So does the Doe fall, Casted to the Sea [PK]

[ValleyOfLavender 192]

So does the Doe fall, Casted to the Sea

Spoiler

 

 

We are not what other people say we are, we are who we know ourselves to be. 

 

Falling endlessly, feeling the wind rushing past me… i was rushing through the wind? I couldn't tell but I also couldn't care less, but during this fall I find myself reflecting through the life I have lived, the life I wanted to live, those I am leaving behind, had I made an impact in their lives? 

 

Floria reached her hand above, reaching for the sky, thoughts, no memories rushed through her mind from the earliest she could remember to the latest. 

 

“A flower, for you my lady” A red haired elf, young and cheesy trying to impress young Floria, a friend of her cousins and her first love, young and foolish Floria had accepted that flower that day while sat next to her mother and that little flower lead to so much more “what are you two doing you're going to get hurt!” Laughter filled my mind, my laughter a sound I have not made in so long, watching as my best friend at the time and cousin were sparing, messing around more like, while me, their superior was watching  in amusement, is that really how easy my life had been back then? The Tomfoolery continued before I turned to “hey, how about marrying me?” It was asked in such a cheeky way I thought he was joking so how could I decline “alright why not” that simple agreement, lead our relationship in such a precarious way, I was too young, too foolish.

 

“You’ll both get yourself killed! Dhyvo!” this time Fear ran through me, a memory of my first fight, my first time almost seeing someone I love almost die, my cousin Dhyvo thrown against a wall by a minotaur knocked out cold, I saw red, but apparently so did someone else, pushed out of a way a blurry figure ran past towering over everyone else, he dealt the final blow to the beast, I suppose I was glad, I could step back and aid the injured fallen, but before I could reach for anyone the scene changed.

 

“Hey, I'm sorry I'm looking for Togrim? He saved my life id like to thank him” a crimson haired fellow, someone I never regret meeting “oh that's my uncle! Hi I'm Floria” my hand took in his and smiled shone my way “im Vakas” a meeting that changed my life, for the better. 

 

“Scars are beautiful, they show your strength” the scene had changed again, sitting in a garden Vakas by my side “you think?...” an unsure question came from myself with my hand reaching for my right eye, was I always that self conscious of my scars? I suppose I must have been but this man's words lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. 

 

“Grayson…” a baby boy with red hair and green eyes just born the first of Florias but certainly not the last “your going to be big and strong, just like me and your father, you have to warriors for parents after all” were my first words as a mother, my pride high, too high, but the more children I had, how those words changed, changed for the better.

 

“Its nothing!... don't worry about it dear okay?” I stood there with Juniper, someone I had always seen as a daughter and my now eldest son Grayson. What was i trying to hide? Its all a bit fuzzy. “you’ll get better, you will… I'll find someone to make you better!” I turned and the scene changed in a house with my second eldest Theo “don't give me that look, everything will be fine” a dying woman's words, trying to console her son, but her son kept his promise someone was found someone saved his mothers life

 

“Now... eyes… painful'' a familiar voice, said calmly but I cant remember what he was trying to say, was was he, a scream filled the air my scream a familiar agony, a once broken skull forced back into place the scent of blood filling the air, this memory so far, so distant, the sound of a door opening, panicked steps, the last of the scene my worried son Theo reaching out. 

 

Reaching out Flower in hand a wood elf, he looks so much like Theo “a pretty flower, for a pretty woman” flirtatious, and annoying ‘What… a punchable face…’ a thought said within my mind but I dare not say aloud this scene replayed over and over… no he brought different flowers for every encounter “what a strange man” finally a thought was released, but he took it with pride, that cheerfulness of his, I thought I could never get use to it, but then I could never be without it. The scene changed and the two of us holding rings we both made together finally I found my salvation in him, a loneliness I held deep within left me. 

 

“Syvis”, a struggled voice, escaped me as I plunged into water struggles, a pain in my heart. The last thing I saw was a songbird flying above my right hand reaching out words  but this was only a dream. Florias eyes blurred as she called out for her husband it was difficult to breath, her chest hurting, but slowly everything stopped the pain went away it didn't hurt anymore, the life had slipped away from the elfess, laying in her bed, Letters left to the side, she had been suffering, dying and finally the suffering stopped she now rested but tears streaks down her cheeks, she had not wanted to die.

 

Letters sat aside all in separate piles to be sent by whoever would find her body.

 

To my children

 

All my job entailed was to make sure you all were prepared to see the world, but I was unprepared, I did the best I could but still I failed. 

 

Theo I was hard on you as you grew up, scared, scared I'd lose you like I had lost so many others wanting you to take our life slow, not get into to much to fast, but you grew into a fine young man, raising a beautiful family of your own, I couldn't be prouder, you went through so much on my account looking after me when I was sick and dying, I can't imagine how that must have made you feel. 

 

Azra, my smart boy, saying I'm proud of you doesn't even describe how I feel, ever since you was small I watched you grow into a wonderful young man, I hope you continue on your road, you have so much potential as long as you put your mind to it, you can succeed in anything I'm sure. 

 

Nevio you've barely started your life, my youngest son, just like Azra your bright, the times you've sat with me in my office and and shown interest in my work and in so many of your books, one of the smartest people I know, keep your head high, and know your strength. 

 

Maln, I've made mistakes, I was not the best for our family, I almost tarnished our name I never for that, I was foolish and did not know best, I still don’t I want to do my best for the Kaeronin Family I want to do my best for you, I failed and all I can do is apologize I did not do better, I should have stayed within Amathine, but I did not know of our history, it hurt when I was accused of being a fake Kaeronin, I wish I had been told what I was doing wrong and taught, I should have asked. 

 

To all my children know you are all loved, I love you so much, be safe, be strong and live, live well and don't let your lives end short. Showing your strengths for all of you are precious and capable of anything if you put your hearts and minds to it, even if these days are my last, when I'm gone you will be okay.

 

Friends 

 

Fal’leon, my uncle, of recent there was a misunderstanding, and I'm sorry for all that trouble, I never wished to try and hurt a student, to take your teachings for granted, I would never dream of doing such, but to see how that cheeky dedicant said such a joke, I understand why people were worried so I apologize for everything.

 

Narithen, your bold as brass, maybe too much so for your own good, making jokes, and dramatizing things often will not lead to humour but troubles as you had witnessed, however your young, you’ll learn, I had joy in teaching you for the small amount of time that I did, if you continue down the druidsm path if your taught well, you'll become a fine drui, I did not get the best teaching during my dedicancy, my teacher died after I was attuned, leaving me as an attuned druid not knowing my gift, I was a druid in attunement but I wasn't one in practice. I had to hop from teachers to use my gifts but I was not taught from there, no one showed me the true drui way, and so I was an imprudent teacher, unfit to guide. 

 

Medea my Niece, I loved you as if you were my own daughter, you grew well, and now leading your own nation I am proud, I wish I had time to make amends fully, for past event clear my side, but my time has come, so I will watch from afar continue well. 

 

Vakas you were there for me when I was dying along with Theo, I'm not sure how we ended, why we ended, I was upset, so angry for so long, but I'm not anymore, know I'm not upset, I'm not angry, after everything you were there, and I appreciated that, I appreciate you, you were one of my best friends, and I love you for it.

 

Finally to whom I view as my soulmate, someone I found when I looked into his eyes, my worries disappeared, which made me happier, then ever, for his laugh, his smile is infectious to whoever bears witness.

 

Syvis, you lifted me when I was at my lowest, you brought joy to my life, you were my best friend but more, the one person in the world that knew me better than anyone else, you made me a better person, actually you didn't make me a better person but you inspired me to become better even gone, I will carry you with me forever, you were the one person who knew me and accepted me, believed in me before anyone else did or when no one else would, and no matter what happened or happens you’ll always have my love and nothing will ever be able to change that, sometimes actually most of the time people don't realize the best thing that could happen to them, is already right there, sitting right under their nose, and for me, Syvis that was you, for so long, I could only ever wonder and then years ago I turned to a complete stranger for comfort but instead, I found everything that I had ever been looking for, my whole life in you, I'm sorry I'm leaving so early, when we had a whole future ahead of us. 

 

 

With her body now lifeless the butterflies that always accompanied floria slowly started to disperse leaving the women to rest alone leaving her prayers with her family and friends. a druid as fallen.

[JTMedea 495]

The elfess has been having many busy days in her nation, documents piled and construction of Vikela's palace was progressing. The elfess took a seat from building to take in the beautiful scenery, just then a bird arrived with a letter. Upon opening the letter, the elfess fell limp when her eyes landed upon the news of her aunt's passing. Warm tears once again streamed down the elfess's face. Her aunty was right, over time they grew apart and the past was never made amends, but she loved her aunt truly. "Aunty..." The elfess cried "I'm sorry...I should have been better...I wish I could have fixed what was broken...I'm sorry for letting you down..." Medea puts the letter down as she looked up to the cloud, her hands together like she was praying "May you find peace in the eternal forest...if we were to ever meet again, I would gladly be your niece once more..."

[MockingbirdArt 572]

Azra looked at the letter in disbelief. He read it over and over, trying to find some fault in it that would prove it was a joke, but after he traveled to his family's home in Vortice, only to find it empty, that's when reality hit him hard. His mother was indeed gone.

Maybe if he hadn't shut himself out from the world and paid more attention to those around him, he would have seen his mother's struggles; he could have prevented this. He took things for granted, knowing that his mother would always be there, but now... she's not.

As the world fell apart around him and his heart broke into countless pieces, Azra fell to the floor of his once lively home; no one heard his cries or saw his tears.

"Kae am so llun, Haelun..."

[DizzyGrey 32]

Narithen hunched over, looking down at the letter in his hand. Seated on the edge of his bed, the ker's eyes were shrouded by his stark white hair as he stares down at the note. His thumb creases the paper as emotions overwhelm him, and he lets out a long sigh. His free hand comes up to rub and wipe at his eye, and he leans back with a sniffle, clearly trying to keep his emotions in check.

"..." The prince crinkles the letter some more, before letting out a calming breath, and making to gently put it down on his dresser before punching his own knee. "Damn it." He mutters.

 

He opens his mouth to say something. Anything. Something dramatic, or a message for Floria's spirit. A promise, or... a message, or something worthy of her memory.

But nothing came, and he hung his head low again. 

"Damn it." He repeats quietly, sitting alone in his dark room.

[UniBearse 725]

Footsteps was heard throughout the squeaky floorboard, Syvis had made sure he didn't have the scent of a smoke before stopping in front of the bedroom door. He was thinking about the incoming hassle of moving out from their home but nonetheless it was going to be a fun activity for him and Floria, he should just recommend the life of a wanderer performer with her as he used to be one. "Wake up sleeyhead, we can get a nice meal before we start transporting things out" He spoke as soon as he entered the room, watching his beloved that had a calm expression in her sleep, raising a hand to gently stroke her cheek as he admired her. What a cold touch to the skin.

 

Syvis frowned at this as he gently moved to hold her cheek, her hand, and lastly her wrist. There was silence, a deafening silence that filled the bedroom as the sun shined through the glass windows. "I see....was it too hard to keep holding on? it's alright...I'll lay you in a bed of flowers and surrounded by your favorite Lily of the Valley. you worked hard..." He sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around her frail body, saying nothing, not wanting to break the silence that comforted him.

 

Seeing the stacks of letters by the bedside drawer, he would start delivering them to those names mentioned.

[NightcastorKitty 1210]

 

 

 

 

 

It was a familiar feeling that the Fawn felt once before. A tugging upon her soul as nature would suddenly fall silent for, but a moment all around her. A breath held in an endless sea of stillness that grasp the crisp air of early spring. A sense of longing soon followed as an ivory mist of a fawn would appear slowly walking pass her. The Lounto responding to such a call as well, giving way to a realization within her mind that caused several tears to form, before gently running down her cheeks. 

 

"May Amaethon guide you to peace.." the Fawn would utter, now lulling the songs of nature into a soft, peaceful hymn of mourning. 

[Cheese 2307]

Juniper, upon hearing the news, shut herself away in her room for some time. She allowed herself to grieve in silence, away from any nature she may harm; a small, temporary favor she could offer the fallen woman.

 

”….You were good to me,” Juniper murmured, staring up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes, reminiscing the times in Elysium Floria had protected her; the times in Celia’nor Floria had taken her side, and the times in Helious where Floria had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go.

 

When Juniper opened her eyes again, there were tears. “Rest well, Floria. You were a good mother to me.” 

[minarichankun 83]

Nevio sat at his desk most of his books scattered across the floor of his room, he held tightly onto the note in his hand as he sobbed. Nevio continued to sit there at his desk for a few minutes before speaking. "Haelun.... I'll never forget you...." He then stood up moving to knock on the door to his roommate's room "H-hey Leo.... can we talk please?." he asks before just going to sit at the kitchen table. Nevio reads the letter again and again before folding it up as small as he can and placing it within the locket on his necklace. He leans back in his chair before dozing off tears still streaming down his cheeks.

[Turbo_Dog 1433]

From beyond the soul stream in his afterlife a apron-less musin in spectral over sized cloths looked on, the words of Floria echoing in his mind from his passing. He longed to meet his old friend from times long passed again, but there he was in his world, and her being led to her own peaceful place “This is more bitter than greens.” Flour said as he walked amongst the ancestral realm 

[Tigergiri 2866]

Andria sat alone in her chambers, the weight of recent events pressing heavily upon her. The joy of reuniting with her long-lost brothers quickly turned to sorrow as she grappled with her daughter's passing, Floria. Questioning the depths of her own heart, she wondered if perhaps the ice that seemed to run through her veins had numbed her to the pain of loss. Was she still under the water, being tortured? Floria's death, announced to her as if it were mere gossip, struck her like a dagger through the soul. Some Druid, they said, but to Andria, she was the youngest of her daughters, her precious child lost to the world before her time. Yet, as she stared blankly at her cold coffee long after the talks, she felt nothing. No tears, no cries of anguish. Only a cold, empty void where her maternal instincts should have resided. She recalled the countless tears she had shed before, mourning the daughter she had once loved so fiercely. But now, faced with the reality of her absence, she was struggling to even shed a tear. 

 

Had she failed as a mother? The thought gnawed at her. Cracks within the ice, a thin layer that was just holding the ocean at bay, storms. Perhaps it was the years of threats and betrayals that had hardened her heart, numbing her to the pain of loss. Or maybe it was watching her daughter stray from the path of honor and duty, choosing instead to defy the very principles Andria had fought so hard to uphold. She had tried, in her distant way, to be a mother to her and to guide her along the right path. But each attempt had been met with resistance and defiance until finally, their relationship had fractured beyond repair. Andria was not one to say sorry. 

 

Was she truly the cold-hearted woman that whispers painted her to be, or was it merely a facade, a mask she wore to shield herself from the pain of a lifetime filled with loss and betrayal? Memories of Floria, sharp and jagged, pierced through the icy barrier she had erected around her heart. She thought back to the moments that had defined her, the choices she had made that had led her down this path.  Was it before or after Floria defied the king of Urguan, risking other people's lives for the sake of her convictions? Or perhaps it was long before when Andria caught a fleeting glimpse of a girl in a city, a girl who bore a striking resemblance to the daughter she had entrusted to Kailu's care before marching into Haelun'or to confront her treacherous uncle. 

 

The warmth of her fiancé's presence beside her seeped into her bones, melting the icy barrierrs. She felt a stirring of longing, a yearning for something she couldn't quite name. And then, as if in response to her silent plea, warmth began to spread through the cup of cold coffee cradled in her hands, thawing the frost that had settled over her soul. "Oh," she said, her voice distant. A single tear slipped from her eye and into the inky depths of the coffee. "Thank you." 

[Periphonics 358]

Fal'leon exhales as he read what's dedicated to him, a grimace forming upon his features. "Shame... I'd 'ave expec'ed tae see ye try tae be a be''er guide." He mutters to the nothing, perhaps to the paper, perhaps to the Doe's spirit.

Memories flicker by, the decades of their friendship, their kinship. His early days in Vikela, his youth and place among their Ministry seats, alongside the Vanari's, alongside Floria. The wars they'd waged as soldiers together, the laws passed, fights, debates, coronations, tavern nights in the sprawling city. He recalls watching her grow and age. He recalls learning of her choice to take up the druidic path, when he was still young and freshly attuned, long before the days of his now earned respect. Fal'leon remembers hearing her wish to uptake the trials of his seed, proud to have kin, even if simply by adoptive means, seek to pursue his path. His desires to see the woman grow into a true druid. He had known her for a lifetime, humans had been born and died between their meeting and parting, an entire generation joined and left the world, and now she among them. Feeling the ache of nature draws more emotion than he wished, despite the deep frown on his lips, tears spill, and the ferns within the lush cave in which he meditates weep for their loss.

Melancholy, perhaps. They parted ways on poor terms, his rage in having his guidance misused.  He wonders now, was he justified? An overreaction? Surely not, if so many others had felt the same anger as he. And yet, in her parting, all she wrote, all she recalled, was this instance. Not of any other, not of his guidance, any bond they had shared, not his decisiveness in maintaining relations and aid when she struggled.

Bitterness? Sadness? Wrath? The Corvid's emotions swirl and churn, unable to decide which wanted to be the one most prominent. Perhaps none of them were, perhaps none were as he felt?. Disappointment. For all the Doe could have been, for all she failed to be, for all she chose not to be on this day. His teeth grit, and the paper is cast aside. "Ye were nae mean' tae be a druid, malii'larion, I think. Ye were a figh'er, one who cared fer na'ure, bu' tha pressure, tha r'quiremen's o' this path were ne're mean' tae be... Alas, leas' i' means I can still visi' ye." A perhaps evil, mischievous grin passes Fal'leons expression now, "I do 'ope ye didnae think ye'd ne'er see me again..."

And with such, his list of druids to seek in the Eternal forest grows, and the Corvid utters out a prayer, in hopes that his fall niece's soul may rest easy among the Fae. His family tree shrinks once more.

 

Spoiler

Floria has always been such a fun character to know, and it's a shame she had to go without meeting her full potential. Don't worry though, I'll go find her in the forest