Location: Wilderness just outside of Ravok
Aello was leaning against the bark of a white birch tree. The bark was gray, and covered in large black lines and splotches here and there. The tree was relatively thin, just enough for her quiver to brush up against, and support her back as she sat cross-legged on the cold forest floor before it. The tree was bare, no leaves hung in its upper branches, which weren't tall enough to reach as high as most of the other trees that surrounded it. The tree's trunk was rather thin, making Aello think that it couldn't be too old, or too sturdy at all. The fact that she was a small person using it for support was probably a good thing, considering how if someone any larger than her used it for a support, they may simply knock the tree over.
Aello sighed, as she closed her eyes, and rested her hands on her knees, palm facing up towards the night sky. The sun had fallen behind the trees about an hour before, casting the sky in a wide array of color- deep pinks and purple, yellows and orange, but now, it was simply a dark blue, the moon hiding behind the clouds.
Aello had spent a large portion of the day gathering plants and any other fruits she could from the bushes and the trees, things to eat, things that simply smelled nice; she didn't know if they had any real use, but they smelled good, so that had to count for something, right? Aello sighed heavily as she began to breath in and out, in through the nose, out through the mouth. The day's travel had been rather tiring. Aello needed to meditate simply to relax and clear her mind.
Aello sat up as straight as she could, and began her meditation by concentrating on the top of her head. It felt cold, and several thoughts were facing through her mind- how cold she felt, how she should probably start a fire soon, how nice that white flower she had found earlier smelled... Aello breathed out, releasing her breath with an audible sigh. She willed the thoughts to leave her as she breathed out, and slowly allowed her head to relax. Aello's eyes were fluttering even though they were closed- scrunching tightly shut, and then loosely over and over again. They appeared tense and as Aello continued to simply breath, she willed them to relax, and finally, they did, growing heavy and finally, no longer twitching.
Aello then proceeded to relax the rest of her body, a body that appeared to be experiencing nothing other than tension. First she moved onto her cheeks, and then her mouth. Then, she allowed her neck and shoulders to relax. The tension in her arms and her hands, her fingertips disappeared. Then her chest. Slowly, Aello continued to breath in through the nose, out through the mouth, each exhalation bringing on another wave of relaxation. She ended with bringing her legs and her feet into a relaxed state. She felt like she was floating, which, she hoped, was a good thing.
Aello began to focus on her breath, concentrating on how many times she let it in, and then out. Allowing herself to hold her breath for at least five seconds at a time before letting it out, allowing the air to fill her lungs before releasing it into the cold night sky again. Aello performed eleven breath cycles, and then began to slowly chant as she breathed. "Relax, relax, relax," she whispered into the wind, almost breathlessly. She did this for fifteen minutes before she slowly opened her eyes, and simply sat in silence for a minute, allowing her brain to wander, and the new feeling of lightness she had created through her meditation to overcome her.
And that is when she began to wonder if the plants and things she had gathered had another use, a use other than food or aromatherapy. Perhaps, she thought, that she could perform a little experiment. Perhaps she could make soulmist with ingredients other than the usual soft cheese, flour, egg, and blood. Thus, Aello reached for her bag and pulled out two empty glass jars, the jars she always used when she was making soulmist.
White Birch :
