#faerlish = childish

[fairy-verse]

: ̗̀➛ Quiet, part 3

There’s a sudden growing chill in the air; the warmth being chased away despite its long stay; the weather changing again and for the worse for those not built to withstand the cold.

Horror shuddered and Killer had only a short moment to feel bad before the grouchy summer fairy pinned him with a heated glare. Apparently, should a summer fairy force themselves to stay awake throughout the days in winter they tend to become extremely fussy and bad-tempered, not that Killer was surprised in the slightest, but Dust was always easily annoyed when anything involving making Horror uncomfortable was concerned, so really, he should have seen this coming.

“Don’t like… to think about it,” said Horror, making himself busy by sorting dried fruits and pickled vegetables. “Bad memories.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up, Horror, but isn’t there anything you can recall from The Mountain Halls? You’ve lived longer than me and have experienced more winters. Are any of them anything like this one?” asked Cross, occasionally glancing towards the rounded window as the winds began to pick up, howling in wailing cries outside.

“Unpredictable,” said Horror, wings twitching and threatening to unfold out into their great might. “Always… unpredictable. Moody… easily irritated, but…” he raised a hand towards his empty socket, stopping only due to Dust grabbing onto his arm. He huffed, sniffing in agitation. “Kind to us. Kind to all winter fairies; pretty, like a snowstorm… seen from within a… a warm nest.”

The wind gave a particularly sharp wail, and Cross glanced outside again, seeing snow coming down.

“Ah, look at that,” said Killer, shuddering slightly, but still smiling. “Everything must have returned to normal, then. All is good, we can go back.”

“No,” said Horror, releasing a tense breath before picking up Dust, holding the petite fairy close, soothed by his colder body against his own warm one. “Snowstorm… it’s…” He furrowed his brows, grimacing, bulging eyelight now a sharp pinprick, “unusual.”

“How can a snowstorm in winter be unusual?” asked Killer, making a face though taking a cautious step back as Horror growled, massive form suddenly seeming malicious and dangerous, clawed phalanges holding protectively onto Dust; warming him as best he could. The petite fairy only laid a hand upon one of Horror’s, lending him support the best he could.

“Winter fairies…” Horror gritted his teeth, frustrated at his lack of quickness with words the more agitated he became. “We can feel… Feel the magic in the snow. It is… not good. Uneasy.” Horror’s wings unfolded, coming around both him and Dust. “Angry… fearful… Evil.”

“Evil?” asked Cross, now growing concerned. He couldn’t feel much of the magic that accompanied Error’s ice and snow during winter, probably a defect due to him being a hybrid, but even he could tell this growing snowstorm was strange. Something was abnormal about it, and if it was linked with Error’s emotions, then nothing good could be behind it.

“We’ll have to get to The Mountain Halls before the storm becomes too bad,” said Cross, heading towards the door, hearing Horror thump behind him as the giant of a fairy hurried to start a fire, still holding onto Dust.

“Out? Into that?” asked Killer, not at all liking the idea. “I’m a hybrid of autumn and spring, Cross. A sunny winter’s day I can handle, but this? Nu-uh. We should wait.”

“Out of the question,” hissed Cross, grabbing onto Killer’s arm. “Something is wrong. We need to reach Error’s Mountain now. No objections.”

“I object—”

“Stop being faerlish!”

“Hmpf.”

“Haste,” said Horror, eyelight shrinking as the door opened. “Fly… with haste.”

“I’d only been tasked with making you check if anything was wrong with Error, and I only agreed to come with you because, as you probably remember, when I went to pick you up it was unusually warm outside,” said Killer, already shivering as he passed the threshold.

“It will be warm within The Mountain Halls. If you stop complaining, we’ll be there soon enough,” said Cross, both annoyed and worried, though refusing to show both.

“Or only once my wings freeze and fall off,” said Killer, complaining, the door behind him shutting with one great thud, locking them out from the warmth of Horror’s Hollow.

Previous Music: Rune Realms – The Snowstorm