Aren sat on his chair in the middle of the room that hummed its complex, whimsical tunes. Along pipe between his small claws, he struck a casual pose and watched his pupil through the tiny clouds of grey and blue smoke that remained hovering in front of his nose for a moment, before they completely dispersed and melted into the warm air that always smelt of metal and wax, intermixed with tea herbs, incense and oils, hidden everywhere in between his countless tools and instruments. The child looked wonderful today. Her aura appeared to be shining even brighter than usual, while her face was serene, with hints of light pink in her cheeks that intensified around her eyes. Her expression was dreamy, her thoughts quite obviously roaming realms that were inaccessible even to him.
Aren allowed a knowing chuckle to join the smoke he released from his mouth.
"Since you'll also be busy with other things today", he gently raised his voice, "I do not think it would be a good idea to strain you with further practice. So I thought we might just discuss some theoretical things for now", he added.
"Mhm", his pupil went, still very absent-mindedly. Her eyes pointlessly pinned to one of the clocks on the desk to his right, she did not at all seem ready to take in any kind of information.
"Iris."
"Mh?"
"Are you listening, darling?"
"Ah.... Forgive me, Master Aren", she said in a tone that sounded like she had finally snapped out of her daydream. "I...."
"Didn't get much sleep, eh?", Aren grinned, unable to subdue his amusement.
"M-master, you promised me not to read my--", Iris suddenly started, turning bright red. Aren burst into laughter.
"I know you implored me not to as soon as you opened the door. But, child, reading your mind is not even necessary here", he finally said and wiped a tear from his round eyes.
"Oh...", Iris went, shrinking a few inches as she took up a hunched pose to let her hair fall around her more.
"The worldly pleasures aside, my dear", Aren carried on, quite openly enjoying her reactions. These kids were too adorable. "Now that we have practised together for a while", he said in a more serious tone, "what does the world look like to you now?"
Hearing the master's words, Iris' eyes immediately filled with stars.
"It is shimmering and shining like the dwarfs' mines in the tales my nurse used to tell me!", she instantly answered. "I do not think that there is a language in this world that has words for all these colours, Master. Everything I see, even the stone walls that I had thought cold and dead are adorned with the tiniest of creatures! They are moving all about, so many that they are revealing the surfaces of the things that surround me. And Nyx", here she paused and grabbed a strand of her hair, which she twirled between her fingers for a moment", he is like the sun to me. His light is the strongest and warmest of all."
Aren found himself captivated by her enthusiasm. He indeed felt a little proud. Excited, even.
It had been some time.
"That is wonderful, child. More than I could ever have hoped for at your age. Now, I am under the impression that I haven't quite explained to you just what it is that you are seeing there."
Here he paused, taking a moment to think about where to start.
"I thought", Iris' slightly insecure voice cut through his silence, "that these lights I see are souls, but then I got scared my assumption could be true."
"How is that?", Aren enquired, a little surprised.
"Because when something dies, it grows dimmer and vanishes into the same darkness that has reigned my world for so long. Fallen flowers' heads, dying insects... If what I see is their souls, then...", she gulped, unable to go on. Aren sighed warmly. Her empathy really knew no bounds.
YOU ARE READING
Without Words, Without Sight
Fantasy"And in the distance between these eyes that did not see, and this voice that did not resound, he put the flowers and fruit he had picked to describe the scent she had to him. As he put them all into her arms, she understood with a graceful smile. P...
