Weak Nature - Chapter 8

When Fae first yelled out in pain, and Odo looked over, what happened to Fae went a little more along the lines of this.

Immense pain. Whole body, burning, stabbing, piercing pain. Like, I just shoved my hand, then body, into a burning meat grinder. Am I satisfied with that description? Not at all. For Fae, as soon as the blackout happened due to the intense wave of pain, her mind took her elsewhere.

She opened her eyes in a forest, lush, and full of life. Not really expecting much, she tried to connect to the trees, to see what was going on. Walking up to the nearest tree, and putting her hand up to it, she willed the emotion of questioning. Like, super, eyebrow raising what-in-the-name-of-******* questioning. The tree, kinda to her surprise, didn’t respond. A little concerned, Fae with a slight downward tug to her mouth kept going.

The frown not lasting long, Fae was starting to really take in the sights of the forest around her. Trees that are both taller than the mountain her village is near to, and around her hight share the grown with knee high grasses and flowers everywhere. Gentle breezes shook the branches lightly, just enough to see the deep blue sky. Vines that hang from tree to tree add just the right touch of dark colors, with them being anywhere from a really dark purple to a dried blood red.

As Fae wondered further around the forest, she started to hear a tell tale trickle of water. Trusting her hearing, she walked towards it. Looking at the crystal clear water that the tiny stream carried over the grey pebbles and white sand, everything looked as if it was hand-made to look perfect. Picking up a slightly flat stone and scratching one side of it, Fae tossed it in the air to figure out what direction to go next. Left or Right.

When the stone landed, the side she scratched was facing up, so she went downstream, to the left.

While Fae was off on her little adventure, Odo kept a close eye on what was happening to Fae. The first thing to note is the much increased hair length. Since Fae is already around five foot six, it took little to let Odo guess it is about five feet long. Still the bright silver, it had a touch of bright white silver mixed in now. The next very noticeable thing, somewhat hidden by the hair, is the small change to the ears that occured. What should have been a rounded top folded a little anding a very, very slight point. Not too concerned since some bloodlines caused physical changes like that in people around here, he continued his watch.The scary thing for Odo however would be the emerald that seems to keep pulsing around. Coming from the veins and arteries, Fae now had this erie, soft green contrast on her skin, making her look even paler than usual.

Looking at Fae’s hands, it seems that whatever is occurring also has produced a change in her fingernails, making them look that a grey canopy of leaves, forever shifting exactly what shade each little part of the nail is.

Speaking of shifting Canopies, following the stream to the left, Fae started to see bits and pieces of a structure of some kind. Feeling something, Fae broke into a jog, trying to get there closer. She also noticed the closer she got, the stronger the feeling was. What seemed like a much too long, she got into the clearing that it was in. Happy she made it, tired as she was, Fae dropped against a tree to catch her breath. As she rested, she tried to decipher what was actually in front of her.

A dark grey stone jutting out of the ground, it looks more along the lines of a small mound of rock. Rock that was carved into whatever it is though. With jagged edges and an overall look of almost a tombstone, Fae got up and went around. As she got around the one side, she figured out what it was. In the middle of nowhere was a stone throne. Fae was so confused. As soon as she rested her hand against it however, the wave of pain came back, knocking her out cold.

When Fae was knocked out cold in her world, the grass and flowers around her that continued to grow stopped. Taking that as a good sign, Odo got up and carefully, so as to watch the plants in case they did something, went to move Fae.

Picking Fae up, he brought her to the willow and set her within the nook she uses as a bed. Patting the tree, he went to find Aero. Aero, being in the middle of training children of Aether, was surprised to see Odo running at him. More surprised at the running then the at him part however. When he got caught up with what had happened, Odo felt a breeze and the next thing he knew Aero was gone. Sighing, Odo started to run back to Fae.

When Odo arrived at the scene, he saw Aero standing on a branch next to Fae. The more scary thing that he noticed was how a branch seems to be holding him at … branch-point? Sharp-point? At stabbing point, not letting him get closer. Backing off, Aero stated, “I will watch over her. I do not think anything… too bad has happened if the tree is acting this way, but from what the clan has gathered about what could happen when stuff goes like this is… a careful watch and eye is never a bad thing.”

Not one hundred percent sure what he means by a careful watch and eye, but Odo was more than happy to stay along, saying, “I watched this kid grow up. Imma stay and look over her as well.”

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, Aero sat down and went to meditating, keeping a gentle breeze around Fae all the while.