“So, what do you think about hanging about in Rainy Village for a while longer?” asked Venedir.
Zander – who was underwater at the moment and looking about for cute little fishies, for there certainly plenty of not so delightful ones – slowly surfaced, his limbs straightening as he pushed down, his head breaking the surface of the water.
He still remembered the early years of his childhood when they had been introduced to swimming, especially in deeper waters.
For a few days he had felt scared of immersing himself fully in water – lest he may not be able to break through when it was time to come out.
It certainly had been of some discomfort to him to find out that swimming in icy waters carried the risk of the carved surfaces freezing over a period of time – more than his aversion to swimming in freezing water.
“I certainly like the place.” Sylviane had been answering.
“But we are on a time-sensitive mission.
We certainly cannot justify staying here longer than five days, even if we use recovery from the storm as an excuse.”
“And.” added Callie.
“We’re not sure if it will be smooth sailing on the eastern coast despite the desk’s assurances.”
“She has a name.” Zander interrupted.
“And I trust Yvindrael.
It’s not like we have other options anyway.
And while we shouldn’t remain here too long, we really shouldn’t be all that worried about deadlines.
The eruptions have surely disrupted the schedules of most – if not all – of the other drifts.”
“I hope they’re okay.” murmured Finley.
“Given how competitive most of them are,” said Venedir.
“I’m not inclined to look at them most sympathetically, nor to offer them my hopes or prayers.”
“Is it that easy to fall from your grace and good opinion?” asked Sylviane quietly.
It didn’t seem to be just curiosity in her tone.
She wasn’t asking it teasingly either.
Something else was there.
Venedir seemed to have caught it too.
“I don’t… I can’t bring myself to empathise with farers who would be indifferent at best if we were in a similar plight – which we are, and their indifference I can not be more certain of.
How do I see myself in their place?
They have had everything and still they choose to be this way.”
“Not everything.” Finley said quietly in the echoes of the conversation at breakfast.
Venedir shook his head with a jerk, almost as if he were trying to throw the thought from his head.
“It doesn’t give them the right to be the way they are.
It’s not who the Faring is meant to be.”
“If that’s how you think…” Sylviane said, her tone disappointed.
Venedir looked at her.
“I do… what of it?”
Sylviane seemed like she had a piece of her mind to give but thought better of it.
“Nothing.
I’m tired.
I’m going to nap.”
Callie soon followed her and Zander was left in awkward silence with the boys.
Finley was looking up at the sky – to escape the awkwardness mayhaps?
No.
“It’ll rain in an hour or so.” Finley murmured.
“You sure?” asked Zander.
“Mhmm.
I’d bet my watch on it but I don’t take certain bets.”
“Great.
So should I tell the girls to wake up?”
“Let them be.” said Venedir.
“Let it start raining.
We’ll get going then.
We should make the most of being here.
Take in the sights, swim, look up on the sky with the water as your cradle.
I don’t know if we’ll get such a chance soon.”
The other two found no fault in the assertion and they both dispersed in different parts of the basin.
After a few laps – swum deftly around Gwenyth’s sleeping figure – Zander realised that Finley was asleep too.
It had hardly been a couple of minutes since this observation of his that Venedir appeared beside him and Zander had to stop mid-stroke.
“What?” he asked as he flipped around in the water to look up at Venny-boy.
“You know what.” he said flatly.
He didn’t seem too happy about it.
Of course not.
“You want to know my opinion on the argument.” Because you’ve displeased Sylviane.
Venedir grunted in response.
“Venedir, as far as I’m concerned, the farers today are not like the ones the waykeepers talked about.
You probably know them as well as I.
The innate selfishness.
They’ve made this a fucking tournament.
Make the best team with the best companions.
What fucking for?
It’s like they don’t fucking get what the system is for.
They’re woefully blind to the truth.”
“I agree.
Sometimes I think even these farers will not be able to attain their Becoming.”
“I don’t know.
But I am definitely not sure that they’re better than assimilators.”
“I hope we get to meet some at Plemos.”
“They will not be the ones who’re off the deep end, Venny.”
“Why not, though?”
“Because unnaturals aren’t allowed outside of Lament.”
“Oh shit, really??”
“Yeah.” Zander shrugged and frowned.
“I thought this was common knowledge, man.”
“No.
I don’t think the waykeepers ever told us this.”
“Not that common, silly.”
Zander felt the wind pick up then, a hint of familiarity in it and his head turned to his right, his hair brushing to his left.
Venedir looked at him as if he were behaving unusually – which to his eyes Zander probably was.
“Do you think we’ll get to see other modern technologies if not the unnaturals?” Venedir asked.
Zander shook his head, the wind blowing more insistently now.
“I don’t know but I don’t think so.
I think I need to go now.”
“Go?
Where?…” Venedir said, his voice dropping to a murmur by the end.
He did not need an answer, it seemed.
Zander spun away from Venny into the water and started swimming, reaching land much faster than he would ordinarily.
He certainly had not increased his strength in the span of a few minutes.
It was all her.
Zander was quick in drying himself off, putting on his shirt quickly, pulling on his pajamas over his shorts in self-consciousness.
He might regret that later – making a perfectly good pair wet.
Then again, he was in Rainy Village so maybe not.
Once he was dressed, he quickly moved into the cluster of trees in the direction opposite where they had come from.
That’s where the sound of blowing leaves was the loudest.
As soon as the waterfall disappeared entirely from behind him, he felt her presence again, quite strongly, in fact.
“Hey.” he said with a smile.
“Hello Zander.” The voice was melodious, a sonority to it like that of wind chimes.
“Oh sh- you speak!” He said, stopping now, looking around to catch her figure but she was too fast.
“Voice is nothing but vibrations of air.
And air…” she said.
“Is your specialty.” he completed.
“Mhmm.” she said in a sweet hum.
“How have you been Elyria?
It’s been a while…”
“It was only two days.
Did you miss me already, Zander?” she asked teasingly, slowing down and materialising in a more human form.
His face flushed a little and he shook his head.
“We all did.” he said casually, his tone betraying him.
“Oh?” she sang.
“I wasn’t aware I’d made such an impression on all of you.”
Zander grinned a little.
“Well, I’m glad I came to visit all of you, then.
I had this feeling that would make all of you happy.”
“I for one, definitely am.”
“I’m lucky that you were awake then.” she said and drifted closer to him, making Zander’s heart race a little.
His mouth and lips felt a little dry, his capabilities of speech compromised.
“Cat got your tongue, Sandy?”
Zander couldn’t help but laugh.
“Now, that’s a first…” he thought for a moment.
“Ria.”
“For me too.” She answered and Zander’s hair blew to his side in a manner that was all too familiar to him.
“And I have been well.
Was over in Zenith.”
“Sixty sixth?
Noirskov?”
“Yes.
And no.
The seas only.
The weather is growing to be quite interesting.” she hummed.
“Surely you had some part in it.”
She laughed and Zander felt as if he could hear that for hours.
He felt sad when it stopped and she responded “Only a teeny tiny bit.”
“What brought you back?” he asked, a bit timidly.
“I missed you… all.” She said, her figure so defined that Zander could make out her smile.
It felt so fragile.
It made him sad, which she seemed to mistake for something else.
Her sweet smile faded and she came closer to him, not a strand of his hair moving.
“How have you been, Zander?”
“Oh just… dandy.” he said half-heartedly.
“Oh?”
“Our ship nearly capsized.
We were nearly attacked by a dragon.
And here we’re supposed to break out a demon from prison.
My companion is off, who knows where.”
“Sounds fun.”
Zander laughed tiredly.
“Yeah.” he said tonelessly.
“Sorry.
It sounds too pitiful.
It’s not all bad.
You just… caught me at a bad moment.”
“What’s bad about it?”
“Nothing.
Just the thoughts prevailing in my head.”
“A wind is to ship as the thoughts are to the soul.”
“Most people’s souls should be lost if I hold that to be true.”
“They are.
What you all call the Becoming has a lot to do with your soul.”
“So is it true that most farers will not undergo their Becoming?”
“It is what I think.
In any case that is not relevant to your own Becoming.”
“If so many others have not been able to, I have no hope.
It was supposed to be easy and come more naturally to Farers.”
“The Becoming has not been and never will be a cakewalk.
Not for your species.
Nor for any others.”
“How old are you?
Have you started your Becoming?”
“I’m thirty seven years old.
But it’s meaningless in regards to things like maturity and the Becoming.
We Sylphs come into being in a permanent state, physically and mentally.
Permanence may not seem to hold much stock since we’re wind spirits but it restricts our abilities to change in some regards.
A lot of Sylphs think whether one will Become or not is decided at their birth and is a matter of fate.
I do not think so.
And as for starting Becoming, all of us have started our Becoming from the moment we’ve gained consciousness.
There is no other possibility.” Elyria said and her smile returned.
Zander reciprocated.
“The winds of my mind are favourable now.
Thank you.”
“Anytime.” she returned and pushed him forward.
“Come on.”
“Where to?” he asked as he started walking.
“There’s this place I want to take you to, before it starts raining.
It’s one of my favourite places on Fluviale.”
“Why me?”
“Because the others were sleeping.”
“Venny wasn’t.”
“Don’t push it.”
Zander grinned.
After a few minutes of walking, they came to a clearing and as Zander half-stumbled into it, his breath hitched.
The grass was sapphiric.
“Like your hair.” Elyria said.
He could hear her smile when she added.
“Not as soft, though.”
The grass glittered under Wairo’s light, like the shimmering sea.
Flowers violet and crimson grew in clustered patterns.
A smile came to Zander’s face as he took it all in, black trees surrounding the sea of grass as he made his way to the center of it and slowly sat down before lying on the ground.
“Your hair is indistinguishable from the ground.” Elyria said with a chuckle and Zander felt her lie beside him.
His eyes turned from Wairo and his body shifted a little to allow him to see Elyria.
It was the clearest image of hers he had ever seen.
She had straight long hair, almond shaped eyes.
Her face was a beautiful oval.
While there was no complexion to her being, Zander couldn’t help but see her as he did himself.
His skin tone would suit her, he thought.
Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Her figure was exactly as tall as his which made him question her.
“Do you look like this always or is this…” just for me?
It felt narcissistic to complete that question.
“No… this is not part of my permanence, Zander.
I feel most akin to you in this form, that’s all.”
“I don’t deserve that.” he whispered.
She shook her head slightly.
“Don’t let stray winds take you over, please.”
Zander shook his head a little, as if to empty his head.
“Do you like this form of yours?”
She smiled then, still so delicate.
“It may just be my most preferred one.”
Zander smiled back happily and then moved his hands under his head for support as he lay on his side.
“Why did you not stay longer the day before yesterday?”
“It was time to meet some friends over in the sixty-sixth.
And you seemed terribly busy with navigation.
It would not bid me well to disturb such a focused individual.”
Zander laughed gently.
“You have read me all wrong.
I am the opposite of focussed.
I don’t know who I am, in fact.
Everyone knows their roles and is comfortable with it.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad either.
If you had achieved the knowledge of who you were, it would not have been enough.
There would be some other quest you would be on then.
Just because you seem to be slow doesn’t mean you’re not living right or not focussed.” New chapters come out on g.com first.
“I wish I were a Sylph.” He said grumpily.
“Everything would be fixed for me then.”
“For us, it’s a curse as much as it’s a blessing, Zander.
It may be our aversion to our reality – which everyone is susceptible to -, but most Sylphs would rather have the chance to change the extent of their abilities and powers, which you can.”
“But we will always be weaker than nature spirits, no matter how much we work out or train.”
“Not necessarily.
You have the power to exercise your brain too, dummy, not just your body.” she said and poked his forehead, her touch gentle yet a literal force of nature.
“And that gives you tools like weapons and ingenuity which you can use to be stronger than spirits – not that you should have such a goal.” She chided.
“No, no, I don’t.
Honest.” he said earnestly.
“I just felt so unskilled and weak and useless…” he said and then sighed.
“Sorry, that’s not attractive probably.”
“I don’t know for sure.
It does make me protective of you.
I wish I could be of more help.” she said and sighed as well.
“It’s okay.
You being here is enough.
And maybe this is something that can’t be helped beyond a point right now.
I just need to live through it.
It’ll pass.”
Elyria smiled.
“You have your drift to ease that passing.”
“And you?” Zander asked hopefully.
Elyria laughed, gently and kindly.
“You will, sometimes.”
“Sometimes sounds good enough.” he said genially as thunder arced through the sky and soon rain started falling, Elyria’s body highlighted as the droplets blew off her.
Her hand then extended towards his arm, her fingers touching them gently.
He was still not used to how unusual her touch felt, it sent tingles down his skin.
But his eyes stayed on hers as she spoke.
“Can we stay?
I don’t want you to leave, yet.”
Zander nodded a little and smiled tiredly.
“I would like nothing more than that.” His hand slid out from under his head and his fingers met hers.
* * *
Zander did not know long he would have stayed in the meadow with Elyria if Alaric had not come after a couple hours, herding and shooing them as domesticated creatures.
“I’ve allowed you to be as lovey-dovey together as I could in good consciousness.
We really are running out of time now!” He exclaimed.
Zander’s head spun a little as he stood up.
“I hope you were not spying on us, Mr.
Virien.” Elyria said teasingly.
“You know my name.” The vampire sounded surprised.
”You are not as unknown to these areas as you would like to believe.”
“I wish I was.”
“Your advanced age and feats make your wish improbable, if not impossible.”
“What are we running out of time for?” asked Zander as he trudged back towards Rainy, his companions unbothered by the severity of the weather.
The sky was a dark violet despite it being afternoon and he was drenched to the bone.
Alaric’s tone seemed exasperated as he spoke.
“In short, the Weathered is coming to Fluviale.
You’ll be leaving Rainy village tonight itself.
You’ll be handling the ship while the others break my friend out.
And you, Sylph.
I need to request your help in carrying them from the cliffs north-east of the village to the ship.”
“Will they not swim the ocean with you?” She asked and laughed.
“You know as well as I there will not be an economy of time in that.
How many can you fly at once?”
“If such conditions persist – which I think they will till tomorrow noon -, I surely do not trust myself with more than a single driftfellow.”
“I hope this courtesy of yours can be extended to my friend as well.”
“You need not hope, it will be.”
“Thank you.
While the manner of our becoming acquaintances is one-sided, do not think it to be for this task alone or something which shall not be reciprocated.
I will have you in my thoughts and I hope you will have me similarly, especially should an occasion arise where I can be of service.” He bowed in the direction of her silhouette, her features not so pronounced as they had been in the meadow.
“Your reputation precedes you far too much for me to be a pioneer in casting any form of aspersions.”
“Immortality is inclined to bestow reputations.
Look at the gods.”
“Do not be so hasty so as to count yourself distinct from them.”
“My immortality is sullied, kind Sylph.”
“That stain is an adornment the way you wear it.
Don’t be a victim to self-condescension, Mr.
Virien.”
“Old habits die hard.
And mine may just be immortal like their wielder.”
* * *
It was nearly lunch time when Zander was reunited with his driftfellows.
They were seated at some establishment in the southern part of town.
It seemed meats of many different sorts were the primary items on the menu.
While it would be probable to more ignorant beings that establishments of meat may not be inciting to the appetites of forest folk – as they were called colloquially by the Faring despite fears of misrepresentation and too vague and broad a grouping -, Zander for one knew that the inhabitants of Rainy village had a disposition to foods richer than earthly creations of all things plant-based.
In conversation with his drift – which he fell into smoothly upon his arrival, not before being regaled and teased for a length not less than three minutes about his abscondment from his tiresome driftfellows – he felt an ease.
A relative one highlighted from the tensions and an abrupt arisement he felt – as he assumed one felt – from a relation other than platonic.
He found out over the course of their meal the inertia once broken would not exactly return to its original state of being.
Mayhaps his driftfellows were more apprised on the matter but he did not feel the topic merited mentioning given the tasks at hand and that the significance of the source of such feeling was still partially unknown, more so than the feeling itself.
Luckily for him, his driftfellows were not the sort to intrude on matters deemed personal.
And after his initial torment, the topic was never once raised for the remainder of the meal.
Despite the meal’s merits and its compliments uniform across the table, the meal ended not on a somber note for having tasted such delicacies for the first and last time.
They were into raptures for as an interlude ere the deed they were to undertake come nightfall, there was alcohol to be bought.
It was quite certain that the drift would not be in the mood for compromise in that regard, especially given the perceived unpleasantness to follow and that may be compelled to go weeks without a chance to replenish these essentials.
While Zander himself was not predisposed to drinking particularly often – and was now glad of his circumstances that had made it happen so due to his position on the drift -, he browsed about quite as interestedly as his peers.
It was his understanding that the most concentrated alcohols should only be worthy of perusal as dilution was something he could undertake and mixers they had no shortage of upon the Opaline Tide, provided for by the good graces of the government.
When he had piled on enough bottles in the carrying container to look up and take a breather, he was very pleasantly surprised to find that his driftfellows had done quite the same.
Their purchases had been so large relatively, that the shelves seemed positively ransacked and gave a picture of appalling dearth.
In his guilt, Zander took out of all of two bottles from his pile and kept them spaciously to give what little picture of abundance could be given.
Callie peered quite visibly at his display and giggled as she passed him by, causing colour to rise to his cheeks and sheepishly he followed behind her to join the others at the counter.
While her countenance was unaffected by Venedir – who was naturally first in line – the tender to the store grew increasingly dismayed and disapproving at the sheer amounts of distilled spirits that were piling up in front of her in rapid succession.
By the time it was Callie’s turn, she was giving judgemental looks without discrimination to the entirety of their group – the others standing meekly with their containers, looking quite comical and Zander would be quite glad to have the opportunity to run out as soon as he was done with his bit.
By the time his turn came, the forest spirit actually stood up – the woman tall enough to see till the back where the stronger spirits were kept.
“You left a few bottles behind.” She said dryly as she presented them their bill.
Venedir made his reappearance to the woman then, smiling genially as he paid the fairly hefty sum – he was in charge of all Faring related expenses as Tender, after all; and as such had the access to the purse provided for their journey.
Having made the store considerably less attractive for its more frequent patrons, the drift left quite speedily for the Laughing Tree where Zander engaged with Yvindrael to inform her in passing of their early checkout, citing the storm as the chief reason.
Yvindrael told him that his concerns were not so outlandish.
In fact, many ships were expected to depart the village harbour over the course of the night, lest conditions grow rougher come morn.
This could not be happier happenstance and Zander took his leave quite courteously, doing his best to hide his animation.
Despite their haste, Zander found it to the drift’s credit that they took nearly an hour for exploring the tree to a significant degree; and interacting with it with curiosity which was soon phased out by fondness, for the indications of tree’s humour were not merely titular.
Exciting still was the fact that the tree had several conscious entities within its core existence as well, providing the drift with much comfort and wholesome entertainment.
Zander’s heart quite yearned for its continued company when he hugged one of the vertical branches of it, reciprocation done to a heart-warming degree and his eyes were quite wet upon re-entering their room, though the tree was all around them still.
His companions seemed to be taken quite similarly, their affections all too evident in their time that had passed, even still.
And so, packing was a subdued affair.
Another set of goodbyes were said but were markedly less impassioned – though no less sincere and heartfelt.
He did not doubt the tree’s understanding of their sentiments.
They stopped on their way down to bid goodbye to Yvindrael who chided them – though not with unkindness and the brusqueness that became her – that they had already said goodbye to each other above, but her tone conveyed gratification.
Their prudence in packing light was to their merit as they now carried many gallons of alcohol back to the harbour.
Their descent was particularly harrowing and undertaken with the greatest of care.
Something was to be said of lack of presence – let alone aid – of their companions but mayhaps that was an anthropocentric view of things, a crime too big to even be thought of and its indulgence best left to the fellows of their species in Lament.
Zander had one solace, at least – that he would not need to participate much in the events that would transpire during the night.
He would mind the ship, most likely with Xara’s assistance.
Comments on the relative ease of his trials and lack of vexation and effort he would undergo were made.
He was also teased about him being meritorious enough to be entitled to an equal share in the vampire’s recompense.
His reply was quite simple once all his driftfellows had taken his shots at him.
He offered to let any other take his place.
Serene silence graced his ears for the rest of their descent.