Foraging for Faeries

“Alright, Crim! You ready?” Easter asked, excitement laced in her voice. Easter had woken up early this morning to get ready to embark on her journey through The Great Woods, along with her beanie Marco, and her new friend Crim. As Easter and Crim couldn’t go alone, they were dependent on their bigger companion, needing the overgrown creature to help them make their way through the twisting woods to the whimsical Fairy Ring.

Easter first heard about the fantastical Fairy Ring from her friend Pinkie, when she started to ramble on about a cute pet she had seen the other day, a toadstool, something Easter hadn’t even heard of before. Interest piqued, she asked Pinkie to repeat herself.

“Huh? Oh! A toadstool! Yeah, I saw an Arborling walking with one the other day! It was sooooo cute, it had the tiniest little face!” Pinkie gushed. She absolutely adored pets, especially the smaller, cuter ones. Seeing her so wrapped up in describing the new pet made Easter smile.

“Do you know where they found the toadstool, Pea?” Easter asked. Easter was always so interested in finding out new things about Midveil, having moved recently. Any time something new happened, Easter was always the first to be on top of it. She loved finding new pets to give to Pinkie, and if she could find out where she could find out this toadstool that Pinkie was so infatuated with, she’d go get her one immediately. 

“Oh, uh… I forgot to ask! I was too focused on their pet…” Pinkie smiled sheepishly. “Sorry…”

“It’s alright Pea, I’ll find out alright?”

“Why do you wanna know so bad?” Pinkie beamed. “Do ya want one of em? I don’t blame you! They’re the cutest!!”

“Sure Pea.” Easter smiled in reply. She would get the other Strudel that toadstool, no matter what it took.

Easter then went on a small adventure, going from pet store to pet store, asking each and every owner if the had any toadstools. Unfortunately, she came up short. Exasperatingly making her way towards Pippa’s, she felt that all hope was lost. 

That was until she saw an Arborling with… was that a toadstool? She beamed. What luck!! She ran as fast as she could to catch up with the mysterious Arborling. Hearing her loud footsteps, the red Arborling turned around, eyeing the Strudel up and down, their eyepatch intimidating Easter the second she saw it. Oh. Oh. Was this the Arborling Pinkie was talking about? Why didn’t she mention they looked terrifying? Pinkie probably didn’t notice, Easter thought, she was probably too fixated on the toadstool following close behind the Arborling. Easter swallowed nervously.

The two looked at each other in silence, the toadstool looking back and forth between the two. Easter swallowed again, before speaking.

“Um… Hello!” Easter tried sounding friendly, though her smile was weak and quivering. The Arborling continued to stare her down, until finally they opened their mouth.

“...Hi.” The Arborling suddenly looked down. They were avoiding eye contact, rubbing their small foot into the dirt. They looked almost self conscious. Easter was beyond confused. “Y… You aren’t mad at me are you? You were running at me from behind… I didn’t do anything wrong right?”

“...Huh? Oh! What! No, no, no, I’m sorry about that!!” Easter felt horrible… She thought the Arborling was the scary one when she was the one running up behind them at full speed. “I just, I saw your toadstool here, and-”

“My toadstool? Oh, yeah!! My captain got it for me!!!” The Arborling suddenly beamed. Wow, that was a drastic change in tone. Wait, captain? Like, on a ship? So the eyepatch wasn’t just a costume? Easter felt a bit wary again.

“Your toadstool, yes! Do you know where your captain got it from?” Easter asked, keeping her upbeat attitude, despite the fear that she might be walking the plank here in a few minutes. 

“The Fairy Circle!” The red Arborling smiled wide, a shiny gold tooth appearing behind their lips. Easter smiled back awkwardly.

“Fairy Circle? What’s that?” Easter inquired. It sounded like something from a, well, a fairytale. She watched as the Arborling’s smile changed to a surprised look.

“What? You haven’t heard of The Fairy Circle? It’s the most fantastic place to look for treasure!” The Arborling went on, eye shimmering, the same way Pinkie’s eyes shimmered when she was talking about cute pets. “My crew and I, we sailed all the way here from a faraway island just to find it! Thought I didn’t exactly get to go,” The Arborling said. “Cap said I should keep watch of the ship while she and Ruby go off by themselves… I was upset but Cap brought me this toadstool back, so...” The Arborling picked up their pet, cradling them like a baby. Easter had no idea what they were talking about now, but she felt sympathetic. “She said it was too dangerous for an Arborling! But I wanna prove her wrong!” The Arborling said, suddenly filled with vigor. 

“Where exactly is this… Fairy Circle?”

“Well, you have to go through The Great Woods, then-” 

“The Great Woods? No wonder your crew left you behind!” Easter blurted out, and the Arborling suddenly frowned. Whoops. “What I meant was, it’s very dangerous to go through there, especially for a small Arborling like yourself… Heck, I don’t even think I could go through alone. Your crew must be very strong to be able to go through there and make it out alive…” Easter rambled aloud, suddenly wondering how she would be able to make her way through. But she was determined. 

“I suppose,” The Arborling huffed. “Though I wish they would’ve let me come with them…”

“Would you like to come with me? You’d probably know how to get there, and I could help you out!” Easter said, her sympathy shining through. She held her paw out to the Arborling, gentle smile across her features. The Arborling hesitated before taking her paw. They nodded, and their toadstool followed suit. 

On their walk back to Easter’s cottage, the two introduced themselves. Crim was the Arborling’s name, a member of Captain Pudding’s crew. Easter listened intently to Crim, genuinely intrigued about the Arborling’s crew and pirate background.

The next morning Easter saddled up her beanie, Marco, and awoke an overexcited Crim. Crim had even drawn out a map (albeit with an old crumpled piece of paper and crayon,) and the two were ready to embark on their journey to The Fairy Circle.

“Full speed ahead!!”

​​​​