FATE/CURADH BEAG
"Little Champion"
Chapter 27: Difference Between Humans and Faeries
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those who have been waiting so patiently for the next parts, I sincerely apologize. I've been suffering from severe writer's block, and rather than try to fight it, I said, "screw it" and decided to give myself a break. I needed to do some brainstorming for some particular details anyway, and I think I've worked out something that I can be satisfied with. Let's see how this goes.
As the last signs of daylight faded away into the darkness of night, Fergus and Conall were eagerly guided toward the fire pit in the village's center square. Surrounding it were several tables packed end to end with food, dishes and cutlery to easily serve a small army, never mind a hamlet of hungry faeries. Fergus was already salivating at the sight of mountains of fruit, vegetables and meat just waiting to be devoured, partly due to his geas of never being able to turn down a feast subconsciously activating within him. It functioned to give him an enormous appetite so he could abide by his vow without issue. Conall wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Fergus, but at least he didn't have a geas weighing him down. The only reason he stuck around was to keep the King of Connacht under control in case he tried to get too friendly with any of the female faeries.
As the festivities began, Halobaromia sat next to Fergus and asked, "So, how do you like it?"
"Mm, it's fantastic!" Fergus bellowed between bites of his meat. "Truly, this is a once-in-a-lifetime meal for me! Not even the castle cooks could come up with food as succulent as this!"
"Glad to hear it. Since we've never had humans come here before, the others are singing and dancing much more than I've ever seen. I really do have to thank you for picking our spirits up."
"Naw, you don't have to go that far! I always say that when things are at their bleakest and there's nothing you can do about it, it's best to just cut loose and get merry! You can always worry about the bad things tomorrow!"
"Truer words have never been spoken, good sir. That optimism must be why you are a king among humans."
Meanwhile, Conall sat at one of the tables beside Onpham, and they conversed about what happened with the Irish faeries. Onpham was more than happy to regale Conall with every sordid detail of how the English faeries essentially invaded the Irish fairy mounds and exterminated the local faeries. In particular, Onpham began to recall how he and his clansmen dispatched the last surviving leprechauns.
"See this?" the dwarf asked as he showed the swordsman a sturdy leather strap he had affixed to his belt. "It's a little worn, but back in my day, I used to make dozens of these to strike down the little blighters. Hell, I remember when one tried to bite my head off, but I wrapped my belt around its twiggy little neck so hard that I could feel its spine snap! Poor bloke's eyes popped out like sausages on an iron skillet!"
"You don't say…"
"Heh hah hah hah! Good times, let me tell you! This was the very strap that saved my life, so I keep it as a memento! Boy, if I could travel back in time and do it all over again, I'd do so in a heartbeat!"
Conall raised an eyebrow and asked, "Hope I'm not being rude here, but couldn't you have found some way to co-exist with the Irish faeries?"
"Co-exist? You must be joking. Those pesky things lived for nothing more than to cause trouble. We were only defending ourselves from what would have been an imminent and inevitable threat anyway. Besides, the humans were quite thankful to us for eradicating them. It's a win-win situation, see?"
"Not for the Irish faeries."
"They don't count."
"…"
As the night wore on and the conversations kept flowing, Fergus eventually managed to maneuver the topic towards what he and Conall were actually interested in. It wasn't too difficult for him to do so, considering that Manannan and the treasures he owned were clearly a hot topic for the faeries. They told him of several treasures such as the self-navigating boat Sguaba Tuinne, the water-treading horse Aonbharr, the ultimate counterattacking sword Fragarach, and the gem-studded helmet Cathbarr. However, when it came to the Cloak of Mists, all it took was Douga slipping it out, and most of the faeries went silent.
"Gh…" Douga grumbled, realizing that he had said too much. He glared around and exclaimed, "D-Don't look at me! It is one of Manannan's treasures, after all! It's only fair that I get to talk about it!"
"Sometimes, I don't know if you have the capacity to keep your mouth shut," one of the other faeries muttered bitterly.
Fergus leaned in and asked with a stern gaze, "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is this Cloak of Mists you all refer to? That is, if you're willing to talk about it. I don't want to force you folks to say anything you don't want to, especially after all the hospitality you have shown us."
After a moment of hesitation, Halobaromia said, "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. You humans did wind up here because of the Cloak of Mists. If you're to make it back home, it would be in your interests as well to help us out with it."
"Is there something wrong with this so-called 'cloak'?"
"Hmph," Onpham snorted derisively. "To tell you the truth, we've been having some problems of our own in this village. You humans got caught up in it by accident, so I suppose we have an obligation to tell you. If it'll help us get back to normal, then all the better."
With that, the faeries proceeded to tell Fergus and Conall essentially the same story that Manannan told them before – that his wife Fand stole the Cloak of Mists, and it was likewise taken from her. However, while Manannan claimed that Fand lost it after the faeries got her drunk one night, the townsfolk claimed that it had been swiped from her while she merely slept. The duo found it difficult to believe the faeries' version of events, given that Manannan had little reason to lie to them, yet they had no proof to support either story. Instead, Fergus decided to focus on the most important part of the entire mystery:
"So all of this started with Lord Manannan's wife, Lady Fand."
Douga blurted, "That's right. She's the one responsible for stealing the Cloak of Mists in the first place. If you ask me, this is all her fault."
"You could even throw Manannan into the mix as well," Halobaromia added. "He's the one who possesses so many treasures. He should know better than to be so careless with them."
Fergus raised his hand and urged, "Now, now, let's not play the blame game here. The only thing that matters is that we find the cloak and return it to its rightful owner. Once that's done, all of our troubles will be over."
"I guess so."
"In that case, we'd be glad to aid you in your search. It troubles me to watch you good faeries cast such doubt and suspicion amongst each other, so finding it will help improve your bonds as fellow townsfolk. It'll benefit us as well, since then Lord Manannan will be able to return us to the human world. A win-win for everyone, wouldn't you agree?"
"All right," the elf agreed, and the two men shook hands. "It wouldn't be all that hard. All we want you to do is to find Fand and punish her for causing all of this."
"Punish her?" Conall asked.
"Think about it – out of all of Manannan's treasures, why did she specifically steal the Cloak of Mists? It's obvious, really. She wanted to go to the human world. I heard rumors that Manannan and Fand had a falling-out some 20 or so years ago because she fell in love with a mortal man. The relationship fell apart, but clearly she still has some feelings for that man."
"That's why I always say it's dangerous for us faeries to love humans," Onpham shook his head. "It causes us to behave irrationally, and we wind up doing stupid things that we inevitably regret. That's why we isolated ourselves in Emain Ablach to begin with."
Fergus murmured, "I see. I can't guarantee the punishing part, but we would like to have a word with her. Where might we be able to find her?"
"Can't help you with that one, mate," Douga admitted. "Ever since she lost the cloak, Fand's been in hiding. None of us want to leave the village for fear that we might stumble outside into the human world."
"Then I guess it's up to us to investigate," Conall said. "It's the least we can do for the hospitality we've been given. If there's anything else that Fergus and I need to know about Fand, don't hesitate to tell us. We need all of the information we can get."
Night soon gave way to dawn, and the first signs of sunlight started to break through the dark sky. Back in Mioruilt's hut, Connla let out a huge yawn. She realized that she had talked with the faerie for the remainder of the night, and it was starting to wear her out. She wiped her eyes and moaned, "Phew… I'm exhausted…"
"Oh my, it's morning already?" Mioruilt wondered. She hurriedly got to her feet and said, "I better get back to the village and start cleaning up. The others get mad at me if I don't pick up after them."
"Do you want me to help you out?"
"No, that's okay. The last time one of the others tried to help me, they were scolded at terribly. Everyone's afraid of forgetting their purpose like I have, as if it's a contagious disease."
"I see…"
With that, the blue-haired faerie rushed out of the hut and back to the village, leaving Connla and Mini Cu to sit in front of the dying bonfire in silence. She used a quick spell to extinguish it, then crawled onto the bed and murmured, "Maybe I should take a quick nap."
"I'll go look around for a bit," Mini Cu told her. "With any luck, I might be able to find clues about Fand's whereabouts."
He left her be and wandered out into the forest in blind pursuit of any useful hints. The next few hours were uneventful for him as he hopped along rocks and low-hanging tree branches to get a better view of his surroundings.
"Hmmm…" he hummed to himself and gazed intently into the distance. The seriousness of his expression drastically clashed with the cuteness of his appearance, which anyone would find exceptionally bizarre if they saw him right now. He didn't care about any of that though. He folded his arms and contemplated.
She's here. I know it. I'd recognize that scent anywhere.
Mini Cu closed his eyes and inhaled a deep whiff of fresh air, hoping to pinpoint the smell a little better. Unfortunately, it wasn't as strong as he would have liked.
She must be lurking around somewhere in this general area. She just doesn't stick around long enough to leave enough traces though. But I know her. Since she's a faerie who can transform into a bird, she has to have a roost somewhere. Furthermore, it has to be a location that the other faeries wouldn't dare venture to. Maybe Mio will know something. I ought to ask her when she gets back.
Satisfied with his findings for now, Mini Cu turned back towards the hut. It took him another half hour to return, but when he did, he saw that Connla was still asleep even though a few hours had passed.
So much for a 'quick nap', huh? Oh well, can't blame her. Keeping a faerie entertained would tire anyone out.
He climbed onto the bed and lay next to her on the pillow, opting to get some shut-eye himself.
Back in the village, all of the other faeries had turned in for the day. Fergus and Conall likewise collapsed onto their beds in exhaustion, having spent all night dining and chatting with the curious villagers. This was the typical scene that Mioruilt would arrive to every morning… that, and a massive mess of eaten food and discarded dishes. She sighed in quiet resignation and began her cleaning routine, systematically clearing the trash as she had done so thousands of times before.
Today was different though. She had more pep in her movements as her mind wandered off to the tales that Connla told her. All of the perils the girl had faced until now sounded so fascinating and exciting. Mioruilt always suspected that the human world was a much more fun place than the other faeries believed, and hearing those stories only cemented that belief for her. She wanted to be a part of the action. She desperately wanted to put this miserable life behind her and go on fantastic adventures of her own.
Maybe this was the chance she had been waiting for…
Maybe today was going to be the last day she'd have to be everyone's thankless errand girl…
Maybe this was the last time she'd have to clean up their messes…
Maybe today was the day she would grasp her own happiness…
But, how was she going to do it? Could she convince Connla and the other two humans to bring her with them when they left Emain Ablach? What if they refused? Would she have to use force? Or perhaps poison one of them, and give the antidote only on the condition that they take her with them? She certainly hoped it wouldn't come to that. Mioruilt liked Connla a lot, and she didn't want to do something so cruel in front of her new friend.
Her excitement changed to worry as she wondered how she was going to pull off her grand escape. That worry then escalated to anxiety, fearing that the humans would turn her away just like the other faeries did. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. It was only morning. She had plenty of time to figure things out.
Several hours later, she finally finished cleaning in the town's center square. She wiped her hands, satisfied with her work, then began to head back into the forest. She hesitated for a moment though, and glanced back at the central bonfire. If everything went well, this would probably be the last time she'd have to come here. It was only natural for her to feel some semblance of trepidation. However, the lingering thoughts of Douga's angered shouting over her not cooking his meat just right, or Onpham using her exposed back to test his leather strap as a weapon during one of his stories, or Halobaromia constantly ordering her to fill his mug with booze pushed away any sentiments she might've had for the village. She was tired of it all, and now it was time for her to cut ties with the faeries.
Good-bye, you ingrates. Hope you find someone else to pick up the trash for you.
Mioruilt made a mad dash back for her hut, praying that no one would pursue and punish her for having such impure thoughts. It wasn't like she had anything to worry about with everyone passed out, but the thrill of it all made her feel like some underdog heroine taking her first steps toward the grand adventure she felt she so deserved. She just had to keep it together and think of a plan to escape Emain Ablach with the humans.
About ten minutes later, she returned to the hut. Connla and Mini Cu were still asleep, so she carefully shuffled past them and stood before the collection of baskets she kept in the corner.
Oh, that's right. I saw that the berries were running low, so I should go get some m-
She stopped herself, realizing that she was falling into the trap of her mundane routines. She scoffed for a moment as she noticed her mistake, then angrily kicked the baskets and exclaimed, "Hmph!"
The thumping and clattering stirred Connla awake. She wearily sat up, her hair messy and unkempt as she wondered in a tired moan, "Hmm? What was that noise?"
"Ah! I'm sorry!" Mioruilt exclaimed. "The baskets fell over before I could stop them!"
"Really? Kind of sounded like you were kicking them."
"Just your imagination. You're still half-asleep, right?"
"Hmm… I guess so…"
The young warrior shuffled to her feet and stretched, then murmured, "Ahh… That feels better."
"Are you still feeling sick?"
"Not as much as yesterday. I should be fine with some exercise. Though in all honesty, I really want to take a bath."
"Oh! In that case, let's go to the pond! I always go there to freshen up! Then we can go to the orchard and pick some apples!"
As the two girls conversed, Mini Cu listened in and thought to himself, Orchard, huh? Then again, this *is* Emain Ablach, the Land of Apples. Shouldn't be surprising to find some apple trees here.
He followed the pair through the woods to a small body of shallow water connected to a series of streams. They didn't seem to pay him any mind as they undressed and proceeded to dip their toes into the water.
"Ah, that's cold!" Connla yelped.
"That can't be helped," Mioruilt said.
"Not necessarily. I have a method for quickly warming up water."
Connla raised her hand and traced a medium-sized Ansuz Rune on the ground beneath the pond. It illuminated bright red for a moment, then disappeared. About 30 seconds later, bubbles started to form on the water's surface like a hot tub's jets. She hopped in, then sighed in relief and said, "There we go. That's much better."
Mioruilt wasn't sure if it was safe, so she hesitantly dipped her toes in. Once she realized that the water was warm and pleasant to the touch, she wasted no time getting in herself. She closed her eyes in delight and exclaimed, "Wow, this is amazing! You're so clever!"
"Not really. It's just a technique that I was taught by my teacher Scathach. It only lasts about 30 minutes, so we should do this quick."
"Then do you want me to scrub your back?"
Connla tilted her head in curiosity. "My back?"
"You don't want me to?"
"No, it's not that. I just never heard of it before."
"You mean your teacher never did it for you?"
"No. She always insisted that I be as self-reliant as much as possible. My mother was the same way as well."
"What about when you went to the human world? Surely someone would have done it for you then!"
Connla shook her head in disappointment. "I'm afraid that with the scarcity of water throughout the Isles, there aren't that many opportunities to care for one's personal hygiene. Anything that's still left is reserved for drinking and irrigation. Taking a bath is considered a luxury that only the wealthy can afford."
"Oh my… It's that bad, huh?" the faerie murmured. "Then let me be the first to do it for you."
"If you insist."
Mioruilt rubbed her hands against Connla's upper back, simultaneously washing and massaging her heavily scarred skin. The sight of those old injuries unnerved her, and she asked, "Say, Connla? Where did you get all of these cuts and bruises from?"
"Mostly from training. My mother was responsible for the majority of them, while the rest came from battles."
"I thought human mothers were supposed to be kind and caring. Why would yours do such a thing?"
"She said it was worth my while to learn how to withstand torture."
Mioruilt looked genuinely shocked as she asked, "What kind of human mother would do that?"
Connla grew perplexed. "Why is that a problem? If that was what my mother wanted, then it was my duty as her child to obey. She was a warrior woman, after all. She always said she had a fearsome reputation to maintain throughout Scotland. I will admit that it was terrifying at first, and I did cry a lot in the first few weeks. But I had to learn to get used to it, or she would just hit me even harder."
"Goodness… So there really are all kinds of humans out there, aren't there?"
"Indeed. It's a mistake to think that every mother is supposed to be kind, or that every warrior is supposed to be strong, or that every leader has their country's best interests at heart. They're stereotypes that cloud our perception of each person's individual character. If you generalize everyone like that, you're not going to make it far in the real world. At least, that's what my teacher taught me."
As the girls talked, Mini Cu listened to Connla's story and grew disheartened. Hearing how Aife abused her was hard enough – to see her treat it as something totally natural unnerved him to his very core. He knew the real reason why Aife had mistreated Connla so horribly – she was just a substitute for him. The fact that Connla never figured out something so obvious made it all the more difficult for him to listen to her personal history. Even so, he wasn't going to turn away from it. He had an obligation to learn everything he could, so that he could take steps towards rectifying it as she grew up.
Mioruilt became silent and sat back listlessly. Connla glanced back and, noticing her friend's upset expression, asked, "What's the matter? Are you tired?"
"… Connla?"
"Yes?"
"Don't you ever feel like leaving it all behind?"
"Um… leaving what behind?"
"The pain, the sadness, the loneliness…"
Connla raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I understand."
"Think about it. You and I have something very much in common."
"We do?"
Mioruilt's face hardened as she bitterly muttered, "All of the adults around us are so stupid. They walk all over us like doormats, and expect us to do all of the heavy lifting for them, while they get to run around and be irresponsible jerks. Doesn't that seem unfair to you?"
"Well, maybe…"
"Right? I always feel like just dropping everything and running away from it all. Don't you feel the same? Aren't you tired of your mother and teacher beating you up under the guise of 'training'? That queen of Connacht sounds like a terrible woman too. Why bother devoting your life in servitude to such selfish people when you can abandon them and be selfish on your own terms?"
Connla frowned hard, then replied, "Even if I could, where would I go to? There are only so many places on the Celtic Isles I could run to. If the rest of the world wasn't under the ocean, that'd be a different story. Yet even so, I think it'd be difficult to leave behind the people who actually care about me."
"What if they actually don't give a damn about you? If you found out that the people you thought cared about you actually hated your guts, wouldn't you feel like you wasted your life trying to appease them?"
"I don't know… We're not capable of reading other people's minds, so we have no way of knowing such things. The only thing we can really do is have faith in each other, and be strong enough to face the truth if it comes to that."
Mioruilt huffed in irritation and grumbled, "So that's what it's like for you humans, isn't it? You can't just drop everything and leave on a whim."
"I think our lives are too short for that. I'm sure you faeries can do it more easily since you have much longer lifespans. Regardless if they're good or bad relationships, we humans value the connections we've made with others too much to simply discard them like that."
"I see… That makes a lot of sense."
Connla then wondered, "Why are you asking such things, anyway? Do the other faeries mistreat you that badly?"
"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. I just wanted to learn more about how humans think."
"If you say so…"
Mini Cu narrowed his eyes, growing more and more suspicious of Mioruilt's strange questions. He had a gut feeling that he knew what she was up to, and he didn't like it. He kept those opinions to himself as the faerie said, "I think we've bathed long enough. Let's get out and go to the orchard now."
Inside one of the village's tents, Fergus snored loudly, his sleeping body splayed all over his bed. Next to him in a separate bed was an irritated Conall, who could barely get any rest due to the cacophony that the king was causing. The swordsman gave up trying to get any sleep and rubbed his eyes before looking through the door, wondering what hour of the day it was. He saw that the sun was out, and the sundial showed it was approaching around the noon hour.
Shit. We wasted so much time getting rowdy with those faeries. We've gotta haul ass and look around for Fand before it gets dark again.
He kneeled before Fergus and exclaimed, "Hey, old man! Wake up already!"
"Hmngh… Ahh… You're so naughty… I can't wait to…" Fergus moaned in his sleep, cutting himself off with another guttural snore.
Conall grew frustrated and pulled the older man's ear lobe as hard as he could, shouting with all his might, "HEY! GET UP, YOU LAZY BUM! WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!"
"Hmm… hm?" Fergus woke up with an unappealing snort. "Huh? Oh, it was just a dream."
"Crikey. How the hell do you ever run a country when you're so goddamn carefree?"
"Heh. Charisma, my good lad. Charisma is what allows you to get away with anything you want."
"Oh, really? Then get your charismatic butt out of bed already. We gotta rendezvous with Connla and get her up to speed with what we've discovered."
Fergus' expression turned serious, and he mused, "Hmm… You've got a point. We left her behind with that blue-haired faerie. Hope she and Setanta haven't gotten themselves into trouble while we were busy."
With that, the two men snuck out of the village while the faeries slept, making their way back to the hut. However, what they didn't realize was that one of the female elves had woken up early and was slowly sneaking towards their tent. She had become enamored with Fergus and hoped that she could get much closer to him as he slept. She blushed profusely at the thought of sharing the same bed as such a handsome human, and any hesitation she had quickly eroded when thoughts of taking him for herself overcame her senses. She quickly hid behind a tarp when she saw the duo leaving, then made quiet pursuit after them, staying as far behind as she could while still keeping them in sight.
Meanwhile, the pair discovered Mioruilt's hut to be unoccupied, save for Liath Macha sleeping on the ground next to it. Conall grumbled, "Well that's just great. Now what do we do?"
"Simple. We wait for her," Fergus said, and he sat down cross-legged next to the extinguished fire pit. Conall shrugged in resignation and joined him for some idle conversation to pass the time.
After the girls got dressed from their bath, Mioruilt showed Connla and Mini Cu the way to a well-hidden grove of apple trees situated near a small river. The scene was positively idyllic, with birds chirping their usual songs, numerous trees bearing thick and ripe red fruit everywhere, layers of moss covering the stones in the river, and the clean blue water gushing downstream.
"Here we are," Mioruilt declared.
"Wow, this is amazing," Connla murmured in awe at the peaceful scenery. "You could only dream of such a place in the human world. If it really did exist, I'd definitely build a cottage and live here for the rest of my life."
"He he. This is my secret spot, in case I want to get away from the others."
"You mean no one else knows about this place?"
"Nope. The others are too cowardly to explore this realm, so they have me do it. Figured it'd be easier to put some nameless faerie in danger rather than risk their own lives."
"What sort of risks are out there? I don't see anything in the way of monsters or dangerous animals."
"Mostly that we could wander so far away that we'd end up in the human world by mistake. But enough about that. Let's get picking already. You go over there, and I'll look around here."
Connla followed Mioruilt's instructions and carried her baskets to the opposite side of the orchard. She stared up at the apples dangling on the branches high above her. A normal child would have been daunted by the task of climbing up such a tall tree, but she had an easy workaround for that. She just generated some platform Runes and hopped up them like steps to reach the fruit, bringing each basket with her one at a time so she wouldn't drop her bounty by accident.
Mini Cu used the springiness of his plush body to bounce up the tree branches to where Connla was harvesting, and he poked his miniature Gae Bolg through an apple before proceeding to munch on it. Between bites, he asked her, "You doin' okay, kid?"
"I think I'm a lot better now," she assured him.
"Good, 'cause you're gonna need to be on your toes."
"Why do you say that? Mio hasn't done anything to threaten me."
"It's not her I'm worried about. I went exploring early this morning, and smelled traces of Fand's scent lingering in the area."
"Really? So that means she can't be too far."
"Yeah. It wasn't defined enough for me to pinpoint her though, so after we're done here, we need to go looking around some more."
"Hmm…" Connla appeared doubtful as she mused, "Even if we did find her, would she really know where the Cloak of Mists is? It was stolen from her after she took it from Lord Manannan, after all. Maybe it's a wild goose chase to go after her when we should be questioning the other faeries."
"Even if she doesn't know, we still have to find her so she doesn't cause any more trouble for us. Besides, I don't trust those faeries to tell us the truth."
"And you expect Lady Fand to be honest with us?"
"I know her. She's too simple-minded and straightforward to lie."
"I'm not so sure about this…"
Mini Cu grinned. "Don't worry. I know the right buttons to push to get her to talk. She ought to know a thing or two about each of the faeries for us to narrow down the suspect list."
Connla stared directly into his beady red eyes and asked, "So what do you think about Mio? Do you think she's responsible?"
He shrugged dismissively. "It's hard to say. I do believe she has the opportunity and motive for it though."
"The opportunity, I can see. But the motive?"
"She was asking you those strange questions back when you were bathing, right? About how you should just drop everything and run away from your problems? I get the feeling she wants to escape from Emain Ablach due to the oppression she's been suffering at the other faeries' hands."
She contemplated his suggestion for a moment, then murmured, "You may be right… But there's no proof that she could've stolen the cloak either. For all we know, the other faeries could be hoarding it and trying to deflect the blame onto her."
"That is true. The only way to be certain is to look through the village itself. It's just really hard to infiltrate the damn place when there are so many of them gathered though. Piss just one of them off and you could find yourself in a battle for your life against all of them."
"Couldn't you do the infiltrating while Uncle Fergus, Conall and I keep them busy during the night?"
"It's a good idea, but how many nights do you think that would take? We don't have time to screw around like this."
"You wouldn't have to look through everyone's homes. Maybe just those who are considered the elders or superiors of the bunch. They would've had to be in on it, so that they would be able to earn Lady Fand's trust enough to get her drunk."
"That's a possibility…"
"Uncle Fergus and Conall should know more about who the head honchos are. Let's go back and talk to them," Connla said as she jumped back down to the ground, satisfied that she had picked enough apples. Each basket was heavy, but she used some Runes to carefully make them float on small wind buffets. Any fruit that fell out would gently glide along the air and follow her around as well. When they returned to the clearing that Mioruilt designated as their meeting spot, no one else was there.
"That's odd," she muttered curiously. "We were supposed to meet back here at this time."
After the pair waited five more minutes in silence, Mini Cu huffed, "Hmph. I don't like this."
"Why not? Maybe she just got lost."
"I don't buy that for a second. She knows these woods like the back of her hand."
"That's true," Connla admitted and glanced around worriedly. "Let's look for her."
They left the clearing and made their way through the grove that Mioruilt said she would be working in. It took several minutes of investigation, but Connla eventually spotted the familiar moth wings near the river's bank.
"There she is!" she exclaimed and began running toward her.
"Hey, stop!" Mini Cu implored, but it was too late.
"Mio! I've filled my baskets already! I think it's time we get back to-!" Connla started to shout, but as she came closer, that was when she noticed that the faerie was not alone.
As she approached, she saw the visage of a tall and slender woman with perfectly straight and silky silver hair, narrow green eyes, and skin as pale as snow. She wore a particularly revealing dress that showed off her cleavage and thighs, adorned with jewelry and baubles so that she resembled a sentient jewel. She was indescribably beautiful, yet at the same time there seemed to be a hint of tragedy and weariness in her heavy eyes. The two faeries saw the young human and grew surprised.
"Who is that, Mio?" Connla wondered. "Is she one of the other faeries from the village?"
"Ah!?" Mioruilt gasped in sudden horror, which perplexed the child even more. "O-Oh no-!"
Mini Cu yelped, nearly losing all of the air in his lungs. The scent he had been chasing this whole time was now at its strongest, and he was caught aback by how sudden it all was. Connla glanced at him and asked, "What's going on? Did I do something wrong? Why is everyone so upset?"
"Y-You're…" he blubbered, then pointed at the mystery woman, "You're Fand!"