Another day had dawned beautiful, and full of all the colour Vykeli had to offer. It was a special day for Eliam - his day to face Grandfather Tree. He'd had plans to prepare more, but in truth he'd been so wrapped up in his latest project he hadn't really. Still, he felt ready. Grandfather Tree was going to take him for what he was anyhow, so what preparation really needed to be done? Beyond having supplies ready to face the Barrens. The boring, boring Barrens. There was so little to look at out there Eliam had to steel himself for the trip. But soon enough, he'd be back in Homewood, and as an apprentice! A real adult! He'd heard new leaves had recently blossomed with new power lately. He pondered what that new power would be. Probably something that made more grass grow or rain fall. Unlikely to be of much use to his own projects. But he was still curious to see, an adventure was an adventure, after all. His cave was filled with what would look like clutter to an untrained eye, but he knew exactly where his supplies were. He quickly shrugged into them, and began his journey. Eliam savoured every second of the trip through Homewood. Lush, fresh sights and sounds around every turn. He even did his best to appreciate the Barrens for what they were. Perhaps he'd written them off too quickly ... He pondered this as he trekked on an one, finally arriving at the foot of Grandfather Tree.
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Eliam opened his eyes. Why had they been closed? Where had he been? Blinking a few times, he tried to acclimatize to the light, or lack there of. Where ever he was it was dark. He shook his head, trying to remember. No sense of panic engulfed him, this wasn't the first time he'd come to somewhere and wasn't exactly sure where that somewhere was. It usually just meant an adventure was in store. And Eliam loved adventures.
Now used to the light, he looked around. He was laying in a pile of ... something. Odd bits and bobs. Certainly not things made by Noulicorns. There were discarded other artifacts. Curious! He couldn't help but quickly nose through them. Scraps of mouldering paper, rusted metal bits, and some sort of glass container. Interesting, but not revolutionary. That did, however, give Eliam and excellent idea as to where he was. Where else on the known face of Vykeli could one bed down in artifacts from the others but the Ruins? He stood, stretching, and then shaking of a few bits of debris. He must have come to the Ruins looking for something for a project. He was working on an elaborate sun catcher back in Homewood, and required many materials for it. In particular things that caught the sun just right. Homewood would only provide so many of those things. It certainly made sense for him to be here.
He surveyed his surroundings with even more care. A very solid metal door stood on the wall opposite to his little scrap bed. Eliam trotted towards it, curious about what he would find in the hall outside. He pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge. His brown wrinkled. Clearly he'd made it in here, and he was quite sure it was through that door. He pushed again, and still nothing. "Huh..." There was no sense in trying to kick the thing down, it was clearly solid metal and in quite good condition. Water must not have managed to seep into this chamber. He cast his gaze around the rest of the room. It wasn't very large, but it was packed to the brim with things.
Big things, small things, dull things, colourful things, things of every description. As long as that description was of discarded other artifacts. But there was not another door. The ceiling towered far above, but it too was solid. "Hmm..." Eliam returned his eyes to the door, sure it must hold the answer. He inspected is carefully, inch by inch. But truly, it was just a solid hunk of metal. Even the hinges were inaccessible, clearly on the other side.
He pursed his lips, and scanned the wall above the door. "Ah..." Far above him was a little hole. Eliam had spent much time in the Ruins. He knew what little holes like that did. They could be used to open doors, if you could find just the right item to do so.
His ears perked. Now, this sounded like a puzzle! A challenge! An adventure! Now there was another reason to look through all the clutter. To weed the trash from the treasure! He could find the item that he could wedge into that hole, and possibly some useful glimmery things for his suncatcher as well! It was a shame this place was so dark ... He didn't want to miss something beautiful in the rubble. Ah well, it couldn't be helped. Best to make the best of the situation at hand. He glanced back at the key hole. It was certainly quite high on the wall. But, this room was filled with so many things he could surely just heap them up to each it. That would be the least of the challenges!
Feeling quite motivated, he turned to the nearest pile of discarded items. Long wooden things stuck out at crazy angles, bits of metal twisted and various plastic things glinted in the nearly non existent light. He poked at the pile with a hoof, trying to catalouge each item in turn. One always had to keep an eye for things that could be useful for future projects! While he was working on his sun catcher at the moment, that didn't mean he didn't have several other ideas planned ... He pulled out and set aside an interesting piece of iridescent material. It was dusty, but that hardly disguised it's interesting shifting hues. "Mmhmm." This one piece might have been worth the trip alone! Nothing like this existed in Homewood! Eliam imagined how gorgeous it would look bathed in gentle light, filtering through the trees.
He slowly picked his way through the debris, occasionally pulling aside a particularly interesting item. Eliam spent several hours, sifting through the clutter. His focus was nearly unwavering. There were just so many interesting objects! So many things with so many potential uses ... In fact, he'd dreamed up several new projects during his search. Suddenly he came upon a curious metal object. He used his hoof to carefully remove it from the pile. It was a deep golden colour, and in surprisingly good shape. Was this the key he was looking for?
Eliam quickly began pushing debris together into a large pile. He had to get up to that key hole some how! With some sweat and effort, he amassed quite a tower. He seized the key between his teeth, and climbed his trash pile, carefully. It shifted a little under his feet, but he rode it out. He made it to the pinnacle and was able to stretch up just far enough to get the key in. It made a metallic clicking noise, and suddenly the door swung open. "Mmmhmm." He clambered down his pile, and glanced through the door. A relatively barren hallway. He quickly collected some of the treasures he'd found, stuffing them into a pack that was strapped across him, taking special care of the strange iridescent material. He then set off out the door. Onward, to another adventure.
