After his banishment, Valen Nightshade found no peace. The moment he stepped beyond the castle walls, word of his vulnerability spread like wildfire among the lurking horrors of the land, goblins, ghouls, rogue shifters, even other vampires with a taste for royal blood. To them, he was no longer a prince. Just prey.
With nowhere else to go and a dozen monstrous scents on his trail, he fled into the thickest, most unwelcoming stretch of wilderness he could find, a forest cloaked in old magic and veiled in silence.
The moment he crossed its borders, the presence hunting him faded. It was as though the entire forest whispered "Mine" to the world, claiming him from any who dared follow. Valen, lazy but not stupid, took the hint. Something powerful lived here. But at least it wasn't trying to eat him. Yet.
He wandered deeper, each step purposefully slow. He wasn't lost, he was just avoiding the inevitable. Being *cast out* from his home, forced to leave behind silk sheets and blood-infused feasts for this... dreary, tree-choked wilderness, was not his idea of survival. But at least here, no one expected him to do anything. No responsibilities. No summons. No shoes.
The forest was quiet. Too quiet.
"Dammit," Valen muttered, pausing under the canopy. His hunger gnawed at him, but he wasn't about to hunt like some common beast. No, he needed a proper meal, something aware, something sentient. Something that *knew* it was about to become food.
"Maybe... I'll find something interesting around here," he grumbled. "Something that won't be so tedious."
He had just slumped beneath a gnarled, moonlit tree, blood-stained, hungry, and thoroughly annoyed, when something flickered into existence ten feet in front of him, tiny, glowing, and very, very angry.
A fairy.
She hovered midair, arms crossed, brows furrowed, and moonlight clinging to her like armor.
"You," she said sharply, pointing at him. "Why are you here?"
Valen blinked. "I'm hiding."
"From what?"
"Everything."
She narrowed her eyes. "This is *my* forest."
He waved a lazy hand. "Congrats. I don't want it. I just need somewhere quiet. Preferably where no one's trying to eat me."
The fairy, he didn't know her name yet. fluttered closer, squinting. "You're one of them, aren't you? A vampire."
"Prince. Former," he corrected, stretching out. "Exiled. Disgraced. Unwanted. Also currently hunted. So if you're going to kill me, could you wait until after my nap?"
She hesitated. Suspicious, but not hostile. Yet.
"You can stay," she muttered, crossing her arms tighter. "But don't come near my part of the forest. Don't touch the flowers. And if I catch you trespassing-"
"You'll blow up my face. Got it," Valen finished for her, offering a half-hearted thumbs-up. "Deal."
"Hmph!... I've heard the stories," she said, wings rustling as her tone dropped. "I know what you are."
Valen's gaze flicked to her bare feet. And noticed all the iron on him disappeared. Smart girl. But does she knew the myths.
"You don't know anything," he replied coldly, though a smirk tugged at his lips. "You can't possibly know what I am."
Her eyes scanned him, then lingered, a moment too long, on his fangs. He saw the uncertainty there. The silent calculation.
"I know what you do," she said. "Vampires don't just wander into sacred places without a reason."
A dry laugh escaped his throat. "I came because I was sent away. But you're right... vampires don't wander without purpose." He leaned forward just slightly, his voice dropping. "But what about you? What's your excuse? No forest of your own to rule?"
Her posture tensed. For a split second, her wings trembled like she was ready to attack.
"Stay away!" she snapped, voice tight with calm fury. "You may have permission to live here, but I haven't invited you."
"Permission, huh?" Valen echoed, amused. "You're the owner of the woods now?"
"I am," she said, chin tilting up. "And you're not allowed to cross into my side of the forest unless I say so."
"Really?" He arched a brow. "That old myth again? You think I need permission from a fluttering fruit sprite?"
Her wings flared dangerously. "If you can't understand boundaries, you can leave."
A pause. The two stared at each other like mismatched chess pieces: one exhausted, the other alert but wary.
Valen tilted his head. "So you're going to stop me?"
"I can stop you," she replied calmly. "But I'd rather not. So don't make me."
Valen squinted. She wasn't bluffing, but she wasn't overplaying her hand either. Interesting.
"Fine," he muttered, stepping back. "I'm not here to cause trouble. Just looking for peace. Don't we all want that?"
She didn't answer. Her eyes followed his every movement.
"You seem like you're running too," he added casually, half-turning away.
"I'm not running," she said softly. "I'm just... away. From my responsibilities."
Valen paused. He looked at her again, really looked. Wings, tiny frame, tension in her voice. There was power behind her careful tone, and exhaustion not unlike his own.
"Well then." He gave a slight, lazy bow. "Since we're both tragically burdened outcasts, I suppose this arrangement works. I'll stay on my side. You stay on yours."
The fairy didn't smile, but she didn't object either.
He turned to leave, but then glanced back over his shoulder. "Do I get to know your name, or should I keep calling you Sparkle Rage?"
She frowned. "Fel."
He nodded slowly. "Right. Fel."
She hovered a little higher, looking down at him. "And you? Should I just call you Bloodsucker?"
"Valen," he said with a tired grin. "Formerly His Royal Highness. Currently just… very hungry."
Neither of them smiled.
But neither of them attacked.
And as Valen wandered deeper into the woods, and Fel watched him go, they both silently agreed.
This was going to be annoying.