[TWWM] Those Connected by Fate

Location: India

The search for the lost girl had become, for Twyla, part of her heart. It was her purpose. It was a quest she was joyous in though, not obsessing or frantically scrambling for clues or hints, but more of a steady climb. She had spent the past two years exploring, traveling far and wide. She had met many esk and learned much about her race of floral spirit children. She'd learned to sense energies and feel the layers of auras that dappled the earth. She'd learned new ways to appreciate the nature around her, and sense the ebb and flow of time, slipping through it as Sail had before. With these newfound skills, and information she'd learned from esks across France, she had found herself traveling a great distance, always feeling, seeking that same girl. She could feel her spirit, she was out there somewhere, Or was she? Sometimes she'd falter and doubt herself, doubt the chances she had of finding the lost girl in a sea of humans that scattered themselves across the great planet. She would always think back to what Sail had told her though, he believed in her. She needed to believe in herself as well.

And thus, after two years of steady searching, testing the waters of the spiritual residue left on the winding maps, she'd found herself in a new land once again. The humans called this place India, and as all the other lands before, it too revealed amazing new sights and discoveries. Brilliant colors and plants she'd never seen before bred beautiful esk that she met along her way. Such a great distance she'd think, from home... she would often think of her home within the garden walls. The enormous peony bush she'd made her home, and the poor gardener who was left to keep up everything once more. She giggled imagining how confused he must of been when she'd left.

Pushing aside all the doubts that sometimes plagued her, she pressed ever onward, feeling, seeking. She felt that she would find her, even if it took forever, she'd one day find the lost girl.

It was another day of searching and Twyla floated gently over the tops of elaborate and ornate buildings. She had a feeling she was close, but it troubled her that she was so far from home. How had the girl come so far, was it truly her that she was feeling? The sun was high in the sky, causing her to feel a bit sleepy. She drifted in and out of a restful sleep as she floated, daydreaming, watching her tiny shadow flicker across the tops of the buildings as she was carried by a breeze. She drifted across the sky, swimming sleepily through the air, her tail wafting gently after her, fanning out like a parachute, pulled by the wind.

Her consciousness piped at her, can't search when you're asleep silly. But she ignored it, something just felt right about drifting on the warm breeze. The wind lifted her higher, twisting and pulling as she danced through the sky, petals drifting slowly towards the ground. It led her over building tops, and around trees, higher and lower, her spirit resting, but also seeking still. She dreamed that she found the girl, that she was close enough to touch, but she left again, but still she searched onward. Hours past as she slept, tossed by the breeze across the countryside.

She woke slowly, taking in her surroundings. The sun was low in the sky now, and she stretched luxuriously against her bed of cloud.

Beneath her stretched miles of gently rolling hills, garnered with tidy rows of bushes, ivy? They reached across the hills like careful fingers tracing the earth's curves. It was so beautiful, the sunset cast a warm light against the rows, shadows stretching beyond themselves, swallowing the edges in a sea of reds and purples. The careful lines reminded her of the carefully trimmed bushes in her garden, the gentle sweeping edges of walls and order. She dove towards the earth, skimming above the rows, breathing in the earthy smells. She felt incredibly peaceful in this moment, her heart rose as the shadows lengthened. Something told her she was very close, she felt the streams of nature and spirit swirling together in these rows.

Dipping lower, she submerged herself in the shadows cast by the rows, the darkness swallowing her in a chill. The ivy was dense and layered with large leaves. Coils of gently twisting vines reached in all directions, wrapping itself around other vines, reaching for the sun. Clusters of large berries hung from the vines, deep blues and purples, the waning sunlight glinting off of them like a thousand tiny orbs as large as her face. She swam through the air towards them, peering intently at her own reflection on the plump grapes.

"They're so pretty..." she whispered to herself. The breeze tugged at her again, turning she drifted upwards again, following the rolling hills over and over themselves. The darkness fell, reaching across the rows completely now, casting the world in grey. Moonlight doused the countryside in silver, and by the light of the moon Twyla saw the rows begin to change. One hill after another, they began to get tangled, the edges blurring together as the vines had reached further than their boundaries, crossing into each-other. Further still, trees began appearing, towering evergreens, their needles catching in the vines, as the vines returned the favor, coiling up them, reaching towards the heavens against their boughs. A chill caught her and she shuddered. Her spirit pulled her towards the tangled chaos, as did the wind.

She paused though, turning back to see the tidy rows stretching against the hills behind her. Their order and peace rung in her heart, but she felt her purpose pulling her towards the darkness. The evergreens towered higher as she approached, looming dangerously over her. Something stirred within the darkness though, pulling her forward...