He had heard the stories.
As the stable boy wandered bravely into the woods, he could recall what the townspeople had said. He had gone to get some feed for the horses earlier that day, as well as some lentils for a stew his mother wanted to prepare.
There had been a series of odd occurrences as of late. Children had been disappearing...or returning from their play acting out of the norm.
The tailor's son had gone missing...so had the blacksmith's boy. The final straw was the disappearance of the baker's young daughter.
The stable boy couldn't take it anymore. The girl was a friend of his, and he was determined to locate her current whereabouts. He had lied to his mother about retrieving well water for the horses, and was currently wandering the woods, with a wooden bucket in tow.
He called her name over and over again, but to no avail.
The curfew had been in place for several weeks now. No child was to go near the woods without adult supervision. His mother had forbid him from straying near the crowd of trees, despite the boy's yearning to look for his lost friend.
Some people called them fairies...others referred to them as changelings. There had been eye witness'. They always appeared as different colored children. The creatures would lure the young ones into the woods...never to be seen again. They were described as being blue, or (on occasion) greenish colored.
People had seen some with cloven wings- beautiful and transparent, almost like a butterfly made out of glass. Others said they looked nothing like children at all. There had been tales of green and blue talking animals- kittens, rabbits, puppies, birds, ponies, other creatures that children adored. The animals would attempt to coax them into the brush.
The rumors stated, that fairies were tricksters- imps.
They would lead humans to a seemingly endless paradise. The creatures could also manipulate time. If you left the heavenly fairy oasis, seconds would have passed quickly. Your loved ones would be long gone...sometimes several hundred years would disappear.
One child had come back- the cobbler's daughter. Upon her return from the woods, the townsfolk stated she was a bit off kilter. She seemed green, sickly perhaps. The girl laughed at nothing that was funny. She no longer found interest in her dolls or friends. The daughter spent her days smiling and behaving in the most ominous of manners. Her appetite had decreased.
Keeping these tales in mind, the stable boy shuttered in fear before calling for his lost friend again. He was so scared, but his determination would not wane.
Suddenly, the boy's blood froze.
From the underbrush appeared a small blue child.
"Would you like to play with me?"
The boy did not answer, but turned tail in a panic and attempted to escape in a sudden rush of adrenaline and fear!
"ZAP!"
The small child was surrounded by a strange blue aura. He could still hear and see- but his body refused to move. The world around him went at a normal pace- time manipulation magic for sure. The boy wanted to weep, but his expression would not contort.
The Aquamarine was quite proud of herself! The Diamonds had asked for new little humans to fill the zoo...they lasted a LOT longer then the taller ones. Some of the Gems were instructed to stay behind on Earth and pose as the human children to prevent the species from becoming too suspicious or upset.
This human would make a wonderful addition to the collection!