Chapter: Unexpected Guest

                The town had changed a quite a bit over the years, but it was still mostly recognizable to him. He made his way down Main Street, looking for a familiar sight"a tree with a moss covered stone beneath it, and the school yard beside it. After he turned right at the next corner, Moeta caught a glimpse of a bare tree. It was hard to tell if it was the same one since all of its leaves were gone for the winter, but there was the stone beneath it, completely taken over by moss, and there was the fence next to it, closing off the school grounds. It was getting late. He could barely see the sun through all the red-dyed clouds.

                Moeta shivered as he sat down on the stone beneath the tree. He had no idea what he expected to find once he got here. It had been almost twelve years since he had come back, and he had no way of finding the only person he knew in this town. But at least it was somewhere to go. Now he had to figure out what he was going to do next. One of the local sprites was bound to know something about her.

                After standing up and brushing himself off, Moeta chose a direction and started walking down the sidewalk. There really wasn’t anyone around, human or otherwise. He had seen maybe two or three cars go down the streets, and most of the shops looked like they were closed. There were no fairies or gnomes where he was used to seeing them. Where could they have gone?

               

                Laina was rushing to get back home before the blizzard came. The basket of her bicycle was heavy-laden with groceries to last her the next week in case she couldn’t get out.

                The streets were mostly bare. Nearly everyone else was already safe inside. As Laina rounded the corner past her old elementary school, she saw a strange sight. Ahead of her was someone wearing short sleeves. That couldn’t be right. But as she came closer to passing this person, she noticed the pointy ears. Laina let out a small gasp.

                She screeched to a halt right behind him. “Momo?”

                The elf turned around. His expressions gradually changed from one of confusion to elation.

                “Laney!” Moeta said excitedly. “I can’t believe it’s you!”

                “I can’t believe it either! What are you doing here after all these years? Why didn’t you visit in so long?”

                “It’s kind of complicated.” Moeta replied.

                Laina saw the first few snowflakes falling from the sky. “We’ve gotta get out of here.” She said.

                Moeta noticed the snow too. “Wow. I’ve never actually seen snow before…”

                “Well, you’ll have to admire it from inside my house. A storm’s coming.” Laina got off of her bike and started walking it down the street.

                “I can run pretty fast.” Moeta said. “You don’t have to get off your bike for me.”

                “You sure?” Laina asked.

                “Yeah.”

                Laina got back on her bike. “Just let me know if I’m going too fast.”

                Moeta had no trouble keeping up, and was thankful for the heat the exercise produced. Big, wet snowflakes were falling more freely now and landing in his hair. He and Laina were close to soaked by the time they finally reached her house.

                Laina hoisted her groceries out of the basket and started fishing through her pockets when they got to the door.

                “Let me help you with that,” Moeta offered, taking the bags from Laina.

                “Thanks.” She went back to searching for her keys. This scenario seemed almost unreal to her. Here was her first and best friend from childhood, suddenly back after disappearing for more than a decade, and right before a huge blizzard. She wasn’t sure what to expect after all these years, and wondered if everything would be okay with just the two of them trapped together during a storm. She wasn’t about to leave her friend to die in this weather, though. That was out of the question.

                Laina finally unlocked the door, and the two of them hurried inside.

                Moeta looked around at the old, spacious house. “This is your place?” he asked, while Laina put away the groceries.

                “Yeah, my parents left it to me in their will before the accident. I didn’t inherit it until I was eighteen, though. I’m just glad it was paid off. And the taxes are more than manageable…” Laina ruminated.

                Laina put on a kettle of water to boil. “I’m going to change into some dry clothes,” she said. “Do you need a towel or anything to dry off?”

                “No, I’m fine.” Moeta briefly lit a hand on fire and brushed his fingers through his hair to get the wet and snow out. “But thanks.”

                “Okay. Just make yourself comfortable then.”

               

                When Laina came back, the kettle was just starting to whistle and Moeta was resting in the arm chair. He looked like he was deep in thought.

                Laina proffered a hot cup of tea to her guest.

                “Thanks,” said Moeta, taking the cup gingerly. “You know, I’m kinda surprised you remembered me.”

                “Really?” Laina replied. “You’re the only fire elf I’ve seen in my life. And my first friend. How could I forget you?”

                Moeta shrugged and sipped on his tea. “I guess it’s just been such a long time. And since I never came back that day…” Moeta paused for a moment, and then gulped down the rest of the tea. “You got any more of this? It’s really good.”

                “I’ll have to heat up some more water first.” Laina got up to refill the kettle.

                It was strange having a friend visit her home. The only ones who visited her on a regular basis were the priest and his family or someone from the gallery staff who came to check up on her.

                The snow was getting heavier outside and there was sleet mixed in. Laina knew the power probably wouldn’t last through the night.

                Moeta had started exploring the living room. “So, you paint?” He asked, after noticing her easel and supplies in the corner.

                “Yup. Whenever I’m not working or sleeping,” Laina replied. “Or drinking tea,” she added as an afterthought.

                “This looks really good,” Moeta admired the unfinished painting on the easel. “We don’t have a lot of painters in our city. Mostly glass blowers.”

                “Thanks,” Lana replied. She was beginning to realize how out of place Moeta looked in her home. Her living area was mostly decorated in neutrals and soft pastels, but Moeta was dressed in gold and red silk. He almost looked gaudy in her home. Or maybe her home looked dull compared to him.

                “So what brought you back here after all these years?” Laina finally asked.

                Moeta stopped and turned around from the painting. “Oh. Um… That’s a complicated story actually.”

                There was a pause. It quickly became awkward. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have asked,’ Laina thought.

                “But I got nothing but time, with the weather like this.” Moeta made his way back to the armchair. “I could tell you all about how I snuck past the guards in the dead of night. Or how I raided the larder before I left…” He sat down. Laina looked at him with wide eyes and blinked a couple of times. “Maybe I should start from the beginning?”

                Laina nodded. “Yeah, that might help.” The kettle started boiling and she put on the tea, stirring the bag in the cup gently.

                Moeta rubbed his chin. “Where exactly should I start, though? I guess it would help to tell you that I’m the youngest prince of the City of Fire. …Was the youngest prince.” He furrowed his brow.

                Laina took a seat on the couch and handed the cup of tea to Moeta.

                “Thanks.” He said. “Basically my sister went insane, killed my two older brothers and our dad and… I ran away.” He went quiet and drank his tea.

                “I’m so sorry.” Laina couldn’t find anything better to say.

                Moeta didn’t respond. He just kept drinking the tea.

                “You’re welcome to stay here for a little while, I guess.” Laina continued. “It’ll take some time for the weather to clear up after tonight, so we’re stuck here anyway.” She remembered the last minute trip she made to the grocery store. “I’ve got plenty of food, and even if the power goes out, you’ve got your fire magic to keep us warm.”

                Moeta put his finished cup on the coffee table. “I’m sorry for barging in on you like this. Thanks for your help, though. I don’t know where else I would have gone.” He sighed. “I could have gone to one of our allies, but it would have been a much longer trip and I’m just not ready to start a civil war.”

                Laina had no advice to offer. He came from a completely different world with completely different rules.

                “I’ll be the perfect guest.” Moeta continued. “In fact, I’ll make sure I pay you back for this. I promise.”

                Laina smiled. “As long as you can keep the fire place going, consider us even.”

                Her stomach growled. “I need to make dinner.” She said. “Um, what do elves eat? I know most fae don’t like the treats I’ve tried to give them in the past.”

                “Well, I remember you sharing a snack with me when we were kids one time and it was fine. So I guess we eat similar stuff?” Moeta said.

                “I was planning on making curry tonight,” said Laina. “Do you eat spicy food?”

                “Yeah! The spicier the better!” Moeta perked up at the mention of good food. Maybe he could not think about his problems, just for tonight.

Reviews

[Cailean]

I daresay you're meaning the break from them just meeting until 12 years later? It's quite a shock, but you know, if you want us to be shocked, then shocked we shall be! A lot of writing is about deliberate action. Breaking rules is okay as long as you know what you're breaking, why you're breaking and what result you will achieve by breaking - and this is why we need to know the rules very well. :) But you aren't breaking any rules here, but it's not typical. But no reason why you need to be typical as well.

More neologisms here but as in my previous notes, you can sort that out. :) The start of this is extremely strong and sets the mood perfectly for the later reunion with Lainey. By the way, is it "Lainey" or "Laney"? Don't know if it's my vision (and it very well could be!) but as long as they're the same in both chapters, consistency and all.

Probably my only beef here is the usage of "Basically" - it's somewhat overused and as much as I may use it in day to day speech, I probably shouldn't! It doesn't add anything to a sentence and with writing, anything that doesn't increase the story should be removed. Less words = more impact.

Nice introduction about Laina's parents and what happened to them. This might come up later and may or may not be a plot point. That's of course, up to you!

[Woolliza]

I will certainly keep in mind about using "basically" and double check on the spelling of Laina's nickname. Also, these chapters are very scattered. I am just writing them piece by piece as I get ideas for them. So this won't come as so much of a shock after I get the inbetween parts written out. I should probably mention that somewhere...