New moon

Waxing Crescent

Young Ethari stared at the Lunar falls. Watching the powerful water was calming, and he desperately needed something to soothe his mind after today.

He wasn't as strong as the other moonshadow elves, and it only took one day to figure that out.

First days were always tough. First days at school, first days in a new place, first days as an apprentice... it was tough.

Ethari needed an escape and the Lunar falls provided that. He had seen them on his way into The Silvergrove, trailing behind his grandfather like a duckling with wide, curiosity filled, eyes.

Now his eyes were full of tears. He was frustrated and felt out of place among the others.

'Homesick.' Ethari thought, looking down at the rocks below and admiring how the moonlight reflected on the water. Anything he could do to ground himself and keep his mind off of the utterly embarrassing events that happened just hours ago.

The moonshadow elf wiped away his tears and sniffled, taking a shaky breath.

Then the bushes behind him rustled, making his heart jump into his throat.

'Is it a wild animal?! A banther? A dragon?!' Ethari panicked and jumped up to his feet, ready to either run or fight.

But what emerged from the bushes wasn't a banther, nor a dragon, and frankly, it wasn't anything (or rather anyone) who really posed threat.

"Don't stop on my account." Runaan chuckled, kicking a branch off of his leg rather ungracefully.

Runaan was so far the strongest assassin in training. Once he put his mind to something, he was able to accomplish it perfectly. Though, the elf seemed to be little more brawn than brain for the time being.

Ethari furiously wiped at his eyes, hoping he didn't look like he had been crying.

"Come to admire the falls?" Runaan asked, sitting down on the cliffs ledge next to where Ethari stood.

The two elves looked at each other, one (cough cough Ethari) more confused and startled than the other.

"They are a sight to behold..." Runaan continued after a few moments, looking away and down at the water below.

Ethari sat back down and nodded, ears pointed towards the ground. He was embarrassed.

The two sat in silence for a while. The only sound the rush of water hitting rocks and the rustle of the trees in the breeze.

"You know, I come here to clear my mind as well. It's the perfect place to just get away for a while." Runaan said quietly, his hair blowing in the wind too.

Ethari didn't say anything. He just picked up a pebble from where he sat and tossed it off of the cliff, watching it miss the water and bounce off of a rock and onto the shore.

"Wow. I couldn't do that if I tried." Runaan laughed, trying to joke. It... didn't work.

Ethari just groaned and picked up another pebble, going to toss it like the other before something caught his eye.

"It's obsidian." He whispered, turning the smooth stone over in his hand.

Runaan leaned over to look and laughed, "It's appears to be just a rock, Ethari."

The obsidian slipped from his hands and surely fell down into the water below. "You... know my name?" Ethari asked, surprised.

"I'm a very observant elf." Runaan said with a shrug, leaning back on his hands casually. "Plus, you sort of fell on your face today and word spreads quickly in a small village. Especially if it is amusing."

Ethari groaned and hid his face in his hands, "Please... don't remind me."

Runaan sat back up normally and wiped his grassy hands on his pants. "No, but in all seriousness, you're the new kid. And your grandfather knows my mothers well. He made one of their swords, and she cherishes that weapon. So it would only be natural for me to be curious."

Ethari blinked, an eyebrow raised, "Curious? Curious how?"

Runaan shrugged and avoided eye contact with the other elf. Ethari swears he saw a slight flush to the assassin in training's face.

"I just figured it would be nice if you made a few friends, is all." Runaan mumbled, looking up at the moon.

"Oh. Yes, I suppose that would do me some good." Ethari chuckled, looking up at the sky as well. Then to his left, smiling at his new friend.

Runaan stood abruptly and brushed off his pants before looking around almost nervously.
"Training starts tomorrow, I'll see you there?"

Ethari's eyes went wide.
"Ah! Uh... Yes. You will."

Runaan smiled and with that, raced off back into the trees and disappeared without a trace.

'He's a weird one...' Ethari thought with a smile, looking away from the woods and back up at the moon.

He decided to head back home to his grandfathers not long after that, a plate of food was left on the table and covered with a cloth.

Ethari ate and wrote in his notebook, coming up with ideas for trinkets. A hobby of his, crafting things.

The young moonshadow elf fell asleep at the table, charcoal covering his face and hand where it smudged off of the page. And a new design was sketched out.

An obsidian bracelet, woven with leather and swirly metal holding the stone in place in the center of the band.

If only he hadn't dropped the small igneous rock into that raging water...

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Runaan walked in through the front door, one of his mothers sitting on the couch and waiting for him.

"Where have you been, young man?" She asked, though her tone wasn't harsh.

"The falls." Runaan answered simply, walking over and sitting next to her. The fireplace warmed him up and dried his slightly damp pant legs.

"Who tracked mud into the house? Ru?" His other mother called, and he winced.

"Sorry mum!"

Runaan may have had to clean up the mud and wash the river water from his usually pristinely white hair, but he had a  prize that made it all feel worth it.

A small, black, smooth stone that took half an hour to find by the falls.

Runaan smiled and at it, placed on his bedside table. His moms tucked him in and blew out the candle, closing his bedroom door behind them with a loving, "Goodnight."

The elf took one last look at the stone before letting his eyes fall closed. He was going to give it to Ethari sometime... since he seemed so fond of it. Preferably when his two best friend weren't around. He would never hear the end of it from the couple, the endless teasing.

Runaan could hear it now, the two friends of his (who were not so secretly in love) making fun of his newest friend and how Runaan gave him a gift. Though the stone wasn't much of a gift, it was something and those two gremlins were brutal.

No wonder the two of them wanted to be on the dragon guard...