January Blooms - Revisited
So I went back and revisited one of my old drabbles. Welcome to my world of...Elementals.
Name: January Blooms, v2
Author: Telwyn Dubois
Genre: Original fiction, fantasy
Characters: Yvala, Cassiel, Gaea, and Amadicia
Rating: PG
Synopsis: Let us step back in time and recount the days, the eternal struggle between laughing Cassiel and her older sister Yvala, a battle that started at the beginning and continues to this very day.
Preview: Cassiel, daughter of the forests, walks, talks, and laughs all on her own, as she sets about fixing the Pattern. For that is the way things are, and that is the way the star dance will always be.
Malicious Yvala sweeps through the land, spreading her icy tendrils wherever the winds whistle. Miniature ice vines blossom and fade with every step the Elemental takes, choking the life out of the ground like one blots out ink. It is done quickly and silently, a thief in the night. Eyes of blue ice, she doth possess, freezing everyone with one mere glance. White-haired Yvala cackles, her breath expelled turning to death.
In her footsteps trails a mere shadow. It walks, talks, and laughs on its own, bright eyes merry. Her hair is of copper and her eyes forest green. Daughter of Gaea, is she. A goddess in her own right; the mischievous wood nymph called Cassiel of the forest.
Intent on doing as her mother Gaea instructed her, the ever faithful daughter strives to eradicate seedlings, young lives lying in wait for Laverne and her magick. They have no chance, crushed before awareness is born. But Mother Nature did not intend for her eldest to obliterate all of life. Arrogant, willful, and zealous, Yvala has always taken things too far.
Cassiel of the forest knew her job as soon as she came from the womb. She is the one born of trees and imbued with life’s essence. She is the one Gaea has chosen and marked as her favorite.
Cupping her hands, the youngest daughter begins to repair the damage her sister has done. Yvala gives the ill begotten gift of death; Cassiel grants the gift of sleep and rest. Her eyes glow bright emerald as she gently blows on a dried seedling. It yawns and stretches before curling up to await Laverne of the flowers and of spring. For the five months that Laverne spends with her mother at the center of the universe, Yvala ranges far and wide, before trading places with her mutual enemy. They only meet in passing to and fro, and nothing but cold glances are exchanged.
The unnoticed Cassiel is Gaea’s link between the two. She is the silent watcher, the unknown emissary. In winter she works feverishly to mend half of the damage Yvala causes in a rage. But only, exactly, half. Gaea decreed that some of the ruin must be left - it is the way of the stars and the moon, the way of the celestial dance, the way of life. The twins Laverne and Yvala might seethe with anger, but they do not have the power to alter the dance of the stars. It is the way It Must Be.
But in spring, as the seasons change and Laverne and Yvala pass, so Cassiel’s role in the world must shift as well. Cassiel weeps with pain as she taps one flower in every twenty, setting them to sleep forevermore. The trees she leaves alone, her request to Gaea. She is daughter of the trees, and the sparing of the immense grief is the smallest gift she might grant.
Gracious Laverne, merry Primavera, is a smiling woman. She grants Life and colorful blooms, scattering seedlings where the wind wills. For the wind always swirls gently at her heels, an obedient puppy to its master. The air is always warm in the presence of Her - her touch is Life itself. Cassiel almost pales in comparison, but Laverne, unlike Yvala, loves her kid sister very much, though Gaea has kept her ignorant of Cassiel’s role in the Pattern.
Her hair is spun gold, her eyes as blue as Yvala’s. But the eyes of Laverne shine serenity, radiating good humor and merriment. She treats all of Gaea’s creations with the same care for their worries - a patient and joyous nurse, self-appointed to her office. She alone understands the celestial pattern dance, the stars whirling in their ever changing positions to rule Life and Death. Always, it is the way it is supposed to be. Always and forever, the Elementals and Incarnations of Immortals remain, long after man and beast alike have faded into wind and water and ash.
And then there is Gaea, goddess of the Earth, the universe, and everything within and without. Juno and Jupiter might rule the heavens, Neptune might rule the seas, and Pluto may well be the ruler of the Underworld, but they are all children of Gaea and Father Time, Cronos of the sky. All things lead back to Mother Nature, who nurtures her children for all eternity. Mother Nature, she who’s sister called Chaos into being.
Long ago, there was no world, no universe, no stars. There was no Pattern - the celestial Dance was gone, and all that was left was the discordant music that echoed across the vast space and jarred with even itself. This was Chaos, a whirling myriad of colors and images, too half-formed to be even remotely recognizable. Eres, with dark hair and darker eyes stood before her creation and smirked visibly with satisfaction - she was the First to become born from the Powers That Be, and she had erred badly, choosing darkness over the True path of Light. And so she whistled the dissonant “melody” into formation, letting it go where it willed.
The Powers That Be saw that something had gone terribly wrong, and in their infinite wisdom, they created two more Immortals, each of who was given a Choice. Out of their spirit and desire, Gaea and her younger sister Amadicia were given the purest Essence of Life, and the power to grant it to others. Gaea, the wiser of the two, knew that Amadicia had the magick to defeat Eres and what she had willed into creation.
Amadicia knew immediately what should happen. As dark of hair and darker of eyes as her remote cousin Eres, she was bright and solemn, a flute always in her hand. And so the day came when, after polishing her silver plated flute, she of the yellow robes placed the silvery flute to her lips and sang slowly, gaining speed as she went on. Of course, shapeshifting Eres of the cunning wit struggled endlessly in an epic battle. Each spark that one or the other shot out became a star, a cornerstone of the Dance.
Yet Amadicia played on, fingers whirling as she weaved the beginnings of the star music that would eventually push out the dissonant singing. And over the span of an eon, cousin Eres was pushed to the farthest corner of the universe and left in a cage of wrought iron, the metal that is poisonous to those belonging to Nightshade and toxins. The Powers that Be smiled favorably upon Amadicia, pleased that she had made the right choice. They granted her a boon - she became one of them. And so she left the mortal plane to enter that of the astrals, where she plays on, never stopping for breath, lest Eres find a way out of her enclosure and gain the advantage with Dissonance.
Sister Gaea was left to her own devices, and she carved out the center of the universe as her dwelling, where she will live until the Powers that Be take her back from whence she came. The epic struggle between Light and Dark, Ill will and boon, continues on, in the smallest of ways. Laverne, Amadicia’s niece and counterpart, lives to defeat her twin. Yvala may press on, but neither will ever win. One may gain the upper hand for a short while, but there is always one who Gaea has chosen to right the balance.
Cassiel, daughter of the forests, walks, talks, and laughs all on her own, as she sets about fixing the Pattern. For that is the way things are, and that is the way the star dance will always be.
Name: January Blooms, v2
Author: Telwyn Dubois
Genre: Original fiction, fantasy
Characters: Yvala, Cassiel, Gaea, and Amadicia
Rating: PG
Synopsis: Let us step back in time and recount the days, the eternal struggle between laughing Cassiel and her older sister Yvala, a battle that started at the beginning and continues to this very day.
Preview: Cassiel, daughter of the forests, walks, talks, and laughs all on her own, as she sets about fixing the Pattern. For that is the way things are, and that is the way the star dance will always be.
Malicious Yvala sweeps through the land, spreading her icy tendrils wherever the winds whistle. Miniature ice vines blossom and fade with every step the Elemental takes, choking the life out of the ground like one blots out ink. It is done quickly and silently, a thief in the night. Eyes of blue ice, she doth possess, freezing everyone with one mere glance. White-haired Yvala cackles, her breath expelled turning to death.
In her footsteps trails a mere shadow. It walks, talks, and laughs on its own, bright eyes merry. Her hair is of copper and her eyes forest green. Daughter of Gaea, is she. A goddess in her own right; the mischievous wood nymph called Cassiel of the forest.
Intent on doing as her mother Gaea instructed her, the ever faithful daughter strives to eradicate seedlings, young lives lying in wait for Laverne and her magick. They have no chance, crushed before awareness is born. But Mother Nature did not intend for her eldest to obliterate all of life. Arrogant, willful, and zealous, Yvala has always taken things too far.
Cassiel of the forest knew her job as soon as she came from the womb. She is the one born of trees and imbued with life’s essence. She is the one Gaea has chosen and marked as her favorite.
Cupping her hands, the youngest daughter begins to repair the damage her sister has done. Yvala gives the ill begotten gift of death; Cassiel grants the gift of sleep and rest. Her eyes glow bright emerald as she gently blows on a dried seedling. It yawns and stretches before curling up to await Laverne of the flowers and of spring. For the five months that Laverne spends with her mother at the center of the universe, Yvala ranges far and wide, before trading places with her mutual enemy. They only meet in passing to and fro, and nothing but cold glances are exchanged.
The unnoticed Cassiel is Gaea’s link between the two. She is the silent watcher, the unknown emissary. In winter she works feverishly to mend half of the damage Yvala causes in a rage. But only, exactly, half. Gaea decreed that some of the ruin must be left - it is the way of the stars and the moon, the way of the celestial dance, the way of life. The twins Laverne and Yvala might seethe with anger, but they do not have the power to alter the dance of the stars. It is the way It Must Be.
But in spring, as the seasons change and Laverne and Yvala pass, so Cassiel’s role in the world must shift as well. Cassiel weeps with pain as she taps one flower in every twenty, setting them to sleep forevermore. The trees she leaves alone, her request to Gaea. She is daughter of the trees, and the sparing of the immense grief is the smallest gift she might grant.
Gracious Laverne, merry Primavera, is a smiling woman. She grants Life and colorful blooms, scattering seedlings where the wind wills. For the wind always swirls gently at her heels, an obedient puppy to its master. The air is always warm in the presence of Her - her touch is Life itself. Cassiel almost pales in comparison, but Laverne, unlike Yvala, loves her kid sister very much, though Gaea has kept her ignorant of Cassiel’s role in the Pattern.
Her hair is spun gold, her eyes as blue as Yvala’s. But the eyes of Laverne shine serenity, radiating good humor and merriment. She treats all of Gaea’s creations with the same care for their worries - a patient and joyous nurse, self-appointed to her office. She alone understands the celestial pattern dance, the stars whirling in their ever changing positions to rule Life and Death. Always, it is the way it is supposed to be. Always and forever, the Elementals and Incarnations of Immortals remain, long after man and beast alike have faded into wind and water and ash.
And then there is Gaea, goddess of the Earth, the universe, and everything within and without. Juno and Jupiter might rule the heavens, Neptune might rule the seas, and Pluto may well be the ruler of the Underworld, but they are all children of Gaea and Father Time, Cronos of the sky. All things lead back to Mother Nature, who nurtures her children for all eternity. Mother Nature, she who’s sister called Chaos into being.
Long ago, there was no world, no universe, no stars. There was no Pattern - the celestial Dance was gone, and all that was left was the discordant music that echoed across the vast space and jarred with even itself. This was Chaos, a whirling myriad of colors and images, too half-formed to be even remotely recognizable. Eres, with dark hair and darker eyes stood before her creation and smirked visibly with satisfaction - she was the First to become born from the Powers That Be, and she had erred badly, choosing darkness over the True path of Light. And so she whistled the dissonant “melody” into formation, letting it go where it willed.
The Powers That Be saw that something had gone terribly wrong, and in their infinite wisdom, they created two more Immortals, each of who was given a Choice. Out of their spirit and desire, Gaea and her younger sister Amadicia were given the purest Essence of Life, and the power to grant it to others. Gaea, the wiser of the two, knew that Amadicia had the magick to defeat Eres and what she had willed into creation.
Amadicia knew immediately what should happen. As dark of hair and darker of eyes as her remote cousin Eres, she was bright and solemn, a flute always in her hand. And so the day came when, after polishing her silver plated flute, she of the yellow robes placed the silvery flute to her lips and sang slowly, gaining speed as she went on. Of course, shapeshifting Eres of the cunning wit struggled endlessly in an epic battle. Each spark that one or the other shot out became a star, a cornerstone of the Dance.
Yet Amadicia played on, fingers whirling as she weaved the beginnings of the star music that would eventually push out the dissonant singing. And over the span of an eon, cousin Eres was pushed to the farthest corner of the universe and left in a cage of wrought iron, the metal that is poisonous to those belonging to Nightshade and toxins. The Powers that Be smiled favorably upon Amadicia, pleased that she had made the right choice. They granted her a boon - she became one of them. And so she left the mortal plane to enter that of the astrals, where she plays on, never stopping for breath, lest Eres find a way out of her enclosure and gain the advantage with Dissonance.
Sister Gaea was left to her own devices, and she carved out the center of the universe as her dwelling, where she will live until the Powers that Be take her back from whence she came. The epic struggle between Light and Dark, Ill will and boon, continues on, in the smallest of ways. Laverne, Amadicia’s niece and counterpart, lives to defeat her twin. Yvala may press on, but neither will ever win. One may gain the upper hand for a short while, but there is always one who Gaea has chosen to right the balance.
Cassiel, daughter of the forests, walks, talks, and laughs all on her own, as she sets about fixing the Pattern. For that is the way things are, and that is the way the star dance will always be.