Coffeh's G/t Short Stories

G/t July Day 29: Element

When the Soarers glided through the sky, they brought forth the veil of the night, encasing the land with its glistening decorations. Such a wonderful sight it was, bright and sparkly, just like the teas made of moonlight that Eibhlin drinks. For many a year has the firefly fairy lived, and through her 5 centuries of life she looked up at many skies. Yet, this night felt different, as it marked one of many where she would not be at her cozy palace up in the trees. Instead, she laid on the earth, surrounded by tall grass and accompanied by her twin brother and other three companions.

What a weird bunch were they. On one side, there was Eibhlin and her brother Éibhear, both fairies of the light and royalty from the last decade, who looked tiny compared to most other living creatures, despite their powers vastly surpassing the expectations of their four-inch size. She glanced at her kin at her right, and he slept like a rock, not moving an inch and drooling from his mouth. She giggled. It's good that her brother was resting, he lived so stressed out that he deserves a night of sleep.

'Yet my mind grows restless, and my heart flutters, because-'

To her left, was the human from Earth, Avery. The contrast of her appearance to Eibhlin was near comical, consisting of only a hoodie, a pair of jeans and a short type of boots that Avery calls "All Stars", compared to the fairy's silky white dress. Despite being transported to their world so suddenly, the human from Earth remained calm and marveled at each tiny detail that Eibhlin had taken for granted.

'I can't stop thinking about it, my heart keeps racing. Why am I feeling so...?'

The human girl adorned a red, glowing necklace, from within which the fairy could see the sleeping form of Rubens, tinier than her, dressed in attire that pertained to a prince, yet adorning bright crimson shackles on his wrists and ankles. The man would remain miniscule until he awakens, only then would his spirit leave the confines of his necklace prison and meet the others at his normal, human size.

Only one member of their unlikely group rested distant from them.

'He stays far away from the four of us. Up there in the small hill, if I peer closely, I can see a Cumulos shape disguised as a cloud. He floats slightly above the hillside, mist evaporating from his grandiose form as he shifts in his sleep. Looking so imposing, and majestic, yet ever-so-distant and why, why is my heart beating faster?'

Eibhlin sighed. She could not lie to herself any longer. The reason she could not fall sleep was because of Nimbus.

She couldn't remember when her feelings first happened. When it comes to passion and other matters of the heart, the fairy queen knows close to nothing of it. So many centuries she spent on war and dominion or ruling her land, that now that she finally resigned her position and embarked on a journey of her own, experiencing love along with so many other foreign feelings, she does not know how to handle them. Nimbus always laid a few yards away from her and her friends when he slept, despite him traveling along with the group. During the day, he shrinks for a little while and retains a human-sized shape, but night he allows himself to stretch to his full size and relax, floating like a cloud in a fair distance from them, as to not harm anyone under his sleep.

'Even if his face is always neutral or sometimes sneering, he shows his affection for us through his actions'. Eibhlin pondered. Nimbus acted as a guardian for the traveling group, protecting them from dangerous foes, and she would do anything to just fly up to his face and thank him, if she could. If she could...