Wings of Renewal

Sen figured out Paradise’s teachings over the next few days. Her biggest break through came when she learned heard Paradise say, “To see clearly, you must look through the water, not at it.” She complained about the grime in the water and how much work it was for her to filter water for everyone. Paradise took care of Kai during this time.

As for Bard, Kihana did teach him more about the sun god Erasaphim at his request, but as for taking out shades, it really seemed they only knew of two ways: sunlight and the light sunstones from the palace of the suns. He disagreed as he had seen the humans fight them, but it did seem it needed a concentrated light source, so the catfolk used the most efficient ways to defeat them. Despite his disagreements on methods, what he was most curious about was that Catfolk received special sunstones that the Dawnseers said were from the palace of the sun. They didn’t go out, supposedly, so they were used on the outer walls of the city and the temple, particularly the northern side which received the least amount of light. But it seemed they were quite rare, so some of the wealthy used them as a symbol of their wealth. This bit of information discouraged him from seeking them for their journey. It would likely incur too much risk or too much wealth to acquire.

One day, when the suns were high in the sky, Bard was startled to hear splashing. Sen had jumped into the water and was swimming towards the temple. Bard wanted to go after her, to keep her safe, but she was far out of reach when he noticed.

She climbed out on the far shore and looked around. Eventually she moved to where Bard knew the aqueduct system lay. She then began sloshing in the water as she searched for something. He lost sight of her in the reeds and waited patiently.

It reminded him of his tasks. Instead of dealing with the lake directly, he had to clean the aqueducts and passageways that fed the lake. The catfolk did this most times, but there were seasons when they performed more rituals and didn’t clean as well. Bard had to do is alone at the time. He wondered what Sen needed to find.

She eventually came out with a reed, and she placed it to her lips and went into the water again. He watched her move to a deeper part of the lake, and then she vanished, the top of the reed sticking up. After far too long, a glow began to spread from the reed and Sen’s head appeared. So much gunk clung to her hair, but she swam around, moving the grime on the surface away from where she had dived. She returned to shore and rested before repeating. Several spots of clean water appeared, and Sen created paths for this water to reach the outside shore.

Catfolk greeted her, though because of the grime, they didn’t disturb her. Instead, they offered prayers and began to collect water. They let it sit in jars for a while as Sen worked. Eventually, she returned to the island and whined as she began to work on cleaning herself.

“What’s the task this time?” Bard asked as she worked. Sen paused and looked at him before returning to her task.

“If I wasn’t filthy, then I would want a hug right now,” she grumbled in Asternum. Bard sat down next to her and watched as she moved the water about in a particular fashion, she then dipped a rag into it and with the cleaner water, she used it to remove some of the grime. Bard watched and then took the rag as she brought it up and began to help her.

“But, Bard,” she started. He could hear how tired that protest was.

“You’ve been working hard. Let me help,” he said, and she relented and continued to move the water so it would be more clean. As he worked, his hands began to feel numb, and he tried not to let it show. Eventually he got to her hair and it was a horrible mess. Weighed down and clinging to each other, it was both comical and a bit disconcerting to see each cleaned hair fly out and began to float with its newfound freedom. It stayed away from the dirty hairs.

He helped until she was fully cleaned, well, as much as she would let him help her. She finished the final part without him around. When he returned at her bidding, she was wrapped in a blanket and snuggling into Kai. She was nearly asleep, despite not having had dinner yet. Bard noticed the area she had worked on in the lake was fairly clean, and he wondered what she was doing to get it that way. This was so different than his task.

“She has done well,” Paradise said, and Bard looked up at the tree.

“So you are having her clean the lake,” Bard said as he looked at the spots that were slowly vanishing. “You can be a bit heartless sometimes.”

“And you know why.”

“Sure. Still doesn’t mean that it’s my favorite way to learn that,” Bard rebutted. Paradise was silent for a while and Bard came to rest against his trunk while Kihana passed by and placed her sunstones around them.

“A branch must give its strength to the fruit, or the tree will die barren,” Paradise said, and Bard sighed. “These teachings are building your own lake. Even the smallest crack can drain the largest reservoir.”

“Sure, but we only have a short amount of time we can stay.”

“The lake offers freely to those who take little, but resists those who demand much,” Paradise warned, and Bard remained quiet. He was all too familiar with this. He would just need to be patient while Sen figured it out.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. Without much to do, other than watch Sen struggle against the forces of the lake, and avoid the heat of the day, Bard started on some of his little crafts he had with him.

He hissed as he tried to carve into a piece of wood he had brought. His hands were becoming too soft with all this work with others, keeping him away from his normal chores on the road.

He looked up at the few stars he could see and sighed. Sen walked over and dipped her feet into the lake edge, the part that was clean today.

“Bard. I was wondering if for story time tonight, you could tell me about why you knew the catfolk would be so crazy about me. Please?” she said so innocently. Bard’s eyes half closed.

“Those are memories I worked hard to forget. Which ultimately ended up causing this. I’m sorry.”

“Oh. Then… something else instead?”

“No. I think it’s wise for you to ask. It’s just not a pleasant thing.” Bard began to relay a bit of context this time. “When I first came here, I had passed through a dryadic forest to the northeast, one that the catfolk can’t go through without casualties and one where the dryads are pretty hard to run across. Apparently, a caravan merchant saw that Kai had collected some Dryad hairs when he passed through the wood. It somehow clung to his fur.”

Sen looked at Kai with a pitying glance.

“Apparently I also had some on me. Kai was a lot smaller back then. Barely big enough for me to ride around. About the size of some of Ruegar’s smaller horses,” Bard recalled.

“So it was harder for him to be as intimidating,” Sen offered. Bard shrugged.

“Perhaps,” He answered. “But the catfolk refused to let us near Elder Paradise until they had gotten every hair. They meticulously combed Kai… and… well. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for me.” Sen looked at him a bit horrified and then chuckled. Bard sighed with a half smile. “Ya, I was immature and inexperienced back then. Even I can see how that would be amusing.”

“Sure, but why did they want Dryad hair?”

“Well, I didn’t know it at the time, but I do recall hearing it had medicinal properties? Catfolk can be superstitious sometimes, so I’m going to assume it’s because Dryad hair moves and changes colors.” He replied. “They asked if I had any Dryad spit as well and refused to let me leave with any plants from that forest. I was forced to sell most of what I had at the time. Thankfully I was able to trade for tools to fix my instruments and whatnot, so it worked out, but it was stressful and uncomfortable.”

Sen shivered and withdrew her feet. It was quite warm still, so it wasn’t because of cold.

“I’ll never get this lake clean in a decent amount of time. Why won’t he just give me a token of approval so we can move on?” Bard waited as she pulled her knees to her chest and then buried her face into them. He shifted closer and placed his hand on her back.

“You’re doing just fine, Sen.”

“But I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do. What am I even supposed to learn? He’s not talking to me anymore.” She cried out before becoming silent again. He could see her tears fall from her cheek, and he felt an ache in his heart. “We’re stuck here because I just can’t figure this out. What if we run out of fruit for Kai? And what if-”

“Sen. I know you can do this. I trust you. And I know it’s not what you want to hear, but does a bit of paradise ever come about without some resistance? Without some form of sacrifice?” Bard asked. Sen stilled and then cried again. Bard stayed by her while she worked to get her voice back.

He returned to his carving project and Sen poked her head out from its cocoon and watched him. He paused and brushed away the tears before continuing his work.

“Isn’t that one of the Sera… seraphe…”

“Seraphos?” Bard supplied and Sen repeated it with a definitive tone. “Yes. I wish I could get wings like them. Kihana will be receiving hers soon, once we get off the island. And when that happens, we can get you purified so we don’t have to worry about this all again.”

“You sound like we will need to come back here.”

“More like, there are other places with holy water. The dawnseer said there are multiple temples and if we come across any others or have to return because of some deals with the catfolk, it will be easier this way.”

“I see.”

Bard quietly worked on his carving until Sen fell asleep, leaning on his shoulder. He carefully placed the tools down and carried her over to Kai before cleaning up and heading to bed.

Sen began with her morning swim the next day.

“What clouds the water often clings to you,” Elder Paradise said and Sen shouted in anger at first when she heard Elder Paradise speak to her. “Stirred waters settle only in stillness.”

“I know that! Would you stop moving your roots already?” Sen complained.

“Purity returns not through force, but through flow.”

Sen’s shouts of disgruntlement reminded Bard of his own challenges here. He shook his head, fully aware of Paradise’s teachings. Sen dived, and the reed dipped to the end of the surface of the lake. Bard watched carefully and when she didn’t return he felt his heart begin to race. Eventually the reed moved, and her head appeared as she slowly floated onto her back and stayed out on the water. He watched her become so still on the water that it was unnerving.

More of the filth in the water began to cling to her as she stayed out there. Soon, patches of cleaner water appeared and Sen seemed to be struggling to float. She then began to swim towards the shore. Out there, the catfolk helped her clean up, and she jumped back into the lake. Bard watched as she became like a dirty rag over and over, soaking up the filth. The rolling waters stilled as Paradise stopped moving his roots. Sen continued this action far longer than normal. Each time she got out, the catfolk helped her clean off, and he watched her motions as if she was plucking some hairs and giving it to them. As the day wore on, she stayed on the other shore with the catfolk and Bard sighed. It seemed like she started to catch on with what Elder Paradise was working on teaching her.

Bard worked on dinner with Kihana and Kai was worried when she didn’t return to the lake until the suns had set. She swam very differently this time as she came back and Bard helped her come up the bank. Her hair was neatly braided and wrapped to keep it out of the water. He helped her clean off herself until Kihana shooed him. When he returned, he found her asleep again. Bard sighed. He had wanted to ask her what she had figured out and what the catfolk had done to her while she was away. Now it was a bit late.

“She is fine, Bard,” Kihana chuckled. “I can see why you are one of the Elder’s though. If only I could find a fellow similar to you among the catfolk,” she teased.

“Hmmm. Might be a tall order,” Bard bantered back and Kihana laughed.

“Perhaps I should trap some of them here and have them learn. There is much Elder Paradise is teaching, and it would do my people well,” Kihana said between laughs. Bard joined in her merriment. She was one of the easier ones to relate to in this city.