#bellanthe

Evuine couldn’t care much about the opinions of her fellow Sylvari right now - her head was pounding. She had chosen a place in some ferns to lie down a moment.

Bellanthe was a little uneasy, being around all of these Sylvari. It was her first time in the Grove, but it was made a little better by the presence of her four minions. Nevertheless, as she walked, she chanced by some ferns, which were apparently alive, leading her to virtually step on one of those… Sylvari. Flinching back, she stumbled a little, a grimace on her face. “Uh, my bad.”

Evuine didn’t move, didn’t make any indication she’d heard anything.

Esilaqui was wandering idly about the Grove. She was bored to tears. Being too much of a coward to venture out of the safety of the Grove, she had stayed behind while her friends went out to Caledon Forest to slay some beasts. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a human standing carefully next to some ferns. She did a double take. What was a human doing in the Grove, she wondered.

Apparently, the plant, uh, person wasn’t fazed by her intrusion, leading B to step back awkwardly. “Um,” her expression uncomfortable whilst her eyes swept back to another Sylvari - this one blue. “What’re you lookin’ at, houseplant?”

“Um,” Esilaqui stammered. She would’ve blushed, if Sylvari blushed. “Sorry…”

Evuine finally began to sit up, feeling her headache wante. She frowned and blinked up at the human, surprise not present on her tired face. “Oh, look, company.”

Bellanthe waved the blue Sylvari off. She wasn’t looking to start anything ye. Besides, the woman she’d almost stepped on was sitting up now - just as blase as ever. “Your kind often blend in with the ferns like that?” A stupid question, even moreso considering she wasn’t aware Evuine couldn’t hear her.

The blue Sylvari disappeared in her fear, and Evuine sighed. With a head tilt, she looked up at the human. She didn’t catch whatever the human had said, and replied with “So what brings you to the Grove, human?”

Bellanthe exhaled, combing her fingers through her hair. “Um, honestly? Wrong turn into plant hell.”

Daibhaidh curiously approached when he spotted something different in the Grove - a human. He’d only laid eyes on the a few times. He munched on strawberries and learned on the fence, listening.

Evuine threw a wary glannce at the male Sylvari, but didn’t keep her gaze on him long enough to tell if he was talking. “Did you just say plant hell?” She chuckled, “Must be, to a human. I assume where you’re from isn’t literally made of trees.”

Daibhaidh’s brow creased… he didn’t understand why he was getting a look. This was perfectly interesting after all.

Bellanthe eyed the blue Sylvari. More of them. Gods, this was getting weird. The whole sentient plant race thing was still kind of mind-numbing to her. The girl who traveled with literal undead beasts. She grimaced and stared between the two Sylvari. “We eat salads, and… isn’t that cannibalism? she asked Daibhaidh, referring to his strawberries.

Daibhaidh: “... You eat meat and that isn’t?”

Bellanthe: “Touche.”

Evuine frowned, not understand the human’s words, until she saw her looking at the blue man. She didn’t look at him quickly to catch his response, nor the human’s, so she just stood.

Bellanthe licked her lips, chewing idly on her bottom one as the silence settled. “Do you know this guy?” she asked Evuine. Or maybe Sylvari just gathered like this. How was she supposed to know?

Daibhaidh chewed a little slower and then offered some strawberries from the large scooped leaf he held them in to Evuine.

Evuine was glad to have caught something she could use. “No, I don’t,” she replied, “But he seems nice enough.” Catching his movements in the corner of her eye, she turned. She accepted one of the clear runts of the bunch with a, “Thanks.”

Daibhaidh: “You’re welcome.” He was still watching her curiously. His innocent mannerisms were a dead giveaway that he hadn’t been in the world long.

Bellanthe let her hands fall. Okay. So this was a Sylvari… thing. “Um, okay,” she stared at Evuine, then Daibhaidh. “Got a names, leaves?”

Daibhaidh: “David. Do you have a name?”

Bellanthe: David. His name was David. There was no way. She couldn’t help it; she laughed. “Wait. Seriously?” she almost snorted. “I’m B.” She glanced toward Evuine, hoping she take care of her own intro.

Daibhaidh: “...Bee? Like the insect?”

Bellanthe: “Sure. Like the insect.” Worked for her. So long as no one called her ‘Bellanthe’ or even knew about the name.

Daibhaidh: “That’s not a bad name. A bit unexpected for a human but bees play their part too.”

Evuine shrugged, wondering if she’d caught all of that correctly. Bee? “My name is Evuine. It’s good to meet you.” She vaguely guessed about the man’s age, and what information she could weasel out of him.

Bellanthe: “It’s not that deep pal,” she winced looking to Eve. “So, you guys, um,” she gestured vaguely between them. “...sylvari, wake up? Fully grown and stuff?”

Evuine laughed, “No, we all used to be actual plants at one point, until we evolved enough to understand other people. Then we evolved legs. Messy time in history - I won’t go into it.”

Daibhaidh looked down at himself and then up to her. Evuine was giving a strange look. “...that’s-  Are you feeling alright, sister?”

Evuine wasn’t looking at David, unfortunately and didn’t even bat an eye at his words.

Bellanthe: Oh, my gods. That was- … terriffying. Says the necromancer. The thought of plants growing legs and learning to think, talk, and feel? Bellanthe was going to have nightmares for weeks. “That’s very… unique.” Not the word she was going for, but hey.

Evuine began to cackle, doubling over. Her laugh was distorted, almost wrong, like her voice - which sounded like she had nose plugs on.

Daibhaidh watched, troubled by it… he’d not yet learned to lie. He knew people did. It just didn’t occur to him to do so.

Bellanthe stared at Eve, then David. With every passing moment, she was feeling more uneasy. Were all Sylvari this strange? “I’m sorry, is something funny?” Because she was just feeling horrified.

Daibhaidh: “I don’t…. get it either… And we are born as you see us. Your people come into the world unfinished?”

Evuine didn’t catch anything B said, only attempted vaguely to collect herself. “It’s a joke, human. Yeah, Sylvari are born full-grown. I cannot believe you bought that!” She spoke over David, though very unaware of this fact.

Daibhaidh: “If humans come into the world incomplete does that mean the world is their dream?”

Bellanthe felt like a jackass. But she had to admit there was something about Eve she liked, despite the trickery. “Humans are born little and ugly. Some grow out of the ugly, some don’t.” She shrugged.

Daibhaidh: “Oh… well… I suppose it’s a good thing you did.”

Bellanthe: “But there’s nothing dreamy about the world, /David/,” she still couldn’t believe that was his name. “It kind of all blows.”

Daibhaidh: “...Blows? Because of the Nightmare Court?”

Bellanthe: Was she getting hit on by a living fern? Good gods, what a day. She really needed to get back to that asura ate. “Is that some Sylvari thing?” she asked of Eve, despite it being David’s suggestion.

Evuine was confused for a moment at B’s words, but considering the intriqued look on David’s face, he must have said something. She looked at him soon enough to catch his words and swore to herself. He was clearly young - she had gathered that much. He was far too innocent to be more than a year old, probably younger. She’d been hoping… but, nevermind. Not hearing B, she said to David, “The Nightmare Court is… not something that blows, I don’t think. What do you know of the Nightmare Court, brother?”

Daibhaidh: “Like the wind blows? ...I know they steal young saplings and poison their minds and hearts against the dream. I know they see the world as devoid of all good things which they deem an illusion. I know I never want to be one of them and I will fight them to the death if they try to harm me or my friends.”

Bellanthe: Suddenly, the conversation was getting weird again. (Or, perhaps it had been so this entire time.) Kicking at the ground with the balls of her right foot, she cleared her throat. “So, this is a intra-sylvari thing. Got it.”

Evuine shook her head. “You really are young - something that blows is something that sucks. Something that’s bad.” She sighed at his words over the Nightmare Court - clearly more indoctrination by the Pale Tree, and he was probably too far gone to bring back, so she decided to avoid blowing her cover. “Well, I don’t know much about them,” she finally settled on.

Daibhaidh looked puzzled now. “How can something both suck and blow at the same time?”

Evuine groaned. “It’s a metaphorical ‘blow’, not an actual blow.”

Bellanthe: So many dirty jokes just entered B’s mind, but for the sake of having to explain them to this apparently ‘young’ sylvari, she stayed quiet.

Daibhaidh: “That doesn’t make sense to me… I’m going to go ask Malomedies about it. He’s fairly wise. I’m sure he’ll explain it. Good day to you both.” He bowed.

Bellanthe: “See ya, leaves.”

Daibhaidh: “... and it’s not ‘leaves’ ...it’s David.”

Evuine frowned. Malomedies. It was amusing to her that he found it necessary to ask this person, but she stayed quiet about it. “Bye… leaves.”

Bellanthe pursed her lips. “So. Anyway. ‘Bout this Nightmare Court thing, is that sort of like the human rebels?” Because she could get behind that.

Evuine had lingered too long on the departing brother, and missed most of what B had said. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”

Bellanthe didn’t think much of it, nor had she yet assumed anything about Eve. “Yeah, the Nightmare Court. I asked if it was similar to human rebels or anarchists.”

Evuine: “A-anarchists? I suppose so. They do have some government. They’ve just abandoned the Pale Tree and Ventari.”

Bellanthe: “I’m guessing the ‘Mother Tree,’ or whoever doesn’t like that?”

Evuine: “No, not at all. She created a stigma with the rest of the Sylvari that isn’t accurate, a blind devotion.”

Bellanthe: “Typical,” she scoffed. “Doesn’t seem like a bad group, anyway. Can’t say I blame them for branching off.” B, for one, couldn’t stand the monarchy.

Evuine tilted her head, feeling an interesting opportunity arising. “You agree with them?” Her words were careful, calculating.

Bellanthe: “I mean, I don’t know enough about them, but from what I understand, they sound like my kind of people. Or… you know.” Since they were plants.

Evuine was liking B more and more. “Interesting.” She tilted her head, wondering if there was anything she could get a human supporter to help the Court with. “Are there groups like the Court for humans?”

Bellanthe: “Sure. There’s plenty of human corruption. Lots of groups going rogue for some reason or another. Probably pettier than your people’s reasons, because that’s just the human way.”

Evuine had unfortunately and unknowingly misread B’s lips. “Prettier?” She frowned, “They’re prettier than my people?”

Bellanthe: “Petty,” she blinked. “Pettier. Humans are pettier. No r.”

Evuine blinked right back. “Oh. Can you speak a little slower? I’m having some trouble.”

Bellanthe seemed to second-guess her assumptions about Eve for a half-second. “Yeah, sure,” she had a thought. “Do you read lips?” she wondered idly, having met a few folks in the past who’d done so.

Evuine nodded, feeling comfortable enough with the human to reveal her not-so-secret secret. “I do. I’m deaf.” She made circles around her ears, “They don’t work - just pretty.”

Bellanthe listened, feeling immediate regret for her own presumptions. “Shit, I’m sorry, she was talking slower now. “I had no idea, but I shouldn’t have assumed.” She smiled a little, a lopsided grin. “They are pretty nice-looking, though. For ears. Better than these, anyway.” She gestured toward her own.

Evuine laughed, “That’s okay, you didn’t know. I’ll let it slide, since I like you,” she waggled her eyebrows embarrassingly. “And thanks - I try. Not that I had much say.”

Bellanthe waved her off. “Me neither, but that doesn’t stop me,” she glanced away briefly before looking back to Eve. “If you’ve got time, maybe you could show me some good spots around, tell me a  little more about this Nightmare gig?”