Post by Derthaad on May 2, 2022 17:59:56 GMT
Glade's First Spring in the Dawnlands
The Invitation
It was early morning in Fort Ettin as I just had a hearty meal and headed for my bunk with a fist full of bread crumbs. Upon heading towards the stables, I noticed something green under the under the door of my bunk. It's a letter from someone named Leona Autumn. I held off opening the letter for the moment, I had to do something more important first.
"Hello there, lovelies." - I said to the adorable couple of robins that have just made their nest under the overhang just near the stables. "Your little nest is turning out lovely." While the two were eating the breadcrumbs, I decided to read the letter.
"It is, an invitation? 'a birdy'?" I turn to the two - "Do you two know about this?" The female robin, I named her Chip, looks at me with a confused expression. "Dale?" - the male robin equally confused - No?. Upon reading further, it hits me. "Greengrass! Oh, Great Mother, I almost forgot, it's THIS tenday! '... a small group of friends' Oh, I have so many people that I want to come, Lolli, Sterling, Pipper, Lucky, Ambel, oh so many interesting adventurers that I have met along the way-" I stopped, hand on the door of my bunk. "Oh... but I don't know where everyone lives. I will need set up some invitations on the notice boards, that way, everyone who sees it and is interested can come along."
And thus, I wrote multiple invitations like the one sent to me to post them on the noticed boards. I even gave two silver to a young lad to have one being sent all the way to PF. Clearly people need to get out of that gloomy place more often. Also, made sure to bring one particular adventurer to this special event. I need to do my duties as a follower of Chauntea and help bring the joy of Greengrass to the people, after all, there are only a handful of days in the calendar that are important, and this is one of them.
Sadly, I realized something too late. In my haste I forgot to say my goodbyes to the robin couple. I pray that they and their nest will be safe.
The Meet-up
Me and Lolli were standing in Portal Plaza waiting with anticipation to see who will join us, my hands filled with cherry flower crowns for each. Me and Lolli arrived yesterday in DH and made sure to prepare for this event and we came here early in the morning to make sure the rest who join will be able to see us. I also took the time before coming to DH to change my branches, it is a special occasion after all and thus I have decided on white magnolia flowers. Lolli is as hyped as ever. I always wondered about her. I know that rabbits, being small creatures, have a faster metabolism than us, but she seems to be really energetic, even for a rabbit. I know that sugar has property to give someone an energetic boost... maybe she's eating a lot of sugar and that's why she's so energetic all the time? One thing is for sure, her energy and positivity are quite contagious.
After a brief wait, my fellow companions have arrived. From those that I have met before there were two. Lucky, a charming tabaxi in fanciful armor whom I have met before in various adventures some of which a bit deadly, he likes a good fight as much as he likes making sure he looks good fighting. Vicros, an human spell caster whom I have met on my first adventure here in the Dawnlands when we escorted the goods of a wealthy noble. And there were two other whos faces are new to me. Toothy, a tall muscular drow with a calming disposition and a kind heart that carried around a small little hedgehog named Timmy. He said he saved the little guy and is now taking care of him. I made sure to give little Timmy a magnolia flower as well as to not leave him out of the 'flower crown' group. Blessed, a gorgeous tiefling dressed in fine clothes and that she refused my flower crown offering for her. Did I not make it good enough? It seems to be consistent with the other ones and everyone else accepted them. I would say that she may not like flower crowns, but... who doesn't like flower crowns? Even the grumpy warlock with tired eyes accepted my flower crown.
Maybe I need to get better at this.
The Introduction
Once we were all assembled, we made our way to the Fiore Popolare, which I may add I made sure to ask yesterday where exactly it is. I didn't want to make a fool of myself by inviting these lovely people and not know where is it that we're going. One thing that the locals kept saying, and that they were right about, was that the place is 'hard to miss'. The store was a lilac-colored building, with a faded gold plaque 'Fiore Popolare', and its façade was filled with an incredible variety of flowers. Out of all the store fronts we passed, this was the most lavish out of all of them, the flowers only giving way only to windows displaying showcases filled with various-colored bottles. Due to the abundance of flowers, I almost though that Leona might also be a druid. The interior was grander and, oddly enough, a lot larger than what it seemed from the outside, wide hall with tall ceiling filled with multi-colored windows held in place by numerous pillars, one of which was a lot larger than the others, walls filled with multi-colored bottles and, of course, everything filled with spring flowers of all colors. It wasn't druidic, but it was definitely magical. In fact, I soon realized that the columns weren't columns at all, they were branches. And the thickest one of them was the trunk of of a tree. Vicros makes first introduction, but instead of Leona responding, the tree moves and waves at Vicros and greets him in sylvan? druidic? I feel like I may have heard of something like this from Fernen's stories, but I can't put my mind as to what.
"Glade" - said a voice as it brought me back from my deep thoughts. The woman introduced herself as Leona autumn. She was dressed as a witch, which kind of surprised me, but maybe that's just me since I was thinking that she would look more druidic. She literally had a dryad right in the middle of her shop, which she introduced as Nasiphe, and dryads aren't known to be fond of cities.
"Tell me Glade, what's your favorite season." Weird way for introductions, I usually noticed that people tend to state their full name and occupations before engaging in leisure chatter, but I would never turn down such a question.
"Well, it's hard to decide. I love spring because all the green returns and there are so many flowers that bloom, but, as a druid of Chauntea, I also love autumn because of the joy people experience during Highharvestide. So, both I guess?"
She gives a small smile "Autumn, good choice. It's my favorite season, it's even in my name." As she leaned closer, I noticed her ginger hair, light freckles and brown eyes. Her features reminded me of the small group of satyrs I met once, the type of features that give a certain beauty. Not as extravagant as Blessed's, but one that is certainly more pleasant to look at.
She leads us towards her bar where she starts preparing each of us a drink and as she does so she talks briefly about the Lady of Joy, the goddess Lliira, about how the Feylight Gardens Theater holds plays and events in honor of her during Greengrass. It's interesting to see who the people in the city hold in their hearts during the Greengrass. Some druids or clerics of Chauntea would insist that during such an important day Chauntea is the one they should keep in their hearts, I found that it's mainly the farmers who are the ones who hold Chauntea dear, since it's them who depend the most on her kindness. And I never thought that it mattered, as long as joy, laughter and an overall good time was had during Greengrass. It is about the joy of spring after all. I sipped the purple drink that she gave me. It was thick and smelled of berries, forest fruits? It tasted like forest fruits and berries and with a hint of liquor? It tasted right, as if this is the drink I've always wanted. How did she know? Leona explained that she was approached by a staff member from the theater telling her that they needed some help preparing everything and it's how she decided to request of some adventurers. Honestly, looking around her shop, I highly doubt that I can do a better job at decorating than Leona herself, but I will not turn down someone's request for aid.
My mood was somewhat sour when Leona told us that the Feylight Gardens were made under the supervision of Queen Merla herself and that it's highly likely during such an event as the celebrations of Greengrass that she'll be there. A royalty? of the fey? A wave of nervousness flew through me as I realized that I was not ready for such an encounter with a few queen. Lucky and Blessed though, seemed to be excited for such an encounter.
The Theater
Leona led us to the Feylight Gardens Theater through the twisting streets of Daring Heights. The directions to Fiore Popolare were easy enough, go straight and then take a right. This however, was more complicated and I felt that I would have gotten lost even with the directions written on a piece of paper. Thankfully, we had Leona and, to be fair, the walk was fairly short, we arrived to the destination in about 5 minutes.
The theater... Great Mother, it was beautiful! We were told that the theater was finished only a couple of months ago, but somehow it looked as if it have been here for generations. It looks pristine, yet the trees looked as if they grew up and around it after many years. Is this what fey magic can do? The theater also has an open sky view and its walls are painted and overgrown? as if the entire theater was magically woven into the middle of a forest. And during all of this, the theater was filled with the hum of some music that I couldn't put my finger as to what it may be, but it seemed as if the building itself was the one humming.
The Preparations
In my awe of this place, I blocked most of what was happening around and I was brought back to reality when a male voice spoke "Are you the requested party?" The voice came from a half-elf man who came to greet us.
"Oh, uh... yes."
"You must be Glade, a pleasure to meet you. You may call me Tassel." said the man extending his hand as if to ask something from me?
Oh wait, I know this, I've seen this being done before. This is a formal greeting in which a man extends his hand in a polite gesture and requests the woman's hand and offers her a kiss on said hand. It is a lovely gesture, but isn't it done to more important and wealthy ladies? Why is he asking my hand? But I didn't want to leave him standing there awkwardly or appear as if I have something against him, so I returned the gesture. Best to be polite.
After the introductions were made, Tassel gave us the rundown. We were called to help with the arrangements before and during the plays. We essentially had four jobs:
- "Get butts in seats", as he so lovely put it, in which we had to get people to come to the theater. Not sure how and from where since Lucky and Blessed took the charge in this one. It's a good thing, though, 'cuz I am good at convincing people.
- "Make costumes, flower crowns and fake swords". This one easy. Lolli took the charge in making the costumes. Many of them were simple green dresses, but Lolli made sure to make them as perfect as she was able to. I, of course, took to helping make the flower crowns which I was told by Tassel that we needed about a hundred of them. Daunting task, but I summoned some help in the shape of a racoon which I happily named him Joey. Thankfully we weren't alone as there were a lot of stagehands to help us with all of this and with the fake swords.
- "Set building", which meant helping build the set on which the plays will take part. Toothy helped the most with this one. Not only was the really strong and helped carry props and set equipment easily, but he also seemed to be skilled at painting. He even took the time to sprint to his home and grab his painting supplies. He's a really interesting individual, not only does he take the time to keep himself in peak physical condition, but he also takes the time to take care of small animals and express his artistic side. As far as I've seen, people tend to lean towards only one of there, either physical or artistic improvement, but not so common with both. He was even kind enough to drop little Timmy with me while he worked.
- Lastly, "magical tricks and stagehand stuff", which meant we had to use our skills and creativity to help out during the plays by enhancing the experience. Vicros enthusiastically offered to help with this one, and so did Lolli and myself.
The Play
The theater filled up nicely with people in outfits that may have seem expensive. Or at least, a lot better than what I usually wear. Clearly Lucky and Blessed knew where to look. They all sat down, flower crowns on their heads and were ready for the event to begin. Now that I think of it, I have never been to a theater play before. Many of the settlements I passed by on my way to Kantas did not have a theater and those that did, well... I did not have enough money to enter one. But now, not only will I get to witness a theater play, but I will also be part of it. Well, sort of... I won't be playing in it, just tagging along with various tricks to improve a scene.
The plays were engaging and they had us on the tips of our toes the entire time, either by the suspense of the play itself, or by us rushing to provide the effects needed to enhance the important moments in the plays. Can't remember much about what the plays were about exactly, but they seemed to confer intense emotions some of love, some of dread, I remember looking at the faces of those in the seats and some were in awe, some were in tears. All that I remember were one play was with two lovers, another was a thundering argument, and another offered a deep introspection.
After the plays were done, Lucky himself decided to do his part and tell a story about a valiant knight saving a prince from the clutches of a terrible dragon. But something didn't seem right. He was frighten? maybe by the number of people? I mean, I would be terrified too if I have to perform in face of so many people. Fortunately for him, Tassel joined in on this performance, and Lucky was able to recover and finish off his story beautifully.
The Dance
Festive Spring has arrived,
The birds salute it with their happy song.
And the brooks, caressed by little Zephyrs,
Flow with a sweet murmur.
The sky, once covered with a black mantle,
And thunder, and lightning, announce a storm.
When they are silent, the birds
Return to sing their lovely song.
And in the meadow, rich with flowers,
To the sweet murmur of leaves and plants,
The farmer sleeps, with his faithful hound by his side.
To the festive sound of pastoral flutes,
Dance nymphs and shepherds,
At Spring’s brilliant appearance.
Thus is the radiant speech given by Tassel before the dance has begun. The dance, all be it magical, wasn't the only activity that people seemed to partake and, although I did not knew the exact meaning behind each one, I knew all of them had the same purpose: to clean the spirit and to prepare for the upcoming year. One dance stood out above the rest: it was a set of dancers, spinning and weaving ribbons around a pole, no, it was a tree, and when the dance was over the tree grew and it sprouted and it bloomed in the the most beautiful array of lilacs I have ever seen, of all different shades there could be, from dark blue and purple to bright violet, but they all the same three white buds at their tips. And the tree was beautiful.
At some point during the dance, Tassel told us to raise our swords and to plant it into the ground.
'What is the one thing I wish I could change about myself?' - I do not hear the question, I feel it.
From the depth of my heart, I answer to myself 'Deeply, nothing, for it is how I am that I am here, but I do wish to understand people more, to be less naïve.'
Then Tassel asks us to grab our flower crowns and to hurl them into the air.
'What is a promise I will make to myself and will actually keep?'
'With the best of her abilities, to heal the wounds of people indifferent of their type.' - this time, I answered without hesitation.
When all is said and promised, when the dancing has resumed fully. I see a dancing figure, a woman, staring at me with the brightest blue eyes that I have ever seen, as if the whole of the summer sky has been poured into them, and she had a long blond hair that was filled with pastel colors. She disappeared as she appeared, dancing all the way.
The Dream
Although the dance was great and all the people were having such a wonderful time, I, sadly, am not the comfortable with so many people around for such a long time, so I decided to retreat from all of this. No one else needed me, right? The preparations were made, the plays have passed and now everyone is just dancing and having a wonderful time. This is what I want, with the best of my abilities, to heal the wounds of people no matter the type. And laugher and joy are a big part of that as it helps heal the wounds of the spirit, mind and even that of the body. However, I do not want to leave here, just in case I may be needed once more. No one seems to be near the lilac tree. There is something special about it, how it seems to have bloomed with the ongoing dance, as if responding to it. Whether the tree is magical, or the people here have used their magic to make it bloom is of no importance, its mere presence offered immensely to the festivity and as it stands, lit only by small lamps and the moon's glow, it gives off a comforting and welcoming aura. I approach the tree, wanting to calmly enjoy the view of everyone's joy and as I sit on its base, sleep came for me.
This dream... it's... peaceful
The smell... that of a crisp morning air
The sound... that of a nightingale in the sea of rustling trees
The touch... that of damp moss warmed by the summer sun's rays
The view... that of bloomed meadow
The feel... that of... of home
Emotions... those of... nostalgia
I awake with the early light of dawn as I always do and I was startled. It took a while for my mind to settle down as I realized that I wasn't back in Fernen's forest. I remembered, I'm in Daring Heights... and we just had a spring celebration... But that dream... I haven't have a dream this calm since I left the forest, it felt so much like home. I got up and started to walk out. Everyone already left and the workers already started to close the theater and clean everything up, moving the props and equipment like lights, mirrors and -
It is then when I saw it a branch filled with lilacs of multiple colors ranging from dark purple to bright violet and each flower with three white flower flower buds at the top. And that branch was clear as day among mine, standing out from the rest with white magnolia. A branch that, last I checked, was not there yesterday.
"Ho.ly. sh-"
The Invitation
It was early morning in Fort Ettin as I just had a hearty meal and headed for my bunk with a fist full of bread crumbs. Upon heading towards the stables, I noticed something green under the under the door of my bunk. It's a letter from someone named Leona Autumn. I held off opening the letter for the moment, I had to do something more important first.
"Hello there, lovelies." - I said to the adorable couple of robins that have just made their nest under the overhang just near the stables. "Your little nest is turning out lovely." While the two were eating the breadcrumbs, I decided to read the letter.
"It is, an invitation? 'a birdy'?" I turn to the two - "Do you two know about this?" The female robin, I named her Chip, looks at me with a confused expression. "Dale?" - the male robin equally confused - No?. Upon reading further, it hits me. "Greengrass! Oh, Great Mother, I almost forgot, it's THIS tenday! '... a small group of friends' Oh, I have so many people that I want to come, Lolli, Sterling, Pipper, Lucky, Ambel, oh so many interesting adventurers that I have met along the way-" I stopped, hand on the door of my bunk. "Oh... but I don't know where everyone lives. I will need set up some invitations on the notice boards, that way, everyone who sees it and is interested can come along."
And thus, I wrote multiple invitations like the one sent to me to post them on the noticed boards. I even gave two silver to a young lad to have one being sent all the way to PF. Clearly people need to get out of that gloomy place more often. Also, made sure to bring one particular adventurer to this special event. I need to do my duties as a follower of Chauntea and help bring the joy of Greengrass to the people, after all, there are only a handful of days in the calendar that are important, and this is one of them.
Sadly, I realized something too late. In my haste I forgot to say my goodbyes to the robin couple. I pray that they and their nest will be safe.
The Meet-up
Me and Lolli were standing in Portal Plaza waiting with anticipation to see who will join us, my hands filled with cherry flower crowns for each. Me and Lolli arrived yesterday in DH and made sure to prepare for this event and we came here early in the morning to make sure the rest who join will be able to see us. I also took the time before coming to DH to change my branches, it is a special occasion after all and thus I have decided on white magnolia flowers. Lolli is as hyped as ever. I always wondered about her. I know that rabbits, being small creatures, have a faster metabolism than us, but she seems to be really energetic, even for a rabbit. I know that sugar has property to give someone an energetic boost... maybe she's eating a lot of sugar and that's why she's so energetic all the time? One thing is for sure, her energy and positivity are quite contagious.
After a brief wait, my fellow companions have arrived. From those that I have met before there were two. Lucky, a charming tabaxi in fanciful armor whom I have met before in various adventures some of which a bit deadly, he likes a good fight as much as he likes making sure he looks good fighting. Vicros, an human spell caster whom I have met on my first adventure here in the Dawnlands when we escorted the goods of a wealthy noble. And there were two other whos faces are new to me. Toothy, a tall muscular drow with a calming disposition and a kind heart that carried around a small little hedgehog named Timmy. He said he saved the little guy and is now taking care of him. I made sure to give little Timmy a magnolia flower as well as to not leave him out of the 'flower crown' group. Blessed, a gorgeous tiefling dressed in fine clothes and that she refused my flower crown offering for her. Did I not make it good enough? It seems to be consistent with the other ones and everyone else accepted them. I would say that she may not like flower crowns, but... who doesn't like flower crowns? Even the grumpy warlock with tired eyes accepted my flower crown.
Maybe I need to get better at this.
The Introduction
Once we were all assembled, we made our way to the Fiore Popolare, which I may add I made sure to ask yesterday where exactly it is. I didn't want to make a fool of myself by inviting these lovely people and not know where is it that we're going. One thing that the locals kept saying, and that they were right about, was that the place is 'hard to miss'. The store was a lilac-colored building, with a faded gold plaque 'Fiore Popolare', and its façade was filled with an incredible variety of flowers. Out of all the store fronts we passed, this was the most lavish out of all of them, the flowers only giving way only to windows displaying showcases filled with various-colored bottles. Due to the abundance of flowers, I almost though that Leona might also be a druid. The interior was grander and, oddly enough, a lot larger than what it seemed from the outside, wide hall with tall ceiling filled with multi-colored windows held in place by numerous pillars, one of which was a lot larger than the others, walls filled with multi-colored bottles and, of course, everything filled with spring flowers of all colors. It wasn't druidic, but it was definitely magical. In fact, I soon realized that the columns weren't columns at all, they were branches. And the thickest one of them was the trunk of of a tree. Vicros makes first introduction, but instead of Leona responding, the tree moves and waves at Vicros and greets him in sylvan? druidic? I feel like I may have heard of something like this from Fernen's stories, but I can't put my mind as to what.
"Glade" - said a voice as it brought me back from my deep thoughts. The woman introduced herself as Leona autumn. She was dressed as a witch, which kind of surprised me, but maybe that's just me since I was thinking that she would look more druidic. She literally had a dryad right in the middle of her shop, which she introduced as Nasiphe, and dryads aren't known to be fond of cities.
"Tell me Glade, what's your favorite season." Weird way for introductions, I usually noticed that people tend to state their full name and occupations before engaging in leisure chatter, but I would never turn down such a question.
"Well, it's hard to decide. I love spring because all the green returns and there are so many flowers that bloom, but, as a druid of Chauntea, I also love autumn because of the joy people experience during Highharvestide. So, both I guess?"
She gives a small smile "Autumn, good choice. It's my favorite season, it's even in my name." As she leaned closer, I noticed her ginger hair, light freckles and brown eyes. Her features reminded me of the small group of satyrs I met once, the type of features that give a certain beauty. Not as extravagant as Blessed's, but one that is certainly more pleasant to look at.
She leads us towards her bar where she starts preparing each of us a drink and as she does so she talks briefly about the Lady of Joy, the goddess Lliira, about how the Feylight Gardens Theater holds plays and events in honor of her during Greengrass. It's interesting to see who the people in the city hold in their hearts during the Greengrass. Some druids or clerics of Chauntea would insist that during such an important day Chauntea is the one they should keep in their hearts, I found that it's mainly the farmers who are the ones who hold Chauntea dear, since it's them who depend the most on her kindness. And I never thought that it mattered, as long as joy, laughter and an overall good time was had during Greengrass. It is about the joy of spring after all. I sipped the purple drink that she gave me. It was thick and smelled of berries, forest fruits? It tasted like forest fruits and berries and with a hint of liquor? It tasted right, as if this is the drink I've always wanted. How did she know? Leona explained that she was approached by a staff member from the theater telling her that they needed some help preparing everything and it's how she decided to request of some adventurers. Honestly, looking around her shop, I highly doubt that I can do a better job at decorating than Leona herself, but I will not turn down someone's request for aid.
My mood was somewhat sour when Leona told us that the Feylight Gardens were made under the supervision of Queen Merla herself and that it's highly likely during such an event as the celebrations of Greengrass that she'll be there. A royalty? of the fey? A wave of nervousness flew through me as I realized that I was not ready for such an encounter with a few queen. Lucky and Blessed though, seemed to be excited for such an encounter.
The Theater
Leona led us to the Feylight Gardens Theater through the twisting streets of Daring Heights. The directions to Fiore Popolare were easy enough, go straight and then take a right. This however, was more complicated and I felt that I would have gotten lost even with the directions written on a piece of paper. Thankfully, we had Leona and, to be fair, the walk was fairly short, we arrived to the destination in about 5 minutes.
The theater... Great Mother, it was beautiful! We were told that the theater was finished only a couple of months ago, but somehow it looked as if it have been here for generations. It looks pristine, yet the trees looked as if they grew up and around it after many years. Is this what fey magic can do? The theater also has an open sky view and its walls are painted and overgrown? as if the entire theater was magically woven into the middle of a forest. And during all of this, the theater was filled with the hum of some music that I couldn't put my finger as to what it may be, but it seemed as if the building itself was the one humming.
The Preparations
In my awe of this place, I blocked most of what was happening around and I was brought back to reality when a male voice spoke "Are you the requested party?" The voice came from a half-elf man who came to greet us.
"Oh, uh... yes."
"You must be Glade, a pleasure to meet you. You may call me Tassel." said the man extending his hand as if to ask something from me?
Oh wait, I know this, I've seen this being done before. This is a formal greeting in which a man extends his hand in a polite gesture and requests the woman's hand and offers her a kiss on said hand. It is a lovely gesture, but isn't it done to more important and wealthy ladies? Why is he asking my hand? But I didn't want to leave him standing there awkwardly or appear as if I have something against him, so I returned the gesture. Best to be polite.
After the introductions were made, Tassel gave us the rundown. We were called to help with the arrangements before and during the plays. We essentially had four jobs:
- "Get butts in seats", as he so lovely put it, in which we had to get people to come to the theater. Not sure how and from where since Lucky and Blessed took the charge in this one. It's a good thing, though, 'cuz I am good at convincing people.
- "Make costumes, flower crowns and fake swords". This one easy. Lolli took the charge in making the costumes. Many of them were simple green dresses, but Lolli made sure to make them as perfect as she was able to. I, of course, took to helping make the flower crowns which I was told by Tassel that we needed about a hundred of them. Daunting task, but I summoned some help in the shape of a racoon which I happily named him Joey. Thankfully we weren't alone as there were a lot of stagehands to help us with all of this and with the fake swords.
- "Set building", which meant helping build the set on which the plays will take part. Toothy helped the most with this one. Not only was the really strong and helped carry props and set equipment easily, but he also seemed to be skilled at painting. He even took the time to sprint to his home and grab his painting supplies. He's a really interesting individual, not only does he take the time to keep himself in peak physical condition, but he also takes the time to take care of small animals and express his artistic side. As far as I've seen, people tend to lean towards only one of there, either physical or artistic improvement, but not so common with both. He was even kind enough to drop little Timmy with me while he worked.
- Lastly, "magical tricks and stagehand stuff", which meant we had to use our skills and creativity to help out during the plays by enhancing the experience. Vicros enthusiastically offered to help with this one, and so did Lolli and myself.
The Play
The theater filled up nicely with people in outfits that may have seem expensive. Or at least, a lot better than what I usually wear. Clearly Lucky and Blessed knew where to look. They all sat down, flower crowns on their heads and were ready for the event to begin. Now that I think of it, I have never been to a theater play before. Many of the settlements I passed by on my way to Kantas did not have a theater and those that did, well... I did not have enough money to enter one. But now, not only will I get to witness a theater play, but I will also be part of it. Well, sort of... I won't be playing in it, just tagging along with various tricks to improve a scene.
The plays were engaging and they had us on the tips of our toes the entire time, either by the suspense of the play itself, or by us rushing to provide the effects needed to enhance the important moments in the plays. Can't remember much about what the plays were about exactly, but they seemed to confer intense emotions some of love, some of dread, I remember looking at the faces of those in the seats and some were in awe, some were in tears. All that I remember were one play was with two lovers, another was a thundering argument, and another offered a deep introspection.
After the plays were done, Lucky himself decided to do his part and tell a story about a valiant knight saving a prince from the clutches of a terrible dragon. But something didn't seem right. He was frighten? maybe by the number of people? I mean, I would be terrified too if I have to perform in face of so many people. Fortunately for him, Tassel joined in on this performance, and Lucky was able to recover and finish off his story beautifully.
The Dance
Festive Spring has arrived,
The birds salute it with their happy song.
And the brooks, caressed by little Zephyrs,
Flow with a sweet murmur.
The sky, once covered with a black mantle,
And thunder, and lightning, announce a storm.
When they are silent, the birds
Return to sing their lovely song.
And in the meadow, rich with flowers,
To the sweet murmur of leaves and plants,
The farmer sleeps, with his faithful hound by his side.
To the festive sound of pastoral flutes,
Dance nymphs and shepherds,
At Spring’s brilliant appearance.
Thus is the radiant speech given by Tassel before the dance has begun. The dance, all be it magical, wasn't the only activity that people seemed to partake and, although I did not knew the exact meaning behind each one, I knew all of them had the same purpose: to clean the spirit and to prepare for the upcoming year. One dance stood out above the rest: it was a set of dancers, spinning and weaving ribbons around a pole, no, it was a tree, and when the dance was over the tree grew and it sprouted and it bloomed in the the most beautiful array of lilacs I have ever seen, of all different shades there could be, from dark blue and purple to bright violet, but they all the same three white buds at their tips. And the tree was beautiful.
At some point during the dance, Tassel told us to raise our swords and to plant it into the ground.
'What is the one thing I wish I could change about myself?' - I do not hear the question, I feel it.
From the depth of my heart, I answer to myself 'Deeply, nothing, for it is how I am that I am here, but I do wish to understand people more, to be less naïve.'
Then Tassel asks us to grab our flower crowns and to hurl them into the air.
'What is a promise I will make to myself and will actually keep?'
'With the best of her abilities, to heal the wounds of people indifferent of their type.' - this time, I answered without hesitation.
When all is said and promised, when the dancing has resumed fully. I see a dancing figure, a woman, staring at me with the brightest blue eyes that I have ever seen, as if the whole of the summer sky has been poured into them, and she had a long blond hair that was filled with pastel colors. She disappeared as she appeared, dancing all the way.
The Dream
Although the dance was great and all the people were having such a wonderful time, I, sadly, am not the comfortable with so many people around for such a long time, so I decided to retreat from all of this. No one else needed me, right? The preparations were made, the plays have passed and now everyone is just dancing and having a wonderful time. This is what I want, with the best of my abilities, to heal the wounds of people no matter the type. And laugher and joy are a big part of that as it helps heal the wounds of the spirit, mind and even that of the body. However, I do not want to leave here, just in case I may be needed once more. No one seems to be near the lilac tree. There is something special about it, how it seems to have bloomed with the ongoing dance, as if responding to it. Whether the tree is magical, or the people here have used their magic to make it bloom is of no importance, its mere presence offered immensely to the festivity and as it stands, lit only by small lamps and the moon's glow, it gives off a comforting and welcoming aura. I approach the tree, wanting to calmly enjoy the view of everyone's joy and as I sit on its base, sleep came for me.
This dream... it's... peaceful
The smell... that of a crisp morning air
The sound... that of a nightingale in the sea of rustling trees
The touch... that of damp moss warmed by the summer sun's rays
The view... that of bloomed meadow
The feel... that of... of home
Emotions... those of... nostalgia
I awake with the early light of dawn as I always do and I was startled. It took a while for my mind to settle down as I realized that I wasn't back in Fernen's forest. I remembered, I'm in Daring Heights... and we just had a spring celebration... But that dream... I haven't have a dream this calm since I left the forest, it felt so much like home. I got up and started to walk out. Everyone already left and the workers already started to close the theater and clean everything up, moving the props and equipment like lights, mirrors and -
It is then when I saw it a branch filled with lilacs of multiple colors ranging from dark purple to bright violet and each flower with three white flower flower buds at the top. And that branch was clear as day among mine, standing out from the rest with white magnolia. A branch that, last I checked, was not there yesterday.
"Ho.ly. sh-"
