Of Butterflies and Men (and Women)

[Alegretto]

((OOC: @Ethereal-Star here you go))

A beautiful spring breeze fluttered through the silent Niah Woods as the sounds of vibrant animal life played through the trees. Tranquil wasn't the right word for the forest, it was too full of life for such a descriptor, but there was a pleasant feeling that all was right with nature right here, right now.

Turnrin noticed none of these things as he worked frantically. His hand was a blur as he applied a stick of charcoal to his sketchpad. He looked up and down rapidly between his work and his subject, a small purple butterfly perched on a flower a few feet in front of where he lay. His robe covered the grass around him lightly, and unbeknownst to him he'd picked up a few passengers as he lay. He was so focused on the butterfly in front of him that he didn't realize that ten more had perched on his body!

[Ethereal-Star]

Ari was skipping leisurely through the calm woods, a couple of her butterfly friends following her as she went along the path through the forest. She communicated with them silently, when one of the butterflies exclaimed in her mind, "Oh, look we have a visitor!"

Ari stopped skipping and turned her head to look in the direction the butterfly gestured toward with his lemon yellow wings. There was an older man lying there in the grass, sketching a beautiful purple butterfly perched casually on a flower in front of the man. He wore flowing robes with at least ten more butterflies poised on him, and a few more coming over to join their winged buddies. She could hear the whispers of the butterflies as they talked amongst themselves, "Delilah certainly likes to show off, doesn't she?" one butterfly, a snow white one who landed on the man's arm said to the others. "She sure does, Snowflake, she sure does." another one named Glitterfly commented who in turn landed on the man's other arm.

Ari stared with intense curiosity at the man sketching Delilah. The girl had yet to meet anyone who showed such interest in her butterfly friends. Intrigued, she began to walk over to him, Lemon Butter and Candy, a pink butterfly with black dots on her wings, following behind her.

"Hi", she stated shyly. "I'm Ari. Who are you?"

[Alegretto]

The hairs on the back of Turnrin's back stood on end when he heard the voice behind him. He'd been so immersed in his sketch that he hadn't heard the sounds of approaching footsteps.

Very carefully, the monk turned his head over his shoulder. As he rotated, the white butterfly on his arm took flight, alarmed by the movement. Turnrin failed to see the insect as it flew off indignantly. His attention was on the one who had called out to him, a young bare-foot girl with blond hair.

The monk smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring way and in a very quiet voice, he whispered, "Why hello there Ari. My name is Turnrin, and I'm a traveling monk. He turned his head slightly to make sure that the purple was still there. Much to his relief, it hadn't left it's perch. He turned back to the girl, "My apologies young one, I am a bit preoccupied at the moment. If you will just give me a few minutes to finish my current business I can provide you with a more full account of my identity.

[Ethereal-Star]

"Okay." Ari nodded and waited patiently. Lemon Butter and Candy meanwhile struck up a telepathic conversation with Delilah in the meantime, with Ari listening to their chatter.

"Delilah, lookin' good!" Lemon Butter called out to the purple one on the flower. "In fact I think the monk is trying to sketch the top of you too. Why don't you tilt your head down some to allow him to do that?"

Candy rolled her elongated eyes at him, and commented, "Really, Lemon Butter, subtlety is not your strong point is it?"

All butterflies and Ari too, knew of Lemon Butter's crush on Delilah. She was a beauty amongst all butterflies, and she knew it too. Which was exactly why she was perched there allowing the monk to draw her likeness. To show off. Delilah tilted her head down so the monk could sketch the top part of her more easily, almost seeming to lean on her stick legs as she did so and fluttered her wings a little too. "Show off." muttered Candy.

Ari continued to wait patiently as the monk was sketching. He appeared to be almost finished if Ari were to guess correctly.

[Alegretto]

((OOC: Edit: changed the name to match the one you provided))

Turnrin sketched as quickly as he could, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he managed to finish his work without his subject fluttering away. He wrote the words, "Kia's Purple Emperor" in his notes and closed them up. The monk stood slowly, making sure that his aching joints wouldn't give out on him after laying down for so long.

Unbeknownst to him, this gave the butterflies perched on him plenty of time to alight and settle elsewhere. He turned as he rose so he was facing the young girl and smiled again. "Apologies for the delay, young one. I was afraid our purple friend over there," he gestured to where the purple butterfly had been, "would fly away before too long and I absolutely had to finish my sketch of it before that happened. It can be rather hard to find butterflies that are willing to stay still for so long, and I'm relieved this one did."

[Ethereal-Star]

Ari smiled shyly. "They seem to like you." her voice so quiet the monk might have to strain his ears to be able to hear her. After a short pause, she said, "The one you were drawing...her name is Delilah. She loves to be the center of attention amongst my butterfly friends. Lemon Butter here seems to have a crush on her." she laughed softly, as said butterfly simply dipped his head in embarrassment.

"Do not worry Lemon Butter, it's alright." she told her fluttery friend. Both Lemon Butter and Candy were sitting on Ari's shoulders, Lemon Butter on the left, Candy on the right. She smiled at them before turning back to the man before her.

"I love butterflies, they are my best friends. Well, my only friends, really. But I'm okay with that." she shuffled her hands in front of her a little as she waited for his response.

[Alegretto]

Ari's words were so soft that Turnrin had to lean in to hear them. He leaned in closer after her first few words, wondering if he was mishearing her. The way she was talking, it was as if she could understand the butterflies. Which was quite absurd, because butterflies didn't make any discernible  noise as far as the monk could tell! Either Ari had some kind of magical power, or the poor girl was lonely and delusional.

"Can you," the monk paused for a moment, considering how to phrase his question, "can you hear the butterflies Ari? And speak back to them as well?"

[Ethereal-Star]

Ari frowned a little at the question, as though the idea of not being able to talk with the butterflies was something completely foreign and unknown to her.

"Yes, I talk to them every day," the girl commented, still in that quiet voice of hers. "I understand them, and they understand me. We are all great friends."

Her eyes glazed over just a tad, as though thinking of some memories pertaining to her affinity with the winged insects. Soon though, she returned back to the present and said to the perplexed monk, "They are my friends, we do a lot of talking and exploring together. They share with me some pretty funny stories too."

She scuffed her big toe in the dirt around her, a little unsettled by his question, innocent as it was. Not everyone understood this connection Ari knew, but it still bothered her that people thought of her being friends with the butterflies something laughable or unbelievable to their ears. She had always had this gift, for as long as she could remember. To her, it was natural not so much a "gift" as it was a normal part of her life. Ari couldn't imagine it if she somehow could not talk to them. It was just plain unthinkable.

[Alegretto]

An awkward silence stretched between the pair for a moment, and it took Turnrin a few moments to realize that his question might have hurt the child's feelings. He cleared his throat, trying to break the tension. "You know what Ari" the monk said with a grin. "that's quite the gift you have. Not everyone can have so many vibrant and colorful friends."

Turnrin looked around for a moment, as if he was going to tell Ari some great secret. Then, he leaned in close and whispered to her: "I myself have a little power that I use sometimes to get myself out of trouble. Watch this."

Slowly at first, and then more and more the monk faded out of sight. Right before Ari's eyes he became translucent, then transparent and then the monk vanished almost completely. And then, suddenly, with no warning, he was back. "Well," he said with a confidential wink, what do you think?"

[Ethereal-Star]

Ari stared amazed at the disappearing act. "How did you do that?" she asked softly, but with some excitement showing through her calm, quiet facade. "Is it magic? In my home village, there are some men and women there who can do magic. I haven't really seen what they can do though." she answered quietly, looking at the ground then looking back up at the monk.
"Can you teach me maybe?"

((Sorry this response is so incredibly late, but here we go.))

[Alegretto]

Turnrin gave the girl a reassuring smile when she came out of her shell a bit. "It is magic, though I can't teach it to you unfortunately, any more than you could teach me how to speak to your flying friends. It's what we from Serendipity call a 'gift.'"

The monk looked about the forest. "So what brings you out here anyway Ari? Just speaking with your friends, or is there some other reason?"

[Ethereal-Star]

Ari was quiet for a long while, almost to the point that one might think she wouldn't answer. Finally she spoke and said, "The butterflies told me that a man in a dress was sketching one of them sitting on a flower." She paused, her foot scuffing the dirt again and then finished speaking. "I wanted to see this for myself. Most people don't pay much attention to my friends anyway." She sounded sad about this, becoming quiet once more.

Ari looked up at Turnrin and scrutinized his robe. "You don't look like you're wearing a dress to me, though." she blushed and then quickly looked back down, shyness again taking a hold of her.

[Alegretto]

Turnri's eyes widened slightly in indignation at her characterization of his garb, but after she amended her statement he cracked a smile. "I guess your friends wouldn't recognize the difference between a habit and a dress, would they?" he asked her as he plucked at the corners of his garment. "I told you that I'm a monk earlier, correct? This is our traditional garb." The monk made a bit of a face. "Don't ask me why though, the thing's not very comfortable, or practical for that matter."

Seeing that she was closing off again, Turnrin made an attempt to get the girl to talk about herself. "So do you live nearby Ari? I'm a bit lost right now honestly, though I do know that La'marri is around here somewhere."

[Ethereal-Star]

At the mention of her home village, Ari replied shyly, "Yes, La'marri is where I live. I can show you the way if you want." Candy and Lemon Butter were still sitting on her shoulders and she smiled at each in turn. "This here is Candy, and this one is Lemon Butter." she pointed out each in turn to the monk. "They are the ones who told me that you were here."

As the girl said this, another butterfly landed on Ari's shoulder right next to Candy. "Hi there!" Ari perked up at the butterfly's arrival.

"Hi there yourself!" it squeaked happily at her. Of course the monk could not hear the butterfly talking, only Ari and the other butterflies could. The one thing he might notice is how the newcomer fluttered her wings a bit and seemed to stand at attention more, but that was all.

[Alegretto]

Turnrin watched Ari's interaction with her little friends intently, but he couldn't see any kind of language coming out of the butterflies. A bit of wing movement maybe, but that seemed to be all. Honestly, it was a bit surreal watching the little girl speaking to what seemed as nothing, but it wasn't anything that the monk couldn't reconcile with his own experiences.

As for her offer to show him to the village, the monk smiled happily. "Honestly Ari, if you could guide me to La'marri it would be a huge help. Maybe you could tell me more about your friends on the way?"

[Ethereal-Star]

Ari nodded and said, "My village is this way. I'll show you." She began walking in the direction she had come here in, her butterfly buddies still on her shoulders. At his question Ari brightened considerably and asked in turn, "What do you want to know about them?"

The new butterfly that had perched next to Candy piped up and said, "My name is Flutter, and I have a twin sister named Flo! I am also a friend of Butterjacks! Remember him?" she asked with wide eyes. "He told me about you." she gave by way of explanation.

Ari smiled and nodded. "Yes, I remember Butterjacks very well. He makes me laugh as he's very funny."

"Yes, he does have that effect." Flutter agreed. Then motioning to Turnrin she asked, "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is Turnrin. He was sketching Delilah earlier in his notebook. He's a monk." Ari explained to Flutter.