[Thread; Closed]

[dewdrop_pebbles]

Characters: Mjrn and Jote
Progress: Ongoing.
Summary: The sisters have an overdue talk after their conversation with the local scholar.
Location: The inn at Treno.
Date: June, 1803
Warnings: Awkwardness? Angst? Nothing else, though.

Comments

[woodguardian]

And unbeknownst to Mjrn, Jote also had that discussion they'd had in front of Fran in her mind. But her memory went further, past the time when Mjrn had run through the village away from them. The two elder sisters had discussed things that Jote knew she needed to say to Mjrn. The younger sister knew much about the Wood and the Viera law, but she had no idea where her sister stood in relation to all of this. Few truly knew Jote's feelings and the Elder had come to accept that her sisters needed to know that she did not hate them for their decision.

If anything, she was jealous. Jote treasured each of them and Mjrn needed to hear these things from her sister's lips before distance and the Humes separated them again.

She pulled open her door, intending to find Mjrn, just as her sister paused outside her door. "Mjrn..." Her voice was quiet, soft and not harsh like normal. "Would you spare me a minute's conversation?"

[dewdrop_pebbles]

Mjrn paused in surprise, hand raised as she was clearly about to knock. Jote's tone also caught her off-guard, but she readily nodded. That was the reason for her presence, after all.

"Of course, Jote. I had hoped you would be available, as well...." Once there was room to enter, Mjrn did so. That Jote had something to say as well was a relief; Mjrn didn't quite know where to begin.

[woodguardian]

Apparently they had had the same idea all along. Jote offered something close to a peaceful expression as she pulled open the door and stepped aside to allow her sister entrance. Shutting the way behind her, Jote turned and folded her arms over her chest as she thought about how she wanted to say this.

"You plan to leave in the morrow, do you not?"

She didn't sound particularly upset about this, more resigned, though it was difficult to tell.

[dewdrop_pebbles]

"I do." Mjrn nodded, no apology or pleading offered. They knew this time would come, and she saw no reason to quibble around that fact. "One of the newly arrived Sky People bears ill intent toward Alexandria, and those who know him best believe he is capable of following through with such threat. I would aid them as best I am able."

The ability to ignore what was happening around her was not one Mjrn possessed. This, possibly more than any other trait, defined why she was not well-suited to life in the Wood. It had been repressed for a time, but that time had passed.

[woodguardian]

Jote was well-acquainted with her sisters' restless spirits. The fact that she didn't share them was due more to the knowledge throughout her entire life that she'd be elder someday. The choice to leave the Wood had never been hers.

The older of the Viera moved to one side, watching the wall as she spoke.

"The bird whose place is in the sky should take that place and offer what she may, even at the cost of leaving the one whose wings were clipped early. Some are meant to fly. Others are to remain in the trees."

[dewdrop_pebbles]

Mjrn ventured a glance at Jote, watching her even as her sister's gaze was fixated on the wall. It pained her that even a simple act as looking at each other could not be sustained for long. Still, if the absence somehow made it easier for Jote to speak with her, Mjrn would have to manage it.

She listened to Jote's words carefully, bowing her head. It was as close to a blessing as she might receive from the elder sister, still bound by laws not of this world. Yet, to have Jote return alone, and to a life adrift from her place in the Wood made Mjrn's heart heavy. For a moment, she could say nothing. "...perhaps one meant to fly might use such a fate to aid the one who must remain. If there are means by which a return to familiar trees is possible, they will be learned and shared. Gaia's secrets cannot remain forever concealed." There was quiet conviction in her tone; whether Mjrn herself wanted to return to Ivalice, she would still seek answers for the sister so cruelly uprooted.

[woodguardian]

This sort of thing was difficult for Jote. She wasn't used to admitting that she had the emotional capacity to feel things like this, but she knew it was needed. Mjrn needed to know she had Jote's approval, however far down she had to hide it normally.

The elder Viera turned toward her sister and shook her head, her expression softer than any she had given this sister since they were much, much younger, free of the cares of being elder and being a sister of the elder.

Many times recently, Jote had been heckled for having just one sister leave while the other made noises as though she wanted to, but Jote had borne those snide remarks with the patience and pain of one who knew what she had to do. This was her path and no matter where she was, Jote knew she had to follow it. The Wood was her home and always would be.

"Your words give me comfort," she murmured softly, nearly inaudibly before her voice picked up its own conviction. "The jewel glistening in the sunlight should think not of the pebble lying in the bushes. Its fate is its

[dewdrop_pebbles]

"And yet...such thoughts cannot always be prevented, any more than one can command the clouds above not to rain." Mjrn fell silent for a moment, not certain how to continue. That longing in her voice was probably conveyed more than any feeble attempt at speech, as much as that unusually softened expression of Jote's a moment ago. Memories of happier days, ones in which all the sisters were together, burned brightly in her mind for a moment, quick images of smiles and laughter and contentment--before discontent and duty drove them apart. Then the reality of the room around them returned, gentle breezes replaced by the dead air and high, majestic trees turning into the dull wood of the beams supporting the roof. She sighed. Their lives could never be as they once were, and she knew she had to accept that

[woodguardian]

Like her sister, Jote's thoughts had strayed to those happier times, the moments when they had been able to look at each other as sisters and not as people who had been torn apart, forced to forsake and be forsaken. While Jote still held onto those memories, she also knew her place. Nothing would ever be the same, not even in a new place such as this

[dewdrop_pebbles]

Mjrn nodded, silent. She hoped that Jote would adapt to such a life, if it became necessary. There was a stab of guilt for realizing that she should have more faith in Jote, even bereft of her role as elder. The strength within her eldest sister was not completely tied up in her role, and though another life would doubtlessly be difficult and painful beyond even what Mjrn could imagine...it might not be impossible.

She approached her sister and rested a hand on her shoulder, her voice quiet but heartfelt. "May you find peace wherever you dwell, Jote. That is my wish for you." Stepping back, she smiled and headed to the door--without the well-crafted bow she brought within. It was a gift.

[woodguardian]

Jote didn't want to have to make that decision, but if it became necessary, she would do what she had to. For now, she was stuck here, in this new world and she had to live with it.

The Viera elder didn't turn as her sister placed a hand on her shoulder, knowing that if she did, she wouldn't be able to hold onto that resolve. Mjrn was no longer hers to control, to keep under the boughs and protection of the Wood. And for that, her heart remained heavy.

The door had clicked shut behind Mjrn before Jote turned back around and her first glance took in the bow. Somehow, she knew it for what it was and the smallest of smiles crossed her face. Someday, she would be able to return the gesture to her sister, someday when it was no longer so painful.