Guess where I am? I bet you can't.
I'm in my bathtub.
No, I'm not taking a bath, no I'm not dying my hair and waiting for the color to take.
There's a tornado.
I'm still writing though. lol. Hope you enjoy, and stay safe.
~*~
It was magnificent. Mountains of rock shot into the air reaching for the clouds in the distance covered with trees and other vegetation. Water so clear Rosalyn could see the rocky and mud filled bottom stretched as far as her eyes could see. A few boulders playing peek-a-boo with the waves. The water surrounded a large rock formation coated with soft moss, vibrant grass, and twisting vines. In the middle of the rock formation stood another proud bolder, split down the middle, with carvings of circles and swirls that framed a cluster of branches resembling a throne, accompanied by pink hollyhock delicately hanging from the outsides.
Heathy colored vegetation was everywhere: pink cherry blossoms, begonias, and rose thrift, blue delphinium, periwinkle, and bellflower, green grass, moss, and trees. Violet, yellow, brown, and orange painted the background in a beautiful combination of color.
Everything was truly magnificent and Rosalyn would say that a million times again, but what really tied the beauty together, what really gave this already incredible sight life was the beings flying, running, and swimming around. Graywings gracefully soaring through the air, waterjumpers sliding and hopping over the water, wallerbog throwing mud at one another and causing all types of mischief, water fairies, though incredibly tiny, were hard at work watering the colorful plants and other life. All the other beings, life, and fairies were happily playing and enjoying their moments in the sun surrounded by their loved ones.
Though what really took Rosalyn's breath away, even if she was already barely breathing at the overwhelming beauty, was the hundreds of dark fey walking in the surrounding woods and flipping and gliding through the air with their strong, unique wings shimmering from the sun light. One dark fey landed with a thud a few feet from Rosalyn and Aurora sending a strong wind their way that blew through Rosalyn's white hair and parted her black cloak that was now slightly damp from the drying river water, showing her bare feet and the ragged, brown dress that clung to her lean muscular body gained by years of wandering over unknown lands.
"Rosalyn, you should probably breath dear," Aurora's chuckle pulled Rosalyn back into the present.
"Sorry it's just so... I don't even know how to describe it," Rosalyn replied shaking her head in wonder.
"It's okay, this is a lot. Don't try to take it all in at once or you'll hurt yourself."
Silence gripped them as Rosalyn continued to breath in all that was around her until Aurora looked towards her right and jumped slightly, making a sound of remembrance, then giggled while saying, "you have to come meet Udo, he is fantastic and a tundra fey just like you."
Grasping Rosalyn's hand in her own, Aurora started tugging Rosalyn to a colossal man adorned in white and grey robes. His long white hair was braided and gave way to thick, lightly colored horns. His wings, so similar to Rosalyn's, were stretched wide and resembled the white owls that were speckled with black dots in the tundra.
Rosalyn used to love hearing about the owls her father used to watch flip and dive through the sky, before he had left the tundra to put down roots somewhere else.
The man Rosalyn was assuming was the Udo, Aurora spoke of had little fey children dangling off his thick arms and pale skin that was painted with black lines. The lines he had painted on his skin were very important to the fey. The lines were believed to aid fertility, represent luck, give protection, and much more. The lines were the most important to the desert fey and are rarely ever found not on their tanned skin.
"Udo! Udo! Guess who washed up on the moors?" Yelled Aurora as they got closer to the man that was now glancing up. The moss covered floor soft on Rosalyn's calloused feet. Now standing directly in front of Udo Aurora continued, gesturing to Rosalyn, "this is Rosalyn."
Udo looked towards Rosalyn and smiled just about as brightly as Aurora had when they first met. Taking a hand from one of the children's back, who now all stood behind Udo peaking out from his robes, and held it out towards Rosalyn. Giving Udo her hand, Rosalyn watched as he lifted her hand towards his pale, pink lips and gently kissed the back of the soft skin, and slowly said, "it's a pleasure to meet you Rosalyn, my name is Udo, I hope we will become well aquainted."
Staring into his dark eyes Rosalyn suddenly became flustered at his actions as her face flushed, not going unnoticed by Udo who only grinned at the sight.
"Do you know if they found the boy yet?" Asked Udo, his attention going to Aurora who had tiny fairies flittering around her head.
"No I haven't heard anything about the child being found," answered Aurora as her eyebrows pulled together and lips pressed in a thin line. Worry gripped Udo's face at the answer.
"He's been missing since last night, I'm afraid that he might have been hurt or gotten lost." The children behind Udo began to once more climb on him.
"Oh, my, Diaval told us he had been missing for long, but not that long. I should probably go help, after all I know the moors pretty well, "Aurora began to walk away, but not before turning around while walking backwards and saying, "Rosalyn I'll be back soon, maybe you could sit and wait for me. Udo would you watch her for me?" Winking she turned around once more and began to jog towards the woods.
"Of course." Udo's attention once more went onto the children as they began to tug on his robe.
Rosalyn rolled her eyes thinking that she wasn't a child that needed to be watched. Glancing at Udo, then back at Aurora's disappearing figure, back at Udo, Aurora, Udo, Aurora, then to the flying fey that were looking for the child. Aurora's suggestion to sit and wait ran through Rosalyn's mind once more and she whispered, "yeah that's not happening."
"Hey, Udo?" She continued.
"Yes?" He responded distractedly.
"Where was the child last seen?"
"Marco, don't pull her wing like that," Udo scolded a child pulling on a girl's rainbow wing, "I believe it was near where the tome blooms once were."
Rosalyn remembered all the burials she had went to and how after a certain amount of time a glowing flower would sprout. Her mother had called them tome blooms once Rosalyn had asked her what they were.
"And where is that exactly?"
"Over close to that mountain over there. Why?" questioned Udo as he pointed behind him a little to his left while one of his horns were being tugged down by a child.
"No reason," responded Rosalyn as she slowly began to walk away, careful of the dried leaves and twigs on the ground that could make a sound and grab Udo's attention from the children. Finally reaching the line of trees for the second time that day she began to walk in the direction of the mountain.
Serval minutes had past by the time she had reached her destination. The small field circled by trees was void of any glowing flower, all that remained was dozens of stems and very few wandering fairies tending to the area. Rosalyn began looking for any sign of the child she could track. Without her wings she did have a disadvantage over the other fey, but what she did have was the ability to track and hunt better than the vast majority of the other fey.
Dark fey with their wings become dependent on their wings. They used them to help aid in hunting and tracking. Like an owl staking their prey they fly over the tops of trees and once they see something resembling food they swoop down and perch on a branch. Rosalyn, not having wings, had to adapt to survive. Meaning she had to work and practice twice if not three times harder than any of the other fey in the moors. She knows exactly what to look for on the ground and how to track it practically perfectly. And her experience paid off by her stalking the perimeter of the field and finding child sized foot prints, and one feather stuck between a broken twig. The child had been spooked by the way the trailed appeared as if he was blindly running away from something. Rosalyn remembered Diaval saying something about a poacher.
"Something scared you that's for sure," whispered Rosalyn to herself as she once more began walking, following the path of foot prints, feathers, and broken twigs. Thunder rumbled in the distance, a promise of destruction, not far from where she stood. Climbing a tree and searching for the clouds that had made the thunder, she took a shuddering breath when she laid eyes on the terrifyingly dark clouds that lit up every few second from lighting. A cold breeze blew past her.
Taking in a deep breath she could smell the storm, and judging by how fast it was moving, and how angry the clouds appeared Rosalyn could tell the storm was going to be a bad one. Of course the storm wasn't the only thing that made her body fill with anxiety. The sky was turning into night fast and she could tell the child had still yet to be found by the way the dark fey were still flying through the air.
Urgency was clearly in her movements as she quickly climbed down the tree and started on the path of the child's destruction again.
A long moment had past and moon had taken its place in the sky. Thankfully there was plants and other life that created light for her eyes or Rosalyn would not be able to see two feet in front of her. She would call the scene peaceful if it were not for the feeling of immense dread that was currently suffocating her.
Glancing up Rosalyn could now hear the rain, feel the dampness of the air, and see the rolling, dark clouds above her head. A tiny drop of water fell from the sky, so slowly it seemed as if it was going in slow motion, gently landing on Rosalyn's nose.
And that's when all hell broke loose.
An ear-splitting crack of thunder. Pounding rain so loud she could barely hear herself think. And that lightening. That stupid lightening that flashed and touched the ground many feet from Rosalyn. All lights went out. Her heart felt like a hammer against her rib cage.
In a few seconds she was soaked to the bone for the second time that day. Her eyes frantically shifted back and forth trying to find the trail of foot prints that were now being washed away.
Thunder.
Wind so strong threw Rosalyn to the ground causing mud to cover the entire side of her cloak. And just when she thought she would never find the child, she heard it. She heard it above the howling wind, thunder, and rain. A scream. A child's scream!
Trying to pin point where the scream had come from lightening flashed once more and then she saw it. A young male fey was dangling from one of the highest trees around. Rosalyn could see the pain and panic on his face as he held onto a branch with his two hands for dear life.
Thunder.
Lightening.
Wind blasted through the area again and ripped the child's hands off the branch.
Oh how nature is such a cruel mistress.
Down the child fell. His wings flapping frantically as his hands shot out trying to grab anything to stop his fall, but still being a child his wings and muscles where not strong enough to fly with the amount of water that soaked his dark wings.
Rosalyn blinked, her hair plastered to her face and shoulders as she stood from the mud, and everything slowed.
She could hear her heart beating. One, two, three.
Her dress clung to her shivering body. One, two, three.
The child still fell hitting branches on the way down to his end. One, two, three.
Rosalyn raised her arms. One, two, three.
A shimmer of color drifted from her fingers as she moved the digits. One, two, three.
Roots of all shapes and sizes shot out from the soft, wet ground and ascended into the air. One, two, three.
The roots were so close to touching the child. So close.
One, two, three.
They caught him.