The Tales of the Shadows

19.2 Earth: Tales of the Shadow

As the soft melody reverberated from a distance away, something stirred within the little one.

A melody for someone close to you, from someone as close.

Iris shifted in her position, her eyes softly fluttering open. The moonlight entered through a slit that existed by the imperfect closing of the curtains, shining across to her room and ceiling as a single but dispersed sheet of white. The breeze accompanied it, carrying the scent of Nature to the little one.

The melody grew agitated, pronouncing the grief of loss overwhelmed by confusion. Iris took a deep breath, her gaze strengthing their focus on reality. She sat up slowly, turning an ear towards the direction the sound came in from.

One towards the source, one away. A difference not too easy to discuss in that setting, perhaps, but with the sort of being she was, she could.

The sound bends, travels in so many directions. Scattered by walls, losing the original intentions, yet it conveyed enough for her. An association with the fingers that played it, the instrument that sat in a place that came before her. Would it stay after her? For how long was she here? What was she here for? Could she do what was intended, if such a path was defined? Could she make her own, if it wasn't?

Life continues on, anyway. Even if she wasn't a part of living things, she was in the living world. 

As Iris stepped onto the cold floor, she experienced the vibrations in a different form. Perhaps someplace close by, someone else experienced them in a similar manner. What did they think of the one that passed away? Iris didn't think or feel anything yet, but perhaps she did...

Something picked out of time, from somewhere ahead and back, seeded in the present. What would foreign yet familiar sentiments do to one who was just introduced to the world?

Alone. Helped. Learning by observation. Learning by teaching. Interacting with the elements of Nature. Coming to understand one's nature. Is that what she was here to do? Or would these components help her achieve the end? 

The end. What an interesting notion. Perfection, satisfaction, or simply done?

The silence that followed the end of the piece caused Iris to stay still, though the footsteps that came after made her move back towards the place that was set by the shadow in question.

So caring for so many beings in this place, the little one included. Sharing some thread of energy in the shadow that was commonly related to them. Little sibling. Talking to the older one that grieved through music.

The ones who would look after the little one, along with a few others. What would aspects of life would they bring to her? What nature? What aspects of sentience, and what of their true nature? 

Shadows drifting on the walls and the floors and the ceiling. Projections of life as the melodies rang out. 

Capturing the moment with minimal information, yet saying enough. Against sunlight, moonlight. Torches, energies, abilities, illusions, the little one shrouded the most in darkness, protected from the sight of the world. Scents masked in that little room. Devoid of any touch.

After so long... welcomed by the sound of music. Farewell to one, greeting to the other?

How could such a little one have thoughts? What experience did she bring? What individuality did she have? What did she care about? What did she find meaningful? What faults was she bound by? What was she here to do?