DeadlyTurnip
Smash Journeyman
OOC said:
She walked through the fields under the benign skies of the summer evening and saw the dragonflies scattering among the heath and hare-bells; listening to the soft breeze breathing through the grass. A golden ocean of shimmering lights; the amber grass shone ever brightly under the fleeting sun. White jacaranda trees blossomed in scattered places, sparrows flew across the rose firmament where the clouds blushed, carrying her eye through the distance until the fields disappeared into the dephtless blue of the looming night. The stage was alive, dancing softly to the rhythm of the cool breeze.
A scenery painted by the gods, though governed by no one but Peace. She sat among the dandelions, her pale hands twined a crown of white flowers; every stroke knit with tender care as she listened to the soft rattle of Zaga behind her, brushing through the tall grasses that covered him like a blanket. She listened to the chime of his voice, and the pounding of small paws toying with a beetle. The small possum quietly enjoyed the field.
They had strolled off from Radasanth through the moors and the lands silent plains of Corone and reached golden fields where their worries vanished afoot.
The night had set slow and steady, placing her fingers across the firmament. The neon sparkles of fireflies littered the air around them. To a place like this she owed no fear, no feral creatures inhabited them, only the petite and gentle ones who hunger not for flesh. Places like these where never to bee seen in Salvar, for once in her odyssey did she thank the fates for finding herself exiled in paradise. Exile to this was not exile, but liberation into the Elysian far from the frigid gardens of North.
The possum abandoned his playground and sat atop a large stone nearby, only to gaze out on the field, which enticed his feeling of adventure. His intentions seemed clear, and knowing that her pet would be back as always she gave the go ahead.
"Don't stride too far we'll be leaving soon," a vain smile colored her countenance, "the grass is tall, if you get lost look for the crown of this tree, and you will find me" Selene kindly placed her hand on the rasp surface of the jacaranda that had served them to hide from the sun while in his apogee.
She rose from her flower bed as her only companion disappeared in the grass leaving behind a train of disturbed vegetation, and agitated flies. The moon was full, shining silver and coloring that which was golden, in her image. Her tree sat atop a hill, presiding over the plains. Far away she could she the dim lights of the city, shimmering a placid orange through hills and tree tops. She sighed, taking for the last time a breath of the fresh air 'To think no human but I treasures you.'
~X~
Zaga made it through the grass and the pebbled grown, sneaking his tender snout under rocks and fallen tree branches, the tree he sought was a couple dozen yards away, but since the chance was given to him, he would search for other critters in his way there. He'd found none of the sort but a couple caterpillars and a prairie mouse. His small legs halted as he heard the soft pounding of a heart; before him stood a bed where the grass had carefully flattened, above numerous fireflies dances as if to replicate the starts, and Zaga's hungry curiosity grew deeper and deeper.
His two eyes shimmered like diamonds from under the shadow, as he drew closer and closer to this small being. Leaving the safety of the grass he allowed himself to be seen, his head tilted, and his voice chimed twice while his small eyes blinked as he examined.
An old man rested his back against the coarse surface of the jacaranda tree. Years had already craved for him a mask of haggard expressions; heavy wrinkled adorned his face having endured the bitter-sweet days of a life with the populace. He was not a hermit; he was well dressed, although numerous scars and dry, old, cuts suggested he was fond of ramblings through the moors. His eyes, however, still shined under the silver moon, strong and determined as those of a youth prepared to face the new life.
His glace caught hold of his curious companion, and no sooner did a smile broke through his old face. With a tiered sigh he stretched his arm and released his trembling palm to bestow upon the creature a dozen of golden grains for him to eat.
“A small creature like you in such a place, you must be hungry,” he halted to take a breath an continued with his rasp voice, “possums ought not to wander off the forest.” His brow loosened as he struggled to hold his hand above the ground, releasing the little gems into the ground.
~X~
A few minutes had passed and angst had already hatched in her heart. fifteen minutes, how long could it take for a possum to travel to and back from a tree she could see from where she stood? Sparing no more time wits got the best of her, and she strode off to find the whereabouts of her beloved Zaga; a small creature like as he was, could have fallen prey to a nocturnal raptor.
Her decorated body moved like a specter through the grass; under the moon her skin was pale. The silk of her gown brushed against the plants, as the wind carried it with him, streaks of silver light adorned it's glossy surface. She called his name to no avail; only the breeze's wailing was to answer. She reached the jacaranda and yet he was no where to be seen, and after gazing across the field for a couple minutes she decided to set off back to original position in hopes that the possum would be there waiting for her.
She took a different trail, through the west, and just after five minutes of walking she ran into an elder resting on the ground, ignoring her precence and deligted to see how Zaga feasted from the grains of corn. Innocence illuminated the man’s face, his messy, gray locks fell into his forehead and his iced-blue eyes where as pure as the oceans of the winterland. Zaga emerged from his diversion and gazed upon Selene, who stood aloof upon the scene, now realizing the error of his ways.
"Zaga" A single severe tone escaped her gut, her eyebrows heavy and her countenance taciturn, caring not to express her anger. The possum's ears shook twice before, he left the blown and skipped through the grassbead, hoping over the elder's legs and climbing up Selene's outfit to finish on her shoulder.
The man seemed innocent of any malicious act her own innocent and naive companion might have fallen for. She could not allow herself to be deceived by facades, even if the visage is of gold and the spirit is young. Another tone stuck like the last, now orchestrating into a sentence and a question.
"Mind you telling me who you are, and what you do here in such late hour?"
“Peace, my lady,” his heavy voice answered, “I am but an old and haggard man enjoying the beauty of the silver night.”
“Do you come here often?” she retorted.
“Indeed, my lady, indeed the nights of Corone are the most fine, where the moon shines the most brightly and where the stars show their best countenance, in the sea of golden hay and among the fireflies is the only place I would ever wish to die when the looming moment comes.”
A still silence placed itself upon the place, thick like winter mist until her voice broke it once again.
“Are you sick?” She fell into her knees to sit and make company to the man, as she sought his story.
“If the years where an infirmity” he left a turbid giggle escape his dry lips, “I am well passed my time. Of my family it’s only I who still toils in the mundane world, It fills me with joy that I will see them in the glory of the Elysian before a dawn comes.”
“No one is utterly alone.” She replied as she set her eyes upon the same scene the man’s gazed upon with sincere admiration.
“You, yourself don’t sound like a happy woman. Your voice is cautious and lacks the common carefree of the youths of these days. Maybe something in your life has forced you to mature. Worry not so much my lady, that whatever problems that the mortal dangers that follow you place but unfounded fear. There now,” another decrepit and quiet laugh escaped his gut, “such worries, you will be as old as me in spirit in no time. No one is utterly alone, indeed, you have you dear creature and I, well I enjoy the company of the fireflies and small insects, that although silent, can tell me their feelings better than any human with words. And soon, yes soon enough, I will talk to them from above the treetops.”
His lips smiled one last time as his eyes released a tear.
“I see myself spiral into my un-witful self. I was born to be persecuted, not only by the inquisition but so by my own people who despise me for loving a devil. In whose eyes does this creature appear a monster? Such a vile thing to be said by anyone’s voice, who throw the first stone before being free of sin themselves. Such a world, such a place! Times like these make me wish to be exonerated from this earth, this world-“
Her voice had already began to be thrown in disarray, her body trembled slightly as her eyes had begun to prepare tears that never came; the man placed his hand atop hers and with an sigh an exeunt.
“Live, that for the day of your life is still young, and the gray hours shall see better! Live, for you have seen nothing, the days of golden visage are yet to come.”
Selene waited as the words sank in, such simple words would appease her and her heart. Her breath stopped racing and it wasn’t until she was quiet that she noticed the man’s was gone. She clasped tightly to his hand and felt to pulse. The man had died, never seeing her face, or discovering her notorious identity. The man has found peace in the place he had wished for, she was happy, but it was a bitter-sweet moment.
Selene left the man who never spoke his name, Zaga following right behind her, dressed in a human anatomy wishful to console her quiet mistress. They moved through the grass under the benign skies of a summer night, watched the fireflies flashing through the heath and jacaranda flowers; listening to the breeze breathing through the grass, and wondered who would find unpeaceful rest in such silent grounds.
In the horizon, the sun had begun the new dawn.
where there should be commas (,) instead.
