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| - It was the day after the Ordaining Ceremony. Echo had so far spent the entire day sitting quietly in her skylit room at Anastasia's house, mostly daydreaming. Echo spent what some might call a ridiculous amount of time doing just that - but there was really nothing she could do about it. Sehanine had bestowed upon her a truly glorious imagination and it seemed a shame to let such a gift go to waste. Romantic that she was, her most common fantasy involved being carried off (gently!) by a ferocious dragon who mistook her for a princess somehow. And then, naturally, she would be gallantly rescued by a surpassingly handsome and brave knight in shining armour. He would slay the dragon and they would ride off on horseback to her kingdom where the two would live in infamy and love for the rest of their days. Of course, not a single bit of that particular fantasy could ever possibly happen. As far as Echo was aware, there was only one elven princess left in the world and she was all the way in Evermeet. So the dragon would have to be fairly stupid and out-of-touch which didn't sound very romantic. And besides that, who would this knight in shining armour be? Gaziel Nightbreeze was the only elven paladin she knew and he had been wearing simple armour of leather the last time she'd seen him. Not only that, but he seemed to make a point of paying absolutely no attention to her whatsoever. It wasn't quite that he didn't know she existed, it was more like he chose to pretend that she didn't. So he wasn't about to rescue her! And her "kingdom" - who was she kidding? Echo ran her fingers through her leafy hair, thinking despairingly that a dragon looking down on the forest probably wouldn't even see her, she blended in too well with the trees. It was her unusual hair, though, that that brought about her other favourite fantasy. Years ago, distant cousins had come to the village for a visit. Their young son, having never seen Echo before, had asked her quite shamelessly, "What sort of race are you?" Thankfully, Echo had a sense of humour and responded casually, "I'm a half-demon, didn't you know?" Later on, her father Amras had given her a stern lecture about the whole thing, explaining that, under the circumstances, it was not a good idea to start rumours about half-elf/half-demons infiltrating the sleepy villages of Semberholme. Rather than feeling any sort of regret over her foolish statement, Echo found herself hoping fervently that someday a dashing adventurer would hear the rumour and come to the village to track her down and destroy her. When he arrived, he would find her so beautiful and charming that he would propose to her right there in the meadow where he found her, and forget all about that whole demon thing. Then she would join his adventuring group and go on to become famous and very rich. Occasionally Echo wondered why this hadn't happened yet. Illwyn found her that afternoon still staring up at the sky, letting her imagination run wild. Echo did not bother explaining the situation - her friend knew all of her fantasies by heart, having heard them so often. Illwyn herself had a complete and utter lack of imagination; luckily, Echo had enough for the both of them. "I hate to sound cynical, darling Illwyn, but sometimes I start to think that none of my dreams are ever going to come true!" she announced dramatically. Instead of teasing her despairing friend as she might have done normally, Illwyn replied seriously, "Perhaps if you spent less time wishing something interesting would happen and more time actually making it happen...you wouldn't have this problem." Echo, talented actress that she was, hid her surprise well and changed the subject quickly to avoid and argument. "Did that brother of mine follow you here?" she asked, disgust obvious in her tone of voice. "I made no particular effort to lose him, so it is quite likely," Illwyn answered in the regretfull manner she always used when talking about Storm. "That sneaky bastard!" Echo grimaced. "Let's get out of here." So the two of them took to the trees, travelling with the speed, accuracy, grace and silence that was unmatched among the other elves. Illwyn's ability was well-trained and heavily practiced, a finely-honed skill. Her father had miraculously taught his wolf to climb trees and had instilled the same determined effort and rigorous work ethic in to his daughter's training. This combined with the fact that an elf was far better suited to the task than a wolf had resulted in her tremendous skill. Echo, on the other hand, had no training or instruction, she was simply at one with the trees. Her viney hair, despite being long, loose and wild, never snagged on a branch, nor did her flowing robes and jewelry. She often felt that the trees were consciously helping her, as if they sensed she were one of them and welcomed her presence. The limbs reached out to her and assisted her and most importantly, never let her fall. The trees did not seem to mind that Illwyn nearly always accompanied her - indeed, her friend's abilities were at their peak when travelling with Echo. Most everyone in their village was admiring of this talent, everyone except for their mutual Aunt Eamane. The woman had once remarked to Echo's mother Sequoia (in Echo's hearing), "If your daughter could find something useful to do as well as she climbs trees, there might be some hope for her after all." Implying that, currently, there was absolutely no hope to be had. Sequoia, regal and aristocratic as her noble ancestors, had remained calm, merely replying, "Of course, not everyone can aspire to be a seamstress." Implying, among other things, that sewing was all her sister-in-law was good for. Echo had never admired her mother more than at that moment. Her aunt's remark did not offend Echo, but it did confuse her. In what world did the ability to climb trees not prove to be useful? Certainly here in the village she and Illwyn had proven themselves invaluable time and time again. Their "courier" services were in high demand, particularly among the elderly. At present, our heroines were doing their best to escape Storm, the dreaded older brother and much accomplished tracker. That this tactic was necessary never failed to make both girls very sad, for once upon a time, before the Unfortunate Incident, it was widely expected that Illwyn and Storm would someday make a perfect match. But today, they fled from his company, out in to the forest beyond the borders of the village.
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