Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Wings series.
The Good Troll
The warm sun was shinning through the ceiling of Summer Theater as fae from all over Avalon came in by the thousands. The Spring fae crowded the grass-covered bottom, so close to each other that any Falls looking on from the balcony wondered how they managed to breathe the entire performance.
The Winters had yet to come into the theater, so all the other fae talked freely.
"Didn't you hear? Summer is doing an entirely new story this year!"
"Ahh… I fell asleep during the announcement…"
"How do you fall asleep during an announcement like that?!"
"I'm a woodsmith. I work late hours you know."
"That's not an excuse, we all finish at the same time and you know it."
"Yeah, Yeah. Now tell me about this story."
"Na-ah. As far as you're concerned, I know nothing."
"Humph."
The Falls were just as intrigued about this new story as the Springs were.
"One of my Summer friends slipped to me that it's really different! We'll be shocked for sure!"
"Really? It's rare that they make anything new, much less different.
"I know right? I just can't wait for it to start!"
The footsteps of the Winters were close enough that they echoed through the theater. The bottom floor silenced immediately and the balcony fae talked quietly.
The Springs bowed at the sight of the Winter Fae and eventually those bows spread to the Falls once the Queen entered.
Once the formalities were over, the curtain was pulled away and a Summer faerie skipped on-screen. It was a young girl, who looked like she was about eight or so. She was wearing a colorful, free-flowing dress that would remind you of a tropical flower.
In the eyes of the audience, their surroundings were no longer the tree-like walls of the theater, but a forested area unfamiliar to most of them. The girl started speaking, her voice was soft and pure,
Once upon a time there lives a young Fall.
He needed an ingredient that didn't exist in Avalon.
So out of Avalon he went, and down the invisible path he goes.
While she was saying this, another Summer Faerie skipped onscreen. He had an open box in one hand with a sugar glass vile sticking out of it. His skipping suddenly changed to walking and the faerie walked in one direction as if he was walking aimlessly.
Once upon a time there were some Unseelie fae.
Disguised as sentries, their views were a secret only to them.
So down the invisible path they go.
More faeries entered the stage, wearing sentry armor. They hid in the bushes surrounding the wandering faerie waiting for their chance to strike.
Once upon a time a faerie is beaten by his own kind.
One by one they beat him. Took everything he had.
So down the invisible path they leave.
Some in the audience gasped at this. Crime was a rarity in Avalon, and no sane person would beat another faerie and take what they had. It just wasn't done.
Some of the fae started whispering worriedly to themselves,
"What faerie beats another faerie? This play is weird…."
"I'm getting worried…."
"Let's wait it out. This is at least interesting right?"
"If you say so…"
The little girl continued to speak,
Once upon a time a Winter Faerie was allowed outside the gates for a period of time.
She glanced at the fallen faerie, but did nothing but step away.
So down the invisible path she goes.
The actress playing the Winter faerie had jet-black hair and green eyes. She had an air of superiority about her.
The questions kept coming,
"She looks like the Queen…."
"Why…. Why would a Winter Faerie do that?"
"But she has the ability to heal the Mixer right?"
Once upon a time an Am-Fear-Faerie was following her.
Doing his duty, he glanced at the fallen faerie and did nothing but step aside.
So down the invisible path he goes.
The crowd was silent at this. After seeing a Winter Faerie step aside, this didn't surprise them that much. However, some did whisper some things,
"How long is that faerie going to sit there?"
"Come on! We're not like this!"
"I-If I was the Am-fear-faerie… I-I'd probably step aside too…."
"Why would you do that?!"
The young girl kept speaking, and the actors and actresses kept coming,
Once upon a time, a girl lived on the land next to ours.
Found in a basket, her parents took her in and were very protective of her.
So down the path she went.
Everyone's ears were peaked at this,
"Ohhhh, who's this person?"
"Maybe she's a faerie! Just like the sicon!"
"That has to be it! What else could it be?"
The girl's voice continued,
Once upon a time, the girl wondered a little too far.
Into our land she came, ignorant, but knowing she was.
So down the invisible path she goes.
The audience kept whispering, interest still peaked.
"'Ignorant, but knowing she was…' She has to be a faerie. It's so obvious."
"Yep, I'll have to agree with you on that one."
One of the fae chuckled, "She probably had the same humble beginnings we had too!"
Once upon a time, the girl came across the fallen faerie.
Pitying him and having mercy on him, she picked him up and brought him to her parents' home.
So down the invisible path they left.
The actress playing the girl picked up the fallen faerie with ease, much more ease than any faerie would, making the audience a little suspicious,
"She's really strong…"
"Does she..? Ugh, what do the humans call it again? Weight something?"
"Well she clearly has grown up in the human world, but still…."
Once upon a time, the girl and the fallen faerie reached her home.
Rich her parents were. A big house she lived in.
So inside the house they went.
The scenery changed as the girl was walking to her house, revealing to the audience a gigantic mansion that was on the outside made of stone, but on the inside seemingly made of gold.
Seeing the gold's shine, many eyes in the audience lit up,
"Look at it! It's so shiny!"
"It's so pretty!"
"She must have asked her parents to buy all this for her because she loves shiny things. All fae love shiny things!"
The actress playing the narrator started to look down,
Once upon a time, the girl heard her parents talking on the phone.
"Our daughter is such a great treasure hunter! We've been very blessed! Yeah, yeah." they said.
So into the kitchen they go.
Most in the audience froze once they heard the words, treasure hunter… and even though it already had been heavily implied that her parents were human, their faces were clean.
"What the heck is going on… The humans don't have beards…"
"I'm just as confused as you are, trust me."
"The little girl said, treasure hunter… She said treasure hunter!"
A little shadow covered the little girl's face, her light colored hair covering her eyes,
Once upon a time, the girl's parents saw her with a strange man behind her.
The questioned her and she answered, "We need to take care of him, he's hurt."
So in the kitchen she stayed.
The audience was still baffled by the information the little girl gave them before, so they said nothing.
Once upon a time, the girl's parents did not want to help her.
"Why should we let a strange man stay here, when you'll be gone anyway?" they said.
So in the kitchen they argued.
The audience watched as the characters started arguing. They were arguing hard enough that someone would call it an argument, but wasn't so bad that one would call it fierce. After ten seconds or so of arguing, the faerie playing the girl sighed and everything was still.
The narrator still looked down as she spoke,
Once upon a time, the girl made an agreement with her parents.
She gave them a bag, "I'll pay for him myself; this'll cover him."
So out of the kitchen she left.
The scenery changed as the girl walked out of the kitchen and outside to where her parent's land was. A small, worn out basket was laying the woods. It was empty.
The audience started to chat among themselves again,
"What's that basket doing there?"
"I don't know…. Is it the one she was found in?"
"Maybe…"
The little girl's voice got lower and quicker once she spoke again. It was like the play was picking up pace.
Once upon a time, the girl was abandoned.
She didn't look normal. Her birth parents were disgusted with her.
So they left her outside to die.
The girl was looking at the basket for a while, almost in mystery. And a few seconds later the scenes changed to show the audience what she was thinking.
Everything looked darker and stars covered the night sky. A faerie, covered in hair, entered the stage with a smaller ball of fluff in her arms. Everyone knew what they were.
They were trolls.
The mother troll looked ashamed at the ball of fluff in her hands. The child's face looked like a monster's. Things sticking out where they shouldn't, eyes where her mouth should be, everything else seemingly turned sideways…. The mother left her daughter in an abandoned basket in a seemingly abandoned forest.
The audience had no sympathy,
"Eww… They look disgusting… Especially the child…"
"They always scare me…."
"Why do those disgusting creatures even exist?"
The girl, almost transparent, could be seen with tears in her eyes,
Once upon a time the girl got plastic surgery.
So much so that at last her face looked normal.
So a normal life she had.
Some people in the audience started to catch on to what the last scene implied,
"Hold on… What… What did that last scene mean?...
One faerie gulped, "I'm… I'm… doubting that girl's a faerie…"
"What the…? No way! There's no way!"
Once upon a time the girl looked at the basket as something positive instead of negative.
"This man is one who they told me about… I can see it now" she smiled, "but I'll help him anyway."
So out of the land she went and into the house she called.
"Don't let him leave until he's well! I'll cover everything even if you run out of what I gave you!"
The scene turned white and the girl playing the narrator went to the middle of the stage. She said some final words,
As you leave here today remember,
that once upon a time,
Some of the best stories can come from humans,
and that "bad" people aren't always bad.
Everyone was silent because they could clearly see what that girl was.
They were all baffled; they saw something they would have never expected.
Because this was the first time,
This was the first time they've seen a troll be the hero.
Thanks for reading!