Confusion. Morose and natural, it all overwhelmed Cinder's mind. Since Salem's defeat and her abandonment of the world at large, Cinder had little reason to be so anxious. At least, that was what Lila had told her before she had left. It was all so vivid in Cinder's mind, she remembered the words her wife had spoken to her with every step, "Don't panic, take a breath, hold the note." Her beautiful smile, "And you will be fine, Cin."
Cinder could remember the kiss upon her wounded cheek like it was yesterday.
Partially because Lila left yesterday.
It was nothing serious. Lila just had to run out of town to the family homestead for seeds of some sort, though for what purpose she refused to tell Cinder.
Cinder loved to listen to her lul of a voice, but one could also only listen to the prattle of seeds and names they had no idea of for so long. She had learned the mastery of smiling and nodding as she recorded mental notes for so long. However, in her knowledge over listening intently, Cinder had swept over one crucial part of her stay with Lila.
Cinder would have to pull her weight within the grove and beyond their safe hallowed green boundaries. Something that Lila had mainly protested against. Though Lila was a calm and loving soul, she thought Cinder wasn't ready to come back alone. But Cinder felt it was time. She had made so much progress. Her breathing only riled up so much when she talked to someone she didn't know. Now, she would be able to do something without the training wheels, as it were. It was her time to reclaim her voice.
It was to this end that Cinder found herself on the periphery of the town. Masukari, as Cinder had remembered it being named all those months ago, though she had run amok with these people the last time it was under many different circumstances. Back then, well, to be frank, this place was a means to an end. Now, it was her extended home, she supposed. Though the weather too was different, she roamed this town during the peak of the rainy season, with much of the terrain within it mucky and sloppy filled. Thankfully, now the wet season was gone, and the comfortable climate Cinder could vaguely remember of her childhood had taken hold.
The sun's crisp light reflected off of Cinder. The lightness of the season was giving her a much-needed blush for her pale skin. Long since had she abandoned much of her past life, including much of her old wardrobe. Instead of the rich fake-posh dresses or the tight black leotard, though she missed them, she wore a much more calmed down get-up. But she wasn't letting go of her aesthetic evidently.
Black was her colour, and by those bastard gods, she would stick to it. Black high-waisted pants met with a golden buckled belt and a simple brown turtleneck tucked in. Heels had been changed out for boots. She was far from her comfort zone, but Cinder was still amazed Lila even had such clothes. It was like they were prepped for her return. Matched with all of the new apparel was the slick and smooth-sounding black and red mechanical arm Lila had legally imported from a few backroom farmers. It was an older model. Though slim in design, it did jam every now and again. Her hair was beginning to grow long again, making the eye patch she wore nearly disappear, had it not been from the straps on her face being visible.
Cinder took a breath in. In her mechanical hand, she held the small yellow list. The paper was minorly creased, her fingers quaking around it. Cinder's eye watched over the skim buildings. A heavy lump grew in Cinder's throat as she saw the townsfolk mingle and laugh. Watching nervously as a child was swung by their parents' hands, a couple walked arm in arm towards the river's dock.
Letting the breath go, Cinder's golden eye wobbling turned to the note, unfurling it in her hands. "Bananas, apples, pie crust, sugar, vanilla…" She read the first few items with a wince, waiting for the relief to come to her. Nodding after a moment and biting her lip, she nodded. "Right, I can do this." Cinder muttered. The note moved to her flesh hand with a textural rub by her thumb. The other going to her neck, moving the lining of her sweater higher on her neck. With a soft thump to the grass by her boots, Cinder took her first steps toward the village alone.
Heart beating anxiously in her ears, Cinder's hold on the note tightened. In the row of Masukari, one could be lost in the atmosphere. A town of trade, people from all over littered the street with carts of large stocks. Cinder's hand drifted to her opposite arm, the subtle nervous tick she had developed over some time baring its head for the first, and certainly not the last time today. She tried to keep conscious of the movement around her, the birds chirping in the brush, the opening of doors. The subtle hum of the town would have made it fit for the pages of folktale.
Children ran about, laughing and shouting, a few times coming so close to the dark-clad Fall Maiden that Cinder could smell the day's worth of play from them. Cinder's teeth bit the inside of her mouth. She had for a long while holding a special place of distaste for children for a myriad of reasons. Though today, it was the lingering watches she imagined were coming from all over. Cinder pictured the brats approaching with their poking hands and nasally questions instead of the adults who would bicker amongst themselves. Her arm, her eye, and the terror she would hold if even one of them spotted a scar somewhere, Cinder was confident she'd collapse.
Her knees were already weak as she continued. Cinder's mind tried to find new things to focus on, her head wanting to do anything but make eye contact or draw unwanted attention. So her eyes darted to the buildings around her, on this dirt road much were two-storied. The lead up to the more active party avenue as Sepia, Lila's friend, had called it. The road held some of the more local goods shops. Amongst them was a tool shop, which Lila often frequented for their garden. A bookstore, where the young man that ran it swept the front porch. Cinder's eye ran over the sole shop she had been previously, the fabric importer. It wasn't exactly her proudest day, but she had needed to get a new sewing kit, and she couldn't have Lila know about the fine sweater she was to make her.
Though regardless, Cinder moved on, spying the place she and Lila had gone once before for some kitchen items. Surmising she would be able to go there for something on her list. The building to which the shop belonged was snug, with people coming and going from it casually. It was a busy shopping day for kitchen goods, it seemed.
The titular ring of the twine-strung bell startled her. Stumbling a touch, Cinder did make it in the door without causing much racket. Her chest tightening as the dim store became illuminated to her. All in all, Cinder could easily recognize those who were there. Though not draw names for. Behind the counter was the older woman, her graying hair tied into a limp bun as she hummed a happy song, Cinder smile at her as she made her way in. In the three miles of the shop were two men and a woman, extended family of the baker's, should Cinder remember right. They were larger and jolly folk, tan in complexion with the same broader face and copper hair.
"No, we need that one for the cookies!" One of the men hollered, pointing with a huff to something in the aisle. Cinder shuddered a little at the volume, but the man's tone forbade anything more than that. "Silly, we need these for the muffins. Did Pops never teach you about small baking?" The woman chuckled in turn. As Cinder ducked into an aisle one over from the trio, she looked to the note. "Baking sheet." She said with a whimper. While she had been forced to bake in the past,. More often than not, she had not been inclined to learn anything about the process. So the slight idea of a sheet for baking came to her with the trio.
Drawing in some strength, she poked her head out over the aisle amongst the larger group. Pinching her thigh all the while, her voice came out scratchy. "E-excuse me?" The verbose nature of the trio, plus their turned backs, eroded any chance of Cinder's voice being heard.
How comical. At one point, Cinder was one of the most wanted people on Remnant. Now she couldn't figure out baking tools and couldn't raise her voice.
Taking a stern and authoritative breath, Cinder summoned up her voice once more. "Pardon me?!" Bordering on a shout, Cinder's voice peaked over the trio's conversation. So much so that the woman amongst them noticed the Fall Maiden's call. Her hand going out to her brothers with a hardened expression, "Shh. You two are too loud, can't hear the little thing's voice!" The brothers heaved a series of sighs and laughs, "Sorry big sis." "It's just a tray.." They muttered in turn.
Green eyes turned over to the couple inches taller Cinder. "What's up, dear?" The woman asked with a laugh before snapping her fingers. "Wait a sec," She pointed to Cinder while turning to look to her brothers. "Oh, I remember you. This is Lila Laveau's partner!" Quickly, the pair of men closed on the thin dividing rack. All three siblings leaned on the furnishing, making it seem to Cinder that it would collapse. "Oh, gee, it is!" "How do you do?" They asked with hearty squawks. Slightly baffled by the sudden turn in boisterous yells too timid idling, Cinder nodded. "Ahh. I'm fine, thank you." One of the brothers nodded to her, "And how is Miss Laveau?"
Her cheeks turned a slight red at the mention of her partner. "O-oh, she's fine. She's gone back south to her family's ranch for a couple days." An orchestra of knowing nods and "ahhs" occurred. "It's that time of the year, ay? She's breaking out the special stuff." A pin drop of confusion lit on Cinder's face. Leaning her head a touch, Cinder narrowed her eye. "What do you mean by that?" The sister huffed a confused laugh, looking between her brothers for a moment before turning back to Cinder. "Well, for a few seasons now, Lila's head down there for some special seeds for her Fall's Grace flowers." While chipper, the woman said this so matter-of-factly that Cinder's bafflement was made awkward.
"Fall's Grace? What does that even mean?" Cinder asked, shaking her head. Cinder placed a hand to her hip, cocking it as she scoffed, letting some of her more reserved parts go. The brothers looked to redden as she did so, though thankfully, their answers came quicker than their sister's.
"It's Miss Laveau's promotional event. It's where she sets up around the Falling Pool and sells lots of golden n' red flowers." One of the brothers trembled out, the other similarly carrying on. "Right. She's basically giving them away. Can't remember why she started doin' it, though? Something about something Fallin' in the Pool?" He asked, looking at his sister and brother.
Cinder rolled her eye with a melancholy smile, trying not to appear too flippant. "Well, I'll have to ask her about… that… later," She held up the note. "But I wanted to ask if you could help me with some of these things?" The sister's hand readily accepted the piece with a smile. The trio looked at the small slip over for a few seconds. "Oh, you're making a pie?" A low shrug from Cinder met the question, "Alongside a couple…" She tried to think of a word for it, the sister countering, "Odds and ends?" Cinder snapped her metal fingers, "That's it."
"Well. Why don't we do this." The sister looked to her brothers, "Why don't I help here, and you two run over to the shop and grab some of our stuff for Miss…" She shook her head, turning back to Cinder. "Sorry, I don't think we got your name?" Curtly, with a bow of the head, Cinder replied, "Cinder Fall." In turn, the sister stuck her hand out, "Well, Miss Fall, I am Tange," She pointed from one brother to another, "and those are Honey and Margene." The men waved. "Good to meet you all, but you don't have to." Cinder barely got the words out before Tange was shaking her head. "No, no. Of course, we'll help. Miss Laveau's help has been an amazing help around Masukari." She held the paper aloft, "We'll have all of this in droves, I promise."
Cinder felt a considerable weight abandon her shoulders, a smile genuinely filling her as warmth met her cheeks. " I don't know what to say?" With a gruff laugh, Cinder petered out. Though quickly, Tange returned the laughter, "Well, how about what kind of pie you're gonna be making with a ten-inch pan?" She read from the note. Cinder roughly scratched her neck as the woman laughed.