Troubled Souls

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

30th Ymiden, 719


Tei'serin yawned as Rue told her about some of the benefits of aloe. At the older woman's irritated look, she apologized quietly. It was hard to resist yawning, though. With it being impossible to dream, no one was getting good quality sleep. And Tei'serin was feeling the strain just like everyone else was. The heat certainly wasn't helping matters, either.

And it's all because some idiot killed Vri's son. she thought crossly.

She didn't truly understand what she had seen that night, but a man had done...something to Kielik. Had chosen to do whatever he had done. And that something had killed the ruler of nightmares as he lay helpless in his sleep. While this was happening, another man had tried to pull the heart of dreams out of the one place where it belonged. And the combination of those two things had destroyed...everything in the world of dreams. Possibly forever. No one seemed to know if, or when people would start dreaming again, or if there was anything that could be done to make that happen. But one thing was clear; remembered or not, dreams were a vital part of sleep. Without them, no one was getting the rest that they so desperately needed while they slept. And that was taking its toll on everyone.

"Did you hear what I just asked you?" Rue asked sharply.

Tei'serin jumped, flinching guiltily as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I was thinking about something else." she apologized.

And was trying to stay awake. she added silently.

"Do you know how to make a healing salve?"

Tei'serin bit back the sarcastic response that she was so tempted to give. She was an herbalist...and had been for arcs! She'd be a pretty poor herbalist if she didn't know how to make a healing salve. Instead, she simply nodded, not trusting herself to resist saying something she would regret if she answered verbally.

"Then why don't you show me? You can use some of that chamomile over there."

A test, then. Tei'serin murmured her agreement, and quickly got to work. In her current mood, it was hard not to be irritated by Rue's lack of faith in her skills as an herbalist, but intellectually, Tei'serin understood that the older woman was only doing her job. Tei'serin had only been a part of the Order for a few trials now, after all. How was Rue supposed to know for certain what she could and couldn't do if she didn't test Tei'serin's knowledge on such matters?

So first things first. Tei'serin gathered some of the dried chamomile, a cup of coconut oil, and two pots, one of which was larger than the other. She filled the larger one part way with water, and put her herbs and oil into the smaller one. Then she placed the smaller pot inside the larger one, and set it on the stove so that the water would boil.

She didn't have long to wait. Once the water began to boil, she brought things down to a simmer. In order for the herbs to infuse their essence into the oil, they would need to be allowed to simmer for half a break to a break. That left her plenty of time to get ready for her next step in making the salve.

Tei'serin got an ounce of beeswax, and shaved it as thinly as she could manage. Then she got several pieces of cheesecloth, and some glass jars with lids to store her salve once it was done. When she was done with that, she looked up to see Rue watching her intently. Tei'serin sighed.

"I owe you an apology, Rue. I know that I haven't been part of the Order for long, and that you have every right to question my abilities as an herbalist. I shouldn't be annoyed when you do ask me to prove that I know what I claim to know. But I have been an herbalist for arcs, and I tend to be rather proud of what I've learned during that time. There's no real excuse for my behavior, but between the heat, and not being able to get any real rest when I sleep..."

Tei'serin sighed again.

"I really am sorry, Rue."

"I may not like it, but I do understand. We're all short tempered with the heat, and this inability to dream."

When her oil was ready, she took it off of the stove, and set it aside. Then she covered a bowl with three layers of cheesecloth, and used that to strain the herbs out of her infused oil. Once she had done that, she squeezed the cheesecloth to make certain that she got every last bit of oil that she could. With that done, she put her shaved beeswax into a pan, added her oil to the mix, and put the pan on the stove so that the beeswax would melt and combine with the oil.

Tei'serin kept a close eye on the pan, and when the beeswax and oil had been fully combined, she took the pan off of the stove, and poured the mixture into the jars she had waiting for that purpose.

"Now it just needs to cool down so it can solidify into a salve." she told Rue as she covered the jars with their lids, and labeled them.

"Thank you. Why don't I clean up this mess while you go take the rest of the trial off? I think we could both use some time to cool down."

Tei'serin's first thought was to apologize again, and insist on cleaning up the mess she had made herself. But she recognized Rue's gesture as the peace offering it was, so she simply thanked the older woman, and left. She felt the need to be alone for a while, so rather than return home, she made her way out the front gate, and into the Mukabwa Lori.

The forest was soothing to Tei'serin's frayed temper, and the silence save for the sounds of the forest surrounding her was a much needed balm. Being surrounded by trees also made her feel closer to Moseke, and that was both a comfort, and a source of worry. Like everyone else, she was painfully aware that Moseke hadn't been seen in the city since the world of dreams had been destroyed. Had that destruction hurt Moseke in some way? That was a truly frightening thought indeed, and if it was the case, Tei'serin wished more than anything that there was something she could do to help.

"Where did you go, Moseke?" she asked softly, not really expecting a response.

"Are you safe? Are you hurt? If you are...is there anything I can do to help you?"

[Pig Boy]

As she stepped into the Mukabwa Lori, the canopy provided shade against the heat. Even so, there was a humidity to the air that stole away everyone’s vigor. Flies buzzed around unchecked. The balance of nature was disturbed.

Some trees looked in worse shape than the rest, with their bark seeming to give way to the slightest touch, as if they’d been rotting while stood upright. Hanging on by little more than a splinter on the other side of the trunk.

Her aimless hike took her through many of these fallen groves, until eventually she arrived to a healthy-looking willow tree. There, it’s blossoms and vine-like branches hung down over Tei’serin’s head and shoulders.

Toward the center of the grove, there was a dark shade through which little sunlight shone. But in that darkness, a slight bright spot of green.

Closer inspection would reveal the bright green to be that of an orchid, thriving in the partial shade of the willow. The orchid seemed to twist, bend, and weave in the air through the wind. Pollen fell all around from the blossoms of the Willow.

The longer Te’serin spent under the boughs of the willow, the heavier her eyelids became. The pollen had a strange smell, and stuffed up her nose when she breathed it in. She would find herself becoming short of breath, but every step she took toward the Orchid, brought some measure of relief.

The small, oddly-shaped orchid grew invitingly from the bark of the willow’s trunk.

As for Moseke, no answer was forthcoming as yet.

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

The shade provided by the Mukabwa Lori was a welcomed relief in that it provided some protection from the intense heat. But the humidity in the air was severe enough it make the air thick, and it felt as though it was difficult to breathe. It also sapped her energy almost as much as the heat did. Tei'serin barely noticed this, though. The sense of wrongness she could feel all around her was a cry that she couldn't ignore. Many of the trees looked sick somehow. And when she touched them, their bark crumbled away beneath her fingers as though they were slowly rotting from within. What could have caused this? Was there anything she could do to help?

Tei'serin gave the matter some careful thought. Moseke had granted her the ability to heal people. Could she somehow heal plants as well? How would she go about doing so? One of the abilities she had allowed her to shape a sapling or medium sized plant into a form of her choosing. Could she "shape" a plant into a healthier form of itself? The latter seemed unlikely since these trees were much bigger than the other plants she had tried to use her ability on. The Order of the Adunih offered classes about some of the blessings that had healing aspects to them. Tei'serin hadn't had the chance to attend one yet, but she had overheard a few of her fellow green cloaks who had talking about an ability that could help a plant grow faster. It could even be used to heal Tunawa. If she remembered correctly, they had called it Mother's Song. Tei'serin wasn't sure if she had the ability herself or not yet. She hadn't really had the chance to try it for herself. But she did know that her ability to heal injuries had gotten stronger, and this ability sounded a little bit like a stronger version of the ability that would allow her to shape plants. Sort of, anyway. It was worth a try, at least.

Since the ability was supposed to make plants grow faster, Tei'serin looked around until she found a young tree that looked sick, It didn't take her long to find one. When she did, she placed both hand on its trunk gently, and closed her eyes. She looked deep within herself, and silently asked Moseke to help her help the sick tree. Then she focused her energy into her hands the way she would if she wanted to use the ability that would allow her to shape a plant. Since that ability required her to sing, she sang now. She sang the lullaby that her mother sang to her younger sisters when they had trouble sleeping. It was the same one that her mother had sung to her when she was little. It was a pretty song filled with the hopes and dreams that a mother had for her child.

Instead of focusing on the desire to make the tree grow faster, she focused on the desire for it to grow stronger, and become healthy once more. After a while, Tei'serin felt...something happen. Or at least she thought she did. But when she opened her eyes, she couldn't tell if her efforts had done any good or not. It was entirely possible that whatever she had felt had been a product of her desire to help the tree.

She considered trying it again, but she decided against it. Without knowing what she was doing, or even if she was having any affect at all, she was afraid of making things worse instead of better. So she continued wandering.

After a while, she found a grove where a healthy looking willow grew at the heart of the grove. It almost seemed to beckon to her, and she followed the call happily. It was a huge relief to see that some of the trees were still healthy. She hoped that that meant that the forest would survive whatever was making so many of the trees sick. Little sun made it through the leaves of the willow, but the dark shade was inviting; a respite from the heat.

As she moved closer to the willow tree, Tei'serin noticed a strange smell. It was like nothing she had ever smelled before, but it wasn't an unpleasant smell. Curious, she looked for the source. It didn't take her long to find a flower growing at the base of the willow. The flower looked like an orchid, but it was green, and Tei'serin had never seen a green orchid before. Pollen lay all around it, and Tei'serin guessed that the pollen must be the source of the strange smell.

As she watched, the flower seemed to dance; twisting, and bending, and weaving in the wind as if responding to the wind's "song." To Tei'serin, it almost looked as though the wind was trying to shape it. She watched, entranced.

After a while, she noticed that her nose was getting stuffed up. If she didn't know better, she would wonder if she was allergic to the flower's pollen. She was short of breath, and she was starting to feel sleepy, but she felt relief the closer she got to the green orchid. The flower seemed to pull at Tei'serin until she was close enough to touch it. Finally, she did touch it, caressing one of the petals gently as she breathed its scent in deeply.

[Pig Boy]

When Tei'serin touched the tree, in an attempt to focus the Moseke-granted ability to heal injuries, and to shape plants and plantlife, she felt it stir beneath her hands. The soft wound underlying its bark, almost was bruiselike, in the way it gave way to the slighest application of pressure. Yet as she touched it, she would feel a rush of euphoria, smelling like a gentle breeze in a flower laden field, tasting like a honeycomb hanging from a strong branch. THe wound gave way, and the diseased plant matter fell away, it's enervations renewed by sloughing off the diseased material. THe tree strengthened to compensate, but all the same, the imbalance might cause the tree to snap or bend later. Even so, life would endure, in either its seedlings or it's roots. However, this was but one tree, in a grove ravaged by disease.

She did feel a steady rush of feeling from around her. It may have been a spirit, because it came out of nowhere, invisible to her. Tei'serin would feel a rush of gratitude, but this was not necessarily her gratitude but more the feeling one had when they helped an elder up a steep ramp, or treated the wounds of a small animal, only to see it recover later.

And so, having felt all of this, she moved on, to find that orchid beneath the Willow Tree. There, to caress its petals, and breathe in its sweet, calming essence. Once the decision to sample the scent of the orchid had been made, Tei'serin felt her sleepiness increase, until she began dozing off. No sense of alarm or shock excited her. She felt protected and perfectly safe there beneath the branches of the willow.

As she closed her eyes, she would see the branches of the willow coming down around the perimeter, like a curtain blanketing a grand royal bed...




Tei'serin felt her own presence, barely lucid in the realm of dreams. The surroundings weren't unlike those she'd only just departed, except the Green Orchid and willow tree were gone. Another sight that belied the fact that she'd moved to a different plane, were the bright little spirit people surrounding her, dancing and capering this way and that, busying themselves with the trees surrounding, yet sobbing as they failed to heal the wounds that were all over.

Tei'serin would feel first, then hear soft footfalls against the earth, sounding from behind her. Should she turn to face their owner, she would see the Earth Mother herself, Moseke.

"Welcome, are you here to teach my children how to heal?" Moseke said, smiling sadly, the question on her lips.

A tug was felt at Tei'serin's skirt, and if she looked to the one doing the tugging, she'd see one of the miniscule spirit people. It tweeted and chirped, speaking the secret Treetalk of the Tunawa.

"Let me help you to understand." Moseke sighed, then nodded slowly to her. Tei'serin would feel an ecstasy that belied all explanation, as knowledge filled her head. From then on, she'd find herself able to speak and understand Treetalk.

"They mean well, but they are fairly empty headed when it comes to the healing arts." Moseke whispered, "What more can they do, when their sap won't rejuvenate such a grove?"

[Tei'serin Nji'ryn]

As she closed her eyes, she saw the branches of the willow closing down around the area, and she smiled sleepily. She felt warm, and safe. Wanted, and protected. It was those feelings that accompanied her as she drifted off to sleep.

****************************************

The willow was gone. That was the first thing she noticed. And upon closer inspection of the area, Tei'serin noticed that the green orchid was gone as well. Strange. Had she moved on from the area she had found so fascinating, and continued on with her walk? She couldn't seem to quite remember moving on, but while similar to the place she had just been, this part of the forest was not the same as the one she had been mere trills before.

Her next clue that she wasn't in the same place she had been before was the tiny, bright...people she could see dancing among the trees. They were dancing...but they were crying, too. Tei'serin watched them for a few bits, and realized that they were trying to heal the trees much the way she had tried to heal one earlier. But where she had met with some success as the diseased matter had fallen away with her efforts, the tiny people did not seem to be having any luck with their attempts.

Tiny people. Could these tiny, bright beings be Tunawa? She had met one once, briefly, and at first she had thought the tiny woman to be a wooden doll. These people looked more like spirits, though. She didn't have much time to think about it though, because she was distracted by someone approaching her from behind. She felt the footsteps in the earth more than she heard them at first. Tei'serin turned to see who it was, and found Moseke standing behind her.

Her eyes widened in surprise and delight, and she smiled. Her first reaction was relief. She had heard the rumors that Moseke was missing from the city, and with everything else that had been going on, she had been worried as to what that might mean. Tei'serin knew what everyone else did about the death of the Sleeping Twins at the hands of a mortal man, and the resulting destruction of Emea, but if Moseke had returned, perhaps it was a sign that things could get better.

Moseke's question startled her, but she was both healer and teacher, so there was only one right answer to the question.

"I can try." she offered softly.

The question was how? Her skill was with herbs. In all other methods of healing, she was a student herself. And she wasn't certain what herbs might be useful to heal trees or how to go about doing so. Yet, the feeling of gratitude that had filled her as the diseased material on the tree had fallen away leaving the tree she had tried to heal stronger for her efforts was strong in her mind. There had to be a way.

Tei'serin was distracted from her thoughts when she felt a tug on her shirt. She looked down, and saw one of the bright spirit people. They tried to speak to her, but all Tei'serin heard was a confusing series of chirps and tweets, much like birds in the trees as they went about their lives. And that presented another problem. If she couldn't understand what the spirit person was trying to tell her, would they understand her?

But Moseke had an answer for that. She nodded to Tei'serin, and Tei'serin felt a wave of intense ecstasy fill her. It was akin to the joy she felt at learning a new language, or teaching something to her students back in Treth, and watching the dawning understanding in their eyes as they understood the lesson she was trying to teach. She could almost feel the knowledge fill her head, and after that, she was able to understand what the tiny spirit person was trying to say.

Tei'serin thanked Moseke for helping her to understand what the tiny spirit people were saying. Then she turned her mind to the question that she had asked her. Sap was the blood of trees. If it couldn't help, then...then mind flashed back to the sight of the diseased part of the tree she had attempted to heal falling away.

"They have to remove the diseased part of the tree first." she said softly.

"Then maybe their sap can strengthen what is left?"

Tei'serin glanced at the spirit person who had tugged at her shirt, wondering if that had made any sense to her. Him? She wasn't sure if the person was a man or a woman...or even if that mattered to the spirit people.

[Pig Boy]

As the series of chirps and trilling birdsong fluttered from Tei'serin's vocal cords, the tunawa spirit's eyes widened, and it nodded its head. It responded in kind; it's birdsong treetalk voice completely comprehensible now to the herbalist. "Oh! How do we tell which parts are sick? The tree has roots, trunk, branches, and leaves. Does the sickness spread throughout its beams?"

Moseke bubbled laughter as she watched her spirit tunawa caper and dance about Tei'serin, all of them very heartened to have a rare human who could understand their tongue. Moseke ventured to speak, "Well, you know much of plants, don't you Tei'serin? But how much do you know of trees?"

"My forest has languished terribly, the ether storms wrought by the Emeafall have devastated much of the lands. And I've heard many rumors of troubles in other lands as well..." She sighed, "But we start where we can. And where that is, maybe at home, no?"

Moseke thought on Tei'Serin's solution to the issue at hand and frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm, removing the diseased wood and flesh from the tree may help... But how would one staunch the flow of sap? Can one bandage a tree as you would a person?" Moseke, of course, knew the answer to this but wanted Tei'serin to put it in terms that her simple spirit children could understand. The call for Tei'serin to this place was a test. And more than that, an opportunity to put things right.

The spirit people looked up from where they capered about Moseke a moment before, stopped moving and all gathered around to Tei'serin. "Roots, branch, trunk, or flesh? We have all the tools needed, ojogbon cutting tools, and the green-magic of the spirits. Where shall we begin teacher?!"

They all coalesced around Tei'serin, while Moseke watched and waited for her chosen servant to proceed.