Aella (manxman) - ON HOLD

Welcome party

AN: How about some Ceri time ;)

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Ceri

"Vreis!"

His small arms held my waist tightly as he lunged himself at me.

"Cewi you're back!! Did you miss me? Did my fathew send you to get me? I miss him, how is he? Did you sail? Did-did you swimmm?? Do you twain? And hunt tigews?"

"I smell fish in the bag. The fish is mine" Epona stood with her hand on her hip, smirking like she owned the whole mountain, "Hey Ceri, little turtle was crying last week"

"I didn't cwy!"

"He cried for an hour and refused to eat. He wanted to come visit you and papa"

Vreis pouted and hid his face against my stomach. "I missed you..."

I patted his head and Epona sprinted closer and hugged me over Vreis. "I'm glad you're back. Let's play! Other children are stupid around here"

I kept an arm on Vreis and I hugged Epona with the other. Since I left the mountain, I didn't really take the time to think about them. Now that they were here, I realized how much I missed them.

"You two got taller"

They laughed and hugged me more. We didn't talk further because I was pushed forward by one of the Aella-hunters who had climbed after me. I stumbled but managed to avoid falling over.

"Hey!! Don't treat him that way! He's MY brother!"

My eyes went wide as I watched Epona glare defiantly at one of the hunters. I was suddenly both terrified and amazed. She had never acted this way before. No one ever speaks so boldly to a hunter. Not even the Leader raises her voice at them.

Vreis' hands clutched tighter on my clothes and I pulled Epona to stop her from provoking anyone. It would be horrible if any of them held a grudge against her. And to think she would understand that? The little girl hissed their way like a snake.

The Aella-hunters didn't look pleased in the least. The rest of the Aellas were gathering around us. They were still in a state of shock to my presence. I misinterpreted their silence as acceptance. Soon, very soon, I was about to discover the truth.

The herd was getting thicker around us pretty quickly, and I actually checked if I could sneak away, to anywhere but the center of attention. However, they were closing in and with the hunters behind me, I didn't have much of a choice but to remain put.

"Aello Ceri!" I turned to see a familiar vibrating red hair, falling in heavy locks around a smiling face. "I never thought we'd meet this soon, Aello. I was looking forward to seeing you on the next Agape, yet here you are. I'm so glad"

Siena was smiling seductively at me. She actually looked happy to see me as she threw her hair behind her shoulder and hurried my way. She went to say something else, but one of the Aellas stepped before her and pushed her not too kindly. Siena glared at her and went to protest, but she wasn't given the chance.

"You will not get close to him, young Aella! You will not talk to him and I will make sure your mother reminds you well of our rules once she gets back from the hunting grounds!"

Siena scoffed and looked away, displeased for being treated that way. She wasn't the kind of Aella to be scolded or looked down at. She had a sharp tongue and a very strong mother to back her up. It was odd to see her being treated like that.

And that was all it took for the Aellas to realize that my presence was causing them... well, everything bad, actually.

Challenge, insult, test, disrespect, danger and even doom. My mere existence was a declaration of all of that. And they started to argue among themselves. They were speculating on the purpose of my visit as well as ways to send me back or punish me. Even throwing me off the mountain to serve as a lesson to all Aellos was suggested. More than once.