Lillene

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Elder Jinsa shook her head. “That wouldn’t matter, even if it were true. We won’t ally ourselves with Tzintkra. I … many of the dryads might, but others will not and none of the elders will agree. That is less important, though, than the simple fact that you’re implying we would beg for help from someone from Tzintkra who works for Death. That is impossible. Completely impossible. We’d rather die first.”

That was irrational, but Serenity couldn’t entirely blame the elder for it. War left scars. “You wouldn’t be begging, just asking.”

Elder Jinsa shook her head. Her mouth was set in a firm line.

Serenity sighed to himself. Whether the “that will not be paid” line was from actual foresight or simply from the Dreaming Tree’s knowledge of its people, it seemed to know what it was talking about. It would take time to win them over if it was even possible. Serenity didn’t know if they had that much time, but he knew that it wasn’t time well spent for him. He had other things to do. 

Really, trying to figure out how to comply with a prophecy wasn’t the best approach anyway. He’d had far better luck when he used them to inform him of the situation then acted however made sense, regardless of what the prophecy said. “If that won’t get us anywhere, it won’t get us anywhere. What else do we know, other than that this is probably orchestrated by the Mimir somehow?”

Serenity had to admit that after their attempts on Rissa’s life, he wasn’t very happy with the Mimir. Despite the former Valkyrie’s warning, he couldn’t say for certain that the most recent round of attacks was their doing; he didn’t know why she’d lie but it was possible. Even so, he didn’t doubt it any more than he doubted the connection Elder Jinsa had made with the Norns in the prophecy. It might not be true, but it probably was.

“Not much,” Rissa stated. “It’s really only that first sentence; the second one is a solution that doesn’t work. All we can really get from it is that Death magic will probably help, but even that’s not definite. Youth’s safety bringing joy for the mother makes sense but without knowing who either of those are, we don’t know why it’s important or what to dread. It’s a useless prophecy.”

“I agree. I wish I didn’t; it sounded useful when the Dreaming Tree gave it to me, but everything I’ve looked for has been a dead end. There are no mothers with imperiled children that seem relevant. All I can think is that someone is trying something forbidden to help her child, but I can’t find her or the child. Of course, if that is the case, she’d definitely hide the attempt, but there ought to be someone who knows something about a sick child and I can’t find anything unusual.” Elder Jinsa’s words came out quickly and sharply. 

Serenity couldn’t blame her. It sounded like she’d looked everywhere she could think of and had no ideas what to try next. “Maybe Blaze can look? He’s good at talking to healers.”

“Worth a try.” Rissa leaned back against the rear cushion and trapped Serenity’s left arm between her and the loveseat. “It’ll take time. I doubt he’ll be able to ask anywhere other than this dome in the time we have. Unless you think your work will take more than a couple weeks?”

Serenity shook his head. “I still haven’t had the chance to talk to Senkovar about it, but I think we’re most of the way there. I’m not sure if that’s a couple weeks or a month, but I don’t think it’ll be much longer than that.” Serenity paused for a moment, then realized he’d better hedge his bets. “Unless Senkovar decides he wants to teach me something else while we’re here. Then all bets are off.”

“I thought you were here because Senkovar was looking into World Eaters, not because you were getting trained?” Rissa sounded puzzled. 

Serenity was a little puzzled about it too. “I’ve asked. All Senkovar will say is that the training will help. I think he wants a second opinion and thinks it’s not all that time sensitive. I want to figure it out before they attack Earth. If they’re headed there.”

Rissa drew back a little to get a good look at Serenity. “We decided against looking into the World Eaters before you left Earth. Have you found out anything that would change that?” 

Serenity shook his head. 

“The Dreaming Tree thinks you can help with the prophecy,” Elder Jinsa interrupted. “That’s why it asked you to Dream with it.”

“Does it have enough to start from? That prophecy didn’t sound like it really knew anything.” Rissa leaned back against Serenity and pulled his trapped arm around her shoulders.

“The Dreaming Tree knows everything and nothing. That is what Dreams are; possibilities. Some are likely, most are not, and many are scrambled. That is why it tells me of its Dreams and I find the truth behind them.” Elder Jinsa tapped her knee with her fingers. “Will you Dream with the Tree? I will guide you to it.”

Serenity looked towards Rissa. She was the expert here, as much as they had an expert. She looked conflicted, but after a long moment, she sighed. 

“What can it hurt? No, don’t answer that. Please don’t answer that.” Rissa blushed.

Serenity grinned. He didn’t get to see Rissa flustered that often.

“Thank you.” Elder Jinsa’s words were quiet but clearly heartfelt. “Close your eyes and set your hands on the wood of the chair you’re seated in.”

Were the seats all part of the Tree they sat in? That would be far better tree-shaping than he’d seen elsewhere in the dome, even in the luxury of the hotel Elder Omprek was hosting him in, but if that was part of a way to see the Dreaming Tree’s dreams, it made some sense. It was functional. Chairs or couches being permanently fixed to the floor was somewhat less functional, but that seemed less important than making the ability to talk to the Tree easier.

Serenity set his right hand on the arm of the loveseat. He couldn’t reach the left, but his arm was around Rissa; that would have to do. He could feel as she shifted to do the same thing, though her right arm was on his knee instead of around his back.

He really hoped this wasn’t going to be another meditation thing like Senkovar wanted. He hadn’t needed that for Rissa to pull him in, but she was Rissa. He trusted her.

“Close your eyes and feel the Tree,” Elder Jinsa intoned. “Listen. Hear. Feel.” 

Her words started to blend in with the rustle of the leaves around them.

There weren’t any leaves around them a moment ago. Serenity’s eyes popped open and he found himself still holding Rissa, but they were now seated on a similar bench out in the open, surrounded by trees. It wasn’t the same as the Timescape on Lyka; they weren’t actually on a tree branch large enough to support an automobile. Instead, they were on a bench that seemed to have grown out of a root, suspended a few feet above ground covered with all sorts of lush groundcover.

Serenity couldn’t identify most of what he saw, but that would have been true in a natural forest on Earth as well. What he could tell was that there were a lot of different plants and even several different types of trees.

“I can tell you’ve done something like that before.” When she spoke, Elder Jinsa seemed to fade in from nowhere. “I barely started and you were already here.”

“I’ve been to the Timestream before. So has Serenity. He can’t make it on his own, but if I lead, he’ll follow,” Rissa stated with confidence. She slipped out of Serenity’s arm and stood, floating a little above the ground. It was almost like she was walking on top of the plants without disturbing them at all. “This is an unusual place to begin. It feels static, unmoving and unresponsive.”

Elder Jinsa nodded. “It’s a memory. I find it far easier to start here than wherever the Dreaming Tree is. That’s only a few steps away but it’s far more chaotic and doesn’t give you a moment to catch your breath. If it gets too hard, you can step back here for a moment of shelter.”

Serenity’s immediate impulse was to declare that he was strong and wouldn’t need it. He crushed that thought like the overproud hubris it was; he’d never been here before. This wasn’t his space and he didn’t know what Elder Jinsa meant by “chaotic.” It might not be as easy to deal with as he thought it would be. This wasn’t Rissa running things, it was a tree. Trees didn’t think like people.

“We’ll remember,” Rissa spoke for both of them. “We should be able to make it back as long as we stick together, so we’ll do that this time. I assume you want to try to figure out who the mother is? It will be hard with as little as we know.”

“Anything that will help, even if it’s only a way to serve the Mimir a dose of their own medicine,” Elder Jinsa suggested. “I’ve found nothing, but the Dreaming Tree thinks you can help.”

There was no reason not to try.

Serenity followed Rissa as she walked out of the moment frozen in Time and into a hailstorm of possibilities. It was far worse than Serenity expected; there was none of the neat organization of the Timestream from the previous time he’d visited. Instead, he heard snatches of conversation and music and the wind quietly blowing in the distance. He was and he wasn’t touching things. His eyes were no more use than his other senses, as things appeared and disappeared in front of him to all of his senses at the same time. 

“Oooh.” The transition seemed to have hit Rissa even harder than it hit Serenity. 

He turned to look at her. He could see her without having to see any of the other craziness that was happening as long as he made certain to focus only on Rissa. That wasn’t going to work long term, but it was a start for now. 

Lillene

There are reasons Rissa gets scenes and alternatives when she spends the time while others get scraps…