Newcomer Amongst the Fae [Open/Haley/Morgon]

[Estella]

The newest member amongst the fae of Alanor stepped softly, almost hesitantly, into the center of the meadow in the forest clearing. Although she was a being from the rain forests of South America, the Exordium was something that she had never before seen in her short life of one hundred years. There was a beauty and a magical quality about the place that her home had never had, permeating the air, able to feel it yet not see it.

Estella was unsure of what had brought her here to this wondrous place. She had originally fled from her home which had slowly been in the process of being destroyed by man, unable to protect the defenseless plants and animals any longer. It had been fairly easy to do her job in the past; the humans of one hundred years before had respected the primitive areas. They had listened to her voice and left the forests as they had been. As mankind had become more industrialized, however, and more in tune with their own worries of the day she had been unable to reach them.

When she had left, it had been as if something not of herself had been guiding her wanderings and in the end she had found her way to Alanor and on her way to become part of the Seelie court. Though she had never been to Alanor before herself, her parents had been citizens of the Seelie court. She had heard many a tale about the lore of the place: the history, the lands, the magic. She had always been insatiable in her curiosity though she had always been afraid to find her way on her own. If she had not had reason to leave her home, she would not have been there now.

Noting the many benches lining the meadow and the pavilion just in front of her, Estella stepped under the threshold of the large structure, resting a hand on one of the pillars holding the roof up as she passed beside it. Inside the pavilion was lined with benches as well, though she sensed that it was not always so. Choosing one of the benches facing in the direction that she knew the Seelie court lay, the red-haired fae sat to rest before introducing herself fully into the society. She found herself quite nervous to be entering a place where she knew nobody and where she would be the object of many a curious stare. Wasn't it always so when a newcomer began anything? For she was, indeed, beginning her life anew.

So intent was she on her own nervous thoughts she was unaware when a visitor entered the clearing with her, and she jumped when she was addressed.

[Haley]

Haley was in another one of her civil moods. The weather was quite nice, with the magic eclipse and all. Haley had a perpetual fondness for the dark. Unfortunately, Akuji didn’t. In an effort to appease him, Haley had decided to take him out for a run. After all, she had found that she was lacking in the exercise department as of late: too much booze and not enough weight-lifting and cardio. So, only moments before, Haley and Akuji had gone for an intense run (or about as intense as Haley could get, considering she was –not- a long distance runner and probably never would be). Haley was built for speed and while she still had plenty of endurance she had recognized it as a weak point and had improved her combat style to ward against it.

Now, in cool down mode, Haley wandered into the clearing as she wiped sweat from her face and neck with a pink towel. The color was uncharacteristic of her (Haley usually hated pink) but it had been a gift from one of her previous boyfriends and now she carried it with her every time she exercised. Stifling a yawn with the same towel-enshrouded hand, Haley suddenly paused in mid-step. Slowly the Nimbus rotated on her heel until she was able to get a better look at the faerie that had just now caught her attention.

She was new, or at least, that was what Haley now assumed. Hell, anyone was –new- if Haley had yet to meet them, and since Haley never went out of her way to meet anyone she practically considered everyone new. This time it was Akuji who initiated the contact. When Haley rotated he broke from her side and began trotting towards the other, tongue lolling from his mouth, thus forcing Haley to follow. She did so begrudgingly, though her spirits were considerably lightened considering her previous workout. All those endorphins and things.

”Yo.” Haley called out, tilting her head as the faerie jumped in surprise. She wrapped her pink towel around her neck, allowing her hands to hang from the end as she shifted her weight onto one leg, ”Waiting for someone?” Haley knew how she must have looked. Dressed in a skin-tight black under-armor body suit with dark gray shorts and loose mid-drift matching tank-top thrown over it, combined with her flushed, make-up-less face, Haley was not exactly the picture-perfect creature everyone always thought of when Fae came to mind. Probably not the best image to portray when meeting someone knew, but Haley wasn’t the type of person who really cared.

Akuji nestled down onto his rear next to his mistress and watched Estalla. Though he had initiated the contact between the two faerie, it wasn’t because he actually cared about the other female. He merely wanted to see if his mistress could play nice for once.

[Morgon]

Before this morning, Morgon hadn’t returned to Exordium since he first arrived in Alanor – much as Estella was doing now, unbeknownst to him. In an effort to acclimate to this world which he had heard of in passing but never experienced, the nimbus had confined himself to the Seelie court as if to a clinic, with the single exception of the Festival of Imbolc. And since that had gone…rather poorly, he was quite reluctant to venture out again for a few days. Morgon wasn’t a coward, but it took a seasoned warrior to scoff at an army of shadows. He was not such a warrior, and was shaken. But he tried not to think of it as he strode out this morning, Amara wheeling high above him in rapid circles, grateful to have free reign of the skies again after their week-long confinement. He watched her as he walked, hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans to fight the cold, his body unseasonably clad in a black t-shirt. Like Haley, he was not the picture of Faerie exoticism, but he did have something about him that hinted at untapped powers. There was potential there, beneath the almost human surface.

His steps led him toward the pavilion centered in the meadow, though he did not consciously choose this direction. As he cleared the trees lining the place, he was oblivious to the presence of the two women that already occupied his unchosen destination, and when he finally dropped his gaze from the clouds to the earth, he found himself stopping in surprise. Feeling stupid that he hadn’t expected this – why shouldn’t there be fae in this place, after all, they were everywhere – he considered turning around and leaving, but was concerned that the pair may have already spotted him and interpreted his exit as rude. It would be rude, he concluded, and with a small sigh resumed his trek. Amara gave a little shriek, laughing at him, in her way.

Morgon couldn’t hear their conversation (if they were having one), and the silence that surrounded him as he moved was a kind of comfort. He listened to his steps, brittle grass crunching softly and snow-sodden earth giving beneath him as if he walked on cushions, and watched his breath condense in smoke-like streams, back-lit by the eerie copper glow of the heavens. It was almost beautiful, though strange – no wonder the Osprey was ecstatic. As he neared and the faint notes of their voices finally reached him, he looked from one to the other with an almost apologetic expression, but managed not to be simpering. He was sorry for intruding, after all, but it couldn’t be avoided.

“Good morning,” he said simply, his voice gentle as usual, his eyes studying each of them in a way that was intense and appreciative without being lascivious. Morgon was not the kind of man to leer. He smiled kindly, and glanced at Haley’s bonded, which looked deceptively like an animal he should reach down and scratch behind the ears. He loved dogs, but suspected that this one was not entirely domesticated. Instead of risking his hand, he nodded to the creature, as if extending the greeting to him as well.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked, leaning against a pillar and running one hand through his hair self-consciously.

[Estella]

Estella whirled to face the woman and her bonded animal that had startled her so. "Hello," she returned the greeting shyly, for the woman standing before her was stunning. Haley's face was unadorned and fresh and flushed from the exercise of running with her companion, wearing the skin-tight black suit underneath her workout uniform, Estella could not help but to feel a little intimidated by her. She knew that she was not quite as pretty as that.

"No, I'm not waiting for anybody. You're actually the first fae that I've run across here today." Estella smiled and offered a hand to shake. "I'm new here. My name is Estella, and this -- " the red-headed nimbus motioned to the rather small, fluffy pygmy tyrant that had just shot to its mistress like a bullet from out of the nearby trees, as if it had sensed some sort of danger nearby -- "this is my friend, Kiwi." The small bird landed gracefully on Estella's shoulder where it knew it would be safe and twittered a soft greeting at its introduction, though its attention kept switching between the sky and the canine sitting in the grass suspiciously.

The reason for the small bird's momentary panic soon became clear as an osprey came into view overhead, followed closely by his bonded partner. Kiwi shuffled a little closer into Estella's hair, as if trying to hide itself from view. It did not intend on becoming a bird of prey's breakfast this morning. Estella waited for him to approach before returning his own greeting of good morning, unable to keep from blushing under his intense scrutiny.

He did not look as she would imagine another fae to look as if he were fully human, though quite a large human, standing almost a head taller than she. "You weren't interrupting at all," she offered, glancing at Haley, wanting to put him at his ease and hoping at the same time that her first companion did not mind. He seemed quite contrite for approaching the pair of them as he had.

[Haley]

Haley accepted the hand firmly, her grip quite possibly a bit too tight for comfort, but she released the hand quickly. Haley preferred to limit her flesh-to-flesh contact – humans and faeries alike made her skin crawl. ”Haley.” Her introduction was short and concise like always. Haley proceeded to gesture rather lazily at the African wild dog at her feet, ”And Akuji.” The dog snorted, rotating his ears backwards, though his eyes remained trained on Estella and her mantel. By now he had already heard Morgon’s approach, as had Haley, but neither of them immediately turned to greet the male.

The female Nimbus lifted her hands up to adjust her high-set ponytail and smoothed back some loose hairs. The red on her cheeks was already beginning to fade away, revealing her flawless somewhat sickeningly-pale skin. No matter what Haley did she could not tan. It wasn’t like she really wanted to anyways; Haley was the type that avoided the sun at all costs.

By the time she was done adjusting her appearance, Morgon had come within range and issued his greeting. Haley rotated her head ever so slightly to peer at him, the corner of her lip raising in a momentary sneer as she tsked under her breath, ”Yes.” Haley wasn’t about to deny that Morgon had indeed just turned their little two-faerie conversation into a three-faerie party. This social situation now included one person more than her tolerance level usually allowed.

It was Akuji’s vicious nip to the outside of her lower thigh that effectively wiped the somewhat uninviting glare from Haley’s face. Her expression instantly turned apathetic, and without even so much as a glance downwards, Haley shifted her weight onto one foot and proceeded to use her free leg to push Akuji over. She was really only capable of causing him to lose a bit of balance as his front legs toppled, but the dog simply regained his previous sitting position and shook his head, snorting. His lips curled back into what could have been misconstrued as a snarl but was in fact a sneering smirk.

Haley rolled her eyes, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Her mood considerably lightened, she cast her eyes over Morgon again. He was definitely not to her tastes, but not many faerie (or humans for that matter) were. Still, he didn't give off the aura of a prude, and that was an instant plus in Haley's book. "Kidding." She offered up as an excuse for her momentary behavior as she scrutinized him, "We just met. She's new." Haley gestured in a somewhat rude manner towards Estrella. She already knew Morgon had been around for a bit. She had seen him at the Festival of Imbolc, but they had never spoken, nor did she know his name. She didn't care much either, as shown by the fact that she did not inquire as to what it was. Instead she shot a look up towards the sky, shielding her eyes with one hand so that she could get a better look at the osprey, "Nice bird." Then, almost as an after thought, she looked back to Estrella, "Yours too."

[Morgon]

Haley’s sarcasm fell on deaf ears. Morgon was nearly immune to it, first of all, viewing it as a kind of simple-minded meanness which the whole of modern society had adopted as “wit” and which he customarily ignored – to the girl’s benefit, in this case. But secondly, he was distracted from her quip by the red-head’s blush. Unfortunately for Estella, this little flash of shyness only encouraged his attention, and his mouth quickly shifted into a lopsided smile that could have been a smirk if it hadn’t contained a sort of inherent gentleness and curiosity. It wasn’t typical of an immortal to blush. Perhaps she was young, like himself, or maybe it was merely the splash of human blood rising to her cheeks. As she glanced at the other nimbus, his head tilted slightly, observing their interaction and suspecting that theirs was not a close bond of friendship (the plaintive look was practically that of a subordinate – interesting, that the brunette could garner that response), which Haley subsequently confirmed. Morgon acknowledged her explanation with a nod, shifting his attention to her fully as she spoke. He realized that he recognized her then, but had to think for a moment, to place why she seemed so familiar. In the meantime, he extended his hand to Alanor’s new citizen.

“Then welcome. I’m Morgon – haven’t been here long, myself.” His vivid green eyes flashed with mischief, as if he rather enjoyed the power they could have when applied so directly, but the conflicting aura of softness persisted, and his hand-shake was firm without being challenging. He was an enigmatic fellow; there was appreciation in his look and due reverence in his presentation of himself, for the pair’s inherent beauty and magic demanded as much, but at the same time he was ever self-possessed, as he had been with the Queen. Composure was power, both in the faerie world and man’s. He averted his gaze to follow Haley’s to the sky. “Amara,” he commented with a shade of pride, but added, sighing: “She’s a chicken shit.” He nodded toward the cowering tyrant on Estella’s shoulder. “Your friend shouldn’t worry about her.” A very distant shriek, almost a whistle, objected to his critical assessment of the raptor, but only reaffirmed his point. Morgon chuckled at her, then appraised Akuji warmly. It occurred to him that he recognized the dog and his mistress from Imbolc; his smile spread, creasing one cheek in a deep dimple. “You, on the other hand, are a menace on the battlefield.”

“Your fighting was very impressive,” he said, addressing Haley this time and studying her with a different kind of look than before, one that weighed the potential for violence and the length of her fuse. He did not comment on the fact that she had truly made her impression when the Queen had turned to her with an iron grip around her neck, when they had all been gathered around the fire for safety. Morgon had retreated to the inferno’s protection as soon as the chaos started, being totally unarmed except for a salvaged chair leg which he had wielded without any skill, but effectively. He respected Haley’s bravery and prowess with a knife, and was intrigued by the tension that had so quickly developed between her and Annette. But he was forgetting himself, now – surely it wasn’t polite to bring up battles and war in front of the newly-arrived Seelie. He turned back to her, almost meek, and returned his hands to his pockets.

“I’m afraid a lot’s happened in the last few days. It’s not the most peaceful time to be immigrating.” he said, his eyes involuntarily scanning the sky.

[Estella]

At the introduction of Haley’s mantle, Estella gave the African wild dog a smile of greeting. As any who knew her well would be able to guess, she loved animals be they of avian, canine, feline, insect, or reptilian in nature. Whereas most would squash a spider crawling on a wall or some other such place that the arachnid could be found, Estella would be the one to capture it and release it back into the outside world.

As Haley was telling Morgon about Estella’s being a new faerie in the region -- inserting a rather rude-mannered gesture to which she had responded with a glare -- she nodded in affirmation. That would, perhaps, be the only signal that Estella would give to show her irritation. It would not do to begin her new life in Alanor on a bad foot by making herself at odds with the first person that she had met. Perhaps in another time or another place she would give voice to her opinions, but now was not the time.

Still, in spite of her slight irritation at Haley‘s rudeness towards her, she returned Morgon‘s lopsided smile with a small one of her own. “I’ve only just arrived.” She accepted his offered hand and her grip was firm yet not uncomfortable. She returned his direct gaze with a momentary one of her own before her green eyes chased away from his, unable to meet his eyes any longer as she released his hand at the same time. Her blush had already faded, she did not want to do so again, darn it! Who would have thought that she would be attracted so to the mysterious kind of man? She definitely had not seen it coming.

Estella was glad when the conversation turned to the osprey circling above, pointedly ignoring Haley’s comment about her own Kiwi. It had obviously been an after thought. “She’s beautiful,” she said instead of Amara, as if defending Morgon’s own mantle from his negative comment. She smiled brilliantly at Morgon when he had directed his attention to Kiwi. “Kiwi is also a coward. She frets at just about everything.” Estella offered a finger to Kiwi to hop onto, but the small green bird ignored the offered hand. Estella contented herself instead with giving her companion an affectionate, gentle rub on the head.

She listened idly to the conversation between Morgon and Haley, trying to gather as much information on the current events as she could, frowning slightly at the unhappy news. "It would be just like me to find my way here during troubled times." From what she could gather there had been an attack or a battle of some kind. "Were many wounded? What happened?" Her green eyes were somber with the concern for her fellow faerie.

[Haley]

Haley wouldn’t have noticed Estella’s irritation. The little Nimbus hadn’t even realized she had been rude – it was merely the way she was. If Estella was the kind of faerie that go so easily upset she wasn’t going to last long and she definitely wasn’t worth knowing. Still, Haley wasn’t a mind reader. What she did notice though was the little flirting Estella was engaging in and Haley had to hold back the urge to vomit. She cast her eyes on Morgon once again, glancing him up and down as she attempted to find something appealing about the man.

He wasn’t built like a chiseled, muscle-bound idiot, that much was certain. He had just the right amount of muscle, a nice height, and some pretty eyes. Unfortunately Haley was pretty much immune to the powers of the opposite sex. She had gone through a few boyfriends – hell, she had even been engaged at one time – and all of her relationships had ended poorly. Her first boyfriend told her he had only dated her because he felt sorry for her. Her second boyfriend, who she had even briefly lived with and had gotten engaged to, cheated on her and dumped her. Her last boyfriend, the one who had given her the pink towel around her neck, had broken up with her after she had transferred posts in the military, causing her to move over ten thousand miles from him. She couldn’t really blame the guy. After all, who wants to ever deal with a long distance relationship?

After that last one Haley decided that there was no need for romance or silly feelings like love in her life. Ultimately she came to realize that the time she had spent with them had been unproductive – essentially worthless. Now, in Alanor, even when surrounded by pretty men, Haley had no desire to form any sort of intimate relationship. She was lucky too – pretty men had never been her type. So now, when she looked upon Morgon, there was no awing over his appearance, no appreciation of his inherent ‘sexiness.’ Instead there was simply appraisal; she surveyed him as she would a new car or a house.

”Hm.” The soft hum under her breath was the only response she gave to his compliment. In normal circumstances, Haley would have puffed up her chest and accepted his praise with a look of pride. However, the Festival of Imbolc was a touchy subject for Haley. What had happened between her and the Queen had been the cause of Haley’s recent restlessness. There were things she regretted – primarily not stabbing the Queen in the face when she had the chance – and actions, words she would have changed had she the opportunity. Ever the personal critic, Haley was never content with anything she did in life. The skills she had displayed at Imbolc had been anything but impressive and her spat with the Queen had been embarrassing at best.

Haley could hardly recall what Morgon had done in the midst of battle. The last she had seen of him he had been dancing with some bubbly Unseelie redhead. Had she known he had retreated to the fire, armed with simply a chair leg, she quite possibly would have burst out laughing then and there. Instead she turned towards Estella and cocked her head sharply, her eyes flashing, ”The Shades happened.” The contempt in her voice was apparent. Not only had Akuji been hurt in that battle but Haley was of the opinion that their Queen knew of these creatures and had purposely withheld this critical information. Though Haley hated a lot of things, politicians that lied or kept secrets from their constituents were at the top of her long, long list.

Her voice grew airy, a look of exhaustion briefly caressing her hazel eyes as she dropped a hand down to idly ruffle the fur between Akuji’s ears, ”Those who were capable of recovering have thus recovered. Those who were incapable have since been buried.” She was, of course, referring to the few mortals amongst them that had been caught in the fray. There was no empathy in her voice. Those who had died were dead. No sense in mourning them. ”I’m not going to play story-teller, so unless Morgon here decides to enlighten you, I suggest taking your inquiries to the servants and what not in the castle.” Haley crossed her arms, signifying that she was quite done with this part of the conversation.

[Morgon]

She called them shades.

He had not been within earshot, when the word was uttered by the Nightflyer who had joined the fray. It was an apt moniker, and Morgon felt a little silly for not deducing it himself, but as he watched Haley speak it dawned on him that it was not just Alanor’s taxonomy that completely eluded him. The whole political situation seemed to be a complete mystery to everyone except the monarchs. Morgon’s gaze, fixed on the tired hazel eyes of the speaker as she vaguely related the incident, shone with questions -- but they were certainly not well enough acquainted for him to ask them. Instead he nodded, then shrugged slightly, his look suddenly far away.

“I don’t know of much to tell. One minute the two courts were having a party, the next there was a bloodbath. A group of very strange creatures came to our rescue. Then everyone went home...” He almost laughed, an incredulous smile replacing the flirtatious one, and glanced between them to gauge the response. “I’d never seen a Nightflyer before, to be honest. And I don’t even know what to call his friends.” No explanation had been given, or the Nimbus would have known that this was not just any Nightflyer, but the regent of another court that had been kept in shadows and secrecy for hundreds of years. It was all before his time, above his understanding. He did not trust his Queen implicitly, but he had seen her in a vulnerable moment and doubted she would intentionally risk her court. What else could he do, for now, but listen, watch and learn?

Amara joined them, then, sweeping down from the red-orange sky and landing smoothly atop a nearby bench’s back. Her fierce, impenetrable glance passed over each member of their party in turn, revealing nothing of the internal judgments she made based on their appearances. But Morgon felt them: her curiosity about the two faerie, her wariness of the dog, and her dismissiveness of the songbird. The latter would make a poor meal and an even poorer adversary, and so was little concern to a raptor like herself. Morgon spoke softly to her, beckoning, and she swept from her perch to his outstretched arm. He ran a hand over her back.

“There’s probably no use worrying about it, though -- or at least, there’s no use speculating. The truth has a way of coming out on its own.” He could tell by Haley’s body language that the subject was uncomfortable, and was reluctant to frighten the nimbus who had just arrived. Besides, there was information to be garnered here, and Estella had piqued his interest with her little evasive maneuvers. Morgon wasn’t often one to engage in a chase for its own sake, but he found himself crouching for the spring. “So what’s your story? Make a wrong turn?” he asked playfully, genuinely curious about the rationale behind her arrival. For his own part, he essentially had made a wrong turn...or perhaps a right one, subconsciously. Maybe Alanor would offer him answers, as Earth could not.

Like he had said, the Truth had a way of revealing itself.