A Flower In The Rain
6
A/N
I Have a few Stardew Valley Stories I have been meaning to share for a while.
Sorry I have been gone so long. College keeps me busy as does my job on the weekend.
I have about 3 weeks off (with the exception of weekends when I work)
SO here's hoping, along with new stories, that I can finally update some on going ones too~ ;)
Thank you for your patience~
Akarii Rose
Hana groaned...her eyes opened weakly to the scenery of the rustic bedroom.
Was it all...
Just a strange dream...?
"Oh Hana! Thank Goodness!" Willow's sigh of relief sounded when she noticed Hana's blue eyes take a shine of light and consciousness.
"Willow?" The ginger blinked and groaned as she opushed herself upright and found herself wrapped in two pale arms wearing a black skull-printed T-shirt.
"You passed out in some old building..." said Willow, "Apparently it used to be the Community Center." she stated, "You were found by an old homeless guy named Linus..." she explained, "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm...not entirely sure..." said Hana, "But I think...I had some kind of weird dream."
"Oh yeah?" Willow blinked, "Wanna tell me about it?"
Hana went into full detail of the experiences she had with Lewis in the old Community Center she was found in. She told Willow about the Hut and the small green creatures that Lewis referred to as rats, and even about the weird tablet she found when she was alone, as well as every odd dream she had up to this point.
"I know...it's totally crazy, right?" Hana chuckled.
"Well..." Willow blinked, "Maybe not as crazy as you think..."
Hana paused for a moment.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well you see..." said Willow, "You've been out all night since Linus found you." she explained, "It's morning now...early...and I went out to check the garden when I noticed we had mail." she stated, "There was a letter..."she said softly as she handed over a mysterious black envelope, "It's for you."
Hana blinked a few times as she stared at the envelope offered to herm reluctant to take it. Finally she did...ad nervously scanned her blue eyes over the contents inside.
To you, Dear Hana.
My sources tell me that you have been poking around inside of the old Community Center.
...Why don't you pay me a visit?
My Chambers are West of the Forest Lake, in the old Stone Tower.
I may have some information concerning your...
"Rat Problem"...
"Signed...-M. Rasmodius, Wizard." Hana said softly after having finished reading the mysterious letter out loud. Even the stationary seemed to have its own mystical feel about it.
"A Wizard...?" Willow blinked.
And things continue to get stranger...
Hana thought to herself.
"So...What do you think Hana?"
"I'm...not entirely sure..." the Ginger responded softly.
There was a long silence between them.
"Well..." Willow blinked, "I think we should go." she stated and she felt the blue eyes of her friend rest heavily on her.
"At the very least, maybe we will be able to get to the bottom of these weird dreams you have been having..." she said, "Worse case scenario?" she shrugged, "He's just some crazy old kook in a tower."
Hana giggled slightly as she took a moment to ponder the situation.
"...All right." she said softly, "Let's go then..."
XXXXX
It was a rough journey getting to the Tower stated in the letter. Not that it was a far trek, but rather that was over grown with trees and rough terrain. They finally managed to make it and upon their arrival the old door creaked open slowly...beckoning them inside.
"Ah...come on in." An old voice echoed in the shadows, and a figure began to take form. One of that of an older man. Wizard's cloak, and a hat to match, very "Wizard" like.
"I see I see..." he chuckled, "I see you have brought along a friend." he smiled, "I am Rasmodius...Seekerof the arcane truths." he stated, "Mediary between physical and ethereal." he said, "Master of the seven elementals-Keeper of-"
"Okay, we get the point." Willow sighed and Rasmodius twitched and sighed himself.
"...Very well." he said gruffly." as he approached the Ginger haired girl who fidgetted nervously.
"And you...You're Hana." he said, "The one whose arrival I have long foreseen." he smiled as he approached her closely and gently lifted her chin.
"H-Hey!" said Willow, "Don't just touch her-Ah...!"
It was in this moment, Hana's eyes began to take on their own glow of light once again, startling Willow.
"Ahh...yes..." said Rasmodius, "Indeed you have the eyes." he stated, "The eyes that see what normally remains unseen..."
"I...am not sure I know what you mean?" Hana said softly and the old man smiled warmly at her.
"You, young Hana...have always had a unique bond with nature...have you not?" he beamed, "Friend of flowers...hearer...of the voices of the trees."
She gasped softly.
"Come..." he said to her, "I'd like to show you something."
Reluctantly, the girls walked together, approaching a strange symbol on the floor.
"Behold!" he said as he dashed some powder over it and a flash of light formed an image before them.
"Ahh!" Hana let out a startled cry as the familiar shape took form.
"That's what I saw in the Community Center..." she stated.
"Indeed...you've met one before, haven't you?" the old Wizard chuckled, "And even...before then."
"What?" she blinked in confusion when suddenly and old memory resurfaced itself from the depths of her mind's storage.
XXXXX
She was small then...
Running barefoot across the leaves of the forest floor...
Ducking and weaving through the trees. She stopped short of a mysterious light that shone through a broken tree...
It was a small creature...unlike any she had ever seen before.
"Hello." she spoke to it, though it seemed frightened, "It's okay." she said softly, "I'm not gonna hurt you..."
"Hana...! Where are you, child?"
Her grandpa called for her and she hurried home.
"Grampa! Grampa! I found something!" she called back to him, "It was green and glowey and lived in a broken tree!"
"Really?" her grandpa said, "Why I think you may have just met one of the spirits of the forest..."
XXXXX
"They call themselves the Junimo..." said Rasmodius, calling Hana back to reality.
"Mysterious spirits, those one..." he said softly, "For some reason they refuse to speal with me." he stated, "But...for whatever reason, they are drawn to you." he said to her, "Now I am not sure as to why they have moved themselves into the Community Center." he stated," But you have no reason to fear them."
"Say..." Hana said softly as she recalled the tablet on the floor, "Do these Junimo...have some kind of...special language?" she asked.
"...You are referring to the enscription you found?" he asked, bringing about a look of surprise that he was right once again, "It's an obscure one...but I am able to desiphor it." he stated, "And with those eyes...I bet you were able to as well...hm?" he chuckled.
"I.." she blushed, "Well..not entirely." she stated, "It was like...I could see...but couldn't at the same time."
"Not surprising." Rasmodius stated, "Your eyes are special...but you are not fully awakened to magic." he said, "I can tell you what it said if you like..."
She remained silent a while before nodding.
"Very well." said Rasmodius, turning to place two fingers softly against her forehead. To Willow's surprise, in doing so, Hana's blue eyes took on an icy glow, and unbeknownst to Willow, the image of the tablet appeared in Hana's mind's eye, as Rasmodius read it aloud:
"We, The Junimo, are happy to aid you, Hana.
In return, we ask for gifts of the valley. If you truly are one with the forest, then your eyes will see the true nature of this scripture."
As his reading came to an end, the image faded, and reality reformed around her.
"...One wuth the forest?" Willow asked, "What does that mean?"
"Hmmm...a good question." Rasmodius pondered, "I can only imagine it has to do with Hana's gifted eyes." he stated, "And her uncanny connection to nature." he gasped, "I've got it!"
"What is it?" the girls asked.
"My cauldron here..." he stated, "It's bubbling with ingrediants from the forest." he grinned, "Baby fern, moss grub, caramel-top toadstool...can you smell it!?"
"Smell" was an understatement. The...aroma filled the tower so tightly one would think it seeped from the cracks of the stone walls. He handed over a cup full of contents he poured from a laydle that soaked in the bubbling brew
"Drink up, Hana." he said to her, "Let the essance of the forest permeate your body..."
She held the cup with both hands...gazing into her reflection in the mysterious liquid.
"...I don't know about this, Hana..." Willow said nervously.
"I don't know why the Junimo chose you, ." said Rasmodius,
"But I do know they trust you...and if you envelop the makings of the forest within you..." he said to her, "You can be one with their world."
Without a second thought...Hana took in a deep breath, and down the hatch. A look of digust made its way onto Willow's face as the smell was overwhelming. The substance brought about a drunken stupor in the ginger haired girl...whose blue eyes glowed ever brighter.
"What's going on with her?" Willow asked, and Rasmodius smiled.
"That...is the awakening of Hana's dorment Forest Magic..."
XXXXX
"So...how do you feel?" asked Willow, "Any different?"
"Well...I'm still a little woozy..." she said oddly, but otherwise all right..."
"So...That glowy eye thing?" Willow blinked, "How long has that been happening?"
"I'm not sure really..." said Hana, "I never knew my eyes glowed...but as far as seeing things in the forest..." she blinked, "I've always been able to do that...it never occurred to me that it was strange...until I kept seeing things as an adult."
"...How come you never told me about it?" asked Willow.
"Because who would believe it?" Hana chuckled, "I mean...what do you think about all of it?"
Willow chuckled.
"I think..." she blinked, "That things might actually get interesting in Stardew Valley."
To Be Continued