Ugh, she was bored. Terribly, terribly, terribly bored. It would seem as though no one else was keen to save Faie from her restless little mind, which meant that she was going to have to do it herself – or else, risk deteriorating from absolute monotony completely. Trudging out from the shadows of the den, Faie made her way towards the outskirts of the pridelands, ears and eyes tilted up towards the lowering sun as it continued its descent down towards the horizon. To think that she had wasted an entire day – what a waste.

She did not know where she was going, truly – only that, eventually, she was making her way up the sides of one of the small, grassy hills that occupied the territory. The earth would soon be bathed in the shades of sunsets, and the princess supposed that, if nothing else, she would watch it unfold, hoping to revel in the sight of gold, amber, and rosy hues overtaking the plains. And so, once reaching the top of the hill, the girl would carelessly flop down onto her back, dainty bronze paws hanging lazily in the air above her as she waited for the show to begin.

@Olive

code by squid, art by drifty

life in the throes of adversity were hectic, and though it had been a keen source of morbid entertainment at the time, olive much preferred the lull of present day. however prone to mischievous antics and overall revelry, the reigning quiet of the plains allotted her with the gift of nap — and nap, the sprite had. gone, were the eves spent: wary of her surroundings and apprehensive for the would-be tyrants, tripods, and backstabbing friends that seemed to loom in every corner of their peninsula. now, she were free from the woes that tethered her —

well,

— free from all, save nine.

that scent rouses her from a shallow slumber, lifting the veil of darkness into a scape of radiant golds. the reflexive furrow of her brow tacitly curses mother nature for her bestowed gift of maternal sensitivity, but the rove of a blurry stare makes to pinpoint the perpetrator all the same. tiny though she were, @Faie were the only source of motion amongst the frayed grasses of their keep, and olive’s crosshairs hover upon her as she crests a nearby hill before settling. internal debate ensues within the mother as she lie in silent wait, uncertain as to whether or not her daughter had spied her from afar. deciding against the notion (if only due to faie’s lack of acknowledgment), a muted smirk pricks the edges of her lips as she unfurls from her vantage point with predatory finesse and a plan.

quiet footfalls lead her to the base of faie’s chosen hill with hunched posture and the rhythmic, anticipatory flick of her stub. for moments, olive lingers beyond the tip of her daughter’s crown — a snake secluded in the tall grass while she awaits an opportunity to strike. at last, impatience goads her forth with a bound and a pounce as she attempts to cage the princess’ skull and neck between her forepaws: giddy all the while. and that’s for waking me up!_{BG — CODE — art}

Faie was many things – but observant was not always one of them. She easily slipped into her own series of daydreams and reveries as she laid there, sprawled amongst the grasses of her home without so much as a care in the world. It was not as if she needed to be worried about who might find her here, if anyone – this was her home, after all, and she was princess of the plains. Stranger-danger should hardly be a concern within the walls of their own kingdom.

silly girl.

What she should have been concerned about was the mischievous nature of her family. Not only of her brothers and sisters, but her own parents, too! One would have thought that, by now, she would have learned not to let her guard down so easily, but poor Faie had, unfortunately, not. Initially having missed the sight of @Olive amongst the fields, she was equally oblivious to the queen’s sneaky, quiet approach up the hillside towards ger. Instead, the babe had begun to hum quietly to herself, lids fluttering shut occasionally as she basked in the last few moments of warmth from the sun. Until, that is, the abrupt sound of rustling rose to her ears, and another body was suddenly upon her.

And oh, did she shriek. It was a girlish, high-pitched sound that vibrated poignantly through the air, accompanied by the instinctive jutting of her paws upwards – aiming somewhere for her assailant’s nose.

code by squid, art by drifty

inherent naivety were the catalyst to faie’s demise, and were the sprite a more considerate mother, perhaps the pangs of guilt may have accompanied her daughter’s panic. but olive were no such tender creature, and as her little @Faie -rie’s shriek comes to blare across the plains, the earth, the universe, so does the joyous trill of her own laughter conjoin with the piercing sound. conscientious of her paws’ placement about either side of the princess’ neck (so as not to squish the precious cargo tucked between), olive were far too distracted to register the girl’s reflexes before it were much too late.

“oh, you’re not a bunn–” the shunt of her daughter’s forepaw greets her snout with a well-earned smack!, forcing her clever tease to taper off into shocked sputtering. tiny toes infiltrate the velvet of her nostrils in a manner most uncomfortable, and reflexively, does the sprite backpedal from faie’s vengeful line of fire. reeling with dumbfoundedness and the residual ache of just-desserts, olive turns a jutting pout upon her little assailant. “dude,” were the muttered protest offered: implicit with stern undertones and a hanging head. but – were the princess attentive enough – she’d note the ghost of a smirk riddled in the twitch of her mother’s lip._{BG — CODE — art}

Shock blossomed across the babe’s features – raw and uninhibited – as @Olive descended upon her in relentless fashion, her larger figure casting a prominent shadow over the small girl’s figure in the process. Caught off guard and completely unaware of her mother’s purposeful pursuit of her daughter up the hillside, no one could really blame Faie for her instinctive reaction, as those tiny, amber-coated paws flailed up into the air in an attempt to bat away her assailant.

Oops.

It was too late by the time that Faie registered that this was, in fact, no stranger or evil monster come to snatch her away – her mother’s perfume enveloped her a few seconds later, and it was only after that she had smacked her toes against Olive’s nose that she realized her mistake. “oh no,” Her shrieking was quickly replaced with tones of regret as the nymph’s eyes widened, remaining frozen in place on her back while both of the queen’s limbs were planted at her sides. She noted something there, absently, coiled across her mother’s lip – but was it quivering or was it smirking? The girl could not be quite so sure, and so she would default to the former. “mummy, did i hurt you?” She asked then, almost sniffling as she peered up with those sad, cherry-tinted eyes, hoping for the answer to be a resounding no. Because wouldn’t that just be the worst thing in the world – to hurt one of the women that she loved most.

coded by flea