Maleficent watched the raven land before she transformed him.
"Well?" she asked – her voice low, so as not to wake the girl sleeping in the tree above.
Diaval nodded. "Well, I found him, Mistress."
"And?"
"And…. Not much to report. He lives in the village of Wolfslock, his name does appear to be Darius…" he began.
"I'm… underwhelmed," Maleficent told him, curtly.
She had slept very little in the last 24 hours, her head filled questions about this man and concerns for her young charge. Consequently, Diaval's lack of information was not well received.
"I watched him most of the evening and into the night, Mistress. It was relatively uneventful," Diaval reasoned. "He seems to be the right hand man of the village elder. Looks to live alone. That's really all."
Maleficent rose an eyebrow, exhaling. "Do you remember the way to the village of Wolfslock, Diaval?"
"I expect so. Why? Do you wish to go?" he frowned.
"No. But you will be making several more trips there, if that is the best you can do," the fairy told him, turning to walk away.
Diaval pulled a face behind her back.
"I saw that!" she called, as she made her way through the trees toward the Pool of Jewels.
"How the…?" Diaval grumbled, following after her.
They didn't speak again until they reached the water's edge.
"How was she last night?" he asked, coming to a stop beside her.
"Full of needless worry," Maleficent told him, simply. "She perhaps requires a… distraction."
"What sort of distraction?" Diaval asked.
The fairy shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I might take her to the western edge of the moors. To the caves where the Blue Caps reside. She has yet to see them."
Diaval couldn't stop himself from smiling, and Maleficent shot him a look.
"What?"
"Nothing, Mistress. It's a nice thought, that's all," he told her, trying to keep a straight face.
"Perhaps it is a bad idea. I do not have 'nice thoughts'," she said, reflectively.
"No! No, I think Aurora will love it," he insisted.
Maleficent watched him for a moment before conceding. "Fine. You will join us?"
"Thank you, but I think I'll stay here and rest a while," Diaval told her. "Besides, I think Aurora would like to spend the time with you."
"Very well then," Maleficent inclined her head. "In that case, I'd like for you to return to Wolfslock once you are well rested. And listen well to the man's conversations, I'd like to know exactly what he is planning."
Diaval nodded. "As you wish, Mistress."
Ω Ω Ω Ω
"Where are we going?" Aurora asked for easily the tenth time, following Maleficent through the thick undergrowth as they seemed to go deeper into the moors.
"Do you expect me to dignify that with a response?" her Godmother asked – she had not answered Aurora the previous nine times, and clearly had no intention of doing so now.
"Apparently not," she muttered, unhooking her dress from the branch of a nearby thorn bush.
"We are nearly at our destination. Perhaps a little patience, Beastie?" Maleficent suggested.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes then, and the walk was silent aside from the sound of Maleficent's wings dragging on the ground behind her.
It occurred to Aurora that Maleficent might have been at the destination some time earlier had it not been for her own lack of wings - and she was sure she should feel guilt for holding the fairy back, but instead she just felt a little warm inside at realising her Godmother had chosen to travel with her on foot.
"Where's Diaval today?" she asked.
"Day off."
Aurora laughed. Whether she meant to be or not, her Godmother was could be so funny at times.
"Is that amusing to you, you impertinent little beast?" Maleficent asked, stopping at the edge of the clearing.
Aurora didn't respond, instead distracted by the vast expanse of water in front of them.
"Is that where we're going?" she asked, gesturing to a small island in the distance.
Wordlessly, Maleficent created a bridge from the undergrowth beneath them – one that stretched out across the water and to the island beyond.
Aurora followed the fairy willingly across the makeshift bridge with complete trust.
Maleficent kept up a brisk pace, eyes fixed straight ahead, glancing down only momentarily when the girl caught her hand.
The insufferable little beast was becoming far too fond of such gestures, she thought, though told herself that there was little point in addressing it there and then. Perhaps later.
Or not at all.
They finally reached their destination, and Aurora followed her, climbing across the black rocks which surrounded the island, towards the large caves to which it was home.
Maleficent stopped at the mouth of the cave, and Aurora gasped.
The cave itself was like many others – filled with rock pools and iridescent stalactites hanging from the ceiling in every-which direction. It should have been a dark place, the girl thought, were it not for the hundreds of luminous electric blue creatures flitting here and there, lighting up the blackness as if something akin to a night sky.
"What are they?" she whispered, taking it all in.
"Blue Caps," Maleficent told her, leaning against her staff. "They exist only here, at the very western tip of the moors."
"They're beautiful," Aurora smiled, outstretching her hand as a larger Blue Cap came in for a closer look.
The next moments passed in silence then, before Aurora spoke again.
"It's strange, you know… I suddenly feel lighter. As though all of my worries have melted away."
Maleficent inclined her head. "I don't believe it strange at all. Blue Caps are highly empathic fae. They have an innate ability to hone in on whatever is troubling you the most, and to take it away. If only for a little while."
Aurora smiled. So that was why Maleficent had brought her here – her Godmother loved her deeply and had her own ways of showing it, even if they were a little unconventional at times.
"Can we stay here for a while?" she asked.
The fairy nodded, finding a comfortable spot to sit on the floor against the back of the cave and gesturing for the girl to join her.
Aurora did not need asking twice, and settled beside her Godmother, enjoying the now-familiar comfort of the large wing that folded around her.
For some time then, they watched the Blue Caps as they flitted busily from A to B and back again, and Aurora wasn't sure exactly how long had passed before she became aware that the electric blue activity had slowed significantly, as the tiny fae hung lazily in the air.
"I think they've grown tired of entertaining us, Godmother."
Upon receiving no response, Aurora turned to look at the dark fairy beside her, and was surprised to find that she was fast asleep.
Very surprised, in fact, for she could not remember a time that Maleficent had ever fallen asleep before her or awoken after her.
"It would seem they are not the only ones," she murmured, as Maleficent's head dipped against her shoulder.
Reaching up a hand, Aurora stroked her fingers gently over one of her Godmother's horns and went back to admiring the sluggish Blue Caps, allowing the exhausted fairy to sleep.
Ω Ω Ω Ω