Eight Intertwined

32 - S'warkii

To Ophilia, it sounded as if the trees of the Whisperwood were singing. 

She had never been anywhere outside of Flamesgrace after she was initially taken there by her adoptive father. It wasn't that she had to stay there all the time; she simply didn't wish to leave, content with her life and not seeing much of a reason to explore the world. Flamesgrace was safe and comforting, everything that the world just outside the town's boundaries was not. Her journey to retrieve the Ember had been her first true act of defiance in a life lived solely for the purpose of the church, and the ensuing adventure was her first time seeing the world at large outside of the distance between the remnants of her childhood home and the place that she would live for the next set number of years. 

And yet, Ophilia found herself fascinated with the world around her in the Whisperwood specifically. Part of her wondered how she had ever managed to keep herself so secluded and isolated from everything else to begin with. The Whisperwood truly was beautiful, each tree seeming to bend so perfectly in the breeze. It was like the environment itself was coming together to contribute a perfect picture of something graceful and awe-inspiring, and Ophilia was left with little more to do than simply stare at it all. 

H'aanit had mentioned the balance of the forest a few times as the group set off on their travels, and Ophilia was starting to understand what she had meant by that. This was a beautiful place, and its tranquility deserved to be protected. The Whisperwood was incredible, the first environment to ever strike Ophilia silent since she first arrived in the Frostlands at Josef's side what felt like a lifetime ago. The song of the trees and grass and everything in between seemed to soothe her in ways that she hadn't thought possible. She wondered if perhaps the area had been named the Whisperwood because of the way that the environment seemed to come together to form a choir, different plants singing alto, tenor, and bass while the breeze came through with a delicate soprano melody. This was the theory that Ophilia was sticking to for the time being regardless of how correct it is, and she found herself smiling at the mere thought of it all. 

The rest of the group, on the other hand, didn't seem to be as infatuated with the natural beauty of the space. Therion's expression was as deadpan and emotionless as it had been when he first found himself as part of the group, and Olberic was doing his best to concentrate on the mission. Tressa and Alfyn stared at small plants with Alfyn wondering how potent they would be in terms of medicine. Cyrus' eyes seemed to dart everywhere as he tried to absorb as much as he could visually from the area as possible. He was undoubtedly preparing to engage in some type of research because of his curiosity, though it was far from the awestruck wonder that Ophilia felt. 

The only one who could even somewhat compare to what Ophilia was experiencing was Primrose, though she still didn't seem to be able to comprehend it in full. Her hand remained on her dagger the whole time, ready to rip the blade from its sheath at a moment's notice in case she had to jab it in the direction of an attacking monster. Ophilia found something inside of her heart overwhelmed with sadness at the sight of Primrose's hyperactive sense of vigilance. She could tell that there was something that had pushed Primrose in this direction, and she wished that there was something she could do to help. 

All things considered, Ophilia thought that she knew the least about Primrose. Her destination was Stillsnow, apparently, and that was one of the closest towns to where they were at present. On top of that, her goal seemed to be time sensitive, though unlike Therion, that didn't manifest in the form of glares like knives. Instead, she simply never seemed to be able to calm herself, like there was constantly an itch that she couldn't scratch no matter how hard she tried. It seemed as if the group would be at Stillsnow soon enough given its proximity to S'warkii, but that did little to calm Primrose's raging nerves, it seemed.