The southern forests have never experienced harsh winters. In fact, it's rare for a dryad of the south to ever see ice or snow in her lifetime, so when Lucy is awoken by an unusual chill that's settled in the air, she's more than a little curious to know the reason. Today marks the beginning of summer and she's meant to step from her tree for the season. She wants to, but is unable bring herself to leave the warmth that her tree offers.
Deciding to have the forest help her, Lucy stretches her roots out and visualizes the plants of her home. The dryad envisions that she is the heart and everything is connected back to her. By doing so, Lucy is able to feel the forest as the plants do. 'It's cold', they whisper into her mind. They're just as affected by the cold which made it hard for her to feel around her domain. Her senses are numb from the chill.
She wants to step out and run her toes through the grass. Wants to run under the sun and then cool off in the river. She prefered to run wild with the animals and then climb as high as she could and reach for the stars that she'd never be able to touch. She wants everything summer brought and more.
Lucy is an anomaly among dryads as she wants to see more than just the forest she is bound to. She loved the flora and fauna that kept her company and did not hate being unable to leave them. With her, life in the woods thrived and it was a wondrous thing to behold each season. She often wondered if it was the fact that she couldn't leave that made her want to see more.
The most she could hope for though, was spending time with a rare visitor and asking them about what lay beyond her trees. That rare visitor was normally a rambunctious fire fairy who visited her at least once a year. He always made her laugh with the stories of his adventures over the last year. He also told Lucy more times than she could remember, that if she wanted to leave the forest then she just should do it. She didn't want to leave though. She just wanted to see things that she hadn't before. Like snow.
Living in a southern forest, Lucy had never seen snow fall before. During the winter, it got a bit cooler and the leaves left the tree branches bare for the season, but it never froze over. It was the first day of summer and life had long since returned to her forest. She's determined to find out what was bringing this unnatural chill to her home. When the dryad feel a pair of cold footsteps pause just inside the treeline, Lucy extends her roots to the location. Sure enough, she has a visitor.
The burning midday sun would have made Gray more than a little uncomfortable had be been human or even a different kind of fae. Winter followed the ice faerie, thus he could never stay in one place for long. For centuries he had wandered the land, never able to stay in one place for too long. Even during the winter, when the forests he visited were sleeping, he could only stay for a handful of weeks before his winter arrived and brought a merciless chill with it.
He wasn't exactly welcome in the forests but humans tended to stay away from the woods so he traveled between them and would rest for a time until winter followed him. Many fae hated him, some even pitied him, but he was powerful so none dared to deny him stay for a time. It would be a simple thing for him to chose a place to stay, given his power. Gray was considerate though. No one had told him to live a life of endless traveling with no home. He did it because it didn't feel right for him to displace someone for his own comfort. Not that living alone would comfort him anyway.
So long as he traveled, he was able to socialize with the other fae of the world. Gray dreamt of one day meeting someone who would enjoy his visit and look forwards to meeting him again in the future, but that was only wishful thinking. No one would ever be comforted by his frigid presence.
The fae pauses in his journey when he steps into the unfamiliar forest, feeling a warm energy surrounding him and the forest going on high alert. The dryad is watching him. The guurdian of this forest was rumored to be an odd individual; she wished to see the world beyond her forest. Gray hated fae like that. Did she not realize how lucky she was to have a place to call home?
Gray admires the beautiful flowers that he's never seen before as he makes a beeline for the clearing where he'd find the dryad's tree. He didn't have to ask permission to stay since none dared to deny him, but he always did so on principle. This forest is teeming with her energy, from new blooms to the young of the animals. The creatures watch him with both curiosity and wary.
Lucy watches through the eyes of the animals as the ice faerie gets closer to tree. He's unlike anything she's seen before. He wore only a pair of ragged pants that were cut off a little below his knees. His skin is pale and it looks like his entire right arm as well as part of his torso were actual ice. His eyes are sad and lifeless, like he didn't have a reason to exist. She couldn't help but shiver a little, when he looks at the fox she is watching him through.
In the middle of her clearing stands the tree that houses the dryad he's looking for. It's a massive oak with golden leaves and roots that jutted from the earth in spots closer to the brook running through. She'd been watching him the entire time but he can't sense her in the clearing. Maybe she's afraid to meet him since this would be her first time experiencing the winter he always brought.
Disappointed, but not surprised, Gray turns around to return to the edge where he'd be staying for the next couple weeks when a whisper on the wind calls for him to wait. He looks back at the tree and watches the dryad step from the bark that hid her from the world. He admires her delicate figure as she stretches her limbs. Her hair, braided in random strands and decorated with wildflowers, is the same golden color of her leaves and fell past her waist. Her skin has the slightest of tans and her most intimate parts are hidden by moss and wildflowers.
What amazes him the most though, is how her deep brown eyes shine with wonder. As though she had just looked upon the most wondrous thing in the world. But that was to be expected since he guessed that she'd never seen anything like him before. He remains still as she approaches him with a gleeful smile. The dryad circles him several times before trying to reach for his hand. He pulls away before her skin makes contact with his but she'd still been able to feel just how cold he was.
"I welcome you, ice faerie." For appearing so bright and carefree, her voice is collected and she stands almost regally. "Have you a name?" she questions.
Gray shifts uncomfortably under her gaze. "Gray. And yours is?"
"Lucy," she answers with a smile. "I thank you for visiting me." She couldn't remember the last time she spoken to someone that wasn't of her forest.
Gray lets out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "Thank you for your warm welcome, Lucy. It's been a long time since one of your kind has been hospitable." Lucy's shoulders slump and her smile fades. "Such a gloomy look doesn't you," he says, "Don't worry about my presence. I'll stick to the outer edges of the forest and leave this place before the winter gets too harsh for you."
Lucy's eyes widen as the fae bows his head then turns around. He is a guest in her forest and he expects her to ignore him like all the others. She steps forward. "You've never been to a southern forest, have you?" she calls before his disappeared back into the trees.
Gray stops at her voice and looks at her quizzically. Her eyes are shining and she's got a mischievous smile on her face. He knew better than to linger around a dryad since the cold could weaken them but the ice faerie is rooted. His eyes are fixated on her as she inches closer to him.
"Stop," he whispers. Lucy pauses and blinks at him. After the first blink he's able to think clearly and backs away from her. "If I linger here, close to your tree, winter will come to this place sooner."
"There is more to my forest than just this clearing," she offers.
He needs to walk away from her. But her presence is comforting. She's warm and he wants so much to feel more of that warmth. Lucy smiles at him and walks off into the trees not waiting for him for him to follow. What is he doing? Without thinking, his feet take him after the dryad as she shows him around.
The two spend every moment together, visiting her favorite spots. She asks him what it's like being able to travel. He's thankful to be able to see and experience all sorts of things but he wishes that it weren't so lonely. She asks if he has a home and he tells her that he could have but because of what followed him, he chose not to settle anywhere.
He asks her if could give up her forest to see the world, would she. No matter how much Lucy wants to leave, she would never abandon her forest. To her, it was more than just a home. Everything here was alive and she was it's caretaker. Everything that lived here was part of her.
The cold begins to settle and Lucy finally gets to see the snow fall. Gray warns her that she should return to her tree soon. She promises to do so but wants to see the snow for just a bit longer. She's running about and slips. Without thinking he reaches for her realizing his mistake to late. She shrieks and pulls out of his grasp, curling in on herself.
He doesn't know what to do. He'll only cause more harm if he touches her. Her tree, she needs to get to her tree. He apologizes and takes her to the clearing. The oak looks as though it is already reaching for her and he hands her over. Her eyes crack open and she smiles at him. She doesn't want him to leave her behind. She wants him to stay.
Gray stays by her tree as the winter settles letting it warm him. He intends to leave once the forest is asleep but not a moment sooner. He needs to make sure that she will still able to care for her home. Once the forest is asleep, Gray prepares to leave. It's hard though. He looks back at her tree and is rooted where he stands. Just like the day he met her, he can't move.
Lucy had been the only one to ever show him any ounce of kindness for as long as he can remember. She wanted to know him. If he stayed though, she wouldn't wake up. He wished to hear her voice. She'd know what to do. He missed her and was unable to leave her. Her forest remained asleep for years to come.
As she sleeps, she can feel the cold that surrounds her tree. Even protected by its bark she can feel winter's harsh bite. She tries to remember what happened before she went to sleep. She was playing in the snow with Gray. Gray! She had slipped and he had reached out to keep her from falling. His touch hurt her. A lot. She dreamt of summer again, running around her forest. She thought she could still hear his voice. He was sorry for hurting her and sorry that he hadn't left yet.
But he was tired and she didn't blame him. She wasn't upset that he was still with her but she did wish that she could wake up and tell him that she's happy. If he had left, she would have been alone. That he wished to stay with her, warmed her heart and she didn't feel so cold anymore. Her tree started to blossom.
No longer bothered by the cold, she is able to stretch her roots and her mind and reach the rest of her forest. She is relieved that it went to sleep with her and she tells them that soon she will wake up. Gray starts to notice signs of life returning to the forest and stays by Lucy's side. The ice that froze her brook melts and water begins to flow. He watches her step from her tree and falls to his knees. She skips to him and reaches out for him with no hesitation.
Her skin is pale like his but warm. So much warmer than he remembers. She tells him that he was the one who made like this. Hearing that he wanted to stay with her so he could have a home. Gray can only thank for wanting to let him stay, even if it meant that she would sleep forever. But she wanted more and learned to deal with the cold so that she could blossom for him and see him again.