A New Bloom

*Achoo!*

Nina rubs her nose with her finger. It wasn't cold or anything so she didn't know why she was sneezing.

"Did the pollen get into your nose again?" someone next to her jokingly asks.

"No. It's not even Spring. What pollen are you talking about?"

"That's the joke," the boy laughed.

"Oh." Nina starched her head, embarrassed that she didn't get the joke.

"You take things too seriously Nina. Either that or your Elvish still needs some tuning," he tells her.

"Might be both honestly," she agreed. Nina picked up her basket and put the handle over her arm. "I think we got enough herbs. Let's head back."

"Yeah, give me a moment." The boy grabbed a handful of herbs and threw them into his basket before picking it up and getting ready to leave as well. "Okay, let's go."

Nina and the boy (whose name is Mytill) retraced the steps they took and went back to the grove. Upon reaching it, they were greeted by several elves, welcoming them back from their little trip.

They headed straight for the giant oak tree in the middle of the grove and entered

its massive hollowed room inside it. It had stairways spiraling all the way to the top of the tree. It was a beautiful sight that could mesmerize anyone, but Nina has seen it enough times by now that she wasn't fazed by it. But, she was still impressed by the sight nevertheless.

"Done with my request, are you?" a voice asks them. Nina and Mytill turn to see an old elf descending down the stairs. He had white hair and wrinkles all over his face.

"Elder." Both Nina and Mytill bowed respectfully to the old elf, but he didn't look happy about it for some reason.

"How many times do I have to tell you two that you don't have to be formal when we're alone? In the presence of others, yes, it's a must-do. But when we're alone, do you really have to be so stiff," he sighed.

"Oh yeah, sorry," Mytill apologized to the old elf.

"I keep forgetting..." Nina also apologized. It had been a while since she had the chance to meet normally with him so she has forgotten all about it.

"Anyway," the elf coughed. "Let me have a look at what you've collected."

"Yes." Both Nina and Mytill handed their baskets over to the elder.

"Hm..." The elder inspected a couple of herbs from each basket, some from the bottom, some from the middle, and some from the top. He made a sour face and said, "A few of these are still a bit too young, but I see improvements."

"What? Which ones are too young? I thought I picked all the mature ones," Mytill asked the elf. He was confused since he thought that he had it perfect this time.

"You're still a young blossom Mytill. You still have a lot to go before you can identify these perfectly," the elder softly laughed.

"Elder Gildor, why did you leave in the middle of our game?" a voice above them asked. The three turned to see another elf walking down the stairs, but unlike Gildor, this elf was much younger and looked like they were somewhere in their young-adult stage.

"Oh, Autumn!" Nina greeted the elf. He and Mytill brought her back to their home when Silverfield fell and she is forever in his debt for that.

"And blessings to you too Nina," the elf greeted her back, though he didn't sound as enthusiastic as her. "Didn't I tell you a bunch of times to call me by my actual name?"

"I think Autumn sounds nice though."

"Not me."

"But your name is hard to pronounce."

"That just shows that your Elvish is still flawed," Autumn tells her.

"Ahem!" Gildor clears his throat and gets everyone's attention. "Let's save that talk for some other time. Naru Iavas Du is quite the mouthful to say."

It wasn't that Nina couldn't pronounce Autumn's name in Elvish. She could, but it's too long and she always forgets a part of it. And whenever she says his name wrong, Autumn gets a bit grumpy and so she decided it was probably better to just use his other name that she was more familiar with.

"Don't blame me for having this name. Blame my father who was under the influence of a forest spirit when he decided to name me." Autumn has never liked his long name either and according to him, the reason why he had this name is because his father got hit by a powder from a forest spirit. Forest spirits are mischievous and enjoy playing tricks on people. The powder that Autumn's father got hit by is the equivalent of downing ten jars of wine. In other words, his father was not in the best state of mind when he named him.

"Instead of calling me by my entire name, Iavas is fine," Autumn tells Nina.

"Iavas..."

"Perfect."

"But I like calling you Autumn," Nina told him. It was what she called him the entire first couple of months she was in the forest and it was what she was used to. Calling Autumn by another name sounded like a lot of work since she would instinctively call him by what she is used to instead.

"Ah whatever, I guess it works as well," Autumn sighed and didn't ask about it anymore. In the end, both meant the same thing and that it was his name. It shouldn't matter which one Nina called him by. As long as he knew that she was calling for him, there were no problems.

"I'll head out now I guess. Let's continue our game some other time." Autumn walked down the stairs and left without saying goodbye to them.

"Well then, do you two want to help me dry the herbs?" Gildor asked the two.

"Sorry, I have to help someone else," Nina told the elder. She made a promise to help teach magic to younger elves. There were already a lot of teachers doing that job, and normally she would be doing something else, but she was the only one here who used water magic (and had time on her hands) and there were a few of the younger elves who had compatibility with the water element. And the only teacher who could use magic was out, for the time being, leaving her to fill in for them for today.

"Don't be sorry, child, there's a lot to do in this forest. If there is someone asking for your help, it means that they have grown to accept you as one of us as well."

"That's true," Mytill agreed. "It's a lot better now compared to when you first arrived here."

"Yeah..." Nina was glad that things are the way they are now. It took some time to make it this far.

When Nina first arrived in the forest, she angered a lot of the elves with the sole reason of being a human. She couldn't be trusted after what her kind did to theirs. The majority of the elves wanted her to leave with a few even wanting her dead instead. Nina shivered as she remembered some of the harsh things that were said to her.

It was Elder Gildor who chose to stand by her side and protect her from their anger. He simply told the elves and the other elders that if they chose to get rid of her, they were acting no different from the humans. It took a lot of convincing and time but eventually, the elves began to see her as one of their own. Throughout this time of hardship, Mytill and Gildor made sure no harm would come to her while Autumn told her story of how she saved Mytill. Although Autumn didn't do any more than that as he didn't want to face the wrath of all the elves like Mytill, it played a huge role in them accepting her.

Nina bowed to the two elves and thanked them again for what they did for her. "I'm forever grateful to you two for everything you did for me."

"No need. You saved me so it's only fair that I stand by your side," Mytill smiled and told her. He was a lot older now and much more reliable than when Nina first found him. Compared to then, Mytill was now taller than her and looked exactly like every other adult elf here even though he was yet to be considered as one. She could still see some of his baby features on his face and it was very surprising to see how slow elves grew.

But she couldn't say anything about it, because it was the same for her now. She wasn't a normal human anymore.

Gildor had brought her to a sacred pond and had her bathe in it. Nina has no idea what it did until she finished and the elder explained to her what the pond did. The pond was called The Maiden's Youth, and whoever touched its waters was blessed with a longer life and eternal youth. What this means is that Nina now has a lifespan similar to that of an elf's, and also currently looks no different from when she looked years ago, and she will stay with this appearance till the end of her life.

"You better get going Nina," Mytill tells her. "Your session starts soon. I'll stay here and help with drying the herbs."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Nina didn't recall telling Mytill what she had to do today.

"The trees have ears. I heard a couple of kids talking about you. They are excited to have you teach them. So don't let them down."

"Oh. Yeah, I need to get going then. May the forest guide you."

"Blessings to you too."

After saying goodbye, Nina left the hollow tree and went to the clearing where the classes are held.

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