Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The tree was still in the way. Asha groaned as her eyes opened. The northern road, she barely used, but it was still hers. She learned that there was a tree in the road while on the weekly trip to the market. She had woken early and wanted to take the more scenic route, but the tree in the road stopped that idea in its tracks.
Flopping back onto her bed, Asha thought about simply not cutting it down. It wasn’t like she really could, not without dealing with angry visitors next time anyone wanted to use the route, but it was a nice thought.
It was quite inconvenient though. She had been planning to use this day for restoring the things she had picked up, not to do some impromptu logging.
Asha lifted her head again, this time to properly glance around her home. The giant mushroom she had started with was almost entirely wood by now, the actual mushroom hidden by the supports.
She had to get ready before any more musings about long road trips ran their course.
Tea drifted in the air as Asha buttoned up a slick yellow rain jacket.
She had just gotten her hands on a kettle, and now could cook food, and brew tea at the same time. If she had welcomed any guests, she would have shown off a bit, and made way too much tea.
Eating a bit of rice, which she drowned in glowing juice, she stepped outside.
—
The mushroom forest had flourished this year. Most of the traders hadn’t noticed, but the others Asha had chatted with in the forest had. If she was careful, she could definitely dry some of the mushrooms out for food. Asha wouldn't even have to pay for it!
Despite the sort of dry spell this week, the mud and moss still clung to her shoes. The scent of rain still lingered, but faintly.
Passing the creek, Asha regarded the shift from mushroom to tree with a vague sort of disinterest. The bridge over the river was probably the most interesting part of the route, and it was further than Asha was going.
It was unlikely that anyone would use the small path, but it was always possible. Despite her family living to the south, they would still sometimes drop by, and her aunt would always look around for anything wrong to lord over Ashas head.
That thought looped back around to the offending tree. It was true that her family usually only visited in the summer, when the weather was warmer and the ground was firmer, but it could always happen.
With a sigh, Asha pulled out her axe. Time to get this over with.
–
Asha scowled at the corpse of her enemy.
By the time the tree had fallen, two hours had passed. It hadn’t been particularly hard, but the sun still shone down enough to be uncomfortable. The end of that work also signaled the start of pulling out the stump, and trying to shove a rather large log off the path.
It took another hour before Asha realised she could just cut the tree up.
After loading her wagon with the small rounds of the tree, Asha walked home. The moon had started to rise, and the sun lit up the sky in vibrant hues. The mushrooms tended to mask the sky in purple, and the sky seemed to glow with a shocking green. Less shocking to the residents of the forest, but the story stood.
Finally reaching her house, Asha decided to just drop the wood outside. It’s not like people would spend time on a whole caper, just to steal some wood. Probably.
Slipping inside Asha dropped her coat on the stool, and began to heat some water. Winter's grasp was slowly being pried away, but it still froze overnight.
She rummaged through her chest, looking for, aha! The dried soup that she liked to make.
Asha dropped the jar into the already warm water, unfortunately getting sprayed with a bit of water. The scent of dried mushrooms and fish lingered, as Asha fell asleep.
The tree had thrown off her schedule, and Asha was sick of it. Waking up, she resolved to go scavenging today, longer than usual.
First, breakfast. She opened the wooden jar she kept rice in, but apparently the rainstorm had done more damage than she’d thought. After dumping the mouldy rice in the mud, Asha regarded her pantry a bit more warily.
After checking everything, she confirmed everything was fine, but she was running low on clean water. Asha planned to build a well eventually, but for now, the Iodine tablets she had bought worked fine. She was down to
three though. Perhaps the well plans would come sooner than later.
Asha dropped a bit of fish in the pan outside, and sat down. Her thoughts began to wander as she fixed up some of her goods.
Asha had made up a game with her work. She liked to imagine the life of the people who used to own the antiques, before the apocalypse.
This bag had a hole in it. It was woven out of some kind of oil cloth, but instead of the yellow that oilcloth usually appeared, it was a dark black, and on the back a picture of some plants appeared. The way of printing and weaving must have been one of those processes that was lost during the apocalypse.
Perhaps the person who used it liked to hike, or they had a similar job to her. It wasn’t that big of a deal.Tossing aside the newly mended bag, Asha picked up.. Something.
It was hard, and brightly coloured. Perhaps a toy? But what was it? It looked like a tube, but two things stuck out from the sides. Some small wheels were attached to the bottom and a spinning thing was on the front.
It was weird. Asha cleaned out the cracks in the material, and ended up letting the riddle go. She was sure that a collector would tell her eventually. They never seemed to resist the urge to tell her all about the things she was selling, as though she didn’t know what they were.
She didn’t, but that wasn’t the point.
Asha would never understand the world's obsession with things from before, but she made her living off it. So she couldn’t really complain.
-
Asha was loath to leave behind the warmth of the fire, but she did need to gather more things. Sighing, she doused the flame, and walked back into the forest.
Before she had gone far, she noticed something strange. What looked like a white blob was falling from the giant Tree, which dominated the horizon.
As Asha got closer, they realised it wasn’t just a sheet, but was a person whose fall was being slowed by the sheet.
Dropping her wagon, Asha sprinted towards the now much clearer person. She wasn’t sure if it was curiosity or fear that bubbled inside of her, but when she dropped her spear, she began to lean to the former.
-
After Asha found the person who had fallen from the tree, she was quite a bit surprised. The Nobles who lived in the tree did sometimes fall down, but it was the first time Asha had seen it happen. It was the first time they’d seen a Noble from the Tree point blank.
The Tree had supposedly been created near the beginning, when Magic was still new. After its branches began to touch the stars, many moved into its leaves, becoming the richest people in the land, save for Tare, the city in the mountains.
The person who had fallen was somehow unharmed, except for them being fast asleep. Their luxurious green dress had been a little torn as well. A delicate gold pin held up their sash, which seemed to hold the same depth as the ocean.
Asha was going to have to deal with this, wasn’t she?
—
Lillian woke up. Sunshine streamed through her window, illuminating a note someone left on the desk.
It read “Meeting with Tare today, at midday”
Great. Another meeting.
She wasn’t even strictly necessary for the meetings. Sure the line of succession could change quickly, but Lillian was fourth in line. She had no reason to be there, but as a member of the royal family, it was necessary for “appearances”.
After getting dressed(The pins were so finicky) Lillian headed for breakfast.
It must have been an important meeting, because fresh fruit and Tar style dishes were set in the kitchen, but she wasn’t allowed to eat any of them. Lilliannever had enjoyed Tar dishes that much, they were much too dry and flavorless, but the sauces that came with them were incredible.
After getting dressed, which continued to be an uphill battle(Why were the pins all so tiny?) Lillian headed to the Hall for breakfast.
The diplomats from Tare were already there, meaning the regular breakfast of fried pine nuts was replaced with Tare styled dishes.
Lillian had never enjoyed Tare dishes, finding them much to dry, but the sauces almost made up for that.
It was a surprisingly energetic breakfast, with the king trying to show off to the diplomats, and dragging the rest of the family into the conversation.
Lillian only saw one attempted murder, when one of the servants dripped poison into her sister's cup. Lillian made a note to leave them be. While letting such a blatant attempt go could backfire, it would be infinitely more dangerous to make them become harder to detect. Her sister would understand.
As the youngest, she could usually avoid the attempts on her life, but it still happened occasionally. William, who used to be the heir, had died a while back. The most shocking of the deaths for sure, but not the only one.
It wasn’t worth it to get broken up about these things.
After breakfast, she had to actually go and attend the meeting.
–
Lillian could care less about Tares deals. The diplomats had wanted Tares merchants to carry goods from Tiantree into smaller towns, and claim some of the profits.
The debates had lasted for over an hour, changing the terms, and then changing them back.
By the time the negotiations finished, Lillian was pretty sure that the deal had changed back into the first proposal.
They had spent 6 hours on this.
–
After dinner, Lillian felt safe enough to steal out of the city, with the night hiding her.
She had been too tired to visit for the last few days, but at least she had time now.
Her feet traced the hidden path, even as the lights of the city fell away. Her secret project slowly came into view.
It wasn’ much, just a bench surrounded by a few floral plants, but it was probably the best place in the world.
She lit one of the lanterns, taking care that it wasn’t so bright to be seen, and sat down. Everything had to be taken care of at night, when no one would be looking for her.
It was her own little oasis. It only had five potted plants at the moment, but it was easy to daydream about how it would look as she grew up.
She definitely wanted to try keeping one of the giant mushrooms, the kind that grew under the tree, like polka dots. It would work well to keep her hidden. Perhaps she could hang fabric around, to make it cozier.
After watering her plants, Lillain liked to watch the town. It wasn’t that late yet, and the harbour was still ablaze with lantern light.
Her garden was in an awkward place to people watch, although it was the best place to hide. It was the only place far enough from the city, but still sturdy enough to hold Lillian.
To see the Harbour, she had to bend far over the edge, but it wasn’t exactly dangerous. She had done it thousands of times before, and clearly never fallen.
Lillian even had a safety net this time. The scientists had created a small gem, which, when broken, would somehow slow your fall.
Lillian spied one lantern bobbing across the march, unaware of the sun lighting up the grey sky. She leaned just a bit further, and her hand slipped. For one heart stopping moment, Lillian flailed around, trying to pull herself back onto the brand. This couldn’t be it, she couldn’t, not now!
But she only pushed herself further.
Clearing her mind, Lillian cracked the round bead, and saw white cloth envelope her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t stay lucid much longer, and felt herself faint.