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Topiara - Chapter 44
The sun was directly overhead when the five came to a halt and stared straight ahead. The trees on the very edge of the great forest were considerably shorter than those of the denser forest itself and spaced much further apart. Yiren moved slightly in front of the rest, studying the trees with an expert eye.
"How do we get up into the trees themselves?" Sharin asked, her eyes searching the taller trees beyond for any signs of a way to clamber up the tall trunks.
"See how the vines begin to climb the trees?" Yiren pointed out. "We use them as footholds and handholds until we can get into the branches themselves."
Lyara followed her pointing finger and saw what she was talking about. Most of the trees of the denser forest had the vines beginning to climb the trunks – sometimes quite a distance into the air. "But I thought the vines were carnivorous," she frowned.
"Only if you remain on the ground long enough for the tiny tendrils to find you," Farranby replied. "You can step on and over the mature vines themselves without any worries – it's the shoots that you have to watch for. Most of the vines you see at the bottoms of the trees are too old and thick now anyway to worry about – and we won't be around long enough to find out for sure."
Jilan frowned at Farranby. "Our sandals are going to slip…" he began.
"You don't wear footwear in the trees," Yiren smiled back at them and then bent to remove her sandals. "To be able to climb properly, you have to be able to feel the surface of the tree and vine beneath your feet. Take off your shoes and put them in your pack – you won't need them again for a long time now." She demonstrated exactly what she meant. "Make sure everything you're carrying is secure without your having to hang onto it too – you'll need both of your hands free to climb the vines."
"Is there a vine pathway nearby?" Farranby asked Yiren, his eyes studying the tall trees but not finding what he was looking for. "I don't see…"
"Not right here, but I can see the end of one over there." Yiren pointed to a tree about two hundred paces to the west. "We should climb there, not here."
"How far do you think we'll have to go before we find any of your people?" Sharin asked next as she straightened from removing her sandals and began tucking them into the shi'ili bag Fana had given both her and Lyara.
"I'm not sure," Yiren replied. "I'm not even sure which Ru'an tends these trees."
"Well, standing here on the ground, barefoot, isn't getting us anywhere," Jilan stated with determination. "I don't know about any of you, but I'd really like to get into some sort of shade." He started walking in the direction Yiren had indicated, and from the sounds of the footfall behind him, he knew the others had taken his suggestions to heart.
It took only a few minutes of steady walking before all five were congregated at the base of the tree Yiren indicated would be the best for them to climb. "Now watch me and do as I do," Yiren directed and reached up for the thick vine just above her head. She lifted her foot and let her toes find the little crevasses on top of where the vine clung to the tree trunk. She climbed quickly and easily, using the vines as hand and footholds until she had reached the very bottom branch of the tree. "See?"
"Let me try," Jilan stepped forward and, making sure that his quiver and bow were safely out of the way, reached for the vine. His ascent was a little slower and awkward than Yiren's, but soon he had pulled himself up onto the branch next to her. "It isn't that hard," he called down. "Just hang on tight and let your toes find where they can hold on."
"My turn," Sharin spoke up next and made quick work of her climb. "Jilan's right," she called back down.
"Go on," Farranby told Lyara. "You're next."
Lyara took a deep breath as she faced the immense tree and reached for the vines above her head. Her toes slipped easily toward the trunk of the tree, finding the place where the two kinds of vegetation joined a very stable foothold. Like Sharin before her, once she felt the stability, she clambered up the immense trunk until she was pulling herself to a standing position next to Sharin. Farranby, she discovered, had not been far behind her.
"Follow me," Yiren called and then reached upwards to pull herself to the next branch. From there, she stepped back towards the trunk and then onto another branch that stretched out in yet another direction for a certain distance, where she could step easily from the branch of one tree to the next a little deeper into the forest. She paused in her journey to point upward. "That's where we're going."
Lyara looked directly upwards and found herself looking at the bottom of what looked like more of the vines all woven together into a flat surface that stretched towards the depths of the forest. "Is that one of the paths?" she asked.
Yiren nodded. "It should take us to a h'suni'il – a small collection of dwelling trees – before nightfall, I should think." She looked at the four people around her. "When I tell them that you perform sha'adrah, you can be assured of welcome and warm food to fill your stomachs and soft nets to sleep in."
"Nets?" Sharin looked dubious.
"You'll get used to them," Farranby assured her. "They're very comfortable, as I remember."
"Lead the way," Jilan urged Yiren on. "I'm still not seeing just how we're going to get from down here to up there."
Yiren smiled at him indulgently. "You haven't learn to see the trees as a Vri'ia'ani does, my friend," she chuckled and gazed out. "They give us their arms to climb, so that we might live free in their heights. See how the branches touch there? We climb three more levels, then walk out and leave this guardian tree to move forward into that one – and two more levels up is the path."
"Amazing!" Jilan shook his head. "Now that you point it out, the way to the path is plain and easy – but until you did, I wasn't seeing…"
"Vri'iani spend a lifetime learning to live in harmony with the trees," Yiren told them, looking from face to face. "Each tree has its own vri'i, and it must be respected and honored." She laid her hand against the wood of the trunk. "When I have been home, I will return and give to this vri'i the honor and gratitude it deserves for being the first to help carry me back to my people." She turned and led the way up to the next higher branch.
As Jilan had said, the way up to the path was not difficult to travel – and soon all of them were standing on the narrow but flat and even surface of woven vines. "There's nothing to keep us from falling but just that one vine on either side as a handrail?" Sharin questioned the obvious.
"The path is wide enough that the vine is just there for guidance," Yiren told her. "But even though it's just there for guidance, the vine is strong. If you should trip, it will keep you from falling."
Lyara grasped the vine and pulled on it. "She's right," she told Sharin. "And besides, it's at a good height to prevent most adults from falling."
"I hate being so far off the ground," Sharin grumbled to herself and to Farranby. "I never knew I could feel so unsafe."
Farranby wrapped his arm around her and held her close. "You'll get used to it, I hope," he soothed at her, "because you really don't want to be down there." He pointed over the vine handrail toward the floor of the forest. "We wouldn't last long at all down there."
Sharin looked over the edge and down to the floor of the forest. Even she had to admit to herself that the slowly writhing vines were even less desirable than the idea that she was going to be living the next period of her life far from the ground. "Why don't the vines cover the trees?"
"Because the zumi needs to root itself into the soil every so often, or the end dies back to the last root clump," Farranby told her. "That's why the vines stay down there, and the Vri'iani are safe up here in the trees."
"Come," Yiren gestured for the rest to follow her, and she set off down the path with feet that didn't quite skip for joy.
"Look!" Yiren's eyes were glowing with excitement as she pointed forward and up just a bit. A vine ladder descended from above to the edge of the path. "Up there and in the surrounding trees must be a h'suni'il." She pointed straight upward at a broad expanse of woven vine. "Follow me!" She reached for the ladder.
"Will the ladder hold us all?" Lyara asked, trying to measure the stability of the round wood with eyes unfamiliar with the task.
"This is the main entrance to the h'suni'il," Yiren told her, already three rungs up the ladder. "It would be kept in good order as a service both to the tree and to those who dwell here. See how the wood is worn smooth but isn't showing signs of stress or rot? This vine is in good shape - it can hold all of us and many more."
"Trust her," Farranby remarked from the rear of the group. "I've seen few building materials quite as strong as zumi. When fresh, it is flexible and can be worked into useful shapes – and then when it dries, it becomes quite stiff and solid."
One by one, the four put their trust in Yiren's assessment of the stability and safety of the vine ladder and began climbing again. About twenty feet above the path they'd been on, the ladder stopped at a platform of woven vine that stretched between several trees, surrounding some and seemingly anchored at the edges by others. Yiren waited until all of the others had joined her before walking over to where a plank of wood hung with a wooden mallet hanging nearby. She grasped the mallet tightly and gave the plank a hard hit. Only then was it made clear that the plank was hollow, for it made a loud and high-pitched musical click.
The sound of feet landing on the platform brought the group whirling around to see an older man, garbed in breechcloth and vest of shi'ili, slowly was straightening from a crouch. Yiren pushed through to the front of the group and, folding her arms across her chest, bowed deeply. "Do as I do," she told Lyara, who then followed her example and, with a glance, told Jilan and Sharin to do the same. Farranby had already bowed deeply.
"Our trees do not know your vri'i," the man said solemnly.
"I am Yiren of Ta'alanru'an," Yiren announced, straightening. "My friends here perform sha'adrah by bringing me back to the trees from the land of the chan'vrii – and I would beg on their behalf respite in the arms of your h'suni'il."
The green eyes of the Vryies man widened. "Tales of Yiren of Ta'alanru'an have even reached our trees," he stated. "Do you still possess a vri'i that lives?"
Yiren tugged on the hemp cord about her neck that had at the end of it the ornately carved sliver of wood. "My vri'i is strong, and was sheltered within the sacred wood of the Ru'an tree itself," she answered proudly.
"Then may your vri'I find rest and restoration among the trees of I'ins, Yiren of Ta'alanru'an," the man folded his arms and bowed. "I am La'ak." He turned to the rest of the group and bowed. "I am pleased to honor those who perform sha'adrah, Yiren – but chan'vrii?"
"I have spent days with these," Yiren answered calmly. "They have a strong sense of the Truth Of Things. Farranby," she gestured at the older man, "has been among us before under the protection of the Sylru'an, and he also wears a shelter for his vri'i." She gazed at La'ak evenly. "They did not have to bring me along on their trek, La'ak. While they may not have understood sha'adrah, they performed it anyway. They are not chan'vrii – I would say their vri'i are strong enough to endure life on the floor of the world."
La'ak was silent a long moment, his gaze moving from one unfamiliar and foreign-looking face to the other. Finally he nodded. "Then let the trees of I'ins know the names of honored visitors."
"I am Lyara," Lyara made a point of bowing once more in the way Yiren had demonstrated. "This is Jilan, my i'ilim – and this is Sharin, i'ilim to Farranby."
"Come then. You all look as if you are tired from your journey. Let the trees of I'ins shelter you this night – and do us the honor of sharing your stories during the Time of the Telling." He led the way to one of the trees around which the platform had been built – and began climbing yet another vine ladder that had been hidden on the other side of the thick, smooth trunk.
This ladder led straight to the opening in a covered shelter that was yet another twenty feet in the air. The walls of the shelter were only closed in up to waist height, and the woven vine roof looked as if it was another platform ten feet higher yet. At one end, a large stone bowl was woven into the vine floor – and it was in that bowl that dried lengths of vine were slowly burning and roasting one of the huge birds whose mocking calls filled the forest with the sounds of life. "Shendra," La'ak called out to the woman who was tending the fire and the roast, "welcome Yiren of Ta'alanru'an and those who, from among the chan'vrii, perform sha'adrah by returning her to the trees."
Shendra was tall and slender and middle-aged, just as La'ak was. She bowed to the newcomers and gestured for them to follow her. Surprisingly, there was yet another ladder beyond the stone bowl hearth, which all six clambered up. The roof proved to be another floor to the shelter, and the room there had what looked like a number of loosely woven nets strung from one anchoring tree to the other. Once more, the walls only rose waist-high, and over their heads, another woven vine platform stretched. "We are honored to shelter those who perform sha'adrah," Shendra said in a very soft and musical voice. "As my children are all grown and in h'suni'il of their own, there is plenty of room for all of you to find your rest here."
"We are grateful for your hospitality," Yiren bowed to her.
"We sup when the darkness falls. If you wish to rest now, I will return and awaken you for eating and the Time of the Telling."
"Thank you," Lyara bowed again. The rest followed her example, and Shendra returned the bow before heading for the ladder that led back to the fire and the meal she'd been tending.
"Where do we sleep?" Sharin asked tiredly. "All this climbing has my arms and legs sore."
"We sleep here," Farranby told her, moving to one of the loosely woven nets and pulling it slightly open. "Watch." He backed into the net and then let it swing his legs away from the woven floor. Then he tucked his legs down toward one anchored end and laid his head back into the netting on the other end. "It really is comfortable."
"Do we each sleep separately, or will one of these hold two of us?" Lyara asked Yiren as she reached out and tested the strength of the netting.
"They are designed to hold I'ilima," she answered. "Watch." She moved to the side of the net that held Farranby, and then with a simply sit and duck motion had climbed into the net with him. She remained there only a very short moment before sitting back up and slipping from the net. "Try it," she urged.
Sharin gave Yiren a questioning look, then slipped awkwardly into a sitting position and then felt the net pull her feet out from under her. With a surprised squeak, she found herself lying in Farranby's arms. Once she'd settled against him a little, she chirped, "This isn't so bad after all!"
Jilan had moved to another net and carefully pulled it open the way Farranby had and slipped into it. "Oh, now, this IS comfortable! C'mon, Lya…" He held his hand out to her.
Lyara followed Sharin's example and then smiled as Jilan gathered her close. The netting around her cradled her against him, and her head found a spot on his shoulder as if drawn there. "This is very comfortable," she exclaimed in surprise.
Yiren slipped into a net by herself that hung nearby those of her companions and relaxed as she hadn't felt capable of doing since childhood. "I've dreamed sometimes of being home and in my own net," she mused aloud. "I can remember my mother coming up sometimes, when the storms were loud and the rain was pouring, and she'd rock me to sleep. Sometimes that was the only way I could get to sleep."
"I don't know about any of you, but I'm going to take advantage of the invitation to rest," Sharin announced, snuggling down even more comfortably against Farranby. "We've been pushing hard ever since Alinber, and it would be nice to just relax for a while before moving on."
"I'll bet you sleep very soundly and wake up refreshed in these things," Jilan told her. "I don't know that we'll have to rely on these kind people's hospitality for more than a night."
"Yiren, what do we do to properly pay for our food and lodging tonight?" Lyara asked, almost sitting up but discovering that it was easier to just continue snuggled against Jilan and asking her question from there.
"We can offer willing hands to do some of the work in the morning, but to offer payment like Talandri would be to give great offense," Yiren replied. "By helping you in performing sha'adrah, they too perform sha'adrah – and their own vri'i are strengthened in the offering. Such a sacred action should never be defiled by thoughts of profit."
"This culture is going to take a lot of getting used to," Lyara whispered to Jilan.
"Perhaps," he replied, kissing her forehead tenderly, "but there is apparently a great deal to be enjoyed about it, don't you think?"
Lyara kissed his shoulder beneath her head and wrapped her arms across his middle. Yes, there was a lot to appreciate in this very foreign and strange land of trees and vri'i. As she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep, she promised herself that she'd learn as much about these people as she could – and Topiara shifted in the back of her mind, approving her resolution.
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