Submission (#1231) Approved

It had been two days prior that Hanami found a faerie ring on one of the floating islands she and her sibling Mallow had been playing on. Hanami wasn’t particularly against sharing her lucky find, but with Mallow everything seemed like it was all about studying plants when she found things like this. A faerie ring of mushrooms would not escape her siblings examining eye and Hanami simply wasn’t sure she could handle another long lesson on flora native to Kyendi. Mallow had once gone over all the varying types of jungle vines in the area with her until her eyes glazed over and she found herself tangled in some. While she had to admit the vine information had come in handy later…she was more interested in the luck related to her current discovery, not the lesson Mallow would have for her.

Sneaking off through the backyard of their aunt’s home in Kyendi, Hanami worked her way up a stone path between the jungle leaves. It was only a few hours prior that she was turning her bag inside out looking for appropriate offerings. Only after she was satisfied with her selection did she carefully pack them in her bag and get ready to slip out. Anko had spotted her on her way out though so she was forced to explain where she was running off to. In a hushed tone she told her aunt where she was going. Originally Hanami wasn’t sure she should say but her aunt Anko raised the point that Bazil would turn the whole town upside down looking for her if she left without some sort of note where she was going. So in the end she told her aunt what she had found but of course made Anko promise not to tell Mallow.

Now as she scaled the elevated path she grew a bit weary and nervous. Had she brought the right sort of things to leave in the circle. One was a precious adventuring bag of hers. It had seen better days and she was likely due for a new one but this one had experience in its bound seams. She hoped the fey would be able to do something with her gift to make her a well equipped adventurer, either in skill or actual supplies. In the bag were a few other items she thought might get the message across though they were dubious in terms of practical adventuring supplies. The first items were a handful of candies that Hanami arguably thought would be good for energy but that seemed to be as far as she got in terms of packing the small bag. Other items she would present to the faerie ring included a very shiny rock, a pretty orange leaf she had found in Bellmoril when they passed through there once, and a pendant she had found dropped and buried over time while wandering down a path. Hanami decided maybe the fey would have more interest in it as she was unlikely to ever find the pendant’s original owner. It had been well buried over time after all.

Placing the items in the faerie ring Hanami eagerly waited for something to occur. After a while though it began to feel like watching plants grow, as it became impossible to really tell if anything was actually happening or not. Wrapping a small cloak she had brought over her shoulders she waited, impatiently fidgeting from time to time. Slowly her eyes began to feel heavy as it started to get a bit darker out. In the end she dozed off entirely as she waited. Only later did she awake groggily and almost fall over in surprise as she rose. She realized there was a thicker blanket around her shoulders and her father was there beside her, watching the moonlight pour down through the mist that hung in the air in this region.

“When did you get here father?” She asked as she settled down a bit closer to him. “Just a bit ago. You fell asleep out here and could have caught a cold.” He replied. She could tell he was worried because his eyebrows were ever so slightly furrowed, although his expression was pretty lacking otherwise. Bazil wasn’t the sort of elnin to wear his heart on his sleeve but if he had been really worried Hanami was sure he was capable of expressing it a bit more. She was so busy talking to her father that she stared at the faerie circle for a while before it dawned on her that something had changed. Her bag and the shiny stone was missing. The only object that remained in the circle appeared to be the pendant that she had found, but comparatively the pendant looked even more worn down than before. It was almost like it had been taken somewhere, played with and then spat back out.

“It changed!” She announced, standing and staring in awe. “It worked father! It really worked! I’m going to be the best adventurer.” She said proudly. Quickly she recovered the pendant from the circle and slipped it over her head like a lucky token. There was definitely nothing magical about it but to her she had a good feeling about the future adventurers. Bazil remembered when he was a kittom and not nearly as skeptical of Kyendi but he tabled his thoughts. Most of all right now he was just happy Hanami was content and that she hadn’t gotten too damp and chilled before he found her. “Alright, best adventurer. Let’s head home.” He said as she trotted across the bridge ahead of him. She was so excited he did wonder if she even heard him but shrugged it off. Hanami on the other hand felt ready. Who knew what she would do next.

As they arrived at the house she skittered up to her aunt. “I did it! I found some luck.” She explained excitedly. Anko didn’t have any time to respond though before Hanami was off to find their sibling, Mallow. Upstairs the adult elnin could hear the two kittoms happily chattering away and sharing their experiences.