Ah, what sweet melodies do float upon the wind! Ah, what wondrous sights to fill the heart of one so pure! Vast lands in which to play spread out before those who may bear witness to the fruits of nature's harsh labor, and grand those fruits are! As the sun rose above the horizon, turning the purplish haze that was the night fading from view into the glorious light of a fresh new day, so too rose the many creatures that comprised the animal kingdom. Squirrels chittered and birds sang. Deer stepped up for a cool drink from the streams and brooks running merrily through the very heart of this lush paradise that many called a forest. Some, though, called it their homes.

Yomeniampa was an example of this. Built with an artistry that few save for the elves who designed it could ever truly appreciate, the vast tree city stretched for miles in every direction. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of feet from the bottom-most level to the top-most peak of the tallest structure within Yomeniampa did the elven city stretch, and none had ever matched the wonder of such a place. Yomeniampa had survived for hundreds of years - some say thousands - and it would stand for hundres or thousands more.

As sunlight filtered in through the intricate network of branches, leaves, catwalks, and many other things that made the forest a home to all who valued the priceless work of art that was nature at its finest, the elves began their daily chores. For some, this meant a change to the day guard. The night guard would go home to sleep in the houses in which they led lonely lives, for only those here and there of the night guard could afford to have a family with such strange hours they kept. Some elves went about preparing their weapons for their hunting or setting up their shops. Some prepared their spells for one reason or another. All of them, though, sung the praises of the dieties of nature and of life.

Deep within elven domain, however, there resided one who was not an elf. His spirit was as light as theirs, his skin and hair fairer, and his wings glistened as they instinctively shook off the early-morning dew. As he stirred, the young fairy - for twenty-eight was only barely the beginning of a fairy's life; you see, they lived quite long indeed - slowly stretched his muscles. He then lay there for several more minutes, lazily hoping the sun would let him sleep a few more minutes. Finally, though, he could not ignore the promise of new adventures - and maybe new friends. He wiped the sleep from his eyes as he sat up. After another long moment, he rose to his feet and stretched again, this time fluttering his wings enough to shake the remaining dew from them. He shook himself awake and, after a few test flutters, he finally let his wings carry him into the air. It was time for adventure!

As he sped through the air that was the elven city's oxygen supply, he searched for food and found some at a fruit stall. The stallkeep was looking away as he zoomed by and he managed to hoist up a couple of grapes in his way past. He sat down on a tree branch a few minutes later to eat them, but then he was off again.

"Hi, Aelfdane!"

The fairy heard his name being called by an elf and he looked to see who it was. He'd seen the she-elf around sometimes and chatted with her from time to time, but she was an elf and he was a fairy and they didn't often meet to mingle. He waved back and smiled as he took off again.

This was Aelfdane's home, the place he had known for so long, yet only in the last four years had he come to know the elves. They were a kind, gentle people who preferred the liesurely tasks of everyday life to the great adventures beyond their forest, yet some were pressed into adventuring for one reason or another throughout their lives. To most of them, Aelfdane was just another fairy they didn't know. He only really knew a few of the elves, though just about everyone in the city had seen him and countless others of his kind all the time. He was nothing new to them.

But being his home, he didn't really know anything else - and that made him curious. What was life like outside the forest? The forest itself was filled with adventures for one as small as him! But what about the outside world? He knew nothing of this. He pondered this as he slowed to a casual speed to observe the world around him from the innocent view of a fairy. One of the elves went by yelled at him, but he just laughed and went on his way; after all, the whole 'moth balls instead of cucumber roots' trick had been kind of funny...after the fact, anyway. It had been a great prank. So he laughed it off and continued his flight.

As he did so, though, he eventually came across someone he'd never seen before. That wasn't unusual in Yomeniampa, but for some reason this person intrigued him. He didn't know why; the person simply did. He slowed to watch the person curiously.

Cel stretched her sore muscles. She mentally kicked herself for forcing herself so far in her training. She slid her scimitar back into the sleuth and sat down on the cool, soft grass. A yawn escaped her as she lay back. Laughter broke the silence but the elven girl just ignored it. Elves came so easy to laughter that she no longer bothered to find out what amusing trick they were playing. A soft smile played at her lips as she began to recall some of the pranks she herself used to play on the people in her village. She yawned again and stood to take a stroll when a soft light and a soft fluttering caught her attention. It disappeared before she could get a pinpoint on it. She shrugged and started on her way again. She stopped again. "Is there someone there?" She looked around. "Guess not." She stood there looking around waiting for anything to happen with a light hand on the hilt of her sword.

An odd person, this. She was an elf, but she was...different, somehow. For one thing, she wasn't carrying a bow or a quiver. That was odd in itself, though the scimitar certainly seemed normal. Most elves carried some kind of scimitar, longsword, quarterstaff, or other such weapon. Still, though, there was something distinctively out of place about her that Aelfdane just couldn't seem to put a finger on. He studied the girl for sometime, fluttering through the trees and peeking out at her from amongst the leaves, until he finally burst out with a broad grin. However odd she was, she was still a good target for a prank. Then again, so were most people...most, not all. This girl would most definitely be fun to play with; well, he hoped she would be, anyway...

It didn't take much looking around for Aelfdane to find a large (well, large for him) grouping of leaves, twigs, and dirt piled up around a knothole just above one of the lower branches of the juniper he was flying near. Aelfdane's grin broadened as he started yanking hard on the leaves - finally managing to pull them free, though he tumbled backward through the air as he did so. When he'd finally regained his balance, he grinned again as chestnuts started to pour out from the knothole in the juniper tree - right out onto the head of the elf girl standing below. Trying not to laugh to loudly, Aelfdane zipped over to another tree branch and watched the whole thing as he sat down on it, swinging his legs merrily and holding onto the branch with both hands, though that was more to steady himself as he leaned forward with laughter dancing in his twinkling blue eyes and a grin plastered on his handsome fairy face. He watched with anticipation to see what the elf girl would do.

Her book concealed underneath the cover of her cloak as she strolled into the trees, growling lightly as the sun continued to beat down upon her eyes. Even with her hood up it seemed as if the sun broke through the cover and continued to shine down upon her. Squinting her eyes as she brought her hand up to her head trying to shield as much of the rays as possible. Irae began to look about for any signs of the village, before averting her head back to look up to toward the tree tops.

The luminescent city spread out amongst the tree tops, protected by figures that she couldn't make out due to the sun's rays. With a stray strand of hair following into her eye sight she softly brushed it aside with her hand that was shielding her eyes from the sun. Moving her head back down to where she was looking at eye level with the surrounding trees and animals that littered the forest. Knowing that sooner or later something would come to attack her seeing as she was a drow on the surface and on top of that in an elven city. Most of the elves up in their city would fire first and ask questions never. She really didn't even feel like being in the city at that moment, but rather than try and go around it. The easiest route would be to go through the forest to get to the other side. She had no other option than to risk her life again and try to go through the city. Though she had didn’t know that the city would be perched up on the tree tops instead of on the floor like other cities. Hopefully that would make her trip through this forest rather easy.

Still she could feel the piercing vision of eyes upon her every being as she stood under the cover of the trees. Muttering a few quick words under her breath causing her vision to shift, which would allow her to see magical traps or spells lying around that would cause her harm or even death. Seeing none so far, her posture relaxed slightly though not enough to actually bring her guard down as she placed her left hand on the quarterstaff sheathed upon her back. She really did not want to take any chances moving through here.

Cel put her hands over her head as the chestnuts fell on her head. She looked around to see if anyone was watching their prisoner ensnared in their trap. She saw no one but heard a soft laughter still. She kept walking. "This place is stranger every time i come here." The elvish girl sighed. "If you do not come out now I will be forced to slay you." She knew it was a bluff but they didn't. She hated to fight unless it was unavoidable. She grabbed her sword ready for anything.

He stopped laughing when he heard that. Then he rolled his eyes and smirked. Slay him? Oh, puh-lease. She couldn't even see him - how was she supposed to slay him? And besides, he was too small for slaying. Now, if he was a dragon - yeah. Then maybe she could slay him. Or an human. Or maybe another elf. Ooh, or maybe a nasty goblin or an orc, even. But being small and fast had its advantages.

Aelfdane, still snickering, slipped off the tree branch and zipped forward through the trees, his shining silvery gossamer wings rustling some of the trees' leaves as they fluttered about, pushing him through the air like an arrow launched from a bow. He was but a silvery-white blur that few noticed and fewer could catch as he whipped through the forest. He noticed there was a rather odd-looking elf below with very dark skin, but he wasn't interested in her. She was threatening to slay a harmless little fairy. Well, okay...so maybe he wasn't entirely harmless...and he certainly wasn't innocent, though he often claimed to be such. But he was still little. Unless you consider three inches tall and about two inches wide (including his wings) to be huge. And if you do...well, let's just say you're either a flea or someone who needs a lot of help. Witch doctor, anyone?

Aelfdane flew past the girl's head, dipping low so as to zip past with an instantaneous buzzing sound, and alighted on a low-hanging branch. If she didn't know where to look when next he spoke, then she truly was an idiot. Most elves seemed to have exceptional hearing, though, so he didn't doubt she'd find him pretty quick. Fortunately for Aelfdane, though, he was still well out of reach. He pretended to be hurt as he spoke.

"Aw, you're gonna hurt me? Why? Whatever did I do to earn such cruelty?"

He really did look crestfallen.

Her ears seemed to pick up something as a soft sound began to beat against her ear. Though at first she couldn't tell what it was due to the sun shining through the trees blinding the drow. Cursing under her breath Irae thought that it was one of the elves from the city who had already spotted her probably because she used a spell just a few moments ago. This time she wouldn't make the same mistake of wasting a valuable spell she might use later.

Unsheathing the quarterstaff from her back preparing herself for any sort of close combat that might arise. As well as preparing for any ranged combat that might ensue by bringing the words of a spell to the front of her mind. Though one thing had her concerned more than another attack it was the mere fact that she didn’t hear anything else from the forest except the various animals moving around inside. The silence caused her skin to crawl as she waited in the spot for an attack to come any moment, yet when none came she finally broke from her reverie.

Moving from the spot in which she was just standing that left her open for any sort of attack. Irae moved behind a tree keeping the quarterstaff firmly in her grasp as her eyes started to scan the scene of the forest looking for any sign of movement or figures at this point. More or less Irae was looking for any elves that might have come down from the city to patrol the lands for any intruders. Though she knew she couldn’t take a whole patrol if there were more than 5, she could at least ambush them to dwindle the numbers down, but first she wanted to find out what that noise was she heard just moments ago.

Cel gave up and sat down. "I dont care anymore." She started muttering to herself about small elves playing with her. "A fairy." She gasped aloud. "You little fairy. You can come out. Now that I know what you are it is only a matter of time before i catch you and pluck your wings out." She smirked and waited for a response.

((Sorry this took so long. Comp's been acting up lately...sometimes it's good and sometimes it's - well, not so good. :/ ))

Pluck his wings out? What kind of an elf could even dream of such a horrid thing? For elves were creatures of nature, of life and animals, of pride and respect - not common criminals or blood-thirsty orcs waiting to eat their own kind. They would certainly never tear out the wings of a fairy, no matter how annoying they were. They might be arrogant, pompous, and typically ignorant of those they considered unworthy of their time, but they most certainly weren't cruel people or murderers.

Thus, Aelfdane suddenly sat straight up and stared hard at the elf looking up at him, wide-eyed. He blinked. Then he blinked again. He scratched his head and frowned. He really did look quite humorous as he did all these things. Finally, he screwed up his face in confusion.

"Why would you want to hurt another living creature that wasn't an orc or a goblin or a troll or an ogre or a hobgoblin or a bugbear or a half-orc or a bandit or a highwayman or a necromancer or a - "

And it went on and on and on and on and...until he finally ran out of breath - and then it started up again. When he drew a deep breath the second time, though, he was done. He'd only ever heard of such mythical creatures in nightmare tales made to scare fairies into subservience to pixies, of course. Pixies were supposedly better than fairies, but Aelfdane had never noticed much of a difference except in the wings. Regardless, he couldn't figure this elf out - and that puzzled him greatly. He continued to stare at the elf on the ground, befuddled, but at least he'd stopped scratching his head.

Finally, he let his wings carry him into the air and he flew around for a bit. He looked at the elf on the ground from different angles, trying to gain the knowledge and wisdom of various viewpoints as he tried to figure out whether this was really an elf or not - or whether she was even really there. Maybe this was an illusion cooked up by a human wizard. He'd heard of such things, after all; he'd heard gnomes often tried to trick people, too, usually to get them to do something they didn't have the ability or were too lazy to do themselves - and it was usually something trivial.

Then he noticed something really odd - a weird shadow that was moving through the treeline nearby. It looked like a giant blob with a long pole for a head. His face must have been hilarious to anyone watching, for he really screwed it up in confusion this time. But he finally shook his little fairy head and returned to the business of examining the odd girl-elf-that-might-not-really-be-a-girl-elf-after-all - from a very safe distance, of course...

Cel laughed inside as she watched the elf. But when he started shouting she could help herself and fell to the ground laughing and saying something about a tomato with wings. Finally the elvish girl started to regain control. She looked about and spotted the fairy. "Would you come down and speak with me?" She asked him sincerely. "If I promise not to touch you at all?" She spoke with an elvish tough so the fairy would know she was not lying and sat down and began to wait for his reply.

Aelfdane pondered the situation. He wasn't entirely certain he could trust the elf. Then again, none of the elves had ever really hurt him. Oh, sure, a few had made an annoyed grab at him every now and again. And there was that incident with the moose...and he supposed there was also that incident with the bear, too. And when that house collapsed, he supposed he might have made a few people angry. And...

Okay, so he wasn't the most innocent of fairies. But at least he'd never set out to seriously evoke malice upon an elf - or anyone else for that matter. Most of his stuff was just harmless pranks. Sure, there was the occasional mishap - but most of the time, no one got hurt and no serious damage was done. In then end, the fairy just gave up and decided to go along with it. Besides, he was too fast for any elf to catch him, and his size greatly helped as well. He shrugged and fluttered lower to the ground. He still kept his distance at first, but at least now he was within actual speaking range of most giants (well, giants to Aelfdane; after all, he's only three inches tall!).

"My name's Aelfdane Oberon!" he said proudly, grinning and pointing a thumb at his chest as he hovered in the air just a few feet from the female elf. "And what would your name be, you sadis-er, I mean," he said shaking his head comically as he corrected himself, "you lovely lass you." He winked and grinned, an amused twinkle in his fairy eyes.

Cel smiled. "My name is Celena, but my friends call me Cel." The girl sighed. "I am sorry about the comment I made before about pulling your wings off. But I have been a bit uneasy today. There is something here that does not belong." With that she looked over her shoulder where shadows passed through the trees. She sighed again but deeper. "Aelfdane Oberon, I am very happy to meet you." She held her little finger out to shake his hand. "You can call me Cel if you wish."

His wariness of her seemed to disappear as he saw that eh elf girl was not happy - not at all. He wondered what she meant at first by something being there that didn't belong there. Something that didn't belong there...of course! No, that was stupid...there were plenty of apple trees throughout the south side of the forest. It was odd to see one this far north, but he had seen one just the other day...still, unusual though it might have been, it wasn't something that didn't belong there, though. But he eagerly shook the girl's finger and smiled as she offered it. Wait a minute! Of course!

"Hey! You know, I did see something that was odd. I though it was just an elf wearing dark clothing, but the white stuff was definitely hair! Just a short distance from here. I've never seen a dark-skinned elf, though. This one had black skin - like obsidian almost! It was weird..."

He had a weird look on his face again, though this one was more of curious interest than anything else. Really, he'd never seen a dark-skinned elf before. Maybe it was some kind of magic? But that was ridiculous. What kind of magic could turn someone black?

Cel looked at him in disbelief. "Are you sure she had dark skin and white hair." She shook her head. "That cannot be. I have heard stories about someone with dark skin, but they were only stories." She started rambling about something no one could understand. Then she stopped. "I have to see for myself. Can you take me to where you saw this person.?" She looked at her new fairy friend.

Irae's eyes narrowed in surprise and anger as she finally saw the shape of the figure that caused her turmoil just a few moments before. A Fairy. Nothing more than a harmless figure that couldn't even hurt a fly or so the stories of the underdark said. Anger was all she could feel at that moment as she looked from the tree to the Fairy muttering swearing under her breath lightly.

Sheathing her quarterstaff on her back and staying within the overcast shadow of the tree. Irae's fingers slowly began to drow symbols in the midst of the air while chanting softly underneath her breath. Once the spell was finished her appearance changed from that of a dark-skinned Drow elf to that of a light skinned regular elf that is found on the surface. Her hair stayed the same length; the only thing that seemed to change was the color going from dark red with a streak to completely raven black. As well as her skin tone changing from a light obsidian color to that of a pale peach tone, everything seemed to be in place. Shedding her cloak from her body Irae started to fold the cloak placing it on the ground at which she stood. Curling her lips into the best smile of "happiness" she could muster Irae turned about from the tree and started walking to the opening in which she once stood.

She appeared much like any other elf that walked around on the world-above, although the only thing that would differentiate her from any other elf was the fact she was squinting. As she stood for a few moments in the open area of the forest her head turning left and right as if she were looking for someone. Her voice was soft as she spoke up, asking a simple question “Hello…?”

Cel turned toward the voice. "Who are you?" She asked when she saw the newcomer. She noticed she was squinting in the glorious sunlight. She walked over to the woman and searched her over with her elvish eyes. There was something not right there but she shook it off thinking it was only her imagination. "Are you lost? Can we help you in some way?" She still felt uneasy but she kept telling herself nothing was wrong. She shook herself off again and looked from the woman to the fairy.

Her lips still curled into a smile, Irae looked to the woman that had addressed her and bowed her head lightly. "My name..." pausing as she tried to think of an elven name that wouldn't seem so suspicious since she couldn't use her drow name. "My name is Gilraen Nólatári I am new to this area and quite confused by the place. I have been wondering for some time now from one place to the next. I found myself here just a few nights ago and have been wandering for some time. Though I'm not exactly sure how I actually ended up here." Parting her lips emitting a soft child like laughter from her mouth, Something she enjoyed even as a drow.

Once she had closed her mouth and curled her lips back into a sincere smile, 'Gilraen' looked between the elf and something else. Something that appeared like it might have a humanoid apperance yet it seemed to be rather...small. "I am...Sorry if I have intruded in on something." The word sorry seemed different on her tongue, another difference that was a lot easier to notice about the elf girl. "I can come back another time, or ask someone else if this is really a bad time..." Looking between the girl that addressed her as well as the floating figure that didn't seem to be very big. The fairy that caused her the turmoil. " I'll take care of him soon enough."

The fairy knew immediately something was off. He wasn't the most intelligent of creatures by any measure, but he was clever and very insightful most of the time. The girl seemed to be lost, which was extremely odd for an elf of any kind by itself, but then she said her name. THAT got the fairy staring and he almost forgot to fly. The girl before him was most definitely not who she said she was. The elf whose name she gave, after all, was a musician here in the city. His face grew very angry then, and there was nothing comical at all in his eyes.

"Liar," he hissed, which was odd because fairies don't hiss. Pixies sometimes did, but they were all oddballs with no sense of style anyway.

"Prove it," he said smugly in his usual tone of voice. Now he just looked and sounded arrogant more than anything else. "Sing me a song, Gilraen Nolatari."

Of course, he realized almost immediately his folly: any surface elf could outsing the finest bard. But he also knew that the real Gilraen Nolatari could outshine the finest singers in Yomeniampa a hundred times over and then some. She was fantastic...awesome, even. Besides, all of Gilraen's songs were her own, written and sung by her, so he'd know if she was lying. Well, he already knew she was lying, whoever she was - but her new elf girl friend, Cel, would now also know. Now, he could have just told her outright, of course...but this was much more fun AND believable.

Cel looked up believable at the woman. And before she could say anything her fairy friend started hissing words. She sat back on her heels and waited for the newcomer to answer. Gilraen Nolatari was a friend of hers from childhood till now. She had only spoke to her about an hour ago. Her curiousness and knowledge of the real Gilraen Nolatari got the better of her and she began to smile.

Her eyes widened in surprise as her attention turned fully to the fairy that was floating just a few feet from where she stood. Sing..? She barely knew how to sing though she did spend some time singing at one point in her life, though it would not be the same as a surface elf singing. Her attention snapped back into reality, shifting her mind away from the thoughts that plagued her for that second. Her lips curling back into smile as she placed her hands behind her back.

"What would you like for me to sing?" Cocking her head to the side, her hair gently conforming to the movement of her head "Though I have to warn you, I may not sing as great as I usually do seeing as I'm rather thirsty from traveling." With the smile still gracefully upon her lips, the "elf" let out a soft laughter with her hands still placed behind her back. "I will give it my best though seeing as I know you won't believe me until I sing something of your liking I presume." Bending her body at the waist as she made a bow to the fairy, "A nice touch..." The girl thought. " Hopefully he hasn't figured out truly what I am yet, though even if he does..." Turning her attention now to the elf girl she had conversed with just moments ago. " I’m sure he may just have some feelings for this girl perhaps."

Now Aelfdane knew for sure that it wasn't Gilraen. Gilraen was supremely confident in her ability and often bragged that she would be the best even if she had no voice. This was most definitely not Gilraen. The fairy looked really mad now, his wings fluttering madly in mid-air and it was almost expected that his ears would start smoking. Indeed, even his pale face had started to turn a deep shade of red. How DARE this - this - IMPOSTOR! imitate Gilraen! Gilraen might have been arrogant and boastful, but she was still an impressive singer. Thirsty or not, she'd outsung entire choirs.

"LIAR! You're not Gilraen! You're not anybody! Who are you!"

Aelfdane turned quickly to his new friend, Cel, and spoke to her as he couldn't bear to speak with this impostor any longer. He was too mad at her - or him, or it, or whatever - to do so.

"That is NOT Gilraen! I don't know or what he or she or it is, but it's not Gilraen!"

Cel calmly nodded. "I know my friend." She then turned to the impostor. "Please remove your guise before something bad begins. We do not tend to harm you unless we have no other choice." As she was speaking her hand slowly griped her sword tighter to be ready for anything.


ooc:my post was 50 words exactly....

((LOL Mmkay...haha.))

Aelfdane nodded fiercely and turned back to the false elf. He folded his arms over his chest and gave the drow (though he couldn't possibly know it was a drow, as he'd never heard of a drow - then again, he'd never seen a black-skinned elf with white hair, either) a glare so halting that it would have given dragons pause. Whomever or whatever this thing was, it wasn't Gilraen - and trying to fool a fairy was like trying to put jam on a banana. It just didn't work.

...well, actually, Aelfdane had tried it once and it only didn't work because he didn't know you had to peel it. But that was besides the point! The point was that Aelfdane was now very angry. He didn't like this thing or person or whatever and now his new friend Cel knew it too! It was great. It was like teaming up against evil. He felt like a grand fairy indeed, a hero of his people! Of course, that diminished his anger quite a bit and he started smirking to show that he truly did feel quite superior to the puny-minded thing that had tried to trick him. Why it thought it could was beyond Aelfdane, but he was more concerned with what a great job he'd done of uncovering the impostor than anything else just then.

Tilting her head back lightly closing her eyes for the moment breathing in through her nostrils and out through her mouth. The tide had just turned and everything seemed to be working against her at that moment. Did they really know this...elven lady by the name? Or was it just a rouse to try and drop her act? Either way, something was going to happen and she would be ready for it. She had a few spells still prepared in her mind, and a few damaging ones she could use as cover to get away if needed. Yet she wouldn't do such a thing until she was sure that they were telling the truth that they knew such an elf named Gilraen Nólatári.

As she tilted her head to the side trying her best to act confused as she possibly could with her hand still behind her back only this time they were in a formation she would be ready to cast a spell if needed. “Why Do you think that I would lie? I am thirsty and generally one cannot sing as well if there throat is to dry now can they?” Curling her lips into the best smile she could muster, even if it killed her she would try her best to convince them. If it didn’t work, death was always the next option for the two.

“Just please get me some water first and I will sing the best Ballard for you.” Her lips soon turned upward as she gave the fairy a soft smirk bending over a bit at the waist, but keeping her eyes upon the fairy. “I bet I could even beat you in singing a Ballard, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want to sing against me now would you?” Turning her attention now to the other elf girl, looking her over a moment before continuing on “I’m sure you don’t want to either or perhaps you do?” Shrugging her shoulders lightly and straightening her posture once again. ‘Gilraen’ let out a soft sigh and only shook her head lightly letting out a soft sigh as if she was truly frustrated at the situation that was unfolding before her.

Cel let out a short laugh. "You know you did just come from the direction of the clearest spring in this world. If you have been traveling then you would have surely taken a drink." She then leaned against a nearby tree. "Just sing. There is not an elf alive that would not jump at the chance to show off their skills. So why are you being so difficult?" A soft smile played at her lips as she closed her eyes and waited.

Letting out a short laugh herself and bringing her right hand up to her eye as if to wipe the tears away. Once she had composed herself again 'Gilraen' started to speak softer as her left hand that still lay behind her back began to go through the symbols of one of the spells she had in mind, speaking a few command words underneath her breath. "Well since there is an audience why not."

Curling her lips into a smile and taking in a deep breath ‘Gilraen’ let out a soft note from her vocal cords. As she started singing the note the spell she was working on soon activated and a layer of arcane magic enveloped her body almost like armor, though it did create a rather soft humming sound as it enveloped her body. Once the humming sound that the magic armor created had ceased, 'Gilraen' started to sing a dozen or so softer notes before taking the pitch up a bit higher. She knew her singing wasn't really going to fool the elf and the fairy, but hopefully if they choose to attack the magic armor she had cast would be able to protect her for a while.

This seemed to make the fairy even madder as he listened, for it was nowhere near the skill of any elf he had ever heard. In fact, though it wasn't bad by itself, it was downright awful compared to the grace of a surface elf - let alone one who sang as well as the real Gilraen. Then he noticed a soft humming below the singing. He looked critically at the false elf, as though trying to decide if she was going to blow up or something, but then the humming stopped. It was as the elf paused to draw a breath for the next note that Aelfdane struck, his words cutting through the split second of silence like a hot knife through warm butter.

"That was terrible! And how is it you were able to hum and sing at the same time?!"

Aelfdane's wings beat madly as he stared angrily at the false elf, seemingly unable to say in one place. For indeed, he was gyrating in the area in which he'd been hovering for a minute or two now. He also noticed there were no tears of laughter - it was all fake; even the laughter was obviously forced, for no elf would laugh like that and he hadn't heard many humans laugh like that, either.

"Tell us who you are!"

Finally, the little fairy zoomed off and lighted on a tree branch nearby, just above Cel's head. He stared down at the false elf, looking over every inch of her - which for a fairy was a lot of inches! She didn't seem to be drawing any kind of weapon, but there were a lot of bulges that could be weapons - but probably weren't; they were probably just places where the clothes had wrinkles or something. As for the false elf herself, Aelfdane was starting to think this was the dark-skinned elf he'd seen earlier. But how could that be? Some kind of magic? Maybe that's how she'd been able to hum and sing at the same time.

That'd be great for parties! the elf thought, but then his thoughts returned to the present moment.

He was soon distracted again, however, as he noticed a smooth, polished stone embedded in the trunk near where he was standing. He looked at his reflection in it and gave his reflection a bland look before pulling out a tiny comb from his pocket. He really should comb his hair more often - which was funny since he tended to comb it about a dozen times a day! But he couldn't help it, though - it took a lot for a fairy to be handsome, especially for one as handsome as him. He combed his hair fiercely, still mad, but finally managed to get the look he wanted. He put the comb away and smiled at his reflection. Much better. He then returned to staring angrily at the false elf who pretended to be but really wan't Gilraen.

The moment the fairy burst out breaking her concentration on the song, 'Gilraen' immediately stopped singing her eyes and mouth both opened wide from surprise at what the fairy just said. “That was…Horrible?” For a moment it stung her core for a moment as she stood there musing over what the fairy stated, but just soon as the thought came it had vanished from her mind and replaced with nothing more than anger. Placing her hands behind her back once again, ‘Gilraen’s’ eyes were firmly fixed upon the fairy as he moved about her frame looking over her every inch. Yet he didn’t interest her anymore as she now turned her eyes back to the elf that she was talking to just moments before she begun singing.

As she parted her lips about to speak to the elf, a soft sound began to emit from ‘Gilraen’s’ body frame as her body soon began to waver back and forth. For the moment her skin seemed to go from a pale peach color to that of a light obsidian tone. Though within a few seconds her skin seemed to return back to that of a pale peach tone and everything seemed to back in place. Even though she knew that some of the guards that protected the city might not have seen her brief transformation. She knew that the fairy and elf might have seen something, and that was enough for her to drop the allusion and make a run for it to the other side.

Even though the illusion was faltering the mage still felt it was best to keep it up even though time was running short. Looking back to the tree in which she had shed her cloak and quarterstaff, a smile appeared on the fake elf’s lips as she soon turned her head to look back at the elf that stood a few feet from her. “Well this certainly has been fun I have to say, and I hope we can do this again some other time. Though let’s make sure it is later rather than sooner.” Her lips parted into a wide grin as she moved her right hand from behind her back with her left hand staying behind her back working through intricate symbols of the arcane. On the tips of her index, middle, and ring finger, small balls of energy began to form and expand as the seconds ticked by.

“If you ever looking for a place that is different from this nice way of life try and find me.” Speaking mainly to the elf rather than the fairy as she winked to the elf before letting the three expanded balls of energy shoot off from her finger tips and into a few trees. Though the energy blast wasn’t supposed to damage the elf nor the fairy, but rather use the trees as a distraction as the illusion finally faded and revealed the drow mage for what she truly was. Turning about and bursting off in a dash, Irae made her way to the tree in which she deposited her things, slipping her cloak on as fast as she could as well as sheathing the staff upon her back once again.

Cel was still leaning against the tree. She knew something was up but decided to wait until it happened. She mentally shrugged and let her mind wander but not far from the woman standing before her. When the little fairy stopped she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "And people say that elfs are vain. Wake up and pay attention." She nudged the little figure from behind.

Walking through the soft shadows of the early morning that pervaded the Elven City, Menhir took in a deep breath, every fibre of his being glad to be alive. The morning had always been his time, a moment of deep inner peace and revelling in the beauty of the word.

His return to Yomeniampa had been a tough call to make, to return to the city from which he had been cast out by his uncle, given over to the nomadic caravan that shaped his life. However, he had managed to find a semblance of acceptance, a spartan yet comfortable dwelling in a flet and had settled down. His travels had given him enough provision to live on for a while and this morning had been planned to go like many others, a quick stroll round the city before a couple of sparring sessions. Yet, he had been intrigued when passing through and noticing a slender Elven maiden talking in an agitated fashion with a fairy.

While many found the small winged creatures annoying, Menhir appreciated them, enjoying their rapid-fire sense of humour and love of life. He had watched idly, laughing softly unnoticed at their argument, but he had grown more serious at the approach of the second elf and the subsequent belliquous tone struck by all three. The fairy had seemed worried from the start, a surefire sign of danger.

Trying to pass herself off as Gilraen, the revealed drow had already raised Menhir's worries but the dropping of her disguise did not elude him. He hesitated between running in and staying back, he elected the latter. This drow had not attacked him, Menhir had no reason to startle her. However, when the conversation tarried and the drow vanished away into the woods, he approached carefully towards the elf and fairy.

'Hail and well-met, friends, forgive my intrusion. I only found it passing strange that a drow should wander at will so disguised in Yomeniampa. My name is Menhir, I hope I am not interrupting your day, I am only concerned that we should maybe follow yonder drow.' Celena and nodded a greeting to the fairy as he spoke.

The fairy felt the poke but didn't say anything. Then the blinked at the sudden appearance and equally sudden disappearance of the black skin. He stared at the elf and suddenly realized as she stopped singing that this WAS the elf from earlier - the one with the dark skin and the white hair! She must have used some kind of magic to make herself look like Gilraen! She realized it had failed, too, for she suddenly started talking and then ran off toward treeline.

"She's getting away! The impostor is getting away!" the little fairy said frantically, his wings suddenly fluttering madly as they carried him into the air.

Then the dark elf was saying something to the elf about joining her somewhere. Then there was something suddenly flying as the dark elf threw her hand out. Three balls of energy were suddenly hurtling their way toward the elf and the fairy - and they exploded. Aelfdane cried out in shock and fear and zipped behind the tree upon whose branch he'd previously been standing. He waited a few moments before poking his tiny head out from amongst the leaves once more.

"Can I come out now?" he whispered.

Then he realized someone else was talking, but though his eyes swiveled to face the man, he didn't come out of his hiding place. He feared that something else might come after him if he did. He was only very little, after all.

Menhir noticed the flash of movement as the fairy darted behind the thick trunk of the tree, either in surprise or alarm. Wishing no harm to the creature, Menhir took two steps round the tree and put up his hands to show that he did not intend to do anything untoward. 'Do not be frightened, my friend, I only came out to ascertain the danger of a drow in Yomeniampa. It seems you and your friend are both alright.'

Menhir's eyes met the fairy's and Menhir gave a warm smile. 'You seemed to also be put off at the mention of Gilraen from this impostor. Do you fear that this poses larger problems than just a lone drow?'

Cel growled. "I must follow her. There is a reason that she was here and I am going to find out what that reason was." She looked quickly at the new elf that had just showed himself and realized he had been there for a moment. She was so focused on the drow that she had not cared for him. She mentally shrugged and ran past him and after the impostor with one hand constantly on her weapon. 'Why did she say that to me?' She wondered as she continued to chase the other woman

As she ran through the forest Irae pulled the strings of her cloak out tightening the grip the cloak had on her body. Running past a few of trees that had drawings on them, Irae turned her head about to try and steal a glance back seeing if anyone had followed her. When no one came into her immediate view a soft sigh escaped from her mouth with her muscles relaxing as she started to slow down trying to catch her breath.

Placing her hand upon a tree with one hand resting upon her knee as her upper body hunched over with her breathing irregular at the moment. A soft sound soon hit her ear drum causing Irae to whirl about in place looking behind her. ‘ Could they really have followed me…?’ Waiting a few seconds to confirm if her suspicions were correct or false. It seemed to be false as nothing loomed into her vision for a few seconds now and her lips soon curled into a small smile. Soon the smile vanished from her face as her lips soon turned the smile upside down into a frown. Someone had followed her after all and seemed intent to catch her if they followed her thus far. ‘ They might have guards following them…can’t take any chances now…’ She thought as she looked about from the trees to see if anyone was up at the tree tops possibly archers aiming down at her. When she didn’t see anything her body relaxed a bit more, but still tense from the fact that someone was still chasing her.

Bringing the spell that she had used a few moments ago back into her mind, Irae turned about once again running through the forest with the tail of her cloak whipping about from the wind. Placing her left hand close to her chest, light balls of energy began to develop upon her finger tips taking on a rather light color as she charged up her missiles again. ‘ I hope I get out of this alive…’ Taking another glance back to see if the person that had decided to follow her was drawing closer.

Before the fairy could respond, Menhir felt the wlf behind him take off. He turned to see her running in the same direction the drow had taken, the dark elf now no longer visible through the woods. 'Chasing down a drow in Yomeniampa, the danger here takes many forms, it seems.'

Pivoting quickly, Menhir burst into a sprint, trying to catch up the elf and not let her face the drow alone if conflict was to ensue. Menhir had faced them before, his dark demi-cousins, he knew their tricks and wiles. Perhaps this one had a good reason for being on the surface but sneaking into Yomeniampa, passing herself off as someone she was not and running when discovered did seem likely to spell trouble. He did not want this elf to be injured in a fight alone. 'Likely she can handle herself better here than you can, this is her home city.' Menhir drowned out his consciousness, he would never let a creature of Light fight alone if he could help it.

Seeing the form of the elf a few yards ahead of him, he put on an extra turn of speed to draw level with her. Now where was that drow?

Cel growled again as she felt the drow start running again. 'I almost have her.' She thought to herself. She suddenly felt someone start out behind her. "The male elf." She said aloud. "Now what does he want." She shrugged him out of her mind and picked up her pace so the impostor would not get away. She could just see the woman ahead of her darting in and around trees.


ooc: sorry wrong character...

((Eep! Lemme post too!! :blink: ))

The fairy blinked as his new friend suddenly took off, clearly unconcerned about the other elf that had shown up. He watched her run off, following her with his eyes, but he couldn't just let her go. He hesitated a moment, not wanting to get himself into a fight, but he was small and fast and hard to hit or catch as a result. Besides, Cel might get hurt and need a healer. So, after only a second or two, he darted out after Cel and the other two. He couldn't see clearly what was going on, for the two elves were running after the false elf. He flew as fast as he could, though, his little fairy wings doing their best to let him keep up with the others. Something occurred to him as he was following them.

"Hey, wait a minute! What's a drow?!"

They probably wouldn't answer due to the energy exerted in the pursuit, but then they were fairies; they didn't have wings that could do all the work while they talked. No one was perfect, though, he supposed.

Her breathing began to come out irregular once again and her legs started to cramp as she continued her escape from the three. With her left hand resting gently against the bosom of her chest, Irae took another glance back. Her lips curved into a small smile at what she just saw, although it looked like a figure or rather a dot at the edge of her vision. She knew it was still her pursuers chasing after her for whatever motives they might have whether it was to capture her or kill her.

Removing her left hand from her chest Irae stopped for the moment and held her left arm up at shoulder level with her right hand holding her arm for support. The balls of light at the end of her fingers on her left hand began to intensify, concentrating on improving the power of the attack. When the smile she had on her face turned into a grin, the balls of energy resting on her fingertips shoot out from there resting position becoming missiles of energy as they flew through the air.

Targeting the trees once again, the missiles hit four trees all directly causing wood to fly as the missiles of charged energies nailed there targets. Not only did the wood simply fly, but one tree had been hit enough to cause the base of it’s foundation to slowly tip to the side. Causing the tree to slowly tip over and possibly fall on the ground sooner or later. With a satisfied nod of her head, Irae turned around once again catching her breath for the moment as the running and shooting off spells at the fly was depleting her energy at a rapid rate. She couldn’t continue this charade for much longer if she had to keep firing at them rather than trying to fire at them again, she decided it would be best to wait until one got even closer. As her thoughts continued to run by in her mind, Irae began running once more away from her pursuers. With a different intention in mind than when she first entered the forest.

His feet pounding the ground, Menhir's breath came in ragged spurts as he pushed on past the tall trees, trying to catch sight of the drow. He had cut off to the left, leaving the other elf to his right, to try to head off any evasion by the mysterious dark elf. Turning his head, he kept apace of the moving figure who also hunted the intruder. His keen ears also perceived the rapid flutter of the fairy's wings, a way behind them and gaining

Menhir snapped his gaze back in front and scrutinised the twisting ways of the forest ahead, seeking for any sign of their quarry. The first inkling of anything wrong came from the sudden appearance of a ball of light heading in his direction. His senses barely had time to register the incoming attack, and certainly no time to shout a warning to his two companions as he saw several other balls off to his right, when the tree trunk next to him exploded in a veritable torrent of splinters, leaves and heavy pieces. Acting on pure instinct, Menhir tucked himself into a ball in mid-stride and rolled, trying to get clear of the blast zone. This was counting without the vast size of the trees of Yomeniampa. The ball had only out gouged a side of the trunk but this was enough for Menhir to be the landing place for many of those splinters and branches. He swirled to keep his cloak moving as a kind of shield but he felt several deep splinters pierce his left arm while a branch came to smack very heavily against both of his shins, threatening to topple him.

He picked himself up gingerly as quickly as he could not wanting to concede more time in the race. His right shin would sport a severe bruise pretty quickly and he was slowed down marginally. His left arm was more of a worry, as four or five of the splinters had penetrated deeply, drawing rivulets of blood which dripped off his already-sodden cloak. Looking off to the right, he saw and heard the crash of a tree likely by another attack from the drow, but could not hear the elf or the fairy. Likely the smaller creature would have been able to avoid the blasts, but the elf would have been targeted directly. He thought about going to them, but the drow still posed a menace. Sending a prayer up to Lothlomendil, he decided to press on the chase. Favouring his right arm, he scaled the nearest intact tree to its lowest-branch and ran along it, using the natural formation of the Yomeniampa forest to leap from tree to tree. Jumping to his third tree, he spotted a shape in the distance down below which filled his heart with resolve and made his injured legs feel lighter. The drow. Putting on a turn of speed, he caught up a little and got ready to leap down onto his target, his right hand straying down towards Qianlong at his hip.

Cel saw the light coming at her. Her breathe caught lightly in her throat as the other elf rolled out of the corner of her eye. She looked up seeing a low branch, for an elf that is, and jumped to it as the ball flew under her. She caught ahold of the limb as the ball hit the tree directly behind her. The splinters from the bark caught in a storm of wind rushed at her unprotected legs. She grit her teeth as four long splinters hit the calf on her left leg and a two hit her thigh of the right. She jumped down from the branch. "How dare you attack me!" She yelled. "I did nothing but try and talk with you!" Her angered voiced echoed from the trees. The ground shook with her anger and the trees started to dance with the sound of her rage. "You will pay for this." The elf said slightly lower. Now she pulled her sword from her waist. "Come to me now." She reached down and slowly pulled out each of the wood pieces from her legs in a smooth movement. The turned her almost red eyes to the direction the ball had come. "Drow, you had better have a grand explanation for this or I will cut out you soul." She shook. She had never spoken like that and it slightly scared her yet it was alittle exciting. A small smile played at the corner at her mouth as she used her healing spell to close her wounds and took off toward the drow once again with her speed much faster.