Reveries of the Tainted

Chapter Two

June was pursuing a journey blindly, no reward or destination in mind. Perhaps she would have had one if she knew what her goal was to be.

As of then, she assumed it was to wander.

So wander is what she did.

The journey began as a trail of damp moss, which she didn't mind. She most certainly preferred the soft cushioning it provided over mud or stick.

The trees stood tall and happily. Everything appeared to be in full bloom, glowing in the early afternoon sun. She had to rub her eyes and reanalyze what her senses presented her.

The sun accentuated taunting of figures in trees that threatened the fragility of her sanity. She had never heard nor seen of these occurrences. Seeing people in trees was outlandish in the teachings of her people.

Continuing in small steps, still she blinked her eyes to rid of the shapes making up each particle looked upon, but they did not fade as she expected. Every so often, the glimmer of an examining eye would materialize into her line of sight.

When she began to search specifically for those possibilities of life in the growth off of a peculiarly well-manicured path, her attention narrowed in on a select few of the brave Dryads who extended only the smallest of perceptions for her to view. Her eyes stuck to the varying earth tones of their own fragments of soul.

There they looked back to her in an unblinking attempt at recognition, but their curious exploration only went so far. Their job was to assure protection over their land, and they did not know of this stranger or of her intentions. They sensed a gentleness, however caution exceeded all. Some held the visual connection while others broke off from their companions and a flurry of wispy forms fled to disappear into the vibrant bark of their tree stumps.

There now only remained a brave few to stand before their own village of oak and elm.

All that could be done on June's end was return their gaze in amazement. She didn't know if they were approachable or intimidating; inviting or repelling.

"Hello?" She tested her voice aloud, redirecting her pace to a slowed shuffle toward the forest lining. The low-opacity creatures stirred, a majority disappearing the second she stepped within their radius. Only one stood, and she did not appear to be calling for June to come forward with questions. She was merely a spirit existing within her environment.

It was no one's place to disturb such a being from their comfort.

With the reaction received from portions of protective entities, June paused before taking her next step and rethought the reasoning behind disturbing an unproblematic community of tree folk. She wanted nothing more than to speak to the alluring bunch, but instead spared a glance to their trees and withdrew back to her mossy pathway.

Her own curiosity did not expand beyond the discomfort it would cause in these woodly natives. She knew it not her place to be a bother to those who wish to remain unbothered.

Pigmentations pushing against the bottoms of her feet captured her senses once more.

Swirls of abundantly shaded greens pooled together, almost looking to be alive in its movement. She hadn't take the time to observe too well previously, but as she narrowed in on the moss, patterns both relating and differing from what she had seen in other forms of Earth swirled about in the details.

Reflections of impressions of wind patterns, the crests and troughs of West's waves, flames of the salamanders lying deep in their fiery mountains, and golden eyes of which searching for a world beyond their own within the textures of stalk.