Rili

Rili isn’t born with the most brightest of colors, but her personality is brighter than the sun. However, she’s often overlooked, no matter how smart her ideas are or how creative her art is. She has no idea why she’s not standing out. Are the others just ignoring her? She tries everything, but nobody seems to notice her.

And so Rili lives in the shadows. It’s really annoying. Actually lonely too. Nobody ever speaks to her, not even small talk. So Rili often wanders off, outside of clan grounds the beasts seem to notice her just fine. They see her, they react to her. So the animals, the beast clans, the flowers and trees become her friends. Rili spends her entire day talking to them, feeling alive in nature. And only in nature. She dreads returning to her clan every night, but the friendly serthis that she frequently talks to assures her that it’s dangerous to stay in the wilderness at night. Especially for someone like Rili, who has no combat training at all.

But one day, Rili has had enough. Despite the warnings she has gotten, she doesn’t return to the clan when the sun sets. She watches the flowers go to sleep, the animals leave and the sky turn black. And it feels scary for sure, but it still feels better than being in her clan. She closes her eyes and decides to sleep in the wilderness. But before she can drift off, something sits down next to her. Rili looks at the new arrival, and sees an animal that looks like a unicorn, but not like any unicorn she has ever seen before. Its hide is bright, almost too bright for Rili’s eyes. “Hello dear, are you lost?”, the unicorn speaks. Rili didn’t even know that unicorns can speak. “No, I just don’t want to go home.”, she replies. “Oh, well, why don’t you follow me home then? Maybe it will suit you better?”

And despite knowing better, Rili agrees.