Guild House: Lu's and Rena's room

"How's it coming along?" Lu asked Rena while sitting cross-legged inside the mini-rainforest that was their room. All manner of plants were growing around them from the simple grass acting like a wall to wall carpet to strange glowing gourd-like plants on the ceiling. There was even a small group of tiny trees as the Elf's bed.

"Good, I think?" Rena answered, unsure of herself. "Come on, come on..." She was currently trying to grow some kind of tree sapling and was putting all of her focus into it. "Ngh!" But barely got anywhere with the young tree, it even went limp after a bit. "RAAAH! I give up!" Rena screamed, throwing herself into the air in frustration, making every other plant act out along with her. "Stupid tree! Don't you know who I am!?! Why are you being such a hard ass!? Come on! Lu needs me right now!"

"Uhm? Rena? A little help?" Lu muttered, hanging upside down thanks to the vines and tree branches that flipped out when Rena did.

"Oops! Sorry!" Rena snapped her finger, and Lu was put back on the floor. "See? Why don't you be good like them!" She turned to the sapling, which slowly wilted to nothing under her gaze. "Wait! No! I didn't mean it! Come back!" She dumped Fairy Dust on top of it, growing everything else around it. "Just die!" She snapped at the dying plant to which it happily went off to the afterlife. "YOOOUUUU!"

"Okay, calm down, Rena." Lu held on to her before she went wild again. "You tried your best. So, let's take a break for a while." He rubbed a finger against her head as he took her out of their room.

"Well, at least I did something! That stupid tree ate all my dust, and it didn't even flinch! I'm Nature's Princess for Goddess' sake!" Rena grumbled angrily inside Lu's hand. "...A little to the left..." She whispered, leaning forward a little, letting Lu get at her upper back. "~Yeaaa~rrrriiiggght~theerrreee~"

"From a raging forest fire to a gentle breeze." Lu thought, holding the little Fairy in his hands as they went down to the lobby area and found Blake talking with Vasha at the front desk. "Hey, Blake, taking a break again?"

"Working on it." Blake lazily waved back at Lu while patting Vasha on the head.

"And I've told you already; 'you aren't getting off that easy this time.' Your last 'break' got you banned from a hotel." Vasha reminded Blake, making him groan and pull his hand away from her head. "Hey, that didn't mean you should stop bribing me."

"Maybe later," Blake muttered, giving Vasha the cold shoulder that was ineffective on her. "What about you two? You guys have been in your room for half a day, right?" He asked the pair of Elf and Fairy.

"We're trying to grow a Maclura pomifera called Naworth's Pride and get started on a replacement bow," Lu answered, he still had gotten a new bow after the old bow got broken by Greenbit. "But as you can see, we're out of luck."

"Luck has nothing to do with it! That tree doesn't know who's boss!" Rena thrashed around in Lu's hands, throwing Fairy Dust around and caused random plants to spout out on the front desk. "SEE! I wasn't even trying that time! And it works! But noooo! Some stupid sacred tree that's viewed as the Fairy Queen's avatar doesn't want to grow for me! ME!? Seriously?! If I wanted to, I could have it go extinct!" With as much rage and frustration building inside her tiny body, the others were sure she'd burst into flames given one more push.

"Uh, huh? But why don't you just ask me to make a bow for you? I've got some extra Ore that's just sitting there in my smithy...oh? How about one made from Pond Trapper Ore! You could shoot out webs then! Plus the item orders I've been getting are way too standard, and I want to do something special!" Blake offered, beckoning Lu over to take it. "~Free of charge~" He sweetened the deal a bit smirking as Rena's eyes lit up.

"You mean I don't have waste my time on that stupid tree!?" The Fairy asked, flying to Blake's face with her hands clasped together as if she was praying to her savior. "Thank you, boss!" She cheered when Blake nodded in answer.

"Hmm?" However, Lu was silently weighing the offer, and after a shake of his head, he spoke up. "Sorry, that's a no from me, Blake," He declined, making Blake and Rena look at him with whimpering faces. "Like Rena said it's a sacred tree from Naworth that the Fairy Queen blessed herself. The wood is used for everything from building, prayer, medicine sometimes food..."

"Food?" Blake and Vasha both got the image of Elves eating trees after that one.

"...but most importantly it's the wood used to make my people's bows for...I don't know? About a few thousand years? Having one break isn't that bad, but using something else doesn't feel right to me. If you can understand?" Lu finished, opening and closing his hands a few times as if he had his old bow in hand.

"Okay, sure, I get you...but at least let me help make the thing when you get the wood ready." Blake nodded, agreeing with Lu for the most part. "So? How long is our gnat gonna make us wait, hmm?"

"I am a Fairy! You jerk!" Rena snapped her fingers, and a vine whipped out to slap Blake across his face. "Come on, Lu! I feel like a hot bath, let's go make some hot water!" She tugged at Lu's hand, trying to drag him to the kitchen.

"Hold on a sec, long-ears, got something here for you." Vasha held a rolled-up scroll to Lu while handing Blake a wet towel to stick to his face. "A dopy bird came by with this thing a while ago..." She informed him then pointed a thumb at a dent in the wall. "...by the way, it turned into an Elf wearing red leaves when it tried to fly away and did that."

"Oh? That must have been a trainee from Eye Of The BloodLeaf..." Lu guessed, taking the scroll from Vasha and unrolled it. "..." He read over the contents along with Rena coming to his shoulders.

"Ugh..." The Fairy, however, was by the look of it was turned off by it.

"They're paying for that." Blake nodded over at the dent while Lu and Rena were reading. "What do they want anyway?"

"Oh?" Lu blinked a few times after hearing Blake's question. "It's a summons for all the Elves and Fairies in Gorz...it looks like King Dewran is in the city today." He answered, rolling the scroll up after he was done with it.

"Wait? The Elf King is here? Well, I guess you two kind of have to go, right? Lucky you guys weren't signed up for any quests today." Blake gave them the go-ahead despite being taken a bit off guard by the announcement.

"Ugh! Now I have to put on my disguise again..." Rena groaned, spinning around in the air and got covered by her Fairy Dust. "Huh?" But came out looking exactly the same. "Dang! I used up too much mana on that dumb tree..." She sprinkled some dust around, and nothing happened. "...yep, I'm out, guess we can't go!"

"Is there any reason why you need to do that when you're over there?" Blake asked, suspiciously looking at the Fairy. "I mean it's the king of your home? Kind of an important guy, right?" He added, earning a rather uppity look from Rena as if she was insulted. "...or not?"

"Hmph! I don't need to tell you anything...just yet? Hehe!" Rena teased with a wink of her smug face as she rubbed her chin. "Besides! He's the king of some Elves! I'm a Fairy so it doesn't count! Now, come on, Lu! Let's get that hot bath going! Your princess needs some pampering, hehe...!" She giggled a little, but once she didn't hear an 'okay' or 'yes, your highness' she whipped around. "...Lu?" She stared up at him as the Elf was deep in thought.

"Huh? Oh? I was just thinking about going by myself..." Lu answered, still thinking about something. "...is that going to be a problem, your highness?" He asked Rena, currently looking up at him.

"Aww! I can't! Not like this!" Rena whined, waving at her eyes and hair while fluttering her wings. "Can't you just listen to me like always and forget about it?" She shrugged not having the same sense of duty as Lu. "I bet it's some dumb meeting about how the plant life is doing anyway?"

"True but sending a summons to every Elf and Fairy in the city must mean something right?" Lu pointed out, waving the scroll around a bit. "And if nothing too important happens I'll sneak back here, okay?" He promised, leaving his little Fairy princess a bit down. "I'll buy 5 times your weight in sweets on my way back?" He offered, leaning down to her. (Note: Rean weighs about 0.9 kgs/2 lbs so that's 4.5 kgs/10 lbs)

"Make it 10 times and the good stuff then maybe I'll forgive you!" Rena turned her head up at Lu as she gave him her back.

"As you wish, my lady," Lu did a little bow for her and made his way out. "Watch her for me, will you, Blake?" He waved at the smith once he got to the door.

"Hey! I don't need a babysitter! I am fine..." Rena whipped around to yell at him, but the Elf was gone by then. "...by myself...?" Both her head and wings dropped without Lu there at her side. "Huh?" Then suddenly she got picked up by her pigtails. "What do you want?" She asked in monotone as she blankly stared at Blake.

"You're not gonna follow him?" Blake asked, dropping Rena on his shoulder. "And he told me to watch you, so that's what I'm gonna do."

"That doesn't mean you get to cut work," Vasha slid a job for a suit armor under Blake's hand that was resting on the desk. "Back to it, chief."

"Fine..." Blake groaned before turning around and headed back to his smithy. "...still not going after him?" He eyed Rena still on his shoulder, currently trying to find a comfy spot on it.

"Geez! Why can't you be soft like Lu!" Rena nagged, jumping up to Blake's head. "Aww, much better!" Despite being spiky for the most part, his hair was actually soft and sunk into it. "It's not silky smooth, but it's passable, I guess." She put hands behind her head, finally getting some needed rest after all the trouble she went through with that tree.

"Hey, you didn't answer..." Blake tried looking up at her without throwing her off, but all he saw were some tiny feet hanging above his sight. "...your highness?" He added after not getting an answer from the Fairy.

"~Yes~?" Rena rolled around to get her face in Blake's with a cheeky smile on her face. "What can I grace you with today?" She bushed one of her pigtails away, trying to act ladylike in Blake's eyes.

"What reason does her ladyship have for not seeking her knight's courtship on this fine day?" Blake played along with her bit, thanks to Risabeel he picked on some formal speak after a while.

"Huh?" Which was wasted on Rena since she looked so confused by the question. "If it's about, Lu? Then what of it? He wanted to go see some Elf King, and I let him, that's it." She rolled back and out of Blake's sight.

"You did, but did you want to?" Blake asked, looking forward now. "..." And in answer, all he got was a tug at some of his hair. "He'll be back, gnat." He muttered although he knew Lu and Rena were close and did almost everything together this was the first time he saw her get sad about Lu going off somewhere without her, hell sometimes when Mari and Bread went to Sarah's she'd go with them all smiles while Lu got stuck with Blake. "What's an Elf King have to do with this?" He thought of the one and only thing that was different this time around.

One hour later: Common District

"Well, that's about right." Lu was on a rooftop overlooking the Eye Of The Blood Leaf's guild house, in full bloom as it were with every inch of it covered in colorful flowers thanks to the plants already growing on its outside and looked as if some kind of grand festival was about to start.

"Oh? What's going on here?" And drew the eyes of many who were not in the know as they went about their day.

"Doesn't look like the king's here yet." Lu looked at the roads leading to the guild house not seeing much. "Hmm?" Until his ears flickered, hearing the sound of hooves beating on a stone road. "Better get down." He leaped from the roof after that.

"Ah!" And landed in a wagon of flower petals ran by a pair of Elves tasked with keeping the streets clear of any excess petals. "Hey! What's your problem!?" One of them yelled at Lu as he rolled out of the wagon.

"Sorry! Running late! And the king's on his way!" Lu pointed to his ears as he fast-walked away from the pair. "Excuse me, sorry," Then got in line with a mass of Elves all standing around the guild house. Some were members of the Eye Of The Bloodleaf while the rest were made up by the Elven citizens of Gorz, some common folk, adventurers, and many more from different walks of life. "This is good," Lu whispered, finding a spot where he didn't stick out but could see a lot of his surroundings.

"Now, now! Keep calm, everyone! No need to push! Getting noticed acting unruly would look bad for all of us." Even the Reeve of Randale Seth was there, acting along aside some of his fellow Elven Reeves and the more senior members of Bloodleaf.

"The king approaches!" A lookout announced from a rooftop, signaling over to some other Elves on the roofs of the surrounding buildings, causing all of them to bring up animal horns then sent a bellowing roar throughout the area.

And as they did coming into view was a herd of large almost giant elks, all having different colored coats such as browns, blues, greens, and were adorned with silver armor covering most of their bodies.

With each stomp of their massive hooves, a patch of grass grew out from there, leaving a fertile green land behind them for a magical self-drawn carriage made to look like a closed flower bud rolled on by.

"..." As the elks and carriage entered the mass of Elves, all bowed with some make offerings of money or food. "..."

"It is an honor to be in your presence, Horns Of Naworth, I am Ivynns, Guild Master Of Eye Of The Bloodleaf." Ivynns bowed to the elk at the head of the herd as it came up to the front of the Bloodleaf's guild house which had archways of emerald made by Rux, bowing down as well from the first of the arches.

"And for me as well, Rux, Vice-Guild Master Of Eye Of The BloodLeaf." Rux introduced himself as well keeping his head staring at the ground.

"..." The leading elk let out a short snort before it, and the rest for the herd started to shift and change into Elves wearing silver armor keeping only the horns they had as beasts of the wild. "Rise, brother of the wood." The leading elk now a male Elf with bright greens eyes and long brown hair, who bowed his head to Ivynss as he came up. "All is well out here, my king..." He turned to the carriage after getting some nods from the other armored Elves who were overlooking the area with piercing eyes and twitching ears.

And with the words of the Elf captain, the flower bud carriage opened up in a storm of leaves and flower petals revealing its passenger standing in the middle of it.

Elf King, Dewran was a tall slightly built Elven man appearing somewhere in his late 50's from the slowly forming wrinkles on his face, along with a pair of evergreen eyes and a single spiraling white horn sticking out from his forehead with a set of tattoos coming from the base of the horn to his blonde eyebrows. He was dressed in a long flowing green robe with silver armor around his chest, forearms, and shins, thrown over him was a silver coat with golden Elven runes sewn into it, finally covering the top and back of his head was a strange headdress of a white moth with golden antennae and pitch-black compound eyes.

"Excellent work, captain Voltar..." Dewran gazed over the Elves of Gorz. "...Many seasons of fortune onto you all. Now raise your heads, I must see my people..." He greeted them with a blessing of sorts as he came down from his carriage which made steps for him out of vines, even the grass that had grown from the elks became brighter as he stood on it.

"Many more onto you, my king..." The mass of Elves returned the blessing as they stood up to stare at him in awe.

"Wow! He's really here..." Despite the importance and seriousness of the event, some whispers broke out between the Elves, most of which were praises, with some wondering what he was doing here, while others still asked if this was the real thing.

"Hey, is that moth alive?" One young lad asked, staring at the king's headdress while he was speaking with Ivynns and Rux. "Hmm?" And for a moment he thought it twitched.

"Yeah, right! Even for us Elves having something that creepy on your head is a bit much!" His friend standing next to him jabbed an elbow at him for even thinking that. "Huh?" Then felt a burning gaze cast on him but when he turned to it all he found was that moth headdress slightly turned to him but only because Dewran was turning to the crowd.

"Hmm? Looks like a normal visit...? I'll wait a bit longer than get back home..." Lu muttered, staring at Dewran a bit more closely than the other Elves were. "Huh?! Hey! Stop! If you want to see him ju-Hey! I said, stop!" But out of nowhere, someone pushed him forward to the edge of the crowd. "Ah!" And after another hard shove, he got tossed out into the open.

"!" Right in the path of King Dewran, making his way to the guild house led by Ivynns and Rux while guarded by captain Voltar. "..." All of whom, stood motionless and stared down at the Elf on his hands and knees.

"...Lutwig?" Until Dewran spoke up, causing the three in front of him to part way to allow the king to come up to the fallen Elf. "Well, this makes my coming here less of a hassle, eh?" He softly smirked while reaching a hand out to Lu. "Then again?" He paused, turning to the spot Lu was thrown out of.

"Hey! What the hell! AH!" Shouts and screams came from the crowd as a mass of sickly mutated looking trees shot up from the ground and whipped out at King Dewran.

Chapter End