Say'Lyna
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
The drip of dew-drops falling into grass was the only sound Say'Lyna could hear in the Skygarden. She had been sitting there for hours, legs crossed with her arms in her lap as she meditated; surrounded by the hundred's of yards of plants that was the Skygarden. Since she couldn't fall asleep the night before, she decided to come to the garden to meditate with it. Yes. Meditate with the garden.
The Skygarden was a massive, sprawling maze of plants and herbs from all across the known world. Almost every species mankind has ever encountered has at least one seed here. So much life to exist in such a small place. The idea fascinated Say to no end. The very idea of having a sample of life from across the entire world made her shiver. So much knowledge could be learned from this place. So many memories. So many lifetimes of information could be gathered from here. It was something that Say loved to do.
Being Sylvan, the name itself meaning Earth Child, she could meditate with the earth around her, and communicate with it. It was an art her people had practiced for 1000's of years. Just like humans, plants could carry memories, emotions, and some can even carry full thoughts. And, if you knew how, these things could all be shared. All this information could be shared to another plant, or even to another human. Even life energy could be shared between the plants, and again to other forms of life. Even though it wasn't as energizing as a good night's sleep, Say could still absorb the energy shared from the plants to help rest herself.
Sleep, over the past two weeks or so, had been getting harder and harder for Say. And last night, it was impossible. For hours she lied in bed, unable to fall into the bless of sleep. She didn't know why: Maybe something was gnawing at her subconscious, or maybe it was because she was getting tired of the same day-to-day routine of waking up, training with her sister- and Sentinel partner -Lowa, and then going back to sleep. It had been weeks since she had been pulled out on a mission.
It went against Ventari's Teachings to wage war, but something in Say's body wanted to go out and fight a demon, or a ghoul, or a horde of drouger. Something in her wanted to fight, and kill.
Finally, after hours of meditating, the sun was climbing into the sky higher and higher. She was starting to feel a little more awake and alert, and decided it was time to get up. Slowly opening her eyes, Say was greeted with the beautiful image of the sun reaching over the mountains to the east. The whole sky was a bright orange, with clouds that looked like they were made of golden wool. Still in her meditation, Say could feel the joy of the plants around her as they, too, were met with the glory of the son's rays.
Finally disconnecting from the life around her, Say placed her hands on the ground to her sides and lifted herself up. The golden-brown leaves that covered her body, like cloth to any normal human, opened up lightly as she took in a deep breath. Slowly, still a little low on energy from the lack of sleep, Say walked forward through the rows and lines of plants that lead to the exit of the garden. Walking to the dorms, Say went to go find her sister, Lowa, to start their daily training.
Lowa'Lyna
Lowa, unlike Say, had slept like a kitten all night long. She had fallen asleep somewhere around eight, or nine, and had slept all through the night till now. Nothing had woken her up this morning, the Something waking her up was typically Say telling her they need to train, but this time Say was no where to be seen. In hind-sight, it was a good thing. A well rested Sentinel and a tired Vanguard was better than the other way around. A massive two ton flying lizard that couldn't see straight from fatigue was seen as a "bad thing".
Slowly, she removed herself from the warmth of the sheets that covered her, and rose to her feet in her and Say's small dormitory. Stretching her arms up into the air to wake up her body a little. For a moment, she looked around the room and found her gear: her hat, hair-pin, coat and pants, and her crystal sword. Unlike her sister, Lowa wasn't as "leafy". Say had enough leaves that covered her body that she looked like she was fully clothed, but if Lowa had walked out in just her leaves it would look like she was naked if you were a ways away.
With a yawn, she threw on the jacked and pulled up her pants, belting them tight at her waist. Now for the part she hated... Even from grasping the hilt of a sword, Lowa's hands would burn from the magic of the Sentinel blood in her. Slowly grasping the blade of the sword, Lowa took the loop at the hilt of the sword and fed her belt through it to lock it to her waist. Luckily, this morning she hadn't burnt herself too badly by doing so. Even though the blade of the crystal sword was covered, even getting close to it burnt her from the Sentinel magic. Wiping her hands on her pants, Lowa turned and walked for the door.
As she opened the door, she jumped a little bit as she looked to see her sister Say on the other side, about to do the same thing. With a little laugh, Lowa let out a big smile at the sight of her sister. "Say!" She said with a little smile, hugging her sister this morning. With the same smile, Say hugged her little sister back "Lowa, come on. Get all your stuff. We start training in ten." She said letting go of her sister, looking her in the eye with a nod.
Lowa could see in her eyes that Say was still tired... even after meditating for seven hours. Slowly, Lowa put her hand up to her sisters face and stroked her cheek, saying softly: "Are you up for training today...? You look like you should still be resting."
In response, Say sighed a little and shook her head. "I'm alright. I just need to get moving, and I'll wake up..." Nodding, Lowa moved out into the hallway and closed and locked the door behind her. Walking down the hall with her sister, who had her own crystal sword Woma on her back, the two walked out to the training field.
Out on the fields, the two spotted a few people they knew well. Kiril and Eshe out a ways, about to get started with their own training. Shaking her head a little to wake up, Say walked over to a row of archery targets while Lowa jogged over to the track nearby. Say had been training herself in archery for a few weeks now, something she was never excessively good at. That was exactly why she 'aimed' to make herself better at it.
Taking her Woma and putting it on the table at the archery station, she grabbed an oak long bow and a few arrows, sticking the arrows in the ground next to her. Raising the bow in her left hand, she grabbed one arrow with her right and notched it up in the bow. Slowly, she pulled back the string and lined up the shot. Peering through one eye, she aimed her arrow to hit the target right in the center. Letting the arrow fly, she watched as it soared through the air, striking the target one or two inches outside of the bullseye.
Damn... She thought to herself as she lined up another arrow, aiming it in the same spot and letting it go again. This time, her shot had been a tad better; landing inside the bullseye, but not in the perfect center of it. It was good enough for her.
Moving to the next target, she did the same as before: Lined up, pulled, and released. At a distance of about 20 yards, the shot got a little harder. But her arrow found its way towards the center of the target, though blown a little by the winds. Again, this time accounting for wind, she aimed and released. Nailing the bullseye again.
Now, to the hard target. This next shot being 40 yards away, Say would be surprised if she could hit the target at all. Like before, prepared and released the shot; but this time took her sweet time in aiming. After a very long moment of flight, the arrow struck the target on the very outside-edge of the target. At least 3 feet away from the bullseye.
Again, she raised the bow and prepared her next shot. Making the proper calculations, Say let the arrow loose. All though it wasn't the bullseye she hit, she was able to get a lot closer than before. Only 3-4 inches away from it.
Again and again, she fired a few more arrows at the target until she nailed the bullseye. Smiling to herself, she went back to her first target and started the whole routine over again. Her goal this time; hit the bullseye in one shot.
Off on the track, Lowa lined herself up in a lane of the stone circular track. Removing her coat to leave her in her undershirt, lowa began to jog down the track a few times just to warm up. Today, she was aiming to work her endurance. Which meant slowly run faster and faster until she wears herself out, then run some more.
After the first one or two jogs around the track, she started to pick up speed. Now, after about eight runs she started to run faster still, getting into a dead sprint. Panting deeply she clocked lap after lap after lap. Sweat started to run down her body in small streams as she kept climbing in speed.
Run... Faster... Run! Go... Go... GO! She encouraged to herself in her mind as she ran faster and faster around the track, imagining she was being chased, or someone needed her help. As she got pushed her body to its limits, she closed her eyes for a moment. Filling her imagination with images of a beast chasing close behind her, forcing her to run faster and faster. And as she reopened them she felt her body start to change...
In mid step, Lowa pushed off the ground and jumped into mid air. As if the whole world had slowed down, Lowa felt her body morph into its dragon form. Her arms and legs began to enlarge, her back and neck elongated, and on her back her wings began to sprout. Still mid jump, Lowa had turned completely into her dragon form. Smiling to herself she pushed her wings down, pushing the air under them down at the ground to allow her to gain air.
Letting out a loud roar of pride in herself, Lowa flew higher into the sky before turning herself to fly through he air to aim at Kirill and Eshe next to the sparing ground. Having not gained too much speed it was easy for Lowa to slow herself down, and skillful land next to icy-white dragon with a loud thud of her paws smacking into the ground. Turning to Eshe she smiled a little, and shook herself to say "Hello" to her. Looking to Kirill, she let out a low and playful growl, seeming to invite him to a chalange. A race.