Thoughts from the Otherworld

It was a crisp evening in early spring. Ellanore warmed her hands in the small fire she had built to warm herself up. Recently, she had been feeling confined in the city, so she had come out here to La Theine yesterday to hone her skills. What skills, she wasn't quite certain, but supposed it had something to do with combat and survival.

Recently, she had found herself more and more relying on magic to make her way in combat. This, she hadn't expected when she first set out to be an adventurer, although she supposed it was just natural. After all, it was hard to make it by yourself if you didn't know how to heal yourself effectively, or cast a Sleep or Bind spell to get out of tricky situations. Items for this purpose existed for sure, but they weren't very cost-effective if you spent more than a little time out in the wilderness.

"You there, Ella?" The whisper brought her out of her thoughts. It came from her linkshell pearl, a small translucently green thing she had on a chain around her neck. Her friend Grundan had given it to her not too long ago.
She held up the pearl and talked to it. "I'm here. Greetings."
"Still in La Theine?"
"Yes. I met someone today." Ellanore looked thoughtfully into her small camp fire. She had met the mithra before, during the Starlight Celebration when she had first met Grundan. She had been a weird one, and had been weirder today. Although Ellanore supposed she had her reasons, many of which she had told her today. "Grundan. Galka do not have siblings, do they?"
A surprised sound came through the pearl. "No, we don't. What brought this about?"
"The person I met today. I've talked to her before, but she told me some things today that made me think." She supposed that the death of your twin sister would be enough to make just about anyone a little weird. Weird enough to pretend to be that twin sister? "Love makes us do strange things for sure."
"I would be inclined to agree more if I knew what this was about."
Ellanor enodded to herself. "Regretfully, I cannot tell you this. It is not my tale to tell."
"Naturally. Did you have fun with this someone of yours?"
"Yes. I can see now more than even the skills between a dedicated white mage and someone who merely dabbles. It was an enlightening experience. I think I really do prefer physical fighting."
Grundan laughed. "That sounds just like you. You hungry? I'm not too far and I have some fresh fish with me. We can share." Ellanore brightened up at the suggestion. There had been few enough opportunities to share her preferred lifestyle with others up to now, companionship like this was never to be spurned. Not to mention the free meal.
"I'd be delighted if you shared!"
"Got it. Hang in there, I'll be with you shortly." Ellanore tucked away the pearl and started rummaging around her bag. She was certain she had some spices that would really make the fish tasty.

Ellanore wondered what she'd gotten herself into. This year's Starlight Celebration was a mess for her. It was her first since she'd left home and started adventuring - not that said adventuring had been all that adventurous for her - and a couple days before the event her moogle had hinted at her that the MHMU might have something for idle adventurers to do. She hadn't known what exactly it would be, but it had soon become clear enough the day before when she'd wandered into the Parade Square and gotten hooked up by Smilebringers to deliver gifts, and MHMU to deliver cards. She didn't even have clear instructions for either of these, just vague words in the effect of "make people happy". She looked at the four Starlight greeting cards she had left and sighed. At least the presents had been easy, kids were delighted to receive anything.

She looked around. The next card described the recipient as a fierce but beautiful mithra, and praised the glories of her bushy tail of all things. Ellanore looked at it, disgusted. Why did she have to find a mithra adventurer in San d'Oria? In San d'Oria, the city known for its inhospitality to other races! She was just pondering about the merits of giving up and returning the rest of the cards to the moogle when she saw it. A mithra skulking by the side of the road, her tail switching back and forth furiously.

Ellanore didn't waste any time. Annoyed that adventurer might be, but she wanted to get this card off her hands. And it's not like the mithra was annoyed at her, so it shouldn't matter too much. "Excuse me." The mithra turned around, and Ellanore had the card ready. "Starlight greetings!"