Teafairy

Chapter 1: Initiation

It was a new day. The sunlight started to appear, letting the palm trees shine in a lovely hue of green, and make the dew from the previous night evaporate. Lofty cliffs beckoned adventurers to climb, with the apprehensions and dangers of night having disappeared with the simple rising of the sun. Waterfalls glittered in the light, making the stones beneath them shimmer and glisten. Rivers flowed, as if murmuring their wishes before they landed into the sea. The sky was being illuminated in a beautiful hue of golden-orange to the east, and  the clouds took care of enhancing its beauty. It was still early though, and even with the beauty of nature unfolding before their eyes, there wasn't a soul out of the comforts of their own beds to see the glorious, beautiful sight.

Except for two persons.

The first one was a forest fairy. She wore a simple golden frock with ancient symbols etched onto the hem and had golden bangles on her hands. On her waist was a knife with a golden handle. Her hair was short, and dark green in color. She had two locks of hair sticking out from the top of her head, which unintentionally made her look cuter. She was sitting on top of a tree, admiring the scenery, swinging her legs while sitting.

"Freesia!"called a voice from behind.

The girl turned back with a smile on her face. She jumped down from the tree, right into the freezing water which she loved to feel. Stepping out, she greeted,"Chapori*! Good morning."
"Good morning to you too, Freesia."

The girl who had just appeared was a descendant of the tea fairies. Her name, mentioned before, was Chapori. She wore her long, light green hair in a ponytail, and let it hang loose. She had on a long, lemon yellow sweater, and black slacks for her legs. Her hazel eyes shone in the soft light of the golden sun. She had come holding two cups.

"Here you go!" She handed a cup over to Freesia, who thanked her for her kind gesture. It was nearing autumn, and the days had grown progressively colder. Of course, for a forest fairy, cold is always welcome, since it is a time of rest. However, a tea fairy's task gets harder. People look forward to tea, one of the oldest beverages known to man, for relief, energy and warmth. Even if a human gets stuck in the cold with little or no energy left, a little sip of tea is all it takes to alleviate that fatigue and refresh the person**.

"It's tough nowadays..."said Chapori, finding a comfortable place to recline on the ground. She drank from her cup whilst looking at the creeping sunrise. "Mom and dad are always out, along with the rest of the tea clans, perfecting teas around the world. Sometimes days pass by without them returning, and when they do, they look tired enough to collapse on the floor with exhaustion."

"Aren't you helping the clans? You are a tea fairy already,if I'm right, so shouldn't you be out helping them?"

Chapori gave Freesia a rather surprised look, but quickly recovered.
"Of course, of course you wouldn't know. Forest fairies are one of each forest and you have to be the guardian. There's no choice. However, with us,it's kinda different."

"How so?"

"Well, you see, tea fairies pass a rite of initiation and acceptance before they recieve their wings. We have to complete five tasks and power up our stones." She pointed to her neck. "The gem in this necklace is my stone. One it starts glowing and giving off the smell of tea, I'll be a full fledged fairy."

"Oh, I see... when does your initiation rite begin anyways?"

Chapori smiled.
"Today, in the main square of Viridian Mountain."