Sketching the Tree (Open)

[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

Willow Serenity Eterniti sat herself down on one of the many benches that lined the main quad to the campus she was currently at. She had a huge break in between her classes right now, and decided she didn’t feel like heading back to her dorm or running off to go grab something to eat. She decided, instead, that she would rather sit and get started on her art homework for the hour and a half break that she had. She plopped herself down, and took out her sketchpad from the huge bag that she always carried with her.

She shivered a little when she did. The days were beginning to get a tad colder as they started heading straight for fall from summer. Not that she minded much, Willow was pretty good in any weather, but all the same, she wrapped her rainbow colored scarf tighter around her neck to keep out the chill if she could. It didn’t help that she was in a dress, but she liked to wear dresses thank you, and she had heavy dark blue tights on underneath to keep out the chill. She was smart about how she dressed, so that way she could still dress how she liked and keep to her style. But all the same, it was definitely getting cold out here, she could feel the chill in her rainbow Converse clad toes.

Willow was an art major for a very good reason. When she was about 7, she had lost her voice in an accident. Because she was older when it happened, but just young enough to be easily distracted, it had taken her quite some time to learn ASL. So, she had merely started to write down what she wanted to say, even if her twin seemed to understand what she wanted to say a lot. And that had turned into her drawing what she saw or people she had met to show others and tell more of her story. Which had led to her becoming quite the stunning little artist.

And even after she learned ASL, she found that she quite liked using her art to speak for her. It seemed to do the trick better than words ever could. So she had continued to use it at every turn, and continued usage helped her to gain in experience and talent until she had been accepted into this university’s art program, even though she was mute. She knew she was lucky she was still able to hear, it kept her fully functional in today’s society. And also helped her with lectures. Plus, her friends seemed to enjoy calling out the answers that she wrote down in her notebook for them to share.

She just made sure not to sign up to any discussion based or debate based classes and she was doing just fine, it was her second year and she still had an amazing GPA and her art was doing so much better with the care that her professors were giving it.

Which was why she never missed a homework and it was a good idea to get started on it while she was on this break. Willow was just a good girl in many respects when it came to her homework and school work. When it came to other things? Well, then she was more of a wild child. But she was going to focus on her school life right now, rather than her wild partier life style that came to her despite her mute status. Willow never let that hold her back, not once, she thought it would be doing a disservice to let anything slow her down. The accident hadn’t taken her life, it had merely taken her voice. And she was good enough with other things to make up for it.

She flipped her giant homework sketch pad to a new and blank page, pulled out her charcoals from the same bag that she had gotten her sketch pad from, and then she set to work. It was still early in the semester, so the work was still very general and left more to the student to decide what to draw. Like today, her only assignment was to draw nature, it didn’t matter what. Which was why it was perfect that she was currently sitting outside. It made it simple for her to just look ahead of her to the tree in the middle of the quad, the iconic one that was dedicated to Athena, and begin to sketch the raw outline of it, she would get into the details soon enough, the first thing for her to do was to get down to the bare bones of it.

[IRAZELLE RISING]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/20gfl1v.jpg); padding: 30px; border: #2D2729 solid 30px; ] these dry bones cry out WORDS 1165 TAGGED WILLOW NOTES WEIRD ENDING She was dreaming. At first, she thought that it might have been a nightmare, because it had been about her family. After all, all her nightmares were about her family; or rather, lack of one. But no. This one, was surprisingly pleasant. Happy. In the dream, they loved her. Her The second-best Rising. The disappointment of the family; only in this world, she was so much more than capable. She was just as good -- maybe even better -- that Elizabeth, the child prodigy that was the best thing that the Risings were ever blessed with. Elle was better. And so they adored her. Told her that race didn't matter; that being dark or light wasn't a concern. That they loved her. That they were proud of her. That she would never again, be second-best in their eyes. That she was good enough to be called a Rising, to carry the family name. The dream turned sour. Because this was just that, wasn't it -- a dream? Never a reality, the ideal world just beyond her grasp. the smiling faces of her family lingered; taunting. The friendly faces that Elle would never see. Perhaps this was a nightmare, after all. ~ ~ ~ Light. Rays of sun snaked through the crack where the curtains didn't quite touch, hitting Elle's face like a slap. Eyes fluttered, brows furrowing into a delicate frown, hand flying to the direction of the sun in a poor attempt to block the harsh light. Ability of thought returned, memories unlocked, and Elle turned to her side, hands gripping her face eyes squeezed shut. Hoping. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream. There. Those footsteps. That was her mother, walking up the stairs with her breakfast. And there! That soft, gentle singing; surely her sister as she walked around the house, getting ready to take Elle out to town. And that deep, baritone laugh; her father, reminiscing about some amusing memory about his youngest daughter, pleased with the fond surprise. It had to be. She paused, heart thumping. When she opened her eyes, she'd be back in her room; her home, That pink sofa that she had regretted the moment she'd bought it would be hidden away in the far corner, and that dress that her friends had bought for her as a joke -- that dress that her mother would never see. It'd all be there; everything exactly as it used to be. And so would she, to fit the puzzle. She took a deep breath, willed, willed, willed for her dream to be in fact, the reality, before opening her eyes; sea green peeking behind waves of shining gold. She hungrily searched for the sofa, for the dress, only to find nothing that told her she was in her room. Nothing that reminded her of home. Her heart sank, Well, what did she expect? It had been more than 3 years since she had seen, or heard from her family. She dove into her covers, wrapping it around her body into a tight embrace; as if protecting her from the rest of the world. They didn't want anything to do with her; and why would they? Elle was nothing. She wasn't special, she didn't excel at any particular subjects. She wasn't even average. She was lower than that. She was a failure. And the Rising's couldn't -- no, wouldn't -- have that. She buried her face into her pillow, fighting back tears that she had promised would never again fall. She missed home. She missed her family. It was so hard, trying to live on her own, struggling to keep up with the rent. Memories of her family haunted her all the time, and nightmares such as these made frequent visits; which Elle fell prey to almost every time. She squeezed her eyes shut, before dramatically kicking the covers off her, and jumping almost comically out of bed. She would not wallow in self pity. She was already second-best to everything; feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to make anything better. Pulling on some clothes, she ruffled her waves into something just presentable, tucking the strands behind her ears so that they wouldn't fall into her eyes. Wrapping a scarf around her neck, she left the dorms, hiding her face behind the maroon material. She didn't really know where she was going; except that she had to go outside. Somewhere. Anywhere. It didn't make a difference. As long as it wasn't her dorm. As long as she wasn't alone. Elle clutched her locket that draped down her neck, the only photo she had of her family and herself, looking happy. The only item she had from home, in fact. Apart from a bag of clothes and essentials, Elle hadn't been given enough time to pack properly. Luckily, she had been wearing the locket at the time; just like she always had been. Just like she always will. Fingers playing with the metal, she walked across the statue of Athena, smiling at the others that walked past, ignoring the disgusted glares of those who thought of half-breeds as vermin. She had learnt to ignore people like them, treating their looks and words as nothing but immaturity. Something they would grow out of in time. She felt sorry for those people, for being so narrow minded. Elle wanted to help, she really did; but the last time she had tried, they had driven her away with threats of violence. It was better if she just stayed invisible. Sea green found a familiar figure crouched on the floor, legs sprawled out in front of her, sketch book and pencil in hand. A grin spread itself onto her plush lips, and she sped up her pace, a little spring in her steps. "Willow!" She shouted happily, giving her mute friend a little wave. She reached her a few moments later, and she plopped herself onto the ground, giving her a quick hug, but making sure that she didn't knock Willow's hand. She peered at the girl's sketch book, and she whistled low. "Oh, wow. Willow, this is amazing." She smiled, before resting her head on the girl's shoulder. "How long have you been drawing?" She asked, gently tracing the edge of Willow's picture with her pinkie, eyes wide with admiration. She scrambled back a little, before turning slightly so that her back was facing the side of Willow, and she leaned back, tucking her head down onto Willow's lap, grinning at her as she did so. "Missed you." She smiled once more, showing those pearly whites, content. Elle was always happy when she was with her mute friend; her mood always high. When she was around Willow, she felt free. As if nothing could stop her. As if she wasn't second-best. these dry bones cry for you

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[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

It might have been early in the semester, and this work that she was going to submit for one of her many art classes might not have counted for much, but that did not mean she was going to bullshit. She was going to be very focused and do it right. She never rushed her art, she never did anything half assed when it came to her art. Small homework or not, this art would represent her and she intended for it to truly represent her by not being shit. She never did shit work. Never.

Which was why she was very concentrated in what she was doing as she stared intently at the tree, wanting so badly to get this one limb committed to memory before that charcoal ever touched her page. Charcoal was harder to correct and she wasn’t going to make a shit mistake just because she so yearned to swoop her hand across the page in long freeform strokes. Trees weren’t like that. Trees were more short swipes. She tilted her head and took it in before moving to sketch this branch, happy when it actually came out as she wanted it to come out.

She ignored the people around her as they chattered and moved, all talking about this class or that one; laughing at each other’s stupid jokes; gossiping about something that had happened the weekend before. They could do that, and usually Willow would happily join in. She passed well for an Angelli so she didn’t get the immediate Half Breed dislike, it was lucky for her. Not that she cared what others thought about her. She ignored them as she drew, not paying any attention to any of them. She had to get this right because she respected her art, she had to. It used to speak for her.

Until one person called out her name.

She finished the branch that she was working on, not one to be distracted once she finally put her mind to something, before actually looking up. She pulled her hand away from her sketch, like she had thought earlier, charcoal was hard to fix if she screwed it up, and looked up to see a familiar face approaching her. She grinned widely and waved back to Elle as she approached, waving her closer. It wasn’t necessary, the other young woman was already heading her way, but she wanted to make her feel welcome, she wanted Elle to come sit with her.

She liked Elle a lot, and not just because she was a Half Breed too. It was also because Elle was honestly just a sweetheart and Willow loved that about her. It was nice to be around someone as pure and kind hearted as her friend some times. She watched as Elle came closer, and plopped down next to her. And then she happily hugged back the other woman when she was hugged. She loved hugs, they were warm.

Willow grinned, the pride in her own work apparent, when Elle told her that her work was amazing. It was what she liked to hear, she worked hard to make sure her stuff was pleasing. She signed a sign that she always taught people when she met them. It just made it easier. Thank you. Having to write tha tall the time would have been a bother, so she taught people the sign when they met her to make it easier on herself. She leaned her head against Elle’s when the other woman rested her head on Willow’s shoulder, all content.

Today was a content day for Willow. No classes until much later, a relatively nice day for the date, a good sketching session…she was calm and relaxed. Elle asked her another question and she tugged out her notepad, turned to a clean page and wrote, turning the page to Elle after she had jotted down what she wanted to say. ”Do you mean this tree, or in general?” she asked with a playful little smile. She didn’t care which it was, but she liked to make little comments like that, even though it was hard to get across her attitude when she had to write her words sometimes. She closed her sketchpad carefully and set her sketchpad aside, letting the note pad fall into her lap in it’s wake.

She watched with a curious eye as Elle shifted herself, moving away and readjusting how she sat. Willow wasn’t sure what she was up to, until she plopped down with her head in Willow’s laugh. Willow laughed silently and gently tugged her notepad out from underneath Elle, careful not to catch any of Elle’s hair in the move. She returned Elle’s grin and lazily ran her fingers through Elle’s hair once in response to her movement into Willow’s lap. Elle said she missed her and Willow smiled, a happy little smile, and pointed to Elle and then held up two fingers. You too she mouthed. She, unlike other mutes who were also deaf, hadn’t been born mute. So this meant that she knew how to speak originally and could form words. It helped to get her point across some times.

As for right now though? Her day had just gotten a lot better. She was content, more like happy, with her good friend laying in her lap and nothing to do until much later. Today was a lazy day, but that was more than okay in Willow’s book.

[IRAZELLE RISING]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/20gfl1v.jpg); padding: 30px; border: #2D2729 solid 30px; ] these dry bones cry out WORDS 711 TAGGED WILLOW NOTES OH WOW, LOL HORRIBLE Looking closer, Elle could see that it wasn't a pencil that Willow was drawing with, but charcoal. Her friend returned Elle's wave, and grinned, to which she gladly answered with a smile of her own. The thing that Elle loved so much about Willow, was that she was so talented, and so happy; she was pretty sure that nothing could get her down. And the reason why this was so amazing? Willow had lost her voice. Willow, had lost something so special to her, but still, she managed to look at the bright side of life -- and for this, Elle admired her. Because really, how many people could do something like that? If Elle had lost her voice, then she knew that she wouldn't have been able to look at life the same way Willow had -- still did. Elle would have given up. Wallowed, in self pity, most likely angry at the world. But what else did you expect, from a girl like Elle Rising. The two hugged, and as Elle settled down into a comfortable position, she complimented Willow's work, once again envying the talent that she, herself, would never have. Willow then replied with a sign, and she paused, attempting to remember what it meant. Familiarity clicked in, and she tilted her head slightly to the side, eyes narrowing a little in concentration. "Thank you? Right?" She asked, although she was sure, now. It was one of the first things that Willow had taught her, after all. After a few more moments of thought, Elle moved her weight so that she was resting on her core, and she made the sign for 'your welcome', something she had been determined to learn after she had been taught thank you. She laughed a little, not sure if she was doing it right. "This does mean thank you, right? Or am i making a big fool out of myself?" Elle grinned, laughter clear in her eyes. After the two had both settled down, Elle had asked a question, and she waited patiently as Willow scribbled an answer. I really should learn to sign, she though, frows furrowing slightly in disapproval. It wouldn't do, to have a friend who was mute, and to not at least attempt to learn sign language. Later, she nodded to herself firmly, determined to carry out the thought. Willow turned her note pad to Elle, and she looked down, quickly reading the words. "Do you mean this tree, or in general --" she laughed, giving her friend a little playful push, "-- Willow! You know i mean the tree, silly." She grinned, giving her friend's cheek a little flick with her finger. She then turned and rested her head onto Willow's lap, silently making her approval as she felt her friend's fingers weaving through her gold locks. Her smile widened when Willow replied to her comment by motioning with her hands, and she laughed once more, catching the hand and playing with the fingers as she did so. Gently tugging onto the nail, she absent-mindedly closed her eyes, the aura of the moment clearly relaxed, letting Elle loosen her posture. "You up to anything today?" She asked, eyes still closed. "Because if not, i was thinking maybe we could just hang out somewhere for the whole day? You know, just relax and stuff. Could be fun, right?" She opened her eyes, sea green sparkling with content, a soft grin engraved into her features. She let go of Willow's hand, letting it fall onto her stomach, and she began to fiddle with the hem of her shirt, fingering the soft edges. "But it's ok if you're busy, i was just wondering." She grinned again, this time, a hint of something mischievous hidden behind the smile. "But, if you do.." She hesitated, pausing for dramatic effect. "You'll have to owe me like, 10 cakes, ok?" Elle stuck her tongue out playfully, obviously joking. She wasn't used to doing such things so openly around others, but with Willow, it was different. She felt at home, and just -- she didn't really know how to describe it. It felt like she was finally home; finally with her family. Finally loved. these dry bones cry for you

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[WILLOW SERENITY ETERNITI]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 3em; -moz-border-radius: 3em; padding: 20 20 20 20px; background-image: url(http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/tt12/xNolanx13/SkaCheckers.jpg); background-repeat:repeat-xy; border: #00c6e4 solid 12px; width: 500px;] you tell me I'm a wreck, You say that I'm a mess, how could you expect anything less? You latched onto me then cried that I strung you along. I told you when you asked, I knew this wouldn't last. At least I could be honest about that. And now you're telling everyone how I only did you wrong. Willow had started to sketch the tree because it was right in front of her, she had some time before her next assignment so it was okay for her to take some time off. Which was what she fully intended to do when she saw Elle coming over to her. She made a point to move the charcoal away from her sketch pad because charcoal was a bit messy and hard to fix when it was messed up by anything, even if it was just a light touch of the charcoal on the paper. The two hugged when Elle plopped herself down next to where Willow was sitting, slightly leaning against her but that was okay because she liked being close to others, and Elle was one of her favorite people to be close to. She liked to try and make Elle all happy, beucase sometimes she looked and Elle wasn’t smiling and that wasn’t okay in Willow’s opinion. Elle told her that her work was amazing and that made Willow beam with pride. She loved when people complemented her work! She smiled and signed thank you to Elle, hoping that she remembered that Willow had taught this sign to her. She asked to confirm it was thank you, but before Willow could nod a yes, Elle signed your welcome and Willow beamed and clapped, proud of her friend for signing back to her. She always encouraged signing around herself. It made it all so much easier. She nodded when Elle asked to confirm that it was thank you again and then giggled, though it was an entirely silent sound, when she continued to speak and asked if she was making a fool of herself. The laughter in Elle’s eyes just made Willow want to laugh even more! Everyone was happy, it was good! Elle asked her a question that Willow couldn’t answer with signs and charades, forcing her to dig out her notepad and scribble down her answer for Elle. She watched as Elle began to read what she wrote and then caught the teasing in the note. Willow laughed and moved with the shove as Elle shoved her, amused to have gotten her point of teasing across to her friend. She grinned and pretended to try and bite her friends finger when she flicked her cheek, her teeth making a clicking noise as she did. She shrugged in her true answer though, and then wiggled her hand to mean more or less before holding up two fingers. It had been more or less two hours that she had been sitting her sketching, she estimated at least. Willow didn’t carry a watch and her cell phone had been buried into her bag when she had started to sketch so that way it wouldn’t be able to distract her from her work. So she wasn’t really sure, she hoped Elle got that the two stood for two hours though, she wasn’t sure how to get hours across without writing or signing it out. Elle turned to put her head in her lap and Willow giggled silently, running her fingers through Elle’s hair once. She laughed silently when Elle laughed and took her hand after Willow let Elle know that she had missed her too. The moment was relaxed and Willow just hung in it for a moment, happy with that little bit. Besides, Elle’s eyes were closed so she couldn’t “talk” to her. Not that she wanted to at that moment, at that moment she just wanted to relax and lay back for a little moment. Her gaze lifted to the tree for a moment, taking it in. And then Elle asked if Willow was doing anything later, or if she could just hang out and before Willow could answer, Elle kept talking, saying how it was okay if she was busy, but Willow would owe her ten cakes? Where did that come from? Willow screwed up her face almost comically in confusion at her thing about the cakes. She stuck her tongue out at her right back when she stuck out her tongue but then covered the other girl’s mouth and raised her finger to her lip in the universal sign for “shhhhhhhh” with a playful smirk and a mischievous look in her eye. Then she pulled out her notepad and kept on scribbling things out. She turned around one phrase first, not really answering. If you keep talking, I can’t answer silly” she turned around the notepad to show Elle, hoping she wouldn’t take that to heart, Willow was only teasing after all. And then she wrote out her real answer. ”I’m not doing anything, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do then hang out with you silly. “

[/color] she “said” on the page with a smile, turning it around to show her friend and then tilting her head. She was ready to hang out, always ready to hang out. She leaned back on one hand and with the other she ran her hand through Elle’s hair again lazily. She arched a brow, asking basically what Elle wanted to do and hoping Elle would know her well enough to catch on to that. And then a question popped into her head, one thing she thought that she should ask just to be safe.

Curiously she grabbed for her notepad around and scribbled out something else out before turning it back to show to Elle. ”Don’t have to work?” she asked curiously. Willow didn’t know Elle’s schedule by heart so she felt like she was always asking that. It made her feel bad, she should really keep track of that, but what better way to figure out than to ask?


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WORDS: 978 TAGGED: Elle NOTES: Nada
THIS TEMPLATE WAS MADE BY ARRO AT CAUTION 2.0

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