Prompt 219 - Rune Stone - For the World's More Full of Weeping - Sarbear12456 - Sanctuary

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Title: For the World’s More Full of Weeping
Fandom: Sanctuary
Prompt: Rune stone
Warnings: ???
Rating: K (for now)
Summary: Part 1 of a series. (hopefully)

 

~*~*~*~*~

The weather was cold, by many people’s standards, but for Helen Magnus, a native Londoner, the air was a perfect temperature. In fact the cool air (that others would have described as freezing) was invigorating, opening up senses to the range of sounds, smells and sights available to her. The woods were a multitude of shades, from soft pale green to rich emerald. Birds called to each other and small animals rustled or slithered through the undergrowth. The smell of decomposing leaves, blossoming flowers and moist earth was relaxing, reminding her of the parks in her beloved London that she and John had frequented over a century ago.

 Their little excursion to Scandinavia was the result of several locals going missing, while fairy sightings (yes, fairy sightings) suddenly increased. With no Sanctuary in close proximity, or at least none in any condition to house or negotiate with Abnormals, most of the crew of Old City’s Sanctuary had taken the next plane to Norway. The Sanctuary was now staffed by a skeleton crew as Magnus, Will and Kate trekked through dense forest in search of a place far enough from civilization to set up their equipment and see their little friends. Their friends being the possibly carnivorous overgrown insects that appeared to have overrun the area.

“So we’re looking for…fairies…right?” queried Will, the resident psychologist who feared his boss had finally lost her mind. Of course, he was enough of a gentleman (and liked his job enough) to keep his suspicions off his face, if not out of his voice.

Helen replied with a little smile, “Well, a fairy in general is the classification villagers in early history have given to a range of abnormals. Most recently ‘fairies’ describe insect-like abnormal with heightened intelligence and a good understanding of natural chemical compounds. But, as described in folk lore, the word fairie has been applied to many abnormals. ‘Trolls’ such as those you have seen in the Sanctuary or a tribe of people able to commune and control nature have all been classified as fairies in the past.”

Kate saw this as her turn to but in. “Yeah. Remember the little guy with wings at the Sanctuary. Boy was he annoying.” Her face scrunched up in what Will thought was quite an adorable way (not that he would ever say that to her), before she continued. “Little runt stole my chocolate stash. And he kept calling me ‘Sweet stuff’.”

Ever the teacher, Helen continued with her speech. “Yes, he is an example of a ‘modern’ fairie. But the range is quite diverse. I once had a patient who was almost entirely blue, her body composed entirely of botanical elements. For example, she could eat as an animal would, with a digestive system, but could also gain energy through photosynthesis. Her race had evolved from plants after an island that separated from the mainland became devoid of animals.”

Both Will and Kate were fascinated by this, for different reasons:

“Evolved from plants? Well I can see the advantage of motion at the speed of animals, while gaining energy…”

“Blue? She was blue? Wow that would be cool. Like, was her hair blue too? I wonder…”

“What did she eat? Was there some religious significance in eating…”

“…dyed my hair blue once. I swear to God I could have killed her for that. Honestly, what friend dyes your hair blue the night before…”

Rather amused by the stream of questions from Will and the interesting story Kate was (for some reason) disclosing to them, Helen did something quite out of character. She stopped and listened rather than bringing them back on topic. Having mastered multi-tasking in her one hundred and sixty-odd years, she was able to pay close attention to both speakers as they trailed through the woods. Stopping when they reached a small clearing able to hold their two tents and tracking equipment.

The area was clear of trees and bushes ringed with enormous trees that stood almost equally distance from each other. Their intertwined branches provided shade and had apparently prevented anything but grass growing in the area. At the edge of the clearing was a rune stone partially obscured by moss and undergrowth, tilted slightly as vines wove around it.

“We’ll stop her for today. Kate, set up perimeter alarms. Will…” realising that Will was absolutely hopeless in all aspects of camping “go see if that rune stone has any significance while I set up the tents and put on a pot of tea.”

“Right, operation stay-out-of-the-way is go.”

Helen and Kate, looked at each other behind his back, and could only smile.

~*~*~*~*~

Sitting down to a meal which Kate had so kindly cooked (Magnus really couldn’t get past 2 minute noodles) the trio discussed their plan of action for the following day.

“It would be best if we did nothing to frighten them, we only want to prevent their discovery by the human world, while simultaneously preventing the deaths of any more normals. This will be easiest to accomplish if they have an organised system of government.” Helen began.

Will had to interject with a sarcastic reply. “Wait, don’t spoil it, the Seelie and Unseelie courts”

“Precisely” was Magnus’s (slightly smug) reply.

“I thought you said that ‘fairies’ were just abnormals seen by villagers and believed to be magic.”

“Yes, but they are not without intelligence or civility. In some areas, organised governments have been known to emerge with different policies and strengths. The ‘Seelie’ court is the one it would be best to make contact with. This…political party…is more likely to seek an end to death and waste of human lives. The ‘Unseelie’ court has a stricter policy in relation to humans. They see us as intruders onto land that is theirs, and have been known to ‘curse’ humans simply out of spite.”

Kate’s summary of Helen’s revelation was “Good guys and bad guys.”

“Not necessarily. Some in the ‘Seelie’ court support peace with humans because it provides them with an opportunity to trick, steal from or hurt humans. There are also incredibly gentle members of the ‘Unseelie’ court who are simply afraid of humans further degrading the environment.”

Kate couldn’t be bothered to continue with the conversation. “I knew there was a reason I hated politics. I’m going to bed.”

A goofy smile spread across Will’s face as he said “Sweet dreams”. The look quickly disappeared as he noticed Helen’s simultaneously inquisitive and knowing look.

As the two began to speak in quieter tones, they discussed the best way to negotiate with the fairies they sought.

“Can’t we just reason with them? We don’t want to die, they don’t want to be discovered. Sounds like a good arrangement to me.”

“Fairies don’t always have the same moral code as us, Will. We may have to offer them something in return, or complete a test of sorts. They are as unpredictable as the woods they inhabit. We will need every ounce of your psychological training. They do not have the same mentality as us, but are subject to the same emotions: love, hate, fear, passion. You will have to play on those.”

“’If you could teach a lion English, you still wouldn’t understand it.’” Will recited, her favourite quote.

“Exactly. Would you like first watch, or shall I?”

“You probably should, I’ll fall asleep if I do.”

Deciding it was the opportune moment to poke fun at him, Helen wished him goodnight. “Sweet dreams.” She said, catching a glimpse of the slightest blush as he disappeared into the tent.

~*~*~*~*~

The night had grown dark, it was nearly midnight and the stars shone brightly through the tree canopy. The forest surrounding Helen became more sinister with the fall of night the harsh artificial light throwing leaves and branches into sharp relief, leaving shadows impenetrable to human eyes. Just over half way through her watch, Helen began her routine patrol of their small campsite: monitoring equipment, checking on their food supply, walking around the edges, before she would settle down on a seat on the opposite side of the camp. It was a route she took every half an hour to ensure everyone’s safety, but also to keep herself awake.

The only difference this time was, she stopped at the rune stone on the fringe of her patrol. What, during the day, was a chunk of rock bearing ancient graffiti, by night became much more interesting. The words etched into the stone were no longer runic, but a language much older. She knew she should understand it, but didn’t. As the torchlight flickered out a gentle illumination from the script on the stone drew her in, called to her, and imprinted itself on her mind. As, gradually, Helen reached out to the rock, she became more and more entranced. When her hand finally came into contact with the pulsing spiral in the centre of the rock, she lost contact with the world around her and darkness surrounded her.

A/N: Farscape reference for those who know the series