It had been two days since then, and thus far, and Arachne had reflected on this quite readily, it had been the best two days of her life, as it was filled with people enveloped in an air of kindness that she had never before seen or felt, so much so that it was almost overwhelming if being overwhelmed was a good thing. Better yet, she had made what she had found to be two real friends, ones that she had made not for political gain, but because she had truly found them to be people she enjoyed, as they were one of the many in the community that could make her laugh a true laugh without any repercussions.
One being the starry-eyed Amalica Caddath, who frequently wore more colorful clothing throughout the days Arachne had come to know her, and each day it seemed as if she was getting more and more attractive, her voice more captivating as the drow elf found to understand it more as well as its habits, and each little brush of their hands as they walked from place to place as she learned was a blissful occurrence despite its frequent happenings. She didn't quite understand what had been taking over her senses the past few days, for the feeling the escapee felt around her newfound friend had been something akin to a fluttering in her stomach, a painful blush in her cheeks once she set it free accompanying it in quick succession. Whatever bodily reaction she was experiencing, Arachne knew not if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Despite this, she also had another companion, or rather friend to put it simply, who was a Sword Smith who bore the name of Ristil Alevar, although his job was far more complex than that, as he made small gadgets in his time alone, little, 'magical bobbles,' as he liked to call them, his talent nurtured by the community, and had been since his birth. For he had been born within the confines of the community, and had flourished with it for some time, his parents still looking after their son despite being out often as Unsheathed Blades for the Lady Eilistraee. In fact, it had been his mother and father, Ilphrin and Ereldra, who had met her and Amalica at the gates.
Ristil was the spitting image of his mother, with his unkempt shoulder length white hair, twisting and turning in impossibly thick knots, almost as if he had been wearing a braid once and never bothered to take it out until it withered into a matted mess. Although, half of the time, specifically due to his work, his hair was out of sight, it was only during his resting hours outside of the smallsmirthy, or even his workshop, which was also his home that he shared with a Moon Singer, Nym Mylyl, who expressed his own frequent exasperation at the explosions that frequented their home. As such, many times Ristil was seen with a pair of golden goggles, almost always mounted at the crown of his head when he wasn't bent over a steaming hot weapon, signet ring, or holy symbol, and as such he typically wore a loose, soot-covered shirt, so dark it almost blended in with his ashen skin, the sleeves loose and short, although for proper decency, he wore a brown leather jacket over his shirt when he was outside of work.
The three of them had gotten along swimmingly, both Amalica and Ristil being friends before Arachne's coming, and had been since Amalica had made her own escape from Abburth, which she spoke little of, just as she did, for either it was traumatic and horrible, as it most likely was due to the fall of her House, or it had been deadly as the newcomer's had been. Each of them had their own strengths, and perhaps that was what made their connection so powerful, for they all had different prospects of certain tasks, and in turn the world about them, which offered time for jokes and the like. It was quite refreshing after everything that occurred over the past year or so.
As for what Arachne had been doing over the course of her two days, it had been quite simple, as she had been accompanied by Amalica as she did most of her work, learning the prayers, dances, and songs, as well as her private audiences with the Mother, who she had learned to be called Maccis, as all were before her in honor of the name of the cell itself, but most were in regards to other things, such as her adaptability with the changes at had, as well as her connection with the Lady of Dance.
She had remarked at the strange meaning behind her encounter with Eilistraee with much confusion, pondering why she had named Arachne as one she had, 'touched,' for all of them were touched by Her, although none had been saved by Her. The Mother simply stated that it had to have been something She had meant as a way to educate her in the ways of a true Goddess, one that standed for compassion and benevolence rather than apathy and malevolence which most of their brethren were taught. Either way, she had been brought to them safely, while she did still breathe, and that was a blessing in of itself, despite the fact that she had been advised to not speak of her encounter to others, as it may cause unrest within the community, which, in hindsight, made little sense, for the community had been nothing but accepting of different ways peoples were blessed by Eilistraee, and surely visions were of the same nature. But, what did she know compared to someone who dedicated their life to her Lady's worship?
However, that was the least of her worries, as that day, or rather that night, was the night of Amalica's predicted moonlit dance, a sacred celebration to those of their faith which occurred every full moon, just as it had been described to her their meeting, which seemed far off despite its proximity to the present. And typically it would spark joy in hearts such as hers if she had not been the main spectacle due to her recent coming, and as such the toasts of wine and beer would go to her wellbeing, safety, voice, and such.
It had been nice, though, that she had been given a beautiful dress for the occasion by an aging Argent Maid by the name of Talabrina, who was reaching the end of her time, being older than Mother Maccis at the age of seven hundred thirty, it had been a wonder she had lived so long throughout the many stages of the cell itself, the most prominent point in her life being a near eradication of the Dawn Guard, which then led to them being split up across many parts of the Underdark, and she had only been two hundred fifty. Either way, she had a dress to spare from quite a long time ago when, as she did say to Arachne, "slimmer about the waist."
And quite a form-fitting dress it was, even complete with purple quartz accessories, perfectly matching her eyes. The dress itself was a deep purple with a deep dip into the chest area, the collar of the gown meeting where she V began, the line across stitched with intricate silver thread, depicting the shape of stars, something Arachne anticipated to see during this dance. At the waistline was a small line of quartz running around the entire part of the waist, acting as a makeshift belt, allowing for some form of separation from the top of the dress to the very bottom, which reached to her mid-calf despite the intention for it to fall at her knees, as Talabrina was much taller than her, but modesty for modesty's sake was quite the nice change. Stitched into the shoulders of the dress, acting as covering for the otherwise sleeveless dress was a thin and transparent black cape, a web of silver wire sewn into the fabric itself, its design ending at her forearm despite the cape ending at her knees. To add to that was the purple quartz adornments, these being a beautiful triple-chained necklace, each with a gemstone at its center, for a long chain to be held by the longest one of the formation so that the chain fell into the V of the dress, bringing attention to her chest area. Wrapped upon her wrists were two silver bracelets, one on each wrist, each simple enough to compliment the quartz finger claws on her right hand.
One would think such a garment would be uncalled for in regards to such an event, but to those of their faith, a moonlit dance is when all properly groomed themselves (much to Ristil's own discomfort) and dressed their best for a celebration, as it was akin to a great holy event, and in some people's understanding, it was. That was the beauty of it all. Everyone was allowed to have their own thoughts and beliefs without repercussions. It was something Arachne admired very much.
So, walking with both Ristil and Amalica, it was no surprise that the smith's normally matted hair was smooth and combed properly, most likely by his mother's ministrations, and that, instead, he wore a clean coat and shirt instead of his typical outfit, as well as a lighter, indicating its cleaner disposition, brown leather jacket, its collar more refined, although still messy in its nature, since it was still, in fact, Ristil Alevar who was wearing it, as crude as that sounded.
However, what Amalica wore made Arachne's heart clench, as it was one of the most flattering dresses she had seen on her in her time of knowing her, even as the three of them made talk of their day, the Maid muttering about one of her fellows who had fumbled about with a candle and nearly burned herself before she had to step in and catch it, landing on her ankle wrong in the process. Mother Maccis had managed to fix it with the use of magic, but if it had not been the night of a dance, she would not have cared much and let her ankle heal by itself. But despite the chaos of which she spoke, the escapee found solace in her friend's voice, one of the many things she so adored about her.
As she continued speaking about her time in the temple, Arachne instead focused on her beautiful dress, which had taken up most of her attention at her flustered wonder, as its simplistic elegance was one to be admired. For it was a simple high collared white and gold dress with long sleeves that ran down to her calves as hers did, but with darker gray intertwining lines running about the sides of the front area and down to the forearm of the sleeve, most of it covered by a black cape connected to her by a golden band slung across the top of her chest, the shoulders of the extra garment itself also having connected golden accessories added to it as well. Around her waist was a brown corset that split in the center to showcase her stomach, extenuating her alluring waistline. But of course her eyes were spotless, framed by her hair once more, the long white mane of hers still wet from a recent washing, bangs framing her face alongside her wavy hair, her red eyes glimmering in the phosphorescent light accumulated from the larvae about the cavern as the entire cell journeyed to the surface.
"How about you, Arachne? How was your time with Miss Lualyrr?" Amalica called, breaking her from her spell with her beguiling voice, a wide smile placed upon her plump lips, dimples making themselves known as she did so. "I hear some people think she's a little overbearing, and we can't have our newcomer feel that way, now can we?"
She smiled, looking down for a moment before responding, "Her lessons were quite interesting, but I couldn't quite figure out where to put my hands on the harp, so she tried to teach me how to play the lyre for a while, but I wasn't hitting my stride just yet." Arachne chuckled awkwardly, "Part of me thinks I'm beyond hope for this music stuff."
"Don't lie to yourself! I sucked, too, my first few lessons. Miss Lualyrr is an amazing Moon Singer, but sometimes she forgets we all start somewhere. I had to take lessons from Talabrina back when she could muster the energy to move her fingers fast enough." Amalica paused for a moment, looking around for a moment before continuing. "I could help if you'd like. I don't know much, but I know enough to get you started so that Miss Lualyrr doesn't pull your fingers off."
Arachne almost didn't have time to catch herself before she began to blush, the sudden offer catching her off guard, the reaction almost unsolicited, Ristil saving her with his own remark, "Y'know, I heard that she did that to Mother Maccis, which is why she has that wooden one." He leant over as if he was telling an immaculate tale, a wild-eyed expression enhancing his already big eyes, a playful flint lighting in the depths of his own irises. That was something she liked about him, as he wasn't scared to speak his mind, or tell a joke, but she supposed it came from being untouched by the cruel truths of the drow community outside of this safe haven.
"Liar!" Amalica jeered.
"Am not!" Ristil retorted, an indignant smirk on his face.
If she hadn't been walking, Arachne could have fallen over backwards from their teasing nature, attempting to catch her breath from the overwhelming laughter they caused her, and she had done so once before, but it had been in the comfort of the quaint home that the clergy had given to her to aid to her adjusting process, a couch beneath her to catch her fall. Despite the tears of joy in her eyes, she held her stance firm, her giggles still echoing throughout the cavern, blending in with the other conversation that was bound to occur during such a journey. The sense of family was bolstering her self-esteem and energy, for the small amount of time which she had spent in the cell, she had found herself contemplating real feelings of which she felt, such as her feelings about a religion she chose, or about Amalica.
Speaking of the gravitating woman, she had been laughing merrily from the depths of her throat, a wide smile on her face, which almost appeared permanent, as her smile was everlasting, a beacon of light in the darkness of the world, Arachne's beacon. She found, as she basked upon Amalica, that there was almost a similarity between her and Durdyn, the starry-eyed curiosity being one of them, for, despite being an adult, the bard found wonders in the simplistic world of which she had chosen to take on, allowing her imagination to run wild. It made her a perfect fit as a storyteller and minstrel, another captivating thing about her.
~
Laughter ensued, the congregation seemed to cease all conversation as they began to alight from the Underdark and into the surface world, Arachne closing her eyes tight to prepare herself for the experience, attempting to devise a plan to engrave the sight into her mind, expecting it to be a stunning sight, as, unlike everyone about her, she had never been to the surface, this being one of her drives to leaving. Her lost family members had been quite specific on their desire to be where she was, and she felt as if preserving the memory would show the lost souls of her kin some form of closure to their morals.
So, as she stepped onto the ground of the surface world, a large inclined step barring her from going upwards without focus, she felt her feet press against a long and dark green plant all about the ground, sticking upwards and swaying with the light wind, void of the unpleasant smell of sulfur, but instead with a nonexistent fragrance, the simple movement of the weather dictating it. Within it was a plant with a deep green supporting stem, petals of various colors decorating them, scattered around the site itself.
And if the ground wasn't mesmerizing enough, as Arachne looked upward, into the sky, she saw a glimmering ball of silver, which she knew to be the moon, full and gleaming, much more captivating in person, behind it a backdrop of black sky, tiny dots of silver lining about it in an almost organized pattern, some indistinct shapes being made depending on where one looked, one being that of a five-headed dragon as well as a normal one, each star illustrating a different curve or contour in the shape.
It was almost as if time stood still as she gazed upon such beauty, that was until Amalica jumped in front of her, taking her hand, her crimson eyes scrunched up in joy, her own alluring appearance beside the surface's almost too much, a small blush lining the edges of her cheekbones, something she hoped to be easily thought of as makeup. "C'mon Arachne! Don't look so wide-eyed! Let's dance!"
Feeling herself being dragged away by the soft and strong hand of her friend, she felt as if she was flying on air, a smile rising on her face as she and Amalica playfully spun about as the bonfire was lit, the Moon Singers beginning to play their tunes of wonder as they all danced, each drow elf possessing a companion to dance with, some of the younger children dancing with both of their parents, singing along playfully with the tunes.
Arachne, though, stared into the eyes of her friend, one who caused such strange feelings within her, the moon behind her, serving as a way for her to feel as if they were the only two people in the vicinity of the music. She felt herself grab onto Amalica's hand more securely, giggling as she did so in unison with her, twirling her partner with the aid of her longer arms despite their matching heights, her white gown fluttering upwards to form a small air pocket where the dress made its own spin, mesmerized as it did so, dancing along to the music being on of her priorities as she looked upon the enthralling elf with awe.
Amalica giggled, grabbing onto her hands and squeezing them with an infectious smile, "How do you think tonight's gonna go, Arachne?" She and her interlocked arms, skipping about in a circle, Arachne's own steps uncertain to contrast her partner's certainty, her feet already worn from the fast and intricate movements. Whoever had said dancing was easy had to have been quite the skilled liar.
"It's too early in the night to tell, but I have a good feeling that we'll have a lot of fun!" Arachne exclaimed, tucking her head underneath Amalica's elbow as she spun around, her right hand still interlocked with hers, her own purple dress doing the same independent spin as the white one had done minutes ago.
"And drinks!" Amalica added frivolously.
Gods, she was beautiful.
~
Arachne had long since decided to take a bit of a break from dancing, instead watching Amalica frolick merrily about the remaining cell members, bringing wider smiles to those she talked to, and even to those who had yet to be graced with her fine company were brought joy to see her boisterous behavior, something she had learned to accept, and even like, about her new friend, this being one of the few things she was certain about her kind friend.
She sat admiring the woman causing her contemplation, feeling her hands against the strangely moist and sharp, "grass," below her, a small blanket ensuring her clothes' own cleanliness, her hands still wandering to the green plants underneath her form despite her best efforts. In this new area, it seemed as if her curiosity knew no bounds, each strange sight another thing to add to her collection of memories, as she had seen animals not purged by hunters, as well as creatures who didn't harm one another for food, instead keeping themselves to themselves, something of new prospect for her despite having the knowledge of the more peaceful tendencies of the world above.
Hearing a voice behind her, she jumped for a moment before realizing its familiarity, a smile forming once again on her features instead of the resting one that once adorned it as she saw Ristil place a blanket on the ground, pressing a knee to his chest as he himself had an almost knowing grin on his face, "So…" he began, a hitch in his voice as if he was implying something she was meant to know. "What's goin' on with you and Amalica? I'm dumb, but I'm not that dumb."
Arachne chuckled almost awkwardly, turning to her friend with an almost weighed expression of confusion upon her face. "I don't know why, but ever since I met her, I've had this strange feeling in my gut and have been high-strung over the simplest interaction with her. It's been a consistent thing, and, frankly, I have no clue what might be causing it."
Ristil almost looked taken aback, either by what she had been describing, or at her own obliviousness, the latter probably being the most likely, as her knowledge and feelings in regards to friends was rather limited to politics and the like. "You sound like you're in love. Looks like it too."
"'Love'? Like your parents?"
"Yeah, just like my parents!" Ristil explained, looking forwards towards the dancing drow elves before turning to her once again. "It's when you really care for someone, more than you do a family member and more than you do a friend, like you'd lay your life down for them if you had to. It's hard to explain. You really just feel it, deep in the marrow of your bones, and sometimes, when you're in love, the other person feels the same way, and after you tell each other how you feel, you get in a relationship, get engaged, get married, and have kids if you want to or if you can."
Arachne looked down for a moment, watching as Amalica began to walk towards them, beckoning for them to rise and begin to dance again, the two of them standing up from their sitting positions, and, taking a glance at him before they began to move towards their friend, she said, almost as a spoken thought, "Then maybe it is love."