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The City has been lit up for the Star Festival with banners and twinkling decorations strewn off the windowsills of shop fronts and windows. The gardeners at one particular park have put their heart and soul into creating a fairy's paradise: Fairy lights have been carefully dangled from trees to make strings of stars, little beaded jewels have been hidden among the hedges, and even the old cobwebs have been sprayed with just a touch of glitter. The park is open to everyone and the citizens of Destiny City have been invited to respectfully explore the hidden wonders that have been placed throughout. The park is magical enough on its own but there have also been reports of a strange, ethereal and shimmering stranger in the park. The glimmer of a beautiful costumed figure fluttering through the park has been passed around as rumor, and no matter what anyone claims to see, no one can take a picture of it. As if simply seeing some magical figure isn’t mysterious enough, there are also reports of mischief and small pranks being played at the same time this figure seems to appear.
Ryan found himself in the park again. He'd heard the reports of the shimmering stranger, but he figured it was probably baloney. Or maybe one of the faeries like at the fountain. He knew he'd heard them when he rang the fountain bell, and it was entirely possible that this figure doing harmless pranks was one of them. Even if he had no proof that any of it was really real, he just... knew. In his heart of hearts, or however the phrase went, or just plain gut feeling. Like with the shadowy serpent being-whatever-thingy that was in the Destiny City Reservoir. Supernatural creatures were sort of just... his thing. He loved exploring places full of mysteries like that in an attempt to find proof that it all really existed like he believed so deeply. Even if the world at large would never believe the bits of proof he discovered, he knew he had it for himself. And others who were likeminded. It was hard to find the right balance of "people who believe" and "people who took the train to crazy town" sometimes, though. Which didn't ever really bolster Ryan's cases, but he was getting really off track here. Right. Hunting faeries, or something like it.
At least the shimmering stranger didn't sound harmful, according to the reports. Minor distress and confusion wasn't all that bad, all things considered. Unlike those a*****e "it's just a prank bro" YouTubers. Urgh, Ryan hated them so much!!! They never did anything actually entertaining, either. It was all just stupid drivel and they used "pranks" as an excuse to act their most extreme jackasshole-ist. Ugh, his blood pressure was rising just thinking about it.
Okay, Ryan. Focus. Shimmering being thing. Strange happenings. Signs of cryptids or faeries or all manner of supernatural beings. Focus on that, not on things that make you mad.
He took a deep breath as he kept wandering around all the nooks and crannies he could find in the park, trying his best to find anything out of the ordinary. At least, out of the ordinary for a festival, anyway, considering there was a lot out of the ordinary here anyway. Human items wouldn't have the special quality he suspected fae-made items would. He hadn't run into any yet, though, so he had no clue, really, if there was such a thing. But he figured there kind of had to be, or else what really made fae-made items so special that humans sought them out centuries and centuries ago, when it was much easier to actually do? There had to be a special something to it!
"Ow!" he hissed, rubbing the back of his head. It felt like a squirrel had chucked a nut at him or something.... Wait, or something! A faerie, maybe! This shimmering stranger, probably for sure! He turned around quickly, eyes scanning the area at ground level, then up into the trees.
Nothing.
He sighed, slumping in disappointment, and then his man bun came undone and something pushed his hair over his face. Gasping in excitement, he whirled and caught just a glimpse of the being made of light, vaguely human shaped and... in what, Ryan thought in the half-second he saw it, appeared to be some kind of Ren Fest outfit, before hearing a giggle as it disappeared.
He giggled, too, and tied his hair back up with a spare hair tie he kept on his wrist. He'd actually gotten an interaction! Even if he wouldn't have any proof, he felt lighter than air. He wished he'd been able to have a chat with the stranger, but getting the little bit he did have felt good enough. For the rest of the night, he couldn't stop grinning from ear-to-ear.
As he started to head home, he spotted a booth vendor handing out the final star charm color he needed and he eagerly stepped up to receive it. Hell yeah. He'd seen a cool faerie being thing and completed his little collection. Maybe he'd turn them into a necklace!
