The Faery Realm is an odd place, even for a halflife. Especially if it's not your native realm. The floral smell, the almost blinding array of colors, the tempereature- warm and somewhat humid... Not to mention the overabundance of butterflies. Marine looked around with her wide, red eyes.

"No fish... No fish!" A fanged smile found its way to her violet lips as she surveyed her surroundings a second time. She was an odd addition to this part of the Netherworld- she couldn't have looked more out of place had she tried. Her skin was a pale, ashy grey, and navy and purple striped horns poked out from beneath an unruly mass of deep blue hair. Said hair was fairly short, and insisted on dropping into her eyes whenever the chance was given. She wore a dark blue T-shirt with seafoam green trim around the collar and sleeves, over a violet turtle neck. Her pants were long, khaki colored, and a sheer contradiction to her retro-pink shoes. Her long, slender fingers were gloved in black leather, with pink cuffs to match her shoes. Remarkably, none of these things were number one in odd about her- no, that spot on the list belonged to her ears. Blue, furry, and somewhat foxlike ears, flopping out from beneath her crop of hair. Heck, one even had a staple through it.

Marine shrugged and continued on her quest to find a suitable home in this realm that seamed to consist mostly of flowers... And butterflies. She waved a few more of the pesky creatures away as she headed into a more forest-like area. There were a few small folk here, but they could be easily avoided using her superior speed. It was, after all, the only "skill" she had. Truly, Marine could move so fast that everything else just seemed to stop. It suited her nature just fine, as she was a self-described coward. She darted around the two poulk attempting to swat her with their staves and headed off and away from them. She slowed her pace and chanced a glance behind. This, she supposed, was her first mistake, as she didn't see the oversised bed of nails that was commonly referred to as a Bargest. She saw him a fraction of a second before she collided with him- lucky for her, that fraction was all she needed to skirt around him, or she would have gotten a free accupuncture session. The Bargest, irritated at the near collision and angry in general, turned and doggedly pursued her. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been a problem, as Bargests are not particularly light on their feet. But it was about this time that something happened to Marine that had never happened before:

She tripped.

Unaccustomed to the gnarled roots and slippery grass of this realm she had stumbled, and tumbled down a slight hill before coming to a sudden, albeit painful stop at the not-so-merciful hands of a large tree. The Bargest was still after her, and while she'd gotten quite the head start, her head was having a hard time clearing... More importantly, her eyes were having trouble figuring out why there were now two trees, and why they were suddenly moving. Marine heard- and felt- the Bargest stomping it's way towards her, and braced herself for the end.

It never came.

Marine looked around, and eyed the sight before her with sheer disbelief. The Bargest had been beaten down by something. And that something was a ridiculously small creature that looked like a miniature raccoon with wings. She felt a cobalt eyebrow slide up her forehead. This creature might have been three feet long, nose to obnoxiously fluffy tail. It was colored in an array of bright colors: A sleek, dark blue body, orange feet, red hands that resembled boxing gloves, large, grass green ears, and that tail. Fluffy was an understatement, as it looked like it might be bigger than the whole rest of the creature, not to mention the lime and violet striping. It turned to her, and it took Marine everything she had to not burst out laughing. A tuft of lime green fur flopped about between its ears, and its large, bright blue eyes glittered at her from two holes cut into a black band of cloth tied about its head. Marine figured it was to give the creature a daring, rogue-like feel, but all it really did was add to the creature's utterly ridiculous appearance. It fluttered over to her, hanging in the air by small, feathery, irradescent pink wings.

"Er... Thanks."

The creature nodded, bobbing around in the air before her. Marine got to her feet and headed off again, fully aware that this Faery creature was following her. Truly, the Faery Realm was an odd place.

The sun was beginning to set, and still, Marine had yet to find a place to call home. Worse yet, the creature was still following her. Grumpy and exhausted, she turned to the creature, "I can take it from here. Thanks for earlier, but I'm fine now. Go home."

The flying raccoon gave no indication that it understood her, cocking it's head to one side.

"Go on, shoo!"

"Shu!"

Marine blinked, "What?"

"Shu! Shu!" It fluttered around her happily.

Marine shook her head and hunted around for a safe place to spend the night, the Faery trailing about behind her, filling the air with it's gleeful cries of "Shu!"

She crawled into a small, uncomforable cave, and the Faery followed, nestling it's small self up against her.

"Hey, just who do you think you are?"

It looked up at her with it's big, blue eyes, "Shu..."

Getting nowhere, Marine decided to drop the issue for now. She'd always been told that Faerys were odd, nonsensical creatures. Why should this one be any different?

Morning broke over the realm in a burst of pinks and golds. Marine sighed, not looking forward to another day of househunting. Even more discourageing was the continued presence of her Faery companion. The morning passed, and as the afternoon ebbed away, Marine found herself on her very last nerve.

"Look, I don't know why you're following me, but I don't appreciate it. I can't take care of myself out here, let alone some Faery creature. So go on! Get lost!"

She regretted being so harsh almost immediately after the words left her mouth. The creature's ears drooped, and it seemed to sag in the air.

"Don't you have a family? A home?"

It shook it's head dismally. Another runaway. Another reject. Marine shook her head firmly, "You can't come with me. Go on. Go." And she turned away.

She could almost hear those big blue eyes filling with tears. She winced, feeling her resolve begin to crumble.

"Pl... Please?"

A sniff, almost inaudible, sounded from behind her. And that was it. Huffing at her soft character, she turned back, throwing her hands up in defeat, "Alright, alright... You can come with me."

The Faery's sadness turned to glee in an instant as it barelled into her for a hug. Marine was damned if the whole thing hadn't been put on. Faerys are tricky things, after all.

"You got a name?"

"Shu!"

Marine sighed, "You're kidding, right? Who named you?"

"You did! Shu! Shu!" the Faery replied happily.

Marine lowered here eyes, feeling guilty for her harsh treatment of the poor thing. Unwittingly, she had given this thing a name.

"Oh. Well... I'm Marine," Best to patch things up as best you can, and move on.

"Marine! I like you."

"Do you know a place where I... we can live?"

Shu nodded, "Home."

"That would be nice, yeah."

"This way!"

Marine jogged slightly to keep up with the little guy, "Wait, you already have a home? And you didn't tell me?"

Shu glanced behind him, "Didn't know you were looking! Besides, not home, if there's no one to share it with."

Marine growled under her breath. How she hated Faerys. And yet, it was with a Faery that she would spend the next five years, living in an old, hollowed out tree. Just scraping by, no rules or obligations, living freely as they wished.

The Faery Realm was, indeed, an odd place.