|Rhianwen|
There is something about looking into someone's eyes and seeing yourself reflected in them that can sometimes grant people a bit of perspective about themselves. Rhianwen had in her younger years, thanks to a temper that was very close to the surface and a zero-tolerance for bullies, more than once gotten the chance to examine herself in someone else's eyes. She had more than once looked into the eyes who used to think that the whole 'I can see pixies and fairies' was fairly cute and then thought she was overdoing it. Then there were the eyes of the pixies themselves, and she wasn't even sure what to make of their thoughts other than that they were supposed to stay near her.
So when she looked into the dark amber eyes of what was quite obviously an Elf she would have hoped to be cut some slack for once. The only thing she had directly said to the guy was 'hi' and that had nearly earned her a lance straight in the heart. So the only perspective the pale prince was giving her about herself was that she would probably be better off dead, and that every breath she took was a personal offence to him. In a reflex she straightened her shoulders, happy she was higher on the steps so she could look down on him a little bit. Damn guy just had to be a head taller than she was, huh?
"Just so you know, you're not real." She informed him, grabbing back to the survival skills she had learned in earlier years. If she just continued to ignore him, eventually he would stop staring at her like he would very much like to do some unspeakable acts of violence towards her. Even now he seemed to be having a hard time keeping his eyes trained on her, thanks to the henna tattoos hidden underneath her shirt.
The announcement seemed to shake him off balance just a tiny bit, enough for her to stomp past him down the stairs. She wanted to be close to one of the exits, preferable the one they had come through. He didn't run after her, he didn't yell at her. All he did was talk with Lenore in that unrecognizable gibberish that she didn't understand. Two could play at that game. She doubted the prince understood an inkling of Pixie, and it would mean she would be rid of that infernal rhyming. Before she could get far Lenore stopped her for a moment, speaking in Pixie. "Rhianwen, if you would please just stop a moment, I would like to introduce your host to you."
Rhianwen folded her arms over one another, flipping back her curly locks. "I have no interest in being introduced to some spasm of my imagination, as you might well remember, Lenore." She growled back. Oh, if only she could stop seeing what she saw. If only she had been born in a normal household and not raised by a woman who was still stuck in a permanent hippie phase. "If anything, just let me out of here, before he finds a way to get around his promise to you."
Lenore ignored her pleas, instead once again floating between the two of them. She made a dainty little bow to the Elf, her wispy brownish hair sweeping in the air as she did so. "Prince Nuada, I would like to introduce to you Rhianwen Nicolson, our protégé who is also known as the Unbending One." After that the pixie added a few more words in gibberish, making the Elf look at her again, though no more amused.
Rhianwen slightly raised her eyes at that title, before lifting the corner of her mouth in a slight smile. It was true that she had never bowed to anyone, but that was because a certain pixie had constantly told her she should never be subservient to anyone. "Rhianwen, this is his Royal Highness, Prince Nuada, Silverlance and son of King Balor of Bethmoora." In a hushed whisper the pixie continued. "Though he has many more titles, I would rather not continue much." It was visible on Lenore's face that she dared not make a rhyme on Bethmoora. "Please be somewhat gracious to him, if only so that he does not feel even more poorly about you."
Rhianwen frowned when she heard that. After all, she still considered herself to be entirely innocent. "Well then… sir." She started, very uncomfortable with the way he was staring her down. "I am sorry for inconveniencing you." She was more sorry to be temporarily locked in the sewers with him, but she didn't want to know if anger could make a fae break a promise. "I will start working at present on a way to get out of your hair." She resisted the urge to remind him he was a figment of her imagination.
She plopped herself down in front of the entrance, careful not to sit in the water. After a moment of consideration she got rid of the ripped nylon stockings, deciding they would be doing her more harm than good if she managed to get out of here. No, she would get out of here. When pixie magic was involved there was often a trick to it, a little something that would make them chuckle while you made your escape. So she sat down, forcing herself to focus on the ward that she knew was there.
The feeling always started as a sort of pop located right between her eyes, where the so-called third eye was supposed to be. Then she would start to feel warm and cold at the same time, until the shivers would be running down her spine. Once she felt as if the world was spinning she would be able to see the ward. The only bad thing about the entire operation was that she was forced to recognize that the pixies were real and that they were able to force her to do things.
She could still hear the prince talk to the pixie. She knew they were talking about her, and she did not like it one bit. Prince. Royal Highness. Pah. Like she needed that kind of person in her life. He could be the president for all she cared and she would still be walking the other way. What she wanted was a nice, quiet life, without constantly having to worry about being chased.
She looked at the ward, with its color that constantly swirled in between electric blue and deep green. That was a first for her. Usually the wards were always static, but this one almost felt alive. When she looked behind her she could see the other two shields were in much the same state. So the shadows weren't the only ones who had been learning new tricks. When heavy footsteps sounded from the corridor in front of her she returned her attention to there, not liking where this was going.
|Nuada|
It was bad enough he had to allow the wretch to stay in his own home for a few hours, now he had to suffer an introduction to her. The Unbending One, what a preposterous title. What the pixie confided to him after that was even more of a surprise, and one that left a sorely bad taste in his mouth. Champion to the Pixies? Was this Lenore serious about that? Yet there was no trace of doubt when she said it, only a sort of having resigned herself to this fate. When he was introduced to the human she showed no sign of being impressed at being in his presence. If anything the way her jaw clenched made her seem more prepared to bite him should he as much as stick a finger out at her.
Unbending One indeed. Somebody ought to put her in her place, but he had a feeling that anything he would do to that end would be viewed as harm, and he had promised none would befall her while she remained her. At least she herself seemed to be as eager to be gone from here as he was to have her someplace far away. Lenore once again addressed him in the old tongue, far more pleasing to his ears than that savage language the cur employed.
"I am very sorry for having to deceive you, prince Nuada." The pixie said, the flower tattoo on her cheek moving about as if she was chewing her tongue while speaking. "But we have waited for too long. Only a few more months and everything will be in order for Rhianwen and ourselves. Though we will have to inform her as well." Lenore had an air of almost sadness about her when she looked down at the mortal who had dumped herself so unceremoniously in front of the exit, staring as if she would be able to see the wards. Now that she had removed those stockings he could see dark tattoos swirling about her legs, explaining why he had such a hard time keeping an eye on her.
Lenore followed his gaze, seemingly growing a bit more serious. It was a rare occasion seeing a pixie that was not enjoying every second of another person's frustrations. "Rhianwen has always been a tough character, though we have Pip to blame for most of that." Now there was a name he did recognize. As a prince Nuada had spent a lot of time learning who was in charge of what race, and even now it often paid to at least know a few of the most important fae of every race. Pip was the name of the grandson of the mater familias of the pixies, and most likely to come to the throne since his mother had suffered serious iron poisoning just a short twenty-odd years ago.
"Pip is the one who is responsible for all of this." Lenore explained, folding her tiny legs underneath her as she spoke. She was perhaps as tall as Nuada's hand if she stretched a bit. "And he refuses to tell anyone what's going on until the time is right, according to him." The pixie started to wring her hands, more talking to herself than to Nuada. "Oh, if I ever get my hands on Pip. He left me in charge of taking care of the girl, but then she started to deny our existence every few... It' s a good thing she's too kind to actually keep it up, but this is all Pip's fault."
"You are telling me that this… human is important to you?" Nuada finally managed to bring out. All he had seen so far was a woman who was scared out of her wits while she at the same time tried to look brave. And what was with her looking hostile at him? She was the one at fault.
Lenore started to nod. "I sent out the others to start spreading word amongst us. We need Pip to return soon so he can explain everything. Rhianwen will start to ask questions again and even though she knows I can't lie when I say I don't know what's going on, it's still so hard for us all." Lenore nodded to herself, looking at Rhianwen with was too much of an adoring look for Nuada's taste. "It's sad, because Rhianwen wants to live a normal life. But we just want to stay with her. She's not like other humans, you know."
Nuada felt his mouth contort as he felt something wring in his stomach. How she had succeeded in fooling the pixies, that was what he wanted to know. "You are speaking nonsense, little one. The humans were born with a hole in their hearts, and nothing will be-"
"Rhianwen is different." Lenore told him stubbornly. "She does have a hole in her heart, but the thing that could fill it up is something that everything should be able to have. If only she would stop denying us, and give in to what she can see and sense. She would be so much happier."
That was the moment they saw the human scrambling to her legs.
|Rhianwen|
There had been one lesson Pip had repeated to her time and again when she had been younger and still happy to see the fae. The words were burned into her skull as much as the reflex to straighten up when someone tried to boss her around. 'If it looks like it will kill you, run. Playing the hero only gets you killed.' The advice was sound enough, even though the concept had been hard for a four-year old to understand until Pip had riled up a fox burrow in the park to teach her the concept of fear.
The sound of heavy footsteps continued, and before long she could see a figure emerging from the corridor, moving through the barrier as if he did not note its existence. Rhianwen froze, not wishing to alert what looked very much like a cave troll to her presence. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that the tattoos would keep her hidden from him. Only really, really powerful creatures with their own sort of magic could see through them, according to the pixies. Then again, she'd seen them delight in someone being chased by an angry German Shepard after the wood elf had just purchased a 'stay safe' spell from another one of their kind.
The more one learned about pixie pranks, the lest trusting that person tended to get.
Luckily for Rhianwen trolls were fairly low on the powerful magic scale. Less lucky for her was their keenly developed sense of smell that allowed them to find prey no matter how well-hidden. And thanks to the running and being scared out of her mind Rhianwen was giving off an unhealthy whiff of easy prey.
She knew something was wrong when the troll paused in his steps, tilting his head as he took a deep breath. His one eye immediately shot to where she was sitting, causing her to scramble up as fast as she could. The action caused sound, and the sound alerted the hunter that there was indeed something there. Something that smelled of human, of very scared human. And Prince Nuada was not very fond of humans.
Before she had taken more than five steps something metallic cold had knocked her on the floor. Grating over the cold, wet stone Rhianwen found herself being dragged towards the troll. She kicked her free leg, screaming her lunges out as she was being dragged to something she had immediately pegged as instant doom. Pip's following advice had been less useful. 'If it does catch you, try to look hard to digest. Or just don't get caught in the first place.' Some days she really did wonder why they had let Pip be in charge of her. At least he'd known a good apple pie recipe.
"Let go of me!" she tried to yell, the action only slightly impeded by the fact that the troll had yanked her up by the leg, the metal fist safely attached to his arm once again. He lifted her, looking at her with the kind of mind that seemed almost sorry it would have to squish her. Almost, but almost never saved anybody. She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to degrade herself by yelling for help that would never come. Not from that Nuada guy anyway. Odds were he would offer the troll to fillet her and cook her up in some white wine sauce.
Of course he had to prove her wrong by saying something to the troll, who lowered her until her head almost touched the ground. The troll let go of her leg, only slightly hurting her when her bottom came into not so gentle contact with sweet ground. She remained there lying, looking up at the troll who had nearly done her in. Never bowing was one thing, but her knees were so weak right now she would only make a fool of herself by trying to stand up. "Thank you." she managed to say, just throwing the words out in the air. If Nuada wanted the thanks, he was welcome to them.
"If you had eaten this one, my friend, you would have had a sore stomach for weeks to come. Far too cantankerous to go down easily." The Prince announced, walking down the steps at an easy pace, letting Lenore have the honors of checking on the human. The pixie hurriedly started to speak to Rhianwen, so rapid it sounded like a silver bell caught in a tropical storm.
"Oh, you didn't get eaten, I'm so happy. If there had been a funeral, it would have been so sappy." The notion made Rhianwen frown.
"If I had gotten eaten, I doubt there would have been a funeral. And stop with the rhyming, it's so crappy." She winced when she heard herself speak. Of course this would just happen today. She blew out a huff of air. "Today, I have gotten chased by shadows, nearly pierced by a lance and almost gotten eaten. What exactly made you think making me take refuge here was such a good idea?"
Lenore fluttered up as Rhianwen managed to bring herself up to a sitting position. Her wings were nearly visible as she furiously tried to seem like someone who knew what she was doing. "Mister Wink was only being a good attendant, which means also working as the Prince's defendant. And as long as you are in danger we will not go near any stranger."
Rhianwen let her eyes glide over the pale prince who only just managed to hide his contempt for her. Or he was just really unhappy letting her get eaten meant letting harm come to her while she was in here. Apart from the 'I despise you' vibe he was sending out he was nigh impossible to read. She let her eyes roll to the ceiling, attempting very hard to pretend she was just having a bad dream.
Next time she would be taking the bus home.
Moon : Well, that concludes Rhianwen's first day - somewhat - in Nuada's home. And she's not dead yet! Though we mostly have the pixies to thank for that.
Charmcaster5 : Thanks once again for your kind words ^^ Sadly, Nuada being quite anti-human it will take a while for him to accept her... Oh well, nothing a few life-endangering situations won't be able to change!
... I should not be allowed near fictional characters...