[u]Fritz[/u]

A rustling sound drew his attention, instantly his mind flashed to monsters and dragons and all other manor of things it may be, before a brief moment later a small girl tumbled onto the road after colliding with Willow. Ada was briefly on edge for a moment, the appearance of this girl surprising her before she began to look her over with a sceptical eye. Fritz stared at the girl, taking in her features, her tangled auburn hair and fair face. But most of all he stared at her eyes, large shimmering blue eyes that were filled with an expression that he couldn’t break away from. He then noticed the girls damaged looking wings before quickly realising that she was some kind of fairy person, or fae as he believed they were called. 

[b]"Where am I? I don't remember how I got here, I don't--"[/b] the girl sniffed, wiping her eyes [b]"I don't know where I am."[/b]

She was lost… just like he was. Surely Ada had to help this girl? Fritz watched her intently as she spoke, listening to her story. Kirin was her name, Fritz repeated it in his head [i]‘Kirin’[/i].

As she joined them on the wagon Fritz was suddenly slightly nervous, however he soon managed to find his words and offered his apologies for what had happened to her cousin and introducing himself. He left out the part about being a lost human from a different world. 

Soon Ada told them both of a camp where they would be staying for the night, warning them briefly about not sharing to much information. Fritz made a mental note to do that more in the future, it seemed safer that way. Soon enough they rounded a bend and the camp came into sight, a slightly bigger camp than Fritz had pictured. 

There were several other gypsies moving around and doing numerous things, some colourful wagons and tents littering the clearing. He also spotted the strange rabbit woman who was in the final stages of setting up a few tents, Ada heading directly towards her before introducing her as Duplo, a skin changer and more importantly apparently she was in a similar situation to that of himself. He made another mental note, though this time it was to talk to Duplo at some point and find out just how similar their situations were. 

As Ada and Duplo began to talk Fritz dismounted the wagon, trying to think of something appropriate to say to Kirin. Eventually he blurted “Does that hurt?” before adding “I mean your wings look hurt, are you okay?” 

But then suddenly the ground began to rumble and the gypsies started to rush around, securing horses, some hiding themselves whilst others grabbed various weapons. At Ada’s urgings he rushed to her wagon with Kirin before hiding inside of it. He peered through a gap to try and see whatever it was that was coming. 

A group of half-men half-horses leapt into the clearing, five in total with a woman riding on the back of one of them. “Centaurs!” gasped Fritz quietly to himself in disbelief. 

After a few more moments the woman who was riding one had dismounted and translated their words, sharing their peaceful intent and desire to share the camp. At that there was a collective show of relief and one of the gypsies happily asked them to join in the celebration for his mother’s birthday. At that things seemed to resume to normal as the members of the camp emerged from where abouts they were either waiting or hiding and the music once more resumed with the buzz of conversation. 

[b]"Relax my friend. We can talk in peace, come Fritz, Kirin! Tonight is a treat!"[/b] beamed Ada happily. 

At that Fritz jumped down from her wagon before turning and offering his hand to Kirin to help her down. 

“I’ve never met a centaur before” he said, before he hesitated and quickly added “I’m from a very sheltered place and actually before I met you I hadn’t met a fae before either… well apart from one I think, but I’m not so sure I’d like to meet him again.” 

As he spoke he spotted in Ada’s wagon his glasses and the silver tray where they had fallen earlier. “Huh…” he said as he wondered exactly how they had come to get here. He picked them up and rubbed the lenses on his shirt before placing them on his head and looking around happily. Everything was much sharper and in focus now, reminding just how much he really needed them. Just as he was about to move away he noticed the ashes in the silver tray and he poked at a few scraps revelling a shred of the cover. [i]‘Is that my algebra book?’[/i] he thought to himself uncertainly. Maybe Ada had stumbled upon it and… he made a note to ask her about it at some point in the evening, though if anything he was somewhat glad the book was no more. Algebra sucked. Turning his mind and back to the tray he joined Ada and Duplo where they were stood, watching all of those around them. He was fascinated by the centaurs and what they were doing, and still could quite believe what he was seeing. 

[u]Fimion[/u]

The noise from outside of his tent was what had woken him, he was sure of it – that and the delicious smell. He yawned and ran his hands through his messy chestnut hair, starting to get long enough that he should think about cutting it before rubbing his stubble, which again he should probably shave sometime soon. He threw a somewhat ragged and dirt covered tunic on before he emerged into the night air, content that his nap had left him feeling refreshed and sober. Examining the campsite he saw that some centaurs had joined the little merry group and were in the process of cooking and drinking with the others, all types of joy and frivolity going on. 

Grunting in dissatisfaction he made his way towards the trunk of a large tree obscured by shadows at the edge of the clearing, intending to sit and smoke his pipe in peace when he froze – his eyes fixed on the new wagon that sat across the fire near a group of tents. 

He would recognise that anywhere. It meant that she was here, and his eyes scanned the group quickly and almost frantically. Spotting her stood at the edge of the group next to her horse he tried quickly to smooth his tangled hair down to look slightly more presentable before he sauntered over to her side. 

“Hello there Wildflower” he said before clearing his throat. It had been a long time since he had seen her, and then he was little more than a young boy. She still looked the same as always to him, like she hadn’t aged a day. He slipped his pipe into his pocket, the habit completely forgotten as he gazed into her eyes like a smitten kitten, practically purring at the sight of her. [i]‘Will she even remember me?’[/i] he thought to himself, his heart pounding in his chest the whole time. 

“Hello there Willow” he said to the strong horse as he rubbed the his snout lightly, wishing he had some treat he could give him, he waited holding his breath for Wildflower to reply. 

[u]Sparrot[/u]

Sparrot gazed down at the land below him as he soared high in the sky, floating on the breeze and eddies as he eyed the small figures below him. From this far they looked like tiny tiny ants, which gave the bird the desire to squish them – but he knew that really they were far bigger than he was and as such would need to leave the squishing to his love. 

[i]‘Where, oh where, do you go’[/i] he thought to himself idly as he circled above the group. Sparrot hated the Jairo mountains, they were cold barren and filed with little of interest, and he couldn’t understand what either his love or this group of people would be looking for here. But as always his love commanded and he obeyed, he would wait and watch these fools to see if they discovered whatever ruin it was his love had told him about, whatever ruin it was that contained the tombs of long dead kings of a once unified Emanseria. Sparrot cackled to himself as he flew, gleefully thinking about how happy his love would be when he succeeded at this ‘key stage’ of his plan.