Re: Svarik and the company II

[Mirach]

"I think we should do it today. There are plenty of people here, we can offer the food to them. Sage also has a dining room for the poor. But if I withold it from her a day longer than I found out about it and let her eat plants in good faith, she might feel betrayed. You told me about it today, so I need to tell her today."

[VisAnastasis]

" Alright... Let's do it now, then,my dearest, while the pies are being baked. " Melody decided. " Let's go up. "
She bid, and Erdel shyly offered her assistance. She smiled at him with love, and she reached out with her sweet little hands to him, and she let him carry her in his arms to get up to their room where Xia and others were.

[Mirach]

Svarik took Xia into his lap. "There is something we need to talk about, and it's again about food, I fear..." he told her. "Tide, can you please translate for us?"

[VisAnastasis]

" Of course. No *pleases*, please. " demon smiled mirthlessly, willing to help, but not looking forward to this. " Just try to be as specific as you can. I must admit I myself do not feel your guilt over eating whatsoever, so I would appreciate if you found best words you could for me to convey it. It would take far worse for me, who used to eat Beings whole with souls and everything, to feel bad over eating an apple or onion. You'll have to give me best words you can, because I myself just can not feel guilty about eating flesh. I am sorry for making this harder for you.... I will translate your words to best of my abilities, though.  "

[Mirach]

Svarik nodded. "Can you please explain it how you explqined it to me?" he asked Melody.

[VisAnastasis]

Melody nodded. She took her time, then, gathering all her will, knowledge and wit, to explain to Xia all about the food - what it means, why it's needed, how it's made. She explained her about need of life to eat life, and circle of life. She explained her about enjoyment food brings even when you don't need it physically, and that that enjoyment is good enough reason to eat, because it is good to follow your feelings and feel good, not excluded from others. She explained her about souls of plants and animals, and about how you eat not what really matters, only the flesh, that is an empty shell. From meat to bread, to teas, everything you consume is made of bodies of someone that lived - but that is okay, if you honor taking away, do not give into becoming greedy, and strive to return to others and use well what is given to you. She spoke for long, with lot of kindness and patience, explaining every question and everything she could. Xia was only asking questions with trembling whispers, and as Tide was translating back and forth, she seemed tense and at loss, holding onto Svarik closely while trying to digest this new and much deeper insight into the world.  

[Mirach]

Svarik listened carefully as well while holding and caressing Xia, and he had his own questions. "You said that apples are like a baby to the tree," he said thoughtfully. "But that does not seem right to me... The seeds inside are the real babies, and apples need to be eaten so that the seeds can spread. All fruits that are eaten by animals can spread their seeds that way. Some even wouldn't sprout if an animal haven't digested them before, because the shell of the seed is too hard... Even if they suffer with eating the flesh of their fruit, isn't it a sacrifice they need and are willing to make for the new generation?"

[VisAnastasis]

" If you think of the sweet part of the fruit as of the womb, then to get out of the womb and be digested could be compared to pains of childbirth, yes. It's a sacrifice that we need and are willing to make for new generation. " girl whispered gently, and with a little meaningful smile, she reached for Svarik, and caressed his cheek fondly and with love. " It is an extension of a baby, but not baby itself, yes. Once, apple trees were not like that, but since they were being eaten, anyway, they evolved sweetly, in a way that way that, when eaten, their seeds will survive the process and carry on to live. I only used the expression to convey the idea to you properly - why it's important to not have destructive mindset. If you start thinking of everything as vulnerable little soulings, and of every act of pain as something that stains the world, then you will see everything through prism of something dying in suffering. You will see walking on grass as something mean, even. You shouldn't. No matter what it means for what you eat, you need to eat still, and only way to make it up is to make it count, be grateful, and use strength food has given you wisely. Always with no heed throwing eaten apple in a dumb, that's disrespectful, too, since it can't grow like that. If you can and have means, you should grow what you've eaten. There is a big apple orchard, outside of the city, in a foresty area that belongs to Falcon. I have been planting seeds of every apple we ate there for the past three years, and played for it, so trees grow fast. You can not, of course, plant everything you eat, it would create too many massive forest of fruits and be bad for all the others.... But when you can do it, it will return to world a little bit of what you've taken, and then give fruit you've grown to the needy. I will lead you to that orchard when we return, once, if you desire, and teach you how to best plant apples from leftover fruit. "

[Mirach]

"I think Xia would like that as well," Svarik nodded. "Could you also show us how to make sure that the soul of the plant has passed on before cooking or eating it?"

[VisAnastasis]

" Well, she is a demon... But she is a Being, too. " Melody corrected herself thoughtfully, before she smiled. " I think she should be able to learn. You are a Listener, so you'll be able to learn it as well, Sun, so there's no reason why she shouldn't. "

[Mirach]

"Can you teach it to us then?" Svarik asked. 

[VisAnastasis]

Xia nodded as well, with eyes that were tearful, but brave and fierce, and she quietly waited for answer.
Melody agreed, and she requested Sage to bring them some fruit that were picked fresh, in hope some of them could be helped.
Sage nodded, and he soon returned from the glass garden, from which he had picked up three pears.

Melody smiled a little, and she softly and carefully picked up one, for a start. She caressed it thoughtfully, and then,  she started whispering gently to it on Spirit language, as if calming and soothing it, humming her a lullaby....

[Mirach]

Svarik observed and listened, trying to understand both what and how is Melody doing.

[VisAnastasis]

It seemed girl was soothing the dying plant and gaining its trust. It seemed almost as if she talked to it, with a little whistle, bidding it if it is ready.
And then, at one moment, she smiled, and kissed the fruit, and blew the kids away - and it seemed she picked  up a little trembling spec of something, a tiny little remnant of soul that, like vapor, faded through the fabric of the world, with so silent it could almost be missed - a little echo of relief and thankfulness.

[Mirach]

Svarik watched quietly, and he saw what Melody did, but still wasn't sure how she did it. "Can you explain it to us, please?" he asked.

[VisAnastasis]

" You talk to the plant. I do it in mine, but it doesn't matter what language - they respond to the tone of your voice, and feeling of your breath. You tell it that it it's time to go, and ask her when she's ready. You speak with her. Sometimes they respond eagerly, sometimes do not. It is both okay. When they are ready, they will lean to you, and you will pick up their soul through your lips, and blow them away to Death gently, so they can be reborn anew. This one had a very happy life in Sage's glass garden. " she nodded to the human with tender respect. " You take good care of your plants, dear host. It was easy departure. "

[Mirach]

"I'm not sure how you can pick up a soul through your lips," Svarik admitted. "I can only play for a hurt one, but I've never tried touching it physically..."

[VisAnastasis]

" You and me can only easily pick up souls that are dying, and simple ones like souls of plants. I am a plant, and part of me beats within you - so you are able to do all that I can too, including this, more instinctively than most. " Little Spirit explained. " Few can just touch souls physically, without a hard training of some kind. Ciel can kind of contain it within his hands and affect it, but it's not a physical touch. Tide and Sage, from what I understood, can touch it, but only using power of their mind, not hands. I think only one that can really touch all souls in physical sense that I know of is Death and Nammy. Nammy is more spontaneous about it. " she smiled a little. " He does it even when he's not aware of it sometimes. Whenever he was excited to see me, he would kiss me in a cheek and accidentally kiss my soul, or brush of my soul when he would caress my hair. The boy is unbelievably sweet in his blissful ignorance of doing any of that... I think Death does it with much more control, and less instinct. You are strong, though, love - I think you would be able to learn to touch souls of those willing to let you, if you'd really focus and train for that, like Ciel did. I myself, never felt as much need for trying that, as I always preferred refining my music skills instead. Each of us have our own preferred path to take. "

[Mirach]

"But you are saying that I should be able to touch the souls of dying plants? Can Xia learn it as well?"

[VisAnastasis]

" All plants have souls much more accesibke to touch.. one more reason why they are so vulnerable. Al Beings in theory should be able to learn this, and she is made in your image. It would take her more practice, but it's easy. " She pausd for a moment, before adding with smile." To be trutful, my Sun, I think you may have been subconciously doing something like this for a while yourself without even realizing it. It is in your blood to be friend of plants. Just like desire to walk barefoot to not hurt the tender grass that you can not explain, but feel as need, your mouth is pure from anything fajl such as soul eating. It is likely you unknowingly pick up fruit's souls on your lips as you eat, and they linger there until they fade. "

[Mirach]

"Is it?" Svarik wondered. "I never though about doing it... So all I should do is blow them away?"

[VisAnastasis]

" I think it is because you're respectful with your food to begin with. That is why that inherent trait from me comes so easy to you. " girl smiled. " You just need to focus on the soulfulness of what you hold, invite it to you and offer it help, and when you feel it reaching for you, you just gently kiss it and blow it away. It should come naturally to you, just like picking healing herbs. You noticed that, when you pick them up, they have stronger healing powers than ones you buy on markets? " she beamed with pride. " That is also something you picked up from me, from my mother's side, my dearest beloved flower. It wouldn't work if you didn't have such respect and care for plants. Land sings underneath your footsteps and returns you with equal measure, because you give back to her and respect her deeply. Land you walk upon and respect and play for loves you back. That's why I wanted you to be king... You are just the most wonderful little flower of mine, dearest. You deserved it.  "

[Mirach]

Svarik smiled at her. "I noticed about the healing herbs, yes. Was it because their soule were released, unlike those on the market that suffered for longer?"

[VisAnastasis]

" Yes. When plant suffers for longer, an echo of suffering lingers in the plant, and it tastes bad to us. When you pick it up properly and gently, it remains powerful, unstained by stress and pain. " she looked at him warmly and gently, with eyes full of love, as she added. " That is also why all fruit I have given you tasted deliciously... I picked it from love, with consent of trees in our garden, sending of the soul properly. I always picked out the most ripe, most ready fruit as offering of my love to you, my sweetest, for it to be as sweet as you are. Zephir has same gift for gentleness in his veins. If he offers you something to eat from the garden and land that he picked up, you can be sure it's not tainted with any pain. "

[Mirach]

"But other people, who are not Listeners or don't have it in their ancestry, they can't learn it?" Svarik asked. "All the other plants that they eat have to suffer?"