The Green Lady - part three
Title: The Green Lady
Author: naturalbluicons
Characters/Pairing: Glitch, DG, and Cain
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There were many legends in the O.Z. Stories of spirits, witches, demons, beasts, and all manner of imaginative somethings- some less imagined than others.
Warning: SPOOKY! I mean it. HORROR.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man, I'm just playing in the Outer Zone
Word Count: 1297
Notes: I wanted to write something for Halloween and found myself inspired by an old folk song. This doesn’t fit into the timeline of the Azkadellia and Glimbrose stories that I have written, it’s in it’s own little canon. So much thanks to my beta eleanor_ariail! She helps me bring out the pop. This is the last part. Hope you enjoy!
part one / part two / part three
Now all you young fellows take heed what I tell.
A-down in the wood a Green Lady do dwell.
To the wood then she goes in his breeches and hose
And the Green Lady called, ""Draw near! Come here!"
But a little axe had she, hid down by her knee,
And she chopped down the tree and the Green Lady
And they died -yes they died- at the end of the year.
All under the tree
There sits a Green Lady.
“It was just a myth to keep boys from wandering in the woods by themselves.” Cain had said with a disturbed frown. “I never thought…” And his thoughts had shown on his face: Can’t anything just be a myth?
Glitch was plagued with nightmares. Branches pierced into his chest and the beautiful woman dipped her head to drink from the wound, and DG didn’t come for him, nor Cain, nor Raw. Her sweet voice echoed in his head and soothed him and so he stopped his struggling. The pain faded to a dull pulse and Glitch grew weaker and tired… His limbs tingled and he forced his eyes open, his body pitching as blackness danced at the corners of his vision. He gasped, as his mind broke through the haze, and there was horrible pain, and horrible weakness, and he could hardly struggle at all- hardly call for his friends- could they save him now? He tried, but his vision was getting darker and the pain was consuming him and-
He woke, sitting bolt upright, clutching at his chest and covered in an icy sweat. His hands shook and he felt sick. The heavy door was thrown open and Glitch yelped, and tried to scramble away, but his body was tangled in the bed sheets, and he only managed to land in a twisted heap on the floor.
“Glitch- it’s ok,” He saw a knee come to rest on the ground in front of his face, and rolled so he could look up into what at that moment, was the face of an angel- DG. “Did you have another nightmare?” She sounded so worried as she helped him get loose from the twisted sheet.
Glitch hated to worry her. He sat up and intended to give her some elaborate lie, but all that came out was a rather feeble “…No?”
DG shook her head. “Don’t lie.” She knew she needed to do something. The nights couldn’t continue like this. She hugged her friend tightly. “You’re safe.”
Glitch closed his eyes, his head against her shoulder, and let out a shaky breath. DG’s hand moved in soft circles on his back and he slowly relaxed. They sat like that for a long time, and DG slowly formulated a plan.
After soothing Glitch and tucking him in, DG made her way straight to Cain's room.
“Mr. Cain, I need to borrow some of your clothes," she announced, as he opened the door, still half asleep.
“My clothes?” Wyatt frowned at her. “Why?”
“Because I’m going to give Glitch some peace of mind.” Her tone was firm, she was already decided.
“How exactly do you intend to do that, DG?” Now the tin man was the one in need of elaboration, so DG ducked through the door and began explaining her plan.
A few hours later, as the two suns were rising, DG and Cain set out. He’d blatantly refused to let her go by herself. She was dressed in his clothes -- several sizes too big on her smaller frame, and her hair was tucked up in a hat. They needed to lure her out, to be sure that the tree was the right one, and to be sure that their plan would work.
Cain heard it first as they trekked through the woods; a beckoning carried on the breeze. He grabbed DG by the shoulder and bid her listen, and there it was again… she was calling them. Draw near…
“Stay behind me. I’ll get her out, and you be ready with that axe,” Cain instructed and DG nodded, following him as he wove through the trees.
“Don’t let her-” DG started.
“I won’t,” Wyatt finished.
And then, there it was, just ahead; the tree. Cain moved forward towards it, and DG followed him slowly. There she was, peeking around the tree trunk with that mysterious thin smile that sent a shiver down DG's back. Cain drew to a halt a few yards away. DG watched as the woman stepped gracefully out from behind the tree. She seemed to glide towards Cain, willowy limbs swaying gracefully. Cain took off his hat and DG moved slowly around, hoping that if she was spotted she wouldn’t be recognized as the assaulting girl, but just another boy…
Suddenly, the woman lunged forward, her arms winding around Cain. In one smooth, fluid movement, DG drew the axe and swung it, singing through the air, into the tree’s trunk.
The woman let out a shriek, and Cain winced as her clawed fingers dug into his back. DG swung again, cutting deeper, and the evil thing’s knees buckled. DG's muscles trembled, and though she was sweating and her hair was coming loose from her cap, she kept going. Something like blood, so dark it was black, began to spill from the tree’s core. The woman screamed, and DG screamed back as she hacked furiously, “You can’t have my friends!”
The tree was starting to tilt. Cain wrenched the creature’s talons from his flesh and threw her back. She twisted and writhed on the ground, her screeches hair-raising and sending chills to their very bones. Cain ran to DG and took the axe from her shaking hands. He swung it hard, and the wood cracked under its force. As the tree fell, the woman was claimed by the ground, sinking into it.
Cain dropped the axe and placed a hand on DG’s shoulder. They stood in silence, looking at the ground where the woman had disappeared for a long moment, and then Cain set about to striking up a fire.
Black smoke twisted into the air as the terrible tree burned. DG and Cain watched with grim satisfaction, and when all that was left was ash and embers they stomped the glowing spots out and headed back for the palace.
Upon their return to the palace, DG ran to find Glitch, Cain following up a little ways behind her. Glitch looked up when DG threw the door open, and before he could say a word, he was enveloped in a warm hug and she was saying “She’s gone, Glitch, she’s gone,” and as the words sunk in, Glitch felt wonderfully light. He wrapped his arms around her, looking over her shoulder to Cain, who had just passed through the door and was smiling as well.
“She’s gone,” He confirmed and Glitch grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the embrace.
They all fell asleep in Glitch’s bedroom that night, soothed by each other’s company and the knowledge that the tree and the lady were no more.
Glitch woke in the night to DG's small hand frantically clawing at his. He looked over to see the color draining from her face as she struggled against some invisible binding- and there was Cain, so still at her other side…Then he felt it- like ivy, something he couldn’t see twisting around him. He tried to call for help, but his bindings grew tighter and crushed the air from his lungs. He gripped DG’s hand- now limp- and tried to fight to no avail. He could not escape The Green Lady’s embrace, and now she was free from her prison.
In his head he heard her words: Come here, draw near… and then there was nothing.
Author: naturalbluicons
Characters/Pairing: Glitch, DG, and Cain
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There were many legends in the O.Z. Stories of spirits, witches, demons, beasts, and all manner of imaginative somethings- some less imagined than others.
Warning: SPOOKY! I mean it. HORROR.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man, I'm just playing in the Outer Zone
Word Count: 1297
Notes: I wanted to write something for Halloween and found myself inspired by an old folk song. This doesn’t fit into the timeline of the Azkadellia and Glimbrose stories that I have written, it’s in it’s own little canon. So much thanks to my beta eleanor_ariail! She helps me bring out the pop. This is the last part. Hope you enjoy!
part one / part two / part three
Now all you young fellows take heed what I tell.
A-down in the wood a Green Lady do dwell.
To the wood then she goes in his breeches and hose
And the Green Lady called, ""Draw near! Come here!"
But a little axe had she, hid down by her knee,
And she chopped down the tree and the Green Lady
And they died -yes they died- at the end of the year.
All under the tree
There sits a Green Lady.
“It was just a myth to keep boys from wandering in the woods by themselves.” Cain had said with a disturbed frown. “I never thought…” And his thoughts had shown on his face: Can’t anything just be a myth?
Glitch was plagued with nightmares. Branches pierced into his chest and the beautiful woman dipped her head to drink from the wound, and DG didn’t come for him, nor Cain, nor Raw. Her sweet voice echoed in his head and soothed him and so he stopped his struggling. The pain faded to a dull pulse and Glitch grew weaker and tired… His limbs tingled and he forced his eyes open, his body pitching as blackness danced at the corners of his vision. He gasped, as his mind broke through the haze, and there was horrible pain, and horrible weakness, and he could hardly struggle at all- hardly call for his friends- could they save him now? He tried, but his vision was getting darker and the pain was consuming him and-
He woke, sitting bolt upright, clutching at his chest and covered in an icy sweat. His hands shook and he felt sick. The heavy door was thrown open and Glitch yelped, and tried to scramble away, but his body was tangled in the bed sheets, and he only managed to land in a twisted heap on the floor.
“Glitch- it’s ok,” He saw a knee come to rest on the ground in front of his face, and rolled so he could look up into what at that moment, was the face of an angel- DG. “Did you have another nightmare?” She sounded so worried as she helped him get loose from the twisted sheet.
Glitch hated to worry her. He sat up and intended to give her some elaborate lie, but all that came out was a rather feeble “…No?”
DG shook her head. “Don’t lie.” She knew she needed to do something. The nights couldn’t continue like this. She hugged her friend tightly. “You’re safe.”
Glitch closed his eyes, his head against her shoulder, and let out a shaky breath. DG’s hand moved in soft circles on his back and he slowly relaxed. They sat like that for a long time, and DG slowly formulated a plan.
After soothing Glitch and tucking him in, DG made her way straight to Cain's room.
“Mr. Cain, I need to borrow some of your clothes," she announced, as he opened the door, still half asleep.
“My clothes?” Wyatt frowned at her. “Why?”
“Because I’m going to give Glitch some peace of mind.” Her tone was firm, she was already decided.
“How exactly do you intend to do that, DG?” Now the tin man was the one in need of elaboration, so DG ducked through the door and began explaining her plan.
A few hours later, as the two suns were rising, DG and Cain set out. He’d blatantly refused to let her go by herself. She was dressed in his clothes -- several sizes too big on her smaller frame, and her hair was tucked up in a hat. They needed to lure her out, to be sure that the tree was the right one, and to be sure that their plan would work.
Cain heard it first as they trekked through the woods; a beckoning carried on the breeze. He grabbed DG by the shoulder and bid her listen, and there it was again… she was calling them. Draw near…
“Stay behind me. I’ll get her out, and you be ready with that axe,” Cain instructed and DG nodded, following him as he wove through the trees.
“Don’t let her-” DG started.
“I won’t,” Wyatt finished.
And then, there it was, just ahead; the tree. Cain moved forward towards it, and DG followed him slowly. There she was, peeking around the tree trunk with that mysterious thin smile that sent a shiver down DG's back. Cain drew to a halt a few yards away. DG watched as the woman stepped gracefully out from behind the tree. She seemed to glide towards Cain, willowy limbs swaying gracefully. Cain took off his hat and DG moved slowly around, hoping that if she was spotted she wouldn’t be recognized as the assaulting girl, but just another boy…
Suddenly, the woman lunged forward, her arms winding around Cain. In one smooth, fluid movement, DG drew the axe and swung it, singing through the air, into the tree’s trunk.
The woman let out a shriek, and Cain winced as her clawed fingers dug into his back. DG swung again, cutting deeper, and the evil thing’s knees buckled. DG's muscles trembled, and though she was sweating and her hair was coming loose from her cap, she kept going. Something like blood, so dark it was black, began to spill from the tree’s core. The woman screamed, and DG screamed back as she hacked furiously, “You can’t have my friends!”
The tree was starting to tilt. Cain wrenched the creature’s talons from his flesh and threw her back. She twisted and writhed on the ground, her screeches hair-raising and sending chills to their very bones. Cain ran to DG and took the axe from her shaking hands. He swung it hard, and the wood cracked under its force. As the tree fell, the woman was claimed by the ground, sinking into it.
Cain dropped the axe and placed a hand on DG’s shoulder. They stood in silence, looking at the ground where the woman had disappeared for a long moment, and then Cain set about to striking up a fire.
Black smoke twisted into the air as the terrible tree burned. DG and Cain watched with grim satisfaction, and when all that was left was ash and embers they stomped the glowing spots out and headed back for the palace.
Upon their return to the palace, DG ran to find Glitch, Cain following up a little ways behind her. Glitch looked up when DG threw the door open, and before he could say a word, he was enveloped in a warm hug and she was saying “She’s gone, Glitch, she’s gone,” and as the words sunk in, Glitch felt wonderfully light. He wrapped his arms around her, looking over her shoulder to Cain, who had just passed through the door and was smiling as well.
“She’s gone,” He confirmed and Glitch grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the embrace.
They all fell asleep in Glitch’s bedroom that night, soothed by each other’s company and the knowledge that the tree and the lady were no more.
Glitch woke in the night to DG's small hand frantically clawing at his. He looked over to see the color draining from her face as she struggled against some invisible binding- and there was Cain, so still at her other side…Then he felt it- like ivy, something he couldn’t see twisting around him. He tried to call for help, but his bindings grew tighter and crushed the air from his lungs. He gripped DG’s hand- now limp- and tried to fight to no avail. He could not escape The Green Lady’s embrace, and now she was free from her prison.
In his head he heard her words: Come here, draw near… and then there was nothing.