Post by angelofmusic1992 on May 7, 2016 10:40:22 GMT -5
Saorise skipped along the forest path as she made her way towards the river. It was such a beautiful day. Even though there were still some chilly days here and there, spring was starting to push winter away. Flowers were sprouting and she didn't have to wear her thick winter coat when she went outside. Today though, Saorise was wearing a different kind of coat.
As she approached the river, she gave a twirl, her selkie coat shimmering in the sunlight. Despite being fuzzy, it was as light as a feather and didn't overheat her. With a smile, she elegantly dove into the water. When she surfaced, she had already turned into a seal. With a small bark, she jumped in and out of the water, enjoying the cool feeling of the water on her skin and seeing all the fish in the river. Salem had a lot of interesting animals to look at. And one particularly interesting one was approaching.
It was a deer, a doe to be exact. Her eyes seemed curious as she looked at Saorise, but not afraid. This often happened when Saorise was a seal. Animals were always a bit wary of humans, but not of fellow creatures. Saorise wondered though, if she turned into a human, maybe she could get closer to the deer. Heck, maybe she could even pet it. She dove under the water for a moment, wondering if she should put her plan into action. However, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a gunshot ring out. Even though she was under the surface, the sound was as clear as day. Her heart was already pitter-pattering nervously as she surfaced. She gave a gasp at what she saw.
The doe was dead. It had fallen onto its side, and blood was flowing out of the bullet hole. Saorise's eyes went wide. No, no, no, no. Images flashed through her mind, steadily getting more horrible: her happy family, two mens' eyes looking at them with greed, blood staining the blue sea.
"Hey, I got one!"
Saorise was brought out of her thoughts by a voice. She ducked low into the water so she wouldn't be seen. She saw a man emerge from the bushes, his blonde hair poking out from beneath his heat. He was soon followed by another man, this one more burly and with a thick black beard on his face. He seemed nervous. Both of them had guns in their hands.
"Whoo, she's a beauty too," the blonde man continued, crouching down to look at the doe. "Wasn't that a good shot or what?"
"Earl, what the heck were you thinking?" the bearded man asked. "You know it's not deer hunting season. We're supposed to be going after turkey."
"Come on, Bill," Earl replied. "How could I resist a shot like that? She practically walked right into our zone."
"Man, if somebody finds out about this, you could get in big trouble." Bill sighed. "Look, let's just leave her here, and nobody will ever know it was us."
"Seriously, Bill? You gotta stop being such a worry-wart."
"You gotta stop being so trigger-happy."
Earl sighed. "Fine. We'll leave her."
That seemed to please Bill. The two men walked away, leaving the dead doe behind. All Saorise could do was stare for a long moment. She couldn't move. It didn't matter that the men hadn't ended up taking the deer away. It didn't matter that Bill had reprimanded Earl for his actions. Both men were hunters, and hunters scared Saorise more than anything in the world.
Slowly, the frozen feeling of fear, and pure panic set in. Moving as fast as she could, she turned back into a human, climbed out of the river, and ran back to the circus as fast as she could. She had to hide. She had to get someplace safe. The first place she spotted was the Healing Tent, and she decided that that was as good a place as any. As she ran inside, she saw that it was empty. For a brief second, she wondered if Aidan was out doing other things before coming to work. But the panic running through her made it hard to think about anything for a lengthy amount of time. Breathing heavily, she dove under a nearby table and stayed there, arms wrapped around her knees. She couldn't even cry. The shock was too much. She stayed that way for many hours, even after Aidan and Aisling found her like that.
The two could tell something was wrong, but when they asked Saorise, she just shook her head and pulled away. She wouldn't say a word. Aidan and Aisling decided to leave her be, but they kept a close eye on her. Something had gotten her upset, but they had no idea what.
"Hey Aidan, I spotted some lavender flowers in the forest yesterday," Aisling said. "Want me to get some?"
"That'd be great Aisling," Aidan replied. "I've been needing some lavender lately. All these new circus members are bound to get stage fright during their first performances and lavender will be just the thing to calm them down a bit."
Aisling nodded and started heading out of the tent. Saorise's face was stricken with fear at those words. Aisling was going into the forest? No, she couldn't. There were hunters out there. What if they hurt her? What if they hurt somebody else? Anybody could be at the receiving ends of their guns. She dashed out from under the table and grabbed Aisling's arm, holding her in place.
"What the..." Aisling turned around to look at her friend. "Saorise, what's the deal? I gotta get some lavender flowers for Aidan."
She tried to pull out of Saorise's grasp, but the little girl only gripped her tighter.
"Saorise, let go. Come on."
"No, no, don't," Saorise begged. She wanted to tell Aisling what she had seen, what had happened, but she couldn't. The words just wouldn't come out, and whenever she tried, all those bad images flashed in her mind again.
"Saorise, I've been in the forest a million times. Why don't you want me to go?"
"Don't. Please, don't."
"Saorise, let go!"
"No!" Saorise started crying by this point. "Please, don't go! Please, please! Don't go!"
Aidan could only stare in confusion for a moment. Saorise loved the forest, and she knew Aisling liked it too. Why did she suddenly not want the fairy to go there? Had something happened? Did she see something? Regardless, he had to figure out how to solve this problem. Otherwise, Saorise would have a melt-down anytime someone went in the forest.
"Okay, okay, I won't go," Aisling said in an attempt to placate Saorise. She didn't know what was going on with her, but she wanted to at least get her to stop crying.
"Come on now, Saorise. Let's let go of Aisling's arm," Aidan said, reaching over as he tried to get the little girl to relax her grip. "She won't go into the forest. Okay?"
That was enough to make Saorise let go, but that didn't stop her from continuing to cry. The shock from earlier was starting to wear off, and now all she could feel was sadness and worry and pain. Aidan tried to comfort her as best he could, but he knew he wasn't the expert on Saorise anymore. That honor belonged to somebody else.
"We should probably get her to Carl," he said. "If anyone can get her to open up, he can. We have to figure out what's wrong."
Aisling nodded. Carl and Saorise had bonded a lot since he had taken the little girl in. Surely, he could get her to tell him why she was acting this way, right?
As she approached the river, she gave a twirl, her selkie coat shimmering in the sunlight. Despite being fuzzy, it was as light as a feather and didn't overheat her. With a smile, she elegantly dove into the water. When she surfaced, she had already turned into a seal. With a small bark, she jumped in and out of the water, enjoying the cool feeling of the water on her skin and seeing all the fish in the river. Salem had a lot of interesting animals to look at. And one particularly interesting one was approaching.
It was a deer, a doe to be exact. Her eyes seemed curious as she looked at Saorise, but not afraid. This often happened when Saorise was a seal. Animals were always a bit wary of humans, but not of fellow creatures. Saorise wondered though, if she turned into a human, maybe she could get closer to the deer. Heck, maybe she could even pet it. She dove under the water for a moment, wondering if she should put her plan into action. However, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a gunshot ring out. Even though she was under the surface, the sound was as clear as day. Her heart was already pitter-pattering nervously as she surfaced. She gave a gasp at what she saw.
The doe was dead. It had fallen onto its side, and blood was flowing out of the bullet hole. Saorise's eyes went wide. No, no, no, no. Images flashed through her mind, steadily getting more horrible: her happy family, two mens' eyes looking at them with greed, blood staining the blue sea.
"Hey, I got one!"
Saorise was brought out of her thoughts by a voice. She ducked low into the water so she wouldn't be seen. She saw a man emerge from the bushes, his blonde hair poking out from beneath his heat. He was soon followed by another man, this one more burly and with a thick black beard on his face. He seemed nervous. Both of them had guns in their hands.
"Whoo, she's a beauty too," the blonde man continued, crouching down to look at the doe. "Wasn't that a good shot or what?"
"Earl, what the heck were you thinking?" the bearded man asked. "You know it's not deer hunting season. We're supposed to be going after turkey."
"Come on, Bill," Earl replied. "How could I resist a shot like that? She practically walked right into our zone."
"Man, if somebody finds out about this, you could get in big trouble." Bill sighed. "Look, let's just leave her here, and nobody will ever know it was us."
"Seriously, Bill? You gotta stop being such a worry-wart."
"You gotta stop being so trigger-happy."
Earl sighed. "Fine. We'll leave her."
That seemed to please Bill. The two men walked away, leaving the dead doe behind. All Saorise could do was stare for a long moment. She couldn't move. It didn't matter that the men hadn't ended up taking the deer away. It didn't matter that Bill had reprimanded Earl for his actions. Both men were hunters, and hunters scared Saorise more than anything in the world.
Slowly, the frozen feeling of fear, and pure panic set in. Moving as fast as she could, she turned back into a human, climbed out of the river, and ran back to the circus as fast as she could. She had to hide. She had to get someplace safe. The first place she spotted was the Healing Tent, and she decided that that was as good a place as any. As she ran inside, she saw that it was empty. For a brief second, she wondered if Aidan was out doing other things before coming to work. But the panic running through her made it hard to think about anything for a lengthy amount of time. Breathing heavily, she dove under a nearby table and stayed there, arms wrapped around her knees. She couldn't even cry. The shock was too much. She stayed that way for many hours, even after Aidan and Aisling found her like that.
The two could tell something was wrong, but when they asked Saorise, she just shook her head and pulled away. She wouldn't say a word. Aidan and Aisling decided to leave her be, but they kept a close eye on her. Something had gotten her upset, but they had no idea what.
"Hey Aidan, I spotted some lavender flowers in the forest yesterday," Aisling said. "Want me to get some?"
"That'd be great Aisling," Aidan replied. "I've been needing some lavender lately. All these new circus members are bound to get stage fright during their first performances and lavender will be just the thing to calm them down a bit."
Aisling nodded and started heading out of the tent. Saorise's face was stricken with fear at those words. Aisling was going into the forest? No, she couldn't. There were hunters out there. What if they hurt her? What if they hurt somebody else? Anybody could be at the receiving ends of their guns. She dashed out from under the table and grabbed Aisling's arm, holding her in place.
"What the..." Aisling turned around to look at her friend. "Saorise, what's the deal? I gotta get some lavender flowers for Aidan."
She tried to pull out of Saorise's grasp, but the little girl only gripped her tighter.
"Saorise, let go. Come on."
"No, no, don't," Saorise begged. She wanted to tell Aisling what she had seen, what had happened, but she couldn't. The words just wouldn't come out, and whenever she tried, all those bad images flashed in her mind again.
"Saorise, I've been in the forest a million times. Why don't you want me to go?"
"Don't. Please, don't."
"Saorise, let go!"
"No!" Saorise started crying by this point. "Please, don't go! Please, please! Don't go!"
Aidan could only stare in confusion for a moment. Saorise loved the forest, and she knew Aisling liked it too. Why did she suddenly not want the fairy to go there? Had something happened? Did she see something? Regardless, he had to figure out how to solve this problem. Otherwise, Saorise would have a melt-down anytime someone went in the forest.
"Okay, okay, I won't go," Aisling said in an attempt to placate Saorise. She didn't know what was going on with her, but she wanted to at least get her to stop crying.
"Come on now, Saorise. Let's let go of Aisling's arm," Aidan said, reaching over as he tried to get the little girl to relax her grip. "She won't go into the forest. Okay?"
That was enough to make Saorise let go, but that didn't stop her from continuing to cry. The shock from earlier was starting to wear off, and now all she could feel was sadness and worry and pain. Aidan tried to comfort her as best he could, but he knew he wasn't the expert on Saorise anymore. That honor belonged to somebody else.
"We should probably get her to Carl," he said. "If anyone can get her to open up, he can. We have to figure out what's wrong."
Aisling nodded. Carl and Saorise had bonded a lot since he had taken the little girl in. Surely, he could get her to tell him why she was acting this way, right?