Open [Alheas Park] Beneath the Trees

[Fraya]

Timestamp: 4th Autumn, 515
Location: Alheas Park, Suraya Plaza

It was a clear, bright afternoon, the sky stretching blue and cloudless above the city of Lhavit. Autumn had only just arrived a few days prior and so it was still much like Summer had been - warm and dry. Syna's light filtered through the leaves of fadeong trees, dancing on the ground below. However the Park was not filled with bright golden sunlight, instead appearing as though it were twilight, hues of red, orange and deep pink lending an ethereal glow to the area.

Fraya often frequented Alheas Park, finding it to be a peaceful alternative to wandering the Misty Peaks. The Peaks are not usually kind to a human, and as the Kelvic was trying to integrate more with the people of Lhavit she found the Park lent her a similar feeling of solitude when she needed it.

On this particular day Fraya was wandering along one of the more densely treed pathways, the reaching branches of the fadeong trees entwining above her head. Around her waist was a small open pouch with a few petals stuffed inside. On her way to the Park she had come across a Leiyona plant and had stopped to cut some of the flower away, recalling the antiseptic properties the sap contains.

Fraya was now crouched over a plant in the shade of the trees, this one small and low-growing. She was carefully removing the flat, circular leaves one-by-one and placing them into the pouch too. Once she had gathered a good handful, she gave the area a quick sweeping glance to make sure she had not missed any other plants she could make use of. Not recognising anything useful, Fraya rose and made her way back to the centre of the Park.

Once there, she settled onto one of the skyglass benches to sort through what she had gathered. It was not much, but Fraya was still in the beginning stages of learning what plants were useful and which were just decorative. The Ipdo, her most recent find, was one of her particular favourites. Not because it had medicinal properties - most just used it to temporarily ward off hunger - but because it let off a wonderful scent when burned that reminded her of the forests at the base of the Peaks.

She had emptied her pouch onto the bench beside her, arranging the petals and leaves so that she could check to see if any were damaged and potentially not useable.

[Alses]

OOCWelcome to Lhavit, by the way

Late Summer had given way to the first blush of Autumn, the distinction this early in the season arbitrary to all but a few. Alses was still reacquainting herself with her autumnal form, the tumbling cascade of crimson hair and the fire-opal skin that blazed like a bonfire in the still-abundant sunlight.

They were past the best of days, of course, when Syna’s regard hung warm and heavy and unblinking on the world and Leth had only a fleeting touch, but Autumn was nonetheless one of her favourite seasons, even if it could never dethrone Summer as sovereign amongst them.

There was something about the endless powder-blue of an autumn sky, the trees like living torches, the sharp crispness to the air in the latter part of the season, the richly warming stews and alcoholic brews that the citizens started to spike their teas with.

That was another thing, too, come to think of it – gone were the insipid herbal tisanes of Summer, all berries and flowers, smelled rather than drunk, and in their place would come the richer and heartier black teas, more flavoursome and characterful, a warming punch to the gut that was just the ticket to ward off the mountain chills.

For now, though, all that was in the future. Lhavit was currently poised on the last precipice of Summer, with the late roses still in bloom and the trees only just beginning to turn from their green palette to the infinitely more varied shades and hues they sported in this most changeable of seasons.

Alses had lived in Lhavit long enough to know its changing faces, and know them well. Each peak had its own essential character, its own way of facing and celebrating the stately march of the seasons. The Sharai, for instance, buzzed and hummed and crackled like a beehive going full bore in the early autumn, as harvests were gathered in and the hothouses reinforced for the oncoming winters, before settling into a lulling haze of celebration and an alcohol-rich fug as distillers and brewers got to work on the fruits of their earlier labours.

Tenten, meanwhile, her own home peak and the first to be touched by the sun, kept the home fires burning bright all through the Autumn, a last-gasp delight in the Summer and the outside in general before it battened down the hatches and prepared with grim countenance to face the winter’s rage.

They and the others were known quantities, predictable – but there was always one place in Lhavit that defied prediction, defied her expectations. Alheas Park, by virtue of the wild djed that suffused it, always had a certain measure of uncertainty about it, a hint of chaos and defiance against the orderly flow of Tanroa’s river.

That was another point in its favour, too; she could experience the wavering twilight moment with ease within the Park’s bounds, could luxuriate in it and enjoy the forever-frozen gathering dusk without fearing the Change’s golden claws would sink into her flesh at any moment.

Stepping across the threshold, boots crunching determinedly on the close-packed dirt of the pathway, Alses was drenched in colour. Magic made everything thicker here, somehow, the dancing shades so vibrant and there in the air that she could almost bite down and chew on a chunk of crimson, or drink a deep draught of blue, colour and magic tangling and tingling on her teeth and earthing on her tongue.

It wasn’t only vision that was enriched here; the smells, too, transcended the normal scheme of things. Here, she drank deep of a wild jasao’s magnified perfume, delighting in the complex arpeggio of floral notes that were normally too faint for her nose to catch, a little further on she bathed in the heady billows of roses, richer even than the massed ranks of them outside her home, and as she rounded the last corner to the sheltered pool which lay at the very heart of the Park, a zephyr cargoed with the full force of a night-sweet jasmine’s blossom sent her reeling in the dusk.

Prismflies, too, perhaps drawn by the glitter of her fire-opal skin and the blaze of her horns, flocked around her, dancing crazy helter-skelter routines and sending rainbowed contrails shimmering in all directions, adding to the overload.

Later, Alses put it down to this sensory smorgasbord that she didn’t sense the other person present sooner, too wrapped up in the synergy between her own enhanced senses and the amplified delights of the Park to notice.

It was a short and relatively easy walk, over good terrain, from the gates of the Park to the tranquil pool at its centre, so loaded with djed that no fish swam within its bounds and the waterlilies were…varied, to say the least.

She let out a faint sigh of relief as her boots fell on the threshold of the pond. Here, in the eye of the storm, so to speak, the battering assault on her senses was lessened, helped further by the subliminal hum from the wanamu trees that twisted and twined around the water’s edge. Even though she knew that constant suggestion was there, and could guard against it if she tried, Alses always found herself relaxing, despite herself. It was so very hard to believe that harm could come to a place like this.

Even with the calming effect of the wanamu, she couldn’t stop the surprised squeak that successfully fought its way clear of her lips as she registered, for the first time, the presence of another in the centre of the Park. It shouldn’t have surprised her, really; Alses knew well enough that the park was a popular retreat for many of the citizens, but she was nonetheless a little wrongfooted.

The other was seated, such that even Alses’ less-than-impressive height saw her tower over the other girl, and seemingly intent on the collection of leaves and flowers she’d spilled over the rainbow skyglass. Even so, there was such a thing as courtesy; her surprised little yelp might have been heard, and taken in the wrong way had she left it.

“Your pardon, miss,” she murmured, voice pitched to be rich and soft and low. “We hadn’t expected anyone else to be here.” Alses’ golden eyes flicked towards the small collection of flora that adorned the bench. There were ipdo leaves, clusters of keokina blossoms, a few mountain roses, a nokkochi branch and much else besides, all the subject of such intense scrutiny Alses had to wonder what secrets the girl was trying to wring forth from Caiyha’s bounty.

“A fan of flora, I presume?” she asked, not seeing any sign of the usual tools and accoutrements of the trade that would have accompanied a professional gardener.

[Fraya]

OOCThank you! You write beautifully

Fraya finished inspecting the ipdo leaves and set them to one side. Her collection of flora was perhaps odd, there did not appear to be a specific trait shared by the plants she had gathered. Earlier in the day the young woman had come up with the idea of writing down what she knew about the various plants she could find around the city. Of course it had been done before, there were many books in the Bharani Library she could reference, but Fraya wanted her own. Plus she felt it would help her learn better.

The Kelvic moved on to the next plant in her collection. It was an odd looking plant - a thin, wiry stem, serrated leaves and a few tiny red flowers. Fraya knew it to be tolm, though she usually found it outside of the city, much closer to the Misty Peaks. Tolm was a useful thing to make into tea when one needed help relaxing.

It was this plant she was inspecting when she was made aware of the presence of another. A noise of surprise caused Fraya to look up from what she was doing. It had been quiet, any other may not have heard it, but the Kelvic possessed hearing that picked up more than most. Her large brown eyes fell upon the source of the sound - an Ethaefal.

Fraya had, of course, seen Ethaefal before, thanks to growing up in Lhavit. But she had never conversed with one - she rarely conversed with anyone save for her few acquaintances. This particular Ethaefal had hair the most beautiful shade of fiery red and horns that glittered gold like Syna. She appeared to be the perfect embodiment of Autumn, proof that the season had really changed, even if it did not feel it to most. It took her a few moments to realise she was staring and quickly arranged her features into a small smile.

"Ah, I uh, I don't usually see anyone else here either." Fraya briefly glanced down at the plants she had collected before returning her gaze to the Ethaefal and nodding. "Yes, I love plants." It was not often she heard the word 'flora' used by another, and so she assumed that the woman too had a liking for such things. "I'm trying to learn more about everything that grows here." She hesitated for a moment. "I don't really know a lot though. I tried to grow something once but it didn't go very well, so I thought I might learn this way." She gave a light shrug. Fraya had no idea if it was the right way to do things, but she was enjoying herself all the same. "I uh, I'm Fraya." She tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear and gave the Ethaefal another smile.

[Alses]

“Alses,” she replied, inclining her shining head in recognition of the name first proffered. “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

Her bright eyes skipped over Fraya – just a glance, but a glance was all she needed; Mizahar was endlessly strange and wonderful, and Alses had long grown used to scanning an area, or a thing, and drinking deep of its secrets in a single pass. Observation, observation and integration, they were second-nature to her now, aligning sight to intent and previous knowledge, a beautiful synthesis that told her so much.

Hard to believe she’d once been so blind.

“Knowledge is a valuable thing,” she agreed placidly. “And plants are quite rewarding. Nice and simple, too. You put in the work, look after them well, and out come results. Tangible results, I mean. Things you can touch and taste and smell and feel.”

She pursed her lips, thinking. “I can see why you came to the park,” Alses remarked, after a moment or two, her eyes dancing around the central clearing. “It’s a good place to look, I admit; there are so many plants around, as you’ve evidently found-” a nod towards the foliage spread out on the rainbowed bench “-but it’s nonetheless…perhaps not the best of places to learn.”

She shrugged, trying to lessen the blow, and continued, voice still that low and richly soothing ripple in the air. “Look around you; magic is everywhere here, in the colours and the scents, in the soil and the water – so much so that no fish swims in the pond, have you noticed? It twists and changes things; what grows here in this neverending twilight moment may well not grow in the same conditions outside the park gates.”

Alses paused, wondering if perhaps she’d gone a little too far. “Just a thought. We could be wrong, of course, but magic is generally a force for change, not stasis.”

A bright and cheery smile, a brilliant sunbeam on an overcast day. “Lhavit is a city of gardens and gardeners, though; there’s no shortage of skilled horticulturalists who’d be only too happy to pass on a few pointers. I garden, a little, although I’ve no especial talent for it. You should try your hand at it again,” Alses encouraged.

“Your first try failed; whatever it was died. So, question! Why did it die? What did you do, or what did you not do? Sometimes, seeing what isn’t there is more important than what is.” She looked pensive for a moment, before continuing, gesturing grandly, expansively as she spoke.

“Look to the ground where you found it, press your fingers to the soil, feel the dampness of it and the texture under your nails. Was it exposed to the howling gales, or sheltered in the lee of a tree, or a cliff? Was it gritty, like sand, or thick and claggy and clinging to your fingers? Did water saturate its environment, or was it arid? Did the unconquered sun glare down, or was there shade and shelter from Her gaze?”

Alses smiled, and all passion and fire drained from her voice and manner as though it had never been, a grand orator collapsing back into a stately Ethaefal in an instant. It was a bright and cheery smile, but it only dimly touched her eyes. “Get the soil and the water and the light right and you’re most of the way there.”

Her eyes twinkled with mischievous knowledge. “Shouldn’t be too hard for you; your senses are sharper than most.”