Submission (#4364) Approved

Father had told her not to venture out too far

But Seele's curiosity always got the better of her. 

All around, the world was dark. Hours ago Seele had been walking amongst foliage covered cottages, and tall narrow town homes caked with flowering mosses. The heavy scent of the ever blooming forests and fairie shrouds washed away all smells in a floral tide of perfume. 

Seele prayed for a sign, any sign. 

Yet she saw no lanternlights in the distance, no pumpkins and no harvest wagons. There was not so much of anything other than flowers in the thick of these woods. Beautiful pink trees and a carpet of petals that now took on a shade of pale purple hue in the blue moonlight. 

   Elenion was a sight to behold in the daytime. Rolling countrysides, and square puzzle piece like patches of farmland. There was always a slight scent of greenery and flowers wherever you went in Faerindell, and plenty of fresh air to breathe. The people here were modest people, often brash and loud- yet kind to those willing to lend a hand. The Feyhallow celebration here was also just as grand... so many fruits and vegetables, so many colors, sights and sounds. The vastness of it all was intoxicating, and beautiful. It all felt like home. It all felt safe... that was until the forest lured Seele in. 

She had let the flowers lead her along a dangerous path- and now she was hopelessly lost. Seele had been tempted along by the blooms- finding each flower that she saw to be a rare and delicate prize that she would bring home to her papa. If only she had made it back to their caravan wagon instead of going into the thick snow like petals. 

As of now, she felt as though she was trudging through a dense cloud of petals. Everywhere she turned, there were more and more seas of unending petals and tree trunks that disoriented her. Everything here looked the same.

   Maybe it was only Seele's imagination, but she could feel the forest closing in around her. Suffocating her. Blocking out the light and any chance of escape. As the hours got later and later, and time ticked on Seele stopped to rest by a stump. Tired and disoriented- she had no idea where she was. She looked around from her seat, finding nothing more than more of the same. 

Seele was a smart girl, so smart in fact that she obeyed almost every rule her father had laid out before her. She practically worshiped the man- he was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. He was also never afraid of anything, he was especially never afraid of speaking his mind. On top of it all, Seele had witnessed the man produce god-like tools that she in her wildest dreams could have ever thought up herself. He was an artificer by trade, and a very good one at that. No matter what society had tried to push on him when he was young, it was the profession that he had boldly decided to dedicate himself to. He was a great man, a true god of his craft- or so it seemed to the small child who now sat alone, buried in thoughts about him. 

   Seele missed him sorely. 

   Her thoughts swirled around her like a vortex that dragged her down, and buried her in a more troublesome and nagging feeling... What if she could never make it home? She then began to entertain the more horrible thoughts floating around in the back of her skull... 

   Her father had always told her to be wary of fae folk, and even more wary of fae creatures. They were the kind of things that loved to snatch up young and unsuspecting elnin and whisk them away to a dark underworld wrought with corruption. Other children that Seele had played with earlier that day had also loved to tell that creatures like that loved to gnaw on the bones of any sort of youngling.

   Chills ran up and down her spine as if they were playing a game of tag along her back.

The sheer thought of being lost forever made her sick to her stomach- everything in her vision began to bend, as tears started to fall from her misty eyes. She felt as if she were a little boat fighting against monstrous ocean waves of emotion. 

   And that's when she heard it. 

   The shuffle of footsteps through the leaves.

Seele sat up, ear tips pointed towards the stars like little radars in the night. Her heart beat went from a gallop to a frightened pounding in her chest, as if it wanted to climb up her throat and into her mouth. Her breathing quickened, yet she breathed as quietly as she could so as not to make a sound. She scanned the surroundings.

And then she saw it, the dark figure not too far outside the clearing that she had come to rest in. An eerie glow indicated one large round eyeball in the middle of it's head. It had large feathery appendages that seemed like multiple arms swaying in the breeze. It stood there, just outside the moonlight, menacingly watching her... 

Seele let out a blood curdling scream and started to run, but before she could get too far into the other side of the clearing, she heard her father's voice.

"SEELE!" 

Seele stopped dead in her tracks, whipping around to focus her attention on the cyclops creature, which was in fact- not a cyclops at all. Grimaldi stood amongst the purplish hues of the forest petals, lifting a small magical lit orb into a boxy lantern. The lantern of which he then lifted above his head to give a little more light to the situation. The eyeball that Seele had thought she had seen was nothing more than one of her father's magical items. 

Grimaldi's small and rather round pomu zipped around the light source, fluttering like a moth around a flame. Grimaldi's face scrunched as he swatted at the small nuisance of a hairball. The pomu, who most commonly went by the name of "Bug", then looked offended at the notion. Grimaldi was always rather grumpy, and Bug was no exception to the grumpiness. 

   Like Grimaldi, Bug had learned how to grumble and complain- even if he couldn't really speak, Seele was sure that Bug was saying something nasty to Grimaldi at that point. The small gurgling noise of Bug's grumbles could be heard as he zipped around once more, and took a seat on Grimaldi's shoulder in a huff. 

  Staring at all this, It did take a moment for the situation to dawn on Seele. A sudden wave of relief poured out of her eyes in the form of tears as she ran to Grimaldi, hugging onto the fabric of his pants leg and crying into it. 

   Grimaldi sighed a bit, his eyes finding Bug resting on his shoulder who looked back up at him. He then stooped low to pick the small kittom up into his arms.

   "So this is where you were? You had me worried when you didn't come back to the cart before dark, but I never imagined you'd have gone this far ``There was an obvious hint of annoyance in his voice, yet it was softened this time in consideration for Seele's tears.

   This was a rare occasion, and something new for Seele. The poor thing had been frightened the whole entire time she stayed stranded out here amongst the flowering trees. No doubt, she felt traumatized. Along their walk home Grimaldi spoke in hushed tones, comforting her as they went along. At some point, Bug had even come to rest on Seele's belly, attempting to give small comfort in the form of a hug. It wasn't long before Seele had tuckered herself from crying and Grimaldi was carrying what felt like a sack of potatoes in his arms. 

With another exasperated sigh, he climbed the steps into his caravan wagon- gingerly opening the door so as not to wake the now sleeping child and Pomu. With much care Grimaldi tucked them both into Seele's bed- and he then shook his head, turning away to stare at his desk that bore several unfinished projects. 

   Tonight had been a long night, but he supposed that this was just another part of fatherhood that he never really expected. 

The worry had gotten to him- but now that she was safe and with him... all was right in the world again. And with that, he sat at his desk and began to tinker.