Island Poem Ending

As the island grew closer, Elluel knew that something was wrong. Whether it was the sinking feeling in his stomach, or just seasickness, the elf did not know. A feeling at the base of his stomach was urging him to come here, by the will of Gaia herself. If the mother of earth had instructed him so, it must have been seriously grave indeed. It may have been considered foolish to approach the island with a small pathetic ship, but time was of the essence. Billowing clouds dotted the sky, but they seemed menacing. As the orange hue of the trees on the island came into view, he could see the beauty.

Finally getting on dry land, he docked his boat on a small pier, if it could even be considered that. Recoiling as frigid water splashed over the
sides of his boat, he hopped up quickly onto the old and darkened wood. In an attempt not to slip on the algae growth, the Elf grabbed a surprisingly sturdy handrail and made his way onto the grassy planes of the island. A cool breeze ran past him, and suddenly the elf was thankful for the heavy clothing he wore. If not for them, he'd be severely shivering for sure. This was an autumn island, it would be like this for a while.

Knowing nothing about the geography of this island was probably a mistake, but it's not like he could just point in a direction and ask which islands were there. Sighing slightly, he felt himself put up a guard, a threatened guard. Something about this place felt off, it felt wrong. The little village he was coming upon was cute, it felt homey. If it didn't have the aura it did, the Elf would have assumed this place to be out of some kind of calendar shoot. Rustic wooden cabins stood atop hills coated in freshly fallen leaves, patches of pumpkins grew wildly in far open plains.

Honestly, the young elf had underestimated the size of the island. By the time he had crossed a barren plains and grew slightly annoyed by the crunching of leaves under his feet, the sun was much lower in the sky than when he had started. Now, he was pretty close to the first cabin, one that appeared to be on the outskirts of a nearby town. From said town, far as it may have been, he could see a flickering glow emanating from streetlamps and windows. As Elluel focused on the slight candlelight from the closes cabin, three crows cawed out ominously. Perched on a skeletal barren tree, their pitch black figures silhouetted against the now grey overcast sky.

Standing before the ornate wooden door, the elf took in a deep breath. Hopefully, the people here were kind to strangers. Knocking slightly, his heart increased as he listened to approaching footsteps. As the door swung open, Elluel's face contorted into an odd expression that was clearly trying to hide his surprise. Instead of a human, it was what looked to be a mink answering the door. Long floppy bunny ears twitched up upon the woman's visual appraisal of him. It seemed as if the mink was rather surprised as well, her eyebrow arched and paw left to scratch at the tuft of hair on her head. The scent of cinnamon wafted out into the autumn air, it was very welcoming for sure.

"Soo uhh, hi." Was all the bunny could manage.

Nodding at her confusion, the elf brushed at his hair before being motioned to enter. Following as directed, he entered the abode, boots clacking on the door frame to remove any dirt or leaves lodged in the soles of his shoes. Not knowing what to say or do, the elf sat down on a nearby bench, it looked to be the spot where shoes were removed and put on. Slowly untying the laces of his boots, Elluel responded rather calmly.

"Hello. Uh, my name is Elluel, and I am Elf from the Forest Tribe of the East Blue. It's been a rather long journey as you can probably imagine, but I made it. Something is wrong here, something very, very wrong. My goddess has been giving me dreams urging me towards this island, and I constantly felt as if I was a log pose pointing to here. "

Instead of a surprised look on her rather adorable face, it looked concerned. Thoughtfulness implied that she was beyond standard dismissal, she knew something was wrong or at least off as well. Sighing slightly, the bunny frowned.

"Yes, I feel it too but I don't know what you can exactly do. I feel as if the sky is heavy, I don't know how to explain it really."

Nodding in a way that signified her explanation was sufficient, the Elf sat down with the woman at the dining table and sipped at a hazelnut tea that had been brewed for the both of them. Her hospitality was astonishing, this was the second time a mink had been so kind to him. From the kindness, the young elf couldn't help but let a blush blossom across his cheeks.

"Thank you for letting me in, I'm pretty much a complete stranger and you're just letting me in your home."

Smiling slightly, the bunny made a loud slurping noise on her tea before tapping her fingers on the vinyl tablecloth that had rings of dark brown staining the side at which she sat. Her teeth were much like a bunny, long an blunt, but with a human-like quality. The biology of minks was always a fascinating subject to the elf, as he constantly speculated over theories about genetics and the such. Watching her whiskers twitch as she drank the warm liquid, he briefly wondered if he looked that weird to her. Seeing an elf was not a common occurrence, but were his ears really that noticeable?

"Actually, I let you in my home for a different reason."

A clinking sound rang out as she placed the floral designed cup back into its respective saucer. Eyebrow raised, the elf listened in carefully.

"You're not the first elf around these parts. In fact, they all have came for the same reason. Some have very very dark skin, some are scaly with fins, you're all very different. From what I've heard, they're all congregating in the town hall."

This was bad. If every other elf knew of this disturbance, it was most likely very grave for two reasons. For one, it meant that something was terribly wrong, and the second, was that there would certainly be conflict between the tribes. It was rare for members to come into contact with each other, let alone multiple tribes of different elements all at once. Hopefully, the less civilized elves had yet to arrive. Nodding at the woman, Elluel practically sprinted to the door while grabbing his boots.

"Bye! Thank you for the information and lovely tea."

It was much darker now, the edge of the moon barely visible in the sky.
It was enough though, he could tell it was night time. Now, the howling wind was much more haunting, and the crunching beneath his bare feet eerie. While running, the elf put on his boots, not even bothering to do up the laces for now. This meeting was not something he could miss, it would be monumental for the history of their tribes. Would there be bloodshed, or what was even the cause of Mother Nature's Distress?

As his boots clacked against the cobblestone roads of the quaint little town, the buildings seemed just a bit wickeder under the veil of night. Artistically styled roofs seemed menacing and jagged, crooked in a sinister way. Nobody else was out at this hour, but he didn't need directions to know which building was the town hall. Besides the size of the building, the sign that declared it so was more of a giveaway.

Putting a long pointed ear up to the town hall door, the paint was cold. No vibrations were heard through the wood, there was quiet. Not even a mouse or rodent was crawling around. Elluel was getting bad vibes from this, but after thinking it over for a while, it was certainly possible that they had all left for the night or something. Ignoring the anxiety, the young elf opened the door and entered the old
building.

Upon entering, he notice that the building was completely empty, save for a staircase going down. Approaching the open stairwell carefully, he glanced down into the darkness. From up here, the darkness prevented him from seeing how much of a walk it was. Thankfully, there seemed to be a rail. Holding it tightly, the elf made his descent into the basement, the feeling in his stomach screaming at him that this was the source of whatever the issue was.

It got very damp very quickly, the handrail glowing sticky and slightly moist. It smelled a bit off, but as he descended lower and lower it just got even worse. Grossly enough, it got to a point where the ground beneath him was squelching with each step down below. Upon removing his hand from the rail, a slimy sound was heard. Disgusted, the young elf wiped his hands in his leather pants, hand brushing against a bulge in his pocket. Gasping slightly, he remembered that he held a pocket lamp.

Taking it out, soiled fingers fiddled with the human creation until a bright light illuminated the stairway. Elluel wished he hadn't. The hallway was pulsing, the walls, stairs, and floors being a fleshy pink streaked with white and red. Bits of matter stuck out from the flesh, hair, teeth and body pots all jumbled together. Before even seeing it, the stench was bad, but paired with the visual of yellow pus seeping from the walls, it was even worse. Holding back a gag, the woodland creature pointed the flashlight down the stairwell. Luckily, he was almost down there. Whatever this was, Mother Earth wanted him to see it.