A World Apart

Chapter 1

It had freshly rained and the sun had begun to peek back through the clouds. Lucia shook a little dew off of her and spread out her wings, looking out from her nest in the tree. Woodland creatures had begun to sneak back out, and now that it was barely sprinkling, she could fly out of the forest in search of food. Faeries are too lazy to grow food themselves, so they take it from farms, vineyards, and orchards wherever is nearby. With one leap she was off zig-zagging through the trees toward the edge of the forest.

The day began for Avelina as it always does. Wake up, get dressed, go outside and go to work. Her task had started off with rounding up the horses for plowing. Unfortunately, it had begun to rain in during the process. The task became increasingly more difficult due to it being hard to get a lead around them to escort them back towards the harnesses. She had managed to get the last one, when the rain had ceased. Avelina began to walk back towards where the other horses were placed when she saw a flicker of movement by the forest edge.

The faerie landed on a branch at the edge of the forest, blending in nicely since her wings were shades of green. She scanned the field, hoping desperately for there to be something to eat, for she was eating for two now, and was quite hungry.

Being a naturally curious person, Eva moved towards the edge of the wilderness. Looking up to where she thought she had seen the movement, she tried to detect any further movement. But, the only movement she saw was the leaves that moved gently in the breeze. With a shrug, she began to head back to the plow.

When she turned around, Lucia was with her horses, gently petting the nose of one of them, her golden tail flicking in nervousness that the human would come back. "Why, hello there..." She chuckled quietly to the horse, her voice rather deep and her accent strong of Irish descent.

By the time Eva got back to the rest of the horses, she was exhausted. She had been up since before the first light appeared in the sky. So, understandably, when she heard a voice near one of her horses, she told herself that she just heard things. Being cautious though, she tried to be as quiet as possible to see who was by her horses.

The faerie flinched, spreading her wings to their full splendor as she heard a footstep, and glanced about, taking a tiptoe backwards.

With a gasp, she stared in shock as to what she was seeing. "Are you, a faerie? I mean, that is what your...kind is called is it not?" Then, she looked back down at her feet. "Or, perhaps I am seeing things. Maybe I am going daft...."

The woman eyes her strangely and hissed like a snake, backing up further. "You certainly are daft, you human." She snapped, her eyes not leaving this lady who had seen her.

Avelina did not really know what to do in this situation. So, she did the first thing that came to mind. She bowed. "If I truly am seeing things, then, I am happy to see something so majestic. But, if you are really here in front of me, then, I am again, so happy to see something as marvelous as yourself!"

Lucia stuttered a little. She did not know that humans could be polite. All the stories she'd ever heard told her the opposite, as did her personal experience in the death of her parents. Unfortunately, the faerie had a bit of an ego, also viewing herself as quite majestic, and she stood a little straighter at this stranger's words. "You mean... You don't want to kill me?"

The farmer woman looked up at the faerie and cocked her head to the side in confusion. "No. Why would I want to kill you? I haven't killed a single thing in my life! Well, except for one thing, but, it is not really a really real thing that is alive.... Sorry, I don't know why I am prattling on about this. I mean, you're really here in front of me!"

She gracefully rested a hand around her midsection, wary of her. "Your name?" She asked quickly and she circled the girl, judging her and making completely sure she had no weapon on her person.