Whenever there was a moment to himself, Erinuil found his mind wandering. Mostly he considered what-ifs and -thens. This would typically concern his past life, his previous clan. He had unfortunately been born as the Third Mage, and no one wanted to be the Third Mage. The Third Mage would have to leave, once he were old enough to take care of himself, if the Keeper’s First or Second didn’t die or get exiled for some reason or another.
And when a letter was sent to their clan’s Keeper stating that just that had happened - in another clan - the only thing left was to send aid in the form of a replacement First.
Erinuil went, because he was the youngest and most malleable. He would learn to no longer miss them, they thought. They were wrong.
He wondered if his sister, Ne Zha, three years younger than him and not cursed with the Gift of their Creators, was doing well back home. He knew she would be a great hunter, and thought of how proud he would be if he could only see her, even as word was being spread towards camp to the Keeper.
“She wants to see the Keeper…”
“Can’t it wait until the Arlathven?”
The blond’s interest was piqued, of course, but he had a tendency to avoid confrontation, or even just companionship. So he hovered outside of the commotion. Well, it wasn’t quite a commotion. One of the hunters tasked with guarding the camp’s perimeter was walking towards where the Keeper stood in front of her tent.
Erinuil didn’t even stand close enough to hear their exchange, but he was definitely of the curious sort, so followed steps behind as the Keeper went to meet their visitor.
He nearly tripped when he saw who it was.
Standing twenty feet away was an elf with dark skin and blonde hair, and though it was hard to tell from this distance… It could have been Ne Zha. But it wouldn’t have been his sister. Couldn’t. Just a coincidence, probably. Plenty elves looked like they did in his clan. Plenty.
But that didn’t keep him from watching her carefully.
➸ ▐ Each and every time there was a chance to leave her clan to explore others, she took it. Each time she was always disappointed to learn that her brother was not that. Each time was just another heartache she was used to.
This would be just another time. She’d look every where for her big brother, but there was no sign of him. That didn’t make her stop being the one to send, however. She just always prepared herself for disappointment.
Just as she searched the camp, she always asked the Keeper first thing if there was an elf by the name of Eri around. She always used his pet name, for no apparent reason other than surely it was what people would call him. It never worked out, people just looked at her confused.
There was a rumor in this camp, however, that there was a dark skinned blond elf. While she didn’t know how many other clans had that kind of appearance like hers did, but she was hopeful.
A flash of blond hair got her attention, and purple eyes widened as though that would help them see. He was too far away for her to tell, but she hoped, begging to the gods that it was the brother she had lost so long ago.
