Oh woe the dreary park [{Fasdeus}]

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

“What a dump, humans!” Ophelia uttered as she kicked something. As it was overturned large bugs crawled out from under it and under their newest hiding place. Ophelia was at Central Park, from all the stories she had heard it was supposed to be a beautiful place filled with flowers, trees, birds and other life forms. But now it was just a mess, tangled and overgrown with no one to control it. Ophelia did not know that she was in Horde territory. All she knew was that she was tired of the city. It was draining her – the iron. She was young and naive, but even she knew that she must get away or perish. She was suicidal some days, sometimes, but not today. Besides, she did not like the way the iron felt. It was unnatural.

Ophelia was dressed in a very Seelie like outfit, it was pink and a cheerful color. In the UnSeelie court everyone wore dark colors like black, royal blue and purple (which only royalty such as she could wear). But Ophelia was being very defiant and wearing a bright pink color. She also understood here in this forest while the UnSeelie chose to wear dark colors instead of light, for she was getting spots of wilderness on her pink dress – however that was possible she did not know. It was more work for the washwoman but Ophelia still cringed because it looked like she was being sloppy. She felt eyes on her and she wondered who it could be. Just because she was Fae did not mean she had special deduction powers. She could not know what she did not see.

With her bright pink hair Ophelia looked like a human. Well, mostly because she was using faerie glamour to hide her hideous wings. Without those wings she looked very human. And because of this she was always joyously teased for not looking UnSeelie enough. She was “too pretty” and by some creatures “too ugly” for they were fond of extra limbs and appendages. Ophelia gulped, she wasn’t afraid as she had developed her own hands of powers but still… she had overheard stories told by the maids to each other out when they thought she was not listening to their conversations.

[Fasdeus]

The gnarled trees twisted and bent around him like the withered limbs of some great beast long dead. This place, the humans called it Central Park, was a dark wilderness and the furthest thing from one's mind when thinking of a park. It was another reminder of what man had done to the world. But it was more than that. It was home to the dangerous wolves who hunted the northern boundaries of the Empire of the Horde. To Fasdeus, it was a sacred place. To him, it was where he would find her.

Oh his sweet Ophelia. Why did she come to this world so often? Why did she spurn him and his desire to keep her away from here? Fasdeus would not give up so easily though. As he was in the world of man, Fasdeus came prepared for battle. His dark clothes and midnight armor concealed him as he moved through the the dark forest. But even shadows would not hide his platinum hair.

No more than a hundred meters from him, Ophelia wondered like a child through Central Park. Whether oblivious or ignorant of the danger she placed herself in. All around her, around them, eyes watched his sister. Hungry eyes full of rage and violence. They stalked her on either side, and if they were aware of Fasdeus he did not know it. The few hell hounds he had found trails of seemed more interested in the seemingly human girl in bright pink. A mistake they might not survive to regret. The Hand of Shadow was at his disposal, and if these wolves wished to get between him and his sister, it would wreak his ire upon them.

For now though, Fasdeus took great please in the brief glimpses he caught of his beautiful sister on her "stroll through the park."

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

Ophelia continued to feel eyes watching her. She was not bothered in the least. As Princess she had all eyes upon her. Women and men alike were gossiping about her – always. What books was she reading in the library? Was she eating too much or too little? They gave their opinions to each other on her current hairstyle (which most ladies ended up trying to copy to match their Princess) and her current fashion in which they again also copied. And of course their most favorite topic would have to be – Why hasn’t the King forced her to fly yet?

They certainly did not know that their Princess had most certainly heard them. For whenever Ophelia was walking down the halls people stopped running their mouths and bowed their heads most respectively. Even her nurse and tutor/governess would not give her the gossip she demanded. Thus, Ophelia had to use her ‘sneak’ tactics. Mostly though, it was crawling and sifting through secret passageways she had thought were long forgotten. From there she would wait until the servants had stopped to gather, make mischief and chat. Her favorite listening spot was through the wall of the kitchen. A lot could be heard.

Through the passageways of the walls in the castle was also how Ophelia continued to make her daring escapes to the mortal world. She at times had been tempted to tell someone about her discovery for she was good at finding these secret passageways but knew that if she told someone sooner or later would tell her brothers and then those passageways would be destroyed. It was really frowned upon her leaving, especially without any guards because she was so young. But despite being young she could defend herself – sort of.

She was sort of tempted to demand that the person or persons would show themselves to her immediately. If they were UnSeelie they would certainly have to show themselves to her as it was an order. She was slightly curious as to what they wanted. She felt more and more eyes on her. Had she perhaps stumbled across some mortal tribe? She had a sly grin on her face. She wondered what would happen if she started doing something obnoxious like picking at her underwear or her nose. What if she just started tap dancing? That would be downright hilarious.

But it was hard taking steps here on this land for it was so overgrown and it seemed as if either rocks had fallen and broken into smaller rocks or they were placed so carelessly it was inconceivable. Nearly a time Ophelia almost tripped. By now after getting a little dirt on her pink gown she was angry. Why must she be watched all the time? Who was watching her and what did they want? “Hello,” she called out. “I know you are out there. Show yourself!” she demanded with all the grace her voice held.

[Fasdeus]

The challenge of his sister echoed through the dark woods. Ophelia was not afraid or at least, she did not show her fear. She never did. That was one of the things about her that Fasdeus loved. And hated. How could he read her; control her; bring her under his whip if she did not crack and show what she was afraid of? It infuriated him and enticed him all at once.

She was young -especially by Aos sí standards, but her unique heritage made her a creature of true Fae blood. This mortal world meant something to her. The way she would sneak off to find her way here again and again went far beyond curiosity. Some in the UnSeelie court murmured that her obsession verged madness. Of course, these opinions were spoken very carefully, for Fasdeus would broke know unkind words toward his sister. The Nightflyer Prince suspected that she heard these whispers as well. But either she did not care for them or she hide her feeling well.

What Fasdeus cared more about was how she kept coming to this dead world. He was certain she was not using the passage in Liberty Park. His soldiers and spies would have told him that much. No, somehow Ophelia had found another way, a hidden way, to this world that fascinated her. Fasdeus was determined to learn of it and exploit that knowledge to force her to join him. If not, he would destroy that passage right before her as punishment.

There was movement in the woods. Much more than he would have thought there would be when Ophelia demanded her watchers show themselves. Much more werewolves here then the UnSeelie spies that served him said there would be. And now, as if the entire forest was alive, they were moving in on his Ophelia. Without thinking, Fasdeus' Hand of Shadow enveloped him in the shaded darkness and moved him through the ethereal realm to a high dark place in a tree above beautiful Ophelia. The wolves were coming now, they made no effort to hide there movement or muffle their howls as they raced through the woods toward Ophelia.

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

“Hehehe. Doggies?” Ophelia couldn’t help but say so childishly. It sounded like some type of werewolf. Doggies surely happened to be quite an insult for the werewolf. Why did Ophelia also have some sort of crazed suspicion that her brother was near her? It was bothering her the way Fasdeus looked at her. Even more so when he always tried to retrieve her back home. What was his problem? And how did he always know that she had left? She was certainly too young to realize that there were spies watching her to report to her brother. She had no reason to suspect such.

For a short period of time she thought that it might be interesting to use her glamour to turn herself (just the outer appearance) into a shrub or a tree. But the werewolf would probably use her as a shrub or tree and pee on her. As Ophelia did not fancy the idea of being peed on by a dog-like-creature when she was so fond of cats she disposed of such idea.

Ophelia stayed still, her back against a tree. She would wait for those that had watched her – supposedly the dogs since she did not see her brother. She had two hands of power like most pureblooded Fae. Hand of Illusions was most surely a Seelie power while Hand of Darkness was an UnSeelie power at best. She could cloak herself in darkness and use it to attack or if she willed, jump through and almost teleport herself. Though she was not yet willing to be caught doing that.

[Fasdeus]

Fasdeus smiled. The wolves were coming, in force, and Ophelia, his dearest Ophelia, was not running. Her confidence may have been more foolish then bravery, but she was Fae, like him, and they were creatures of emotion and flights of fancy. As she stood her ground, with her back to the tree he perched so high above her, the wolves could be seen.

The dark shadow behind her thickened, grew in size and then took form. First it was the golden eyes that appeared, then his pale skin, platinum hair and finally his tall, lithe frame donned in the armor of a warrior. He could see the werewolves breaking through into the opening. They numbered five and that was more than enough for any skilled Fae to be challenged.

Silently, Fasdeus leaned just over his beautiful Ophelia's shoulder, whispering in here ear like the wind. "Fear not sister," he said with gentleness, "your savior is with you."

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

“I should have known it was you, brother!” Ophelia replied to her brother as he whispered in his ear. She knew that she did not need to look at him to know that he was in his armour, decked out in full Fae appearance. Her brother was a gorgeous figure with golden eyes and platinum hair. She herself had tri colored purple eyes and red hair. But now with unnatural pink hair these wolves should know she was not any sort of human they could take and feast upon.

She grinned straight ahead not bothering to give her brother a glance. It was a shame he could not see her grin else he would have known what she was about to do. “I fear no fear, brother.” She yelled as she started running towards those wolves. “And I need no savior. I am my own!” she cried out with glee as she began her dance. Ophelia was light on her feet. She began her willowy dance that lived and breathed Fae magic. In-between the confused and imbecilic wolves she danced looking like a willow blowing in the wind. Once something was about to pounce on her she moved. She jumped, she twirled and spun.

If it wasn’t clear enough to these silly little wolves up close that there never in existence was a pink haired mortal it was now! She began to sing a most curious song. It was in the language of Fae and not fit for anyone but the Fae. For millenniums upon millenniums the Fae had been enticing mortals by their singing. When a Fae sung a mortal forgot all rhyme and reason – not to mention they forgot all thought of time. A mortal could listen to a Fae sing until their body perished from lack of food and drink. So Ophelia sang a hypnotizing song she had once heard her mother sing when she was spying on her in the forest.

Ophelia was not paying enough attention as to whether her song was working its true effects because these beasts were not mortal. But a song of Fae still had some effects. She closed her eyes and using her ears to guide her rhythm. She could still dodge and dance and sing with her eyes closed. If her mouth were closed it would have a sly, sly grin on it. Her brother was probably having close to a heart-attack. He was also probably chopping most of the wolves up. She broke rhythm of her song by laughing so joyously at the thought though she smelled no blood yet.

[Fasdeus]

Ophelia was beautiful. Fasdeus watched as she danced and sang her beautiful song around the gnashing teeth and swiping claws of the werewolf pack. Her feet guided her around them in a magical dance of everything that was Fae. He was lost in her movement, oblivious to everything but his beautiful sister. The attacks of the wolves were nothing more than the choreographed movements of her background dancers. Her song transcended reality and it brought him with her.

Even the wolves were struck by the sound of her song. Lost in their boundless rage as they were, the melody still struck deep inside of them. It slowed there attacks, misguided their accuracy, and dazed their eyes. That was when Fasdeus saw it. As beautiful as her dance was, it was defensive. His smile faded slightly when he saw that all she did was defend. But as faded as it was, it was still his smile. She was still his sister and he would add his crescendo to her requiem.

With a cry half maddening half melodic, the prince of the Nightflyers, UnSeelie lord of the courts, Fasdeus threw himself into the fray. While Ophelia's sang her words and laughed her madness, he brought the sound of the music with his spear. Every lunge, every swipe, and every parry was a note in their song. Every cry of pain and splash of blood that the werewolves let loose began the treble.

It was glorious.

It was glorious. It was madness.

It was glorious. It was madness. It was Aos sí.

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

Soon enough Ophelia could smell the blood and knew that the wolf creatures were being slaughtered. The air now had a metallic sort of smell that was stuck down her throat from breathing it in. It was not a harsh sort of smell and it was not unusual or natural. While living in the court castle one needed to perfect their ‘neutral’ face because a lot of blood was spilled – either in duels or some sort of punishment.

The young Fae Princess was well aware that her dancing was more defensive then offensive. It was not as if she carried around a sword with her for attacking. And it was not like she could actually use a sword. She was rather young and had not been trained in any sorts of deadly arts. She was still trying to figure out her hands of powers which had come reasonably early – especially odd as she had two develop at such a young age.

Ophelia opened her eyes and for a few moments watched her brother destroy. She had stopped singing now as she watched him. She had also stopped dancing except for the occasional jump to get out of harm’s way. Her brother seemed so distracted that he wouldn’t notice her missing – at least not right away. She turned and ran inside the large dangerous forest. Her brother had come to drag her back to the Fae Realm and she was not ready to go.

As she ran she jumped over small twigs that would have cracked under the weight of her feet. She hoped to cover more ground though perhaps leap was the more correct term. She had now left the wolves, the blood and her brother behind. She questioned how he knew where she was. Though the wolves had known. How did her brother? He always knew. Always! And now when he caught her he was most surely going to drag her back and scold her.

[Fasdeus]

The chaos was intoxicating. The battle was a sweet nectar and the warm blood of his fallen enemies spilled across his chest and face. The howls of the wolves turned from rage to pain as Fasdeus, like a whirling dervish, danced his song of death. Their teeth snapped at him, their claws dripped with his blood, but the pain was miles away, locked within a distant place in his mind where he would acknowledge it later. presently, he was focused only on the battle. Even the music to which he had danced was gone, and the only sound he heard was his own cries of glorious battle. The world was red.

When the wolves who still lived and could flee chose it a better alternative then the end of the mad Fae's spear, Fasdeus stood alone in the woods. The end of his spear lodge deep into the skull of the last wolf. His breathing was heavy, his eyes regaining their focus, and his wounds screaming in pain. It was only then that he realized he had not tuned out the song of Ophelia, but that she had ceased her music and fled the battle. She had fled him. The fury inside Fasdeus boiled over into rage. His obsession for his sister was taking hold in the form of absolute possession.

"OPHELIA!" he cried into the dark sky and darker woods. "OPHELIA, DO NOT HIDE FROM ME! YOU ARE MINE! DO YOU HEAR ME SISTER? MINE!!!!!!"

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

Ophelia was far away but her brother’s yelling ended up reaching her ears. She couldn’t help but shudder. It seemed the dictionary example of creepy. Why exactly did her brother want to claim her as his? And it was not happening. He was good looking, this was true. But he was UnSeelie and Ophelia would rather marry a Seelie Prince and live in the land of light, gold and pureness instead of UnSeelie darkness with the things that disgusted and offended her vision.

“No. No. NO!” Ophelia screamed back as her voice carried its way into the forest. “Leave me alone or I’ll tell father on you!” There was no way now that she could allow her brother to capture her. What would he do to her? Whichever, it would not be pleasant. Perhaps, just perhaps she should not have screamed the threat that she would tell their father. Now Fasdeus would be extremely angry.

Why oh why did he want Ophelia? There were girls in the UnSeelie court who would die to have her brother. After all their father became King of the UnSeelie making Fasdeus Prince. Of course she had other brothers and they worried over her, but nothing like this. She had never felt love for any of her brothers. The women in the UnSeelie court weren’t necessarily prettier than her, but they were more UnSeelie. “I don’t want you brother. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you!” Ophelia realized she had let her anger get to her. She needed to run, and fast. Her brother had lived thousands of years more then she and should be an expert tracker. Perhaps she should use her illusions and give herself the appearance of a tree. . .

[Fasdeus]

The gnarled forest around him echoed in silence. Fasdeus' fury demanded action but there was none to be had. The wolves were dead or wounded and fled, and Ophelia was gone far away from here. Why did she leave? Did she not understand that he had done all of this, spilled this blood, for her? She would see. he would make her see.

Fasdeus turned about, his spear sliding back into its sheath on his back in one fluid motion. He would have to return home and await word from his spies. Fasdeus was not pleased. One step toward his shadow and his anger continued to rise. Another step and - the foot fell back. Fasdeus remained still, his head cocked and his focus on his surroundings. What did he just hear? Was his mind playing trick on him or perhaps the wind? It sounded like her.

She had not left the mortal realm as he had first suspected. It was so obvious but he had missed it in his rage. She had only run, like a human would have run (albeit on much lighter faerie feet). Fasdeus ducked to his haunches and surveyed the ground with sharp eyes. Blood, paws, claws rakes and.... there. Tiny, almost imperceptible but her heel had turned in the dirt there.

Fasdeus smiled to himself. The chase was not yet over. Ophelia would still be his. Like a wind before the storm, Fasdeus was off. Fast and silent, he darted through he woods, stopping only long enough to discover another slight track before continuing on.

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

What exactly was Ophelia thinking? Her brother was an adapt trackman while she was just a babe. Though she screamed perhaps he had not heard her. Perhaps he thought it was the wind. Anyhow, he probably thought that she had left for home. Surely he wouldn’t look for her deeper in the depths of the woods. She was not running now but walking. The forest was overgrown with giant shrubs, trees and more making it very hard to see and harder to run now.

Ophelia was now walking slowly through the forest. This was rather boring now perhaps she should have gone back to the castle to have a cold drink of ambrosia. Yet, she always had this strange idea that like Cinderella she would meet her Seelie Prince here. Wouldn’t that be quite marvelous? She could just picture life in the glorious glowing Seelie Palace with her handsome Seelie Prince. The thought alone of a glowing Seelie prince made her want to dance.

As Ophelia continued to walk she felt no wary eyes on her. She was completely alone, for now. She stopped and looked around. Wherever she went there was more forest. Now this was quite ridiculous. She turned about to look where she had come from. Everything looked exactly the same; she could have come from the north, the east, the south, or the west! As a strong wind came her wings flapped against her orders.

[Fasdeus]

The forest was a winding maze of unkept trees grown over the fallen ruins of the human world. Every direction looked the same and from every shadow a human could imagine something dark lurking there. But Fasdeus was not human, nor was he a fool. He knew where he was and more importantly, he was the dark thing lurking in the shadows.

Ophelia had moved fast and fleet of foot. She left few marks of her passing - a faint upturning of some dirt, a light powereding on a root, but they were enough for Fasdeus. Once or twice he would have to back track to a previous marking and correct himself, but for the most part he was doing well. He wanted to hate Ophelia for running and hiding from him, but a snother part, the part that was his obsession, was proud of how well she had hidden her tracks at the speed she was going. Even experienced loup-garou would be hard-pressed to find the trail. Stalking silently through some underbrush he found a very important clue. The tracks were closer together now, and in a few cases crossing each other.

A dark smile crept upon his lips, his sister was slowing down and circling herself. She was lost. It still brought him now closer to Ophelia, but it was a good sign. Down on his haunches, studying the tracks before him, felt the strong wind blow over his back. he stood immediately and lifted his face to the wind. That was when he heard it. Faint, muffled and probably a dozen or so meters away, but he had heard it. The sound of something light and leather flapping against the gust. Still tired from his earlier use of Shadow Stepping, Fasdeus' Hand of Shadow would be of no use to him now. Instead, he would have to rely on his Aos sí training, which was extensive in its own.

Creeping through the tangled, thicker part of the forest Fasdeus clsoed in on his prey. Distant words danced in his mind as he concentrated on his sister. I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a-gleam.

[Ophelia Aiyana Whitney]

Ophelia tried to not sigh. It was a horrible thing being Fae and lost in a forest where you were supposed to thrive. She could not help but think that this was her own fault. Especially how she shunned and ignored her tutors. She would run from them, say that they had insulted her or just plain avoid them. She could not remember a single solitary lesson. She knew that she was so unlike her brothers who did not mind to study and did so passionately. And where were her brothers? She had not seen them it what seemed like ages! She had dismissed all rumors that they were dead because they could not be!

Ophelia kept walking. She was trying to do her best and walk in a straight line. However, if she turned around she knew she’d have horrible odds of walking back to the massacre scene. Maybe she could follow the scent of blood and death – but that was about it. She did not know the story of stars and how to follow the North Star. Which was the North Star? She did not know to follow the moss growing on trees. Nor did she hear a stream or babbling brook in which to follow.

As boredom set hold in Ophelia she began to play with the darkness. It was easy enough to form three dimensional shapes from the darkness which then began to fly in front of Ophelia. There was a line of triangles, squares, octagons and circles. She had the shapes twirl around in circles all while pretending that these three dimensional objects made from darkness could lead the way.