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E-Sumi-Yan had always been an early riser. After all, it was only natural to awaken with the sun, as any other creature of the forest would. On this morning however, despite the lack of windows in his cavern abode, he lay awake knowing the sun was not to rise for some time. A quiet feeling tugged at the back of his mind, gently insisting that there was something important to be done.
He was not one to ignore his instincts, whether they came from him or the will of the forest. And so arise he did, making his way to the guildhall where the silence of the morning was replaced by the gentle burble of running water. The underground spring that once helped form the cave housing the Conjurers’ Guild now provided ambience to the large room, allowing the space to retain its feeling of meditative calm whilst devoid of its usual residents.
If he was being honest, E-Sumi had expected the vague important something to take more effort to find. While the usual residents were not to be here for some hours yet, he found that the hall was not, in fact, deserted. Nestled beneath a railing at the back of the room was a person of slight frame bundled in a thick hooded cloak. Too slim for a Lalafell, he thought as approached the figure. As he did, he thought he spied a tail twitching from beneath their cloak, which he could now tell was quite worn and none too clean. A Miqo'te kitten then. “Hello there little one.”
“Hi,” a small voice answered. Seemingly unconcerned with his presence, their gaze remained fixed on the alcove above them. “Did you know you have glowy flowers here?”
“Indeed I did,” he glanced towards the gently glowing blooms, taking notice for the first time in a long time of the chasm between the platform and the cave wall. A chasm which this wayward child was sitting concerningly close to. At least they’re leaning on the railing. “They’re quite beautiful. Did you come down here to see them?”
The child shook their head. “I found them.”
“Why did you come here then?” He knelt down beside them as they considered his question. He could see a sliver of their face in profile from behind the hood, just enough to tell it was scrunched up in thought over what should have been a very simple question.
“It felt... Better,” they paused again. “The air is comfy here.”
“Comfy?” In a humid cave in the middle of the night? “You aren't cold?”
Their face changed from concentration to annoyance, and they finally turned to face him in response to his, apparently, stupid question. “That's not what I--” Bright green eyes met his for just a moment before they were drawn up to the top of his head. Unsurprised, he watched her eyes grow wide at the sight of his horns as she struggled to finish her thought. “...what I meant…”
“Do I frighten you?”
She instantly snapped her eyes back to his before shaking her head furiously. She reached her hands up to remove her hood --Were those scales on the back of her hands?-- to reveal two pairs of bone-white horns sprouting from her head. Two on top, like his, and two where her ears would have been were she a Hyur like him.
So not a Miqo'te, then. There was a word in the back of his mind somewhere, he was sure. But having spent all his life in the Greatwood, he failed to call to mind what was, until now, only a concept to him. “Well, would you look at that! We’re not scary at all are we?” He smiled down at her, relieved to watch her giggle and scoot closer to him in response. Closer to him, and blessedly farther from the edge of the platform. I shall have to see Beatin about redesigning those railings later. “What's your name, little one?”
“Ayaka!” The little girl was beaming at him now, delighted by this newfound connection. “What's yours?”
“I'm Brother E-Sumi-Yan. What did you mean before, Ayaka? About the air?”
Wanting to make sure she was understood this time, Ayaka’s face scrunched up in concentration as she responded. “I woke up because the air was angry. Then it got stormy, so they landed the sky boat. When the grownups started arguing with the people at the desk, I went towards the… umm… where it wasn’t angry anymore. Here!”
“Fascinating. Few people would have been able to sense such things.” To do so untrained, not to mention being so young, was all but unheard of. Something and to have been done to anger the Elementals into causing their unplanned landing. And that a child was allowed to wander out of that building unseen… “So your family just arrived here by airship then?”
She shook her head. “No family, I just wanted to see their boat.”
“...I’m sorry, what?”
“I wanted to see the boat. They were nice and told me it goes up. And it does! It goes really high and you can see really far, and the wind smells really good all the way up there. But once the sky-- airship goes up it can't go down again for a long time. Now we're here.”
E-Sumi could not keep his face from darkening with each new detail she gave him. “Ayaka, does your family know you went on the airship?”
“No... Momma's been gone for a long time.”
I’ll have to figure that out later. “Does anyone know you went on the ship?” She just stared up at him in lieu of a response, seemingly confused as to why her tale wasn’t as exciting to him as it was for her. “When did the airship land?”
“Today? Um, tonight? It was dark. Are you mad at me? “
“No, little one, not at you.” He forced himself to smile again. It would not serve to frighten her now if she didn’t realize she should have been frightened already. “Don’t worry. I’d just like to have a word with those grownups on the airship, assuming they are still at the docks.”
“Oh, okay.” With no blame on her shoulders, she quickly brightened back up and moved on. “Can I stay here? I like it here.” She turned her gaze back towards the alcove above her as she spoke, her green eyes reflecting the glow of the flowers.
“Of course you can. It has been a long night for you. Would you like me to show you somewhere you can rest?”
“Will there be glowy flowers there too?”
“Hmm. There are a few small glowing mushrooms growing on the walls of my chamber, how does that sound?”
“Yay!” She scrambled to her feet and latched onto his hand as he led the way. “Brother?” she asked, tugging lightly at him as they walked. “What’s a mushroom?”
