antaurilover685, who owns Kairi, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel.

A/N: The information on the two Irish folklore creatures mentioned in this story came from Wikipedia. I don't own Wikipedia.


Irish Folklore Can Lead To A New Friend

Rachel and Kairi were at work in the living room with their laptop computers on and poster sheets with all kinds of craft supplies spread out on the table. "Thanks for agreeing to be my partner in this, Rach," said the young girl.

"I'm glad to help, hon," said Rachel. "And it was nice of your teacher to allow me to be your partner on this, despite me being out of college."

"Well, I had no one to be my partner, and my teacher is a huge fan of your uncles' work, and so agreed that you could be my partner for this one when you offered," she admitted. "But, I never thought you were into Irish folklore."

Rachel smiled. "I guess it comes from me being part Irish," she admitted. "It's just a very small part of my heritage, but one I love to embrace. You might have noticed how much I love Irish music."

Kairi nodded. "What Irish folklore creature did you pick for this project?" She asked curiously.

"The clurichaun, which is an Irish fairy which resembles the leprechaun. Some folklorists describe the clurichaun as a night 'form' of the leprechaun, who goes out to drink after finishing his daily chores. Others regard them as regional variations on the same creature. Clurichauns are said to always be drunk. However, unlike their cousins, they are surly. Many fables conclude clurichauns enjoy riding sheep and dogs at night. If you treat them well, they will protect your wine cellar, and if mistreated, they will wreak havoc on your home and spoil your wine stock. In some tales, they act as buttery spirits, plaguing drunkards or dishonest servants who steal wine; if the victim attempts to move away from their tormentor, the clurichaun will hop into a cask to accompany them," Rachel said, reading the information she had found on Wikipedia.

"That's really interesting," said Kairi.

"Which one did you choose?" Rachel asked.

"The Alp Luarcha," she said. "According to the Wikipedia site, it is an evil, greedy fairy from Irish mythology. When a person falls asleep by the side of a spring or stream, the Alp-luachra appears in the form of a newt and crawls down the person's mouth, feeding off the food that they had eaten."

"Ugh," the owner of the Grant Mansion grimaced. "Interesting, but I wouldn't want one of those crawling in my mouth."

"Me neither," Kairi agreed, working a bit more on her poster. Rachel did the same, soon finishing their posters and placing them flat on the table to dry while they finished up their reports.

They had just sent the documents to the printer to be printed when someone else entered the room. It was a small fairy dressed in green and had very light purple skin. "Hi!" He chirped in a soft voice.

Kairi turned just in time to see him and let out a scream, making Rachel jump in alarm. "An Alp Luachra!" Kairi screamed out and ran quickly out of the room.

"Kairi!" Rachel called out after her, but the swimmer didn't stop running.

Pesky Dust turned to look at Rachel. "What did she call me?" He asked.

Rachel chuckled a bit, but explained the project she and Kairi had been working on to the small alien. "She just got done finishing her report on the Alp Luachra when you came in," she explained. "Guess she got so into it that she's mistaken you to be that Irish folklore creature."

Pesky Dust shook his head, but smiled a little. "Well, looks like I'll have to track her down," he said.

A familiar shriek made them look to see Kairi laughing as she quickly eluded Goop, who slipped in his haste to catch her and landed on his back on a bunch of cushions the kids had pulled out earlier to make a fort. Rachel, Kairi, and Pesky all laughed in amusement, especially when the children clambered onto their uncle to playfully wrestle with him and he playfully retaliated, catching his nieces and nephews and tickling them.

Kairi laughed again and turned just in time to see Pesky Dust point a finger at her and dust circled her head, making her fall asleep. Rachel caught her and brought her over to the couch. "Don't scare her even more, Pesky," the owner of the Grant Mansion warned.

"Don't worry," he said and entered Kairi's dream.


She was swimming in waters that were so clear she could see the ocean floor and the beautiful seashells that formed a colorful carpet in the sand. She dove down and picked up one of them and rose to the surface to examine it. "Wow," she said.

"Quite a paradise, huh?" Asked a familiar voice.

She turned to see the same fairy that had scared her before and she quickly ducked down a bit into the water so only her eyes were showing. "Relax, Kairi," he said. "I'm not that creature you were researching. I'm an alien."

She lifted her head out of the water more. "An alien?" She asked.

He nodded. "My name is Pesky Dust," he said. "And just to clarify, I'm a male."

That struck Kairi as hilarious and she giggled in amusement before getting out of the water and he handed her a towel. "How are you in my dream?" She asked.

"One of my specialties," Pesky answered her honestly. "I can manipulate the dreams of my victims to either give them a good dream, or to find out information."

Kairi looked around. "So, you're manipulating my dream?" She asked.

"A little bit," he admitted. "You came up with this paradise in your mind. I added the seashells to make it a bit prettier for you."

She smiled. "If you could make a dream awesome, there's no way you're evil," she said.

Pesky smiled a bit. "How about we properly meet?" He suggested and motioned her to closer her eyes. She did and woke up in the living room with both Rachel's and Pesky's faces hovering over her own.

"You alright, Kairi?" Rachel asked in concern.

She nodded. "I'm okay," she said and then looked at the small alien. "Thanks, Pesky Dust."

"No problem," he said with a smile. "It's nice to put a face to a name."

Kairi gave him a curious look and he chuckled. "Goop talks nonstop about you," he said. "He loves telling us about your achievements in swimming and just telling us about you in general."

She blushed brightly and looked sheepish, making both the alien and Rachel chuckle again before the owner of the Grant Mansion looked over to see Goop under a pile of giggling children. "I think your fiancée needs a little help," she said with a smile.

Smiling, Kairi went over to help Goop while Rachel and Pesky Dust watched. "So, you showed her your ability?" She asked the alien.

Pesky nodded. "Goop couldn't have chosen a better girl to fall in love with," he said. "When I was in her dream, I found a room in the small hut on the island where she was swimming and it was full of pictures of Goop."

Rachel giggled. "She's really head over heels for him," she said. "But so is he for her."

Pesky Dust nodded again as Kairi had almost succeeded in freeing Goop from the children when the Polymorph pulled her into the fun as the children happily laughed again, their laughter making the two spectators laugh as well.


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GoldGuardian2418