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rainbowfic2023-03-16 09:13 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2023-03-16 09:13 pm
Tourmaline #7; White Opal #5 [Starfall]
Name: Morning Walk
Story: Starfall
Colors: Tourmaline #7 (garden/road); White opal #5 (solitude)
Supplies and Styles: Seed beads
Word Count: 1236
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1337, Starfall Village; Aimon Merner, Imiya Sarno. (Introducing another character. Takes place at the same time as Boundary Break.)
Summary: Aimon’s left to amuse himself for the morning – and runs into yet another unexpected aspect of Starfall Manor.
They had warned Aimon that this would probably happen during his stay at Starfall, but it still took him by surprise.
He was halfway through his breakfast, when Rion Wolmer suddenly poked her head round the door to the inn’s main chamber, currently empty but for Aimon.
“There’s an emergency,” she informed him. “Probably nothing to worry about, but something has got in or out of the Boundary Paths. It does happen.” She cast an anxious look at him. “Dealing with it is what we’re here for.”
Aimon put down his fork, and rose in politeness. “So I was given to understand. I take it I’m to keep well out of the way – unless you think I can help?”
“Oh, no,” she said. “It’s mainly the Pathwalkers’ business. I have to go up, but all the other day staff will be sent back home again. You should stay here.”
Aimon decided not to dwell on whether or not he should worry about the emergency, and instead enjoyed the rare pleasure of finishing his breakfast at a leisurely pace. Leaning back against the wooden bench’s back, he contemplated the unexpected free hour or two he now had ahead of him. He didn’t often get to escape his accounts for very long while away, and being on his own didn’t trouble him too much. He was used to it.
It was a clear morning outside. The lower mountain slopes were visibly still green and speckled with unfamiliar flowers, and Aimon headed off on a short walk. It would be nice to actually see some of his surroundings close up for a change.
He set off along the main upwards path, but he’d only gone a short distance when he heard someone calling his name. He stopped, and swivelled around on the spot, searching in vain for the speaker.
“Hello?” he called back, and then he caught sight of her: a short figure in bright blue emerging from behind a clump of trees. She was holding a matching sky-coloured hat that she replaced on her black hair with some difficulty as she hurried down a short, uneven slope towards him.
“You’re the Portcallan Inspector of Accounts, aren’t you?” she said, breathlessly. “I’ve seen you, but nobody’s introduced us yet.”
Aimon watched her descend lightly, until she finally jumped down onto the path in front of him. “I am, yes. Aimon Merner. You are?”
“Imiya.” She steadied her hat again and then held out her hand. “Imiya Sarno. They would have told you about me I am eventually, I expect, because I’m my whole department and you’ll have to see my accounts, too, I think. Won’t you?”
He pressed her hand in return. “I expect so.”
“Botany,” she added, inexplicably, and then started to walk along the path in the direction he’d been heading.
“Botany?” He turned his head to frown down at her, as he fell into step beside her, curbing his longer stride to match hers. “You see to the gardens, then?”
“No! Well. Not exactly, although I did used to work at Aradell Gardens – do you know it?”
He shook his head.
“It’s very famous,” she told him, reprovingly, as if he’d failed the first question on a school test. “Well, in South Eastern, it is. We got some very strange plants sold to us there sometimes, and I started trying to track down the source – and pretty much all of it came from somewhere close to the Boundary Paths.” She waved first one arm and then the other about vaguely, indicating the line of the Paths. “But some of them were more than just strange.”
Aimon thought of some of the odder books Leaira had shown him already. “Don’t tell me – they glow? Or melt, yes?”
“Not that I’ve noticed.” Imiya strained her head upwards, evidently trying to see if he was joking. “Maybe odder than that – they weren’t supposed to exist any more. Sometimes they didn’t seem to be related to any known plant species, old lands or new. I came here to investigate, and ended up sort of starting this role. It’s all very exciting.”
“I see.” Aimon wasn’t entirely sure he did, but it sounded about right for Starfall, as he was coming to know it. “So, you are out here looking for plants that light up in the dark or try to bite you?”
“You must have been listening to Portcallan tales.”
Aimon shrugged. “No, just using your library. I am reliably informed that it is perfectly normal for things around here to glow or melt at room temperature.”
“Not in my line of work. I did find a lightwood sapling once, but I couldn’t keep the poor thing alive.”
After a short pause, while they carried on walking along the path together, he asked, “You know they’re having some sort of emergency?”
Imiya nodded with enthusiasm. “Oh, yes, but I left before that all started, and I won’t be needed anyway. Don’t worry – we’d know if it was serious. So, I’m just going to carry on with what I was doing. You can come with me, if you like.”
“Oh?”
She laughed. “Well, as long as it’s all undamaged, it’ll be a pretty sight, and there’s a good view down to the valley from where I’m headed.” She touched his sleeve lightly with the edge of her fingers, directing him towards the middle path as it split ahead of them.
Aimon followed her, and then, as they rounded a corner, Imiya stopped. She waved at the patch of grass that lay before them, dotted with tiny white and gold flowers. A light, sunshiny scent drifted over towards them in the breeze.
“Dawn Tirivia,” proclaimed Imiya, as if she’d created them herself. “They shouldn’t be here at all. You do get them sometimes in the north eastern tip of High Eisterland, but nowhere else. I’d seen sketches before, but not the real thing. Aren’t they darlings?”
Aimon crouched down, biting back a smile, because that wasn’t a term he’d thought of for a flower before, even if these were charming enough. He touched the edge of one slender petal with the tip of his finger. “And they’re here, how?”
“Because someone or something came through the Paths from wherever or whenever they were common – and so far they seem to have taken quite nicely out here. I really didn’t think they would. They don’t usually transplant well.”
He stared closer, observing a peach-coloured blush at the inner centre of each petal, and frowned. “Do you mean that anything can just come through?”
“Yes, I suppose. It’s not easy, though, and nobody, not even our Pathwalkers, can just go wherever they want – and of course, to do it deliberately, you have to know how, as well. But weird accidents happen and random things come through – animals mostly. You mustn’t worry. The Pathwalkers know when something’s up with the Paths. That’s what’s going on today.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Aimon.
Imiya screwed up her face against the morning sunlight. “I am. I just thought maybe you’d like this – you won’t see anything like it anywhere else, and they only unfurl in the mornings. Much nicer things to think about!”
“They are very pretty,” he conceded, with a grin. Starfall, though, only got stranger the longer he stayed here. If the High Governor was worried about it, Aimon couldn’t entirely say he blamed him.
Story: Starfall
Colors: Tourmaline #7 (garden/road); White opal #5 (solitude)
Supplies and Styles: Seed beads
Word Count: 1236
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Notes: 1337, Starfall Village; Aimon Merner, Imiya Sarno. (Introducing another character. Takes place at the same time as Boundary Break.)
Summary: Aimon’s left to amuse himself for the morning – and runs into yet another unexpected aspect of Starfall Manor.
They had warned Aimon that this would probably happen during his stay at Starfall, but it still took him by surprise.
He was halfway through his breakfast, when Rion Wolmer suddenly poked her head round the door to the inn’s main chamber, currently empty but for Aimon.
“There’s an emergency,” she informed him. “Probably nothing to worry about, but something has got in or out of the Boundary Paths. It does happen.” She cast an anxious look at him. “Dealing with it is what we’re here for.”
Aimon put down his fork, and rose in politeness. “So I was given to understand. I take it I’m to keep well out of the way – unless you think I can help?”
“Oh, no,” she said. “It’s mainly the Pathwalkers’ business. I have to go up, but all the other day staff will be sent back home again. You should stay here.”
Aimon decided not to dwell on whether or not he should worry about the emergency, and instead enjoyed the rare pleasure of finishing his breakfast at a leisurely pace. Leaning back against the wooden bench’s back, he contemplated the unexpected free hour or two he now had ahead of him. He didn’t often get to escape his accounts for very long while away, and being on his own didn’t trouble him too much. He was used to it.
It was a clear morning outside. The lower mountain slopes were visibly still green and speckled with unfamiliar flowers, and Aimon headed off on a short walk. It would be nice to actually see some of his surroundings close up for a change.
He set off along the main upwards path, but he’d only gone a short distance when he heard someone calling his name. He stopped, and swivelled around on the spot, searching in vain for the speaker.
“Hello?” he called back, and then he caught sight of her: a short figure in bright blue emerging from behind a clump of trees. She was holding a matching sky-coloured hat that she replaced on her black hair with some difficulty as she hurried down a short, uneven slope towards him.
“You’re the Portcallan Inspector of Accounts, aren’t you?” she said, breathlessly. “I’ve seen you, but nobody’s introduced us yet.”
Aimon watched her descend lightly, until she finally jumped down onto the path in front of him. “I am, yes. Aimon Merner. You are?”
“Imiya.” She steadied her hat again and then held out her hand. “Imiya Sarno. They would have told you about me I am eventually, I expect, because I’m my whole department and you’ll have to see my accounts, too, I think. Won’t you?”
He pressed her hand in return. “I expect so.”
“Botany,” she added, inexplicably, and then started to walk along the path in the direction he’d been heading.
“Botany?” He turned his head to frown down at her, as he fell into step beside her, curbing his longer stride to match hers. “You see to the gardens, then?”
“No! Well. Not exactly, although I did used to work at Aradell Gardens – do you know it?”
He shook his head.
“It’s very famous,” she told him, reprovingly, as if he’d failed the first question on a school test. “Well, in South Eastern, it is. We got some very strange plants sold to us there sometimes, and I started trying to track down the source – and pretty much all of it came from somewhere close to the Boundary Paths.” She waved first one arm and then the other about vaguely, indicating the line of the Paths. “But some of them were more than just strange.”
Aimon thought of some of the odder books Leaira had shown him already. “Don’t tell me – they glow? Or melt, yes?”
“Not that I’ve noticed.” Imiya strained her head upwards, evidently trying to see if he was joking. “Maybe odder than that – they weren’t supposed to exist any more. Sometimes they didn’t seem to be related to any known plant species, old lands or new. I came here to investigate, and ended up sort of starting this role. It’s all very exciting.”
“I see.” Aimon wasn’t entirely sure he did, but it sounded about right for Starfall, as he was coming to know it. “So, you are out here looking for plants that light up in the dark or try to bite you?”
“You must have been listening to Portcallan tales.”
Aimon shrugged. “No, just using your library. I am reliably informed that it is perfectly normal for things around here to glow or melt at room temperature.”
“Not in my line of work. I did find a lightwood sapling once, but I couldn’t keep the poor thing alive.”
After a short pause, while they carried on walking along the path together, he asked, “You know they’re having some sort of emergency?”
Imiya nodded with enthusiasm. “Oh, yes, but I left before that all started, and I won’t be needed anyway. Don’t worry – we’d know if it was serious. So, I’m just going to carry on with what I was doing. You can come with me, if you like.”
“Oh?”
She laughed. “Well, as long as it’s all undamaged, it’ll be a pretty sight, and there’s a good view down to the valley from where I’m headed.” She touched his sleeve lightly with the edge of her fingers, directing him towards the middle path as it split ahead of them.
Aimon followed her, and then, as they rounded a corner, Imiya stopped. She waved at the patch of grass that lay before them, dotted with tiny white and gold flowers. A light, sunshiny scent drifted over towards them in the breeze.
“Dawn Tirivia,” proclaimed Imiya, as if she’d created them herself. “They shouldn’t be here at all. You do get them sometimes in the north eastern tip of High Eisterland, but nowhere else. I’d seen sketches before, but not the real thing. Aren’t they darlings?”
Aimon crouched down, biting back a smile, because that wasn’t a term he’d thought of for a flower before, even if these were charming enough. He touched the edge of one slender petal with the tip of his finger. “And they’re here, how?”
“Because someone or something came through the Paths from wherever or whenever they were common – and so far they seem to have taken quite nicely out here. I really didn’t think they would. They don’t usually transplant well.”
He stared closer, observing a peach-coloured blush at the inner centre of each petal, and frowned. “Do you mean that anything can just come through?”
“Yes, I suppose. It’s not easy, though, and nobody, not even our Pathwalkers, can just go wherever they want – and of course, to do it deliberately, you have to know how, as well. But weird accidents happen and random things come through – animals mostly. You mustn’t worry. The Pathwalkers know when something’s up with the Paths. That’s what’s going on today.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Aimon.
Imiya screwed up her face against the morning sunlight. “I am. I just thought maybe you’d like this – you won’t see anything like it anywhere else, and they only unfurl in the mornings. Much nicer things to think about!”
“They are very pretty,” he conceded, with a grin. Starfall, though, only got stranger the longer he stayed here. If the High Governor was worried about it, Aimon couldn’t entirely say he blamed him.
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So far.
Anyway this is great! Aimon is still my son.
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no subject
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