The Fringes

I don't have a crush on the tree dude - Quinn

(Cullen pictured above -Credit to the artist-)

The scratchy voice threw me off. I was thinking that the hermit was an old man but he didn't look any older than twenty-five. His tired green eyes glanced over us, he studied me for a second, a wave of sadness and confusion flooded over his face, he looked away.

"Come on in," he said, stepping out of the doorway.

Aspen and I stepped in. The place was cluttered with old machines, many of which were broken. The machines seemed to be made of metal but nothing was bound by bolts or screws, it seemed almost like they were magically sewn together.

Aspen followed me as I looked around the place.

"You think he's hot don't you?" Aspen whispered looking at me, a slight smile on her lips.

"Wh-what!? No, I mean he's not bad looking, but I don't like him, he's like ten years older than me!" I glared at her. She looked like she was holding in a laugh.

"He's not ten years older than you, more like twenty or thirty! Elves age slower than you humans. But don't worry, it's not uncommon for female elves to be married off with that much of an age gap, you still have a chance my friend."

"I said I don't like him!"

"Sure." She smirked.

I walked towards one of the metal works in the far corner. It looked like a gauntlet. The metal was purple tinted and very rough. I ran my fingers over the glove, finding that small grooves were etched near the bottom.

"Ahh, yes." The young (old) man smiled weakly, "That was my wife's, a beautiful woman." He paused, then said, "you look much like her, yes, same eyes... Sorry, I'm rambling."

"It's fine," I replied. Aspen walked over towards us.

"So, Sir-"

"Please, call me Cullen, no need for formality. And excuse my voice, it's been a bit scratchy the past week, no idea what's gotten to it."

"So, Cullen, we were sent here by Morkin. He told us that you might have more information concerning the Five Realms."

"Yes! I've spent the last decade and a half dedicated to the research of it."

"Well, Quinn here"-Aspen gestured towards me-"says she comes from a place called Earth."

His eyes lit up. "I know only one of the names of the other realms, Nostignis, the land without fire, so this is new information! Wait," he paused, "Did you just say she came from Earth as in, she world jumped?"

I looked at Cullen. "I have no idea, I was on my boat and then it got stormy. I was-" a feeling of nausea and panic swept over me. "Sorry, um, as I was saying, I, uh, was in my boat during a storm and I fell off. As I was sinking I heard two voices arguing if I were to live... One said, "It wasn't her fault." They agreed to let me live, and then I blacked out, and now I'm here?"

"Hmm, well, the voices you must have heard were probably some sea gods. They are always arguing over which currents are who's and where their borders are. You must have gotten caught in the middle of an argument, hence the storm, and they took pity on you. You were probably already dead at this point, to be honest, and they couldn't send you back to your world, so they sent you here. To the Fringes."

Heyo my peeps, don't forget to punch the frick out of that lil star up there!

love you guys!

-Mari