13 UNEDITED VERSION

"So that's how you both ended up in there?" Her white eyes peer into mine and it makes me shift with unease.

"Don't be like that Aoife." The hot headed winter fairy rolls her eyes and ignores her companion.

"Forgive her, she can be... Uncultured sometimes, we rarely get visitors around here, by the way I am Dana and that's Aoife, what's your name?" She points to Aoife with the tip of her nose as she introduces her.

I point to myself, "My name is Aadya and that's my friend Dion."

"We already know Dion you're the stranger here, what are you doing here?" Aoife looks at me through slitted eyelids and I don't know how to react to someone who clearly doesn't like me, so I don't say anything to her. I don't like this bitter feeling. I feel like lashing back but it would seem unwise.

"How do you know them Dion?" He sits next to me on a fallen tree trunk while Arcotos lies down at my feet.

"I and my father came up this area a few years back during winter when we were hunting for a rare brown Urus bear, it led us up here then Aoife was stuck up on a tree branch, I helped her get down, we met Dana then we took her back to their village."

"So what brings you people to this parts by this time of the year?"

I and Dion exchange looks silently asking each other if it's OK to tell them our predicament.

"We were sent to the foot of the mountain to meet someone there." Dion took the initiative to lead which I am happy for.

"The foot of the mountain? Why on Mu would you want to meet someone there? It's very dangerous." Dana's eyebrows squeeze as I see the confusion very clear in her eyes.

"Well uh we had a situation at home... A bad one, and we got separated from our families, but we know we were all supposed to meet there." I tried to explain without involving the attack on our land and Dion's father's death.

They don't need to know those details and if Dion wanted them to know about his father he would have told them himself.

"Oh alright but you both can not keep travelling up this path, it's very dangerous especially at night, I am honestly surprised you both are still alive."

My eyes go wide into the size of round plates with my eyebrows raised high in utter surprise and instinctively I look to Dion to see he's wearing the same facial expression as me.

"It's most likely the girl that misled them down this path she looks like an oaf."

"Aoife! Don't be so rude! Apologize now!"

"Why!? But it's true! I mean just look at her!"

My eyes leave the two winter fairies arguing over me to my legs, hands and my eyes rolls all over just about every part of me that I could see wondering what is so wrong with the way I look and what does oaf mean?

They both bicker in an unknown language.

Aoife's hands keeps flaring up above her head and sometimes pointing at me.

In my opinion they are both beautiful with skin as fair as snow, red lips like that of blood, their eyes are white and it's impossible to see the end or beginning of their pupils, their ears look normal only difference is that the tip is pointy.

They are both taller than me and wider with more flesh in their breasts, hips and buttocks, I look like a child compared to them.

Dana has long flowing yellow hair, it's as though the sun kissed it while Aoife has red hair, it displays how fiery her spirit is.

Although I really don't appreciate her fiery spirit in the form of antagonism towards me, I have been through a lot these past few days and I just want to eat food, drink water and sleep, the exhaustion of the long walk during our two or is it three days travel? Is beginning to weigh down on me.

I couldn't help the yawn that escapes my lips.

The sounds of the rangifer reindeer that was injured with their arrow cries out in pain as it struggles to survive but it seems very difficult for it to because its wound looks really deep.

Then the thought hits me which leads me to physically hit myself in my face with the palm of my hand.

"Look how mad she is?! She's hitting herself now!"

"Aoife enough already! They will be coming home with us because we can not leave her out here alone. Are you alright Aadya?" Dana turns her attention from her companion to address me after yelling at her and setting in stone that I would be coming with them.

Does that mean they only wanted to take Dion with them?

"She is fine, she just does that whenever she remembers something she shouldn't have forgotten." Huh? Dion? How did he know that? Does this mean he pays attention to what I do? Does this mean he likes me?

"Hmm OK, so what is it Aadya?" I shift my attention from Dion's dirt covered face to Dana's pretty face.

"Oh... Uhm... Uh..." I rack my brain trying to think of a way to explain to them that I want to drink the blood from their bleeding rangifer reindeer and not appear so strange to them.

Because I understand that we are different beings and what may be seen as sacred and holy to the Northern wolfmen may seem like utter evil and bad omen to these fairies. Again, I should have listened more when the elders taught from the scrolls of the knowledge of beings in Mu.

Now, here I am again stuck because I lack the knowledge.

"See?! She is an oaf." Aoife screeches, and I am seriously curious about why she calls me an oaf and more importantly why doesn't she like me? I didn't do anything to her.

"Aoife!" The look Dana gives her and the way Aoife huffs and grumpily folds her hands tells me that they might be related and Dana is the older one between them because the act reminds me of Troilus ordering me around, it makes me miss him. I miss them all. Oh Felicity are you truly gone?

"You were trying to say?" Dana's attention returns to me once more and I realize Aoife and Dion's attention are on me as well.

For some bizarre reason my heart race picks up not because Dion is looking at me but I think it's because I am the centre of attention and it doesn't feel right to me.

Maybe if I just get this over with they would stop making me feel uneasy with their stares.

"Well?" I unconsciously glance at Aoife as she brought me out of my thoughts which had me lost to the real world.

"The thing is I actually need a favour..." I pause and swallow my saliva as I try to find the words to use.

"Asking for favours already?"

"Go on."

The two winter fairies both say simultaneously and of course Dana is the civil one here asking me to go on, so I do.

With a deep breath I just come out with it, there's no other way to frame this, at all.

"Please may I drink the blood from your rangifer?" It came out so rushed that I doubt they heard me.

They both wear the expression of confusion, Dion stays awfully quiet at the worst time! He could just come into this conversation and help me, instead he sits there with his arms folded across his chest and watch this interaction that I am sure to never forget.

"Why would you want to drink the blood of our reindeer?" Dana leans forward a bit in my direction showing her interest in what I have to say to explain what I am sure would be a strange request coming from a stranger to another stranger, what a strange situation.

"Yeah! Why the fuck would you want to drink the blood of our dinner?" Aoife has come again with her strange words, first she calls me an oaf now she says the word fuck and dinner.

Maybe I can ask Dana the meaning of these foreign words later, she seems more welcoming and likely to tell me, unlike her companion.

"Well, where I come from we drink the blood of a rangifer reindeer –"

"Just say reindeer you weirdo."

"Enough Aoife not another word!" Dana looks back to me, "please continue."

"We drink its blood on our fifteen years of age birthday celebration as part of a ritual to signify our passing from wolfchildhood to wolfwomanhood or wolfmanhood. It's very sacred and important to us and due to the... The uhm the situation on ground I was unable to perform this ritual the night that gave birth to today." I look to Dion for approval hoping that I have spoken well.

Instead of my eyes to meet his green eyes my eyes meets his eyelids as they are covering his eyes as he sleeps and slightly snore.

I close my eyes as I feel the exhaustion weigh on me, I would have really loved it if Dion could help me right now but can I blame him? He has had it worse than me and I can't feel angry despite my efforts to.

"This is such a strange... Uhm custom? But since it would mean a lot to you, I think we can let you drink the blood, is that all?" Immediately Dana says this Aoife's mouth hangs open and wide and her eyes as well, even a blind wolfman will see how shocked she is.

She tries to say something but Dana shush her and that action makes me giggle which leads to Aoife sending me a death glare, I call it a death glare because as I look into her eyes I have no doubt in me that she wants me dead.

Maybe I am putting too much meaning into her expression?

"So as I was saying, is that all? And you're a wolfman too like Dion here?" She fires two questions in one breath at me.

"No Dana but that's what you have and I can not make demands for things that do not belong to me, and no I am a wolfwoman not a wolfman." She nods her head in understanding.

"OK so what else do you need?"

"Oh no please, don't worry about it, I will figure it out with Dion's help I'm sure I can find the other items to complete the ritual." I shake my head to my left and then my right side and then repeat as I resist her offering.

I don't know her well enough to impose like that, it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Back at home things are provided for me because I am of royal blood and it's my kingdom but here I am a foreigner and I don't want to feel indebted to them especially Aoife, that's why I am asking for just the blood while it's alive.

"Nonsense! I insist! In our land every ritual is sacred and important, and when you don't carry such out it is considered as a very bad omen and the gods of our land will depart from you, so you must fulfil it completely!"

OK I am surprised and at the same time very much impressed by her passion for their cultural ways, this makes me like Dana very much.

A genuine smile forms on my lips as I feel grateful that she's very much willing to help me.

"Well aside a rangifer reindeer I also need the blood of a Lepus white hare and an ovis mountain goat, then you and Dion could say a few prayers for me to our god Boreas and Khione. I know it's much but please it's all I will ever ask of you."

She rises from her feet and Aoife follows her actions, grumpily I might add.

"Alright thank goodness you don't need to drink a child's blood or something of such nature, those things make me cringe..." She pauses due to the horrifying look my face carries.

"Relax, some kinds do drink the blood of children but sometimes they don't kill them, they slit their wrists and pour the blood in cups, I believe it were goblins that did that right Aoife?" She turns to Aoife for affirmation to which she nods her head and that satisfies Dana.

"Uhm...well OK if you say so."

"Alright, come along now both of you let's go back to my home for lunch."

"Who's lunch?" Are we going to get Lunch to help us catch the animals that we would need for my ritual?

Dana and Aoife laugh so loud it stirs Dion awake from his sleep. He appears shocked by his surroundings, his eyes confusingly bounces from Aoife to Dana then the moment his eyes land on me recognition seeps into his features, and he looks calm then his eyes go back to them and quietly watch them bending over with hands on their stomach as they laugh.

Their hairs are plaited and tied in buns on top their head, some hair escape free as they laugh.

I and Dion wait quietly for them to finish.

Not long later they stop and clean their tears with small clothes they take out of holes in their clothes which cling around each of their legs.

There's a space in between their legs and it doesn't look anything like what we wear back at home.

This attire doesn't surprise me as I am already aware that other beings have strange customs, so I can not expect anything of theirs to be the same as ours, I would like to learn these things from them later on, if we meet again.

They place these small clothes into their pockets and their hands dust their clothes including their clothes that seem to have no place where it was tied but still seems to cling and cover the top of their body above their waist line except their hands and head.

"Alright let's go get lunch." Dana begins to walk towards her left and Aoife quickly follows, I and Dion takes it as a signal to get up and follow them.

"Who is Lunch?" Dion I am wondering the same thing.

The fairies both giggle.

Aoife turns her head back to look at Dion as she smiles warmly at him then says, "Oh you'll see."