Diving Deep - Solo

[FennWenn]

This is a solo! Takes chronological place shortly after Why? and Into Sidhe.

It was a small, lonely village at the cusp of a thick forest, with dirt roads and weathered houses. The midday sun shone over toiled fields and flower baskets. Flowers were everywhere, actually. One couldn’t go three feet without passing past pansies or traveling by tulips. The midtown streets were particularly gaudy this fresh spring; everything smelled faintly of fertilizer and nectar. But Fenn had no time to stop and enjoy the rustic rural landscape, nor smell the flowers. No; the little fae was busy ducking around the corners of cottages and quaint shops, hasting his way through every twist and turn he found.

His heart pounded fast against his ribs, his breath burned in his lungs, and his feet skimmed quickly over the sun-warmed earth. So quickly, in fact, that he didn’t leave a speck of frost behind in passing. He didn’t have even a second to linger in any spot. There was a pursuer hot on his trail!

Her name was Loreley.

Lately, Fenn had noticed himself being a little… dare he say swifter? More deft and dexterous? An hour into this long game of tag, he had already outran and winded all the other children in the village. All except Loreley. Her simple dress and blonde locks flapped in the wind, and the grin on her face was as eager as the prey she was in pursuit of. Merciless. Well, merciless in a good way, Fenn found, in the actually-a-challenge way. (Other?) children were easy enough to trust. At least, for now. Sure, they were usually dumber than him. Sure, some of them said mean things. But they were on a similar level of powerlessness as him. They got him a little better than the people who were technically closer to his age.

They…

Ha! Fenn glanced behind his shoulder and found himself gaining ground — then squeaked as something twined around his ankles with a snap and took him off-balance.

…could not…

A warm palm slapped him on the shoulder as he fell, accelerating his descent.

…betray him.

“Tag!”

Fenn spat out dirt and rubbed the bitter taste out of his mouth on the back of his hand. The pair of wiry ivy vines wrapped around his feet were slack now, and he slipped free of the bonds with ease — and a stubborn pout. They came off curled stiff with frost.

Loreley skittered on ahead a few feet before coming to a rest. She waited, triumphant and only so patient, as he took a moment to lay flat and catch his breath. “You okay there?”

The girl could almost pass for his older sister, were it not for Fenn’s obviously inhuman qualities — his greyish skin, his pointed ears. They could be siblings. Y’ know, if you squinted real hard and turned your head sideways. If. A thumbs-up flashed Loreley’s way. He pointed to the vines, and dashed a few skeptical words in the fine soil of the street. MAGIC ALLOWED IN GAME?

She laughed, hands behind her head. “Why not? With you it’s fair, ain’t it? You’re magic too!”

Psssh. A snort escaped the young fae. If that was her logic, then he could hide himself in a shroud of snow next game! That was, if they were going to start a next game. With everyone else having gone home, that left just him and Lore, and it wasn’t so much fun to start a game of tag with just two people. A disappointed sigh wheezed out of him as Loreley grabbed him by the hand and hauled him back to his feet.