Little Butterfly (MCYT AU)

Section 2

Adam didn't know where exactly he was going, but from his ventures away from the clearing, he knew he was perhaps near the edge of the forest by now. But just how big were the rocky and hilly woods? He felt he had been flying forever as he went farther than he had ever gone, past the pond of ducks and the waterfall, beyond the meadow with the pesky bird, and over several more landmarks. He finally stopped and perched on a tree limb, breathing heavily as he looked around. The moon had long ago risen and reached its climax, and it was only now beginning to head for the horizon. But knowing Ian, Adam guessed that the strict fairy would realize that he was gone, and either wait for him until sunrise, send search parties out, or go after him himself. Adam gulped in apprehension when he realized how much trouble he'd be in this time, which made him flap his partially transparent wings and take flight again.

After a while longer, the little yellow fairy was exhausted, wavering in his gliding as he forced himself to keep going. He was not going to let Ian spoil it this time, he was going to see what was beyond the forest. His eyelids were drooping in tiredness as well, and he finally collapsed on a branch, draping over it and stretching as his wings fluttered a little.

"Oh man," he yawned to himself, sitting up and hugging his jacket as he began to realize how cold it was. In his hollow, the tree had kept the cool air from circulating in, and kept him at a tolerable temperature. But out here, it was freezing, chilling to the bones. He shivered and huddled in his jacket, looking around apprehensively. It wasn't good to be out alone in the dark, especially if you can't fly. Fairies' wings set off a glow that would vary based on their color. Adam's color was gold, so his wings were setting off a yellow glow like a firefly, which was not very helpful to a fairy trying to hide in the dark.

He found himself doubting his idea for running away from home, trembling as he paid attention to the sounds of the night. A chilling howl of a wolf nearby, crickets chirping-

'Wait, that wolf sounded too close.' He froze, then jumped and flew up in time to avoid a wolf leaping up and snarling at him. He shrieked in alarm and zoomed away as fast as his wings could carry him, not daring to look back as he flew into the darkness. He paid no heed to a droning sound as he kept flying, finally glancing back to see the wolf stumble to a halt and stare at him with merciless eyes. 'Ha! You can't outsmart me you stupid-' He suddenly heard a loud deafening sound, and he looked in time for something huge to smash into him. He screamed and fell to the hard ground, hearing something roar past him. His entire body now hurt, and he moaned as he sat up and turned over to see a monster made of metal race by on weird, black... paws?

His entire figure was trembling, from exhaustion and now adrenaline as he scrambled to his feet, seeing more incoming metal monsters. He jumped up to fly, only to realize that his wing was bent, making him grounded ("grounded to the ground"; don't pardon pun if any XD). He made it up into the air, clawing his way away from the shiny beasts and drifted into the grass, landing hard on his haunches. He winced, then slowly got up, almost falling over.

He wasn't used to all of this, the new noises, the new threats, and he hadn't even seen a human yet. Terror crept into Adam's frantically beating heart as he realized Seto might have been right about the elders' tales. 'Oh... Oh no, Ian-Ian was right.' Adam shivered and hugged himself. 'He was right, I should have listened to him, I shouldn't have flown away from home just because of a few stupid rules... Although I was gonna come back.' He shuddered when he realized that there was a good chance of him not making it back; it wasn't the clearing after all.

He glanced around for shelter, realizing he shouldn't be out in the open when he could get stepped on or eaten up, when he realized that before him lay human houses. Giant houses, bigger than the trees back at home, which made him swallow nervously. He slowly got up, trembling as he stumbled over to the nearest building, only to halt when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

Not too far away-- a few tree leagues away-- was a large creature that looked similar to a fairy, only without wings and not quite as elfish as his kind. It was a human. He quickly ducked behind a small rock as the human collected bags out of the back of one of the metal creatures, which made him shiver. Humans in the stories had a great sense of smell, hearing, and vision. They also were similar to humans by being quite varied, and this one looked like nothing Adam had ever seen; rich fiery auburn hair, deep brown eyes, pale skin, and a casual white tee with grey jeans. His hands were also full with the bags, obviously too preoccupied to notice Adam. Hope stirred in the little creature's chest, and he scampered into the house through the open door, only to halt in amazement.

It looked nothing like home; there was nothing that looked familiar inside. There were square hollows that Adam remembered the elders had called "rooms", and they were filled with "furniture". He recognized none of it, and he glanced back at the human before darting into the shadows, his heart hammering in his chest. 'Oh what have I gotten myself into?' He thought fearfully as he watched the human walk in and shut the door, his last chance of escape. He realized his wings were still glowing as he ducked under a furniture, so he concentrated for a moment before his wings slowly turned into magic, and seeped into his back. He stiffened with a stifled groan at his injuries, and he glanced out to see if the human had heard. Fortunately, it seemed that they weren't as dangerous as he thought. He grinned slightly and slowly stood up, despite how much he hurt. He needed to find something to eat.

He lay in wait, seeing the human finally settle down from the ordeal with the bags and start munching on something that was foreign to Adam. But whatever it was, it had a sweet scent to it like honey, so naturally Adam was curious. He waited for the human to move away as it walked a few paces to a "window" and stared out through the transparent space of the wall. The yellow fairy quickly darted forward and ducked in the square space that held more of the sweet scented things, surprised to find that it was composed of what felt like smooth leaves merged to form the strange shape. Trembling, he collapsed on his knees and hesitantly grabbed a piece, cautiously sniffing before licking it.

He was surprised with how the thing itself tasted sweet, so he blinked a few times before cramming it into his mouth and slowly chewing, lighting up with surprise. It tasted... Good. He stayed surprised for a few seconds before eagerly grabbing another piece, about to wolf it down when he noticed the world get a little darker. He tensed with a slight noise of fear, then slowly set the edible down and hesitantly turned around, his eyes already making their way up. He solemnly regretted the action quickly.

The human had spotted him, and was now standing before him. He was towering a little over the yellow fairy, making Adam shudder as he saw the human widen his eyes in bewilderment, and that was when the little fairy finally reacted. He darted out of the thing of sweets and leapt off of the "counter" and landed on the ground, taking off running as he heard the human utter a noise of surprise. For a moment, he thought he was home free, then there was a sudden clinking sound. He ran into an invisible wall, and he fell back with a thump, crying out loudly when his soreness was triggered. His eyes tiredly fluttered open, and he realized he was trapped in some transparent containment. He tried to move... But he couldn't, he was shivering badly, mostly from pain. His eyes rounded in fear as he saw the human crouch down above him, gazing down at him with disbelief.

Adam stared back weakly before the pain, the adrenaline declination, and his exhaustion swept over him, and his partially opened eyes fluttered close as he went limp and passed out.