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Agott had never flown so fast in her life.
Not for any task, nor for any personal reason. Sure, there were plenty of times when she'd found herself in a terrible hurry, but never before had she zipped through the forest at such a speed that the world around her blurred into nothing more than passing colors.
Somewhere along the way, it had begun to lightly rain. Most fairies were encouraged not to fly in such conditions, or at worst seek shelter. Unless they specialized in water magic, the size and speed of raindrops could prove to be too heavy to fly through. A fairy's wings were their life, and any situation that proved a risk to them was to be avoided at all costs.
So why then was Agott, aware of this as she was, braving the weather to rush home to the treetop she currently called home?
Simple, really.
Something terrible had occurred; she was sure of it.
An hour prior
It was supposed to be a simple job near the edge of the forest: check on a newly emerged ring of mushrooms to ensure they were still healthy and growing on schedule. It was such a mundane task; it should have been over and done with just as soon as it had begun. The only trouble was just how terribly far it was from the main town.
Upon arriving at the scene and ensuring the ring was exactly as it should have been, Agott had promptly attempted to leave when a hand on her shoulder gave her pause.
"Agott, was it? Sorry to give you trouble, but it's not often we get forest fairies so close to the border." A kind-faced fairy smiled and gestured towards the nearby creek. "Your professor speaks quite highly of you. From what I've heard, you have a natural gift for animals?"
Agott cleared her throat as pink rose to her cheeks. "Ah, I suppose so," she mumbled as she turned her head in an attempt to conceal her embarrassment. "It's nothing, really. I simply find the word enjoyable."
"There's no need to act so humbly," the woman chuckled and removed her hand from her shoulder. "Though, if you wouldn't mind, it seems a recently hatched chick has fallen from their nest. They seem quite distressed, and I was hoping perhaps you may be able to assist?"
The woman's words caused her heart to ache in conflicting ways. A hatchling fallen from its nest too soon could be detrimental…they must be so frightened. If she could offer any aid whatsoever, it was her duty to do so, right? "Can you show me to them?"
"Oh, thank you so much! I knew I could count on one of Qifrey's students."
Before she knew it, an hour had passed. The hatchling in question was huddled in a small pile of leaves and refusing any help, fluttering and chirping with distress when any of the local creek fairies attempted to approach.
As gently as she could, Agott had approached the chick with extended arms, managing to rest a gentle hand on its beak to show she wouldn't harm them. "There now, you're alright…"
Rain began to fall in a gentle drizzle, an omen of a coming storm. It was just as she and a few other fairies had assisted the small creature back into their nest that she heard it— a passing conversation from a couple nearby.
"Did you hear? A young fairy was found near the edge of the forest. Poor thing…I hear her wing was torn."
Agott's ears prickled as she instinctively turned her head towards the sound. A torn wing was far beyond serious. Without flight, it was difficult, if not impossible, for a fairy to fly. The vulnerability of being tethered to the ground would mean…
"Yes, quite the distressing event," the other fairy grumbled in return. "One of Qifrey's girls, was it? It's a relief he found her when she did. Her condition must have been…" He shook his head.
Her heart dropped into her stomach. One of Qifrey's girls. Coco; it had to have been Coco.
Thus led her to her current predicament.
Rain continued to pelt downward from overhead, pattering against the canopy and dampening the forest floor below. Agott attempted to weave through the thick of it as best she could, gasping and faltering slightly when a particularly large raindrop came down on the top of her head. She shook herself off and pressed forward.
The sight of her home in the distance gave her the remaining strength she needed to zip upwards into the treetops, barely coming to a halt as she caught her breath just outside the front door.
Before she had time to collect herself, the door swung open, revealing a deeply distressed Qifrey. His brow was pulled downward and his hair sticking up slightly in an unnatural direction, clearly having flown quite a distance in this weather himself not long before she had.
"Agott, there you are. Goodness, you're soaked. Tell me you didn't fly through this." He hurriedly ushered her inside, closing the door in the face of the rising winds.
Agott shivered, but shook her head as her eyes darted around the living room. "Coco, where's Coco?"
Qifrey paused, his expression sinking further as he swiftly retrieved a towel and began to dry her hair. "So you've heard. I was worried that may be the case. Please, Agott, allow me a moment to ensure you won't catch your death first."
"Is she alright?" Agott demanded, pushing his hand away. "What happened? Please, don't keep me in the dark any longer."
The elder fairy sighed, his wings flitting anxiously behind him despite being folded. "She's resting—Olruggio is watching her. I was just about to come find you when you arrived. I don't need any more accidents today. Please." He lifted the towel once more in a silent question.
Agott hesitated before lowering her hands, allowing her teacher to dry her off as she tried to peek around the corner towards Coco's room.
"She's asleep," Qifrey continued as he wrung water from her curls. "Another elder fairy found her on the forest floor. The tear is incomplete and will heal, but…" he trailed off and shook his head. "She won't fly; not for quite some time."
"What happened to her?" Agott's voice was barely a whisper as her jaw tensed. Deep down, she had long dreaded the day this would happen. Coco had always been too curious for her own good, and frequently snuck off beyond the forest border to watch the nearby village humans. It could have been anything—an animal, a branch, or worse yet, a human encounter.
Qifrey finished drying herself off and began to fold the towel. "I don't know. She was unconscious when they found her. Given the injury itself, I'm inclined to think it was an accident while she was flying. Rest assured, I'll find out the whole story once she's awake and has been made comfortable. If there was a human involved…" he trailed off and shook his head. A risk to their world being discovered would have to be reported.
Agott swallowed thickly and nodded. Qifrey took one last long look at her as he nudged her towards her room.
"Go change into something warm. We'll have a talk about you flying through the rain later."
Two days had passed, and Agott still had not been allowed to see Coco.
She caught glimpses of Qifrey and Olruggios conversations the first night— a slight fever and restlessness, though no sign of her stirring. It was late morning on the second day when Coco had finally woken up.
A pair of elder fairies had come by to investigate the incident, though I thought I got their relief; they left without much fuss.
"An accident," Qifrey had explained as he attempted to massage away a headache. "There's been some logging near the border recently, and a branch had come loose. There was no one around to see."
None of the girls had been permitted to visit Coco as she recovered from her fever. Olruggio had sighted something about the importance of rest and attempted to keep the household busy with cleanup from the recent storm.
Even knowing her injury would heal and she was in no substantial trouble, Agott simply could not quiet her racing mind. She'd heard about fairies tearing their wings before, but it had never happened to anyone she knew. A complete tear was a life sentence, and an incomplete one had a long prognosis of being grounded. If she had been only slightly less lucky…
Agott shook her head and closed her book, unable to focus on the words whatsoever.
"Agott," Olruggio's voice cut through the quiet, deeper than usual from lack of sleep. "You finished up in town?"
"About an hour ago, yes." She nodded and nudged her book off to the side before stretching slightly. She glanced towards Coco's bedroom from where he had just emerged, worry creasing between her eyebrows. "Is she…?"
"Awake?" Olruggio finished for her as he slumped down on the couch. "Has been for the better part of the last half hour. Keeps asking after you."
Heat rushed to Agott's cheeks as she struggled to process his words. Asking after her? When she'd only just woken up? "Does she need something?"
"That she does," Olruggio grunted as he lay down. "She needs to lie still and quit fidgeting with her wing. Told her I'd allow a visitor in exchange for her to rest."
Agott perked up, standing from her spot at the table. "Then, may I—?"
A loud yawn from the elder fairy cut her off. "Make sure she holds still, and keep her from pulling at the bandages, yeah? You've got an hour before she should get some more sleep."
Agott gave a sharp nod and steeled herself, taking a deep breath as she crossed the room before twisting the handle and ducking inside.
Coco lay in bed, the cold cloth draped across her forehead half sliding off as she reached up to tug at her bandage. Just one more peek to make sure it was healing wouldn't hurt, right?
"Hands off."
A voice from the doorway caused Coco to jump and pull her hand back, tucking them neatly in her lap. "I wasn't messing with it, promise!"
"Oh? What do you call that then?" The voice drew closer as the door clicked shut.
Coco sighed, her breath hitching slightly as the cloth finally slid down and covered her eyes. "I was just making sure it was still tight. Sorry, Professor…"
"Professor?' Agott raised an eyebrow as she reached out and pushed the cloth back up where it belonged.
Their eyes met for only a moment, and it was enough to make Coco squeak in surprise. Definitely not her professor! "Agott! I'm so sorry, I thought you were Olruggio."
Agott scoffed, her ears turning red at the girl's innocent, bashful expression. "In what world do I sound anything like him? Besides, I thought he insisted you stopped calling him your professor."
"I said I was sorry! My head's a mess…" Coco covered her face with her hands.
A slow sigh followed by a dip in the mattress signaled that Agott had taken a seat beside her. Gentle hands reached up and pulled her hands down to reveal her pouting expression once more.
"That's alright, I hear you had quite a fall." Agott glanced at her bandaged wing and rubbed her arm anxiously. "How bad was it?"
Cocos's frown deepened as she followed Agott's gaze. "They said it would take a few weeks… probably months before I'm doing much more than gliding or hovering." She pulled her knees towards her chest. "It's my own fault. I knew it was a bad idea to go out on my own without telling anyone, but I really wanted to see the town again…Professor Qifrey would have said no."
"He would have said no precisely for this reason," Agott reminded as she gently adjusted the soft quilt until it was tucked up to Coco's chin. "The rules aren't meant to punish you."
"I know that, and yet I can't help myself all the same. I keep causing everyone trouble. If something had happened to you or Professor Qifrey while you were rushing to me, I couldn't…" Her breath hitched slightly as tears gathered in her eyes.
Agott said nothing, but smoothed Coco's hair back gently and shook her head. "That wouldn't have been your fault. You're being far too hard on yourself. Neither of us got hurt— you did. We only came rushing to find you because we were worried." Agott curled up in the space beside her, refusing to meet her gaze as she spoke. "I was worried."
Coco blinked in surprise at her admission. Perhaps it was her anxiety speaking for her, or perhaps it was because she thought Coco would be too feverish to remember or understand what she was saying. Her honesty warmed her up from the center of her chest.
The shifting of weight caused Agott to look back over, fully prepared to scold her for fussing with her bandages, but instead found Coco curling up with her head on her shoulder. She stiffened from shock, but slowly — cautiously — relaxed into the moment. Her fingers found their way back into Coco's hair, quietly brushing her bangs behind her ear as they listened to the sounds of the wind outside.
"Alright, time's up," Olruggio grunted from the doorway. "Agott, come help me out in the kitchen. Let Coco have her rest."
Coco looked up from her spot against Agott's shoulder, a pout on her lips and her eyes wide and pleading. Olruggio jolted and looked away, attempting to act unaffected.
"Don't you make those eyes at me! I know good and well where you picked that trick up from, and I assure you I'm immune." He crossed his arms across his chest. "Agott?"
The lack of reply caused the elder fairy to raise his eyebrow. It wasn't like her to freeze him out, even if she were reluctant. As he crept closer to coco's bed, his expression softened. Fast asleep—with Coco using her as a pillow, no less. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled sharply. "Fine. But you'd better not move from that bed; I mean it."
Weeks went by and the days began to grow cooler. Summer rain became autumn wind, and Coco could only look out her window longingly as she slowly fluttered her wings behind her.
The tear had repaired itself for the most part, but the delicate tissue couldn't be stressed at this stage of healing, lest it tear once more. She sighed under her breath and watched a group of fairies zipping past as they made their preparations for the coming days.
"Coco?" Agott knocked on her door, her voice muffled by the barrier. "May I come in?"
Coco perked up and hurried over, pulling the door open and stepping aside. "Agott! You're back early."
"Tetia and Richeh wanted to go look at something by the creek, but I found myself getting a bit tired," Agott lied smoothly. Her energy wasn't the issue. Instead, she had simply been unable to ignore the nagging guilt of flying around while the other fairy was cooped up in her room. "How's your wing today?"
"The same as yesterday." Coco sighed and fluttered her wing slowly, spinning around for Agott to see. The almost translucent green tissue had a faint white line running where it had torn, a reminder of the accident. "Professor Qifrey said he'd take me to try and hover when he had the time, but he's been so busy lately."
Agott nodded slowly as she reached out and gently touched the scar, her own wings fluttering sympathetically. "At least your strength is returning…" She trailed off as she ghosted her finger along the very edge of her wing, admiring the way it seemed to glitter in the dim afternoon light of the window. She coughed to snap herself out of it before shaking her head. "In any case, you only need someone nearby to catch you if you fall, right? It doesn't have to be Professor Qifrey?"
Coco thought about it before shaking her head. "I guess not, no. He's usually the one to do it since he's such a strong flyer, but I think just about anyone should do. Why?"
Agott cleared her throat and crossed her arms, looking anywhere but at the other girl's face. "I'm a decently strong flyer myself— at least so I've been told. If you're getting cabin fever, I wouldn't mind…you know."
After a pause, Agott shook her head. "Never mind. If you'd rather wait for our Professor, I'm sure he'll be returning—"
"Agott!" Coco threw her arms around her neck in a hug. She pulled back after a moment, her eyes wide and shining. "You'd do that for me?"
Agott yelped slightly and blushed as she pulled herself away from the embrace. "Calm down! You'll hurt yourself jumping around like that!" She huffed and nodded slowly. "Only if you stay low to the ground and promise not to fly off…I'm not going to chase you down because you decided you're up and well enough to have an adventure."
Coco grinned and nodded, taking her hand and tugging her towards the front door. "I promise! C'mon, before it gets too dark!"
The two fairies hurried outside into the treetops, carefully descending to the forest floor as Agott kept a stabilizing arm around Coco's waist. She glanced over and found her heart stammering at the sight of her expression— the joy on her face brighter than it had been in weeks, and her hair catching the golden cast of the late hour. She was…radiant. Neither time nor injury could ever dull the joy that rolled off her in waves.
Agott smiled softly to herself as she touched down first, looking up to Coco fluttering just overhead, her wings catching sunlight as they fluttered in time with the beat of her racing heart.