Emeralds & Roses
Inspired by and based on
“Mystic Heart Odyssey”

by Lloxie

“Thanks Llox, for the friendship and stories.
Hopefully it’ll continue to be a storied friendship

in the years to come.”
-Emily Donna Isaacs

26 July 2024

Series Notes

The Mystic Heart Odyssey series as many unique and colourful species. Pertaining to the beginning here though you’ll only be seeing the two. The sereva are herbivorous and tribal prey creatures resembling anthropomorphic deer. Both males and females grow antlers (usually). The lepne are a species of anthropomorphic rabbits from the land of Clovaria. Generally they speak with a thick Scottish brogue, though for my purposes I won’t be using that. I don’t think I could do it justice, and my lepne is an outsider anyways. Anyways, that said, let’s get this adventure on the road.

(I am starting after they’ve already met, but I might come back and write an intro. I’ll probably use the original Rosy writing experiment as a flashback, though the pronouns I’ve gone with for the characters have changed a bit. In fact on that note, why don’t I introduce our travel companions?
Emerald, sometimes known as Emi, is a sereva. They’ve got somewhat smaller horns and their fur is a dark reddish-brown with flecks of grey and their scut tail is white with a black and gray pattern making a spade shape. They are somewhat shy but very excitable as well, especially after opening up to someone. They’re a bit hazy on how they wound up in Clovaria and feel a strange compulsion to never even talk about it. They met Rosy on the road and they became friends, due to their shared experiences with gender identity. Emi is trans and goes by they/them.

Rossalyn, goes by the nickname Rosy, is a lepne. Shorter than the average lepne, she’s got white fur with black and brown spots througout, and a fluffy tail. One ear is missing a notch. She wears a kilt with a green, blue, and brown tartan design, along with a matching sash. She is proficient in fighting with her dual knives but prefers to avoid fighting altogether. She’s a talented jeweler and musician and owns a mystically charged flute. Rosy is trans and goes by she/her.

PROLOGUE

Emerald shook themselves off, looking around bewildered at their surroundings. They couldn’t see light anywhere, except for a faint glow beneathe their feet. “What the f-” they began, then turned pale as they realized they didn’t actually say anything. Panicking they spun around, trying to find where the voice came from, before the sardonic reply came back. “Of course it’s just your thoughts you dumbass.” They smacked themselves and shook their head before actually saying, “This is fucking weird. Where am I?” They tentatively took a step forward, assessing their surroundings, and noting that the not-ground seemed to glow under their feet with every step. After a while they began seeing spots of light in the distance. Strange white glowing discs that seemed to call to them. Unfortunately as they approached, the not-ground ceased to be and they found themselves falling. Deep into the dark depths until no lights remained in any direction until….

“Emi! Emi hey it’s okay, I’m here.” The calming voice said, petting her friend’s head gently. “That dream again?” Emerald looked around blearily, still waking up, before nodding groggily at their friend. “Hey it’s okay, here drink some water, it’ll help.”

The lepne smiled warmly and handed over a jug of water, which Emi eagerly took and gulped down. The dream always left them absolutely parched, and they never could figure out why. ‘Probably just some deep seated fear.’ They shook the thought from their head and and tried to clear their mind a bit before smiling back at their lepne travelling companion. “Thanks, Rosy. Ugh I hate that dream though, what the fuck is it supposed to mean?” They put their hand to their temple and rubbed a bit, trying to clear away the lingering headache from the nightmare.

“Hey, I know what always helps you. You want me to play?” She smiled as she pulled out her flute. It was a very average looking wood flute, but towards the end it started to give way to crystals that appeared to be breaking through the wood, and at the end they formed a geode with one larger blue crytstal jutting out that made it look almost wand-like. The sereva leaned on Rosy’s arm and sighed, nodding with a playful pout on her. “Yea yea, “puppy” beg all you want I was already offering.” She smirked before giving Emi a gentle hug and started playing the flute. After a few moments her hands started to glow green, and the crystal on her flute started to light up in tune with her notes. Emerald sighed happily as they felt the magical music wash over them, easing the tension caused by the nightmare, and making her feel just a tiny bit high on life. They grinned over at the lepne and tickled their side, causing them to abruptly stop playing. “Oi! Quit it ya wee brat!” Rosy grinned and playfully snapped, before turning red and covering her mouth.

“Oh come on it’s cute when you do that!” Emerald beamed at her. “You know you don’t have to pretend you don’t secretly love your brogue.” They playfully ribbed their friend again.
“Och aye, a ken…” she started but then blushed some more and turned to hide her face again. “Shut up.” Of course, turning didn’t stop Emi from clocking the happily twitching tail and ears that betrayed their lepne friend.

Giggling they poked their ear and said, “you know you can act shy all you want but I know the real you~” They put on their best romantic face and waited for Rosy to turn around. When they did they both locked eyes with eachother and burst out laughing.

“Gods you’re such a dork Em.” Rosy giggled, tousling her hair playfully.
“Takes one to know one Rosy!” They petulantly replied before they stood up and started to stretch, their body creaking a bit as if they hadn’t moved in months. “Man, those dreams though. Wonder why they’re so … weirdly draining.” They cracked their back and sighed, before pulling out a soft pink fruit and monching into it’s flesh. “Ah well, good thing I’ve got you around to protect me, my brave strong… tiny bun.” They grinned playfully at their friend who just rolled their eyes with a small blush.
“Oh hush you.” She smirked again. “But yeah, I guess maybe we should get going. Wouldn’t want them to think we decided to skip town after all.”

“Yeah, I guess. Though I’m not really sure why I need to be there. I’m not exactly from… what did you call it again? Clovaria?”

“Yea, and what’s your point? You’re not the first sereva that’s been here. There was another one a while back too, and you’d never believe it he-” Her grin faltered as she looked at the expression on her friends face.

Emerald for their part, had no idea what they were feeling. The idea of other sereva being here baffled excited them, but they felt a deep trepidation that they couldn’t grasp. Eventually they snapped out of it, smiling weakly at Rosy and shyly hugging their own arm. “Sorry, yea. Kinda spaced out for a m-” They stopped talking as they were wrapped in another hug. Taking the hint, they sighed and timidly said. “I know, I know, stop apologizing.”

The lepne pulled back and booper them on the nose. “Exactly. Anyways, he was traveling with a fecking konuul can you believe that? ...Not that I knew what either of you were at the time, mind you, but a predator… kinda scary to think about, honestly.” She shook her head and grinned again. “Then again I reckon I could take one in a fight.” She paused “… though not that one. From the stories I’ve heard those two were fucking strong.” She smirked again. “Still, would’ve been nice to meet them. I would’ve liked to see their magic up close. See what they thought of that flute. Oh well, maybe next time some magic mishap sends one of your peop- er, oops.” She leaned over and nudged her friend again. “Anyways. That meeting sounded important. They’re even bringing out all the druna in the other towns. I wonder what happened now.”

Emerald grinned weakly and nodded before slowly starting to wake themselves up and get ready to travel.

****

After the two traveling companions finished packing up their stuff, they set off down the path towards the next town, hands clasped together and humming a mystical melody that neither knew the true origins of. Somewhere beneath them, under the ground they walked on, a pair of emerald green eyes shined, looking up at them with a serene expression, before disappearing once more with a rumble of earth.