Who's the real monster?

Disappearance

          Oh faex! He had heard of them, no-one had ever seen what their children looked like but everyone knew about the adults. They were the most powerful mortal creatures in the realm, though they were rarely seen. That explained the appearance he supposed. Their feathery torso and scaled limbs made them unique, though he didn't know how pixie had gotten away from their parents.

          The Mastdiceae's were well known for being very, very protective over their young. At least they ate similar things to his species, luckily for him, they loved shiny crystals, exactly like the quartz he hated.

          Pixie was fidgeting, wringing their hands together, Talen's pause had obviously made them worried. "You're scared of me, aren't you?"

          Talen looked at their worried face, it was obvious they thought they had upset him. His heart clenched, he didn't want them to feel unwanted, how he had his entire life. He quickly scooped Pixie up, gently holding them closer to his height so he could look them in the eyes.

          "Pixie, don't ever think I'm scared of you, besides, I don't even know if you could hurt me, you're the size of my hand! Now, I'm going to get us some breakfast, sit tight, and don't move. I don't want anyone to come upon you and attack you out of fear."

          Pixie thankfully didn't seem to notice their nickname. They had perked up though, wings fluttering excitedly, "Ok! I'll just practice my flying while I wait!"

          Talen sighed, relieved his new friend's feelings weren't hurt. He set them down carefully, smiled towards them, then quietly opened and shut the door, walking through happier than he had been for a while.

          He had gathered a double portion of quartz for his new friend, earning a few odd looks from those who knew of his distaste for it. He didn't know how much Pixie ate but he wanted to make sure there was enough. He opened the door carefully, making sure he wasn't going to smack into Pixie and stepped in.

There was no-one there.

           Talen rushed back out, the tray of quartz crashing on the ground as an afterthought. He knew if the others saw Pixie, they would harm them, that couldn't happen. His gut told him to go back to the lunchroom, maybe Pixie had tried to follow him?

          He entered the brightly lit hall, relieved when everything looked normal. He was about to turn back when he saw a glimmer, there was Pixie! Pixie had spotted him too, flying over to land on his shoulder. Why wasn't anyone alarmed?

          Pixie smiled brightly, "Hey! I was looking for you cause I wanted to show you my flying! I learned a trick, watch this!" They jumped off his shoulder and did a loop, faltering slightly at the end but righting themselves quickly, "Then I saw all these people and tried to show them but it was like they couldn't see me!" Pixie drooped a bit at that.

          Talen sighed, relieved, making some of his cavemates look at him. He quickly backed out of the room, pulling Pixie with him, "Pixie! You can't just go around like that! What if someone saw you? You could get hurt!" He internally cringed as he realized he was acting like his parents, they had always put down his interests, it was one of the main reasons he hid in his alcove all the time.

          Pixie jumped out of his hand pacing back and forth on the floor, wings flared out, "Well you saw them in there! They couldn't even see me! Besides, how do you know they would hurt me, you're one of them and you're nice!"

          Talen softened, he needed to remember that although Pixie seemed older, they were still young, with that, they were still a bit naive. "Pixie, you have to understand, I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just that my people aren't all like me, they're paranoid of anything different and they don't like change, it's one of the reasons we haven't tried to go back up to the surface, it's easier down here."

          Pixie relaxed, but was still pacing about, though less frantically, "Well at least tell me why you keep calling me Pixie!"

          Talen sat down, he knew he would have to tell them eventually, he just hoped they didn't take it wrong. "I'm sorry, I called you Pixie because you remind me of one, I didn't know what to call you so I just called you that when I first saw you. I didn't mean anything by it, promise." Pixie tilted their head their face scrunched up so he quickly assuaged her, "I don't have to call you that though, I can call you whatever you want!"

          Pixie straightened up and smirked, "Eh it's ok, I've been calling you Tally in my head anyways which is way worse, I actually kind of like it Pixie. As long as you only call me that when we are alone, my given name is actually Sun-through-the-clouds, Sunny for short."

          Talen was glad he was crouching on the floor as he almost collapsed when the tension left his muscles, he hadn't realized how worried he had been, "Good, but you have to agree to the same, only call me Tally when we are alone, I don't need any more teasing."

Pixie nodded, looking worn out from all the commotion as they headed back to their room.