Summer rain was the best kind of rain. Humidity curled in his mane and Pan danced as he splashed in puddles, mud streaking up his legs as a boyish smile tugged at his lips. Water ran down his lithe frame, but it does not bring a chill. Instead, it is a welcome respite from the heat, and he shivers more from excitement than cold as he races along the seashore. There was much to see here – and Pan was always the first in line for festivals and celebrations. It wasn’t the first such event that Denocte had hosted, and Pan had always found a certain pleasure to visiting the night court. They always had the best stories, the most lively parties.
Case and point, even though it rained, the people were out en masse. They combed the beach with him, picking up bits of seashells and debris which the sea had washed ashore. Even Oliver was getting into the spirit, collecting as many baubles as his tiny furry hands could carry, before racing over to dump them into Pan’s satchel and resuming the hunt once more. Slowly, the clouds began to part and sunlight washed over the world, drying his coat and bringing heat back into the day once more. He stood for a moment, blinking up at the sky and letting the warmth wash over him like a hug, light flickering from his scales and throwing prismatic patterns onto the sand.
All around him, there were children running and playing. Some were familiar, others not… but there was one face he hadn’t seen yet. The girl. He didn’t know her name, but the girl with the moon on her shoulder and the lemur on her back. Pan had seen her before, whispering with her friends and painting in the shadows, murmuring to someone (though he couldn’t tell who, and certainly wouldn’t have guessed that the ‘who’ was actually a ghost). She needed to see the festival, he decided, and turning reluctantly from the party, he made his way to find her.
She lived in Terrestella, in a little cottage by the sea. Don’t ask him how he knew, for Pan would awkwardly tell you it was because he’d followed her one day. Not in a creepy way, mind you… he simply wanted to know more about the girl, curiosity getting the best of him. Her home is not unlike the place where he’d just come from, with sea brine on the air and bright sunlight filling the blue sky. But unlike the shore, Terrestella was fringed with impressive sea cliffs. You couldn’t walk into the ocean, but you could stare out at the sea for hours, a past time he’d taken part in several times. You couldn’t beat the view here, and as a vagabond, Pan was known to wander. He’d spent his fair share of time here, welcomed by his best friend Florentine, when she had been queen. He’d been to the hospital here too, delivering herbs and learning from the swamp healers, many of whom had moved on to different places and new adventures.
Such was the curse of an immortal child – for though he did not grow older, the world around him continued to change. Florentine was grown now, with children of her own… just as her mother Karou had been before that. His friends from the past were gone, replaced by new faces and stories… but it didn’t worry him much. For Pan was too jovial to be held down by sadness for long, even if nostalgia kept him awake from time to time. He’d led a good life, a full life… and it was about to get fuller, he decided, searching for the girl who would be his next-new-friend.
He approached her home, noting the way the setting sun cast a glow against its windows. The sky turned darker now, bringing night time and stardust in its wake. And as he stood below the window, Pan mustered his courage, picking up a few small pebbles which lay below it, and pinging them off of the glass with a quiet sound that beckoned her to greet him.
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