So now I'm one of the dozens people who have written my own story about the events of The Faeries' Ruin! Yay! (Oh, wait...) This takes place in the same continuity as my story Of Angelpi and Qasalan Coffee, and there are a few references to it. Not many, though. The kids are my original characters and will probably show up in other stories. (They're not based on my own neopets, though.)
In my mind, Faerieland's inhabitants consist mostly of faeries and faerie neopets, so that's what I went with in this story.
I hate coming up with titles, and I figured that "A 100% True, Non-Exaggerated Tale" sounds like something Hanso would say. Ahem.
I am a Brynnso shipper, but since I feel very awkward writing about romance, I don't touch on it too much. Of course, it's impossible to write about TFR without touching on it a little, hehe.
The story is entirely written, so I'm just giving it the finishing touches and hope I can add a new chapter every couple of days!
And I would like to thank Sport (Star-Speckled Dragon) for giving me some ideas!
Faerie City. Those words used to bring up images of beautiful buildings high in the clouds, populated by a race of faeries and some faerie neopets. The various shades of pink and purple used to colour their homes and shops contrasted nicely with the white clouds and blue sky. The city's pride and joy was the royal castle, a spectacular building with tall towers that was inhabited by one of the most powerful rulers in all of Neopia.
Yet, even Queen Fyora had been unable to prevent the terrible tragedy that had befallen her land.
The scheming of one jealous, angry xweetok had literally caused the faeries' world to come crashing down. The city was now located in a huge crater between Brightvale and the Haunted Woods. All of Neopia would have suffered a terrible fate if not for the heroic deeds of a mischievous ixi thief named Hanso and the captain of the Brightvale guards, a kougra named Brynn. They made an unlikely team, but together, they had been able to save the world.
Now, about a year and a half since the residents of Faerieland had been rescued, most of the homes and shops had been rebuilt, though many still had temporary, unpainted wooden patches on the roof or cracks in the masonry. At this rate, it appeared as though their city might be stuck on the ground for quite some time. The residents were no longer restricted to just faeries and faerie neopets; many others had moved here to lend a hand in the rebuilding process. Others, such as the afore-mentioned thief and captain of the Brightvale guard, had made this place their new home base to help keep it, and the rest of Neopia, safe from other evil schemers. It wasn't an easy job, and between missions they spent a lot of time in Faerieland with little to do (or Hanso had very little to do, at least), but both Hanso and Brynn felt the job was well worth it!
Hanso had known Brynn for several years. He didn't remember exactly how old he had been during their first encounter on the streets of Brightvale, but he couldn't have been older than his early teens. She was slightly older, but since he'd hit a growth spurt shortly after their first meeting, he had long been taller than she. Despite the fact that their occupations put them at odds with each other (he was a thief, she worked in law enforcement), they had somehow managed to forge a friendship of sorts.
He'd never imagined that a time would come when they could be open about their friendship, and he had never even tried to imagine that their relationship could develop to something more. Sure, that desire had always been buried deep in the back of his mind, for although Brynn could be hard to get along with, Hanso found her attractive in a number of ways. He had long been under the impression that Brynn felt the same way, although the kougra would never admit it. Brynn had a tough exterior (how else would she have survived in the guards, huh?), but Hanso knew that deep down, she was a total softie, especially when it came to him.
Now, everything had changed. Not only could they openly be friends, they actually lived and worked together. In fact, Hanso honestly didn't realize how precious Brynn was to him until he was able to have her by his side most of the time—and now, he couldn't imagine what life would be like without her. How had he ever managed to live before?
"Have I ever told you that faerie furniture creeps me out?" Hanso asked as he and Brynn took a walk through the business district of Faerie City. Brynn was off duty until tomorrow morning, so he'd convinced her to leave the castle for a little while. He was pretty sure the other guards were eager to see him gone for the afternoon, anyway. "It just...I don't know. I think it's the wings?"
"Or the fact that so much furniture is pink?" Brynn asked, glancing at the shop that Hanso was talking about. A few ovens were lined up for display outside, and every single one of them had wings attached to either the front or back. Most of the ovens were blue or yellow. "Okay, so only one is pink. I guess the wings make them...unique?"
"Pink doesn't bother me. It might not look too good on me, but it looks absolutely great on you," he said with a sly grin, which got him a glare from Brynn. She was wearing most of her Faerieland Guard uniform: a tunic in a very dark dusty rose colour and grey trousers. Quite often she wore chain mail or armour, but since she wasn't actually on duty at the moment, she had no armour. Nor was she wearing her cape, helmet, or sword. "But I think some of that furniture probably belongs in the Haunted Woods," he continued. "It must have been delivered to the wrong place!"
Brynn laughed. "You always say the same thing about faerie food, too—"
"Oh, don't get me started on that one!"
"—but it's simply something you'll get used to over—hey, we've got company!"
Hanso then noticed the flock of young faerie neopets coming toward them. There were six of them; two were siblings, and they were all friends with each other. Hanso knew them quite well, for this same group of children often found him no matter where he was in Faerie City, and when they got to him, there was only one thing they wanted.
"There he is!" Ileana the faerie ixi (a colour Hanso had said time after time that he would not like to be painted) pointed to him, and the entire group ran to catch up with him and Brynn.
"Hey there, haven't seen you guys in a few days," Hanso said enthusiastically. One of the girls, a faerie shoyru named Nuala, even hugged him before moving on to Brynn to give her a hug, too.
Cael the faerie eyrie (who also happened to be Ileana's little brother) wasted no time in getting to the point. "Can't you tell us a story?" he begged. "It's been two whole days since you told us one!"
"A story? We were kinda...in the middle of a walk," Hanso said, glancing at Brynn, who shrugged.
"I don't mind," she said. "It's better than hearing you complain about faerie food and furniture."
The kids giggled while Hanso scowled at Brynn. "All right, I guess I could manage one."
Of course, he would need a place to sit. The nearby fountain looked like a good spot, so he motioned to it. "Let's go over here." He sat on the edge of the fountain while Brynn took a seat next to him, and the kids sat on the ground at their feet. This fountain had a nice wide ledge, though he'd have to make sure Brynn didn't dump him in. She'd done that once before, when he apparently said something extremely offensive while telling a story. Hanso leaned forward to address the kids. "So... Which one do you guys want to hear? Wanna hear one about my amazing adventures in Brightvale? Or about our adventure in Qasala a few weeks ago?"
"Oh, no, you haven't told them about that, have you?" Brynn asked in alarm. She was always worried about something, so this was nothing new. She seriously needed some advice on how to relax.
Hanso grinned. "How I publicly humiliated Jazan by salting the coffee and stealing the scroll from the supposedly thief-proof room? Honestly, Brynn, how could I not tell them about it?"
Brynn buried her face in her hands while the kids laughed. "Oh, Hanso, how could you?"
"Because he's awesome!" Erik the faerie bruce piped up. "I wanna be like Hanso when I grow up!"
"You're a smart kid, Erik." Hanso leaned forward to pat the top of Erik's head. "So, what do you want to hear today?"
"Could you tell us about how you and Captain Brynn saved the faeries?" Adele the aisha asked. "You've never told us the whole story!"
"That's because it's kind of long," Hanso told her. "Longer than any other story I've ever told before!"
"And not entirely child-appropriate, though I'm sure that's never stopped you before," Brynn muttered.
Ileana's ears perked up and she gasped with excitement. "Oh, yeah, tell that story! Captain Brynn can help you, because she was there, right?"
"You don't have to call her 'Captain'...though it might be a good idea," Hanso corrected himself upon seeing Brynn's angry glare. "I guess we can tell them about our grand adventure, huh, Brynn? Captain?"
"Go ahead," Brynn said.
"So, it all began when I was in Faerieland, and happened to see what appeared to be Hubrid Nox, holding a flat round object, chanting something about—"
"Hanso." Brynn's voice was even, but he could detect a trace of annoyance.
"...What? Are you going to make a habit of interrupting me?" he asked, pretending to be offended. "It's hard to tell a story like that!"
"Why don't you start from the beginning?"
Nuala nodded. "We all already know that wasn't Hubrid Nox," she said.
"Yeah, start at the beginning!" Cael demanded.
"The beginning!" Tanith the draik, usually the quietest of the bunch, chimed in.
"The beginning?" He turned to Brynn, slightly confused. "You mean, when I was at Xandra's...?"
Brynn nodded. "That's the beginning, isn't it?"
"But you're always threatening me when I say stuff that you think could corrupt Neopia's youth!"
"I'll make an exception this time."
"See? This is why Brynn is awesome! OK." Hanso rubbed his hands together. "Let's get this story started!"
