The Language of Kindness - The Tranquil: Part 3

The Language of Kindness
The Tranquil: Part 3

   Having had the fun lesson with the lovely Haedian pups, the teacher announced a break time. The kids politely thanked the topsiders for joining them in their studies, after which they quickly scattered from the classroom, joining their playmates or hopping by their dens to grab a bite to eat. Pyrri also stood up, thanked the teacher and excused herself, leaving the three Pullers with them. This meant the mental link was handed back to Heldanau so she could continue communicating with Orvi and Rauhaira, as they agreed in unison that they also needed a small pause from the intense language learning course.

   They stepped outside, where the teacher tried to have a small talk with them. With the three of them sharing their newly gained knowledge, they managed to handle the conversation rather well. Rauhaira felt like she needed a moment for herself so she turned to observe the camp instead. A thought or a question kept nagging her mind, and fairly enough, Orvi and Helda could also sense it. Their minds dwelled deeper around the idea, distracting them from the teacher. The Haedian wasn’t rude when they noticed how something had started to weigh on the topsiders’ minds, so they gave them a friendly smile and gestured to the Pullers to follow them somewhere. Slightly confused from the sudden change in their behavior, Orvi stood up first and started to follow the Hae to see what else they wished to show them, while Helda stayed close to Rauhaira as they were taken to a big fancy tent under the largest tree in the Tranquil forest.

   The teacher asked them to go in, which they did. To their surprise they found Pyrri there, already sitting comfortably on top of a pile of pillows, eyes closed and seemingly meditating. Helda turned her head to give the teacher a glance full of questions, but the Haedian had already taken their leave.

“Uhmm, what are we supposed to do now? I think I missed that part.”

   Orvi lets his thoughts flow in the mental link between the three and the ladies turn to look at him, looking somewhat guilty or embarrassed.

“I think we missed it, too. Since they don’t allow talking here I feel rather uncomfortable asking someone…”

   Helda decided to share her concerns with the others as she felt a sense of discomfort raising its head in her chest. Orvi softly leaned against her to offer comfort, while Rau came up with an idea as she was simply observing the Haedian before them.

“Perhaps we should follow Pyrri’s example and try to meditate? It’s the only reasonable suggestion I can come up with.”

   Agreeing with Rau, they gathered some scattered pillows in the tent together as quietly as possible to create comfortable spots for themselves. Helda suggested temporarily cutting the mental link between them so she could focus better on the attempt to meditate, to which her companions agreed to. Feeling the connection gone, Rauhaira decided to lie down, closing her eyes to focus on directing her thoughts towards something positive while Heldanau focused on the details of a large dreamcatcher-like piece of craft hanging on the wall behind unresponsive Pyrri in order to control the flow of her thoughts. Orvi’s attention stopped at Pyrri. He faintly sensed something happening to him, despite Pyrri’s expression being completely relaxed and unchanged. His curiosity got the best of him, thanks to which he  focused harder on the sensation, trying to pull it closer or expand it.

   Without a warning, Orvi’s consciousness was swiftly pulled out of his body. He barely had time to react as he found himself floating in a vast space, surrounded by clusters of magic or paths of arcane energy lively moving around him. It looked like time flowed differently here, as Helda and Rau had also arrived without their physical bodies, even though they weren’t as fast to sense the strange sensation reaching for them as Orvi was. Here they were free of worry and burdening thoughts, even gravity wasn’t weighing them down. As they levitated while trying to make sense of this place, they saw Pyrri approaching them, a happy smile on her projection’s face.

“Welcome! I apologize for leaving you on your own, I needed a bit of time to prepare for this.”

   Her pleasant voice faintly echoed in the mystic space around them as she spoke. She stopped right in front of them, being perfectly in control of her movements. Helda, Rau and Orvi still didn’t feel quite at home with the weightless sensation but that didn’t bother them at all.

“Pyrri, what is this place?”

   Helda inquired while trying to make movements similar to swimming in hopes to get somewhere. Orvi was already hanging upside down and that seemed to amuse him while Rauhaira was busy observing the sparse glowing specks that left her glorious mane and dissipated in the surroundings.

“This is another plane of existence, an ethereal plane of ours, if you will. I sensed you having doubts about our way of life, so I wanted to show you why we prefer not to speak with words.”

   Pyrri turned around, effortlessly flying past the streams and clusters of energy while she somehow tugged the three Vayrons along with her. Feeling joy from the flying, the topsiders focused on sensing the energies around them while listening to Pyrri talk.

“The Tranquil are peaceful people, we are all about understanding and connections. Our ancestors studied and unlocked the secrets of unison via deep meditation. This is where we are now. To you, this place might seem or feel rather empty, but for me, this is the whole world of ours. I can see my clanmates, the trees, the rivers of water flowing through our territory, the energy crystals, the neighboring clans… everything.”

   She stopped moving forward, smoothly rolling on her back to look at the topsiders floating behind her.

“This knowledge has been passed down for generations, and we wish to live by it as this unites us as one. That’s why we speak from the heart, not with words that carry no spiritual meaning. This allows us to trust each other enough to connect spiritually. To us, the concept of a fight or even a war is unknown as we’re all one but also exist as individuals in the physical realm. I wish I could show you more but I’m already impressed you sensed my invitation to join me in this session as it usually takes a lot of training before our young are capable of joining me here.”

   Pyrri’s explanations made so much more sense while they actually got to experience even just a glimpse of it. The peaceful sensation here was addictive, and Rauhaira already wished she could stay in here forever to learn to master this skill like Pyrri. Sensing the Maned one’s thoughts, Pyrri chuckled.

“I am very grateful you appreciate our culture so much, but sadly one can’t stay here for long. We still have our physical bodies to take care of. Please link up with me if you have any more questions.”

   Before any of them could react, they were thrusted back in their vessels made of flesh and with a loud gasp, they returned to reality. Helda and Orvi felt right away how their bodies were incredibly sore from sitting still for hours. Rauhaira’s joints also crackled when she stretched and yawned to ease some pressure that had accumulated in her jaws thanks to the way she had rested her head on one of the pillows. Pyrri also opened her eyes and extended a mental link towards her visitors.

“Did that help you ease the troubling thoughts regarding our ways?”

   She genuinely seemed to be concerned about the topsiders’ wellbeing, but to her great joy, they all felt relieved and lighthearted as they now felt like truly belonging to the friendly clan. Helda’s glistening eyes locked with Pyrri as she felt the greatest relief.

“Thank you, Pyrri. We will never forget this kind gift from you.”