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Feb. 22nd, 2006 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
triple_flameOh, and while I think about it, I haven't been entirely not writing. I sat and ran up a short (1,000 words) piece for the Bifrost "Happy Birthday Elfwood" project last night. It's definitly more undead than deathless but at least it's writing and I'm not too disgusted with it. I originally intended to make it a poem but this is me and we all know that my brain doesn't like cheerful poetry!
It will be going up on my shelf at some point but I'm still waiting for the last lot of updates to go through yet.
Anyway, here's the piece if you want to take a quick look:
As Kasumi walked forwards the trees seemed to part before her, almost welcoming her into their midst. There was a sense of peace there, the leaves whispered with a music all their own and an enticing scent hung in the air. She had heard many tales of this place, of the creatures who lived here and the wonders they wrought; some said that it was a fell place, full of monsters that defied belief and beauty that led only to some violent doom. Others spoke only of magic and beauty, of gentle spirits, fair maidens and tame, if strange, creatures. There were those who talked in hushed tones about the otherworldly things they had seen there, not simply the mystical but also the whispers of aliens, visitors from other worlds that do not touch upon this but are separated from it by many lightyears of space. She sighed, some of the tales she had heard were rather far fetched but there was certainly something mysterious about the wood, it had not been there until ten years ago when it seemed to spring up from nothing; as though growing from a dream. Since then it had gradually expanded, covering the bare land surrounding it with lush growth.
No matter what fears others may have found her Kasumi found it pleasant, peaceful and uplifting. Light seemed to drift down through the branches of the trees, tinted green-gold by the time it reached the forest floor and the soft breeze that stirred hairs at the nape of her neck was warm. Her feet led her deeper still, almost dancing along the path to a beat drawn from the earth itself. Subtly the forest began to change, no longer did recognisable fruit bow branches low, but perfect crystalline replicas; the whisper of the leaves was no longer random but seemed to bear the cadence of speech in a language just beyond understanding. The course of a brook bent to pass alongside the path adding the gurgling laughter of water over stones to the symphony of nature around her.
Deeper still the crystals lost all semblance of anything else, their facets filled with myriad flickering images brought to life by the dancing of the leaf shadows and the caress of the breeze. The music of the stream seemed to be the key to understanding the trees' whispering, the air was filled with a thousand tales weaving a tapestry of a hundred worlds. The brook widened into a stream and then a river, the words carried in its voice growing louder, more insistent with every step. Kasumi fought the desire to raise her hands to her ears as the influx of stories became almost painful in its intensity. Her steps hastened to running as a bridge came in sight around a bend in the path.
As her feet struck firm ground once more on the opposite side of the bridge, Kasumi was stunned by the change. The thundering of the river was muted here and a cleared glade spread out before her like nature's own cathedral, a place of quiet thought and inspirations. Crystals hung from every branch and vivid shafts of sunlight threw the images encased within onto a screen of spray at the riverside. The voice of the forest returned to a whisper that only required an instant of focus to understand. While Kasumi stood rapt, a figure emerged from across the clearing; slender of body and fair of face, hair drawn back left glimpses of pointed ears and Kasumi could no longer doubt the presence of elves in this place.
"Be welcome here, mortal, on this spring night. We bid you join our revels for there is no fear here and the forest imposes no limits that your imagination cannot soar above." His voice was the whisper of the leaves and the song of the water, his hand was outstretched in welcome and something deep within Kasumi pushed her forwards to place her own hand in his, entrusting herself to that delicate grip. "You arrive at a time of great celebration for us. It is the birthing day of our Heart Tree, the anniversary of the day his first shoots saw the light of day and the dream in which we live was born." The elf drew her on, through the clearing and into another, even greater, where night seemed to have fallen across the land in the blink of an eye and the velvet darkness was lit by the light of glowing orbs floating where trees met open space. Creatures of all shapes and forms made merry within the glade, the tales Kasumi had been told of this place flooded back to her, all the beasts and beauties whispered of by those fearful of a tale's power danced among those more recognisable. Human and dragon intertwined, mer-folk seeming without fear of the Kraken's tentacles swam in the lake to one side, fairy folk flitted about, filling the night air with their own cold song, while their fae relatives lent an air of mythical dignity to the scene. Moonlight glinted off robotic forms sparking the same rainbows as from knightly armour and all the while, before her eyes, they danced to the rhythm of tapping keys and scratching pens, the soft whisper of pencil and paint brush.
"Welcome," Said her guide, "To the heart of the Elfwood. Welcome to our birthday celebration."
It will be going up on my shelf at some point but I'm still waiting for the last lot of updates to go through yet.
Anyway, here's the piece if you want to take a quick look:
As Kasumi walked forwards the trees seemed to part before her, almost welcoming her into their midst. There was a sense of peace there, the leaves whispered with a music all their own and an enticing scent hung in the air. She had heard many tales of this place, of the creatures who lived here and the wonders they wrought; some said that it was a fell place, full of monsters that defied belief and beauty that led only to some violent doom. Others spoke only of magic and beauty, of gentle spirits, fair maidens and tame, if strange, creatures. There were those who talked in hushed tones about the otherworldly things they had seen there, not simply the mystical but also the whispers of aliens, visitors from other worlds that do not touch upon this but are separated from it by many lightyears of space. She sighed, some of the tales she had heard were rather far fetched but there was certainly something mysterious about the wood, it had not been there until ten years ago when it seemed to spring up from nothing; as though growing from a dream. Since then it had gradually expanded, covering the bare land surrounding it with lush growth.
No matter what fears others may have found her Kasumi found it pleasant, peaceful and uplifting. Light seemed to drift down through the branches of the trees, tinted green-gold by the time it reached the forest floor and the soft breeze that stirred hairs at the nape of her neck was warm. Her feet led her deeper still, almost dancing along the path to a beat drawn from the earth itself. Subtly the forest began to change, no longer did recognisable fruit bow branches low, but perfect crystalline replicas; the whisper of the leaves was no longer random but seemed to bear the cadence of speech in a language just beyond understanding. The course of a brook bent to pass alongside the path adding the gurgling laughter of water over stones to the symphony of nature around her.
Deeper still the crystals lost all semblance of anything else, their facets filled with myriad flickering images brought to life by the dancing of the leaf shadows and the caress of the breeze. The music of the stream seemed to be the key to understanding the trees' whispering, the air was filled with a thousand tales weaving a tapestry of a hundred worlds. The brook widened into a stream and then a river, the words carried in its voice growing louder, more insistent with every step. Kasumi fought the desire to raise her hands to her ears as the influx of stories became almost painful in its intensity. Her steps hastened to running as a bridge came in sight around a bend in the path.
As her feet struck firm ground once more on the opposite side of the bridge, Kasumi was stunned by the change. The thundering of the river was muted here and a cleared glade spread out before her like nature's own cathedral, a place of quiet thought and inspirations. Crystals hung from every branch and vivid shafts of sunlight threw the images encased within onto a screen of spray at the riverside. The voice of the forest returned to a whisper that only required an instant of focus to understand. While Kasumi stood rapt, a figure emerged from across the clearing; slender of body and fair of face, hair drawn back left glimpses of pointed ears and Kasumi could no longer doubt the presence of elves in this place.
"Be welcome here, mortal, on this spring night. We bid you join our revels for there is no fear here and the forest imposes no limits that your imagination cannot soar above." His voice was the whisper of the leaves and the song of the water, his hand was outstretched in welcome and something deep within Kasumi pushed her forwards to place her own hand in his, entrusting herself to that delicate grip. "You arrive at a time of great celebration for us. It is the birthing day of our Heart Tree, the anniversary of the day his first shoots saw the light of day and the dream in which we live was born." The elf drew her on, through the clearing and into another, even greater, where night seemed to have fallen across the land in the blink of an eye and the velvet darkness was lit by the light of glowing orbs floating where trees met open space. Creatures of all shapes and forms made merry within the glade, the tales Kasumi had been told of this place flooded back to her, all the beasts and beauties whispered of by those fearful of a tale's power danced among those more recognisable. Human and dragon intertwined, mer-folk seeming without fear of the Kraken's tentacles swam in the lake to one side, fairy folk flitted about, filling the night air with their own cold song, while their fae relatives lent an air of mythical dignity to the scene. Moonlight glinted off robotic forms sparking the same rainbows as from knightly armour and all the while, before her eyes, they danced to the rhythm of tapping keys and scratching pens, the soft whisper of pencil and paint brush.
"Welcome," Said her guide, "To the heart of the Elfwood. Welcome to our birthday celebration."