Fairy story is just a working title and I welcome any suggestions for a better one.

Please reply and let me know what you think...

Sit where the cat sits. Cross your toes.
Close your eyes. And smell a rose.
Then say under your breath:
“I believe in fairies, sure as death.”

Gladflykins! Gladtrykins!
Glutterpuss and Cass!
Come to me fairily,
Each lad and lass!

~ excerpt from “Lady Cottongton’s
Presses Fairy Book”.

One morning in early summer, mist covered the forest floor. The first rays of sunlight struggled to find a route down to the floor through all the thick leaves of the canopy. Cashel sat quietly on one of the lower branches of an ancient Oak tree. There were many oaks just like that one, but this was her favourite. The branch was just high enough that she got a good view of the forest, but not too high that the winds would disturb her. She sat and listened as the forest began to stir. Plants opened their flowers and stretch their leaves, birds called morning greetings, and the day-time animals started collecting their food and breaking their night-time fast.
Cashel stood up and stretched her arms, her toes, and her wings. Her wings shimmered in the morning light, their sky-blue colour dancing like water. Fairy wings are shaped like butterfly wings, but thin; so thin that they are virtually nothing. Because of this, faeries rarely use their wings for long distant flights, but they are just right for moving around the forest glade. The fairy walked along the branch, placing each foot with care. She was thinking, and walking up here was one of the best places to do it. She paced up and down for some time, before lifting up hr head, muttering something briefly to herself, and walked along to the trunk.
When she arrived at the trunk Cashel reached out for a protruding piece of bark. Upon touch, a door opened in the trunk to reveal a small lift, big enough to fit around five fairies inside. The lift was surprisingly luxurious, with a small light-bug sitting in the corner and a padded seat. It smelt of pine. Odd really, considering it was in an oak tree. The lift was a strange piece of technology. It could go anywhere within the tree because through the wood. Magic, you see, Fairy magic and good for the tree. On reaching the forest floor, Cashel thanked the light-bug and went on her way.
Cashel reached a willow tree after walking for a few minutes. In the gentle wind the swooping branches swayed and a soft whistling sound greeted her sensitive ears. She flew silently up the trunk until she settled on a branch about half way up the tree. It would seem to be just another branch, but as with the oak tree, all was not what it seemed. Though no human eye could see it, a small outline appeared in the bark, an outline of a door. Cashel knocked on the door three times, waited for a short while, then knocked three more times. Eventually, after repeating the processes several times, Cashel lifted what seemed to be a letterbox flap and shouted, “Errigal, WAKE UP NOW!”
The bark door slowly creaked open, and it revealed the face of a boy, older then Cashel, with striking green, messy hair, and a look on his face that was one of extreme annoyance.
“Why sister,” he said slowly, “do you insist on waking me up!”
“Sorry.” Cashel replied blankly.
“No you’re not.”
“True, but I have got you up for good reason.” She said. “You do know what today is, don’t you?” Errigal looked at her blankly.
“Tuesday?”
Cashel sighed. “Yes, well done. Anything else spring to mind?” When she realised that nothing more useful would come out of her brother, she gave in. “It’s the day before my Troerme”.
“But that’s tomorrow. A whole day and night away. So why wake me up now?” Cashel looked down at her bare feet and sighed,
“I need your help.”

v v v

Well there's a little bit to introduce you to the story. :D




© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

i love your story and i had the pleasure of reading the whole thing and its really good i loved it


cant wait for any more


take care :D

Thanks Lisa for replying.

As for the rest of you....

Well for those interested here's the rest of the chapter :D .I'm sorry that quite alot of this chapter is explanatory, but i couldn't think of a better way of getting all of the information across to the reader.

Ten minutes later the pair were sitting at a small round table in a square room doing what fairies love doing best, talking and drinking. The pair must have beeen quite a sight to those not used to the looks of fairies. One with long dark blue hair tied back in a silver ribbon, the other with cropped, messy, bright green hair. Fairies are only a couple of inches high, and both with their wings tucked neatly behind them, and if you looked closely you would see that both had a beautiful gem on their foreheads.

That gem is the fairies’ ffycoyn or life-giver. The ffycoyn has several functions. It gives the fairy magic, identity and life. There are four groups of fairy; air, water, earth and fire, the four elements. Every fairy belongs to an element. Your element is you life, who you are. No fairy chooses its element, the element chooses them. Each element has its own characteristic. For example, you would not find a fire fairy living in a tree. Its not that they can’t, but most of them are terrified of heights. Earth fairies on the other hand, love the trees. For them, living underground would be nothing short of a nightmare. Cashel and Errigal are Earth fairies, living and working with the great trees of the forest. Their parents were earth fairies, and so will their children. Each member of the Underwood family has a small emerald and the responsibilities and powers that go with it.

It is well known that no matter what element you are, all fairies have one thing in common; a love of lavender tea. Lavender tea is a delicacy that humans have never picked up on, and fairies have never understood why. If humans have accepted chocolate and sugar, how is it that they have don’t accept lavender tea? This question has been pondered over many hour (and many cups of tea), with the ultimate conclusion that humans just don’t know a great tea when they drink one.
Lavender tea does have medicinal qualities for the fae people. It can help to restore magic and helps to maintain healthy wings. Apart from tasting delicious, it also has a similar effect on fairies as coffee does on humans, a quality which Errigal found very useful. He looked across the table at his sister, “So do you have any ideas?”

“No,” replied Cashel, “I want to do something different though. I mean, climbing to the top of the tallest tree in the forest is all well and good, but not really very difficult.” To most fairies, climbing to the top of the old pine would be a challenge, worthy of the gods indeed, but for Cashel, climbing was a talent she shared with her brother. In their childhood, the two used to race each other up to the tops of the trees and down again, including the ancient pine.

“What about swimming the pool?” suggested Errigal, “That’s always a crowed pleaser? Or flying to the bottom of the wishing well perhaps? Elphin Timberbrook did that last year.”

Cashel shivered, “I’d die if I had to do that, gods or no! It’s going to have to be something else.” The pair sat in silence for quite some time, each thinking his or her own thoughts. In the end it was Errigal who broke the silence.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he said, “It may help bring some ideas into our heads.” The two walked along the forest floor, every now and then stopping to say good morning to the various other fairy folk that were out and about. After a while the pair turned off the main path and down through a patch of fresh bloomed blue-bells. There were not so many people here as it did not lead to any of the main tree communities.

Fairies live in many different communities, depending on where they are In the forest, tree-communities are the most common, but there are earth and rock communities for fire fairies, while water fairies prefer to live on the stream’s bank. Tree communities are just what the name suggests (fairy folk do not have a habit of being over complicated), a community of fairies living in a tree. The size of the community depends on the size of the tree, but only the strongest (and normally biggest) trees are used. Communities are pretty much self-sufficient, with their own shops and such, but travelling between communities is common practice.
Errigal and Cashel both lived in the tree community ‘Longleaves’, inside one of the many weeping willows in the forest. After a couple of fairy miles Cashel stopped, and sat dawn on a large stone. She looked sad, and rested her head in her hands. “It’s no good,” she sighed, “I can’t think of anything! Oh, all I want is something original, something that hasn’t been done before. Is that so wrong?”

“Of course not!”

“But what am I going to do? I’ll never please the Goddess if I just sit around doing nothing!” To this Errigal had no answer. He sympathised with his sister. Tomorrow was to be one of the most important days in her life. The caer is a ceremony that all fairies have to go through when they reach kiltorael, or adulthood. It is named after the goddess Caer, the fairy maiden of Connacht. She has the ability to take the guise of a swan, and in this way she can keep watch on all her fairies. At this point in time all fairies take part in this ceremony. It is a personal ceremony, in that the fairy chooses what they will do. Errigal looked back at his Troerme two years ago and smiled. At the time though, it was a nightmare. His stomach was full of butterflies. He was so nervous that he could barely walk, let alone fly. Oh, but it was wonderful, words could not describe! He had challenged himself to master the notorious riding of a shormack – a kind of wild, flying fairy horse. He had trained for months, and when the ride came it was painful. A memory of pain.

Time had seemed endless. The shormack was being particularly difficult and almost chucked him off twice. A fall would have ment disability for Errigal, and even death. But it was worth it. Worth it for that final moment sitting by the sacred pond, saying those famous words…

“Errigal, are you still there?”

The voice broke through his thoughts, and forced him back to the present situation. Cashel was standing now, and she had the beginnings of tears in her eyes Errigal hated to see her like this. Cashel was normally such a happy person, always cheerful and smiling. He could always count on his sister to make him feel better about himself, as did many other fairies in the neighbourhood. Now she was turning to him for help. He gave her a hug, and in his arms, she finally broke down. Saying nothing, the two stood drawing warmth and comfort from each other in the morning sun, each thinking their own thoughts. Errigal desperately wanted to help his little sister, but unable to by powers beyond his control. Cashel, for the first time in her life, was unsure and afraid. She held on tight to her brother and whispered, “What if I fail?”

“You won’t fail.”

Cashel didn’t agree, but all of a sudden she felt too tired to argue.

Please r&r and let me know what you think. Thanks.




© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

I LOVE YOUR STORY!!!

I think the explanation is good, a lot of it is only bad if you write it like some encyclopaedia, but you explain things as your characters do them, or are about to. :)

I lobe the lavendar tea! (Its the little things that make the story )

MORE!!! :D

Ooooh, I like it! I demand an email, to peruse at my pleasure!!

Please?

Gemz, I haven't written it all up yet, but I'll try and send you what i've done so far. Erm, I don't think I've got you're e-mail. Is it ok if i send it through the AU e-mail link?

Anyway, here's the next chapter. :D

Chapter 2

A small fairy, with pale blue hair that had been plated into an intricate braid down her back, walked briskly along the bracken path. She was deep in thought, hardly noticing the world around. Her pale blue eyes were bright, yet distant, and her two small hands were clasped tightly around a small, leather-bound book.

The sun was shinning and the temperature was gradually increasing. The fairy was beginning to feel tiny droplets of sweat falling down her back, threatening to cause dampness on her dress. To prevent this, the fairy found a small stone by a stream and settled down, allowing her bare feet to dangle in the refreshing water. Her dress was new, having been bought by a dress-maker at Red-bark just two days ago. It was mainly white with an intricate blue, stitched pattern that complemented her hair. Her mother had warned her against wearing a white dress, but the fairy had fallen in love with it, and besides, it could easily be washed. She sighed, and began to read the book she was carrying. It was a book with mortal at the centre, and how they coped without magic. Books like these are full of day to day detail that to a human would seem bring, but to a fairy they were fascinating.

Soon she was deeply engrossed in the pages. This story was based on a couple from London and how they were stuck for many hours in their motor car in the snow. The fairy felt sorry for them. She would have summoned a spell to keep herself warm, or would have simply flown home.

Time flew by, the shadows slowly grew, but the fairy still sat on the stone, all her attention on the plot that was unfolding in her hands. She was so engrossed that her sharp, fairy ears did not pick up on the footsteps slowly creeping up behind her…



v v v

Outside the winds of the gathering storm were violently swaying the hanging branches of Longleaves. Like many summer storms, it had come quickly and suddenly, and the two siblings had struggled to get back to Errigal’s house before the rain started. They made it, but only just.

“Why does the weather have to change?” moaned Errigal, “It’s been such a lovely day, until now.” Cashel did not reply. She was quiet, too quiet. Errigal was at a loss. He’d tried everything; jokes, tricks, even falling over on the way home hadn’t put a smile on her face. Her eyes were red from crying, and her cheeks were pink from running, but she had a grey tinge to her skin and her eyes had lost their sparkle.

It was still only mid-afternoon, but the storm made it feel much later. Errigal was beginning to get hungry, so he got up and from his cushioned seat and walked over to the small parlour. While he was cooking some chestnut stew (a particular favourite of Cashel) he tuned into the local fairy radio station. The idea of radios was one of the few that fairies have taken from humans. Many didn’t approve of using mud-men technology, but Errigal loved it. To be able to listen to music were ever you are was great, and Errigal liked the conversations as well. Of course, fairies adapted radio slight to fit their needs. Firstly the radio had to run on magic, as fairies don’t use electricity, and the idea of having to phone in to talk to the host was observed. A fairy can just mind-speak to them!

Errigal fiddled with the dial till he came to his favourite station, Radio Bracken. The familiar, jolly voice of Latheron Golspie was filling the parlour. He was talking about the annual fairy marathon that was due to take place in a couple of day’s time. The marathon was the highlight of a fairy’s sporting calendar. Any fairy could enter, and most did. Errigal had decided not to take part this year, and was glad. The predicted weather was rain, rain and more rain.

Soon the familiar, soft fairy folk music replaced the voice and Errigal settled almost rhymically into his task. He loved cooking. The satisfaction of it; the sense of achievement; the food!

He was concentrating so hard on cooking that he did not notice the change when the music ended and Latheron spoke again. He only paused in his chopping when he heard the DJ say, “Ailou.”

“What?” Errigal said quietly to himself. He stretched and turned the volume up.

“…the alarm was raised after she failed to return before the present storm, and all attempts to mind-speak have so far failed.”

Errigal had a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach. Had he heard the name right? Was it the same Ailou? It was not a common name at all, but there could be another. Either way, he had to know. Putting down the knife he leaned back against the opposite wall, and sent his mind into the radio. Within seconds he reached the studio. He could sense Latheron relaxing while the music played. He was a plump fairy, with close-shaven orange hair, and a green shirt at least two sizes too small. His wings were dull due to a lack of flying and he was smoking pipeweed, filling the studio with a musty odour. Latheron swung round on his seat (which was constructed of rose petals), sensing that an ‘aura’ had appeared in the room. Soon a faint form of Errigal replaced the aura. He was breathing heavily from the effort of the trip, but was glad that his aura did not have a sense of smell.

“What can I do for you then, young fella?” his voice was deep, but not unfriendly. I guess you could compare it most to a pirate. A friendly pirate.

“The story,” Errigal said heavily, “that you told just now; it wasn’t about Ailou Fairtree was it?”

Latheron just looked at Errigarl for a moment before saying softly, “yes, do you know her?” He didn’t get an answer. From the look on the boy’s face, he didn’t need one.

“Where was she last seen?” asked Errigal. His breathing had eased now, but the entire colour had left his face.

“Around noon on the main road from Silver Oak to Rose Thorn.” After a short pause he added, “I’m sorry.” Latheron wondered why he had apologised. He gave bad news to people every day; it was part of his job. But there was something about the boy’s face. He looked at his screen to see how much music was left. When he turned back to the boy, Errigal had gone.

v v v


Back in the parlour, Errigal took a deep breath and walked into the main room. Cashel had fallen asleep and was snoring softly. He didn’t want to wake his sister, but knew he had to.

“Cashel, Cashel, wake up.”

Slowly the fairy began to stir, and those silver eyes fixed themselves on his face. Instantly she knew there was something wrong with her brother, and demanded to know what had happened.

Errigal sat down next to Cashel and said simply, “Ailou’s gone missing and I’m going to find her.”




© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

I too demand more!

lol, I want to know what's happening!!!!!

Please? :)

The plot thickens... as does my interest

Okay, i've finally got ahead enough with my typing up to post some more for you to read.

Here's the first half of chapter 3.

:D

Chapter 3

Ailou slowly opened her eyes and instantly wanted to close them. Somebody had knocked her out by whacking something around her head, and now there was a painful throbbing there. She felt dizzy and nauseous, but worst of all, she was in the dark. So dark in fact, that Ailou could fool herself that she had closed her eyes again.
Ailou sat there trying to asses her situation, but quickly gave up. With the pounding in her head mind-speak was impossible, and the darkness meant she could not gauge the time of day, the shape of the room…nothing. The only hope she had was that people would soon start looking for her. It was unusual for fairies to go missing for any period of time due to the ability to mind-speak. If you couldn’t mind-speak to a fairy then something was wrong and the process of trying to find the said fairy began very quickly. According to the National Fairy Records Office, the longest period that a fairy had been missing was 24 hours, and that was because he had accidentally taken a rather strong dose of a herb called Calforum, and slept all day.
Of course there had been attempts to kidnap fairies, but all failed once the fairy regained consciousness, and could mind-speak their location. This is what Ailou tried to do now, but couldn’t. Her head just hurt too much. She could hear movement in the next room, and thought she could hear the muffles of conversation. “Where am I?” she thought.
Ailou hated the dark, and her over-active imagination was beginning to form all sorts of hideous creatures. Enormous creatures, with huge fangs and bulging eyes, with blood drooling from their mouths…
Ailou shivered. It was getting colder now and she was only in her light summer dress. “Mum was right,” she admitted to herself, “I shouldn’t have worn this dress!” She took a deep breath and counted to 20 (10 was just not enough). Then she tried to mind-speak again. And again, and again. She could feel her magic, faint thought it was, but she couldn’t send it beyond the confines of the room. “My head isn’t that bad.” She said quietly, “I must be able to sense something!”
Suddenly a strip of light appeared as a door on the opposite wall opened. Ailou sat upright, trying to prepare herself for what ever was coming. She did not know what to expect, but what she saw terrified her. There in front of her, was a small silhouette of a figure, with wings. Wings? A fairy? Ailou felt her pulse race and her heart leap into her throat. Fairies never kidnap other fairies. Never, in the long, long histories of fairies. What was going on?
Slowly the fairy moved closer to Ailou, and finer details emerged on the shape. It was female, and she had hair as black as night, long and curly as it draped over her shoulders. As she moved closer Ailou could see the fairy’s ffycoyn. It was strange, unlike any she had seen before. It looked most like a diamond, the gem of the air fairy, but it was cloudy and if tainted by magic. The fairy’s silver eyes studied Ailou like daggers, and she could not meet them directly. Instead she studied the fairy’s dress. It was beautiful, with different shades of grey. Ailou thought she saw the shades moving around the material, but decided it was her imagination. “Who are you?” She managed to say, with considerable effort. Those eyes seemed to penetrate through her very soul.
“I,” replied a crispy voice “am Kima.” Ailou thought quickly. She had never heard that name before, and was quite sure that she never wanted to hear it again.
“Why have you brought me here?” she asked.
Kima smiled. “Ah! That would spoil the fun, wouldn’t it? You’ll find out soon enough. Don’t you worry little one.” And with that, she turned around and walked silently through the door. Then she turned and closed the door, flooding Ailou in darkness.
Thoughts were whizzing around her brain. What was going on? Why could she still not mind-speak? What in Auriel’s name was a fairy doing kidnapping another fae? It just didn’t make sense! One thing was quite depressingly clear to Ailou was that escape was almost impossible. For a start, you can't perform the mesma on another fairy. It just didn’t work. Ailou felt hopelessness float around her, and she could swear it was laughing. No, wait a minute, something was laughing, but it wasn’t hopelessness.
Light filled the room as the door creaked open for a second time and Ailou prepared herself for the cold, evil eyes. But they didn’t appear. The laughter was emanating from the jaws of a slimy goblin, with a stench that reached the fairy’s nostrils all too quickly.
“He, he, he! Ha, ha, ha!” the goblin sneered as it wiped its nose on its hairy arms. “He, he, ha, ha!” Goblins are generally detested by all fairies. Their lack of hygiene tortures the delicate sense of smell that fairies posses, and their scales and their dirty nails… Erh! The very thought of goblins can make fairy skin crawl. In fairy families they are the subject of mother’s warning tales.
Ailou had never met a goblin before, and instantly realised she preferred it that way. Desperately trying to close her nostrils, Ailou heard the shrill voice of Kima call from a distance, “Zalino, get away from the prisoner now, before I rip your intestines out and string them on the roof for the crows!”
Zalino looked guiltily to his left. “Sozry mistrizz, sorzy mistrizz. He, he. Ha, ha. Iiz wazz checkin it wazz alive.”
“Of course she’s alive, you great pile of dragon dung. It’s you who might not be alive soon!” Suddenly the goblin crumpled to the ground, intense pain screwing up its ugly face.
“Pleeze mistrizz, pleeze mistrizz! Zalino sozry, veri sozry!” Behind the crumpled, whimpering form of Zalino appeared his tormentor. Kima had a smile on her face. A wicked, icy smile. She smiled at Ailou and then looked down no her servant.
“Just as long as you never do it again.” She said in as sweeter voice as Ailou thought she could manage, but the sweetness wasn’t sincere. Then, without her moving, Zalino seemed to be released from the pain. Without a seconds hesitation he scurried off before he got into more troubled. His mistress walked out of the room, the smile still on her face, and closed the door behind her.

Please r&r. Thanks




© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

eeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEE!!!!

*loves it*

I like the way the goblin speaks, it adds authenticy! Its realistic too, the way yo9u have her worrying, rather than just 'she sat in the dark for a while' blah blah

:D

is v.v.gd!!!!

*has R&R-ed*

OOOOOOOHHH!!!! Whats the other half going to be like? *intrigued*

Well here it is (sorry its quite a big chunk)


“What?” Cashel wasn’t quite sure if she’d heard her brother correctly. The emotional stress and the warm glow of the fire made her dozy. She had been having a strange, fitful dream about storms and goblins when she was shaken awake by Errigal. He was trying to tell her something.

“Ailou’s gone missing, and I’m going to find her.”

Cashel sat up alert. “Missing! When?” Ailou was a good friend of theirs, a couple of summers younger, and typically quite scatty with her memory.

“Earlier today, around noon. It was on the radio and…oh I haven’t got time for this! Cashel, I have to find her.” It was like a fever had hit her brother. Errigal rushed into his bedroom, and came out with his all-weather Mack. He then grabbed his salbak, a type of rucksack that can hold more then you’d think, and started to move about the apartment like a tornado, putting varied objects into it. Cashel was horror struck.

“Wait!” she cried, “Think Errigal please! There’s a storm out there. It’ll be dark soon, and you haven’t a god’s clue where she is!”

Errigal turned and looked at her with such fire and determination she had never seen in him before. “I have to do something. Can’t you see that?” As much has Cashel wanted to fight it out more with him, his eyes told her it was pointless.

“Alright,” she defeated at last, “But I’m coming with you.” Before he could answer, Cashel was packing her own salbak. Errigal was violently tapping his feet with inpatients. He walked over to the door and flung it open, letting in a gust of cold, wet air from the storm outside. Cashel was about to step out of the warm lounge when she turned to her brother and asked casually, “where are we going anyway?”

“Beré.” Came the reply.


v v v

Beré was a fairy in the same school year as Errigal. As an earth fairy, Beré was dark skinned and preferred to live in earth burrows rather then tress. One thing that all fairies, no matter what the element, are united in is their dislike of rain, particularly the cold stuff. Beré decided he would much prefer to stay dry in his burrow home, next to the tree community of Firbark.

He was tired and irritable (as fire fairies have a habit of being) after a long day repairing the great ovens of the main tree community – Keshalia (mother tree). It is the oldest tree community in the forest, and takes a team of nearly 50 specialist fairy workers to keep its various, intricate functions operating. “Why,” muttered Beré to the thin air, “didn’t they install the fire lumber 65000? It would have saved so much time. But would they listen to old Beré here? No, of course not! Them in their comfy chairs. If only I could give them a piece of my overworked mind…”
A knock on the door interrupted his evening rage. After the third set of knocking, Beré finally conceded that the pest wasn’t going away, and that he’d better answer it. “Errigal? Cashel?”

“May we come in please Beré, only it’s a bit wet out here?”

When inside and out of the wet, the siblings quickly explained what had happened. It was mainly Errigal talking, but Cashel added points here and there to try and give a complete picture.

“I should have known.” Said Beré, shaking his head as the pair finished talking. “I heard that story earlier on, and I should’ve guessed your sudden visit wasn’t a coincidence. Errigal, you and that girl!” Errigal turned a shade of crimson at his friend’s remark. “But what do you want me to do?” Beré asked. “If you think I’m going on your adventure in that rain, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Beside her, Cashel could feel that Errigal was running out of patience with their friend. Before he could say something he might latter regret, Cashel stepped in. “We’re not expecting you to come,” she said calmly, “We just need some advice on where to begin.” She took a deep breath before adding, “Or it could all be hopeless.”

“Well I think it’s hopeless anyway,” the fire fairy muttered. “I mean, what’s wrong with leaving it to the authorities. It’s what their paid for.”

Errigal cracked. “Because they couldn’t find a piece of grass in a haystack!” he felt fire building in his heart. He knew he shouldn’t get angry like this, not with Beré. But how could he make his cynical friend understand? He just knew he had to look for Ailou. She was in trouble, he could sense it.

Beré emitted a low whistle. “Alright, I’ll help as much as I can.” He got up and walked to a wooden bookcase at the back of the rectangular room, and started rummaging in a top draw. “Your lucky,” he called to them over his shoulders, “I was planning to have a bit of a clear-out soon.” Cashel struggled to retain a laughing fit. If there are many habits that fire fairies have, but having ‘clear-outs’ was not one of them!

For five long minutes the fairy searched the bookcase, looking at pieces of parchment before discarding them to a pile over his shoulder. “Ahh!” Beré called at last. “I knew I had it somewhere.” He turned to face the siblings and threw the parchment across the room, to a surprised Errigal who caught it. “It’s the results of an investigation I did for the PAM (Protection Against Mudmen) some years back,” the fire fairy continued. “All to do with theories of kidnapping. If I’ve got anything that’ll help you, that’s it. It wasn’t a bad little investigation, if I do say so myself.”
Errigal unrolled the parchment and quickly scanned the document. There were graphs, tables and lots of writing, all describing the different ways by which a mudman could kidnap a fairy. The general consensus was that kidnapping was highly unlikely to occur, and very easy for the authorities to solve. Except for one situation. Errigal looked at Beré. “Do the authorities have thins?” he asked.

Beré shock his head. “It was decided to be a pointless study and the funding stopped before it was finished. I only completed it for my own amusement.”
Cashel saw the look on her brother’s face, and it scared her. He had a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. He’s scared, she realised. “What is it?” She asked.

“According to this, there is only one type of place that Ailou can be.” Errigal replied.

“Assuming she’s even been kidnapped.” Pointed out Beré, though all he got was glares from the Earth fairies.

“And assuming she’s been kidnapped,” Cashel said slowly, “where could she be?”

. “A nuclear power station.” There was a long silence after those words were spoken. By the look on the boys’ faces, it was an important fact. The reality was that Cashel had no idea was a power station was, nuclear or otherwise. She admitted this to her brother.

Errigal opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the fire fairy. “Its quite simple,” he said, knowing that in fact the subject was complicated. “You know of course that your ffycoyn gives you your life power,” Beré paused to make sure that his audience was following him. When Cashel nodded to the positive, he continued, “It allows you to work magic, fly; and most importantly, mind speak. Nuclear power stations are where humans physically break atoms. When atoms are broken up, there are always loose electrons that…” Cashel had a confused look on her face.

“What are atoms?” she asked.

Beré was about to launce into a highly complicated explanation when Errigal interrupted. “What he’s trying to say is that this process creates something called radioactivity. It’s this radioactive stuff that prevents her mind speak from reaching us.”
“And our mind speak from reaching her?” Cashel said.

Erigal nodded.

“And is she can’t communicate with us, we have no way of pinpointing where she is.” Beré concluded.

Cashel thought silently for a short while before saying in a determined voice. “Where is the nearest power station then?”

The boys gave their answer in perfect unison. “Chapnal.”





© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

Oooooooooh!

eeeeeeeeeeeee!!

There's just a few sp. mistakes taht you may want to correct in your own copy that hopefully you'll send off to a publisher!

impatients = impatience

latter regret = later regret

um, and you said that Bere (sorry, no accents here) is an earth fairy and then you say he's irritable like a fire fairy. Thats just me clawing at little threads to pick at. Its perfect, really :)

Ah, well spotted - I was just testing your powers of observation really :P. He is a fire fairy.

I'll go change it...

I passed the test! Wooooooo!

okay, sorry I haven't put any up for a while. But here's a bit more...

Since posting last I've made some changes to the story as I realised I've taken a couple of ideas from other people. Daonni is the word I've used to replce 'mud-men' as I realsied I'd nicked that from Artemis Fowl. Just so you don't get confuse ^_^

Chapter 4


“How exactly are you planning to get inside Chapnal?” Beré inquired as Errigal opened the door to leave.
“Though a door?” Errigal snapped. Beré raised an eyebrow, but decided to drop the subject.
“Good luck,” he said to his friends as they left. When the door was closed behind them he added, “You’re going to need every bit of it.”
Outside, the fairies where already in the air. Both were using a magical ‘bubble’ as well as their macks to shield them from the rain as they headed south towards Sloughbourgh-on-Sea, a large human town.
Flying in torrential rain is by no means easy, particularly when you are only two inches high. Cashel and Errigal were forced to take regular breaks, each time consuming a piece of energy rich dwarf-bread that Cashel had brought.
Conditions were even worse when they left the relative shelter of the forest, and safe places to rest were getting harder to find.
“We should have told mother where we were going; and the authorities for that mater.” Cashel said quietly while they were taking a break beneath an abandoned car.
“She’ll be getting worried soon.”
“No she won’t,” corrected Errigal. “That woman hasn’t been worried about us since… well never really.”
“We’ve never gone off rescuing fairies from Daonni power stations before.” Cashel pointed out.
Errigal said nothing, and sat down on a stone with a decidedly sulky look on his face. “Do we have any more of the dwarf-cake?” he asked quietly.
“Plenty,” Cashel replied, “but we don’t know how long this is going to take, so we’d better ration it.” She walked over to her brother and placed her hands on his shoulders. “We’ll find her,” she whispered gently, “I know we will.”
Errigal was calmed by his sister’s voice. He looked up at her face and saw nothing be determination and love in her eyes. All of a sudden guilt clouded his mind, and he quickly turned his face away from Cashel. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“What for?”
“You know what! Today you came to me asking for help with your Toruem, and all I’ve done is drag you off, on what is probably a hopeless mission, in the pouring rain. What if we don’t get back by tomorrow Cashel? They’ll punish you, and it’ll be my fault!”
“Don’t say that,” Cashel pleaded, “please don’t say that!” She took her brother in her arms and said, “I chose to come with you, and so I’ll face the consequences of my actions. What we have to worry about now is finding Ailou. That’s what matters. Besides,” she added, “we’ve got plenty of time.”
“I’ll get you back in time, Cashel. I promise.”
“I know,” Cashel lied.




© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

hmmm... u added bits??? don't recognise a few bits! or is my menory failing me..?

its gooooood aleana!

oh yeah, mud men are in AF, aren't they?

^_^ still lovin' it

its brilliant and cant wait for the 2nd story - once you get the inspiration back from the depths of hp fic ! lol

It's very good *master of understatement bows*

^_^ thanks

Now I've finished my exams I'm going to try and write some more

Anyway, here's some more of the first one :D

It took the pair the most of three hours to reach Sloughbourgh. They were tired, wet and in desperate need of a warm place to dry off and recuperate. It was the first time that Cashel had seen such a large human settlement. She had been to the village nearest the forest a handful of times with Errigal, but the town was so different! It was nighttime, but the streets were lit by a strange hazy-orange glow. The wet pavements shimmered like jewels and small rivers seemed to flow down the streets.

And the noise! The rain on its own created such a sound that Cashel was forced to cover her pointy ears. Then there where the cars. How humans could live with them, Cashel could never understand, and there seemed to be more in the town then anywhere else. Motorcars terrified Cashel, and had done since she was a babe. Their fumes made her choke and her eyes water. They shook the ground as they passed, like an earthquake and they made many high-pitched sounds, to high for human ears, which made Cashel’s eardrums ache.

Even though their wings strongly protested against so much use, the fairies kept to the air. Errigal knew all to well the dangers of the human settlement, from cats and foxes, to cars creating deadly tidal waves as they drive down the wet streets.

When they felt they could no further, they chose on of they many buildings along ‘South Street’ to find shelter. The summer heat had forced many Daonni to leave various windows open, allowing easy access for the little people. This particular house, number 35, was quiet, with all occupants sleeping soundly. In the dark the fairies crept in via a small downstairs window into the warm lounge. The room was dark, and only noise was the faint humming of electricity and the regular pulse of a clock on the mantle piece. Errigal lead the search for a safe place to sleep. He knew that humans had the unfortunate habit of keeping trained fairy-catchers as pets; cats. Cats kept so devoid of activity, with food given to them regularly on a plate, that they try and catch anything and everything smaller then it, including exhausted fairies. The pair climbed up a mahogany coffee table, and nested down to sleep in a Primula plant. The delicate pink flowers gave off a sweet fragrance that would hide their presence from and animals. Cashel smiled when she saw the plant. Amongst the leaves, she could almost pretend she was back in the forest. The plant not only offered a good view of the lounge, but also allowed the pair to see the stairs and the hallway.

Tired as she was, Cashel couldn’t sleep. She had never been inside a human dwelling before, and all the noises made by plumbing; clocks; electricity and a dishwasher, kept her awake while her brother snored in his deep slumber. She looked around the room. It struck her just how similar Earth fairies and Daonni actually were. Furniture she might put in her own home; settee, coffee table and sideboard, were all here in this room, just a little bigger. The room had a warm colour scheme of reds and oranges; as if someone had painted the room with a sunset. Cashel could see it would look lovely in the daylight. Though she doubted they’d stay that long. There was a fireplace with a pair of brass dogs guarding it proudly. Then there was the odd black box. From the positioning of the furniture, Cashel guessed it was important to the Daonni. They obviously spent a lot of time looking at it. Perhaps it was a shrine of some sort. Perhaps a shrine for the loved ones in the photographs placed on top of it. Still, a black box is a bit of a boring shrine. In the end Cashel decided that she would ask Errigal about it in the morning. He would be bound to know. Gradually she grew accustomed to the noises of the house and in the comforting leaves of the houseplant she let tiredness overcome her, slipping into a deep, dreamless sleep.






© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

Here's the rest of chapter 4 ^_^




Ailou was very hungry and very cold. She had neither seen nor heard any evidence of Kima or her goblin slave for a least a couple of hours. But exactly how much time had passed, Ailou couldn’t tell. She tried to view her situation from an outside perspective, but it just made her feel worse. She was in a cold, dark room that was…God knows where. She was unable to mind speak, and her captor seemed able to inflict pain on her minion with a simple thought. Looking into her situation, Ailou could see no plan for escape. Her only hope was to be rescued. But by who?

The authorities would have been alerted to her disappearance by now, but Ailou had little faith on them ever finding her, let alone rescuing her. They just weren’t organised. Couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery as her father once quoted. Mum had scorned him for using a Daonni phrase. But it was true. They were too complacent of their abilities (or lack of them) to be able to rescue a fairy from another fae. Tears started to trickle down her cheek, only to be whipped swiftly away by her hand. Stop being so childish, she scolded herself. What would Errigal say?

Errigal. The two had always been very close. He said he would marry her when she reached Kiltorael, but that was still two long years away. In her heart Ailou knew she would never be happy unless Errigal as by her side, but she couldn’t shake the deep-rooted fear that he would find someone else – someone more like his beloved sister. Ailou silently chided herself again. It doesn’t matter now anyway, she thought. I’m going to die in this place. I know I am.

She struggled to stop herself from loosing all grip on her emotions. Sure, she may die in the end but that doesn’t stop her putting up a bit of a fight. This thought created the tiniest hint of a smile on her pale face. If she were to die, she would die in a way that would make Errigal proud.

The throbbing in her head had eased, and while she still couldn’t mind speak she could now feel her magic and could reach out with it. Using her Senses she explored the dark room. It was not as large as she first thought – it was defiantly not made for the Daonni. And the room wasn’t empty; in one corner of the room was a pile of boxes. Ailou stretched her Senses to see what was in them, but the boxes repelled her magic just as the walls did. Now that she was ‘seeing’ more clearly, Ailou realised that it was the material that made up the boxes and walls that was repelling her magic, and not that fact that her magic was just too weak.

But what could repel a fairy’s magic so effectively? The only thing she could think of was iron, but fairies can normally sense the presence of that horrible metal a league off. No, it wasn’t iron. Ailou was stumped; now she wished she had listened more closely to Beré’s lectures. He’d know what it was…

The door opened and instantly the room was filled with the reek of goblin breath. As Zalino approached the fairy she could see that he walked with a slight limp and seemed to suffer from a deformed back. Ailou felt a little sympathy for the miserable creature; until it pulled on her arm so hard she thought he had dislocated it!

Zalino kept his grip tight and dragged Ailou towards the door. “Camz on fairi, camz quickly. Mistrizz wantz to see youz. Ha! Ha! Mistrizz wantz to see youz little fairi.” The goblin continued to mutter incoherently to himself as he pulled Ailou forcefully down a long corridor. The smell of the goblin and the speed at which he was dragging her made it difficult for Ailou to absorb much detail about her surroundings. All she could tell was that, like her room, it was fairy built and there was a strange presence of the strange metal all around. The décor was a common fairy design full of images and patterns from the natural world. Ailou could also sense both Air and Earth magic in the materials of the room. That’s strange, Ailou thought. Elements don’t usually combine magic on the same build. There’s normally too many clashes in taste.

Even in her dazed state she could sense the feeling of the dwelling. To her surprise the overall feelings were of love and devotion. This place has seen happier times, she thought as the goblin pulled her sharply round a corner and though a pair of substantial oak-panelled doors.

Through the doors was a large rectangular room with a green colour scheme. There were no windows, yet the room seemed full of daylight, bouncing off the six mirrors that adorned the walls. The floor was covered in an expensive felt carpet, traditionally used in the Queen’s residences. In fact, if you took away the goblin stench and the metal-based walls, it was exactly how Ailou imagined the Royal Palace to be. The room was surprisingly lacking in furniture, though marks on the floor suggested it had once been otherwise. In the middle of the room, looking isolated like a small island in a large ocean were two high-backed chairs covered in rich, scarlet leather. And in front of them, a table on which lay several objects that Ailou couldn’t identify.

Sitting on the left-hand chair was Kima. She was sitting so still that Ailou wouldn’t have noticed her if it hadn’t been for the chill that hit her skin as soon as the earth fairy had entered the room. Kima rose from her chair and walked with the grace of royalty down the room towards Ailou.

“I am sorry to have kept you waiting” said the calm, icy voice. She was standing a few feet away from Ailou and had placed her hands neatly in front of her. “I hope that Zalino was gentle with you.” She smiled and Ailou’s skin shivered involuntary. “He seems to have difficulty in realizing that fairies do not have the inch-thick skin of goblins.” Ailou looked down at the red mark on her arm, now released from Zalino’s grip, but decided to say nothing.

“What do you want with me?” Ailou knew it was the typical captive question, but felt she had to say something.

Kima laughed, followed by Zalino who promptly stopped when his mistress gave him a warning glare. The grey fairy then placed her full gaze on Ailou. “Simply,” she said with an unmistakable glint in her shinning eyes, “I want your magic. All of it.”








© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

Oo-er

ditto.

Still lovin it!

Here's the beginning of the 5th Chapter.

Oh, and in response to something someone said to me, Sloughbourgh isn't based on Slough, or any other town for that matter, its just the first name that came into my head. ^_^


Chapter 5

The first light of dawn crept into the bedroom of Charlie Hillock. Charlie was like any teenage kid in that he enjoyed sleep. During the weekdays a battle would commence regularly between mother and son at around six thirty. Mother usually won. A truce was placed on weekend mornings as both sides enjoyed extended hours under the duvet. But on this Sunday, Charlie rejected sleep as he painfully counted the hours till it was time. He knew his parents would stir around nine, giving themselves plenty of time before morning service. Charlie sighed. Another morning struggling to stay awake through the Reverend’s sermon - and he wasn’t alone. Half of the pensioners that filled the seats would be gently snoring away by twelve, only to be rudely awoken by the blast of the organ.

Charlie looked up again at the green glow of his bedside clock radio. 6:59; one minute. He watched his drawn curtains as they swayed slightly from the air that entered the open window. Hopefully Dad was going to redecorate his room this summer. Charlie wanted black curtains with tiny silver stars. That way he could look at the constellations from his bed. He didn’t think his mum was so keen on the idea.

7:00. Charlie leaped out of bed and put his snug ‘Sloughbourgh United FC’ dressing gown over his stripy green pyjamas. The unheated house made him shiver, but he wouldn’t go back to sleep for the world. Past seven o’clock he was allowed to get up if he wished. And he wished it very much. Now was the time to see if all his work had been worth the while. Now he would show them!

The landing was darker then his east-facing bedroom, and the only sound was the regular beat of the grandfather clock in the hall, left to his mother by a great-aunt of some sort. He crept down the stirs, willing the old floorboards to stay silent. He didn’t want a sleepy father to ask why he was up so early. He ran his hand along the smooth wooden banister and when he reached the bottom he ventured a look up at his parent’s door. Nothing. Carefully he then walked down the hall, past the lounge and into the kitchen.

The tiles were cold to his bare feet and Charlie wished he’d remembered his slippers. Too late now, he wasn’t going to go upstairs again. Undeterred he moved to the far side of the room where the fridge was. There on the floor was a tin which had had its paper label removed and had rusted in a couple of places. Charlie’s mousetrap.

Mice had been scurrying around the house for months. Charlie heard them every night as they moved about in their secret world beneath the floorboards and between the walls. But he had never actually seen one. And neither had his parents. He tried to alert them to the unwanted guests, but no matter how much he pressed the importance of the problem – he had seen a program on all the diseases that rodents can spread – his parents insisted that the noises were all down to his imagination. They needed solid proof, and Charlie was determined to provide it.

All of Saturday, and much of the week before, Charlie had designed and built the ultimate of mousetraps. The model sitting on the floor next to the fridge was actually model number 3. Model One had failed during the preliminary testing (Harry the hamster chewed his way to freedom through the cardboard door) and Dad had accidentally recycled Nº2. Number Three was perfect.

The design was so simple, that’s what Charlie really liked about it. Simple but effective. A piece of cake (Charlie believed that mice would never be fooled by the old traditional cheese bait) was placed at one end of the tin (pierced with holes so the smell could drift around the house). When a mouse walked into the tin, thinking it would take the cake and walk out of the other end…only to set off a small movement sensor (three pieces of fine string, used by Charlie’s mum to make lace) and this would send a small electrical current down a copper strip that travelled the length of the trap. This electrical current would cause both doors of the trap to close. One trapped mouse!

He didn’t want to hurt the mice – he wasn’t like Uncle Clive who put down mousetraps and poison for anything that moved. But Charlie was desperate to prove to his family. Prove to them that mice did share their house.

Charlie breathed deeply. This was it, the moment of truth and he was really nervous. Charlie didn’t really like mice, with their squeaking voices, twitching noses and long tails; but he pushed his anxieties to one side. He was sure his plan would work. After all, what mouse could resist homemade carrot cake? He carefully picked up the trap, and immediately his hopes plummeted. It was too light for anything to be inside. His hopes of proving his beliefs to his parents, Charlie gently picked up the trap and placed it on the breakfast table. His creation rolled slightly on the shiny pine surface. Charlie let out a small sigh as he placed his head in his hand, then he realized something. The doors were down! Something had set the trap off, and if the device had worked quick enough the creature would still be inside.

“It’s worked!” Charlie quietly told himself. “Now my parents will have to believe me!” He was very tempted to open the trap then and there, to see what was inside, but decided against it. What would be the point of spending so much time trapping the thing, just to let it escape before his parents could see it? So he left it in the table and watched the grey tin intensely for a moment. The trap remained still. This worried Charlie. Surly if there was a mouse inside it would move about as it tried to escape? Perhaps it was asleep, or unconscious. Or dead.

He’d killed it! Mice don’t sleep when their trapped, and if its unconscious the it’ll probably be dead soon! The poor innocent creature. Perhaps the carrot cake was poisonous to it (the flour had been out of date, Charlie suddenly remembered), or the holes in the tin had not been big enough to let sufficient oxygen in. He would have to see what was inside, and bury the creature in the garden.

What was actually inside was a pair of very angry fairies. Now having been tumbled inside the steel can, they were both bruised and annoyed.

^_^






© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

lol! What happens nexttttttt???????????

Some more of chapter 5 (it turned into quite a long chapter for some reason)


“This is great,” tutted Errigal, “just great. We go off to try and rescue a captured friend, and then get captured ourselves!”

“No, its not very good, is it?” concurred Cashel. Her head hurt and she was feeling dizzy. The pair had woken early, before dawn and decided to investigate the house, find some food and leave before the occupants of the house rose. Still being tied from the previous day, and knowing they a long day ahead of them, expending excess energy was not what they had planned to do.

The fairies had flown to what the presumed was the human’s parlour, where they thought some food might be found. With no sign of any cats, both felt it safe enough to explore the room on foot. Instantly their keen sense of smell detected a source of food on the tiled floor. The food turned out to be a piece of human cake: carrot flavour. Cashel preferred turnip flavour, but carrot would do. It was in an old tin, and as it was on the floor the fairies assumed the humans didn’t want it any more and so wouldn’t miss it. The tin was made from steel, which contains a large amount of iron. This worried Cashel a bit as iron blocks fairy magic, but Errigal said she was just making a fuss. There would be no need for them to use their magic.

Now Cashel had to bite her tongue to stop her from saying ‘I told you so’. Resting on the cake was three pieces of string. Cashel had had an uneasy feeling in her stomach, but before she could say anything, Errigal had moved the string to get at the food. In almost the same moment an electrical current went through the tin, causing steel flaps at either end to close firmly. Normally fairies could easily use their magic to escape in minutes, but the iron that surrounded them frustratingly prevented this method of escape and left the siblings helpless.

Errigal was so angry with himself. How could he have been so stupid? He should have seen the trap. It was so obvious! Humans don’t leave their cake in tins on the floor, and they certainly don’t put bits of cream-coloured string in there! Errigal started to pace up and down the length of the tin, but his bare feet made no sound.

“Well at least we’ve got food,” Cashel said, trying to lighten the situation.

Errigal snorted. “Yea, good lot that will be when the Daonni come for us.”

“Don’t be like that Errigal,” his sister scolded. “That attitude won’t get us anywhere!”

Errigal blushed. Cashel was his younger sister, and shouldn’t have to tell him off like that! There was a prolonged silence before Errigal finally whispered, “Do you think these are the same people who have got Ailou?”

“We don’t even know for sure that she’s been kidnapped!”

“Still,” Errigal continued, “these have got to be clever Daonni to know how to trap a fairy. I mean, it’s made of steel and everything.”

“True,” Cashel conceded. But she didn’t feel that this was likely. She wanted to suggest to Errigal what she thought, but worried about how he would react. Lately she knew less and less about her brother’s thoughts and likely reactions. “What if,” she suggested quietly, “the trap was not meant for us?”

Errigal spun round on his heel to face her. “Not meant for us? What do you mean ‘not meant for us’? How many other fairies do you know who are going on rescue missions at the moment?” His face was beetroot red, and his green eyes glowed brightly with anger.

Cashel’s reply was just as heated. “Don’t be so narrow minded Errigal!” She strode purposely over to the cake. “ When I said ‘not meant for us’, I meant not meant for fairies!”

Errigal looked sheepishly down at his feet. “Who is it meant for then?”

Cashel let out a long sigh. “And you keep on telling me that you know all about the Daonni race.” She paused before adding, “You obviously don’t.” Errigal remained quiet. He was ashamed and didn’t want to speak, so he continued his study of his feet and the steel floor. Cashel placed her hands on her hips. “I’ll tell you what I think then, shall I?” She thought she heard a slight murmur of agreement emerge from her brother, but she couldn’t be sure. She sighed and shook her head wondering why the roles of teacher and pupil had suddenly been reversed in their relationship. At the moment she couldn’t decide whether or not the change was for the best.

“Mice,” Cashel stated in her usual calm voice. “The Daonni set traps for mice. And rats, and anything else smaller then them that might annoy then.” She waited for Errigal to argue that fairies are smaller then humans, but her subdued brother remained silent, so she carried on. “What if this is one of those?”

Cashel had heard about humans and their desire to rid their sanitized world of all wildlife at school, when Master Oakbeard went on a slight topical diversion. They were meant to be studying the Fairy Wars; a dark period in history that all fairies are required to learn about, to prevent such events from occurring again. Though normally a diligent student, Cashel hadn’t been able to draw up much enthusiasm for the dusty leaf-books, and neither did the rest of the class. Including the teacher. Somehow he had managed to take the class conversation from events that caused the battle of Sialown, to man’s battle with ‘pests’. As living with nature is a key part of fairy culture, the thought that humans did everything in their power to rid their lives of it always evoked amazement, and anger, from the class of young fae.

“Mice,” Master Oakbeard announced in his deep, rumbling voice, “are a particular nuisance to the Daonni.” Cashel loved to hear her teacher talk about their old tree-dwelling neighbours. Whenever he did so, Master Oakbeard unfolded to his full, impressive height, and his voice became filled with signs of his foreign origins; full of trills off the tongue and colourful dynamics. “The mice try to eek out a small existence, forced out of their natural abodes by men and into the fortress that is a man’s house.” He paused for dramatic effect and moved a step closer to his audience, creating a shadow over them. “Not satisfied with evicting the poor innocent victims from nature, man strives to evict them from their brick homes. And how they go about their task!”

By this point her teacher had grown so red in the face that Cashel worried about the state of his heart. But by now the Master was in full flow, and no one could stop him, even if they dared to try. “Murderous men, that’s what they are! They set traps for the poor creatures that you and I see as friends. Traps! Sinful traps that kill and maim the animals in the most horrible ways!” He’s breathing was very quick and heavy now, and his voice was a booming wave that took in the whole room.

“Oh some claim to make humane traps. I ask you, how could any trap that kills or just kidnaps them, and then evicting them from their homes, possibly be described as humane! I would tell you more about the horrors of the Daonni’s desire to be free of wildlife (as it is a subject I feel passionately about), but I, as your teacher, do have to take care of your young brains. But I fear things will not change, and you will see for yourselves the horrors of the Daonna world that we are forced to neighbour!” His speech finished, Master Oakbeard sat down on his large chair, quite exhausted, and promptly fell into a deep sleep. His lectures had always stayed clear in Cashel’s memory.

“That’s what this is,” she said to Errigal, “a humane mouse trap. They didn’t mean to catch us at all.” She shook her head slowly and sighed at the simpleness of it all. “They probably don’t even know we exist.”

Errigal’s brow creased with thoughts and concerns. “How can we be sure?”

“I guess we can’t,” his sister relied. “But we could…” The tin made a sudden jerky movement and unbalanced both fairies, bringing them to the floor. The trap was being moved again.

^_^


I just realised that I've now put up over half of the stroy - I really need to get on with the sequel...that my Easter holiday job lol.








© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

yay! Fairy Story! I love it ^_^

Okay, its been a while since I put some up, and I did actually manage to get a fair bit of FS2 done over the holidays, but this will probably be it till June. So anyway, here is the rest of Chapter 5 :D

Charlie had sat for a long time at the breakfast table, thinking about what was inside. He had tried to convince himself that the mouse was dead (but that perhaps it had died of natural causes), but decided he had better go with his original plan, just in case.

Charlie carefully walked back up the stairs to the safety of his bedroom. Floorboards creaked as he ascended with the trap cupped carefully in his hands, but there was no sign of movement from inside his parents’ room. He placed the trap on his desk, and spent a while rummaging around his rather untidy wardrobe. Eventually he returned to the desk with an old cage in his hands. The cage was a small one, with a red plastic base and chewed metallic bars. The cage had no levels or objects inside, and was just the right size for a mouse.

The cage had once been the home of Tutankhamun, the family gerbil. Charlie had loved that animal. He feed it and played with it every day as soon as he had got home from school. When Tutu died, at the respectable age of three years and four months, no one had the heart to replace the cheeky character and the cage had remained empty.

Charlie had decided that the cage would be all right for short-term accommodation. He placed a small blue plastic water bowl on top of the shredded newspaper he ad already placed in the cage, as well as a small piece of cake to stop the mouse from getting hungry. The good thing about the cage was that the latch door was big enough to fit the whole trap through. When the trap was in and the cage sealed, Charlie sat on his bed for a moment and let out a sigh. Now it was time to see if there was anything inside the tin.

Opening the trap from outside the cage was a simple operation. All Charlie had to do was knock one of the flaps sealing the tube inwards with a ruler; a job easily done through the metal bars of the cage.

Within seconds the task was done and the trap was open. Charlie waited, and waited. Nothing. What had gone wrong? Had something tripped the device but managed to get out before the doors closed?

He was disappointed. His plans had failed; there was no mouse. Nothing at all. Charlie knew he should give up, get dressed and set about the task clearing everything up before his parents saw the cage, but the disappointment hung to him like chain armour and he remained still, silent and ever hopeful that a mouse would emerge fro
m the rusty tin and eat the carrot cake.

There it was! Movement! Charlie’s heart skipped a beat with excitement. It must till be alive, and just daring to poke out its whiskers to test the air…

Whiskers? Now Charlie looked closer he could see it wasn’t whiskers – it wasn’t even a mouse! He blinked once, twice. He must be mistaken, or dreaming. Perhaps he had fallen to sleep somehow and was dreaming. Either that or he was going just plain crazy.

A person who was so small! Only around five centimetres tall, max. The person was very cautious, teetering on the edge of the tin, not really confident about shredded paper below. Charlie didn’t move a muscle, and almost had to remind himself to take the occasional breath. The person seemed real enough. Its hair was bright green, like the green normally used to represent lime flavourings. He, for Charlie thought it looked like a boy, wore a loose shirt that was coloured mucky green and brown. His trousers were of the same colour and material, but cut roughly half way up the boy’s calves. Charlie also noticed that the boy wore no shoes. I hope he doesn’t cut himself on the sharp edge, Charlie thought.

Errigal paused at the mouth of the tin. The air was cool on his face, but surprisingly moist.

“What can you see?” called Cashel from inside the trap. She had wanted to investigate their surroundings with him, but Errigal wasn’t going to put his sister in any more danger then he had already.

He could sense the human’s presence, and was following every twitch of movement that it made with his magic. There were strict guidelines that fairies had to stick to when their actions concerned humans, and showing themselves was certainly not one of them. Of course it was allowed if the situation desperately required it. Errigal was just glad that his strict dad wasn’t there. Children are especially to be avoided, The Great Book says. It is a well-known fact that the young Daonni do not have the mental restraints of their peers, and are quite happy to believe that what they’re seeing is a real creature normally found only in stories.

Errigal gave a sigh and turned back into the trap. “What do you think we should do?” Cashel asked, but by the look on her brother’s face, he was not sure.

“He can defiantly see us,” was his eventual reply, “there’s no doubt about that. Protocol says we place a greim on him, and get out of this house as quickly as possible.” The greim (or grip) is a technique that has been used by the fairy people for centuries to help protect their presence from humans. It allows the fairies to place humans in a trance while their erase any presence of fairy activity from the human’s brain. Completely harmless, and quite east to do, even for young fairies like Errigal and Cashel. A greim was what their plan should be, but she could see that her brother had doubts. “Well, if that’s what protocol says, that’s what we should do,” she said innocently. “Isn’t it?”

“I guess” came the passive reply.

“But…”

Errigal let out a frustrated sigh. “Well we could do with some help, couldn’t we? We’re both tired, physically and magically. If we place a greim on him it’s going to really slow us down, and we might not get to Ailou in time.”

Cashel couldn’t stop a small smile from appearing on her face. This was the Errigal that she loved: thinking first about others, and not afraid to bend the rules slightly if needs be. Trying to clear the situation in her head she thought aloud, “So what we have to do is get the Daonna to take us to the power plant, without raising suspicions from any others of his kind, and without using any magic on the boy?”

Errigal raised his eyes to meet hers, and gave a small smile in agreement. She raised her eyebrows and sighed, “This plan needs some work.”

Oh, and I just want to add a quick thank-you to my Uni friend who drew a really good picture of Cashel. If I had a scanner I would put it up here, but sadly I am lacking that technology...












© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

ooh, it's good! :):):) DL wantses mores! lol

Its been a while since I've posted some story so here's chapter six. :D


Chapter 6

Charlie was on the verge of giving up. All of fifteen minutes (though it had felt like four times that long) had crept by and there had been no sign of the green-haired boy. He had developed cramp by sitting in the same position with his eyes focused on the mouth of the tin. The image of the boy was etched on his brain. Could it really have been a fairy? Charlie mentally chided himself. ‘Fairies don’t exist!’ he thought to himself, ‘you’re seeing things that aren’t there, Charlie. You’re going mad. Fairies indeed!’ But no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, the image of the fairy boy kept coming back.

Before long the hall clock struck eight o’clock and Charlie finally gave up waiting for the creature to reappear. “Shy,” Charlie decided. He stood up and stretched, warming up his stiff muscles. He turned to leave the room, but was stopped in his tracks by a voice from behind.

Hey, Human! Come back. Listen to me, Daonni. Down here!”

Daonni? Charlie turned slowly and looked down at the cage. The green-haired boy was there again standing right on the edge of the trap and shouting at the top of his voice. Charlie moved closer to the cage and the boy continued, “ Ah good, you understand English. You can come closer, you know. I don’t bite.” Inside the trap Cashel rolled her eyes. Trust her brother to put on the ‘rude-fairy’ act.

Charlie obeyed the command and crouched down next to the cage. The boy was smiling; showing off a set of pearly-white teeth that shone just as much as the strange emerald headdress that he was wearing.

“Do you have a name, boy?” the fairy called up.

“Charlie,” came the human’s hesitant reply. “Charlie Hillock.”

“Nice to meet you Charlie Hillock. Do you know that you’re the first Daonna I’ve ever spoken to?”

“Really?”

“Yes,” said Errigal, trying to sound much more confidant then he felt. “How am I doing?”

“Fine,” came the shaky reply. Errigal smiled. Fairy supremacy had to be established immediately for the plan to work.

“Thanks.” Errigal looked around the cage and back up at the human. “Clever idea you’ve had here boy. To be honest I didn’t think you Daonni had it in you. I’m impressed.” Charlie tried to protest against this compliment; to explain that he had only intended to trap mice and not fairies; but he was in such a state of shock that although his mouth moved correctly, no sound emerged, so he closed it again.

Daonni, Errigal thought, they see a fairy and start doing fish impressions. Aloud he continued, “As you are obviously a rarely intelligent human, I don’t need to tell you what I’m sure you’ve already worked out: I’m a fairy.”

The human nodded, but remained silent.

“Again going over the obvious, as a fairy I have the capability to conjure magic, and some pretty powerful magic at that if I do say so myself.” Errigal heard a ‘tut’ come from inside the trap, but ignored it. “Inside the trap is another fairy; my sister.” At this point Cashel took her cue and stepped outside the trap to stand next to her brother. “We need to get somewhere quickly,” Errigal continued, “and we were hoping that you would be able to help us.”

Charlie wasn’t dumb and had watched enough films to know that this wasn’t a request. He had to help these people, or they would turn him into a mouse or make him sleep for the next 100 years. Or worse.

He moved his eyes to look at the girl fairy. She was beautiful, with piercing eyes that were a similar shape to her brothers, but hers were coloured shinning silver, with slight speckles of blue mixed in. Her eyes complemented her silky blue hair. She was dressed in a blue and yellow dress that seemed to be made a similar to her brother’s outfit and she had the same emerald-gem headdress. Strange, thought Charlie, surely it should be blue to match her hair. Pushing this thought to one side, he concentrated again fully on the task in hand.

“I’ll help you,” he whispered, conscious of the fact that his parents might be up by now, “but you’ll have to wait.”

“Wait for what?” Errigal snapped.

Cashel poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Try not to be too rude Errigal,” she whispered in his ear.

“My family,” replied Charlie, not noticing, “It will be gone eleven before I can get away.”

Errigal turned his sister so that their backs were turned towards the human. “That’s too long!” he said. “Who knows what might have happened to Ailou by then.”

Cashel agreed, it was a long time. But what choice did they have, save going on their own?

Charlie stated to sweat. What were they talking about? Horror struck the core of his thoughts-he’d failed the test. And now they were going to punish him! He had to think of something… “Unless,” his instincts said before his conscious had time to stop it. The fairies both turned to face him again.

“Unless what?” said the boy. Charlie had no time to think. Those brown eyes seemed to pierce right through him.

“I could go and get the newspaper.” It was so simple. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? Intelligent human indeed.

“A Newspaper?” Cashel queried. Another Daonni trait she knew nothing about.

“Its one of the ways that they get information about what’s going on in their world,” explained Errigal. “Daonni still have to use ink on paper, would you believe. A terrible waste of trees.” He spoke louder to the human, “How much time would that task normally take you?”

Charlie thought for a minute before replying, “About twenty minutes on my bike. Is that long enough?”

“No,” came the reply. “No I don’t think it is. Can you get any more time?”

“I could get a puncture if you like. That’d give me at least an extra 15 minutes. Longer if it was both tyres – and my chain could come off if I was really unlucky.” Despite the danger, Charlie was beginning to enjoy this rather unusual Sunday morning.

Errigal gave Cashel a questioning look. “It’s going to have to do,” she replied. Errigal nodded his reluctant agreement.

“Okay Charlie, here’s the deal. After breakfast, or before if you can manage it, you offer to buy the paper. On the way you can drop us off outside Chapnall Power Station. After that you return to your family and forget that you ever saw us. Agreed?”

Both fairy and human knew that the answer was already assumed.











© Jacqueline Pearson 2004 :D

OMGYEY MORE FAIRY STORY!!

:wub: luff it!

how is fs2 coming along and your harry potter one, ive seemed to have lost the ideas for fics at the mo, even though i have 3 card captor sakura ones being beta'd

it wont let me put the pic up , evil evil

I've just started to type up FSII but I don't think I'm even half way through writing it. Its going to be a bit longer then the first one!

The HP fic is a little stuck at the moment, as I've trying to fit in the infromation from HP6 - certain bits of that book have kinda mucked up some vital parts of the plot. Perhaps when I get to uni you could help me get round them? :D

Three cardcaptor sakura fics? Have I read them? When they're done you'll have to post them on here - this place needs a bit of writing :D ;)

More of Chapter 6 B)

“My magic?” Ailou could feel her legs becoming weak beneath her.

Kima nodded. “I know what you’re thinking, little fairy,” the grey fairy said softly. “You’re thinking ‘that’s impossible – you can’t take magic away from a fairy.’” She smiled. “Unfortunately for you, I’m right and you’re wrong.” Kima placed her hand under Ailou’s chin and lifted her face so their eyes met. “You have a very pretty face, Ailou. It’s a shame. A real shame.”

“Why do it then?”

Kima’s laugh echoed around the room. “Oh Ailou, such an innocent little thing! I’ll not insult your intelligence – I’ll tell you all, but not now. Now you must eat, as I’m sure you are hungry!”

“Believe me, I’m not,” came the bitter reply.

“I don’t believe you, Ailou,” Kima said calmly. “However I will not force you to eat; I will just leave some food out for you to have at your own convenience. Zalino, stay here and watch her. I will be back shortly.” And with that she walked out of the room, leaving Ailou alone with the goblin.

“Pweety fari, eat some foood!” the goblin spluttered. Over on the table was a plate of steamy berry pie with the most beautiful looking pastry Ailou had ever seen.

“That wasn’t there before!” Ailou said in amazement before she could stop herself.

“Thatz mistrizz magik,” hissed the goblin with a crooked smile on his face. “Mistrizz cleva.”

Ailou stayed silent. The longer this went on the more afraid she became. Kima was a powerful fairy; Ailou wasn’t. The flaw in her already weak plan was becoming far too obvious to her.

In spite of herself, the food on the table appealed greatly to her stomach, which hadn’t had any food for nearly twenty-four hours. But what if it was poisoned? Then Ailou would simply be giving her life to Kima on a plate. Literary. Zalino had slouched himself of the right of the two chairs. The chair had a grubby, brown cloth thrown over it, obviously there to protect the expensive leather from the goblin’s sweat.

“Eat pweety fari,” he smirked. “Itz not poizend, no fari. Mistrizz wantz you alive!” Satisfied he had done enough intimidating for now, Zalino collapsed and shut one of his eyes. Ailou perked up, briefly thinking that her luck had turned and that her guard was falling asleep. Then she remembered that Goblins don’t need sleep – they can shut one half of their brains, while keeping the other one active and staying awake. “They can do that because not much goes on either side of their brains!” Ailou could hear her mother saying. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying. She would see her parents again. She would, somehow.

Long-term, nothing seemed possible. But the fairy reasoned with herself that if an escape opportunity arose she would need food in order to take advantage of it. Walking cautiously over to the table, she picked up a small slice of the pie. The crust crumbled in her hand, causing tiny crumbs to fall on the carpet floor. She took a bit, and had soon consumed two slices and a glass of elder juice.

^_^







© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

Very good, as always. Keep it up!

Here's the rest of chapter 6 ^_^

Full, and suffering slightly from indigestion, Ailou decided to explore the room, looking for any small detail that might come in handy later on.

The mirrors were beautiful, with an intricate gilded pattern of butterflies and twisted roses. The pieces themselves were not magic (for it is a well known fact that magic mirrors cannot actually reflect light) but spells had been put on the glass, causing it to create light as well as reflect it.

Ailou tried to concentrate on the magic that had been etched into the glass. She could sense both Air and Earth magic on the mirrors, and it seemed that both elements were combining to enhance the spell.

Ailou realised that this combination of Air and Earth magic, which seemed to be co-working throughout the room, had one of the many things that had been nagging at her brain. It wasn’t that it was impossible for two elements to work together – in fact the practice in quite common throughout the world of the fae – but it was the particular pairing that puzzled the small fairy. Earth was quite happy to work with Fire, as Air’s best partner was always Water. Earth and Air was a partnership never seen in fairy society – or so Ailou had always thought.

The creaking of wood as the double oak doors opened and a sudden chill around her bare ankles interrupted Ailou’s thought process. Zalino jumped out of his chair and ran to kneel before his mistress.

“Oh get up, you miserable excuse for a sentient being,” Kima hissed.

Zalino whimpered like a beaten puppy and retreated back to his chair, not wanting to further provoke her anger.

Ailou struggled to suppress the fear that seemed to fill her whenever she saw the grey fairy. She had to be strong if she was to have any hope of surviving. She moved from the mirror to behind the chairs, placing a hand on each in an attempt to hide her shaking. “Thank-you for the pie,” she said eventually.

“My pleasure,” the grey fairy replied.

Ailou straightened up. “I was wondering,” she enquired, “about the mirrors.”

Kima smiled. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they? Made from the finest oak – and gilded with pure gold.”

The small fairy wondered whether it was wise to continue with this sorry excuse for a conversation, but at the moment delaying her death was the only plan she had been able to come up with. Besides, what did she have to lose? “They’re very beautiful,” she agreed. “I really like the butterflies – their wings are so delicate.”

“I like the butterflies too, I have to admit,” Kima said sweetly. Her features relaxed till Ailou could almost describe her face as kind. But in a flash they hardened again to their normal icy positions. “Flattery will get you no-where, Ailou. But by all means, continue if you wish.”

“But I wasn’t complimenting you – I was complimenting the mirrors,” Ailou heard herself saying. Oh God, she thought, what have I done?

“For a little fairy you have a big attitude!” Kima’s voiced rose a couple of notes in pitch as she pointed her index finger at Ailou. “You really should be more polite!”

Pain shot though Ailou’s body like lightning, flinging her to the ground. She tried let to out a scream, but the pain had momentarily stopped her vocal chords from working and no sound emerged. All she could do was crouch on the ground, waiting for the pain to subside. She could see nothing, but somewhere in the distance she could just make out Kima saying, “I really wish people would learn to be more polite.”


© Jacqueline Pearson 2004



Hopefully once my exams are over I might even get a chance to get on with the sequel... :rolleyes:

Here's the first half of chapter 7
:D


Chapter 7

Transportation to the power station was in a (thankfully) clean jam-jar, filled partly with rose-smelling cotton wool. The jar was placed as securely as possible in Charlie’s school rucksack. Errigal wanted to protest at being placed in a situation where he could not see where they were going and therefore were left at the mercy of the young Daonna, but Cashel reasoned with her brother that being completely out of sight was the safest option. She pointed out that there was every chance of meeting other children on the way – “and besides,” she quipped, “you’ve scared the boy so much that I don’t think he would dare do anything except follow our instructions to the letter!” So the jam-jar it was.

Needless to say, the ride was far from comfortable. The fairies emerged bruised and tired, and more then a little fed up with the cotton wool. “ I hope you never have to travel in a jam-jar,” Errigal retorted as the human placed them on a concrete wall.

“Erm, yes. I’m sorry about that,” Charlie whispered, trying not to be too conscious of the fact that any passing person would think that he was having a conversation with himself.

“Well I’m sure you are,” Cashel said gently, “but lets not worry about that now. We’re here in one piece.”

“Just,” hissed Errigal under his breath.

Cashel decided that her brother didn’t even deserve a response, so she ignored his comment and continued to talk to the human. “ The thing we need to know now, is where exactly are we?”

“Outside Chapnal Power Station. Where you said.”

Cashel looked around. Some distance away she could see large metal fences with large, coloured signs decorating them at regular intervals. “Is that the power station over there, behind the fence?” She pointed to emphasise where she meant.

Charlie nodded his reply, not wanting to speak unless he had to.

“Would it be possible for you to get us inside?” she asked. The less flying they had to do, the better.

The human shook his head sternly. “No, sorry. Only people with special passes can go in. And you can’t climb the fences either,” he added, “they’re electrified.”

Cashel looked at Errigal for any signs of his view of the situation. He was pacing up and down, trying to shed the dizziness from the journey and taking no apparent notice of her or the human. Cashel let out a low sigh. Men. “Alright Charlie, just take us up to the fence. Then you can go home.”

Carrying the pair carefully on his open palm, he placed them on the fence. With nothing touching the earth, the electric current had no effect on the two fairies.

Before he could go, Errigal indicated that he wanted to say something to the human. “My sister and I would like to thank you for your courageous help with our journey.”

Charlie smiled broadly. It wasn’t every day you were thanked by fairies.

“And to show our gratitude,” Errigal continued, “we would like to give you a blessing.” Before the human could object, Errigal started to pronounce the memory-erasing spell in a load, clear voice,

“Streesum calfortis, rasses tri.
Mefasal leaflat, merasdos me.”

Once finished, he turned to Cashel and said, rather more sharply then he intended, “Come on, let’s go before he comes out of that trance!”

Cashel was shocked by her brother’s thoughtlessness. “We can’t just leave him without something to fill in the gaps. Think of the damage that could do!”

Errigal stumped his foot in frustration. “We haven’t got time!”

“Yes we have,” Cashel said, raising her voice to show her anger. “Whatever is going on in there does not give us an excuse to leave this boy with gaps in his memory. Besides, if it weren’t for him we would still be a day away. This is the least we can do for him!”

Her brother blushed, realising once again that Cashel was right. “Tell you what, why don’t you bless him, properly this time.”

“Yes, I guess that is the right thing to do.” Cashel flew up to Charlie’s tranced face and placed both her hands on his temple. Closing her eyes she rested her head against his and whispered, “Bless you,” in an almost magically soft voice. A blue, hazy light transferred from fairy to human.

Flying back down to her brother, Cashel smiled and said, “Come on. Lets go find Ailou.”


^_^





© Jacqueline Pearson 2004

As always, it's so good, i don't know what to say. Just one question though: how did you make the words for the spell? Did you hit the keyboard randomly, or did you create your own language, Tolkien-style?