#fae!horror

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It was absolutely freezing by the time they got to the edge of the city's boundaries. Just outside the outskirts, overlooking from a cliffside path, she saw the large buildings of stone and brick, some igloos on the outside of the city's walls and forming a rural area.

Up above was an aurora borealis - although, would she call it the northern lights if they weren't from the north? Actually, were they north? She had such a bad sense of direction, and there was no sunrise for her to guess the direction - only the light from the sparkling aurora overhead. Still, she watched it in wonder. This was the first time she'd not had a thick canopy of trees over head or an even more depressing blanket of grey clouds.

Her breath came out in puffs of steam every time, even when she was bundled up in Cress' blanket and her sister's scarf wrapped around her neck, covering the lower quarter of her face. She pulled the pelt close, trying to preserve her body heat as best she could as she stood by a Cress’ side. If the snow was even an inch deeper, then it would wedge itself into her boots. She would need new ones.

He watched as she shivered, wrapping around his large atlas moth wings around her body as he picked her up into his arms, holding her in one, using his wing to wrap further around her for comfort and warmth into this new environment. She appreciated the heat, not bothering to complain about his sudden handling. She'd gotten somewhat used to it.

He walked the two of them through several inches of snow before, and he would do so again, not even putting her down when they reached the often tread roads with people bustling about in the cold weather as if it was a sunny day. She might have been comfortable being held and not needing to put in the effort to walk amongst the snow and crowd, but she was definitely embarrassed. She'd been given a side-eyed glance more times than she could count sitting in Reuben's hold like a bag of groceries.

She was just glad when he put her down as they entered a shop. He ducked his head into the shop, and she ducked behind him, eyes flittering about to take in the colorful array of different types of fae. She could see something malicious flash across the faces of a few they had passed, but they never made a move closer to her or Cress. From his size alone, she guessed they didn't want to try and make a scene. She didn't doubt that he'd be able to wipe the floor with common fae with how easily he'd scared away the moss fae she'd been turned by.

"Oh! Hello, Sir Cress, how may I help you?" There was another moth fae in front of her, this one though took the form of a moth much more literally - large bug eyes, fur, four arms, and antennae that were grey and fluffy and flopped down to mimic bangs that framed her face. The new fae was far from an actual moth, but more so an anthropomorphic one. Still, she clutched the back of Cress' shirt, hiding more so behind the wing that was curled around her.

"warm clothes…" He looked down at where she was hiding, stiff as a board. "for the summer fae."

Wait, how did she know him? Was he well known in this part of town? Was this a friend of his? Someone in his debt?

"Oh! You brought a summer fae with you to the Winter Court?" She looked down at her, much smaller in comparison to the moth fae herself, and grinned. "Oh, she’s so cute!" She cooed. "I know just the thing to bundle her up in."

And the grey moth fae rushed off to the back of her shop, leaving a shaking summer fae to hide behind Cress.

"… she won't hurt you." He guessed that was why she was so on edge.

"I - well…" She mumbled to herself, huffing before she curled in on her thick bundle of pelts she was still covered in. At least it was warmer in the shop. "I'm just… not too fond of moths."

She looked up at him…

He stared down at her…

And he shifted his wing back from the way it covered her.

She grabbed onto the edge of his wing as gently as she could to stop him from moving away. "W-wait! I didn't mean it like that- I mean - fuck - the bug..! You know the- the-" She made a little motion with her hand to signify something small. "Because I'm hu-…" She bit her own lip to stop herself. She wasn't human anymore… "When I was human… I was… scared of the bugs…" She looked down, ashamed of her faux paus anyways.

She was still adjusting. He couldn't blame her entirely for that. It had been less than a week that she had been a fae. She was still learning.

Her hand dropped from his wing, but he kept it just barely around her shoulder anyways. He wouldn't leave her cold and shivering that easily.

When the grey moth fae came back, she placed three sets of clothing on a counter for them to flip through, all of them looked warm and fuzzy. The first had a pale, dark purple coat lined with white fur and grey seams, flaps on the back used to cover her wings and provide protection from the cold, and a hood filled with fur as well. The trousers were thick and heavy and the same grey as the seams, along with large black snow boots that would stop snow from leaking into her socks.

The second jacket was pine green colored leather, pockets and patches sewn on that were a chestnut color, and tan, fur lined pants that reminded her too much of her long missed sweatpants. Dark green hunting boots sat at the bottom.

The last outfit had a maroon overcoat that was so long it might float to the middle of her shins, the wing slits on these also providing protection with sheets of the same fabric it was made out of, grey shearling fabric lining the insides and flaring out at the neck, arm cuffs, and bottom. Charcoal grey corduroy pants underneath, tucked into chocolate brown boots.

“Each set is 400 quarts pieces, but I can throw in a cloak of your choosing for 50 quarts pieces if you buy more than one set!” She leaned down to look straight at the colorful bird fae. "Which one do you like?" She seemed so excited that Cress had brought someone with him that it took the summer fae off guard.

"U-um…" ".…we'll take all of them."

"What?" She stared up at him with wide eyes, but he wasn't looking at her. He was thumbing the soft fluff of each set of clothing.

"All of them!" The moth fae - though technically Cress was a moth fae too? - piped up, her antae perking up in excitement. "Of course, for my most loyal customer, that sounds wonderful! I have an array of cloaks for the little summer fae to chose from!" She hurried off to a rack in her shop, gesturing for them to follow.

She could only look back and forth between Cress, the clothes sitting at the front, and the shopkeeper as he led her to follow the shopkeeper. "which one… do you want?"

Was 400 quarts not a lot of money or was he just loaded?? She stared at the long row of fabrics on this counter in the back that the shop had, looking up at Cress for help. She had no idea what the differences were besides the actual colors.

She watched as he walked along and ran his phalanges along each one until he settled on a stack and looked at her. "which color… do you like?"

There weren't very many bright colors, if any, most were darker or desaturated colors… but she pointed to the burgundy cloak sitting in the middle of the folded stack. "Um… that one?" She liked her warm colors, she couldn't help it.

He nodded, picking it from the pile and passing it off to the shopkeeper. She ran off to ring them up, and he handed her a set of clothing - the purple one - which they had seen before. "get dressed… it's cold outside." He nodded his head towards a changing room made of three walls and a large curtain.

She didn't need to be told twice when the clothes seemed to almost radiate warmth as soon as she touched them. She rushed inside and gingerly took off the last pieces of her human life to shove into the inventory of her phone. She didn't really know what to do about the fact that she still had it. It was on the last legs of its battery, but she still had it.

She came out of the changing room bundled up, and Cress hurried her along, taking her in his hold again as he waved a casual goodbye to the shopkeeper, and they made their way out into the city again.

"Where are we going now?" She wasn't nearly as cold now, the fur inside of the purple coat keeping her warm and the cloak wrapping around her to be nearly as cozy as Cress' wings.

"home."

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You know, maybe the injured kitten metaphor wasn't so far off. As… embarrassing as it was to realize it, it really was a little too similar. She tried to venture off a few times before, after the bruises she'd received were healed enough to be bearable to walk. She didn't make it very far. She wasn't one for… natural scenes. She attracted too much attention with her heavy footfalls and fumbling through the foliage.

She would be picked up by the scruff and tucked under his arm every time she tried to run. At first she struggled, cursing and scratching at his skeletal hands to let her go, but after the first few failed attempts, she gave up as soon as she was caught. Now, she didn't even bother to run.

They had moved so deep into the forest, the chill of snow across her neck, even with the large pelt, that she wouldn't know where to run or how far or if she'd survive without Cress. He had scared off the other fae who had turned her into one after all. Now she'd just been following him around, having no idea where he was heading, until she finally cracked and asked her curious questions.

"Where are we going?" It had been five days, and they were fishing now. Had he run out of rations? "It's a lot colder here…" She exhaled to see her breath take form in front of her as she sat on a fallen, frost covered log beside the river they stopped at.

He held a bone spear, effortlessly throwing it into the water and skewering something in the water, blood being kicked up under the surface from it's useless flopping. "winter court." He explained before pulling it up out of the river. "we can get you healed… and something warm to wear." He gestured vaguely to the pelt she’d been wearing like a cloak. It was dirty at the bottom because she would occasionally drag it around.

"I'm healed enough, aren't I?" She rose an eyebrow at him as he strung the fish along some wire he'd procured from who knows where. She wouldn't oppose to finding a place to get something warm to wear though. And a place to stay. She didn't know how much she trusted the idea of accepting too much more help from him though… But she supposed, if he wanted to, he would have held saving her life over her head if he really wanted to. She'd find out sooner or later.

"not enough." He muttered, glaring down at the fish he'd strung on a line with a tight semi-permanent grin, as if he was in pain thinking of her not getting more healing. "your wings…" He glanced at the matted feathers. "need to be cleaned too."

To be fair, she hadn't had a good clean shower in a while. All five days, actually. He'd boiled some water for her at some point so she could wipe herself down two days ago, but she hadn't had some good ol' soap in nearly a week. "… You said 'winter court', what's that?" She was surprised that she hadn't asked these questions earlier, but to be fair, she had been beaten and afraid. Now she was getting a little more used to the cold and his company.

But it was getting colder the further they walked. There were days where she felt like her wings would freeze and break right off if she tried to pull them out of her makeshift cloak. She wasn't used to this weather. Especially not when it was so jarring. It was like being in the dead of winter in the mountains, but October had just began when she last checked. The seasons had shifted far too soon for her body to acclimate to the cold.

"my home." What a vague explanation. To be fair, he'd been vague several times before as well. "… it's safer there."

"Is it like… a town? Village?" What did fae live in? Did they have large cities?

"sort of…" He muttered in return. "more like… a kingdom." He tried to find the human word for it. Humans had much stranger politics than fae considering they could lie so often and most ascensions to the throne occurred through family lineage.

She let out a hum in response, helping him to pack up their things after he speared another fish in the water and strung it up. Four large salmon were strung along his wire, and he swung it around and it hung from one of his large claws. They were nearly a third her size. Most of it would be eaten by him. If she was feeling especially hungry, she might be able to tear into half of one.

She followed him along as they made their way deeper into the woods. He started a fire in a clearing for them, and she cuddled up beside the heat that licked at her face and feet. She was tempted to defrost her wings in the firepit he'd made, but they might catch flame. For now, she watched as he pulled out one of the chopping boards he'd made a few days ago and plop it on a stump that served as his seat. He pulled one of the salmon from the wire down from the tree branch he'd hung it on, and tossed it onto the wooden chopping board, pulling out a large butcher knife and bringing it down on the fish's head.

She didn't flinch. She had been more taken a back by the suddenness of the first time he'd killed a rabbit to make stew with than when he decapitated a fish. Besides, she had fond memories of making fish for her grandmother. She wasn't afraid to gut one.

Actually… For the first time in the last few days, she wasn't drowning in her own despairs to the point where he'd need to hand her portions of food. So she stood up and practically waddled her way over to where he had set up his cooking station and pointed to the knife he'd had on his belt.

It was much smaller than his large butcher knife (she would consider it a machete if she was holding it, actually), but it would fit comfortably in her hands. "I can help." She offered. "I know how to gut a fish."

He had already been taking the scales off, expertly peeling them back and nearly done by the time he saw her approach him. He stopped in his tracks, thinking he'd done something to scare her off and she was going to stop him… And he stayed like that; frozen in place for a moment as he processed her words.

"you… want to help." It was a statement with how shocked he seemed.

She nodded.

He blinked at her. Twice. Thrice. Before his hands began to sheer off the last few scales and he stepped off to the side, slipping the knife from its pocket on his belt and gently handing it to her. He was nervous. If she cut herself, he'd feel horrible, but today was the first time she'd been so… open. He wasn't about to turn her down.

She didn't say anything, she just took the knife from his hand and sliced into its belly, not shying away from the blood and gore and stench of the fish. He only saw her falter when she was handling a particularly sharp bone, but aside from that, she slit the bones of the fish away and tossed them into the pile of fish guts she'd made. It wasn't a perfect job, he definitely could have done better, but she was helping… And she knew what she was doing. Well enough, anyway.

He stared down at her with a bright eye light, his eye sockets unblinking as she looked back up at him to see if she'd done alright. She was unnerved for a moment - like being watched while taking a test - but continued. She cut away the fillets and cut off the fins before she stepped back and pointed to the other ones.

"Aren't you going to do more of them?" She asked.

He blinked again. oh. Right, he had to do the other ones for himself to eat. He had been so caught up in watching her that he'd forgotten to do the others. Pulling the other stump from around the bonfire, he cut the head off and descaled the other fish, passing them off to her when he was done until they had a pile of filets and fish guts left.

It was almost domestic as he passed off a decapitated fish to her for delicate deboning. When he began to slice into them, prepping his pan, and sprinkling in salt he'd traded for during his journey… he'd seen her eyeing the raw flesh of the fish.

Did hummingbirds eat raw fish? Or was that just a human thing? A her thing?

He held out a slice of raw salmon to her… and his soul nearly stopped in his chest as her eyes sparkled for a brief minute - he could see her muscles tense as if she wasn't sure if she should take it - before she looked up at him. He moved his hand a little closer to her to be insistent, and he was sure this time that his soul had stopped.

He watched as she excitedly snatched the raw piece of salmon from his hand and tore into it as civilized as she could. But when you're biting into a large piece of raw fish with nothing but your sharp nails and bared teeth, it's hard to keep the image of composure. He could do nothing but stare, an unnervingly large grin on his face.

She was eating. she was eating something he hunted for her. And she helped him prepare it. Oh, his soul was going to burst.

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Somehow, a younger sibling of yours was tricked by a fae into being trapped in the fae world, and you rush to their rescue, offering yourself up in exchange for their freedom. You offer, not only to remain and be bound to the fae realm, but to be turned into a fae for yourself.

Unsatisfied with the deal, the other fae (originating from the Summer court, Dream's realm) offers up the idea that after they turn you into a fae, you have to serve them... you agree - but only if they can beat you in a duel. Thinking that a newly turned fae could never beat them, they agree.

Your sibling goes scott free, and you get turned into a fae. Although the fae planned on taking you back to their realm before dueling you, you take the opportunity to start it now, when you're still on the cusp of the human and fae realms. You tear the other fae's wings, causing them to run off, and making you the victor.

So, while you're not bound to be someone's servant, you're still trapped in the fae realm. You can only watch from the edge of the forest as your sibling runs back to civilization, and you're stuck, confused about what to do or where to go...

Until another fae emerges from the trees. Horror's quite the intimidating person to face after just being turned into a fae... but he admired your willingness to trade spots with family - and even more impressed by your cunning and ruthlessness against someone who tried to trick you.