Pollen Theif

Saolage lived in a small town, in a very literal sense. Mostly populated by Shingalings, with the occasional Houndling or Mythren. Saolage was one of those rarer Mythren, living off pollen and flower nectar as he could find it. It was a peaceful existence, but not a stress-free one. 

Flowers weren’t in bloom all year, nectar had to be made into honey to preserve it, and pollen had to be roasted or sun-dried to keep it from growing mold. It needed to be stored somewhere dry and cool, and it needed to be placed somewhere that other creatures with more varied diets would not mistake it as something allowed for them to take as they pleased. 

So, by all accounts, seeing a wild Fae Vikai plundering the village’s general winter stores was something of a reason to panic. 

The vikai froze when it and Saolage were face to face. Then, it dipped its head down, testing whether it could go back to eating, and then grabbing a mouthful of pollen with what seemed to be plans to get away. 

“Oh no you DON’T!” Saolage’s scream went very far into voice crack territory very fast. He slammed the door behind him and took a fighting stance. 

The Vikai picked up on this aggression and began buzzing its wings. This was either a threat display or a preparation to dart to safety. Either way, Bright had to stop this right here and right now. 

Saolage didn’t like to use his one and only affliction, but this was a very clear emergency. He concentrated all his magic into the amber shard in his forehead and let a bright beacon of light beam forth. The light probably wouldn't hurt the creature, his only goal was to stun it long enough for help to arrive. 

Unfortunately, the light sent the vikai into a frenzy. It let out a horrible shreik and tried to fly away, knocking itself into a shelf and breaking it, sending dozens of boxes and canisters tumbling to the floor. Saolage, hearing the noise, deactivated his affliction, but the fae vikai was still stumbling around and shreiking like it had been injured. 

The door burst open behind him. It was the townspeople, who had seen his signal. They didn't know what it was, since Saolage had never informed them of his power, so weren't armed with anything that might help solve this problem. Instead, they screamed and scattered as the half-blinded vikai charged towards the door. 

Saolage wasn't giving up. With a shout, he grabbed onto the creature's leg and tried to pull it backwards. He had no plan for how to properly restrain or fight it, he was just angry about the lost food and all the trouble this thing had caused the whole village.

the vikai lurched towards the ground, but still kept going, straining to escape. Some of the braver and crazier townspeople joined in, grabbing at limbs and trying to yank the creature back to the ground. 

This only made the vikai fight harder. It screamed in rage and tried to shake off the creatures pinning it down. It tried to snap and bite, but someone jumped on its head and tried to hold the mouth closed.

Some of the villagers were surveying the damage, others were crowding around to gawk at the creature. Saolage, still gripping as hard as he possibly could to the vikai's back leg, felt a little sorry for it. He himself wasn't used to such a crowd all at once, and he never wanted to be at the center of it.

Someone procured a strong rope (an ordinary sized aphex might see it as a length of twine) and with a bit of teamwork began tying down the creature to let everyone else get off. It was slow going, and they needed to shove stakes into the ground (pushpins) in order to keep the creature in place.

Saolage was the last to let go of the beast, and did so with some reluctance. He tried to give it an assuring pat, but all that did was make the creature let out an angry hiss. Saolage stepped away as gawking townsfolk who hadn't helped with the crisis shoved their way forward to get a better look. Feeling guilty for leaving it like this, but knowing he'd have to answer a lot of angry questions if he didn't want to get in trouble, he stepped away to talk to the townsfolk surveying the damaged silo. 

The vikai thrashed against its restraints, but if it started to pull up one stake someone else would hammer it back down again. The ropes rubbed painfully against its hide the more it tried to escape them, until all its energy and willpower was spent and it just flopped down in defeat.

It remained unmoving for the rest of the day. The townsfolk got tired of looking, eventually, and they had other chores to do while such an unprecedented event was still happening. The vikai didn't do anything of note, except growl at anyone trying to poke a reaction from it. But the day turned to evening, and eventually only one creature remained to keep watch over it. 

Saolage shoveled the ruined pollen from the floor of the silo, and carried it slowly to where the vikai lay. It was wolfing down the food as fast as it could, glaring at Saolage if he got too close too quickly. Saolage paid it no mind, he just silently kept his work going. 

When the last shovel of pollen was delivered, Saolage put the shovel away. He simply closed the silo doors and locked them the way the town leaders had agreed upon, and turned to the vikai. 

It only took one good yank, and the stake came out of the ground without much noise. But the next moment Saolage had to dive out of the way as the vikai burst screaming into the air and flew off into the night.