A world in colour

In a world where everything is black and white, color is known to take hold when one meets their soulmate. Still this does not make the hunt for the 'one' any easier, the key is they eyes they are known to be the first hint of the truth.
Atrel x Connor
Teenager Connor is stuck on the camp his parents sent him to to 'fix' what's wrong with him. Atrel winds up in a mushroom ring very close to the camp and the young human comes across him seeking to escape the camp even for a little while.
Kat x Kit
With her brother in line for the throne, Kat feels more comfortable wandering around the human world on her own. On one of her trips she finds Kit sketching more treehouses
Nero x Vi
Deciding that he's in need of an assistant, the royal healer Nero takes a trip to the warehouse to see what's on offer and finds Vi.

She had been just wandering through the black markets looking for anything that could be fun to play with, bored and about ready to head home, a seller drew her attention towards a faerie who had stubborn look on his face. Even more interested when she found out that he was supposedly a twin, paying a good fee for him, the shadow mistress dragged him back home and spent a few weeks testing various experiments on him. Never having had a faerie of her own to play and experiment on, the rather cold woman had a fairly good time working on breaking the faerie, after about two months of intensive testing and trialing of various ideas that she had come up with she finally hit upon the best idea she’d had so far. Tying him down so he couldn’t move she went through the various blades at her disposal before she picked the sharpest one to try and do a single clean cut, there was nothing that irked her more than shoddy work after all. Grabbing a hold of his wings to keep them still she worked on sawing them off, one at a time, admiring them once they were free of their owner she carefully stored them away for use later and turned back to her victim. Tending to his wounds so he wouldn’t bleed out she returned him to his cell leaving him there while she went to admire her new trophies, once she was gone a familiar form appeared next to Atrel, the somewhat transparent Conrad had been visting him ever since he had been captured having temporarily left his reborn self to help his faerie as best as he could.

Dark blue eyes were filled with concern, crouching down next to Atrel he quietly touched a hand to his shoulder, able to be corporeal enough to be able to touch him, it’d taken some time and practice to be able to do it so far from Connor but for the sake of the one he loved he had managed it. Not even having words for what Atrel had just gone through, he offered wordless comfort instead, well aware it was one of the few things he could do at the moment to help him. If he was able to guide Connor here to get him out he would, but he was more than aware that one human against ice and her goons would lead to the humans death and Atrels third chance at colour would be gone for good.

Slipping his arms around his long time partner, Conrad was careful to keep his arms away from the wounds on the faeries back, sitting properly with his back against the wall and pulled him into his lap leaning his head on his. Wanting to hug him so tight that he could hug away the pain and anguish] “I’m here my prince, I’m here with you” he could only imagine what was going through the other faeries mind, Conrad wanted to reassure him but also to prevent him from ending his life not that there was much the faerie could do about ending his life now but if he ever got out. Nuzzling his face into the familiar black hair, he inhaled quietly, finding comfort himself, in the familiar smell “Atrel, I’m here” it was all he could do, and he would do what he could for his love.

Brushing fingers through his hair while the prince hid his face in his shoulder, Conrad pressed a kiss to his head “I will stay with you as best as I can Atrel” right now wasn’t really the time to be trying to help him get out for right now the prince needed support and love. Doing his best to provide that, he only faded when he sensed Ice returning with a soft murmur that he’d be back once she was gone. It had been a week or so since she’d removed the faeries wings and she’d hit on a capital idea, returning and having him dragged away she put him face down on the table again and started to go through the experiment, it took a full on three months of constant testing every day before she was finally able to do it. Smug as a cat that had got the cream, Ice circled him eyeing her handiwork, the delicate looking black wings on his back were made from shadows that held that shape until she released her control over them and they became fully his. Unaware that over those past few months the test subject on her table had been helped and bolstered by a ghost that stayed with him whenever she wasn’t’ there, making him eat and rest, providing him with warmth comfort and love. Satisfied with him she left him in his cell with a surprisingly generous amount of honey, fully aware of how shadows operated and how much more sugar he’d need now to survive.

Once he was alone, Conrad as always appeared to support him, looking tired but doing his best to hide it. Coming this far this often was taking a toll on his spirit and the boy who he had been reincarnated as. Walking over he sat down next to him with a sigh and offered an arm so Atrel could snuggle into him if he needed it. By this stage he knew that Ice wouldn’t let Atrel go, ever but that wasn’t something that he was going to allow to happen, he had a few ideas but he needed the faerie out of the bitches hands first. The bitch in question was very pleased with her success and made sure that her newest achievement was kept warm with a good stock of honey, it’d be irritating if he died after she’d put all that effort time and shadows into him. So it was much to her dismay when her shadows reported one morning that he was gone, appearing in the empty cell in a fury there was nothing left behind apart from some empty honey pots.

Atrel had been woken at about half past five in the morning by a couple of strangers, they said nothing, grabbed him and placed iron around his wrists, neck and ankles. After a while it became clear that they had been hired by a man who sold faeries for a living as there were several other faeries in cages, dumped in one the man came over and studied him closely “Well well well, a prince, a twin and now with one of a kind shadows implanted in its back! You’re going to make me a bundle” cackling to himself he organized the moving all of the faeries in his care to the place where ethe black market was being held this time. Caged and in th e back of a large truck, it bumped them around a fair bit the driver not seeming to care that there were live people in the back of it.

This was the moment he had been waiting for, using much of what energy he’d had left he had visited Renee in her sleep which had taken less energy than manifesting himself there. Once that was complete he summoned what power was left to appear next to Atrel in the bumping moving van “My prince” sounding quieter than he normally did, Conrad had to focus hard to make himself heard as he repeated himself. More see through than normal he was sat next to his prince in the cage. “I’m sorry Trelly, I can’t come any further than you, this is where our paths diverge” pausing he leaned against Atrel slipping his arms around him tightly wishing he could do more btu he couldn’t’ “I’ve used up so much energy, if I come again it’ll kill Connor” swallowing hard he nuzzled his nose into his hair for the last time taking in a breath of the familiar comforting smell “I’ve found someone who will help get you out, but you have to live, live for me, for kat, for him, okay? You have to keep going for all of us. Promise me you will” it was only once he had his promise was he able to let go, before he vanished entirely he moved the princes head so he could kiss him, it was a little rushed, a little desperate and it only lasted a few precious moments before he wasn’t corporeal enough to continue the kiss. "I love you, I always will, just as I'll always be with you" his hand moved to touch Atrel on the chest only to pass right through it.

The question caught his attention “Yes. Always. One more thing, you have to live for you too” at that moment the truck came to a halt and a few moments later when the doors were thrown open, Conrad was gone. The cages were unloaded and set out in the way that the man who owned them wanted them to be, Atrels cage was front and center with a rather enormous sum attached to it. There was a steady stream of people that wandered past, some interest was shown in the prince but when they noticed the tag they moved on until a young looking woman stopped looking in at him. She had familiar blue eyes and stepped up to stand close to the cage not afraid of him in the slightest, turning to look at her husband, Renee waved him over “This way” although the slight smile on her face vanished when the man who had Atrel in a cage came over and leered at her. “Now how may I help you beautiful” doing her best to stay polite and not wrinkle her nose she took a slight step backwards waiting for Killian. While she could defend herself she preferred to leave it to Killian, not really once for violence herself, somewhat discomfited by the way he was looking at her, when she sensed the familiar presence of her husband she stepped close to him and slipped her hand into his in an attempt to display that she was very unavailable and very uninterested.

Indicating with a nod the faerie infront of her, the female shadow master could also sense the shadows that seemed to be attached to the faerie who had no wings. “Please?” Leaning against Killian, Renee looked up at him rather hopefully, not entirely sure she’d be that good at bartering in general and she was somewhat fearful that they might loose their chance at rescuing him. The seller narrowed his eyes slightly when the rather infamous male shadow master appeared, his reputation preceded him after all “This is a prince faerie who is also a twin, he has shadows implanted in his back as well, one of a kind this one dear lady” speaking to the girl sensing he might get a better deal out of targeting her instead of the male shadow master.

Relieved that he had believed her and had come along with her, Renee didn’t have words for how much she loved her husband and how thankful she was for him. Staying quiet now she let her gaze wander over some of the other faeries doing her best to make out that she wasn’t overly invested in the wingless faerie incase the seller tried to use that to drive the price up. Bristling at those words the Seller scowled “Name your best offer or beat it, I haven’t got time for people who waste time yakking instead of letting their money talk for them” he was more than sure that the infamous man had more than enough money to be able to afford the full price of the faerie and he was damned if he was just going to give him away.

Spluttering with outrage at the absolutely abysmal offer that the shadow master offered him, the man was about to turn him away when he noticed the subtle shift of the shadows. Swallowing sharply as he didn’t throw the offer away, instead he named an offer that was a fair amount higher than the price suggested, but it was far below the original price that he had still stuck to the faeries cage. Scowling he stubbornly folded his arms very intending that that was the final price that he would take.

Relieved that everything essentially went off without a hitch, Renee held onto the leash and walked along with Killian “Yes, shall we go home now?” her footsteps started turning them towards a safer place for them to get themselves back home through the shadows. It’d be foolish to try it here after all there were so many hunters, poachers and the scum of society there, she didn’t say much more until they got home which was when she pilfered the key out of her husbands pocket and lead the faerie towards the spare room. “Here, this is your room, I’m going to go get you some honey” seating him down on the bed she removed the iron from him and did as she’d said returning with a few jars of honey “I’ll have to send Killian out to get some more” murmuring that more to herself and her shadows she looked over the faerie with a soft look on her features. “This place is safe, no one will take you here” deciding to leave him there to curl up and just process things Renee left him there.

Having noticed how unwell he was, Renee had given him a month of being on his own with constant pots of honey being ferried to him, however, it’d been long enough that she felt more confident in going to his room. Knocking on the door at first before heading in, Renee closed the door behind her and took a big breath going over what she had decided to say in her head for what felt like the millionth time. “Hey, my name is Renee, I’m a shadow master. I can tell that you’ve been through a lot, but I believe I was guided to you for a reason. In regards to the shadows on your back if you’ll permit me I can teach you how to use them, I believe you may be able to use them to create wings on your back one day if you practice enough. Unfortunately, the side effect of that is you will need to consume more sugar as that’s what they live on” realizing she’d gone into a bit of a monologue she shut him and blushed slightly “Sorry, that was a bit of an information dump, I’ve just been thinking it over for a while” tucking some of her hair back behind her ears she looked sheepish due to her rambling.