Soulsong: Mir

Though there was lots to find in the Conservatory, with its endless nature stretching forever onward, numerous esks which seemed to be at every turn, and glass panels that wonderfully reflected the ever-changing sky, Mir was having trouble finding something she wanted: peace and quiet. There were simply too many esks around, too many unfamiliar faces and questions that she didn’t have the right or proper answers for. She felt like it was a mistake coming here, where there was so much that she didn’t know and where there was so much she felt was expected of her. Even worse was the fact that everyone seemed to be particularly jumpy today; some esks had even talked about being ‘called’ by the conservatory. Mir simultaneously understood them perfectly and had absolutely no idea what they all were talking about.

Quietly slinking away from the other esk around- not an easy feat for someone who was about a story tall, but she managed- Mir withdrew to some very inviting shadows where she could take a moment to rest and regroup her thoughts. The area almost seemed to be calling to me, but whether that was from her anxiety or the general magicky feel of the Conservatory seemed to be impossible to tell. Pushing through a wall of  purple ivy (an interesting color, she noted as she left it behind), where she had expected there to be a cave was actually somewhere far more similar to her own hiking trail. The brush had previously hidden the area away from sight, and now she was left at a figurative crossroads- should she explore the area away from everywhere else, or do what she had planned and return to the conversation once she had had her moment?

The question had a fairly obvious answer, Mir thought as she padded forwards. Exploring forests had always been a favorite hobby for her, as the tranquility had always made Mir feel much more at home than the chatter and bustle of the conservatory ever did. Though she wanted to please the other esk who may have been waiting for her back in the clearing, Mir knew deep within her that the conversations that they had would lead to nothing and she would be on her own again soon enough. She shook her head to clear the fog of unwanted thoughts, and instead decided to focus more around the nature around her as she kept walking. 

There was something different in the air, a distinct stillness that seemed almost unnatural. And then it passed, and the silence gave way to an almost undetectable buzzing. No, this was not buzzing. It was decidedly a hum, both having no source yet springing up from all around Mir. Somehow, the esks from the clearing and all the worries in her mind had melted away. There was something going on, and Mir simply had to know what it was. At this point, she was being pushed by something more than just curiosity. The Conservatory was safe, she knew that, and so she kept walking, unworried about other esks appearing or getting lost. 

Mir was in good hands here, she reassured herself, and thus she pushed onwards, seemingly unbothered by the fact that she was exploring a strange part of the conservatory that she didn’t think she had ever seen before or even heard other esks talk about. Mir didn’t come here often, after all, and there were bound to be areas of the Conservatory that neither she nor anybody else knew about. It just seemed reasonable, what with the fact that the landscape was always changing and always inviting expansion, surely someone had just created this wing and left it. Maybe that someone was like Mir, who just wanted a quiet place to wander and explore, someone who was far more content in their own company rather than the hustle and bustle that came with socializing with other esks. 

Although Mir wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going, her feet somehow stepped in all the right spots, missing all the twigs, sharp rocks, and particularly muddy spots that littered the ground. At some point she stopped registering that she was walking altogether, focusing more on how the wild of the forest was becoming more and more free. This was nothing like the other manicured and well-remembered areas of the Conservatory she had been in before. This place seemed to be out of control, in a way that far more resembled the outside world rather than anything that an esk would create, even the more… lost ones. 

Mir paused for a second, realizing just how far she had wandered from the group that she had left ‘just for a moment’. What a foolish decision. Now she was lost and… And what? This felt better, more familiar. Why did that have to be a bad thing? Eventually Mir would come to realize that she was sitting at a fork in the path, a real one this time, the buzzing- no, humming- no, that was entirely wrong too, it was singing, in her chest seeming to push her forwards down one of them. The other path was… silent. Eerily so. Without even registering it fully, Mir realized that the singing had become natural, right even. The choice in front of her was hardly a choice at all. 

The singing grew louder as Mir drew closer towards what she assumed was its source, and she eventually found that the path became overgrown, wild and untamed by anything. The singing seemed to rattle her to her core, not violent- instead far more overwhelming- but she couldn’t turn back now. There almost seemed to be something inside her that needed to find the source. And… she had the feeling that if she were to leave now, the singing would haunt her forever until she found what she was looking for anyways. 

The sound of water was what alerted Mir that she was getting close. That was certainly something different, and although certainly not unheard of in the conservatory, what with all the fresh waters and marine esks scurrying about, but she hadn’t expected to find a river around here, with all the lush greenery and the thick of plants covering the ground. Mir supposed it made sense when considered, but- this didn’t sound quite like a river. It sounded like the sound water would make. It was indescribable, sourceless, and another source of torment- at this point, the singing had grown far louder than it previously was, echoing in her head incessantly. Mir was almost beginning to regret ever leaving the group. At least around other esks, they would all ask the same questions, talk about mundane and normal things. This was new and different and awful and too much and- it was gone? 

The singing had reached a crescendo, held its last note for a moment, and had faded away. In lieu of the noise, in front of Mir lay a temple, forgotten and lonely, made of wood that looked as though it would collapse if left alone for much longer. Who had made this? It was so far away from everywhere else, it had had to be placed here intentionally. That was the only explanation for it. Statues littered the ground near the entrance, mostly hidden by overgrown roots, ferns, plants that had decided to settle in and never left. Despite all the weariness being given off by the temple, however, it almost felt cozy, familiar. Inviting, that was the word. It was everything Mir had been looking for: A quiet, isolated place where she could stay and rest for a little while. And, of course, the door was open, so it wouldn’t be trespassing. Someone had obviously wanted esks to go inside, correct? 

...That was good enough reasoning for Mir. She just wanted a place to lie down and relax for a bit, and this seemed good enough. Mir stepped inside, wanting to do so anyways, and plopped herself on the ground. The walls seemed to stretch so much higher in here, and the ceiling seemed to be unreachable, not at all like the humble temple she had seen from the outside. Dim light dappled the plants on the walls, and the whole room gave an invitation of relaxation and rest. Water, moving lazily about the floor, lent an almost sleepy atmosphere to the room, the gentle plants surrounding them seeming to compliment the water. It was almost silent here, but not in the eerie sense that she had felt before, no, this was much more welcome. Through no work of her own, a door had slid open on the far wall. Another room? Maybe in a moment, or maybe she could come back and explore later. For now she could just rest her eyes…

Groggily (even though she wasn’t sleeping), Mir pushed herself off the floor, reasoning that she had spent far too long away from everyone else, and surely they would start to worry, and… they would, wouldn’t they? Or was she just... forgotten about? Did they make rationalizations to explain her disappearance, or was she just hoping for too much? It didn’t matter. Mir turned around to face the entrance again, to get herself back to if not the others then at least back home, and- oh dear. This was certainly not good. Panic overtook Mir faster than any other emotion. Confusion, despair, and fear soon joined the mix. The door had silently slid shut and there seemed no way of opening it. Her paws clawed at the wall, but it remained solid and indestructible. She wanted to scream, yell, trash about, do anything to get out, but there seemed to be nothing she could do, no magic words she could say to get the door open. 

On the other side of the wall, the open door mocked Mir, beckoning her to step closer. The ceiling could not be reached, the walls were far too high to climb, the entrance refused to open, and all that remained was the one open pathway. She didn’t want to get anywhere near it. But there was nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do, and she was out of options and out of rational thought, so begrudgingly and with a sense of extreme caution, she padded over to the open door. 

There was only one way forwards, after all.