ooOoo
The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.
The Fae Prince
Chapter 1
Hello World
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the world and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many towered Camelot
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809 - 1892
With a loud crack the ancient Oak tree split and a door opened. Light poured out into the world; blue and cold and unearthly. The Oak cracked from side to side and a body came through. It was more or less tossed out of the tree and a man landed on his hands and knees. Behind him the oak slammed closed, very much a door being slammed. There were no words but the finality of the closing was unmistakable and the words "Get out and stay out" may not have been shouted but they were clearly understood.
The man rolled on to his ass and looked back at the tree. Now that his head was up it could be seen that he was more of a boy than man; perhaps 16 or so but not more than 18. He had a finely drawn face surrounded by slightly long, soft chestnut hair. His fox tail shaped eyes were the color of the ocean waves and slightly slanted.
"Well fine, you ass." he shouted at the now closed door. "If that's the way you feel about it, I'm gone. "
He stood and started to brush the dirt, leaves and moss from his body. He seemed somewhat bemused by his own clothing. There was nothing strange about it but he fingered the soft russet leather pants and vest as if he had never seen them before. He tested the feel of the surface and ran his hand downing the lacing holding the vest to his body. His boots were of thicker stuff and he had what appeared to be bronze armbands around each bicep.
When he felt he had shaken off as much debris as possible he reached for a moleskin cape lying near his feet, wrapped it around his naked shoulders and began to study the surrounding landscape. He turned in a complete circle and held out his hands, fingers spread, feeling his way through the air. He wiggled them, closed his eyes and laughed. A squirrel overhead chittered down at him and he raised his face to the sound.
"Good day to you too, squirrel. Am I invading your space?" He opened his eyes and stared into the flat, dark eyes of the rodent. "You can't tell me where I am, can you?"
He laughed again and turned in another circle, this time keeping his eyes on the small piece of sky between the trees. He traced the path of a high flying hawk. "You better hide, Mr. Squirrel. It's not safe out here."
Something made his mind up and he started moving north along the forest floor.
XXXXXXX
After a good bit of wandering he came to the very edge of the woods and looked out over a fallow field. It had once been a farm as evidenced by the existence of a still standing farm house over in the distance, a hill or two away. Evening was coming on and the temperature was dropping along with the sun. He pulled his cloak around him more tightly and was interested to see lights appearing in the house.
Making a quick decision he set out, hoping for warmth and maybe a friendly face and something to eat. His boots swept through the half tall grass, a susurrant voice in the night. In no time at all his long legs brought him to the porch and then to the screened door. Lifting a hand to tap he paused.
He could feel human hearts beating inside and those hearts were beating out of rhythm. One was full of fear and one swooned, besieged by an inhuman touch. He felt something that should not be found inside a human house. It was a dark piece of his home world and should not be allowed here. Without waiting for permission he opened the door and stepped inside.
Following the sound of heart beats he tracked the fearful heart up the stairs and found a woman kneeling against a door, fear in her eyes in addition to the fear in her heart. Her head was pressed against the door and she looked to him for help,
He put out his hand. She grasp it tightly and pulled herself up off the floor. She appeared to be an older human with gray hair and deep lines etched into her face. His appearance seemed to kindle hope in her sad eyes.
"Are you the one Dr. Griffith called to help us?" Without waiting for him to answer she begged, with tears starting. "Please save my son. He's in there with that thing. Please help him."
"I will help, I promise you." He responded. "Go down the stairs and wait. We will be there soon."
Before she left she asked, "What is your name?"
He responded quietly, 'I am Sam Fallen. Now go, let me help your boy."
He laid his fingers on the door knob and with a whimper the woman fled down stairs, leaving her life in a stranger's hands.
He opened the door and stepped inside. In the moonlight he saw what he had feared, what he had felt even from outside the house. On the bed lay a young man, pale and thin, almost bloodless, and riding him was a creature of the dark, a succubus of the Unseelie Court. She turned from her work, the work of bleeding the young man dry and stared at Samisfallen.
"Get off of him." Samisfallen ordered. "You do not belong here. Flee if you can."
She laughed. "What are you doing here, young Prince? You are not in your proper place either. Why do you think you can order me from my prey?" Her voice was dry, crumbled autumn leaves stirred by the wind; a malicious whisper in this human house.
He took another step towards her; she backed away from her victim, hurling herself into a dark corner and faced Samisfallen.
"You know who I am," he said. "You then also know what I can do to you. Why do you think you can fight?"
She raised her wispy arms, all glamour fallen from her. She was revealed as a horrid thing made of dust and fog. No longer could she hold the form that had so entranced the young man; the man who had allowed her entrance to his bed. She made a warding motion, as if to drive Samisfallen away but it made no difference.
He fell on her as she had fallen on the young man. His teeth held on to her wispy neck and drained her of all that she had taken. It took only moments as she wailed and keened, weaker with every cry until all that was left of her was cobwebs on the wall. Samisfallen wiped the same cobwebs from his lips.
He looked to the young man on the bed. After all, he had promised the woman that they would come. The man now seemed at peace; no longer thrashing and fighting something he couldn't even see. Samisfallen heard voices below. It sounded like human men were in the house and he wanted nothing to do with them. There was too much here unexplained.
When he heard hurried footsteps on the stair he fled out the open window to the roof of the porch. Looking below he saw a long, dark car that had not been there before. He suspected that this was the late arrival of the 'help' that the woman's Dr. Griffith had promised. Even living outside this world Samisfallen knew this most likely meant Hunters.
Hunters were dangerous. They saw more than most folk and once alerted they would track him down. He had to make a quick decision; run or bluff? He dropped from the roof to the ground and walked around the car. Overhead he heard the volume of their speech increase and knew they were looking out the window. The old lady had told them about him and now they were looking for the stranger.
He quickly made his choice and leaned casually against the back of their car. He waited for them.
There were two of them. One was thick and dark and the other young and quicksilver. They both carried shotguns and appeared with the old lady behind them. She pointed at him and he heard her say "He did it. He helped us."
They cautiously approached, keeping the weapons in their hands.
"So," the older man said, "I hear you helped Mrs. Bradley and her son out here." He looked Samisfallen over then put out his hand. "I'm John Winchester and this is my son, Dean. We didn't know there was another Hunter after this thing."
Samisfallen uncurled himself and shook John Winchester's hand. "I am Sam, Sam Fallen. It's nice to meet other Hunters. I've been following this thing since it killed some teenagers over in Granville Kentucky. Lucky I tracked it down here. Mrs. Bradley's son was just about gone."
John Winchester looked around to make sure Mrs. Bradley had gone back into the house. "Fallen, Fallen, I don't believe I've heard the name in Hunter's circles before. You say you're from Kentucky?"
Sam completely straightened up. He topped Winchester by a good six inches. "I don't think I need to explain myself to you. You certainly don't need my family history or my birth certificate. I just got rid of a nasty succubus that has been draining men all over the country. That should be enough of an introduction for you. I don't see you waiving identification in my face."
The younger man stepped up. "Whoa, you two, back down. We're all friends here."
"Dean," John Winchester growled. "Just making sure."
John turned back to Sam. "Just exactly how did you get rid of that Succubus and how did you know what it was? It seems you know a lot for someone who's hardly out of middle school."
"I'm old enough to be on my own." Samisfallen was getting irritated at this human. He turned to the son, who seemed a little less harsh. "You don't look that old yourself."
"Yeah, maybe so," Dean responded. "But I'm still working with my Dad. You seem pretty much alone. How's that working out for you? It seems sort of like performing without a net. What do you do when you need backup? Or do you know everything there is to know already." Dean's words were smoothed with a smile.
John Winchester looked around. "Where's your car?"
"You guys sure ask a lot of questions." Samisfallen said. "Maybe I travel light."
Now Dean objected. "Traveling light is one thing. You appear to be traveling with nothing. How did you kill that succubus, anyhow? There's nothing left upstairs at all. Usually there's something left behind: goo or ectoplasm or ashes or something. Your succubus ganking seems awfully clean."
Sam shrugged. "I used a blessed iron knife and she dissipated. Maybe she was a kind you haven't seen before."
"Maybe you're a kind we haven't seen before." John Winchester muttered under his breath.
Dean once again intervened. "Come on, Dad. Back down. The succubus is gone and we should be celebrating, not chewing each other out." He turned to Samisfallen.
"Since you don't seem to have a vehicle, how would you like to come with us? We're going to hunt up a bar with women, beer and burgers. Want to join us, Sam?"
"What do you think, Dad?" Dean went on. "Shouldn't we take Sam along with us? After all it was his hunt. We didn't have to do anything."
"Sure, Dean." John responded. "Good idea. Just give me a minute to call Bobby and tell him about the hunt and then we'll go find that bar." John pulled his phone out and walked away.
Samisfallen turned to Dean. "I'm just going in to speak to Mrs. Bradley. I'll be right back out." He walked away but he could feel Dean's eyes on his back, watching, judging and speculating. In spite of the obvious distrust Samisfallen was finding this Dean human attractive. He let his mind wander to its own speculation. The young Hunter had possibilities. He was almost fallen pretty.
Inside the house Samisfallen listened for human heart beats. They led him back upstairs to the son's room. Once there he saw her sitting beside the bed, running her fingers through her son's hair.
He went to her and touched her face. "Be at peace now." He said. "Your son will recover and be well." He then turned to the young man on the bed and ran his fingers' down the pale face. He imparted to both of them some of the energy the succubus had stolen and both human's faces relaxed. Mrs. Bradley was overcome by the urge to sleep.
Samisfallen took her hand. "He will be well in the morning. You should rest now." He helped her walk to her bedroom door and left her there. As he walked back through the house he cast spells from side to side, insuring peace and protection. He then closed the front door behind him and made sure that it was locked.
Standing at the head of the porch steps he measured the Winchesters. John was standing a ways away near some trees, talking still on his phone to the mysterious "Bobby". Dean was right in front of him by the car holding a little box with twinkling red lights in his hand. The box also seemed to be making a squealing noise. Dean looked up from the box and stared at Samisfallen.
Samisfallen went down the stairs to Dean and the Hunter turned off the red lights and put the box in the car.
"Ready to go now, Sam?" Dean asked. "By the way, I was thinking; I don't mean to disparage your fashion choices but I don't see a lot of guys in bars wearing capes. I think I better loan you something else to wear or we might be fighting our way in and out of a back county bar."
Dean pulled a duffel bag out of the back seat and rooted around in his packed clothes. Sam pulled off his cloak and began to unlace his vest.
Dean turned back with a flannel shirt in his hand and froze. "Holy, crap. You really need something a little less, less, well. I just don't know what to call it. You wear this stuff all the time and no one has ever given you grief about it?"
Samisfallen looked down at his chest. "Why would someone have a problem with what I'm wearing?"
Dean studied the young man's chest, laced into a skin tight leather vest that stopped short of Sam's belly button. He reached out a hand to touch the armbands. "You look like an extra in a Conan the Barbarian film."
"Here," the young Hunter said. "Put these on and give me your vest."
Dean handed him a white t-shirt and a blue plaid flannel and eyed Sam's naked broad chest. Just then John Winchester returned. He carried a flask in his hand.
"Here Sam, in honor of our new friendship, let's share a drink." He handed the flask to Sam. "It's kind of a tradition in these parts."
Samisfallen wanted to point out the fallacies in that little speech but decided if John Winchester wanted him to pass some kind of test he would appease the man for the sake of Dean. He was growing more interested in Dean with each interaction and he wanted a place in their car.