The Joy of Hunting

While I wait for my main story to be able to advance, I'm spreading out a little wider and doing some other stuff.

So in this one, I'm going to go for some predator humour. I know, if you've read the prelude, it shouldn't make you laugh. Except when you consider the sheer absurdity of the situation. Fairy hunter, almost succeeds, gets mauled by a bear, and then tells a hot neko off because he's got a troubled past which everyone thinks funny.

This story doesn't contain vore, sorry. It does contain someone getting mauled by a bear though. If you find such depiction of bears disagreeable, you don't have to read.

Felarya is the brainchild of :iconKarbo:
Bears belong to themselves.



The Joy of Hunting


PRELUDE- Unspeakable.

Night. Above him, the canopy hid the vaulted, ever-changing, dark sky. Keeping his back against a large rocky outcropping, the man gazed into the entrance of the hollow under the tree.

Crickets all around relieved him. As long as the crickets were chirping, everything would be alright. The moment they grew quiet, that'd mean he had failed so hard...

For a moment, his black gloved hand floated almost out of its own accord towards the device in his ear. He remembered not to dawdle too much with it, it was fragile and expensive. Hopefully, it'd protect him from the creature he meant to hunt.

If his information was right, the creature dwelled inside this cave. Small as it was, those were the most common cause of death for adventurers all throughout this land. This one was alone. That meant it was vulnerable. It should be sleeping.

He reassured himself that it was alright. He had done this before. And just like the time before, and the time before that, and all the way to the first time, his fingers twitched in a combination of excitement and terror. For a moment he asked himself if that creature would sleep while small, or if it would sleep while big. Because if it slept while big, he wouldn't be able to catch her without waking her up first... maybe it would be vulnerable while at the mouth of the cave, though.

Pulling back his glove, he signaled at his partner, reflecting starlight from his wrist mirror. A flapping sound made him take, slowly, a deep breath under the bandoleer over his nose. His black-sheathed body moved forward slowly, testing the ground with a stick before him. He didn't have to be quiet... just slow.

Many people could make the mistake of thinking that sneaking was being quiet. That wasn't sneaking. Sneaking was simply going around unnoticed, and it could be done with bells, whistles, and a chameleon on your head as long as that didn't turn any heads. Sneaking could be done in any way, as long as you weren't too obvious about it. And in this case, as long as he didn't rouse any crickets, she wouldn't wake up in the deafening silence. The odds of waking her up with his steps was nigh-zero. Not in her hard-earned rest, in the arms of complete satisfaction.




The darkness engulfed him...




Once inside, the man's face was illuminated by a patch of glowing fungus. Maybe it was just the light, or maybe it really was the case, but his hair was purple, and covered his right side of the face, the left for an outside observer, leaving a small gap for a purple eye to squint through with tempered determination. His pale, vaguely feminine face was covered by a bandoleer and a hood, both as black as night.

Prepared to shamelessly turn and dart anytime, the hunter advanced another step into the darkness, his right eye involuntarily widening, dominant as it was in absence of appropriate light. His left elbow twitched slightly as the hand reached for the bag strapped to his waist, grabbing a handful of sand.

Suddenly he felt it. Looking right ahead, a ball of light was coming right for him! There was no time to do anything but yell as the winged, young woman inside it flew towards him at treacherous speed, her magic taking grip of his reality, everything turned larger...

He quickly hurled forward the handful of sand and leapt back. The sand went right through the fairy without doing anything, and just as his mind reacted in disbelief the fairy disappeared, revealing it had been an illusion; the world around him returned to normal, though his legs took a moment to stop shaking. Whether actively or passively cast, he couldn't tell, was the fairy down that tunnel? Was she behind him? All he could do was put his back to the rough wall and look around with his right eye. Nothing was moving. Nothing. He was thankful that even then, he hadn't yelled... somehow, he had managed not to yell, except in his own mind.

Just in case, he withdrew his steps towards the mouth of the cave and pulled out a rope from his backpack. Tying it to a root, he went back inside the cave, unrolling more and more rope as he walked into the dungeon again.

His waist shivering, he laid on a wall, trying to still his heart rate and breath. Pressing a button around his midsection, the man closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on what he was getting through the device in his ear.




Nothing...




"If it's a storm sprite, I'm as good as eaten." he thought. Then he walked further inside. The illusion acted again, but this time, aware of its nature, he became also aware that it was passive. No fairy was that stupid. He saw a two-way split in his path.

There had to be only one fairy. There was probably a trap down the other road. But which one? It had to be one of those two. He couldn't see any other paths from here, he was sure he hadn't missed any rocks that could move, and there were no small holes only a fairy could move through. It had to be one of those two roads.

Looking at them again, he realized one of the roads was only five feet tall, and very wide. The other one was larger, and roomier, and brighter. Once more, he grabbed a handful of sand, and threw it down the larger road.

He wasn't too surprised when he saw the glittering dust vanish into nothingness.

"So it's a canopy fairy, after all." he thought to himself, frowning. "I hope this works..."

The man pulled out a small plastic vial from his other pocket. It was full of a syrupy liquid. Even in the darkness, the letters were big enough for him.

"COUGH MEDICINE [...] MAY CAUSE SOMNOLENCE [...]"

It didn't have to be useless. Opening the flask, he took a whiff of its artificial smell through the cloth, and then threw it over the portal. It disappeared as well.

Ducking uncomfortably, he folded back his stick and went the other way. Thankfully, he was all covered with antiperspirant. It would've been awkward to get caught by smell now.




The crickets outside were still chirping...




Uneven stone beneath his feet and a low ceiling conspired against his balance with every step. He wondered for an instant what else the fairy had to protect itself from him. Being a canopy fairy, he'd have to attack the wings, just putting it inside a jar wouldn't work, it could easily get away.

For an instant, his hands, once used to feel the walls, floated on their own towards his breast. He wondered if maybe this wasn't a canopy-mist hybrid. That'd be horrible. He wondered if maybe she hadn't carved a room for herself inside the very walls he was feeling, he could have to dig to get to her, she could attack anytime from anywhere.

Placing an adapted esthetoscope against the wall, his jaw shook slightly, his free hand's fingers trembling in cold and fright. He still couldn't see her. Why didn't she just pop behind him and end his misery right there!?

"I mustn't think such things, I'm the hunter in this occassion."

Half-walking half-waddling half-straddling half-squeezing and half-crawling down the narrow path, he went through a critical slope down. Almost gasping, he realized the stone there had been polished into slipperiness, while his head had just passed by a large stalactite.




In the right state of mind, those could resemble an uvula and a throat...




Looking up, he realized this part of the cave had been excavated, and there was a broad, less slanted slope next to the slope he'd just went down from, one rough enough to go back up through in a hurry without bumping your head against a stalactite. It was still the long way around, though; anyone who wanted to use it would certainly get caught if something was chasing it. Anyone who didn't know about it would get caught upon bumping their heads against the stalactite.

A sudden, taut pull in his waist told him he was already fifty feet inside the cave. He detached the rope from his waist, taking a small pipe while he was doing it. He opened the pipe, letting some sticky stuff in it attach the pipe to the ground. Then he put his left hand over his right, testing some buttons.

Pressing his right index knuckle, the man saw a green light flicker on the side of the putty-covered pipe. Cold sweat ran down his brow, his vision blurring over from fear, even that little light was almost blinding in that profound darkness... he hoped it hadn't woken up the fairy.

Standing up now that he could, he advanced a little farther. Maybe ten, twenty feet, before coming to see a huge chamber.

Not gulping, gasping, or screaming, despite all those things were really difficult at the time, the man looked down towards her form.




Yes, she slept big...





At the time, she had to be at least thirty feet tall. Lying on her side, her tummy bloated with more blood than should be naturally possible as she digested the remains of others unlucky enough to be prey to her whimsy, multiplied ten times over, the angelic features over her body only to be enhanced by the longing pout in her face. Even her breast, her hips, all of her seemed to pale in comparison to the beauty of her lips, they seemed to beckon to him, they claimed to be the reason he existed, they claimed everything in his life had only served to lead him to that point, his true and rightful end...

The man shook in anger and misery for a moment, his eyes narrowing. He knew he couldn't hate her, but he still hated her. That was something she would never understand, neither she, nor her kin... to him, they were all the same.

And to any of them, all he was, all he had been, all he'd ever be, all that meant less than a tickle, less than a bite off a fruit, less than an hour of life.

Taking some sand from his waist, he hurled it (not without morbid thoughts) over her waist. Her delicate, enormous fingers ran towards her belly, and then lower. The sound of skin over skin filled his ears, and a little hum escaped her lips. His hand twitched- even asleep, no, specially asleep, they seemed to have been designed to play on his weaknesses.

It was at that moment that he saw her smile and open her eyes, fixing them on him.

"DAMN!"

"Mmm, midnight snack..." she yawned, quickly throwing a hand at him. He took a quick leap back, and she let out a hum while getting on her side. Her huge hand quickly filled the entire hallway, but he couldn't look- all he could do was get spurred by her sleepy grasping motions as he finally reached his rope. He scrambled really quick up the rope, and then he felt it.

She'd grown, her arm stretching another twenty or so feet, ready to grasp him. He let out a gasp, and then grabbed the rope; as she shrank, her hand retracted, but then he slipped off her grasp. He lay on his stomach, and then crawled back, his heart beating like a mouse's as he saw the hand retract fully and realizing what it meant. When he saw the ball of light -for real this time- with the fairy inside, was it another illusion!? NO! The device in his ear said this fairy rang true! He knew he had to do it!

He lunged away and pressed on his right middle knuckle.

He heard the fairy gasp and cry as the bomb went off right in its eyes- literally. The blinding flash was specially effective here, with the darkness all around them. He had it bad, but not as bad as the fairy. He quickly jumped towards her, and tracing her by her own light, swept a large net towards her blind form... and she slipped ethereally through it. Dropping his net, and scrambling up the rope, he hoped she wouldn't get her bearings back anytime soon.

Frightened off his senses, he kept his head low and crawled away down the tunnel. That's when he heard a low grumble from behind. His blood froze- again.

"You should've let me eat you!" the fairy laughed. "It's nothing compared to what's about to happen to you... say hello to my little friend!"

The man's heart started pounding in his chest as he became aware of something stepping on the ground behind him. Whatever it was, it was closer, and closer, and faster, and faster...

Not thinking about it anymore, the man kept running, while ducking, over the uneven ground, fighting not to lose his footing, while the creature followed behind him, undeterred.

"Is it hard to run in my little tunnel? I made it just for you!" the fairy's voice cackled from the invisible depths of the darkness.

The man got to the two-way split in the tunnel, and stood up. But it was too late- the creature caught up to him, midway to the exit.

The first thing he noticed was a sharp, stinging pain on his side, as something sank its steel jaws in his tender flesh, ripping it to shreds. Then, while staggering quickly on his side, he caught a whiff of its stench. He slowed down, and it reached him, throwing him to the ground with a powerful paw. Its moist breath washed over his chest as its brought its mouth down on him.

The man parried the blow with his arm. Its jaws clamped down on the steel bracer underneath; though it failed to pierce them, all the man accomplished was making it angrier. Raising one of its clawed paws, it swung heavily at his shoulder, ripping through his arm, and then shaking its head, as if the monster wanted to tear it off...

"ARGH! LENNA! HELP!"

The man quickly took a knife from his waist and jammed it all the way into the beast's chest. In response, it growled and withdrew for an instant in which he crawled away on his back.

Its angry roar almost shook his soul loose. The man stood up, staggering against the wall, hoping the animal was as stunned as he was.




It was not.




Once more lunging towards him, it swung a paw at him. A timely stagger kept him away, but then the fuzzy animal moved forward once more. With a swift motion, the man felt both its sharp claws on his gut and its fuzzy paw around it. He bent forward, trying to stay away, pointing at the monster with his knife. Its breath over his skin warned him to reverse grip, and then try to jam it in the thing's long muzzle. But it wouldn't stay still... and his grip was starting to wane... he was losing too much blood...

As the thing jerked its head around, the knife slipped from his grip. At this point, he only could run away, propelled by what adrenaline and life he had left. But the cave entrance had an incline up... pulling out a grenade from his waist, he held it in front of himself, and shielded his eyes with another arm.

A second flash shone through, while a stamping noise sucked the universe and left behind naught but a ringing noise. Gravity and body seemed to align and dealign at random, the walls spinning wildly around him.

Kicking the wall to slow himself down, he scrambled up the cave entrance as fast as he could, rolling around as he tripped, landing on the grass, to at least have a chance against the animal. Under the starlight, he saw its broad muzzle, its brown body... it was a bear! And a big one! It tried to bring its paws down on him: he managed to stagger away on his back. But as it took another step forward and tried to bite down, all the man could do was kick it away. All he acomplished instead was getting the bear's mouth around his boot.

Then he heard a thumping noise. And another. And another. The bear heard them too, and slumped... with its jaws still clamped on his boot.

"HAAH! AARGH! AAUUGH!" he screamed.

Lenna's voice purred something from the shadows as she approached him. Like him, she was mostly dressed in black, but unlike him, she was only wielding a hunting rifle.

The man quickly forced the bear's jaw open, and then stood up.

"ºªª @@#~..."

"It's still there, run!"

Lenna's yellow eyes widened. He stood up, pulling the fabric over his wounds, staggering away, the world still ringing around him. He quickly looked around- this place was about to get very full, very quick. The two of them ran away into the middle of the night.

He only heard ringing, drowning even his own thoughts...

The two of them took as much distance as they could, until Lenna tapped him in the shoulder again, and placed the back of her hand against his chest. He understood the gesture, and gasped in terror, looking around, feeling so powerless... he had put so much effort into seeing in darkness, now he had deafened himself. He couldn't hear the crickets, he couldn't hear birds, he couldn't hear a thing.

"This isn't good..." Lenna said. He heard it, realizing he could once more hear something over the ringing. Then he became aware of another sound, his fairy detector! The thing was beeping in his ear, playing the tune for sighted at starboard! He quickly tapped Lenna, pointing towards their left.

The two fairy hunters ran to their right.

"Am I glad I brought you here!" Lenna screamed. The man let out a gasp, as the two of them took cover behind a tree, sweating profusely. The man clenched his teeth, trying not to look anywhere. The device in his ear rang the tunes for behind, behind, behind, closing into predator sense distance, moment of silence (deafening, foreboding, intolerable silence), behind and farther, behind and to the left, behind and farther to the left, farther, farther, RIGHT IN FRONT, behind and to the left, even farther.

He looked at Lenna, and pointed away. The two hunters escaped, unable to complete their catch and aware of it.

======

A few hours later, the two of them were in a large burrow inside the ground. The smell of rot hung thick in the stale air, and the sun of dusk cast its first rays inside the cave, catching Faulkner washing and bandaging his wound.

"Could you hear it, Faulkner?" Lenna asked. He looked at her.

Lenna's yellow eyes and pale brown hair contrasted with her nicely tanned skin, even if she was inside a black suit just like him. Her cat ears and tail kind of stuck out like sore thumbs, but he didn't mind. Her attitude was more than enough.

"Hear what?"

"Her cries." Lenna smiled. "She really liked her bear..."

Faulkner shrugged.

"Her problem."

"You don't feel guilty in the least?" she grinned. "I thought you didn't like..."

"It was just a bear."

"You're just a human."

"Anything wrong with that, are you vegetarian or something?"

Lenna chuckled.

"No, not at all. I just find it odd, that's all. Most fairy hunters at least feel a little sorry for the fairies..."

"I don't." he spat. "They're monsters."

"Really? I always thought they were people just like us..."

"No. Maybe other predators, but not them. They are NOT like us."

"So, for you, it's okay because they're different?" Lenna smiled.

Faulkner gifted her with a stare.

"Thought so." Lenna giggled. "Why don't you drop the broody act and just tell me what's the matter? Tell me all about your dark, and tragic past..."

Faulkner's glare seemed to drill through concrete. But Lenna's face was harder than steel.

"My life isn't for your amusement."

"An uptight arse, aren't you."

"Why don't you just shut up instead?"

"Because I'm bored."

"There's some nip in the box."

"Is that all I am to you, a neko?"

Faulkner's mouth twitched. Then he returned to his bandages.

"You know rule number one?"

"No, what's rule number one?" Lenna asked, quite oblivious.

"I've caught quite a few fairies alone. So treat your partner with respect, because he KNOWS he doesn't need you." Faulkner spat.

"The bear disagrees."

"Hadn't you been there I'd have brought the rifle myself."

"Anyone can tell you need to say it, smartass." Lenna grinned. "So why not?"

A sudden thought ringed in both their heads. The two of them took something from their pockets.

"I'm not done with you." Lenna said, sitting down on the ground and closing her eyes.

Faulkner's bitter visage twisted for a moment.



It pained him to admit she was right, like everyone else. He needed to say it. But not to her. Why not? Simple. She'd laugh. All the others had. He wouldn't give her the chance.

Great story !
I really loved the slow progression of the hunter into the fairy's lair, reminding himself of all the trick he learned. Very good job on the descriptions here, and interesting and easy to visualize. Great job !

Thanks for the compliments.

You do like suicidal characters, don't you? Yet you give them the personality which makes them feel real. Good work on this, again!

The Joy of Hunting


Part 1- Skipping Breakfast

It's true that nearly everyone feels at times that the world is a brutal, cruel, uncaring place in which we can't do a difference. And when that happens, the closest consolation is that we are not alone. There are people that, even if the entire world stops caring about them, you still will care about. Sometimes, that's enough to make a difference. Sometimes, it's not. And this isn't a bad thing. Sometimes we need to change the world. And even if we can't change the whole world, all it takes is trying, and we'll know we made a difference, even if it's only in our hearts.

======

Alright, enough preface. A small spot in Felarya (which if you don't know what it is, you shouldn't have come across this...) where you can think hearts have changed is Kortiki town, in the middle of the Fairy Kingdom. For whatever reason, having a heart takes precedence over having edible meat and deliciously slick skin, at least to the fairies there, and at first.

One such fairy there is Marlene. Right now, she's sleeping on a laptop's keyboard inside a hollow tree, after having typed all night long. The cold plastic isn't very inviting to her naked, dark skin, but she has slumped from lack of sleep and can't be picky. The screen has been glowing white in front of her all along, and that hasn't stopped her either. Only the sunlight filtering through the hollow, illuminating her spotted skin, her leafy green hair all over her back, has any chance of waking her up. She just pouts as the sunlight finally reaches her mouth, grimacing as if she was about to cry. A little groan escapes her.

Unknown to her, an adventure is right past the corner.

======

Drooling from the corner of her mouth, Marlene turned her face around, avoiding the sunlight, facing the dark corner of her hollow. Then she smiled, returning to her merry reverie over the keyboard.

That is, until she heard the birds chirping at the rising sun. Her reverie broke, but that didn't stop her from staying there. There was no need to stand up and face the day anytime soon, she could stay there for as long as she wanted. Not a hurry in the world, not a care in the world.

A cold breeze flowed in from the hollow. As she opened her gray eyes, she wondered why exactly is it that the wind seemed to like her so much. She didn't like it. Stretching an arm, she grabbed something at arm's reach, and pulled herself over to the laptop's vent. A soft wave of warm air enveloped her, allowing her to keep her morning nap, while she still didn't have to remember there was a world out there.

She heard giggles from outside. She still hadn't remembered what they were, but she still knew it wasn't good.

Someone came into her hollow, laughing out loud.

"Let's see her find me there!" a childlike voice cried. Marlene didn't stir. Maybe if she ignored him, she'd be left alone. "Ooh, an old lady..."

Marlene grimaced, wondering what fool had the gall to call her old. Okay, it didn't matter. She could still pretend she was sleeping.

A soft current told her something was flitting up to her. Something big. Ah, damn. Well, it was Kortiki. Nothing would be dumb enough to try to eat her.

"She doesn't have wings..."

Marlene didn't feel like correcting the kid. Which was male. Come to think of it... wait, male and female were genders. Genders were had by living beings, and... no, there was no need to awaken fully... no, no, she didn't want to wake up fully yet...

"Maybe I could eat her?"

She let out a grumble. Okay, she'd have to wake up.

Sitting on her knees, she turned to face a little boy, sitting on his knees at least seven times her current height, winged, with pointy ears. She let out a yawn, looking at his spotted features, and then between his legs. Tempting, but...

"Come back when you're legal." she mumbled.

"Wow, you're really tiny."

"You'll be really tiny one day too."

Then she noticed something... he was sitting on the keyboard. The events of last night quickly came back to her. She'd been writing... then she'd gotten some writer's block, she had started making notes of the citations she would need, the parts she was fuzzy about... the things that she'd need to check.

"Hrmmm, g'z up."

He didn't answer.

"I said get up." she said, rubbing her eyes. "You might want to..."

She casually glanced at his eyes, realizing someone had run off to play before having breakfast. She remembered to flutter her wings a little from under her hair, but it was too late: a disproportionate pressure got applied to her midsection. Kids didn't know their own strength... her wings felt a little compressed, there was nothing she could do like this.

"Wait... wait! You're too young for that!" she screamed, as he opened his mouth, revealing a visage she was left to wonder if it would kill her or not. It was still scary as hell, though!

Covering herself with her arms, Marlene tried to make sure she didn't fit, but all the thrashing, all the shaking, she knew, would only encourage the brat. He had teeth way too small to push against, none of them was loose. She tried to avoid the back of his mouth, but after a while, there was no other way to go. The kid's mouth sweeping all through her body, all she could do was cover herself...

...and then he spat her out, covered in drool, back into his hands.

"You don't taste like the food I usually eat." he mumbled.

"Because I'm a fairy!" Marlene snarled, gasping, holding her arms to her chest. The drool made her shiver harder, cold and humiliated... if there was anything she didn't like it was little kids. Not like that, nor like anything...

"Now put me down."

"No."

"Put me down."

"No."

"Pakki, where are you?" someone said.

"Oh! She's looking for me!" the kid cried. "Be very quiet!"

"He's here!" Marlene cried. "He's here, get him away from me!"

"I said be quiet, you're bad food!" he protested.

"I'm a fai..." Oh, crap. She didn't like kids.

But as it turned out, the kid liked her.

A lot.



Damn.



Opening his mouth again, he threw her in, with a lot more confidence this time. She screamed; his tongue now knew what it was after.

"Quut." he mumbled, getting off the screen and turning the laptop around, blocking the hollow. Marlene stopped a scream when she suddenly had to regain her breath in the dark, damp recesses of his mouth. And the air there was surprisingly clean. Damp, awfully hot, and yet it seemed to cool her down every time he gasped, scared of being found as he was. She thrashed, unable to help herself. She knew he'd only like it, but at this point, she only needed to get a signal out. If that kid got found, he'd have to stop.

He quickly crammed the rest of her body inside his mouth. Marlene wondered whether to grow and break his jaw already... or if she could, at all, if her wings had gotten damaged, she was essentially at his mercy... no, it was best to wait it out. So doing her best to keep his tongue away from any parts he wasn't ready for, she realized he had managed to push her to the back of his throat. Hopefully, she was still too big.

Wait a moment, if he'd tried to eat her, that meant, she soon realized, that he knew he could?

Quickly folding into herself, Marlene swelled out... for what felt like a relative couple inches taller, before one of her wings got pierced by an incipient toothling. And that's where she felt the ground give way beneath her arms.

"DAMMIT!"

Then everything spun quickly, and one of her legs kicked out of the kid's mouth. He quickly gulped her down, many times; first, there was draft up to her thighs, then up to her knees. and finally, up to her feet. Her ankles were the only free thing by the time she realized that things had just reached a new level of awkward.

======

An hour later, Marlene was wiping the juices off herself with a towel, and rinsing out of a small bird fountain.

"I can wash but I'll never be clean again..." she mumbled.

"Oh, come on, it's not so bad..." another fairy, more than twenty times her size at the moment, said from next to her.

"I've got a splint in my wing, dammit!" Marlene cried, pointing at her back, where two of her wings were pierced.

Marlene had very weird wings for a fairy. They were beetle wings, two outer, hard layers of black chitine, and two inner, wider, semitransparent membranes. Apparently, the kid had enough teeth for her to thrash and get her left membranes, both the inner and the outer, with a crack on them.

"Can you tell me how am I supposed to go anywhere with THOSE!?" Marlene cried. "Can't fly, can't even get decent strides... how am I going to get anywhere?"

"Well, I'd recommend you to go back home..."

"Back home is where this happened! That little jerk just popped out of nowhere!"

"Come on, I'm sure we sure gave someone a scare as kids too..."

"Yeah, I did! But it wasn't a complete stranger who was trying to get some shuteye after a night of hard work!" Marlene growled. "And it wasn't a fairy, most importantly!"

The other fairy shrugged, her dozen-odd black ponytails hanging around her head.

"Well, don't you have any friends who can keep you watched?"

Marlene let out a groan.

"Doesn't Marlene ring any bells?"

The other one's green eyes widened.

"Ah. You."

=======

Meanwhile, someone else was also unhappy in Kortiki. Another fairy, who unknown to her, was about to embark in an adventure too.

Rising from her leafy hammock, and then sitting up, Isa cracked her neck, and ran a hand over her blonde curls. Quickly, she tossed on a black, metal-studded pair of shorts and a vest. The perfect armor to show the world she wasn't afraid of it. Not at all.

Floating away on impulse, Isa quickly heard the tree shake up behind her. Looking over the tree, her eyes still a little unaccustomed to the light, she saw her mother. Just like her, she had blonde curls, and brown eyes, but unlike her, she liked taking up a lot of space. And showing it.

"Good morning, Isa!" her mother smiled. Isa flitted up to her mother's face, and stretched a little, yawning.

"Good morning, mom." Isa answered. Her mother scanned her attire, and then with a sly smile, yawned on her. Isa let out a gasp, and flew back.

"Awake yet?"

"Don't do that ever again!" Isa screamed.

Her mother just giggled in response.

"Sorry. I've got some things to do today, I left you a couple duikers in the hollow. Just wanted to tell you, now I gotta get going."

"Hey, since you're here..." Isa quickly said. "Can you shrink them for me?"

"Can you do it yourself? I really HATE shrinking what I'm not eating."

"Please?"

Her mother rolled her eyes.

"No, Isa, do it yourself."

"But..."

"No buts, it's breakfast. Don't skip it, bye!" Isa's mother quickly flew away at a frantic pace into the blue mists in the distance.

"But...!" Isa complained. That was just great, now those two duikers had been rendered completely inedible.

Ah, well, at least, Kortiki was only a stone's throw away. Just being careful on the way there, she'd have to share one, of course... the thought of having to share even before having breakfast was starting to weigh down on her. It was shaping up to be an horrible, horrible, horrible morning.

Muttering a curse under her breath, Isa flitted up to the sign under her home. There, she followed the arrow that led to Kortiki. Maybe Samantha was available...

======

Holding hands together, two fairies merrily spun upwards over a spiral of roses planted carefully around a long, silvery wood column. Approaching the top of the gazebo, itself grown on a branch, one of the fairies, whose name was Samantha, planted a deep, warm kiss in her mate's cheek, tickling her belly lightly, shaking her head and every one of her neck-length brown hairs.

"I know the best spot in Kortiki town. You'll love this place."

"Are you sure no one will disturb us?"

"Of course not, Risa! No one ever gets disturbed here!" Samantha giggled, caressing her mate's pink hair. Then she flitted forward, towards a particularly large flower hiding in a crevice in the gazebo. "Not even the elves that built the palace know of this spot; it's said a meteorite fell, but it was so small it only broke into an already hollow spot, and since it's facing outwards, the view is the best in Kortiki town!" Samantha grinned. Then she got even closer to her lover. "Plus since it's so close to one of the magical pylons, there's a flower growing inside the crevice and it's so soft and silky you can even lay on your back with someone above you, and your wings won't even feel it!"

Risa smiled, her face flushing red.

"I... I don't know, I've never done this before..."

Samantha giggled.

"Neither have I. Come on, what we're about to lose we're better off losing as soon as possible."

Risa seemed to have some last doubts.

"So, are you sure this place is so great?"

"Of course!" Samantha giggled, as the two of them got into the edge of a small crevice on top of the gazebo. "My parents talk about it all the time! They keep talking about how secret and magical it is!"

Illuminated fainly by the light coming from the crevice, the chamber inside the hollow tip of the gazebo had to be at most twelve inches across, and nearly ten inches tall. In the brown side of the white-painted wood, there was a gigantic pink rose, nearly nine inches across, dominating the center of the crevice, with the purest, translucent petals. It fluttered softly, purring, the softest scent escaping from it and permeating the environment with a sensual essence.

"Wow, looks like this secret spot wasn't so secret after all!" Samantha giggled. Then she hunched over the petals.

"BUSTED, LOVEBIRDS!" she giggled, pouncing into the flowers and shoving the petals away. Inside, a shapely male with long brown hair, and a busty, ginger female with green eyes looked at her. Both had around her same complexion.

She stifled a gasp and then cried out her surprise as the lovebirds there recognized her.

"Were you looking for us, Sammich?" Dad asked.

"Those your parents? They call you Sammich?" Risa asked, giggling. "I think it's cute!"

"Dad, you're embarassing me!" Samantha cringed, jumping back on her back.

"Don't be a stranger, Sammich. And you are?" Samantha's mother asked, turning to Risa.

"I'm Risa, we're... you know." Risa giggled. "Now I know where she got her charms..."

"Well, when you put it that way..." Sam's mother put on a coy smile. "Why don't you join us?"

"Nobody's joining anyone." Samantha mumbled. "Let's go, Risa, I've got something to do."

"I don't!" Risa said. "You know, Sammich sounds so cute..."

"Don't call me like that."

"Aw, but..."

"EVER!" Samantha cried. "Okay, we're going, Mom, Dad, see you."

"Wait, why did you come here?" Dad complained.

"I'm just mischievous like that. Risa, we're going."

"But I..."

Samantha quickly grabbed her lover's arm and tore her free from the spot, before her parents' eyes, jumping out of the crevice and flying away as fast as she could.

When she had finally left, it was up to Dad to point something out.

"I think our little girl needs to get laid." he said.

"You know, that Risa girl isn't half bad. I wonder if Sam won't mind sharing her a little..."

"Aren't you an insatiable one..."

"Isn't that why I can have you all to myself?"

======

A little later, over an alcove grown on a tree, in a dollhouse, Marlene was sitting on a plastic chair at the white plastic backyard, waiting for a loser's breakfast, her elbows on the table, watching the tomthumbs and other tiny beings who were also having their breakfast there, right next to a toy pool, full of real water, where some tinies and fairies were taking a quick swim. She usually said she ate people who had this for breakfast, but right now she had little precious choice on the matter. Finally, the brew and the bread deigned themselves be ready. She got her breakfast served.

"And about damn time, too." Marlene mumbled. The waitress shrugged, and left, trying not to pay the girl much mind, not realizing Marlene had made a mental note to eat her later. Then she quickly tore up the goddamn bread into pieces, chewing endlessly each tasteless, inert morsel, gulping them down with a warm cup of some weird watered-down milked-down green stuff that tasted like sugar, a taste she didn't really care for, not before uselessly trying to shrink the stuff down to end it already as soon as possible.

While she was at it, another fairy entered the place. For a moment, Marlene wondered how low had she fell. Before, she wouldn't have been caught dead eating this stuff. Right now, she was kinda curious as to who else was resorting to eating this when they had alternatives.

The newcomer looked pretty interesting, she had blonde curls, and the ugliest vest and pants Marlene had ever seen. Black, smooth, glistening, studded with little pieces of metal. She looked around, interested, checking the tables one by one. She found Marlene's table.

-No, please don't come here.- Marlene thought to herself. Obviously, the girl wandered right up to her.

"Excuse me... have you seen a fairy, around this tall, short brown hair, green eyes... fair, somewhat voluptuous?" the newcomer asked.

"Nuh."

The newcomer pursed her lips for a moment, eyeing Marlene's breakfast hungrily. Then she took a deep breath, and looked at Marlene.

"Say, you could help me with something."

"Hungry?" Marlene asked, feeling some annoying crumbs all over her mouth.

"Yeah, so..."

"Sure, you can have the rest." Marlene said, pushing her tray towards her. "Sit down while you're at it, I was just leaving..."

"I'm not touching that, I only eat real food. No offense meant."

"None taken." Marlene answered, with a smile. "What were you going to ask?"

"Well... it's kind of embarassing..." Isa sighed. "You know, some fairies are better at magic than others..."

"Can't shrink."

"Working on it." Isa answered, angrily. "Usually, my friend, Sam, helps me."

"Friend?"

"Yes."

"Reeeeeally gooooooood friend?" Marlene smiled.

"I'm straight."

"Funny that, me too." Marlene replied. "Why don't you sit down?"

"I've got a better idea, why don't you get up and come help me instead?"

"Oh... that's the fun part." Marlene smiled. "You see, I'm kind of dewinged right now... should be better in a couple of days, though."

"A couple of days..." Isa sighed. "Okay, might as well sit down."

Marlene looked away.

"Marlene."

"Eh? Oh, Isa. Hi, Marlene." Isa said, sitting down.

After another moment of silence...

"So how did you get dewinged?"

"There was this young fairy boy, he couldn't see my wings so he ate me."

"Young boy?"

"He caught me by surprise, dammit! I was sleeping!" Marlene spat. "I hate children."

"Seriously? He ate you?"

"Hadn't they found out in time I'd be seven years old right now." Marlene groaned. "Here you'd think we're safe, at least, but the kids those days... what do you think?"

"I live half a mile from here, kind of the outskirts, actually... it's not really Kortiki."

"Must be swell. You don't have to take crap from no one."

"Not really, we gotta watch our back a lot!" Isa laughed. "Mom does most of the not taking crap."

"You live with your mother?"

"Yeah..." Isa said.

"And you can't shrink?"

"Not willingly." Isa grimaced. "It's frustrating. I'm practicing, but I never seem to get anywhere. unless I don't want to."

"Don't want to?"

"Well, I always regret it later."

"Meh. Tough luck." Marlene shrugged. "Well, mostly everything can make do without it, at least you can fly."

"Yeah." Isa shrugged. "Wish I didn't have to make do, though, it's not fair."

"You know, when I fly, I make this awful droning noise... I actually prefer walking."

"But you can grow, can't you."

She nodded.

"Mom really likes that one."

"Why, she compensating or something?"

"She's just weird, that's all."

Marlene looked at Isa's vest.

"What's it for?" she pointed at it.

"Shiny black leather. To look scary in."

Gulping down a mouthful of bread, Marlene tried to speak too early, and started choking. She let out some coughs, and then gulped again.

"Stupid stuff." she grunted, letting out another cough. "Really, who eats this crap?" she mumbled.

Isa chuckled.

"The stuff you've gotta eat to get better is supposed to be atrocious."

Marlene let out a chuckle too, coughing a little at the end, looking scornfully at the rest of the bread she was supposed to eat.

Right then, another fairy thought it would be funny to enlarge herself before jumping into the pool. The resulting splash drenched Marlene's meal, and dilluted her brew with a bucketful of water, spilling hot stuff all over her crotch. She let out a moan and grimaced, before Isa's eyes.

"That... doesn't look good..."

Marlene's grimace quickly subsided, replaced by resignation. "You know what, I don't want another bite at all. Can I wait for your friend too?"

"Sure, why not? But you're not in shape to hunt, are you."

"Hunt..." Marlene put on a dreamy gaze. "Funny that."

Isa raised her eyebrows.

"What's so funny?"

Marlene shook her head, looking at the cup full of green stuff.

"The thing is, I'm sitting here, criticizing this garbage I'm supposed to eat... like I went hunting everyday. And I don't, you know? I can't remember when I last had an elf, or a human... I'm mostly sticking to fruits."

"You're not one of those... weird ones, are you?"

"Nah!" Marlene chuckled. "It's just that I haven't left town in some time, can't really get anything good to eat here either... because I'm writing something, but I can't get a good start."

"You write? What do you write?" Isa asked, smiling.

"A book, that's what." Marlene chuckled.

"What's it about?"

"You've never heard of me, then?" Marlene grinned.

"No, should I have?"

"I don't know, it's always looked like everyone had... I'm writing a book about insects."

Isa frowned, smiling.

"Seriously?"

"No kidding, bugs."

"Why would anyone want to know about bugs?"

"Umm... because we've got one each on our backs?" Marlene shrugged. "As far as fairies go, I'm an expert on bugs."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"So... what got you into bugs?"

"That's... kind of a difficult question..." Marlene smiled. "I make an awful noise when flying, it's very difficult for me to hunt... so I never was good at hide and seek, or hunting, or... it doesn't help you make friends, I had a real hard time there. So you know, I turned to something no one wanted either!"

"Interesting."

Marlene blushed.

"Oh, enough about me. What about you?"

"Well, I write too."

"That's interesting too! What do you write about?" Marlene asked, smiling.

"Yaoi, mostly."

"Nice." Marlene smiled. "We don't have nearly enough of it."

"You like it?"

"Of course I like it! It's... err, well, frankly..." her smile became sheepish. "I have no idea what that is."

"You don't?" Isa chuckled. "You'll sleep better that way."

"Aren't you into disturbing things..."

"I like fiction, too. Specially the villains. I've got a special place in my heart for everyone who's out for a goal and doesn't care who gets in the way..." Isa smiled. "Well, you wanted to wait for my friend?"

"Yeah, if she can shrink something for you..."

"There's just this funny thing... I've got only two duikers at home, and I think she'll want one."

"By this time, she should already have had breakfast."

"I make no promises."

"I'll take my chances, may I?"

"Okay, it's your call."

Marlene grinned.

"Thanks a lot." she said.

"You're welcome."

Marlene then took a deep breath before saying this.

"You know, if you ever want to practice your magic..."

"Hm?"

"I'm, and this is serious, a real crack in that kind of magic." Marlene said, proudly. "When I put my mind to it, I can shrink a very big dryad."

Isa raised her eyebrows.

"Seriously."

"You're exaggerating."

"No, really. I can become so big you'd think I was Nemyra. Why are you looking at me like that?" Marlene smiled, laughing a little. It was hard to keep a straight face like this.

"But you still got your wings done in." Isa raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, uh... I didn't want to hurt the kid. Now I do, but back then..." Marlene rolled her eyes. "Nevermind, what I'm trying to say is that I want to help you!"

"And where's this coming from?"

"Well, I want to repay you the meal." Marlene let out a chuckle.

"You don't have to, you know."

"And I want to stay in touch, I... I feel like I've known you for a lifetime." she finished, blushing slightly. "How's that for honesty?"

"I told you I'm straight."

"I told you I'm straight too."

"What are you implying?"

"Implying?" Marlene raised her eyebrows. "I think we're not on the same page here..."

Isa tilted her head, smiling.

"Sorry, I kind of... got a dirty mind." she shook her head around a little. "You know, I'm from the forest..."

"Don't you ever change." Marlene grinned. Then Isa suddenly looked a little miffed.

"Look out." she pointed behind her. Marlene turned around, surprised, to see a large, though relatively small hand grip the edge of the platform on which the dollhouse had been built.

Another hand gripped the platform, and then something pulled itself up. A huge kid, over seven times her size, with spotted features, brown eyes, blonde hair, and two antennae.

"I gotta go, he's the one who ate me..." Marlene quickly blurted, standing up, and moving towards the dollhouse near the backyard. But as she stood up, his eyes locked on her with a smile. Then he quickly scrambled up the rest of the way on the dollhouse's surface, tossing away chairs and tables as he did, the few nearby occupants (it was a bit late for breakfast) moving away with practiced peace while they waited for some fairy to control the damage. It wouldn't seem like this was a new experience for most of them.

Isa moved away with most of them, hoping the kid didn't start eating people. That'd be sad... As he crawled up to the dollhouse where his target had disappeared, first he peeked in from the door, before almost everyone's surprised eyes.

Inside, Marlene had curled herself up in a corner, trying to avoid the little kid's eyes that peeked, wide and intent, through the door. But then she heard him stagger crawling around the house, shaking the ground a little, and with a gasp, she realized he was now peeking in through a window straight across the room from her. Her small, naked form shivered, and then she stood up, ready to face him.

But he wasn't looking through the window anymore. With a short yell, Marlene realized the ceiling had just been pulled off, in one piece, with a little creak.

"It came right off. This had to be made by HUMANS!" Marlene protested, seeing the kid's knee on the window, his belly starting where the wall ended, and the rest of his torso above. He reached down to grab her; she stood up, and tried to move away, but at this rate she wouldn't get away. Instead, she got caught, and found herself face to face with his mouth, slightly ajar, gasping moist breaths on her body. She raised her face, to look at him, but before she could say anything, he tilted her forward; no matter how high she tilted her head, she couldn't face him. And then he put her straight inverted, her legs pointing up, his breath over her back...

"This isn't funny, someone help me!" she cried. But apparently, everyone was as stunned as she was.

With some relief, she saw some fairies moving forward, still unsure of what to do. It was still a kid: no one wanted to hurt him much. She hadn't wanted to do that herself. And then she felt wet between her legs... and all over her legs, and from the toes to the belly button. Pakki wanted it feet first this time. She glared at him, and he covered her face with a hand.

Then she felt someone pull her off the kid's mouth.

"Pakki, what are you doing? Tell this lady you're sorry!"

"But mom, she's food!"

"Fairies are not food!"

"She's food!"

Marlene opened her eyes, gasping, seeing the kid's mother behind him, holding her in one hand. Just like her kid, she had a spotted complexion, blonde hair, brown eyes, and was large enough to swallow him whole.

"She's not food!"

"But mom!"

"No buts. You've been bad." her mother said. With an angry glare, she put the kid in her mouth, and after savoring him for a disgustingly disturbing time, she gulped him down, before Marlene's horrified eyes.

"He's been trying to eat fairies lately... I wonder why." she sighed.

"I don't. You ate your own kid?"

"It's punishment, I'll let him out later." she said, her gaze starting to harden.

"But..."

"No buts, You've been bad..." she frowned...

"I'm sorry, please don't send me in there with him!" Marlene cried, quickly.

Pakki's mother looked at Marlene for a moment, her lips parting slowly and callously. Isa quickly approached her...

"Isa." Pakki's mother stated.

"Ehm, aunt Denade." Isa nodded, quietly. "This is my friend Marlene."

"She's your friend..." Denade said, giving Marlene's hunched form a cursory glance. "Hmmm, you should pick your company more carefully, Isa." she added, crossing her arms. "She looks prude."

"Yeah, well... actually she's okay."

"So you say." Denade blinked, her face a stone carving. "I'll be leaving, Isa. But remember, I'm always right. And she doesn't look very nice." she turned to Marlene. "Very well, since it's your first offense, I'll let you off. But remember, I'm always right. Understood?"

"Yes." Marlene answered, quickly, still curled into a ball. "Can you please put me down?"

"Okay." Pakki's mother said, putting her down on the dollhouse's mess. Marlene slowly gasped herself back to realizing she was alive.

"Bye, and... I'll keep that in mind." Isa pointed.

"And it will do you good." Aunt replied, turning around and leaving.

Marlene just shivered tighter.

"Is she gone?"

"Yes, but you might want to wait for a few more minutes... she's got a good ear."

Their mystery guest's presence seemed to have scared the local population off, because even the curious ones were staying away and giving them a lone moment.

"There, now you can talk." Isa said, after counting a minute.

"Good, thank you." Marlene smiled. Then she grimaced. "No wonder the kid's eating fairies, if she punishes him that way!" Marlene cried. "He'll grow up to be a... to be a... to be a voraphile!" she sobbed.

Isa frowned.

"Hey, my mother ate me some times too and I turned out completely normal!" she pointed.

Marlene started sobbing. Isa sat down, and gave her a hug.

"It's okay, he's gone. He won't hurt you anymore..."

Marlene shyed away from her hug.

"Look, I'm sorry about saying..." Isa tried.

"No, it's your vest studs, they're cold!" Marlene snarled. Then she stretched a little. "Damn, some people... I hate parents who just let their kids off without a leash! Specially when they know they're dangerous! She said he'd been trying to eat fairies! Why wasn't she there to stop it? This could've been a tragedy! And the stomach wasn't meant to raise kids! What are we, kangaroos?" Marlene snarled. "Nevermind." she sighed, tilting her head back a litte. "Thanks for caring, Isa, it really means a lot to me."

"I'm sorry I didn't really do anything..."

"Don't worry, don't worry. It's okay. This shouldn't have happened in the first place." Marlene protested, giving her something of an embrace back, feeble because of the cold metal poking her nipples. "You know, you've got an uncanny sense for where to put those metal studs, don't you?"

======

A few minutes later, after washing and drying, Marlene was back to waiting for Samantha together with Isa. Finally, the girl showed up... she looked kinda bitter, though. Matching their size, she sat down on their same table, and managed a smile.

"Ah, hi, Isa." she smiled. "And you... I think you're Marlene, right?"

"Yeah." Marlene said. "I've seen you around, I think, but we've never been formally introduced."

"Samantha. So, what's up, Isa?"

"Hi, Sam. Mom left me a couple duikers, and I could use some help with the shrinking..."

"Still got trouble? You should see a pro."

"Yeah, she told me. I'll see what can I do." Marlene replied.

"So why did you wait for me, then, if you had a pro?"

"I'm dewinged right now, so... I wanted to join her for breakfast, if you could shrink one for me too..."

"Sure, how many are there?"

"Two."

"Well, we're three..." Samantha smirked. "I think we've got a problem."

"Haven't you had breakfast already?" Marlene asked.

"I never pass up a good snack."

"Come on, don't do this to me..."

"You're weak and tiny, I can do whatever I want to you."

"Please?"

"Oh, okay. Just make it up to me later..." she cooed, leaning towards the dark-skinned fairy.

"Actually... I'm straight." she chuckled.

Samantha withdrew and slumped on her chair.

"Darn."

======

As for the fourth individual in this adventure...

A shapely male with long brown hair swept through Kortiki in the absence of the other three.

-METZGER! WHERE ARE YOU, METZGER!?- he yelled, from one corner to the other.- I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!- he hollered. Then he heard something in front of him.

-I'm here, Dad.- an empty space answered.

-Why didn't you answer sooner?

-I came as soon as I heard you!- the empty space protested.- Can't you find me before yelling? Half the town heard you!

-I had already found you, you were right in front of me.

-What makes you think I was here?

-I didn't see you.- Metzger's father replied.



Let's all take a short pause for the fairy logic to settle.



-That makes sense.- Metzger lied.- So... why were you looking for me?

-I wanted to know if you had seen your sister.

-Wouldn't it have been easier to just look for Samantha, then?

-Don't be a smartass with me!- Dad warned.

-No, I haven't seen her. What's the problem?

-Well, your mother and I were in our usual spot, Sam appeared, and then she rushed off, now I can't find her anywhere.

-Oh. Why were you looking for her?

-I just wanted to ask how she was.

-And that's why you were yelling for me across town?

Metzger got slapped over the head.

-Alright, do you want me to tell her anything?

-Tell her to come when she has the time.

-Okay, if I find her, I'll tell her that.- Metzger sighed.- Anything else?

-No, that's all. See you, son.- Metzger's father said, flying away.

-Couldn't he find me any quieter?- the empty space mumbled, looking around. There was a huge world out there, finding Samantha would be nearly impossible if she had moved too far away.

He quickly flew out of town, focusing on his predator sense while sitting atop a tree. Aside from all the food noise, there seemed to be predators all around. But knowing Sam, she'd be with friends. That ruled out all of the static one-pred groups, and being a fairy, it ruled out most of the magical ones too. That left only twelve places where he should look for.

Muttering a little to himself, he hoped he'd find her quickly. But actually he was glad for the time outside of Kortiki. It was pretty unlikely anyone summoned him from across town when he wasn't there. Hooray for common sense.

PART 2- That's a Trade Secret


Deep inside a burrow, somewhere in the northern side of the Forest of Whispers, just after dusk, two fairy hunters sat down in a wooden room. There was a hammock, a workbench, and a fluorescent light, intentionally placed behind the door.

A young man with delicate features, his shoulder bandaged under a loose pale shirt, and one of his eyes covered by a patch, was kneeling in front of a bowl, heating itself over a portable stove. The stove had been built for concealment, and its pale blue flame was hidden beneath a black plate. His eyes seemed overeager at the contents of the bowl...

The woman with him was looking at the bowl too, but for different reasons. She was curious, rather than hungry; though she hadn't had breakfast yet, that thing looked like something she wouldn't eat unless she was starving to death. It was a greasy, lumpy, semiliquid paste... and had no smell at all.

"Hey, Faulkner."

Faulkner, the young turned back towards her, looking a little annoyed. He already had enough time to realize what kind of conversation could Lenna hold. That woman always ran her mouth in all the selfish and inconsiderate directions.

"I hear you."

"Since that wound's going to keep you down all day..." Lenna started. "I figure we can talk now about all this fairy hunting stuff."

Faulkner let out a groan, and then took a spoon from his pocket. He rubbed it a little, before stirring the contents of the bowl with it... remembering about the healing potion he had stashed somewhere in this place. That stuff was darn expensive, but what else was money good for, if not to avoid reckoning to some weird rube?

"There's nothing to talk about." he grunted. "We're fairy hunters, that's that."

Lenna smiled. She was bored.

"So what's that stuff you're brewing, a giant size potion?"

Faulkner let out a chuckle that sounded full of spite.

"Breakfast." he replied.

"Looks really gross. Since you live in the wild and all, shouldn't you be hunting tinies or something?"

Faulkner looked at her strangely, just like she wanted. That guy wouldn't open up just being nice.

"Cityfolk." he grumbled. "Survival is all about not getting in danger. And it's not everyone and everything gulps everything down."

"What are you having for breakfast, then?"

"Rice, beans. Powdered and dehydrated." he answered.

Lenna let out a hum. Faulkner wondered for a moment if maybe he wasn't being too tough on her. Maybe he could open up to her, just a little...

"It's my favourite." he added.

The silence was heavy afterwards.

"Good."

She barely saw his smile flickering out in the dark. As he saw it, she wasn't going to see much past the fairy hunter... she didn't care to. Just like everyone else.

"Well, I'm still curious." she said. "For starters, when we sat down... and then we were in that place..."

"The darkroom. Where we meet. Place's not real, but the talking is. Works through that ring."

Lenna blinked.

"That was out of this world. Who were those others?"

"The others were the rest of Bakatsuki."

"I had never met them."

"You're our newest member. In time you'll meet them in person."

"So one of them was the one who gave me the invitation to join? Sareu...?"

"Do you have any question that won't lead to another, and that is important somehow?"

"Has that ever stopped me?" she smirked. His gaze steeled.

"Don't give me that look. You didn't even tell me your first name." she grinned. "I bit, what's the problem? Isn't that what all your mystery is for?"

"I'm not mysterious. It's just none of your business."

'Riiiiiiiiight.' Lenna thought to herself.

"Whatever. What was that about catching a dozen fairies before the full moon? Is that even possible? Frankly, you..." she laughed, looking bemused.

"Ryuuzan told me about seven. We'll see if we can catch them."

"Seven!? How many fairies have you caught?" Lenna asked, amazed.

"Since when?"

"Since you started working."

"Eight."

"Eight!? How long have you been at this?"

"Seven years."

"Ah, but... how often do you... hunt?"

"All the time."

"In the three months I've been at this, I've caught two." she grinned. "How's that?"

Faulkner let out a snarl.

"Good for you."

"Irate about a woman being a better hunter? About a neko being a better hunter?" she asked. "I might be willing to teach you a thing or two if you just sated my curiosity a little..." she smiled, her tail trailing towards her finger. She started fiddling with it. "Maybe more than a thing or two?" she grinned, stretching her arms a little, and sitting in the hammock, making her best pass.

Of course, Faulkner was still male. His eyes followed her smiling form for a few seconds, before he finally regained his wits.

"So..." he begun, looking maybe a little flushed.

"Nya...?"

"Do you... remember what Ryuuzan said?" he continued, a little faster.

"Ryuuzan..." she said, making it clear she wanted that man out of the conversation.

"The guy with... the pointy... ears..." he slowed down.

"Well, I only saw several shadows..." she yawned, licking her lips afterwards.

"The guy straight ahead from you. He wanted us to operate from near the Lataran temple... that's due south of here." Faulkner answered, any excitement vanishing from his face. "Get ready to move. We'll be meeting him soon enough..."

Lenna smiled, concealing her annoyance. Apparently, Faulkner was happily married... to fairy hunting.

"And by the way, what was it they said... that Scylla and Misty had to assault Kortiki?"

"Not our problem."

"Is it? What's Kortiki?"

"A fairy town."

"Fairies have towns?"

"Yes."

"They are going to attack it by themselves!?" Lenna laughed. "They're not really human, are they?"

He fell silent.

"I asked a question."

"That's a trade secret."

"Everything is when I'm talking to you." Lenna snorted.

"No one wants to know how you catch fairies. The catch is that we expect you to do the same."

"It looks like everyone has secrets here." She pursed her lips. "I don't like secrets, Faulkner."

"Your problem."

"I'll make it your problem, it's not so difficult. I want to know, Faulkner. Is that wrong?"

"No."

"Then?"

"I never asked them, I dunno."

She crossed her arms.

"Well, I'm not buying it. Humans are more curious than that."

Faulkner turned to look at her, frowning. When she saw his eyes, she thought for a moment that maybe this time she'd really done it.

"Curiosity..."

"...killed the cat?" Lenna smiled. It'd be better to keep pushing. "You're so predictable."

"However you put it you're the nosy one, I never ask anything."

Lenna sighed. No way to answer to that without obvious lies... or getting infantile with him. Should she...? She could only do one.

"That's true. But curiosity is a sign of intelligence."

'Which is part of a healthy breakfast for you.' Faulkner wanted to say. But that'd draw the conversation longer, so instead of expressing his feelings, he expressed his intentions.

"K."

"What was that?"

"M'kay."

"Okay what?"

"What you said." Faulkner grunted. "Now use your intelligence for something useful. Pestering me is useless."

"Look, I'm a better hunter than you, you should be the one to treat me with respect. I don't need you either and I know it." she replied, proudly.

"Pestering me is VERY mean, be glad I haven't just disemboweled you."

Lenna let out a chuckle. Then she started laughing.

"You're the first person I've ever heard who's ever threatened to disembowel me for being 'mean'! That's a new one!"

He glared at her strangely, and gulped a moment later.

"It's okay, I forgive you."

"Hm."

"But you have to tell me..."

"I'll tell you just this, it better do for now." Faulkner finally conceded. "Misty uses animals to hunt, her brother was my last partner. He used a similar technique."

"Hmm... what animals?"

"Her brother used monkeys. She uses some sort of trained songbird, but I don't know how it catches them. Scylla, that thing..." Faulkner grimaced. Lenna's eyes widened...

"It what?"

"Hadn't you come along..." he sighed. "...it had been wanting to partner up with me for some time, it'd called dibs on me even before my partner died... so I called dibs on the new girl soon as we got you, even before we met. That was a month ago."

Lenna rubbed her chin.

"Interesting. So you brought me upon yourself! Why?"

"Scylla's went through half a dozen partners already, and it's always tried to drop hints it wants it on with me, dunno how's that even possible. And..." his voice trailed off. "I'm not sure you want to hear this."

"Go ahead." she smiled. "I'm enjoying this. So Scylla's got the hots for you? That's nice... but what is it you don't think I want to hear?"

"It's... very curious."

"So you think it figures out their secrets and then ditches them?"

"Hm." Faulkner rolled his eyes. Something she'd said was off, really off... why had she got that one so quickly?

"You think I'm going to do the same with you?" she laughed. "You can trust me, Faulkner."

Faulkner looked at her blankly. Her words hadn't gotten her anywhere.

"Why do you call Scylla 'it', anyway? Is it a... neera? A tomthumb? No, that's silly. Or maybe it is, since you say you don't know how it wants to do naughty things with you. Maybe a naga? I've never figured out... Ah! A neko, right? You call me 'it' behind my back too, you hypocrite, don't you? I thought we were all supposed to be people to humans." she grinned smugly.

Faulkner's eyes flared, betraying a barely contained fury for a moment. She was looking at him like she'd just caught him or something... she looked at him like he was only a puzzle to be solved, a plaything to catch, pouncing either on him or his words... only a moment's worth of fun... his words good enough only to quench her curiosity... those EYES... he'd seen those eyes before... and that smug smile... no, he had to contain himself: it was fair, he had been so cold. This occassion wouldn't harm anyone, it had every condition to be funny. Even if he wasn't laughing, nothing was wrong.

He looked away for an instant.

"No, I don't call you 'it' behind your back, Lenna, I call you 'annoying, ugly, racist, groundfeeding vermin'." but his words died in his mind. Calling her ugly could only lead to her flaunting her already exposed cleavage at him, and he wasn't ready for another round of the Netherlands motioning for the use of Faulkneria's technological patrimonium as bargaining chips to improve Nekosia's attitude towards the import of...

"No, Lenna." he grumbled. "I don't talk about you."

Lenna let out a "tch". She really was expecting a longer answer. Was there no way to really start a conversation with him? He could've gotten angry too. Where'd this guy keep his buttons? Was he hysterical enough to change them every day?

"So, is Scylla more like a naga or a neera?"



======



Lowering her fingers, the black-robed figure stood up from a sitting position. Next to it, another robed figure stood up.

Their robes were wide, meant more to obscure than to shield. Around them, there was forest... for some reason, they were still alive despite they seemingly had made an habit of sitting in the middle of the forest.

"We should head for Kortiki, Misty." one of the figures asked; its voice was hollow, rumbling, deep, as if it had something else for vocal chords.

"Yeah." the other one replied. "This is going to be a breeze. Maybe then I'll get that sexy Ryuuzan for myself, the things I'd do to him..."

"I would bind him. Then saw off his limbs."

"Umm... right." Misty grinned, nervously.

"But for similar intentions to yours, I'd pick Faulkner."

"Right." Misty repeated, blankly. She was left to wonder why would Scylla want anything with anyone.

"Why should we be after a particular target? I believed all fairies were as good as the same."

"I guess no... We learn something new every day, don't we?" she shrugged. "So, do you remember her description?"

"Yes." Scylla paused. Then it turned to Misty, showing a steel mask with a single slit instead of eyes, peeking over the cloak. Its whole head seemed like it was made of that single piece of steel, with no breathing orifices, nothing. The metal simply... simply... there was only metal.

Misty had red hair, long and fluffed out, and her profile under the cloak was a lot skinnier. She raised a hand, which was covered in a very thick leather glove, and scratched her forehead a little, just over her golden eyes.

"Searching for mutations is quite interesting. That said, I cannot imagine our next movement. What is it, then?"

"Oh." Misty raised her eyebrows. "I'll use Piggy, like always..." she sighed. Then she pulled something else from under her cloak. A large, gilded cage, inside which, a small, red bird with green-edged wings was nested. Looking at Scylla, its feathers suddenly ruffled themselves for no reason.

"How often do you feed that thing?"

"It's well-fed, don't worry about that."

She opened the cage, and softly laid a finger for the bird to tread on. Then she brought it up to her mouth.

Scylla gazed intently as its partner brought the bird to her lips. Licking her lips, Misty exhaled slowly over the bird, who seemed oblivious to her breath. Then she gave it a little kiss.

"You know the plan." she winked at her birdie.

"You already have a plan?" Scylla asked, surprised.

"Well, the same as always!" Misty laughed, raising Piggy over her head. "We'll just got have to do it with more fairies."

Scylla paused.

"Now with no witnesses, may I make an inquiry? What is that bird?"

Misty hurled it up, and the bird flew off.

"Hm?"

"What species is that bird? I'll keep your secret safe."

"Piggy? Oh, okay. He's a blood dove." Misty laughed.

"A what?"

"A blood dove, a magically created animal. From another world." she giggled.

"How is that relevant?"

"I don't know, you asked."

"How is the fact that it is a blood dove relate to its function in fairy hunting?"

"I don't... understand the question."

Scylla paused again.

"What does it do?"

"Ah, that's the beauty of it." Misty smiled. "It loves getting dirty. That's why I call mine Piggy."

Scylla's circuits fluttered into activity quietly for a moment.

"What do you make it look for? I've always been curious."

"That's a trade secret..." Misty laughed.

Another pause.

"Please?"

"Nah, no." Misty smiled, nervously.

"I need that information to adapt to my plans."

"Don't worry about adapting to any plans, Scylla. Your usual configuration should be more than enough. Moirat and Navari will be there to back us up, too."

"Moirat and Navari. Those two? What can they do?"

"Well, I still don't know anything about them and what they can do! I hope it's good, though. Ms. Giggles and Mr. Snores must have some hidden talent." Misty sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Some VERY well hidden talent." Scylla remarked. Then it lowered its head for a moment. "Maybe in their pants."

Misty put on an awkward smile. Scylla was quite unpredictable for a robot... that thing was unnerving, and amongst its most unnerving traits, the robot seemed to have an unhealthy fixation on her late brother's partner, a purple-haired man who went by the alias of Faulkner. Sometimes, Misty wondered if Scylla really wanted anything with the guy... it was easier to think that the robot only pretended that, to see the look on their faces.

"Those two? Nothing would surprise me. Whatever they can do, it obviously doesn't require patience, brains, elegance or skill..." her voice trailed off, for Scylla interrupted her.

"However, my geographical files state Kortiki is in the Fairy Kingdom. Are electronics reliable there? It's tantamount for me."

"Why are you asking me? I don't know."

"Indeed." Scylla seemed to sigh. Misty's face suddenly turned white.

"It... looks like we have company." she grimaced.

"Company we want, we're looking for, or do not want?"

"Do not want." Misty grimaced. "Many. We're surrounded."

Scylla fiddled with something under its robes. Misty didn't ask this time, turning around, taking a long wooden stick from under her cloak...

======

From behind Scylla, also from behind Misty, something slowly crept up towards its intended victims.

With slow, precise steps, its soft paws made not a sound, not even when they treaded on dry leaves. Its yellow, hungry eyes were trained in its intended prey, something under that black cloak was made of flesh. And it feared. But something behind that other cloak... made the beast uneasy. Something about that cloak was getting to its nerves, it was unlike anything it'd felt before.

But starvation was the alternative, and the beast pressed on with another careful step. One clamp of its jaws would rip apart the little creature, hiding, frightened, under that rippling black layer... and then they'd all feast.

Five steps away. Four steps away. Three steps away. Now it was a jump away. Gathering itself, the creature leapt towards the creature under the cloak. It would make a good distraction for its partners to catch the meat under the other cloak.

With a feral growl to scare the other one, the panther landed on the threat. It turned around, revealing a large stinger. The panther decided to press the offense, and raised one of its paws, trying to bring the creature down to the ground, where it might be killed before it could do any harm with it. But it was too heavy, too stable; it barely bent down, then its stinger punched right through the beast.

The world became blurry, and every sound seemed to become diffuse, pounding on the panther's ears. Then there was darkness, leaving the animal to wonder what had just happened.

======

A few moments later, Scylla had five feral cats pacified on the ground. Misty looked at them, worried, as the flexible stingers receeded into the robot's sleeves.

"Why don't you just kill them?" Misty mumbled.

"It'll spare a predator the hunt. They'll appreciate the free energy."

"Wouldn't it use that energy to do the only thing it does, hunt something else? Us, for example!?" Misty bellowed.

"That's never happened to me."

"Because of predator sense! We have to stay here for a while, until Piggy returns, and they're alive... didn't your motherboard think of that?"

"No." Scylla announced. Then it turned around, grabbed one of the panthers, and hoisted it above its frame, moving away.

Misty looked around.

"Well, I'll just hide in the meantime..." she mumbled, unsure of the proper protocol to say what she wanted to say.

It took her only a few moments to find a good place to hide: a bush next to a larger tree. Between the two of them, she could safely await her pet's return. Though the hiding spot wouldn't do her much good against predator sense, the larger, easier meal close by might. And frankly, the scent of blood would've made things even worse, as far as nagas were concerned.

She had to hand that one to Scylla, though. The metal freak sure had a way of doing things.

Hehe great chapters ! I loved those little slice of life among fairies

These are quite good. The mystery of what is going on and who's involved in all this is very gripping, and keeps you hooked on it. The grammar was good, and the spelling was excellent. It got a little choppy where you showed the panthers' perspective with the flow and grammar, but it still worked out well.

Keep at it.

I really like this story.

I love the contrast between the fairies story of relatively safe day to day activities, as compared to the much more tense story of the hunters.

I read the first part so far, and let me say I'm impressed! Your story is very well written, is interesting and suspenseful, and was frankly quite fun to read. The only thing that really bugged me was the awakening of the fairy. It all happened so fast, the reading, that it almost seemed as if the turn of events was not supposed to surprise the readers. Try going into a little more detail about the main character's apprehension prior to the fairy's waking up, and maybe spend a little more describing the instant in which she opens her eyes as well. But needless to say, this was one of the best I've read in a while, and I'll try to remember to read the rest when I get the chance.

Thank you all, people...

Rev, she was thirty feet tall at least. It was impossible for Faulkner to look at her crotch and her eyes at the same time- and besides, no one gets surprised when a fairy hunter fails. The real surprise was supposed to be that he survived and escaped- that's what the bear was for. That said, your complaints are valid- it's just I'm not in the habit of going back upon my words after I've posted them. I do enough of that before posting them.

Thanks, Doe. I intend to keep on that vein.

Roxas, you'll have to endure the mystery for a while longer. And besides- you've had to compliment spelling and grammar? Those things are like freedom, we should be able to take them for granted.

Frenchsnack, it's suicides that give the adventure genre its name, don't they?

That's understandable, it wouldn't be practical to edit a story which you've already published, and please, don't think of it as complaints ^^ just critique, that's all.

The Joy of Hunting

Part 3- Damn fairies.



Marlene hummed at herself as she pressed the "power" button on her laptop. Immediately, she was greeted by the white screen of her text editor.

"Strange, I don't remember writing all this..." she frowned. "What's this...? 'And as she tilted back her head in ecstasy, her lover let out a giggle, watching how she could so barely contain the pleasure she was blah blah blah blah..." she blushed furiously, scrolling all the way down.

The screen gasped, looking at her with four eyes.

"You two, get out of my laptop!" she grunted.

"Ah, it was yours?" one of the fairies asked, nervously, quickly standing up on the bottom of the A4 formatted page, brushing her electric blue hair off her face. "We didn't know, it had a text file right here, but it was all gibberish..."

"Well, it's mine! Get out!" she cried.

Gasping, the other fairy, still lying belly up on the bottom of the page, softly fondling her breasts, tried to raise her head a little. Exhausted, however, she slumped, and had to resort to simply talking from her prone position.

"Aria, what is it? Why'd you stop?"

"Uhm, sweetie, the owner just arrived..." Aria mumbled.

"Does she want to join us?"

"NO! I DON'T! GET OUT OF MY COMPUTER!"

Rolling over a little, the other fairy looked at Marlene.

"You could use a little threesome..."

"CANCEL! CANCEL!"

"Hey! There's free sex..."

"CANCEL!"

"All the best techniques to please a woman..."

"CANCEL!"

"I have a single-time offer to improve your bust size..."

"Oh, that does sound g... STOP SPAMMING, DAMMIT!"

"Marlene, don't you think this attitude of yours is part of why no one helped you against Denade?" the spammer asked, smiling at her.

"WhaT!? How'd you know about that!?" she squawked.

"Oh, It's on the local broadcast. A video of you squirming in Denade's grasp just made it to the top ten."

"Impossible..." she mumbled.

"I faved it." she giggled.

"I'll DELETE you for that!" she cried as she placed her hand on the touchscreen, and ran the cursor towards the fairy. Then she put a hand on the right-click button.

Unfortunately for her, the cursor turned into a hand when placed over the fairy. Right-clicking only grabbed her.

"Mmm..."

"Ah, screw this!" she walked up to the Alt button, then tried to reach all the way to F4. But then she lost her balance, catching herself on the Ctrl and the C.

"Oh, you're a naughty one..." the fairy on the bottom of the page said. "Aria, would you please..." she whispered something in her ear.

"No you don't! I'm going to cut the power!" she growled, turning towards the power button.

"But you didn't save the changes since last night..." the fairy on prone position cooed. "A power cut, then you're going to lose all the changes you made..."

She grimaced.

"Damn..."

"Why don't you just give us a little time?" the fairy asked. "It's okay if you don't want to join, but you should let us finish. It'd be nice, unlike you."

She let out a final sigh of exasperation.

"Ah, okay." she grumbled. "Get it over with already."

"We're going to take our time, if you don't mind. And if you do, we're still doing it." she said. "By the way, I'm Rexi."

"Marlene."

"Yeah, I know."

By this point, Aria had finally reached the "paste" button on top of the editor. She smashed it several times, adding several instances of Rexi. They all stood up, as Aria rushed back down to the bottom of the page, else her lover would start without her.

Marlene quickly scrolled upwards. Then she selected the text where the two fairies' actions were described.

"Don't delete it, it's going to my blog!" Aria yelled. She grumbled loudly, watching the text appear in the page, describing how thanks to her putting her lover in the paperholder, now they were having an orgy.

"You can watch it live if you scroll all the way down!"

She grunted again, and raised the scrollbar until before the sex scene. Then she saw a sea of gibberish.

"Must be when the kid came in and sat on my keyboard." she thought to herself. Then she scrolled farther up. This file was a lot longer than she remembered...

...and there was good reason why.

There were a few megabytes of z.

"Eh?" she mumbled. Then she remembered she had slumped on her keyboard. Probably over the z. "Ah, right. Zzz... zzz..."

She went to the start of the Z, and holding the shift down with one hand, she reached over, and slammed the re pag key several times. With all those Zs, however, the computer was lagging a little; there was over a megabyte of Zs in the short-term memory after all.

Waiting for the thing to literally scroll up a few thousand pages of Z, she finally found where her writing finished. Then she released shift, and jumped on the Supr key.

The document lost a lot of weight in that moment. She was just about to read something, when she suddenly started hearing Aria and Rexi on the speaker.

So she got off the keyboard, and turned to the volume dial. Rolling it back to silence, she went back to what she was doing.

"Okay, that's me. 'Umm, I need a citation on this.'" she read out loud. "'I'm going to go check when I have the time on that.' 'Or so I heard.' 'You know, I really need a f...?'" she grimaced at her own words. "Oh my Word, don't tell me I wrote this..." she hissed, sitting back. "Ladybugs are cute thingies. But they've got a pretty nasty flavor. They eat a lot of plants..." she shrugged. "Well, it's not bad for a first draft..." she shook her head. "It's VILE!"

Then she suddenly got an error window.

"Cancel. Cancel! CANCEL!" she grunted, trying to read the rest of what she'd written. "Come on, some of this must be salvageable... at least the introduction..."

Double-checking her introduction, she mumbled for a moment, trying to look for something that redeemed her work. She cancelled once more Aria's climax while she was trying to read, but suddenly, all of Rexi's copies had something that needed her confirmation. She rolled her eyes, and pressed Alt+Tab.

"Crap." she mumbled. "I really need more sources here..." she sighed. "Nah, this won't do."

She turned away from the computer, looking out through the hollow, standing up, with her head propped on her elbow, looking at the rest of Kortiki.



Thinking wasn't something most fairies did a lot of. Frankly, nothing can be said to think a lot. When you think about it, we only really think 10% of our thinking time. The rest isn't real thinking, is it.

Out from the hollow, she could see a lot of things out in the grass, and lots of people of many sizes running around. It was all a little funny, depending on what size you were, some things were toys, some were what they were, and some things became whole places in themselves. But at the time, she wasn't interested in this playground. It looked a little stupid to her. What she wanted were bugs...

...no, not really. It wasn't really bugs she wanted. Come to think of it, what she really wanted was to share this with someone. Meet someone who liked bugs too. Someone to share what she found out about bugs. Someone to dissect butterflies with.

But if there was such a someone, that sure didn't exist in Kortiki. Thinking of other people also made her wonder when was the last time she'd eaten a human, or a neko, or an elf. Supposedly they were just another kind of meal, but any honest fairy had to admit there was something you could only get from them. Was it the taste, maybe? That wasn't something she could get here. And speaking of physical pleasures, when was the last time she'd had any?

Probably, the solution to all those things would be to just leave Kortiki. She smiled, looking at her fingernails. As soon as her wings healed, she'd probably head out. Like... so long ago, she didn't keep track of time after all. But she wasn't really thinking about it, was she?

Then she thought about Isa. If she left Kortiki now, would the two of them meet again? She still owed her something for that duiker, after all. Would she ever get a chance to show she wasn't lying? Would she ever get to teach anything to her? More importantly, could she really teach those things? For all Marlene knew, her own strength was just because she'd practiced on bugs a lot. She'd never really had any problem using her abilities...

Night started to settle over Kortiki. Marlene took something from under the edge of the round hollow: a piece of chocolate. It was shaped like a bottle, wrapped in a metallic sheath. Then she smiled to herself... of course this had medicinal purposes. Tearing the wrapping off the top, she "uncorked" the bottle with her teeth, and took a swig of the liquor inside, followed by another, and then another, thinking about Isa.

She couldn't really go out, and her computer was occupied. She'd probably go to sleep early that day, with Isa in her thoughts and plenty of alcohol in her blood.

======

Samantha sat on the nest, also looking at the sunset. Then she felt something near her.

"What is it now, Metzger?" she asked, annoyed.

"Don't get mad at me, I just did what Dad told me to." the empty space next to her sighed.

"Right..." she spat. "Those two can't really be everywhere, can they."

Metzger paused for a moment.

"If it's any help, I don't like it any more than you do."

She let out a hum.

"They don't appear every time you want to be alone."

"No, they make ME appear! I feel dumber every day."

Samantha played with her hair.

"Maybe I could leave."

"Well, actually that's a good idea. But what about your friends?" Metzger asked.

"Hmm..." Samantha shrugged. "They'll be okay."

Metzger hummed for a moment.

"You know what, I could leave too..." he said. "Maybe I won't be slapped as much in the wild."

"What?"

"I didn't find you straight away!" Metzger complained. "I met like seven people on the outskirts before finding you! Everyone thinks I'm a peeping tom just because I'm invisible!"

"Sure, but... how do they know you're there?"

"Because they don't see me." Metzger answered, annoyed.

Samantha wiggled her antennae a bit.

"I know you're not a pervert, Metzger..." she said, hugging an empty space. Another empty space sighed in annoyance.

"Thanks, Sammich." Her eyes suddenly widened.

"You're a sick, disturbed, degenerate deviant!" she cried, leaning away. "Get away from me!" she jumped off and flew.

He pursed his lips (probably, as he did it in silence), quite unhappy with this outcome. He knew she actually meant very little by it, Sam had a tendency to overreact. Getting even with her was pointless... she couldn't ever realize there was anything to get even about; she'd only know she'd been wronged. By fairy standards, that was pretty standard; by Kortiki standards, that was standard too. Actually, it was guys like him that were the odd ones out. That left only one thing to say.

"Damn fairies." her invisible brother mumbled. Then he leapt off, looking for somewhere to sleep off the slaps he'd received.

======

Samantha flew through the window in the treehouse, moving past a large potted plant on the inside of the white room. Then she dropped on the chessboard-motif covers, littered all over with toys that continued on the ground.

"Rui?" she asked. Soon enough, she heard something stir from under a few building blocks. Shaking herself, a tiny, pale figure wearing a white shirt peeked at her.

"Samantha!" Rui grinned.

Rui was living proof that the world was a huge, uncaring, unfair place, and that there was nothing the heart couldn't conquer with a little effort.

For a fairy, she couldn't change size, she couldn't fly, she couldn't do illusions... her magic simply would not work, not even by accident. She could lose her bizarre wings without any ill effects, her wasplike antennae served absolutely no purpose. She was the same size as she had been when she'd hatched out of her crysallis, the same size she'd been her whole life: two and a half inches tall.

Everything that could be tried about it had already been tried, with no results. After long enough, Rui had decided not to covet what she couldn't have; though her parents had obviously worried about her, and they'd been the last to give up hope, they finally had to accept her choice. Not willing to subject her to the risks that awaited her anywhere else, they'd settled in Kortiki, and after realizing she was going to be alright, because she had lots of good friends, they'd finally left her...

All of that was alien to her guest, though. She knew Rui was strong, in some way, but that wasn't why she was here. Samantha didn't care for inner strength. She was here because Rui read a lot of books, she was very smart, with a great imagination, so it was always fun to play with her, and she always had something to say about things.

Getting a lock of white hair off her face, Rui ran towards Samantha and leapt as long as she was on the matress just short of her. Rui also had the strange habit of wearing clothes- blue was her favourite colour. Samantha got down too.

"Want to play chess?" Rui offered. "I just made a new set with building blocks. We can play blue against green!"

"I just wanted to talk." Samantha smiled.

"Really? I even made four matching giant destroyer robots we can use as bishops!" Rui exclaimed. "Ah, well. Can I show them to you?"

"Hmm... okay."

Rui turned to the toys behind her, and pulled something up from under a pile of them. An eight inches tall construct made entirely of plastic building blocks; even not moving under its own power, it was a sight to behold, obviously made with great dedication and... very interesting aesthetics. She clambered up the monster, and pushing up the cockpit, she removed a doll, or a mannequin to her.

"I made this prince too."

Samantha looked at the prince... Rui had something of a sixth sense for this kind of thing. Unlike most people, who'd sooner not spoil their trademarked toys, she had nothing against painting over them, or even using glue and a file. In this case, the prince had been really well made, albeit he was a bit grisly. His face was handsome, but his clawed hands were holding a giant sword, and his legs didn't quite match the rest of the structure. The final effect was quite striking, but not poorly made... if anything, he was a sight to behold. At the same time, he was handsome, dangerous... and yet, most definitely, a toy. Truly, a work of the strangest art.

"I'm going to leave Kortiki." Samantha grinned.

"That's great! Where are you going?" Rui asked, smiling.

"All over! I don't know..." she laughed. "Maybe not too far, I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun, though."

"From what I've heard, there's a lot of neat stuff you can do in the wild. It's kinda dangerous, though."

"Maybe for you..."

"No, Samantha, it's dangerous for you too." Rui chirped, without the slightest hint of offense or hesitation. "A lot of fairies get caught by fairy hunters."

"Oh, come on. Fairy hunters aren't real! I mean... they aren't really effective." she said, under Rui's confused gaze. "They're just a guilt-free meal." she smiled.

Rui shrugged and then let out a giggle.

"You'd eat a fairy hunter?"

"Yes, of course! You?"

"If they were this tiny..." she put her fingers around her face, but Samantha stopped her.

"No, I don't mean if you could. I mean if you would."

"Hmm..." Rui hummed. "I'd have to think about it. On the one hand, they're... well, humans are as close to us as it gets. I don't know if it's too close to be right, I guess it's not. From what my parents told me, there's nothing wrong with that, but if we could also be friends... hm... When I think about it, there's a lot of stuff you can be friends with too; most animals can be your friends... and yet, there's something very different between humans and animals."

"I guess it's that they're... I can't put my finger on it." Sam shrugged. "There's something that sets apart humans from everything and closer to us... it's that they're... hmm... how'd you say this? You look at them, and sometimes, you might think they're like you..."

"Sexy." Rui chirped. "Humans are sexier, that must be why some fairies find it harder to eat them."

"I was going to say intelligent, but come to think of it..."

"Intelligent?" Rui snorted. "If you saw a bird building a sentry turret, would you eat it?"

"I... think I wouldn't..."

Rui looked at her blankly.

"What's a turret, anyway?"

"I just walked into this, didn't I?" Rui giggled. "Nevermind... a turret is a..." she pursed her lips. "I'll show you." she said, going after a small pile of building blocks. Shaking off some loose blocks, she showed another masterpiece to Samantha. A tall tower of blocks of all colors of the rainbow, painted over with splotches of green, and a rotating portion on top, where a figurine which might've been a holy symbol somewhere else, clad in white, with a golden wheel for an halo, had been taken apart and put together around a gun, currently pointed at Samantha.

"A turret is a weapon which doesn't need anyone to aim it." she chirped, proudly, pointing at the top of the tower.

"And how could a bird build that?"

"I don't know, but it'd be nice to watch."

Just then, Samantha and Rui heard someone coming up the ladder to her treehouse. Moving away from Rui, Sam shifted to human proportions, dwarfing... everything in the room. She brushed some stuff aside on the bed, and then sat down, taking up a lot of space- the bed wasn't very big (actually, "cradle" was a better description of its size). This was something almost every fairy did to greet any human or whoever was going into Rui's room and didn't have the good sense to be three inches tall... just in case they wanted to do something stupid to the first defenseless fairy they ever met.

The guy climbing into her room turned out to be a kid with soft, black hair- and a couple huge eyes. One of Rui's friends... he always had this dark blue shirt, and pants, and a skirt. Whose looks he was supposed to copy, she wasn't sure. She only knew she wasn't going to copy it anytime soon.

"Hey! Rui!" he cried.

"Lowe!" Rui cried back. "Hello!"

"And... hello, Samantha!" Lowe grinned. "Nice to see you there!"

"Hello, Lowe." Sam replied, not as overjoyed as he was. "We were talking." she added.

Lowe shrugged.

"I got a letter from Rooks for you!" he beamed.

"Rooks!?" Rui chirped, happily. "Aw, that's wonderful! It's nice to have friends like him..."

"If he were a good friend he'd be here." Samantha corrected. "He wouldn't be sending you letters like that."

"He's got work to do."

"For seven years?" Samantha smirked, with a cruel glint to her eyes. Rui let out a flustered gasp.

"Maybe if I tell him you're leaving, he'll come back!" she huffed. "You know how he is!"

"Yeah, the kind who can't tell you things to the face."

"But...!"

"He had his good points, too." Rui quieted down when Sam said this. "He was really sweet, specially after tasting him a while..."

"What... what's she talking about?" Lowe asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Nothing! It's nothing." Rui grinned, nervously.

"Ah..." Lowe shrugged. "For a moment, it sounded like she'd eaten him, but for some reason didn't get to digest him, and for some OTHER reason WE never heard of that! But that'd be ridiculous, wouldn't it?"

Rui rolled her eyes.

"Samantha's going on a trip, Lowe! What do you think?"

======

A couple days later, out in a small clearing, very far from Kortiki, two fairies wandered in. One of them was brown-skinned, with black spots throughout her body, and a large mane of green hair. She whirred loudly as she flew. Next to her, another fairy, pale and blonde, wearing a black, metal-studded vest and skirt, flew into the clearing as well.

Well, clearing isn't exactly the word. More like a small swath of ground, about thirteen feet across, where the two fairies were surrounded only by dirt and red-capped mushrooms, between the thick trunks of a few trees. The taller fairy sat down on a mushroom, and motioned at the other one.

"Okay, Isa. Let's start by something tame, like a mushroom." Marlene smiled. "Can you measure it?"

Isa looked down at the mushroom.

"Yes."

"Well, that's the first mistake. Once you have it measured, you can't shrink it anymore. Now let's try to change its size. Forget what you just said... do you know what size it is?"

"No." Isa answered.

"Wrong answer." Marlene replied. Then she let out a giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"No, just thinking..." she grinned. "Using this all the time can give you ideas, you know... I was just remembering something I did, a few dozen years ago. I'd met this elf, and he didn't look half bad..." she hummed to herself. "I was so kinky back then..."

"Hm?"

"I went through the Vivian stage too, once..." she giggled. "Yeah, those times... when you're still too shy to go up to real people, but still grown enough to do whatever you want with your prey, and you find them... heh, nevermind!" she grinned. "This mushroom is... too small."

Isa looked on as the mushroom, and Marlene on top of it, swelled out slowly. A few seconds later, Marlene was level with her gaze, and at least three times her height. Another few seconds later, Marlene was looking down at her, the size of a human, a peaceful smile in her lips, barely visible from over the mushroom's cap; Isa had needed to take a lot of distance. It wasn't long until Marlene had completely vanished from sight, the mushroom itself having grown so large it was starting to push against the trees around it; Isa managed to catch a last peek at Marlene's foot, but then lost it as the mushroom kept growing, bigger and bigger, until it was towering over the trees, its cap casting a shade over the closest ones.

That's when Isa saw the cap widen and widen even farther, the trees around the mushroom creaking and falling like twigs, as the mushroom's girth exceeded them tenfold and kept increasing, above and below ground, uprooting them in its growth. One by one, they rose, the earth around their roots rising as the mushroom shoved the material away, and then they fell, quite noisily, as they were completely uprooted.
Finally, Marlene stopped; Isa had had to take distance and fly up to fully appreciate the effect. Marlene dropped from the cap, her figure now colossal, dwarfing trees herself. She stood by the fungus, taking a deep breath. That's when Isa realized Marlene wasn't winded in the least... the thought of dwarfing all those things without any effort felt exciting for some reason, she was now awed, she wanted to know just how big Marlene could really get, how much would tax her... looking at the mushroom, she realized she didn't know anything to compare it to. She had NEVER seen anything that big!

"At least, my breasts are bigger than hers." Isa thought to herself, as Marlene took a few steps towards her. She was so big, her mother felt like an old memory by comparison.

"Now what was so hard about that, I ask?" Marlene grinned, turning towards the mushroom. "What size is this mushroom?"

"The right size?" Isa tried.

"No, it's too big." Marlene replied, turning once more towards the mushroom. She took a deep breath, and then let out a long sigh.

The mushroom seemed to recede into itself, its cap narrowing down, and shaking as it dwindled back to the size of a tree, and then to the size of a small tree, until, despite not being quite its original size, Marlene dwarfed it. It barely came up to her ankle, sitting humbly in the middle of a swath of ground it had cleared in its forced growth...

She reached down, and plucked it. Then she brought it to her mouth, and throwing it in, she savored it for a moment, before gulping. Then she sat on a few trees the mushroom had just tossed down, their thick trunks creaking under her weight, threatening to snap.

"Did I ask myself at any point what was its size?" Marlene asked. "I didn't ask, I said. I didn't change it, I set it."

She leaned towards Isa, and raised her hand, offering her a finger to sit on. Isa sat there, almost imperceptible. Secretly, Marlene was sweating bullets- she had absolutely no idea if the mass destruction had helped things any. Sure, it'd awed that elf some decades ago into complete submission, but now...

"So how do I do it?" Isa asked.

Crap, it hadn't helped. Marlene quickly shrank back to Isa's size, and waited for her on the ground. Isa followed her, a little uncomfortable.

"Eh, sorry. I'm too noisy on the air." Marlene giggled. "Let's hope that my act made all the frogs run away... So now, Isa... as for how you do it, I'm not really sure; I used this to lumber, but you just stumped me."

"Didn't you say you were a pro?" Isa asked, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but..." Marlene's moth antennae twitched. "Let's do something basic. You do use predator sense, right? You can feel me, right?"

"Hmm... a little, I suppose, yes." Isa replied. "Sometimes, I sit out, and just close my eyes, feeling..."

"Healthy exercise. Turn around. Can you feel... this?" Marlene let out a soft glow, without Isa seeing it.

"I can feel it, yes."

"Now focus on doing it yourself. Shine for me, girl!"

Isa tried. She pursed her lips, and tried to focus on her wings, discharge a little magic. Then she turned around.

"Could you feel that?"

"No."

"You know, with you here so intense... I'm not sure I can feel myself." Isa smiled sheepishly.

"Well, without me, there's no safety, and without it, you're not going to be there long enough to feel yourself." Marlene replied. "Keep trying. I'll tell you if you get any closer, come on." she said, holding her shoulders a little.

Isa kept trying, while her teacher felt her guilt swelling up even bigger than the mushroom. She couldn't help but think back to Rexi's words... maybe she was right. Maybe no one had helped her against Denade because she was selfish and mean. Of all the people Marlene knew, she was the only one she knew was mean, selfish, and broke a lot of promises. And with her here, Isa couldn't feel herself! She had just awed the girl, hoping that any blocks she might have had were gone once she really wanted to follow suit. It wasn't working; she was starting to think she couldn't really help her.

She gulped, getting a little distracted, feeling something sink inside her. Of all the things you could have in your stomach, guilt was the only one nearly as unpleasant as a slug girl...

======

Several hours later, Isa was at home, still forcing her wings to shine. Those things were supposed to happen naturally, and she knew those things could happen without any effort, but they weren't. It wasn't fair!

Marlene was at home, too, making a list of things she'd have to find in her journey. Insects, mainly. There were fairies in the Forest of Whispers, too. She hoped they weren't as annoying as the ones here.

That's when someone wandered into her home. She glared at the invader... at her brown hair, and wide smile, blocking the entrance.

"Ah, Samantha!" she smiled. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you."

"Hello, Marlene. What are you doing?" Samantha grinned. "Insects?"

"I was planning a journey."

"Oh, a journey? Can I come too?" Samantha beamed.

"Eh?" Marlene asked, amazed. "Samantha, I'm going to watch bugs. It could get very boring."

"Well, you can watch bugs, I can meet new people. And we can hunt, too, right?"

"There'd be that, too."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Samantha grinned. "Let's go!"

"I wanted to get some sleep, first." Marlene replied. "And besides, I've got to tell Isa I'm not coming back..." she sighed.

"Hm?"

"I was supposed to help her with her magic, but I..." she mumbled. "I'm very selfish and mean. That's the real reason why I don't have many friends."

Samantha pouted.

"Well, you're not going to get away with it! A promise is a promise!" she frowned.

"Yes, but I need to get away from this place... I've been postponing this enough, If I don't go tomorrow I might as well not leave ever at all."

"Um... then she's coming with us!" she tried.

"Well, that's a..." Marlene smiled for a moment. "Samantha, she's practically powerless. She can barely use magic, she'll be in danger, we can't protect her all the time."

"Then... teach her on the way!"

"I'm not sure I can teach her, either... it turns out I'm not that good at teaching." Marlene sat down. "It's for the best... I'm sure someone can teach her, it doesn't have to be me."

"But you promised!"

"I can't." Marlene sighed. "I can't help her, not that way."

"She's not Rui!"

"Rui..." Marlene grimaced, looking away. "Isa'll learn how to use her magic at some point or another. It doesn't have to be me..."

"But you have to keep your promises!"

"It's not the first promise I break."

Samantha stood back and frowned. Marlene shook her head.

"I'm sure Isa's happy to have such good friends."

"She's not happy. It's not fair. You promised... you don't know what it meant to her!" Samantha cried. "She... she really wanted to learn from you. She told me about what you did, she thinks you're awesome. She wanted to be just like you..."

"Don't make this any harder on us." Marlene sighed. "I don't know why I told you... just go. Please."

Samantha puffed up her cheeks, and left without saying goodbye. Marlene considered for a moment talking to the occupants of her laptop... but no. She knew what they were going to say. Probably, the same as Samantha.

======

The next day, Marlene was woken up by something that jabbed her side. She quickly got up, grunting, and glaring at the two...

...bipeds of some sort. She stood up, a little trickle of drool coming down from her mouth, her eyes squinting against the light. Stepping to the side, shaking her head, she glared at the creatures, still blinded from the daylight.

"So, are we going?" one voice asked.

"Hnz?" Marlene mumbled.

"You still have to teach me, you know."

The events of the previous day quickly caught up with her. She'd taught something to... someone, and then there was talking but then...

"Ghnn..." she finally yawned. "Ixa? Sh'mmammammamma?"

"Yeah, it's us." Samantha replied, with a giggle.

"Heard you wanted to leave me behind... that's not nice!" Isa grinned.

Marlene shook her head slightly. Then she realized Samantha had a shirt.

"Why's you in wearin dat? What'z it readz?"

"Ah, this is a shirt. You wouldn't know who I found to accompany us..." she said, looking away. Marlene looked away, too.

"Whoz?"

"This is my brother Metzger." Samantha said, pointing at an empty space. "He wants to come too. So, since you can't see him, I brought my shirt."

Marlene rubbed her eyes. She looked around, above, but she still couldn't find Metzger. She then saw what it read on Samantha's shirt... "I'm with Bob --->"

"Bob?" Marlene asked. Samantha let out a giggle.

"I'm METZGER." Metzger replied, not where the line pointed at Bob.

"Come back down here, Bob! Meet Marlene!" Samantha cried.

"I said I'm METZGER, you SAMMICH!"

"Sammich?" Marlene asked, still not in the mood for funny remarks.

"Don't call me like that!" Samantha protested. "This is rule number one! You don't call me Sammich!"

"Well, rule number two is DON'T CALL ME BOB!"

"Ugh, sha'up, Bob." Marlene grumbled. "You zree, be damn quiet. I'm not taking her, dammit! Immma gon' alone! I's now better than to puts yous in damge!"

"Oh, you aren't?" Samantha grinned. "This is your last chance."

"No. S'keep quiet. You's woke me up, I' got your voices pounding in my ears! Any more noise and I'll forget you're fairies too!"

Samantha raised her eyebrows. Isa opened her mouth to say something, but Samantha stopped her. She grabbed her hand, then nodded. Marlene let out a final yawn, clacking her jaws a little.

"Okay!" Samantha grinned. "We're not coming with you."

"See? That's better." Marlene smiled, crossing her arms. Her jaw had finally woke up.

"Let's go, Isa, we'll do better without the old lady." Samantha laughed. Then she leapt off through the window, Tina following her, before Marlene's bewildered eyes. She gasped for an instant, and then almost jumped off too, but remembered to go to the bottom of her burrow, and pick up some of her stuff. Hiding it all in her scruffy hair, she started yelling.

"Er... wait! Don't! It's dangerous!" she cried. Then she got on the edge of her nest... "It... you could get eaten! Ah, damn fairies...!" she mumbled. "Wait for me!" she cried, flitting off, buzzing like a wasp, trailing slowly behind her two companions...


Metzger stopped, brooding, for a moment.

"By the way, I'm coming too. Thanks for waiting." he mumbled to himself, following Marlene. He wasn't going to gain anything out of brooding more.

PART 4-> Turn and Face Yourself

The bench gave his tired skeleton a rest. He let out a sigh, trying not to get too relaxed. The goddamn treeline wasn't that far away. Ironically, he realized he was more scared of the greenery outside the forest than within. Here, the forest was a threat; within, the forest was... the forest.

A few brick buildings here and there, smoothed out with plaster, mortar and magic, painted beautifully, housed the town's scarce population. This place was thriving, just within the forest, protected by something Faulkner didn't know. All he knew was that it allowed roughly 350 people and their means of subsistency to endure for some time. Smack in the Forest of Whispers, and in such an obvious position...

He finally concluded this place was simply a buffet waiting to happen. Hopefully, it wouldn't happen while he was there. Thankfully, no one had bothered him. It meant they weren't in the habit of sacrificing strangers... there was no guilt in their faces, no special interest either, none beyond the one a man in a skintight suit with a harness would ordinarily invoke.

Finally, he heard someone near him. Her voice had somehow managed to grate his nerves even before she said anything stupid.

"Nyaah..." she sang, as she sat down near him. He looked at her. "I found some food for both of us. You wouldn't believe what a lucky girl I am!"

Faulkner sighed, already aware he was going to regret asking what was it about as she dropped a paper bag on his lap. It was warm, hot, moist. He quickly pulled out the burger, feeling an apple next to it.

Frankly, it looked a lot slimier than it should be. He preferred his meat dry. And the lettuce... the tomato... those two things were sliding freely, threatening to bring it apart. He looked at it with a grimace.

"You're not a vegetarian, are you?"

"No, it's just it's crappy." he replied, pursing his lips.

Lenna shrugged.

"Ah, the joy of cooking. Can be done either right or wrong. But you can't go wrong with this, can you." she said as she opened a paper bag of her own. Inside, Faulkner peeked something that made him gasp and jump off.

There were a couple girls inside. It's not that he was a stranger to Lenna's diet, but they had pointy ears, and they were naked, with delicate, perfect features of the kind he both dreaded and chased... and he jumped off as one of them suddenly lunged out on all fours to take a breath. Lenna pulled her up by her shoulders, with her fingers, and held her there for a moment.

"F- fae...!?" F-Faulkner mumbled, scared out of his wits. Then he realized they didn't have antennae or wings. "So then what...?" he frowned, dusting himself off. The burger he had been eating had fell on the side of his suit... great, now it'd smell like burger.

"No, we... AGH!" the not-a-fairy said, as Lenna pushed her right into her mouth. She flavored her slowly for a while, before Faulkner's disappointed, but happy to be alive, eyes. She once more folded the top of the squirming paper bag, and looked at him.

"Disappointing. You see fairies everywhere, don't you." she said, visibly not amused.

"What... are those?"

"Oh, sit down and I'll tell you." she grinned. Then, as he sat down, she leaned into his ear. "Shrunken elves. Just for my lips."

Faulkner pursed his lips for a moment. Then he opened his hand at her.

"May I?"

"They are for me only, Faulkner, I found you food."

"May I?" he repeated, angrily.

"What do you want? You don't eat things that cry, do you?" she asked, opening her eyes very wide.

"No. May I?"

"What do you want with them, Faulkner?"

"I'm just curious."

"What are you curious about?"

"How were they shrunken."

"It's magic, Faulkner..."

"You know why stuff shrinks!" he grunted. "So hand one over, I'll give it back."

Lenna looked at her bag.

"Try not to touch them too much." she said, handing him one over. "I don't want your taste on them..."

He grabbed the tiny elf with an expertly delicate touch. His nostrils flared as he frowned, examining her. She was pale, with blonde hair, and tiny, huge eyes.

"What are you?"

"I'm... I'm an elf." the tiny elf said. "I... there was this wizard, and..."

"Where are you from?"

"What do you care?" she groaned. "You're a friend to something that wants to eat me..."

"Morbid curiosity, nothing else." he growled.

"Well, I'm not giving you anything. You and your breed can go feed nagas..."

Faulkner grunted between his teeth, and before Lenna's amazed eyes, stuck out his tongue. Then he gave her a good one-over, his tongue flicking on itself in his mouth.

"Agh!" she cried. "Your breath reeks!"

"It's not an elf." he grunted. "You got ripped off."

"Wh... what? How dare you!" she cried. "I'll have you know that I'm of the royal line of the Shinomen Forest, thank you very much!"

"What exactly are you going on about, Faulkner? Do you eat that many shrunken elves?" Lenna asked, bemused.

"This isn't shrunken elf, I know the flavor, it's... something else." he blushed, gripping the tiny princess in his hand. Then he brushed away her hair from the sides of her head, and pinched her ear.

"Agh!" she cried, grabbing her ear, as Faulkner pulled something out of her. Lenna's jaw hung wide open.

"Rubber ears." he put on a small smile, showing her two triangular rubber flaps.

"How DARE you!?" the not-a-princess cried. "You've mutilated me!"

Faulkner shook his head, a small laughter escaping him.

"You really worried me for a moment, you know?" he laughed, looking at the elf. "There's but one easy way to shrink elves- for a moment, I thought you were proof that we were going to be sacrificed to a fairy... turns out you're a sham." he smiled, in a rare moment of verbosity. "Boy, am I relieved."

"Don't talk to me that way, I'm still a princess!" the tiny creature cried. Lenna looked at her with an annoyed smile.

"Aw, cheap garbage. Well, I'm having the rest, the ones you didn't touch..." she snarled.

Faulkner looked at her strangely.

"Fair enough." he said, raising the thing to his chest level. "What's your name?"

Her eyes widened.

"I'm Miel." she said. "Blessings upon you for listening to me, you'll be well-rewarded..."

"I doubt it." Faulkner grunted, placing her in his chest pocket. "Just stay there for the time being."

"What? You're not going to go and rescue my...?" she gasped.

"Somehow I doubt anyone will appreciate it if I stop some guy from making counterfeit elves." Faulkner grunted.

"How dare you call me a fake!?"

"If you aren't a fake, that guy's got himself a faldong already." Faulkner sighed. "So what would he stick around for? To get called out on it?"

Then he looked into the distance, and approached a small cart, carried by a stocky man with a mustache. "Six, with ketchup, a big blueberry soda, take-out."

A moment later, Faulkner was again in the bench, eating a hot dog, with a tray and five more hot dogs on his lap. Lenna looked angrily into his eyes.

"You've got a problem with counterfeit elves, but you've got no problem with counterfeit meat!?" the neko hissed. "Can you even SMELL what is in that thing?"

"Don't really care."

She grimaced.

"There could be tinies in that thing..."

"Nekos." he mumbled.

"Or humans! Aren't you worried you might be eating something you don't want to?"

"It's dead, it doesn't care."

"Why do you eat this cheap stuff, anyway? I thought fairy hunting was supposed to pay well." Lenna grimaced. "I got into this precisely not to have to eat hot dogs!"

"I'm not paying a faldong for stuff I'll forget in an hour."

"Twenty-five."

Faulkner gulped down a mouthful of meat.

"Twenty-five what?"

"I paid twenty-five faldong for the elves."

Faulkner immediately choked on some of the stuff he was eating. Lenna hesitated for a moment, and then smacked him on the back. He gasped.

"She cost you WHAT!?"

"It's not that much, I make good money precisely for times like this."

"THAT good? How much?"

"My first sold for three hundreds and fifty faldong."

Faulkner gulped saliva.

"Three fifty?"

"It was cheap, because I wanted to reel in clients, not just make money. Then I sold my second one by eleven hundreds. Why? How much did you sell your first for?"

"Hundred eighteen."

"Not bad, I guess." Lenna answered, shrugging. "How much for the second?"

"Hundred ninety."

"Hmm..." she hummed in disapproval. "How much for the third?"

Faulkner looked down.

"How much?" the elf in his pocket asked.

Faulkner looked at the elf, then at Lenna, and then the two of them looked at each other.

"Thirty."

"Hundreds?"

"No, just thirty." Faulkner said, with a blank gaze.

"But then you..." Lenna started, a little concerned... no, there was no need to ask. He had not.

She started chuckling. Surprisingly enough, the creature in his pocket was giggling too. He let out a puzzled grimace.

"Humble soul, eh?"

"I don't care about money." he groaned, blushing furiously. "I hunt fairies because I WANT to!"

"And why is that?" she asked. He noticed the creature in his chest pocket was listening intently.

"Both of you, mind your own business."

"You've cost me five faldong, Faulkner, least you could do is..."

"I'll pay you back if you don't die on me." the hunter growled. "Now let me eat in peace."

"Why? You didn't."

Faulkner finished his hot dog, and started scarfing another one down.

"I thought you were a vegetarian." Lenna spat. "You're always eating fruits in the wild, you don't hunt so much as bunnies."

"Just for the water, I hate fruits." Faulkner replied, once more self-conscious about how shy he was being. Maybe this was the moment to try and be nice again. Say something about himself. "Sometimes I even spit out the flesh..."

"...not interested. Don't you have anything interesting to tell?"

"Mm... maybe. Want to hear more about fairy hunters?" Faulkner said, spitting some surrender. He only had so much patience.

"Sounds interesting. You'd told me about Misty and Scylla, now what do you have?"

"I think Navari and Moirat are next." Faulkner said. "Navari, she's some sort of sympathic mutate... Moirat, a wizard who specializes in teleporting."

"Hm..." Lenna hummed, disdainfully. "Flashy. How do you know this?"

"Well..." Faulkner paused. "Navari's even more dangerous than Scylla to her partners, she's been through nearly a dozen already; I met the pair once. Moirat's the only thing they can pair Navari with, he complained that she screws up all their hunts."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She's reckless, she gets eaten a lot. So they must pair her with Moirat, she's far too useful... but she almost always loses control, eats the fairy, and then tries to eat Moirat. So they have to pair her up with him, or else, she'd go through even more partners."

Lenna gazed vacantly at him.

"That... I'm not sure I believe it. No, I definitely don't believe that one." she frowned. "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

-Why indeed.- Faulkner grumbled. -Because you don't give a fuck about me unless it's useful.-

"Believe what you want, Lenna. I've told you what I know."

"Well, I don't think so."

"If it winds up being true, what are you going to do about the other thing I tell you?"

"Depends on the other thing you tell me. But I'm sure I can make it up to you." she licked her lips, leaning towards him... Faulkner shoved her off. Nice boobs... poor timing.

"I'm eating!"

"Feh! Jerk." Lenna spat, recoiling back to her seat. "Gee. I sure hope I can get a real shrunken elf one of those days."

"Don't say anything." Faulkner instructed the creature in his pocket. It looked away, and then gasped.

"Wait! You can just do this, human... ask her to spare my companions!" Miel gasped.

"What?" Lenna laughed. "They're mine..."

Faulkner looked at her strangely.

"Are you from Felarya, at least?" he asked Lenna. Her mouth curved into a surprised mask of chagrin for some reason...

"This is not the time for idle chatter! Those are elves, you varmint! ELVES! You're fodder, WE are...!" she stopped. It was impossible to explain this to lesser beings like him. At least, he didn't seem to take offense.

"Look, elves are stronger than that." Faulkner snarled. "I've seen them in action. No fairy would sell them, if they managed to catch five."

"I didn't say it had been a fairy!"

"Couldn't have been a human. Mages that powerful got better to do than sell snacks."

"What if he enjoyed humiliating us!?" Miel exclaimed. "What do you answer to that, human!?"

"Look, keep quiet before I eat you." Lenna spat.

"You won't, he'll protect me!" Miel grinned. "Your meager charms are worthless to this one, you hag. He'd sooner die than..."

Miel noticed a very angry glare locked on the back of her neck. She turned around slowly, to face the man's angry visage, his smooth face contorted around the eyes in a furious glare, his teeth bared and clenched, small pieces of meat between them, crumbs and mustard decorating his mouth as he literally looked down his nose at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Miel asked, showing a little worry. "Are you choking on your balls or something?" she asked, afterwards, returning the glare.

Faulkner let out a long breath out of his nose. Then he looked at his bun.

"Yes, it's a hot dog. Meat. Have you forgotten? Has the effort of eating worn your brain too much? You're supposed to gulp now."

"Allow me to introduce you to the first rule of freeloading." Faulkner smacked his tongue. "Treat your host with respect, because he knows he doesn't need you."

"What's your problem? You just keep eating. You can do that, can't you."

"If you can't notice the problem by yourself, I'm not going to spell it out for you."

"And what are you going to do? There's nothing you can do to me. You're human." she laughed. "You wouldn't eat me, that'd make you as bad as any predator." she put on a smug smile. "You are all alike, I know you inside out."

"Do you treat everyone who helps you like that?"

"Just keep eating." she smiled. "I don't mind. What? What are you going to do, eh? I'm not seeing it!"

Faulkner's eye twitched.

"Why are you trying to make me eat you?"

"No, tch-tch-tch. I'm not trying to make you eat me, mister. That's only your twisted interpretation."

"You're obviously asking for something mean to happen to you. Let's make one thing clear..." Faulkner said. "The only reason I'm letting you live right now is..." he stopped. She didn't seem impressed.

"Oh, I see. Words fail you... well, it's not your fault. You're just human." she laughed. "It can't be wrong to be human."

Faulkner looked away and sighed.

"Why am I arguing with you? You're not even yourself." Then he took another bite.

"See? Not so difficult, is it?"

"Why can't I eat her? She's nothing. She's not even herself, not even nice..."

"Because he'll stop you."

"It's not fair on her. There's a person inside all that."

"There was a person inside the others, too, you're not protesting."

"Because I don't care."

"She dies, this never happened. Come on, Faulkner..."

"Don't expect him to listen." Miel chuckled, her voice a little too smug. "He's just human."

"She's had enough! In there, there's a person. I'm letting her out, then you can eat her." Faulkner frowned.

"You didn't do that for the others. What makes her any different?"

"Just that I care to give her back her right mind." Faulkner answered.

Lenna sighed, slumping with a smile.

"I really don't understand. She's just like all the others..."

Faulkner looked away. Then he pulled Miel out of his pocket, and swung her at Lenna's face, stopping short of it. The not-an-elf cried for a moment...

"Look at her in the eye and tell me she's like all the others." Faulkner answered.

Lenna looked at Miel in the eyes. She was wriggling in Faulkner's hand...

"Didn't you notice? She's a clever one, rather than being all smiles and kisses, she tried to manipulate me, make sure I felt something about her, even if it was abject disgust." he mumbled. "But she'll deny it."

"Because it's not true! You'd think yourself clever? You're just seeing what you're looking for, you couldn't even begin to comprehend me!"

"And this stereotypical behaviour... She's trying so hard to seem elven... but even an ELF can tell when they're powerless."

"Look, let's do the same thing we did with the others." Lenna sighed. "Just let me eat her, okay? It's crazy to do anything else. It's hypocritical..."

"Do you have anything against hypocrisy, Lenna?" Faulkner asked, blankly.

"Of course I do!"

Faulkner rolled his eyes. Then he dropped Miel on her lap.

"Nom yourself out."

Lenna looked at the not-an-elf in her lap, with a blank grimace. Then she looked back at Faulkner, who had just turned back to his hot dogs, eating calmly, without a single sign of guilt or contrariness. Her blank gaze turned into complete, utter bemusement- she had fully expected him to commit himself to the life he had tried to save. But her partner's sympathy ran clearly shallow... REALLY shallow...

"You..." Miel mumbled. "How could you do this to me!? You gave me hope, and then you took it away..."

The purple-haired man didn't even stir at her words.

"You're a broken being!" the elf cried. "You can't even stand up for what you believe in! You're as fickle as your predators! You're the only monster here! You have no right to exist!"

She seemed to slow down on her own, as if expecting him to do something. He didn't. Lenna had to look at him, too, a little sickened herself.

"Faulkner."

He turned to look at his partner. He once again had that distasteful grimace... she'd interrupted him... he wasn't expecting her to talk back, he had MEANT what he said...

"You can't be serious."

Faulkner let out a sigh.

"Listen carefully. I'm only going to say this once."

"Don't bother listening to him. He's a hollow shell. He has no will, nothing. He's just the meat his predators seeAAH!"

"Shut up." she said, grabbing her prey. Then she noticed Faulkner's eyes had changed. Now he looked gentle. Not quite relaxed, not exactly peaceful, but he didn't have that constipated look. This... was important.

"You tell me all the time this mystery is because I'm trying to get someone to ask me things. But I'd expect even the dumbest person in the world to realize that even if I do want to be asked something, I might not be ready to say it."

"That has nothing to do with what you just did."

"Actually, it does. If there's anything I hate is when someone TESTS me... like you just did."

"I wasn't testing you, Faulk...!"

"Yes you were!" he spat. "Why did you keep pestering me about her? Were you just curious about what I'd do? Were you asking yourself if I'd commit myself to someone who depended on me? Was there an easy way to figure it out?" his eyes narrowed again. "What if it happened to you, you wonder?"

"You're paranoid..." she scoffed.

"I'm trying to respect your CHOICES. I don't ask you how can you live with gobbling up something helpless. Don't ever ask me again to justify myself. What's the difference between this one and the others? That I care. Is that a good reason for her to live where others have died? No. Is it saving her life? Yes. Isn't that the very definition of 'unfair'? DUH. Want to prove me wrong? Go ahead. I don't really mind. Or care." Faulkner spat. "But the next time you blow some hot air into me just to see what sound I make, I'm ripping off your eyeballs and shoving them up your nose."

"Look, there's no need to get so upset..."

"Shaddup. And while we're at it, you can throw away 'Humans for Dummies 12th reprinting'. BOTH of you." he snarled, glaring at Miel. "Take something for your hysteria while you're at it, I'm sick to my innards of you two already!"

"Right back at ya."

The hunter angrily elbowed the bench. As his arm bounced back, he grimaced in pain, having hit with surgical precision one of his own nerve clusters... his hand shook violently for a moment. The two women next to him sighed in something that might've been embarassment. Lenna, in particular, was wondering how exactly came that this man was a fairy hunter...

"That's gotta hurt."

Faukner bounced off the bench, and strode away quickly with angry steps.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lenna asked.

"Getting my legs waxed!" he growled back.

"What?"

He didn't answer. Miel, in Lenna's lap, had managed to wriggle a little free, though her captor's hand was still gripping her firmly. Lenna debated for a moment whether to go after him or let him go. She decided to let him go.

"He's cute when he's angry, isn't he." Miel asked, smiling. "I wouldn't mind tasting him a little..."

Then Lenna was left to wonder whether to let MIEL live or not. She looked so tasty, and well, she HAD paid money for her... but there was a story behind all this, Miel was pretty interesting after all. Why'd someone convince Miel she was an elf?

"And I wouldn't mind you in my belly." Lenna answered.

"Wait, look. You're not like him." Miel smiled. "You're intelligent, I can tell. May I be... really frank here?"

"Sure, why not."

"I think, Lenna, that... I've overheard a little more than I was entitled to. I know you're curious, don't insult my intelligence on this. I'm curious too." she added, with a large grin. "And it would be very rude of you to deny me the rest of the story, now that I've heard just enough to get me hooked. And if you're half as intelligent as I think you are, I can't picture you satisfied without solving the mystery of how did I get here and what I am. You wouldn't let me be just another snack, would you?"

"Why not?" Lenna chuckled, amused.

"Because, and I'm quoting you here... twenty-five faldong." Miel grinned. "Don't you think that's too much for a meal?"

"Well, I have to eat something."

Miel winced for an instant.

"Well, I guess you do, dear." she sighed between her teeth.

"And I'm not out in the wild to eat spaghetti."

"Well..." Miel smiled quite honestly for a moment. "If you want the real jungle experience, may I suggest you take Faulkner's catch while he's allowed himself to be distracted?" she pointed at Faulkner's two leftover hot dogs and half a bottle of blue... soda, probably... hopefully.

Lenna let out with a hearty laugh. Okay, Miel was her kind of person.

"I think I like you, but you're asking me to throw up after all..."

-You seem like the kind I could ask to jump off a bridge so as to slide down the rainbow.- Miel thought to herself. "Well... there's no denying that..." she sighed.

"Hmm..."

"That said, throwing up isn't as much of a big deal as they make it look. Believe me on this one. And act quickly- because my offer's void if they die inside you."

"Really? What could you do if I wanted to keep you?"

Miel supressed an annoyed huff.

"I couldn't do much to you, and well, I'd probably want to stay on your good side... oh, hell! I would REALLY want to stay on your good side, even then." she chuckled. "But we don't know how many pieces this puzzle has, and if we're to get to the bottom of our mystery, why is it I'm here, looking up at you, we'd better have as many as possible. I don't know what is it my sisters know- they could be of use."

"Strange how you're not begging for mercy."

"I don't know about you... but if someone begged me for mercy..." Miel licked her lips. "I think the last thing I'd feel was sympathy. I'd feel powerful, I'd feel strong, I'd really know their fate's in my hands. And I'd never, ever let go."

"And you're not in my hands?"

Lenna's grin was so close, so close... and Miel's voice threatened to break. She was going to run out of time if she didn't hurry, and she had to stave off the thought this retard was just playing with her. The humiliating possibility threatened all the time to clench her throat, squeeze the bile out of her features... but that wouldn't work. Just a little longer, and then it'd be over, for better or worse. If she stopped now, it'd be over for worse.

"We both know what position we're in." Miel shrugged. "I know it, and if you're as intelligent as me, which I have no doubts about, you know it too. I'm just trying to make the best of this... for me, and my sisters. And with that... I'm at my wit's end. My dearest Lenna, two choices are open to you right now. You can either swallow the red grass now, spare my sisters, and we'll see where does this road lead. Or you can swallow me, and things will go back to the way they were. It's up to you."

Lenna looked at the blue pill, asking her to take the red one instead of her. She made a... mediocre point at best. But now she was hooked...

"Also, partners are always a good idea in the wild. You wouldn't believe how much we can do for you." Miel grinned. "And you know we would. All I'm asking for is a moment of minor discomfort."

Mmm...

How... interestingly twisted. :p You do put an uncommon spin on things.

This is something quite emotionally charged and logically twisted, and I salute you for it. Excellent work. No grammar or spelling errors I could see, and good writing. I'm very interested in what is going on with these tiny not-elves.

very interesting stories here

I really like how you managed to give them different tones, and keeping this slight sense of surrealism that is your mark
And I really laughed at the part with the fairies playing in the commputer XD Very nice job !

*bows*

Frenchsnack wrote:

How... interestingly twisted. :p You do put an uncommon spin on things.

Twisted, you say. Interesting... expect it to get just a little more twisted.

MrNobody13 wrote:

This is something quite emotionally charged and logically twisted, and I salute you for it. Excellent work. No grammar or spelling errors I could see, and good writing. I'm very interested in what is going on with these tiny not-elves.

Thank you. It's what I strive for- emotionally charged so you can feel with me, and logically twisted so it engages the intellect. It probably makes up for the sluggish plot.
As for Miel? Ah, I have to apologize- I had a very complex plan involving her, but I came up with a better one, so... well, maybe I CAN do both after all. I'll ask around.

Karbo wrote:

very interesting stories here

I really like how you managed to give them different tones, and keeping this slight sense of surrealism that is your mark
And I really laughed at the part with the fairies playing in the commputer XD Very nice job !

Well, glad to know you found it funny. The duality in tone was one of my objectives from the beginning- as for the surrealism? Well, someone told me it's just that I'm not shy with the silliness.

The Joy of Hunting, Part 5- Level Grinding

The following chapter contains large amounts of RPG-related references and precious little plot/character exposition. If such is not your fare, you know what to do!
Also, this chapter contains vore in equal amounts. That said, don't worry about it being mature content. It's more like immature content.
On a sidenote I want to apologize in advance for this chapter being so long. I guess I'm the national champion of content shoehorning.
Faebanes belong to... oh, shucking fit. I forgot.


Thin mist around the trees highlighted every ray of sunlight that made it through the canopy, golden columns in a blue-tinged world, each standing in the middle of an exotic flowerbed. Vines and creepers, both spiked and not, covered the trunk of every tree. A thousand chirps and bells filled the air, in a melody which was more harmonious than its source had the right to produce.

For those who had the time to stop and look, however, there was more to that. Most of the vines belonged to a variety whose pattern was actually mathematical, with spirals and split nodules at intervals that, despite being irregular in appearance, answered to a far deeper order than nature would be expected to ever answer. Each flower had a story to tell, and it'd tell its whole story to those who could talk to petals, pistils, stems and leaves. Everything seemed to almost glitter with life, and some creatures actually did: such was the case of a small beetle, with a diamondlike shell, who alarmed by a diving paradise bird, dug into the ground so quickly it seemed to burst beneath the insect, leaving the predator to bite the dust with its beak. It struggled for a moment, then managed to shrug off the dust and leap off, seeking another meal, as it avoided a flock of crystalline bubbles that seemed to want to touch it.

Of course, for human perception, the real prize there'd have been the woman with very long green hair, flitting in an hesitating zig-zag through the air, full of the loud buzzing of her beetle wings, flailing her arms wildly, and screaming...

"Wait, slow down, you two, darn it! You're going to wander off into something!"

"Come over here and make us stop!" someone yelled, laughing, not too far away.

"Damn fairies..." she mumbled, taking a moment to catch her breath on a branch.

"You're too slow!"

She let out a grumble.

"Must be because you're all old and grumbly and boring!"

"Mmph... Ah, that's it! I'll show you just how old and boring I am!" she huffed, taking a deep breath, and grinning, jumping down to the ground. When she landed, the thud she let out was heard for miles around.

Only a few moments later, her head was peeking over the treetops, looking around. She was now taller than many of the trees, and noisily strode through the forest a lot faster than she could ever have flown. The wind on her face, all over her body, got her grinning, feeling for a moment all that freedom that she'd somehow forgotten to give herself for so long.

-Why didn't I think of this before?- she thought as she laughed and ran.

"Wh... what's that noise?" one voice asked, suddenly worried. It was a woman's voice... young, but not very remarkable.

"She's catching up! Quickly, hide!" another voice yelled, still laughing. Though it sounded older, it had a higher pitch, and was somehow beautiful beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt...

Marlene's hurried strides boomed all around for hundreds of feet, sending flight after flight of birds off their perches, until she finally found the people she was looking for. Two young women, one of which had barely managed to complete a sentence as she intruded upon them with a giddy smile on her face. She noticed but for the briefest instant the short, dark red hair of that woman, whom she'd met only two days ago and whom she already felt like a lifetime friend. As she gasped and turned around, Marlene barely had a moment to peek at her smooth, shapely body, before sending one of her hands in a frenzied lunge for her. She narrowly slipped between her fingers...

"Oops! You missed, you oaf!" she giggled, flitting up, and up, once and again between her frenzied hands, until she finally disappeared. Marlene gasped, and looked on her hands, then all around.

"I didn't hurt you, right?"

There was silence all around, as Marlene looked around. She had suddenly gotten flustered -no, nervous. Nervous, not flustered.- and her predator sense had blanked out. She couldn't feel Samantha, she was so concentrated on feeling something that she couldn't feel anything! She let out another gasp.

"Samantha!?"

Next to her, another fairy who had been playing too, a young blonde with short hair and wrapped in black leather (with strategically placed studs that made hugging her uncomfortable), stopped playing too.

"Can you feel her?"

"I'm trying, Isa, I'm trying..."

"She's here." a man's voice mumbled, coming from nowhere. He sounded young, and a little nasal. "Stop playing around, Samantha, you really got her worried."

"Aww, shucks." Samantha complained, coming down from a branch. Marlene looked at her, and sighed, smiling.

"You were there? We could've kept playing for a while, Bob."

"First, it's METZGER." Bob, the invisible fairy, complained. "Second..."

"You're such a party pooper!"

"She was worried!" he complained.

"I could've been more worried!" Marlene giggled. "Why are you such a worrywart?"

"What happened to the responsible woman I met six hours ago?" Metzger asked.

"She's just happy." Marlene said, blowing a smile at no one in particular. "Oh, wait a moment, did you just call me responsible?"

"... I think... I've judged too much by appearances." Metzger mumbled, after a short pause. He was answered with a set of giggles, as Marlene shrank back to fairy size. Jumping at Samantha, she quickly gave her a slap on the shoulder.

"Tag, you're it!" she chirped, flitting away. Sam followed her quickly on the air: she was more than twice Marlene's speed at flying. Then the green-haired fairy tried something else, and went into freefall, at unbeatable speed. The other one caught up to her quickly, at which point Marlene got to her feet and ran away. She wasn't the fastest there either, as it quickly was proven, but she still had other ideas. As Sam took a final lunge towards her, Marlene sprung up to more than six feet tall, and Sam jumped right between her legs, biting the dust, bouncing, and turning around to see she was right between her new friend's legs. She hopped towards her friend's belly button, and instead, found that Marlene'd stood up so quickly, she missed completely, and now Marlene was once more escaping her, noisily flitting up.

As they flew up, and up, basking in the simple pleasure of a chase, piercing through the canopy, into the domain of the sun and the clouds, Marlene slowed down to take a deep breath, and she found herself slapped on the shoulder.

"Tag, you're it!"

"Hey, is that Isa?" she asked, looking into the distance, at the familiar figure of a blonde fairy in black leather.

"I think she is." Samantha mumbled, a little worried. It was really not like Isa at all to wander off into the distance.

Marlene zipped towards Isa, Samantha chasing behind her, until they were right next to her, and grabbed her by one arm each, bringing her down through the canopy.

"Tag, you're it!" Marlene laughed.

"Huh?" Isa suddenly snapped. She gulped, and then looked around. "Why is everything... so tiny?"

Marlene raised her eyebrows. Then she laughed.

"It's not. You're just big now."

Isa looked down, at her feet. Bringing one foot near some flowers, she felt the grass beneath her feet, sliding it slowly... "You're right! I... grew!"

"I thought this stuff was hard for you!"

"It is... but..." Isa pursed her lips. "I hadn't noticed I did it, I just looked around and then..."

"You wanted to wander off on your own, huh?" Samantha laughed. "What's the matter? Are we too boring?"

"No, I... I'm serious! I don't know how this happened!" she said, flustered. "How am I going to get back to small now?"

"Don't worry about that just yet!" Marlene beamed. "There's a lot you can do now that you're bigger... for example..."

"...get eaten by a dryad!" someone cried.

"Shut up, Bob." Samantha chirped.

"It's METZGER."

"My shirt says it's Bob." Samantha pouted. "Want to take it off me?"

Bob grumbled; maybe if she wasn't his sister, but as things were, the possibility would never even cross his mind. Meanwhile, Marlene, Isa and Samantha were singing an off-key version of... something, while bobbing left and right, all three together.

"Say, you think it's a faebane, right?" Marlene laughed. "Oooh, the baefanes... you know, I'd heard about 'em... hehe..." she mumbled. "I'zt the thing with the faebanes that they're treeeeeeeees!" she cackled, until she was short of breath. Falling to the ground, she tried to recover her breath without laughing it out.

Isa followed, standing up, staggering away in laughter until she was leaning on a tree.

"You know, girls? I heard about this method for detecting dryads..." she laughed.

"Really, dude?" Samantha laughed, giddy.

"Yeah! By taste!" Isa laughed. "You can tell a tree's a dryads 'cos of the taste..."

"What do dryads taste like?" Samantha laughed.

Marlene took a deep breath, and stood up.

"Hey, girls, do my hands look too big?" she mumbled, staring at her own hands, turning them slowly. Then she raised her hand, waving it around. "Wow... look at it... my hands are so pretty... have you ever seen your hands that way?"

Isa raised her hand too.

"Wow... you're right... my hands are so pretty..." she wiggled her fingers.

Samantha suddenly grimaced.

"Hey! I smell something! Do you smell that? Does anyone smell that!?" she spat. "Do you smell THAT?!"

"What are you smelling?" Isa asked.

"It smells a lot like... I don't know, I'm hungry!" Samantha cried.

"I smell it too!" Isa cried. "I'm hungry!"

"Are you joking? Are you kidding me!? What's everyone looking at!?" Marlene grunted, looking suddenly out of her rocker. "Why are you hungry, eh?"

Samantha and Isa stood up and ran off. Marlene followed them, slowly.

"Are you a faebane dryad?" she asked every tree on the way, before giving it a lick. "I guess you aren't... it's your lucky day, you!"

Samantha smiled as she saw what the source of the smell was...

Not far away, a few strange insects were pulling a silvery plate along the ground. Each of those insects looked like a dull creepy crawler, with a segmented, round carapace, as if they were made for rolling themselves up into a ball (which they were), six feet at the top of the carapace. Two zig-zagging antennae peeked from the front of these insects; a silvery, spectral harness on each allowed them to pull the plate. On the plate, there was an oddly-shaped dilligence coach, and next to the strange visage, several men in long hoods rode giant flightless birds.

"Dude, I'm, like, so wasted..." Isa mumbled.

"Hey! I'm hungry! Let's eat them!" Samantha exclaimed, pointing at the caravan.

"Huh? Sure! I heard humans are delicious..." Isa grinned. "I've always wanted to eat one..."

"No, I tasted one, once... you knew Rooks?" Samantha said.

"Rooks Dirac? Is that what happened to the guy?" Isa asked, with a smile. "I KNEW that's what had happened to the guy!"

"We just gotta shrink them and that'll be it." Samantha laughed, as she flitted up into the air, and got in the way of the coach carriage and its entourage. "Hey! Yummies!" she laughed.

The several of them suddenly raised their gazes towards them, as many spells went flying towards her. She leapt behind a tree, which took the brunt of their attacks, and as she peeked from the other side, the tree suddenly topplling over by the middle, she put her hands forward, opening her mouth a little.

Nothing happened, to everyone's surprise.

"Err, wait, I think it was more like this!" she cried, her fingers twitching. "Darn, I know I had it right! Don't move! I'll shrink you in a..." she cried again, her voice trembling a little.

Isa saw how Sam was interrupted by a very sudden THUD followed by another THUD that wasn't so much sudden as loud. One of the cloaked figures had thrown a large rubber mallet, hitting her squarely on the head, and making her fall on the ground, with a large bump on her forehead and a trickle of drool coming out of her mouth. She sat up for a moment.

"Did you get the number of that bumper plate...?" she mumbled, before falling back down.

"Darn! It's up to me now!" Isa cried, putting her hands forward. "Oops, I can't shrink either..."

Another rubber mallet came crashing into her head.

"It's your lucky day, you! You just burst in half, you tree! Had it been me, you'd have been eaten... you're not a dryad, are you?" Marlene grumbled, coming closer to the scene of the crime, next to the log which had exploded when Samantha had dodged a series of spells. "I'll taste you again just to be sure. But how do I know you didn't spice yourself up with bark from a real tree, huh?" she asked, taking a lick of the tree.

"Er... are you feeling well, miss?" one concerned dilligence guard asked.

"Who's is you is lookingdat?" Marlene grumbled. "Why'z you thinkeing I'm not feeling well, do I look unwell?"

"Are you... stoned or something?"

Marlene let out a hiccup.

"Oh, I'm getting a headache..." she mumbled. "What's happening here?" she said, her teeth grit, one hand on her forehead, looking at both Isa and Samantha, who had very clear bumps on their foreheads. "Ah, I get it..." she sighed. "Did they try to eat you?"

"Well, yes."

Marlene looked down, and shook her head.

"Figures. Neophytes. Can't do anything right, can they." Marlene smirked. "You just watch. I'm a bona fide fairy here. Here, let me show you how it's done, girls, pay attention." she laughed, spitting on her right palm, then rubbing her hands. "I'm serious, I'm one of the most powerful fairies in all of Felarya, you're all armored with bug armor beneath those hoods, ain't ya? They're not going to help, I practice on tonorions. When I get my mind to it, I can shrink a very big dryad. Just you look... ABABABRA!" she put her palms forward, at the whole convoy.

The world light up in white, and each of the steeds tried to avert its eyes as their riders just curled up in their seats, feeling wave after wave of awesome magical power cross the world. They could feel the change all over, and those of them who had been shrunken before knew it was different- just to drive the point home, that fairy had put a knot on her spell, and whatever effect, would be permanent- and short at the same time. Horrified, they realized just what kind of power she really had- but that horror was tempered by admiration.

Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped, and the ones that dared look around realized just how much world had been affected. Everything around them was still the same- had it been shrunken with them? Then, looking at the fairy, at her confused face, gave them all the clues they needed.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!? WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU!?" something cried behind them. Several of the riders turned around, to see a small indentation on the ground, from which an extremely tiny sapling, nevertheless crowned with two cute flowers on its top, was twitching and jumping. Those of them who were close enough recognized the torso of a dryad...

"Oops... I missed." Marlene mumbled. "No hard feelings, everyone?"

The caravan members mumbled something between themselves, before reaching a consensus.

"Any last words?" the leader of the riders asked from under his hood, taking another rubber mallet from under his cloak.

"Err, can't we talk about this?" Marlene grinned nervously, sweating through every pore on her body.

"We already talked..."


======


"Gosh, that hurt." Isa mumbled, now with bandages all around.

"You tell me." Samantha said, with her arm on a sling, and a black eye.

"We suck!" Marlene cried, from inside a full-body cast. "But not as much as you, Metzger! Hasn't anyone ever taught you to save people before they get hurt!?"

"Hey, that dryad almost ate me." Metzger retorted. "And do you know how hard is it to convince someone there'll be consequences for killing someone in the wild? You're not that bad off!"

"We're not that bad!? Look at us!" Isa exclaimed, pointing at her splinted leg and the crutch she was using. "Every bone in my leg was destroyed!"

"But you were hit on the head..." Metzger pointed.

"Yeah, uh... well, you weren't!" Isa exclaimed, throwing her crutch at him.

"Yes! It's all your fault!" Samantha pointed, at him, taking her arm out of the sling. It was perfectly fine.

"Yeah, err... what they said." Marlene mumbled. Then she opened her cast, and walked out.

"How is it MY fault, now?" Metzger asked, angrily.

"Well, we're angry, and you're there." Marlene explained. "Didn't your parents teach you anything?"

Metzger shook his head.

"..."

"Anyway, girls... we seem to be in need of some training. I've got too much power but a hard time pointing well, you need to practice how to avoid getting nervous, and you... you just need a lot of practice."

"What about me?" Metzger asked.

"Yeah, what about you?" Samantha interrupted.

"What do I do?"

"You wait while we practice."

"But..."

"Three's a good number, it's manageable. We'll swap one out for you if we get injured." Marlene sentenced.

The invisible fairy went quiet again...

"Okay, look. The fairy kingdom is pretty unstable, dimensionally speaking..." their leader smiled. "And dimensional disturbances usually turn up humans. Since that faebane just ate every fairy close by..."

"...you hadn't figured that out earlier? You'd trounced over everything pretty that there was, and no one came out to call you on it! Of course there was a...!"

"Shut up, Bob!" Samantha cried.

The green-haired fairy ignored Metzger's outburst.

"We'll just search the whole place thoroughly, since we mostly have it for ourselves."

"So we'll just walk around until we randomly encounter humans?" Samantha asked.

"Yes." Marlene smiled.

"And then what do we do?" Isa asked.

"We'll shrink and eat them." Marlene replied. "That way, we all will quickly gain a lot of experience."

"Sounds like a plan!" Isa beamed.

"Yes, it's perfect!" Samantha laughed.

"I can't think of a single thing that could go wrong with it!" Metzger added.

"The sort of stuff you only get away with in the wild..." Isa laughed.

"What do you mean get away with?" Marlene cut in. "Why wouldn't you get away with this?"

"Well, you know, we can't do that at home. I mean, we're supposed to respect every talking thing." Isa pointed. "It'd be real sweet, though... humans are delicious. From what I've heard." her eyes darted around for a while.

"C'mon, we're friends, aren't we?" the darker-skinned fairy grinned. "Who hasn't at least TASTED one?"

"Me." Metzger said, realizing he was very alone in the sentiment.

The three fairies looked at each other for a while.

"Ah, don't worry, bro. We'll save you one."

"Yeah, a really cute guy for you."

"Err, no." Metzger barked. "I don't want penis in my mouth, thank you very much."

Marlene gasped in mock horror for a moment.

"Is he as virgin as he sounds?"

"Well, I've never really SEEN him, so..."

"Are you a virgin?" Isa asked, sounding interested... and playful, but not the kind of playful HE would be interested in.

"That's none of your business, Isa."

"Hey, I'm just..."

"He's right, Isa. None of our business." Marlene grinned. "Now let's go get ourselves something worth it!"

"Yeah! I've always wanted to do this!" Samantha giggled.



======



So our trio (and Metzger) found in the wild a small group of stragglers, just like Marlene had predicted they'd find. For what reason, Marlene wondered, was it stragglers defaulted to women? Well, nevermind. Invariably, stragglers were delicious.

Samantha had something to add, though.

"Hey... see what they're wearing?" she asked.

"What about it?" Isa replied.

"Those short skirts, those short-sleeved shirts... From what I've heard, those go well with seafood, the more tentacles the better!"

"Why do you say that? We don't have any seafood here." Marlene sounded puzzled. And after a while, Samantha was puzzled too.

"Dunno. It just felt... right, you know?" Sam shrugged. "Either way, what do we do now, Marlene?"

"Ah, well..." Marlene rubbed her chin. "I think we should... I know. Sam, it'd be a good moment for you to practice. Since they're so many, shrinking each and every single one would be probably too much... and since Isa should first learn the easier part, I think this would be a good moment for you to try growing."

"But I can already do that!"

"Yes, but you're too slow. So, just follow my lead on this one, okay? Isa, you stay back with Metzger."

Isa sighed in annoyance, and withdrew. Samantha followed Marlene.

"Are we doing anything about their shoes? Those look sturdy."

"Hm? Oh, good point..." Marlene smiled. "You just stay right by me, and concentrate on following my lead. Ah, this should make it easier..." Marlene's hand lunged out and held Samantha's in hers. Samantha grinned and blushed.

"Mmm..." Samantha's gaze made Marlene skip a beat.

"Don't get any ideas, I'm straight!"

"You aren't really straight if you never tried. You're straight only if you tried it and didn't like it." Samantha added, remembering one of her favourite quotes...

"I did, I was your age once." Marlene jumped off, and Samantha followed her, as they flit forwards to a branch overlooking the group. "You wouldn't believe how many things I tried before I finally settled."

"And why did you settle?"

"Well..." she blushed. "I guess the novelty wore off."

"I'd never let that happen to me." Samantha grinned. "So why don't you try again? To see if you're still straight?"

"Look, you brat..." Marlene let out a deflating sigh. "Follow my lead on this."

The darker-skinned fairy looked down at the group of stragglers, holding hands with her trainee. Just like Samantha had pointed, they WERE wearing the same things. Well, that happened sometimes. She had been explained why, once, but she had long forgotten. There were five girls in the group- all of them had a very particular skin tone, and most of them had black hair, though some sported pretty unnatural chromatic tones.

"Hello!" Marlene yelled, from the branch. The girls turned around to look at her. "Welcome to Felarya!"

The stragglers looked at each other for a while. Then one of them just grimaced. "What?"

"I'm guessing you're new!" Marlene giggled. They had a strange accent, audible even over the comprehension effect.

"Wait, where are we? Please."

It was strange, there were no R or L sounds in their statements.

"Felarya, I told you."

"But... can you explain it to us, from the beginning? We have no idea where it is... is that anywhere near Sappolo?"

"Sappolo? Never heard of it." Marlene fiddled with her thumbs. "But if you want to know, Felarya is... you girls are from a city, right?"

"Yes we are!" one of the other stragglers replied. She had a strange tone to her blonde hair, so saturated it was almost chromatic, leaving Marlene to wonder what the hell that meant.

"Well, look... Felarya is, hm... well a world where everything that's big eats everything that's small. And there aren't many cities in there..." she wondered what else was important information.

"So it's like... a game?" one of the others asked. She had normal black hair. Come to think of it, Marlene counted five... and then she giggled.

"Yeah! It's exactly like a game, and those are the rules!" she grinned. "Ah, there's another rule... you have to take off your shoes."

"What? Why do we have to take off our shoes?" the first one asked. "It's a forest, we need our shoes."

"But you shouldn't wear shoes..." Marlene pouted. "There's magic here, but you can't use any of it unless you take off your shoes." she lied.

"Really? So it's like a game!"

"Precisely!" Samantha grinned. "The soil here is magical, and it fills everything with magic! So let your feet touch it, that way we can start the game!"

The girls looked at each other and talked for a while. Then they started taking off their shoes... much to the fairies' delight. Then they took off their socks... and there was a wave of renewed chatter. The current leader smiled and turned her gaze back up towards Marlene.

"Okay... you said the rules were to eat anything smaller than ourselves?"

"They are to eat anything you can swallow in one gulp."

"Does... that include you?"

"If you can."

"But..." she seemed puzzled. "Won't that...?"

"I'll take my chances..." she pouted, while on the inside she was rolling on the floor laughing. "If you see anything small enough, you have to eat it. It's the first rule. Understood?"

"Okay! Er... should we start with you, or...?" the one talking for the rest of the group asked. "It's not that we don't want to play, but... you're the only person around here who knows this place, so..."

"Well... let me think about it. There might be just a way in which you don't have to eat me." Marlene smiled. "Samantha, just follow my lead." she whispered in her ear.

"What...? Mmm, I see what you did there!" Samantha grinned. "You naughty bastard, Marlene..."

She got a nudge in the ribs. There was warmth spreading inside her- but she couldn't focus on the feeling too much, as she was trying to follow Marlene's lead on growing. Slowly, their legs went from lying over the branch, to hanging from the branch, before the amazed eyes of these new prey. They were too stunned to notice that they were hanging lower and lower, until they were touching the ground right before them, at which point they had a burst of common sense and turned away to flee.

"They catch on quick..." Marlene licked her lips. "I didn't even have to tell them I'd eat them."

Of course, as you may guess, it was too late by then for them. Marlene and Samantha stood up from their creaking perch, and then, with only a few steps, they sat on the floor and caught all five of them, being that they were neither nimble nor swift, in a blink. The fact that they were wearing no shoes, and the forest, also helped.

Marlene's pinched out the clothes of her two catches for good measure, and just popped them in, savoring a sensation she'd missed for a while. Humans were delicious, but nostalgia was the best spice. That, and hunger. The combination made for a perfect moment- they even were struggling, their soft, slick bodies twisting right over her tongue. Every time she felt they were slowing down, she just had to reach for a very personal location with her tongue, and like pushing a button, they'd start struggling again to keep her away. She lost track of how long she tasted them.

At some point, she took a deep breath, and swallowed, letting out a contented sigh, feeling how her throat tickled with pleasure. Boy, had she been needing that for a while. After one of those, the world felt like a wonderful place.

She looked in her hands for the remaining- oh, drat. She'd had them both at once, come to think of it! Samantha, next to her, was still enjoying herself with the first one, the other two held one in each hand, to her belly. While Marlene didn't care much for getting all personal, if it really was her first time out in the wild, it was best to let her enjoy herself.


======



Stepping back, she put her hands to the front appeasingly. Didn't help much; that outfit was way too revealing, and she was still looking delicious just by existing. Too delicious for Sam.

"So, hey... why don't we talk about this?" she asked, nervously. "Th... there must be something I can do so that you won't eat me..."

"Yeah? Like what?" Samantha asked, keeping her distance.

"Well, there's... I'm a Rosic, we're known for our music. Why don't you let me sing you a song?" she asked, her composure returning. Her ethereal, long eyelashes fluttered for an instant, her intense eyes locked on hers. Something about that primal gaze was contagious, and some of Samantha's higher brain functions just left for lunch as she looked at her.

"Ah, uhmm..."

"Please. If you don't like it, I'll be yours... I promise." she continued, keeping up the attitude. She had her charmed- even if she didn't like the song, she'd just sleep with her. And that'd fix it. Well, hopefully.

"Okay..."

She grinned.

"Very well, sit down, the song starts." she began, taking a deep breath, and exhaling slowly to prepare herself. As if hypnotized, the fairy before her sat down on the ground, her huge, fey eyes locked on her mouth- or maybe a little lower.

She kicked a rhyme and sang this song. As she sang, she danced- an undulating dance, maybe with some scarlet elven influences- suggestive, leaving little doubt as to her intentions.

"I'm feeling yummy head to toe. You see me. Ain't got no patience so let's go. You see me. Baby, I'm tired of drama..."



======



The strange scent filled Muri's nostrils as he saw the strange place he was in now. His blue robe, marking him as a novice monk, was fluttering in the faint breeze. His shaved head was right now less concerned about the fact that he was in a wilderness swathed with blue light than with the fact he was late for scroll transcribing duty. He looked around in the strange environment- completely taken aback by these geometrically perfect vines and strange trees, but specially the grass. Was it diseased or something to be blue? But it looked so healthy, and tall, and BLUE.

Those trees were majestic- the bamboo thickets from where he came from could not compare, ever. He pondered for a moment the meaning of this strange vision, but not for too long, as something in it suddenly got even more outlandish.

He heard a gasp behind him, a very familiar gasp, and turning around he saw a very familiar face. That of a man with a shaved head and a carefully shaved beard, specifically to leave two puffs of moustache just over the edges of his lips. He was pale and yellowish, but the thing that really stood out was that he was really skinny. God, what an ugly guy.

"Honorable sir, have we met?" the man asked, a little surprised. Muri nodded and bowed, to which the stranger replied with a courtesy bow of his own.

"If we have, I have no recollection of the fact." Muri began. "Though your face does seem familiar to me- as if I had seen it somewhere, and yet I couldn't tell where exactly."

The stranger grimaced for a moment.

"Maybe you are my father?" he asked. "Your face quite reminds me of his own..."

"If I may, your face reminds me of my mother..." Muri frowned. "I mean no offense, but you have her eyes- and her hair. What a most puzzling vision to have."

"None taken, for this is indeed a most puzzling vision." the stranger replied. "It is strange, you look almost the same as my father did. Your jaw is quite the same, your ears are the same, only your constitution does not compare."

Muri gasped for an instant.

"Was that man, perchance, a rice farmer? A vigorous man, fond of the simplest pleasures in life?"

"Indeed, such is the case." the stranger replied, murmuring to himself. "Was your mother a simple, but loving woman, whose greatest wish was for her child to stop looking so much to the past and the future, live in the present?"

"Such is the case." Muri said, comprehension dawning in his eyes. "But stranger, we have spoken for so long, and yet I don't know your name. Allow me to introduce myself first- I am..."

"Muri." the stranger said. "My name is Muri, allow me to introduce myself first. I've been anxious to do so for a while already."

"I take no offense, because I understand your feelings." Muri said. "I am Muri as well- and I suspect that we are one and the same."

"That is not possible..." the stranger mumbled. "And yet, just look at us... maybe this is the Yellow Emperor's abode?" he murmured something. "Maybe the mirrors have been shattered, and we are both Muri and the prisoner in the mirror?"

"No..." Muri mumbled. "For if such is the case, one of us would recall this abode. One of us would be the prisoner in the mirror- and you do not seem to recognize this place."

The stranger nodded.

"By the strange manner in which you speak, I might be of a true nature, as I do not recall what this place is- but now I have come to doubt you are truly me, for you have not denied knowledge of this place..."

"I simply believed it was not necessary." Muri explained, quickly. "Let no fear come between us."

"Have you eyes, Muri? How can no fear come between us in such a situation?"

"Fear blinds the mind and poisons the heart." Muri quoted. "In this situation, the best we can do is work together. You are a person I have always been given to rely on, as I am not a rich man so as to have you stay idle." he joked.

The stranger laughed.

"I was about to say the same thing. Truthfully, I had never appreciated much my own wisdom. I believe this would be an important lesson in believing in ourselves."

"Indeed."

"What is that, I ask?" The stranger frowned, pointing behind Muri. As he turned around, two beings joined the vision.

Both looked like women: one of them was tall, with a dark, exotic build, full of small spots. She was completely in the nude, a sight to make Muri's blood stir, even as he was puzzled by her green hair, easily the longest he had ever seen, or maybe the one in the most distressing need of a wash. Next to her, the other figure had an equally exotic hair color: the yellow hair in her head was a little too exotic combined with her fair skin, and her brown eyes were simply eerie. She was wearing a shiny black bodice, the sort of which made him find the vision more strange than enticing. It took Muri a moment to realize they had antennae, and wings, such as those found in beetles, butterflies and the ilk of animals who have six legs.

"I woul venture the darker skinned one is an apsara, for her beauty- while the clearer one is, well..."

"A fairy?" Isa asked, watching Marlene grimace slightly.

"Indeed, we shall be rolling with such a definition." Muri shrugged. "A feairai- a fwairoi- a fwawiiwa- I swear on my honour, how can her mouth produce such sounds?" the dreaming man surrendered.

"Maybe they hold some sort of clue as to the purpose of this vision?" the stranger suggested. "We could gain something from talking to them."

Muri went closer to his double, and nudged him in the elbow.

"Very well. I will be talking to the beautiful vision- you shall speak to the unpleasant sight."

Of all the things to do in front of a woman, Muri would never choose to argue with himself.

"Hey, you two look the same!" Isa grinned. "Are you brothers?"

"We are of the same blood, yes." the stranger smiled, turning to Isa. "May I ask your name?"

"Sure, I'm Unpleasant Sight." she said, sounding quite offended, putting her fists on her hips.

"If I may, it's a fitting name."

"Isa, get on with it?" Marlene said. "Try not to talk to them too much!"

"Okay, Marlene."

"I take it your name is Marlene?" Muri asked, smiling.

Marlene just smiled and nodded.

"Would you care to answer a few questions?"

"Not really." Marlene shrugged. "Isa, you're doing it wrong, try holding it a little harder, like... like you were tying a knot."

"Hm? 'kay..." Isa mumbled, still focused on the stranger.

"What's she trying to do?" the stranger asked, watching Isa's strange gesturing in front of him.

"Don't worry about that. You just give her some peace and calm... and she'll be done quickly." Marlene smiled.

"I'm still curious." Muri added. "If you would explain it to us..."

"Just wait until she gets it right, okay?" Marlene kept smiling. "It shouldn't take much longer. Good, now a little faster, Isa! You almost got it!"

Muri stopped for an instant, exchanging a puzzled look with the stranger.

"Is what she's doing something she's trying to do to us?" the stranger asked.

"No, just you. Okay, looks like you got the first part right. Now you need to aim it."

"All I see are gestures, is that supposed to accomplish something?"

"Would you be quiet? You're breaking her concentration." Marlene sighed. "For me, please?"

Muri smiled, a little puzzled, but trying to keep it to himself.

"Alright then. I'll let her focus."

"Thanks." Isa smiled. Then she tried something else, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her lips, her face contorted in effort. She took a deep breath, her hands to the front.


======


Samantha breathed strongly, her face red and flushed, looking down at her belly. She caressed it for a moment, with an hesitating hand.

"The neko was tasty..." she mumbled. "But I'm still horny!" she complained.


======


"Come on, you can do it." Marlene smiled. "You almost got it this time..." she shook her head. "Okay, that one was pathetic." Taking a deep breath "No, more like you did two times ago." She rolled her eyes. "Isa, are you even trying?" a moment later "Okay, stop that. Can you at least tell what you're doing wrong?"

Isa shook her head.

"Well, do it like this. Go softer on the beginning, smooth and steady, and then it goes like HOOP." she put her hands together to explain something. "When you pull past that, go from the beginning, and then you just pinch it."

Isa nodded.

"Okay, I'll get it right this time." she said, once more her face twisting in concentration. "I'll get it right, I'll get it right." under her breath, she added "if I just understood what the hell that meant..."

Marlene looked away and shook her head.

"But as it looks like a long wait, what is it you were trying to...?" the stranger asked, just before he disappeared. Isa let out a gasping "YES!"

"Okay, now hurry and grab him!" Marlene grinned. "The farther it is, the less it lasts; you have to touch it!"

"Alright, it's around here..." Isa knelt down, and started fidgetting under the grass. "I got him!"

Muri looked interested at Isa. The vision seemed to have taken a turn for the bizarre, indeed.

"And what would that mean?"

Marlene moved towards Muri, and quickly held his shrunken body in her hand. Still wrapped in blue robes, Muri gazed up at the now gigantic vision- he had never heard of apsaras of those proportions. Those were the stuff of... dreams and legends, but this was now too bizarre to be a dream. It was unlike that dream where he had to hold that door, for the wolves were trying to tear it down, but he couldn't reach for a chair to bar it, for he couldn't leave the door alone or the wolves would push it open.

"What would this mean?"

"It means we're off to a good start." Marlene told Isa. "To your first catch, Isa!"

The stranger gasped as she quickly put him in her lips, a part of him quickly growing warmer and the other one feeling cold by comparison. Inside this woman, it was as warm as fresh blood, as some days in the temple when there were too many people praying in one room and the scented candles were left lit. The scent coming from inside her was organic without a doubt, but he could not place it at all. All he could place was the despair and bemusement welling up within him: the moist feeling was uncomfortable on his loose robes.

Passing completely through her lips, he had but an inkling of the teeth inside her mouth, as the tongue seemed more eager to feel him. It was comprehensible- he wouldn't taste things through his teeth either. But why was it she wanted to taste him? Of all the things that he could think of tasting, only one came to mind- food. He grimaced, believing maybe the unpleasant sight meant to devour him.

Closing her lips, only the palest of red light was there at all; it was even paler than when he tried to gaze at the sun from between fingers he was squeezing together. He realized, with a little shrug, that maybe her cheeks were not so thick. Even though he had light, trying to make out anything with it was a lost cause; the rolling feeling all around his body, as her tongue seemed not only to want to rub him all over her mouth, but also get under his robes...

Isa struggled with her tongue to try and pry off the robes- what little of his skin she'd tasted had left her wanting for more. But taking him out of her mouth to unwrap him felt like overreacting now. Pushing the morsel to her palate, she rubbed her tongue from his body to her lips, trying to pull a little robe with it. Her fingers took it from there, without having to put them in her own mouth. With a steady pull, her mouth doing the rest, she pulled the robe out. Under the robe, he seemed to have- funny that! His loins were covered in wrapping? That was new, she'd never heard of bandages used as underwear. Either way, the taste was nothing to stop at, so she once more kept running her tongue wherever she could, trying to find somewhere she could pull it off. Come on, it had to be possible.

After she felt the base of her tongue get a little sore, impeding her enjoyment of the human in general, she grunted and just clenched her teeth right next to him. Then she opened them slightly- and caught some of those bandages. Pulling him away from them, she heard someone let out a girly scream inside her mouth, before she pulled out all the ripped bandages with her tongue. Then she pushed them to the front, past her lips, and tossed them away.

Now that there was nothing to stop her from enjoying this, she took a deep breath, and kept sloshing the stranger in her mouth. Unfortunately, his taste seemed to have been spent already- that, or her mouth was already saturated. Either way, all she could do now was swallow... and feel a renewed goodness of a different kind as he thrashed on the way down. The sensation decreased all the way to her stomach, which received the bite-sized treat with a combination of pleasure and relief.

Muri went through a copypaste of this, only taller. Marlene let out a sigh.

"Mmm..." Isa moaned, once her meagre meal was over with. "Well, that could've went better; hope I get a re-do."

"Yes, but still... what a creep." she shuddered. "This would have been better if he hadn't opened his mouth before I ate him."

"What do you mean? He called you a beautiful vision!" Isa giggled.

"Well, that, precisely!" Marlene pat her belly, looking quite serious. "For the record, I don't have a human fetish!"



======



Klavas grinned as she held up her catch. It'd been quite a while to catch her- this game of cat and mouse had threatened a lot of false finishes in which the mouse might've won. But at last, she had her meal right where she wanted her.

"Wait! Don't!" the neera before her cried, her short black hair and huge dark blue eyes enticing her to ignore the squeaky voice coming from that delightfully meaty, pale body. She could almost feel the sweet, greasy taste on her just by scent. Her mouth had been watering for a while, her tummy was rumbling and she had a need to fill it...

"Why not?" Klavas asked, not really interested. Damn, she shouldn't have asked. Now she wasn't sure she cared for the answer...

"Because we've been moved!" the neera squeaked. Mmm... squeak. "We're no longer where we used to be, this place's just different... if you hadn't kept your eyes so locked on me you might've noticed!"

"And why would I get my eyes off you?"

"Because there's a fairy behind you!" the neera cried. "She's making rude gestures at me!"

Klavas could only laugh, bending over a little.

"Yeah, yeah. There's a fairy behind me, and it's making rude gestures at you."

"Yes! Wait, those don't look like rude gestures... I think she's trying to do something!"

"Really? What's she trying to do?" Klavas giggled.

"She... I think she's trying to... I haven't really seen those patterns before. But since she's a fairy, I guess she's trying to shrink you."

"Interesting..." Klavas kept grinning. "So, are we screwed?"

"Excuse me..." someone said, right next to Klavas. She turned to see a blonde woman in a black leather outfit, with antennae and wings, and... yeah, screwed. "Since you're not going to eat her anymore, can I have her instead?"

"Hm? Ah, fairy. So, there's really a fairy behind me."

"Yes." the stranger replied.

"And even if I escape, this isn't Tolmeshal, so nothing I know will really be useful."

"I'm afraid so." she shrugged.

"Ah... do you think we can make a trade?" Klavas asked, though she never stopped grinning.

"A trade...?" the blonde fairy looked away for a moment.

"Since you eat any kind of prey, what if I give you this, and you eat it instead of me?"

"Ah, well, sounds clever, in a naïve way." the blonde shrugged. "I was planning on helping myself to all you had anyway, on the first place- but even if I wasn't, right now we're very enthusiastic."

"What do you mean by enthusiastic?" Klavas' smile faded a little.

"Where we're from we can't eat nekos, humans or elves."

"Uh... tough luck."

"Yeah, indeed. For you, I mean."

"That's what I meant." Klavas grumbled. "But well, now that we're cleAAAGH!"

Isa quickly caught in her hands both the neko and the neera. None of them was squirming; despite the clearly explained situation, they both looked way too confused to decide on what to do.

"Took you long enough." Isa sighed, turning to a newly arrived Samantha. "So, we have a neko, and a neera. Which one do you want?"

"Why don't we kiss with them?"

Isa gave her a bemused look.

"Samantha, I'm not into girls."

"Was worth a try, though." she shrugged. "Okay, I'll take the neera."

Isa handed over the neera. Samantha quickly took it in her hands, and holding it tight, she brought it closer to her mouth.

"Bottoms up." Isa grinned. Much to her chagrin, Samantha shifted the nude form in her hands. "No, not literally!"



======



Rubbing her full belly with a chuckle, Samantha laid against the trunk, still licking her lips a little. The sun was already starting to set, the warm orange light inviting her to go to sleep early for once in her life.

"I wouldn't mind more of that workout..."

"Well, don't know about you, but I'm out of M... of mann... of... magic." Isa mumbled, also full. "And it's been a good day, anyway... though, let's be frank... I don't feel I've learned anything..."

"Me neither!" Marlene giggled, sitting out in the open. She wasn't sporting as much of a belly, but she sure looked like she'd been through something good.

"Well, I'm exhausted (though I mostly just watched in the background, you three greedy little...)." Metzger pointed. "You know, we should start thinking about turning in for the night... so, where are we going to sleep?"

Marlene gulped for a moment.

"Oh, err... ah, uhm... right." she blurted. "Erm, well, we just need to find a little hollow... damn, I'm feeling too heavy here..." she mumbled, lying down on her side. "Bob, won't you be a dear and find one?" she cooed.

"Funny that, I'm asking precisely because I couldn't find one!" Met hissed. "And the spaces in the roots are all full of bugs. So, what's the bright idea now, girls?"

"Aw..." Sam sighed. "Bob, couldn't you let us enjoy the moment a little longer?"

"You've enjoyed the moment all day long. Now it's time to get some rest."

"Okay!" Marlene growled. "We'll just make a tent, duh."

"Oh, right!" Isa sat up, looking at a pile of stuff she'd assembled. "Here, I got this from some campers..." she pulled a large bundle of cloth sheets and stakes tied together. Sam raised her head a little.

"That's nice!"

"I'll need some help setting it up, though." Isa said, stumbling to the center of the clearing with the tent in hand. "I ate too much today."

"Who can blame you?" Marlene chuckled. "I'd almost forgotten how well you can eat out in the wild. I can barely move. Now, just set up that tent, and I can't think of a way to make this day any better."

"I can: I need someone who likes girls and isn't my brother." Samantha said to herself, looking jealously as Metzger's invisible self approached Isa. Thinking the invisible fairy had a better shot at them than her, or a shot at all, with these two was quite disheartening. She sure hoped they found some of those horny, innocent man-eating lesbian fairies that everyone talked about all the time back in town.

"Let's see..." he began untying the string that held the whole set together. Reading the instructions, he unfolded one of the sticks...

It was only half an hour before Metzger had the tent up. Somehow he'd managed it- a prism-shaped sheet, held up by the sticks inside.

"There! Man's work." Metzger sang, happily. "What does everyone think?"

"Looks cozy..." Marlene grinned.

"I like how red it is!" Samantha chirped.

"Doesn't it look safe?" Metzger gloated.

"Yeah! How couldn't it be? Look at that red, it practically screams YOU DON'T MESS WITH ME!" Isa interjected, giggling.

And so, the four of them kept laughing for a while. Then it stopped...

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Like hell we're going to camp in a red tent, guys." Marlene sighed.

"I'll see if these campers had any bug spray to clear a hollow." Metzger added.

that was a funny story !

I really liked those references to RPG here and there, in particular the one about walking at random to wait for random encounters. just classic XD
And I think that Metzger fairy has a lot of potential ^^ in a sense, with his sarcasm, he reminded me a bit of the robot Marvin in the Hitchicker's guide to Galaxy book
Great job ^^

Karbo wrote:

that was a funny story !

I really liked those references to RPG here and there, in particular the one about walking at random to wait for random encounters. just classic XD
And I think that Metzger fairy has a lot of potential ^^ in a sense, with his sarcasm, he reminded me a bit of the robot Marvin in the Hitchicker's guide to Galaxy book
Great job ^^

I strive to outdo myself at every turn. Glad to know I've written something satisfying to read.

Metzger has potential, yes, but please understand if I only explore said potential when it's funny to. The rest of the time, I settle for leaving him out, that way he has something to complain about.

Part 6-> Ambush!

Asil, Lenyal, Edrin belong to MrNobody13.

"So what's your hunting technique like, really?"

Stupid partner and her stupid curiosity. Always asking those questions she knew he wouldn't answer.

"Looking for fairies." Faulkner replied, coarsely, in a tone that made it clear that if he was holding a raffle for a punch to the face, Lenna was holding all the tickets.

She was breathing slowly, matching steps with Faulkner, just to give herself something to do. It was strange, how he hunted... he was just walking slowly, almost dragging his feet, his head tilting around slowly on his shoulders.

"So what are you doing?"

"Singling one out." Faulkner grunted.

"Are we there yet?" she added. He turned, violently- she raised her rifle as a stick, watching his clenched, gauntleted fists.

"Is this a game to you or are you just suicidal!?"

"Well, you could've explained the thing to me back in the town or you could explain me on the go. I warned you." she smiled.

"Lenna, there's FAIRIES here! You can't see them, but I can- not easy OR comfortable. Must concentrate." he barked, his one normal eye, the only one he was looking through, narrowing dangerously. Lenna lowered her rifle.

"W'ever."

-Sorry works too.- the hunter thought to himself. -You're going to get me killed.-

"If you pull this stunt ever again, Lenna, I'm not working with you again." Faulkner said. "Prolly no one either."

"Now that's just mean." Lenna grumbled.

-If hunting were so easy any ambitious idiot like you could do it, I wouldn't.- he thought to himself. He didn't say it. Why bother?

On her part, Lenna was scared. That had been just a measure of how tense Faulkner was- if they had been in real danger, she was sure he'd have hushed her up from the beginning. But he'd talked- so they weren't in real danger. The man was just getting worked up. Best let him work.

Then she heard him mumbling something to himself...

"...lve, i'theen, o'teen, i'fteen...?" he grumbled.

"Is anything the matter?"

"Hush!"

Real danger. Lenna took a deep breath, her face blanked out, cold sweat began running down her temples. Faulkner suddenly tapped her on the arm and motioned towards a tree- towards which he started running himself. He wasn't using her as bait- for two of two missions. Maybe he really was a decent person. Strange- she'd have thought a fairy hunter would be a complete jerk. Trosvil certainly gave her that vibe. Turns out her partner wasn't- well, good. More fun for her figuring the guy out.

As he stayed behind the tree, his head was twitching all the time. Looking at him, she could see his eye dart around in panic.

"...anything wrong...?" she whispered, carefully.

He looked at her, and shook his head quickly- but his eye was still darting around, and his head was shaking.

"...you are scaring me...!"

Faulkner took a deep breath, swallowing a gulp of drool that felt like a rock. Lenna deserved some answers...

"Tracking..." he grumbled. "Too many, one left the rest, so wait for it. Can't feel ALL at once, can't tell them apart, sometimes I mix up the positions, MADDENING." he frowned. "One just passed too close, might've felt us."

"Is she away from the group?"

"Not far enough: if she yells, she's it."

"It?"

"Tag, you're it, catch me." Faulkner replied, much to her chagrin. Tag, you're it? How old was this guy, five?

"How do we get her?"

"We don't..." the hunter replied. "We go away."

Turning around, Faulkner took Lenna's elbow lightly, and pointed away into the distance. Lenna, remembering their last hunt, shook her head- and then went with him. Faulkner's eyes and ears didn't seem to be turning around any slower than they used to- but as they went through the forest, leaving behind trees left and right, all she could do now was shiver. The moment Faulkner stopped, she did, too.

"The matter?" she asked, placing herself behind him, hoping to have him watch her back while she watched his'.

"She felt us."

Lenna's eyes widened.

"She's coming."

"Alone?"

"Yes. Our chance..." he shook his head. "Be ready."

The neko nodded- this human had a weird way of saying "Are you ready?" Then again, at this rate it didn't make much sense. The two of them kept walking, obliviously.

"Ten past six." Faulkner said. "Two hundred feet. Five past five. Ten past five. One hundred fifty now. Ten past five, ten past five, ten past four. She's going to try to flank us."

"I know!" Lenna grunted.

"Ten past three. Twelve past three. A hundred feet. She's changing tactic, it's almost a quarter..."

As far as Lenna recalled, twenty-five feet was as far as the fairy could act upon them. And Faulkner's coordinate system used minutes as a measure of angle to ground level- she was trying to ambush them from above.

"Fifteen past it, your department!" Faulkner exclaimed. "GO!"

Lenna immediately took a stride forward, raising the rifle. It was a bolt-action, but it'd do. As she turned around, pointed upwards and shot, she thought whatever the fairy did, if she wasn't deaf, it was going to affect her at least a little. Nothing like the mental effects of a counter-ambush and a sudden WHOOSH! Drawing the bolt, turning it and pushing it forward again, she loaded a new bullet. Taking aim quickly, she fired again at the fairy- of course she missed. A subject floating in the zenith at noon under a canopy, how could she NOT miss!? Well, that was part of the plan.

The hunter just stayed close to her, apparently having not decided yet on a tactic. No, wait, he had something in hand- and as he ticked it, the object suddenly started whirring. Four prongs protruded from the wood-and-metal object, she wondered what it was...

Faulkner himself was worried- only Lenna had any opportunity with an enemy directly in their zenith. The blinding sun of noon didn't help him in the least- his eyes were too sensitive! The moment that fairy grew the day would have become a waste! And to his surprise, he found himself wishing she did that... at least that way he'd be okay with suddenly running away. Counter-ambushes had their limitations, namely that the terrain was exactly where they'd been ambushed.

"Run!" he barked, aiming for a few bushes, and Lenna followed, not even twirling the bolt in her rifle. Thankfully she seemed to have realized the limitations of hunting ordinance against a gnat-sized target.

He gasped, running at full tilt. He kept mindful of the road he was taking- he could HEAR that small fairy's buzzing, fifty feet in the air, so tiny, she'd seen them only a moment ago and yet already she'd wised up to the fact she was invulnerable in their zenith.

Well, that's what he wanted her to think.

He saw light in the distance- heading towards a clearing, maintaining his speed, watching for the ground, staying to the trees, he jumped into the place without canopy, Lenna following him shortly...

And so the hunter gasped, turning around and unfolding a large bronze shield at her the moment he reached the center of the clearing.

The fairy found herself dazzled on her tracks.

So she yelled.

"DAMN!" both hunters barked.

======

"AIYA!" Lenyal yelled, much to the chagrin of both hunters below her. She'd met some hunters before- not always something to take lightly. Those two seemed not to have any talent- a rifle, for crying out loud! When she saw that shield, she thought her suspicions had been confirmed- until she realized it could work like a mirror too. All of a sudden, the zenith was beneath her, right where her eyes were focused- one moment it was a hunter, and the next, she had gazed straight into the sun!

"DAMN!" both people beneath her cried. Wait, this wasn't good for them? The scream, that must've been it...

"REQUESTING REINFORCEMENTS!" she cried, miming a funnel with her hands. "MISS LENYAL COMMANDER-CAPITAN HERE! MAYDAY, MAYDAY! I NEED AIR SUPPORT!" she kept crying every signal she could think of.

"Bitch...!" she thought she heard the woman say, as she turned the knob on her weapon to reload. She was a neko, in khaki clothes- and she'd probably taste great without them and with sugar. The other one was wrapped in a skintight jumper, with the body shape of a man, wearing a hood, a pair of weird bracelets, and several objects held by a harness. Silly him... they'd jangle! If he thought a little mirror would earn him a fairy, he was SO wrong. He'd made it so surprising her counted for more or less nothing, prolly just a novice. She hadn't even sensed any magic in him.

Come to think of it she'd overreacted a little. Just because he'd somehow found her...

Watching the two of them run off, she spent a moment wondering whether to pursue alone, the rest of her pack could follow on their own time... but she KNEW some hunters were actually dangerous. Some of them were dangerous to an entire pack- the thought of it sent more than a few shivers down her spine and throat. She didn't want to be careless and wander straight into a trap, then again, the crew was on the way. If they tried anything on her, they'd have to bring up any complaints to reinforcements.

Not that they looked THAT strong either... some people had the ability to conceal their magic, some didn't. These most definitely didn't have the ability to conceal their magic, she was 100% sure of that- not only because their base magical signature type was one that had never deceived her, but also because nobody who had magic would be carrying a big plate just in case they met a fairy. That was simply trying TOO hard!

The hesitation ran its course. She dove into the canopy, trying to stay somewhere she'd be concealed, just in case these two tried something funny. As long as she stayed in their zenith, there was not a thing they could do about it. Keeping her guard up in case something wanted to make a snack of her, looking around a little, she followed the hunters' magic-sense profiles she'd locked on.

Sixty feet into their zenith. Fifty feet into their zenith. Forty feet, she was getting closer. She could already smell...

...the whole world burst in flames!

"OH CRAP!" she cried. Bursting in flames, that really brought memories! Avoiding a large flame that somehow singed the whole side of that tree, she took some distance- and looking down, she saw the face of that hunter.

His hood was drawn in a way that only one eye -his right- was visible. He spat on the ground as he saw her, much to her entertainment. The whole bursting in flames trick had been neat, but she was used to the heat! Bet the loser didn't know that! And with that single eye, she was beginning to wonder if he had personality or just looks. Hmm, not just her average...

A bullet zoomed right by her. She was already used to that zooming noise too, hah! And then she dived in...

The two of them scrambled behind a tree- but the man tossed a handful of something on her way- it was dust! Gray dust, no, a mix of two dusts, she recognized them from somewhere. The white one was flour and the black one was... charcoal.

Char... coal...?

Only a moment later, he put his hand to his mouth, faster than she could shrink him- and blew. His breath- it was on flames! She was covered in charcoal! It took her but an instant to realize her position- the slightest spark, and no matter how much she grew or shrank, she'd literally go down in flames!

A raging torrent of burning power spiraled through the air, only a few feet away from her, advancing at a speed she couldn't believe. She gasped in a split second in which time seemed to freeze. She understood then how did puddles feel during rain- her own skin felt like it was covered in ripples as she sped up infinitely away from the flames.

And yet they felt like they were gaining on her, riding on the dust that fell in generous portions from her own form! She could but move in a straight line at this speed- and behind her the flames followed... they shouldn't have been following so fast!

Desperate, she saw a bush straight ahead. Rather than slow down, she braced herself for impact... putting her hands to the front, and tumbling through the thin branches until she fell through it. Much to her surprise, she could still fly. Something exploded behind her, and with a cough (that gasp near the beginning had taken the wrong route down; only now could she cough) she turned around.

The section of bush she'd went through was right a fairy-shaped burning hole, casting embers into the wind, the red-hot particles tumbling in spirals. That could've been her instead.

How far had she flown, trying to escape the burning trail?

She kept coughing for a while, looking around, her eyes growing wet in irritation... until her itchy throat calmed down. Several reassuring presence came from behind her- the crew was here. She sighed in relief.

"Lenyal, are you okay?" one of the fairies asked. Relieved, Lenyal turned around, and...

"I... I'm..." she started coughing again, realizing talking and breathing were two different things. "I breathed some dust..."

"This stuff on you?" a kid with pale hair and even paler skin asked. "It sparkles!"

"Sparkles? Edrin, did you say it sp...?" she ruffled her hair a little, still coughing. Conveniently, she could see those sparkling particles float in the air around her eyes after falling off her hair, kept just at bay by her eyelashes.

"It's like a sparkly rain!" Edrin added, cupping some of that finely ground dust in his hands. Picking two small motes, one in each hand, he looked at them very closely. The fact he was smaller than Lenyal also helped. "Miss Lenyal Commander-Capitan, this looks like ground metal!"

"Oh... a metal that burns?" she coughed. "Very very suspicious! I wonder who those two hunters were..." she grimaced, still coughing.

"OWAYEERRGH!"

A heartrendingly powerful, tortured scream echoed through the forest- too primal and infirm to be faked. Probably, it was those two hunters- she now knew where they had escaped to!

"They're over there!" a purple fairy pointed.

======

Even covering his mouth, his hand wasn't enough to cover his grimace. His face looked nauseated and in agony as shallow breaths went in and out of his nose- obviously not weariness, as he'd just ran a two-minute mile.

And his partner looked at him concerned and a little horrified.

"Faulkner, are you feeling okay? We have to keep running!"

"Tsk fine..." he gasped.

"We can't be far enough!"

"Tsk fine!" he grunted.

"We have to...!" Lenna's eyes were frantic as she tried to reason with her partner. His response was quite unexpected.

"OWAYEERRGH!"

Faulkner fell on his knees as she looked away towards the direction the scream had came from. That voice was exactly like Faulkner's if he was put on a torture rack.

"Is that what you threw? In the stream?"

"Fairies don't feel far, but hear far." he grunted. " They won't feel me, they'll look farther, they won't find the thing I threw, they'll keep looking..."

"But what if they chance upon us?"

"UuUUuU...!"

Before her bemused eyes, the kneeling hunter's hands had scooped a handful of mud and... brought it to his mouth. Unconcerned completely with leeches and hygiene, the supposed survivalist was stuffing his mouth silly with mud, and CHEWING it for some reason. Then he dropped on all fours, mud trickling from his mouth.

"Me always tracking, chance upon us, I'd know..." he answered her question.

"What are you doing?"

The rest of the mud trickled out from his mouth, like brown drool. He grimaced at her through irritated, red eyes.

"Liquor too strong, and put gasoline in it..." he gagged. "Spitfiring does in your mouth." he gasped. "Gums can fall off." he brushed off the mud from his face, and took something from his waist, a... makeup kit, much to Lenna's surprise. Taking a chapstick, he applied balm to his lips, and smacked them. "Lips suffer. Best brush teeth quickly too..." folding the lip balm stick back into the kit, he put the kit on his waist once more, and nodded at Lenna's bewildered self.

The two of them continued their retreat. Too many fairies to consider fighting...

"You know, I've got lip balm too. Real lip balm, not that dime a dozen stuff you use..."

"It's all just lip balm." Faulkner grunted, as the two of them kept walking through the jungle. Too bad- Lenna had that much pinned. They weren't in danger now.

"So, what about the rest of our companions? You mentioned Misty and Scylla, then Moirat and Navari. I heard Ryuuzan mention Ichenso and Antares, so, what about them?"

Faulkner looked away.

"Very nice." he mumbled.

"Very nice? That's all you can tell me?"

"I don't know what else you want to know, Lenna." Faulkner lied. "Ichenso collects CDs, and he likes things that go on wheels, he's very good at pimping bikes. He also loves poker and card games in general. Antares prefers reading historical dramas, he's very formal, kind of like me..."

"Since when are you formal?"

"Since I turned seventeen." Faulkner retorted.

"Get to the fun part. How do they hunt?"

Faulkner's lone eye locked on hers for a moment. Lenna stared right back- if she'd got this right, he was harmless, no matter how much posturing.

It was safe to push.

And just like that...

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" the hunter laughed, quite uncharacteristically, as he broke eye contact and strode away.

Lenna paused for a moment.

"Oh for crying out loud..." she groaned, following his strides.

======

Ding, ding, ding, dara-ra-ring, ding, ding. Dong, dong, dong, dara-ra-ring, ding dong.

"Cut that out." the man growled. "That music gets on my nerves."

"What? Now? I'm in the middle of something." his partner retorted.

The first man to speak wore a red sleeveless tunic with black spots. It really didn't combine with the golden helmet he wore, from under which his green hair and crimson eyes peeked.

The other man was dressed even less sensibly- his clothes held an airbrush green motif, but they seemed to be the loose neoprene of a bike jockey, complete with a dark visored helmet. Even through those thick gloves, he was holding a small stylus, drawing shapes seemingly at random on the touchscreen of his handheld console.

The music seemed to sink to the background as a tune interrupted it- the jockey's shoulders shook in irritation.

"I can tell you just lost- can you cut it out now?"

Though he shook his head, his partner pressed a button on the console, folded it, and put it in a pocket. Then he opened his neck zipper- showing a black shirt, and a silver pendant.

"It gets really hot in here, I need to get my mind off it." he said, trying to fan himself with his gloved hand. "And what are YOU scared of? I already trapped the perimeter."

"Who could do this without getting nervous?" the crimson-eyed man spat. "Fairies could be upon us at any time."

"IF there is a fairy."

The one in the robe took a deep breath and sighed.

"Just keep your eyes open, I don't want to get shrunken again." he shivered.

"Maybe you should've partnered up with Faulkner then." the jockey laughed. "From what Ramsey, rest his soul, told me, Faulkner always got the drop on fairies. Too bad he never got lucky enough to catch them afterwards."

His partner stayed quiet.

"But they always survived after pushing them to their limits. I'd not be kidding if I said many of my old partner's catches were thanks to Ramsey's information. Ryuuzan's info didn't always work."

"Hm."

"Heard they paired Ramsey's ex with the new girl. She must be something of a prodigy; they say she caught three fairies in her first three months of work, alone, wonder how she did it. Neko, too. Body to die for." he continued. "You know, they're sexy, what with the long tail and those ears."

The man with a golden helmet shot him a quiet glare.

"But nekos aren't as hot as as fairies, though, with the gossamer on their back and those personality foreheads. What they're eating to be all supermodels too, it's just salt in the wound I guess. No woman can compete with that!" he chuckled.

"Keep it down, you bug lover." the crimson-eyed elf spat. "I need to focus."

"Why do you bother focusing? You've never caught so much as a lie with that."

The man ignored him, raising his hand to his temple and looking around. A blue glow permeated his eyes. The other one just sighed.

"By the way, Antares!" the jockey laughed. "Which one of us do you think is the bait?"

Antares just shot him a glare.

"I mean, you're out there with your shoulders on the air. And you're, well, an elf too."

This man let out a cough.

"Don't you ever shu...?"

"OH GOD!" Antares' partner barked, as his companion suddenly shrunk to bite-size, loose clothes falling around him. The jockey suddenly looked around in panic. "What...!? Who's there!? We're... hunters! We've killed fairies before! I'm warning you, I've got..." he pulled out something. "I've got a switchblade and I know how to use it!"

======

The plastic-wrapped man turned around.

"Who's... there? I'm not going anywhere! You shall not pass!" he cried, in a quivering voice.

Behind him, something giggled. He almost jumped, turning around to see...

...iridescent insect wings adorning a chocolate-skinned woman with brown hair and bright green eyes. She was pouting, sitting on his partner's clothes.

"I think your partner escaped. That doesn't seem very fair to me..." she pouted. "Because now I have to eat you up for two!" she beamed.

"What the hell!? Don't come any closer!" he cried, pointing a shaking switchblade in her direction. "I'm going to cut you up, bitch!"

"Really? That doesn't sound very nice!" she giggled.

-And that sounds so last season.- he thought to himself.

"Nice this!" he cried, as he ran towards her, switchblade in hand- and she pointed at him.

She felt a distinct resistance as he shrunk, clothes and everything this time. She knelt down towards his shape on the grass...

...and he slashed himself with the switchblade.

"Huh?" she cried, recoiling a little.

"Oh, there's plenty of me to go around!" he giggled. Twisting the knife, he tore open the suit. There was no blood- he hadn't cut that far.

But there was a swarm of angry insects buzzing out of his body, a swarm too big for his current size. Asil couldn't help but inhale some...

...and then sneeze fiercely, gasping- inhaling insects- realizing that a swarm of angry insects had just been released right on her face. Though at first, they were proportional to the man's suit, their innate magical resistance meant that the briefest moment spent away from that suit or her returned them to their normal size- turning their wrath into something dangerous. But they were too close- there was no way to escape them now, not all of them, not anymore.

She had but a moment to realize that she had been ambushed.

And another to ask herself "what are you going to do about it, Asil?"

Her first impulse was to back off and then grow, make her skin too thick for those bugs- but something hit her. She found her attempt thwarted. Looking at the source direction, she saw a nude, male elf, with green hair and crimson eyes- he had regained his size.

So she tried to fly away.

That was the last mistake.

In the adrenaline she hadn't realized how many bites she'd been getting, and now all she could do was stagger- the other man had regained his size too, and tackled her into the ground.

And then she went unconscious...

======

Taking a spray canister from his pocket, the jockey applied bug repellent to the fairy. Now that she was unconscious, and had more than a few bites on the wings, it was just a matter of time to get to business.

The first thing was to make sure she didn't go into shock. Taking a small box from under his jockey dress, he opened it, reached for an autoinjector, and used it on the fairy.

"There, that'll keep her alive."

Antares walked up to his clothes and got dressed up, in a haste. There were still insects everywhere.

"I still think this is too dangerous, Ichenso..." he gasped, eyeing the insects warily. "We need a new plan."

"As soon as you come up with one, I'm all ears. Like you." Ichenso nodded, throwing the repellent to him: Antares quickly applied himself a more than generous dose. "But by now, we've got things to do. Help me get this on her." he took something from a back pocket, and unfolded it. It looked like a white robe...

...but it had strips to fasten it almost everywhere. To the occassional informed observer, that was a straitjacket.

Her legs slipping into their sleeves, while the elf held her waist, the fairy suddenly gasped and woke up.

"Wha...! What are you doing to me!?" she cried, her green eyes widening like plates. "Let go of me!"

Antares did, backing off- the fairy tried to fly, but with her gravity center compromised like that and all those bites in her wings, all she managed was a short hop before Ichenso dragged her back down with a most forceful grip on her ankle.

"Stay still." he said, in a reassuring voice. "Stay still. Antares, get back here."

"She's not properly pacified yet! Use the sedative!"

"What's the matter, Angie?" he cried, finally bringing her down to the ground. "There, stay still, stay still..."

"Let go of me, you jerk!" she cried, struggling in his arms. "You're hurting me!"

"Because you're being difficult..." he grumbled, grabbing her shoulder, and holding her down with a foot.

Her shoulder suddenly made a very unhealthy sound.

"AAIIEE!" she shrieked.

"There, was there any need for that?" Ichenso sighed, putting her arm inside the sleeve.

"You can't play dress-up with me! Fairies aren't for playing dress-up!" she whined insistently, still struggling- though feebly, compared to before.

"It's okay, keep calm..." his reassuring tone became more and more ominous every time he used it. "We're not going to hurt you."

"But this is against the rules!" she kept whining, her eyes starting to tear up, her voice starting to thin to a line.

"It's okay, it's okay, keep your calm..." Ichenso giggled, shoving her other arm inside the straitjacket. A moment later, he was fastening the hem of her neck- she tried to stop him, but as she brought her hands to the back of her neck, he grabbed her arms, put each on one of her shoulders and fastened it there.

"The neck's too tight!" she complained, her voice thinning to the verge of disappearing.

"No it's not, it's okay, keep calm..." Ichenso mumbled, grabbing her legs. She was panicking now, something inside her crying that this was somewhere she didn't want to be. This wasn't fair. This, unlike being eaten, was something she wouldn't wish her worst enemy.

"Stop it! SOMEONE HEEEEL..." she shrieked at the top of her lungs, through a throat way too tight...

Antares surged from behind her and covered her mouth with a hanky. As she inhaled, she began feeling weak, dizzy- stiff. He released it a moment later- leaving her shaking and unblinking.

Ichenso stopped.

"This takes me back to my days in the sanatorium..." he sighed.

"Why didn't you pacify her properly? She could've alerted someone!"

"It's more fun when they struggle. Crazies back then did, too."

Antares shook his head, folding her legs over her chest. Ichenso fastened the last buckles.

"Your weird fetishes aside, we actually caught a fairy." Antares smiled. "Trosvil will love this."

"See, that guys understands me." Ichenso chuckled. "But you know, since we caught her at human size... what do you say we...?"

The elf's gaze was already reprimanding him.

"What? I'm only saying we have some fun, that's all."

"No, Ichenso. Just use the pacifier and let's call it a day."

"If you insist..." he sighed, taking another autoinjector. An injection on the neck was all it took for the fairy's eyes to glaze over and then close, her shallow breath escaping from her as she dozed over.

"You know, they're cute when they're asleep. Are you sure...?"

"Let's just take her to the hideout."

"Yeah, we have beds there."

Antares' eyes narrowed. He had a grimace of disgust- but it was hard to tell what had disgusted him.

"I'm not going to become a rapist over... this." he grunted, spite in his voice.

"It's not rape if they never know it happened." he shrugged.

"Cut it out already!"

Ichenso looked away for a moment. Then he grabbed the fairy in a straitjacket by her knees, as Antares held her shoulders...

"Okay, okay, okay. Let's load her up..."

Oh oh Asil looks really in trouble now. That was a neat trick with the insects

The Joy of Hunting Part 7- Surprises


Their westwards march had been relatively unimpeded. Aside from dodging a few ghosts, and avoiding the areas where magic elementals thrived, thankful for the warnings of local signs and such, Samantha's pack had crossed with no problem the endlessly deep trench that kept the world safe from the Fairy Kingdom.

Notably, though, when they realized they had found a plain instead of another forest, upon crossing the very iconic Grey Bridge, Isa had a comment to make.

"Err..." she had said.”I think it was the other way around."

"I heard the Shimmering Sea is nice." Metzger had cut in. "All we have to do is go north..."

"But I want to go to the Forest of Whispers!" Samantha had complained. "They say it's full of horny lesbian fairies!"

"Which is exactly why I'm not interested!"

"Well, Metzger..." Marlene had sighed. "Much as I'd like to join you, the truth is, I don't need anything from the Shimmering Sea right now. All the bugs I want to study are in the Forest of Whispers."

"Oh, come on- it's a shorter road! There's a lot more room to fly!" he had complained...

...but he found himself ignored.

And so, they turned east, crossed the trench anew- marveling at the way the Fairy Kingdom looked from the outside, with that perpetual blue haze permeating the air. Ignoring Kortiki this time around, they crossed the river feeding the Lake of Illusions, and made a long, long way to the Forest of Whispers.

======

Samantha took a look around. The gigantic canopy created an effect she sure wasn't used to- the ground was quite dark, with occasional patches of light, probably moving with the day. Wherever the light beams shining through the canopy were largest, large bushes or small trees seemed to greedily hog them. This place wasn't nearly as illuminated- though the final effect was unarguably appealing, creating a deeper horizon than any of them had expected, populated by a hundred shades of green and brown. Green... and brown. Not blue. The only blue visible in the world, the cyan they were so familiar with, was so high above them they had the feeling they might as well have fallen into a cave, the canopy being as thick as the brambles in the ground.

"This place is horrible!" Metzger complained. "We should have gone to the beach instead!"

"So... this is the place you keep telling us about." Isa commented, looking at Sam, listening to the constant whirring of the world around them, the birds chirping, the frogs croaking, the insects whirring.

"This place's giving me the creeps!" Sam cringed.

"Err..." Isa took a deep breath. "I don't feel very safe here, I smell a lot of things and I don't know any of them."

"The ground's a little of a problem..." Marlene admitted. "...we'd better go up, into the canopy."

The three of them (and him) took a short hop up, and looked around.

"You have been here before, right?" Sam whispered.

"Sure!" Marlene winced. "I just can't recall how long ago it was."

The echo just hissed sluggishly in response as the group rode up an especially thick tree.

"But you do remember something? Anything at all?" Isa murmured. "I've been out in the wild, but that was behind the chasm. I have never been here, though I might be able to make do."

"Well... it might take a while for it to come back to me. Let's see, my mother taught me a rhyme that goes like this..." Marlene balled her fists. "Up to a cat's hop," she raised one finger from her left hand with every syllable. "You can see a cat," she raised the fingers from her right hand, before balling both fists again. "Up to a frog's hop you can see a frog" she repeated the process. "but for those quiet you keep your guard up, so look around and watch out for that log." she finished.

Isa rolled her eyes, curling her hands into fists. But a chuckle escaped her before she began.

"I'm no use singing..." she shook her head.

"Neither am I." Marlene chirped. "Let's see, decasyllable?" she balled her fists, punctuating every syllable with a finger. "In clear water, ten braces ten laps..." she stared at her hands.”In clear water, ten braces PER lap." she corrected herself. "If it's running don't you go chasing flow, the fish run together with the current and there'll always be one you don't know."

"Good one." Samantha smiled. "But that one's for the water."

"Right, just let me remember. I've had a lot of time to forget." Marlene sighed. "Hmm..."

"Let me try." Isa chirped, counting the syllables with her fingers. "Below the leaves there you bob up and down, between the big and the s-maller trunks." she hummed for a moment, checking her rhyme. "In the quiet of the heart listen close, and attune close to the feel all abounds."

"Oh, I never..." Samantha shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Guess we'll have to start using it, then?"

"Well, it IS sort of easier here; the background's not as intense..." Marlene admitted, looking around. "But I think the verse didn't go that way."

"And how do you think it went?" Isa asked.

"Below the leaves," she raised her head. "it peeks with no venom; don't just wait under the green branches..." she narrowed her eyes.”Don't just wait under the green branches..." she stopped.

"Wow, I didn't know that one stanza." Isa raised her eyebrows.

"I guess it must be old then..." Marlene rolled her eyes. "...because I forgot the rest. It peeks with no venom," she tried again. "Don’t just wait under the green branches, and..." she shook her head nervously. "It peeks with no venom; don't just wait under the green branches, your wings won't be always getting hunches, or hmhmhmhmhm?" She clicked her tongue. "Damn, I can't remember that verse at all!"

"No need to despair," Metzger began. "just think about it again, we know it rhymes with veNO!" he briefly gasped, an invisible force slamming into Sam and shoving her aside as a snake's mouth suddenly burst through some foliage right above them, aiming right for his sister.

For but an instant, the world turned into a flurry of action for Sam as her brother shoved her off the path of the snake's mouth. All she knew was that at one moment, she was trying to recall a rhyme on the dangers of the wild and the next she realized she had both been nearly slain and saved without her knowledge. Without her input. Without her anything. All she would've done was provide her presence.

In other words...

"Huhwha'!" she cried. "Bro?"

"I'm here!" he answered. "Is everyone okay?"

She turned around and saw Isa right there, wondering when had they gotten away. She followed her, moving away from the snake, still sizing her up, cautiously, her ears still buzzing from adrenaline... just then, a thought hit her.

"Where's Marlene?"

And a moment later she realized Marlene was lagging behind, her wings buzzing in her ears, the snake's eyes turning to the slowest part of the group.

"What... just..." Samantha mumbled.

"Away!" Isa cried, as the snake once more struck against someone floating in midair.

Marlene very narrowly dodged the serpent, going in a dive for a while, leaving the snake to bite the air. Its slithering coils hissed for an instant, as the animal spent no time bemoaning its luck, turning back to the branch and slithering away.

Their eldest sluggishly buzzed her way back up towards them.

"That was too close...!" Marlene gasped, catching up somewhat slowly with the group in midair. "Let's get outta here, give me a hand..." she held her hand out. Isa took it, and dragged her as the group moved away from the snake, towards another trunk, one as large as possible. Floating close to the trunk, the three of them looked around. And Metzger too.

"Why didn't we feel that serpent?" Isa mumbled.

"We did," the eldest began "but we were distracted and it wasn't moving too fast. It was... you bob up and down, between the big and the small-not trunks, Isa." she suddenly clicked her tongue. "I remember now! We avoid the smaller trees; we stay high in those parts, where it's roomy. Keep to the large trees, because they're larger around, it's harder to sneak AROUND them." she gasped.

"And now you tell us?" he grumbled.

"Look, I might be REALLY rusty... but I've been here before. I think I can help."

"That'd be great!" he cut in.

"But I'm not a fast flier, you'll have to help me too." she giggled nervously.

"Count on it." Isa chirped.

"Ah, great." Marlene let out a chuckle. "Okay, don't let go of me..."

"I won't, don't worry." Isa smiled.

Still holding hands, Isa and Marlene took off between that trunk and another one in sight. Sam followed them, trying to mimic their trajectory.

"So we bob up and down..." Isa said, slowly. Marlene nodded, having some difficulty keeping up despite holding tight to her hand- her own noisier, less effective wings were making it harder on both of them. Samantha tried carefully not to bump into the slow leading pair. Sooner than later, they cleared the distance between the two cyclopean trees.

But not very soon.

"Sorry if I'm slowing you down." Marlene chuckled, nervously.

"It's not a problem." Isa chirped back. "You don't need to apologize for everything."

"Thanks." Marlene smiled.

"Though there's one thing I'd like to ask..." he chirped.

"What is it?"

"Well... if this place is so ugly, why are we still here?"

And so, everyone glared in a different direction.

"Come on, we just got here, Bob."

"The best moment to get out, then!" he groaned. "You said this place gave you the creeps, and you said it was dangerous..."

"It's not THAT dangerous!" Marlene giggled.

"And weren't you going to study insects? But you didn't bring anything!"

"I can get paper anywhere, Bob." she smiled a little near the end. "And I can always study insects AFTER I've regained my forest legs... why so serious, anyway?"

"We're still in time to go to the beach."

"Oh, come on, give the forest a chance!" she giggled. "Let's go, Isa! Towards that one!"

Once more, two fey launched themselves from close to one of those colossal trunks, even more massive at their reduced scale, towards another tree in the distance.

"Catch us if you can!" Isa laughed.

The brunette fairy (and her invisible brother) chased after the slow pair, a wide smile visible in her face as she followed after her friends. Their loud buzzing seemed somehow not to come from a particular direction, slurred and multiplied as it was by the canopy.

"This is so much fun...!"

Apparently agreeing with her, some busybody bird fluttered down from the canopy. It was obviously cheating, as it had only started the race towards the tree; right before she could call it out on this, Sam wondered if maybe the bird wasn't playing a different game.

"Isa, watch out!" she cried, all of a sudden, as Marlene and Isa narrowly dodged the sneak attack: the bird had decided to play tag instead of race. They had but a moment to see that it was an owl, rust brown in color, after which, they scattered for an instant.

Before they could regroup, though, the owl had already singled out Isa. She cried in surprise as the animal flew after her, suddenly putting all she had into flying away.

"Isa, we're coming...!"

Whatever they were saying, the first priority was not to let anything bite her. She maintained her original bearing for a moment, before taking a sharp turn up when passing under a branch. Much to her chagrin, the owl didn't smack itself against the branch or anything... it flew under the branch as well, and then flapped its wings quickly to stop itself in midair, turning around towards her form, ducking on the branch right now. The quiet gasp in her face showed the owl exactly how screwed she was.

It brought one of its talons towards her. With a satisfying rip, it pulled what it had found, surprised not to see any blood.

Just then it saw something huge. Well, two huge things that filled its field of vision quickly, both of them wrapped inside a T-shirt reading "I'm with Bob". It decided not to wonder where its prize had went- it was probably best to chalk that one up as an "I was sooo close darn it!" and leave to hunt something special some other day. Otherwise, the creature attached to those huge round things inside the shirt was going to squash it like a bug: it was already swatting at it, with those hands that were big enough to fit its full wingspan of six feet.

It would be nice to know where had it come from, at least, the owl thought as it flew away into the canopy again. Geez, it was the third time this week it tried to catch one of those weird small things and something big came to stop it.

"Damn, it got away."

Isa just then realized something absolutely colossal was casting a shade on her. As the shade moved away, she looked up to see her friend, Sam, with that fluffy, neck-long brown hair cropping her face, with those huge green eyes, and being unspeakably colossal in general. Sort of like her mother.

"Are you alright, Isa?"

"I... wow, you actually pulled that off." Isa sighed. "Yes, it got me for a moment..."

Looking down at her thigh, she saw a line of pale, scraped skin where the creature had gotten her. She gulped- she hadn't felt a thing in their brief chase or in the even briefer struggle afterwards.

Samantha's eye brought itself down towards her. As she looked at that enormous green on black ring swimming in white, she couldn't help but realize that fairies probably looked really versatile to other creatures. Right now, that eye seemed to be bigger than... her field of vision. Wait, it WAS bigger than her field of vision.

"I don't see any red." Samantha said.

"But my shorts are ruined." Isa sighed, in what might've been relief, resignation, or despair. It was quite an ambiguous sigh, actually, as a shred of torn leather slid down her thigh. She tried to stand up, holding her shorts to her waist...

"Samantha?" Marlene suddenly asked in her ear. The colossal fairy turned to look at the eldest. "Shrink back."

"Huh?"

"Look down. Carefully."

Sam looked down, carefully, and gulped. Though the owl had went home, there were now more challengers wanting to join the game, like a long-snouted creature with six clawed legs. It seemed to be considering its options carefully; she was high in the air, and it couldn't fly, but it was probably just a matter of time until it found a way around that obstacle.

Then it seemed to give up and find something more according to its abilities, walking away, seemingly shrugging.

"It's gone..."

"There are always more of them, Sam, they're just hidden." Marlene replied. "Now shrink back."

She took a deep breath, and almost disappeared into herself, flitting right up to Isa, still on the branch.

The damage had been a little more severe than it had seemed at first; Isa's vest suddenly fell down her shoulder. Her other arm quickly moved to catch it, as she weakly stood up, trying to hold her shorts with her legs. Gulping, still shaking, she felt Sam's hand around her back.

Of course, she could repeat as long as she wanted that size was not a constant- but what she had just seen and been through showed that its importance was. Only a moment ago she could've been eaten by an owl. Only her friend bursting to a magnitude she had never seen the need to reach herself had actually stopped the owl. And her vest... had been decimated.

"My leg's feeling sore..."

"You've got a gash there." Marlene pointed. "You might want to sit down for now."

She didn't need to be told twice, sitting down -almost crumbling down- on the spot, looking at the red line down her thigh, just like her two friends.

"Shouldn't be too bad..." the eldest sluggishly mumbled.”Does it hurt?"

"Not really..." Isa replied.

Sam looked down and around for a while.

"See anything?" Marlene asked, casually.

"Hmm... no, I don't see anything."

"Good, stay that way. Your wings okay?"

"I think..."

"Then we should get going."

Standing up, holding the clothes by the tears, Isa started flitting up. Her friend stood up.

"Not that it's any of my business, but do you really need those?" Sam pursed her lips.

"What do you mean?"

"If you aren't using magic, you should rinse the wounds and let them breathe." she said. "That wasn't exactly clean before, either..."

Just then Isa winced, shaking.

"What's the matter?"

"Now it hurts..."

"It never does right away." the eldest nodded. "Come on, Sam's right. We need to get that wound cleaned up."

"But what about my...?"

"Discard them, obviously." Marlene replied. "They're torn, there's blood, they're no good anymore. I know that much."

Isa grinned for an instant, thinking of herself in her birthday suit, just like Marlene.

"But unlike you I've got some modesty..."

"I do, I don't wear anything that screams to be taken off."

"You're not wearing anything at all!"

"If I did it wouldn't be tatters over a wound. Why ARE you wearing it, anyway? It's warm enough here."

"She wears that to look scary in it."

"Actually I..."

"Well, right now you're taking it off or we're making you."

Blushing a little, Isa took off her black, studded leather vest, dropping it on the branch, where it spread wide open. Her shorts followed- now lying there, they were obviously in bad shape.

"And how do we find water?" Isa asked, her face red enough to make her friends forget about her side.

"Ah! I know!" Sam chirped. "Downhill!"

======

Following the ground downhill, eventually they came across a small pond. Though it hardly looked crystal clear, its approval rate was clearly marked by all the small animals partaking of the water. If there's no better salesman than a satisfied customer, then this pond was sold out. No vacancies.

Of course, tourists always act like the world belongs to them, like vacancies were included in their travel arrangements and they paid for it. Hell, they act like they bought out the world and it's okay to break anything they like and in general make a nuisance of themselves. Even the cheap ones who clearly didn't pay a dime. For instance, Marlene and Samantha.

"CANNONBAAAAALL!"

With only enough time to curse for an instant, every animal that could hopped out of the water on the spot. Every animal that couldn't cried in powerlessness as death seemed to come out of nowhere for no reason whatsoever. Great was their surprise when they found themselves washed out of the pond by the wave.

They took an instant to count their blessings that they survived the wave created by hundred-something feet of fairy. She smiled to herself, satisfied, at the sight that there were no large animals in the pond. Turning her gaze around, she suddenly fixated it on something just above her eyes, on a tree close to her. A small, green and brown bug flit up to accompany her sight.

"Oh, a bird's nest..." she smiled.”I always loved those."

"I think it's a magpie." the bug said, from her shoulder.

"You mean the ones that collect shiny things? I wonder if..." she suddenly walked up to the root and tiptoed, smiling, reaching up towards the branch with her arms, and pulling herself up. Looking down at the nest, she suddenly made the day for anyone who could see her face.

"Nemyra." she mumbled. "This is ridiculous."

"Not really, if you think about it." the bug chirped. "I mean, it's shiny, right? Chromed, isn't it?"

"I know, but still, a revolver?" she shook her head, turning away. A moment later she had picked up something from the ground and flown away, leaving the animals in the pond with something else they would rather not know.

======

Meanwhile, half a mile from the aforementioned pond.

"Still hurts?"

"Sort of." she grumbled, covering her chest with her arm. The person talking to her made a pause.

"Just so that you know, you don't have anything I haven't seen before."

"So what?"

"Just saying, I know what's behind your arm. And up your sleeve. And in your pants."

"Shut up, Bob."

The voice made a pause.

"Either way, Isa, now that we're alone, there's one thing I've got no idea about you."

"Hm?"

"You're a friend of my sister, right?"

"Yes, we're friends."

"Well, maybe you'll be able to explain to me how comes it you three have been living in town for your entire life, but only hours later you were out-and-out eating everyone you met." Metzger said, sluggishly.

"Oh..." Isa shrugged. "I didn't really ask myself what was right or wrong, I just sort of... went with it."

"And that was okay with you?"

"Wasn't that okay with you? You didn't stop us."

"I'm just saying that it... happened too fast. I tried to stay out of trouble, doubly so with you three, I thought you'd do the same." he said, seeing her fiddle with her hair.

"So?"

"No, I'm asking. I know that people out in the forest don't see anything wrong with it, but what about you?"

"And what about you, Metzger?" she turned towards the base of the branch, pursing her lips.

The invisible fairy made a pause.

"Well, I..." he began.”I've preferred to keep to fruits for the time being. Starting to get a little sick of them, though."

"And would you eat someone?"

"Maybe... most likely, sure. How do you feel about it?"

Isa took a deep breath.

"I really don't know what to tell you. I told you I wasn't thinking whether it was right or wrong. And to be honest, I don't care anymore."

"You don't care?"

"All I know is that I've been trying to discern right from wrong for a lifetime... and I've never felt this free." she smiled, her eyes lighting up.

"Aha?"

"Yes. I can't explain it. It's like... it's my friends and I against the world, now or never, and that's all there's to it! I can't explain it, but, if this is wrong, I, I don't want to be right." she chuckled. "I guess it CAN sound pretty monstrous..."

"No, no, I can relate to that." he cut her off. "Mainly came with you all to get some room. Same with my sister, she needed some room too."

"She needed a lot of room." Isa remarked.

"What do you mean?"

"I was just thinking, a while ago, with the owl..."

"No, not that kind of room. We needed to get out a little. Sam had been having trouble with her parents, they were everywhere for her."

"And for you?"

"Dad can yell really loud, I needed to get away a little too." he chuckled. "So I know: it's not a city, and the people aren't people. The jungle for you."

"Yes. I know it's dangerous, I mean... I'm not special either, but doesn't it feel that way anyway?"

"Yes it does. I wonder why Marlene isn't studying any bugs, helping you get the hang of your magic, or bringing the water you needed."

"Sorry, what's the matter with me?" someone asked in midair. Midair [sic] gasped.

"Ah, there you are."

"Metzger, it's only been a couple days! Give me a break; I want to enjoy myself too." Marlene giggled. Next to her, Sam brought the leaf, placing it right before Isa. Somehow, it didn't fall over or spill. Shrinking herself back to Isa's size, Sam flew around the leaf and sat next to her friend.

"I got some leeches bringing you that water. Didn't eat them, she told me they could stick to my throat." Sam smiled. "Okay, you can wash those gashes."

Standing up and approaching the leaf, Isa thought for a moment about something to say.

"But just out of curiosity, is there anything good to eat around here?" she asked, taking a handful of water to scrub her wound by hand.

"Well, there's fruits." Marlene replied. "Just... different." Seeing Isa's blank stare, she decided to elaborate. "In general, they're more watery in this rainforest..."

"Watery fruits?" Isa inquired, with a wince, the branch beneath her soaked.

"Yes..." the darker-skinned fairy shrugged.”You know... I think the word is... citr... citrhmm..."

"Citroise?" Isa offered.

"No, the citroise isn't one." Marlene replied. "I heard the word once, I think..."

"Citrus?" he asked.

"That's the one. Like lemons."

"Yes, it's ironic that citroises aren't actually citrus." he pointed. "They're fleshy fruits, actually."

"Citrus can be fleshy too." Isa added. "Lemons are fleshy citrus."

"Wait... are citroises like lemons?" Sam cut in. "Because I had a lemon once. I didn't like it."

Her two friends (and Metzger) looked at her.

"What?" Isa cut in, done with her thigh.

"I ate a lemon, I didn't like it." Sam replied.

"I guess!" Isa chuckled. "You can't eat a lemon on its own! Lemons are like salt and pepper!"

"Speaking of fleshy fruits, I got you one." Marlene put a hand on her back for a moment, and produced a small, yellow and red fuzzy heart-shaped fruit. It was just a little over a handful to her shrunken form.

"What's that called?"

"It's called a peach." Marlene chirped. "Here, try it."

"Did you bring enough for everyone?" Metzger asked.

Marlene smiled and shrugged, looking at Isa. She took a bite.

"Sweet." she hummed. "Real sweet."

"Yeah, isn't it?"

Just then she heard something disorienting. A slight buzzing.

"And that?" Isa asked.

Looking around, Samantha and Marlene searched for the source of the buzz. It took only a moment for the buzzing to turn into a screeching roar- and another for them to detect the source.

Swarming through the air, countless black blots spiraled towards their tree, as if carried by a rolling wave, each of them buzzing slightly- all together, reverberating against the canopy, they sounded like apocalypse. Swarming in the forest, she thought she heard them mentioned somewhere. Those animals were probably...

Isa tried to speak, but she couldn't very well make herself heard over the sound of that swarm. Looking at Marlene, she was looking back at her- much to her surprise, she suddenly grabbed her arm, brought herself right behind her, and placing her arms around her, everything went dark, everything was dampened, and then everything was warm and tight.

She tried to struggle in the darkness, and all of a sudden she found her arms trapped as the sound died down around her. Violent now, she opened her mouth and bit down on her bindings- to no effect. Whatever she had bitten, it had barely felt it. She could feel her wings pressed down against a soft surface behind her, the whole world was growing quieter.

======

An instant later there was light from above.

"Are you alright?" Marlene's voice asked, her brown face looming down at her.

Isa gasped for a moment, realizing she had merely been embraced. And she had tried to bite Marlene's finger. She hadn't felt a thing, behind her; every of those fingers was easily three times thicker than her body. And she knew this was far from the eldest's limit.

"I... what just happened?" she gasped.

"Locusts." Marlene replied. "You were too small; I needed to get you out of there."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she protested.

"I did! I told you, loud and clear!"

"I couldn't hear you!" Isa protested.

"But I did tell you." she smirked.

Isa frowned, looking away, right at Sam. She had turned into a cyclopean humanoid as well- on par with some of the trees. Taking a deep breath, she sighed.

"It's okay."

Marlene smiled apologetically as Isa flitted up from her view. Then she disappeared- right before Isa felt someone put an arm just barely around her neck.

"Don't get mad at me..." was all Marlene could muster, hugging her from the side, trying to avoid her wings. She felt as light as a warm, apologetic backpack. "Please."

"You could've hurt my wings!" Isa cried at the small, dark-skinned face resting on her shoulder, with those pale grayish irises, that thin mouth, all those dark spots all over her soft cheeks and forehead.

"Well, there'd still be us, right?" the little fairy on her shoulder asked, trying to sound innocent. "I would protect you." Isa grimaced. "What's the matter?"

"...nothing."

Marlene tilted her head.

"It's never nothing."

"I'm sorry, I just... it's a little silly."

"If it bothers you it isn't silly." Sam said, getting down to her knees and then nearly vanishing to stand next to Isa, just about her height.

Isa began turning beet red.

"Come on, we're friends." Marlene added, tightening her arm around her neck. Too tight.

"Say it!" Sam cried.

"It's..." she mumbled, looking away. "I'm powerless here, but you two..."

"And Metzger..." he interrupted.

"Shut up, this is serious!" Sam cried. "Go on."

"But you two can always do your magic, and change the situation. I need you two."

"And that bothers you?" Marlene asked, too close to her ear.

"Sort of. Yes." Isa replied. "I feel like dead weight. All I've done was complaining about my vest... and now."

"I need you to fly." Marlene chirped.

"I don't mind you complaining about those things." Sam smiled. "Don't keep it to yourself, Isa."

"And if you hadn't shown Marlene she has commitment issues, we wouldn't be here at all." he pointed. "Or so I heard. From Sam." he added quickly.

Isa smiled.

"Thanks, girls."

"And me?"

"Yeah, what about you?"

"Don't you find it in the least ironic that you think it's a good thing that indirectly because of you you're here, when being here is what has put you in the powerless position?" he pointed.

Isa blankly looked at Marlene.

"I don't get it. What did he say?"

"I don't get it either." Marlene replied.

"Neither do I." Sam chirped.

"I mean, why are you glad you are here? If you weren't here you wouldn't see everyone else being powerful."

"No, her mom reminds her of all she's missing at every chance."

"...uh."

"So the only difference is that here, it's with us!" Marlene grinned. "And don't worry; I'm going to help you."

"We haven't made any progress!"

"I know." Marlene replied. "It worried me too; it even scared me at first that I might not be able to help you."

Boy, talk about an unexpected answer.

"And... if you really can't, then...?" Isa tried.

"It's too early to tell!" Marlene chirped. "I'm going to keep trying. We'll still be friends if I can't, right?"

"I, well..."

"Of course!" Marlene grinned. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, we'll always be friends."

Isa could only smile a little at that statement.

"Sorry, I can be a jerk sometimes."

"We won't let you STAY one, that's for sure." Sam grinned.

Isa's hand slid around Marlene's small body, and then dragged her to the front, still spinning around her neck, to give her a hug, feeling her rigid, thick beetle wings.

"You've got some weird wings, Marlene."

"I know." she giggled.

"What's the matter?"

"This time around, we're both naked."

Isa shook for an instant, her arms loosening up around her.

"Not comfortable, now?" Marlene asked, raising her gaze towards Isa. "Come on, I'm practically a baby. Hold me tight..." she laughed. "...or I'll cry!"

"I'm not that silly." Isa laughed, hugging Marlene even tighter.

"How many people could get the wrong idea from this?" Metzger wondered out loud.

======

"I don't really think it's necessary..." Isa grinned. "We can do something else if you want."

"But I want to do this, Isa." Marlene replied, wiggling her toes. "And I want you to try it with me." she added, taking the peach peel, extending it like a sheet over the branch.

"Why don't we instead...?"

"Come on, don't resist me." Marlene chirped, holding Isa's shoulders. "Lay on the peel."

Isa sighed.

"Okay..." she added, lying down on the peel. It was a little moist, but also warm, and comfortable. It did smell of something edible, but that wasn't what was stopping her.

In front of her, Marlene laid herself down too.

"Let's toe fight!" the eldest grinned, bringing their toes closer.

Isa let out a small chuckle, as her foot snaked out to catch Marlene's toes. Wiggling violently, she managed to free one toe in time to...

"And how important is this?"

...answer Isa's question.

"I don't know. Maybe feeling the texture around you, maybe feeling something you want to wrap yourself around completely will get you to grow. It's nice to feel it against this surface... you'll feel it soon enough!" the eldest grinned, as her other foot jumped out to catch the toes holding hers down. "Maybe it won't work, but toe fights are fun!"

Especially for Sam's dirty mind, playing the voyeur in this case. Of course it was just an innocent toe fight between two naked ladies on a fuzzy rug, but that let her mind wander to doing other things on a fuzzy rug. There was one problem, though, the kind of obstacle to a dirty thought everyone and their mothers knows.

"Metzger?"

"Yes?"

"Can you go for a rain check?"

Too considerate to tell her it was her turn to let him enjoy the show or to tell her no way in hell he was going anywhere in this place alone, he decided to do just that.

"Alright. I'll be at Huntress." he grumbled, jumping off towards the distance. Immediately he let his mind relax, trying to pay a different kind of attention, avoiding anywhere there was just too much life for a man to handle. Shifting to the size of a large goat, he started dowsing for anything to avoid while he strolled through the forest. Now that he was a fair distance from these three girls, he could once more feel himself and everything else too. Right now it seemed as good a time as any to turn back towards the Bridge of the Huntress.

======

It's not that he wanted to go back; he'd have at least told them before doing so. It's just it was about the only thing he could think of right now that was worth looking at. Wasn't too far away, either, so he might as well take the opportunity to enjoy another look at it. As much as it didn't have much architectural value, it was kind of nice to look at. Last time he hadn't been really paying attention, busy as he had been sulking about the fact they should've went to the beach instead.

Now as he approached the tree line, a nearly bottomless chasm rose in the horizon, the blue forest on the other side obscured by the vaporous sky reaching down for the earth. Past the last trees, the bridge itself came into sight- or rather, some of the bridge: though anyone could get a general idea of what the bridge was, it was a little hard to tell which elements composed the bridge and which ones didn't.

This so-called "bridge" comprised a pretty hefty number of stones floating in place, not all of which had a flat and even surface. Some did, and were actually pretty big; maybe there had been a bridge at one point and it had been sundered, or maybe there had been no such thing and this floating stone naturally cleaved into such angles. Either interpretation had sufficient proof, depending on which rocks one chose to consider part of the bridge.

He wondered, too, what would the two people who had just appeared on one of the bigger rocks think about it.

He didn't know many people who could do that. Mezzus, and... That’s about it. Shame this wasn't Kortiki, he'd have to keep his distance or he risked them shooting first and asking questions later.

One of them had a flowing golden mane; the other one had red, short, pale hair. They were too far to make out any more details- though all of a sudden, the one with the golden hair started bounding across the stones with an agility he didn't think possible. The other one seemed to stir for an instant, hesitating about trying to pursue; as the bounding figure loomed closer and closer to the edge of the bridge, he saw it was a she. She stopped right beneath him, looking back at her companion.

Well, he didn't think she'd stop him from watching the bridge in respectful silence, either.

"Mmm..." she chirped. "I can smell a tasty fairy!"

Up to that moment, at least.

======

He held his breath.

"Navari, don't stray too far!" the man cried, suddenly materializing in front of her. He was clad in a black cloak too, only his hair was short, pale red. His swarthy face looked a little tan. "I've got only so much teleportation!"

"But I feel some good eating, Moirat!" she protested. "You know I'm always hungry!"

"I don't see food improving that. Why do you even bother?" he snarled.

"You two, what's the matter?" another woman asked, dropping into the ground, zooming down in front of Metzger; he quickly spotted a large predatory bird, around the size of a large dog, right over the position she'd fallen from. She had a black cloak, but even then, he could perceive an odd bulge under it- almost like a jar. It felt faint.

"Umm... I thought I felt a fairy!" Navari tried. "Hey, Misty, can you help me get it?"

Misty looked up, much to Metzger's chagrin. She was pale, with blood red hair... pursing her lips, she brought the jar from under her clothes.

"What the...?" he suddenly gasped at the sight, he knew the someone in that jar. But it had been too far and brief for him to be certain.

Unlike Navari who was now certain.

"Ooooh, I heard you..." she giggled.”But I can't see you! Are you invisible?"

Metzger stifled his breath. Something about the blonde made him feel safer... running away at high speeds.

She started sniffing.

"Mmm, yes, I can smell a fairy..." she started striding forward.”I'll be right there!"

"NAVARI, NO!" Moirat barked, much to his relief. He was surprised to see her turn around slowly, looking at Moirat with puppy eyes.

"Why not...?"

"Because I've been through enough grief already!" Moirat barked. "Now hold your horses and get following me!"

"But... if she tells someone, we're in trouble!"

"We're in enough trouble just having you around." he growled. "Shut it and start following me!"

Rebuked like that, she could only grimace.

"Okay..." she whined.

"Don't whine!"

She looked down for a moment. The red-haired woman handed over the jar, taking a water skin- and then a long swig from it.

"I'll take care of the fairy." Misty cut in. "You two go on without me, we're already behind schedule."

"... Okay." Moirat said, taking the large jar.

And now, Metzger had snuck close enough to sneak a peek at it...

...without a shadow of reasonable doubt, that was someone he knew. He took a short hop up, and flew back towards the group...

...just in time to hear a SHING and duck behind a tree, in time for a volley of spikes to zoom past his ear.

"Moirat, phase out." Misty commanded.

Moirat nodded. Taking Navari's arm, the two of them faded from view.

======

"Now it's just us." Misty pursed her lips, looking around, advancing sluggishly. Then she took a deep breath, and put her hands to her mouth.

Metzger took a REALLY deep breath instead. After inhaling several cubic meters of air, he let out a deep breath, ready to catch her in the palm of his hand. She was being careful, but not nearly careful enough...

...at least that's what he thought, feeling something smack against his ass. She looked through him, at the object that was right now falling off his invisible ass- he turned around in time to see it was a bird, giving her the opening she needed to dart into the brush, spooking several birds, which flew off into the canopy, beyond his attention.

"Oh no you don't!" he cried, lunging for the brush- she skidded away from his grasp almost too fast to be believed. "I'm not letting you get away with this!"

Interestingly enough, she didn't answer. Damn, she wasn't stupid.

"Over here, stupid." she barked, still wrapped in a black robe. He took a deep breath, trying not to let himself get goaded. If he kept oafing his way at her, at this scale, she'd catch on, invisible or not. If he wanted to be stealthy, there was only one scale he could use.

Breathing out through his mouth, wondering how serious she was, he tried to think of something to say before he did anything violent.

"Why don't you just give up?" he tried, omitting that there were more fairies. He wasn't that stupid.

"Are there more fairies?" she asked.

He didn't respond.

"That silence only confirms it." she answered.

He gulped, quietly, trying not to let her figure anything out. She was bluffing. His poker face was perfect.

"What were you doing with that fairy?" he continued, omitting that he knew her.

"Do you know her?"

He didn't respond.

"That silence only confirms it."

Damn.

"Who are you?" he continued, omitting that he was scared.

"Are you scared?" she asked, smirking.

He didn't respond.

"I don't even NEED you to be quiet. You haven't done anything but let me know where your throat is." she grinned. "Haven't thought this through?" she chuckled.

He still didn't respond.

"I don't think I'll have to." he replied. She looked at him. Yes. At him.

Well, a little too low, maybe at his sternum. Then she turned around- he seized the chance to move one foot straight up, and then step on a hard root, steadying himself against a tree. Maybe he wouldn't need to shrink back.

"Though I suppose it IS a little hopeless a situation... don't you think?" she sighed. "After all, you can change size and whether I believe it or not you're invisible. It's the first time I've met an invisible fairy. I suppose that's why I haven't met many of the males... are most of you invisible?"

He smirked. He wouldn't answer, instead dragging one foot above the brush, stepping on a hard root, hoping not to get caught.

"Of course not, that would be foolish." she said, much to his amusement. "I take it from your curiosity that you're intending to take me alive? Just let me put on some makeup then, that way maybe you'll look at me with other eyes..." she giggled. "Because I don't think you'll let me live. To get me to talk, you intend to torture me, right?"

Almost there. He brought his hand down...

...and then a bird smacked itself against his face. It was white and very blurry at this distance- it had literally smacked itself up his nose. He gasped, inhaling several feathers- a moment later, he had lost track of her.

"Whuh'... I'll getcha!" he mumbled, taking to the air and flitting away. He could tell she was somewhere close- though he felt a little dizzy from having inhaled something, he could still feel her. She wasn't far from here, she was still there, sending out that signal for a man-sized animal, rarefied somehow. Whatever she was, she wasn't exactly human. Not EXACTLY human...

He clapped several times.

"HEY YOU!" he cried as loud as he could, darting in the air towards her.

======

Signaling for help in an area known to have kenshas. Faebane dust sure helped, especially when applied directly to the nostrils- shame that they weren't likely to pursue that fairy, it was invisible after all. Well, it wouldn't matter. She'd just keep that loser busy for a while, unless the chance to catch him presented itself. He wouldn't be working smart right now, she thought to herself, grinning, as she darted through the brush in her black cloak, taking sharp turns and hops in occasion.

"I WILL EAT YOU!" he barked, hoping that Isa, Samantha and Marlene were listening to his yelling. If he named them, she'd know something was up. Until then, it was odd how easily she seemed to keep up with him. He was invisible, but she seemed to know exactly where he was!

-Wait a moment. - He thought, looking through his chest for a moment... -Oh crap. Oh bird crap. Can't let down the pursuit now or she'll get away!-

That bird a while ago had marked him! And that other bird...! He had to give them all a warning!

"YOU CONTROL BIRDS!?" he cried. "IT'S NOT GOING TO HELP YOU, YOU...!"

Having a reduced taunting vocabulary had never bothered him so much.

"Save your words, stupid!" Misty cackled. "You're finished!"

"PROVE IT AND SHOW ME!" he cried, taking a side turn; she didn't waste a moment vanishing from view as he rubbed out the bird crap from his skin. Then he kept up pursuit, teeth grit, as fast as he could. Stretching both hands forward, he grabbed her...

...and she threw him forward.

"What the...!?" he barked, realizing she was now around his size- no, HE was now around her size. Barely could he manage to steady himself in midair when all of a sudden she swung a stick right into his stomach.

"AHCK...!" she had swung the air out of him. He tried to struggle away, but one swing of her stick, right in the shin, and he fell to the ground. Another swing and everything went dark just as he cried...

"HELP M-!"

======

Misty was about to swing her stick one last time when a loud cry alerted her to a couple individuals trying to sneak up on her. Turning around quickly, she saw a dark-skinned fairy and a tan one.

"You his girlfriends?"

"You leave my brother alone right now!" the tan one said. She had a shirt, reading "I'm with Bob."

"Nice shirt." she smirked.

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM...!"

"I'll handle this." the taller, dark-skinned one said, turning to the hunter.

The hunter narrowed her eyes- just in time to find herself drowning in a sea of black cloth, her stick chattering against the ground as it dropped next to her. Almost unexpected. Almost. She quickly ran up to one of her shoes- she had been shrunken far too much; even those seemed like more than she could clamber over at the moment! Maybe by hiding under the arch...

Just then someone tossed the whole bundle over, her colossal, dark-skinned form, her impersonal gray eyes, her massive green mane framing the picture as her endless hand brought itself down on top of her. She'd avoid the hand, it was too big, she could slip between her fingers...

...no she couldn't, she suddenly felt her proportions bursting out violently in every direction, the air rushing around her ears, the ground shifting beneath her, until she was the right size to be grabbed! Her legs scrambled, but she could only squawk as she fell on her rear, that hand reaching towards her.

Almost at once, the bare colossus before her was besieged from behind by the talons of a bird of prey, one she called Gaul. They sank into her wings- she groaned for a moment in disbelief. Instantly, Misty regained her full scale and punched her in the nose.

Not a moment to spare, she realized that next to her the other fairy had now grown to the size of a tree. She quickly put her feet in her sandals and grabbed her stick. Her other clothes could wait- all she really needed right now were her shoes.

"Hey, idiot!" she snarled. "Follow me!"

Striding away from that third fairy, with her brown hair and green eyes, she held her stick, standing with both legs spread. And naked, and holding a six-foot long stick in her snow-white hands. She had just gotten two in a row, three was nothing. Small inexperienced group, obviously. Well, she'd get them all if that was the case. Even that one right now standing in front of her, the size of a tree, having just shooed Gaul out of her friend's wings.

This wasn't Gaul's part. Piggy was going to bring this one down. Or rather... this seemed like an opportunity to bring forth Mojave, though it was probably a little overkill. She had been itching for the chance to bring forth Mojave for a while already.

No, this wouldn't do. Mojave was only for the direst circumstances, it wouldn't do to show their full potential together here and now. Piggy would deal with this one handily enough.

Just then she saw another fairy flitting right by. Two, rather than one? Okay, it was time to bring Mojave.

Holding out her hand, a sparrow flit up to it, bringing her top. The brunette fairy turned to the pile of clothes she had left behind, to realize it was now one top and one pair of short pants short. Just then she lunged forward behind the tree she had been, hoping to catch her dressing herself.

======

Instead, she caught nothing. Looking around for a moment, she finally locked on to her energy. It was human- but not quite exactly. She turned to look at Isa again...

"Isa, Marlene, she's still here! Watch out, I think she can control birds!"

Marlene nodded, sitting up, wiping the blood off her nose.

"Just stay here, Sam. With you whole she won't be able to take us." Marlene pointed. Isa flitted over her face.

"Isa...?" Marlene grumbled. "Is anything the matter?"

Isa shook her head. Just then, he stirred.

"Metzger, are you okay?"

"She's got Rui!" he cried. "They've got Rui!"

"Metzger, she hit you pretty hard..." Marlene began.

"I'm serious, I saw her!" he insisted. "She had two companions, she helped them escape, that's why she attacked me!" he cried. "They were carrying a fairy!"

"What...!?"

"Sam, you can't... we HAVE to catch her!" he cried. "She's here, we can't let her gWAGH!"

Just as she was turning to look at him again, she saw some dust rise from the ground- so Metzger had just fell over again. And right behind him, there was that huntress, with a stick. Fuck it, she was HORRIBLY fast. Marlene quickly stood up, to which the huntress responded with a sudden thrust to the neck- just then she raised her arm to parry. She managed to avoid the first thrust, and then she parried -painfully- the coming swing.

And just then Sam burst back into the clearing to catch her.

"Don't let her get away!" Marlene cried.

Standing up, Samantha stormed towards the huntress. Though her steps were a lot wider, the huntress managed a frantic pace that belied her size- and her twisted trajectory was nearly impossible to follow! More than once, she needed to steady herself against a tree. It was surprising for her that she was actually gaining on the huntress...

SHING!

Pulling her stick apart in two, the fairy gasped as she saw that each end had become the handle for a long, sharp blade. Turning around for an instant, she slashed away at her pursuer's finger.

It barely hurt, though the sensation was still far from pleasant and even a little distracting. Gritting her teeth, she gasped and kept pursuing, hoping the kenshas wouldn't get to her. At least, at this size, it had to be the kenshas. That woman didn't control kenshas- she hoped.

"MOJAVE!"

"ARGH!?" Samantha cried. In front of her... well, this was unexpected. Not impossible to deal with, but still unexpected. She had never expected a bird this big.

That woman had summoned a glouteux somehow.

"Mojave, eh!?" she cried, lunging once more for the huntress. She ran around the bird- as the fairy tried to shove it off, the creature clawed at her arms. "What the hell!?" she backed off for an instant.

"How do you like that!?" the huntress cried. "How do you like my new friend!? Go get her, Mojave!"

Though the bird was a third her size, it was still massive enough for concern- specially its claws and beak.

"But they don't...!"

"I DO!" the huntress barked.

"SCREW THIS!" Swinging a single kick, drowning in adrenaline, Samantha heard the creature flutter and felt it swing wildly at her shin with its claws as the edge of her foot smacked its belly and sent it tumbling the hell out of her life, leaving a trail of feathers, leading up to the spot where the bird hit the ground after hitting a tree.

"MOJAVE, HANG ON!" she turned towards her bird. A large foot promptly got in her way. The same foot that had just kicked Mojave to the curb. A foot leading up to the largest leg she'd see in some time. A leg that attached to the largest waist she had ever considered shapely.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Samantha yelled, her fingers driving right at her.

The huntress looked up at her for an instant.

"This isn't over!" she replied, quickly hopping over her foot and running towards Mojave. Samantha took a short hop to reach her, and then, she saw something she wished she hadn't.

It looked for an instant like the huntress had meant to tackle the bird, but then her back sort of stuck to the underside of its throat. She writhed for a few moments- whatever that was, Samantha thought it'd be best if she cut it out. So reaching down, she tried to grab her...

...to find the bird suddenly squawk and peck her finger furiously. The bird stood up with renewed vigor, the huntress stuck to its throat and belly. Her form rippled for a moment on the bird, whose gullet started to swell.

As the huntress fell to the ground, the bird let out a loud cry together with a damp squelch. Strings of pink flesh now connected the huntress and bird together- her back to its neck. It wasn't skin pink- it was flesh pink. As if they were disembodied blood vessels, these strings were beating- and as if they were snakes, they slowly lifted the huntress off the ground, holding her above the creature's head. Raising both her hands, each of them holding a piece of her earlier weapon, she assembled them together- this time, as a two-bladed sword. Interestingly enough, the blades were bone.

"Nemyra..." Samantha mumbled, seeing the aberration's four eyes lock on her.

The huntress' arms swelled with veins that weren't there before, as the animal's eyes filled with ill-suited malice. Her knuckles drew tighter, her mouth opened slightly ajar.

"I will destroy you!" the abomination squawked from its human mouth, that body held above its head by several strands of slick flesh, holding a two-bladed sword, almost naked. Even if the composite was a third her size, it might as well have been whirring and covered in blood. And it was painfully clear to her that she was alone.

For some reason, she felt some epic music would go well with this...

======

Backing away from the wild swings of that double-edged sword, Samantha grimaced ever tighter. She had tasted one of those blows, on her shin, a moment ago- it DID hurt, a lot. Whatever that huntress was on, it worked. The glouteux's talons and beak were also beginning to hurt. She had to find a way to avoid retaliation; the huntress was much more trained than she was, even as a bizarre monster only a third her size. A club right now would help, a big club or branch...

As she tried to hop up and fly for something to snap and kill her with, the creature suddenly took the mother of all hops upward and clung to her shirt, slashing at her forehead. She managed to swat the thing away -getting a cut in her hand for her trouble- but before she could put some distance, the thing decided to rout her retreat, and hopping towards her leg, she suddenly found herself unable to find any leverage to swat it out.

Dropping heavily to the ground, Samantha tried to kick the creature away again. It backed off on its own, just as she rubbed some blood out of her eyes with her arm. She didn't want to shrink anywhere near it. It was too fast to escape by flight. And she was running out of choices.

"What's the matter, can't see!?" the huntress laughed.

Just then, Sam saw something quarter of mile away- a muddy spot.

Wait a moment, all that mud, this used to be a pond. And close to it... come to think of it, she had something better than a club. And she didn't need it to be big, she could make it big. It hadn't hurt her wings, for some reason.

"NOW it's over." the huntress pointed. "Now let's see. If you shrink back, I'll capture you, instead of killing you. You see, that's why I never hurt your wings. How does that sound?"

Gingerly, Sam gulped, turned, and bolted, before the huntress' eyes. That wasn't completely unexpected.

"You're not getting AWAY FROM ME!" she cried, running towards her next catch. Swiftly, she gained on her, just as she flailed for a branch, and just as she was reaching her wings, she turned around. Her talons reached her collarbone- the fairy managed to briefly swat her away again, but at this rate, she'd need a REAL surprise to get out of this alive.

"Hasta la vista, baby!" Samantha barked, suddenly flailing a revolver towards her with her other hand. The huntress cried in surprise just as the fairy pulled the trigger...

BANG!

...which was just about the only thing she knew about revolvers. You see, it's not enough to pull the trigger. You need a steady arm, you need to point carefully, and you need some practice even then; muscle memory is the only thing that can prevent a bullet from flying wherever the hell it damn pleases if you try to aim while in a hurry.

Then again, some people are just lucky. Lucky enough that they stumble upon a semi-automatic revolver, semi-auto of all things, so it doesn't matter that they forget to fan the hammer even if the last wielder didn't.

BANG!

Ignoring the pain in her wrist, she pointed the weapon again and pulled the trigger once more. Her hand jerked involuntarily- she pulled the trigger once more, crying in... She wasn't sure what that was.

She wasn't sure what had hit her either when the weapon flipped into her face, but she cried in surprise, flipping on her side and crawling towards a tree. From there, she wiped the blood from her eyes, and looked at the abomination.

Well, one bullet had hit it, seemingly ripping through its side. Finally, she had been able to level the field a little.

But obviously not enough.

"GAH!" the monster barked. "I'm GOING TO GOUGE YOUR EYES OUT, BITCH. I'm GOING TO HAVE THEM FOR BREAKFAST. I'm GOING TO RIP YOUR TEETH OUT ONE BY ONE...!" it growled, as it stumbled towards her. "You'll see...! There's NOTHING YOU CAN DO, IMBECILE! DO YOU THINK YOU'VE WON!? You're dead. You're done for. You're MINE! YOU ARE FINISHED!" the thing picked up its stride. "I'm going to hurt you so much you'll think it's a sport..." it cackled.

Samantha gasped slowly, transfixed by the sight of agony making its way towards her. Her vision was blurry, she couldn't really see, or feel, the adrenaline had run out; her body was starting to ache all over, wrist, lips, shins, arms, thighs...

...and then a large carnivore with supernumerary legs burst from the brush, tearing at the abomination in a flurry of action.

The newcomer turned its gaze towards Samantha. Just then she realized she was surrounded. There were four of those things here, she realized, gasping...

Raising her revolver, she pointed at one kensha. It growled warily. So did the others.

======

"Wait, could fairies use revolvers?" Molly asked her companions.

"I... think so. There was never a rule against it, was there?" Whiskie shrugged, with all four shoulders.

"I don't get all this revolver stuff. She has a gun, why are you asking?" Marceline continued, backing off. "And it's a BIG gun. The small ones already hurt."

"But it's a revolver, those only carry six shots. Maybe she fired them all..."

"Well, are you feeling lucky, punk? ARE YOU!?" Marceline snarled.

"But we never get to eat fairies..." Molly complained.

"As long as we don't eat lead either." Marceline replied.

"I mean, they always deflate before you can bite them."

"And you think they'd stay big if you sank your teeth into it?" Whiskie asked. "Come on, fairies are inflatable, right?"

"Why don't we find out?"

"Because she's got a revolver." Whiskie stated. "Leave that thing alone, okay? We've got chicken legs, it's better than water."

"Uh... fair enough." Molly sighed. "Hey, this bird just gave birth to a woman."

The two kenshas looked at their companion.

"Just kidding. What should we do with her? She looks like she's in pretty bad shape."

"What does she smell like?" Whiskie asked.

Cautiously, Molly sniffed the woman in the ground.

"You remember that time you ate your own poop?"

"What!? That never happened!" Whiskie protested.

"She must've beaten you to it." Molly replied. "Whatever she just ate, I don't want any."

"Okay, take that carcass with us and let's get the fuck outta here." Marceline grinned.

Nobody reply yet? Time to remedy that!
Really good read, I like your style! Some might find it's a little hard to follow sometimes, particularily during dialogue, but I think it makes it more engaging somehow, making the reader have to think harder to be able to follow. You doing that on purpose? If so it's quite clever!
I read the whole thing straight from the beginning cause I sorta forgot how it started, I lol'd hard a few times even though it was second reading, especially the bit about the red tent, and the storm sprites sexing up Marlene's computer. The RPG reference bit had me grinning the whole time, too.
I did notice a few paragraphs in the last chapter where the spelling and grammar broke down, the part where Faulkner attacks the fairy with flaming "power" has quite a few errors, but it's an isolated issue, as the rest of the story is very very well written.
It's refreshing (and hilarious) to see the jungle through the eyes of a bunch of city-slicker fairies, and I think you portrayed their difficulties dealing with the wild in a very relatable way. (All the while keeping up the twisted humor, no less)
They almost act like a bunch of city slickers in the woods on earth (I basically live in a forest so I see it alot) It makes their antics strangely believable even though it's mostly played for humor, and, you know, they're a bunch of size shifting, man-eating fairies...
I love Metzger! Midair [sic] lol...
Well done! Keep it up!
(btw are we gonna find out what Lenna did with Miel?)