Journeys: Fairy

	Humans. Monsters. What's the fundamental difference between the two? It's a question I've pondered over multiple times in my life. Ask it to the Order and you'll be admonished before being lectured with words such as 'chaotic', 'impure', and 'evil'. That monsters represent the antithesis of human decency and morality. And just as well, those that hear the same stories and verses since childhood will tell you much of the same. Parroting the words they've been told, even if they've never encountered a single monster their entire lives to back up the claims. Those humans that have encountered them, or even live in coexistence, will give much more varied responses. Despite the sometimes overwhelming disparity of strength, quite a few see them as equals, integral members of their society, and lovers. The more intelligent monsters will often give varied responses as well. Longer-lived ones almost always see us as children, a race that requires being protected from the world and themselves. Some see us merely as sustenance. However, the majority see us as mates, lovers, and the fathers of their children. So while not being equal in strength or fantastic abilities, we are always seen as absolutely necessary.

	My mind wandering and musing upon such things always happens as I map the scenery before me. Perched upon a rock on a mountain that's more a large hill than the former, I gaze out at the gentle dips and rises of sparsely forested land. I take one last look at my rough map, double checking the various notable landmarks I used as points of reference to keep my bearings. Satisfied with my work I move to close the notebook, but a sudden gentle weight on my left shoulder stops me. "Hmmmmmmmm." It seems a little fairy took an interest in what I was doing and decided to investigate. Laying on her stomach atop my shoulder, she lazily swings her legs above her, causing the white flower petal skirt of her dress to shift and expose her tiny, bare backside with each kick. Prismatic, translucent wings flitter lazily as she looks puzzledly at my rudimentary map. She props her head up in her hands, idly twirling a lock of vibrant green hair in a finger. "Hey mister?" after a moment of studying, she finally decides to address me. "Your drawing sucks. There need to be more flowers. Like, lots more. Bunches!"

	The tiny art critic looks up to my face with a broad, happy smile. It's obvious she didn't mean any offense. Letting out an audible chuckle at the petite monster girl, I flip to a blank page of my notebook. There doesn't seem to be any harm in indulging in her company for a bit, as she seems harmless enough. "Well then, perhaps you'd like to show me how it's done?" I hold my pencil in my opened hand, offering it to her with an unthreatening smile. Mirroring my own smile, but much broader, she enthusiastically nods. With a fast flittering of her wings, she lifts from my shoulder and flies down to the notepad and takes the pencil, which is almost as tall as she is, in both hands. Minutes pass as she intently focuses on drawing her masterpiece. She does seem to really love flowers as she draws an assortment in varying shapes and sizes. Above them appears to be a smiling sun, surrounded by short lines of 'sunlight'. The centerpiece of her childish drawing is a smiling stick figure with a much smaller, winged stick figure standing atop its head. Letting out a long, exhausted sounding sigh, she flops down onto the top of the page with legs splayed out and spread towards me, oblivious to the fact she's giving me an exhibitionist show.

	I shake my head and decide to ignore said show while I relieve her of the pencil she had placed across her legs. Patting her head with the index and middle finger of my free hand and nod. "A beautiful piece. And I must say, the smiling sun is a nice touch. But I have to ask..." I point at the stick figures in the middle with my pencil. "Who might these two be?" A soft blush spreads across her cheeks and long ears in response to the compliments and petting, a stark contrast to the haughty manner in which she crosses her arms and huffs proudly. "It's you and me, mister! See? We're having fun playing in the flowers with each other!" I can't help but smile at her exuberance and general childish demeanor. Lowering a hand to her, I prompt her to climb aboard. After crawling onto my palm she sits cross-legged while I busy my other hand with putting away the notepad back into its spot within my backpack. "Thank you for the artwork. I'm sure I'll treasure it forever. For now, though, I have to be moving along."

	As I suspected, she starts pouting and idly traces a finger along the lines of my palm. "I wanted to have more fun with mister." Her face suddenly lightens up and a mischevious grin spreads across her face. "Ahem. Well, before you go, there is the important matter of payment. You liked my drawing, right?" Letting out an exasperated sigh, I raise an incredulous eyebrow at the enterprising, or rater conniving, little fairy. "Uh huh. And just how much money do I owe you?" Having clearly not thought that far ahead, she crosses her arms and closes her eyes in deep thought, or as deep a thought as she can manage before jutting her hand with four raised fingers. "300 shiny shinies!" I ignore the discrepancy between her words and her actions, she obviously notices the change of my expression into one of displeasure and shakes her hands frantically in the air. "B-b-but! Since I like you and all and you're such a nice mister, there is... something else... you can do." Her words become stilted as the volume of her voice decreases. Her cheeks and ears become reddened in a blush once again, albeit much deeper this time as she shifts around repeatedly on my palm.

	I can already guess what it is she wants. Despite her size and apparent innocence, she's still best to be regarded as a monster. Regardless, I decided to play innocent myself. "Oh? And what would that be?" She continues to shift her hips atop my palm, all but straight grinding them against me. Drawing random patterns with an index finger against me, she avoids eye contact, looking down and off to the distance. "You and I could play some more with each other. Stuff that... y'know... we could feel good doing together." Deciding to tease her some more, I continue my act of innocence. "Ahhh... Like what?" Her restless movements suddenly stop as a few shivers run the length of her tiny body. Just as I think perhaps that I've teased her to the point of becoming upset, she suddenly bolts upright and dives off my hand to land with a soft thud against the fabric of my pants covering my crotch. Frantically she attempts to undo button after button, squealing out in a lusty voice. "I! I'll show you! Just let me touch it and rub it and lick it and taste it!" With a sigh, I reach down and pinch her frantically twitching wings together. It takes a bit of effort to pull her up and away, her grip on my pants finally slipping as she lets out a loud whimper while flailing her arms and legs around.

	Her lust filled gaze remains fixed on my crotch while grasping at the air between her and I. "Unfortunately, miss fairy, I'm not particularly interested in having sex or anything of the like." Whining dejectedly her limbs droop in defeat. I can't help but start to regret teasing her so much. Feeling at least somewhat to blame for her outburst, I decide another way to placate her while placing her back onto my shoulder. "How about a story instead?" Sitting cross-legged and cross-armed in a dejected manner, she grumbles noticeably before letting out an over loud sigh. "...okay. But it better have flowers." I nod after a moment of thought. I think I can manage that. "And explosions!" That, not so much. I stand and sling my backpack onto the shoulder not currently occupied by an odd fairy. "It has flowers. Perhaps not too much on the explosions. But..." I start making my way down and into the forest as I give her a reassuring smile. "It does, however, involve you. Sort of." With that, she perks up and begins smiling broadly again with wings beating fast behind her. It seems that was enough to garner her attention.

	Picking my way through the underbrush I choose my words carefully so as not to bore her. "Well, I'm sure I don't need to explain to you about fairies. At least not ones like you in the current age. Of course, all the fairies are very cute, such as yourself." With a smile and emphatic nod, she yelps out "Of course!" into my ear. It seems the hook of a compliment was enough for my audience of one. "But did you know that very little has changed with fairies between the previous age and the current? Perhaps less than most other monsters. They were still visibly mostly as you are now. Your kind is also some of the most widespread, geographically. I can't think of a country or culture that hasn't passed down tales of fairies in some form or another." As I give my compatriot a history lesson, I mentally go over the landmarks I had previously jotted down from my high vantage point, making my way to what had been a barely discernable brook. "However, the biggest difference between fairies then and now would have to be their demeanor."

	The tonal shift of my words to being more serious visibly affects the fairy, I notice. She's now gotten into a more comfortable position laying across my shoulder as she had when she first came to me but leaning a tad more closely in rapt attention. "Sure, there were many that were just as you are. Always with a smile full of joy and childish wonder. But some took more to their capricious nature. Ranging from simple pranks on random humans to more cruel actions. Old stories, relegated now to myth and fables, told of some fairies that would lead children away, never to be seen again. Spirited away, it was called. A few stories even tell of ones that would lead even adult humans to their death. Dragging them into waters to drown, misdirecting them with charm magics relentlessly until they died of exhaustion, thirst, hunger, or exposure." Speaking of thirst, the sound of running water becomes clear as I reach the small stream. I take the opportunity to quench my thirst and refill my canteen.

	While kneeling at the water's edge I take notice of the girl on my shoulders, face terrified looking and on the verge of tears. "Ah. Umm. It's all just old stories. Probably not even true!" My words of reassurance seem to calm her down a little, but she mutters under her breath. "...I don't hurt people...fairies don't hurt anybody." I nod as I stand back up before hopping to a raised stone in the water and then to the other side. "I know. Everyone knows that. Even if those old stories were true, it hasn't been that way for a long, long time." I take a moment to stroke her hair with a fingertip to further calm her down before continuing my hike. "No, these days, with the changes the current demon lord made, fairies are sweet. Just like you, of course." She nods fervently, sending locks of green hair tossing to and fro. "Ah, but I did say this story would have flowers, didn't I?"

	With the mention of flowers, her attention once again returns squarely to me. "I believe I read an old book that said that fairies were born from flowers, that in the spring when flowers would bloom, inside the petals would be a newly born fairy. An expression of nature and beauty made manifest in the form of a beautiful, tiny girl with iridescent wings just like your own." With a raised, inquisitive eyebrow I look to the fairy whose since begun to idly kick her legs against my shoulder. "So is that how you were born?" She visibly ponders over the question for several seconds. "Mmmmm. It's a secret!" Ah, of course, it would be. I chuckle and nod. "If you say so." She starts to giggle as well, but it soon turns rather lascivious, if a giggle could even be called that. "We could find out, mister." Wiping away a stray trail of drool from the corner of her mouth, I could swear I saw hearts in her eyes before she blinked. I sigh and wryly smile while continuing my trek, looking for the next landmark of a particularly large looking boulder.

	"I see what you're proposing. But I'm afraid the answer is still no." She lets her disappointment well known as she clicks her tongue and starts pouting once again. "Hmph! Cheapskate." I shake my head, exasperated with the lecherous little sprite. "Of course, that seems to be the largest difference between how fairies were and how they are now. The desire, and more remarkably, the ability to have intercourse with humans. If the information I've come across is to be believed, fairies have become extraordinarily... stretchy." Not even glancing in her direction I cut off any possible reply. "No, I don't want to find out." It elicits yet another click of the tongue followed by a grumble.

	"I'm sure you'll find a nice man that will be head over heels for you and be willing to find out exactly how fairies are born." Moments pass with the only sound breaking the silence being the subtle crunch of leaves and random twigs with each step. Figuring I've made my temporary traveling companion sulky once again, I turn my head to offer reassurances once again only to find my shoulder missing one particularly lewd fairy. Figuring she must have either gotten bored of me or upset at my repeated rebukes of her advances, I shrug sling the other strap of my backpack onto the now freed shoulder. I shortly after stop my advance, realizing that I've been walking far too long. I should have come across that boulder by now.

	Freeing my backpack for a moment, long enough to retrieve my notebook, I open its pages to my map to recheck it as I continue walking. "...should have been about... perhaps a fifteen-minute walk from that stream?" Figuring it best to continue trudging onwards while pondering over my map in my head, I flip the page back to the fairies drawing, making me smirk once again at the tiny stick figure atop mines head. A sudden and unexpected clearing draws my attention out of my notebook and my eyes upward. To the sight of a mountain that looks more a hill than the former. The exact same I had set out from earlier. The sound of raucous laughter somewhere among the trees behind me breaks me out of my stupified staring at the very same rock I had sat upon. Heaving a heavy sigh I turn back around, starting my hike anew while smirking and shaking my head at being had by the mischevious fairy. Despite the differences between human and monster, despite the differences between monsters from the previous age and now, some things never change.