Fantasy The Only way is Fae (Closed)

[Amazonkass]

Audra almost couldn't admit to herself how happy she was that Os wanted to tag along for her library trip. She dug into her breakfast, and scarfed it down. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she had taken a bite of her bagel. It didn't take her long to finish it up and wipe her mouth.

"Thanks Os, it really means a lot." She reached out and placed her hand on his and gave it a light squeeze before letting go.

"Want to walk there? It's such a nice day out." They were close enough to campus that it would be a ten minute walk, at the most. And she was right about the weather, it was cool and sunny with a light breeze, throwing the dead leaves around the sidewalk and the street.

Audra turned her gaze wistfully to the leaves and watched them dance for a moment before she turned her attention back to Os. "You mentioned something this morning...a place you wanted to show me?" She offered, remembering him mentioning it earlier. With the food in her system, and the water, she felt like her brain was finally returning to normal. No longer did she feel like she was wading through fog to piece things together.

Some of her anxiety had gone away, but a sliver of it remained in the back of her mind.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Os warmed all over at the squeeze of his hand. Maybe there was some chance for friendship there after all? And it wasn't as though they flat out ignored each other when they were in classes together, he had asked for her help understanding something a couple of times. But it never progressed beyond that. She had her life and he had his.

"Walking is my preferred method of travel." he joked with her. Partially true though, he mostly did walk everywhere that he could. He finished his bagel, and the bit of egg that fell on the plate and washed it down with some of the water and then got up. Ready for that walk.

"Yes!" The place. And he could hardly contain his excitement or the way his eyes lit up at the thought. "You will love it. There's a certain magic to the place, I mean if there is magic anywhere, it's there." Which sounded a bit silly now he put words to it. "Anyway, it's not easy to get to. A lot of hiking. I should have thought about that before mentioning it. So we'd have to go there on a day when you're really up for it."

 

[Amazonkass]

They walked together down the blustery street, as Os told her about the place. She was a little disappointed that it was a bit of a hike. "It sounds wonderful. I can't wait to see it."

If this last lead turned out to be a dead end, she was going to need some grounding. None of this made sense, the only thing that did, was that this was about her Fae side. As they walked, it dawned on her that she might be putting Os in danger if someone else came to finish the job.

"Let's play 'what if?' So, say that guy came after me because of my Fae side, right?" Audra said as they got closer to the campus, "If he wanted to kill me, he could have just spiked my drink with...I dunno...poison. So, he was trying to get me away from the party to somewhere else...That would mean that either my father sent him, or someone else who found out about my other side."

She listened to his reply as they got onto campus and made a bee line for the library. The computers would be the first search, then the books.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

"Orrrr..." Os countered. "He didn't come after you at all and he was just some creep from the party. Didn't mean his purposes weren't nefarious but just not that nefarious." He shrugged. There was still not enough evidence that there was anything supernatural about the guy at all. "Besides, hasn't it always been said to look for a natural explanation while there is one to be found?"

And she was dancing with him and he was obviously after one thing. Case closed.

The day was wonderful though, and he took in deep breaths of air as they went to the library. They could still research the symbol but Os wasn't getting his hopes up, the likelihood that the guy's jewellery meant anything was slim.

"But regardless we need to try to figure this out. So um, maybe I'm wrong." He frowned at Audra. Maybe he was wrong... time would tell.

 

[Amazonkass]

Os made some good points, and Audra had to agree with him. The only thing that didn't fit was no one saw her would be kidnapper, that and the hole in the ground disappearing. Audra shook her head, as if to clear her mind, as they entered the library. She had a few ideas for search terms to try and look up the symbol. She could have used her phone, but the library had access to books and journals from all over the world. Audra felt a glimmer of hope, despite herself.

She found a large group of unoccupied computers and took a seat in front of one, motioning for Os to sit beside her.

It took a moment for Audra to log on, but once she did, her fingers were a flurry of typing. She entered search terms like, "gold necklace black tree roots" and then went on to 'pendant with black tree roots'. It was finally on her fifth group of search words, that a few articles about ancient Druidic symbology, were found.

"Os, look...." she pointed to one of the results that had the word 'fairy' in it.

Audra clicked on the link to a long paper that analyzed some ancient jewelry found under what was widely considered a 'fairy hill', in Ireland. Slowly, she scrolled through and let out a gasp when she saw the symbol of blackened tree roots. Below the picture, there was a caption.

Widely seen as one of the symbols of the Unseelie Court, the symbol above was classified as one worn by the hierarchy. The symbol of blackened tree roots signifies the ties to the Underworld and Death.

Audra waited for Os' reaction. Now she had a bunch of new search terms she wanted to look up. "I feel like I'm about to fall down a rabbit hole, Os."

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Os followed along for the ride. What else could he do? But look beside her and be her sounding board for whatever she'd find or not find along the way? She needed him and he'd be there, yet strangely enough he felt some connection to all this too.

The results were surprising to say the least and brought a shiver up his spine when he read over her shoulder. "Okay. I stand corrected. There was absolutely something supernatural about this guy you encountered." And if he had some sort of magical fairy powers of persuasion maybe that's why she left with him so readily (or at least that's probably what he would prefer to believe).

"Go at your own pace," he told her, reassuring her. "You don't need to find out everything today."

 

[Amazonkass]

Os was a spectacular partner in crime. He seemed to know what to say to calm Audra down. She could tell what she had found had at least convinced him that the guy from the previous night had been more than met the eye. Audra sat back and let out a deep exhale. He was right, she could take her time with this. But something in her was itching to stay in the library until they kicked her out.

While Audra had always been aware of her Fae side, she'd never done much research on it. She figured the extent of her abilities laid in having a super green thumb. Now that she found out she had some deep plant powers, she felt like something was clicking into place. She wanted to learn anything and everything about this now.

It took everything in Audra to push herself back from the table. She looked to Os and chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she spoke. "I'm thinking we can stop this for today. I'm going to go back to my apartment. Do you stay on campus or do you need a ride somewhere?" She asked and could almost see his face fall.

"We can reconvene tomorrow, and maybe plan on going to that place you mentioned?" It was Saturday morning, and Audra knew she could put off her studies for another day. She knew, deep down, she would be up late into the night researching everything she could lay her eyes on about what they had just found.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

"That's right," Os pulled it has collar for a second. "I mean, neither of us got the best sleep last night. So we should probably leave it as this. Plus, there might be more to uncover later... as long as you're sure," he hesitated. "Sure that you'll be okay." Yep, he was absolutely in too deep with all of this. "Take my number, and if you need me for anything just let me know."

He glanced quickly at the doors. "No, I'm not far from here. It'll be fine. I should probably catch up with Richie anyway since I lost track of him last night." And Os had to see if there were any developments there. His friend was the one who was super keen for that party, so Os hoped there would be.

"Tomorrow is great. I mean, it would be a long day, so we'd have to start early." And hopefully he wouldn't get lost trying to find the place.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra was glad when Os agreed. She typed his number into her phone and save him as a contact. "I promise to call if any wild vines appear." She told him with a smile. As she got up, she stopped and leaned down to embrace Os. "You know too much, you're in too deep." She whispered as she leaned back, laughing.

"I'll text you when I get home and you can let me know what time to come pick you up?" She offered as she straightened up. When Os would agree, she would wave goodbye and head for where they had parked her car by the cafe. It was a short walk back and a slightly longer drive back to her apartment.

As soon as she arrived, she tended to her plants and shot off a quick text to Os. It was another hour of pottering around the house before she settled down on the couch with her laptop.

She knew it was going to happen, but by the time Audra looked up from her laptop it was almost 11 pm. She closed the laptop with a sigh and curled up in the nest Os had left on her couch.

Within moments of her closing her eyes, Audra was asleep.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Os' mouth dropped open a little bit when she embraced him. She was right. And how did she do that? Read his mind like that. Regardless when she let go, he straightened up his flat cap and grinned up at her.

"Yeah, that sounds good. You'll just have to let me know when you're up. I'm a seriously early riser. I think there's something wrong with me." There was a lot wrong with him, but he wasn't going to get into that list with her.

When she left he lingered for a while in the library and found out where Richie was. Os went to meet him for a late lunch. Richie, as it would have it did meet someone the night before... and then she'd puked all over him. And then Richie was stuck in the bathroom trying to get the vomit out probably around the time that Os had left. Os had a bit of a laugh at his expense, and didn't find a way that he could tell his friend about Audra. All he told him was that Audra was a classmate and they'd started talking briefly last night but mostly about class things. Os didn't want to lead his friend on to think that he had a shot with Audra when it was likely he didn't. Class things it would have to be.

Os smiled in spite of himself when he got Audra's text and spent most of the night studying, seeing as he would get very little done the next day.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra woke early the next morning from a night filled with strange dreams. There were replays of the parties events with the weird symbol playing front and center. She tossed and turned on the couch and gotten a few good hours of sleep before the image of her falling down a literal rabbit hole jerked her awake. It was a little before eight am when Audra sent off a text to Os, letting him know she was awake.

She hopped in the shower while her coffee was brewing, and debated on whether she should tell Os about her weird dreams. She didn't want him to worry unnecessarily. She decided, as she was washing her hair, that she wouldn't tell him unless it became important. Besides, she had so learned so much on her internet quest the night before that she was excited to share with him. She was beyond excited to see the place Os spoke about. Maybe it would help her channel her powers.

When she got out of the shower, she got dressed in much the same kinds of clothes she had worn the day before. This time she was wearing a newer looking band t-shirt and shorts. Audra poured her coffee and checked her phone to see if Os had responded.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Rubbing his eyes at four forty am, just before the sun rose and Os adjusted in his bed, reaching under him to pull out the book that he'd fallen asleep reading. A New Method of Hydroponics. The book was clearly a page turner. He knew he could no longer fall back asleep now he was awake and went to take a shower, not wanting to wake up his roommate who thankfully was used to Os's oddities by now.

All showered, Os found a grey sweater to wear and a pair 3/4 length cargos, as well as his old sneakers which probably still had bits of the forest left clinging to the bottoms of them.

He'd gotten back to studying and a while later he received another text from Audra. He was still kind of amazed she wanted to do this at all, to go out to the forest.

'All set to go' he replied to her. 'Meet at the library again?'
since it was a bit too far into campus to find his place. Os filled a backpack with a drink bottle, some food and a raincoat unless worst came to worst and headed down the library.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra felt herself smile when she heard the noise her phone made when she got a message. She responded to his text that she would be there soon and got ready for their hike. She packed a few little plastic bags, in her small backpack, in case she found any interesting plants to add to her collection. Audra added some snack bars and and a bottle of juice for later in the trek. She filled her water bottle from a pitcher in her fridge, and sat down to put her shoes on.

It wasn't a long process for Audra to get out to the car, ready for adventure. She still couldn't wait to tell Os about everything she had found, and she thought about where to start as she drove to the library. She spotted Os as she pulled up, not bothering to park. The parking lot was practically empty this early on a Sunday morning and he stuck out like a sore thumb standing there.

Audra waited for him to get into the car, and smiled at him. "Ready for adventure?" She asked as she took a sip from her bottle of water. She wouldn't go into her tirade about what she found until she knew where she was heading, and knew that Os was awake enough to listen to all of it.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Os was relieved when he saw her arrive. There was something comforting about the fact that she seemed to just do what she said (unlike Richie). She turned up when she said she would. She didn't pretend that she wanted to go off hiking if she didn't. It was all very refreshing. He got into the car with a smile. His trademark cap was in his backpack but for now his hair was in curls, just stopping around about his chin. "Hi."

An adventure with someone else? That sounded actually nice. He was usually in forest by himself, going off trail sometimes. But it expanded for miles and miles so he was careful not to get too far lost in the dense shrubbery.

"That actually sounds great. Did you sleep well?" Small talk? He guessed. "Oh, you go down to Moore Avenue, and then make a right and the trail starts from there."

 

[Amazonkass]

When he asked her how she slept, she was thinking of how to respond when he told her which way to head. She shifted the car into gear and slowly made her way out of the parking lot. "I got some good sleep, had some weird dreams." She shook her head as if to brush off her own comment. "What I'm really excited to tell you about is the research I got up to last night." As she drove through the campus, she told Os about the different Fae courts, Seelie and Unseelie courts. How both had reputations for being tricksters to humans, but the Unseelie, were the kind that would lure you into a bog with promises of riches. The Unseelie were the ones who stole children and made them their slaves and were known to devour humans at large underground gatherings.

By the time Audra was done blathering on, she had followed Os' directions to a small parking lot right off of the road. She pulled in and turned to him taking a breath for the first time in the whole drive. "So, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what led to some messed up dreams." She grabbed her bag and got out of the car.

"I don't think I've ever been over here before. This already looks so pretty." She told Os honestly.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

It seemed she did get up to some interesting reading last night. "Careful now," he joked when he was finally able to speak through all her excited ramblings. "You're going to make my hydroponics book seem boring."

He frowned as she mentioned messed up dreams upon stopping the car but didn't know what to say of it. He felt bad for her. He wished he could make those bad dreams go away, but it would be crossing a line to say something like that and so he just gave her one of his concerned looks with his brow all creased up with worry.

"Yeah, I mean there's another entrance down on Hunter, and that's where people normally picnic but not as many people know about the trail here. It's a really well kept secret." Os stepped out of the car and took a deep breath of the air, which felt fresher around these parts. He pulled his cap out of his backpack and stuck it down on his curls before putting his backpack on his back.

"We follow the trail for a while. I'll let you know when we go off trail." If he could find it.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra smiled at him. She hadn't missed how cute he looked without his hat on, but she wasn't going to mention it as he put his hat on. She settled her backpack onto her back and stepped up beside Os. "Lead the way. I brought some baggies, I hope you don't mind....I'm always looking to add more species to my collection." Normally, Audra would have felt self-conscious about being such a plant nerd. She was finding herself more and more at ease in Os' company. Besides, he knew about her major, there was no hiding that she was a plant nerd.

She waited for Os to head off towards the trail, and followed closely behind. It was a beautiful, cool morning, and Audra was glad she had thought to throw a hoodie over her thin t-shirt. "So, how did you find this place? It seems, from the way you talk about it, that it's a bit out of the ways." She was loving every moment surrounded by trees. She wouldn't be upset if they spent the entire day within their shaded loveliness.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

"Oh." Os was forced to stop and think about it for a second when she asked him how he found this place. "Well, it's not that far from college and I'm always looking for new places to explore." He answered, and then thought about it a little more, wondering how stupid he would feel saying what was really on his mind and then deciding that if she didn't let him say things that sounded a little weird with all the fairy business then their whole friendship deal would be a sham anyway.

"Truth be told," he spoke up. "I kind of felt like this place was calling to me. I don't know, like I got up and was walking around and just found it, like it had wanted to be found." And now he wanted to disappear inside his hat again. "Anddd that sounds ridiculous so I'm going to shut up right about now." He admired the big trees at the entrance to the forest. They were amazing to behold but there were a lot more where those came from.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra nodded as he told her the truth about how he found the place he was taking her. "That makes perfect sense, seriously Os. I can feel plants, maybe you can too." She sounded completely serious, and she meant it. She had walked closer to him then, looping her arm through his and giving it a squeeze before letting go. "They don't talk to me, but I feel like...them breathing, you know?" she asked. Now that the flood gates were open, Audra didn't see any reason to hold back from Os.

"I can kind of just feel when they need something. Like the plants in my apartment, I can feel when their thirsty or need sunlight..." She wasn't about to get self-conscious now. Audra felt so at peace in the forest, she was glad Os had just shown her this part.

"How did it feel to you? Was it like a pull to this place?" she asked as they continued to walk.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

Maybe his experience wasn't quite like hers. He didn't really feel like the plants communicated any truths to him. Just that the whole place felt like home, more than anything else he could explain. He felt giddy, both from Audra looping her arm through his and giving his (hardly impressive) bicep a squeeze, and from her words. That she was so much in tune with nature and seemed so excited about it. That just made a dazed, giddy expression cross his face as he looked at her with wonder.

"I mean, not that intense. I didn't hear anything or anything weird like that. It was just like instinct. I knew to come here. And then when I found this other place... which I'll show you if I can find it again... that was instinctual too. It's kind of like coming home. Like you're discovering something but you knew it all along." Okay, his explanations were getting worse by the moment.

He jumped over a large tree root, not missing a beat, he knew this forest like the back of his hand. "I just wish all the college stuff was this easy." He mused. The whole college experience. Making friends, being social... and the studying part. None of it was natural to him.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra followed along a pace behind him as she marveled up at the beauty of the trees. He might not feel things the way she did, but she could tell the moment they set foot in the forest that it was a magical place. When Os spoke about college Audra nodded. "I feel you on that one....just because I'm in tune with the trees doesn't make writing a twelve page paper any easier." She joked with him as she caught up once more.

Truth be told, in the social department, Audra wasn't the greatest. She had a handful of friends, but none of them she would have trusted with this information. It dawned on her, suddenly, that she'd been lonely for a long time not being able to share the truth about herself. She could just imagine Jacelyn or Becky's reaction to the news she was part fairy. She was glad she had turned her face away from Os, or else he would have seen the look of disappointment cross her features.

Audra shook the thoughts away as they kept walking. They had been walking for awhile in silence when Audra spoke. "So, it occurs to me that I've been dumping all of my personal stuff on you. What's going on with you Os? Are you really taking all this in stride or do you feel like you're going slightly crazy, like me?" She offered as she kept pace with him.

She was about to speak again when she felt it. That sudden feeling that Os had spoken about, the feeling of being drawn home. She felt like Os could read her excited face as she bounded off the path and through the trees. She could feel the place, just as he had said, and every fiber of her being needed to get there. Audra didn't even check to see if Os was following her as she ran.

 

[salty_ moustachio]

He nodded, agreeing about the 12 page paper. Thankfully, it was just a period of time where he'd have to do it and then never, ever, ever do it ever again. In the silence, Os looked around the magical place. Moss growing in little holes in the trees. The calling of the birds. The shrill of the cicadas. Every so often he would touch the side of a tree, feeling the different forms of bark with each of them.

Maybe Audra could really hear them. Maybe she could tell him what they said.

Maybe Audra was too formal of a name to be calling her too. Maybe she'd think it okay if he called her 'Aur' or something.

Then Audra brought him out of his thoughts by asking a question. "Huh?" He took a second to process since he'd been all in his head with maybes. "Nothing's going on really. I mean this is a good distraction from studying. My family all live interstate so I work hard when I'm here and then go back where everything is normal there for holidays. It's not like you're interrupting this terribly complicated life or anything," he laughed a little in spite of himself.

And just like that Audra took off. "Aur! Wait!" He called after her, supposing now he'd call her that anyway. This wasn't where he'd turned off before. He had no idea where she was going and he was worried they'd get lost... or she'd get separated from him and be alone in the forest and the guilt would eat him up forever.

 

[Amazonkass]

Audra ran for a few more minutes before she slowed to allow Os to catch up. She could feel the stitch in her side, but all she could do was hold it and laugh as she waited. When Os finally did catch up with her, she had more or less managed to catch her breath. She felt bad that she had made him run, but she couldn't help it.

The amount of ground they had covered was intensifying the feeling inside her. That pull.

"I can feel it Os...I'm betting it's the same place you were talking about...." She offered as they set off at a less urgent pace. "Sorry if I got you winded." She chuckled as they continued. She was leading them now, brushing low hanging branches out of the way as they walked through the forest proper. Every step felt like it vibrated within her. Just when she thought her instincts had been wrong, they crested a craggy looking hill and Audra felt it.

Every part of her felt like it was vibrating with energy. She looked to Os. "Is this the place?"

 

[salty_ moustachio]

He followed, with his concern growing by the minute. Would they be able to find their way back? At least he sort of knew where he was going before, now he had no clue. And while he was glad for her excitement, he still worried. She kept going forth and it wasn't just keeping up, it was how things in the forest seemed to be changing rapidly. Streaks of sunlight still streamed through up above though the foliage was heavy. Though the sounds they'd heard earlier were gone if they stood still long enough to listen.

When they got to the hill Os grabbed Audra by the wrist, not only to keep her going any further but also so she wouldn't find herself tumbling down and hurting herself.

He glanced around him and felt weird. The forest was pulsating with something here. But whether that something here was good or bad, he didn't know.

"Audra stop." He chastised. "Listen." They could be walking right into danger.

 

[Amazonkass]

When Os grabbed her wrist, it seemed to suddenly flip a switch in Audra. She had been about to go running down that hill at almost full speed. Something felt like it had been pulling her, almost dragging her to the spot. She could see it now, a grove of trees with a black looking stump in the middle of it. It looked like the thing had been downed by a bolt of lighting. The remnants of blackened tree lay a short ways off from the stump.

She couldn't hear the birds anymore. It made her realize that the rest of the forest they had gone through had been on the quiet side. Something about the clearing the making it seem darker than the surrounding forest.

"Stay here." She pulled her wrist gently from his grip and proceeded down the hill at a slower pace. There was something laying on the stump and Audra was going to see what it was. If the place was dangerous, then she at least thought she had a better chance of defending herself. No offense to Os, but she had a feeling if something bad tried to get her here, the trees would have something to say about it. At least she hoped that would be the case.

She had a feeling what was laying on the stump and her assumptions were confirmed when she found the exact same necklace her would be abductor was wearing. Could this tree have been connected to him in some way?