#gembraceletshipping

“Has anyone given you one of these yet?”

Masumi turned, blinking.  She had to cross her eyes, because Yuzu was dangling the item inches from her face, and eventually just took a step back so that she could see it.

Yuzu held a strange looking hook between her fingers.  It was white and red striped, and looked shiny, like it might be made of some kind of colored metal, or porcelain?  

Masumi glanced up at Yuzu, trying to figure out what she was up to.  The fae girls she’d spent the last three months traveling with could be an odd bunch.  Rin had once given her a handful of leaves and insisted that it was a sign of good fortune among the fae to give each other leaves.  She’d worn them in a pouch for three weeks until another fae had laughed her out of a bar when she’d tried to offer one to him.  She hadn’t forgiven Rin for that one quite yet.  Rin had laughed too hard about it.

Yuzu wasn’t usually the type to play with her like that, but she couldn’t be positive.  After all, it was nearing the winter solstice, a time of great magical energy, and the fae girls had nearly been bouncing off the walls with the increased power in the air that had been setting them off.  They’d been extra touchy-feely.

“No?” Masumi finally said.  “What is it?”

Yuzu brightened, her eyes sparkling.

“Good!” she said, grabbing Masumi’s hand and pressing it into her palm.  “I’ll see you then!”

“You’ll see me when?” Masumi said.

But Yuzu was already skipping off, her cloak fluttering after her like a pair of wings.  Masumi was left standing in the middle of the cold, snowy street holding whatever Yuzu had just given her.  She looked at it, turning it over in her palm and frowning.  It wasn’t porcelain, but it was solid and...there seemed to be some kind of thin layer covering it?  She had no idea what it meant.  She tucked it into a pouch around her belt and shook her head, turning back towards the road.  She’d been on the way to the market to restock for their trek through the mountains after the solstice, and she needed to get it done without the mischievous fae in her group.

However, she hadn’t gone more than ten steps before something bolted out of a space between houses beside her.  She leaped back, hand snapping back to the hilt of her blade.

Rin skidded to a stop against the slick cobblestones, dropping to one knee and throwing one arm out to her side.  Her dark cloak settled around her legs as she remained frozen in place for a moment.

Finally, her golden hazel eyes flickered up to Masumi.

“Am I the first one to see you today??” she demanded.

“I...why?” Masumi said.

Rin reached into her pocket as she stood up with a snap, and the next thing Masumi knew, Rin was grabbing her wrist and...putting the same strange hook-like object into Masumi’s hand.  This one, however, seemed to be green and white striped rather than the red and white of the one Yuzu had given her.

“I’m first then!” she said, looking pleased.  “Take it!”

“I...all right?  Why?” Masumi said.  “You know, you weren’t —”

But Rin only winked and grinned, her teeth flashing white as the snow that was starting to drift from the sky.

“I’ll see you there!” she said, spinning and bolting off.  A moment later, she’d completely vanished into thin air.  Masumi stared with her mouth hanging slightly open, still holding the strange little hook object.

She lifted it to her face, frowning.  Was this some kind of prank, maybe?  Were Yuzu and Rin playing some kind of winter solstice joke on her that would make sense if she was fae?  She tried sniffing the object — oh...it smelled like peppermint.  Was this a candy?

I’ll ask Ruri, she finally decided, tucking the new hook into her pouch with the other.  She never makes fun of me for not getting the others’ jokes.

Once she reached the marketplace, she was finally in the midst of other people — other humans in particular, which she’d seen few of during her journey.  Though none of them were of the same slender, dark-skinned build as her own people who hailed from the lowland plains, it was good to see a familiar sort of face among the more eccentric and varied fae creatures that she’d spent the journey meeting.

One of them shot her a grin and waved her over to their blanket, and she wandered over to check the wares.

She’d forgotten about the peppermint hooks in her pocket when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder.  She held up a hand behind her without looking, indicating that she needed a minute — she was in the middle of a very important haggle for some climbing boots.

“You’re a rough one,” the cart-owner finally said with a laugh.  “Deal.”

Masumi grinned, shaking on it and taking her boots.

“All right, what is it now?” she said, turning to see who had tried to get her attention.

She wasn’t really surprised to see Selena standing behind her, but she was a little uncertain about the expression that Selena was making.  She wouldn’t meet Masumi’s eyes, her lips pressed together and her cheeks a bright red as she shifted from foot to foot.

“What’s wrong?” Masumi said.  She leaned over when she realized that Selena was clearly holding something behind her back.  “What do you have?”

Selena’s light blush turned into a full beet-red.

“I, um,” she fumbled.  It wasn’t like her to be so nervous.  She was always the impulsive one, blurting out what she thought without thinking about it.

“Kobold got your tongue?” Masumi said, raising an eyebrow.

Selena swore in Faeish, stomping one foot.

“Here!” she finally said, shoving her hand out towards Masumi.

Another one??  Selena’s peppermint hook was blue and white striped, and her hand shook slightly when she offered it to Masumi.

“Well?” Selena demanded, going red again.  “Are you going to take it, or not?”

“I don’t know why you’re giving it to me?” Masumi said.  “Are you going to explain?”

Selena flushed even deeper.  She shoved the hook at Masumi’s chest, pressing it against her breastplate and then dropping it.  Masumi had to grab it quickly before it hit the ground.  She looked up to see Selena shooting her a self-satisfied, triumphant smile.

“I’ll be seeing you,” she said, turning and marching off.

“Hold on just a second!” Masumi demanded, trying to go after her.  “Will one of you please —”

But Masumi was stupid if she thought she was going to keep up with a warlock, as she disappeared immediately before Masumi could finish her sentence.  She stood there, holding the peppermint hook in one hand and her boots under her arm with the other.  

“What in the gods,” she swore.  “They’re playing a joke on me.  I know they are.”

Well, she was determined not to deal with it.  She shoved Selena’s hook into her pouch with the other two, and began to march back to the inn.

She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or wary when she saw Ruri waiting for her near the door to the inn.  The cleric hummed to herself, eyes flicking about until they caught on Masumi.  She immediately beamed, pushing from the wall and turning to meet Masumi.

“You’re going to give me one of those hook things too, aren’t you?” Masumi said, before Ruri could say anything.

Ruri’s smiled slipped a bit with surprise.  Then her lips twitched.  She put a hand over her mouth, trying to conceal her giggles, but it wasn’t working.  Masumi rolled her eyes.

“Out with it,” she said.  “What kind of joke is this?  Are you all just trying to confuse me?  Some kind of winter solstice prank?”

“You haven’t even let me say anything yet,” Ruri said with a giggle.  “First~”

She reached into the pocket of her white robes, withdrawing — of course — another peppermint hook.  Ruri’s was striped with yellow.

“What is this, and why do you all keep giving me one?” Masumi said.

Ruri giggled, tucking her staff under one arm so that she could hide it behind her fist.

“It’s called a candy cane,” she said.

“It’s candy?” Masumi said with a blink.

“Mmhm!  They’re winter solstice treats,” Ruri said.

She offered hers out to Masumi, and tentatively, Masumi reached out and took it.  She turned it over in her fingers, and finally noticed the seam.  There was a thin layer of clear wrapping around it.  It was a peppermint hard candy in the shape of a cane.

“I don’t understand why the others were making such a big deal of giving one to me, though,” Masumi said.

Ruri tilted her head.

“Did the other three all give you one?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s what I was saying.”

“And you accepted it?  From all three of them? And me?”

“I mean, none of you have given me much choice,” Masumi grumbled.

Ruri put a hand over her mouth, and for a moment, Masumi thought she was scandalized by something.  But then her shoulders started to shake, and her cheeks grew red from trying to hide her laughter.

“What?  What?” Masumi said.  “Is this a prank after all?”

“No, it’s just — I can’t believe none of them waited to ask if you’d gotten one from the others yet,” Ruri giggled, wiping a tear from her eye.  “Come with me for a moment.  I’ll show you.”

Masumi glanced up at the sky.  The days were incredibly short out here, and it was already getting dark.  Someone was already out lighting the lamps down the street.

“We should be going to sleep,” she said.  “It’s going to get cold.”

“Don’t worry,” Ruri said, holding out a hand.  “It won’t take long.”

Masumi looked down suspiciously at Ruri’s hand.  She glanced to check Ruri’s gaze, to see if there was a fae prank in here somewhere.  Ruri usually didn’t tease her like the others did, but the winter solstice was making them all silly.

She sighed.  Well, Ruri was the most responsible of all of them, so she supposed she could trust it.  She took Ruri’s hand.

She felt the world pinch and wiggle around her, the way it did when any of the fae jumped spaces.  The cold grew sharper, and then soft, cooly pressing against her skin.  Ruri squeezed Masumi’s hand, and Masumi blinked away the disorientation of the jump.

They were suddenly in a small, icy clearing.  All of the trees were coated with a thick layer of ice — or perhaps they were carved from the ice itself.  A thick layer of snow coated the ground, but beyond the trees, a large circular clearing with the snow packed down to a low floor opened up to the icy gray sky overhead.

Masumi’s breath caught.  There were fae everywhere.  Some of them she couldn’t even look at directly — their trueforms were making her feel sick.

Beside her, Ruri had entered her own trueform — she was a foot taller than Masumi now, her hair loose and made of dark purple-black feathers instead that flowed down her back and melted seamlessly into the dark wings that sprouted from her bare shoulder blades.  It was eerie, but beautiful in a way that made Masumi’s stomach twist when Ruri turned towards her, smiling.  Her face had become sharper, her nose longer and lips more beak-like, her eyes turning a full black.

“Are we in the Fae Rings?” Masumi said, gripping Ruri’s hand. “I thought humans weren’t allowed here.”

Before Ruri could answer, someone else did for her.

“They most certainly are not!  Please, state your business for being here at the winter solstice festival, without an invitation!!”

Masumi swore, gripping onto Ruri’s hand as she spun to find the source of the voice.  She looked up, down, and all around, before Ruri tapped her shoulder and pointed down.  Masumi found herself staring down at a small pillar of snow, with the vague semblance of a face.

“I...I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude —” she started.

“She has an invitation!”

Yuzu’s voice snapped out over the snowdrifts, and Masumi looked over her shoulder.  

Yuzu’s trueform was eerily gorgeous, too, like Ruri’s.  Her pigtails had become long, twisting pink vines sprouting with white roses, and her skin had become a pale pink, which grew out into white petals in the shape of a dress about her.  She grabbed hold of Masumi’s hand, leaning over to the mote of snow.

“She’s supposed to be here!” Yuzu said.  “Because I —”

“Ser Masumi has an invitation!”

A gust of wind exploded around Masumi as Rin appeared in her trueform.  The slightly mint-green wind spun around her a few times, before twisting into a faint, warbling shape like Rin’s human form, with two topaz eyes hanging in her face.

“She’s definitely got one because I — ” she started.

“Show it the candy cane!” came Selena’s voice.

Selena smacked lightly against Masumi’s back, and Masumi grunted as Selena clambered up her shoulder, tiny claws digging into her back.  Her trueform was smaller than the others, and significantly shorter than Masumi, and her face had become like that of a cat’s, though her fur seemed to be made of spun moonlight.

“Wait,” Yuzu said, looking at Selena.  “You gave her one?  When?”

“In the marketplace, obviously,” Selena grumbled, her fur tickling Masumi’s neck.

“No way!  Because I gave her one just before she got there!” Rin said.

“I caught her this morning,” Yuzu said.  “Masumi, you have it, right?  The candy cane I gave you?”

Masumi was way too rattled to respond immediately.  She shook herself back to herself.

“Well, maybe if someone would explain things to me for once in their lives,” she said.

“You can’t be here if you don’t have an invitation,” the snowdrift grumbled.

“She’s got one!!” Rin, Yuzu, and Selena all shouted at once.

Ruri burst out laughing.  She released Masumi’s hand and crumpled over herself, giggling up a storm.  

“What’s so funny?” Selena demanded.

Ruri couldn’t stop laughing, she was crying from how hard she was laughing.

“Have a look,” she gasped between giggles.  “Masumi, show them your candy canes.”

What in the gods was happening?  But Masumi groaned, thinking of some not-so-nice words for fae who couldn’t answer questions, and dug into her pouch to retrieve the four candy canes she’d received that day.  

For a moment, they all stared at them.  Then the snowdrift coughed.

“Well, that is most irregular.  Haven’t the slightest how you’re going to divy up your time.  But it’s not my business.  Very well, you may be here along with your escort.  Or escorts, I should say.”

The snowdrift slumped down and the face disappeared.  Masumi stared at it.  Then she looked up at the others.

Rin snickered first.

“Oh my god,” she said.  “We all gave her one.”

“I told you all I was inviting her!” Selena said.  “You didn’t have to do it!”

“You technically invited her after I did,” Yuzu said.  “So she’s still technically with me.”

“Will you all please explain?” Masumi begged.

Finally, Ruri took pity on her, rising back to her feet and still giggling.

“Every year, on the night of the winter solstice, the fae host a ball in the Fae Rings,” Ruri said.  “It’s traditional to bring a guest, or a partner with you.  And so in the week up to the ball, we craft a fine sweet that we call a candy cane.  And we present the sweet we’ve made to who we’d like to accompany us.”

Masumi stared at the candy canes.  Selena pouted, and Yuzu was trying to hide a smile now.

“You mean...” Masumi said, looking up at all of them.  “You were all trying to invite me to this?”

Yuzu nodded.  Rin ducked her head, and Selena stuck out her tongue as she jumped off of Masumi’s shoulder.  Masumi bit her lip, feeling a little bit of...warmth blossom in her stomach.

“So you all wanted me to come to this party of yours?” she said.  She shook her head.  “You could have told me.”

“We’re not supposed to all escort one person,” Rin said.  “Well, at least, I don’t think anyone thought that was something that could happen.”

“I told you all I was going to ask her,” Selena grumbled.

“Technically, I beat you all to it,” Yuzu said, wrapping her arms around Masumi’s arm, and her pigtail vines through Masumi’s hair.

Masumi snorted.

“You all are ridiculous,” she said.  “Traveling with you is such trouble.”

But she reached out her free arm towards the other three.

“Well,” she said.  “It looks like you all have to share me tonight.”

Ruri giggled.

“I think we always knew we’d have to,” she said, and she pecked Masumi on the cheek with surprising soft lips.