bits and bobs

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Hair or nails, either worked equally for Juniper, even if nails might not be as aesthetically pleasing. She held out the envelope for Melita to put her clippings in.

"Thank you," Juniper said. "Yes, we need something from every race ... Two somethings from every race, in fact."

Juniper couldn't help but grimace a little as she remembered how Alina's failure had doubled Safrin's requirements. But they would get it done this time -- they had to. The Fae could not afford to offend the goddess again. It should be easier now, with Ronin's help.

There was a question here that Juniper hoped Melita wouldn't ask, though. How would they get samples from the Ascended?

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

Taking the envelope from Juniper, she hummed a little, grating away at the nails and placing them within. “Is that enough?” She inquired, peering in, satisfied with the amount but uncertain if the Fae would be, given the quest and requirements.

Then her brows furrowed a little more at the implications of every race; beyond that of Accepted, Abandoned, and the like. For they all knew the waves of discontent piling down around them, the promise she’d already wrung from the diplomat. “Ascended too,” was a mutter, and not a question; as if spelling it out for herself rather than poising the inquiry out loud, when they already knew the answer. Considering, contemplating, she slowly put the envelope down, wondering all the while if they were going to take volunteers, or if it was going to be by force.

She thought of Nate, of warnings she could deliver on her own. Of homes and lands that needed to defend themselves, and of people that yearned to do the same. “This is all so complicated, isn’t it?”

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper looked into the envelope and smiled. "That should do it. Thank you again."

Of course Melita went immediately to the matter Juniper hadn't wanted to discuss, hadn't wanted to even consider. How would the Fae get two Ascended to cooperate? Maybe in the past they could have found someone sympathetic to the Fae's desire to protect their home even among the Voice's followers. But now, with war on the horizon, Juniper doubted any Ascended would be so foolish as to arm the Fae. As little as Juniper wanted to use force ... She comforted herself by reminding herself that all they needed to do was cut a lock of hair, though she knew she was rationalizing.

"It is," Juniper murmured sadly. She might not have friends on both sides the way Melita did, but her loyalty to her people and her conscience warred within her; she knew the Old Gods were wrong to seek the Ascended's destruction, but she had to protect the Greatwood. Walking that tightrope would require all she had, she knew, and she would likely fall off one way or the other anyway.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

She’d stepped and paraded in her usual emboldened way, and the sorrow in response was enough to make her bow her head. She twisted her fingers together, uncertain and unsure, as she’d been every time the notions of the war were brought up – knowing she’d long since picked a side, and understanding just how much pain would come with it. “Sorry,” was a low murmur, a shrug of her shoulders, an intertwining of emotions by the multitude. For several instances, Melita’s mouth open and closed, as if there were many words she yearned to convey, but none of them were quite right; perhaps one of those few, feral moments where she bit her tongue.

Only thereafter, when time stilled and passed, curled about her embers and ashes, could she conjure anything at all. “I don’t know how to make it any better.” How to stop it. How to cease and desist what was looming on the horizon. Offering when and where she could, warning when it was necessary, but the reality pulsed and beamed just the same.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"It's all right," Juniper said, sympathy in her voice. She felt sad to see that Melita shared her reaction to the growing conflict -- her sorrow, her uncertainty. Melita struck Juniper as young and bright, full of life, and in some ways that made her sorrow seem more meaningful than that of someone like Juniper, whose life had already carried a certain melancholic cast. "You don't have to apologize."

Juniper waited for Melita to speak again; then, she could only make one answer. "I don't either. I wish I did."

For a moment Juniper bit her lip, on the verge of offering some suggestion -- she barely knew what. Perhaps she could tell Melita to follow her heart, to hell with the gods and their demands, or to keep those she loved close ... But surely the other woman had already thought of such ideas herself.

"It's hard," Juniper said at last. "I don't know what to do. The gods have placed so many of us in terrible positions by demanding the Ascended's destruction ... It surprises me that so many people seem willing to participate in such a slaughter. And yet here I am, standing against them."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

Someone needed to apologize though – because she was sorry for the way the die had been cast in all directions. Because she’d seen it before, in different ways, in different layers, with gods dying and false idols presiding and the way it hadn’t even been war that had torn people and families and worlds apart. She opened her mouth, once, twice, but no sounds came out, no words to reverberate the multitudes of frustration.

Then the youth clenched her jaw hard, enough to hear the click of teeth grind against one another, fingers twisting over some of Fangorn’s vines. “I think some feel like they don’t have a choice.” They’d bowed their heads and followed their deities, well and long before, believing history wouldn’t repeat. Melita had been amongst them, standing and smiling at the promised beck and call because those moments had meant something to her.

It hadn’t been this though. “If it’s the gods’ will, then…” She didn’t finish. Didn’t want it to feel like blasphemy from her tongue.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"Some do indeed," Juniper agreed. Like Melita, she counted herself among those caught in the middle by the gods' campaign of destruction. She could listen to her conscience or perform her duty to her people, but she couldn't do both.

"If we can't stop this war," Juniper said, offering Melita the only thought that comforted her in these times, "then we simply have to do everything we can to win it quickly and as bloodlessly as possible."

Though even the thought of winning the war was bittersweet to Juniper when she knew that the gods would accept no victory short of the Ascended's total annihilation.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

But even those thoughts haunted her. Quickly. Bloodlessly. She’d lived amongst destruction time and time again. She’d watched a false god break apart her world. She’d witnessed her mother, and countless others, sacrifice themselves. And gods, she didn’t want to do this again. “Right,” the youth muttered and swallowed. Her brows furrowed, delicately intertwining her fingers back and forth again. “Were you around for the last one?” Uncertain of the age and parameters along the Fae, of the layers between bubbles, corridors, and locked away Voices set free.

If there was something hidden in there, that they were avoiding or forgetting. Or if this was just another layer, where they could naught at all.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Melita didn't seem comforted by Juniper's words, and Juniper couldn't blame her -- they barely even helped Juniper herself. In truth, Juniper didn't know what to do. Sometimes she just wanted to run away into the Wilds and refuse to have anything to do with the war. But that was cowardice, wasn't it?

At Melita's question, Juniper shook her head, and couldn't help laughing a little. "No, I'm only fifty. But there are those among us who do remember the last war. They don't like to speak of it, but I've seen how grim they look, preparing for a new one."

More than anything, Juniper wanted to spare her people -- and all of Caido -- from going through that again.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

At Juniper’s age rendering, the questions faded and died on her tongue, wilting behind her teeth. The Fae hadn’t experienced it firsthand, and hearing how the others who had were faring in the face of this oncoming one didn’t bode well. The youth clenched her jaw, looking downward at her enveloped hands, pondering, incapable of really piercing through what she wanted to say.

Thereafter though, she glanced back up, a meek smile forming in the corners of her mouth. “I’m sorry then, that they have to see another one.” Apologetic for a lot of things that were truly out of hers, and so many others’, control. “I’ll leave you be then. Thank you for talking to me. You’ve given me a lot to think about.” The diplomat could’ve easily sent her on her way, once she’d snagged at the materials she’d wanted. Moving upwards from her chair, she gave a moderate bow of her head, as much as she’d bend before another, as Fangorn bobbed down to the floor. “Good luck with everything.”

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper nodded solemnly. "Tragedy looms for all of us. But I hope ..." She couldn't finish the sentence; her hopes were either too naive or too cynical. Sighing, Juniper only shrugged.

"I'm glad we had this chance to speak, though," Juniper said, offering Melita a sad smile. "Thank you for your help. I greatly appreciate it. And thank you for the good wishes -- I'm afraid we'll need them."

Juniper rose to walk Melita out, pausing on the threshold of the embassy to add, "I should wish you luck as well. We're all going to need it, I'm afraid."

- FIN

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark