Road To the Fey

Road To The Fey | Ep 2

Briar followed Nobella closely behind while feeling the weight of the gold in her palm. After this, I can make it out of here. Briar sighed in relief.
"What did you say?" Nobella misheard, and before Briar could even think of a response, she continued. "Y'know, it's rather nice out here. Just the two of us!"
When they made it to the Coach stop they sat on the bench, on opposite sides, and waited patiently. Briar noticed the wind carried leaves careless, and yet cautiously. The smell of the woods distracted Briar, cedar or something else?
"Do you think the woods can hear us talk? Or understand us, I mean." Nobella blurted.
"No. Why would it need to?" Briar scoffed. They felt bad, to be blunt. Hatchett felt like they said something wrong. Like crushing a flower underneath their heel. "I mean, the forest has many of its own problems and its own worries, I don't think it would need to know ours?" Bullshit. Briar made up bullshit.
Nobella smiled, "well, sorry, but I have to disagree. Our stories echo in the forest, it helps us. Guide us to something that we were meant to see!" Nobella slid over to Briar and held their hand palm side up. She placed her hand on Briar's chest, "My old Abbot, or uh, master taught me this. Your heart represents the forest, or just generally life." Nobella's hand followed Briar's arm down to their palm, "Your hands represent your influence, or your impact on the world." Then Bella connected her forehead to Briar's softly. "Your head is the connection to the earth beneath us. Meaning, the earth keeps your life moving, and if you use your influence for good. You can help others connect to the world and keep hearts beating." Nobella stopped as soon as she realized what she was doing. She slid back to her side of the bench. "So, uh, basically what I am saying is that I think the forest uses its influence to push you to do good."

It was silent for a while. They both listened to birds sing songs that they made up. The wind makes music through shaking trees and walloping the tall grass. Wood creaks up a bumpy path, and a slight sound of mild cursing. The stage wagon finally arrived.
Spoken with a thick accent, "Alright, here's ya's wagon. This be Betsy, treat her nice, ya hear?" The short hobgoblin stepped off the wagon, and then waddled off back to wherever he came from. Excitedly, Nobella ran over to Briar and nearly pushed them to the ground going in for a hug.
"Isn't she beautiful!" Nobella said rapidly, slurring her words. She got off of Briar, still jittery from the excitement.
"Well, we're not going to get there if we don't start moving, right?" Briar said rhetorically.
Briar lifted their backpack into the coach, and began to grab Nobella's.
"Be careful, it's heavy." She warned.
And when Briar felt the weight, she tried to hide it on her face, it was heavier than it looked. But they managed.
Nobella snickered at Briar's surprised expression, "told ya."

They began to move, with Nobella at the helm. They were finally into the unknown, finally into roads that were far from traveled upon. Listening to those bird songs, and listening to a far off river run. They smelled the flowers, and saw the canopy's gaps that let in beautiful sunlight. The both of them were silent for different reasons, Nobella was taking in the sights of the beauty. Meanwhile Briar was stuck in the past trying to focus on the path ahead. Surprisingly, Briar shattered the silence.
"So why do you want to find some Archfey? For a wish, right?"
Nobella looked over and had a soft smile, she continued to look at the road ahead. "Yeah, well, I think part of it is about the journey and not the actual wish. We're pioneers! It feels exciting!"
"So, you don't want the wish?" Briar confronted.
"No, I mean, I do. I really want it. It's just that the journey feels more important." She responded, "To get anything you want, isn't that exciting? But there are so many options to choose from, and you can only have one wish? That's gonna be difficult to choose!"
"I want my mind to be my own." Briar said without thinking. Well, they put the thought of what they want their wish to be. But the words fell out with no control from Hatchett.
"What do you mean, Brie?"
Embarrassed, they continued. "Changelings have this sort of genetic thing, where our main identities, called Personas, get passed to their children." She paused, am I really gonna do this? "And it just so happens, I was the offspring of two war veterans. Or something, I don't really know. But these Personas don't feel right in my body, almost like they want to escape. They hate me, and I hate them. So, that's pretty much it. I guess."
"Oh man," Nobella had to choose her words carefully, "I know I only met you a few hours prior, but I promise I am gonna stay by you whenever I can."
"Bella, no. It's okay, you hired me to protect you, not the other way around." Briar might have put a wall between themselves and poor Bella, but they appreciated it in silence.
Nobella never found a proper way to respond, so she left it at that.