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Here's another random Phoebe picture because I love this glam on her

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Days of the Past

(B&W version, because I like both)

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Days of the Past

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“You think you can beat me in this game?”

(I wish I was as good at jumping puzzles as Tehmi thinks she is 😅)

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Time to farm some mog tomestones with Laqa 😁

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"They're right behind me, aren't they?"

(Sometimes cutscene screenshots are hilarious 🤭)

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Gridania AU Part 03

With a content smile A’viloh paused, closed his eyes and turned his face towards the sun. It felt so wonderfully warm on his face and he had missed it dearly after a particularly stubborn winter that had not wanted to leave. But now winter finally had gone and left Gridania to bloom in beautiful lively colors.

It was a perfect day. The sun shining in an almost cloudless sky, not too warm but also not too cold. All kinds of plants and flowers blooming everywhere and a light breeze that carried the wonderful floral scents through the air. A’viloh wished it would always be like this.

Nowadays even the deliveries did not bother him anymore. Perhaps he still was shy but he long had learned to find his way around the city on his own and was not scared of Gridania or its citizens anymore. On the contrary he was at least partially well known as a very kind young man among the customers of mis mother’s flower shop.

That however did not mean he had many friends, making friends had always been more A’vett’s expertise, while A’viloh was somewhat overshadowed by his big brothers straightforward cheerful nature and mostly remained in the background. He did not mind it at all though, since he found that he often preferred calmer, not so crowded situations and so his circle of friends mostly just consisted of a small number of like-minded people that more than easily could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

That did not mean however that he could not keep up a friendly conversation if necessary for example with a customer. And given some of the regular customers of the flower shop, who so very dearly loved to chat about their days and ask about his return, it was a skill very often necessary.

Yes, he still spent a lot of time at his mother’s shop. In fact, by now he pretty much regularly worked there. And if he was not there you almost certainly could find him at the botanists’ guild listening to Master Fufucha’s lessons or helping out with the work there.

In that sense he had taken quite much after his mother, while his older brother had followed in his father’s footsteps, which was barely surprising as A’vett had always been not far from where his father was and tried to be as much like him as possible.

As for his sisters, A’tehmi was still working for the city guard but since her early days as a fresh recruit she had by now climbed a few steps higher in the hierarchy of the Wood Wailer and was now overseeing the training of new recruits. And for little A’tahli lastly, by now thirteen summers old, she was quite similar in some ways to A’viloh. A kind but silent girl, who’s talent for magic had manifested early, a trait that on the other hand strongly discerned her from her siblings. These days she was often found at Stillglade Fane or somewhere quiet indoors or outdoors going through tomes.

But as different as each sibling of their family had turned out, A’viloh loved them all dearly. And in a way it was also very nice how each of them had found their own place in this city. Of course A’viloh could only speak for himself but they all seemed very content with how their lifes were going. At least he certainly was. He loved the work both at the shop and also with the botanists. There was always something interesting to do and he had learned so much these last few years. Not only did the food and herbs they grew at the guild help the people of Gridania but he also loved how the beautiful flowers they sold made so many people smile.

This particular afternoon his mother had send him to deliver a few orders around different places in town. Most of them were smaller bouquets either as decorations for businesses or as gifts for people. He had neatly stashed them in a box, each of them provided with a note that said where and to whom to deliver them.

By now he had stopped at two houses among the older parts of town and was now aiming for the markets where one of the merchants had ordered new decorations for her shop. After that a few more stops were to be made to businesses and people all over town but A’viloh really did not mind spending time outside on a day such as this.

The market was lively as so often. Some days when there was little work to be done A’viloh liked to stroll along the booths between deliveries and watch all the curious things and people. Today it was a little too crowded for his taste though and his mother awaited his return to help with a particularly elaborate order for some festival that was to be celebrated soon.

As quickly as he could he made his way to the merchant who awaited her order. It was a tidy little shop with clothes and textiles on display. Fitting to her newest wares, shining bright with spring colors, she had ordered two bouquets to frame her booth with equally shining colors. She seemed more than happy with the result and A’viloh agreed that it matched very well.

Before he moved on he quickly glimpsed at the remaining orders, among them two that were closer to the Adder’s Nest. Maybe he could stop by and say hello to Vett and their father, it was right on the way and he was curious to see how their current project proceeded. Happily he set off towards the other side of the market marveling at how warm rays of sunlight beautifully filtered through the colorful textile roof, when a young hyuran boy caught his attention.

The small boy, not older than ten A’viloh estimated, was in quite a hurry. With a nervous expression and as if something was chasing him he ran, not minding what was in his way. If the child had not made a sidestep last second he would have run right into A’viloh. Wondering what might be wrong with him A’viloh paused and slightly turned to see where he was going but only a moment later he was gone in the crowd.

A’viloh shrugged and turned back around to be on his way, but fate had other plans. All of a sudden and before he even realised what was happening something hit him with quite a lot of force, sending both himself and his deliveries flying…

***

His brow wrinkled in doubt U’laqa turned over the small paper in his hand, checking the listed items twice. It did not help that the writing was so scrawly that he had to squint to make out some words but in the end he was fairly certain he had gotten everything the others had asked him to fetch.

Quickly he stored the last few goods in his bag before he tossed it back over his shoulder. The shopping list and his wallet went into his pocket and then he set out to return to the inn. He had taken much longer than he had anticipated to find everything and by now the others probably were already waiting for him.

By “the others” he meant the rest of his adventurers team, a colorful group of people he had met along his journey.

First there had been Nhagi’ra, a skilled if somewhat clumsy archer born here in the Black Shroud but working as an traveling adventurer just like him. U’laqa had met him during a job in Limsa Lominsa and the two had immediately gotten along well, so when U’laqa after some time decided to travel further Nhagi’ra had decided to join him.

While looking for a boat to take them across the sea back to Eorzean mainland, they had run into Styrgeim. The tall and strong Roegadyn woman was sailing as a bodyguard on a merchant ship. However during their journey to Thanalan there seemed to be some disagreement between her and her client, so once they reached the dry land of Vesper Bay Styrgeim impulsively had decided to very literally jump ship. With no real plan how to continue or any knowledge about Thanalan she had reluctantly accepted the offer to travel with them and make some gil with adventurers’ work. She seemed a bit grumpy at first but in fact she turned out a loyal ally with quite a sense of humor.

Lastly there had been Iltani, a mute Au Ra girl they had met in Ul’dah. Her father was a traveling merchant from the Azim Steppe and she used to accompany him on his journeys. Iltani was a decent healer and a kind soul on top of that, so one day when they had visited her father’s shop in search for burn salve (Nhagi’ra had not quite wanted to listen to U’laqa’s warnings about the local fauna) she had offered to heal his wounds instead. As Nhagi’ra had happily chattered about their travels and plans to go north towards Gridania, she had been so amazed that she had begged her father to travel with them for a while.

And here they were now, in Gridania since about a week, taking on whatever jobs the adventurers’ guild had to offer. U’laqa was quite grateful for the change of scenery. For a short while being in the familiar surroundings of Thanalan had been nice, like homecoming in a way. But exactly that was also what he was struggling with.

His home was so close, only a day or two’s journey if he went by chocobo, and a part of him got so homesick by the thought alone that it was tempting to give in to this urge. But no! He had promised himself to explore the world and become a great adventurer with impressive tales to tell, just like his father. And he would not cut his journey short before he had something to show off once he returned home.

In that sense U’laqa was not quite sure yet if Gridania was the right place for such plans. It certainly was a beautiful place, so different from his homeland, and there was so much to explore since he had never been here before except for one short visit in his childhood. But on the other hand Gridania also seemed so calm at first glance. He had not been sure if there was work at all for them here but surprisingly enough there had been. If any of it would shape up to be the material for heroic tales was yet to be seen though.

Certainly what had happened next had not been very heroic to begin with…

Just as he had finished stocking up on supplies and was about to head back to the inn, a little boy came running. U’laqa had not quite seen him soon enough - his first mistake - and the boy had not been paying attention to where he was running - seemingly at least.

So when the kid bumped into him and immediately apologised for his clumsiness U’laqa had not thought anything bad of it - his second mistake. He had laughed it off instead and the boy had moved on just as quickly as he had appeared. It was only then that the lady at the shop where he just bought the supplies smiled at him politely and informed him that he might have been robbed.

Dumbstruck he reached for his pocket only to indeed find his wallet gone. What a fool he was! He had seen pickpockets before in both Ul’dah and Limsa and he should have known better! But the calm peaceful forest scenery must have lulled him in so he was not expecting anything bad to happen here.

He turned on his heels, seeing the boy zigzag through the crowd, and immediately took up the chase. Maybe he could still catch the rascal, how fast could a little boy run anyway?

Fast enough to almost outrun a trained adventurer it seemed, much to U’laqa’s annoyance. Or maybe it was just that the kid was so much smaller and nimbler than him. Anyhow U’laqa struggled to catch up with him, chasing him through half of the market place.

But he would not just let the little thief get away! He mustered up all his power reserves for a sprint and indeed for a moment it looked like he was catching up. Just a bit further… but then the boy jumped sideways again and U’laqa was so focused on the chase that he reacted too late as suddenly someone stood in his way.

Pretty much at full speed he crashed into the unsuspecting person and felt himself loose balance. Accompanied by clatter and a surprised scream he fell to the floor expecting a harsh landing on the wooden floorboards of the market place. Land he did but not as painfully as he assumed and not exactly on the floor either.

Instead when after a moment of dizziness he tried to push himself up, he found his face pressed into a soft white shirt. As realisation struck he quickly scrambled backwards away from the poor person he had landed on. How embarrassing!

“I am so sorry!”, he exclaimed while his first instinct was to see where the thief had gone but of course there was no sign of the boy anymore.

“No, I am sorry. I should have looked where I am going…”, the person in front of him offered with a somewhat silent apologetic voice. Quickly he tried to gather his belongings, a bunch of flowers lay scattered on the floor. Instantly U’laqa felt even more guilty and hoped nothing had been damaged.

In an attempt to help he urgently tried to pick up some of them before they got trampled, only to cause the next mishap. Both of them reaching for the same bouquet at once - thud! - their foreheads slammed against each other.

“Ouch!”, the other one exclaimed and U’laqa too felt a little dizzy for a second.

“I am truly sorry!”, he repeated and quickly gathered what was left of the flowers while the young man in front of him still rubbed his forehead. Only now U’laqa truly looked at him. Another Miqo’te, Seeker even, which seemed rare around here.

He wore a white shirt covered by a greenish-blue overall, which only was fixed loosely over one shoulder. Red-furred ears peaked out of long, slightly wavy red hair that loosely fell over his left shoulder. Something about him looked familiar, U’laqa thought for a second, but maybe it was just that he looked so friendly and also very pretty.

“Um.. here! I hope they are still okay…”, U’laqa said and offered the flowers for the other Miqo’te to take.

“Thank you...Yeah, they still look fine…”, he replied and moved to take them, their fingers shortly lingering on each others as U’laqa fascinated by the other Miqo’te’s face did not realise he was still holding on to the bouquets. Between some adorable freckles two warm green eyes looked at him slightly puzzled. Such a beautiful color, U’laqa thought, just like the trees here when the sun shone through the leaves. Somehow he still felt even more dizzy the longer he stared and, oh how his heart was still racing from the chase!

“I… um… should be going…”, the Miqo’te with the beautiful eyes explained, peeling the flowers from U’laqa’s fingers and offering a slightly nervous and even more beautiful smile to make up for it.

Carefully he placed the flowers back into the box, slowly stood up and dusted off his pants.

“Are you alright?”, he finally asked because U’laqa remained sitting on the floor staring up at him.

Startled he nodded and quickly got up.

“Yes! Of course! Could not be better.”, he answered, his stolen wallet long forgotten.

“Good.”, the red-haired Miqo’te pointed towards the flowers. “I better go now, these don’t deliver themself.”

“Me too…”, Laqa muttered absently and watched the pretty Miqo’te vanish in the crowd. It only occurred to him now that he should have introduced himself or at least should have asked for the other’s name. Hastily he wanted to call after him but it already was too late…

***

“Laqa!”, Styrgeim scolded at him while they all sat around a table at the Carline Canopy for dinner. Iltani had brought her friend from the pharmacy to go through some book she had borrowed and the other's were discussing their next job. “Are you even listening to me?!”

In fact he was not. Not at all. He had remained distracted this whole time. His mind always returning to the encounter at the market. He sighed.

Styrgeim wrinkled her brow, anticipating that something out of the ordinary from his usual behavior.

“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!”

“A ghost?”, U’laqa replied and seriously seemed to consider the option for a second. “No he was too beautiful for that. Although… as fast as he appeared he also was gone again. And he also looked somewhat familiar...”

“Oooh!”, Nhagi’ra chimed in. “Beautiful you say? Don’t say our brave, noble hero is in love. Tell me more!”

“In lov— No! I just… um…”, he stammered but did not really know what to say. Could people really fall in love so fast? He remembered his mother’s tale about how his parents had met for the first time in Ul’dah. The circumstances had been similar if less embarrassing, and shortly after…

“Look at him!”, Styrgeim exclaimed. “Nothing else left in his silly little brain. He’s really been hit hard. Tell us who achieved this!”

Nhagi’ra and Iltani nodded. Iltani’s new friend looked at best annoyed about the distraction.

Hesitantly U’laqa retold the happenings from the market and while the others seemed a bit upset to find out about the stolen wallet - not that there had been much coin left in it - U’laqa insisted that this was not the important part of the story.

As he was done with his retelling Iltani sighed and Nhagi’ra grinned, while Styrgeim still seemed to lament the lost gil.

“I don’t mean to belittle your feelings but considering we are out of gil you should better get a clear head rather sooner than later.”

“If you only had seen him you’d understand.”, U’laqa insisted and already was getting dreamy again. “His hair, as red as fire. His beautiful green eyes and just his smile… If only I asked for his name!”

“A red-haired Miqo’te selling flowers, you say?”, Iltani’s friend asked with a slightly outlandish accent. It was a white haired Viera, who Iltani had met the other day looking for herbs at the local pharmacy. Somehow it had occurred that the Viera, Rael was the name if U’laqa remembered correctly, offered to help Iltani with her studies.

But none of that was important now! Laqa did not care from whom or where or why the information came as long as he would learn more about the pretty Miqo’te from the market!

“Yes! You know him??”, he almost jumped up, reaching over the table trying to grasp the Viera’s hands in a pleading gesture but they simply evaded him with a slightly condemning expression. “Please tell me whatever you know about him!”

“I don’t know…”, the Viera mused. “His mother often sells us plants for our medicines. He is a good fellow and sort of a friend. You on the other hand…” - even more sceptically the Viera eyed him from hair to toe - “He is not some adventurer rascal like you. What do you even want with him?”

U’laqa did not even seem to register the insult, he just pleadingly kept staring at the Viera. “Please! I swear I just want to properly apologise for today!”

Rael did not look like they believed him one bit but U’laqa’s puppy-eyed expression must have lastly made them take pity on him.

“Try your luck at the flower shop not far from the Botanists’ Guild. His name is A’viloh.”

“A’viloh…”, Laqa repeated thoughtfully. “Botanists’ Guild…”

He vaguely remembered something from many many years ago… but could that really be?

“Be warned.”, Rael added seriously. “If I hear you misbehaved, I will mix your potions so that you will puke out your guts for at least a week.”

But Laqa was barely listening anymore, already back to his thoughts. He would have preferred to immediately go searching for him but it was getting late already and Styrgeim was right about one thing, they needed to focus on the job so they would have enough gil to at least pay their rooms and food. He struggled however to really concentrate on the matters at hand, his mind always straying back to the Miqo’te from the market…

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Btw A’vi on his little Gold Saucer vacation (torturing me with jumping puzzles)

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Rael in the meantime has inherited a FC (with a house and workshop and gardening plot) and now has to deal with me making them work while A’vi is just having a nice little vacation after EW…

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Prima Vista

(thought I could post this from sunday’s Ivalice run)

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A’vi goes Ivalice

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I forgot to mention, A’vi is done with Endwalker now! ✨

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My precious red cat ✨

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I wanted to gather some crafting materials in the Steppe but instead A'vi decided to enjoy the sun 🥰☀️

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Unused picture from Febhyurary

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Oops maybe I have been neglecting this blog again 🙈

Will post a few new pictures in a bit, not many but still… 😅

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Gridania AU Part 02

So many new impression, lively chatter and laughter, a whole different landscape with so much green. It was all so amazing! And how exciting the airship flight had been! It was the coolest thing he had ever done!

U’laqa loved journeys like this. Sadly his father rarely went on any journeys and even more rarely he allowed him to come along. So it indeed had been quite a special occasion when U’odh had not only invited U’laqa’s mother but also their oldest son to accompany him on a trip to Gridania to visit one of his friends from his adventuring days.

All his younger siblings had stayed behind at home taken care of by the other women but U’laqa had been allowed to join them on their trip. He truly was his father’s favourite child and often enough his bold behaviour suggested that he was well aware of that fact. Or maybe this bold behaviour was why his father was so fond of him in the first place.

U’laqa’s mother had her hands full not only with keeping his impatience at bay on their journey first to Ul’dah and then to Gridania but now also with preventing him from running off and exploring the city on his own. If she let him he would long have been gone without hesitation or the slightest bit of worry regarding this entirely unfamiliar place. The feisty little Miqo’te boy would not spend the tiniest thought on how he would find his parents again or that they might worry for him.

And of course so it had happened that he had slipped away unnoticed in the crowd when his parents had been busy talking to a merchant. U’laqa planned to be back before they ever realised he had been gone, he just wanted to inspect a few shop displays in the closer vicinity. All of the shops were so interesting! Not as impressive as the market in Ul’dah had been that one time father had taken him to the city but instead here he saw a lot of things he had never seen before.

He had not expected however that one of these curious sights would be a crying child cowering in an empty corner between two shops. And yet he paused as he tiptoed around the crowd of people and suddenly heard an almost silent whimper. Curiously he tilted his head at the seemingly very distressed child. It was a Miqo’te just like him, so much was obvious because of the red-furred ears on the kid’s head. The kid’s face however was partially covered by his arms and strands of shoulder-length red hair.

Carefully U’laqa stepped closer and knelt down.

“Hello?”

The unfamiliar voice startled A’viloh. Almost fearfully he looked up. Was someone here to yell at him again just like the tall angry man with the crates had? Or was he maybe going to get stolen? He remembered his older sister had one evening told her family about how lately a lot of things got stolen on Gridania’s markets. Maybe that included small Miqo’te children too?

But no, the person kneeling in front of him was just another small boy, another Miqo’te even. Curiously he looked at A’viloh with big, golden eyes.

“Are you alright?”, the boy asked.

A’viloh had been so surprised to be spoken to that for a second he even had forgotten to cry. But now, reminded of his cruel fate, the tears started to roll down his cheeks again while he desperately shook his head.

“Now, now… don’t cry.”, the blonde child said and patted A’viloh on the shoulder. “Tell me what happened. Maybe I can help you.”

But A’viloh continued to cry nonetheless.

“I… I got… lost…”, came out in small gasps between his sobs.

“Oh!”, the blonde boys ears shot up. “Are you looking for your parents?”

Attentively he turned this way and that as if he was looking for something.

“They’re not here.”, A’viloh explained silently but the other boy shook his head. “No, no. I am looking for mine.”

That was strange enough for A’viloh to stop crying for a moment. “You mean you are lost too?”

“Nooo.. They are… somewhere over there! Should we look for yours? I can take you home!”, he offered with incredible self-confident while in reality he knew nothing about this city.

A’viloh’s eyes got all wide and hopeful as he stared at the other boy.

“You can??”

“Sure! Where do you live?”

As quickly as his hopes had gotten up, as quickly they sank again. With another long sob he cried, “I don’t remember…”

“Shhh, it’s alright.”, he tried to calm him down but it was all in vain. Carefully U’laqa crawled closer and put his arms around the crying boy in a hug. “Please stop crying.”

“But I want to go home to my mommy…”, he wailed. A’viloh had long decided that his brother was not coming to look for him. He probably had long finished his tasks and went to play with his friends. Only Azeyma knew when his parents would even notice he was gone.

The red-haired boy truly was a miserable sight and U’laqa felt sorry for him. Just as he pondered how he could help him, he noticed a small daisy flower, half-slipped out of the crying boys hair and barely hanging on.

“Ah, hold still.”, he said and carefully reached out to pluck the flower from the dishevelled red strands. “You almost lost that.”

“My flower!”, A’viloh cried out, seeing the blossom in its slightly distressed state.

“Let me help…”, Laqa mumbled as he placed the fragile little plant back between a few strands next to the boy’s ear. “There, it's really pretty!”, he said in an attemp to cheer the kid up but also because he never had seen such a flower before.

“Thank you!”, A’viloh said with the hint of a smile returning to his face. “Miss Fufucha gave it to me. She grows hundreds of pretty flowers at the guild!”

“We have almost none where I live…”, the blonde boy said, his ears slightly drooped. “The closest thing I have is this!”, he then announced and fished out a leather string from beneath his shirt. On the black cord was a single white stone in a particular shape. “I found it at home. Mom says it’s called desert rose because it looks like a flower turned to stone.”

“Oooh!”, A’viloh marvelled at it, fascinated by the unfamiliar sight. He was quite sure if it really looked like an flower but it was very interesting nonetheless. A’viloh wanted to ask about the boy's home but but the other boy was quickly distracted. Speaking of his mother seemed to have given him a new thought.

“Oh! I have an idea!”, he exclaimed. “Maybe my parents can help you! My mother is our best huntress! And Father knows everything! They sure will know a way to find your parents!”

A’viloh did not look convinced at all but he still was distracted enough to not protest when U’laqa just grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. Determined he manoeuvred through the crowd and A’viloh had no choice but to stumble after him. Luckily they did not run far before they came to a halt in front of a shop. Thoughtfully the blonde boy knitted his brows and turned this way and that.

“I am sure they were here…”

A’viloh did not like this at all. This was all no use. Probably now they were both lost and neither of them would ever get back home again…

“Laqa!”, a loud, deep voice suddenly called out.

Both boys jumped in surprised and turned towards where the voice had come from.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay close!?”, a stern looking man scolded as he stepped closer. A’viloh was not even the person being scolded and yet he felt guilty. The blonde boy however acted as if he had not heard anything at all. Instead he ran towards the woman next to the man, took her hand and gestured towards A’viloh.

“Father, mother! Look, I found someone! Can you help him?”

“Help him?”, the man echoed as if he had not quite understood.

“He’s lost!”, the boy explained and as if to confirm this A’viloh nodded weakly and began to cry again.

“Oh, you poor thing…”, the woman, who seemed to be the lively boy’s mother, said in a soothing voice and knelt down in front of him. “What is your name?”

A bit sceptically A’viloh eyed her. He did not particularly like strangers but this woman had a friendly smile. “A’viloh…”, he whispered.

“Hello, A’viloh. My name is U’lani.”, she introduced herself in a very friendly manner. “Can you tell me what happened? Or where your parents might be?”

Under tears A’viloh stammered out his story, maybe a little more detailed than was strictly necessary, hoping that this woman maybe knew how to find his mother.

“Hmm…”, she sounded thoughtful. “And you really have no idea where your house might be?”

He shook his head and continued to look miserable.

The blonde boy on the other hand seemed to have yet another idea.

“If we can’t find his home, can we keep him then? He could come home with us! Maybe we could be friends!”

A’viloh’s heart sank. Was he going to get stolen after all?

The boy’s parents laughed. The woman more silently but the man very loudly. A’viloh did not at all understand what was so funny. This was horrible! Bitterly he started to wail again, much to the man’s annoyance it seemed.

“Will he finally stop crying? He seems a bit too old for that anyway…”

“Odh!”, the woman scolded sternly, making him grimace, but otherwise ignored his comment and focused on A’viloh instead.

“Oh! Shhh… I am sorry, it was a joke of course.”, she said, her voice suddenly very soothing, and reached out for him, gently wiping his tears away. “Don’t cry, A’viloh. We will take you back to your mother.”

“But-”, the blonde boy wanted to protest but his mother did not let him.

“No! Of course we cannot keep him, he is a little boy and not a stray dog, Laqa!”, she interrupted in a quite serious but still kind tone. “His family will already dearly miss him for sure. How do you think his mother will feel if we don’t bring him back home?”

Guiltily the boy looked down and muttered. “Probably very sad…”

“See!…”, she replied and then waraped her arms around A’viloh and picked him up. At first he did not really like to be picked up by this unfamiliar woman but she smelled nicely and her warm hand soothingly running in circles on his back helped him calm down quickly.

“You said your mother has a flower shop?”, she asked and he nodded. “Maybe we can find it if we ask around?”

“We are going to be late, Lani.”, the man who was the blonde boy’s father said. “We should just give him to one of the guards here, they should take him home.”

The woman made a disapproving face but before she could say anything the blonde boy chipped in again, looking at his father with his hand confidently placed on his hips and the same stern expression as his mother. “No! Mom is right!”

As if to agree the woman nodded.

“Look at him, Odh. How scared he is. We should really help him. The others will certainly understand if we are late. You know this place better than me, don’t you have any idea where we might need to go?”

The man grumbled for a moment but then seemed to relent. “I don’t know about any flower shops but I know more or less where the botanists’ guild is.”

At the mention of this word A’viloh’s ears shot up. “The botanists’ guild! Miss Fufucha works there! It is close to our home!”

“See?”, the friendly woman said. “We should go that way then.”

“But it’s not at all the direction-“, the man wanted to protest but A’viloh was already pleading to the woman. “Please, I want to go there. Can you take me there, please?”

U’lani looked at U’odh with a daring smile.

“You cannot disappoint someone who asks so nicely, right?”

He still seemed unhappy as he shook his head in resignation. “Fine… that way.”

The woman put A’viloh back down and together they set off in the given direction. The man leading the way with urgent steps, the blonde boy clasping A’viloh’s left hand while always pulling a few steps ahead trying to stay close to his father, while the friendly woman held his other hand. Maybe he would find his way home after all.

***

Oh, what a horrible day it was for A’vett.

First he had to take care of his mother’s deliveries and then he had to take care of his little brother too. To make things worse A’viloh had decided to go missing, a fact A’vett only had noticed once he had arrived at the Carline Canopy. Why was his little brother always so silent and inconspicuous? Could he not have said anything before going missing? That would have saved A’vett a lot of trouble.

He considered going back the way he had come but at least from the inn to the aetheryte square his little brother was nowhere to be seen. That only left A’vett with two option. First, walk all the way back home and hope that A’viloh was either there or would show up somewhere along the way. But if he wasn’t, what would his mother say? She would certainly be very sad and disappointed with him…

The second option was going to his father. The carpenters’ guild was right here after all. But wouldn’t he get scolded? Sure, his father never got angry and even when A’vett had gotten in trouble he always had remained calm and patient. But then again, A’vett had never lost his little brother before…

Then he remembered there was a third option and started to sprint down the path to the west. Towards the White Wolf Gate, where his older sister was working today. She was part of the city guard, she certainly would know what to do! Together they would find A’viloh before anyone else noticed that he had lost him.

Or so he had thought.

Tehmi at least had not been mad with him. But maybe that only had been because she was so worried about A’viloh. However instead of helping him search and solve this dilemma before their parents noticed, her first idea was to go to the carpenters’ guild and see if A’viloh was with their father. Which he wasn’t however and A’vanoh after hearing the news had immediately dropped what he was doing. He too did not seem angry but again that perhaps was just because he was so worried.

Together they decided that checking back at home before aimlessly running through the city was the smartest thing to do. Maybe A’viloh had long returned there and all of this worry was unnecessary. But of course he was not at home either. And oh, how distraught his mother had looked hearing what had happened. A’vett certainly felt very bad about all this trouble by now.

Nervously they stood together and planned how to best split up to search for him. Tahja would wait at home in case he returned on his own, Vett would go back to the botanists’ guild, Tehmi would go around the northern parts of town and to the opposite end of the market place in case he went the wrong way, and Vanoh back towards the aetheryte square searching the area around there to then meet Tehmi at the markets from that side.

“Vett!”, his father demanded as calmly as he could, placing his hands on his son’s shoulders. “Think! We’re exactly have you last seen him?”

“I don’t know, somewhere at the markets I think… I am so sorry.”, the boy pleaded his gaze and ears dropped low together with his guilty conscience.

But his mother objected. “It’s not your fault, monkey. I should not have sent you two out alone.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged the small baby on her arms a bit closer. “By Azeyma, this is all my fault.”

“We need to stay calm now.”, A’tehmi demanded while putting an arm around her mother. “I am sure we will find him. I will contact all the guards across town and if they all keep an eye out he will be back home in no time.”

Everyone nodded silently, busy with worry.

Then a miracle happened.

“Mommy!”, a soft, familiar voice called.

Everyone turned around to see a group of people coming closer out of the direction of the markets. At first it looked like an ordinary Miqo’te family: a man, a woman and two children. But one of them did not quite match and in fact it was A’viloh! When he caught sight of his family gathered in front of the house he quickly let go of the unfamiliar Miqo’te woman’s hand and happily ran towards his mother.

A’tahja gave the baby in her arms to A’tehmi and knelt down to embrace her son as tightly as she could.

“There you are!”, she sobbed and then pulled back to cup his face between her hands and press a kiss to his forehead. “Thank Azeyma you are safe!”

“We found him alone and crying at the market.”, a woman with long white hair explained and stepped closer. “I am glad to see him safely returned to his family.”

A’tahja was so grateful she could not stop herself from hugging this woman although she was a complete stranger. “Thank you! Thank you so much! I don’t know how I could ever repay this kindness!”

“Maybe try to keep a better eye on him next time…”, the man beside the woman grumbled.

It seemed ungrateful to object against the people who had brought their son home but nonetheless A’vanoh and the other man glared at each other for a moment.

Meanwhile U’lani made a deflecting gesture. “I apologize for his bluntness.”, she offered and proceeded to coo at the small baby that started to get whiny again as A’tehmi returned her to her mother. For a short while they talked about the small baby girl and probably would have kept talking for much longer if not for U’odh.

“We really should go.”, he interjected gruffly as his patience had seemingly been used up.

“Can we at least invite you for lunch as a way to say our thanks? I think that’s the least we can do…”, A’tahja offered, trying to convince the grumpy man not to leave yet. Seeing other Miqo’te that weren't Keepers of the moon was a rarity in Gridania and she would have loved to talk a bit more with them and to properly thank them for bringing A'viloh home.

Hoewever the man’s still sour face suggested it was not possible to appease him.

“We are already way too late due to this unplanned detour.”, he huffed.

The white haired woman smiled apologetically and took A’tahja’s hands in hers.

“Excuse his manners. But I fear he is right, as much as I would love to accept your invitation, we really should be going.”

“Wait!”, A’viloh chirped. Currently he clung to his mother’s leg but now he let go and stepped forward to the blonde boy impatiently standing a step behind his mother. The conversation apparently by now had become boring to him but A'viloh's small yell had made him snap back to attention. Curiously the boy watched as A’viloh reached for the flower in his hair and then held it out for him to take. “You can have this. Thank you for helping me.”

“Oh!”, U’laqa was surprised by the sudden gift. Carefully he took the daisy from A’viloh’s hand and looked at it with a smile. “Thank you!”

Then he seemed a bit thoughtful for a moment, before he reached for the leather string around his neck and pulled it over his head. “Then that’s for you!”

“For me? Really?”, A’viloh gasped staring at the rose-like stone dangling from the cord. The blonde Miqo’te boy nodded and stretched out his arms to put the necklace around A’viloh’s neck.

A’viloh looked speechless, his eyes almost a little teary again but a happy smile on his face. “Thank you so much.”

“Come on, we have to go!”, his father called, so U’laqa tightly hugged dumbfounded A’viloh before waving one last time and running towards his father. Equally so his mother said her goodbyes while A’viloh’s parents offered their thanks one last time. Happily the boys waved at each other until they lost sight of each other as the small family vanished around the next corner.

And while Laqa walked away, begging his mother to put the daisy in his hair just like A’viloh had worn it, the small red-haired Miqo’te stayed behind with his family turning the desert rose pendant between his fingers, eyes sparkling with fascination.