Revelry while in wait

The gentle twinkling of a music box chimes through the silent night— temperature increasing as the westward wind delivers the chill from the mountains of Frostouched Pines. Unseen chimebugs let their bells toll to hold a symphony for the night— their audience is none but one traveler.

“Oh...maybe I should wait for sunrise before venturing out. It’s colder than I thought it would be…” Sylfr mutters as she stops in her tracks to look back— the busy lights of Moonreach still reach her form from where she stands yet the noise from the market can no longer be heard. It’s a testament to how far she has traveled on foot by her lonesome.

“But it’s still quite far from my goal. I can’t turn back now.” 

The time of the Luckflower Ball is just around the corner, hence the citizens of Moonreach have started with a fanfare to celebrate the next three consecutive evenings. As fun as it may sound, Sylfr and “loud noises” hardly go well together so every cycle she would celebrate the festivity differently; and this moment will be the same as usual. If her journey goes smoothly, she can reach the nearest settlement in the next hour without flying.

“Keep it together, Sylfr.” She shakes her head as she turns away from the city. “Think of this as your endurance training.”  With a little less hesitation in her steps, she continues southward.

Back at the royal city, plenty of xyns are still up and about despite the long hours the citizens have rendered to prepare for the upcoming revelry. The moons have reached the apex of its course, witnessing the Lunestrians in their joyous endeavor. Reverberating pitter-patter and chatter of the capital’s inhabitants drown out the sound of the insects singing on the other side of the wall, yet these do not distract the stalwart knights guarding from their respective stations.

Down the streets of the fashion road, the lithe form of a brown-coated pixyn weaves through the crowd with abandon haste. In its wake the figure would seldomly bump into a figure or two, yet at the last moment it made a graceful turn around the bend before it could hit any unsuspecting xyn further. 

“Sylfr!” Reed shouts among the bustling crowd. Rapid breathing overcomes her as she waits for her friend to answer her call, but all she receives are questioning looks from the folks nearby. It’s been the same result ever since she started her quest from two hours ago— anymore and she has no doubt that somebody would report her to the knights for unreasonable & persistent noise…which would be ironic considering the current events happening around.

Reed catches her breath for a moment but her mind continues on combing every possibility she hasn’t considered yet. The pixyn recalls the confession of her cleric friend— that going through the fashion district is one of the latter’s favorite activities to pass time. Window shopping is said to help take the stress out of her friend’s mind and considering what they had just gone through a while ago, she strongly believes that Sylfr would employ this tactic. She doesn’t want to cut corners, hence Reed has checked every venue that Sylfr frequents to; nonetheless, her efforts hadn’t borne any favorable results yet.

“Maybe she hid when she heard my voice…” Doubt creeps the back of her mind but when she sees a mean look from a far-off individual, she continues her search once more.

Pushing her wits to go beyond the box, Reed searches for higher ground and hopes that her desperate call would draw out her friend from her hiding. A bell tower is the first to enter her line of sight; a windmill and a silo came to her thoughts a second after. Of course, the fortress that houses the queen is the tallest of them all but Reed automatically rules it out as being off-limits— espionage is not her forte, nor is she keen to be the topic of the next piping hot gossip if she was caught trespassing the royal’s private territory.

“Silo it is.” Stretching out her leaf wings, Reed prepares to lift herself to the skies. When the support of the ground disappears from beneath her, she keeps her sight on the red tower from the distance with determination etched between her brows. Yet the distance does not shorten and instantly she detects that she had stayed stationary all the while. A quick glance behind tells her that it wasn’t her wings nor magic that had impeded her flight. Instead, Reed blinks twice, then thrice to make sure she wasn’t seeing wrong, but on the fourth attempt she can’t deny that a yellow paw bearing red markings is stepping on her tail that is stopping her ascent.

“Hey!—” Anger filled her anxiety-riddled mind right at that moment. Reed lights up the tip of her tail to sear her rude guest; the paw quickly freed her tail, and its owner jumped back to create distance between them. The pixyn wastes no time in casting protection magic onto herself but seeing that its target is about to take off, the other xyn spoke up: “I can help you!”

Dismayed, Reed casts a mean look back at her intruder. “You’ve been rude from the beginning for brazenly stepping on a stranger’s tail without so much of an apology, and you think I will just sit here and listen?” 

On a normal day, Reed would be nicer or even play a game with any xyn that goes out of their way to socialize with her— today just isn’t one of those days, however.

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry about that. Actually, I’ve been following you for a while now since there were reports about you.” An indignant squawk from the pixyn caused the newcomer to temporarily halt and check if something was amiss. Reed waved them off hastily with a “Get on with it” which they complied. “When I saw you were about to lift off, I, uh, thought of stopping you myself before you could get away. I think I know who you might be looking for, and where you might find them too.” 

Shock fleets across pink-green eyes at the mention of “reports”. “Woah. Hang on. Backup a bit. What is this about ‘reports’ on me?” Confusion replaces the scowl from moments ago. “And who exactly are you to have access to these reports, if they are true?” 

“M-My apologies. I was so eager to have finally found a confidant of my query but forgot my manners in turn. I am called Heath. An aspiring royal knight.”

“Hmm.” Reed scrutinizes him. “‘Aspiring’ implies that you aren’t officially one of them then?”

“Yes.” Heath nods.

“Then how am I supposed to believe you and not accidentally send myself into a trap?” The embers that once sat idly on her tail enlarged as her voice rose through the night, drawing attention of every xyn within proximity.

Unfazed by the outburst of his companion, Heath nods to a couple of onlookers without a change in his expression before shortly returning to Reed. “Just to confirm first, you are cleric Sylfr’s friend, yes?”

“I…I am.” 

A blink and then, “Forgive me for saying so but you don’t sound too sure.” 

“Grrr—” Reed closes her eyes. “Deep breaths, Reed. Deep breaths.” The frown that almost became permanent on her feature slowly melts away, but it has not entirely faded. “We had a fight, and we both needed some time for ourselves. It has been a long time since the last time we communicated so I went to check up on her earlier but…”

“She had gone missing. Am I correct?” 

Stifling a sigh, she retorts, “You shouldn’t finish your testifier’s testimony, you know. It’ll be your words used against you. Not doing a very good job as a knight-in-training here.”

“Aspiring knight.” Heath corrects. “But I will keep your advice for the future…”

With a wave of her paw, she introduces herself. “Reed.”

“Truth to be told, I wasn’t entirely sure if you were the correct recipient but your frantic running and frequent repeating of cleric Sylfr’s name cleared my doubts.”

Ignoring the image that she may have unintentionally made herself the star of tonight’s show, Reed asks, “‘Recipient’? What’s going on?”

“Yes, cleric Sylfr left a letter for—in her words—her dear friend Reed. Here.” A white envelope sporting a seal wax shaped like a crescent moon, reminiscent of Sylfr’s moon halo, was handed to Reed.

Without a second thought, Reed hastily slices the side with the tip of her tail but a yellow paw stops her from fully opening it. Obstructed once more from receiving a clue to her friend’s whereabouts, the pixyn looks at Heath with contempt while the moxyn gazes coolly back at her. “I understand I have been hindering you from reaching your friend all the while, but could I ask you to trust me when I ask you to save the letter for until you reach the outdoor pavilion by the lake?”

“Why, is this another one of her requests?” Reed worries.

“Forgive me, lady Sylfr. Seeing your friend worries so much for you, she deserves to know the truth at least.” Heath nods. “Yes, it is one of her requests.”

---

The silver cleric is greeted with welcoming smiles and a quick nod from stationed knights as she flies through the gates of Moonreach. 

“Ahhhh—Nothing beats the feeling of safety being inside the capital.” Giving her wings one more flap before fully resting them, Sylfr begins her stroll through the streets bustling with life, lights, and plenty of activities.

Some xyns behind their kiosk call for her to come check out what they had prepared; two adjacent stall of fruit quenchers are packed with a customer of moxlets clamoring for a cup each; those that offer games relying on physical strength and prohibition of magic is popular among the slightly younger vexlets; and far from the hubbub are individuals or two who are keen on making floral ornaments seem to have taken the roots of the trees as their camping spot. Seeing the latter reminded of Sylfr her agenda.

“If Heath gave my request a chance, Reed would be at the pavilion at a later hour. I should go there and start my preparation before then.” 

Yet to her surprise, the gentle flutter of her wing breaking the silence enveloping her arrival at her destination, Sylfr stares with wide-eyed shock when she sees the figure of her friend’s back towards her. The cleric softly trots towards Reed as she doesn’t want to disturb her, but a saddened voice interrupts the stillness of the environment. “You know my house is a lot closer than whatever place you went to so you could’ve just visited me, or— or slipped a note under my door.”

Deftly spinning into sitting on the letter to keep it out of her friend’s sight, Reed faces her friend with her nose held high, and continues, “I am angry at you but I am benevolent and fair so I will hear you out if you explain where you went to earlier.”

Sylfr chuckles. “The time of the Luckflower Ball is nearing and as is tradition, it’s a huge festivity that the Lunestrians love celebrating with the company of flora. But a long while ago, my dear friend and I had a fight because I overestimated myself—when words of a corrupted vexyn was sighted nearby, I wanted to show off what I’ve further learned and help the brave knights who were handling it. I rushed to the frontlines without thinking for my own safety. Luckily, the corrupted vexyn hadn’t harmed me, nor had it gotten anywhere close to me at all. Instead, it was a slight misstep that sent me tumbling down like a newborn in an area which attracted other ferocious beasts instead. It was only by luck that a knighting-in-training was nearby and helped me get back to safety. ” 

Reed harrumphs. “And what have we learned after this event?”

“That is to never let glory and pride overtake my mind…?”

“Well, I was thinking more of the saying, ‘It’s better to lose one minute of your life than lose your life in one minute,’ but that works too.”

“I’m sorry for making you worry, Reed.” Sylfr bows to her friend, yet this action only makes her pixyn friend get flustered. “W-Whoa hey! What’s with the fancy gesture—I told you don’t do that to me.”

“Ah, but if my friend doesn’t accept my apology, then I hope this crown of laurel can express my sincerity.” The moxyn glows with soft light as she manifests the laurel wreath before her. “Would you allow me the opportunity to crown you with this wreath, Reed?”

“I-If it makes you happy. Sure.” Reed looks away but she doesn’t distance herself from Sylfr. The latter takes this chance to get closer, to carefully lower the laurels on her friend’s head.

“Happy Luckflower Ball.” Sylfr smiles.

Sylfr watches as the frown and anxiety completely fade away from Reed, and what replaces it was the latter’s eyes shining in wonder and amazement similar to a babe that had just received a new toy.

“Do you like it?” She hesitantly asks. Reed slowly nods back.

“Um,” As if it was hard to tear her sight away from the crown, Reed timidly begins, “Can you put your left paw forward?”

“Of course.” Without further question, Sylfr does as her friend had told.

Glowing a soft hue indicating her use of magic, a form made up of white clusters slowly materializes into view before Sylfr. Reed guides it slowly but gently towards Sylfr’s outstretched limb, and with a tug on the string, it sits snugly in Sylfr arms.

“This is…a bracelet of lilies?” Sylfr asks in amazement.

“A bunch of lilies-of-the-valley, in fact. Turned them into a bracelet because a flower crown is too common.” The pixyn quickly swipes underneath her snout. “Heh. You’re not the only one who came up with a surprise. If I had more time I would’ve made three more for you.”

“Happy Luckflower Ball, Sylfr.” Reed’s happiness crinkles the corners of her eye.

Ruffling the top of her friend’s head, Sylfr says, “Happy Luckflower Ball to you too, Reed.” 

Bonus:

“That knight in training that rescued you…by any chance they are called Heath?”

“Yes, that’s correct. I see you have acquainted yourself with him already.”

“Pfft. He was the one who delivered your letter to me and I wasn’t just going to take a stranger’s gift, no matter how too good to be true it was. Also he told me he wasn’t even a fully indoctrinated knight—he was just aspiring to be one!”

“Oh?”

“‘Oh’? That’s it?” 

“No, no. It’s just from when he helped me, I felt as if he was closer to becoming a full-fledged Royal Knight. I’m surprised to learn that he’s not even officially trained yet. But if that’s the case, I was thinking of making a clover charm as a good luck gift for him. What do you think?”

“That’s really kind of you, Sylfr. Since he also helped me calm my nerves, I’ll help you out.”

“Thank you, Reed.”