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The Pros and Cons of Getting Lost (Fiye & I)

3ngag3

Supernova
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
Location
The Pits of California
"He's gotten out again! Find him!"

Two rather burly looking men in suits appear from a mansion gate. They were hired to keep an eye on a precocious young man who had a fondness for going out when he wasn't supposed to. But if seventeen year old Loki Masterson had anything to say about it, those guys would be fired soon for not doing their job. He had snuck out a window during his studies, something his parents frowned upon. For they didn't share his fascination of the outside world like he did. All they wanted was for him to be home schooled until he was eighteen, then he could do whatever he wanted. Loki couldn't wait that long. Not when there was a vast area of mountains and forest to explore right in his own back yard.

It was the kind of thing he did often. When one of his instructors had their back turned or when he was alone in his room, he would find a way to pick the locks on a window and escape into the outside. He would be out for five, maybe ten minutes at a time before he was rounded up and brought back inside to be chastised for his actions. Today would be different though. Today, the young man would be going to an area previously unexplored. He tried going there before, but his youth brought great fear of the unknown and thus, he retreated to the safety of his expensive mansion. But now, Loki gathered his courage and made quickly for the entrance to the fobidden forest.

The first thing he observed was a sign. He knew it well. It said, "Those who enter this forest will be lost forever unless they find the one true thing they desire." To this day, Loki did not understand the meaning of those words so he ignored them as he entered. It seemed like an ordinary forest for the first few hours he went in. There seemed to be nothing special or even forbidden about it. But as day grew into night, the young man found himself lost, despite carving a path for himself in the bark of the trees. Exhausted, he took a seat on a stump and looked into the moonlit night wondering if he would ever get out.

It was then the momentary silence was broken by a sound in the bushes. Someone, or something was watching the young man. It caused Loki to jump to his feet and look around. He first thought it to be one of the bodyguards assigned to his care come to retrieve him. But when he didn't hear their burly voices, a bit of fear began to set in. Perhaps it was a beast out for a nightly hunt and he was the prey. That was until a voice rang out that had never reached the ears of the young man before. "So, you've ignored the warnings and now you're lost. It's such a pity."

"W...who's there?" Loki replied as he continued to gaze around to find the source of this voice. It was then he heard another rustle in the bushes and this time it was much closer. When he turned around, a jolting sight came before him. He was an elderly man, short with a hunched back. His face appeared crooked like a troll, and he grinned a toothy grin. On his back, he carried a pack of things that jingled as he examined the intruder into the forest and in his hand, he carried a willow stick that bent due to the thing that was hanging from it. It was a bottle in which the contents glowed brightly to light the way of this...thing.

As Loki gazed into the light, he noticed something rather peculiar about it. The shillouette appeared almost human, but it was very small. What was more weird was when the elderly man turned to it and began to speak aloud as if the thing inside could understand him. "What do you make of him, my dear? Perhaps you could be of some use to him, hmm?"
 
The silhoutte was indeed small. A figure of a thin female, glowing within the magically encased glass bottle. The violet light shining throughout the forest, guiding the way for the merchant that had managed to caught her. Though, upon meeting the human, her eyes jumped over to the figure. Interest caught in her eyes as she sat up. The glow within the bottle growing ever so much more, thanks to the sudden interest built up inside her.

Yes, he was lost. It was obvious, as she had managed to do the same. But, begging for help might not have been the best idea, and she hoped that the male before him would not make the same mistake she had. Though, when the elderly man spoke to her. Her attention moved up, looking up at the man as she closed her eyes, trying to think of her situation, "Perhaps... he needs a light to guide him out of the forest?" She asked, referring to the light as herself. Of all things, she wishes he would be as kind as to allow her to do such a thing. But inside this vast, deep forest. And being retained as nothing more than a living light source. Perhaps... well, maybe there was some hope in this. After all, she had never been used for anything mildly useful.
 
Loki had to get really close to the light to discover what it really was in that bottle. And though he winced at the light, his ears worked well enough to realize there was a voice coming from it. Soon enough though, his eyes adjusted to the light and now it was clear to him what this thing was. It was a little fairy girl. At first, the young man could not believe his eyes. Perhaps the light had gotten to him somehow and he was hallucenating. But the more he blinked, the more he realized that it wasn't going away and that she was, in fact, real and not just some legend out of a book. The merchant, in the meantime responded to the little one's comment with a slight chuckle, though it sounded rather cold. "You may be right my dear. But then again, a light is something that is easily obtained in this world. I think what this young man could use is a rare item. And I have just the stuff he's looking for.

Upon setting the jar with the fairy down on a stump, the merchant removed his pack from his hunched back and opened it up. It seemed to roll out on the ground before Loki who looked on in amazement as to the things that appeared. There were jewels that glowed in the moonlight, golden trinkets that looked like they were carved by some ancient civilization. Books that were worn with the passage of time and even small bottles of various colored liquid, some of which smelled like perfume and some that reeked like sewage. It was then the merchant looked up at the young man with a grin on his face. "All of these items will help you leave this forest and at the same time, they will change your life forever. The price is only what you value them to be and someday, you will have to pay it. Everyone who has taken this stuff has."

Confused, Loki looked up at the merchant. Did he mean to say that all these items were cursed in some way? It was almost too fantastic to be true. But then again, there was a living, breathing fairy girl in the bottle next to the merchant. The young man began to concider his options. Should he take one of these items and run the risk of being cursed, or should he take his chances trying to get out of this forest on his own. "And what if I don't want any of this stuff?" He asked suddenly. The merchant gave the lad a look of disgust before turning his back to him. "Then you'll rot out here for all time. The wolves have been looking for a good meal for some time now..."

It was hard to argue with the merchant's logic. Though he thought he probably could get out of here on his own, Loki didn't want to take any chances with the beasts that roamed this forest and this old guy was offering him a safe way out. With that in mind, the young man let out a small sigh and spoke. "Okay, okay. I'll pick something. Just give me a minute here." From what he could tell by looking at the objects, most of them did look pretty valuable and he could perhaps sell them at an auction and let someone else deal with the curse.

But even as he mulled over which item he wanted, Loki's gaze always seemed to end at the bottle with the fairy in it. More and more, she seemed to appear the rarest item of all in this little stall the merchant had set up for him. Not to mention, he read that fairies were symbols of good luck and not bad. What harm could she bring him? She was so small and innocent looking. His mind was made up then. He walked over to the bottle with the fairy and picked it up, looking at the contents inside. "I'll take this one," the young man said with a grin. The merchant replied by giving Loki a perplexed look before speaking. "Oh? An interesting choice. Sure, she could guide you out of this place easily, but other than that, she is quite useless. Are you sure you want her?"

Loki didn't need to think twice before nodding his head in approval. He would find some use for her despite this senile old man's complaints.
 
And the fae paid little to no attention to the amount of jewels and potions that had been offered to the man. Her eyes looking down at the stump below her. Slowly muttered words to herself, knowing that, once again, the male would find a way to be more interested in a jewel, or one of those said potions. She had seen it many times, before, the person offered this deciding to take one of the jewels and making his way out. Or the curse afflicting him on the spot, sometimes turning them into another part of the flora within the forest. But yet, even as she sat still, she couldn't help but noticed his eyes kept on glancing towards her. Had she really captivated his interest?

The fae couldn't help but stand up though. Looking much like a pet in a cage, begging for freedom. It had even taken a bit more time than she might have expected, but soon, the merchant had coughed up a word that she would find reason to kill him, if she could.

Useless? She wasn't useless! She was going to save this guy's life, in return for freeing her from the glass bottle. Oh, how happy she was, upon watching the glass around her simply vanish away. Her wings buzzing with delight, as her naked form began to float, racing towards him and hiding herself away from the merchant. She would have some use... she had to be able to do something besides navigate this forest.

"Hmph!" The fae called out, slowly finding her away ontop of the male's shoulder. Taking refuse in his shelter, finally free of that damned merchant.
 
It was with a mere glance that the merchant made the glass bottle dissapear. In truth, he was actually quite relieved he made the decision. Ever since he captured her on one of his trips, she had been nothing but trouble. She was disobidient, stubborn and always had something to complain about when she had the chance. It got to the point where he finally had enough and sealed her within the bottle and used her natural brilliance to illuminate the way through the forest. Other than that, she really wasn't of much use. "As you wish," the merchant replied with a sigh as he gathered up his things and set them back upon his hump. "She'll guide you out of here, but other than that, I don't really know what you see in her. Good riddance, I say."

Loki wasn't really paying attention to the merchant as he was too busy staring at the fairy girl who had taken refuge on his shoulder. Up close, she was actually quite cute. If she were human and maybe five or six feet taller, he would concider taking her for a girlfriend. But perhaps he was being a little too presumptuous. She probably wouldn't trust him enough to even concider any kind of relationship other than that of a guide.

With their business concluded, the merchant simply began to walk away into the depths of the forest, fading into the mist and leaving the young man and the fairy alone for the first time. After a brief silence and another howl of the wolves, Loki decided it was time for him to go home. He turned to the fairy girl then and gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry if I haven't introduced myself yet, but I'd rather we get out of here first before any proper greetings are made. Would you mind leading the way?"
 
Had she been trouble for the the merchant? Yes, but that was only because he had never seemed one bit interesting, or active. The fae was of her own mind, and telling her to do anything, but trying to get a stubborn mule to start moving again. You had to really try your luck at coercing it. Though, even after the howling of the wolves sounded off, she was still off in her own world. Keeping herself close to Loki, using his neck as body heat. At least, until he had asked her to lead the way out.

"So soon? The wolves aren't that scary," The fae pouted, her wings buzzing as she flew up towards the top of the trees. Getting a good look of the world around her, before moving to dive back down. Catching herself just in time to land on his shoulder, "I'm guessing home for you is this way," She responded, pointing towards the nearest lights she could have seen from the distance. She had no idea where he had lived. How deeply lost he had gotten either. For all either of them knew, they could be headed to an entirely new village.
 
The fae's enthusiasm was...interesting to say the least. She probably had good reason not to fear the wolves anyway. They would probably concider her nothing more than a bird picking at the ground if she so chose. On the other hand, Loki was just big enough to be concidered a meal by those ravenous beasts, something he didn't want to experience first-hand. Fortunatley, the tiny girl decided to show him the way anyhow. The direction she pointed seemed to lead into a dense fog. And though there were lights ahead, he had no clue as to their source. The only thing he could do was trust her judgement and travel ahead.

Forward the young man marched into the mist. The visibility was nearly zero save for the faint glow of the faerie by his side. A few tense moments passed and the fog seemed to have no end. He knew not wether he was going deeper into the forest or towards the nearest exit. That was until the fog suddenly faded away into nothing and the source of the lights became very clear to him. They were at the back gate to Loki's home. It was startling to him just how close he was to home despite hours of wandering the forest. Perhaps there really was some kind of magic behind it.

"I'll be damned," Loki spoke out with an impressed look on his face towards the fae. "You really know your way around, don't you?"
 
And yet, her luck proved to be worthwhile. A smile upon her lips as she sat upon his shoulder. Having pointed his way towards him home, giving him guidance when he needed it most. She was serving her only real purpose to him, being a guide, letting him free since he had decided to be so nice as to free her from her own source of imprisonment. And when all was done, she could only grin, thinking to herself she was going to have a chance to prove the merchant wrong once and for all.

"I suppose I do," She replied, relaxing a bit on his back, letting the cool air move around his body, "So, do you have anymore plans for me, now that I have helped you out of the forest?" She asked, her head turning over to face his, wings buzzing around with excitement.
 
As the surprise left him and the fae asked what plans he had for her now that they were out of the forest, Loki began to wonder just what he could use this tiny lady for. There were so many possibilities that he couldn't come up with an answer right away and rather than stand out there like an idiot for hours on end to think of an answer, he decided instead to try and get back inside first. "I'm not quite sure," he started walking to the front of the gate and opening it with a creak. "Perhaps after a good night's sleep, i'll think of something. Until then, why don't you lay low in my room for a bit while I sneak my way back inside. Hopefully, my father will be so tired from waiting that he'll be asleep."

Upon saying that, Loki pointed up to an open window decorated with tressels beneath it, a perfect setup for someone wanting easy access to the window or the room within. "My room is that one, over there. There's some cookies on a plate in there if you want them, that is if one of the maids didn't clean it up already."
 
"Not quite sure?" The fae asked, looking over at the male curiously. Her eyes filled with that curiosity, looking up to him as they finally made their way past the front gate. Where she had been introduced to the sight of the large building before her. Her eyes wide with curiosity, almost tempted to fly up already, until he had instructions for her.

Fly to the window and hide for a bit. Sounded easy, and apparently there were sweets there waiting for her. Something that made her wings abuzz with delight as she started up, her purple glow trailing behind, as she vanished through the doorway. Heading inside, only to find the promise to be met with crumbs leftover from the missing plate. At least it was something that would settled her stomach down, while she laid on the desk, behind a small stack of books. Hidden from the door, but not from plain sight.
 
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