"Come on Dad! Hurry up! I wanna go exploring!"
"Easy there kiddo, Uncle Destin's not even awake yet. Come sit down and have breakfast first."
"But Daaaaad!"
"Violet dear, listen to your father"
"Okaaaaaaay"
Dimmetri Ioena could only smile and watch as his eight year old daughter Violet, jumped down from a fallen tree where she had been balancing herself on just moments before. The sun was still just beginning to rise and already the small, purple haired girl was up and full of energy, wanting to go explore the vast wilderness that seemed to stretch out to the horizon in all directions around them. Morning dew still covered the leaves in the canopy above and the fresh smells of the cedar trees around them seemed to encompass all. A small fireplace where Dimmetri sat burned and cracked, adding to the aroma of smells as its embers climbed high into the tree tops. It was mostly quiet, sans the chatter back and forth and Dimmetri could sense a stillness in the world around them that almost felt like home to him.
Much like her father in his younger years, Violet had become obsessed with the idea of adventuring all around the world to places unknown and past her wildest imagination. She had often loved to go on small explorations around their lakeside home in the mountains and would set out early in the mornings at times and often wouldn't come back till late at night. Of course, she would never go alone, she always had her best friend Amrera by her side everywhere she went. Amrera was a baby blue dragon who seemed to be stunted in her growth and hadn't grown much over the years towards her adolescence. Dimmetri had found her shortly after she'd hatched and he, along with his wife Iris, had adopted the young dragon who had taken a strange liking to Dimmetri. Before the trip, Dimmetri had left Amrera with his parents back in the home in which he grew up in, letting Violet get her first taste of the world on her own.
However, Dimmetri's younger sister and her husband had accompanied them on their small camping trip. Dimmetri's sister Razgriz and her husband Ezra were still in their tent when Violet finally sat down but Dimmetri was fairly certain they were already awake. They hadn't been able to enjoy much alone time with one another and Dimmetri's wife thought the trip might give them some much needed time away from their busy work schedules together. Violet's other uncle, Destin, was a last minute addition to the family outing. He had invited himself and under the notion that Violet called him her uncle, even if he was in no way related to her and was just a close family friend. Destin was the local bard that often played at the inn that Dimmetri's parents owned and had gone on countless expeditions into the North with Dimmetri, Iris, and their other friend Wyatt.
"So Dad, have you been here before?" Violet asked as she sat beside Dimmetri.
"Of course. Mom and I looked through these entire woods before we found the perfect spot to build our home" Dimmetri replied.
"Your father wanted to build our home up in the trees. You can thank your mother that we live on solid ground" Iris added as she sat down on the other side of Violet.
"Whoa whoa whoa, I don't remember that" Dimmetri replied with a raised eyebrow.
"You don't remember a lot of things dear, you must be getting old" his wife retorted as a sly smile creased across her lips.
Dimmetri could see through the trap his wife was setting up for him just by the smile she had on her lips. He knew almost all her tells by now, having been best friends for many years before they even got married or had Violet together. He looked directly into her milky blue eyes as she stared back into his with her smirk growing more and more. However, just as Dimmetri had grown to know his wife's tells, she too knew his tells far more. Dimmetri didn't even have to say a word when Iris saw a similar smile slowly creepover her husband's face. She was much older than he was, by several hundred years in fact.She was a Drow who had already been around for a while before her husband was even born and probably would live for several hundred more years. However, even though she was much older then her husband, she seemed to be slightly younger than her husband who was only in his early forties. Dimmetri was human, making their daughter a half-elf and in all technicality, Iris should have outlived them both. Though, according to her husband, that had apparently changed around ten years ago. Dimmetri hadn't gone into details with his wife about how it exactly happened but he told her it had something to do with the wish spell. It puzzled her a bit still to this day but she'd take whatever time she could with the man she fell in love with, even when he was being a smart ass.
"Dimma Iglesias Matthew Mark Edwardo Timothy Richtophen Ingelheim Ioena don't you dare say it" Iris scolded as she began to raise her voice and lifted finger in her husbands direction
"Say what sweetheart?" Dimmetri teased with a devilish look in his eyes as he stayed locked onto hers.
"But mommy, I thought you were older then daddy" Violet said, cutting in an almost heartbreakingly innocent tone.
Dimmetri's eyes went wide but was quick to stifle a laugh as hard as he could. However, that didn't seem to stop the distinct snorting laughter roaring from the nearby tent. Iris's purple hued skin began to grow darker and her cheeks even flushed red a bit as her head whipped around in the direction of the laughter.
"Oh damn! Burned by your own kid!" came the cackling voice of Dimmetri's sister, Razgriz as she poked her head out from her tent.
Razgriz was a much shorter, red headed version of her brother. Even as she climbed her way out of the tent, one could tell she was only taller than Violet by a couple of inches at best. She had the same deep blue eyes as Dimmetri as well as the same pale skin dotted with freckles. Her auburn colored hair was apparently a strong female trait in the Ioena family as both their deceased mother and older sister had had it as well. Though it made Dimmetri often wonder how Violet ended up her mothers purple hair instead. Both Raz's hair as well as her clothes were a mess as she stumbled her way towards the fire. She rubbed the back of her neck and had almost the exact devilish grin as her brother as she approached.
"I'd watch out I, she definitely has the Ioena bluntness in her" Raz chuckled as she sat.
"Honestly, the two of you. You drive me straight up a wall-" Iris began to say before she was cut off by Dimmetri, Raz, and even Violet as they chorused in unison.
"And right back down the other side!"
Iris paused for a moment, shocked by the sudden coordination from the three of them. It was a saying used quite a bit at home whenever Iris would begin to grow upset with her husband and even sometimes with their daughter. She hadn't of course realized she had said it so much though and seemed a bit hurt, for a moment.
"Honestly, you Ioena's scare me" she replied, before dropping her hurt vasad and began to laugh.
"Excuse me? You Ioena's? I hope you're including yourself in that mix" Dimmetri chuckled as he reached around and placed his arm over her shoulder, squishing Violet between them.
"Ew! Of heavens no! Only by marriage and even then…" She teased and laughed before receiving a large sloppy kiss on her cheek from her husband.
"Ewwwwwww" both Raz and Violet groaned while watching the display.
"Yes, truly if anyone should be excluding themselves from the Ioena name I believe I am definitely the one thats earned that right" came another voice coming from Raz's tent.
A head of unruly and unkempt mop of white hair poked its way out from the flap of the tent. The man adjusted his round spectacles on his face as he emerged and looked towards the group at the fire with a tender, warming smile. The man's skin was almost translucent in appearance, his eyes pale and portrayed a slight hint of blue to them. He was wearing a white, button up blouse that was lousy tucked into a pair of black pants and had a rather ridiculous pair of slippers on his feet as he completely emerged from the tent and joined the others by the fire.
"Excuse me? You're just as bad! You married into this family Mr. Ezra Lunabread" Raz protested as she turned towards the man.
"And I'd happily do it again, Mrs. Raz Lunabread" The man said as he bent over Raz from behind her and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Ewwwww" Violet continued as she made a disgusted face.
Her reaction caused everyone to laugh which in turn caused an audible, annoyed groan coming from another tent that was set a bit further away from all the others. Dimmetri was still laughing to himself when he picked up a rock close to his boot and chucked it over at the tent, hitting it square on it's side with a thod.
"Rise and shine fucker!" Dimmetri called out.
"The suns not even up yet!" came an exasperated and annoyed voice in return.
"Pull the blindfold off your face!" Iris retorted as she smiled and gently smacked her husband's chest for swearing in front of Violet.
The tent flap suddenly opened to reveal a shirtless man as he rubbed his eyes and nearly stumbled out of his tent before looking behind him at the tent as if it had purposely attacked him. The man had dark brown hair with a large mustache over his lip and light, well groomed facial hair underneath. He also had hair covering most of his chest as he begrudgingly reached back into the tent and grabbe a shirt before sliding it on as he made his way to the fire.
"Good morning Uncle Destin!" Violet chirped happily as she quickly squeezed her way out from between her parents and ran over to sit beside the man as he sat.
"Mmm, goodmornen little bean" the man replied as he smiled and patted Violet on her head.
"Nice of you to join us this morning" Iris said leaning forward a bit over her knees and smirking a bit towards Destin "What's the matter, someone a little hung over?"
Destin's eyes shot in her direction before he began to rub his hands together. He then placed his hands dramatically on his chest and suddenly he seemed to be much more awake and alive.
"I don't know what you're talking about dear I" Destin replied as Iris continued to laugh and Dimmetri shook his head.
"Okay, okay, now that everyone's up can we pleeeeeease go exploring now?!" Violet practically begged.
"Let everyone eat first, then we will pack up and continue our adventure" Destin said as he was clearly hyping Violet up.
"I can't wait!"
After they had finished up breakfast, the adults had begun to break down their tiny campsite while Violet went off and explored the nearby trees. She checked every nook, crany, and crevice just like Destin had told her to in an attempt to find some mushrooms to cook up and eat on their trek. It was mostly meant as a ploy to keep the young energetic girl out of everyones hair while they picked up but it also helped Violet learn more about the surrounding area. Dimmetri was wrapping up their tent when he looked over in the direction he had last noticed Violet head off in. He could just make out her form through the brush as she went behind a rather large tree and was startled a bit when he felt a faint touch on his shoulder. He turned and looked up over his shoulder to see Ezra kneeling down beside him with an open book in his hands.
"Dimmetri, I do really hate to bring up work out here but we really must discuss your financial compensation situation."
"Ez, look, I said don't worry about it okay? Plus, Iris was technically the one that found the spring under the icecap so it's up to her." Dimmetri replied.
"I even have a list" Iris said as she reached over Ezra's shoulder and placed a folded up piece of paper on the open pages of the book before returning back to packing.
"But… this is nothing but a bunch of cooking- ah I see. You want, those" Ezra replied as he read the note then pushed his glasses up his nose.
"You're the only one that can enter the ShadowDark" Dimmetri shrugged.
"Yes but you know just as well, I don't like to make a habit of going there" Ezra sighed
"Come on Ez" Dimmetri said as he lowered his voice and turned towards him "You know just as well as I do that it'd mean a lot to her. She's been wanting to make that thing for while now and you know damn well you'd also be getting some when it's done"
That seemed to cause Ezra to reconsider for a moment as his eyes widened a bit and lips pursed, his head tilted a bit to the side a bit as he weighed his options. Iris was an amazing cook, and though Ezra had already previously paid her for her part in the findings before, Ezra just couldn't pass up on the opportunity to have one of her ultimate famed dishes.
"Fine, fine I'll see what I can do but you're coming with me. Also probably not a bad idea to take Eli with us as well." Ezra sighed reluctantly as he closed his book up.
"Good, matters settled then. I'm sure Eli would appreciate it and no more work! Or Papa will have both our heads" Dimmetri replied as he tied the tent together in a bundle.
Ezra nodded in agreement as he adjusted his glasses and used Dimmetri's shoulder to stabilize himself as he rose back to his feet. Dimmetri had once been weary of Ezra a time ago. He had his reasons not to trust him in the first place and when he found out that his sister was engaged to him, Dimmetri nearly had a conniption. It took some time but Dimmetri began to eventually trust Ezra and saw him now as the family he was. He even was beginning to enjoy his company when he was around and caught himself looking forward to seeing him a couple of times. Dimmetri watched as his brother in law rose to his feet and strode away back towards Raz and Destin when he heard his daughter's voice cry out for him.
"Hey Dad! Come check this out!"
Dimmetri looked up and saw her standing in a small opening in the trees while waving to him but couldn't see exactly what she was looking at. With a slight groan from his aching muscles, he pushed down on his knees and lifted himself up before he began heading over in her direction.
"Whatcha got kiddo?" Dimmetri asked as he grew closer.
He still couldn't see exactly what she was looking at but saw her eyes as they were lit up with excitement. Her whole body was nearly vibrating now as she jumped in place just before she darted off back into the woods.
"Vi" Dimmetri called out.
His brow furrowed slightly when he didn't hear her respond back to him. He pushed his way through the brush and froze for a moment when he saw what Violet had found. His eyes went wide when he saw a very out of place, purple hued portal bending and moving in a clockwise motion between two trees. His brain barely had time to form thoughts and words when he saw Violet look at him just before she darted in through the portal.
"Violet!" Dimmetri yelled in alarm as he rushed out towards the portal.
He knew he had told Violet all about portals before as she seemed to share the same fascination with them as her father had. Dimmetri had told her about the three known kinds of portals and to be very wary and cautious of purple portals that seemed to appear on their own at times. Unlike the green and blue portals that were well mapped out or could be tracked, purple portals could appear anywhere at any time and were considered extremely dangerous as they could lead almost anywhere. His mind raced as he approached the portal and froze for a moment again before the portal as he looked it over. There were no tell signs of where the portal may lead to and there was no telling how long it would stay open for. Even knowing that it could close the moment he stepped through, Dimmetri began to rush forward after his daughter. He caught a glimpse of his wife out of the corner of his eye for only a moment before he stepped his way through the portal and into the unknown.