yoink'd to the lake

Yoink sat on a bench, near the edge of town, sulking. He had gone to Blaise the other day, carrying his book about local guardians and a newfound hope of looking *awesome*. Blaise however had pat him on the head, gently explaining that he didn't exactly have the time to take Yoink to visit the guardian, and that he'd have to find a different adult to take him there. Yoink huffed, offended. Surely blaise knew that he was but a measly orphan, all alone in the- he rolled his eyes at himself as the thought trailed through his head. There was no reason to pretend when it was only him.

He got up, mostly against his will. He supposed he'd have to return the book to the library. It had no use now. He pushed the door to the library open, peering inside. He hadn't expected it to still be open. It was already dark outside, after all. He had mostly wandered back out of spiteful revenge of Blaise not wanting to come with him. He tiptoed trough the library. It didn't seem like anyone else was there, but as he approached the shelf he found the book on, he noticed a lone Nyulop at a table. Their brows furrowed, focus on a book in front of them.

As he watched the Nyulop, who sighed as they tried to rub the sleep out of their eyes, a realization came to hid mind. Blaise never mentioned it needing to be a *trusted* adult. Surely just any would do, right? If he could convince the Nyulop to take him to the lake, he could bring Samarra an offering!

He yanked the book off of the shelf, preparing his very best puppy eyes. As he approached the desk, he made sure to catch his tail in one of his hands. It was hard to play innocent when the darned thing would show any hidden emotions so easily.

"Excuse me." he said, making sure the words were dripping with child-like innocence. The Nyulop perked up, startled, dropping her book flat on her desk. "Wha- who-" she looked around for a moment before finding Yoink. "Oh! Hello there, little one. How can I help you?" Yoink looked at her with his very best puppy eyes. "May I ask you for a favour, miss?" The Nyulop seemed taken back by this, but gave him a short nod, smiling politely. "Sure thing!" Yoink smiled. Jackpot. "Oh, well, you see, I've been wanting to bring an offering to Samarra, but I don't have anyone to take me. Would you be so kind? I'd go by myself, but it's awfully far from town for a little Astralit like me-"

The Nyulop was clearly taken aback by this. "Oh! Well, I uh- I was thinking it'd be something smaller- I'm sorry but I-" Yoink forced his ears to droop down. "I see, I'm sorry for bothering you. It's just that since I hatched without any parents-" he let the sentence trail off, pulling the book back from the table. He could already see the guilt in the Nyulop's eyes. "Oh well- I suppose I'll have to find somebody else." he turned, walking away, very clearly sulking.

He heard a sigh behind him as he almost reached the door. "Fine! I can take you!" He turned around, smiling brightly "Really? I;m so excited! Can you meet me back here tomorrow? I have to go pack my things!" The Nyulop nodded. "Ah, sure. I can do tomorrow. Just ask for Ava if you can't find me, okay?"

Yoink had rushed back to his room, throwing himself into bed. He simply couldn't wait for tomorrow.

When he woke up the next morning, he hurriedly threw some stuff into his bag. Mostly snacks, but since his book had mentioned carving a necklace he made sure to throw in some knives (that he was definitely not supposed to have) as well. He hurried out, back to town, before any of the adults who could tell him not to go with strangers could catch him.

He spotted Ava pretty easily, the Nyulop anxiously waiting in front of the library. Yoink ran up to her. "Oh, there you are!" Ava said as she saw him. She slung her bag over her shoulder. "It shouldn't be too long of a trip. I made sure to pack snacks, though!"

------------------

The two set off, Yoink leading the way. Ava mostly trailed behind. Sure, the trip was far, but it wasn't unsafe. Ava partially wondered why Yoink hadn't set off by himself, but she supposed that maybe the trouble wasn't worth it if he got caught. She occasionally had to call the young Astralit back, making sure that he didn't stray too far. He didn't seem keen on listening.

Ava spent most of the trip letting her thoughts wander. She wasn't entirely sure why she had let herself be roped into this; she certainly wasn't usually one to take an impromptu field trip with a kid she didn't know. She didn't find herself regretting the trip though. The scenery was quite nice, and it had been a while since she took a day truly to herself.

The council *had* mentioned something about the guardians being unsettled recently, and it briefly crossed her mind that maybe now wasn't the best time for a pilgrimage with a kid. Although she briefly remembered the reports coming from the north-

"Yoink! Get back on the path, please!" her thoughts derailed as she chased after the Astralit once again.

------------------

They managed to make their way to the lake eventually. Ava sat on a rock, watching Yoink rummaging around the edge of the river. He had explained to her that he needed to find some statues. Ava had seemed confused. Yoink wasn't sure where he was meant to look. He didn't see any statues in the area. Maybe he was in the wrong place? As he was wandering around, lost in thoughts, his hooves suddenly hit something hard, sunken into the mud of the shoreline. He frowned at it, brushing away the mud. It seemed like a small rock? It was oddly shaped though... Almost like it was- carved. He yanked the thing out of the ground.

The object wasn't much bigger than his forearm. Heavy, as rocks tend to be. His assumption was correct though; the rock did appear to be carved. He frowned, carefully brushing the grime off of the little statue. It seemed old. Pieces of it has broken off, and moss had grown all over the thing. Yoink carefully cleaned it up, before setting it down again a bit further from the shoreline.