Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hello! This is an original story created by me. It has multiple chapters and as for the time line, I'm going to put medieval because it isn't modern and meant for a more nature based time. Meaning that there aren't any types of machines whatsoever and the technology has much simplicity to it. Also there are small bits of adult language, but it's nothing too serious. Enjoy everyone!

The Requiem
Prologue:

Akiho

The many assortments of birds slowly awoke from their deep slumber and departed from the warmth of their nests, landing on different branches of the trees throughout the forest. Basking in the bright sun, they began to chirp vigorously and gaily. The high tunes of the chickadees and swallows seeped through the forest, echoing in a harmonious sense, welcomed by the sleepy ears that heard it. The green leaves of the trees faded and fell to the ground, only to have beautiful shades of pink flowers and petals bloom instantly and replace them. Meanwhile on the ground below, flowers of many colors and sizes sprouted from the earth but the buds closed up tightly.

"Ahh....Spring has arrived. How wonderful!" A feminine voice echoed from the forest. The winds immediately passed through the trees and gathered in the center point of the many flowers, causing a flash to flicker brightly. A woman now stood in the wind's collision area. Long green braided hair ran over left shoulder and reached to the ground; green eyes scanned the flower bed with relief and joy. She brushed her long purple dress off in a casual manner and straightened the cornet atop her head with perfection. "Daughters of nature," she warmly cooed, "it is spring time my little ones! Time to wake up!"

Instantly the buds of the flowers bloomed open, revealing small sleeping figures of women with each their own styles of wings; some in the design of various butterfly and some of moths. A large portion of the little figures lifted from the buds and circled in delight around the woman, murmuring in a harmonious tone, "Good morning Mother!"

"Good morning my little fairies! The spring fauna sing their songs to welcome us to the forest as they have year after year. Did you sleep well everyone?"

"Yes!" They answered in harmony once more.

"It seems that someone is not present. I wonder....Akiho? Where are you Akiho?" The woman called to the group and patiently waited for an answer but never received one.

"Akiho is always late Mother! She's such a trouble maker!" A bold blue haired, light blue eyed fairy named Smilax with purple monarch butterfly wings, separated herself from the group and crossed her arms in emphasis while the other fairies laughed in agreement.

"Now, now Smilax. You shouldn't say such things about your sister. You all came from the same birth flower and therefore you are family." The woman sighed in disappointment, with a slight tone of scorn in her voice. "Piale? Are you awake Piale?" She turned to the rest of the buds that remained unopened and scanned each flower.

"Piale is awake now, Mother!" A soft, energetic voice seeped from the cover of a lonely yellow rose that stood a distance away from the group. Upon opening, a small fairy with long yellow hair and soft green eyes flew from the rose. She had birdwing butterfly designs on her wings, but the left was colored red and the right colored blue. She immediately flew to the woman's face and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "Piale is sorry for over sleeping Mother!"

"It is fine Piale. I need you to find Akiho. She's still sleeping I presume." The woman responded, giving a light chuckle.

"Alright! Piale will find Akiho! Goodbye Mother!" The young, sprightly fairy eagerly replied, dashing off in the air soon after. She skidded in the air weaving upwards and downwards in flight, while dodging the many tree branches that flew into her from every direction.

"Akiho? Where are you? Piale is looking for you!" Piale called throughout the forest, stopping to look into every den hole that caught her eye. "Akiho? Akiho?!" She called loudly into a rather large hold inside of an old oak tree only to be answered by a pair of yellow, angry eyes. "Akiho?"

"Piale is sorry birdie!" Piale yelled in surprise a few moments later, after discovering that hole's newest resident was a grumpy blue jay. It answered the disturbance by pursuing Piale, trying to peck her on the head multiple times. "Please forgive Piale! She is trying to find Akiho!" It took an estimate of ten minutes to outmaneuver the bird by the means of flying. She flew closely to branch after branch and finally succeeded after the bird hit a thick branch and fell to the ground in shock. It gave Piale one last weary glare and retreated back to its nest.

"Akiho? Piale wants to find you! Where are you Akiho?" Piale sighed in frustration. Flying to the nearest branch and sitting on it in dismay, she released a long sigh and looked along the forest floor. As soon as she spotted a colorful tiger lily, she leaped to the air in joy and charged at it. "Tiger lily! Piale found you now!" She happily called to the flower in joy, stopping in the air and landing on the ground inches from the plant.

"Open please." She asked gingerly, stroking the flower's leaf and stem. But the flower only responded by closing its bud even tighter. "Hey! Piale needs to find Akiho because Mother told her to! Akiho is in tiger lily! Open up tiger lily!" The flower didn't even budge.

"Akiho!!! Wake up!" Piale called in an annoyed tone, using as loud a voice as possible.

"Piale!! I'm upp....." A slurred voice called through the petals of the tiger lily. "Give me a few minutes...." It called, followed by the opening of the tiger lily's petals.

Piale slowly lifted from the ground and halted at the flower's blooming bud and sheepishly stared inside. After raising an eyebrow at the sight that awaited her, she released a bubbly laugh.

Ahriman

Damn. The sun was already rising and those ridiculous birds were already being a nuisance. The winter had been overly enjoyed mostly for those reasons. Darkness and quiet. There was a sense of winter that could never be overlooked by someone like Ahriman. He was an elf that lived a hermit's life in the forest, only visiting his own kind to buy needed supplies, but despised it. The truth was simple: he hated other creatures, Elf, Fairy, or animal; man or woman. As long as he was left alone, he was contempt.

Slowly rising from his stiff bed, he ran his weary hand through his ebony hair; rapidly blinking his silver eyes and his long pointy ears flicking to the side. Grunting in fatigue, he grumpily threw his bed sheets off of his body and climbed out of his bed. He then turned back and straightened out his bed sheets and neatly made his bed. He growled and made the way to his bathroom, stripping his shirt off along the way.

After disposing of the storage of his bladder, Ahriman swiftly washed his hands and glared at the reflection of his mirror. "Why do I even bother getting up in the morning? Stupid birds..." He grumpily muttered to the birds that were seated along his window seals and retrieved his toothbrush. Spitting out the tooth paste, he then reached for some mouth wash and gurgled it in his mouth for half a minute.

Ahriman decided to take a list upon everything that needed to be cleaned or restocked after coming from the bathroom. The waste bucket would need to be cleaned out. I need more meat, so I guess that means I'm going hunting. Great.... So it was time for Ahriman to gather his supplies that he would, including changing into a new shirt and pair of pants that were colored in a camouflaged pattern. He then retrieved his bow from its holding case and the quiver full of arrows that rested just beside it. Giving a brief, curt nod to his new apparel, Ahriman quickly swiped a sheathed bagger from a nearby counter and secured it in the lather belt that hung around his waist.

Releasing a small grunt, he nodded to himself once more and tritely made his exit out of the small hut. Taking a last glance to make sure that all the windows and doors were locked, he gave a cranky grunt. "Who would even bother stealing from here? Hell like there's anybody around anyway..." He slowly mumbled with a nettled tone. Ahriman quickly decided that the house would be fine for his short period of absence, lifted the quiver from the ground beside his knee and hastily placed it around his neck and shoulder, adjusting it to a firm fitting.

While Ahriman scanned every little part of the forest looking for signs that a deer or elk could leave behind to be tracked, such as droppings or broken bark, he appreciated the now blooming pink flowers and gave them an enviously glance. This was one of the few moments where he didn't look at the faults of another living creature, but simply basked in no possessive gain; a just because moment. He despised the other Elfs because of their cocky attitudes. Most of those stuck up thought that they will the most favored beings that the Goddess had created. It really made Ahriman sick in disgust. The hunters had no regard for the rules of hunting, and instead of only killing the adult bucks, the even went for the does and fawn to settle their needs of the most kills.

"This will teach those stupid little bugs!" A sudden, young voice bursting through the woods, causing Ahriman to instinctively ready for an ambush and take cover by the nearest tree. Peering from the side, he made out two young Elfs no older then in their early teens. One had short silver hair, while the other a brunette. The brunette was on his knees, holding a bucket of a mysterious powder and tipped it into a gushing stream. The silver haired boy stood beside him, watching in every direction, in a lookout type manner.

"Yeah. Wait 'till they get a drink from their favorite water source, then that will be the end of our troubles. Hahaha! They'll be sorry they hurt my little brother last month."

"Hey! What the hell are you punks doing?!" Ahriman yelled at the two boys while jumping the trees top, landing a few feet distanced away. They jumped in surprise, dropping the bucket in the process and looked up at the man in shock. Immediately they turned tail and fled away.

"I though you said no one lived here!"

"I didn't know...."

"Hmph...Stupid brats..."Ahriman cursed while fetching the bucket from the ground. It was empty now, but had a distinct scent to it. It smelt like the flowers from the trees branches, but with a small citrus tinge to it. Pondering on the thought for a few moments, Ahriman quickly shrugged it off and placed the bucket back onto the ground. He decided to continue looking for game.

Akiho

Akiho knew that something was terribly wrong when she began to wake up. Lying in a crowded, dark place, she couldn't help but to feel afraid. Where am I?! She thought anxiously and began to struggle to free herself from the leathery prison. Instantly though, something swatted at her from outside of the pouch and caused her to freeze in shock.

"Damn bug. I'll kill it." A loud and muffled voice seeped through the material of the leather and into Akiho's ears. Of course! Now she remembered that she was captured unexpectedly by an elf that lived in the forest. But she did now why or how he was able to find her. Is he the one that poisoned the water? Akiho found it was hard to think inside the pouch due to, even though it was suspended or at least she thought, how much it constantly swung in all directions. Once in a while Akiho felt something solid brush against her backside, which gave her even more to fear. So many seemingly unanswerable questions ran through her mind repeatedly. Where was she being taken? What were the elf's intentions? Was she going to...die?

For a time Akiho sat silently, huddled to her knees and waited for whatever the elf had in store. Despite how much Akiho worried about how Piale would react after discovering her missing, she was at his mercy temporarily and there was no way for her to escape. All that Akiho was capable of was to wait, but fortunately she didn't have to wait much longer for something to happen. She felt the satchel being lifted as light slowly gushed from the opening above her head.

Glancing up, Akiho immediately recoiled and pressed herself downward as far as she could upon seeing a large wily silver eye looking down at her begrudgingly. "Get out. Now!" She heard the elf order and continued to look down at her with impatience. Being as stubborn as she was, Akiho only responded by trying to get into the pouch and as far away from the elf as possible. But because she was already at the seam of the satchel, it was quite impossible for her to do so.

"Grr....I said get out!" The elf barked once again with a more the venomous tone then the previous time. Seconds later though, something caused the pouch to tip forward and sent Akiho sprawling onto a hard surface. It took her a few minutes to recover but after doing so, Akiho found herself lying in some sort of cold, metal, square shaped cage. Instinctively she glanced around bleakly to find a way out. Slipping through the bars wouldn't work. They were spaced too close together even for a fairy to escape.

Akiho cautiously examined her surroundings, slightly mesmerized by some of the sights. The cage was set on top of a large wooden stand. The room was very strange and unlike anything Akiho had seen in her life. Everything was so much bigger Akiho and it was somewhat frightening. Lying ways a way (in her perspective mind you) from the stand was long but neat pile of straw covered by some kind of dull fabric. Akiho gasped in horror after spotting the elf, who now carried a rusted instrument and focused on another task. He sat in some kind of wooden seat and continuously raised the thing he grasped upwards, only to slam it back down. It was hard for Akiho to figure out what exactly he was doing due to having his backside facing her, but after seeing a hoof resembling that of a local elk or deer sticking out she felt on the verge of screaming in disgust and fear. The elf was chopping the animal!

Akiho didn't know how to react to this sickening scene. She always played with the does and fawns with Piale after waking up from winter and it hurt her deeply after hearing that the number of deers living in the forest were beginning to decline. "Stop it!" Akiho shrieked and scrambled the farthest corner of the cage. At first she thought that he didn't hear or was just ignoring her, but almost instantly the banging of the knife stopped and Akiho found her plum eyes staring into the great silvery eyes of the elf's.

"So the little mite can talk." The elf muttered temperately and rested his arm before the cage. He sat silently for the next few minutes, his eyes watching Akiho and whatever movements she made. But eventually his eyes darted to her wings. "Maybe I should cut off the wings so the thing doesn't fly away......." He mumbled to himself quietly but loud enough for Akiho to hear. Whether he was being serious or not was what worried her the most and feeling panic overwhelming her, Akiho darted into the air and desperately searched for a way out of the cage. If a fairy lost her wings, then it meant death. There was no way to survive without them.

But since Akiho was still so weak and sickly from the water, she fell forward and hit her face on a cold metal bar. "Don't like that idea do you? Then don't bother me. But if you even think about escaping, then you'll have to worry." The elf stated irreverently and gave a taunting laugh. Akiho slowly rose to her knees and began to rub the sore spot on her forehead. She felt unsure of what was happening and was afraid that something would happen to her. Feeling rustic and afraid, she retreated to the nearest corner of the cage and began to cry.




It didn't take Ahriman as long as he anticipated to get back his little hut, despite practically dragging a deer that nearly weighed as much as he did. Not letting the unexpected discovery of a fairy deter him from making his way back, Ahriman couldn't help but to be plainly annoyed at the stupid thing. It continuously tried to escape from his leather sack that he contained it in. And even though if he want to just let the damn bug go already, he couldn't at the risk of being found and was ready to do whatever it took to keep it that way. Even if that meant kidnapping a fairy and keeping it against its will.

"Damn bug. I'll kill it." He snarled in annoyance while swatting at the pouch to try to force the creature to stop acting out. It was annoying enough to have to lug a heavy meat corpse almost a mile without help, nonetheless having to constantly deal with something that he shouldn't have to. Despite that Ahriman could have easily give in to dispose the satchel with the fairy inside into a nearby stream or rivuet, he barely fought the temptation and continued on.

Feeling thankful after finally arriving back, Ahriman kicked the door open and slowly dragged to buck's corpse inside. He let the buck fall from his hands the hard wooden floor as he walked past the table he himself had carved from sturdy oak. Ahriman took a few pondersome minutes to figure out what to do with the fairy. After spotting the cage he occasionally used to catch rabbits in, Ahriman swiped it from its lonely space in a nearby corner and opened the side hatch. Placing the open cage on the oak table and opening the satchel after retrieving it, Ahriman glanced down into the leather pouch to see if the fairy was awake. She was and she gave a frightened stare in return.

"Get out. Now!" Ahriman ordered the fairy and impatiently waited for the bug to do so. He half expected it to dart out of the satchel and find some way out, thus he readily pointed the opening into the cage just incase. But after an unresponsive next few minutes, Ahriman felt his hatred and anger begin to pile up more and more. So the damn thing thinks it can act like a spoiled brat?! He thought viciously and even attempted to shake the pouch even harder to loosen the fairy's grip, but to no avail. "Grrr....I said get out!" Ahriman hissed and used much more force this time to send the small fairy's figure crashing into the metal rabbit cage.

Ahriman quickly dove to the cage and locked the small opening shut, gazing down at the tiny prisoner still lying in the same position after doing so. With a sense of triumph Ahriman quickly focused back on the buck, deciding how it would be best to store the meat. I could take only what I need for now and store the rest of the meat. But it would be better to skin the thing all at once....Hmm... He thought auspiciously and pliantly. It took Ahriman a few arduous minutes to come to a final decision. He was going to chop up the deer first and skin individual pieces when it came time to eat them.

Yeah that will work. It will save me a lot of trouble too. Ahriman thought surely and slowly went to retrieve his treasured butchering knife. Despite that the slim, yet sharp knife was rusted, it did its job and Ahriman could always be positive that it was one the sturdiest tools that could cut just about anything (even through bone.) And though he didn't use it often, Ahriman became skillfully careful when it was.

He quickly decided that it was to chop off some big pieces from the corpse and fetched a small wooden stool to sit on, immediately beginning after doing so. At first it seemed easily enough to get large chunks of meat, but only after Ahriman noticing that his camouflaged shirt was covered in splattered blood did he remember that it was a messy procedure. It was quiet and laborious for a time, but that changed in an unexpected voice yelling out at him.

"Stop it!" Ahriman was taken back by the squeaky yell and nearly took his own finger in surprise. Luckily that he only nicked partial skin on his index finger, Ahriman cursed silently and half turned his head to look for the voice's owner. Apparently since the imprisoned fairy was the only other creature in the same area, it had to be her. Ahriman had nearly forgotten that the thing was there and was unsure of whether to ignore it or not, so he laid down the large knife and moved to the front of the table.

"So the little mite can talk." The elf muttered almost inaudibly and lifted his arm to the table, resting it before the cage. Ahriman watched the fairy with just a twinge of interest. It was strange to see a fairy so close due to stories told to him by other elfs during his younger days. 'Fairys are monsters. They kill elfs. Don't ever be alone around a fairy or you'll be sorry.' Had they ever even seen one so close up like him?

The fairy almost looked like an elf, only smaller. She had long fire red hair and dark purple eyes. The fairy made no sudden movements and remained sitting down, while the wings slowly moved up and down. Her wings were in a shade of at least three different greens and made Ahriman at a loss of words. To him they were almost sterling and yet warped. He had a strange desire to even go as far as touching the wings to just feel them once but hastily decided against it. He didn't need any the thing being bothersome while he chopped the deer.

"Maybe I should cut off the wings so the thing doesn't fly away......." Ahriman quietly feigned while turning back to the deer, but glanced over to see how the fairy would react. His plan had worked. The small fairy was in panic and trying to find a way out, but Ahriman knew that the cage was escape-proof and no fairy was going to render his work. Feeling contempt after seeing the fairy crash back down to the cage bottom in failure, Ahriman obtrusively continued chopping the deer.

"Don't like that idea do you? Then don't bother me. But if you even think about escaping, then you'll have to worry." He unintentionally stated in a rugged tone. Ahriman didn't try to sound like a cur when he talked most of the time, but somehow he often did. He was just trying to make a point and now he swore that he could hear a soft sobbing behind him in the cage. For the first time in a long time, Ahriman felt some guilt.

I don't know how to describe it, but your writing is stupendous. I really hope you write the next chapter soon so I can see what happens!