Promised Meet

96 13 5
                                    

After the long first day of being Spring-coming leader, Cyclone was summoned to the Sacred Tree to meet with the Queen before he started on his duties for the day.

He met Jungle at the bottom of the Sacred Tree before flying up to see the Queen. "Good morning, Cyclone. Her Majesty summoned you, I presume?" Maripos greeted him at the door.

"Hello, Maripos! Yeah, Her Majesty did. How are you today?"

"I've been well. Yesterday was your first day as Spring-coming leader, wasn't it? How was it?"

"It went great! Though I didn't expect that I needed to visit all of the animal sanctuaries everyday..." Cyclone would be getting his work cut out for him more than usual with this task.

Maripos lightly chuckled, "It comes with the package, I suppose." Maripos opened the neatly carved door to allow Cyclone entry into the hollow tree. "I believe Her Majesty is ready for you."

"Thanks, Maripos! Have a good one!" Cyclone flashed the Scout fairy a bright smile as he passed him. Maripos smiled in return, "Off you go."

When Cyclone entered the grand hall, he not only saw the Queen there but she saw all of the Higher Fairies of Seasons there with her. The Queen noticed him first, her face lit up at his presence. "Cyclone, my child. You're here."

"Good morning, your Majesty. And to you as well, Higher Fairies," Cyclone automatically greeted. "I didn't expect to see all of you here."

"We'd heard that the little tornado took up a rather important position. So, we had to come and see for ourselves," Man of Summer offered, giving Cyclone a handsome smile. Next to him, Man of Fall smiled sweetly.

"You've grown, Cyclone. We are very proud of you," Man of Fall said. Cyclone chuckled bashfully at the compliment.

"Not much except for Fall can pry Summer out of his shiny home, so you're quite the special fairy, Cyclone dearest," Mistress of Spring whispered to Cyclone, making him giggle.

The Queen invited the Higher Fairies and Cyclone to a sit down for some morning tea. The hottest topic on the table had been about Cyclone's recent responsibility and how his first day had gone. Cyclone decided not to tell them about his encounter at the Winter border.

After a good few cups of tea and good chat, Cyclone bid the Queen and the Higher Fairies goodbye. He later met again with Jungle to carry out his duties once more.

............

Nearing the end of his Spring-coming duties for the day, Cyclone realized that he was late for his own promise he'd hoped he'd made with the mysterious Winter fairy. He quickly finished helping the Light fairies store all the light pouches and fled towards the Winter border after thanking Jungle and all the fairies he worked with today.

He tried to be as sneaky as he could be while at the same time, tried to fly as quickly as he could. He hoped that the Winter fairy was still there, if they ever heard his promise at all.

When he saw that the Winter border was in view, he let himself down on the ground, the adrenaline seeping away slowly. It had gotten to night, so there was nothing but his glowing wings to keep his vision lit. Yet, somehow, the Winter border looked as bright as before.

He slowly and quietly climbed onto the giant log bridge, searching for a Winter fairy in the white.

After a few minutes of searching but to no avail, Cyclone's shoulders slumped in disappointment and turned around to leave before he heard snow crunching. Darting his head back to the Winter border, he finally saw a humanoid figure a few feet from the log bridge.

Cyclone's eyes immediately lit up, "You actually came.." his voice was uncharacteristically quiet and soft. He tried to get as close as he could to the fairy but was forced to stop at the division of both borders. With the falling snow in his way, it was hard to get a good look at the fairy.

The fairy looks uncertain, eyes filled with indifference and caution, but that hint of curiosity did not pass by Cyclone. Cyclone was curious as well, why the fairy didn't emit the same glow he did.

"My name is Cyclone, I'm a Wind fairy. What's yours?"

The fairy stayed silent, not much of a talker huh. But Cyclone wasn't going to give up.

"Thank you for coming to see me. I mean no harm, I really just want to meet you." Cyclone's movements are cautious and he found himself choosing his words carefully. "I hope you didn't wait long."

The fairy shook his head as a response, but Cyclone was happy that he was answering him. Cyclone then sat down on the log to show the fairy that he meant so harm and just wanted to talk. The fairy took careful little steps closer towrds the log, but Cyclone was patient.

The fairy seemed to find the foot of the log the limit of his boundaries, so Cyclone didn't pry. But it was near enough to slightly make out the fairy's features, and Cyclone was puzzled.

"Where are your wings?"

This made the fairy seem insecure again. Tilting his body so he could see a little better, Cyclone learnt that the fairy's wings were drooping. He had never met a fairy whose wings were drooping before.

"Oh, you don't use your wings?" Cyclone thought out loud. He was curious indeed, "Why not?"

The fairy didn't seem to want to answer such a question. The Wind fairy then just decided to drop the topic and smiled at him, "That's okay! You can tell me when you're ready!"

The fairy seemed almost amused at his confidence. Cyclone continued smiling, "Your home is very pretty. Everything is so white and shiny, it's nothing I've ever seen before."

Cyclone knew the Winter fairy was listening, so he just continued. "I've never met a Winter fairy before, I never even gotten this close to the Winter border before until yesterday. You see, we have a very big seasonal event--"

Like the chatter mouth he was, Cyclone ended up telling the fairy all about his recent accomplishments and going-ons in the Summer border. All the while, the Winter fairy stayed and listened.

"Oh, oh! I should bring you some acorns and leaves next time. You're sure to love them!" Cyclone made sure that the fairy was listening to him.

"You'll come back here tomorrow, will you?"

Cyclone anticipated his response. After a few seconds of silence, the fairy decided to nod. Cyclone couldn't be happier, "Yay! Though, we may need to move our meeting time till later into the day."

This fairy had many stories to tell, Cyclone was sure. What kind of fairy doesn't use their wings? Cyclone wanted to know. But to do that, he needed to gain the Winter fairy's trust. For now though, Cyclone was happy, for he'd made an unlikely friend.

Forbidden Love [Soul Wings Spin-off]Where stories live. Discover now