13.

13.

“Annabelle...” She murmured, her voice small and slightly slurred. “So awesome... please teach me to be as awesome as you...” Annabelle hugged her legs closer to her chest, her left arm wrapped tightly around them as she leaned against the edge of the nest. She groaned, then giggled, before she resumed her sleepy murmurings.

“Is shes always so...” A dry brittle voice asked, breaking the sleepy quiet surrounding the Fårie.

“Ha, this is nothing.” Replied a softer, amused voice. “This is just her dreaming about her own awesomeness, you wait til she wakes up and starts talking about it in earnest.”

“She does say thats quite a lot, doesn'ts she?” Sweeper inquired, his mismatched eyes clearly drawn into a frown.

“Awesome?” The amused voice laughed quietly, the sound almost melodic in its softness. “Yeah, she likes that word.” The added fondly.

The messenger Dragon crawled closer to his maker, his overly long tail swaying in great arcs as he moved. He examined the sleeping Fåries face closely, before a gentle hand swept him slightly further away from her.

“I wouldn't get too close there pipsqueak,” the Fårie warned, stepping closer to the sleeping girl herself. “She has a nasty little tendancy to lash out when she's woken up, and she packs a hell of a wallop, let me tell you.” She said, rubbing at her jaw absentmindedly, as she grinned at the sleeping Fårie.

“Well, what do we do then?” Sweeper asked, his torn ear twitching agitatedly.

“Hmm, well, I have some Ragwort and some Cabbage stalks... I guess I could make us some brooms to transport us back to my place. Well, almost to mine anyway, they might not get us the whole distance as I'm missing the grass and straw... but, they should manage well enough to get us at least most of the way.” Gertrude explained, crouching before the young Fårie.

A young face which denied her true age, framed with thick blue spikes of hair and eyes of a rich copper. Gertrude watched her sleeping friend for a long minute, which seemed like only a short second to her. Her unusual spider silk wings beat softly to the gentle timing of the other Fåries deep breathing.

“You know, I never thought I would see this crazy girl again.” Gertrude confessed quietly, her tone swamped with fondness for the sleeping girl. Sweeper merely cocked his head in curiosity, waiting for the Fårie to continue. “Annabelle Fadeleaf is, something of a rarity among the Fair Folk. She won't just blindly do as she's told, and she doesn't take any crap from anybody! She has a wicked sense of humor, and she isn't afraid to speak her mind, no matter what the consequences might be. She's wild like nature itself, the way all Fåries used to be, before The Glade was sealed away and they started hating Humans.”

Gertrude lowered her gaze from the sleeping Fåries face to her clearly dislocated right shoulder. “She was the best friend an old Fårie like me could ever ask for. She taught me just as much as I did her.” She mused.

“So, thens, why dids you leave her behinds?” Sweeper asked uncertainly.

Gertrude hung her head, as if she had not heard the question, however the messenger Dragon could see from the hard set of her jaw that she had indeed heard, and merely had no intention of answering him.

She sighed and pushed herself to her feet, forcing her unease aside as she brushed non-existant twigs from her legs. “We should hurry up and get her moved. She is gonna kick up an entire storm of noise and fuss when we fix her arm up, but it will be easier to do it back at mine than here.” She said with a faint sneer, as she eyed the nest skeptically.

“Whats makes ya thinks there's any 'we' here?” Sweeper asked indignantly, swishing his tail back and forth irritably. “My jobs done.”

“Yeah, but your maker here obviously gave no command to dismiss you, and clearly she's unable to do so in her current... condition...” Gertrude replied with a knowing smirk.

“She coulds wake up any moments and dismiss me.” The tiny Dragon sniffed haughtily.

Gertrude grinned, holding up a finger as she used her other hand to rummage through her pocket. She drew out a handful of pink dust, turning to blow it gently into Annabelle's sleeping face. The girl yawned, and promptly fell into a deeper sleep. Gertrude held up her hands proudly, as if receiving cheers, though actually only receiving a sour expression from the small Dragon.

“There, now she will sleep until she's safely settled at my place.” She said happily, rummaging through her pockets with both hands now to find the ingrediants to make her travel brooms. “You got the choice Scales, you can either come with us and help me with this little madam, or you can hang out here on your own and hope for the best.” She offered with a wink and a knowing grin.

“Hows coulds I possibly refuse?” Sweeper said dryly, rolling his eyes at his own bad luck to be landed with such a pair of scatter-brain Fåries.