Men & Monsters

Heading West

After giving what she thought was the longest hug in her life, Eira followed Awel closely back home. If it hadn't been for Adelae lingering in the back of her mind, she probably would have kissed him too and then held his hand all the way back. Together they talked back and forth, with the widest grins possible, as Awel felt to fill her in on every single detail of her absence, and how Zaines had called off the search just the day before. It somewhat surprised Eira to hear this, seeing as how the brute had always pined for her. Still, she found herself trying with all of her might not to explode with her story right then and there. At least until Awel stopped, with the village in view some ways away.

"Tell me what happened. I know you don't like telling stories but...surely you've had quite an experience out there. You look so different. The way you carry yourself, I mean." Eira snickered, again trying her hardest not to grab his hand and drag him back to the village. She took a deep breath.

"To put it modestly, yes. Yes it's been...an adventure." That's when she looked back, thinking of Finn. Amongst the excitement she dearly hoped he would make it back to her. Awel coughed expectantly, snickering as she looked back to him. She gave him a coy smirk and started toward her home. "I'd rather not tell it just yet."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't really enjoy telling stories over and over."

"I know that. Here, let me walk you back to our home. We should wait until the weather clears up before venturing to the next village and back to your folks. I don't care for this thick mist rising up."

"You and I both." Eira muttered. With the rain passing, other Green Folk still weren't getting out of their homes just yet, as they could smell smoke from a pipe emanating from one hut they passed, then delicious soup in another. Eira could hardly wait for a well-cooked meal again, as enticing as charred fish had proved to be. She was thankful that no one was out just yet, as it saved her from being attacked by a mob of old friends barraging her with questions. She could see the village goats some ways away, all huddled together in a corner of their enclosure to keep warm, while the chickens in another pen had the luxury of hiding inside their coops.

This village was quite different from the one Eira had grown up in. For starters, the homes here were built entirely above ground, and lacked the forest overgrowth that comes with age. Rather, many of these homes were newly-built, some of them less than a year old. While the Green Folk had never wanted to expand beyond a single village, with the way things were becoming, it turned out to be a necessity to their survival.

Years ago, when the first people settled in the woods and established a village, the very one Eira was raised in, they promised to live quiet and secluded lives, free of the Piermont Kingdom's grip from which they had escaped from. So the first Green Folk established it to be a norm that unlike the large families of the kingdom, each couple would only have one child, two tops. This way, the population would remain low and fewer resources would be needed to survive.

Their original ideals would hardly be met, however. Of the numerous families that first established the Green Folk, there were many more today. This was thanks in part to people who had grown lost in the forest, either exiled or running from the kingdom themselves. Oftentimes unable to survive on their own, many were admitted into the Green Folk. As the population grew, so did the concern for the Folk way of life. The answer became simple, as the villages have split should their numbers grow too large. Together there were currently five communities, each a reasonable distance from the other, but far enough to remain as hidden and secluded as before to the untrained wanderer.

"Adelae, look who I found!" Awel announced when he opened the door to his home and pulled his hood down. Adelae, who had been the one responsible for the soup they could smell outside, was tending to it over their fireplace when she turned. With a gasp that sent her hands up to cover her mouth, she could hardly believe it as she set eyes on Eira. As the girl turned to close the door behind them she was attacked by a hug that put her husband's to shame.