Aura - A Head Held High
Apr 9 17:49:40 2005

Aura sank to her knees in the grass. Though Truce was but
another half mile or so eastward, she was tired. Having walked
the entire way on her own two feet, she was remembering how much
effort it actually took to walk such a distance, since it'd been
awhile since they -had- worked they way she wanted them to.
Nearby, a few dryads knelt amidst taller blades of grass,
perhaps trying to hide, but not doing a very good job of it.
In the dusky twilight of eveningtime, their enormous green eyes
glowed softly, giving them up wherever they were.

Aura sat back on her behind, muttering something unintelligible
under her breath as she withdrew a small piece of fruit from her
satchel, nibbling at it halfmindedly. The dryads took the
opportunity for themselves, crawling out of the grass and into
her lap, to gaze up at her almost expectantly.

She'd consumed only half the already-minute piece, before
looking as though it was suddenly rotten, and, looking a bit
thoughtless, offered it to one of the three elementals in her
lap. They gave it a suspicious glance, but only looked back up
at her in response. Aura laughed just then, dropping the fruit
into the grass beside her.

"Yes, I'd forgotten.. you don't eat. Now I think about it, I
knew that already, too. My apologies."

Each dryad simply looked at her, as though she'd completely lost
it. Aura held her hands up defensively, shaking her head.

"No, no. We'll get back to the others soon enough. I'm
just.. well.. having difficulty, letting all of this sink
in. I remember hearing about Jango before.. but how much
more is involved?"

One of the dryads looked thoughtful, looking sidelong at one of
her companions and nudging her lightly in the side. The latter
frowned, putting tiny hands on tiny hips. Aura watched in mild
amusement as they seemed to converse amongst themselves, an odd
manner of which she wasn't completely up to top knowledge.

"I don't think it's all so bad, you know. I'm still unhurt,
and beyond that, I think I've finally got a steady hand on
what I'm capable of. And even moreso, I can walk on my
own, now. Which I've just found out the downside of, I
might add."

The dryads looked up at her sudden vocale, then back amidst
themselves. Aura smirked, and fell back onto the grass, jarring
the tiny elementals slightly as she did.

"Maybe I'm being overoptimistic. But it's a decent change.
I remember when I was always worried about everything..."

She peered up into the ever-darkening sky, the first hints of
stars sparkling into existence. At her legs, the dryads had
spread themselves out over her form, blinking in their constant
facial-expressions of incomprehension. In spite of this, Aura
closed her eyes.

"I'm not worried. Everything's going to be fine... we'll
return to Truce tomorrow, I'll see Seikou again, and
Variance, too. And best of all.. I won't need to rely
completely on either of them to protect me, anymore..."

Lillian sounded disturbed... but what could've been so wrong?
After all she went through just to help me, I hope everything
goes well for her...

Together, the four of them settled into the night, allowing the
darkness to take them for a final evening before her second
reunion...