Vivian found herself being dragged into a tavern. She was in too much pain to object, but also so cold and hungry that she couldn't fight back against the elf who carried her.
His arms were much longer than hers, and he was tall, even taller than she was formerly. She could see tufts of dirty blonde hair peaking out from the edges of his fluffy trapper hat.
At first she thought she was being whisked away by some sort of maniacal brute, but her opinion quickly changed as she heard the rough accent and delinquent tone of the elf speak out;
"One room with working water. Let's get this little lady a warm bath running. Prepare a bowl of stew, and a warm glass of milk, as well as a pair of clothes. I'll pay for it all."
The elf reached onto his belt and dug through a coin pouch, flicking forth 1 large silver coin. This was more than enough to pay for all that.
Vivian felt her heart soften towards the man, as she realized he was rather chivalrous, and less of a barbarian than he appeared. Despite that, she couldn't help but let out a wheeze and question him.
"Why are you helping me? I've done nothing to deserve it."
The elf let out a laugh and began to walk up a flight of stairs with her still over his shoulder.
"Well, little lady, I'm not the kind of man to leave an abandoned puppy abandoned. Someone capable of doing such a thing has either lost too much in their life, or they've given their heart to the devil."
Vivian didn't respond to the man, because pushing her voice so much already hurt. Instead, she gently nodded her head, causing him to smile in return.
The man opened the door to a room, and set her down on the bed in the center. He then walked over and opened the bathroom door, turning knobs.
A loud sound filled the room as the creaking of pipes was heard, then water began to spray out, beginning to fill a tub.
While the tub filled, he leaned in the doorway of the bathroom and spoke.
"Don't worry about the prices. My sister would kill me if I didn't help a little lady like you, especially one so far from home. I've met a lot of birdkin here, but none of them are the same kind as you, what are you doing in Eonis?"
Vivian looked puzzled. She rose a hand to her face and began to rub the rough shards of keratin lining the top of her nose bridge. She then spoke out, forcing her voice to work.
"I'm not too sure… I woke up in an alleyway vomiting. I was so hungry I didn't really stop to think about it, I just searched for food…"
The elven gunslinger visibly let out a scoff and bit down on his lip while turning away, as if he knew something. He then readjusted his gaze and faced Vivian again, speaking in a warm tone.
"Well, I'd recon not having very much food, or safe rest, can do a number on the memory. What do you know, little lady?"
Vivian paused, and closed her pitch black eyes, seemingly thinking a deep and long thought
"I know my name is Vivian, and I have the memory of a vast sea, with colors that were strange. The sea was filled with invisible figures floating around aimlessly. Do you know that place?"
The sharp eared man placed a hand on his chin and though for a moment, before speaking.
"Vivian huh, that's quite a popular name around here I believe. Not popular as in common, just a few days ago an important figure named Vivian died. That's a bit irrelevant though. Give me some time to think on it, I can't say I've heard of it, but there's many ancient tales of mysterious places like that."
Vivian nodded her head, seeming calm and understanding on the outside, but on the inside she was actually very panicked.
"A few days?! For me it feels like it's been a few hours! I really have lost track of time… and everything…."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the man speaking again, gesturing towards the door and catching her attention.
"Alright, the waters done. You can take a bath and wash off those fleas. A few of them bit me… Oh, by the way, the names Reinko."
She nodded her head and hopped off the bed, wincing in pain and grabbing at her backside.
Reinko seemed to narrow his eyes and sigh, placing a hand upon his face and covering it half way.
"I know a very strong healer… I'll go get her while the workers take care of you. When you get out of the bath, a change of clothes will be waiting for you. I asked them to cut holes for your wings since they're human clothes. Try your best to wash your wings, but don't put too much pressure on them."
Vivian nodded her head with tears partially welling in her eyes. She then watched as he walked out of the room with the jingle of his boots.
Vivian hesitantly got undressed and looked at herself, realizing just how beat up and starved she truly was.
She was covered in bruises and injuries, and one of her wings looked very deformed due to a lack of feathers. Despite that, she got in the bath.
She felt immense pain as her wounds reacted to the hot water, but she absolutely could not stand the thought of being covered in fleas. For the next half an hour, she aggressively scrubbed her hair and body free of fleas while gently soaking her wings in the water.
After she was done, she climbed out of the bathtub and looked at the water full of feathers and dead fleas, feeling rather disgusted.
She gently plucked out the feathers, and began to throw them in a trash bin in the bathroom, then she drained the water filled with fleas.
She used a towel inside a cabinet to dry herself off, then looked in the mirror.
Right now, with her feathers and hair soaked, she looked like she had shrunk significantly. She already looked small, but her feathers and hair lost their poof due to the wetness. As she dried her hair it seemed to become more fluffy, but she didn't dare try and dry her wings. The pain was already hardly bearable.
When she exited the bathroom hesitantly with a towel around herself, she found the door closed and a pair of clothes on the ground before her.
She quickly got changed, now in a proper long sleeved shirt with pants on.
In Eonis, the standard attire for everyone is thick wool or cotton clothes. People only dress nice when they're in heated spaces, or at special events, so normally everyone is in boots, pants, shirts, and coats.
She pulled a pair of socks into her feet, but she quickly felt the bottom of the socks tear as she tried to walk. The hard material on her feet tore through them, making her realize why she probably didn't have any socks. Why no shoes though?
Vivian unlocked the door to her room, and stepped out, and began to head down the step. As she did this, she saw the dirty blonde hair, and heard the boots of Reinko.
Reinko waved a hand at Vivian and shouted:
"Talk about perfect timing! Vivian I have someone to introduce to you!"
From behind Reinko a beautiful female elf stepped out. She stood at just shorter than Vivian's original height, and had beautiful olive skin, long, platinum blonde hair, slim limbs, and robes embroidered with a giant tree.
Before Vivian could properly react, the elf lady seemed to step forwards in awe.
"So this is the young crow! She's very cute. Her hair is so fluffy! Who could hurt such a precious person?!"
Reinko let out a laugh, and Vivian was filled with awkward discomfort. Luckily, Reinko seemed to step in partially.
"Her hair wasn't that fluffy before, I think it's from being dried roughly. Vivian, this is my sister, Lauriel. She is a powerful healer who serves the world tree. Together, me and her travel around and help people."
Vivian looked at Lauriel, but Lauriel narrowed her eyes at Reinko and barked;
"Half Sister! We have different fathers. I am pure high elf, while he is only half high elf. Though, I will admit his father is much better for Mother than mine is… True love is found in the strangest of places, you'd do well to remember that Vivian!"
Vivian felt an awkward feeling in her chest, as she didn't know what to say. Before her was basically a saint of the central continent's people; a devout believer of the world tree, and a high elf. Such a figure would normally be under escort by the royal family, but a homeless young lady shouldn't know that. She decided to not comment on it, and play it cool.
"It's nice to meet you Lauriel… though, can you actually heal all my wounds? I have quite a lot of them…"
Lauriel visibly frowned, but she also nodded her head and turned to Reinko.
"Reinko, get her food and have a female servant bring it up to her room. I'll heal her injuries, but I'll need to see them first. She can eat while I do it."
Reinko gave two thumbs up, and silently walked towards the front of the tavern as if following order.
Lauriel then gestured for Vivian to go up the stairs, and the two of them entered the room yet again.
While in the room, Lauriel frowned and let out a sigh, shutting the door behind them.
"You poor soul. You must've been abused for a while to enter such a state. Reinko told me about what you saw, and I only hope you can forget it sometime in your life. I'm truly sorry you had to go through such a thing."
Lauriel walked over to the bed, and sat down, patting the spot next to her.
Vivian was filled with confusion, because she didn't properly understand what Lauriel meant. In fact, a tiny bit of panic filled her heart, as thoughts began to stir.
"Does she know the truth?! Does she know that I'm actually Vivian Criab?! Shit I shouldn't have told them about my name or the ocean! Now my assassins can find out I'm alive!"
Vivian silently walked over to Lauriel and sat down, before speaking in her congested and raspy voice.
"What do you know? I don't remember much other than that…"
Lauriel looked towards Vivian, with a soft light emanating from her. A warmth filled the room as she spoke.
"There's a legend that says that death isn't as complex as we think. When souls die, they go to an endless sea. When one is in the brink of death they'll enter this sea, and if they fail to swim out, they'll truly die."
Lauriel reached forwards and grabbed Vivian by a hand, and the warm feeling in the room seemed to transfer directly into Vivian, filling her body with energy.
At the same time, all of Vivian's worries washed away as she realized that Lauriel didn't know the truth, and just though Vivian had a near death experience. This was obviously true regardless.
"So… I almost died? How?"
Lauriel shook her head while gently holding her hand, and spoke softly like a mother.
"That's not important, all that matters is that you survived."
Lauriel didn't wish to retrigger the memories in Vivian, because that trauma could be detrimental to her mental state. Of course she didn't know the truth; Vivian knew how she "almost" died.
Vivian was getting ready to speak again, when a knock on the door was heard.
"Come in!"
Lauriel quickly shouted, and a worker entered the room with a smile, handing a fresh bowl of stew to Vivian.
Vivian held the bowl, and immediately began to salivate at the smells. She wished to dig in immediately!
As the servant left the room, Lauriel smiled and gently took the bowl, speaking plainly.
"While you eat, I need to inspect your injuries. I need you to remove your shirt. Just focus on eating, I promise you won't notice a thing other than the cold breeze."
Vivian was actually very familiar with this process. She could guess what was about to happen.
Odds are, Lauriel is going to utalize her external control of natural energy to fill Vivian with natural energy and speed up the recovery process. This is a common form of manipulation for elves, who are tied closely to the world tree. Vivian was very lucky to find someone so powerful.
Vivian took off her shirt, and then reclaimed the bowl of food, beginning to eat like her life depended on it. As she did then, Lauriel rose her hands.
Vivian, after dying and coming back as a birdkin, no longer possessed internal natural energy. She also was untrained in the usage of external natural energy, which dragonkin are incapable of using. As a result, she could no longer see, or even sense natural energy. All she could feel was the warmth created by Lauriel's usage.
Lauriel gently held a hand against Vivian's back, and the natural energy in the air seemed to be pulled towards Lauriel's nose.
The colorful energy split apart, as the color green entered Lauriel's body, but at a much more rapid rate it also left her hand, beginning to pour into Vivian's back.
Lauriel used her connection to the energy, and began to weave it like thread.
The energy spread through Vivian's wings, as the pain in them lessened. It then went through her back and into her lungs, causing breathing to get more clear. After her lungs, it slowly spread through her body, removing the blocking in her throat, and causing the bruises and cuts to feel better.
In less than a few minutes, Vivian felt back to being healthy! Aside from the malnutrition of course.
This process was not as simple as it seemed, nor was it free.
Lauriel was visibly sweating. She had to use immense focus to control the energy through the body of Vivian, and she also used her own trapped energy at a much faster rate than she could replenish energy. These concepts were only known in theory to Vivian though.
Vivian had already finished her food, and turned to look at Lauriel. She then spoke with a clear voice, free of strain or congestion.
"Woah! I feel so much better! When I move it no longer hurts!"
Vivian couldn't help but extend the wings on her back and flap them, though feathers were still missing. Though she could stimulate repairs in the body, Lauriel could not force the body to produce more hair or feathers.
Lauriel smiled at Vivian and spoke gently, as if she was a teacher educating her students.
"Yes, the world tree has blessed us elves with an immense affinity for nature based usages of natural energy. Among these usages are; the ability to speak and commune with animals; the ability to manipulate flora; and the ability to inject beings with natural energy to assist them. Despite our affinity for this, anyone could learn it."
Lauriel seemed to emphasize the end point, and Vivian picked up on it.
Despite the fact she was now a birdkin, Vivian hadn't sensed a connection to nature at all. Normally beastkin are said to have a connection almost as close as elves, if not equal to them. Compared to the overall abundance of natural energy in the world, "Nature" aspects of them tend to take up a large majority. These strands of energy are typically perceived as the color green.
"Anyone can learn it, sure, but I thought when you learn to use energy like that, you are stuck with it that way, unless something special happens."
Lauriel looked at Vivian surprised, as if she just heard shocking news. She never expected someone who seemed so young and naive to know that!
"That's actually a bit debatable. I'm surprised you know such a thing, but to explain it to you, I first need to explain how we control natural energy."
Lauriel began to explain to Vivian.
"Natural energy is split into two kinds; Internal, and external. What you've witnessed me use is external natural energy. I am incapable of using internal, because I am not the descendant of a dragon."
"External natural energy is controlled by us utalizing a technique called 'Weaving.' To weave, you need a needle though, therefore we use a 'needle' to store energy. While weaving, you create your 'weave,' or your effect."
"The first step to developing your own weave is to be exposed to natural energy. Being exposed to natural energy will naturally store some of it in your body, this is how you develop the 'needle.'"
"Once you have the 'needle,' you can sense natural energy, and pull it through the air with your breath, storing it in your body."
"Once the energy is in your body, you can begin 'weaving,' and thus develop your 'weave.' It sounds like a simple process, but it actually requires a lot of focus."
Vivian felt like she knew all this already, but with the explanation coming directly from a master, she began to feel as though the process wasn't as different as what she was familiar with…
"So, how's it debatable then? If your weave is set in stone after you acquire it, doesn't that mean you're stuck with a few abilities?"
Lauriel smiled at Vivian and let out a laugh while covering her mouth.
"You're so scholarly. The reason it is debatable is because each weave has multiple abilities depending on mastery, and at a high level you can appear to 'weave' effects that seem tied to a different 'thread,' or energy type."
"An important lesson to remember when it comes to natural energy is; All energy comes from a single thread, therefore it is all the same, just a different flavor. The more you master it, the closer it gets to being the original."
Vivian nodded her head, but she still felt a little lost. She had heard so many tales of incomprehensible abilities being manifested, so she felt the need to ask;
"If that's the case, why are there so many stories about powerful people with strange abilities. Such as the one about the man with no face, who is able to move anything in and out of sight…"
Lauriel once again smiled, as she began to feel like Vivian had more of a memory than she realized. She also knew exactly what Vivian was talking about.
"Ah yes, the legend of 'Hero Dude.' As I said, all energy is connected to one thread. If we assume the 'thread' encompasses all energy, we can assume it is the source of all phenomena within our world. In other words; it is the source of all power. It may very well be the source of the Titans power."
Vivian felt like she suddenly had a deeper understanding of how the world works, as she began to ponder to herself.
"If the 'thread' is the source of all phenomena, and power in the world… and it may also be the source of the Titan's power, does that mean that theoretically you could develop power to rival the Titan?"
Vivian looked to Lauriel, and couldn't help but ask directly;
"Isn't the world tree said to be the only being that could rival the Titan? Does it too control the thread?"
Lauriel couldn't help but laugh, as she realized a theory of hers had come off as a fact. She quickly sought to fix this.
"Calm down Vivian, that is just a common theory among high level practitioners. The truth of the matter is that abilities are randomly manifested depending on environment. The reason us elves develop healing abilities, and the abilities to control flora and fauna, is because the world tree itself produces more natural energy of that kind than anything else on the planet. As a result, we tend to develop abilities based on its power. Fortunately, it is among the most diverse powers despite being such a simple 'color.'"
Color is often used to describe natural energy, because natural energy is detected through a sixth sense. Once one develops that sixth sense, they naturally fill the imaginary imagery with color. Vivian knows this, because she used to have this sense.
"I see… so the more simple a color, the more understandable an ability?"
"Precisely!"
Lauriel clapped her hands, happy Vivian understood.
"Further more; the more simple your color; the easier it is to gather energy with the needle. All energy is a blend of multiple "colors," but the primary colors can be found almost everywhere. It is important to note that the more powerful an energy it is, the less comprehensible the color is. Some colors are not made with comprehensible energies, as such those abilities are very powerful, but very limited in supply."
Vivian nodded her head once again, but she was honestly still full of questions. She couldn't help but wonder; how do people like 'Hero Dude' use such complex abilities if their 'color' is so hard to make, or find? Maybe that's what Lauriel meant about "Mastery" earlier.
Vivian wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly the door was knocked on, and a voice yelled through it.
"Are you two done yet? I've got a lead and need to get going, and I need you with me Lauriel."
Reinko's voice spoke out, causing Vivian to jump like a startled bird. In fact that's exactly what she was; her wings even spread to the side as if to take flight.
Lauriel put her hands on Vivian's shoulders and looked her in the eyes while speaking with a confident tone.
"Well, since you're so curious, why don't I show you what the effects of a unique color look like up close? Get dressed again. We are going on an adventure, Vivian!"