For anyone who stumbles upon this absolutely ginormous fic, you really ought to read Whitehorse102's stories! Honestly, they are incredible and long, and beautiful, full of great detail! You'll love them! (My favorite is Above and Below Surface, a mer!AU with other fantasy elements, that you got to read!) She does an amazing job with world building in that multichapter fic, and it is currently in progress! It's absolutely amazing! And while, you're reading her lovely stories, read some of her oneshots too! They are well worth your time! (She is one of my favorite ZenYuki writers, and honestly, reading her work is like a dream come true!) So, go check out her work, and the hours you spend reading them, will be well spent!
For Whitehorse102, this is for you! I wanted to let you know that I absolutely love your work, and I'm still recommending it to pretty much everyone I talk to. It's amazing! So, thank you for doing what you do! I knew before I knew what ZenYuki story, I would be writing for you, three things: that it would be really long, that it would have a lot of nature in it, and that it would be a fantasy AU of some sort. So, it became this. It actually became longer than I'd intended to write it, believe it or not. It's currently the longest oneshot I've ever written, not to mention, the longest ZenYuki fic I've ever written so far. I hope you enjoy it, and that the length of it means hopefully lots of wonderful description, dialogue, world building, and all! Have a very wonderful day, and an even better week, alright! I hope that this rather lengthy AU'd oneshot brings a brilliant smile to your face, because everything I've read by you absolutely delights me and often brings out a smile of my own.
This is the spot near the dead center of the woods that everyone is drawn to, with it's tall, cascading waterfall of crystal blue water, known to be the best drinking water in the forest, and with the small lakebed, it pours into. The greenery here is lush with the kind of life that is hard to find anywhere else. Grass shoots up from the ground, soft beneath toes and hooves, and the trees are full of vibrant green.
Naturally, even when they flower, it fills the place up with oranges, whites, pinks, and reds, until you are almost convinced you are the meadow, you are a flower left amid the breeze of steadily blowing wind. She's quiet as she approaches, aware that at any moment, a predator may lurk, drawn by the sounds of rushing water and the vibrancy of life.
This break within the busyness of tree after tree is a calling card, and Shirayuki knows that, as she cautiously steps closer. There is one deer close enough to almost touch; his head is bent down with large antlers, as he drinks from the water. Deer don't travel alone, so she knows his companions are close by, just out of her range of vision.
Shirayuki's small right now; it's much easier to slip behind grass unnoticed this way. And she reaches out to gently scoop up water for a sip. Her hands may be small like this, but even so, the water feels refreshing as it slips down her throat. The woods feels so quiet today, that it is it's own kind of surprise.
Then there's the sound of hooves, easily mistaken for the deer so close by, though he scatters. Where she didn't startle him, the sound of unfamiliar hooves does. Shirayuki moves back behind a mushroom growing along the edge of the tree line, and watches as a Centaur breaks through the forest to come right in. He is alone for now, beautiful white fur shining across his torso, and she wonders briefly what brings him so far out here.
Centaurs are a royal kind of creature, though there are exceptions, and few dare pass through unclaimed woods. Shirayuki watches when he bends down and takes a sip of the water. A human like torso has always appeared odd to her when coupled with a horse's body, but she watches him just the same.
"Zen!" And there's the sound of less natural hooves, two sets, one more natural than the other. A man with greenish hair bursts through the woods at full speed, so worried that he forgot to slow down and toppled face first within the water of the lake. The other Centaur is a woman. Her beautiful blonde hair has been pulled up somehow, and Shirayuki questions why a royal Centaur is bringing along another natural Centaur and one transformed Centaur. It's odd to see even one of them here, but to glimpse three, one that had to have formerly been a different creature, is surprising.
Centaurs rarely keep multi species companions, mostly they are near other Centaurs or close to humans, and the humans happen to be the ones that are likely to be turned into Centaurs, though Shirayuki doesn't know exactly why that is.
As she looks closer, she spots swords across their torsos, ready in case of an emergency. "Zen" peeks up from the lake, and Shirayuki finds herself struck by the color of his eyes. They glimmer not unlike the lakebed he's standing before, and she forces herself to look away. Centaurs and fairies never inhabit the same social spheres; fairies have no need for royalty, preferring to remain hidden from much larger predators, though are friendly enough with natural wildlife.
The little magic that they possess is mainly used for camouflage purposes, rather than aggressive means, but Centaurs are more cautious in a more forward way.
The woman Centaur surveys the area; she has gorgeous blond hair atop her head, and smooth, almost pure tan fur that makes up the more horse like part of her body. She is beautiful and strong. Her horse frame seems more built than Shirayuki would have expected from a woman Centaur, but then again, she doesn't seem to be the royal Centaur of the group either. That's the man that almost raced to the lake.
The other Centaur has righted himself by this point, dark brown fur and all. He's relatively quick on his hooves, just unused to having them.
Centaurs rarely leave their homes to wander the woods, just at the edge of their properties. Shirayuki knows that eventually they'll have to get up and leave, leaving the lakebed to those that actually frequent it.
Shirayuki flutters her wings, softly, relieved that she'd made the decision before hand to shrink into a much smaller form, because if she hadn't, she isn't sure exactly what a Centaur might do to her.
When they finally leave, she hurries over towards the lake, relaxing as she gulps a cool drink of water. It's refreshing, especially after the stir of earlier, and then she's moving by the force of her crystal clear wings far away, eager to return home. The trip already feels too long, and she readjusts her frame. Going back to full size, merely because she doesn't want to scramble across the land or fly too close to ground.
Sometimes snakes find fairies a delicious snack, and Shirayuki knows that a snake is more likely outside of the clearing than within it. Dusk is nearly upon the woods, cascading a low level of darkness beneath the trees.
Just her route back doesn't come with no distractions, no complications. Instead she flutters right out near a campsite the Centaurs have made. They definitely wandered way too far away from their homes.
"Hey!" And the female Centaur's standing up, powerful on four legs, and Shirayuki doesn't really mean to pose a threat; what could a fairy do to a group of Centaurs anyway? Fairies don't generally have any kind of magic beyond merely adjusting their size. Sometimes one may have learned to appear more human, if they live among humans somewhere, but Shirayuki lives within the woods near other fairies.
The worst threat she could pose would be to poison one of them, but she doesn't have the right kinds of herbs on her at the moment.
"Yes?" It's only now that she feels small before them; fairies definitely don't grow anywhere near the height of Centaurs. She feels like a child with wings before these tall creatures.
"What are you doing here?" And there's the voice of the royal Centaur, the man that for some reason requires two Centaurs to properly protect. Shirayuki is not under the delusion that three swordsmen against one fairy are odds that definitely pan out in her favor at all.
"I'm going home." She answers, trying to project authority into her voice in the hope that it might make them back off. If they don't know about a fairy's limited magic, they might expect more from such a small woman.
"You're out a little late." The royal Centaur clarifies, cautious, and Shirayuki is well aware that if she's not careful, they'll be in for a fight, one that she knows she can't really win, but she might just be able to outmaneuver them, due to her smaller size.
"I was getting a drink." Shirayuki let a shallow smile form across her lips, "And what do you know about Fae anyway?" It's not like she expects Centaurs to have ever actually met Fae before, and if they have, they are very unlikely to know a thing or two about them, other than their smaller size and wings, perhaps they'd even be aware of their magic.
"You were at the lake." It's not a question, and the level of unamused in the female Centaur's voice could make a rock keel over. Shirayuki flutters her wings, mostly to stay afloat and to not let fear give in. That Centaur's blue eyes were poised to kill, if her sword didn't do the damage first.
"I go there often." Shirayuki retorts, "You don't." Even she doesn't know where her sudden confidence comes from, and she pushes herself up as if to gain more height on them. It doesn't really do all that much, other than cast a dim shadow across the fire to her back.
And just as a sword is swung, Shirayuki reduces her size and flitters away past the fire, coming so close for just a moment, she briefly wonders how quickly her wings might melt. Angering Centaurs was not on her agenda for the day.
It's luck that lets her flutter back home, slipping with her smaller stature into an opening towards the bottom of a tree trunk. Ryuu is still up, as if he was alerted by how late home she was, but Garack is well asleep, not too far into the small home. They make it work out between the three of them.
Shirayuki lived with her grandparents up until their death just barely over a year ago. After they died, she moved in with Ryuu and Garack under an herbalist apprenticeship, and it's been one of her best decisions yet. It's much nicer to live with others than to live alone, and she's enjoyed the difficulty and the challenge of the work after all. Thankfully, when she is working, she's usually full size. Herbs can get a bit big when you're shrunk down.
"What happened?" Ryuu's question is itself a sign of worry.
"I got stopped by some Centaurs. They're out by the lake." Shirayuki smiled slightly, trying to cool off the edge that the encounter seemed to leave under her skin, just as she watches Ryuu nod in understanding. It's about as much as he'll say to her right now.
Conversations are more often than not, one sided silences anyway; when they do talk for hours, it is always about herbs. One of their favorite go to conversations. Hopefully, those Centaurs will be long since home once she goes out tomorrow.
By the time the sun is just beginning to pour out across the forest, Shirayuki is packing her bag up, ready to go collect herbs. She's heading somewhat towards the lake, while Ryuu is heading in the opposite direction. When they both get back, they'll continue creating a salve that's been a somewhat on and off project.
Shirayuki's also hoping to maybe grab the ingredients for a calming tea.
Just after she's packed up and made herself ready to go, she's stopped just about ten to fifteen trees away from her home, by the Centaurs. They'd been on their way, passing closely to her home to head to their own.
Of course, going back to her home isn't an option right now, and she doesn't have anything to defend herself against three swords, if they decide that she is in fact a threat.
"You again?" The green haired one finally says, surprised to see her.
"I'll be off." She tells him, eager to avoid a confrontation at all costs; fighting with Centaurs, because she is somehow deemed more suspicious than they are isn't all that fun to do after all.
"To the lake?" The female one questions, and Shirayuki curses her own honest tendencies, as she answers her back.
"No, I'm going to gather herbs." She admits, hovering decently close to the ground, though she still hasn't made herself full size. Her bag tends to weigh her down, when she's this small.
"Herbs?" The royal Centaur looks curious despite himself, and the look is almost endearing enough to make her smile.
"I'm an Herbalist." She sighs; it's hard to break her own habits sometimes. "I'm collecting herbs for medicine." It's much safer to oversupply them with that extra detail, because she really doesn't want to be accused for attempted poison.
"Fairies do that?" It's a question, he doesn't really mean to ask, as it seemingly slipped out without his intent, and before he manages to apologize, Shirayuki speaks.
"I do." She doesn't tell them about Ryuu or Garack; it might be better for her friends, if she doesn't reveal their existence to potentially hostile Centaurs.
The Royal Centaur's eyes light up, and Shirayuki doesn't know why she feels this way, but she suspects that he's about to invite her to work for him.
"I'm Zen Wisteria." He tells her instead, finally no longer thinking she's a threat.
He gets a questioning look from his two companions, but Shirayuki puts on a brave look and answers him back.
"I'm Shirayuki." She shifts to full size; her bag felt a little too heavy on her shoulder, "It's nice to meet you." She bites her tongue, against the 'I guess,' that almost slips out.
"Kiki," The woman Centaur introduces herself, following their example, but not supplying more than that one word by way of introduction.
"I'm Mitsuhide." He's the one who stumbled into the lake the day before.
Shirayuki nods, "I better get back to work."
The question still shines in Zen's blue eyes, one that she chooses to ignore, because he hasn't quite worked up the courage to ask a fairy if she'd be interested in being one of his herbalists. She guesses that it's because a fairy herbalist in a Centaur castle is entirely unheard of. The thought, itself, is almost preposterous.
The day passed with little to no incident after that, though Shirayuki wasn't entirely sure if she wished that there would be something more, some kind of mishap or some awed Centaurs, one of which had the prettiest blue eyes she'd ever seen. But either way, the return home involved no Centaur sightings, however friendly they seemed to be after all.
It's months before she sees them again, on a particularly rainy day, admittingly. Wings don't tend to take rain as well as one might speculate, so she's left wandering the forest on foot. Having slipped on some old sandals that her grandmother had made her once, and that Shirayuki rarely wore nowadays.
They'd become rainy day footwear ever since their funeral. Shirayuki avoided the mud puddles with a strength of will unparalleled; she absolutely refused to make them dirtier from her walk than they'd naturally get. Even though, she knows without a doubt that the next day, she'll be washing them off at either a river somewhere or the lake in the middle of the woods.
Just on such a soggy and almost heavy seeming day, she had not expected to stumble upon three very wet Centaurs. Zen's fur looks almost brown as if he'd somehow fallen over; he's almost the shade of his two companions, though a bit closer to Kiki's natural fur color than Mitsuhide's.
"Shirayuki?" Zen startles to attention, and somehow she wonders where his sudden enthusiasm comes from.
"Yes?" She questions as she steps closer, walking around a rather large mud puddle to bring her next to him. Still, she feels dwarfed by his very presence.
"Hi?" He tries out, as if unsure what else to really say.
"He wanted to hire you." Kiki supplies, "He won't shut up about it, since the last time we talked." Kiki shrugs.
"Oh." Shirayuki's gut instinct was correct after all.
"Will you come to Wistal Castle and work as an Herbalist?" Zen speaks up, finally framing the words that had been hinted at, "We don't have a fairy herbalist on staff, and I'm pretty positive that you can teach the staff an incredible amount of things."
"I'm not that great." She argues; she is definitely nowhere near the level of experience or knowledge that both Garack and Ryuu carry around with them. "I have two mentors, and I'm not just leaving them behind."
"You can all come." Zen clarifies, "We'd love to have you there."
"I'd have to ask them." She imagines that Ryuu doesn't mind where he works, as long as he has access to a variety of herbs and can do his work peacefully, but Shirayuki doesn't know if Garack has any deep seated resentments to Centaurs, or if she simply prefers living much more closely with the herbs that surround them.
"Okay." Zen nods, understanding, and his momentary enthusiasm is kind of cute in the way that somehow a much larger creature can be cute.
Shirayuki waves goodbye, unsure whether hearing the invite was worse than just suspecting it was there. She enjoyed living among the woods, enjoyed her small home that she shared with the people closest to her, and of course, enjoyed being able to visit the lake as much as she was able to.
Living in a castle just wouldn't be the same.
When Shirayuki finally makes it back home, she pulls off her sandals and sets them carefully against one of the 'walls' of the tree trunk home they share. Ryuu seemed as if he'd made it back hours before she did, perfectly comfortable and mostly dry as he works hard off to the other side of the home.
"I have an interesting question?" Shirayuki tries, not really knowing how to actually answer the question that comes to mind or whether it was entirely a question at all.
"You do." It doesn't sound like the question it is meant as, as Ryuu asks it, but either way, her introduction had caught both Ryuu and Garack's attention.
"What happened?" Garack feels almost motherly for a second, which is an odd comparison to draw, as she normally feels more like a boss and sometimes like a spontaneous homeowner.
"I ran into the Centaurs again." Shirayuki begins, aware only after the words leave her lips, that she'd never told Garack about them, "They're from Wistal Castle." It doesn't mean that she has any idea where that is, exactly.
"Centaurs?" Garack is as interested as Ryuu would be, if Shirayuki brought up a rare herb, instead of another kind of creature.
"Yeah." Shirayuki admits, "And they invited me to become an Herbalist for them."
"You're asking for leave then?" Garack assumes, "You can have it."
"No, no." Shirayuki denies, still not interested in leaving her companions, and a little unsure over whether she wants to work for Centaurs anyway. "I told them that I wouldn't go, if I didn't go with you, guys."
"Aww, you can have a little fun." Garack waved it off, "And I'm sure you'd learn a lot."
"They said that they'd be happy to have all three of us work with them." Shirayuki ignores the 'fun' part of what Garack said before, "But I'm not sure if I want to go."
"It would be interesting." Garack attests, "We should go."
"Do they have enough herbs there?" Is Ryuu's perhaps obvious question.
"I don't know. I didn't ask." Shirayuki admits, suddenly wishing she would have asked for Ryuu's sake, "I saw them on my way to gather herbs."
"If you see them again, tell them yes, and come and get us." Garack smiles, "Working for some Centaurs might be fun. At least, it isn't for 'Prince' Raji, anyway."
Shirayuki gives her older mentor a strange look; Raji is probably just another Centaur, one that she hasn't heard of after all.
Shirayuki doesn't see them the next day, and she briefly wonders if Zen is perhaps busy back at the castle. It would make sense after all; he has to have royal duties. Yet, her belly is wound up in a tight ball of nerves regardless.
Even as two weeks pass, her nerves continue to grow, until finally she flies right across the path that Zen, Mitsuhide, and Kiki are at. She interrupts them in what appears to be a quite heated, albeit quiet conversation.
"Shirayuki!" When Zen spots her, it's as if a switch has been flipped, and he's all smiles again. He looks kind of cute with that cheery smile across his face, a thought that Shirayuki shakes off, desperately. "What did they say?"
"Do you have access to a lot of herbs nearby?" Is what Shirayuki says instead, nerves bouncing around in her stomach as if they have a mind of their own, and Ryuu on her mind. She doesn't want to take the prodigy some place he wouldn't be happy, even if Garack didn't approve.
It's the only time that she's ever felt even slightly compelled to not listen to Garack; it would be easy to write this off as an encounter that didn't happen after all.
"We have three greenhouses," Zen is quick to admit, "and easy access to the woods."
"And we wouldn't be your only herbalists on staff?" Shirayuki also isn't super eager to overwhelm the three of them with too much work, though the idea of learning a few practices and quite a bit from different creatures that were also trained in herbalism is a wonderful thought, in and of itself.
"We have both Centaurs and humans on staff." Zen is quick to clarify, "Is that a yes then?"
"Don't presume." She sighs, though even Shirayuki knows with permission and no viable excuses that this is a yes. "I'd have to go home first."
"Where do you want to meet up at?" Kiki is all professionalism; something Shirayuki is a little grateful for. It's a steady reminder that this is both real and a golden opportunity for her, Ryuu, and Garack. It's a little surreal to imagine that three fairies could come to work in a Centaur's castle as herbalists.
Shirayuki hurries home, fluttering quickly inside the tree trunk that makes up their home, just to see Garack sitting down, working on something, and Ryuu isn't back yet.
"Is something wrong?" Garack is attentive today, kind and motherly, in a way that puts Shirayuki at ease.
"They have three greenhouses and easy access to the woods. Plus, they have humans and Centaurs working for them as herbalists." Shirayuki isn't sure why it's coming out as fast ramble, but it is, and she's both excited and scared to death.
"They do?" Garack leaves her desk to lay one hand in between Shirayuki's wings on her back, a calming gesture.
"Yeah," Shirayuki takes a deep breath, "I get along with them alright, and the opportunity would be great, but a fairy has never worked for a Centaur royal family before. What if I screw up? Or am not helpful? What if the position isn't as secure as Zen makes it out to be? What if I accidentally tell him that I think he's kind of cute? I don't think anything's really possible."
"One, yes, the opportunity will be great, and you'll learn a lot." Garack is careful and slow as she thinks through her responses, "But so will they. You do have things to teach humans and Centaurs concerning herbalism. You still manage to teach Ryuu and I things, you learned when you studied herbalism by yourself at your grandparents' home."
"I do?" Shirayuki tries to soothe the nerves that seem eager to bombard her stomach; it's way too much to think about, and she's often been determined and a go getter, when she sets her mind to something, she does it, without letting herself wallow in nerves.
"Yes, you do." Garack reassures her, "You can be the first, and Ryuu and I will be the second and third. You are capable. And if you don't want to go, you can back out any time." Garack sounds about as responsible as she did when Shirayuki first applied to be their apprentice, eager to both learn and teach back then, but also responsible. Shirayuki had been given the opportunity to think about it then, if she decided she didn't want to. But she'd said, 'yes,' unwaveringly back then.
"You'd give that title to me?" It seems odd, because the most skilled herbalist of the three of them has to be Garack, and then followed closely by Ryuu and then by Shirayuki. Otherwise she'd learn nothing working alongside them.
"Proudly." Garack grins. "You are incredible. If you make mistakes, you learn pretty quick from them. And out of all the time, you've worked with us, you've made very few mistakes and have proved to be really helpful."
"Okay." Really, Shirayuki had been learning a lot from them, and was always grateful for the experience working beside them has earned her.
"And if the position is only temporary, we still have a home to come back to. Nothing's lost, just a little bit more knowledge gained, and maybe some understanding between Centaurs and Fae. That's perfectly acceptable." Garack is extremely encouraging; Shirayuki had forgotten how good the older fairy was at this exactly.
"Okay." Shirayuki repeats, but let's that bring some peace along to her.
"Odder things have happened." Garack smiled, "A Centaur and a Fairy might make the cutest love story yet."
"It would make an odd one." Shirayuki clarifies, not cute, she thinks, though her face does turn itself a pretty shade of pink at the thought.
"And I'll support you, even if no one else does." Garack's smile only goes a little wider; that is it's own form of relief. "Do you trust Zen?"
"I think so." It takes Shirayuki a second to realize that she'd already told Garack his name.
"Then, we should be good. If he breaks your trust, you'll find that fairies are also capable of impressive destruction." That was a threat if Shirayuki ever heard one, and despite the fact that it wasn't her own life being threatened, Shirayuki's face goes pale.
"Anyway..." She cuts off the thought, with a distracting enough word just as Ryuu comes back home, and gives the two of them an odd look, "They have three greenhouses and easy access to the woods."
"That's a lot," He answers back, a slight smile coming to take over his face, "They might have rare herbs."
"Probably." Shirayuki agrees, turning her back on Garack once more, to focus on the youngest person in their little group.
"Then, let's go." Ryuu gives no questions, just a simple, reassuring command, and Shirayuki has no idea why she thought he might object anymore. It's a very simple and determined yes that she hears instead.
By the time that she meets up with them a little ways off the path that she'd seen them at before. A little ways ahead, and a little off to the side, she doesn't know what she expects. Mitsuhide's both calm and looks like he's ready to run off, as if he has all this energy and no outlet in sight.
But Shirayuki's still not sure what to expect when they finally see the other two fairies with her, because she realizes they all look pretty different from her. Garack's larger wings are somehow just a shade darker, though clear-ish still. Her blond hair falls haphazardly down between the wings, and she definitely looks just a tad more wild than Shirayuki and is old enough to be her mom.
Ryuu despite his dark hair has wings the same shade as Shirayuki's; it's much more common for clear wings that nearly disappear in the light, than the almost raindrop-esque wings that Garack has. He's smaller than Shirayuki, because he's younger. And he carries himself still somewhat awkwardly, not super used to other people, and trusting them far less than even his awkwardness might entail.
He's been hurt before, and so he's still cautious from it. Garack instead lives life on the border between cautious and almost 'too' eager for the next challenge. Shirayuki likes to think that sometimes she flitters between the two personalities, herself, though she realizes that she probably isn't the exact perfect image of what her two companions are like combined.
Shirayuki's red hair is long as it slips down her back almost gracefully, though she is quick to move it away from her wings, so it often rests over her shoulders. If it's too close to her wings, it often makes flying awkward for her, though she's always impressed with how easily Garack flies despite that.
Garack's only told her before that it comes with practice, and she'd even winked at Shirayuki whenever she's told her so. Shirayuki knows better than to ask anymore, because she never really gets a clear answer as to why.
Shirayuki's eyes are the pretty green of the leaves of trees in Summer, not too dark, but not so light that their color disappears under the sunlight. Shirayuki hopes that if no one is paying attention, that her smaller form might blend within a meadow, as if she were just a red flower, not a small fairy.
Garack would blend better with grass in late Fall, pale and blonde, easily hidden among each strand. Ryuu would probably blend better at night, somewhere dark enough that he appears as small as a mushroom or as small as a flower.
"Ah." Is all Kiki says, with a polite smile in place already.
"Your companions are different." Zen's still mulling over this fact inside his own head; Shirayuki wonders if she was perhaps the first fairy he'd ever met, and that he didn't know much about them after all. It would explain so much.
"Very much so." Garack answers with a challenging grin, as if daring him to deny them their positions. Zen doesn't take the bait.
Instead the three Centaurs lead them off to the castle, the positions still freely given.
The castle is huge! It's tall and pale, with stone columns that allow for open air pathways, and Shirayuki tries not to stare up at them widely. The windows are the perfect size for many Fae to fly through at once, and there's a tiny urge to flutter through them, to let her slip easily within them and go along.
They are easy enough to fly through even full size if she wants to try it, and she'd still be able to flitter through with her two companions full sized too. Just, she knows that she should probably behave better than that so far. Because, this isn't a joke position but a serious one, one that she knows might push her beyond the scope of what she's already achieved as an herbalist so far.
Zen leads them to the pharmacy, introducing them to the few herbalists they have on staff, including a tall human man who wears a scarf over his face, which appears to be something he does often though it does draw Garack's curiosity, even so.
Then he shows them to rooms, that they can sleep in, though the beds are large.
"These are human styled rooms." Kiki explains, "Centaurs sleep on different styled beds." And that's an easy enough explanation, but still the beds are huge! Shirayuki could fit two of herself on the bed, full sized! Are all humans as tall as the scarfed man in the pharmacy? The bed seems like it would fit him quite easily. Wow.
"That makes sense." Garack nods, and then the Centaurs part their way with them, giving them an opportunity to check out the rooms for themselves.
"I'm not sleeping in the room picked out for me." Ryuu informs them when the other three are gone, "The bed is way too big." It's a simple enough answer, though Shirayuki wonders briefly exactly where he'll sleep then.
"Okay." Garack smiles, "I'm going to try it, though it does seem soft." She eyes a bed with a certain amount of interest and disinterest. Shirayuki is impressed that she can seem to be both at once: interested and disinterested.
Shirayuki nods; she'll try her own bed, though if it proves to be much too big, she isn't sure how she'll manage. Though there's a chance that it might become even more comfortable in time.
Working at the castle doesn't go as poorly as Shirayuki had feared, days become weeks, which slowly stretch to months. The humans and the Centaurs that she works with make for great companions, easy enough to talk to, and respective of differences between creatures. Slowly, they get to the point of close friendship, the beginnings of a tight knit bond are slowly being formed, thread by thread.
And Garack and the human get along in a way that speaks of years of friendship, and sometimes Shirayuki almost swears that there's a bit more there than just friendship, but she doesn't question it. Though the whole crush on Zen, a Centaur, was accepted by her mentor easily enough, that Shirayuki doesn't doubt that Garack would be comfortable dating a human.
It's an interesting thought, but not as scary as Shirayuki considers dating a Centaur might be. Just, as she goes about her day, the sweetest distractions do happen every now and again, where Zen stops by to greet her, ask her about her work, and talk with her so easily. And already, she's starting to realize that getting to know Zen while complicated, is actually rather delightful.
Shirayuki doesn't know how a Centaur and a fairy could stand side by side, let alone a prince and a commoner, so she considers their future in a mix of terms. Is it possible to be by his side? Zen who hasn't quite confessed almost seems to think so, because he's by to visit her most days, and excited to see her. He laughs with her and talks with her, and sometimes there's almost a shy interest to his words.
Garack had to point those out to her though, with a little bit of a nudge and a wink, and it's enough to consider how to make this work. A Centaur and a Fairy is not a ruling combination, but Shirayuki also doesn't really wanted to give up her whole identity in order to stand beside him, something that Zen doesn't hint at or push for either. They are smitten, but with each other, not deciding a single part of each other needs to change, yet encouraging growth.
Zen doesn't deny her her work, nor complain about it, but he asks questions, is curious, and Shirayuki is happy enough to supply him with the answers, even though they often go over his head. It's a nice combination, but how can a fairy possibly make this work, without sacrificing her identity, but without not making tough decisions and sacrifices to make this work?
"Mitsuhide?" Her lunch break isn't meant for seeking out knights, but Kiki had let Mitsuhide head off to talk with her regardless.
"Yes?" He even looks confused, considering why exactly his fairy friend would want to talk to him alone.
"How did you become a Centaur?" It's a difficult question to ask, and though he looks both confused by it and almost aware of why she asks it.
"I went to a knight school, I guess you could say." He smiles, "And a human that practices old magic turned me into a Centaur when I passed or proved myself worthy, I guess? I can't go back, but I knew that beforehand."
"Oh." That's an odd thought, one that Shirayuki doesn't favor in the least bit.
"I don't think he can turn Fae into Centaurs?" Mitsuhide guesses, and Shirayuki finds herself smiling; Fae was not a word that Mitsuhide knew before he heard her using it before.
"Okay." Shirayuki nods, partly relieved, though she still wants a way that makes it possible to be by Zen's side, to actually pursue the possibility of being by each other, without taking away her fairy self forever.
"But Obi, a guard," Mitsuhide begins with a grin, "can turn himself into anything! I think it's magic? Like yours, but he can't shrink himself. He can be human, a Centaur, and a bunch of other stuff. It's really cool."
"And he changes back?" Shirayuki asks, curious. It reminds her of the Fae magic from those that live closer to humans.
"Yeah." Mitsuhide smiles, and then he lets her know exactly how to find this interesting human like man.
Obi is funny and likable, but he generally keeps to himself. He's as mysterious as a shadow is to the sun, and Shirayuki finds herself curious when she does find him. He's near the guard's barracks, but not actually inside it. He rests on one of the massive window ledges, and he almost reminds her of a cat, though he looks fully human.
His golden eyes open when he hears her footsteps. The decision to walk through the castle rather than fly through it, is a decision that her legs are beginning to regret.
"Obi?" Shirayuki asks, hoping that he doesn't turn away his potential pupil.
"Who asks?" He's sitting up, quickly, though he doesn't change forms. It leaves her curious as to how easy it is for him to shift.
"Shirayuki." She introduces herself, easily enough, "A fairy that Zen hired as an herbalist." She knows he can see her wings, so there's no way to deny what kind of creature she is, but she wants to learn.
"And what do you need, Miss?" His question is almost hard, so she takes a deep breath and answers it.
"I was hoping you'd teach me some transformation magic?" She asks, quickly shifting to her smaller form, before shifting back, letting him know that she does know some magic, so it wouldn't be an impossible feat.
"You want to be someone different?" He looks bored, as if this question often comes up.
"Not forever." Shirayuki clarifies, "I love a Centaur." And he stumbles off the window, "And I want the best chance there is of being by his side, without giving up my identity as a fairy."
"You love a Centaur?" Obi chokes as he rights himself, so quickly she nearly misses his brief stint as a pretty blue feathered bird that gives him the opportunity to fly back to the window ledge before plopping back down as a human.
"I love Zen." The words feel almost sharp across her tongue; she's never told anyone before, let alone Zen. But she knows as hopeful as he is, he probably doesn't see any chance of their potential relationship working.
"You love Master?" Obi turns an interesting shade of pale before he turns red, speculative, probably wondering about the guts of a fairy that wants to transform, back and forth between a Centaur and a fairy, in order to happily be with a Centaur.
Before Shirayuki can even begin to answer, Obi's talking again, "You must be nuts! That will never work out, Little Fairy." And he transforms again, deliberately looking like her for a moment, a pretty red haired fairy, a young woman, and she fights a snort. The look doesn't suit him in the least bit.
"So, you won't help me out?" Shirayuki questions.
"Oh, I will. I'm intrigued." And then he looks like himself again, "But don't come crying to me, when your Centaur boyfriend ditches you for one of his own." Obi teases, and yet Shirayuki trusts Zen to know that he won't simply ditch her like that, not unless things went against his will. No one appears hopeful with feelings for a different creature, because he thinks it will be easy. Plus, Garack never told her that things would be easy, just that they'd be possible and maybe interesting.
"I won't. I don't cry easy." Shirayuki reassures him, with a challenging smile.
Meeting up daily for practice with Obi isn't easy. The magic isn't as quick or as easy to develop as Shirayuki thought it would, and when Obi's almost smug in his skill set he transforms, as if to make it look easy again, as naturally as she shifts her size. By now, he's met Ryuu and Garack both once, and he seems to have a clearer idea in his head of what Fae look like exactly.
Clear enough that after practice one day, when Shirayuki is wondering if it will ever be possible, Obi shifts form. He appears as if he is a fairy, hair almost like Ryuu's but Obi's perfect shade of black, and Obi's amber eyes are glowing in the sunlight. His wings are somehow a shade between hers and Garack's, almost raindrop glow between a mix of clear wings.
"You aren't mimicking me anymore." Shirayuki questions.
"It gets easier if I see others?" Obi clarifies, smiling, "It's still not perfect though."
"How long have you been like this?" Shirayuki asks, curious.
"Since I was young." Obi answers, smiling easy enough, with no real answers, "A deer was first, I believe."
Shirayuki nodded, imagining a young Obi transforming into a deer, imagining the awe and the excitement he must have felt.
"Do you think I'll ever figure it out?" She worries that she'll never get a grip on this, that she'll never be able to surprise Zen with it.
"I think it's possible." Obi doesn't say much else, but his almost confidence gives Shirayuki a little more confidence.
It's almost a year to the day that she first met Zen, when she's hurrying to his office, a little unsure of how he'd take this. He'd nearly given up hope, though he still did nothing to really solidify what he felt for her. Just, his eyes were growing a little less hopeful, a little less excited, as if a somber note had barely hit them, starting to detract the light and the glow that first attracted her.
Izana had gotten tougher on Zen, but Shirayuki still wanted to give Zen a sign that she was willing to give this a try, to give it a chance, to show him that things could work out between them, if they put in the work together.
As far as she's aware, Mitsuhide has never told Zen about the conversation the two of them had so many months ago, has never been the voice to what Shirayuki longs for. It won't be easy, but as she flies through the castle as fast as she can go, she knows she's willing to put in the time and the effort, and she hopes Zen is as well.
Finally, there's his office, and against her better judgement, she flies in. Mitsuhide and Kiki are between the bookshelves and Zen, talking over something or other with melancholy voices, something like marriage floats between them.
"Zen," Shirayuki's voice is too breathless, as she finally stops, in mid-air, half afraid she'll fall over, as the adrenaline finally leaves her, "Zen, Zen!" It's hard to choke out, and her mind is forgetting the flurry of what is needed to transform, just the way that Obi had taught her.
And she lets her feet touch the ground, wings slowly still, and she looks up into the prettiest blue eyes she's ever seen, and lets the magic flow through her system, with the extra zing that it contains, the extra startlement to her whole system, lets herself become taller.
And finally reddish brown fur fills up the room, and she stands before him, human torso overtop a horse's body. And Shirayuki is waiting for something: clapping, a wide smile, thunderous applause, but she's met by a sight she doesn't quite expect.
Zen starts crying, shaking his shoulders, as if he can't help it anymore, he pushes his desk away to come towards her, eyeing her horse frame as if the very sight is it's own surprise. And finally his hands come to rest on her very much human sized shoulders.
"You didn't give yourself up for me, did you?" It's a question, that she hadn't realized he'd worried over, "I love you." It's a choked out, final word, but it reassures her. He still cares too.
She lets the transformation work in reverse, and suddenly his arms are much too big for her tiny shoulders, but at the transformation, his blue eyes go wide, and he releases the pressure. "I love you," He chokes out again, and yet, she's still surprised, when his lips meet hers. But it's not a surprise that makes her recoil. Instead, it's one that she's been waiting on so long, that she didn't or couldn't imagine what it would look like, so she closes her eyes and meets his lips with hers.
Hoping that this is just a third, silent 'I love you,' that she tells him through action. When the kiss ends, she lands on his hands, resting steadily there as he opens his eyes, filled with so much love, that the blue lake of them fills her with awe. There is a chance, one that she'd had to find.
"I love you." She whispers, resting her cheek slightly against his own, letting him know that she's still here, and she isn't running away. Hopefully, he'll run with her every day after this, willing to make the difficult journey to be together, regardless of whatever obstacles come their way.