Walking around the Grove Thalien couldn't help but bask in the beautiful greenery around him, the thick bushes and tall grass, the tall, intertwined trees, that barely let any moonlight seep through, full of vines and moss.
Every now and then while walking, he would see some majestic beast, like a huge stag, with white skin, and blood red glowing hooves, antlers, and eyes, that looked like they are made of Ruby, or the bear with fur so black it almost completely blended with the dark environment, the only thing visible was it's blue glowing eyes, and those beasts only helped complete this peace of art, this masterpiece of natural art.
Until he finally saw soft blue light in the distance, and they didn't take long to reach it.
The fae village was beautiful, natural, and perfectly merged into the masterpiece that is the Grove.
The village of Myrielle's tribe rests like a dream at the edge of Seraphyne's grove island, where towering ancient trees give way to white sand shores and azure waters reflecting the moonlight with otherworldly beauty. The tribe, once wanderers of the wilds, now thrives in peaceful coexistence with the land, their settlement a seamless blend of nature and craftsmanship.
The homes are grown rather than built, crafted from living trees coaxed into shape with gentle druidic guidance. Branches arch into domes and spirals, forming airy shelters with open walls veiled by hanging vines and woven leaves. Soft bioluminescent moss glows from their roots, lighting the village with an otherworldly calm.
Paths of smooth driftwood and coral sand wind through the forest floor, connecting the tree-homes to the shoreline, where fishing piers stretch over the crystal sea. Nets hang between palm trees to dry, and colourful shells and stones are strung into ornaments that chime in the breeze.
There were no walls, no gates, no boundaries, the village just seamlessly starts in the forest, and ends at the beach, without disturbing their natural presence at all, in fact it enhances it by merging them both.
Once they entered the village they were met by a barrage of fae welcoming seraphyne, pixies, or fairies, old or young, they flew around, smiling and laughing, until a particular fairy appeared after which all the other fae fell silent.
"Welcome back Mistress Seraphyne, I apologise for not being there to greet you when you first arrived, village responsibilities, I hope you understand"
"Of course I do, how's everything been in the village"
"Everything's well thanks to Lady Seraphyne and the grove's treasures"
"That's wonderful to hear"
Seraphyne took a deep breath and looked around her
"I have to say, every time I come here I'm more and more impressed with how captivating you made this place to be"
"We tried to disturb Lady Seraphyne's Grove as little as we could"
"Not only are you not disturbing it, you're making it even more beautiful and harmonious, and for that I'm very grateful"
"Thank you, now I hope you're staying to eat with us since there's already a feast in preparation"
"A feast? You don't have to do that"
"Of course we do, it's not every day that Lady Seraphyne comes to visit, and…"
He finally looked at thalien
"It's the first time that young master Thalien has ever come here"
"I apologise for the late introduction"
He extended his arms
"My name is Zera, the elder of this humble village"
Thalien shook his hands
"It's wonderful to meet you, Elder Zera"
Zera looked like a handsome man in his thirties, with brown hair, green eyes, soft expression, and calm demeanour
Yet Thalien could tell he was a powerful druid, thalien was too low level to actually see their levels, but with his talent at analysing people's prowess, and his sharp instincts, he could tell that he was more or less at Myrielle and Caelan's level of power, though he didn't seem like a very combat-oriented druid.
"You look just like Lady Seraphyne described you"
"I think that ninety percent of my conversions with Lady Seraphyne were about the young master and how talented you are, she's a very proud mother"
Thalien let out a light chuckle
"I'm just trying to meet the expectations"
"And from the stories I heard, I think you're doing a pretty good job at it"
"So, what do you say, would you honour us by staying for just a little bit"
Thalien looked at Seraphyne, and she hesitated for a moment, before smiling and saying
"Your real training starts tomorrow, so I guess it won't hurt, it might even be good for you"
"Wonderful"
"Please follow me"
With that, they moved on, with a crowd of fae following them.
They stopped in front of a large hollowed-out tree that seemed to serve as some kind of hall.
It was incredibly large, not as large as the tree he saw when he first arrived, but it was the second-largest one he saw.
Entering the hall they found large tables made of wood littering the hall, flowers lighting the hall with ethereal-like green light, fae carrying large plates of food and setting the tables, and other fae sitting, and talking, waiting for Seraphyne.
Once they entered the fae stood up respectfully and greeted Seraphyne.
To which she just nodded.
And then the music started to play, people started eating, drinking, and talking
Once the hall was full, people set up tables outside, brought more food, and drinks, sat on branches, flew around, and had fun.
They casually used magic, like telekinesis to get stuff, fire, lightning, and water to make shows, they flew up high and really fast to sprinkle fairy dust and make funny drawings with it before it fell.
Thalien had the impression that they do this a lot, fae are free spirits that live for centuries after all, they don't care about time restrictions, or have social rules, they drink whenever they want, sleep whenever they want, and party whenever they want.
'Their clothes look so comfy'
Thought thalien
They wore very comfortable-looking silk robes, dresses, and shirts, they were very free, and revealing, which confused him since it's very cold out here, even with the sweatshirt he wore
A lot of people came to greet and introduce themselves to Thalien, they were very respectful and fun to talk to.
At some point Elder Zera excused himself, he looked like he was searching for someone.
And when he came back, he was practically dragging a flying female fairy, her face was almost the same as Zera's, the same soft expressions, and the same simple features, she looked more pretty and adorable than beautiful. Contrary to Zera though, she had baby blue hair, and pink eyes, that were practically glowing.
Complementing her hair and eyes, her dress and wings had the exact same pattern, seamlessly fading from baby blue to violet to red to pink. The dress covered her neck and front side, but the upper half of her back was uncovered leaving room for her wings to spread.
As they neared us, she took her eyes off Zera and looked at Seraphyne, and with excitement in her eyes, she launched towards her.
"LADY SERAPHYNE!!!"
She said with a high-pitched squeal-like excited loud voice.
"Luunaa!!!"
Replied Seraphyne with a big smile, and the same high pitch, though her voice was much quieter.
Then she hit Seraphyne with a big hug, surprisingly she didn't move Seraphyne an inch, even with the momentum she had while flying.
"Hahaha" Seraphyne laughed.
"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH" the fairy said, with the same intentionally high-pitched voice.
"I missed you too honey"
Pulling back from the hug, the fairy started flying around Seraphyne. She was the same height as a human, slightly shorter than Thalien, and her wings looked too fragile to handle her weight, yet she was flying effortlessly and gracefully.
Her flight was so effortless and smooth that it felt like she was floating in a no-gravity zone
After that, she flooded Seraphyne with questions, her pitch a little lower now, which was probably her real voice.
"How are you doing?"
"Are you having fun?"
"Dad said you came to the island two weeks ago, why didn't you come visit?"
"LUNASSA COME DOWN HERE AND BE RESPECTFUL TO THE MISTRESS AND YOUNG MASTER"
Shouted Zera as he reached us.
To that lunassa lowered her head in shame and landed slowly,
"I am sorry"
She looked so adorably deflated that Seraphyne couldn't help but melt.
"Aww honey, don't be sad it's alright"
"And I'm sorry too, I should have visited last time, but Setra was having her cubs, and I had to make sure they were alright. It took so long, and I cast so many healing spells that by the end of it I was so tired I just wanted to go to bed, I'm sorry"
The defeated expression on Lunassa's face immediately vanished, instead, she smiled and suddenly with a high-pitched voice she said.
"IT'S OKAY"
"You are here now and we're going to have fun together"
"I will need to take a look at the kittens though"
Seraphyne chuckled and said
"Of course honey"
"AHEM…lunassa, the young master, introduce yourself"
Said Zera clearly annoyed about her casual behaviour with Seraphyne, and the fact that she's been ignoring thalien until now.
And it was only then that she noticed thalien.
"Oh, I'M SO SORRY, that was so rude"
"Um…ahh…OKAY, I know what to do…I can do this"
Said lunassa trying to encourage herself.
She then proceeded to very shakily, and very sloppily, do a bow holding both sides of her dress, Clearly trying to mimic noble etiquette.
"I…uh…my name is lunassa, I…very humbly…ahh…GREET THE YOUNG MASTER"
She said that last part much faster, and in a much higher pitch than the rest of the sentence.
Then she smiled and her eyes darted towards Seraphyne looking for approval.
To which Seraphyne chuckled and nodded, and Zera just sighed resigning to his fate with his daughter.
"Heh..ha…haha"
Thalien couldn't help but smile and slightly laugh at this entire encounter.
'That was fucking adorable'
He thought