She got creative. 😆

Some of those tickets were well hidden!

I’m super excited for this because I’ve written a lot of other stuff for my D&D characters over the past year so I think my writing has improved SIGNIFICANTLY since my last Sky OC story. Thank you for being here, and I hope you enjoy this one! As usual, comments and feedback are always appreciated :3

New Sights

Aviary Village was rather foggy. Raylah felt a chill seep under her collar and shivered. Finn noticed it (really, when did he not?) and put an arm around her to keep her warm. The group was uncharacteristically quiet, not one word uttered from any of them for one sole reason: there was an intruder wandering around the village. Raylah, Finn, Sofii, Theo, Kace, Rye, Teri, and Rowan were crouched on the hill above the dye shop, hiding behind the butterfly pots.

“Ro, can you move your arm, please? I barely have any room,” Rye grumbled. Rowan only splayed his arms out in response and giggled. Theo whipped his head around to give him a look, but Rowan only shrugged and stuck his tongue out. His deer mask lay on the grass behind him, a rare instance of him not wearing it. Sofii had suggested he take it off since it would draw attention, and he surprisingly listened. The intruder in question was strolling along the path, letting her spear drag along the grass as she hummed a tune—until she stopped. She looked up at the hill opposite of the one Raylah and her friends were on, tilting her head to the side.

“Where are you, Sofii? I wanted to give you another gift. Won’t you come out?”

In seconds, Raylah leapt off the hill and tackled Cassiela. Hearing those words, hearing Cass openly taunt Sofii with her trauma, was all it took for Raylah to see red. She could barely hear her friends’ confused yelling behind her as she straddled Cassiela, reveling in the shocked expression on the girl’s face. “How dare you mock her. My best friend. I don’t know how you got here, but I honestly don’t care. Now LEAVE before I tear off a limb.”

Raylah’s voice came out low and gravely, her anger making itself clearly known. It shocked her for a moment—it was rare for her to be so angry with someone. Regardless, she needed Cassiela out of the village so Sofii could feel safe. Slowly, she straightened her legs and got off of Cass, pointing towards the realm portals without another word. Cassiela scrambled off of the ground and grabbed her spear, eyes wide with fear. Up on the hill, Kace and Theo gave each other a meaningful look. As far as they could tell, not much scared Cassiela, but an especially angry Raylah definitely seemed to. Cass ran to the realm portals, spear in hand, and jumped straight through the portal to Wasteland.

As soon as she was gone, everyone stood up, the tension easing off of their shoulders now that Cassiela had left. They ran down the hill to Raylah, a mix of shock and awe on their faces. Finn was the first to speak up. “That was hot.”

Theo and Kace death stared Finn and Sofii giggled, while Rye and Teri only rolled their eyes. Raylah smiled and gave Finn a playful push, and he pushed back. It was then that she noticed Rowan was gone. “Wait, where’d Rowan go?”

“Right here,” he replied, walking out of the dye shop with another Child. He wore an orange and ivory tunic, the kind that a person who worked in the dye shop would wear. He also wore an orange and green bandana over his messy hair. Theo gave Rowan a questioning look, wondering who this boy was. Rowan glanced at the boy, who seemed to be waiting to be introduced. “Oh, this is Milo! He works in the dye shop, so we hang out a lot while we work. Milo, this group of weirdos are my friends. That’s Theo, Sofii, Kace, Teri, Finn, Raylah, and Rye.”

Milo looked at each person with a smile as Rowan introduced them. “It’s nice to meet you all! I’ve heard a lot about you guys. By the way, Theo, is it true you’re the world’s worst ice skater?”

Milo started laughing midway through his question, and Theo groaned. Sofii stifled a laugh next to him, failing miserably when she saw the bemused expression on Theo’s face and promptly burst out laughing. Theo shook his head, but there was a fond smile on his face before he answered. “Yeah, that’s me. Ray tried to teach me, and I fell on my ass in one spectacular moment of embarrassment.”

Milo laughed before turning to Rowan and nudging him. “Hey, he’s funny! You should take notes. Pranks ain’t always gonna cut it, buddy.”

“Now why in the world would I do that? It takes the fun out of it,” Rowan said cheerfully. Suddenly, he looked past the group at the large amount of Sky kids heading to the Concert Hall. “What’s all that for?”

Everyone else seemed just as confused as he was, all except for Rye and Teri. They looked at each other with a mix of shock and realization. “Uhhh, you guys know something we don’t?” Kace asked when he noticed the look they were sharing. Rye turned to Kace with wide eyed excitement, shaking his shoulders with so much energy Kace felt dizzy.

“My dear Kace, that crowd can only mean ONE THING. NICO IS PERFORMING!”

Everyone looked just as confused as they had before. They had no clue who Nico was, or why his performance at the Concert Hall was such a big deal. Teri sighed and stepped forward to explain. “Nico is a friend of ours, he’s a very talented singer and pianist. He’s been gaining popularity recently, so the crowd makes sense.”

Teri glanced back at Rye, who was practically shaking with excitement. “You want to see him perform, don’t you?”

Rye started hopping up and down with excitement and nodding vigorously. “GUYS THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE TO GO WE HAVE TO!!”

There was a collective sigh of amusement among the group as everyone started walking to the entrance of the Concert Hall. They boarded a boat and found a cluster of available seats when they arrived, only to find that there was a sign there that read “Reserved for Nico’s number one supporters and best friends.” Teri and Rye shook their heads in amusement before sitting down in their seats. A few more minutes went by before the lights dimmed and the show started. A boy sat in front of the piano and began to play a slow, serene melody, the spotlight brightening above him as he began to sing along with the song.

Raylah, Sofii, Theo, and Kace sat a table together, mesmerized by the sound of the piano and the boy—Nico’s—lovely voice. Finn, Rowan, Milo, Teri, and Rye sat at an adjacent table, equally transfixed by the performance. There was even a pleasant look of surprise on Rowan’s face. Raylah glanced at Teri and Rye, wondering what it was like for them to see their friend onstage. They were clearly both enjoying the performance, but there was a twinkle in Rye’s eyes that seemed to say something more. Raylah smiled before turning her focus back to the stage. When the performance ended, Nico stood up from the piano bench and gave a bow as the room erupted in applause. A few flowers were tossed from the crowd and he caught every one of them in a fabulous display of dance moves. Teri and Rye had knowing smiles on their faces, as if this were a regular occurrence after every performance. Nico took one more bow before exiting the stage, but not before looking at Rye and Teri and motioning for them to follow.

Rye practically flew out of his seat and went straight for the door to the backstage area. Everyone followed suit, wondering what this vibrant performer would be like. Upon entering the backstage area, they found Nico lounging on a chair in front of a mirror. He smiled and stood up, walking over gracefully before abruptly pulling Teri and Rye into a hug. “I missed you both so much! I hope you and your new friends enjoyed the performance.”

Teri and Rye both nodded, excitedly talking about all their favorite parts of the performance before introducing Nico to everyone. Nico’s eyes stopped on Kace when Teri said his name, a wide smile growing on his face. “Ooohh! So you’re Teri’s boyfriend! I’ve heard quite a bit about you, wonderful to finally meet you.”

Nico shook Kace’s hand rather enthusiastically, which Kace could only take to mean as a subtle threat. He gave Nico a half hearted smile before struggling to let go of his hand (turned out Nico had a good grip). The group sat down to relax while Nico started telling a particularly vibrant story about a time when Teri had tried to learn how to play piano.

“He kept mixing up the F key with the A, I promise you I’ve never been so frustrated in my life! He’s a wonderful magician, but I told him to just stay away from an instrument for the time being.”

Everyone laughed while Teri sank to the floor in a mock pout. Before Nico could finish the story, however, there was a commotion from the display room. “What in the world was that? It was awfully loud,” Milo said.

A look of recognition passed over Nico’s face, and he opened his mouth to explain, but then the racket reached backstage. A girl stumbled into the room carrying several bags and scrolls, which were teetering precariously on the bags. “Oh! Are these your friends, Nico? Apologies for the noise, I just need to find a spot to put these—“

The girl’s sentence cut off when she tripped over a fallen scroll, letting out a yelp when she nearly fell onto her back. The only reason she didn’t fall was because Rowan had a hand on her back, keeping her from doing so. “Sheesh, Ro,” Milo exclaimed. “I didn’t even see you get up.”

Rowan smirked, grabbing half of the girl’s supplies from her before she could utter a single word of protest. “Why are you carrying so much? You should really be careful,” he told her. The girl grimaced as she put the last of her supplies down on the floor.

“I needed to bring my medicine supplies here because my nest is already a mess, so I can’t work there. Nico also insisted that I come here since he thinks I need supervision,” she finished with a huff.

Nico gave her a look as if it were obvious. He sighed, then glanced up at the doorway. Raylah turned towards the door, wondering who had walked in. A dark purple hood with gold lining popped out, along with a girl with long hair and an orange sunflower bandana. It was Nephi and Aerin! Raylah motioned for them to come inside, and the group widened to make room for them. “Neph, how’s your trial research going?” Finn asked.

“Not too bad,” Nephi replied. “I found a few more entries in the Repository, so I’ve been reviewing them for the past couple days. Aerin helped me sort through it, which made it a lot easier.”

Aerin smiled nervously, glad she was able to help but still not used to the attention. Her focus turned to Sofii, who was staring at the girl who had come in with all the medical supplies, a haunted look on her face. “Sofii, are you okay?”

Sofii didn’t seem to hear Aerin’s question, her gaze still fixed on the girl as she sorted through her supplies. Finn waved a hand in front of Sofii’s face, but even that didn’t seem to get her attention. The girl looked up, realizing Sofii was staring, and gave her a gentle smile. “Are you the one who lost an eye?”

Sofii nodded, fear flickering in her eye. The girl gently took Sofii’s face in her hands, looking at her blindfold with sympathy. The room was silent as she took in Sofii’s pained expression. “My name is Adela. I can help you, Sofii.”

The sun is shining and tons of poolside fun awaits!

Days of Sunlight is here, through August 20 ☀️

And with that, Mushroom's journey to find their own main design ends there. I'm content with it and i don't think i'll change it in the near future.