richyys - Tumblr blog

richyys · 1 month ago

Text

My Gardenia - Chapter 1

Vaelora x black!fem!reader

Word count: 2.4k

Light Warnings: Mentions/Alluding to death, mentions of drowning + floods. Let me know if there’s more!

Mini context!: This chapter takes place in the past, both reader and Vaelora are around 14-15 years old. This is a fantasy/medieval based world, but framed slightly in the 1910’s (it’ll make further sense in late chapters).

It wasn’t supposed to be raining right now. Or rather, we hadn’t planned for it to rain as heavily as it was. We were supposed to be out in the gardens, having a stroll, getting used to one another's company. But now we were stuck looking for proper shade and protection from the showers, unforgiving and cold.

My dress, the color a soft blue, one so similar to how the sky clears and awakens in the morning, now was clouded like the sky above. The sleeves of my garments now sticking to my shoulders, my arms already slick from the rain water, droplets on my skin and in my lashes–no matter how hard I try to blink them away.

“The Commander shall find us, I know he will. We’ll hold our post and stay put until a proper opening is made.”

That was the voice of Vaelora. The one I supposed to be getting to know, adjusting my schedule to, since she would be around me 24/7, almost every hour and moment of my days from now on. Not even my own lady in waiting was supposed to be this attached to my hip, but then again, we were all adjusting to things. Her hair was an interesting mixture of colors, almost like a muddied palette of hues, which only made me wish I was inside painting rather than out here. It was a blonde, or maybe a dirtied blonde? But parts of her scalp were hazel, almost brown now that it had become wet. Her skin was a bit flush, mainly the tip of her nose and fair ears, small freckles adorning her face and spreading downwards. But her armor made sure I didn’t see the rest.

“You speak of the Commander as if that’s the only name you know.” That wasn’t nice. Bad tone.

The Commander was a well respected man. A decorated officer, a true friend of the crown- Oh the list goes on of his great achievements and titles. My father thought good of him, which only made me skeptical. Any man who was good in my father’s eyes, was to be examined by me first. Which only meant I did some digging, just enough to test which label would properly align with him. But Vaelora, new and my age, already had her fair share of judgement on him. Even if I had just gotten accustomed to her, I could already tell what she was. The underdog who would later climb the ranks, proving everyone wrong, and making out on top with the morals and smile of Hercules-

“I speak of the Commander as I should, because *he* was anointed Commander.” I knew I should’ve changed my tone, now her words sound a lot more impatient, even though she would never outright snap at me.

Well this was lovely.

Vaelora had ushered me to an old tree that had been planted for generations within the gardens of the palace. Older than me, my father, step-mother, and anyone else in this palace. Well, maybe not Miriel, that old fart was as old as the ground.

I wanted to fill the silence other than the sounds of the rain hitting against the various elements around us. The tree and each of its individual leaves, some hitting my skin or her armor, the stone path that seemed almost too linear and straight, the flowers and stone statues that were mainly used for aesthetic purposes.

Gardenia’s. There was a strange amount that seemed to grow around here, Miriel says they’re natural to sprout here, since they’ve been doing so for years now. Of course he’d know that, he probably planted them.

“You look cold.” That was brilliant, wasn’t it? Of course she was cold, she was wearing metal armor in freezing rain. “Are you going to be alright? Your nose is red.”

“Don’t fuss over me, my lady. I can manage worse.” Her eyes haven’t been on me this entire time. Odd.

My wet eyebrows were the first to furrow and almost squint, before my eyes seemed to follow right after. Her gloved and leather hand went to wipe her nose too, but the speed in which she did made it seem like she wanted to be slick with it. As if I can’t tell when someone is lying to my face.

“My eyes are up here-”

“I beg your pardon, my lady?”

Was she bashful?

A smirk almost graced my lips, which I needed to maintain. A princess shouldn’t smirk so devilishly, words of step-mother, which seemed a lot more like my father’s. I settled for a little grin, my initial skeptic brows easing, but my eyes were sharp.

“You haven’t looked at me. I didn’t know the grass and your armor fascinated you so… vigorously. Do you find them more appealing than eye contact with me?”

“My lady-”

“I know, that was a bit too blunt. I apologize.”

If anything, I was probably intimidating her. How was I supposed to be more natural with this girl if she didn’t even want to look at me? My mouth has been a bit slick, but maybe my body language could be a bit more open?

“Do you like the rain? Fancy it at all?”

Awkward start, but a start was as good as any. I saw her eyes glance to the pouring shower, as if she needed to assess whether or not she actually did like the rain.

“I don’t care for it.” Great.

“Well I do. I like how everything looks muted and nothing else is allowed to be loud but the rain. It influences everything around it. Overflowing ponds, filling holes, feeding flora and fauna, there are many benefits to the rain, depending on which side you look at it. Many civilizations even idolize this phenomenon that now inconveniences us.”

I thought back to the text I had to read, all the books and scrolls and texts that spoke of lands stretching over the large expanse of the ocean waters, the home and heritage I never got to claim for my own. There, the land had grown a bit dry and heat sweltered so differently than it did in these lands. “Some lands, the rain is hardly ever seen, as if it's a miracle in itself.”

I could imagine the way the sand would sweep past a young child's blistered ankles and dried out feet, how their hair must be thicker than these clouds and maybe equally as rich and dark. “There, the Sun is what reigns supreme, before any monarch and people, it’s nature that always rules.” I could hear the dry and grainy, swirling and collecting, both in the air and in that small child’s lungs. How their lashes must have been thick, like a camel’s, practical and beautiful.

“When there’s even a droplet of water that comes down, many praise whatever power they believe in. They usher together, gathering buckets and pails, cups and spoons, just to get a single taste of the one thing we all have in common. Thirst.” Maybe the young child is taken by the arm of their mother, father, older and wiser and scarred sibling, trying to chase the clouds that usher the rain in. “But sometimes, their greed is too great, or the clouds and sky are far too bountiful, and instead of a nurturing shower, is a drowning.” I could smell the water, mixing with the dirt and sand and even some stray foliage that had grown. My heart almost aches for this child, knowing full well I knew of none, scared and confused as to why something they all begged and yearned for had wrong them this way? How could the Gods be so cruel as to do this to us? “It floods the streets, the homes, all the buckets and pails, cups and spoons, their lungs…” That may be an exaggeration on my part, but I saw it as a possibility all the same. The child is young, only knowing of a life that exists in the sandy planes of those lands, experiencing something that was supposed to be a miracle and blessing. How quickly those become so diluted and wrong. The screams and muddled chorus of confusion had started to melt into the rain and droplets I heard now, their eyes, obsidian, frantic and alone. Their hands, experienced and vitale, clinging onto the same thing that flooded their world, but it slips past and through their fingers. Their lungs, so strong and sturdy, having sand woven into their very bones, now being full of water.

I hadn’t realized what I did, how I was currently being perceived and watched. It was her eyes. Mine had been focused, or rather untrained, on the scenery before me. I wasn’t paying attention until the silence had stood tall for too long. I snapped out of it and looked at Vaelora, but she was already looking at me.

Her eyes weren’t obsidian, weren’t hazel or even crisp like ocean waters. They were a murky green, like pond water or maybe even the deep thorns of foliage I might’ve scrapped against as a child. She was staring at me, and I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do. Maybe she was just taking in me. Huh, that was new. All I could do was stare back at her, my eyebrows gently furrowing together in confusion but also intrigue. My head tilted. My twin buns, now frizzy and carrying droplets of water, gently dropped water onto my shoulders or gently ran down the back of my neck.

“C’mon.”

“Wh-What?” I reached for her leather gloves, tugging at her to rise and to follow me out of the protective umbrella that was the tree leaves. Her arm was tense, her movements a bit reluctant, but she seemed to follow me anyway.

“Princess we’re going to catch cold, the Commander and the King would not take kindly to the both of us to get sick.” Her words fell on deaf ears, I continued to pull her.

“Princess, it's pouring rather heavily, you’ll ruin the fabric of your dress.” I tugged yet again.

“Princess?” She stopped now, and even when I tugged she moved a little, but kept her post. I could only stop there, my body in the rain and hers still in the shade of the trees, even if she was on the very cusp. I had to stop and sigh, my head turning to look at her directly, our eyes meeting once again.

“I order you, the Princess of Aielana Kingdom, future of the realms and Protector of the Living, to follow me. I’m bored.”

She didn’t seem to disagree then, since her stiff arm relaxed and her leather shoes only took but a few steps so she was directly in front of me. We were the same height, her hair becoming all the more muddy and now the rain was covering her and her armor. The way the metal was hitting against her armor was a nice sound, reminding me of the dinging of a crystal glass. It made me snort a little, tugging her a bit farther until we were in the soft grass. The stone path was a bit of a ways away, the stone bleached and pristine, even after all this time.

I went to look around, letting her hand slip from mine to run up to a puddle and simply kick it. Jumping in it a little awkwardly.

“Princess, are you trying to… play in the rain?” Her words weren’t scrutinizing, but almost humorous, a gentle tease at my awkward attempt to have some fun that wasn’t indoors and relatively clean.

“Oh what, am I doing it wrong?”

“Yes.” She had a smirk on her face. That devil.

I scoffed at her, wondering where she had found this new sense to really sit her and point me out. I was trying my best, even if I was a few years rusty and I wasn’t meant to play in the rain anyway. It wasn’t proper. “Then get over here and prove me wrong. Or are you going to get your new, shiny knight armor rusty?”

She started to come over, and the first thing she did was stomp in that puddle. I shrieked, feeling it splat over my dress and even the side of the neck, my hands coming up to shield my face as best as she could.

“Shit-” Her curse was almost unnoticed, immediately coming closer to me and trying to look at me for once. Her hands hovered near my shoulders, unsure if she should lay her lands on me or not. “I apologize my lady, are you alright? Did any water get into your mouth, or eyes? Can you see proper-” I kicked up water, getting her legs and armor wet, watching the murky grassy water muddle and trickle down her legs. It almost looked like she pissed herself.

She stood there, a bit stuck, almost at a loss for words. So was I, before I started to giggle. My hand went over my mouth to try and conceal my poor attempts, my eyes and overall body softening and relaxing like the soil underneath our feet.

“Oh you're in trouble.” My eyes caught the way her teeth had shown in the slightly murky light, her lips reddened and turned upward. A devilish smirk.

She had started to kick up rain water and I only squealed, trying to flee and run from her only to hear her trail behind, laughing a menacing yet hearty noise that I could get used to. She was trouble.

I don’t remember the exact details, what had happened to lead us here. We were chasing each other, squealing and weaving one another in tag. It had shifted to the both of us dancing in the downpour, our movements having no rhythm yet harmonizing with the world we built around us, but we were on the ground.

Her chest was rising and falling a bit, mine was heaving. I could still the rain showering our bodies and faces, leaving us more than drenched and dirty. Grass had clung to places I wished it hadn’t, namely my fingers and the creases of my elbows, the same could be said for her as well. But there was a slight faded smile on my face, Vaelora’s included. I had forgotten the last time I had done anything like this, dirty yet unapologetic. But I definitely knew one thing, even when our chests were heaving and trying to keep up with the rest of our body.

Vaelora’s chest wasn't supposed to be on top of mine.

Final author notes: TYSM FOR READING!! This is the first fanfiction I’ve ever written that wasn’t centered around an already existing show/anime/movie fandom I was in, so this is completely original!! Since I’ve been apart of many fantasy and medieval based spaces, I may take similar constructs or titles to make it easier on my part. This also is not proofread, so I apologize if anything is grammatically incorrect. As mentioned before, this is the first chapter and there will be more to come. There were also a few name/title drops of characters that’ll be important later on so stay tuned :) I would love it if you followed along, reposted, interacted, or anything else, and if you’re simply a lurker then I still hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you so much for reading, bye!!

*:..ﾞ((ε(*´･ω･)っ†*ﾟ¨ﾟﾟ･*:..☆

1 note · View note