Submission (#7584) Approved

“Gonna go for a waaaaalk, gonna have some fuuuuuuuun. Doop doop ba da doop,” Cassian sang to himself, as he walked along the forest path.

He had taken some vacation time for himself, and decided to enjoy the perpetual night life of Silveil. While the markets at Silveil were well known, and a great tourist place, he preferred the quieter life of the forest, besides, he got to look at some pretty awesome plants and night creatures!

He continued walking along the path, humming to himself, until he got to what seemed to be a fork in the road, he had to choose which path he wanted to go down next. There was an odd sign between the three paths, very worn away, and almost illegible.

Cassian leaned in squinting, “huh….says something about fey folk? Weird, oh well,” he said to himself and shrugged his shoulders.

“Eenie, meanie, minie, moooooo…..middle path it is!”

He continued his walk, enjoying all the glowing fauna and trees around him, and was rounding a corner when he saw….well, he wasn’t sure what he saw exactly.

“What….what am I looking at?” he said out loud. 

It was a circle of tiny glowing mushrooms, with even smaller glowing rocks between each mushroom, and in the center….was an egg.

“I…what…WHAT? Is that an egg? No way.” he said as he inched closer to the clearing. But sure enough, it was an egg, and no ordinary egg. It was a faint green color, and seemed to shimmer slightly under the night sky. 

“What is it doing all alone out here? It must be cold….I could take it back with me, but I don’t have anythi- OH, I CAN GO TO THE MARKETS, someone must know what to do there!”

Cassian quickly grabbed the little egg, and started running back through the forest path, clutching the egg close to his chest to try and keep it warm.

He didn’t realize how far he had walked, but he was determined to get back to Silveil’s marketplace in a timely manner. He couldn’t let the egg be all alone with no care, or get cold.

Huffing and puffing, he finally made it to the start of the forest trail, taking a moment to catch his breath before yet again running towards the markets. He still had a bit of a ways to go, but he had a one track mind right now, and was determined to get the proper gear needed to protect this egg.

Finally, he reached the marketplace, but he had no idea where to even start looking…

The marketplace was well known among locals and tourists, and was always packed with many Elnins, surely someone would know where he could find some gear?

Running up to the nearest stall, almost tripping and tumbling over his own feet, he started talking to the stall owner.

“Wooaaaah boy, hold on. You’re talking far too quickly for me to understand!” the stall owner said, as he put up his paw to silence Cassian.

“Now then young lad, why not start from the beginning? I made out something about an….egg?”

“Yes! Yes! An egg! I found this weird shimmering green egg in the forest! And it feels kind of cold and I didn’t want to leave it alone and I’m looking for gear to…I’m not sure, help it? Protect it? What do eggs even need?”

“Well well well, that’s no ordinary egg son, that’s a fey folk egg. Haven’t seen one of these since I was ooooh, around your age. They only really appear to those that they deem special and worthy. Where did you find it? And not to worry lad, I’ve got the materials you’ll need to keep this egg safe. I’ll get them together for you while you tell me how you found it.”

Cassian started explaining how he had just went for a walk through the forest paths, as he prefers the silence there compared to the marketplace, when he came to a fork in the road.

“A fork in the road? There isn’t actually one there. The fey folk must have really wanted you to come across this egg. I wonder what it’ll hatch into. Hmmm, oh, here’s the things you’ll need to help it hatch eventually!”

“HATCH!? I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT EVEN NOW. WHAT DO I DO WHEN IT HATCHES!?”

The stall owner chuckled, “Come back here lad when it hatches, I’ll help you out. Not sure what will hatch from it tho, that’s for sure a mystery. But keep it nice and warm in this satchel here. I’ve lined it with fleece, and it should be stabled and protected in there while you walk around and go on adventures. But don’t lose the egg, you’ve been fey folk touched….and you don’t want to anger them.”

“.....I’m so screwed oh my god. I just wanted to come here for vacation and go for a walk in the woods….now I have an extra companion.” Cassian sighed, defeated.

Cassian turned away and started to walk away, turning back to quickly thank the stall owner but….there was nothing and no one there. No stall owner, no stall. 

“Was….was he a fey folk? Guess I better be careful taking care of you little one,” Cassian said as he looked down at the egg in his satchel.

“Well, let’s go on an adventure together, and when you hatch….let’s come back here and see if that vanishing stall owner returns.”