6. The Rain {RO}

We didn't know then that everything we would be, will be past.

I cross my legs and sit on them, close my eyes and inhale deeply. There's a bit of nervousness and enthusiasm coiling around my solar plexus. I know what I've gotta do.

I begin the trance with a sigh that escapes my lips unconsciously. It's fine. I'm ready to descend back to those memories and unload them.

Be brave, Nora, at least in this way you'll get a sort of ending Faith was reluctant to offer you.

I call forth the sound of rain and let it flood my senses. I focus upon it, isolating it in tiny drops that rhytmically break on cold, hard stone. Around me, thick mist, in front of me, the Stairs.

I'm reluctant to descend knowing all to well what memories I'm going towards. My feet are heavy at first and I move with the raindrops, with my breathing, counting silently.

Downstairs, an ethereal, colourful gate awaits, so does the memory of a first love. I'm only a step away.

***

I run on a trail thick with bushes that whip my calves with strands of tall-grass and brier. He runs after me, trusting that I know where to go.

My chest hurts already and the muscle cramps are creeping in, I already feel my thighs stiffen and scream through my veins to stop.

A few meters away to my right, a thunderstrike hits the forest and my ears almost start bleeding. We are in danger and we both know that, but not for long. The skies don't strike the same place twice - I could almost hear my grandmother sending me advice and encouragement on the same wind that brings this nearing storm.

My childhood steps know the trails of this forest by heart, its dangers and hideouts too. Through me, there's not only the blood of my ancestors flowing, but the essence of the forest itself, the subtle chants of the earth and all the wise whispers of the world that gave me life.

The old shriveled oak is exactly where I remembered. We're out of the clearing and into the woods, somewhat shielded from the storm that is now dangerously close.

I felt that relief, the way the sky sighed with that thunderbolt, but I was running so fast I didn't realized it started raining, nor how intense it poured.

I tug him along and we scoop inside the dark hollow of the old, thunderstruck oak. When I first got here as a child, the hollow seemed enormous, now we barely fit inside face to face.

A few moments in life ar as interesting as silence and the time of pause just after a strenuous effort. When you pull your soul back into the body with every breath, when each heartbeat helps your attention focus again on the present moment.

We were panting, breaths barely getting back into a steady rhythm, unsure how to fit our bodies within the small space we were given by this impressive tree.

I realized I was staring at him for a while, unconsciously analyzing him. He was doing the same with me. We were half shadows, crossing looks at almost the same height, deep in an endless present moment that offered our eyes all the time in the world to study each other.

The rattling sounds of the storm enveloped the forest and soothed my body, giving me an unlikely feeling of safety. It's weird to feel at ease when I'm almost stripped bare by a stranger's gaze. I close my eyes and tune into my inner feelings.

I'm slightly electrified by a childish curiosity, yet it's the first time I actually look at someone and feel a sensual heat rise up from my womb to my cheeks.

My night vision is partially activated by the shade we're sitting in and I'm glad I have the advantage of seeing him better than his human eyes allow him.

His eyes are the blue of deep, like the core of ancient glaciers, his cheeks vaguely carry the roundness of youth, his flawless skin is golden-tanned, loved to perfection by sunlight.

I notice the edges of his muscles that have been forced to run scream under the fabric of rain soaked pants that look glued to his legs. It's as if I feel them pulse quietly, demanding touch and relief. His midnight dark hair clamps in thick waves under the spell of rain and sweat.

Some of those waves rest gently on his forehead. One side of his head is cut unusually short, yet I find that very charming and I can admire the angle and contour of his jaw that continues harmoniously towards the pointy tip of his ears.

I feel his warm breath too close, invading my aura and nostrils, I feel the smell of his skin that reminds me of the ocean. His scent carries the fragrance of mountain thyme and a garden of wild herbs by the sea, yet there's also a faint, foreign sweetness underneath. His breath on my wet skin is like a sweet, warm breeze.

His long, thick lashes are clamped by water and on his forehead a few sweat drops gleam slightly. I follow with my gaze as a rogue rain drop starts its journey downwards from above his messy brows, winding around his slightly pointy, round tipped nose that looks to the sky. The tear stops in his beard, a neat stubble, just above his lips whose contour I realize look much like mine.

He grabs the tear with his tongue then slightly bites his bottom lip. I unconsciously copy his gestures then move my eyes towards a dark corner near us. He gathers his courage and talks first:

-It was you, I knew it. I felt your scent lingering in some trees I watched the sunset this week.

-I hope you can count on your other senses as much as you do on your scent, Alessandro. You're right, It's me you felt. I've been back in the forests of my childhood quite recently. But you, with your exotic color and vibe, you're definitely not from here. Or maybe you came here with those Visitors.

-I"m more of a wandered than you think. Moreover, I hate taking orders or giving explanations. And when visitors seem to avoid leaving...you can't really call them guests anymore.

A bitter smile on my lips. He's right and it's hard for me to admit, more so to feel like a stranger in the land I call home.

Since I've returned to Elyria I was overwhelmed to walk through our dwellings where more and more people looked like him, not me. However, something in his voice gives me the feeling that he understands me more than he shows. And Visitors have no idea about lyrae flowers and our ancestors' traditions and lore. Who would dare sell treasures for empty words?

-Miss stranger, it was definitely not my intention to leave you speechless, neither to make you sad. Whatever your name is, I'm glad to meet you. You are rather exotic for me as well, a good reason why it's hard for me not to stare.

-Alright, we can agree we're both two weirdlings.

His smile lifts our spirits and I realized how stiff I was. I allow myself to breathe freely, stretch a little. Our palms brush slightly agains each other and I'm electrified nose to tail by a hot wave that breaks against my skin in a million little gleaming lights. If it wasn't so dark in this tree hollow, maybe he wouldn't have noticed. I hear him skip a breath and his eyes shine over me with delight.

-Is it the first time you get to look at someone like me this close?

-Yeah...well....you're not the friendliest beings.

-Humans, we're also humans. I hope you can see that.

-I had no idea humans gleam in the dark, nor do they have tail or the color....

-Don't worry it rarely happens. And about the tail...I could say the same about you missing one...

I'm more curious about why the fuck my body felt the need to be THAT honest with you and show you that. Something ins weird and very new in the way my body responds to his presence...

I see his look tighten over my hair, somewhere on the inner wall of the oak, he pulls me by the waist, slamming me agains his chest. His heart is racing, his skin is hot and I feel his warmth ooze through his clothes.

He tightens his grip on my tail, restricting my movements, he grips me hard then whispers low, with a voice that arouses and frightens me.

-Do not move, we're in danger. Listen.

A soft, crystalline sound drips behind my hair. My blood goes ice cold and I forget to breathe. A ghost-snake. A sneaky one, who felt our warmth and blended into the storm sounds.

I signal him with a look pointing towards the forest and barely whisper:

-Now, run!

***

The storm soaked the forest in a deluge of cold, rushed tears. The trails were swollen with mud, the lichens were ablaze with delight, hugging their trees. The violet leaves filtered the light of the last sun and bathed the forest in a rosy light.

I was in no state to admire that view. I was running again on a backtrail filled with pebbles and mud that stuck to my boots, slightly concerned by the thought night was near and I was thoroughly wet. Truth is I was scared.

This fear was running free through my body that was beginning to ache, my teeth were clenched by the frustration that my recent choices got me into the reality in which I will be spending the night in the forest with a stranger.

You are so stupid, Nora. You almost died, literally. You've learned nothing.

No, no, no. Stop. I refuse to think that about me.

I awake palms deep in the mud, forcefully stuck into the trail in front of me. Skinned ripped open, a burning sensation brought me right back into my body. I started shaking and crying at once. This overwhelming present moment made me retreat into a corner of my soul that wasn't entirely there.

A little gone as I was, numbed by pains and fears that rattled my hormones, I inhaled deeply.

Alessandro liftet my chin with his palm and stared at me. He kneeled in fron of me, supporting my right shoulder with gentle strength. His voice was low, deep, deeply concerned as well:

-You...hey, I'm here. You're safe.

I hugged him and let loose, accepting with no remorse the help of a stranger. He helped me up and offered his shoulder until I regained my balance. I signaled with a look that I need to rest, then I leaned tail first into the almost vertical wall of the trail.

It makes no difference now that I'm full of cold, dark mud on my tail and pants, my palms are shredded and dirty, I'm wet and evening is a blink away, left my house with little supplies, Eros was nowhere to be ffound and I was totally unprepared to spend an elyrian May night in the woods.

My pains dispersed through my body and I started shaking, soft yet uncontrollably. Alessandro faced me, pinning my shoulders with both his hands, eyes slightly concerned.

-Stranger, you good?

-No....ra. Call me Nora. You saved my life earlier, I at least owe you my name. Thank you.

Hand over my heart, I bow my look for him. I straighten my spine and once again our eyes meet at the same height, closer than ever.

That moment when our beings were deeply acquainted as equal souls was something I've never witnessed.

To bind your gaze, even for a blink, to the entirety of Other is a perfect act of our human condition. It remains to be seen how many of these looks have a mirror at the other end.

Don't they all, Nora? Is it not a mirror what lies at the End of the Universe? Are we not the mirror of the universe itself?

***

From the distance, the two completed a romantic painting of a forest evening, with oaks that became sparse the higher you trailed towards the edge of the Kraten. 
The forest climbed smoothly towards the crest, broken with patches of tallgrass, then thinning closer to the peak to let wild bushes thrive and allow a winding path to circle around the crater. 
Beyond the ridge, the rock wall often collapsed into steep slopes, sometimes for a few meters, sometimes for hundreds, especially in the Cardinal Valleys.

All around the Kraten, out of the ridge road all eyes gravitate towards the majestic presence of the Tree of the World. For thousands of years, elyrians worshipped the bond between their land and this cosmic seed.
The magic of this place reflects in every seed that belongs to this blessed Land. Day by day, in this corner of the Universe, there are souls who gaze at the Beauty of the World, gaze towards Light and Truth. In this kind of world, Nora was born into flesh. She herself is a sparkle of Being made of the Light of this world.

Up close, a perfect present moment is often chipped by human emotions without which the Present would be only slightlylessperfect. Waves and waves of thoughts darken the views and the beauty of the world goes out of focus. This body filled with life relentlessly moves from one moment to the next, in a quantum pendulum swing between being and not being. 

Nora lifted her eyes to the sky and finally allowed herself to enjoy the rain. She closed her eyes and whisperes a few silent words, then silence fell over the forest. 

Scant drops fell from the trees, there was enough light left on the trail to see how life blooms under the touch of water, how nature gulps down the rich blessing of the sky.

Clusters of violet forest break free from the land much like freckles on the cheek of the canyon. Sun settles soon.