Faeted

[Tardy Grade]

Garth found himself stumbling for days in the thicket of the thrice damned Fae woods. Not a single distinct feature aside from trees, toadstools and more trees! He swung his large heavy blade tearing down another tree while swearing internally. The old mercenary had tried every tracking method he knew but it was like the forest was moving around him ever so slightly each day and night.


He now dreadfully wished he'd just taken the four day longer trip around it instead of through!


In an hour's time he could barely lift the blade as pushed through. Tripping his blade got lodged in the wood of a ... a building? Pulling out the blade he found a sweet smelling liquid to now soaking it's rough and dented exterior. Dipping a finger to it he hesitantly brought the finger to his lips. A moment of silence later he lifted his blade and chopped at the wooden walls to find barrels, though tiny, of mead!

Glorious Mead!
​

Drinking himself silly he passed out happily not caring whether this was all a dream or not.

 

[Juniper Sagethorn]

Juniper flitted about, gathering her daily supplies of berries and leaves to bring back to her small tree home where she made her mead. She was quietly humming to herself when all of a sudden, her small, pointed ears perked up. She heard the sound of several trees being slashed, and her ears drooped slightly as she listened to them come crashing down.


'What in the world?' she thought.


She hid the small bunch of berries in a tiny cubbyhole she had found inside of an older pine tree, and took off, her little wings flapping frantically. She followed the path of the cut-down trees, and she eventually came upon her own tree-home. She gasped, bringing her tiny hands up to her mouth. She raced through the small hidden doorway, only to find a large Human man lying there asleep! She blinked, more so out of confusion than anything else. It was then that she noticed the several empty barrels.


'Oh no...Oh no!'


She immediately flitted up and landed her small self on the tip of his nose. She tried everything to wake him up, but to no avail. Finally, a light bulb went off in her head. Juniper flew off briefly, coming back with a feather. She braced herself, and began rubbing his nose, hoping to make him sneeze, and wake him up. What this stranger didn't know was that this mead was special; for if a Human were to drink it, he would be granted the gift of Faerie Sight. It was a silly practical joke Juniper played on unsuspecting Humans sometimes, but she never thought she would see a Human come this deep into her forest.

 

[Tardy Grade]

"Aahh ... aah ...achoo!" sneezed Garth. He was still pretty groggy after having almost inhaled all that mead. Not that he minded much. Though that thought made him recall that he'd just broken into a store room.


Probably a good idea to meet and apologies to the owner. He was in a forest with no idea where to go next and the first possible lead he had couldn't be made into an enemy before he even lay eyes on him.


Rubbing his eyes they adjusted to a hazy ... glow? What in the ... and then he saw her on the other side of his face. At first he thought a nest that fallen along with him but the branched head he was no nest. A ... a fairy? Having been an active fighter and traveler he'd heard a lot about the Faelings. The one in front of him seemed to be a female. Not a child but not too old either ... though it was hard to tell given her diminutive size. She looked a bit pale.


Oh wait... is she the owner? He got up to apologize but getting up to fast sent him almost crashing into her. He'd still not managed to get past his drunken state yet. Must have been something in the mead he reasoned. 


"Sorry I drank your... *hic* ... meadd. Been lo... lost the past few dayss. Pretty good stufff but somethingggs not rightt... about..." and then he grabbed at his mouth. Luckily he managed to swallow back the vile in his throat as he rapidly got up and instinctively threw up in the bushes outside the house.


"Urghhh ... sorry. Can I pay you for the mead? And maybe directions?" he asked weakly while wiping his mouth clean.

 

[Juniper Sagethorn]

Juniper was nearly blown away at the force of his sneeze, but she held on for dear life, clinging to his spiky hair.


She blinked as he got up, stumbling about, and she instinctively moved backward and watched him. It wasn't until he was through vomiting in the bushes outside of her doorway that she finally spoke up.


Her voice was calming; soothing. It had an almost familiar quality to it. She sighed, giving a small smile.


"Oh...well, don't fret about it. Lucky for you, I have enough backup kegs already brewed to make my delivery." She flitted over towards him, hovering in front of his face. "Lost, you say? Oh, raspberries...that's no good at all!" She moved then to one of her cupboards, going to grab at a small piece of cloth, flying back over to hover before him, and holding it out.


"Here. You can use this to clean up a bit." She studied his face, pursing her lips slightly. "Never seen you around these parts before...What brings you to the forest? Are you going somewhere? Meeting someone? OH! Is it a lady?" She waggled her eyebrows teasingly, a sly grin creeping across her tiny features. She tilted her head at the mention of payment. "Hm? Oh no no no. No need for all of that. I will gladly help you get where you need to go."

 

[Tardy Grade]

By the gods this fairy could talk!


At first her words were a bit hard to get but as he got used to the her voice and countenance he could get what she was talking about. When he was offered a tiny piece of cloth to wipe his maw he had to stifle a laugh. It was large for her no doubt but almost disappeared  in the span of his palm.


"No I insist I have to pay you back. I've lived long enough without managing to incur any long standing debts and I'll not be starting at my age. Name anything you want that I can do for you and it shall be done" he said trying to look serious despite his nagging head ache.


"You've already forgiven my trespassing and theft. Now you're even offering to guide me out of this blas... forested area. There has to be something I can do for you?" he repeated as he sat down as he concentrated through the fog in his head. Her figure was getting clearer to him at least. Her name was very apt he noted once the type of vegetation she was adorned with became more clear.


"Why am I here? I was just on my way back to collect my last reward from the mercenary captain out in Regisland. The capital of the human kingdom bordering your forest. One that's done I was going to just retire on the amount I've saved. Explore the lands and enjoy the rest of my life" he smiled at her.

 

[Juniper Sagethorn]

She watched the Human, eyeing him carefully as studied him. Her different colored eyes narrowed slightly, and her lips pursed as she listened to him speak about not having to be in debt.


'Yes, being indebted to a Fae probably wasn't the best idea,' she thought. 'He's lucky I'm not one of those blasted Pixies!'


"Nonsense! I won't hear of it. You're lost, so I can't really fault you for accidentally stumbling in here. The drinking of the mead is understandable. Some of the best in the region if I do say so myself. Not to..." She paused, pulling out a pan flute. "...Toot my own horn." She gave a lighthearted giggle. Clearly, she found herself to be a comedian.


She stopped as she heard the word mercenary, freezing in place. She slowly floated towards him now, keeping a sharp eye on his face. She did her best not to show fear. She puffed out her tiny chest, looking quite menacing...or at least she thought she did. 


"Nooo no no. Really, you're not indebted to me. Honestly, I don't mind. This happens more often than you might think, what with the nomads and pirates running through here in an attempt to escape the Human King's wrath or the long arm of the law...or...something." She flew up, and landed gracefully on top of his head. "Besides! I can't have you being lost. That would be no good at all!" She leaned over, her tiny, upside-down face grinning at him, and her fiery red hair falling down to tickle at his nose.

 

[Tardy Grade]

He sighed at the antics of the jovial and bright fairy. "Yes I suppose this is probably a common occurrence here. I'll be in your care then" he extended a finger to try to emulate a hand shake.


"And thank-you for the mead. Some of the best I've had. Fairy or otherwise. I'm sure that even the dwarves themselves would go nuts for the stuff" he indulged the proud looking fairy.


She had a cute way about her for something so tiny. Might just be his age making him soft though. Or the fact that she was now his benefactor whether she agreed to it or not.


That done he asked," Is there anything you need to bring with you? I'm not sure how long it might take to reach the borders given the time it took for me to even get here. Don't want to take up your time and then discomfort you on the trip itself." he lamented as he knew he was to be the giant mount for the little fairy.


"Also the advice against pixies is well received. I'd hate to get involved with anything like that right as I'm about to get a well deserved break. So how long would you need to get ready?" He asked while doing a check of all the supplies he still had left. Some dry rations and his money. Thank god for that. He hadn't lost his weapons either in his stupor which was a huge relief. 

 

[Juniper Sagethorn]

She sat back on his head, pursing her lips in thought. 


"Hmm..."


She flitted away for a moment, disappearing behind a pile of empty mead barrels. A bunch of random, tiny objects went flying about as she dug around for something, finally emerging with a tiny, cross-body satchel made of woven cloth, and secured with buttons made from pieces of sawed tree branches. 


"Ready to go! I have a few changes of clothes. Everything else, I can get from the land around us," she said, smiling brightly, dimples out in full force. 


By now, the effects from the mead would let him be able to see her fully in all her Faerie glory! She was a pretty little thing, with wings comprised of opaque leaves and twigs. She floated up, her tiny wings humming quietly, and retook her spot on top of his head, and hung onto the spiky chunks of his hair.


"Onward!" She pointed in a random direction, ready to begin her new adventure! 

 

[Tardy Grade]

About an hour into their journey Garth had already decided that he was going to end himself a number of times. It was not that the Fairy was unbearable. In fact the things she said were interesting and to him he knew very little about fairy culture it was very informative if a bit biased to her and her own.


It seemed that while the Fae weren't vehement to the point of aggression at the others under their dominion they did hold their own kind in a higher regard.


That aside she also would not stop turning his head away to a direction with small non-painful but jerky tugs. He felt that she was enjoying herself a tad too much but just sighed.


His father had raised him to have certain codes to live by and repaying debts both mortal and material was near the damn top of it. He also knew that without her he might never see human lands again. He did however find that the forest looked very different now as compared to when he had entered earlier. The forest he realized was in fact moving! If not from it's position then in orientation or shape.


The mana in the environment was feeding them and altering them. He could even see some tiny and curious looking peeping toms who were staring at him silently or loudly. Some sat on toadstools and others on flowers.


"Were there always this many of you? Why can I Suddenly see you all so clearly?" he looked upward at the dangling legs. When she didn't answer he blew a breath of cold air up to greet her.


Heh he thought as he heard her panic to answer. Might be some fun to be had after all

 

[Juniper Sagethorn]

She rode Garth as if he was a faithful steed, clinging tightly to his spiky hair, and turning him every which way as they made their way through the thick, green forest. When he asked about the sheer amount of Fae flitting about around them, she gave a gleeful chuckle.


"Yes, there's always been a lot of us. Humans just can't see us most of the time." 


She lazily flopped onto her back on top of his head, her small arms splayed throughout his hair. She watched the canopy of trees above her slowly pass over her.


"And, you can see me and the rest because of the mead you drank." She flipped onto her stomach now, kicking her feet up into the air behind her. "I imbued it with the Gift of Faerie Sight!"


She snickered slyly.


"I do that from time to time. It's quite funny when you think about it."

 

[Tardy Grade]

"Yeah I can see how a dose of seeing what's invisible to others can appear amusing to onlookers" he considered. Thought the sites around him seemed to be surreal now, he found that he was not really shocked or taken aback.  


He assumed to himself that years on the road fighting had set the bar higher for what he considered alarming. And with respect to the Fae it was a matter of what they could do that affected the victim or enemy. Having had little Fae interaction till now he could only guess at the effects of crossing a Fae born. No point endlessly fearing what something is rumoured to be careful off as long as you're alert to it. 


He was glad that the drink had not been imbued with a less friendly enchantment or more accurately Fae 'blessing'.


"So which are the common Fae in these parts? So far I've only heard you speak about the pixies as a group. And what of your own?" He asked avoiding crushing odd but passive looking critters on the forest floor.