Icasondra was scared for she may have doomed her village. She should have kept her mouth shut. The chimera was smart and decided to not kill her, but she could feel the bloodlust radiating from it. Or rather, he. She cringed a bit, the flashing memory of the creature’s manhood. Oh, it will never go away, will it?
She took a deep breath.
The chimera was following her as she walked toward the forest. They were still a bit far from the actual forest, but the Barren Lands would soon end its spread and life would bloom anew.
She could feel the green eyes observing her from behind, inspecting her every move. She turned her head back. The chimera had shifted to a human shape, but he still had those cat eyes. And whilst curiosity was gnawing on her mind, Icasondra didn’t have the strength of will to ask the creature. He carried the bolt of red silk in his hands, if she didn’t die, she would make a good profit from her excursion.
It was only when the green shade of grass made its appearance that the chimera did something. He crouched and inspected the wilting grass, still affected by the touch of Death of the Barren Lands.
“Fairy, what’s that?” He asked.
“Grass.” At this point, Icasondra could only explain and nod calmly. It was clear that the chimera didn’t know anything.
“What’s do it do?” The chimera plucked some blades and inspected them on his fingers.
“Um, I don’t know? Does it have to do something?” He gave her an inquisitive look. “I mean it! It’s just a plant, it just exists!”
“What’s a ‘plant’?” He added.
I should have expected it. Icasondra sighed.
“A plant is like a life form that lives rooted to the ground? I’m no scholar, so I don’t know what the actual definition of a plant is.”
“Why do organisms choose to stay still?” The chimera asked in confusion. “That lets the hunter and also prey get them.”
“I don’t know?” Icasondra replied. She had never asked herself such obvious questions.
“You are useless, fairy.” He replied bored.
“I’m sorry for not being an encyclopedia!” She cried. “And I’m not called 'fairy', I have a name you know! I’m Icasondra!”
Then her blood turned cold as she noticed what she had done. She had unleashed her stress on the chimera by shouting at him.
“Alright.” He responded, thankfully not choosing to kill her. “But Icasondra, I also have a name of my own. I am Alta.”
“Alta the chimera then?” Icasondra said slowly, walking down the metaphorical path with careful steps.
“And you, Icasondra the fairy,” Alta responded.
“Well, technically, I would be Icasondra the Moonlight fairy.” She added, against her better judgment. “There are a lot more types of fairies, so there can be confusion. It’s like calling grass just a plant.”
“But you did not a minute before,” Alta said.
“That’s because you didn’t even know what grass was!” She turned her back toward him. “Follow me, there’s still a long travel before us.”
Alta stood up from her crouch and began walking after her. It was not long before the forest made their presence clear. Tall trees filled their view, the plants themselves stretching out as if they wanted to reach the skies.
“What-“ Alta tried to talk, but Icasondra interjected him.
“Those are trees, and they are another type of plant.”
“Alright.” The chimera nodded, not angry at the interjection, but pleased with the knowledge.
Why do I keep doing this? Icasondra struggled in her mind. Dumb, dumb fairy. You are going to get killed with your stupid tongue!
“They are big.” Alta commented.
“Indeed.” Icasondra added.
“You are small.” He continued.
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“Excuse you?” The fairy added.
“Excuse me for what?” He tilted his head in confusion.
“It... it doesn’t matter.” She rolled her eyes. At least this time he didn’t try to kill me because I didn’t tell him.
“Where’s this ‘village’ then?” Alta looked at her.
“I... I told you we have a long journey before we arrive.” She wouldn’t that she thought of guiding the chimera on the wrong path, but quickly discarded the idea.
The chimera walked around her, slowly circling her. Even though she was flying, Alta’s eyes looked at her from on top. The chimera, even in his human form, was still three times as tall as her.
After a full rotation and a half, Alta stopped and smiled at her. “Continue.” That was the only word he said, yet Icasondra obeyed without thinking it twice.
She couldn’t comprehend the mind of the shapeshifting creature, it was more akin to an animal than a person, but she could feel him toying with her.
The rest of the travel was spent in silence. Alta would stop from time to time, prompting her to also stop, but the chimera wouldn’t ask her about the things he was looking at.
They didn’t stop many times, just three: once for flowers, another when more kinds of trees appeared in the forest, and the last one for a squirrel.
Alta looked the critter right in the eyes and the squirrel replied. There was some sort of understanding between them. He nodded and the critter went on its merry way.
Weird. Icasondra thought. Most people, mainly humans, thought that fairies had an intrinsic connection to nature, but that was only superstition. As a Moonlight fairy, Icasondra could only feel connected to the moon, and even if she had lived all her life in the forest, she couldn't just talk with animals or comprehend them.
The moment she heard the silent woods became more liver, more sounds in the background, Icasondra knew they were getting close to the village. And that scared him. How will Alta react? Will he kill everyone because I was too cowardly to sacrifice myself?
She needed to do something.
Once they were close enough to the village, Icasondra landed on the ground and looked at Alta.
“Em... Alta?” She asked, doubtful of her plan. There wasn’t one, to begin with.
“Yes, Icasondra?” He replied.
“We have to do something with your looks.” The little fairy added with more confidence. “Fairies in the village have seen humans, but you are far too big to look like one, so... you might scare them. And also! Yes, you won’t fit in the houses, yes! You need to be smaller if you want to walk around the village!”
It was improvised and she had raised her voice too much to sound confident, yet...
“It makes sense.” Alta nodded, scratching his chin. “Should I adopt your form?”
“Can you?” She asked.
Icasondra knew that it was impossible to get Alta out of the village now, but if he decided to take the shape of a fairy, maybe, and just maybe, he would be reticent to kill other fairies.
“I guess so, I just need time.” Having said so, Alta sat on the grass and looked at her closely.
The way he was looking at her, inspecting her, felt awful. As if she was raping her with his eyes. But not in a sexual or academic way, but it was as if he was ripping her open with his claws, inspecting her insides like a butcher reading the meat.
Her breathing stopped.
The chimera hadn’t moved in any manner, not even a blink, it was all in her mind. Yet she wanted to puke. Her throat itched as if the claws had truly gotten her.
A cold traversed her body.
It was all because of those eyes. That wasn’t the sight of a person looking at another, or one of a hunter observing prey, she didn’t know what that sight was of. And that scared her.
It dissected her very being, studying her to the most basic components, no longer a fairy, but several organs tied up together.
“Ah...” A painful and terrified escape her mouth.
The chimera didn’t mind, opting to keep studying her body. How can he do this with just his sight? Acknowledging that fact scared her even further. Alta didn’t need menacing and sharp claws or even a towering body, just a single look was enough.
It was getting dizzy, even if she was standing up with her feet on the ground. Her wings fluttered nervously, hoping for the moment the chimera would look away.
She didn’t need to wait long.
The very next instant after Alta finally blinked and took his eyes out off her, Icasondra fell to her knees, her legs unable to carry her body as they trembled.
“Are you okay?” The chimera asked, unaware of the trial Icasondra had fought in her mind.
“Y-yes.” She responded with a mixture of fear and exhaustion. “Can you transform into me or something?”
“I think I can, I just need a bit more time to shift.”
Then awful noises came from his insides. Icasondra heard the creaks of bone, the snapping of muscles, and the spluttering of blood.
Blood? She looked down and saw the small rivers of blood forming on the chimera’s skin. Then she saw the bolt of silk next to him. The silk! She screamed inwardly, horrified. She couldn’t allow the silk to get drenched by Alta’s blood. It was expensive enough to cover all her expenses for months if not years.
Ignoring her exhaustion and fear, she took off from the ground and grabbed the bolt.
“Urgh!” Icasondra grunted, grinding her teeth. The bolt was heavier than it looked, and fairies weren’t known for their physical prowess. She had forgotten after the chimera carried it all the way here effortlessly.
Alta didn’t mind her antics, too focused on the shifting. Thankfully, Icasondra managed to move the bolt of silk away from the fountain of blood without dirtying it or scratching it.
The fairy panted, catching her breath. Only to then have it taken it away from her.
A figure clawed outside of the body of the chimera, smaller yet sparkling with the energy of a thousand suns.
From Alta’s back, a new one emerged. This one had protuberances on the back, shining with an orange tinge. It still had the blood-red hair color, yet now it had more... passion than before. The rebirthed figure was mystical enough to be worthy of being called a fairy.
Alta flew a few feet above the old body, then landed before it. He was smaller, around the same size as Icasondra herself, but instead of having butterfly blue wings, Alta possessed two bright fires in the shape of leaves posing for fairy wings.
The newborn fairy was naked in his bloody glory, his skin tainted with the same color as his hair, but instead of portraying an awful male visage, it was female like Icasondra. All her body.
She’s beautiful... The Moonlight fairy’s mind was enchanted with the sight.