"Come on, come on!" she says giddily and drags me to the edge of the lake. It's beautiful in the afternoon light, in fact the water seems almost to glow. I'm about to suggest we go swimming, but Elena has other plans.
She's now got a hold of a stick, an old craggily one and is waving it teasingly at me. "Go, fetch!!" she snickers and throws the stick far into the water. I smirk at her and dive in giving off a tremendous splash, that I know will have her soaking wet.
Shifting to my wolf form, I paddle with my strong paws and fetch the stick for her, bringing it back to dry land, where the now dripping wet princess waits. She throws the stick a few more times before jumping in herself, and twining her little fingers through my fur, getting a good hold as I paddle us around the lake. We stay like that for a while: her on my back, directing me places to go, as I swim us to where she points, and we have a good look around the area, until we stroke to the middle of the lake and just float there for a while. You might think that she's starting to feel heavy on my back after all this time, and you might be right, but I take no notice as she lays down on my wet back and the scent of her feeling at utter peace, fills my nose and settles throughout my whole body.
When we finally drag ourselves out of the water and onto the soft grass, it's getting to be evening, and the shadow of the mountain falls on the little clearing, causing Elena to shiver slightly in the shade. Now you might be thinking: why doesn't she just use her magic and warm herself. The answer is this: why she may not care about playing light wars, eating outrageous amounts of cake, and screaming curse words at the top of her lungs, when it comes to her fire magic, she's much more strict with herself.
It didn't always used to be like this. But accidentally burning one of her most favorite books, did the trick. Since then she's been working her very hardest to keep her fire under control, especially when Aelin or Rowan isn't here to help.
So I take the shivering girl into my arms and sit in the last little bit of sunlight. As she relaxes in my arms, I can feel her fire begging to come out. And after a while she starts to let it. Slowly, very slowly, she starts to give into the pull of her magic. Nice and controlled, like Aelin has been helping her. Her skin starts to dry off, then her clothes, and then me. Her heat seeps through her and washes over me, drying me as well and filling my chest with warmth.
"Did I do alright?" she asks when we're both dry. No matter how much she likes letting her magic free, and burning the hell out of whatever target she can find, she still is immensely cautious when using her magic.
"You did great Starlight." I say and tickle her stomach. She giggles and squirms till I stop, and then whacks my leg. She's just a kid, only a child, yet I'm content so spend forever like this with her. But forever is interrupted by her stomach growling.
"Hungry?" I ask and she nods her head. "Want me to catch something for you?" she spins around to look at me with a smile and another nod.
"Ok, then you wait right here and I'll be back in a minute." I say getting up and walking for the tree line. I get twenty yards into the woods before I hear a small snap of a twig and turn around to find Elena following me with a pleased smile.
Sighing up at the sky, I hold out my hand for her to take. I could tell her to go back, argue that her being here will take longer for me to catch something. But for two reasons I don't. One: though she and Aelin can make one hell of a racket, she's actually shockingly good at being silent (when she wants to be) and I suspect the twig snapping was not accidental. Two: the chances of her actually listening to me and going back to wait are slim to none, and my own stomach has started to growl.
She smiles wider, and silently skips over to where I stand, tucking her tiny hand into my large one. It's not long before the sound of wild turkeys brushes through our fae ears, and Elena tugs on my arm, lifting a slender arm to point at a nearby tree.
Without another word, Elena stalks over to the tree and begins to climb. Higher and higher until the foliage makes it near impossible for me to see her. Then she swings on a beam hard, rattling the branch and the turkeys on it. In a great dance of brown and reds, they flap to the open sky.
I only have a dagger or two on me, but make good use of them and bring down one of the smaller birds. The dagger flies, the bird falls, and Elena gracefully lands beside me, taking my hand and we walk back together.
When we get back to the clearing the sun has begun to set, setting the sky in a multitude of reds, purples, and golds. Naleli is grazing in the field, striding amongst the wildflowers that twine with her silver mane. When she sees Elena she gives off a small huff and trots over to us. We make quick work of plucking and cleaning the bird, and Elena gets a fire going fairly easily, and soon the bird is roasting over the open fire.
"Uncle Fenrys?" she asks and I look over at her, lying up against Naleli's soft side. "Yes?"
"Why would you keep a clock in your pants?"
I choke on air and take a second to make sure I heard her right. "What did you say?"
"I heard one of the guards talking about how you've been keeping a clock in your pants. Why don't you just wear a watch?" She says, and I have to take a moment to make sure we're actually having this conversation.
"I don't keep a clock in my pants." I manage to get out, but she's not quite convinced and runs an eye down my legs. "I think you must have heard wrong."
Thankfully the meat is now done and I'm able to shove some food into her mouth before she can ask anymore questions, though I do plan on talking to some of the guards when we get back. She wolfs down her portion of the meat and waves a bone for me. "Do you want to chew the bone?!" she teases, so I play along and take it in my mouth, shaking it around and snarling.
When we're all finished and the fires put out, the sky has turned dark. But that's not an issue for fae, and our eyes quickly shift to the darkness. We climb on Naleli, with her in front, and slowly trot back through the woods to the castle. But just as we've reached the great field, I can sense fatigue settling over her. So I slow Naleli to a walk, so as to not disturb her, and spin her around so she can more easily lean on me.
We reach the castle and are greeted by Elena's two maids: Orena and Vosera, who do not look happy. They quickly sweep the sleeping princess from my arms and carry her upstairs to her room, but not before she quickly whispers a thank you in my ear.
So much for a sleeping princess.
AN:
Another chapter for you guys! Hope you like it!! Have a good weekend!!
-Leia
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Starlight of a Moonbeam
Fanfiction~ Fenrys fan fic ~ After the Great War and the end of Kingdom of Ash, the life of the white wolf continues, leading to unexpected twists and turns he could have never suspected in his immortal life... "There was a pull, a call, a link. To home, to h...
