A Flower In The Rain
7
It was a rough journey getting to the Tower stated in the letter. Not that it was a far trek, but rather that it was over grown with trees and rough terrain. She finally managed to make it and upon her arrival the old door creaked open slowly...beckoning her 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...Hana...you have come." he chuckled, "I am Rasmodius...Seeker of the arcane truths." he stated, "Mediary between physical and ethereal." he said, "Master of the seven elementals-Keeper of-"
"Okay..I get the point..." Hana sighed, "You summoned me here...for what purpose may I ask?" she questioned. She already found it unnerving that a man whom she had never recalled meeting before, somehow knew her...and what she had been up to.
And yet here she came...
Rasmodius twitched and sighed himself.
"...Very well." he said gruffly." as he approached the Ginger haired girl who fidgetted nervously.
"...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!" she rebelled, "Don't just touch me-Ah...!?"
It was in this moment, Hana's eyes began to take on their own glow of light-
"Ahh...yes..." said Rasmodius, "Indeed you have the eyes." he smiled, "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, Those little green light...things..." she blinked, "I have been seeing them in my dreaams too..."she stated, "And now...even while I am awake..."
"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..."
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"...Spirits Of The Forest..." she whispered softly.
"They call themselves the Junimo..." said Rasmodius, calling Hana back to reality.
"Mysterious spirits, those ones..." he said softly, "For some reason they refuse to speak 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 says if you like..."
She remained silent a while before nodding.
"Very well." said Rasmodius, turning to place two fingers softly against her forehead. To Hana's surprise, in doing so, her blue eyes took on an icy glow, and unbeknownst to her, 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 with the forest?" Hana asked, "What does that mean?"
"Hmmm...a good question." Rasmodius pondered, "I can only imagine it has to do with your gifted eyes." he stated, "And your uncanny connection to nature." he gasped, "I've got it!"
"What is it?" the girl 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 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 srunched in her face-
The smell was overwhelming...
The substance brought about a drunken stupor in the ginger haired girl...whose blue eyes glowed even brighter.
"What's going on here?" Hana asked, and Rasmodius smiled.
"That...is the awakening of your dorment Forest Magic..."
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I still feel so woozy...
she thought to herself, eyes gazinf over the trees which some how, now, appeared far more vibrantly to her...not jus the trees. Even the flowers that bloomed were more vibrant as well...
I never knew my eyes glowed...
she thought to herself.
But as far as seeing things in the forest..
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...
I never really talked about it with anyone before...Because who would believe it?
Hana chuckled.
I mean...what would anyone think about it all?
She paused. A Soft voice whispered by her ear, drawing her etes to the slow swaying trees of the valley in the wind...
"I think..." she blinked, "That things might actually get interesting...here in Stardew Valley..."
To Be Continued