As morning turned to midday the warm air still held a serene quality to it as the festival denizens were still going through their morning rituals and rites. Occasional noises of squawky microphones and speakers checked to test for damage was coming from the area of the great stage at the top of the valley; a herald of the cacophony to come and an wake up call for those still sleeping off the effects of the pervious night. With the ban on camping near the river the closer you got to the cool mountain-fed stream the more you were reminded that you really were deep in the wilderness away from anything resembling civilization. Those with enough couth or good sense to bathe this morning were venturing into its chilly depths to wash away the grime and bad decisions before making more. The din of deeply flowing water filled the air, a relaxing balm to the intense music of the night before.<br/><br/>Near one bend of the river heads turned as a new noise broke the calm morning. Well, not so much a noise but the sound of the wreckage left in the wake of something plowing its way quickly through the brush. The snapping of twigs and the crunching of leaves grew in frequency and ferocity the closer that the interloper came to the water. As whatever was barreling through the underbrush came to the edge of the forest it emitted a most unexpected sound: a giggling whoop of glee before crashing out of the woods. A curvy girl jiggled free of the vegetation, bare skin glittering quite literally in the sunlight as she cheered and launched herself off a nearby rock to dive into the river. In a sharp contrast to the wanton destruction her direct path to the water had taken to the river her dive was picturesque as the siren slipped beneath the surface without so much as a splash.<br/><br/>So focused on the unexpected sight few would notice a lanky elf breathing hard at the end of the newly blazed trail clearly having given chase. Quercus placed his hand on a tree and caught his breath cursing himself for giving Mia sugar so early in the morning. Once she had caught scent of the river she had started off at a run for it and it was all he could do was keep up. Long ago he had learned the worst place to be was between a siren and water and he was remiss to make that mistake again. Fortunately following in her wake was rather easy as she made a beeline to her natural habitat tearing through tents, bushes, leaf, branch and with a grimace he noted a trampled tangle of poison ivy. Perfect. The elf sighed and rubbed his forehead, picking his way carefully down to the water. It was impossible to miss the side of beef Mia almost careened into on her revitalizing return to the river. Easily the tallest human Que had every laid eyes on though there was something familiar about the scarred man that the elf couldn’t place. A truly impressive specimen that was a paragon of the human tradition of brawn over brains. Indeed the scars and battle wounds over his body indicated that he made his living on his brawn and the shopkeeper was happy again that Mia hadn’t careened into the unexpectedly familiar man.<br/><br/>“Apologies,” the elf said, hopping down gracefully to the edge of the water to hang two pilfered towels up on a nearby branch. Only when he glanced back to the river to see if Mia had surfaced did he see a bright splotch of pink bobbing in the water nearby. His brow furrowed before recognition dawned on the sylvan’s face. April. That’s what the fairy’s name was. Mia’s friend or co-worker or something. Quercus turned to glance at the brute again, realizing it was the young fairy’s mate. The prize fighter. Mia was rambling about him one night after Quercus had grilled prawns and unfortunately now all he could remember was the chili lime rub he’d adorned the dinner with. With a sigh he straightened the towels on the branch. He really did need to start paying closer attention to these shorter-lived mortals.  “April, how fortuitous to have your beauty grace this fine morning,” Quercus bowed formally to her before giving her mate a nod in greeting, turning to set the body wash he’d stolen from tent Mia had literally run through down by the rocks. “No doubt the naked missile that almost took out your mate will be looking for more of that… what did she call it?” the elf paused, making a show of tilting his head before recalling the word. “Candy.” He said, doubting whatever it was she ingested last night was anything but.<br/>