Within a day, Cas had gone from being completely alone and helpless to more accepted than he ever had at any time in his entire life. The fairies embraced him with such mind-blowing generosity that Cas was left speechless.

Back at Sam and Ruby's house, he looked through the gifts that had been bestowed upon him and he again told himself that if he lived, if his child lived, and if he found Dean, their lives would be very easy. The pieces of pure gold that the mousy male fairy had given to him worth more than all the wares of Cas' old herd combined. Even the smallest piece of gold that Cas now owned would have been worth 300 pairs of those scissors that Dean used to cut his hair—and they were a splendid quality of metal!

Provided he found willing traders and buyers, Cas could theoretically afford to be well-equipped with armor and weaponry. The sorts of things that did not concern him. In fact, the only knowledge he had of weapons other than what the hunters used to catch their prey, was the swords and shields that caravanners would occasionally offer to his herd back when they came through the forest.

He heard whispers of cities and wars, but none of that concerns the herds or packs as far as he knew. They were independent people and didn't dwell in political matters. Gatherers and even hunters did not believe in killing one another.

Cas readied himself to depart the fairies' domain in the morning. The only guidance he had, still, was the message of that meteor. He would continue to press eastward through the forest and wherever that might take him. He was scared, but knowing that his difficult journey had even the slightest chance of finding Dean made it entirely worth it.

"We would love it if you would stay," Sam told them in the morning. They prepared food for his journey. "But we understand. It's been a long time since I looked to the stars for direction. Then again, my life's good and there's no reason—provided I uh, stay away from the fairies. No offense, hon."

Ruby giggled. She was used to Sam talking poorly of her people, and Cas now had a bit of an idea as to why this was.

"I rather enjoyed the company of the fairies," Cas graciously said to his hosts. "I never realized there was so much magic to be found in the forest."

"Well," Ruby told him, "It's not every forest. Ours is special."

"I can see."

Cas said his goodbyes to the three small children, bade farewell to Sam and Ruby, then readied his cart, now packed full with gifts, food, supplies and clothes. He headed out to continue his quest.

As he got on his horse, (he had a sturdy leather sack that strapped to his chest and was filled with fabric to keep his egg warm and safe) he was flagged down by Ash, king of the fairies.

"Hey, Cas!" he called out happily.

Cas turned around and saw a generous handful fairies surrounding the king. He was once again dressed flamboyantly in loose fur and flowers, while bugs still buzzed around his head. Cas waved to them weakly.

"I'm leaving now!" he called back. "I have to keep moving. I need to find my lost mate."

"No, no! We get it!" The king said. "True love and that stuff! We just wanna say bye one more time and see that miracle egg, am I right?"

"YEAAAAH!" All of the fairies called. Their voices weren't as rowdy or many as the night before, but an incredible energy still pervaded the group.

Cas dismounted his horse momentarily so that King Ash could get one finally look at the "miracle egg." There was still a terrible feeling in the bottom of Cas' stomach when he considered he had lain the most unlucky of signs, according to his people, but when the fairies were so delighted in that single egg that he couldn't help but feel proud of it.

"Man, it's been our honor to have you here," King Ash told Cas. "We'd love it if you return sometime."

"I can't make promises like that," Cas admitted regretfully. "I don't know how far my trip will take me. If I'll be successful or even if I'll survive."

"You've got the miracle egg! Of course you'll survive! All directions point in favor of you, buddy."

"Do you believe so?" Cas asked, blinking.

The king's eyes looked kinder than ever, even though he was a warm hearted man—fairy, or whatever you may call him. He nodded swiftly and the flowers on his crown rustled. A couple of bees buzzed closer to Cas and surveyed him as if they had more intelligence than they should.

"Me and my people," Ash started again, "Wish you the best of luck. We wish you safe passage through the forest. And—any time you want—you're welcome to come back and stay as long as your heart desires!"

Cas was flattered. Beyond flattered. The hospitality of these people was something that he thought to be absent in the Great Land.

As he got on his house once more and trotted away finally, leaving the fairies behind, he felt sad. If only he could stay. If only Dean was there. But then eh realized if Dean was there, he never would have left the valley. If he had never left the valley, he would not have met the fairies or have acquired the gold.

Walking away with the cart trailing behind him, he was suddenly flanked by a wave of blue and red. Charlie ,the friendly fairy he had spoken to the night before, flew alongside him and stopped right in front of the horse. Cas halted.

"I've already said my goodbyes," he told her painfully. "I would hate to stretch this out longer than it should."

"Nope," Charlie said. "You've got to understand."

It was then that Cas noticed she wasn't wearing the dress of moonlight anymore, but boots and a tunic made of bright blue leather that matched her wings and freckles.

"You're looking for your mate, right? I foresaw this in a message that came to me from Chuck!" Cas listened attentively. "I was told that a person would come from the outside, leave quickly on a mission and that I would follow with them. My own mission would be fulfilled!"

"And what is your own mission?"

"Finding the unicorn!"

After meeting with fairies, Cas thought he had heard it all. Apparently, that was not the case.

"Unicorn?"

"Unicorn! A horse with a single horn on its head. It's thought to be the luckiest creature in all of the Great Land. They say it lives in these woods."

Looking at the fairy sideways, Cas noticed she had a small, sheathed dagger hanging from a belt around her waist.

"Please tell me you don't intend to hunt it," he said.

"No!" Charlie gasped. "Why would I ever? It's beautiful and lucky! You don't kill something beautiful and lucky!"

"What, then?"

"If you find it, well, seeing it is lucky enough—but they say that if you tame it enough to touch it, then your heart's desire will come true."

Cas wanted to say that finding Dean was his heart's desire, but maybe there was more than that. Finding Dean was what he wanted at the moment and what he aimed to accomplish. His heart's desire, however, he wasn't sure.

"What is your heart's desire?" he asked.

"Other than having great luck, I do, um, well,…I want to leave the forest." Charlie gave a great, heavy sigh. "I've been maybe a little more than envious of Ruby's lifestyle. I don't want any of the fairies and I never have. She has a man, a hunter! I want a hunter. I wanna leave this forest and see what else the Great Land has to offer. That's my heart's desire. I'm sure of it. If I find that unicorn, I am going to get it!"

"Why can't you just leave on your own without finding the unicorn? It sounds like what you want, you could attain if you tried…"

"True, it's true. But it helps to have a burst of luck, doesn't it?"

Cas agreed. He didn't think he had time for yet another detail, but maybe this would be worth it for him.

Charlie hopped up on the back of his horse and they continued eastward through the forest.

"Where do you suppose the unicorn could be?" Cas asked.

"Anywhere. No one's ever seen it."

"So…when do we give up and say it doesn't exist? We can't be out here forever."

The more Cas considered it, the more he thought it wasn't worth his time. Dean was waiting somewhere, maybe.

"My message from Chuck never said that you had to be with me to find the unicorn, technically," said Charlie. "So you can divert any time you want."

"All right, then."

Cas told himself that made sense and the two of them were on their way. It was nice talking to Charlie, actually. She was calm like Ruby but also had a silliness to her that he hadn't been around for a while. Gabe, he thought, was the closest he had to that comedic value. But Charlie was smart, she really was. Most of her life as a fairy had been spent mapping the skies and translating messages from Chuck. She certainly knew more about stargazing than Cas' old herd.

Charlie taught Cas many things about the forest. She knew the names of all the flowers, from the tiny white ones that perked up in moss on the sides of trees to the enormous blue bells that flickered with an ethereal light. Charlie's talk was a fair distraction for Cas.

"What kind of human would you want to mate with?" Cas asked at one point. Charlie sniffed.

"I dunno," she admitted. "I guess an alpha, because I'm the one to have the eggs."

Cas looked over his shoulder at her. "Why would you guess an alpha?"

Suddenly, the fairy laughed. Her blue wings fluttered erratically.

"I guess because I would really rather fancy a female!"

"Oh? You have a preference?"

"Yeah. Do you think that's okay?"

Cas shrugged. "Why not?"

"It's unusual?"

"You can't help what you like, hmm?"

"Yeah!"

They fell silent after that. Cas couldn't worry himself with Charlie's desires, but it was interesting to consider nonetheless. He had fallen in love because Dean was kind to him and smelled nice. There was a primal attraction. That was due to him being an alpha and Cas being a beta, he thought. Did the sex of the person matter that much?

"But what of this unicorn?" Cas eventually asked. The sun was setting and there was still no sign of an end to the forest.

"What about it?"

"Do you have an idea of where it might be, now?"

Charlie shook her head.

"No, but we should stop for the night. Even fairies need to sleep—sometimes!"

Cas thought that was smart, so they found a cozy place for the horse to sleep and he made up a nest with his blankets. There wasn't enough for two, but his was large enough that Charlie had room in it.

"I've never slept in a nest of blankets before," Charlie said, humming softly. Her nose twitched.

"What are you used to?"

"Branches and leaves."

"Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Surprisingly, no."

Charlie shed her leather clothes unashamedly. Cas watched her with his eyes open.

"You aren't going to sleep nude, are you?" he asked, some hesitation in his voice.

"Well, um, yes! That's what I do? That's what we do…"

Cas blushed. It was clear by now that Charlie wasn't interested in him physically but he was still embarrassed to be close to a naked body. Her bright blue leopard-spots ran across her shoulder blades, and then another patch was on her thighs and buttock. They were slightly luminous in the growing dark of the night.

"I can build my own nest if you want," Charlie suggested. "I'm pretty handy like that."

"Oh, no, please don't. It's fine. You'll be adjusting to my soft nest and I'll be adjusting to your body. I think we can meet halfway, don't you?"

Charlie nodded and chuckled. "You're smart, I like you! For a stranger to wander into the wood, you must be the perfect one! How's the egg?"

"Warm," Cas said with a smile. He touched the bundle that held it close to him. "Ah, my egg…"