[TWWM] Sail's Story

The sun was high, casting a gentle warmth down on the hill. Its light danced and swayed between the shifting boughs of apple blossoms and leaves, a canopy that shaded the hill below. Atop the hill sat two spirits.

Ayla sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek with an arm, she was touched by the gratefulness of the new esk, and felt a great relief, it was always a chance when transforming, that the new esk would loathe their new self, or that they would become an evil shadow, sinking into the landscape to terrorize others. It seemed this transformation had birthed quite a jolly fellow however, and as he too dried tears from his cheeks, he began to ask questions again, this time, intending on letting her reply.

"So...Sorry for being so excited, I just couldn't contain myself!" he chirped, cheerful but calm, and ready to learn.

"Its quite alright! I'm just so happy that you're ... glad...this happened! Some aren't so..." She lowered her head a bit, thinking of others.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, but yes, I am quite grateful, this is amazing. I feel like I've existed forever, but the whole time I wasn't...real? Its hard to describe... I have memories, and feelings, but they are all very foggy..." he pondered for a moment, turning to look at the cracked stump where he used to reside.

"So, um...what exactly...am I now?" He sat on his haunches, looking a bit comical, and shrugged a bit.

Ayla kept herself from laughing, most esks didn't sit that way, but he seemed like he could be comfortable upright or tumbling or shuffling in any manor.

"Well, we are called Esks. When someone, or some thing, " she said, gesturing too towards the stump, "Becomes lost, or hurt... trapped even, an esk has the power to transform the spirit of that thing into a new esk. That is what I did to the stump."

The esk looked at his paws for a moment, and turned, waddling towards the stump. Ayla noticed suddenly that he had six legs. He looked a bit like a massive caterpillar. He trundled around the stump, placing a paw on top in quiet meditation.

"Ah yes, this stump feels completely normal now...empty. Just a piece of wood."

"Yes, because your spirit, how you were the stump before, is now ... well... you!"

He nodded, "That makes sense. I'm so grateful to be free, I remember my early years being full of joy, but afterwards...things changed." He rubbed the top of the stump thoughtfully, and gazed around the orchard. "The family who..." he paused, looking down again. "That man... he died didn't he? I didn't know what death was...then... but I feel that I understand it now. They buried him under my roots. I kept him safe. I hope he'll be safe with me gone now..."

Ayla glanced at the roots, gnarled burls of wood that curled beneath the earth, out of sight. "Oh, yes I'm sure he'll be fine. He cared for you?"

"Yes. Him and his family, Everything changed after a while and the people who loved me left. And then finally someone new came..." He looked towards the Tavern. "He has joy, like that man did, but I couldn't seem to feel it anymore... I think I was just too hurt...too bitter about having been cut down." He paused, lost in thought for a minute.

He seemed to be quite thoughtful, Ayla thought. A moment ago he seemed like a rambunctious child, but this was perhaps a more complex being than she'd originally assumed.

Rousing himself from his thoughts, he came to sit back near Ayla. "Well, tell me more about...all this" he gestured towards both of them.

"Esks? Alright. Hmm, let me see." she adjusted her wings a bit and got comfortable.

"Well, we are nature spirits, each with plants or bits of earth as part of us. I have wisteria for example" she said, shaking her head a bit, causing a few petals to drift loose. "And you seem to have some sprigs of apple tree, and orange tree too it seems? And there um... on your head, it looks to be ... cinnamon sticks?" She tilted her head to the side a bit, pondering that.

"Oh, it smells like the wassail, that may be why?" he said, Summoning the sweet liquid to swirl around him once more.

"Oh yes! I'd nearly forgotten it, what is it anyway?" she questioned, squinting at the brownish mixture.

"I believe its apple cider, with spices added. The man made bunches of it every autumn and hundreds came to drink and be merry. Its smell is one of my most dear things. I'm so happy it seems to want to follow me now."

Ayla's eyes squinted upwards. "Oh yes for sure, thats definitely why. It manifested with you because of your connection to it! It smells quite lovely!"

"Hmm yes!" That must be more spices here then, yes? He said, peering at the little brown flecks around his back. "Cloves it seems. Hmm." He looked comical again, picking at the herbs as if they were bugs.

"Of course, actually, perhaps that could be your name?"

"My name?" he pondered it, "What is your name actually?"

"My name is Ayla."

"Ayla. Thats a nice name. Hmm..." he thought about it for a moment. "Wassail... Was...Sail...hmm. I think I'll be Sail if thats alright."

"Of course, you can call yourself whatever you'd like!"

"Ok then! I'm Sail!"

She squinted her eyes, smiling, "Nice to meet you Sail, that is a very nice name." He beamed, his fluffy cheeks fluttering a bit in the wind.

Thinking again, she launched into another subject. "Well, where you were transformed is sort of a home-base for you, but as you're abnormal, like me, you won't have to stay nearby, you're free to explore the world to your heart's content!"

"The...world?" he said, looking towards the horizon.

"If you'd like to... or you can stay here, Its all up to you. Esks are free to do as they wish, nothing can cage you now." she said, a smile tinkling in her voice.

"The world..." he whispered, eyes wide. "I never even...considered...I could go?" he pointed towards the horizon, looking to Ayla with hope and wonder.

"Go? Yes. If you want, Its all up to you!"

He took a few steps away from her, then paused, looking back. "I...theres nothing else I have to do? I can just go?"

She laughed, he was so eager, so childlike again.

"Yes, I will go too, I love to explore. We can meet again someday, I'll return to visit sometimes if you'd like. Or you can wish real hard to visit a greenhouse, just for esks. Sometimes I'm there too."

His mind began to race again, "Esks, there are more of us. I could meet other spirits. Free other lost spirits? I can explore? I can go to a greenhouse?" The excitement built within him once more, threatening to bubble over. He hopped around a bit, his fur shuffling softly against itself. "Its all so new, its all so exciting! I want to go though, I want to see more! I never even thought of it! I have to go!"

He leaped from one spot to the other before rushing back for another hug. She was prepared this time, and caught herself. She reached again, this time cupping her wings forward, hugging the furry child in her feathers.

"Thank you again Ayla. Thank you so much. I will find you again someday!"

"I'm sure you will Sail, I hope you find amazing things on your adventure!"

"Amazing things, yes!" he repeated, as he pulled away from the hug and began bouncing again.

"Goodbye Ayla! I'm going to GO!" he said, bursting with excitement as he leapt off the ground and floated quickly away from her, over the edge of the orchard, over the surrounding fields, and disappeared from view in the distance, an excitedly eager and curious spirit, freed into the world and its many wonders.

As the sun drifted across the sky, drifting towards the horizon as well, Ayla sighed, and then yawned. Creating such an explosive spirit took a lot of energy it seemed, and she felt very tired. "I suppose its time for me to journey onward as well." she thought, spreading her wings wide, and swelling in size so as to rise above the treetops a bit. Pressing down gently with her wings, she lifted, gracefully from the ground, and turned, soaring silently off into the twilight fog. Off towards her own home, for which she always seemed to feel a nostalgic pull towards after transforming another. It was a familiar feeling, a safe and steady place where she could rest and regain her spirits.

As she drifted along the air currents, she hummed, thinking fondly of the little orchard, and the special stump that she felt so grateful to have found. I hope we meet again, she thought, knowing in her heart that they would indeed become close friends.