The Last Fire Weilder

Ponderment within travel

-Sotoshi's View-

It's been almost a moon since I've left the Court of Night. Come the new moon, I will be released- as per the deal. 

I wandered about through the golden and bronze hues of the wooded copse around me. A heavy coat of both trodden and untrodden mounds of leaves that fall quite frequently from the giant, age-old trees that seemingly touched the early night sky. 

Amongst the mounds of leaves untouched by the feet of passerby were small hills of dirt that were only noticeable if you happened to step on one. Others that know better see them as what they are; Homes. Amongst the branches of the canopy far above were similar situations. 

The many branches that spread along the trunks of the trees hid what was above them. Many platforms and weaved nests of branches and leaves sat within the cover of the warm hued leaves. Looking up occasionally you would see the movement of a body walking across the meeting branches but only if you really looked.

Some may think it was a barren place until you reached the heart of the land. 

The population in the Court of Autumn was stable-borderline thriving considering their justice system was like no other. 

In this Court, there are five heads of leadership; The Agricultural lead, the Lead of Trades, the Citizen Lead, the Regiment Lead, and the Lord of the Autumn Court whom I am currently under employment for.

My current mission is to investigate manifestations of the blight. So far, I'm just seeing patches of dead ash with darker strands veining out of them. The only real damage there has been is the slight contamination of a tree. The only visible effects are greying leaves. 

I made my way back to the heart of the Court. It was hard to miss- a huge tree that could easily fit a good sized town inside. And it does. The many intertwining branches of the tree held rooms for visitors or conferences. 

The Court of Autumn was by far my favorite Court and the one I was most favored in. 

I summoned my humanoid form, my ears springing from my head around hair that was once long and auburn, my breasts transformed back into my smaller frame and my skin grew slightly lighter in the caramel coloring of my citizen disguise. 

I pushed my lavender hair out of my face, It was getting pretty long... 

You should grow it out,

Keegan's words ran through my head. come to think of it, it was always within my power to not but I guess it never occurred to me that I am able to go against Lord Valkaias' word.  

-Keegan's View-

The sun was almost set and the Elder, Cheyanne, and I were packing up the maps and scrolls into their baskets and chests. 

The market was coming alive as day wares filed out and night wares filled in to take their stalls. It was very interesting but also alarming to see all of the shining eyes reflecting light in many different colors from the soft glows of the many colored lanterns. Eyes of many shapes colors and sizes passed by as we worked our was down the terrace. I'm sure I spotted a few with blue glowing stripes and scales but they soon disappeared after I spotted them. 

The sun was finally set and when Cheyanne set the baskets down outside of a large library looking building, she turned around to take the ones I had carried from me when she lay her eyes on me she sucked in a slightly startled breath. 

"Wow- Okay... I did not know you had bioluminescence. You don't look like a nocturnal fae." I gave her a confused look and she turned to push open the large ornate doors, taking all of the maps from us and setting them inside before the lights all around the large place started to come to life and offer their blue glow. 

"This place is huge-" I looked around and spun in a circle to get a full feeling for my surroundings. The intricate wood carvings on the fence bordering the loft which was filled with many many books. What I saw down here was a large percentage of the sectioned seemingly offices were covered with papers and books and maps until you couldn't see the walls. 

Cheyanne and the Elder began to put things away with unquestionable expertise while I stood there and analyzed as they slid things onto shelves, set them on scroll stacks which looked very much like wine racks. 

In what seemed like no time the Elder retired to one of the offices and proceeded to pull his magnifying gadget over his eyes and study the papers in front of him, occasionally writing scribbles or sketching lines with a compass.

"Cheyanne-" She was walking up the spiral staircase to the loft when she turned to look at me with a concerningly flat facial expression. "What did you mean by 'bioluminescence'?" I asked her. 

"It means there's a pigment in your skin to see in the dark. It's primarily used to attract prey or ward off predators with a display." 

"Display? Why would I have that pigment or whatever? Am I nocturnal?" She kept walking up the stairs and I followed her, regardless of the fact that I may not be welcome. There are things I need to know if I'm to stop the blight.

I saw her turn a corner into one of the many book cases that lined the hall reaching floor to ceiling. There was about a three foot gap between shelves. I carefully walked through, careful not to touch anything until I reached the back wall where Cheyanne was reading books with titles I didn't understand- or read for that matter. Some of the books were worn and falling apart, some looked new(er) and some had pages of what appeared to be notes and tabs sticking out of them. 

"Here, now stop asking me questions. There's a loft at the end of the hall, you can sleep there for the night. The journey is long, actually sleep because I don't need you dying on me before we're there."