A return to Sor Solir

The crashing of waves against the massive rock cliff sounded for miles around Sor Solir. The sun was fresh in the distance and the sky was a soft pink. It was the crack of dawn and Heliconia was inches away from falling to her doom into the rocky spikes below her. Looking to the sky, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh sea air. Her Seasun, Coleslaw, sat next to her, looking up with that stupid smiley grin. Once broken out of her trance, she glanced down at Slaw and snickered a little bit.

    “It’s a beautiful view, isn’t it?” She spoke, mostly to herself. Coleslaw made a little noise of happiness as if to reaffirm her statement.

    “I wish I could stay here longer. It feels so nice to be home.”

    Connie raised a hand to her face. She gently rubbed her cheek - the texture felt as if it was coral that had been smoothed down from the rushing of a river. With one last deep sigh, she slung her bag over her shoulder and stood up, still looking out into the distance.

    “We should get going, shouldn’t we? It’s a long walk from here to the festival. If we leave now, I’m sure we’ll make it just in time to get all the good early bird discounts from the local markets,” Connie said, once again mostly to herself. Coleslaw made a big grin and a trilling like noise, floating up from his previous splayed out jellyfish position and over to Connie’s striped ankles. Connie smiled and lifted him up onto her shoulder to begin walking down from the cliff to the more populated areas. She’d be passing by the Solance Forest on the way, so if she had enough time, she might pop in there and explore for a little bit.

    It had been so long since Heliconia had been back here. The Aeoss Sea was her original birth place, but as she matured, she realized that she couldn’t be tethered down to one location. The Celestial Seas were so incredibly expansive, and she wanted to see it all. Realistically, she knew there would be things she would miss out on, but as long as she did the best she could to live up to her goals, she would be happy.
    She and Coleslaw kept making their way down the cliff, and eventually reached the base. Connie’s cloak always seemed to flutter a little as she jumped down from the rocks she knew all too well. Once she was on a solid public path again with the fine gravel crunching beneath her hooves, she walked over to one very specific bush. Crouching down, she carefully inspected each Hibiscus, and once she found one she liked, placed it in the few golden bands she had wrapped around her right horn. She thought it made for a nice accent and complimented her similarly themed necklace quite well. Suddenly, for seemingly no reason, Coleslaw perked up and wobbled over behind Connie. She turned around to see a second Seasun next to Coleslaw. They both seemed to be having a very positive reaction to each other. Likely, it was just something like “OMG another Seasun! HELLO! I’m a Seasun too! Let’s be friends!” “OMG SEASUN FRIEND OKAY!”

    “Mango Comet get back her RIGHT THIS INST-” A strange Browbird had come running up to Connie’s general vicinity, and when they realized that not only was their Seasun there, but another person, it looked as if their heart sank.

    “Oh.. I’m so sorry, did Mango cause you any trouble? He’s always looking to cause mayhem and is constantly out for ‘world domination’, whatever the heck that means,” the green Brow spoke. Connie had to hold back a laugh.

    “No, he’s been quite alright. In fact, it looks like Mango and my Seasun, Coleslaw, are getting along quite well. Mango has not wreaked havoc upon me today, don’t worry,” Connie replied with a smile.

    “Oh thank goodness. My name is Camellia. What’s yours?”

    “Heliconia, but feel free to call me Connie.”

    “That’s such a pretty name! I love your cape - where’d you get it?”

    Connie’s flora cloak twitched a little bit at being mentioned, and she reached a hand behind her to bring one of the leaves forward a little bit.

    “Oh, this? This is part of me, I didn’t buy it anywhere.”

    “OH MY GOSH IT’S ATTACHED TO YOU? THAT’S SO COOL! Would you be okay if I touched it?”

    Connie giggled.

    “Sure, go ahead. Just be gentle, of course.”

    Camellia reached forward and gently took one of the leaves in her hands. She gently caressed it, causing it to twitch just a little bit. Started, she released it.

    “S-sorry, did that hurt?”

    “No, not at all. My cloak just does that sometimes - don’t worry about it.”

    “Oh, okay.”

    A moment of awkward silence ensued.

    “...Anyway, what brings you to Sor Solir this time around?” Connie asked.

    A big grin spread across Camellia’s face.

    “I love travelling and going on adventures! My best friend Grimm couldn’t come along with me because he’s smelly. Like onions. He said he has ‘work to do’ and ‘doesn’t have the time to go on impromptu vacations right now’. Whatever. He would have liked to come along, though, so I’m looking for some souvenirs to bring him back,” Camellia explained, her arms now crossed as if she was upset about Grimm not coming all over again. 

    “I’m sorry your friend couldn’t come along, he sounds like he has important work to do.”

    “Yeah… I get it. I like travelling, but it’s more fun with others. I don’t really like being alone.”

    “Well, would you like to come to the Sor Solir festival area with me? I don’t have anyone else to go with, either, and having someone to talk to would be nice,” Connie invited, gesturing to the bigger cliff where you could barely see the silhouettes of tents popping up for the street fairs and venues.

    “YES! I would love that! I love making new friends!” Camellia’s eyes lit up like stars.

    “Heh, me too. Let’s get going, the walk is gonna get a lot more painful once the sun starts to rise and it gets hotter,” Connie said as they began to walk once more. Coleslaw and Mango Comet followed behind, having what looked to be a deep conversation in their own language of trills and chirps. They seemed to be having a good time. Seeing Seasuns walk on their tentacles was… slightly unnerving though, to say the least.

    “Okay! I’m excited! What brings YOU to Sor Solir this time around? I’ve come here for a few festivals now and I’ve never seen you around before,” Camellia asked.

    “Ah.. The Aeoss Sea is my home. I’m always on the move, so I don’t come back here often, but I felt the tides and reef calling to me this year. I figured why not stay for a while and recenter myself, if you will. It’s been several years since I’ve visited anyway, so I was due to come back. It feels so nice to be home. It’s a shame I won’t be here for long, though.”

    “Aw.. why do you have to leave? There’s so much to do! I’m sure being from here, you would know, right? There’s no harm in staying for a little extra time, right? How long do you plan on staying, anyway?”

    “Just a few days, if that. I always have to be on the move. I mean… I don’t HAVE to be, but it feels more natural. I just want to go wherever life deems fit for me, and that place changes so often. The Celestial Seas hold so much information, and I wanna see it all.”

    “I think I get it. I like seeing new things, too! Do you have any interesting stories from the places you’ve been?”

    “Oh, so many. I’d be here for weeks if I told you them all. But, I’d have to say my favorite was when I was with an old friend of mine who took me to see the Infinite Library for a day. The librarians weren’t too happy about me being in there, as they didn’t deem me fit at the time, but my friend was able to make an exception just for a few hours. It was incredible - I can’t even begin to describe the sheer amount of books and knowledge contained in there. If you ever somehow manage to get an invitation to go there, or are let in by the librarians, don’t pass it up.”

    The conversations and exchange of stories seemed to go on for ages, and before they knew it, Connie and Camellia were already up by the venues. Music was being played from every which way, the smells of so many different types of street food filled the air as the sun peeked over the trees in the distance, signaling that the day was officially beginning. It was still early morning, but there was still a fair crowd walking up and down the dirt roads. Most street venues were set up, but there was the occasional empty slot or a seller just arriving or setting up their wares. A shop selling potions and bottles seemed to catch Camellia’s eye, and she promptly ran over to go check them out. A different shop right near Connie was calling to her, so she just stood by the one she was at. Before she knew it, Camellia was back and tapping at Connie’s waist.

    “Connie! Connie! Look what I got!” Camellia exclaimed excitedly, holding up a potion.

    Connie turned around to see what Camellia had brought back. Her pupils shrunk and she took the potion out of Camellia’s hands and examined it for herself. It was in a star shaped bottle with two little tassles coming out of the cork holding all the liquid in for a little extra flair.

    “Camellia… let’s.. Wanna go get some food and sit down somewhere? I haven’t eaten this morning, and I’m kinda hungry. Here, put this away in your backpack so it doesn’t get stolen.”

    “Uh… okay. And sure, some food does sound good. Let’s go!” Camellia said, putting the rare trait potion into her bag and walking next to an extremely unnerved looking Connie. If Connie wasn’t getting looks before, being with a Browbird with a rare trait potion DEFINITELY was now. Connie and Camellia walked out of the shopping district and into the more food related venues to look for something good. A breakfast tent that smelled of fruit and chocolate and pastries won both of them over. Connie got a jelly-filled looking donut kind of treat garnished with flowers and topped with an elegant looking leaf. Camellia got a stick of elote, grilled with parmesan cheese, various mild spices, and the creamiest butter ever. They sat down at a bench that was away from the rest of the major crowds.

    “So, Camellia,” Connie said between bites of her flora cloak treat, “what you got there is an extremely rare potion. You have to keep it safe, lest people might try and nab it and use it on themselves,” Connie explained, wiping a crumb off the corner of her mouth.

    Camellia’s eyes widened and she froze just as she was about to take another bite of her corn. Hastily rubbing off all the extra spice residue and dust around her mouth, she almost gasped.

    “REALLY? That’s so COOL! I just thought it was like… a pretty star bottle! Ohh, Grimm’s gonna be so proud of me! What does it do?” Camellia asked, now heavily intrigued.

    “Well, I’ve never actually seen one in action, but I’ve heard that if you drink it, and focus REALLY hard on a body modification or addition you want, you’ll get it. Have you ever seen another Browbird with like… really big ram-like horns? Or-! My eyes! Eyes that don’t match each other? Or… uh…. Super long ears? If you drink this potion, and focus on what you want, you’ll likely get it. You have to use it wisely, though, because once you use it, it’s really hard to reverse it.”

    Camellia looked absolutely starstruck.

    “Oh. My. Gosh. THAT IS SO AWESOME! Why would that lady just… give this to me? That’s super nice of her!”

    “That’s what I was thinking, too! Do you think… you’ll drink it? Or are you gonna save it?”

    “WELL…… I don’t really have any reason to drink it myself. I’m already happy with my body. I think I’ll hang onto it for now. I wonder what Grimm will say! I’m so excited to show him!”

    “Hehe. I’m sure he’ll be shocked, too. Just keep it hidden for the rest of the event, okay?”

    “Okay!”

    The two finished up their food and talked for a little while longer about who knows what for who knows how long. They were there for hours, talking, shopping, exploring and just having a great time at the festival. Coleslaw and Mango Comet were still chirping to no extent.

    Maybe Connie didn’t have to leave so soon...