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Faye the Dryad had, overall, a peaceful existence. Yes, she had come from a dangerous place, but she was safe now. In fact, her life was comfortable, living as she did in the house built for her from flowers and wood and dirt. It was a clumsy attempt by the builder at recreating where they supposed she had come from, but it was appreciated. The multiple bookshelves and the several planters kept her amused, and when boredom truly struck, she could climb on the roof and observe the animals.
Faye wasn’t bored very often, however.
Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn’t notice the bright burst of blue sparks that heralded the return of the person that helped Faye stave off boredom the most.
Emmie popped into existence next to her bed, wearing her normal goofy grin. She was accompanied by her 2 baby slimes (named Harold and Maude) and a somewhat recent addition of a baby dragon. A few bees still buzzed about her, and in one hand she held her Starfury, in the other, the Ice Mirror that brought her home.
She was also, oxymoronically, both soaking wet and smoking slightly.
“HEY FAYE! Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you after being alone for so long. What was it this time, like, four days? I need to go mining y’know, but it gets so lonely down there. I love Harold and Maude, but they’re not great conversationalists and the skeleton guy never seems to hang around long.” This was all issued forth in one long breath, as Emmie holstered her sword and placed her Bee-Gun back under her cape.
Faye coughed slightly. “Yes, welcome back. There hasn’t been-”
Emmie interrupted her, rustling through the Money Trough she’d brought out. “Really anything? I figured, someone always calls me to whine if something bad happens. Cody, mostly. For someone who calls himself “The Guide” I don’t really trust him to protect himself or you guys at all. He’s kinda a wimp, y’know. He never went mining with me, even in the early days. I had to do everything myself.” Finding what she was looking for, Emmie pushed the pig away and began walking towards the door, obviously looking to hop down to the lower level where the crafting tables resided. The sopping wet hem of the robe she was wearing dripped along the floor, and her cape continuously smoked, giving her an almost hazy appearance. “S’okay, though. That’s part of the reason I’m so tough.” She hopped down, slimes and dragon following. After a second, Faye could hear the sound of Miles and Emmie greeting each other, and then the clanging of a anvil in use.
She sighed, a slight smile alighting on her face. Emmie was restless and frenetic, constantly moving and talking and doing, but Faye liked her. Beyond providing the, (she counted for a second), twelve of them a safe home, Emmie was simply nice to be around. She was talkative, yes, but she listened as well, and was more than happy to hear long stories of life as a Dryad, provided she could sharpen her sword or feed her pickaxe at the same time. Katelyn and Tyrone complained about her fairly often, but Faye had her own opinions about those two.
She was startled out of her thoughts by Emmie slime-hooking her way past the open door, yelling cheerfully, “Just wait-a-sec, Faye, I’ve got something cool to show ya.” The sound of the Tinkerer’s Workshop followed this sentence.
Moving closer to the door, the dryad waited expectantly. After about a minute, Emmie swung into the room, and brandished a pair of boots.
Faye looked at them and smiled politely. “Aren’t those the boots you normally wear?”
Emmie grinned. “Yeah, kinda, but they’re better now. Check it, I messed around with my Water Walkers and some Obsidian, and they’re better now. I’m not gonna burn anymore. I don’t think I can walk on lava, yet, but I’m getting closer, which’ll be cool and useful for Hell.”
Faye’s eyes widened dramatically. “H-Hell?”
“Yeah, I fell in there when I was mining obsidian today. It wasn’t super great, in my opinion. Too many demons and too much lava.”
“You fell into hell? The Underworld? Full of demons, and imps and those horrible bone snakes? The realm of the damned, abandoned by all? For only the bravest warriors?” Faye covered her mouth with her hand.
Emmie laughed. “Wow, you guys know it as all those things? Haha, that’s crazy! Yeah, I fell in there and I almost died. ‘S’why I came back so suddenly. Fell into lava one too many times, y’know, and I was starting to run low on Honeyfin, so.” She shrugged. “I needed to come back anyway, I was starting to run out of space. Smelt some ores.” Emmie looked up suddenly. “You want diamonds, Faye?”
The dryad blinked, still stuck on ‘falling into hell’. “Huh?”
“Diamonds. You want, like, a tiara or something? I asked Cody and I could make a real pretty one outta platinum and diamonds. If you want one. If not, I’ll just dump it in the ore chest, so people can steal from me and then lie about it.” Emmie rolled her eyes, and the baby dragon nuzzled her cheek.
The diamonds glittered in Emmie’s hand and Faye looked at them. “People steal from you? After you provide all this?”
“Eh, sometimes. Whatever, I understand. I know who it is, they don’t know I know, if it’s ever anything important I’ll go and yell at them. They’re jerks, but they help me. We don’t need to be friends. They’re not like Roxanne or Tgerd.” Emmie paused for a second. “Or you.”
Faye looked at her. “Me?”
Emmie stopped adjusting her Starfury on her back. “Yeah, silly. You think everyone gets a room this big or all this stuff?” The baby dragon nudged Faye’s shoulder, before flying over and clinging to the back of Emmie’s cloak. As Emmie hoisted her Bee-Gun and quickly cleaned her rocket boots, Faye found her voice.
“Hey, Emmie?”
The girl in question looked back, posed heroically in the doorway. “Yeah, Faye?”
“I-”
She was interrupted. “You want me to get you something? More flowers? A new pet? Somethin’ fancy to wear? Somethin’ yummy to eat?”
The dryad paused, before laughing softly. “Yeah, Emmie. Get me a new pet or something to eat. I can’t wait to see.”
The goofy grin returned, and Emmie saluted with her Bee-Gun, yelling as she blasted off, “CANNNNN-DOOOOO!”
Faye waved her off, laughing as the slimes frantically followed. As she did, Roxanne pulled herself into the top floor of the house, kicking her legs frantically to make it inside. As she did, she walked over to Faye and settled in on the floor to braid her hair. “How long do you think she’ll be gone this time?”
The dryad shrugged, inclining her head slightly. “Oh, I’m not sure. But she always comes back.”
Roxanne smiled. “She sure does!”