Dressing and grabbing a quick breakfast, Spark and the others now departed the home of Goldie and Bear. Calista's discovery of this cave sounded promising and they wished to waste no more time.
Unfortunately, while Connor, Spark, and Calista were more accustom to strenuous physical activity, the others weren't. Soon enough the group found Amara trailing behind, forcing them to slow down. "Cmon keep up guys," Miles called. Amara frowned, crossing her arms as she now glared at her girlfriends twin. "Hey some of us aren't exactly built for hiking you know," she exclaimed. "And after trapsing through the woods for the better part of the last two days I'm tired!"
Connor and the others paused, Amara had a point. Most of them had never been camping and while they were in decent shape, they had been pushing themselves rather hard. It seemed like the group was beginning to reach its limit. "Okay let's rest for a minute," Connor stated.
"But we're so close," Calista exclaimed. "The cave is only about another mile or two."
"We still have another two miles," Rei gasped. A collective groan now emanated from the group, this search was proving to be exhausting. "Connor," Spark stated. "Maybe I should go ahead with Calista. Check this cave out. It could be another dead end." Connor nodded, it made sense and it would give thw others a chance to rest. "Okay just be careful."
"Hey I'm always careful," Spark boasted, Connor simply raised an eyebrow, not quite believing his girlfriend. "You know what I mean," she sighed. "Besides, you think I'm going to chance not being able to see you again?" Connor shook his head no, Spark giving him a loving smile before planting a passionate kiss on him. "Ready to hit the skies Calista?"
Calista nodded, the woman shrinking down into fairy form, her skin turning a pale blue as wings now protruded from her back. Giving a small wave, Spark now shrank down as well. The small green fairy and her companion sailing into the skies. "So," Spark said as the pair began to fly. "I told you about Connor, why don't you tell me about this husband of yours?"
"Mitch," Calista asked. "I'm not sure where to begin."
"How about the beginning," Spark said. "Also seriously his name Mitch?" Calista frowned, letting out an exasperated sigh before talking. "Okay so remember after we graduated," she said. "You were trying to decide between joining the military or serving as a guardian like your mom."
"Yeah I remember," Spark replied. "Dad convinced me to put some time into the military first. Said it would make me a better guardian. That's when you said you were going to intern at the palace, try to join the high council someday."
"About that," Calista said sheepishly. "I kinda had a change of heart. Instead I went to work as a liason. Working with shamens in the human world."
"Seriously you were always scared of humans," Spark exclaimed. "You were the one who always said humans were beings of pure chaos."
"I had a change of heart Okay," Calista groaned. "And if memory serves me correctly, you were the one that said you would never settle down into a relationship. You had no desire to, quote, be some baby making factory for some dude." Spark frowned, narrowing her eyes as she glared at her friend. "Touche Calista."
"So anyway," Calista continued. "I ended up with a position with the local tribe here. The fairy that was assigned to them was getting old and was looking to retire. I ended up being her intern, learning the ways of the tribe and socializing with humans."
"So how was it, " Spaek asked.
"Terrifying," Calista laughed. "Seriously, I had no idea how to talk with humans. I tried, believe me, but I was just....so awkward. It didn't help that when I began to take on human form I had no idea how to dress."
"Okay how bad," Spark smirked, the fairy having an idea of just how awkward trying to act human could be. "Um bad," Calista blushed. "No one ever explained human modesty to me."
Spark doubled over in laughter, almost falling out of the sky as Calista explained her various wardrobe malfunctions. Skirts that were too short, shirts too tight, ill fitting bras that made her breasts almost pop out or worse no bra at all. Calista now explained in mortifying detail one of her first interactions with a tribal elder in which she wasn't wearing a bra. "No one ever told me nipples get hard in the cold," she exclaimed.
Spark howled, wiping tears from her eyes at Calistas experiences. Calista had always been intelligent amd modest by fairy standards. Perhaps she had been a bit sheltered and naive but she was a good person. Unfortunately, she was also a bit socially awkward, meaning her first interactions with humans were most likely mortifying. "After that I decided to wear the biggest, baggiest clothes I could find," she said.
"So how did you meet Mitch?"
"Well," Calista started. "I was at Starbucks grabbing my favorite coffee. Oh my god Spark have you tried French Vanilla? It's the best! Anyway, I turn around to leave and I ran smack dab into Mitch." A small smile now emerged on Calistas face as recalled meeting her husband.
"He was so cute," she sighed. "And just as socially awkward as I was. The two of us just kept stammering apologies to one another for like 10 minutes. After that he invited me to take seat and we just started talking. "
"What did you two talk about," Spark asked.
"Everything," Calista smiled. "Well, not everything but you get the idea. He told me about his job, what he likes, favorite movies, sports, etc. Turns out he was a bit of a geek. He can tell you everything there is to know about the ocean. He also happens to know everything you could possibly know about Dungeons and Dragons. He even taught me how to play."
"So you must've been his absolute dream girl when he heard about the whole fairy thing," Spark smirked. Calista blushed, giggling at Sparks statement. "I didn't tell him what I was right away," she said. "In fact I was kind of scared too. No I was just happy to finally have someone to talk with. Mitch, well, he was just so kind. Always listening, willing to help me out with any problems, plus he made me laugh."
"So when did you tell him you were a fairy?"
"Our one year anniversary," Calista stated. "I was a nervous wreck. What if he freaked out? I wasn't sure how he would react. When I showed him, he smiled and just hugged me." Spark sighed lovingly. Calista story was so sweet an unlikely pair of misfits finding eachother and falling in love. "After that we decided to get married," she said. "A few years later we had little Maggie."
"How old is she?"
"Five," Calista smiled. "She such a sweetheart although I'm surprised she hasn't shown any signs of her fae heritage." Spark shrugged, she had heard of humans having children with fairies, she just wasn't sure what happens to those children. As she was about to answer the pair noticed the cave come into view.
Landing the pair began to investigate, both fairies quickly finding a pair of deer tracks. "Well it looks like they were here recently," Calista said happily. "And they look fresh too. They might be close."
"Thats not the only thing though," Spark whispered. "Look!" Calista now walked to where Spark was, the fairies eyes going wide in fright as she gazed at the large foot print. "Oh no."
"Yeah," Spark sighed. "Looks like there's a skinwalker after Chenoa's parents."