Wind and Water Chapter II: Dance of Leaves During Peaceful Summer Days

Disclaimer: Mabinogi belongs to Nexon and whoever else developed it... enough said.

A/N: The Dance of Leaves is the song that plays in Tir Chonaill's village proper. The 'Peaceful Summer Days' bit is part of the chapter. Apparently, Nexon's going to sack Eiry after the G13 update, but I like her, so she gets to stay in my story, at least until the (relative) time that she's supposed vanish. If you think Aeria sounds too mature in her narration... remember that she's narrating in past-tense, so this is, presumably, after the adventure has already ended.

Ne?- Right?

"Speaking" "Reading Aloud"

'Thinking' 'Telepathy'

Flashback, Memory, and Similar.

"While in flashback, this is speaking."

'While in flashback, this is thinking.'

The white light faded from my eyes and I found myself standing on a stone dais, with four pillars around me and an unlit lantern above me. A road led from the lantern to a fence and then down a hill.

I looked up at the lantern, slightly puzzled... The sky was dark, so it was night-time, but the lantern was not lit. I dismissed the lantern as unimportant and stepped off the platform to see a boy standing down the road, by the fence, wearing a helmet. I started walking down the road, and when I was a few steps away from him, he called out to me. "Hey, who are you? You don't look like you're from around here."

I looked at him with my head tilted, confused. He must have seen that confusion, and then he knocked himself lightly on the head, which confused me even more, until he spoke. "Ah! I get it! Nao sent you down here from the Soul Stream, didn't she?"

I didn't know what the Soul Stream was, but Nao did send me here, so I nodded.

"Right, here." He handed me a sword, and I messed with it a bit, before lowering my hand. Somehow, the feeling of the sword's grip in my hand felt familiar, but that didn't make any sense. I had never held a sword before, had I?

The boy ignored my actions and continued, "The weapon I gave you is a spirit weapon. It'll make your stay here much easier, but you won't be able to keep it forever, okay?"

I nodded, but my brows furrowed, and the boy spoke quickly to dismiss my growing concern, "You're worrying about how you'll give it back, right? Don't worry, it'll come back on its own."

Well, that answered one question. What made it a 'Spirit' Weapon though? The question was answered shortly, as the boy spoke, "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you to the spirit. Her name's Eiry..."

And, right on cue, the sword glowed white and a small ball of matching color shot out of it and span around a few times before coming to a rest in front of my face and taking form. Eiry was a small, pixie-like girl dressed in a white dress that had a pair of orange trailers coming off of it. Her hair was white and tied up in a large pony-tail, and her eyes shone with innocence and enthusiasm.

"Hi master! I'm Eiry! It's my job to guide you in the beginning of your journey here in Erinn!"

Okay... that answered a few questions in and of itself. "My responsibilities are limited to guidance, so I can't promise to be with you forever... but while I'm here, I'll do my best to help you!"

That was reassuring... I had no idea about, well, anything. It made me feel kind of inadequate, seeing as Nao was depending on me, and I had no idea which way was up and which way was down.

I was drawn from my thoughts by Eiry, who hovered directly in front of me with an infectiously joyous smile and bright eyes. I blinked and she floated back a bit, her eyebrows furrowing as she tilted her head and crossed her arms. "Master... Aren't you going to ask any questions?"

'Ah! She's right, I do need to be asking questions!' I thought, and I opened my mouth to ask my first question, "Where am I?" But nothing came out of my mouth except a quiet sigh, and Eiry tilted her head in the opposite direction instead... "Master... can you speak?"

And the light lit up inside my mind... I hadn't spoken at all since I gained awareness of myself... And, apparently, I either couldn't speak, or... I just didn't remember how. My brows furrowed again, and I shook my head, closing my mouth. Apparently, Nao had been reading my thoughts somehow, and the boy in the helmet had been guessing what I was thinking. Eiry, on the other hand, was not displaying such abilities. This was a problem- if I couldn't speak, that made it much, much more difficult for me to communicate with those around me.

Eiry seemed to be sharing my sentiments, with her own concerned expression... but she also seemed to be a die-hard optimist, because a moment later she was all smiles, "Well, we'll figure something out, don't worry about it Master!"

I just nodded, hesitantly, 'Right...' Eiry floated out of my face, and began to speak, "Well, just down the road is Tir Chonaill. If you go to the Chief's House by the Elder Tree (That's the really big one with the thick trunk, you can't miss it!), then I'm sure Chief Duncan will be able to help us get past your handicap! But first, why don't you stop those raccoons from beating up on the hens? The people of Tir Chonaill need the hens for their eggs, and it'll be a good way for you to get the hang of using me in combat."

I nodded, as, childish as my mind was at that point in time, the raccoons were 'being mean' to the hens... which meant I needed to stand up for the hens. And I did... The moment I swung Eiry at the first hen, it was almost like I had an epiphany. The raccoon jumped at the hen, and I intercepted it deftly, knocking it aside with the flat of Eiry's blade, and sending it flying to the ground where it lay whimpering. Another hen was being tag-teamed by two of the raccoons, so I ran over and, just after the first one clawed a few of the hen's feathers out, I smacked them both over the head with Eiry... I don't know why I didn't use the sharp edge of Eiry's blade... I guess that my child's mind unconsciously knew that would do more harm than good at that point in time, and went against killing blows. The other raccoons seemed to get the message I was sending and ran away, followed by their three companions after they recovered, but my attention was on something that fell off one of the raccoons I had hit.

It was a small, fist-sized piece of paper with a red marking on it. Eiry popped out at that moment and I looked up to her and showed her the scroll, 'What's this?'

She understood and her brows furrowed again. "This is a Fomor Scroll, the Fomor use scrolls like this to control the various animals of Erinn... it's one of the biggest contributors to the breaking of Erinn's Laws."

Just as I was about to tear the paper in half, Eiry stopped me, "No! Don't destroy it. If you collect nine more of them, then you can earn some money for food, equipment, and other necessities. I think Raccoon Fomor scrolls fetch seven hundred gold, but you have to go to Tracy in the Logging Camp, which is a quarter-day's walk away."

I didn't know how much seven hundred gold was, but it sounded like a lot to me, so I kept the scroll. After all, Eiry knew what to do with it better than I did, didn't she?

I proceeded down the hill, growing weary already... obviously my body couldn't keep up with the actions of the day, or maybe it was just side-effects of my recent arrival in this form. Whatever the case, my arms hurt (I had to use both hands to hold Eiry), I was growing hungry, and it had just started to rain... while I was wearing a summer dress without a cloak or anything else to shield me with.

Fortunately, I came upon the Chief's house relatively quickly and the Chief, an aging man with a strong face and long, white hair, was standing outside. "Oh, who are you?" He asked as I came into view, drenched. "Ah, where are my manners, come inside. Quickly now. You must be extremely cold right now."

I nodded a small, minute nod, struggling to answer his questions as he led me into his house, an arm on my drenched, shivering back.

Eiry appeared briefly, sensing my dilemma, and spoke, "Just hand him your letter of introduction, master!"

'Letter of introduction?' I fished around a bit before Eiry helpfully pointed out a small, unnoticeable pocket sewn into my shirt, beside which the pouch Nao gave me was tied. I reached into it and pulled out an envelope, which was dripping wet, and handed it to Duncan. He took it gingerly and pulled out a letter, which was surprisingly dry, and began reading aloud, "Chief Duncan, Hello! This is Nao. How are you doing? I'm sorry I couldn't visit you. The person who holds this Letter of Introduction is Aeria... She's from another world, and she doesn't remember anything about her life in her original world. I ask that you take care of her until she reaches adulthood... I would, but I can't leave the Soul Stream for more than a few minutes at a time, and she needs to experience living in Erinn...-Nao Pryderi. PS- I think she's mute... If she can speak, she might not remember how to." Duncan finished reading and looked up from the letter to me. "Well, Aeria, welcome to Tir Chonaill. I am the Village Chief, Duncan... Hold on, I need to tell the owls your name." He made several motions in the air with his finger, and it took me a few seconds to realize he had just spelled my name in the air.

"Well, no use standing there, and you don't have a place to go to, so come warm yourself by the fire." I nodded to Duncan, it wasn't like I had anything else to do, so I sat down by the fire.

It wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep. That night, I dreamed of a stormy day by a river...

Above, thunder rumbled ominously and rain poured continuously. I was cold, and wet, and drenched, and water poured down me. Beneath me, the fast rhythm of a well-trained horse threatened to unseat me if I did not hold on, but I held on, clutching the shaft of my weapon tightly. Water threatened to blur my vision, but I blinked furiously.

Lightning flashed lit up the sky in minute brilliance.

I turned swiftly to the sound of a carriage's wheels being pulled through mud, and people shouting. My long, white hair blocked my vision.

Thunder rumbled furiously, trying to overrule a desperate scream, "Aeria!" The word echoed, growing softer and calmer as the sounds of rain and thunder and shouting faded away.

"Aeria..." Chief Duncan spoke in his kind, patient manner, shaking my shoulder gently. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, absently noting a blanket sliding off my shoulders. The dream faded from my mind as I looked into Duncan's soothing, kind gray eyes. "Aeria, are you alright?"

I nodded, though I was still shaken by my dream. I didn't want to cause Duncan any further trouble, so I pretended it didn't effect me much. But, it really did... For one so mentally mature as I was at the time, that was a frightening dream.

"Are you sure?" He asked, rhetorically, as he stared into my obviously frightened eyes, and I nodded again. "I see..." He said, before smiling, "Well, I'm sure you're fine. Anyway, you're probably hungry right?"

Even before I assert my confirmation, my stomach growled, and I could feel blood rushing to my cheeks. Duncan laughed again and handed me some bread, "Here. This should stave it off for a while until something more wholesome can be found."

I nodded, and Duncan continued, "Now that that's settled, I think I need to show you around Tir Chonaill since you're going to be staying here awhile. Hm... First off, the grocery, since you're hungry."

At my look, he smiled once more, "No, don't worry about paying. You're young, and you just got here. I wouldn't be taking care of you very well if I left you to fend for yourself before you knew how to, would I?" He offered me his hand, and I took it hesitantly.

Eiry appeared and rubbed her eyes drowsily, which raised the question of whether or not spirits even needed to sleep. "Hm? Master, where are we going?" I looked to Duncan, who paid no mind, leading me down the stone steps in front of his house and to the left, where there was a small building with a sign of a portly individual holding a plate of... something. "This," he said in front of the door, "is the grocer, Aeria. Further down the road is the church, which we'll visit later. For now, let's go see Caitin and get you fed, hm?" He smiled, or rather the small, tired smile that was nearly always on his face became more pronounced, and he led me inside. Eiry, who was still hovering at my side with her finger at her chin, thinking about something I couldn't fathom, suddenly made a small, "Oh!" sound and spun around in front of my face, surprising me and making me step back into Duncan, who caught me easily.

"What if we got you a notepad? Then you could write what you want to say!" I blinked... while that's true, and would have to do for now, it'd still be better if I learned to speak normally. That aside, how would I convey that to Duncan?

I brought my attention to the Chief, who was looking at me curiously, probably wondering why I had stumbled. I shrugged and scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, before turning and stepping far enough inside Duncan could follow me. The first thing I noticed was a young woman with brown hair who stood beside the store counter. She wore a light brown dress with a green apron, and her chocolate brown hair framed her face and flowed past her shoulders, accentuating her large, brown eyes and small face. She was standing, with on hand on a plate of steaming biscuits, and the other in front of her mouth in a halfhearted attempt to hide her bemused expression. "And who's this little one Duncan?"

Duncan came up beside me, leaving the door propped open to let the fresh, crisp air you only get on a summer morning after a rain shower flow in. "Just our newest resident. Aeria, this is Caitin, our town's esteemed grocer. Caitin, this is Aeiria, a child who somehow got lost in last night's storm and showed up on my doorstep wet and shivering."

Caitin's expression went from amusement to a genuine smile reflecting kindness, she walked up to me and knelt down so we could be at eye level, "Well, hello Aeria. I'm Caitin... It's nice to meet you." Her hand was out and I took it after a few moments. Her smile was so pleasant, I couldn't help but reply with a small smile of my own, even if I couldn't say, 'It's nice to meet you too.' like I wanted to. When I didn't say anything, Caitin looked to Duncan, whose smile faltered a little. "She hasn't said anything since she showed up. I think she's mute."

Once more, I had opened my mouth to speak, even if I wasn't sure what I would say, but once more, nothing came out but a quiet sigh, and my smile vanished, replaced with a small frown as I looked toward the ground. A hand found its way to the top of my head. It was softer and smaller than Duncan's, and it made me look up to see Caitin was still smiling. "Don't worry, Aeria. I'm pretty sure you wanted to say, 'Nice to meet you too!' ne?" She stood up, removing her hand from my head. "Anyway, what brings you here Chief?"

Duncan's smile was back, perhaps because of Caitin's kindness, "Ah, I was just showing her around town, and the only thing she had to eat yesterday was a piece of bread so..."

"Say no more!" Caitin said, her smile still in place, but... deeper somehow. She reached over to the counter and handed me a one of the biscuits she had apparently just finished baking, "This one's on the house, Aeria." I nodded my thanks, and at that moment I realized how hungry I was and set to devouring the biscuit (which was as large as my, admittedly small, hand). It was warm and soft on the inside, but slightly crispy on the inside, and I smiled at Caitin in thanks. "Well, that's one thing off the list, and a few gold coins I won't have to spend." Duncan said with a note of good humor in his voice, and we were on our way.

Next we visited the church, where I met Endelyon, another kind young woman, but her hair and eyes were a darker shade of brown, contrasting with her pale complexion. She was dressed in a black dress with a white collar, and Duncan said she was a priestess. Mevin, the priest, was also wearing black but his robe didn't have a collar. The priest seemed to be as old as, if not older than, Duncan, though his blond hair pointed to the former, and he was just as kind and knowledgeable. From Endelyon, I received a small white lily, and I was given a small vial of water from Mevin that he told me to soak my valuables in. I had still not managed to speak.

From the church we proceeded down the hilly road to the school, wear we met Ranald practicing under the clear, blue sky on one of the field's practice dummies. His black hair was grown out on the right side, and his face showed a few lines around his mouth. He turned to us and a wide smile nearly split his face when he saw the Chief. "Heya Chief,! What brings you down here?" His brazen voice filled the air.

"Just showing young Aeria here around the town." Duncan said, gesturing to me. "Aeria, this is Ranald, our school's combat instructor. Ranald, this is Aeria. Forgive her if she's a little on the quiet side; she hasn't said anything all day, but she's plenty friendly."

Ranald nodded, eying Eiry with a calculative stare even as he spoke, "Hello Aeria. As Chief Duncan just told you, I'm Randal. Say... You had to use that sword yet?" At my small nod, he continued. "Yeah, I thought as much, you hold it almost like it was made for you. Hm... You should go see Trefor sometime later and ask him about the Smash skill. It might come in handy sometime when you're fighting an opponent more experienced than you are."

I nodded, and Duncan spoke for me, "Thanks Ranald. Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm going to introduce her to Lassar, and then we'll be on our way to the windmill, and then the inn."

"Oh sure, don't let me keep you waiting." He said, and turned back to the straw dummy he had been beating on earlier. Duncan led me across the courtyard and to the main school building and Eiry decided to remind me of her presence, "Well he was nice, ne, master?"

I nodded as Duncan opened the door.

From there, I met Lassar, a short, red-headed woman with a high forehead and sharp, intelligent eyes. She was dressed in a black button-up shirt with a matching skirt and high socks, and told me to drop by if I was ever interested in learning magic. With one of my increasingly common nods, Duncan led me to the windmill where I met Alyssa, who seemed to be around the same age as me. Alyssa managed the windmill, taking care of it and exacting a toll for its use so she could keep it working. We had more things to see, and less time to see them in, so Duncan and I didn't stay to talk with Alyssa too long. She did give me a piece of paper and pencil though, and told me to use them if I needed to say something.

We met Nora, an energetic, brown-haired girl that looked almost a spritely as Eiry, outside the inn, and after some small talk about making friends, and the gift of a small bag that I could keep my things in, we went inside where we met Piaras, a man with a strong face and short, black hair that was parted to either side of his head. "Hello Chief, nice to see you." He peered down to me, where I was standing, the height of the counter he was standing behind almost hiding me. "And who's this?"

"Ah, this is Aeria, I was wondering if you would give her a room in the inn until she can set out on her own. I would house her, but I'm getting older every day..." Duncan replied.

"Don't worry about it." Piaras cut in, "We don't get many travelers these days, so I'll let her stay for free until she's old enough to get a steady income."

Duncan nodded to him, and turned to meet my worried gaze. "And what's with this troubled expression, hm? I only met you yesterday evening and you're already getting attached? I live just up the hill, so it's not like you won't be able to come see me when I'm not busy."

I dipped my chin in a small, hesitant nod and turned to Piaras, who was giving me a reassuring smile. I decided I couldn't win and just nodded once more, more vigorously this time. When my room had been decided and I was shown where it was, Duncan left and led me to the bank, where I met Bebhinn and Duncan established my account for me. After visiting with the dark-skinned, black-haired gossip I was shown the general shop. I didn't actually get to meet Malcolm, the owner, though; Duncan wanted to see Dilys and find out if I was actually incapable of speech, and if there were a way to fix it. And so I was led up road, past the Elder Tree and to the Healer's House. Inside, I met Dilys, a woman with short brown hair and matching eyes. She was wearing white and green healer's robes. Dilys took the time to examine my throat for Duncan, and established for a fact that yes, I was mute, but she also said that she would look into a way to correct the issue.

When Duncan took me back to the inn, it was only about three in the afternoon, perhaps because of Duncan's haste. When Duncan and I parted ways after I stepped inside, I was at a loss for what to do. I sat in my room (a small affair on the second floor with a window overlooking the stream outside and the blacksmith that Duncan didn't take me to visit, for whatever reason. With nothing else to do, I stared outside, watching clouds and birds pass through the sky, absently drawing what I saw on a piece of paper using the pencil Alyssa had given me, as the room had a pair of journals sitting on my desk, a gift from Malcolm, apparently.

Outside, I saw a trio of children at play near the windmill, and watched Alyssa notice them messing around with something on the windmill and chase them off. They gathered up a decent distance away from the windmill, but still within my line of sight, and started playing at swords using a bunch of sticks.

Briefly, I had an image of a pair of knights, faces shadowed over, sparring with another knight, whose face was also shadowed, furiously. No matter what they did, the other knight still managed to beat them off. I was brought back to reality when Eiry popped up in front of my face again, a slightly worried expression on her face. "Do you want to join them, master?"

I shook my head, motioning to my throat. The little spirit got the message, and moved to 'sit' on the windowsill, though she was still looking at my absent expression worriedly. That was when I heard a knock at my door and turned to see Nora walking through. "Hey there! I saw you in the window," she said as she shut the door behind her, "and I thought you looked kind of lonely."

I shrugged, as I looked back out the window. Nora walked up beside me, having noticed my hands at work on the paper, "What'cha drawing?"

I looked at it myself, what had I drawn? The scene depicted on the paper only vaguely resembled the scene I was seeing now. And that was only in the sense both were of a window overlooking something. The drawing depicted a large, expansive city with a flag waving from its position on a castle rampart near the window. The flag had a six-pointed star in a circle on it.

"Wow, that's pretty good, Aeria." Nora said, and I just nodded, staring at it. 'How'd I end up drawing this?' I wondered, but put it out of my mind as Nora continued, "So do you draw often?"

I just shrugged again, I wasn't really sure. I had just picked up the pencil and paper and my hands started moving. "Right, Duncan said you had amnesia." Pulled out a journal and wrote, 'I wonder if I've been there before?'

After showing it to Nora, she put her finger to her chin thoughtfully, "Hm... I don't know, maybe. I haven't heard of a place like that before, the closest I can think of is Tara, but that place looks bigger." Another shrug, I didn't really expect much. After a while, Nora's attempts at keeping me company faded and she went back downstairs, so I continued to stare out the window, and my hands continued to sketch.

And later that night, when I fell asleep in bed, I dreamed once more.

This time, there were no storms.

I was sitting on the pier of a dock. Before me was a vast, gray ocean. Then, my eyes narrowed. In the ocean, there was a small figure, floating helplessly. Closer it came, pushed along by the deceptively gentle waves, until I could make it out. It was a babe, with several locks of blue hair covering her face.

Without a thought, I dived into the water. I reached her quickly, moving with the ebbing tide, and brought her into my arms. Her heart was still beating, miraculously. Now that she was safe, I started back to shore, the child in my arms, careful to keep her head above the water.

The current was strong, and something was weighing me down other than the child, but I was stronger still, and I pushed against the tide with all my might. And then, I came upon the rocky beach beneath the dock and pulled the child out of the water. I patted her back forcefully, but as gently as I could, and water escaped from her lungs onto the shore. Now that her lungs were clear, I turned her onto her back to see her eyes open slightly, looking at me, before they shut and she was asleep again.

I lifted her and set out to the nearby village...

And so I slept fitfully, embracing my dreams as the night wore on.

And so my days in Erinn began.

Ending Note: For the curious, Aeria only vaguely remembers her dreams at this age. I will try to make every chapter this long, but it depends solely on my muse when I'm writing it. Honestly, I could keep writing this chapter, but I figure it's already drawn on long enough.

And I didn't introduce Malcolm, Ferghus, and Trefor because, frankly, I was getting sick of typing dialogue between the NPCs that was essentially the same information, again and again.

Character Bios for the Chapter

Name: Tin

Appearance: A small boy with a metal helmet that conceals his face.

Other Information: There's nothing else to say, really. Apparently he's a friend of Nao's.

Name: Eiry

Appearance: A small, sprite-like spirit with blue eyes, white hair held in a single ponytail, and a near-perpetual smile. She also has a pair of white fairy wings on her back.

Other Information: Eiry's job is to provide guidance to her master, and she performs this task with great enthusiasm, even in the face of failure. She can't be seen or heard by anyone but her current wielder, and for unknown reasons can't be summoned by her master to assist in battle, unlike most spirit weapons.

Name: Duncan

Appearance: An aging man with a strong, lined face. His eyes are warm, and his hair is long and white.

Other Information: He's a kind man, and the Village Chief of Tir Chonaill. He also manages the village's lost and found since Tir Chonaill doesn't have a Town Office.

Name: Caitin

Appearance: A young woman with long, brown hair and matching eyes.

Other Information: She runs the town's grocer and is renowned for her culinary skills and well-like for her demeanor.