Episode 120: CARYS AND THE CRIMSON EYED FAE

"Tylwyth Teg, Fae, Banshee, whatever you call them. Fairies or those a bit like them aren't usually something you should be messing with. Don't be fooled by their beautiful colors. No. You wouldn't want to fly with them, or have tea with them. No, they won't give you their pixie dust so you could both fly together. No. They may sing well, may look well, may offer you a lot, but no, they don't intend to befriend you.

They are...considered neautral creatures that can change their personalities in a tick of a light switch. It's better if you won't encounter one.

Again, they are not friends.

They are usually playful, tricky. If you found a fairy with white hair and caring eyes, only caring about taking care of flowers, good for you. But if you found yourself a fairy with horns and crimson eyes, get out. Run as far as you can before it notices you because the moment it does...you won't escape it. Ever. It will make you run back in circles over and over again. And you'll either die from insanity, starvation, or finally, in the hands of the fairy itself.

Huh? Seems easy? Uh, no, no...I forgot to tell you that they can hide their horns and change their appearance. I...know, it's useless. But just look at what their eyes are. If purplish or blue, it's good, but watch out. Bad ones may be close behind. And...if, yellow, crimson or black, get out. They will kill you."

Those were the words that Cadwallen kept repeating to his daughter, Carys, when she was little. Now, she never thought that it would be of use since she haven't saw any sort of fairy or entity for that matter.

And she just found it stupid. The village she was in, was nothing but filled with people believing their superstitious mess. She thought it was all nothing but folklores or something parents use to scare their kids until...

Until that day...

Carys was the only daughter out of five children. And their house, was loud and chaotic. It felt too much for a girl like her. Sick and tired of all the noise, she decided to ask for her mother, Lowri, to let her out for once.

Her mother, worried, asked where she wanted to go.

Carys told her that she'd just pick out flowers. Yes, flowers.

Briallen(Primrose)...were her favourite.

Lowri paid no mind to it, thinking that her sweet and well behaved daughter, which is also in fact 15 already, was responsible enough to look for herself.

LOWRI: Just be back before dark bites.

Her mother sweetly reminded. Patting her daughter's hair and placing a kiss on her head.

Carys only smiled as she excitedly hopped her way to the garden.

Unfortunately, the hype on her eyes faded the moment she saw that no flower yet had been blooming. They were all but little buds, and she felt saddened as she had walked so far to reach this place.

She looks at the end of the fence, where she sees a path leading somewhere she knew was barely explored by teens like her. Carys knew that she shouldn't go there. Too many stories of faes and the unknown had been spread in their village. Moreso, they even blame them for the cases of missing children, although some that Carys thinks as 'rational' people, blame it on the wild balistic animals roaming about.

Carys sighed, then was planning to walk away, quite disappointed her venture was for nothing.

Her steps stopped though, as she saw a beautiful red cinnabar moth resting on one of the leaves.

She felt amazed, seemingly hypnotized by its beauty, and had hope to catch it so her walk here would not be in vain. She never showed interest on these kind of things before, but here she is.

Slowly approaching the creature. Trying so hard to slow her breathing so she won't startle it.

But...for some reason her effort was not enough, and the moth quickly flew away, this time, near the fence.

Carys sighed. She hated this feeling of defeat. But she was still determined to get it. It was so beautiful, and something about its bright red wings were...attractive. Much more so than the common butterflies she finds in her place.

The moth evaded her times and times again, but each time, Carys feels more and more eager to catch it. She couldn't let this one go, it had already been too long. She had invested so much time and effort to simply give up. She knows she can catch it.

Until...it flew out of the Garden, out of the fence supposed to restrict her and the forest.

Sighing, she thought of going home. But...when she saw that the moth had only stopped on one of the nearby plants, she thought it would be worth the shot.

Carefully, she gets off the fence.

"Gwyfyn..." She whispered to herself.

As she tries to carefully move closer to it.

Again, she failed, as it flew further and further away from the village.

The moth continues to fly and evade her, making her feel frustrated than ever.

Not wanting her black hair to get on the way, she ties it in a neat ponytail as she continues to try and scoop the insect. Before long, she finds herself in a completely foreign place, covered in Briallens, of different colors.

It was paradise for her and she quickly cuts a few stems, placing them on her small bag.

She had forgotten about the moth...

CARYS: Mother will be happy, this Briallens are bigger and much more vibrant than in the village!

She exclaims proudly as she continues to pick the flowers.

But when she was about to go, she realized that she had lost her path back home.

She knew better, and if she tries to go on random paths, things might get worse and she may wander further deep into the forest. The only choice she have is to wait for night time, and look for the Northern star.

So she waited.

But not thirty minutes in, she heard rustles behind her.

It was unnerving, she thought, as it sounded like human steps.

CARYS: W-who's there? If you're a...a...human, please say so! I...I...are these yours? They...they're very pretty.

But no one responded.

The rustles continued, and knowing that it may be an animal, or worse, the faes her father was talking about, she decided to shut her eyes. Afraid to find out who was looking at her.

But it was just a shy fairy.

Tired, and curious, she opened her eyes slowly, since nothing had pounced on her yet.

But screamed and lost her composure when she saw a set of crimson eyes staring at her.

CARYS: Arhoswch i ffwrdd oddi wrthyf!!! (Stay away from me!)

The creature felt quite scared too, since rather than attack, it continued to hide itself on the bushes.

It took five minutes for her to realize that somehow, the creature was harmless.

She tried to get a closer look, although her heart was still panting from earlier.

CARYS: H-hello?

She tried to communicate.

But the creature won't respond.

She tried to think, something that could be universally seen as kindness. Then she remembered the flowers. The Primrose!

She picks one from the ground and slowly approached the creature.

Reaching her hands out to him, she tried to communicate again.

CARYS: Rwy'n rhoi hyn i chi...(I give you this.)

She smiled sweetly, trying hard not to look like a threat.

Surely, she may have lost her mind, trying to talk to a creature she barely even knows.

But somehow, his eyes were telling her that he was just as afraid as her. And she wanted to fix that.

The creature, hesitant at first, then slowly accepts her gift.

It took her a few seconds to realize that he actually have horns. Which was made quite hard to see since the shadow made by the trees were covering most of his head.

The creature only whimpered a sound she cannot understand.

CARYS: I guess that's a thank you?

She chuckled lightly, and the creature felt threatened and stepped back a few steps.

CARYS: Ah, no! No! Don't go!

But the creature felt like she was scaring him.

It walked on fours and ran away, the primrose carried on its mouth.

Carys felt very disappointed, but a bit mesmerized as well.

It was almost night time, and she thought it would be cool to at least have a friend for the night.

She sat down on the field of primroses, saddened.

She even cried since the night breeze was so cold and almost unbearable for her.

Carys thought that it would be the end of her and the fae's encounter but after a few moments of whimpering, she hears another noise from the bushes behind.

She turns behind, and there she saw the creature, looking at her still, almost as if it was aware and giving her sympathy since she was still crying.

It looked sad.

Then it saw her arms wrapped around her freezing body.

It ran away again. And Carys thought that she scared him off once more.

She laid down on the field of flowers, trying to sleep. Until she heard the noises again, and this time, she ignored it, not wanting to scare the fae again.

The steps grew closer and closer, and she felt even more intrigued to look, but fought against it.

Then, she felt a warm thing, cover itself around her.

She opens her eyes and saw a blanket made of moss, and looks at her right, only to see the horned fae looking at her quite proud.

Carys smiles and tries to pet him, but the fae looked afraid again. She puts her hand down, and was thinking hard on how to say, "Thank you," to a fae without making it seem like she was gonna hurt him.

The fae then approached her carefully, then picks a primrose, handing it to her.

Carys smiles, thinking that it was somehow adorable. He might look like a scary creature, but it acts nothing like it. It was behaving more like a child.

Carys slowly raises her hand, not wanting to feel like a threat, then pats the creature's head.

CARYS: Good night.

The creature blushed at the foreign touch. And chose to sleep beside her. Guarding her of potential threats.

The time Carys woke up, she was inside the Garden, primroses in hand. With no signs of the creature.