Submission (#4981) Approved

On the last leg of his long trip, Alais looses a pencil, makes a new acquaintance in Adavir, and attempts to make a trade with the fae.

Word count: 1,249
Region: Zevija
Elnin resonance is for: Alaistair
Other elnin: Adavir
Mini requirement: Include an adult in the act

     Staring at the cloudy sky spread out before him, Alais sighed heavily as he realized it would be another quiet night.  In any other place he would see that as being a good thing but he had hoped for a grand finale for his final night in Zevija.  The village had been talking about a starshower but with this cloud cover he would be lucky to even see the moon!  At least it would make traveling easier come morning as the brisk breeze was pushing the clouds across the sky so it would be clear by the time the sun came up.  The crimson kittom had been gone from his home in Kyendi for over three months now and he was ready to get back to his books and studies.  The trip had been greatly needed for both experience and introspection; Alais had learned a lot during his travels, grown in many ways and not just in the mind.

     Picking up his things he realized the pencil he had been using to write in his journal was now missing.  With a frown he looked around the location he had been sitting, picking up a few loose crystals, rocks, and shifting the sand as he did so in hopes that it would miraculously show up.  It wasn't until he took a step back he realized the shape the crystals formed in the loose sand.  Wthout realizing it, the crimson kittom had sat right next to a fairy circle and probably put down his belongings right into the middle of it.  Grumbling Alais surmised the fae had probably assumed it was a gift for them.  Plenty of legends pointed towards little brownies and gremlins who lived within the rocks and crystal grottos of Zevija.  These small people 'borrowed' items to aid them in their daily lives.  While Alais didn't begrudge them a pencil, it was one of very few he had left and he didn't feel like buying another before returning home where he had a fresh stock waiting for him.

     Looking around once more, Alais noticed a small shadow move on the ground before a cloud covered the moon back up.  His ears pricked up, and he raised the lantern he had previously shielded away to see the darkened sky above him.  Glittery crystal facets shone in the suddenly uncovered light and he squinted for a moment in response.  He froze for a good long moment, searching the area he saw the shadow, waiting for something else to move.

"Ummm... hello?"

     A hesitant voice came from behind him, causing Alais to spin around, raising up his lantern a little higher.  The crimson kittom saw another elnin come from behind a crystal outcropping.  Orange fur contrasted against the cooler blues and greys of the surrounding rocks and bright green eyes peered towards the crimson kittom, blinking slightly in the lantern light.  "Oh hello," Alais responded in kind. "Are you lost?"

     The fellow traveler nodded as he raised a pawed hand to wiggle it from side to side.  "Only partially.  I seem to have lost my lantern and thus lost the path.  I put it down for a moment to examine the reaction of the crystal structures around here to certain sounds but when I turned around my lantern had vanished."  The creature frowned, brushing the darker copper hair out of his eyes, before continuing.  "I thought I knew the way back to the village but, without my lantern I seem to be having an issue keeping on the path."  He gestured towards his feet and then vaguely at the moon-filled horizon.  "I was using the moon to guide my angle but I seem to have miscalculated."

     Alais listened and nodded in agreement.  The rocky expanse could be hazardous to someone who was unfamiliar to the area.  You never knew if or when the path may drop you down into an inescapable crevice... or worse.  "You were lucky you ran into me.  If you had continued down that way you would have ran right into the hot springs.  There is usually a sign but I think a recent rockslide took it out and not many people come back this far so I don't think anyone noticed until now."

     The elnin nodded in response as he continued to look around now the area was illuminated with a soft glow from Alaistair's lantern.  "I don't want to pull you away from what activity you may have been doing but would you happen to be willing to direct me back to the correct path?  Running into the hotsprings at this time of night is not something I wish to experience.  He looked around at the rocks and crystals that surrounded them, noticing the rough edges and sharp points.  "And sleeping out here with no tent doesn't seem like a happy prospect either."  As an after-thought he held out a clawed hand, "I'm Adavir by the way, and you are?"

     "Alaistair," the kittom answered in return, taking the hand in his own and shaking it vigorously.  "And yeah, I was just about finished here."  Looking for my pencil but otherwise done here... he added to himself.  "You said you were missing a lantern? I'm missing a pencil, it was only a stub but it was the last one I had.  If you happened to put it down right here," He gestured towards the fairy ring of crystals just to the side of where he was standing,  "Maybe they ended up in the same place?"  He told Adavir of the little people that the villagers spoke of to illustrate his thought.  "I don't really have much to offer as I have been traveling for too long and most of my supplies have been used up but maybe if you have something we could see if they would trade?"