Submission (#6202) Approved

Fog clung to the rounded mountain tops beyond the window as Elora stretched and woke up one morning. She was in Kyendi with a craftsman her father said was quite good, but honestly Elora didn’t really understand. What could she gain from being here? Kyendi wasn’t Faerindell!!! Where were all the flowers that she aspired to collect and turn into gorgeous displays of art. Here she was groggily looking outside the window at floating islands in the distance. The feeling of mats made of various woods and woven grasses was cool beneath her feet. She squinted a little bit at the weeping willow of an eldertree in the distance before turning around to figure out where this soft noise was coming from.

She wandered into a room to find her host, Chise, plucking some strings on an instrument of sorts. Elora couldn’t help but eye the instrument with a little bit of curiosity but she had no intention to learn. Chise could hear the kittom’s audible sigh, as though Elora really didn’t like it here much. Really Elora wasn’t trying to be rude, but she felt like her dad had promised her something else. Hadn’t he said it would be an experience? Yet here she was, with a slow moving adult elnin that had just fixed instruments for the past few days while Elora was here.

“You know they arrived today, Elora.” Chise said with a little bit of a smirk crossing her face. Elora’s groggy expression seemed to be clearing up a bit as the kittom’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “What arrived?” She asked, confused as she sat down next to Chise. “Well I ordered some vases and local flowers. Your father said you had aspirations, correct? If you want to arrange flowers there is no better place to do it than a shop.” Chise explained. Elora on the other hand looked dumbfounded. Is that why her father had sent her here? She could feel her heart leap a bit at the thought. “Me? Arrange flowers for your shop?” She said, trying hard to hide the excitement in her voice, though it failed.

Chise nodded, gesturing towards some vases in the corner and a few basins of flowers that someone had carted up the mountains earlier that morning. “The flowers will decorate the shop but first you should practice some near the garden.” Chise said, setting down the instrument for a moment before grabbing a vase and one of the flower basins. The flowers that filled them were tropical varieties, with a few leaves that could be seen around Kyendi also shoved in amongst them. The basins themselves felt messy and disorganized but that’s what Elora was here for. Chise plopped the materials outside on the wooden boards that led to a rock garden. There was some fencing and structures to keep the place fairly safe, but from here Elora could enjoy the signs of the waterfalls and jungle foliage as she worked.

“Just start here.” Chise said, returning to grab another instrument that needed tuning as Elora marveled at the flowers and intricate vase. She had seen ruins tucked in the jungle on the way here and the vase reminded her a bit of those. For a while she struggled with the vase, not really knowing where to start. Elora really loved flowers, but she wasn’t very experienced in arranging them. Chise saw her struggling and pulled up another vase to arrange a much simpler display, yet somehow it was still quite eye-catching. Meanwhile, when Elora saw the display her jaw just about dropped. “I thought you just worked on instruments! How did you do that.” She pried, eager for answers and direction.

“It’s simple, just observe what’s around you and take your time. Eventually, with enough adjustment, the rest will fall into place.” She responded calmly. Elora didn’t really understand though. She was just eager to improve quickly, it took a while for her to grasp that she might need to slow down her practice a bit to see results. After a few hours of arranging, or attempting to, she tired. She didn’t want to give up though, so Chise set a much smaller vase in front of her. Elora pulled out a few flowers and a leaf or two from the pile of materials and blinked a bit at how it came together. “Has it always been that easy?” Her voice whispered questioningly. She was skeptical, so she tried it again, but it seemed to be the most effective with small vases. Somehow she felt a bit tricked. Had Chise set the bar so high to begin with to manage her expectations? Perhaps that was the case. Elora didn’t realize it though.

Working with a larger project was definitely more difficult but her eye for flowers had gotten a bit better. She burned with determination, wondering if she could find the same calm space back in Faerindell to really refine the art. Now that she knew how much a quiet space helped, she would have to give it a try. There was a lot of life to be had in her hometown, but there was a tranquility to Kyendi that Elora couldn’t quite place. She could only wonder about her dad’s intentions for leaving her here but at least Chise was a pretty nice host. Elora had a feeling that as long as she kept working at this project she would be able to achieve her dreams some day of owning her own flower shop. Chise even mentioned knowing another elnin that worked with antiques in Faerindell. With an introduction, maybe Elora could source some different regional vases and antiques. Deep in her thoughts she didn’t notice Chise was smiling and placing some of the vases. They looked quite nice at the end of the day!