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Dutiful Fae - Part 2

"Is this one of those times when you want me to lie to protect your delicate feelings?"

This question was posed as he stared at the girl, dressed in what was one of his master's wife's more expensive dresses. Rae had taken it upon herself to look through Fox and David's wardrobe when she saw the red silk dress with the spaghetti straps. She then had the "fun" idea to try on the said dress. Once it was on, the girl then called for Owen to come up and see. And here they were.

The dress hung a bit loosely on Rae's shoulders, the bottom barely grazing the floor. Owen couldn't help feeling a bit amused yet annoyed. He was used to Rae's antics but this was out of the character, even for her. Rae had never been one to try on dresses, not even when she was a little girl.

"Well?" Rae asked, the girl giving a twirl while trying to keep the straps of the dress from slipping off her shoulders.

"You should take Ms. Fox's dress off. It's a bit loose on you and red isn't your color." Owen responded in his stony impassive voice. But he couldn't help thinking that with just a few minor adjustments to the dress and just enough makeup, his charge could look... pretty. The servant quickly dismissed the thought with a sigh. "Put the dress back and go do your homework, Rae."

Rachel poked her tongue out at him with a playful glare. "You're so boring, Owen." She replied but the girl obeyed as she slipped her arms out of the straps, allowing the dress to fall to the floor.

Owen immediately looked away, feeling his irritation growing, at seeing his charge in only her undergarments. "Did you not keep your clothes nearby?"

"Oh come on, are you scared of seeing a little bit of skin?" His charge teased.

"A little bit of skin doesn't bother me. But when you're practically naked? That's what bothers me." Owen grumbled.

Seeing the frown on the man's face, Rae giggled a bit and quickly walked over to her aunt and uncle's bed, reaching underneath where she hid her clothes. "Don't worry, I have my clothes over here."

He heard the light squeak of his master's bed and the whisper of clothing as the girl slipped into her normal everyday clothes. Once she was changed he felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked. A small smile graced his lips, quirking an eyebrow at her. "That's better."

Rae gave him a cheeky smile before he rushed her out of the room. Once he put things back as they were and closed the bedroom, the two of them started walking down the hall, Owen guiding her towards the dining area. Rachel glanced at a nearby picture on the wall and stopped to look at it.

"Rae?" Owen started. He looked at her but noticed the picture on the wall as well. David Xanatos and his sister, Wren Xanatos. The two of them looked a lot younger but anyone who knew Mr. Xanatos like Owen would be able to recognize David Xanatos right away. But not the young woman standing beside him. Shoulder length wavy brown hair that was often looked really curly, the same dark eyes, and a cheerful smile as she hung onto Mr. Xanatos.

Wren had just graduated high school and David, having been close with her, decided to give her a graduation gift, which was a trip to Greece, Japan, and a few other places.

Owen glanced at Rachel who was staring so intently at the picture, but more so at her mother.

"Do I look anything like my mother?" Rae asked after a few minutes of silence, "Or do I look more like my father?"

Her father?

Owen shifted uncomfortably on his feet for once, and he coughed into his hand, clearing his throat. "I would say you're more like your mother. With her soft brown hair and gentle smile. You even have her quiet mannerisms, but you're cheeky and witty like your uncle." Instead of his usual stony tone, the butler spoke with a bit of warmth and affection for his charge as he said this. He looked back at Rachel before looking to the picture again, "But there might be a little bit of your father in you as well."

Rachel finally looked at him, blinking in slight confusion. The subject of her father had never been brought up before, at least when it did come up, the subject would be changed immediately and Rachel herself would be distracted by something else. The sixteen-year-old girl shrugged, looking back at her mother again. "I guess so."

She finally tore her gaze away from the picture, putting her hands into the pockets of her blue jeans. "Let's get going, Aunt Fox and Uncle David are probably getting tired of waiting on us for dinner." She said this as she walked away.

Owen raised another eyebrow but shook his head. He readjusted his glasses with a smile before following after her.

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Text: When he sold me the pearl, he said he stole it from a mermaid, and that I should watch my back from now on. 

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Dragon Throne - Chapter 1

Sunlight filtered through the tall trees of the forest. The warm light enticed a nearby fox to come out of its den, its orange-red fur shining from the very light that drew it out. Ears perked forward, straining to hear all the forest sounds, the fox sniffed a few times before letting out a yawn and stretching out its limbs briefly. A minor ache formed in the canine's body, but it didn't last long as the fox stood at attention.

Her lips curled back into a smile, green feline eyes stared at the beautiful red furred animal a mere few feet away. It was almost a surprise that the fox didn't smell her and run away.

There were tall trees everywhere, each one was different in its own way and yet, they were all the same. But it never stopped her from getting lost in the forest. A small trail wound through the heart of the forest and she always found her way back if she strayed from it. The forest was her home after all and she was part of it as much as it was apart of her.

Through all the seasons, she lives in the forest, hidden away from the world. No one knew of the location of her forest home and she was glad of it.

Taking a deep breath, she gripped the middle of the bow tightly, nocing an arrow against its string. The arrow was aimed at a nearby tree, waiting for the birds to stop fluttering about.

Normally, she wouldn't be using a bow to hunt, let alone hunting birds at all, but the strange lack of rabbits and other game forced her to do so.

She saw a bird, with black plumage, land on a branch just within visible shooting range and she let loose an arrow, letting it fly, going straight for the birds. The wooden arrow with its iron tip and pale green feathers missed the target by two meters. She cursed out loud, throwing her hunting bow and quiver of arrows on o the ground.

It was obvious that something threw off her concentration.

A loud grumble rang in the air, but when she looked up at the sky for a sign of rain, she found nothing. The sky was bright and devoid of any dark rain clouds. If there weren't any rain clouds coming then what was the growling?

Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck prickling she swiveled around to find herself face to face with a large strange reptilian beast. It seemed to be at least sixteen feet tall, maybe twenty feet if it stood on its hind legs, but not even the largest bear can manage that for very long.

The creature blew out a small puff of smoke from its scaley snout. Its magenta colored eyes stared at her. She noticed that the large reptile was black with one large horn protruding from the tip of its snout. Its head lifted to full height. its neck arched slightly as it continued looking down at her. Its large fangs glittered from its curled lip.

"Damn it, Liele, you scared off the prey!" She said angrily, glaring at the dragon with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

The dragon let out a soft groan, lowering its head in resignation.

"Don't give me that look! Your growl scared off our supper so now we'll go hungry tonight." She tapped her foot, watching the beast blink, its eyes going to the nearby tree where her arrow was now lodged in its trunk.

The dragon growled again.

"Why don't you change back? You know I can't understand the Drakken Tongue."

The dragon blinked again before closing its eyes and spreading its wings as it began to change. Its wings melted into its back. The snout shortened, its face becoming more human-like, but the dragon eyes still remained that of a dragon as it changed. She watched as dragon’s horns became smaller but still visible among the edge of its hairline. Snow white hair began to appear on the back of the head, what was once hard, beautiful silvery-white dragon scales was becoming soft snow white hair.

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autumn chill

yosemite valley, california

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Dutiful Fae

A Gargoyles one-shot centered around Owen (Puck) and an OC

"Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is 'No!'" His voice was stern as he said this. His blue eyes stared hard at the open newspaper he held in his hands. He could imagine what his master's niece was going to say, he knew what she was going to ask just from how she said his name in that fake sweet voice of hers.

Sure, Rae was sweet and thoughtful, but she was very much like her uncle, David Xanatos, clever. She was also charming... In her own way...

He imagined the look of surprise in her chocolate brown eyes at hearing his response. Actually, he saw it in the rearview mirror when he glanced up to gauge her reaction.

"You're so boring, Owen." The sixteen-year-old girl mumbled, crossing her arms in her usually pouty manner. Normally Rae would be quiet and not so... Annoying, but here lately she's been...

What was the word? Rebellious? No, bold? Maybe...

As Owen pondered this, he glanced at the rearview mirror and saw his master's niece sitting in the back of the limousine, just sitting there.

Her long sandy brown hair hung about her face, her eyes narrowed in concentration. So she's given up on asking him for ice cream and decided on reading a book, huh? Wait, a book?

He looked back at the mirror again and blinked. Better yet, there was a book in the girl's hands. It was a thick leather bound book from the looks of it. Something about the book was curious. How did she come across it and where?

"Miss Rae, where did you get that book and what book is it?" Owen asked, keeping his voice even and calm so as not to alarm her, let alone upset her.

He heard the girl moving in the back seat as she leaned closer to the front, holding the book of interest in one hand as she did so. The girl just rested her upper body on the back of the front seat.

"It's just an old fairytale book." She replied, "See?"

She even held up the book, showing the faded gold letters on the front.

Hans Christensen's Fairy Tales.

Hm...

His eyes narrowed a bit but otherwise, the blonde man gave a small nod.

"I didn't think you were still interested in fairy tales." He added, turning his gaze back to the newspaper in his hand. There was a sense of amusement in his voice as he said this, a very soft smile on his lips.

Rae just shrugged, leaning back against the seat and opening the book back to her saved spot. "It's not that I'm interested, I'm reading this because Mama used to read this to me when I was little."

His eyebrow shot up at the girl's divulgence to him. Owen remembered meeting his master's younger sister many times.

Long dirty-blonde hair with brown eyes and the lightly tanned skin tone as his master. But the woman was younger, a great deal shorter than Xanatos, and definitely quieter in tone, but she was still as stubborn as Mr. Xanatos, if not more so. But that aside, Wren Xanatos was just a soft-spoken and gentle woman and it was safe to say, her daughter is the same way, sort of.

The last time he had seen Wren was when she was close to death and David Xanatos went to visit her, bringing Owen with him. It was then that his boss had ordered him to cure her cancer, but according to the Laws of the Fae, the rules that King Oberon and Queen Titania had set, Children of Oberon could live among the mortal humans, even form relationships with them, but they couldn't meddle in the lives of mortals where life and death are concerned. They couldn't heal wounds and sicknesses, let alone bring people back from the dead.

Even though Owen had been forced or rather persuaded to serve David Xanatos, many of the Fae Laws applied to him and he had to obey (as much as he disliked these laws sometimes). But since these laws prevented him from curing cancer that took Wren's life, and from bringing her back, Owen did make a silent vow to serve the daughter of Wren and protect and care for her as he does for David Xanatos. And even though he won't admit it out loud, he had grown fond of the quiet girl and her cheekiness.

It was David Xanatos’s own cheekiness rubbing off on her. His master did raise the girl since her mother died when she was four after all.

As they waited there in the car, the sun getting higher in the sky and people occasionally looking over, Rae finally closed her book and groaned. Owen had no doubt the girl was bored, bored of waiting around for her uncle and his new wife to come back from their honeymoon. Their plane was supposed to be touching down any moment now.

"Bored?" Owen asked with a small smirk.

Rae poked her tongue out at him as he gazed at her in the rearview mirror a third time. "Of course, I'm at the peak of teenage rebellion in my teenage years." But the girl pulled her tongue back in as she leaned forward again. This time she wrapped her arms around Owen's neck loosely and brought her head to rest on his shoulder.

Owen, used to her mild cheekiness and her hugging him like this, smirked in mild amusement at her actions and words. "I never take you to be rebellious." He said softly, flipping to the next section of the newspaper.

"Ah, but my favorite fairy friend taught me to be more mischevious and to stand up for myself." Again she poked her tongue out at him.

Owen found himself reaching up and pinching her nose lightly. "And who is your fairy friend?" He already knew who she was talking about, but he wanted to amuse her if only for his own amusement.

Rae stopped for a second to think, but her eyes lit up with a playful streak as she pinched his nose in return. "He always seems to speak in riddles and rhymes, full of magic and tricks when showing his true form, playful, but harmless to friends, but deadly to foes. But he chose to serve an interesting man and his niece. I just hope the Trickster considers me a friend as I consider him as such."

Owen couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips as he heard his words. "The Trickster considers the young lamb his friend, he likes her cheeky and gentle spirit."

This earned him a smile from her and the girl becomes silent, her gaze on the newspaper in her caretaker's hands but not really taking in the words on the page, her hand releasing his nose and dropping to back to his shoulder.

Feeling a slight hunger pain in her stomach, Rae gave another groan, "Now the hungry lion roars, and the wolf behowls the moon," She mumbled.

Familiar with what she had said (silly humans using his quotes for their silly plays) Owen grabbed her nose again, pinching it playfully. "You read too much Shakespeare." His tone wasn't angry or annoyed, it was calm but he was good at hiding the amusement in his voice.

"I was just telling you I'm hungry," Rae said through her nose being pinched. "Since you won't get me some ice cream."

"Mr. Xanatos's plane will be here in a few seconds," Owen replied curtly, an amused smile still on his lips. Before either of them could say more or do anything else, they heard an airplane, David Xanatos's private jet, landing nearby. Owen released the girl's nose with a pleased smile. "See? I told you."

"Bleeeehh." Rae stuck her tongue out again, "You only knew because of your magic." But she froze in shock as she saw her uncle and new aunt descending from the plane.

"No, I saw their plane coming while you were talking." Owen teased playfully before folding up his newspaper, placing it into the inside of his coat and looking back at his charge. "Why don't we get out and greet them?"

Rae nodded, excitement shooting through her as he got out. Once he opened the car door for her, Rae immediately got out and ran over to the newlyweds, throwing her arms around her uncle.

"Perhaps this will be an interesting year yet," Owen whispered quietly to himself, a small smile gracing his lips.