Caiohme had spent the last few months living in this stupid, dirty city. And it wasn't even the kind of dirt she liked, either - the dirt of other races was all grime and filth. It never washed off, it stained everything. It stuck to things and never went away when it was told. Proper dirt was actually cleaner than this. She liked that kind of dirt; they got along. The earth talked to its children, but it wasn't talking here. She wished there was still a proper earth to live on, with wild space like she used to know. A place she could love.

Disgusted with the feeling of 'civilization', she made her way to the nearest building - it was probably some sort of worship house, the flitting girl with brown butterfly wings didn't really care - and ducked inside, looking for a source of water to at least get the grime off her wings. Surprise struck her like a slap when she noticed the tiny fonts near the doors - perfect little fae baths, just like the old days!

These people did remember then!

She immediately landed gracefully on the edge of one of the marble sconce-baths and shucked off her loincloth and top, hanging them over the tiny carved icon who sat atop it. She slid into the water and splashed about happily, flitting the water all over the church floor around her.

Helena was distracted by the sound of splashing from the front of the church. Alarmed, she immediately dropped back onto the ground and slid into the shadows. Cautiously, she edge her way over to where she could get a good view of the intruder. Fortunately, the cathedral was empty by this point, all the humans at home preparing evening meals.

Finally, Helena managed to see who was splashing about. Her keen eyes noticed that it seemed to be another fairy, so at least Helena didn't have to worry about being attacked. She carefully looked around to make sure once more that no humans were around. She then sped through the air like an arrow over to the font where the humans kept their holy water - the same fount where this fairy was now bathing.

Helena alighted on the marble edge, glaring at the fae. "What do you thinkyou're doing?!" she hissed. "If the humans see you they'll kill you, even if this is a church!"

Caiohme blinked and looked at the other fae. She stopped mid-splash with no care for covering her nakedness from the world at large, made her way to the side of the faerie bath/holy water vessel and sighed.

"I thought this thing was a bath, that the humans remembered us and what we used to be for them and they'd had the sense to offer us a place to get clean. I mean, look at this water," she motioned towards the now greyish water below her. "This gross mess is their fault. I shouldn't ever be grimy like this. I thought they were trying to make amends," she sighed.

"I should have known better. Bastards," she muttered, climbing back onto the font's edge and wringing out her hair, flicking the water off her wings and tying her makeshift clothes back on.

"What is the deal with these louts, anyway?" she asked, flitting to the other girl's shoulder and hovering there, looking around the church as she did. "They keep this place clean, but the rest of the city is disgusting!"

"That's where the humans keep the water that's been blessed by their...gods," Helena said, unsure if the humans had only one god or many gods. "They're really protective of it."

Helena gazed around the church with the other fae. "I don't know why it is so clean. I think the humans like to take great pride in their worship houses." Helena frowned, genuinely puzzled now as to why this place was cleaner. "Or maybe it's because the people who live in this building think that humans should have more respect for the earth and others." Helena paused for a moment. "I think they're the priests. Anyways, they're really nice."

The tiny fae sighed, lost in a sudden memory of another time or place, where human priests actually liked and worked in conjunction with her people. A time when the faerie courts held traffic with humans, and the humans actually took their advice on things like how to keep their world in balance with the natural. Nowadays, the fae were mostly relegated to mythos and ignored, or outright hunted by the humans who knew what they were.

Snapping out of her sudden revelry, Caiohme looked at the other fae. The girl beside her was big compared to her. That meant one of two things: Either the girl was a newer fae than she was, born in an era where big was better for protection and fighting, or she was nobility. Nobility was always larger than she was. "Hey. Who are you, anyway?" She asked, strapping her blowgun across her back and securing the belted pouch of fae shot at her waist.

"I'm Hermia," she said, looking at the little fae. True, Hermia was only about a foot higher, but she still felt awkward around smaller fairies. She bobbed a little curtsy as she had been taught to do. "And you don't have to worry about the priests. A couple of the older ones know about me and let me alone, so long as I keep out of site of the other humans in here."

She smiled, hoping to make a friend. It had been a long time since she had met a fairy. Most of them had left the city and were living in hiding as far she she knew. "What's your name?"

A curtsey. Caiohme hadn't seen one of those in a long time. Of course, she also hadn't seen another faerie in a long time - this was a welcome change - but still. Even among the fae it wasn't really a common thing anymore. She inclined her head a bit, then mirrored the cursey while hovering, her delicate fingers daintily flaring her loincloth. "Nice to meet you, Hermia! I'm Caiohme. You can call me Cai," she managed.

She still wasn't sure what to make of the taller girl, rank-wise, but Caiohme liked her already. "So, you're okay with living in this place? With all these people trying to kill you, and no proper earth?"

Kaiser moved lazily moved through shadows, he was never one to prefer the light. He looked around the area in plain boredom, trying to find something fun to do. Personally he enjoyed being like this, having no reason to guide his hand beyond wanting to. This place was strange, Kaiser was walking amongst the humans in all their pride they have not created technology to find the creatures who could constantly hide themselves.

He moved slowly toward a different area, a human place worship, how interesting that they drove away something that at a time they glorified, the angel. Kaiser thought he could snippets of a holy one around but he could've been wrong. He hid in the shadow's staring at the place of worship and began to wonder.

"Cai...what a pretty name," Helena said, giggling as the other girl curtsied. Helena knew that no one really curtsied anymore, but then again she was terribly old-fashioned. Plus it was a bit amusing because usually the other person didn't know how to respond.

Helena was about to become lost in her thoughts of the old days again, but fortunately heard the other fairy's questions.

"Well, I don't exactly like living here at all in the city, but my family agreed that someone needed to stay and keep tabs on the humans. I was the second oldest, so I was chosen," Helena said, thinking of her older brother. He was probably head of the clan now.

"And anyways, this place is more peaceful than others. And I don't really mind the lack of earth," she continued. "I'm a fire fae myself. And, as you can see," She said, gesturing around at all the lit candles, "I'm rather at home here."

Cai frowned a bit. She didn't really understand how anyone could enjoy this city, but she supposed it might be her own shortcoming rather than anything else. Being of the earth, she really missed a connection to proper wild spaces. She shrugged and her expression brightened.

"Fire, huh? I haven't met a fire fae in...um...actually, ever. Most of the others I knew were water or other earths. 's what I get for being around a lake in the woods, I guess," she said. As she processed the "But...you were sent here to watch things? Hm. Then there's gotta be a court here!" She practically shouted the word court, her wings beating in elation. "Which court are you? And what's your station?" She asked, giddy that there might be more of her people nearby. Fae sent on recon were generally lower members of the court, unless there was some kind of emergency. Or a severe shortage of hands.

Cai guessed this situation could be either of those, but wanted to know for certain.

"Oh, well, they're not actually here anymore," Helena said, frowning a bit. She hadn't heard from her family in a long time. "We used to live on the outskirts of the city, near the fire flowers. But as the city expanded, more people came and less fire flowers grew."

She paused for a moment, remembering the rich oranges and reds of the flowers. "A lot of us died. Soon it was only my family and a couple others that were left. My family was head of the Nar clan, so I guess you could say I'm like a princess." Helena giggled, then continued.

"The other familys that had survived either had no children, or very young children. My family decided to send me into the city, because my older brother had to be ready to take over ruling the clan once my father died. I went into the city while they moved farther out into the forest, hunting for more fire flowers to live in. But I haven't heard from them in a very long time, so I don't know where they are," she said, her voice getting softer.

Helena took a breath and continued. "I don't even know if they are alive. We get our magic from the flowers when the sun hits them in the early morning. If we can't find flowers, then we lose our magic. And our magic is part of our life force, so if we lose our magic...well you can figure that out for yourself."

Cai dropped a half inch or so in the air when she got news of what had happened to the Nar clan nearby. It seemed that, even though she had found an ally in this stupid city, they were bound to be the only ones left. For the Nar to have sent their own princess...things were dire indeed. She frowned as she flapped a little to regain height.

"Then...we should check on the flowers, right? Make sure everything's still going there, at least with one or two of them," she reasoned aloud. "And if you're their princess, you should know if they're okay, right?" She tapped a fnger against her chin, thinking. "Maybe I should go alone then. If you don't mind. It'd take me a bit to get there, but I'm pretty fast and if you get too far from the fire here..." she trailed off, finally meeting the other fae's eyes.

"I'll go check, if you want. See if there's a court out there still," she offered. She was born to help royalty wherever she could, after all.