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Stairs

It had rained the night before, and into part of the early morning. Trynn tilted his head slightly, looking up at the sky through the corner of his eye, taking a deep breath. It had rained only a little this spring, the dust and dryness invaded everything. He took another deep breath, smelling the forest around him, the soft smell of wet green, of composting leaves and dead trees, the clean of fresh rain. He could smell the balance of life, of death, the cycle of one that feeds the other.
He pulled his leather up around his shoulders unconsciously as a cool east wind washed up over him and walked down the stairs to the forest floor. He walked the rough plank staircase that wound its way down the massive tree as the branches above rustled in the wind. Trynn listened, part of his mind focused on the wind, the leaves, the soft whisper of the forest as if listening to the conversation of a friend. But part of his mind drifted, reaching inside him, drawing the feeling of the wind into his body, filling his hollow bones with its lightness. The wind inside cooled him, but there was no chill. His steps widened, his pace quickened and he started to take two stairs at a time.
Clearing the last turn of the stairs around the tree, but still a fair distance from the ground, Trynn put his hand on the railing and leapt over it. He seemed to float for a second or two, his spirit swelling at the feeling of open air, of a momentary disconnection with the physical. He laughed quietly to himself, feeling the wind around him. Gravity took hold of him again and he descended to earth. He landed crouched in a soft moss bed, his leather boots sinking into the forest floor. He stayed there, scanning the forest, again smelling the renewed life around him, listening to the rustle of the trees as they talked to each other, whispers swelled, voices grew stronger then quieted again, probably considering what was said, he thought.
Sensing rather than seeing, Trynn turned his head and looked over his left shoulder up to the staircase. Tali came down, her stride long but slow, her back straight, smiling warmly down at the elf couched in the moss. He straightened slightly, but didn't stand. He watched her intently. Her black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, she wore her forest green tunic and blue deerskin pants. Over her shoulder she carried her wooden bow. Hunting clothes, he thought.
"I'm glad you're out this morning," she called down to him. "Feel like going for a walk?" He sat back on his haunches and waited silently for her to complete her own graceful descent. He didn't answer her, because he rarely raised his voice. It was his inaction that confirmed he was willing of her company. Otherwise, he might have shook his head and quietly said no, letting her read his face from the distance than hear his voice.
After a minute, she reached the ground and walked around the tree to where Trynn was still perched. He stood at her approach and smiled slightly. “Hunting is a new skill for you, isn’t it?” He was often taken as critical by people he asked questions of, as if he already knew the answer.
“We’ve all changed though, haven’t we?” The slightest smirk broke on her lips, volleying the question back. She waited for his return, but he remained silent and instead leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
“I suppose we have,” he said, whispering softly.
Tali stood there for a second, somewhat stunned and watched the elf turn and start to walk toward the woods.


I'm not sure where this was going, but I thought it was indicative of the resolutions I've been feeling, but to end the fued between the opposing parts of my brain. She is more adaptable now and he is more accepting. They both make up me, and I'm done trying to push them into rolls that they really don't fit in to. Not to say all the tension is gone. It's not, but I do feel better about the whole. Trynn isn't always angry and Tali isn't always crying. In fact, I find once I stopped trying to force them into those rolls that they really aren't ever angry and upset. They are more diverse and complimentary than I gave them credit for.

posted by September @ 2:49 PM