Ascending Light

Village

The ceiling above him was brown and made of sticks tied together tightly and systematically. His bed was lumpy, but warm and soft compared to the dungeon cot and blankets. He rolled on his side and saw a chair sitting a foot or so from the bed. It was unoccupied, but had a blanket draped across the back of it. Crysen sat up and looked around. The room was circular and the door was across from the bed. There was a table next to the door and a nightstand next to the bed. Other than those two things, there was a chest of drawers under the small window to his right, behind where he laid.

On the nightstand laid clothes for him to change into. He picked them up and looked at them then sighed as he put them on. His nose wrinkled in dissatisfaction. There were too much of them. They were just a flowy shirt and long, billowy pants. Still too much. He'd never really been able to explain why, but he'd always preferred wearing less clothes. Mostly it was just the pants. He didn't like them. He preferred shorts or, if he must, something that comes just above the knees. The outfit he'd come out of the dungeon with would have been much more comfortable than this. He sighed and put it on anyways.

His wings fluttered to life as he heard something outside the door. He glided closer to it as it opened to reveal Shimmer and behind him Cade. Shimmer's face brightened when he saw Crysen and he opened his arms. Crysen smiled and glided into them. "Shimmer!" He pulled away a bit. "How long have I been asleep?"

Shimmer's head tilted as he said, "Three days. Cade and I have been staying with you. Using that much power must have really done you in." He glanced at what Crysen was wearing. "That looks good on you, Crysen. I didn't like it when they showed it to me, but it doesn't look bad. What do you think of it?" He looked at Crysen.

Crysen wrinkled his nose in answer. He noticed that Shimmer's clothes had been altered. He had shorts and a fitted tunic which was belted with the same material. Had they given him a different outfit?

Shimmer smiled. "You don't like it either?" When Crysen shook his head he continued. "I didn't think it would complement you very well. What is it you don't like about it? Maybe we can fix it."

Crysen tugged at the pants he wore and grimaced. "There's too much."

Shimmer tilted his head again and stepped closer, eyeing the clothes. "Too much..." he seemed to go deep into thought. After a minute he brightened and looked at Crysen. "We can fix that. I changed mine a little bit too, because they were so baggy and long." He turned to Cade, motioning him to leave as he said, "Take them off, Crysen. I have an idea."

Crysen slipped out of them as the door closed behind Cade. Crysen slipped out of the clothes and handed them over to Shimmer. They sat on the bed as Shimmer looked over the clothes. Once Shimmer had finished examining them a sharp piece of ice formed in his hands. After making some cuts, he looked around for something, but seemed to not find it. He glided to the door and spoke softly to Cade, who then flew off. Crysen looked at what Shimmer had accomplished, but didn't understand it. He had cut and slit the sleeves and cut of the pants so that they were much shorter. Aside from those things, which would have been fine on their own, he also slit the shorts and sides of the shirt. Crysen didn't understand what Shimmer was trying to do, but said nothing as Shimmer sat back down.

Shimmer noticed his gaze and smiled. "Cade has gone for some supplies so that I can finish. I need thread and some other things. When he gets back I'll finish and you can put them on."

Crysen shook his head. "You didn't have to do all of this. Just cutting the pants would've been fine. They didn't need to be totally altered."

Shimmer shrugged. "I know, but light fairies are supposed to be beautiful and majestic. So I wanted them to fit your look. You wouldn't look beautiful and majestic in what they were. I also wanted you to be comfortable, so I thought removing some excess would help." He grinned and gave a sigh. "I used to do this kind of thing all the time at home. I miss making clothes and outfits. It was a hobby of mine."