By a large secluded pond in Ellaris Park, a beautiful sight was being witness by a young couple.
When Elena removed the scarf, which she had wrapped around her head in a bun in order to hide it, her long hair gracefully flowed down her body, that which was once a lustrous black was now a vibrant light green colour.
Elena's green hair appeared to glow, it lit up her surroundings, a gentle green light illuminated the grass and reeds of the pond, the plants swayed in response as if woken by the beautiful sight.
As the plants swayed back and forth they began to give of light, the light given off by Elena appeared to resonate with the surrounding foliage. The plants were absorbing the green light given off by her and emitting it back out, gradually the light spread out to the bushes, then the trees.
A gentle girl in a white dress whose green hair illuminated her surroundings in soft green light, few people would be able to see such a majestic sight in their lives and those who did, would claim the gentle girl, to be a goddess.
As Elena stood there, arms open, eyes closed, hair waving as if stuck by wind even though there was none, she smiled.
Expressing herself and letting herself be free in this manner was an unimaginable feeling, when she opened her eyes and saw her surroundings even she was shocked. She knew that what she was doing would cause a reaction from the surrounding plants, but she had underestimated how powerful it would be.
At this time the large pond and its surroundings were as bright as if it was midday, the pond shined with Emerald light and the plants seemed to dance it joy as they bathed in the light.
After a few moment's the green light coming from Elena's hair started to fade, as the light faded the plants fell still, back into their slumber.
This short but beautiful sight only lasted for 30 seconds, however both Elena and Casmir would never forgot this moment for the rest of their lives.
Speaking of Casmir, he was frozen stiff, completely absorbed by the spectactle. Nothing he had ever experienced in his life could compare to this, the light felt so soft and as it resonated with his surroundings he felt as if he was connected to both Elena and the surrounding plants.
Elena took a deep breath as she relaxed her body, she seemed ever so slightly paler however this was unnoticeable in the now darker environment.
"... did you like it...?" Elena asked gently.
Casmir snapped out of his daze, he quickly walked over to Elena, standing in front of her. He wanted to caress her hair but was too embarrassed, he simply stood there looking at every part of Elena's delicate body, especially her vibrant green hair, trying to understand what just happened.
"... Casmir... I said don't stare..." Elena said shyly, as she looked away from Casmir, clearly unnerved by his eyes.
Casmir smiled awkwardly as he realised what he was doing, he was simply too amazed and curious at her performance.
"How did you do that? It was amazing... I don't think I will ever see something as beautiful as that again in my life.." Casmir confessed wholeheartedly.
Elena's cheeks flushed red as she smiled in delight at his response.
"Well... I'm... I'm from the Floral race... at least my mother was... I recently reached Qi grade 2, that was my advancement ceremony... I wanted you to see it..." Elena said shyly as she watched Casmir's reaction attentively.
Casmir was amazed, not that she was from the Floral race, he had already figured that out because of how the plants reacted to her, their reaction was a well known signature of the Floral race's.
Casmir was amazed because she had let him witness her advancement ceremony....
The Floral Race was a hugely diverse and widespread race, some members looked like actual tree's or plants while others resembled different race's like Human's or Insects. Elena was part of the Tree Dryad race, they were a small sub-race who often specifically bred with other races in order to strengthen and propagate themselves.
Elena's father was a human which is why she has the appearance of a human, her green hair was something from her mother's side, her hair is actually made from a similar substance to plant fibre allowing her some control over it's movement.
Elena had kept her hair dyed black since she was little, this was because of a special characteristic of her sub-race. The females of the Tree Dryad Race and their female half-breed children had a remarkable resistance to the Lifeless Plague, their male counterpart's were still effected to some degree but because of the Tree Dryad's versatility in their choice of a mate, they were highly sought after.
This resistance made them very valuable and her grass-like green hair was a trait that was common in Dryad-Human offspring. If people came to know of her existence she would likely be forced to support her ancestral homeland, the Floral Race Kingdom, or worse be taken away by unsavoury characters.
The fact that Elena had let Casmir know of this fact showed how much she trusted him, he was truly humbled by it.
Elena's advancement was also an important matter, to many of the Floral race a Qi grade advancement is an important life event. When people from the Floral race advance in Qi grade they form a connection with their ancestor's, their ancestor's being all forms of plants, typically only their family members or most trusted friends could bare witness to such event's.
As Casmir soaked everything in he felt warm and loved, Casmir knew that this was Elena's response to him, he knew that she wanted to be with him.
Casmir stepped closer to Elena taking her into his embrace.
"I Love you. I want to be with you. I won't ever forget this." Casmir softly said.
Elena's eyes turned moist as she stared at Casmir.
"I love you too.. haha... look at me.. confessing to such a young man.." she giggled feeling embarrassed.
Casmir smiled before bringing his head forward and giving her a short kiss.
Elena was shocked at first but her pent up feelings burst out at this moment, she wanted more, she wanted him.
Elena wrapped her arm's around Casmir as she kissed him back, they locked together in a deep kiss.
At this time, Elena and Casmir were experiencing a once in a lifetime feeling, they were experiencing an innocent young love. Different from what Casmir had experienced before, it was a pure love untainted by goals, ideals and unnecessary thoughts they simple wanted to be with each other.
Many people would experience young love or first love but most of the time it would be unrequited, an eternal regret that people would hold. An innocent love was unique and could only be stumbled upon by those lucky few who were fated, of course it would take time for Casmir and Elena to realise how lucky they were to have each other.
As Casmir touched Elena's soft body and felt her kiss, he realised something. What he had experienced with Rose was nothing, it was lust and desire but there was no love, at this moment all he felt for that moment was regret, regret that it wasn't Elena.
Casmir tossed those thought's to the back of his mind as he broke free from Elena's kiss.
"Let's go home, I wont let you go tonight.... I hope you're prepared..." he said with a sly smile.
Elena's face was as red as a tomato as she nodded shyly.