#teldorei

Raising a hand over the waves the Seeker let the water rise to sift through his fingers. Like a small strand of current above the waves, a rope of water met him. The Ocean was ancient, timeless, and would speak to any that would listen. The Legion had done untold damage since the return to the tomb, and Phelkan felt her cries.

Like he was holding her hand the Tel’dorei gripped the floating stream. “I know, I can sense it here, please, lead me.”

Several years ago, a tiny sprout encouraged by Kyuusei became something more - growing into a lopsided sapling that eventually awakened as a fledging Ancient (not so ancient).

For the last year or more, it's been toddling around her cottage in Val'sharah. But I like to imagine that, with Amirdrassil's bloom and the portal in the Dreamways finally opening, Kyuusei will take the little teldorei to Bel'ameth.

And really, what's a happier headcanon than Kyuusei herding a little walking tree around Bel'ameth, trying to keep it out of trouble as it tries to explore and get into everything?

[ Photo by Blake Weyland on Unsplash ]

Roots stirred in the dark earth. A quiet awakening. Awareness.

I have grown here. Yet this is not my soil.

Tendrils recoiled. With awareness came will, with will came choice.

This is not my soil. Broken masks and shattered mirrors reside, though there exists an echo (taste) of birth. An echo brought here of hope, yet never has that hope found purchase in this soil.

A shift of growth, of intent. Slow, perhaps, for those with hearts that pulsed with red blood, that breathed the air created by kin. But urgent among the children of the green.

Some tricks take longer to bloom.

V A L ‘ S H A R AH

Kyuusei woke, gasping for breath, her fingers grasping for purchase in the bedsheets.

“‘Sei-sei?” Lani’s voice was querulous, muddled with sleep from the other side of the bed. Her hand rested, cool and calming, on Kyuu’s back. Drifted lightly across old scars that were the last remnants of wounds long since healed. “Another bad dream?”

“No, not bad. But...”

She lingered a moment. The draw of the bed, their bed, was difficult to resist. A place of comfort made within the cottage in Val’sharah, no matter the demands and responsibilities that so often drew them apart. Darkshore, Astranaar, fledgling druids, the healing and rebuilding and vigilance of recovery. This was their place, their haven, their hard-won respite from... everything.

With a reluctant sigh, Kyuusei slipped from beneath the sheets and padded barefoot across the floor.

“Kyuusei?”

Alania rose up in the bed to watch, drawing the sheets around her as Kyuu knelt down to open a worn iron-bound chest. Inside, the chest was filled with the mementos of a life spanning almost a millennia. And on top of scrolls and trinkets and books rested the fragments of a staff shattered into three parts. A gift bearing Cenarius’ blessing, ever-blooming, crafted from an Ancient’s branch - yet broken almost two years past in the assault that ended in the Blightcaller’s welcomed demise.

Three green fragments, each of which bore the green leaves of new growth for the first time since their shattering, extended tendrils towards each other to draw again into a single whole.

“It woke up.” Kyuu lifted the tenuously-joined fragments and held them - it - aloft for Alania to see. She pushed ivy-laden hair out of her eyes with one long-fingered hand, a sharp-toothed smile upon her features.

“And I think,” the druidess mused, “I know what awakened it.” She settled on the floor, the green-leafed staff cradled to her chest.

Alania exhaled a sigh with all the dramatics of the long-suffering.

“And where, surfal,” she asked, “should I tell the captain you’re going this time?”

Kyuu grinned. “Pandaria. But I don’t think I’ll come back alone.”

“So long,” Lani offered a knowing smile as she pushed the sheets aside, “as you return to me.”

“Always.”

P A N D A R I A

A stormcrow flew high above the Jade Forest, dark eyes set upon the grounds far below. The manor was all but enveloped in growth and neglect, the few caretakers fallen far behind the green’s advance. But there, behind the long-uninhabited residence, was a small clearing surrounded by thick stands of bamboo, a familiar sight to the one who flew above.

Lazy circles brought the stormcrow lower and closer until the winged form resolved into a kaldorei’s shape, long and lean. Kyuusei set foot lightly in the clearing, looking about with a well-acquainted gaze.

The grasses were familiar if overgrown. And there was the stone memorial to the mentor of another, etched with Pandaren characters again grown thick with moss.

But where the teldorei had once taken root to the memorial’s side, there was only a disturbance in the earth - thick loam cracked and broken as if something had pulled itself out of the rich soil.

Kyuu looked from one side to the other, then drew the reborn staff from her back.

“Ande’thoras’ethil, teldorei,” she murmured, placing the staff into the broken earth where a small sapling had once grown. “Bandu belore a’Kalimdor?”

The staff twisted, the tendrils that drew its fragments together twining closer as small white flowers blossomed along its length. A faint rustling sound grew at the edge of the clearing before, tentatively, a small shape emerged from the encircling bamboo.

The shape of a sapling tree, but one that... moved. Roots worked across the grass, branches moving in the approximation of limbs, and a pair of bright green eyes blinked as if looking upon the world for the first time. And, perhaps, it was the first.

A sense of an uncertain question. The creak of wood, of green growth, raised as if it were a questioning voice. Clear enough to the druid’s ears.

“This was home enough as you grew,” Kyuusei offered reassuringly. “But it’s time to come with me. It’s time to rejoin your kin. Come to Kalimdor.”

The fledgling Ancient crept forward on uncertain roots, branches reaching out to twine with the green growth of Kyuu’s staff.

[ Photo by Suyash Agrawal on Unsplash ]

Kyuusei startled awake, her long limbs tangled in the bedsheets, dark laughter still ringing in her ears. The kaldorei sat up abruptly and pulled tangled locks of hair away from her throat, then rubbed at the skin as if to erase the fading sensation of gnarled hands. It took a few more calming breaths and the coolness of sweat evaporating from her skin before she was fully present... only to question for a moment where she was.

The light streaming through the window was at the wrong angle, the room’s scent dusky with an echo of tea and old incense on air that had been long stale. But it was the room’s decor - terminally uncluttered and painstakingly ordered save for Kyuu’s duffle tossed at the foot of the bed - that reminded her where she’d slept.

“Dora dor. Thal na teldorei, rae kal-ethil’re,” she muttered to herself in lilting Darnassian, running sharp fingers through her hair.

The Jade Forest. Pandaria. The old manor.

* * *

A morning bath - a benefit of staying here rather than with the others on the Dancing Dolphin - and a few moments in a familiar kitchen found Kyuusei padding out of the house with a cup of warm tea cradled in her hands, making her way to a small clearing in the back.

The house had been empty when she flew from Krasarang last night. But the key was still hidden in the same place, the grounds still marginally maintained by the pair of Forsaken groundskeepers that Kyuu carefully avoided. And in all truth, the druidess hadn’t expected the owner to be here.

And if she had been? Some questions were easier set aside, hrm?

Surrounded by thick stands of bamboo, the clearing was green with low grasses and moss still damp in the morning air. Near the center rested a large stone with Pandaren characters etched into it; a few paces to the left of the graven marker grew a small lopsided tree adorned with pale green leaves and tiny white blossoms.

“It’s been too long,” Kyuu said as she moved closer, running one hand gently through the small tree’s foliage, its branches still not taller than the druidess herself. “And here I hoped I wouldn’t have to worry about dreams near you, hrm? But I know,” sharp-tipped fingers cradled a small cluster of blossoms. “I need to go back soon. Let shal’nar Kyuusei tend to you first.”

Her morning spent in the small grove was almost a moving meditation, Kyuusei clearing away leaves and debris with detail and care that the groundskeepers obviously didn’t have time to grant this small corner of the estate. The lopsided tree and the pale green ivy that surrounded it were given most of the druidess’ attentions, but Kyuu still took time to brush leaves from the graven marker and pick out bits of moss from the etchings that had been worked into the stone.

The sun was near mid-day by the time she finished her unhurried work, her final labor spent polishing a lone brass bell hanging from a branch by a weathered ribbon.

“There,” Kyuu murmured, empty teacup in her hand. “Shaha lor’ma, teldorei,” she bowed, “Tordu kal-ethil’re... ishnu ano’naldu.”

Your character has just been reminded of a past experience by the sound of a bell. Describe the experience. Was it traumatic? Happy? Surprising? What does the person do now in response to the memory?

The faint sound of a ringing bell, the chime muted by leaves and branches.

Kyuusei knelt in the small clearing surrounded by trees and towering stalks of bamboo. The call of cranes echoed in the distance. A few moss-covered paving stones set in the grass led to a larger stone engraved with several characters in Pandaren, spent incense in a tarnished brass bowl nearby. A few paces to the left, a sapling was freshly-planted in the earth and moss. Small and lopsided, its branches decorated with pale green leaves and tiny blooms. A silken cord was draped loosely around the little tree’s narrow trunk, hung with woven charms and a single, small bell.

Kyuu reached forward to adjust the moss and ivy about the little teldorei’s base, a bittersweet smile on her face as the bell chimed again with the motion. A soft bemusing voice made some remark behind her, graceful steps rustling in the grass just out of sight.

* * Kyuu, don’t be silly. Come home. * *

“Sei-sei! Come on, why are you waiting?”

“We’re gonna get in trouble, Del!”

Kyuusei looked up, the other night elf already well into the lower branches and ascending rapidly. The Ancient, massive and treelike, stood patient guard in the Grove south of Ameth’aran, seemingly unperturbed by the youthful kaldorei in its branches. It shifted only slightly, setting the bells hung throughout its branches to chiming.

“Del...” Kyuu’s voice took on an almost wheedling tone, worry pulling at eyes that were not yet decorated with the Rites of Passage. A bundle of mageroyal in her hand filled the Grove with a green, floral scent.

Delyra paused in her climbing to look where Kyuusei stood on the forest floor. “He’s fine,” she declared, patting the Ancient’s trunk and earning a low rumble for her attentions. “And your Min’da’s not going to find out, the old stick-in-the-mud. Come up here and sit with me, Sei-sei.”

“You know I hate it when you call me that.” Despite her protest, Kyuu’s tone lost its edge. She took a step closer to the Ancient - silvered eyes glancing at a branch within easy reach.

The laughter from the branches above echoed the bells still gently ringing among the Ancient’s branches. “Then come up here,” Del retorted gently, “and see if you can find a way to make me quiet...”

Kyuu dropped the bundle of mageroyal to the grass, a lopsided grin on her face as she pulled herself into the Ancient’s branches to the sound of bells and Delyra’s light laughter. A few moments later, only the sound of bells remained...

* * Kyuu, come home. * *

The faint sound of bells roused Kyuusei, the druidess stirring from garden-side nap. At the doorway of the little house in Val’sharah, a wind chime spun lazily in the late afternoon breeze. She gave a long, feline stretch before rising, padding on bare feet to gently flick at the chimes - her lips pulling to the side in a wistful smile as the sound echoed through the garden...

{ Thank you, @selisekinsolving​, for the prompt! }

[ Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash ]

In the southwestern Jade Forest, a house rested amid a large estate. While the house itself wasn’t large, the spaces surrounding it were expansive, some better attended than others. It could hardly be called a home, as its owner was rarely present. Two Forsaken groundskeepers, shambling through the gardens and unkempt spaces, vainly attempting to keep up with the maintenance of the grounds, were the only regular sign of habitation.

A stormcrow flew in low from the coast, gliding through the mists that rose in the early morning sun. Behind the house was a small clearing, and the visitor dove through the trees with folded wings before spreading them wide to halt the steep descent, the bird manifesting into a kaldorei druidess crouched in the grass.

“Ishnu-alah, teldorei,” Kyuusei murmured as she rose to her feet.

The small clearing consisted of low grasses and moss, a large stone with Pandaren characters etched into it and, a few paces to the left of the graven marker, a small lopsided tree - hardly more than a sapling - adorned with pale green leaves and tiny white blossoms.

“It’s been a while.” The druidess offered a lopsided smile and a small bow to the little tree, then rubbed her hands together, “but shal’nar Kyuusei’s here. Let’s clean you up, hrm?”

She spent the better part of the morning in the grove, clearing away fallen debris and the few weeds that had escaped the overworked groundskeepers. The lopsided teldorei and the pale green ivy that surrounded it were given the majority of the druidess’ attentions, but Kyuu still took time to brush leaves from the marker in the center of the clearing, and pick out bits of moss from the etchings that had been worked into the stone.

The grove attended to, Kyuusei knelt down in the center of the clearing. Palms flat on her legs, she closed her eyes and allowed her breath to fall into a slow, steady rhythm.

Shadows moved with the sun.

A heavy exhalation and the kaldorei rose into a languorous, feline stretch.

Kyuu padded the few steps to the little teldorei and gently tapped the bell that hung by a ribbon from one of the lopsided sapling’s branches. A bright tone echoed through the clearing, and it was a stormcrow that exited the small shrine and winged its way towards Kun-Lai...

The typist takes photographs, sometimes.