Stick To The Wicks And Lakes You're Used To!: Everlake's Request

Little Wick had already learned a lot during her short time in Lyra. Having been her first "real" adventure, she was eager to take in every little detail and fragment of her journey, making a mental note of all the sights and sounds she was introduced to in a place far away from home. The Volai were especially interesting, being one of the few things that moved around here in this static landscape of a world she wandered through. Though their fur blended in with the surrounding iridescent landscape, their motions were as fluid and graceful as they came, and reminded Wick of the similar-looking deer that she came across in her little walks through the forest. The first one she found was actually a bit nice, since she noticed its movements right away the first time. They stuck out like a sore thumb, despite their similar color to...everything else.

She enjoyed a rather pleasant one-sided conversation with the Volai asking it about what it saw or what its name was. It mostly just responded in curious little head turns and walking around the little scarecrow to observe her and her strange colors in comparison to the world around her. If anything, it seems she wasn't aware that she stuck out even more than the deer-a-likes.

The second one she'd accidentally scared away on accident through all her galivanting. After vaulting over a crystalline bushlike structure, there was a Volai right on the other side, and her momentum scared the poor little thing into running for the hills. Her shoulders sagged a bit when she saw it running away. Oh well. That's not what she was really here for, anyways.

Her objective was something greater. Yes, through following these vague directions on this extremely confusing map handed to her by the guild, she'd find Leslie Everlake's abode in no time! They said it was only a short walk from the portal, and sure enough, when Little Wick had thought she was far enough to finally start looking for the maroon-tinted crystals on the horizon that caught the sun in just the right way to exude their unique glow onto the land around it, she knew that she had finally reached her destination.

Little Wick didn't have the actual words for it, but the surrounding area was much more cultivated than the land outside the perimeter, which was strange, considering how oblong and geometrical everything was leading up to this. Now, everything looked as though it was in perfect mathematical harmony. Extending from the front door was a semicircle of perfectly curated crystal, forming a slight indent in the ground that formed some semblance of what could be considered a "front yard" in the lands of Lyra. To the left and right of the pathway leading up to the door were beautifully marbled and sculpted crystalline statues. Wick couldn't quite discern what they really meant. Each one had their own unique size, shape, and sometimes even texture. There was no rhythm or pattern to the way that they were placed around the yard, only that they stood completely still and cast beautiful lights onto the ground as the bright sun above would shine light through their radiant, polished, prismatic forms.

Some resembled spiky snakes and dragons. Others, she thought, looked a lot like...weird furniture. Or maybe some weird warding things? A couple of them looked like street lamps.

...Wait, those were actually just lamps. At least they looked the part. They were the only symmetrical objects on either side of the semicircular indent in the ground, and they were the closest to the front door and the crystal staircase in front of it, as well. Little Wick curiously walked past their strange, slender forms on either side of the path to the stairs before she'd climb each step with boundless vigor and made her way to the top, not lacking even a moment's energy from all the excitement she felt partaking in her first real "quest."

 Approaching an ornate set of shining, crystalline double doors, Little Wick gave a courteous knock at the entrance, making a tiny little rhythm with her fist as wood met crystal. After some time, some human-type figure had answered the door, slowly peeking it open a crack before pushing open the heavy doors wide open with a masculine grunt. Standing in front of Little Wick was the legendary Leslie Everlake, the supposed smith she was told to visit. As true to the rumors she heard, that Everlake guy did indeed have a massive, shining sword across their back. Leslie's sleeves were rolled up, showing off their rather brawny arms that were likely more than capable of wielding such a weapon. Little Wick couldn't have possibly lifted it if she tried.

"And to whom do I have the honor of greeting today, hm?" Leslie spoke up in a wizened, older voice; Course, warm, and weathered, as though it had gone through too many bouts of grunting or battle cries. Little Wick didn't think about it much before extending her hand forward.

"The great Little Wick, at your service, sir!" She gleamed, cracking an eye ever so slightly open to see him reach to return the handshake.

FOOLISH!

As she felt their hands meet, Little Wick squeezed and sent a playful little jolt through Leslie's arm with her joy buzzer. She couldn't help but giggle to herself as she pulled off yet another magnificent trick. Leslie exhaled through his nose in amusement to the little prank she'd pulled, retracting his arm when the pleasantries were clearly over with. "...Right. Yes, well, it is good to meet you, Little Wick. I assume you know of why you're here?"

"That I do, sir! Looking for a good heap of crystal, right?"

"Well, not necessarily size, but yes. Any sturdier crystal found near the caves to the northeast. Have you visited that region yet? I would be more than happy to give you the lay of the land, if you so desire. I'm sure you've heard of my exploits not just in this region, but across the entirety of the Paperverse. A feat that I'm rather proud of. If you'd like, I can gladly share with you some information that may assist you and blahblahblahblahblahblahblah..."

Little Wick had stopped listening about a few seconds ago. She already knew that he needed a big crystal. That was all she was here for, anyways. She couldn't be bothered with trivial matters like gathering resources for blacksmiths. Her sights were set much, much higher! She was going to become the greatest prankster to ever set foot across the Paperverse. These little tasks were simply a diversion to keep her from her true goal, or something like that. She didn't truly care much for this little fetch quest, so all she really did was just pick out a larger, shinier-looking crystal on her way over. Reaching behind the crafty little space towards her back, she slowly hoisted it up with one hand, then used her other hand for support as she slowly heaved a nice, head-sized crystal above her head.

It almost looked like a crown, with the way it branched out towards the top. "How's THIS, eh?" She beamed, interrupting his speech while being clearly proud of her work. No way he was gonna notice that she didn't actually take this from the caves. Every dang crystal looks the exact same around here! Leslie took a few steps over and knelt down to get a better look at it.

"Hand that over to me, if you would," He asked of her like a surgeon asking for a tool from their nurse. With an exchange of the heavy weight, Leslie grunted and held it in his hands, hoisting it up with the strength of his arms and closing one eye to take a closer look at it. "Hmmm...size is clearly suitable, but..." He muttered, sending a bit of nervousness through Little Wick's chest as he inspected it closely. Was there actually some kind of difference she couldn't notice...? "There's a lot of cuts in the cleavage. Likely been exposed to a bit of sun. How far did you actually venture into the caves, miss Little Wick?"

"How far? Oh, uh..." She fidgeted with her hands behind her back. Quick, think of something! Something believable! "Preeeeetty far in, I think..."

"...Well, I think the quality may have slightly been diminished from solar exposure. Not sure if it's really what I asked for..." He muttered, mulling over the quality while Little Wick started to get nervous. Gosh darn it! Was she gonna have to venture all the way over to the caves for- "But I think the quantity may just make up for it," He continued, which softened Wick's expression a bit. Oh crap, she wasn't holding that too hard, was she...?

"Oh! Cool! So my job's done, then?" Little Wick smiled with a veneer of innocence, trying to get out of doing manual labor for an old man.

"...Hmmmm...Well, I think this may be able to tide my needs over for a while, so I would say so-"

"GREAT!" She loudly chimed back, reaching behind her back again to pull out the contract slip given to her by the guild, waiting for Everlake's signature. "Can you sign now?"

Leslie sighed, "...Yes, I suppose so." He muttered, holding up a finger to Little Wick to silently tell her to wait for a moment as he set the crystal down on a work bench to be looked into closer. With another saunter and sigh over to Little Wick, he gently removed the contract from her hands and pulled out a quill resting in the back of his hair, reaching at the tool belt at his hip for some ink before eloquently writing his signature down on the bottom right of the paper. When he gave it back to Little Wick, she looked it over and saw that she could barely even read it! It was definitely his name...probably...but she could hardly even discern a single letter in his gobbledygook writing. The most she could make out was the first L and E in "Leslie" and "Everlake" respectively. She almost crunched the paper with how eagerly she gripped it in her hands and stowed it away again, booking it for the exit with a little wave to Leslie. "Byethankyougoodbye!" She quickly said on her way out, nearly bumping straight into the doors as she ran past them, without the courtesy of closing them for him. With a shake of his head and a sigh, he closed the doors tightly again and looked back over to the delivered crystal. It was...fine, he supposed, but weren't adventurers supposed to bring high quality stuff? It wasn't as though monsters lurked in those caves, or so he thought. Perhaps he would need another scout soon...

Meanwhile, Little Wick had already made off with the contract. Not-entirely-honest work, done and done! Merely a stepping stone in her rise to become...

THE GREATEST!

PRANKMASTER!

OF ALL TIME!