Chapter Text
Today wasn't necessarily deemed warm, the environment was simply mild. A light breeze that ruffled her dress and parted her coiled hair. A temperature so natural it could go unnoticed, but conjured into a crisp cool chill towards the tide. She had a tendency to retreat there when the sun began to sit. As of now, it was the start of noon. She'd been awake since dawn, able to catch the sun as it rose into beams of peach and orange. She'd been awake for hours.
Eventually, Eve made her way towards the coniferous forest; it'd immediately become all the more humid. The air was thick enough to feel like paste, half her time spent merely forcing herself to adjust to the sensation, when she finally set foot into the woods the difference had been stark. Both in temperature and illumination, beneath the pine it felt as though she could hide away. Navigation became easier the further she walked, legs guiding her on a trail of earth which had been discoloured. The surface a light brown and treaded enough to even out, she paced along until she found a familiar clearing.
Dim, desolate and damp. It felt like the air clung to Eve's skin as she sat on the grass, having dirt stain the tail of her ivory dress. The ground offered grime to each intricate pattern of lace, or decided to nestle in the nook or her palm as she stabilised herself to kneel upright. The sight of scenery before her was nothing less than picturesque, as though the beauty was shaped by human hand. Overwhelmingly crowded with colours varying from a shade of pea to olive.
The greenery was lush, with bushes thick and lively aswell as smaller shrubs that had a tendency to refuse blossoming. Adjacent to all of this undergrowth had been climbers, they'd trail from the ground and wind further up with a mind of their own. Spiralling around the russet toned bark of pine trees, clinging in a manner that almost seemed like they were forcing the already rooted evergreen to stay in place. The idea made Eve snort a giggle, plants with attachment issues almost sounded silly.
Before her was a still body of water, it glistened under the sunlight. Relatively shallow on the jagged ground, she spared her hands a rinse in the pond. The small woodland nook had lost its feel of magic after the seventh time she'd visited with her mother, it stopped feeling so thrilling and as she grew older she'd began to recognise it as a barrier. Something she couldn't proceed past, happening to halt at the sight like it was instinct. Even the frogspawn eventually left the waters it born into, and yet Eve hadn't once dared to go any deeper into the trees.
Fear wasn't what kept her rooted, if anything it'd been her mother's firm words - that of a strong village leader. Something you couldn't argue with.. Unless you were Eve. Naturally, she pushed her luck. Constantly reminded of the freedom she held: she could roam the village freely, enter a neighbours' house without an invite and she'd simply be welcome there. She didn't have a reason to leave, but having bounds in which she could not vacate made her tempted. How far could her independence actually be trusted?
It wasn't that she didn't believe her mother's rules had been put in place for her safety, infact she's sure her mother had her best intentions at heart. But Eve was old enough to make responsible decisions and she had faith in her own actions. Inside the village she couldn't prove herself, confined to the privilege of a guru's daughter. Her mother was truly wise, but Eve knew she could face danger or any harmful situation thrown her way. At the very least, she wanted to prove that to herself.
Maybe that's why the walk there had taken significantly longer, she was loitering. Worried about this commitment, unsure about truly rebelling. Occasionally she'd stop to pull her linen socks further up her leg, huffing when they resisted after touching the base of her knee. They were (just like the backside of her dress) coated in soil and mud. Only this time it almost surpassed her ankle, similar to how the tide had earlier that day.
Making the journey to the pond itself had been progress, even despite the fact she'd blankly sat there for minutes on end. Trying desperately to distract herself from the urge to walk further. Hoping to hold another minute of peaceful thoughts; she dropped her attention to something that always facinated her.
Ever since she was a child, there'd been these peculiar wild flowers. Even despite visiting practically biennially, the weeds condition seemed the same. None had died, nor had any more sprouted. They were the only variety she'd seen, each flower held the same sharp smell. Something with a bitter musk which would occasionally burn the back of Eve's nostrils.
If she inhaled it too long she'd go dizzy, ill to her stomach.. But atleast they were pretty. There were no outliers, and perhaps that suited the village. Each colour of petal held something neon, a pink that bordered on sickly as it made a gradient to green. It seemed like a fruit that hadn't quite gotten ripe and yet they all had the same shade. That was natural beauty, wasn't it? Everything cut from the same branch, little need for individuality. They just seemed to conform.
Each bunch were identical in size and shape, something about it made her feel guilty. A reminder that was she what she was planning would go against everything she'd been told.
Most of all, she felt shameful that the thought of disobeying hadn't deterred her. Deep down, she still felt that insatiable urge for more. Eve had to wander through the forest, if not to find something then merely to cure her curiosity.
And with that she stood, wiping her hands on the ruffled dress and inevitably creasing the frills. One foot infront of the other, each small step both deliberate and filled with an unsteady apprehension.
For all she knew, the forest may have gone on forever. She wouldn't have known until she was too far gone, lost in the dirt without a route home. Beneath her feet were soft squeaks and small whines as both branch and leaf awkwardly bent. Akin to rubber in their ways of durability, simply yelping under the pressure of Eve's weight yet refusing the yield.
There was no crunch, they'd simply bend and stay in that shape until forcefully contorted back to the way they'd been prior. Though in the back of her mind Eve knew they should've turned to a mush similar to compost. Perhaps just void of the minerals and materials that made up such a thing, so not compost? Eve scolded her train of thought as it only happened to confuse her further.
Still, it was all she had. The nagging conscience narrating her every move, it was the only source of back ground noise she could grasp. The trees were still, silent even as she ventured deeper into the forest. No overhead animals to flap their wings and caw, no sign of wildlife at all. Even as it grew darker, overhead shadows being cast from the looming branches of those elongated silhouettes.
It felt like the dense, like the path was narrowing. An occasional twig scratching her leg or tugging at the tulle on her dress, then she saw it.
A shuffling leaf, significantly small and yet it'd meant so much to her.