A young teen comes up to the meditating Wraithvine, sits down, and leans on hir. They just need a comforting presence right now, as they sniffle and sob softly to themselves. This person seemed to radiate peace, and they badly needed to feel that, at least for a little while. -- Anon Guest
Elves did not originate in the mortal plane, or Mundis Mortalidae as it is also known. They started in Nanogh, and were brought into the world by both accident and Dragons. At least, as the stories would have it. They found certain things to be drastically horrifying once they got there. Such as the need for food and sleep.
Dreams still terrify Elves born in the mortal plane. Which is why they meditate. When they do so, they connect in part to the magical plane, and gravity is one the many laws they temporarily break. In brief... they levitate when they meditate.
Brielle Schneiderin did not initially see that the Elf was one foot in height above hir meditation mat. There was an assumption of cushions and some heavy winter wear in the equation. So when she sat beside hir and leaned, she was very much startled by pushing Wraithvine away from hir intended perch. There were no cushions. There was, however, a very startled Elf who had a bruised... dignity.
After the hue and cry, the hurried babbling, and the further fountain of tears and self-blame... Wraithvine gently took Brielle's hands in hirs and said, "Breathe. Slowly. Gently. Carefully."
Some shuddering sobs still escaped her, but they eventually slowed to a halt.
"Now," said Wraithvine. "Tell me your woes. I'm listening."
She couldn't to anything right by anybody. At all. Ever. People said one thing and meant another and she could never tell what they really meant and there were people with false smiles covering their cruel hearts and she never understood how they could keep pressuring her into trusting them, even when she accurately predicted their inevitable betrayals and WHY did nobody in authority ever take it seriously when she tried to explain and nobody ever listened and nobody ever said what they meant and people kept instructing her to do things like she understood what they meant but when she asked for clearer instructions, they just repeated themselves and it never made any sense at all...
"...and I just thought I could run away and be peaceful somewhere and I found you and I thought... I could be calm with you. Soak it up somehow. I don't know. And now I've hurt you, too. I mess everything up."
While listening to her story, Wraithvine had taken some of hir hair and some grasses from the immediate area, weaving them together in an intricate series of knots. A little sparkling magic dried the grasses in their new form, and another spell made the whole work impermeable to harm. Ze also drew a pin from hir hat, to add it to her shirt-collar.
"This will prevent people from causing you woe. And I can teach you the way to be calm as I was. Would you like to learn?"
"Please?" said Brielle.
It took an hour, and Brielle learned fast when her teacher knew how to teach well. Brielle opened her eyes in a much better emotional state than when she started.
"I didn't float like you did."
"Of course not. You haven't been practicing for a hundred years."
[Photo by nine koepfer on Unsplash]
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