[a character tries to cheer someone up]

Foxglove couldn't remember how long it had been since she had last set foot outside her tower.

Sir Garret and the townspeople had long told her that there were no longer any obligations binding her to this outpost of the king, but she had remained, held in place by fear instead of duty. When Sir Wheatley came along, she was finally a bit more inclined to believe his and Garret's word that she was truly free, and even managed to cross the threshold out into the fields that very night– although the circumstances had been dire and her mind burdened with far more urgent matters than taking in her surroundings.

It had taken her several weeks, but she had finally worked up the courage to leave the tower of her own accord, to finally explore the town around it. Though it had always been so close, it felt as thrilling and unfamiliar as visiting a foreign kingdom.

Garret had been kind enough to accompany her for the outing, which she appreciated greatly. He led her through town, answering all her queries with an amused and affectionate air, and often found himself left in the dust as she scampered off to inspect each new and exciting thing that captured her attention.

She knew how childish it must have appeared, but she couldn't help herself really. It was all so different from the stuffy room she had hid herself in for so long: very "outside-y" as Sir Wheatley might have put it. There were so many colors and sounds and smells, it boggled her mind. She could identify most of the things she saw from past visions and the intuition that came naturally to her as an Ellet, but it was hardly the same thing as experiencing all of it first-hand. Even looking out across the landscape from her platform on the tower's battlement– and seeing golden fields melt into hazy gray in the distance before turning upwards and becoming blue sky, reminding her how big the world truly was– had nothing on getting to see a small sliver of it up close. The small, seemingly-insignificant sliver of the world, that she and her friends happened to call home.

Finally Garret caught up to her, explaining rather guiltily that there was business he had to attend to at the market pavilion, and he would have to take leave of her for a while.

Foxglove smiled at him, though she did feel a twinge of disappointment, and assured him that she would be fine on her own until he returned.

And so he left, albeit reluctantly, and not before taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze, reminding her that if something came up, she would need only fetch him from the marketplace in the center of town.

With that, they parted, and Foxglove continued her tour of Eaden alone.

She wandered aimlessly, politely greeting the various people she passed by. Indeed, if there was one thing that put her off about the outside world, it was the stares she received from many of the townsfolk. They weren't hostile or disrespectful stares– on the contrary, at times they seemed a bit too reverent. Like she was some sort of deity, and they were trying to decide whether they should kneel before her or not. It was understandable, she supposed, as most of them weren't used to interacting with a someone of the Ellet race. But really, all she wanted was to feel like she was one of them.

Almost without realizing it, she had arrived in the part of Eaden where most of the farmers lived, and was suddenly shaken out of her thoughts by what sounded like weeping, coming from the other side of one of the barns. Curious, she followed the sound, which was soon joined by two different voices, these with spirits of laughter instead of sorrow.

Finally, peering around a corner, she could see the three young children that were the sources of the noise. Two nearly-identical boys had been tossing a small white object between them and laughing, as a much smaller girl tried in vain to rescue it from them, with cries of distress eschewing from her all the while. Finally she'd thrown herself on the ground and allowed the tears to flow, while the two boys stopped their game and urged her to stop making such a fuss.

Foxglove emerged from her vantage point and approached the children, her jaw tightening in indignation. She cleared her throat.

The two boys jumped at the sound, having not heard her coming due to the lightness of her footfalls. The girl looked up from the ground, sniffling. All three pairs of eyes widened.

"Shame on you both," Foxglove scolded, her gaze seeming to penetrate deep into the boys' very souls. "You are not to treat a young lady with such discourtesy!"

The boys cowered. "W-we were just playing," one of them tried, timidly.

"Yeah," his brother added, not daring to meet the Ellet woman's gaze. "I-it was a joke."

"A joke, was it?" said Foxglove, her voice still firm. "Well I don't think it very funny. And more importantly, I don't think she does either."

Her gaze softened as she bent down and offered her hand to the little girl, who had at least stopped crying. The girl stared silently at her outstretched hand, before hesitantly taking it, allowing the Ellet to gently pull her to her feet.

Foxglove kept hold of the girl's hand as one of the troublemakers spoke up. "You won't tell our mother about this, will you?" he asked nervously.

"Perhaps," Foxglove said curtly. She had no idea who their mother was, but neither of them needed to know that. "Provided you give this young lady your sincerest apologies and return her property to her, you might be able to buy my silence on the matter."

The boys hastily retrieved the white object from where it had fallen momentarily-forgotten on the ground (Foxglove now saw that it was a stuffed doll in the shape of a rabbit) and handed it to the little girl, who took it from them and hugged it tightly. They murmured their apologies before making themselves scarce, leaving Foxglove and the girl alone in the field.

Foxglove knelt to the girl's level and smiled warmly at her. "Are you alright?" she asked.

The girl nodded slowly, her greenish-gray eyes wide. Foxglove winced inwardly, recognizing the look in her eyes as practically identical to the one she'd seen in that of the townsfolk she'd passed by on her journey through town.

She spoke again, softly, trying to put the girl at ease. "What's your name, sweet one?"

The girl dropped her gaze and buried her face in her doll. Though her reply was almost muffled by the felt, Foxglove's keen ears picked up on it all the same.

"Ellie," she repeated. "That's a wonderful name. Mine is Foxglove."

Ellie nodded again. "I kno'…" she murmured shyly, nosing further into her rabbit friend's skillfully-woven fur, her eyes flicking briefly upward before returning to the ground. "Y-yu sing rilly prtty…"

Foxglove smiled again. "Why thank you," she said, her own eyes lighting up. It seemed she was getting somewhere, at least.

"…It seems to be getting late," she remarked, glancing up at the sky. "Do you live nearby? I could take you home if you like."

There was a brief silence, during which Ellie stared at Foxglove in her curious way, before once again nodding at her and pointing in the direction of one of the farmhouses down the road. With that, Foxglove straightened, once again took little Ellie's hand in her own, and the two of them made their way out of the field.

As they walked, Ellie slowly but surely overcame her shyness as Foxglove chatted gently to her and asked her questions. Ellie, too, was acquainted with Sir Wheatley, much to Foxglove's surprise and amusement, and they both laughed good-naturedly as the girl recounted her memory of watching him nearly bring down the market pavilion during his first few days in town. In turn, Foxglove, enlisting a bit of help from her powers of clairvoyance, regaled Ellie with a charming fable about a rabbit that lost to a turtle in a race.

Finally, Ellie bulked up enough courage to ask Foxglove to sing the song she had astounded the town with those many days ago, to show that her tower was finally working again.

Flushing slightly with modesty, Foxglove complied.

Sky of blue, for long you have been hiding

Sky of blue, why did you fly away…

The song had just about come to an end by the time they reached the door of Ellie's home. When her mother answered the knock, Foxglove could see her trying to hide her astonishment at the sight of who had brought her daughter home.

"Thank you kindly, my lady," she said, taking her daughter into her arms.

"Y-yes, thank you…" Ellie agreed, her mother's reaction apparently reminding her of her timidity.

"Oh, please, it was no trouble," Foxglove assured them both. "It was wonderful to meet you, Ellie."

Giving the girl another warm smile, she added. "Perhaps you would like to visit me in the tower sometime. I'd love to tell stories with you again."

Ellie brightened at this and nodded her agreement, and Foxglove felt a warm glow blossom in her chest at the prospect of having made yet another friend.

With that, she bid the girl and her mother goodbye, and proceeded to the marketplace to meet with Garret once more. It seemed that her first real trip outside her tower had proved to be a triumph- a huge success.