Diving Deep - Solo

[FennWenn]

It was with a sense of purpose and speed that Loreley and Fenn set off on their little adventure. Their bare feet tramped through the shallow yellow-green fields stretching between the cozy little village and the thick forest surrounding the loch. Loreley made a great show of “leading the way”. Fenn simply shrugged and followed as she dragged him along through the tall grass and heather, watching as the flowers seemed to lean willingly toward his new friend as they passed by. A jolt of surprise wracked him with every bright locust disturbed along the way. Spring was bug season. Everything from fruit flies to inchworms greeted the two young interlopers; Fenn couldn’t help but wonder if he’d find a few dried bug husks in the bottom of his sifan satchel later. Anything that crawled into his hoard was not liable to crawl out again.

Just outside the field in the space between the trees and whispering grass was a stretch of chalky dirt and plant stubble. Fenn glanced down at it and shyly tugged on Loreley’s sleeve, bringing her swagger to a sudden stop. A huff of impatience escaped the girl. “You need something?”

Sheepishly, he etched his thoughts out into the rough dirt underfoot. HAVE STRONG FRIEND. USEFUL. CALL NOW. The boy bit his lip and added a little more. SHE NICE, NO BE SCARED.

“A friend?” Loreley backed up to lean against a nearby tree, considering his words with a continued frown of disbelief. “One I’d be scared of? All the way out here?”

Shrugging away the awkward question — a reply he was giving so often to Lore that it was starting to make his shoulders ache — the fae slipped a brass whistle out of his satchel’s front pocket. The metal grew cold and frosted over at his touch. Taking a deep breath, Fenn raised it to his lips and blew.

“Fweeeeeeeee!”

A deep howl answered in the distance. The boy sighed in relief at the response. It was closer than he had suspected.