A friend of mine on here suggested I draw Al and Fawn as fairies, and I thought that was cute so I did it.

And of course, me being myself I just couldn't resist coming up with fairy lore.

Jinx_blackmoon had this idea first! I actually like this cute little side AU so much I'm taking a break from the original story to give you all something fresh and playful.

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In this story, Fawn is a fairy in the "Forest of Light" which is really just a colony up in the treetops where there's a lot of sunlight. Al is a fairy in the Forest of Darkness, which is at the forest floor where not a lot of light reaches. Both of these are contained within the Enchanted Forest that has many other creatures aside from fairies. Fawn grew tired of her simple life up in the perfect colony of "Light Drinkers" as the Shadow City calls them, and ventures down into the Forest of Darkness.

She was always told growing up that she wasn't allowed in that area...and for very good reason. It's dangerous at the forest floor because that's where all of the other creatures such as goblins and trolls and nymphs reside. It's also where Alastor resides... "The Plague" as the Light Drinkers have so affectionately named him.

Many of their people have tried to go down there and negotiate peace between the colonies, but they either come back missing pieces, or they don't come back at all. Those who survived go mad, and seem to have "darkness in their soul" left over from the encounter with The Plague.

When Fawn ventures down there, she has a relatively calm experience...until she goes into the shadowy part, fully covered in darkness. It's there she meets him. This young woman was a first for Alastor, he was used to older fairies invading his colony to try and strike a deal with him...only to break it two seconds later.

Why do you think they always left without their limbs or their lives?

Fawn is a very playful and innocent fairy, he came to find. His original plan was to eat her, but he couldn't hardly catch her! She was fast, and giggling the whole time as if they were playing tag...and, well, to her they were.

Finally, he manages to make a deal with her. If she's going to play games, he figures he will as well!

"You come play with me every day, and when I catch you, I get to eat you...deal?"

Fawn agrees! My, what a dumb little fairy, he thought. However, he never would be able to catch her, and she knew this. She simply enjoyed the company of this fairy whom she has affectionately chosen to call "Bug" because of his wasp-like wings. Plus, who can turn down a free game of tag every single day! Certainly not her.

That is...until she flies down from the canopy one day as she did every day, looking very sad and rather beat up. Alastor thinks nothing of this initially, taunting her as he normally would, but when she doesn't reciprocate his banter he begins to feel something is off with his plaything.

Then, he knows something is wrong when the tiny woman curls up on the forest floor, simply waiting for him to come and get her.

"I- I'm going to catch you if you lay there..."

But he received no response from her, her wings lowered on her back and ears pointed downward.

And that was the day he finally won their game.

She let him catch her.

So, let's start there, shall we?

Narrator POV

Alastor sat idly on a leaf, laying back with a twig in his hand, carving it into something random.

Looking up, he shielded his eyes slightly and squinted as he tried to map what time of day it was.

Around...mid afternoon, he'd have to guess.

Where is his little plaything? She's never late to a meeting. Through all of his time in Shadow City, he'd never met a creature such as her.

This makes sense, as she was from the City of Light, and thus she was a Light Drinker.

But she didn't act like one.

She wasn't stuck up, and she didn't speak to him condescendingly. In fact, he'd grown rather fond of their little game. Inside, he'd come to realize he would never actually catch her, though the thrill of the chase was what he loved the most.

Their relationship was a bit like Tom and Jerry, if you wanted it in human's terms.

She would let him get so close that his mouth would water, and then she'd be gone in a puff of fairy dust, the sound of her giggling echoing around him.

He hasn't even realized the fond smile that was on his face as he thought about her. She smells of spring rain and lily petals...and though he's never actually touched her, he can only imagine her skin is soft.

When it comes to fairies, most of them are exceptionally beautiful but she...oh, she is so pretty. Her blond hair falls down past her waist, flowing in loose ringlets over her back and shoulders.

She has gorgeous light green eyes that glimmer when she sees him, and a smile that could knock out the toughest of trolls.

Those in her home colony refer to him as The Plague, and he finds that rather amusing.

The Plague, HA!

It's quite fitting if you think about it! He does corrupt the minds of the ones he doesn't devour, and then he sends them right back up as a warning to stay away...but they never do.

Give or take a year or two, and there's another one right back in his den of shadows.

She's the only fairy he has ever met that kept good on her word.

However, he didn't really make a proper deal with her. It was more of an agreement than anything, but she doesn't know that.

Just then, there was a rustle in the tree canopy, and Alastor sat up quickly, licking his razor sharp teeth in anticipation as his smile widened.

His heart beat quickly in his chest as he waited for that familiar, song-like whistle to indicate she'd arrived.

He would always look up, and there she was, wings shimmering in the little bit of sunlight that escaped through the holes in the leaves as she smiled and waved down at him.

Then she'd be off, and the chase began.

But today...her song never came, and his brows furrowed as he listened close, waiting for the indication that the game was to begin.

"Princess?" He called out to her, using the nickname that she dislike so much.

I am not a princess! She'd fuss at him, turning around to beat her wings at him, getting fairy dust all over him as he cackled at her.

She'd then cross her arms and pout cutely.

The reason he calls her that is because of the flower crown she wears. Of course, he knows she's not an actual princess. The daughter of the chief, yes, but a princess? No.

He began calling her that when she decided on calling him "Bug".

Bug? That's quite rude. He'd said this while laughing. Usually he'd be mad, but she didn't say it snarkily or as if she were being mean...she simply made an observation about his wasp wings.

He'd actually had his old wings torn off by the Light Drinkers centuries ago...right before he was cast out of the colony.

These wings of his were rather new, only a few decades old. He found a dying hornet, and harvested its wings before using his shadow magic to bind them to his own back.

Well, I only call you that because you refuse to tell me your name! She had huffed at him.

Names require trust! You've given me yours so easily, princess, but I am not so easy!

Ah...that was months ago. From then on they played their game every single day.

For him, it was his favorite part of the day...but he'd never tell her that, of course.

When he received no answer to his call, he set aside his carving and repositioned himself on his leaf. Looking up, he could see...someone coming down.

Is that Fawn? He didn't quite know...they looked hurt.

"Princess?" He called again, beginning to feel as if maybe something isn't right. Her delicate wings looked a bit bent, beating helplessly as she descended slowly to the canopy floor.

He was sure it was her now...but why wasn't she speaking to him? And why does she smell of blood?

Hopping off his bed, he decided he'd try their usual banter.

"What are you doing, weakling? Why do you ignore me? Finally given up, and realized you're no match for me?" He taunted, speaking as if she hasn't made him eat her dust (quite literally) for months now.

The male's feet touched down lightly, his wings beating loudly against the air until he no longer needed them, and rested them against his back.

His confident smile began to slip when he still received no answer. The girl was now laid on the forest floor, curled away from him.

He could see the silver blood staining her hair, and some of it was on her side and back. Her pretty wings were bent out of shape slightly, not quite broken but definitely not right either.

That explains her odd flight, and why she was laying down now.

But her wings were against her back...relaxed like she wasn't even going to brace herself or try to get away from him.

She remembers if he catches her...he gets to eat her...right?

"I-If you just lay there, I'm going to catch you..." he warned as he inched closer to her, giving her a little time to get up and giggle, revealing that she's simply pranking him.

But she didn't...she curled up further, a little whimper coming from her tiny, beaten form.

Alastor's sinister expression fell, his wings buzzing in slight concern for a moment.

Finally, he reached her side, and bent down next to her. His hand hovered over her shoulder, black claws looking so deadly so close to her delicate flesh.

"Fawn?" he asked softly, "why aren't you hiding? You remember the rules, correct? If I touch you..."

"You eat me." She finished, her voice meek. She sniffled softly, and then she finally moved.

However, it wasn't away from him how it should've been.

The woman reached over and grabbed his hand without looking, placing it against her shoulder.

"So there. Now go ahead, get it over with," she hiccuped softly, still staying on her side with her back to him.

His heart dropped. Her skin was so warm under his ice cold touch. Suddenly, he felt something squeeze in his chest. Why is she doing this? What is wrong?

She is asking him to kill her? Why?

Many times before he'd sat dreaming of this moment. He wondered what her innocent flesh would taste of...maybe fresh berries? Perhaps it would be like a refreshing drink of spring water!

However...daydreaming and reality are different things. His mouth no longer watered like it would if he got close during their game. He was not appetized or excited by this.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked him suddenly, "you won, so go ahead. Eat me."

Alastor was perplexed. He doesn't feel as if he's won anything...in fact, this sight is a bit distressing, although he couldn't tell you why.

His toy has suddenly given up on him, on their game! Why has his princess suddenly gained the desire to die?

The male's legs folded beneath him as he sat by her side, watching her quiver and shake in either pain or fright. Maybe both.

Gently, he turned her over to face him, and his bright red eyes widened at the appearance of her normally beautiful skin.

Her front was covered in silver Light Drinker blood. Just by the scent, he knew it was hers. For some reason, he felt angry that she was bleeding. Who made his princess bleed? He would make them pay, how dare they mar what belongs to him.

Immediately he noticed that she was covered in scratches and bruises, her lips was split and she had a gash in her cheek.

He sat her up, and her eyes were shut as she quivered in his hands. The woman seemed to be bracing herself, probably for his bite.

The Plague is known to have the nastiest bite, and he won't deny that could be true. His teeth were laced with a dangerous venom that could cause immense pain if he wanted it to.

The male wore a simple frown as he brushed the hair from Fawn's face. The gentle touch was enough to make her curious, and those big green eyes opened up to look at him.

Looking at her, he felt no hunger. No desire to rip her apart, or feast on her flesh.

"Who hurt you so, princess?" He asked, brushing his fingers across her injured cheek. She winced, more tears falling from her wispy lashes.

She whimpered, averting her gaze from his as she fidgeted in place.

Alastor then noticed something else. She was naked! Why has she been stripped of her garments? They are what marks her as the chief's daughter!

His eyes went from her lack of clothing back to her face, and he tilted her head up.

"Look me in the eyes, fairy. Why do you lay here before me naked and injured? Who has hurt you?"

Alastor's tone was tight, his teeth grit. The one who dared lay a finger on her will be very very sorry. If it was one of his, they will wish they'd never been born into this miserable existence of darkness.

"F-father found out I-I was coming to see you. H-he told me that no d-daughter of his would be to associate w-with the likes of you. I asked him why, a-and refused to stop seeing you when h-he ordered it..."

She whimpered and her lip trembled as more tears spilled over her cheeks.

"B-because I like s-seeing you! Y-you're my best friend, b-but he didn't see it as so...h-he banished me forever, from my home! T-they crushed my wings w-with rocks, and cut my s-skin!"

The poor woman was sobbing at this point.

"And d-daddy just watched them do it! He just watched! T-they stripped me of-of my beautiful clothes and threw me from the colony to be devoured b-by monsters!"

He could hear plainly the heartbroken betrayal in her voice. It reminded him of his own exile...and he felt for her.

She met his eyes again, her lashes stuck together from tears, "s-so I came here...I-I want you to do it, b-because I am familiar with you. Please, show me mercy and kill me quickly!" She begged him pitifully, the small creature sobbing into her hands in front of him.

Her plea made whatever was left of his heart ache. She called him her best friend...is that the word for this feeling in his chest? He just referred to her as plaything, but even that wasn't correct for the fondness he felt.

He could always find a new plaything...but he could never replace Fawn.

Instead of answering her, he gently pulled her closer to him. She complied willingly, still sniffling and hiccuping as he pulled her nearly into his lap.

Leaning forward, he smelled her curiously, sniffing along her hair line and burying his nose into the soft strands.

He could smell her sadness, and the blood on her skin as well as her familiar scent of spring rain and lily petals.

Then, his eyes widened slightly when he felt something bump against his cheek lightly. He stilled as she nuzzled her head against his cheek, an instinctual response in fairies to rub one another's scent on whomever they're mating with.

Why she was doing that to him, he had no idea. It made his stomach feel fuzzy, and his chest tighten.

He could only imagine she was comforting herself, doing something that just felt natural to her towards the only person she has left.

In response to her action, Alastor pulled back to look down into her eyes. She looked up at him with misty eyes, her hands clinging to him helplessly.

He truly is all she has left...everything she was has been taken from her in the blink of an eye, and they cast her out to be devoured by trolls or goblins.

Or perhaps they even wanted him to do their dirty work.

He will not stand for such cruelty.

"Do you hurt?" He asked her, supporting her body gently, "would you like death? Or do you prefer to live?"

A choice. Something he gives to no one.

He will admit, he hopes she says she would like to live.

She sniffled, "I-I would prefer life...b-but you said if you won our game, then you would eat me," she whimpered, and this made him laugh.

"Ah! That is the funny thing about rules! I break them!"

When he said this, she blinked and then began to giggle softly. Oh, how he missed that noise.

After she was finished laughing, he situated her in his lap so he could see her properly and get the scope of her injuries.

"They were unkind to you..." he mumbled, seeing the many scratches along her skin. Some deep and bleeding, some already scabbed over.

Without another thought, he began to groom her. The dark fairy brought her close to him, gently running his tongue over her skin and her wounds, cleaning them of any blood, or dirt.

She held onto him timidly, and he could feel her heart beating quickly in her chest. He smelled no fear, however, so he continued.

The little woman felt conflicted, feeling the tongue against her skin. Grooming was a social thing for fairies, and something she didn't even know fairies of The Forest of Darkness did for one another.

She'd only ever been told that they were solo hunters, and vicious beings of the shadows.

"Y-You groom, Bug?" She asked, "I was unaware Dark Ones groomed..."

He paused. The king of darkness looked up at her through scarlet eyes, and tilted his head curiously. She is unaware?

Unaware of his previous status in the very place she was cast away from?

His sinister smile painted his face, and she shivered in his arms but made no movement to get away from him.

"Darling princess, I wasn't always the king of the damned," he chuckled, "your little city of light cast me out as well! Ah, how coincidental," he sighed, and returned to her neck where he'd been cleaning a particularly deep wound.

His saliva felt good against her wounds, although she figured it would have stung considering his reputation.

However, she kept this to herself, and simply let him groom her. She was actually beginning to have her instincts triggered, as well, feeling the need to groom him in return.

Mindlessly, her fingers began running through his bright red and black hair, separating the tangles as she ran her tiny claws over his scalp. Her claws were nothing like the knives on his fingers, but they got the job done nonetheless.

The two fairies sat together on the forest floor in a tiny patch of dim sunlight, grooming one another.

The king of darkness had the small female wrapped in his arms protectively, cleaning her of blood and using his saliva to seal her wounds.

In return, Fawn untangled his dirty hair, using her tongue to clean it. Fairy tongues could adjust for this exact purpose, becoming "serrated" in a way to help comb through hair and make it soft.

However, her tongue went back to its usual smooth state when they switched, and he moved up to her hair as she began to groom his body.

The entire process was very intimate, and a low purr started in Fawn's chest as the male cleaned her. He's being so gentle with her, not at all how she imagined her day would go!

She licked at his neck and chest, chittering softly occasionally if something he did felt exceptionally good. She could feel his chest rumbling slightly, a low noise almost like a growl coming from him.

But it was deeper, and more constant...is...is he purring?

Oh my! She felt delighted by this, her broken wings fluttering slightly at the revelation.

Eventually, though, he got her clean. His movements ceased and he sniffed her to make sure she wasn't still bleeding anywhere.

Once he pulled away to see her face, he noticed the big smile she wore, and returned it. Admittedly, he hadn't realized that the feeling of being groomed was something he missed.

The only other one who ever did that to him was his mother, but it's been so long he doesn't quite remember that well. She was executed before he was cast out, anyway...so he figured he'd never again feel such a thing.

Once he noticed he was purring, his eyebrows shot up and he promptly ceased the noise. However, he knew she had noticed this weakness, and in an attempt to try and reestablish dominance, he growled at her threateningly, baring his deadly teeth.

The little fairy in his arms stared up at him, her round eyes full of interest. She may have been worried by that...but she didn't exactly feel threatened, since his hold on her never tightened or became uncomfortable.

Instead of being frightened, she smiled and brought her delicate hands up to touch his face. He glanced at them, leaning back slightly as the growl in his chest ceased in confusion.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, watching her sit up closer to him.

"I am appreciative of your kindness!" She chirped, and then before he could do anything to stop her, she pressed her lips against his.

The dark fairy kept his eyes wide open, feeling shocked by the sudden feeling. The kiss was short, however. Simply a token of gratitude.

"Thank you, Bug," she said, and then felt the urge to nuzzle him again.

So she did, unaware of her own instincts giving away how she truly felt about him. His heart hit his ribs quickly and hard, feeling the creature in his arms rub her face against his neck affectionately.

He simply grunted in response to her thanks, quickly standing up with her in his arms. He was confused by these odd feelings swimming around inside him...not quite grasping why he wanted to protect her so suddenly.

Not quite grasping why it pleased him greatly that she was now covered in his scent, and not quite grasping why he didn't mind being covered in hers.

She laid her head against his chest as they walked, and when he was close enough he began to fly up to his "bed" with her. When they arrived, he laid her down.

Her wings would take a few weeks to heal...but they weren't torn or busted completely so that's good.

As he worked on them, he muttered something that Fawn didn't quite catch.

"What, Bug? I couldn't hear you properly," she asked, feeling as he gently worked with her sore wings.

"Alastor..." he mumbled, "that's my name."

The woman lit up, a bright smile gracing her face.

He told her his name!

"Oh! Well...it's nice to properly meet you, Alastor," she said with that melodic giggle he enjoyed so much.

She couldn't see the blush that rose in his cheeks when she spoke his name so sweetly.

And thus concludes the very beginning of the relationship between the king and queen of The Dark Forest.

A fairy tale as old as time...one you may have heard once or twice, possibly in different folklore or terms...but the same nonetheless.

Sometimes humans still walk through the enchanted forest, being wary of the canopy shadows and the creatures that lurk within.

The legend is far past, and most only believe it as nothing more than a bedtime story.

Though, some will swear if you wait until nighttime...you can still hear the Queen giggling as her and her mate continue their game of cat and mouse.

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A/N: There you have it! A cute little short story. I hope you all enjoyed.

I, for one, fucking adored writing this. I literally love folklore and fairy tales so much, and fantasy creatures...ugh, I love it!

Anyway, next chapter we'll be back with our regularly scheduled programming🥳