Storms of the Sky

soft lives - XXXIV

TW: cursing

--Bastet--

     "Let's get you and your companions a house, shall we?" Lady Sorrel says, letting go of my hand. She turns around, and waves at us to follow.

Quarry waves at Milo before he runs to catch up with Lady Sorrel.

Interesting.

"Lady Sorrel, I was wondering if you could tell Bastet about the Rings? They don't know that much," Quarry asks, pulling me up next to Lady Sorrel with him. I stumble into place.

"Nothing, you mean," Avery mutters behind me. I look back at her and frown. I drag her up next to me. Avery rolls her eyes.

"Well, Bastet, we don't know that much about the Rings ourselves. What we do know is that they seem to correlate with nature spirits. Ah, and in the non-religious sense, then it's just nature. Or both I assume. Hm, I'm not quite sure actually. I–"

"Uh, Lady Sorrel?" Quarry juts in. Lady Sorrel looks around, eyes wide before she bursts out a laugh.

"Yes, like in books," I say. "It's always nature-based or something along those lines and there's always a higher, more powerful myth above everyone else." I swear it's like nobody else knows fantasy tropes.

Everyone stares at me.

"What?" I say. Lady Sorrel turns to Quarry.

"You said they didn't know anything," She whispers. I huff.

"It's just fantasy tropes, they're always like that," I say. Avery scoffs.

"Fantasy?" She says, raising an eyebrow at me. I gape. "Seems fake." I point a finger at her.

"I know you know what I'm talking about," I say. "Just look at your smirk." Avery sucks in her lips then.

"Uhhhhhh," Quarry starts. I turn to him.

"You might not," I say. "I'll find a Four Towns fantasy novel for you novices." I wave my hand.

"Feisty, aren't we?" Lady Sorrel chuckles. "No matter, the Rings. We don't know which ones are related entirely. We're still figuring it out. We've been blessed enough to all seek refuge here in this meadow. But we know myth bases in eye color. Which one do you want to know first?" I take a moment to think. I'm a Star, so I should probably ask about that, but Quarry is a Sun. But...Mom was a Blue-Eyed. And she never knew.

Thorn's a Blue-Eyed.

I push that thought out of my head. For Mom.

"Blue-Eyed," I reply, my fingers lacing into each other.

"Blue-Eyes are the second most common Ring, right after Brown-Eyes. They seem to correlate with forms of water wielding. That includes things like water-breathing. But you would think it would include those who can influence the weather, no? There's some here that can manipulate the weather, and they have White-Eyes. See?" Lady Sorrel says, her hands making movement by her legs. "Blue-Eyes are also commonly associated with death. There's a common folktale of the bringer of death, a tall, lithe person with eyes that were "so icy they pierced hearts to gaze upon". That folktale might be the original rumor of Blue-Eyes wielding death, however we have several Blue-Eyes here that wield death themselves."

"Death?" I ask, my breath becoming still. Would Mom ever kill people?

"Yes. Their touch brings death, some resurrects but I wouldn't wish that upon a soul. They are the nicest people you'll ever meet. Ah yes, Marcela, Amias and Epione. I think they're in training currently."

Lady Sorrel looks to the side. I think she sees our horrified faces. She chuckles.

"Oh don't worry, only plants and livestock that's due. No human practice here! HA! Imagine...." She trails off, her hands coming to her face delicately.

"Lady Sorrel?" Quarry asks as we arrive at a grouping of cottages.

They are all a pale plaster-white, with dark umber, stone-straw looking roofs. I can't even comprehend how they look like both stone and straw. They have big square windows. One cottage has a dew-drop window on the side, looking out onto gardens and training fields.

Beaten down paths lead along the rows of cottages. Each has a colorful banner above the door. The banners flag different patterns and stitches.

People walk around the pathways, unaware of our presence. I stare at a group of people. One has bright blue hair, the other has none. One is wearing a fluffy white dress and the other is wearing black jeans and a red shirt. One of the people takes a glance at me. Their shortcut, dark hair falling in their face. They smile at me. I wave back.

"Uhhh Blue-Eyed?" Quarry says. Lady Sorrel chuckles, her hand raising with her mood.

"Oh yes, Blue-Eyes and the housing assignments, yes." She chuckles again, turning down the pathway. "Oh!" She snaps her fingers. "Last names please!"

"Mesbah," I say as the group of people come near. I smile up at Lady Sorrel as the group of them pass. I turn to the side and wave at the short-haired person again. They smile back before they stop, dead in their tracks with the others.

"Go go go," The blue-haired one says, pushing the others forward. I watch them leave in confusion.

"I do not have one," Avery says, crossing her arms.

"Klaus," Quarry says. "But you already knew that."

"Last names do good for classes." Lady Sorrel bobs her head. "Quarry you'll be in the same cottage as before. If you would like."

"YES!" Quarry says, balling his hands into fists. "I mean, yes, thank you Lady Sorrel." Lady Sorrel smiles and nods, turning to me and Avery.

"You two... different houses or would you like to stay together?"

"Yes," I say, before Avery can respond. "Together please." I look back at Avery. She nods.

"Alright then!"

We follow Lady Sorrel as she continues to chatter about the cottages and how they were built by Green-Eyes. I peek into the windows of the cottages, trying to get a grasp of what life is like here. I always see someone laughing with friends. Someone reading a book. A boy playing with the petals of a flower he grew. They lead soft lives.

I frown.