My eyes opened and right away I saw the huge canopy of foliage arching over my sight. I breathed in the calming scent of earth and broken pine needles. I must have fallen asleep while reading one of the ancient tomes again. I stretched before lifting my head, glorying in the refreshed feeling it gave my limbs.
The feel of the moss and ground-cover under my outstretched hands distracted me for a moment. I'd chosen a sleeveless tunic today over breeches (since my studies didn't really require I be more formal) so I could even feel the convoluted textures on my arms. I re-closed my eyes, trying to identify the natural bed I had read, then drifted off, in. It felt like a mix of ivy and sprouts, though I could distinctly smell silverleaf when I cheated and crushed a few leaves in one of my hands. I peaked out of one eye, verifying my suspicions. Silverleaf. Professor Bydera would be proud of me. Herbalism was never one of my strong suites, but it would be sad if a night-elf my age could not a accurately identity one of the most common plants in Shadow Glen (besides Moonlillys). Sighing at the reminder that there was more important things to do than doze, I dragged myself up to a reclining position and enjoyed one more closed-eye look at the afternoon sun. Beautiful red glared through my eyelids and warmed my face. I grabbed my forgotten tome out of the ground cover and vaulted to my feet. This was one of my favorite haunts in the glen I was raised: just past the North Pool before the slope rose and trees became too dense to pass. The incline and foliage combined was one of the best natural beds I'd ever found. Not to mention, on the days I didn't feel like snoozing, the pool provided a welcome distraction, dabbing my feet in the water, or swimming with Kendra or Limar when they were around. Speaking of which, where were they? Usually one of then found me by this time of day, and nudged me awake, laughing at or joking about my natural sleepiness. I couldn't help it! I hated refusing the call of the cool pool or soft foliage when tasked with getting through yet another book about a field of study I cared not about. My heart was in nature and living things, not the knowledge so professed by my elders and the Glen Council. But I know I should be a better student. My mother IS one of the leading priests on the council, alongside Dentaria Silverglade herself, and put much....weight on the future my education was to open up to me. Sighing again, I traipsed down to North Pool and started heading back up to the place where Aldrassil, Shadow Glens Tree, could be visible over the rise. It was plenty tall to be seen from anywhere in the glen, but there were so many other trees, it was sometimes blocked. The enclosed room at the top could not quite be made out, even to elf eyes. It just looked like... an unnaturally large bough.
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On the way, I passed by the glens Elune Well. The pool was being blessed by a priest acolyte with a trainer looking on. They mostly ignored me as I stepped close enough to feel the shine and closed my eyes to whisper a prayer. I felt a cold surge of energy renew my spirit. I reopened my eyes to stare down at my reflection in the calm water. A young woman with a purplish tint to her skin and aquamarine eyes stared back. My family and I had dyed our hair neon blue this year according to our ancestors cycle. One small swirl graced my left cheek in a brighter pink hue. I'd only chosen the one mark to identify myself so far, though the fairth of my grandfather in my mothers drawer showed that he had sported several of even more daring design.
