Jeylin wasn’t too sure what to do. What his… friend had told him registered perfectly. Yet, he couldn’t make sense of it at all. It was like trying to hear what your teacher is saying from a room away, only to find out they’re speaking nonsense.
It was stupid. That was his opinion after considering it for a moment, and he was absolutely sure that it would be his opinion until the end.
The elves in this world are much more fucked up than he thought. The usual feeling of joy from encountering a plot twist in a story wasn’t present during this revelation. Only anger and wrath arose. Flames that wish to burn and harm the people that have wronged it.
From what Jeylin could understand, The Day of Coming Silence is a sort of tradition. Stemming from the great wars that occurred in the past, the elves have select families that remain as warriors. From one generation to the next.
Jeylin thought it was like nobility, kinda like medieval times in his home world. Wasn’t it literally like that though?
That terrible feeling he gets whenever Kettlelinna mentions nature exposed him to the worst fears he never even imagined. Like the usual fantasy tropes, the elves place all of their beliefs on nature.
And one part of nature is death.
Naturally, a tradition has to form around it. ‘Cause that’s the most logical thing to do.’ He thought sarcastically.
When the parents of these families decide that their child is ready, they kill themselves in order “to pass on the power.” She said, “It’s a tradition that never faded and will likely continue on into the future.” A tone of sadness was present in her voice. The girl was holding back tears and failing, sobbing.
Just like that, a few thousand lines of words wanted to spill out of Jeylin’s mouth. There were so many insults and flaws to that logic that he wanted to spit at those elves that he could fill a tub full of them.
Jeylin was in no way a good person. But the thought process was so stupid that he couldn’t even begin to think of how they interpreted nature to be that way.
Kids have a very short attention span but things like this wasn’t just something a child could forget in a matter of minutes, it was something that would continue to weigh on their minds as the seconds tick in tune with their growing despair.
He just couldn’t imagine losing your parents like that. Granted, that can be literal but it was obvious that this tradition was hurting people. Generations upon generations replaying this cruel fate to themselves for the sake of tradition.
Kettlelinna was still rubbing tears out of her eyes. Jeylin could hear her mutter about ‘mother,’ ‘father’ as she kept her gaze to the floor.
He stared at her, thinking, ‘What a pitiful sight. I might as well get to her home, wherever it is.’ He thought, holding his hand under his chin. Truth be told, he had already planned to do that beforehand.
But now, he plans to return home and change a few things.
Maybe he was being a bit overdramatic, maybe this stuff was so normalized that the people became unfazed. But right now, Jeylin didn’t care if it was considered ‘normal.’ He will find a way around that. From what he’s heard, Kettlelinna’s parents are still alive. ‘There’s still hope.’ He thought.
“Hey, your kingdom is somewhere in this forest, right?” He asked. ‘It can’t be that far if she ran off from her home and ended up here.’
It was then that Jeylin discovered that elves also have heightened stamina– even the younger ones– and that the journey to her home was going to take longer than he thought.
– An Hour Later –
The duo eventually resumed their journey, albeit at a slower pace. Passing through a particular tree, Jeylin stopped. The elf girl was about to voice her confusion when he turned to her with a blank face.
Kettlelinna suddenly felt intimidated by his stare. That natural aura that surrounded Jeylin was most potent in whatever direction his gaze lies. And so naturally, his next few words chilled her bones.
“I’m hungry.” He said.
If anyone told her that they heard an ear-piercing scream from the forest, Kettlelinna would stay quiet. The small smirk that appeared on his face made it clear that he expected such a reaction. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat you.” He told her, though it was more of mockery than reassurance.
Ignoring the harsh glare pointed towards him, Jeylin looked up at the tree they stopped at. On it, alongside branches and leaves, were fruits. He eyed them blankly.
The elf girl could already feel his request before he even asked it. With a sigh and one last glare, she jumped as hard as she could in order to grab onto one of the branches. In response, the branch snapped.
That day– not for the first time– Kettlelinna screamed.
A round of laughter was the first thing she heard after her own scream. The girl was able to soften her landing by using her limbs. Added that with the admittedly soft snow, scratches at most were what she sustained. “What an idiot.” An eye twitched.
To her surprise however, a hand was held out for her to take. She felt tempted to crush the hand for a brief moment. Was Jeylin starting to become a bad influence on her? Probably.
Instead, she took it. “You wanted me to get that fruit.” She shot back.
Jeylin watched her get up. “There are more ways to get that fruit than brute force, Ket.” He replied in a tone as though he was a mother that was scolding a child. Kettlelinna wanted to strangle him.
“Oh well, no point dwelling on mistakes. Life is better when you learn from said mistakes.” He walked towards the fallen branch, full of the same kind of fruit. Yellow, apple-shaped. He heard the girl huff.
“Why’d you get all wise on me suddenly?” Without turning to her, Jeylin responded.
“I’m just really hungry.” Shamelessly, he showed her one of the fruits. ‘You have such a stronger appetite than me…’ She thought in envy, not feeling like eating at the moment. Even though she has to.
The elf girl nodded and the boy peeled off the skin before biting into it. With no hesitation.
‘Still though…’ She thought, ‘Despite Jeylin being… Jeylin. I’m happy that he’s my friend. He’s like a– what did he call it?– a tsundere, but more insane.’ He was her first ever friend. And while some people may find that sad– The fact that he specifically is her friend– Kettlelinna wanted to take a page out of his book and say that she doesn’t care.
Because, he would laugh when you fall or feel pain, but he’ll make you smile when it truly matters.
“Did we really have to spend the night making an… igloo?” The elven girl asked, wiping snow off her uniform.
“You’re the one who told me elves can’t handle the cold.” He simply replied, before stretching with a yawn. They had spent a large chunk of the night building what Jeylin told her was an igloo. Initially, after he had explained it to her, she protested. Arguing that they wouldn’t get much sleep.
In turn, Jeylin deadpanned and told her that they could continue their journey when it’s tomorrow evening. “Just sleep in.”
The girl pouted and tried to reason that it would delay them. Jeylin told her he didn’t care. Which brought them to their current situation.
It’s currently sometime late morning. Snow covered the ground, yet the tree roots were still visible with how big they were. ‘Pretty much the size of a leg.’ He noted. Rays of sunlight colored the snow yellow in long strips.
The duo passed by frozen ponds, they made sure to stay away from them, seeing that falling in would be a death sentence. More so for Kettlelinna but Jeylin had no doubt that his kid body would die if he fell in.
They walked for a few hours. Kettlelinna could feel her legs begin to strain, walking sloppily because of it. Jeylin ignored his own tired legs and continued to walk. Eventually though, they would have to address a few things.
“Hey Ket… can I rip off a bit of your uniform for my hand?” He asked, blunt as a club.
“W-What?!”
Jeylin deadpanned, “It’s actively snowing, I don’t want to catch an infection.”
The elf girl looked conflicted and the boy didn’t know why. “But… faking status is illegal…” She muttered. Jeylin didn’t even respond, letting the question in his eyes show.
Sighing, she clarified. “...Our top fighters– usually connected to the government– have this thing they do where they use bandages to hide past scars.” Jeylin raised a brow at that.
“Isn’t that a bit of a waste?” He asked.
“Well, when you’re a top fighter, you’re guaranteed wealth in some way.” She replied, not that she thinks it’s justified, resource-wise at least. ‘I mean, we’re supposed to be protectors of nature and stuff…’
Kettlelinna pointed at the boy, “Actually, you seem like the type to play around with bandages.”
“That’s true,” He admitted shamelessly, “But I’m also a kid.” He added.
“...”
“Anyway.” Jeylin didn’t miss a beat. “Do they at least have a special color aside from the usual white?” He asked, curious. When those words left his mouth, Kettlelinna adopted a dark look.
“...The loyal ones, don’t.” She simply said. Now she has Jeylin’s attention.
“And the ones that aren’t?”
“They– just like the loyal ones have a habit of putting on white bandages– instead, put on black bandages.” She told him with dread, more so on the fact that one of their own has turned on them before. Multiple times actually.
“Interesting.” He noted with a flat tone. Kettlelinna learned that this meant he thought it was stupid.
There was silence for a few moments. Jeylin was staring straight ahead, not speaking. The elf girl assumed that Jeylin lost all energy to talk. Or rather, ran out of it. She’s read about them before– introverts– they are less likely to talk or interact with other people when they feel tired.
Assuming so, she trusted him to tell her if something was wrong and walked alongside him. The girl would one day come to regret neglecting asking him.
It just so happened to be today.
Kettlelinna Benchflower POV
It was then while walking with Jeylin on autopilot that I followed him as he took a left turn. My face met wood the next moment. Blinking, I realized I had walked into a tree. Did Jeylin just lead me into a tree? I pushed myself off the tree and turned to glare at Jeylin for doing that, only to come to a chilling sight.
Facing directly forward, Jeylin’s eyes were sharp even as he stared into nothing. A slight frown settled on his face. The expression he wore wasn’t something I ever saw on his face, something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
Then, his head snapped to a seemingly random direction. But his gaze… despite looking like he was staring into nothing, felt like he was seeing every direction. Akin to a predator— I turned my head so fast I was almost hit with whiplash.
It was an arrow.
It was in no way flying towards me. Rather, it was stuck into a tree. But I didn’t hear it. I didn’t hear it despite my strong hearing. An attack? That would explain Jeylin’s tenseness…
As I was thinking, Jeylin released a wave of bloodlust pointed straight at the direction he was looking at. It was sloppy and unrefined, but it was enough to drive away the crows hidden on trees, their silhouettes disappearing. One of those silhouettes didn’t leave.
Jeylin spoke with a neutral, deadpan tone. Yet, it was laced with a hardness I couldn’t put my finger on. “Who are you? Why attack us?”
I turned to face the same direction he was looking at, only to notice a faint block of white in the darkness. Two familiar pointed ears could be seen, the pale skin making them stand out.
An… elf?
“Hoh? What is a human like yourself doing in our forest?” His voice was deep and seemed to come from every direction, every word bounced off the trees and echoed loudly. Sound Magic!
Subtly, he glanced at me. Or more specifically, the uniform I wore. Eyes full of disgust was what I saw when I locked eyes with him. I heard Jeylin huff, a brief tone of panic was quickly hidden by the sound of him clearing his throat.
“Human? I am an elf.” He lied.
The sound of a questioning hum echoed throughout the trees, amusement blatant. I could tell– no matter how well he hid it– that Jeylin was angered! At this rate, the two are gonna fight it out even before they try talking. I tried to think of something to say. Something to diffuse the situation… Trees?! Food?! Tea?!
But nothing came up. I cursed.
Narrowing his eyes, Jeylin seemed to have realized something. Whatever it was, it seems he had enough faith that he’s already decided on what to do. With a sense of mine that I developed from staying with him, I felt that he was about to try something stupid. Please don’t get us killed, Jeylin.
“I’ve got a genetic mutation that gives me rounded ears.” He started, faking confidence. “If I’m not an elf, how else would I be able to see you?”
My eyes widened. He figured it out! He figured out something that no other outsider race figured out about the elves. A secret that could change the tides in the historical wars between races.
Our enhanced senses.
Comments (0)
See all