On Sapphire Wings and Jade Scales

Chapter 1: A Stroll Through Cherub Woods

On a peaceful morning after a night of rain, ten-year-old twins Tomas and Eila Diderot set out to play in the gardens near their home village, Cherub Town, while their parents went to work in their store. Their blue eyes sparked with excitement for the day ahead, the sun hitting their fair skin, which contrasted with their black hair. Tomas kept his hair short, though messy, while Eila kept hers long and topped with a wide-brimmed sun hat decorated with little white flowers.

As the twins passed through the gardens, Flora, the guardian flower sprite, recognized them and said, "Ah, hello children. Playing tag with the forest creatures, as usual?"

"Yeah!" Shouted Tomas while raising his net into the air, "We're hoping to find one of those huge dragonflies today, they're so cool!"

Eila swung her basket to her other arm, grinned and said, "Well, I'd like to find a kelpie! They're these white water horses with fins, and I hear they're super pretty!"

Flora smiled, adjusted her flower crown, and gracefully walked towards the children. She gave each a loving pat on the head before sending them off and waved at them as they ran into Cherub Woods. Tomas carried a bug net, while Eila had a bag full of snacks, drinks, and a camera, hoping to take photos of the woodland creatures.

As they entered the forest, they marveled at the many animals that lived there. From giant rainbow-winged dragonflies, butterflies whose wings bore eye patterns, small deer-like creatures with platinum spots on their fur and horns, plus birds of all kinds. Tomas started chasing after the dragonflies with his net, hoping to catch one to show off to his friends.

Meanwhile, Eila began taking pictures of the flora and fauna. As they ventured through the forest, staying close to the marked paths, they caught a small herd of deer in the distance. Eila walked closer to the herd, careful not to make much noise, and soon found them gathering on the shore of a small lake, drinking water. As she steadied her camera for a photo, she noticed a figure near a tree on the other side of the lake through the lens. The figure seemed human, but Eila could not make out any details, so she hurried back to the path to find her brother.

Tomas was already near the path, looking at one of the bugs he caught. He noticed Eila running towards him, looking worried.

"Huh? Did you see something weird, sis?" Asked Tomas.

Eila panted from exhaustion, pointing towards the lake, "You gotta follow me! I think there's a person near the lake!"

"Why would we need to go meet this person? They might just be going for a swim."

"Maybe... but they were sitting near a tree and weren't moving at all, they might need help!"

"Or they could be napping. The lake is a very chill place, you know?"

Eila glanced toward the lake and bit her thumb, pondering, "Am I overreacting? Still, my gut tells me that person isn't well, they seem so pale from here..."

After a pause, Eila whispered, "Look, would you just follow me? It won't be very long, and maybe we could just say hi and leave the person. Is that alright?"

Tomas crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot in annoyance, but caved in and followed Eila towards the lake. The herd of deer was just leaving, and so the twins saw the clear lake, with a few ducks swimming gracefully in the water. They approached the figure by walking around the lake, hidden by the shrubs and the shadows cast by the trees.

Once they were close to the figure, observing from behind a shrub, they could see the person sitting with his back against the tree and slumped over.

Tomas, peeking through the shrubs, whispered, "H-hey, Eila, this guy seems hurt..."

Eila poked her face through the leaves, glanced at her brother, and both inspected the figure.