Some grownup she didn’t know tried to shoo her away from the cactus juice, though Frolic only pretended to leave before sneaking back as soon as the stranger was looking the other way. It was so sweet on the tongue, though it burned going down her throat. She loved it!
After several mouthfuls, the pup considered looking for some snacks, though she knew she should check in with
@Ceridwen. Frolic began elbowing her way through the crowd of merrymakers, eyes peeled for any sign of her older sister.
She bumped into a
fellahin and yelled,
@Inji!
whilst slinging her forelegs around the bewildered coyote’s neck. Pulling back, she realized,
You’re not Inji,
a noise somewhere between a hiccup and a laugh escaping her as she released her unwitting victim.
Giggling to herself, Frolic resumed her search for Dwin.
Tweaked some minor details to make this fit my timeline. :)
She’d not anticipated that so many children would find their way to Pharaoh’s coronation- less so how conniving they’d be! She’d spent half her time diverting them away from the wine tables with pretty jewels and the other half searching for their guardians- who were remarkably absent!
One such little delinquent was making her rounds with a definitive shuffle and Eset moved briskly to slow her.
“May I help you look for someone, young Lady?” She asks, crouching at the girl's side.
A voice spoke from so close by that Frolic startled and jumped into the air, then whirled to eyeball the speaker. She found herself gazing into a dark, sharp face with buttery yellow eyes.
Mmm, hey, you’re so pretty,
Frolic told the total stranger, reaching out a black paw as if to touch her face.
The little girl’s eyes shine sweetly and her cheeks flush in the fever of the festivities- or more likely it was the alcohol. The fellahin finds herself softening.
“Thank you," Eset does not lift her head away, but studies her with freckling amusement.
"How many of those berries did you eat? You know those are only for adults.”
None berries,
Frolic insisted, dropping her paw. I swear!
She continued gazing up at the unfamiliar woman, admiring the fine chisel of her features. Frolic noticed how she bore a darker mask, with the fur framing her face a few shades lighter. The contrast was very becoming.
Do you live here?
the child wondered, not waiting for an answer before declaring, I wanna live here.
She feels the blight of a sudden sting- that demanding, imperceptible sensation that threatens to claw up from the ribs that had caged it.
“I do.” She glances sharply away then back to the child, her wide innocent eyes imbued with such sunlight.
“Where is your mother, my Lady?”
Her eyes cut away. She looked even more exotic in profile. Frolic abruptly realized they’d never exchanged names. But before she could mention that, the woman turned back and asked after her mother.
She isn’t here,
Frolic replied. What’s your name? Mine’s Frolic.
She paused just long enough for an answer before tacking on, Can I come here and live with you?
“I’m Eset.”
She is dismayed by the leap in her chest. Frolic is just a little girl with the sincere idea that her mother is permanent. She does not know how it feels to have only memories, numbered, and how in every recall they will dissolve before fading entirely, as earthsmoke.
“Frolic, your mother would miss you too much if you left her,” after a moment’s hesitation, she answers. She sighs then, lifting to her feet.
“I’m certain she’d be worried now if she knew you were… drunk,” the corners of her mouth tug.
“Come,” the fellahin encourages the girl, placing a gentle paw upon her back, “follow me.”
Frolic’s mouth open and shut like a fish’s when Eset told her her mother would miss her. That was probably true, though suddenly the usually happy-go-lucky child grew churlish!
I’m old enough to do what I want!
she insisted crossly, whether that meant getting drunk at a party or going where she wanted when she wanted.
But in the very next breath, she said quite agreeably, Okay,
and then, Where are we going?
when Eset bade Frolic follow.
“Someplace secret,” she entices into Frolic’s ear as they move out from the boisterous crowds. Laughter courses behind them until there is nothing left at all of the party.
They walk through darkness. Here, the passages narrow, twisting and converging upon themselves. It would be reasonable to assume they were lost-
“Almost there,” she promises though she is unable to catch Frolic’s eye in the absence of light. Suddenly ahead a sapphire glow illuminates their path, beckoning.
“Have you seen stars underground before?” She asks as they push through into a grand atrium with a ceiling of stars; innumerable, glimmering everywhere, cascading in strands of silk like thousands of captive wishes.
Eset stands aside. She wants to watch the light on Frolic’s face, as if given sight again for the first time through her eyes.
![[Image: y7lW1BB.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/y7lW1BB.jpg)
Eset whispered two words in her ear, which sent a delicious shiver down Frolic’s striped spine. It felt like her entire body was smiling as she bounded after the svelte woman, who led her down dark, twisting passages. It should have been foreboding but Frolic just found this entire experience endlessly enchanting.
Even when they could barely make out one another’s faces in the dark, Frolic didn’t quaver. If there was even a whisper of disquiet anywhere within her, it was immediately silenced by the enticing glimmer ahead. Drawn to it like a moth to flame, Frolic hastened her step, bumping into Eset and a wall before tumbling across the threshold of an underground atrium.
Never mind the fact that she sprawled on the cold ground, blood blossoming from her scraped chin. Frolic tipped her head upward and let out a noise of wonder at the galaxy of lights dancing overhead. Were they truly stars? She glanced at Eset’s face, glowing blue, and suddenly wished she’d thought to bring Seal along. Even Ceridwen would’ve liked it.
I want to live here,
she breathed on a happy sigh, not bothering to get to her feet and instead stretching out to stargaze.
Wonder plays out on the child’s face, wedding to the arc above. Her heart felt too like a child’s, beating beneath their brilliance. She smiles as Frolic lies back to marvel. Eset wades out into the blue shallows, reflecting starlight and licking coolness up her ankles.
“It is customary you choose one star to make a wish upon,” her voice echoes softly in the private dome of their chamber, “but you must let no other hear it- otherwise, I fear, it will not come true.”
Eset’s voice spoke from a new direction, prompting Frolic to roll her head that way. The woman urged her to make a wish but not share it. Of course, the youngster knew about that rule! She smiled to herself, pointing her snout back at the cosmic ceiling.
I wish for this,
she murmured.
The gentle sound of sloshing water echoed around the chamber. Despite herself, Frolic’s eyes slowly closed. She was nearly drifting off to sleep when the noises of Eset’s wading triggered a sudden awareness.
Abruptly rolling onto an elbow, Frolic sleepily shouted, Dang it, I gotta pee! Real bad!
“Go on, I promise not to look,” the insistence follows a laugh and her back turns to afford the pup some privacy. She treads further out beneath the feast of nocturnal light.
“Would you like to know the truth of these stars, Frolic?” She calls over her shoulder only after she believes the girl has concluded her business.
She didn’t really mind Eset’s presence during her toilet, it was the inconvenience of getting up and answering nature’s insistent call that had the youngster grumbling as she plucked herself off the floor. She padded to a dark corner and squatted, noisily urinating thanks in part to the acoustics of the room.
After she finished, she slumped back in the same spot as before, letting out a sigh. The stone was a little warmer from her body heat. Frolic curled up this time, weight shifted slightly to one side so she could tip her head and admire the subterranean cosmos.
Yeah,
she said simply in reply to Eset’s question, feeling her eyelids grow heavy again.
“They are only worms,” she turns to Frolic, a curve of amusement to her lips, “but they are the deadliest of sirens. Ensnaring and consuming those who would be caught in their webs.”
“The glow lures prey. They think they see something beautiful. They do not realize it is their own deaths.”
Her steps ripple across the glassy lake. She draws closer to Frolic, to see what the girl makes of this secret.
She was just on the cusp of sleep when Eset revealed the truth about the otherworldly display. For a solid ten seconds, Frolic didn’t react, her brain sluggishly processing the whispered information.
Worms…
she sighed after a moment, brow furrowing at the mention of death. Nuh-uh,
Frolic murmured quietly, rejecting the idea that these beautiful glowworms could be harmful in any way.
And then a soft snore escaped her as the sedative in her bloodstream finally tugged her under. Her body went lax, bathed in the ethereal glow and perhaps watched by a certain set of amber eyes.
For a time she sits with the girl, snoozing off the effect of the berries, thinking about how Frolic existed in a strange, prolonged state of glorious rapture that was childhood innocence. A precious and delicate commodity.
Eventually she will awaken her with a gentle voice and a paw to her flaxen shoulder.
“You must go home, Frolic. Go home to your mother and give her a big hug, and tell her you love her.”