A Garden of Flowers and Bones [Lloyd Garmadon x Reader]

Chapter 18: Dandelion, Larkspur, and the Refusal of Marriage

It would probably be weird for a woman, of all people, to say something so philosophical (she still didn't know how to spell that word): but something Y/N had learned was that the sky was sort of like water.

Y/N was not an ambitious woman. Because she had little reason to look only ahead of her and chase a singular goal (at least in the grand scheme of things), she was more of the type to look at everything around her. Sure, when she became focused on a task, she saw only what was in front of her. But when such things faded away, she was able to examine the full extent of the world that the Goddess had placed them in.

And when she looked up to the sky, lying side by side with her sister, she could see the way the clouds blanketed the heavens. Some were higher up, fluffier and white, long and wispy in the periwinkle blue. Others were lower down- and she could tell by the way the shadows danced over their curves, how they passed seamlessly beneath those large and languid ones at higher levels. They were smaller and faster, oftentimes heavier and grey like they were filled with rain and waiting to pop.

She noticed that the clouds that were cascading higher seemed move slower and in one direction, yet clouds that were lower seemed to float by quicker and in another direction. And it reminded her of a deep river that whisked by on the surface, yet once you dropped beneath, a whole separate current that was faster than you could imagine would sweep you up and drown you.

Someone had died that way. In the creek on the outskirts of Redkeep, when the children would sneak out of the way of adults. Stupidly and recklessly, with no care for the Fey threat lurking around every corner, or even the other dangers of the forest that would not accept them, they boldly stormed into the forest in high spirits. They laughed at Y/N when she stumbled over tree roots and her own feet, still unbalanced like a newborn deer. As if the forest itself was rejecting her and telling her to return to where she belonged.

She did not listen. She followed because she was young and stupid and easily pushed to do things she didn't want to do. After being dragged with the group, she could only chase after them as they rushed away, giggling about her strife. Her shoes were heavy with the mud, and the difficult terrain and humidity made the trek nigh torturous. 

Still, she walked.

By the time she had reached the river, he was already on the bank. And when a friend jokingly pushed him forth, he slipped in the mud and went tumbling down into the shallows. But even the shallows were deeper. Down south, the rain was much more prominent. Every second day brought rain, whether it be drizzle or down pour. And it had been raining on and off for the prior week. The murky, freezing river in fall was overwhelming. The water had risen and soaked into the dirt. As if it had sought him out and reached it's limits just to pull him under.

The kids had screamed. Two girls ran back to the village together, and though Y/N wanted to run away, she couldn't when she saw one boy trying to get into the water after him.

These days, she could no longer remember their names. But she remembered the way they screamed and cried. The second boy had clambered in, knocked off his feet in an instant. Beneath the surface was a current strong enough to sweep him under. It was deceiving and deeper than he had thought- and it was determined to claim a young and ignorant life. 

The first boy was already gone before his friend had even thought to wade in after him.

Their friends, scared by the sudden turn of events, had frozen up nearby. They were not as familiar with death as Y/N was. They hadn't seen it up close- watched as someone withered away right in front of them, as if the life was seeping out of their body. That's why Y/N was the one to yell at them to take action, as she put her right foot forward it sunk into the earth and she wrapped her arm around his, fighting desperately to pull him out just as a wave washed over him and pulled his head under water.