I would soothe your pain

tag: @Olive

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Smoke began to form, at first a small whisp of ghostly silver but soon it became darker. The smell was just as confusing as the appearance of the vapor, the rich scent of burning wood when not a single tree seemed to be close to the smoke. This phenomenon did not last very long, possibly a minute or maybe it was mere seconds? It was impossible to tell as the haze turned pale once more as it began to disappear, leaving a form in its wake.

Not a single hair on this creature was harmed, no burn marks or singed fur could be seen as the cream and pale mercury body began to stir. A soft gasp, of surprise or perhaps the first breath of life in this new world? Who was to say but her lungs expanded to accept air just as pale apple eyes fluttered open, the smoke gone from sight as if the deities did not want to startle this dryad when she came to this new reality. Confusion crossed her features, creases appearing on her brow as she took in her surroundings.

The redwoods were not here, the fire was not chasing her thought of fire no longer in her mind as her head tilted as if to ask who she believed in a question. Mountains seemed to hug all the corners of her vision as well as evergreen looking trees, but none were near her at the moment. The air smelled crisp but has a soft bite to it to show her thay the season was closer to autumn than it was summer, allowing her to think of the mission of collecting and drying herbs. Would mother be already be going this, or perhaps she could start now?

Her limps felt heavy as she began to raise herself off of the ground, a grunt escaping her lips before she realized she could not scent her family anywhere near her. Panic shot through her, a whine loud enough for anyone around to hear. Where were they? A flash of bright light, the smell of smoke. The girl nearly toppled over as a random image flitted through her mind, a wobble in her step as she shook her head.

Then a scent came, so familiar thay she could weep at the smell. There was just no way, she had left and abandoned her. A tear fell from one of her green eyes, could she have really returned? Without thought she raised her nose to the heavens and let out a howl, a desperate cry for the twin she had lost. Please be her, please be her!

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Fire. She smelt fire.

Olive, for a moment, almost didn't bother investigating it. Panic gripped her heart, and she wished to raise a howl to the winds and abscond with her children to safety. The time of the year was ripe for wildfires, when the foliage on the trees was dry and falling like tinder, yet the skies still occasionally stormed with lightning. Wide-eyed, the mother lifted her nose to the wind and sniffed about wildly, trying to find the direction of the smokescent — perhaps it was still a small enough conflagration enough to be stamped out. She would not abandon her vale so completely, yet.

In that direction, Olive flitted.

In her haste, the mysterious smell of smoke vanished as quickly as it came.

Then, she heard the howl. It was familiar; eerily so. But perhaps the most eerie part of it was that it somehow knew her name, and called for her. None of it made any sense, and in response, the little druid did quicken her pace. An apparent intruder was afoot — or, at least, it was a confused one. Perhaps just as confused as she, but Olive doubt, not quite.

Like water runoff draining from the tops of the mountains, she was pulled downwards and towards the place where both the smoke and the sound came from. Once there, she spied her own twinset; so similar to Aurelia and Euphemia that for a moment Olive almost believed that her child had somehow grown up in warp-speed, and was now standing before her as a fully grown woman. Just as when she found @Aries falling from the sky, or @Eileithyia mewling amongst their woods, it was easier for Olive to believe in some other magic. Still, it wasn't that long ago that she had fled her home and family; the last time she had seen her sister. It was only a moment or two, before Olive truly perceived who she was looking at. "Serena?" the waif questioned, softly gasping as her thin jaw fell open. She drifted a step closely, barely moving her paws.

"Or, am I dreaming again—?"

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Her song died off, carried along the wind in hopes to find the sister she so desperately wanted to see again. She lowered her rump to the hardened ground as she took in the sight around her, it was a different place thay was for sure. Instead of towering trunks that seemed to soar on for miles ahead, these trees were easily close to evergreens with their deep green needles and Christmas tree design. A few leafy timbers were scattered around, their leaves confirming her theory of the season, canary yellow and tangerine orange, so it was the early part if autumn. Hadn't it been the early part of spring, wasn't she just finding herbs to dry and trade with?

Hot, heat flooded her nose and vision causing her eyes to water. It was too close, the grass not yet wet with rain. Dry, this thunderstorm was to make it wet but the fire caught. She stumbled again as another wave of images and emotions seemed to flash in her mind, fleeing as quickly as it came. The little dryad shook her head as she blinked, looked down at a flower clinging to life at her toes. She tilted her head as the image faded, focusing on the plant before her and its medical properties. It was just a few dasiy looking flowers but she could tell by scent and memory that is was Chamomile, she would need to snag this little thing and dry it before it's last breath of life was wasted.

Her name caused her eyes to snap up and take in her twinset, that flower forgotten as she stepped around it and closer to the sylph before her. “Olive.” She whispered back, closing the distance between her and looking up slightly before simply moving up and embracing her. Her nose burying into her neck to take in her scent, Olive was here.

“Not a dream, I am here..”

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The lookalike came closer to embrace her, and Olive was stupefied. There was a very real part of her that thought she was never to see her family ever again, simply because she willed it. It was a difficult thing to ponder, how one could wish to never see their family again, yet miss and yearn for them with every breath she took — and in every look at her children, the progeny of the very lineage she forsook. So what, if she had believed it was for their own good? It still hurt to be without them, as they all continued on their lives, without her.

Maybe they would have understood, but Olive hadn't wanted to give them the opportunity.

But now Serena was here, so close that she could tastetouchsmell her, and Olive didn't know what the appropriate reaction was. Her heart longed to greet her sister with the ferocity and acceptance that she had displayed, but Olive was gobsmacked with the fact that her sister had truly found her, against all odds, and against her best efforts. "How?" Olive asked earnestly, breathing heavily against her pale doppelgänger. So many memories that she had thought to be processed, arose anew.

Serena seemed so certain that she wasn't a dream, and Olive stole a glance upwards towards the spots of sky that she could glimpse between the thickets and the tree cover. "Where's mother?" she asked, eyelashes fluttering, voice breaking, "Father?" She didn't know if she preferred them to be here, somehow amongst the Vale and smelling of smoke, or if she wished they were still far, far away.

As far as she could have ever run, she had thought.

The woman held her sister tight.

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