Submission (#8159) Approved

Ealei was a complete one-eighty from Faerindell. While Faerindell had solid ground, Ealei was built on docks, planks, mangroves, and staircases. Bright colors from flowers adorned many of the buildings and trees in Faerindell via the faerieblooms. But here? Honeybee had to look down into the crystal blue waters to see colors of all kinds from the fish that swam between the mangrove roots and rocks jutting out of the water.

All of this to say- Honeybee felt a bit out of her element in Ealei.

Coming to the region hadn’t been in her plans several days ago. However, with the yearly Starfall Faire drawing closer, Honey be was surprised by a sudden opportunity. She was asked to come to Ealei and set up her drink stall in the capital of Nalonalo, where the Stairfall Faire was the biggest and grandest! Her travel and rooming expenses would be paid for as well. This felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity, and despite her reservations she would be a fool to say no. Honeybee agreed to the offer and immediately began to prepare for her journey.

After taking an airship to Ealei and being in the region for a few days already, Honeybee still felt uneasy with every step she took. The sky bridges connecting the tree cities never swayed or wavered and the docks she and her drink stall now stood were sturdy. Even so, the elnin couldn’t help but be cautious with every step. She wasn’t a great swimmer and didn’t particularly want to work on her swimming skills while she was here, especially unprompted by falling through a hole or a loose plank.

Based on how crowded the docks were, Honeybee could only assume that she was the only one with worries. There were elnin going to and fro, putting up large decorations and hanging up festive lanterns. On either side of Honeybee’s stall were other stalls, offering a variety of trinkets, decorations, lanterns, and food for sale when the festivities started. Everything would be officially open in an hour, but Honeybee already felt that her goods wouldn’t compare to the wonderful things being sold around her.

As Honeybee was hanging the banner up in front of her stall, a familiar face approached her. An elnin named Arlo who had helped her carry her supplies onto the airship in Faerindell and off the airship in Ealei made his way through the small crowd of elnin over to her stall.

“Have everything set up?”
“Almost. I have the stall done, now I need to actually start making drinks so they’ll be ready when the festival goers arrive.”
“Need some help?”

Honeybee mulled over the offer. She had been prepared to man the drink stall by herself but she knew doing it solo would be difficult. Between making drinks, handling money, and cleanup, she’d have her paws full and moving around constantly with no time to catch her breath. Since Arlo was offering… she gave a soft nod.

“Please. I have an extra apron you can wear. Come over and I’ll show you what you’ll be doing!”

The next several hours went by in a blur. After Arlo received his crash course, Honeybee instructed him to handle the transactions while she focused on making the drinks. The stalls around them were plentiful in food and snack selections but were lacking in the drink department. Before the other stalls around had to call it quits for the night, Honeybee had to put up a ‘Sold Out’ sign. Sales had been amazing today, but it made her realize how much more she would need to stock up if she came back next year.

When Arlo was done counting the change in the register, he turned to Honeybee and asked if she needed help cleaning.

“Oh, no, it’s fine! You’ve done so much for me already. Here, take this, and enjoy the rest of the festival!”

She smiled as she handed Arlo his pay.

“You don’t need to pay me.”
“Of course I do! You helped! I’m not sure how long I would have lasted by myself. I appreciate you, thank you. Now go have fun!”

Honeybee dismissed Arlo before she got to work cleaning. To her surprise, Arlo didn’t stay away for long as he returned with delicious looking treats. He held a bowl full of breads shaped like fish in one paw and had several meat skewers in his other paw.

“Come on, I want to show you something.”

Honeybee finished wiping down the counter before stepping out of the stall to follow Arlo. The two elnin walked up a set of stairs (to Honeybee’s dismay - her legs were aching from all the running around today ) and eventually made their way onto a sky bridge that looked out across the water. Now that the sun had set, Honeybee couldn’t see the fish in the crystal clear ocean water below. However, as Arlo handed her a fish bread and a meat skewer, she learned that she wasn’t brought up here to look at the water.

Fireworks began to light up the night sky. Honeybee had seen fireworks in Faerindell before, but they seemed like sparklers compared to the massive lightshow above her. Vibrant colors of orange, red, and yellow lit up the sky in loud bursts before trails of light fell down, seeming to disappear into the ocean. She couldn’t imagine seeing something this grand over the apple fields of Faerindell.

The two elnin watched the fireworks silently, too busy eating to chat. When the food was gone and the fireworks were done, Arlo helped Honeybee navigate the skybridge back to where she was staying for the evening.

The Starfall Faire this year had been wonderful, and Honeybee looked forward to being back in Ealei again next year.