Withered Away [PK]

[Sybbyl0127 629]

Some mood music

 

     “Mom, are you going out again?” Called the young boy, as his mother hovered by the door, her hand resting on the handle. Though she paused for a short moment, her eyes on her fingers, she pulled the door open slowly with her brow gently knit together, and as she walked through she closed it quietly behind herself.

Haku frowned as the door closed, looking over the empty space left in their home. He sighed deeply, and went upstairs.

     Outside, the sun hung lazily in the center of the sky above. A cloud or two here and there passing by, casting great shadows that flew across the earth below. Birds called, and creatures of all manner wandered the lands that the inhabitants of this grove called, home. 

Great trees towered above, but a little outside this haven of nature, just down the cobbled road, a lonely figure stood in the grass. She gazed longingly out, down the roads, across the hills on the horizons. Her hands, fingers crossed together, resting by her chest as the gentle breeze played with her hair. 

     The sun kissed her pale skin, and made her golden locks shine like it’s own light, but there she stood. Long after the sun had gone, and the white moon had risen in the sky, there she still stood. Her once golden hair had begun to fade into grey. 

Age, and tragedy, had taken her thoughts. Taken, the sparkle in her eyes, the playful smile on her lips. Too many scars, too many tears, now none were left for her to cry. She was lost, trapped in a time from long ago, waiting here for something that would never truly come.

 

“My dearest Vivianne,
   How are you? I hope you are well, I have told my sons the stories that you’ve sent me in your letters. Who’d have thought our beautiful sister would grow so much in so little time? I write you this letter to let you know that during some travels, I and Demitri will be able to cross through the lands you’re in, we can see each other again! Like old times. 

I’ve sent letters to our other brothers as well, in the hopes we can all come together again, to see each other once more face to face! Do you think Eric may have grown taller?
I heard that Aaron has a new daughter on the way as well, our family grows ever larger!

I hope to see you soon, my darling sister,

With love, Reimond.
4th of Grand Harvest, 1462”

     The letter clutched in her hands, the paper thin and cracked, browning with age. Still she stood upon the road, her eyes far away, staring into the memories of a world that no longer existed, trapped in her own mind.
Her lips cracked, and as her bones began to ache, the life of nature around her welcomed her. Roots protruded from the earth beneath her feet, twisting together into a stool, as a vine reached out, to gently guide her onto the seat.

 

     Every day, her son brought her food and drink, giving her water and feeding her food, draping blankets over her shoulders at night. He spoke to her, calmly, hoping that this would end. He had grown used to the days where his mother would live in her past, but this one had gone on much longer than before. As the days went on, she took less and less of the food, but the boy continued to come. He held her hands, hugged her, greeted her in the mornings. All this, and yet, she stared still past him, through him, lost. He cried for her, until his father came to put his arm around the boys shoulder and lead him back home, tears in his own eyes.

     As her pale skin tightened over her bones, and her body became weak, the roots grew further beneath her. They rose up more from the earth, building themselves up so her back could rest. Though the whisper of nature around her, urged her to leave this place, to eat, to drink.. To sleep, her ears no longer heard them, and her eyes no longer saw the roads that they stared upon. She was already far away.

     The trees cried as the flowers reached up for her, begging her to listen, to see, to come back. The roots behind her grew ever more, holding up her weakened body as more and more of her energy wasted away. In time, a tree had begun to form, where she leaned upon its bark.

As this new tree’s voice finally reached Vivianne’s ears, she blinked, and silence fell over the worried whispers around her.

     “They aren’t coming, are they?” She spoke, in a broken whisper, her breath short, and wheezing as her body labored in exhaustion. All around her, sadness encompassed the many voices she could barely hear. “I wondered.. When the time, would finally catch me.” She gently closed her eyes, a single tear slipping onto her cheek. Her cracked lips smiled, her cheekbones sharp beneath her pale skin.

“If I’d.. Never been, turned into a monster..” She took deep, haggard breaths. “I could have lived, such a normal life,” She said, with a break in her voice. She tried to open her eyes, but her energy had finally been used with those last few spoken words, she took one last breath, and whispered an apology.

     The tree cried out, reaching around her to hold up her exhausted form, holding onto her as her sweet, loving soul, slowly slipped away. 

It was there that her body stayed, as the tree that had worked so hard just to reach her far away mind with its young voice, held onto her. It grew around her slowly, as her connection to their world faded into the nothingness. 

     Though the Mint druid had gone, time passed on. Every day, her son came to the tree that now functioned as her grave, and sat among its roots. Haku had understood, his ancient mother hadn’t long left in the living world, but it still hurts.. And now a flame was lit underneath him, he’d do what she had wanted for him, for him to be attuned with nature, like she was. If only to thank this tree, for holding his mother up as her strength left her, and to thank for the plants that gathered round it, for staying with her in her last moments.

For many nights, he’d have sweet dreams, of himself standing in the long swaying grass, surrounded by vines and flowers. He’d sit by the tree and talk through the night, falling asleep leaning against its trunk where his mother lay to rest.

[z3m0s 1957]

I cried

[Buhru 129]

F

 

[osumanduas 1442]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

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