lay me down to rest

[crazyflight]

for the purposes of this story, the quest that this story refers to happened long ago — or perhaps the story takes place in the distant future.

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elwy walked slowly, but his companion was waiting, patient, steady, at their spot. he felt no sense of urgency. elwy's pace had, admittedly, lagged over the last several years, andante to adagio, his age creeping up and weighing down like a pair of elephant snails on his shoulders. every step came with a toll. elwy had stopped wincing, even though his cane only did so much to relieve the pain in his bad leg. every step came with a purpose.

the journey took hours, traversing a route through the silva forest that seemed more like wild undergrowth than set paths. to think i had needed direwolves to guide me when i was young, so young, he thought. he had arrived. he smiled upon seeing his old friend. "arbo," he said, not wasting breath on a formal greeting.

arbo returned the warm expression. "your wrinkles are beginning to match my bark," he chided. elwy closed his eyes and chuckled, a light rumbling laugh that lost its humor in a wheezing cough, a sour look replacing the twinkle in arbo's eyes as he watched his old friend.

"i'm tired, arbo," elwy finally managed. slowly, using the trunk for support, elwy sat between two of arbo's thick, exposed roots, dropping his cane to the ground. they both closed their eyes. arbo could sense that elwy's energy shifted. visions, memories, flashed in their mind's eyes. various adventures, battles, voyages, griefs, throughout elwy's life, were being communicated through a one-way transfer of earth and life magic. arbo felt these memories coursing through his roots and branches as if he had experienced them himself.

"i'm tired, arbo," elwy repeated, drained. "my time has come." years, decades of accumulated fatigue planted roots in the soil by arbo's roots where elwy sat, sinking to the ground until he was laying down. even days ago, arbo would have protested — now, he had seen and felt the weight of elwy's life, and all its fullness. as elwy rested, arbo slowly, slowly, drew his roots closer to elwy's body, a gentle embrace, stolidly enveloping his friend, accompanying his journey to the next life.

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i'm sorry for another sad one — like the last one, it's the first flash story plot that came to mind when i read this description. i'll unpack that with my therapist at a later date. anyway, this is based on the oracle tree, a creature whose premise i thought i had a general understanding of, but upon further reading presented a darker layer that i hadn't realized until going back and reviewing the quest text, which i had totally forgotten about (and isn't in the library, i don't think, if any admins are reading).