Submission (#8473) Approved

Another excerpt taken from a journal belonging to a traveling elseworlder:

After a long rest, I mostly recovered from both the boat ride to Ealei and the  long climb up the many stairs that connect the docks to the tree cities. When I found that I could take more than a few steps without trembling or leaning against the wall to support myself, I carefully stepped out of my rented room to explore the city I was in. It was fascinating to watch the Elnin who call the trees their home move freely, as if they were walking on solid ground and not high in the air.

As I wandered the area, I found myself on one of the sky bridges that connected two of the cities together. I decided to take the opportunity to stand on the bridge and look out between the trees at the crystal clear ocean. It wasn’t long before I felt something on my shoulder. Carefully I reached up and plucked what I thought was a manaberry off of myself. Manaberries grow only in Ealei, small blue berries from the elder tree.

However, something was off about the manaberry in my hand…

When I realized what was wrong, it took everything I had not to drop the imposter. What I originally thought was a berry was actually a beetle. The beetle had the same color as  a manaberry and was roughly the same size. However, upon closer inspection I saw that the beetle had a black head and yellow, shimmering eyes.

Before I could get a better look at the creature, the beetle spread its blue wings and took off into the sky. The beetle didn’t go far, settling down on a branch where there was an abundance of manaberries growing. Had I not watched where it had flown to, I would have thought it to be just another berry on the branch.

When I returned to the city, one of the elnin residents struck up a conversation with me. As we chatted, I brought up the encounter with the beetle and inquired if she knew anything about it. The elnin informed me that it was affectionately named the Berry Beetle, and had been around for a long time. The beetles were harmless to elnin and elseworlders alike, as its only food source was from the manaberries it impersonated. The elnin informed me that despite its looks, the Berry Beetle did not taste sweet like a berry. I believe she found amusement in the grimace that had surely taken over my face at the idea of eating one.

Now that I know that they exist, I will take care to close my inn room windows to keep the Berry Beetles out. As fascinating and harmless as they are, I don’t wish to see one crawling on my bed or on the wall.