make us take notice at first, but as time progressed, these attacks became more and more violent. More frequent, too. Until one day, The Dark One killed our King. That was when my father took over."

And when Tharu was freed from his curse, he thought poignantly.

"It's getting stronger. You've seen how it can change things that it kills and consumes. Those beasts you killed were likely no more than ordinary elk before the Shadow found them. It's not something I can handle on my own. Even other courts are getting involved now. I'm just... not strong enough alone."

The story of his life, Tharu sighed, peeking at her wings from the side of his vision, reaching out and touching the one that had been wounded before. "I was able to help you at least, so I'm not totally useless I suppose."

 

[Zaria]

As soon as his fingers brushed her wings, she froze. A tingling sensation rocketed down her wing, through her core, and down to the tips of her toes. She took a sharp inhale, heat rising along her neck and cheeks.

"Would you please not?" Breathless voice tried to finish. She had to pause as another burst of sensation rolled up and down her core. Making her squeeze her legs tighter together, a hand going down to steady the cup of tea on her lap. "Touch my wings like that?" Another small breath as her head turned to him.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Tharu wasn't entirely sure what he'd done, but Zaria suddenly began to gasp, squirm and tighten beside him in a lascivious display. Tharu didn't want to admit it, but whatever was happening was bringing an equal shade of red to his own pale flesh, having never seen something like... this in person. Was she... okay? Zaria, are you unwell?"

It wasn't until she managed to turn her flustered, stammering face to his and breathlessly request mercy that the oblivious Prince thought that maybe he wasn't helping the situation, and quickly drew his hand back into his lap with a muttered gasp of realization. Gods above, he prayed she didn't despise him for that. Evidently there was even more to her he wasn't aware of.

Shifting himself a few inches away from her, the Duanann cleared his throat and averted his eyes as she came down from the high he'd inadvertently set her on. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that would... do that. I should have asked first."

 

[Zaria]

A delicate clear of her throat. Lifting the tea to her lips, she blew across the surface before she took a sip. And finally, ever-so-slowly, her eyes went to the prince. "It's, my wings are just very sensitive," she admitted.

Long legs shifted.

'You did not know," she said quietly. Wings tucked in a little closer to her back. Now she felt terrible. Should she go back to her original size? Disappear forever? She thought about it. She could go back and fly out of her, never seeing him again.

Even her eyes traveled to the flaps of the tent before traveling back to her tea cup.

"So, does this beast hunt you often? Are you safe now?"

Instead, a change in conversation. How silly of her to even think he'd look at her like that anyway. He was a prince. She wasn't even duanan. She was a lesser fae.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

Well. That certainly could have gone better. Now he felt as though he'd just violated her trust, and wondered for a moment if she wasn't going to leave him right there and then. Admittedly though, his mind wasn't focused on the Dark One anymore. Suddenly, it was rather hard to focus.

She said something to him, about the beast. Whatever it was seemed to pass through one ear and out the other. Tharu tore his eyes away from her legs as they slid to a different position and brought a hand to his mouth once more, a failed attempt to hide the red coming to his own face.

"Zaria..." He couldn't help it. She must have felt totally dejected. "Please do not be upset at me. I would have given you warning..." No, that sounded wrong. "...I would never do something like that without your permission. Please, forgive me."

As if to amplify his point, Tharu rose to his feet and spun to face her, bowing deeply. For a Prince to bow to anybody was an unusual gesture, but it wasn't uncommon when seeking forgiveness from another. "If we're to work together, I need to be respectful of these kinds of things."

 

[Zaria]

Zaria frowned as she noticed the look on his face. Why did he look so uncomfortable? Surely she had broken some law or command to tell a prince no? She swallowed and looked away. Not looking up until he was suddenly in front of her. And bowing!!

"What are you doing?" A quick whisper. Anxiety and fear twisting and rising from her belly to her chest. Clenched fingers in her lap only squeezing more. A look of panic about her face.

"There's nothing to forgive," she stumbled over her words and felt her own blushing rising. "You-you didn't know," she insisted. Oh stars, she was mortified.

"I-I disrespected you. Please forgive ME," and now her own head was dipping as she remained seated in front of him.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

A long silence fell over the inside of the tent, both of their heads bowed at one another, Zaria seated while Tharu stood, both begging the other forgiveness as their hearts played chaos with their minds. Tharu worried he'd scared off one of the only friends he had, and Zaria terrified at the prospect of offending Duanann royalty.

So they stood there for what was likely only a minute but felt like eons.

Then, laugher. Tharu felt a chuckle rise from his throat as he looked up at her, his shoulders relaxing and the terseness in his expression melting away as the inanity of the situation fully dawned on him. "Listen to us." He reached down to bring his tea to his lips as his other hand cupped his forehead, almost blushing with the admission that followed. "We're panicking like two mortals over trite silliness. You'd think I'd be more comfortable around the opposite sex, being a Prince."

He certainly wasn't the ladies' man his father was, and this was all the proof needed. Straightening his posture and brushing the wayward hair from his face, The awkward son of Spring again offered his free hand to her. "We can pretend it never happened, if you so wish. You've not offended me at all, so long as I haven't you."

 

[Zaria]

The laughter surprised her. She looked up. Was he making fun of her? Her blush deepened more. But she quickly realized he wasn't. He was making fun of the situation.

"You haven't," she said quickly, wishing her skin would go back to its normal shade. "I think we can agree to forget about this. Deal?" Long, slender legs shifted as she carefully stood in front of him and offered a delicate hand for his own to take.

It would be an agreement and a proper shake.

Wings relaxed a little from their tight hold behind her.

"Perhaps I'll be more comfortable around a Prince now," a gentle comment to echo what he'd just said in a different way.

 

[Tharu San'Seya]

The palpable tension in the air had certainly dissipated a bit now that they'd both admitted the silliness of it all, and Tharu smiled and took her hand as she stood before him shaking it slightly with a bow of his head. "Thank you, Zaria. Sometimes I forget how sheltered I have been for so long. These stumbles, awkward as they may be, are important in teaching me." There was much he had to learn, and not all of it easily instructible.

Now that the air had cleared a bit, Tharu retrieved his tea, taking a much less shaky sip of it, exhaling the stress from his lungs at the soft, smooth taste across his tongue. Leaning back against the frame of the cabinet that sat beside his bedmat, The Prince pondered the wisest course of action for the two of them. Zaria wanted to know more, wanted to help.

Unortunately, there was only so much Tharu knew, and she wouldn't be able to help much from all the way out here. No, the best option, the one that made the most sense...

"I'd like to go see my father, Zaria. I think he'd like very much to meet you." Zaria's light had made short work of The Dark One, and even The Spring struggled with such a feat. If this pixie was a smoking gun, Nairth would be very eager to enlist her help. "I'm sure he'd be willing to tell you everything, and you at least deserve a reward for saving my life."

 

[Zaria]

"It's alright," head tilted up to follow his movements. She was occupying his bedmat...should she move? Slender, legs uncrossed and she stood. Wings fluttered behind her before folding against her back. She took a half step away from the matt, cradling her own tea in the palm of her hands.

"Your father," she breathed. "I'm only getting used to being around one member of royalty and you want me to meet another?" A smile on her ruby lips. "We helped each other," she said gently. "I do not desire an award. Your friendship is enough."

She took a sip of tea and moved to sit on another pillow next to the bedmatt.

"If you think it's a good idea I meet him, then I'll go. But I'm still going to choose what I do next after that." She'd been a captive far too long. And she didn't want to be stuck in a place with a different set of bars.

"When do you want to leave, in the morning?" A stretch of her legs in front of her. They were so long and big. She was so big. It was a strange feeling.