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It was mostly dark in the adoraburr field. The sun had long since disappeared behind the horizon, leaving only a couple of fireflies and the light of the moon to keep the field and its habitants from living in the shadows with its dangers. Yet, it was perfectly quiet and lonely.
“Hey.”
Keyword, was.
“Runaan I– I didn’t hear you coming.” Ethari wiped away his tears in what probably thought was a subtle way, then, turned around to face the elf boy. “Hello there,” he said in a soft voice.
“Good. You should not.” Ethari gave him a confused look and he spoke again. “What I mean is that since I am an assassin it is my duty to–it does not matter.” He shook his head and signaled at an empty space next to where Ethari was sitting. “May I?”
“Sure thing.” He smiled and moved over to make more space. “So… what brings you here? I thought you had sparring practice until sunrise.” He hugged his legs closer to his chest, hoping his eyes weren’t too red.
“Indeed, that is correct,” He said. “But I had also spent the whole day training, therefore, Ciara suggested I should take a break.”
“So you listened to her?” Ethari stared at him in disbelief.
“She is my mentor and the leader of the assassins, of course I did!” He exclaimed. Ethari continued to stare at him, not trusting his words one bit. Runaan huffed. “Alright, alright! She also, uhm… will not let me in the training field anymore. She said something about how I ´burn myself out.´.” Ethari chuckled.
“You gotta admit that she’s got a point, you should take better care of yourself. Can’t really help anyone if you’re worn out,” He teased. “Although, you still haven’t told me why you are here.”
“Right… After I 'decided' to take a break, I went to look for you at the forge but you were not there, so I asked Tiadrin where you might be and she told me to come here. Guess she was right," He hummed.
“She always is.”
“I refuse to believe that is true.” The boy rolled his eyes and they laughed together. Runaan was slightly hesitant the next time he spoke up, and if he was being honest with himself, he really didn’t want to. “She actually mentioned something else, something about a jewelry contest in the Moonshire...”
Ethari's smile dropped.
“...So you know.” Runaan nodded. “Do you have no questions at all?” Ethari asked harshly, defensively. The hands around his legs tightened.
“Only one,” He said softly. “Why are you so upset? I have never seen you react so poorly after losing a competition,” He stated. “If anything, it only inspires you to work harder.”
Ethari didn’t answer right away, no. He was currently too busy humoring the tiny fur-ball that wiggled happily on his palm. He half-smiled at the cuteness of the creature, gave a deep breath, and spoke up.
“I guess I am… disappointed in myself,” He huffed. “I worked so hard for so long, but I was too eager and too confident of my skills.” The tiny adoraburr looked at him and jumped down, disappearing into the tall grass. “I poured my heart into this project!” He exclaimed, exasperated. “I got my hopes way too high… And then I was met with the harsh truth.”
“And what would that truth be?” Runaan asked softly.
Ethari stared at the place where the adoraburr had vanished into the grass and sighed. He hugged his knees even closer to his chest and hid his face. “I am not good enough. No matter how hard I try.”
Runaan was probably already aware of this though, Ethari thought. He was one of the most promising trainees from his group after all. How could someone like Runaan ever believe in someone like him ? Surely that was complete and utter–
“Nonsense!” Runaan shouted, standing up abruptly and taking Ethari out of his spiraling thoughts of negativity. “How could you ever say something like that?!” He narrowed his eyes down at him.
“T–that is just the way I think!” Ethari panicked. He had never seen Runaan get this worked up about anything before.
“Well, it should not be!” He exclaimed. "It is my friend you are talking about, show some respect.” His calmness was slowly returning to him, yet he held Ethari's gaze in a challenging way. Ethari could even hear him breathe.
He was honestly astonished and kind of scared, too. He had known Runaan for a while now, yet he had never seen him in such an emotional state. Not even when he lost against Lain or Tiadrin during their sparring sessions, or even that one time his favorite blade broke in a half. Not even during their history class while they talked about the atrocities the humans took and kept taking part in, no. He always kept a cool gaze and a terrifyingly calm demeanor, even though one could tell by his words that he was filled with rage.
He didn’t react as strongly to any of those things. Then, why...?
And then, it struck him.
“You consider me… your friend?” He whispered.
"Well of course–" He looked away immediately, ears lowering. "You are a good elf… anyone would be able to see that and besides, it is not like I hate your company." The intensity in his voice had disappeared completely by now, leaving a rather shy tone to it. Looking at Ethari didn't feel right at the moment, nor did looking away, yet one felt safer than the other and so that way he ended up staring down at his hands and the way they toyed with the hem of his shirt.
The other boy only smiled fondly.
"You know… people don't usually yell at their friends." He chuckled and patted down the place where Runaan had been sitting just seconds before.
"...I am aware," Runaan whispered. He sat down slowly, though not as close to Ethari as before. "But the things you were saying about yourself…" He shook his head. "They were wrong."
There was that calmness again, but somehow it felt softer.
"Maybe they were, but I don't really think I'll be able to change my mind this time…" He hummed.
"Allow me to try, then." There was a hopeful shine in Runaan's eyes. It was truly a look of empathy and worry for Ethari's health. Ethari had to look away.
He chuckled. "What do you plan on doing?"
Runaan knitted his brows together, taking a moment to think.
"Meet me here in a week from now." He said.
Ethari raised an eyebrow. "And what are you gonna do?" He teased.
"You will see." Runaan stood up and started to walk away quickly.
"Runaan, wait!" Ethari exclaimed and Runaan stopped his walking to look back at him. "Thank you…" He said softly.
Runaan didn't really know what to think of that. Why thank him, if he had done nothing yet? Ethari was truly a… interesting individual. He gave him a quick nod and continued with his walking.
* * *
A week had passed since the last time Ethari saw Runaan at the adoraburr field. A week since Ethari had been crying alone and Runaan had found him. A week since he told him they would meet here.
Ethari was waiting patiently in the same spot he had been sitting the last time, adoraburrs climbing up his arms and making him giggle.
"You're all cute little guys," He chuckled.
Grass swooshed behind him, and that was how he knew he was no longer alone with the creatures.
"Good evening Ethari, I am glad to see you would make it," Runaan hummed.
"Runaan! Hello. Would you like to meet my new friends?" Ethari held one of the furballs with both hands and raised it above his head. Runaan extended one finger to caress the creature, and it snuggled against it.
"You have an adorable friend." He smiled. "Ready to go?"
"Where are we going?" Ethari left his friends down in the grass where he had found them and stood up to follow Runaan.
Runaan didn't answer, nor did he stop. They walked in silence under the light of the full moon before arriving at a rather sketchy-looking place.
"A cave?" Ethari questioned.
“I have noticed you like things that glow,” Runaan said carefully, his hands slightly trembling behind his back. “You have also mentioned several times that you like flowers,-- some of your best works being a reflection of it.”
He thought back to all the times he had requested a new weapon from the young craftsman and how each time there had been flower petals carved into the handle. He usually would not care about the way his weapons looked, as long as they got the job done. Yet he couldn’t help to stare at Ethari's intricate designs. Interestingly, he had not seen anyone else’s weapon wearing a similar one.
“Still haven’t told me why you dragged me to this very small, creepy-looking, dark cave” He demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I did not drag you here,” He noted. “Either way, I have brought you here to make a point, but first, we have to wait.” He sat down in the middle of the cave, or was it the end of it? Ethari couldn’t tell.
How is he able to see anything at all in this darkness? And what does he mean by that? I am so lost right now. Ethari sat down as well, carefully making sure there was nothing harmful underneath.
"A few days ago, you told me about the jewelry competition and the… situation revolving around it," Runaan started softly, his eyes closed. "Tonight, I have this to tell."
Ethari was mildly confused for a solid minute when suddenly, a light started to shine upon them through a hole from the sky. Had that been there the whole time? Ethari was now fully confused.
As the moonlight started to fill up the space in the tiny cave, everything from within lit up as well. Glowing mushrooms came to life in the walls of the cave, all of them with different sizes and colors, yet they complemented each other perfectly. And even though the cave glowed softly with the light of the mushrooms, Runaan was like a beacon to his eyes.
Literally .
Runaan was still in the middle of the cave inside, the moonlight reflecting on his hair and making him look like a sort of lantern. Small plants started to light up around him just as the light from above lined up with the circle. They were flowers. Flowers he had never seen before, and they were glowing .
"What… is this?" He gasped softly as he stared around in awe, yet his eyes always drew back to where Runaan was sitting.
"These are Lunablooms," Runaan started explaining. "They usually grow inside caves and bloom under the full moon's light. That's part of the reason they're so hard to find." He narrowed his eyes, thinking back to how long it had taken him to find this place. "They're one of my mom's favorite flowers, too. My other mom often used them as gifts during their courting."
"They're gorgeous," Ethari gasped. He stood up and slowly started to make his way to the center of the cave where Runaan was still seated, surrounded by the magical flowers. Ethari sat down in front of Runaan and when he cleared his throat, he only stared at him expectantly.
"All plants grow beautifully, yet all at different paces and under different circumstances," Runaan said softly. He took one of the flowers with infinite care between his hands, caressing the petals as if they would break any moment soon. "You will bloom eventually, you just need to keep pushing towards the moonlight. Ethari, you have an incredible talent when it comes to craftsmanship and I am positive that you will make it to Master Craftsman someday, so please, don't give up just yet."
Ethari took a second or two to think and take a deep breath. Then, he burst out laughing.
Runaan was confused, had he said something wrong? No, there was no way. He had practiced those words over and over in front of his mirror during the past week to make sure he wouldn't fail in front of Ethari. Then, why…
"Oh! Runaan." Ethari hugged his stomach as he laughed, tears making their way down his cheeks. "You're!… so!… adorable!" He managed between gasps and giggles.
The long haired boy could feel the embarrassment climbing up his neck and turning his ears and cheeks as red as moonberry juice. "I… I…" He stuttered. Why was he stuttering?!
Ethari kept gasping for breath, desperately trying to calm his laughter down. "Please know, I'm not laughing at you," He panted. "It's just– you could've easily said that one week ago! You didn't have to make such a big deal out of this" He smiled kindly. "I am not complaining though…"
"I was not sure of how else to get your immediate attention…" He swallowed hard, the flower in his hands trembling.
"Runaan, you don't have to make big gestures to have my attention," He hummed. "You already have it most of the time if I'm being honest." His ears lowered and chuckled shyly.
Neither of them said anything after that for a while.
The Lunabloom blessed them with their soft glow;, tiny particles flowing around them and then up to the sky, as if they were trying to reach the moon. The two elves watched the show in comfortable silence.
Ethari kept thinking about how magical everything felt right now. About how, deep down, he knew he could never find the right words to thank Runaan for this wonderful experience and the happiness it brought him. He was actually quite surprised at how thoughtful Runaan had been, trying to find what he thought would be the best way to lift his spirit. Truth is, he got it right.
"I did mean it, though," Runaan said, finally breaking their silence.
"Excuse me?" Ethari asked confused.
"What I said about your skill as a craftsman, Ethari… I can see how much you enjoy creating weapons and jewelry, it is your passion–" He looked down at the flower in his hands, and a kind smile made its way to his face. "I could not bear the thought of you giving up just because you did not believe in yourself anymore. That is why I brought you here to tell you..." He raised the flower with a slow motion and hesitantly reached for Ethari's left ear. When the other boy leaned in, he put the flower carefully on his ear and said, "I do believe in you."
Ethari could feel his cheeks growing hot and so could Runaan. Neither of them had expected this meeting to go the way it was going yet… it felt right. Being there, together, in a shiny cave, surrounded by gorgeous flowers under the light of the full moon. It simply felt right.
"Thank you Runaan, really. It means a lot to me."
"Of course," He hummed. "By the way, would you like to stay here for a while more? There are still several hours until the moonset and–"
"Runaan." Ethari put a hand over his, his smile as bright as the moon that shone upon them. "I would be more than glad to."
Later that night Ethari found out that, somehow, the Lunabloom had become his favorite flower.