No Need for a Core?

Fuyuko recognized that the portions she normally ate were large by most standards, but she almost always stopped before she felt really full. Today was different. Today, her parents were deliberately putting as many plates of food in front of her as she could eat until Fuyuko finally had to surrender and ask them to stop. She wasn't even able to finish off her last plate of food, which made her a little sad. However, it made the wyrmlings quite happy, being the efficient food (and plate) disposals that they were. Fortunately, the plates in question were forged of dungeon mana, so there was no real cost in allowing them to eat the plates too.

After that, it was time for presents and Fuyuko felt too satiated to feel nervous about them anymore. Which was probably the point. Tricksy faeries. She suppressed a giggle at that thought and settled herself on the couch to await the flow of packages.

The first one presented to her contained two books and was labeled as a group present. The first book was the heaviest despite them being the same size and turned out to be a very thorough translation dictionary and learning guide for her clan's native tongue. "Kazue and I compiled the information for both of these," Mordecai said, "but transcribing it all in a timely manner took a lot of hands, so a lot of inhabitants helped with writing the pages on material that had been harvested or brought in from outside. Moriko led the bookbinding process then she and Kazue worked together on preservation enchantments and size compression."

Fuyuko swallowed and told herself she wasn't going to cry. "Thank you," she said softly before carefully setting it down next to her. She knew some of the language of course, but she had been only eight when she'd lost any reason to speak it. That made her a little nervous to open the next book. She was proven right in her expectations when she read over the foreword. It was a compilation of stories from luponi clans, along with some writings others had made about the clans. "Where did ya get these?" she asked as she stared at the book.

"Well," Moriko replied with a smirk, "I am a disciple and priestess of Sakiya with ties to a major monastery. While the dungeon put out a bounty for information and stories, I was also able to ask some favors and get some scholars looking through archives for me. This is the result of everything our efforts have brought in."

"It's not really comprehensive," Kazue added, "I am certain that there are a lot more stories in the clans, but we thought it would be a nice start."

Wow, they sure knew how to make a girl want to cry. Fuyuko stubbornly refused to, even if her vision was a little watery. "I love them both, thank you."

"Here, let me take those," Shizoku offered, "I can start organizing for you." Fuyuko nodded and took a moment to calm herself before her next present was handed to her, so she didn’t notice Shizoku taking out a small notebook and pencil to make notes on the presents she was having Derek fetch for her.

The package that Kazue handed her contained a slim wooden box and inside the box was a choker made of a lace of silver chains and several small pendants. The pendants were designed to be clipped on and were things like the sun, the three moons with some stars, a wolf's head with three horns, the hatchlings, a single pendant with one each of a dragon, fox, and rabbit head in a triangle, and several empty clips that similar sized pendants could be attached to. "I noticed that you usually have your armor in its choker form when you aren't wearing it," Kazue said, "so I thought you might like to have some cute things to clip onto it. The silver chains are designed to go over it and clip into place, if you want to change up the appearance; the pendants should fit either way."

Fuyuko was struck with indecision as she stared at the selection in front of her. She couldn't clip them all on at once, they wouldn't fit. Kazue was correct of course, while Fuyuko was currently wearing a shirt, long skirt, and trousers, she did have her armor in its choker form right now. "I want ta put them all on right now, um... maybe just this one, I can pick more out later." Fuyuko picked up the slightly larger pendant with the three heads representing Mordecai, Kazue, and Moriko. "Ah, how do I...?"

Kazue smiled and leaned in to show her how it worked and then clipped in place before placing a kiss on Fuyuko's cheek. "You are so sweet. Alright, Moriko's present." Derek took the box over to where Shizoku was waiting while Moriko handed Fuyuko her next present.

This package was a lot softer and inside were a couple of outfits. One was a comfy, dark gray dressing gown made from silk velveteen and lined with smooth silk. Along its hems, folds, and belt were spread tiny images of a small ratling doing different things like eating some cheese, running past a big mushroom, peaking out from behind a rock, and so on.

The other one was a somewhat simpler outfit: a rough silk jinbei with blue and light gray stripes and a couple of different colored and white undershirts to go with it. Moriko looked a little bit nervous as she said, "I know a jinbei usually a boy's outfit, but I thought you'd like it and, well, this one was simple enough that I could make it. I had to get a bit of help learning first, I only learned how to repair stuff before. The other one I had to ask others to do, but I did a lot of the design. Um, design ideas at least. I just thought you might like some more clothing options. Oh, and the silk was spun by our spiders, so it's stronger than normal silk."

"I love them, thank you." Fuyuko wanted to try on the jinbei immediately but she couldn't make everyone wait on her so she reluctantly handed the outfits over to be put with her other presents for now.

Mordecai's gift came in a small jewelry box inside of which were three rings. Two of the rings were wide bands of blackened steel that were flared at the ends and held between the flares were three thin, loose rings, one each of copper, silver, and gold. The design puzzled her a moment before Mordecai picked one of the rings with a smile and flicked the outer rings to make them spin and jingle. "Oh!" Fuyuko said as she eagerly took the ring back and put both of them on her middle fingers, where she could easily flick the spinning rings with her thumbs. "These are super fun, thank you, and I like the archer's ring too." The third ring was an archer's ring of white jade inlaid with pattern of intense green jade. It was pretty enough to be a little fancy, but it was a useful thing to have and much nicer than the iron one she'd been using. That one was a gift from the farmer who had helped her out of the city and she was going to keep it because of that, but she liked this one a lot more.

Her next present was from Carmilla and was large enough that she had to go over to where it stood with a cloth covering it. Pulling the cloth away revealed a much nicer-looking version of the instrument Fuyuko, Shizoku, and Derek had made during their delve. "Oh," Fuyuko said with surprise before slowly reaching for the strings to lightly pluck them. "It sounds so nice." The smoothly polished dark wood created a perfect resonance for the notes and it looked very professionally made. Fuyuko blinked back more tears and gave Carmilla an impulsive hug. "Thank you. That's really nice." Maybe Carmilla would make a good older sister after all. Fuyuko hadn't been certain what to make of her yet.

Carmilla returned the hug awkwardly before clearing her throat. "Well, I'm glad you liked it," she said, "and I hope you have a great birthday. But, um, you know, I have to go be a swamp witch and stuff. You guys have fun and all, right?" She said before making her way to the balcony where she and Udup switched sizes so she could ride him down. The fact that Carmilla clearly felt as uncertain and awkward about the whole thing as she did made Fuyuko feel better.

Bridgette was next, and she had a bright smile of anticipation as she handed Fuyuko the package. "From one princess to another!" she declared.

Fuyuko found another slim box inside the package, and it held the most flamboyant gift so far. It was a diadem made of mithral designed to fit over her horns, and along its sides were several phoenix-like feathers in a swept-back design. Small diamonds glittered on the front of it and the whole thing was covered by a thin aura with the appearance of red and green flames with occasional flares of white traveling along the feathers. "It doesn't do anything other than look pretty," Bridgette said, "and I know you prefer less dramatic clothing, but I figure that if you are a faerie princess, you should be able to look the part when you want to, and that means your own regalia."

Fuyuko was almost afraid to touch the beautiful piece of jewelry. "Can I put it on?" she whispered.

"Of course, it is yours," Bridgette replied. "Here, let me help. It's open in the back so you can just slide it over your horns like this, and there we go. Now, hm, do we have a-" Kazue stepped up holding a small framed mirror and cutting off Bridgette's question. The princess laughed, "Of course, freshly conjured I assume. Alright, here you go Fuyuko."

She looked at her reflection uncertainly. It was spectacular and fit perfectly and she loved it but she was kind of embarrassed at the same time. After a long moment of staring at the image of herself in the diadem, Fuyuko shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Thank you," she said to Bridgette and hugged the woman tightly before carefully removing the diadem to place it back in the box.

Kazue dismissed the mirror as Shizoku took the box away and then it was Bellona and Xarlug's turn. "This one is from both of us," Bellona said as she handed over the soft but heavy package. It felt like cloth again, but it weighed a lot more than Fuyuko would expect of clothing.

Opening it revealed a giant, fur-lined cloak of black. The voluminous garment fell down almost to her heels and Fuyuko was pretty certain she could wrap it around herself twice and still have room left over. The outer fabric was embroidered with a beautiful pattern done in gold thread and the fur on the inside was incredible soft and warm. A close examination of the pattern revealed hidden images of a wolf and a rat playing tag throughout the ornate design.

"It's incredible," Fuyuko said as she put the cloak on and tried to spin around to make it flare out. The heavy cloak immediately threw her off balance and made her stumble. "Er, I might need to get used to it." It was also way too fancy and warm to just go wearing about for no reason.

Xarlug chuckled and said, "Well, we figured you still had some growing to do, so we wanted to make sure you didn't outgrow it."

"And," Bellona added, "we thought it would be fancy enough to become part of a princess's raiment. I didn't realize how spectacular Bridgette's diadem was going to turn out, but I think the contrast been its light and the dark cloak beneath will work out for you."

Images of forging her way through a dark, snow-laden forest filled Fuyuko's mind, her diadem casting just enough light to deepen the shadows nearby as the wind whipped the cloak into a long, shadowy trail behind her. "I think I like that idea," Fuyuko said as she tried to not grin too widely at the image in her head. "Thank you."

And after that came all the other presents that had been sent by people she had various connections to, mostly by virtue of being the adopted daughter of Kazue, Moriko, and Mordecai and thus the subject of common diplomatic gifts, such as an ever-living flower from the elven kingdom. It was pretty and glowed softly in its tiny vase, but according to Bridgette every prince and princess she knew of received one of these from the elves as a present. Those weren't really personal, unlike the alchemical set Moriko's family had sent her. She wanted to try out the 'darkness bomb' so badly; the instructions said that it would release a spreading cloud of light-absorbing dust that would linger in the air for quite a while.

Once all of these were opened, it was time to stash them away. The stringed instrument stayed up here however, after being situated with a chair where she could practice easily in a corner. She changed into the jinbei that Moriko had made before she went out with Shizoku and Derek.

Most of the next two days was simply spent playing throughout the territory, and Fuyuko showed her friends the warrens as well, which most guests never saw. She was presented with several more small gifts from various inhabitants, which Fuyuko had not been expecting. It was a little overwhelming, to be honest, and she loved even the humblest of her gifts.

This was when she noticed Shizoku's note-taking and when asked about it, Shizoku replied "Well, you have to write proper thank you notes, Princess." She smirked up at her friend's distressed expression. "Don't worry, I'll help you out. The important notes to get out quickly are for the diplomatic gifts. We can spread the rest out during your visit."

The time past all too swiftly and then it was time for her to depart on her training trip to the Azeria clan. Fuyuko said her official goodbyes to her parents back at the trading post before trailing behind Takehiko, Shizoku, and Derek.

At the edge of the territory, she paused and turned back around for a moment as she mentally reached out for their attention to make sure they were listening. "Thank you for becoming my parents," she said as she bowed, "I'll work hard and then show you how I've grown, Papa, Mama M, Mama K." Fuyuko promptly fled across the border of the territory as her cheeks flushed red. None of her traveling companions said a thing about it, for which she was grateful.