literature

Wayfarer

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girlwhowrites
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Literature Text

The stars were singing. Violet couldn't see them, but she knew they were there; she just had to find them.

She eagerly wound her way through the forest of vines that blocked her path, sometimes getting caught and having to untangle herself. Why were there so many? She couldn't even see where they were hanging from, but that didn't seem to matter much. Her path was suddenly much clearer, and the vines didn't seem so menacing anymore. Instead, they happily offered her their arms and led her the rest of the way.

There, just up ahead. She could just barely make out their lovely light, and their sweet voices gently tugged her forward. She smiled and reached out, ready to pluck one from the sky. Her fingers brushed the soft corona and-

"Violet... Violet, wake up, I've got something amazing to show you." The young fairy jolted, blinking blearily as she struggled to recognize her surroundings. She scowled when she realized what had happened and turned to shoot a disgruntled look at her friend, whose round, shadowed face peered at her impatiently from the entrance of her home.

"Go away, Oliver, I was just getting to the good part," she huffed, rolling back over in a vain attempt to return to her fantasy.

"But Violet," he whined, "you can't go back to sleep. There's a human wandering around over by the dead oak and I ran all the way over here to tell you."

That certainly made her pause. A moment of heavy silence later, she sat up, her arms raised towards him like a child. He rolled his eyes, but grinned, easily reaching in and plucking her up, before setting her down on her preferred spot atop his head. The night air was chilly and she wasted no time in burrowing into his thick curls, one hand snaking out to grip one of his tiny horns for security.

The faun straightened up from his crouched position outside of her hole in the ground and took off trotting.

~

"I've never seen one so up close before," she breathed, leaning so far forward she was almost dangling off of Oliver's forehead.

"Me neither," he replied, peering through the bushes at their discovery.

"How old do you think he is? I don't know much about humans, but he seems pretty small, and his face is still fat like yours."

Only the slightest of pouts betrayed that he was in any way offended by that statement. "It's hard to tell. Papa says humans have such short lives, that one year they'll look one way, the next year, completely different. Maybe eight?"

"Eight?" she asked, looking aghast. "He's a baby!"

"Shh!" he hissed frantically. They watched anxiously as the boy turned around, and they got a better view of him.

He was a fairly scrawny looking thing. Not underfed, just scrawny, with shaggy brown hair, big hazel eyes, and a slightly piggy nose. He looked dead tired and the remains of tears glistened on his cheeks, glazing over tiny scratches. His legs shook slightly, like he might collapse any moment. Overall, he was the most miserable looking thing either of them had ever seen.

"H-hello," he called out, small voice tremulous. When no one replied, he continued his aimless wandering, a new round of tears coursing down his cheeks.

"Should we help him?" Oliver asked after a moment, doubt coloring his face. "I mean, mama always said to never go anywhere near a human, always run and tell a grown-up, but this one hardly looks like he could hurt anything, even if he wanted to."

"We could always say we just wanted to get him away before he could kill any flowers," Violet offered, looking between her friend and the boy.

"... Yeah, let's go with that."

~

"What are you doing here, human?" Violet called as Oliver stepped out of the bushes, standing tall upon his head and trying to sound properly intimidating and official, as a forest guardian should.

The child whipped around, his fearful expression quickly turning to one of shock and wonder as he realized who was speaking.

"Whoa! A fairy and a Mr. Tumnus," he exclaimed, a smile lightening his face, before fading. "Wait, are you real, or are you a hallucinojation? 'Cause I think you can get those when you're really hungry."

The pair exchanged confused looks, Oliver more noticeably so, having no idea what a "Mr. Tumnus" was.

"Yes, we are very real," Violet finally answered, hopping off of the faun's head and fluttering closer. "And you're a human, who has no business being this deep in the forest. How did you get here?"

He stared at his shoes, looking close to crying again. "Me and my family were hiking. Mommy said not to go off the path, but there was a really pretty butterfly, and I thought I could catch it. But it flew away, and I couldn't find the path anymore." His lower lip shook and he started sniffing. "I just wanna go back ho-ome."

Violet's eyes widened in panic. Well, there went her official-ness. "Oh no, okay, please don't cry. We'll take you back to your family, alright?" she said, holding her hands up while Oliver nodded furtively behind her. Neither of them wanted to deal with a bawling human.

He peeked up at her through his bangs. "Yes please," he mumbled, sniffles starting to subside.

She let out a relieved sigh. "Alright, good. I'm Violet, and this is Oliver. What's your name?"

The curious expression was back when he finally looked up. "My name is Ben."

"Alright, Ben, just follow us and we'll have you back in no-"

"Can I touch your wings?" he interrupted, looking for all the world like it was the most innocent question one could ask. She gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish. She looked to Oliver for help, but he appeared just as out of his depth as she did.

"What? No! You can't- I mean- I don't- ugh, " she groaned at the pleading puppy-dog eyes he was giving her. "Fine," she snapped. "Just for a second, then we have to go. And be careful."

She warily alighted on his proffered hand, leaving her wings extended rather than folding them. She held her breath as he slowly raised his hand and ran a finger along the appendage.

"That's so cool," he whispered, awed. "They don't feel like butterfly wings, more like skin." He grinned at her. "You're really pretty."

She blinked. "Really, you think so?" she asked, unable to prevent the pleased tone from entering her voice.

"Oh brother," she heard Oliver mutter, and she could picture him rolling his eyes. This brought Ben's attention solely to him for the first time.

"And you're a... a faun!" He looked pleased to have finally remembered the name. "But I don't see any horns, do you have horns?"

He huffed. "Yes I have horns, but you're not touching them. Let's go." Violet quickly fluttered back to her usual spot while Oliver grabbed the boy's hand and began to lead him away.

~

"Just head keep heading straight, the campgrounds are just beyond those bushes," Oliver explained, his tail flicking nervously. Neither of them had ever been this close to such a large group of humans before, and he was just waiting for one of the beasts to run out with a gun.

"Okay," Ben said brightly, clearly ready to be back with his family. "Thanks so much for helping me get back, and I promise I won't tell anyone about you guys." He waved shyly to Violet before actually stepping up and hugging Oliver. He was actually a few inches taller than the faun, and Violet would have laughed at the startled noise Oliver made had she not been leaning back to avoid a collision with Ben's forehead.

He finally released him and immediately ran away, a quick "Bye!" thrown over his shoulder.

They waited a moment, hearing the clamor and relieved cries of the humans at the return of their child. She tugged on one of his curls, causing him to pivot and start trotting back the way they'd came.

Surprisingly, it was Oliver who broke the silence.

"I guess he wasn't too bad... for a human."
... I wonder if this is going to happen every time I enter a contest. The deadline is literally just a few hours away.
Written for the :icongt-writers-realm: contest. Not really fluff, but pretty much the only thing I could get more than a few sentences in to.

In case this wasn't understood, Violet and Oliver are still very much considered children among their kind, though much older than human children. Hopefully explains some of their behavior.

Apologies for title and sucky ending. Hope you enjoy everything else. Peace out, peeps. ;P
© 2013 - 2024 girlwhowrites
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CoffehBeans's avatar
CoffehBeans
Awwwww that was adorable x33 great job!