Rorri

　　It was a muggy midsummer morning when Rorri felt a new presence enter the Forest from somewhere underground, two sets of feet rippling across the forest bed. Strange, he thought. Stragglers never traveled in pairs. But why not invite them, anyway? He might be outnumbered if they turned out to be hostile, but Belethlian had his back. It seemed to be taking a liking to him, actually. It hadn`t tripped him in a while, so that was encouraging.

　　He opened a path and waited, nibbling through a palmful of nuts. To his surprise, they bounded right for him with hardly any hesitation at all, the poor fools. They must be so lost, Rorri thought, touched by sadness. Finally, two glowing silhouettes approached - young men, by the looks of it. One had short hair but long, pointed ears, and the other had the short pointed ears of a half-human. Rorri had only ever met a few of those in Iridan. The elf glowed a deep bloody red, not unlike a wounded tree, though a small spot near his chest seemed to be healing, exuding a pleasant teal. The half-human shined a bright, springy, obnoxious green. Tagging along behind them came a bizarre, squat creature, an animal unlike any Rorri had ever seen, and he`d seen all sorts of weird animals in the Forest.

　　"What the hell is that?" he said in Surface Elvish, nodding towards the puzzling cat-bird thing. A grayish-orange color shaded their auras, which Rorri recognized as confusion. "What, you mean you can`t see it?" he said, watching it with great interest.

　　"Prroooh," it quipped. Rorri kneeled down and offered his hand.

　　"Seems f-friendly at least," he mused, vaguely aware of how insane he must look, but far too detached to care. "It looks a bit like a cat got knocked up by an owl&"

　　"Cabbage?" the red figure said, his confusion turning a lightning shade of shock. Rorri bristled and shot a suspicious glare towards the figure.

　　"What did you just say&?"

　　"Like the vegetable!" the other one interjected, his voice shimmering with panic. "You`re speaking Surface Elvish - you know what a cabbage is, right?"

　　Rorri relaxed. Were the two figures Du閚, like him, that name had implications of a deeply nefarious nature - but he did know the vegetable. He`d always avoided it when he lived in Iridan. It just felt like bad luck. The cat-owl attempted to bunt his face against Rorri`s hand, but passed through it, puffing out its feathers with an irritated coo.

　　"Weird," Rorri said, standing upright. He faced the two figures, regarding them curiously, his fear eradicated long ago. "Well, anyway," he said, resting his hands on his hips. "Would you like some tea?"This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

　　Pak

　　"So," the stranger says as he sets two wooden mugs before us on his tree stump table. "Where are you two f-from?"

　　Kano and I share a look. Should we trust him? My eyes say. I don`t see why not, his reply.

　　"Iridan," I say. The man pauses for a moment, eyebrows lifting, and barely nods his head. "Do you know it?"

　　He sits, his black-starburst eyes glazing.

　　"Never heard of it," he says, scratching his ear. Kano and I share another look. What a terrible liar.

　　"I`m sorry," Kano says, "but - are you blind? I don`t mean to be rude-"

　　"Oh, you`re alright," he says, reaching for his mug, though he misses it by half an inch at first. "To answer your question, it sort of depends on w-what you mean by blind`. I see in my own way."

　　He takes a loud sip of tea. I glance towards the empty chair he pulled out for Cabbage to sit in, puzzled. It`s his only chair. The rest of us get piles of leaves. It`s the only fair way to go about it, he said. I can see the spoli floating about inside his pupils, which wouldn`t be unusual for a Du閚, except for his pupils` shape, and the fact that he lives on the surface.

　　"Do you mean to return to Iridan?" he asks, tracing his fingers over the grooves in his mug.

　　"Oh, no," Kano says. "I doubt they`d let us in if we even wanted to."

　　The man visibly deflates. I still haven`t touched my tea. There`s something very off about all of this, but I can`t quite place it.

　　"Why do you live out here instead of down there?" I ask. He blinks and purses his lips, as if he`s never thought about it before.

　　"Well," he says with a sigh, "it`s the same as you. They don`t want me back. Anyway, it`s peaceful out here. For me, at least. I know how to n-navigate it."

　　He stands abruptly. I flinch. Kano puts his hand on my knee.

　　"Sorry," he says. "Didn`t mean to spook you."

　　We share another look. How can he tell?

　　He ambles over to a shelf, though it looks more like a tree trying to suck in its stomach. In the indent sits a dozen carved knick-knacks, their purposes I can`t begin to discern. He plucks out a reed canister and a pipe that looks like a blind man carved it, then turns to us, holding up the pipe.

　　"Smoke?"