Shuûn (March) 27, Tau : Late Morning

Sunlight streamed golden through the flaxen haze above the trees around a small clearing in the southwestern border of the Forests of Shikaä; a country nestled comfortably between four others, bordered by tall mountains.  Small bugs, some appearing only as glowing bobbles of light and others as phosphorescent dragonflies, flitted on lacy wings around the forest, feeding on spores and fungi.

A stream ran down from the mountains to the far west, trickling down pure and crystalline through the perimeter of the clearing, emptying out into a deep, dark pond.  Silvery fish with scales like pearls and translucent blue fins like moonlight swam through the clear, cold water, hiding underneath duckweed and water-flowers floating above the pond's surface.  No one knew how far the pond went down, or what might be lurking in its obscured waters; for the country was yet untouched by the iron and machinery of the humans.  Spirits still wandered the woods, and Gods still ruled—for, in Shikaä, the Age of Believing had not yet ended.  The Faith in the Forest Spirit hadn't yet dwindled, and the power tying the elements together was yet to be disturbed.

Around the edges of the forests was a rickety old wooden fence, overgrown with moss, lichen, fungi, ivy and dusk-blooming creeper vines.  It was there to keep the Things in the forest out.  Crops of rice and daikon spread from the northern-most edge of the village in the clearing, and a few animals in their pens brayed noisily in the heat of late spring.

A few huts and shacks lay scattered about the edges of the small clearing, all facing towards a main square where people gathered to talk, and children to play.  There was a gate at the southern edge of the village, but it was blocked off with a sign telling of no exit for the people—for it was dangerous to go out in the open forests.

No one in the village had any knowledge of anything that was wrong with their country; just that the Things suddenly appearing had something to do with the Myth of the Gods—a holy text written in ancient times by a High Mau.  In the Myth of the Gods was a prophecy foretelling the death of the God of the Forests of Shikaä, the Childlike Forest Spirit.  It was presumed that the Prophecy was to come true soon, for strange things were happening.  And yet, not everyone believed it, for people do not always believe what they cannot comprehend and things that are of no current concern to themselves. 

Awakened by the sunlight streaming in on top of him through the open smoke-hole in the top of the thatch roof above his head, a young boy sat up straight on the tatami-mat floor he'd been laying on.  Rubbing his eyes, he looked around himself at the interior of the small hut.

An arrangement of beads and baubles lay strewn about the matted floor.  He stretched and kicked a round, blue marble big enough to fill his palm.  It knocked against another stone, and made a loud clinking sound.  The boy looked down at it, and it reminded him of the sky through the trees of the forest—a sight that he hadn't been able to behold for a long time due to the danger outside of his village.  He had never even seen the ocean, for none of the elves had left Shikaä for ages—since maybe before the Barrier was put up around the Heart of the Forest, centuries ago.

Noticing the position of the sun on the floor through the smoke hole in the roof, the boy realized that he was late.  Rushing to get out of the house, he stumbled over a hollowed-out rock bowl that held green, shining beads.  His mother, who had formerly been sleeping in a wooden chair near the fire-pit, woke slightly at the ruckus he had made.  Smiling, she watched as her precious son nearly took down the door-flap as he stumbled out into the village square.

Scampering to get his balance back, the boy ran faster.  As he ran out of his mother's sight, she lazily dozed back into a peaceful sleep.  Not even she knew that that was the last time she'd ever see her dear son again.

When the boy reached the crops up north of the huts, a group of children were already there.  They held sticks and stones, and bore angry, taunting faces.

"You're late," one said in a nasally, annoyed voice, tossing the stone and catching it again with the same hand.  "'Strange rune'.  We had to take your turn at watching to crops today, you lazy runt."

"What sort of punishment shall we have the freaky-odd 'strange rune' undergo?" another asked, laughing.

"Let's see… maybe he should take everyone's turn at guarding the crops today?  Or maybe for the whole month!"

The boy thought about that.  A whole month of sitting and watching the crops?  The moon would be full next night… it would be so many days until the next full moon; the end of the month.

"What about two?"

The boy shuddered, and tried not to back away; tried to stand up to them.

"'Strange rune'!"

Tears came to his eyes, for their insults hurt him like daggers.  Even though he had heard the same thing from them time and time again, he couldn't help but feel down.  It didn't matter if he was used to hearing their harsh names, they still hurt him.  No matter how many times a sword stabs into you, it still hurts.

"Defective little—"

"Leave him alone," ordered an older voice.  The elven children looked up to see a beautiful young girl standing behind the boy.  "You are only children," she continued, pushing her long, strait, golden hair over his shoulder.  "Punishment is the job of the Elders."

"But Miss Lotus," one of them said.  "He was sleeping while we watched the crops.  He's always just goofing off while we do work, practicing with a stick as a sword and such."

"Leave him alone," she told them.  "Be off with you now."

Hesitantly, they backed away, and then left, whispering to each other about the unfairness of the day; whispering to each other about her, about Lotus.  She and her brother were always first on the gossip of the villagers; they were the talk of the town.  'The strangest siblings in Shikaä', it was said.

"I'm sorry, older sister," the boy said, waving his stick at the girl as if it were a sword.  "I had a dream that I was a Knight in the Royal Order of Imperial City.  I wish it would come true.  Then I wouldn't have to sit here getting picked on by them."

"Everyone has their dreams, Eruûne," his sister, Lotus, answered.  "But you do have to do the daily chores around the village.  I can not protect you all the time, for they were right.  If you promise never to do that again, I am sure they will forgive you."

"No they won't," he threw the stick harshly at a tree beyond the fence, watching as it broke in half and fell into the stream.  "They'll never like me, sister, no matter what I do."

"Do not be so pessimistic," she smiled.  "Just apologize, and then be sure never to miss your watch again."

"I don't want to apologize to them!" he pouted.  "They'll just laugh and start throwing things at me like they always do.  I don't want to stay here… I want to leave Shikaä and become a Knight of the Royal Order in the Imperial City-States, like in that book you read me, sister."

"Eruûne," she answered.  "It is not safe for us to go outside anymore.  I miss taking my magic lessons, but I still do my chores.  We could be stuck here for a very long time before the situation of the forests is sorted out—maybe even our whole lives.  So you have to learn to just accept things as they are, and be patient."

"They won't let you take your lessons?"  Eruûne inquired.  "But you know a lot of magic! You shield the village from the monsoons in Lan (February) every year! You could get past anything in the forests.  That's unfair!"

"No," she explained.  "What would be unfair is if they let me go.  If only I could go out, think how everyone else would feel—for they, too, have things they like to do outside of the village."

"But…"

"Eruûne, go tend to mother.  I need to finish picking daikon to season the rice for dinner now."

"But…!"

He watched reluctantly as his sister waved and left back to where the crops were; for he was well aware that Lotus would hear no arguing.  Turning away, Eruûne opened the door-flap of his hut and stepped inside, kicking the green beads across the floor.  Someday, he swore, he'd go and become a knight.  To prove himself worthy of becoming one, he'd have to do one good deed, and that, Eruûne decided, would be helping the situation of the Forests of Shikaä so the taboo of leaving his village would be lifted, making everyone happy.  Little did he know, they wouldn't be as happy as they were that day for a very long, long time...

Kai (May) 1, Omega : Nighttime, Five Years Later

Moonlight streamed down now through the haze.  The elven village in the clearing was quiet as always, with only the sound of crickets from the forest and the flapping of the lustrous dragonfly bug's wings to be heard.  The condition of the Forests of Shikaä had not gotten better; only worse.  Eruûne, now a few years older—and yet still just as forgetful of his chores—silently crept out of his small house where his sister still slept.  He held a deer-hide bag with some nuts, roots, dried plants, and rice wrapped up with daikon leaves.  A container with fresh creek water made out of a sealed off and hollowed bamboo stick hung from his leather belt.

He was garbed in a laced-up green tunic, gauntlets, spats, and khaki pants with large stitches up the front and back seams.  His almost chin-length golden hair blew with the breeze, along with the black leather strip of cloth tied around his forehead to raise his bangs from his eyes.  No matter what the condition of the forest, he had made up his mind to become a knight and make his sister smile like she used to again.

He had nearly reached the exit to the forest, when Eruûne was stopped by a voice behind him. 

"I thought you would go someday."

"What?" he inquired, swerving around to see his sister standing behind him, holding a long item wrapped up in off-white cloth.  "I thought that… you were asleep."

"You were always so independent, in a procrastinating sort of way," she continued.  "Practicing with a stick for a sword instead of doing the daily chores around the village; day dreaming instead of cleaning."

Eruûne looked down at his feet.  He knew that she was right.  He never really had done anything that he was supposed to.  It just all seemed so unimportant!

"I know that if mother and father were still alive," she said, "that they would be proud of you, Eruûne.  They would be proud that you are striving to reach your goals.  But…"

"I don't want to leave you, sister," he whispered.  "I thought it would be easier leaving if I didn't have to say good-bye to you.  I really want to go, but…"

"I know what you mean," she smiled vaguely—ever since five years ago, her face had never lit up quite the same as it had before, when everything was happy.  "Do not worry, I know that I will see you again.  But, Eruûne, you cannot possibly become a knight without a sword."

After the young woman said this, she held out the cloth-covered item in front of her, ushering him to take it.  "What is it?"  Eruûne managed as he picked the thing up.

"A sword, brother," she laughed—and he noticed that her laugh, as well, wasn't as joyous, "Great-great-grandfather's sword."

"I can't take this!" he gasped, "You've had this forever!"

"Please do, Eruûne!" she pleaded, "I cannot use it if I am stuck here in the village.  Besides, I do have great-great-grandfather's other blade."

"But Lotus…" Eruûne murmured, unwrapping it, and swinging it about, "I've only practiced with a wooden stick!  I've never had a real sword before!  But… this one… it's so light…!  I thought that swords of this size weighed so much more!"

The hilt of the sword was polished silver, with green shining gems embedded in it.  The blade was—Eruûne flicked it to see what noise it would make—not metal.

"You will learn," Lotus said, "It is lighter than most swords of its size, since the blade is made of porcelain, not metal.  The grip is wrapped with leather, see?  It is more comfortable to hold in your hands than a wooden, iron or silver one.  Great-great-grandfather must have used magic to make swords like that."

"Won't the porcelain break?" he asked, flicking it with his finger again, "It looks pretty fragile."

"No," she explained, "It is very sturdy and sharp, too.  A special kind of porcelain that does not break easily, and can withstand extreme temperatures."

"Wow…" Eruûne sighed, swinging it around again.  "Me, with a blade this special?  One of great-great-grandfather's blades!"

"All you need is a shield," Lotus announced, "And you will be ready to face anything."

"Oh, that's right…" he looked down at his hands gripped on the leather handle, "But until I save up enough to buy one somewhere I'll just have to do without."

"I think I hear someone coming."  Lotus warned, "You had better go now."

"But sister!" he called as she pushed him past the sign, "I'll…I'll come back to see you soon!  I'll return after I do my good deed!  I will, I promise!  Don't tell anyone that I'm leaving to do this, okay?  Please, I don't want either of us to get in trouble!  It's against the rules for me to leave this village… so don't tell them!"

"I would not tell them, Eruûne," Lotus smiled.  "Now go before you get seen, and do get in trouble."

"They won't even notice I'm gone, will they…?"

He turned away from her, and ran into the dark forest.  Lotus waved, and quickly hid behind a rock near the pond so the group of young men assigned to security duty wouldn't see her.  He would have turned back, just then, and run into the safeness of her arms if the men hadn't come.  They would see him coming from Outside, and punish him—and his sister as well.

The trees in the Forest outside of his village grew close together, and let barely any light through the canopies of leaves.  Everything was overgrown with the same creeper vines, fungi and lichen that the old fences were.  Ivy and pallid beard-like moss fell from the trees in lacy sheets, covering up the darkness in-between.

Eruûne looked up, expecting to see the light of the moon through the haze like a large glowing ball that slowly faded to darkness and had no definite sides.  Instead, there were only leaves and the glowing insects that looked like bobbing balls of light—the only things letting him see through the darkness the forest housed day and night.  Now and then, he caught a glimpse of a shadow moving through the dark trees around him, or the crackling of leaves under something's invisible feet.  The Things were watching him.

"The Forest is a dangerous place for a mere boy," a taunting voice echoed from somewhere.

Eruûne glared around him, daring the Unseen to show itself.

"If you think that you can meddle with the Forest Spirit's fate, you're wrong, little boy," it continued, "If it was easy enough for a child, then it would already have been done.  There are reasons that taboos are set.  Going out of the safety of your village is just endangering yourself.  Turn back now."

"Why are you pestering me so?"  Eruûne asked out to the dark night around him, "Can't you just let me be?  I'm not going to meddle with the fate of anything like that!  I just want to become a knight, and do a good deed here to prove that I'm capable!  Who are you, anyway?"

"Who am I?" it asked arrogantly, "Who am I?  Who are you little boy?"

Eruûne stammered, "I'm…  Eruûne Oregano Aeyr Arenai, ap—."

"Aeyr?" the voice interrupted, "Did you say…  Aeyr?"

"Yes," the boy answered, trembling, "Eruûne Ore—"

"Aeyr… as in the Sword?"

"I…  I…  I don't know!"  He shouted out to the mysterious voice echoing from nowhere.

"What would one of Aeyr be doing out here in this part of the Forest?" it asked, probably more to itself than to him, "Certainly, you're not looking for your Sword?"

"No, I have it on me, see?"  Eruûne gained more courage, unsheathed the white blade, and swung it around hoping the Unseen could see it.

"And you had me frightened there for a minute!" the voice sounded pretty relived as it chuckled, "I thought you meant your Sword, not that pathetic… is it… a porcelain blade?  Ha!  I never thought I'd see one of those again for a thousand full moons!  It's been so long…"

"Since what?" the boy found he had nothing else to do, so he sat down on a large rock, and prepared for a long conversation.

"Oh just since—" it began, but then thought better of it.  "You say your name is Aeyr, but you don't understand when I talk about your Sword.  There's something suspicious about you, 'strange rune'."

"My great-great-grandfather had other swords, beside this one," Eruûne managed, not wanting to sound stupid.  "But I certainly don't have them.  He hid or sold most of them before he died."

"Oh really?" the voice was sarcastic now, "Maybe you really are Aeyr.  Was this great-great-grandfather of yours an artisan in sword-making?"

"Yes," Eruûne answered, "He made swords, and collected ones from far away places to study their method of making them.  However, I don't think that he made any ones so special that an Unseen would have heard of.  And even if he did, this is the only one that I have."

The boy showed off his new sword to the forest around him.  It gleamed in the light of one of the dragonfly-like insects as it floated by. 

"You don't know?"  Said the mocking chuckle, "How could anyone not know if his own great-great-grandfather was the crafter of the Legendary Crystal Blade of Aeyr?"

After Eruûne didn't answer it, the voice spoke again.

"And didn't you say your name was Eruûne?  That makes it even more interesting.  They say that she's named 'Eruûne Myrrh Aeyr Arenai', but you say that your name's a bit different.  I wonder why.  Maybe you're not who I thought you were at first.  At second glance, I don't really see how such a scrawny little boy could be the Destined One.  Of course, tales do get changed over generations…"

Scowling, Eruûne jumped off the rock, and ran trying to avoid the voice.  However, it followed him.  "Ever heard of the Great Spirit's Prophecy, child?"

What a stupid question.  Of course, he had.  Who hadn't?  The Great Spirit's Prophecy was probably the first thing any eldritch parent of Shikaä told their child, for it was the beginning of the Myth of the Gods.

"Do you know what it means?"

The voice around him started singing.  It was an eerie song, reminding him of old elvish tunes played in the village at night on harp and chanter:

Dark the figure that slashes his god

And dark the field around him

But white the day that on them dawns

–Their doom it comes behind them

Green the tunic that dark it wore

And green its envy rises

But red the anger that on them draws

—Their doom it comes behind them

Blue the eyes that open then

And blue the coward that showed them

But orange the sun that on them sets

—Their doom it comes behind them

"What does that mean?"  Eruûne inquired to the Unseen.  "It sounds like the Prophecy.  It also speaks of a dark figure who slashes his God, whiteness, blue eyes, red anger, green envy, and a setting sun."

"Tch," it grunted, "Tales get changed throughout generations, child.  That is the Prophecy."

"Is it now?" he asked, "I wish I knew what the darkness it talked about was.  Then—"

"It we knew that, it could be prevented from happening," it interrupted.

"I know… but…" Eruûne stammered, "It said something about a green tunic in that version.  Green is the traditional color of our tunics."

"The Forest Elves of Shikaä, you mean?  You don't see many of them around anymore, wandering the old forest paths.  All like your group—cowards locked away in their villages."

"You call us cowards?"  Eruûne asked, "But what has anyone else done?  We all know that our end is near.  The death of the Forests of Shikaä.  The doom the Myth and Prophecy foretell.  However, what can we possibly do?  You already said that a mere child like me couldn't do anything.  It's not like anyone else could."

"True, I guess," the Unseen agreed, "Five years ago, scarcely any of your people believed the Prophecy, unlike today, where there isn't one person who doesn't.  But still, you're not trying to do anything to stop it from coming true!"

"And neither is anyone else!" he argued.  "It's unfair that we get called cowards!  We're not even able to do anything!  My people are forced to stay inside the village, and my sister can't even go outside of it for her magic lessons!  In addition, you said that all of the forest elves were locked away in their villages…  I thought it was only mine!  What do you mean?"

"Everyone has their problems, child," the voice echoed, sounding like it was yawning.  "The forest, the elves, the faeries, the Spirit.  If we could, we'd fix them all—but the world's not meant to be perfect, so we can't.  Nothing's meant to be perfect, and that's why there's the Prophecy.  The fake versions of the Prophecy that you know, however, say that there's someone, Xi that will defeat the darkness, and save everyone.  However, that's not true.  The darkness—only we priests of Seingô know what that truly is.  Xi may exist, but I don't quite know about it 'saving' Shikaä…  Dark the figure that slashes his God, and dark the…"

The last sentence faded out to nothingness, and the voice was gone.  Eruûne turned about, to see if he could see any creature scampering away, but he saw nothing.  Was the thing really invisible, or was it just cloaked in the shadows? Wondering what sort of creature the Unseen really was and what it meant, he continued on walking down the path that lead through the forest.

Kai (May) 2, Omega : Noon

The next day, Eruûne decided that he was going to make his way to the Temple of the Sun and ask the monks there what he could do to help the forests.  Surely, they wouldn't taunt him as the Unseen had?  His village was near the Temple of the Sun, and in the old times, his people would go there for help; when they could go there for help.  It was a two-day walk for someone like him.  An experienced traveler could probably make it in less than half the time.

Eruûne strode on, the Prophecy ringing in his mind.  It seemed just like a simple rhyme; like it should be easy to decode.  It was almost like he was holding the answer to it in his hand on a piece of paper, but it was written in the ancient Shikaän runes—which he couldn't read.  It was very infuriatingly frustrating.

'Green the tunic that dark it wore'… Green must refer to the forest elves of Shikaä, for the traditional tunic color for them was green.  And dark must mean evil.  'Dark the figure that slashes his god… that dark it wore…' why would a Shikaän elf kill their god?  It just didn't make any sense.

As he pondered the Prophecy further, Eruûne wasn't watching where he was walking.  He wasn't used to the darkness of day under the thick canopy of leaves, and didn't have good eyesight anyway.  The unstable ground underneath his feet suddenly gave way, and he fell into a deep sinkhole.

Everything around him was dark, darker than where he'd fallen from, except for the small circle of bug's light coming in through the tiny hole he'd come through.  Rubbing his back, Eruûne stood up.  His sword hit something, and he swerved around to come face to face with… a wall.  Trying to feel around the sides of the hole, he found that it was actually quite large; a roundish room, really.  The elven boy's footsteps echoed against the ceiling, and besides that and his scared breaths, he heard only silence.

When he had felt all the way back to where he'd fallen, Eruûne tripped over something and landed in a puddle of water.  Luckily, his food was saved, but his clothes were soaked.  Searching on the ground blindly with his hands, Eruûne struggled to find what he'd tripped over.  His hands came across something heavy and he drug it over under the light to examine it.

It was a dark-brown leather bag tied with rough twine.  Opening it, Eruûne held it upside down and shook out the contents into his hand.  A few large coins trickled out, and they were covered with a thick layer of ancient grime.  Dusting them off, he noticed that they were foreign… the markings on them were like none other that he'd seen.  He wondered where they were from as he stuck them back into the bag and attached that to his belt.  Had someone fallen down in this hole before him?

Reaching into another bag on his belt, Eruûne took out his flint and steel and lit a bent root sticking from the wall aflame so he could see better.  Using it as a small torch, he investigated the cavernous room around him.

There wasn't much else there; only more murky water and dead plants ages old.  But on his second time around, he found a thin, silver fay blade stained with dried blood and strapped it to his scabbard after cleaning it.  Why would a sword be in a hole under the ground?  As he was making his way back to underneath the hole, something caught his eyes.

Bones.

Elven bones.

They lay sprawled about against a wall.

Someone had fallen before him.  Eruûne let out a loud scream and jumped back, landing again in the puddle on the floor.  The skeleton wore a greenish tunic, and there were rotten wooden boards around it, reminding him of a broken box—not that he paid them much mind, of course.

Before he could think of anything to do, Eruûne heard a voice calling.  Looking up, he saw the face of a person about his age with sand-colored skin and pine-green side-parted hair.

"So that's where the scream came from!" the newcomer said, smiling warmly.  "Do you need help?"

Eruûne nodded, and the person grabbed his pale hand, lifting the boy out of the hole.

"What's your name?" the green-haired elf said, bending down and looking into Eruûne's face.

Backing away, the boy scrambled to his feet and dusted off his pants.  "I'm… I'm Eruûne Oregano Aeyr Arenai ap Hemlock Gingko Aeyr Arenai."

"Aeyr?" the person asked, "As in the Sword?"

"What?" Eruûne backed away again, for the person had been dangerously close to his face.  "I don't know what the 'Sword' is, sorry."

"The Legendary Crystal Blade of Aeyr!" he exclaimed.  "I thought everybody had heard of it!"

"Don't insult me for not knowing about it," Eruûne snapped.  "If it's so important, why don't you just tell me?!"

"Gladly," the green-haired boy smiled.  It was a warm, friendly smile, not a sarcastic one.  Eruûne felt a little bad for yelling…  But who was this person?  Why were they acting so friendly?  It all seemed a little bit suspicious.  "Long ago there was a famous weaponsmith called Aeyrean.  He made so many beautiful swords, and they were prized as not only excellent weapons, but as exquisite decorations.  The last sword he made was called Nightstar, and before he died, he hid that sword in the Heart of the Forest."

"But I thought no one could get to the Heart of the Forest because of the 'Barrier'!"

"This was a long time ago," he continued.  "And in fact, it was very short time before the 'Barrier' went up, after he hid the Sword.  Anyway… nowadays, Nightstar has become legendary, because no one can get to it.  There are many tales of the wondrous spells locked into the gems on its hilt—one for each of the Deities.  Powerful one-of-a-kind spells.  The one for the Deity of Ages is a reincarnation spell that's said to be able to resurrect someone from just one hair.  People have been trying to find the heirs of Aeyr for ages, because, as legend goes, only they can find the Blade and take it from its sacred resting place.  The Sword nowadays is called the 'Legendary Crystal Blade of Aeyr', for it's said that the blade is made of a star-like crystal."

"Wow…" Eruûne said dreamily.  "How beautiful!  I can't believe that my great-great-grandfather made a sword that special."

"Your great-great-grandfather was Aeyrean?" the boy exclaimed.  "What did you say your middle name was…?"

"Oregano."

"Wow!" the boy gripped onto Eruûne's two hands and looked into his face.  "You… you're one of the heirs to the Blade!  To 'Oregano and Myrrh', were Aeyrean's last words, though most people only remember 'Myrrh'."

"Me…?" Eruûne inquired, pulling his hands away and stepping backwards.  "But…"

"You didn't know that?" the boy inquired.  "I thought that if you were an heir that you'd be looking for the Sword."

"I'm going to become a knight," Eruûne said.  "But first I need to do one good deed, and I want to help the Forests of Shikaä, so my sister can go to her magic lessons and be happy again."

"Why don't you retrieve the Sword as well?"

"I don't want to stray from my quest…"

"How rude of me to not introduce myself before!" he exclaimed, interrupting the pale boy.  "My name is Seiriô Lichen Watÿr Sakanai ap Saerin Birch Watÿr Sakanai, of the City of Ages."

He took a long, deep bow, sweeping his hand across the ground and bringing it up, taking hold of Eruûne's and kissing it in the polite Shikaän fashion.  Eruûne, not being accustomed to this—for he had lived in a small village with the same people his whole life—pulled his hand from the stranger's hold and backed away.

"Are you okay?" Seiriô inquired.

"Why… did you…"

Eruûne stared at the confused person.  He wore a golden-green tunic wrapped left-over-right and tied with a golden sun clasp.  Underneath that, he wore a green high-necked shirt, and poofy black pants tucked into leather boots tied with white string.  He had bronze armor plating on his gauntlets, and wore gloves over his hands.

He had a small lyre strapped to his back, and a shining ocarina hanging from a cord around his neck.

"I'm a traveling minstrel-mage from the Temple of Ages," Seiriô continued.  "You're not from around there, are you?  Your village is near the Temple of the Sun, right?"

"How can you tell?"

"It's all in the style of clothes you wear," Seiriô explained.  "The leather in your gauntlets is a different type that what they use where I come from, and you don't look very fit for traveling.  So I guessed that you were from close to here, and, well, that's pretty close to here."

"'Not fit for traveling'?"

"Well look at you!  You're skinny as a stick and there's not a sign of muscle on you!"

"Well, I'm so-rry!" Eruûne clenched his fists and began to walk away.

Seiriô grabbed his thin, pale arm and pulled him close.  "Don't go.  I didn't mean to offend you.  You're delicate, not travel-hardened.  That's what I meant."

Eruûne pushed himself away, but didn't go anywhere.  "So you're a minstrel?"

"Precisely," Seiriô winked.  "Can you sing?"

"Can I… what?"

"Sing.  I asked you if you could sing."

"No… not really," he answered, blushing.  "I was never trained in magic, so I never needed to sing spells."

"Really?!" Seiriô exclaimed.  "I thought all elves knew magic!  I've never known anyone who didn't!"

"I'm… I'm not really interested in learning it," Eruûne lied, not wanting to tell this stranger the truth.  "I prefer swordsmanship.  I wish that I was from the Imperial City-States, not Shikaä.  Then it would be easier to become a k—"

Seiriô looked hurt.  "That's… sad.  I always thought that Shikaän elves were fortunate to be born with magic in them and around then.  It always seemed sort of interesting how I could be better than someone from outside Shikaä who had been studying for twice my age in years.  Magic is all around us in Shikaä, and so it comes naturally.  I mean, one still has to learn how to control it and call on the spirits, but it's much easier than if you live in somewhere like the Imperial City-States.  And it puzzles me how someone with such easy access to something others have to strive for would chose to abuse their powers."

"I'm not abusing anything!" Eruûne argued.  "I… I just never needed to learn it!  My sister's a shaman and she can teach me if I ever so desire, but right now I'm fine with just my sword."

"Sorry," Seiriô laughed.  "I don't mean to keep offending you.  Hey, do you want to hear a song?"

"Okay.  I guess…" Eruûne found no other alternative, and didn't want to offend Seiriô in turn.

"What shall I play it on?"

"Umm… what instruments do you play?"

"I play all instruments!" Seiriô flipped his bangs arrogantly and smiled.  "From the Sun's Harp to the Forest's Chanter."

"Do you know any songs?"

"What a silly question to as a minstrel!" Seiriô laughed.  "Of course I do!  I can even sing the Prophecy in the ancient Melody of the Forest—composed by the Great Childlike Forest Spirit its self!  Just tell me your version."

Eruûne recited what the Unseen had said to him.  Seiriô nodded, then frowned.

"What about the verse talking about Xi, the Savior?" he inquired curiously.

"I don't know; it never sung that verse to me.  I grew up knowing it, though.  It said that… the verse was false… or something."

"'It'? Well, anyway, here goes…"

After he was done singing, Seiriô took out a reed pipe and played an improvised musical interlude.  When he was done with that, he repeated the song over.

"…But orange the sun that on them sets—their doom it comes behind them," he finished.

Seiriô's voice was sweet like that of Eruûne's sister, Lotus, beautiful and haunting, clear and pure.  It sounded as if the wind itself had taught him, and when the last words twirled off his tongue, it seemed that the very same wind blew the leaves together to clap for him.  As if he had had and actual audience, Seiriô took another deep bow, sweeping his hand across the ground and bringing it back up, like had done before.  Eruûne smiled.

"That was pretty!" he complimented, "I could never sing like that!  My sister was really good, too.  But I'll not hear her for a while, because I'm not going to be back until I become a knight.  It makes me feel sad the think of her; she was so lovely…"

"I'd like to meet your sister," Seiriô said, disregarding the first bit of Eruûne's speech.  "Especially if she's as beautiful as you say."

"I'm sure that she'd be pleased to meet you, too…"

"So… you're heading in the direction of the Temple of the Sun.  That is where you're going, right?" Seiriô inquired.

"Yes.  I want to become a knight, but before that I need to do one good deed.  I thought that it might be nice to help the forest so my sister can continue her magic lessons and be happy.  I was going to ask the priests there what I can do."

"Interesting.  Say, do you think that the Prophecy will come true?"

Kai (May) 3, Omega : Noon

Seiriô and Eruûne slept until midday.  They had set up a temporary camp under some large trees, and ate fish from a nearby stream roasted over a fire.  Seiriô, as Eruûne found out, was not only a good singer, musician, and (as he said) mage, but he was also a cook.  Along with the fish, they had a mushroom, root and spice stew.  Seiriô had suggested that they eat together, for neither had any other companion, and they both seemed to be headed in the same general direction.  Eruûne hadn't touched the food, however.  But it was not because he didn't trust his newly found comrade; he just never really had much of an appetite anymore, which probably was not a good thing, judging by how thin he already was.

When the blonde-haired elf woke up, he saw the sun blazing through the breaks in the leaves of the trees above him, lighting up their path.  It was the first time he could see the environment around him outside his village lit-up.  Seiriô leaned down and looked into his face.

"Hello," he greeted, "I only woke up a bit before you.  What do you want to have for 'breakfast'?  I could heat up the leftovers of that stew if you want."

"I don't really mind, I'm not that hungry," Eruûne murmured, rubbing his eyes and sitting up, making sure to leave at least four feet between them.

"Okay then.  I'll warm it up… And you really should eat some this time.  It's very good—if I do say so myself—so try it, okay?  It's not poisonous or anything."

Seiriô stood up and faced the stack of brown logs where the fire had been the night before.  He put his hands out in front of him, and began singing:

Strong the spirits, the crimson blaze

How deep your heat protrudes to!

Now I call, I summon thee,

Rise up o' mighty flame!

Just as he finished the spell, a deep rosy glow flickered on the logs.  After spitting a few sparks, it erupted into a burning fire.  Eruûne watched in amazement.  He'd rarely seen fire spells done in front of him.

"Lotus didn't work much with fire spirits," Eruûne stated after his companion set the metal pot hanging over the fire on another log.  "She said that they were hard to invoke.  She usually only worked with forest spirits."

"They are the easiest, forest spirits," Seiriô answered, arrogantly, "Because we live in the forest, they're all around us.  But I prefer working with them, anyway.  However, you can't provoke forest spirits into making you a fire."

"I wouldn't think that you could," Eruûne said, "I was just complementing you.  I've never seen much fire magic done."

"Well, complement accepted, then," Seiriô announced, "The pleasure was all mine, I assure you."

Not really knowing how to answer, Eruûne stared at the many things Seiriô kept hanging on himself.  He wore a thick black-twine necklace with a shining ocarina, and a red jewel attached to it.  It was a beautiful instrument, made out of polished porcelain with a golden ring around the mouthpiece.  The ring had a little star, sun and moon charm hanging from it.  Around his neck, also, was a heavy golden chain with a round, golden object hanging from it.  The side of the thing was carefully engraved with a twisting sun—much like the clasp he wore—that had a shining stone in the center.  It looked to be a pocket-watch, or a compass—or maybe both.

Attached to the piece of cloth tied around his waist to secure his tunic, Seiriô had two exquisite glass bottles with some sort of liquid in them.  On his belt, he had a purse of some kind, with a long tassel at the bottom, and an intricately carved wooden cage holding a glowing bug.  The cage was only as long as his hand-span, and had complex knots of shining string at the bottom, securing sparkling jewels.

"What's the bug in the cage?" Eruûne inquired.

"This?" asked the green-haired elf boy from the Temple of Ages, as he held up the fragile container, "It's known as a lantern faery."

"'Lantern faery'?"

"Precisely," Seiriô answered, "It's a type of bug that sets a strong glow, and looks almost like a puffball of light with wings.  They're not really faeries.  Faeries are—"

"I know what a faery is," Eruûne snapped, "It's hard to not know.  They're people almost exactly like us, but with ears that stick up, and have curly-things at the end.  They look like a cross between elves and butterflies."

"Precisely," Seiriô said again, "They take after the Deity of the Forest more than we do.  Elves look more like the Great Spirit.  We—"

"Do you know the way to the Temple of the Sun?" Eruûne interrupted, not wanting to listen to the person's arrogant speech on how they thought elves were better than faeries.  He'd heard it all the time from most people in his village, and didn't want the same racist argument regurgitated again.

"Yes I do," Seiriô answered, "In fact, I was just going there myself.  I heard that something was wrong with the Deity of the Sun."

"What?!" Eruûne shouted, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I heard something was wrong with it," Seiriô repeated, "Something's wrong with the all the Temples.  Didn't you hear?"

"No," Eruûne quieted down, "The village elders never told us anything about the rest of the forest.  But, that might be why we aren't allowed out anymore.  I just never really knew…"

"I don't really know what it is, but everyone's saying something went wrong in the Temples," he explained, "Something happened in the Temples, and I was going to the Temple of the Sun to find out what."

"That's… that's…" Eruûne stammered, trying to get out what he was trying to say, "That's horrible!  How could they just… just not tell us that something was wrong?  I'm sure Lotus is powerful enough to set things right!"

"Precisely," Seiriô answered, "And they want her, and whomever else there is powerful, to stay in the village to protect them."

"That doesn't make any sense at all!" Eruûne shouted, "Wouldn't they rather spare their lives than have the forest at risk?  If the Deity that helps keep her part of the Great Spirit sealed, is injured or something… then… then… then maybe the Spirit can find it's missing part, and be almost powerful enough to kill the other Deities!"

"Not entirely true," Seiriô corrected, "The Childlike Forest Spirit is bound by seal to the Heart of the Forest, and doesn't have enough magic to get out, or get anything from another region.  Besides!  Why would it kill a Deity?  It has nothing against them, even though they keep it sealed."

"Oh…" Eruûne mumbled, "I feel so stupid.  You always seem to know everything, and I'm always wrong.  The people in my village just… just seem to want me to be oblivious of everything going on around me!  Like… like… like… well… like they think I'm the one described in the Prophecy—the Destroyer—or something!"

"That may be it," Seiriô contemplated.  "What Star were you born under?"

"Omega, why?" Eruûne inquired.

"Omega…"

The years in the Forest were counted by the Nine Constellations, Xi, Upsilon, Epsilon, Tau, Omicron, Sigma, Lambda, Kappa, and Omega.  Each of the Seven Temples went by one; the Subterranean was Lambda, the Abyss was Kappa, the Heart of the Forest was Sigma, the Sun was Omicron, the Full Moon was Epsilon, the New Moon was Upsilon, and Tau was the Ages.  Xi and Omega stood alone.

"I never really gave it that much thought, though," Eruûne quickly added before Seiriô could finish.  "Even though it's said that Omega is the year of the Destroyer, I really don't think that I'd be the Harbinger of Death.  It's true I was born in the year of Omega, but it's not like I was the only child in the whole forest that was!"

"I know," Seiriô said, laughing, "I wouldn't suspect you of doing that.  You seem nice… and sensible enough to not go and try your luck at killing the Spirit, or whatever Omega does in the Prophecy."

"Thank you, I guess," Eruûne mumbled, mostly to himself as he curled his legs in close to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"I think the soup is done!" Seiriô said, cheerily.

Faeries and elves hated each other—and not just the ones in the Forests of Shikaä.  Everywhere around the Continent, there was racism between the two eldritch people.  The few unlucky half-breeds were worst off.  At least a faery could get along in a faery village, but neither race would take in a halfling.  Both were too proud.

That was the problem with things, Eruûne thought.  No one could get along in this world.  All the other kids in his village were constantly on his case.  Even the Prophecy was like that!  Someone would be rebellious or something, and go out to kill the Spirit.  Shikaä was 'perfect', yet the people were not… How strange!  Why would someone go and kill the Spirit?

Eruûne sighed as he walked on next to Seiriô.  It's not like he, a mere elven boy, could do anything about anything that happened in the Heart of the Forest, right?  He couldn't even keep up a walking pace for more than ten minutes, unlike his newfound companion.

"Seiriô," he said, turning towards the green-haired elf, who was startled back to reality from his own little world.

"What?"

"I was just thinking…" Eruûne sighed, "Do you know how I'd be able to get my Sword back?  If it's legendary because so many people have tried painstakingly to get to it, than that means it must be worth something.  Maybe not in gold, but in power."

"Of course it's powerful!" Seiriô half shouted, laughing, "It's an enchanted sword!  Didn't I tell you that already?  I just can't believe—"

"How stupid and uninformed I am?" Eruûne finished.

"Well…"

"It doesn't matter, it's not going to insult me if you say that," Eruûne stated, "I know it's true, and there'd be no point in arguing if we both know that."

"Well…" Seiriô mumbled, "I would have said it differently.  I don't mean that you're stupid.  You're not.  You just never knew about some things, and that doesn't mean that you're dumb."

"Just oblivious."

"Not really," Seiriô argued, "Just unaware."

Eruûne said nothing.  He was in a foul mood all of the sudden.  He hadn't actually thought that Seiriô would agree to him being stupid and oblivious.  But then again, he really hadn't agreed… but Eruûne knew that he would have.  But Seiriô was too nice to do that.

"How much longer until we get to the Temple?"

"Oh, not too long," his companion answered.  "Your village was pretty close to it.  Just about… a couple more hours."

Eruûne wasn't sure if he could manage tramping on for any longer.  He had been walking for so many days.  Well, not really that many, but to him it seemed like forever.  It's like that when you're bored.  Time seems to pass so slowly…  Picking up a flattish piece of wood, Eruûne decided to keep track of the date.  What year was it?  He counted back…

"When I was born, it was the year of Omega.  Now… I'm nine now, so…" he counted on his fingers, "It's the year Omega again.  The next year will be Xi."

The years in the Forest of Shikaä were a little more than half longer than the years of the Earth calendar, for the planet took just a bit longer orbiting its sun.  Therefore, when Eruûne says that he's 'nine', he would be, in earth years, about fourteen.

"What's that all about?" Seiriô inquired, looking at the piece of wood, and then at Eruûne.

"Oh, I just wanted to keep track of the date.  I know it's the year of Omega… what month is it?"

"Let's see," Seiriô answered, taking out his pocket-watch.  "There are twelve months to a year… Jun, Rho, Lan, Shuûn, Yu, Kai, Tai, Naä, Kuû, Tex, Zen, and Mau.  It's the third day of Kai in the year of Omega."

"I already wrote that, in fact," stated Eruûne, scratching down marks on his piece of wood with the tip of a sharp rock.

"So you were born in Omega.  What day?"

"Mau 30, Omega," he replied.  "The last day of the last month in the last year of the year cycle."

"Wow!" Seiriô exclaimed.  "Our birthdays are one day apart, but we're a year different in age!  I was born on Jun 1, Xi, the first day of the first month of the first year in the year cycle.  Year of the Savior."

"I'm the youngest in my village…" Eruûne mumbled.  "You're ten (about sixteen/seventeen)…  Everyone's older than me!"

Seiriô nodded vaguely, and looked up at the green leaves above him.  It was miraculous how many different shades of that color there were, and how many different plants could live in one place.  The small glowing bugs flitted around everywhere.  They were peaceful insects, not the type that you dread walking into, in case they were to bite you.  These lustrous arthropods were a sign that the forest was healthy, along with all the other gleaming bugs here.  It was all so beautiful…

And yet, there was a Prophecy that foretold its death.

"I really hope that the Prophecy is just an old-wives-tale," the green haired Seiriô sighed, melodramatically.  "I can't possibly imagine this wonderful… no, extraordinary metropolis of plants gone, forever."

"I hope it doesn't come true, too," Eruûne agreed, "Everyone should.  Lotus used to talk about how when everything dies, she wants to die right next to me, so when our spirits depart to the next world, we'll be together."

"Your sister really meant a lot to you, didn't she?" Seiriô asked.

"Yes," Eruûne mumbled, tears coming to his eyes.  "She's the only family I have.  My father…my father… he's… gone.  And my mother… she… she's dead, and my grandfather is dead, also.  Neither my father or his wife, or his father or his wife had any siblings, I believe, because I've never seen them.  I don't know about my great-grandfather, or my great-great-grandfather, though.  But I don't think they had any siblings, either…"

"Oh," he replied, "I'm sorry.  But just be glad that at least you have a sister."

"You… you're alone?"

"Precisely…" Seiriô responded, looking down at his feet sullenly.  "My older brother and father went off to fight in the war, and my mother and tutor are—were—priestesses at the Temple of Ages.  But… you know what happened there."

"That's… horrible," Eruûne stammered, not knowing what really to say.  "I didn't know that they worked at the Temple…"

"A few months ago, a part of the Temple of Ages collapsed.  Most of the priests and priestesses that served in it were crushed to death, though a few did survive.  Though it has been rebuilt since then, the loss of that many people was devastating.  Most of them were very old, or very young, and either way the loss was almost too great for the City of Age to handle.  But they did pull through." Seiriô explained, though he knew Eruûne already knew it.  "It has yet to be found out why it collapsed.  But I…know why."

"I… I'm sorry about that," Eruûne sniffled.

"It's okay," Seiriô looked up, suddenly cheerful, at the other boy, "It's not your fault or anything.  And I probably would have left home soon anyway.  It's alright."

Though Eruûne knew that that was untrue, he didn't argue.  They walked for a long time in silence.

"I think that I am capable of getting back the Legendary Crystal Whatever-the-heck from the Heart of the Forest," Eruûne stated at last.  "It sort of seems like the people in my village knew that, so they wanted me to not know anything of it."

"You're back on that again, are you?" Seiriô grinned.  "I really hope you get the Blade.  That would be so cool to travel with the heir to the Crystal Sword!"

"There won't be… monsters in the Temples will there?" Eruûne asked meekly.

"What, are you scared?" Seiriô teased.

Eruûne blushed, "No.  Not really.  I've just… never had any experience fighting oni or whatever Things they are."

Seiriô leaned close to Eruûne and whispered in his ear.  "Neither have I, in fact.  Well, not real oni.  Just mainly wolves, and small creatures.  But nothing horrible, and nothing really… evil, because there hasn't been anything evil in Shikaä for centuries.  People tell stories of frightful 'Things' roaming the woods, but I've not seen any.  And hopefully I never will."

"Ha!  And I thought you were fearless!" Eruûne laughed, alone at first, but then Seiriô joined.  "Creatures of darkness and the like often take refuge in wronged Temples.  I think."

"Oh really?" Seiriô laughed.  "I've heard that oni and other things like to prey on young boys from the villages around the Temple of the Sun!  Especially one's whose great-great-grandfathers were crafters of special swords!"

"Well, I also was informed that they thought that minstrels with green-gray eyes were a special delicacy."

The two boys laughed and laughed together as they walked down the dirt paths that wound around the tall trees.  If felt so good to laugh with a friend.  Eruûne really hadn't ever had any friends before, only Lotus.  No one in the village liked him.  They all seemed to think that he was weird.  Eruûne knew why, too.  It was because he didn't know magic.  Partially.  It was also because he was the only one in the Forests of Shikaä that didn't have magic.