The Least Traveled Path (12) : In addition to the beautiful seasonal displays, the local botanical garden has set up a beautiful winter maze. Dense, lopsided fir trees that couldn’t be sold for holiday decor have been utilized to create the walls. The ability to disappear in the maze is impressive; the trees are so dense that it’s impossible to see through them, and if you try to push through them you’ll only wind up scratching or cutting yourself. You’re never really too far from the entrance or exit, and you can hear the voices of other people exploring the maze, or the celebrations at the festively decorated pavilion, but the deeper you get, the further away from all of those things you feel. For a moment, it feels like you’ve wandered into some alternate universe; the voices disappear and you feel alone. You can’t hear anyone–and they can’t hear you. You can’t see anything over the tall maze walls, and no matter where you go, you can’t seem to find your way out. Everything starts to feel cold and distant–and then suddenly all color, all smells, all sounds return. You still feel a little out of place but it’s nothing you can’t shake off. If you could just find your way out of here, first.
Kata stretched as she took in the sights at the pavilion and the botanical garden. She'd planned to go to the maze tonight though she unfortunately didn't have any company and was feeling a little down after all she only had so many siblings left.
Kata needed to make more friends instead of relying on siblings. There were so many smells she seemed enamored trying to make a list of things she wanted before going into the maze and then after the maze, hot chocolate was on the list after. There was a vendor for that not far from the exit.
She headed into the maze though with a candy cane she was munching on happily. The maze didn't seem bad at all to be fair she could hear everything going on outside, the festive music and smell some of the more delicious scents like cinnamon and hot chocolate. Though the scent of pine and seasonal flowers were in the air too.
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2024 10:50 pm
'Be Bold' she had told herself. Be adventurous. Halia mentally scolded herself for being so naive. On a whim, in an attempt to be more outgoing, she had decided to go through the holiday maze, not thinking for a second about the fact she was quite easily lost on a good day. Naturally, however, she found herself completely turned around within the countless trees and decorations. At first, she hadn't been bothered by it. The sounds and smells were comforting and told her she wasn't too far away from escaping it, but no matter what she did, she seemed to only be going in circles.
After a while of wandering, tears pricked at her eyes and everything seemed to lose its vibrancy. Whether it was the feeling of being overwhelmed dimming everything around her, or something else, she was to upset to try and discern. She pulled her coat tighter around her and tried not to sniffle, trying hard not to give in to the anxiety that threatened to drown her. After all, she couldn't be the only one in here, could she?
As she walked through the maze looking at the decorations and things the sounds for a while sounded as if they were just outside, but the longer she walked it seemed as if it moved further away. She looked around, wondering how deep the maze actually went.
To say she was getting concerned she was lost would be an understatement but she continued to wondered, until she noticed a figure ahead of her. "Oh!" She was excited to see she wasn't alone, humming softly so as not to startle the other by just popping up behind her.
"Hello~" Kata finally called out softly.
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2024 11:50 pm
When the voice of another person broke through Halia's thoughts, the immediate relief was visible on her face. She made her way towards the other person, quickly brushing her sleeve over her eyes to wipe away any tears of anxiety.
"I was... starting to worry I was the only one in here..." She gave her a watery smile, clearly still anxious as she looked about. She knew things were weird in this city, like it was some sort of hub for odd magical stuff, but she truly hoped this would not be one of those instances. "Is there any chance that you.. might know the way out?"
Kata had stopped and smiled softly, "Well luckily we're not alone, we have each other; now."
She was looking at Halia thinking the other must be stressed or scared in the situation. And if Kata told the truth, well . . . she didn't want to cause anymore distress for the other. So instead of giving a clear answer she smiled brightly as she would for her baby sister if she was going through a hard time, "Since we've found each other, obviously it's meant for us to had an adventure and figure out the way."
After all the city was nothing but a magical adventurous war. . . . Kata hid a sigh as she softly patted the other on the shoulder. Looking and marking which direction she knew she'd traveled with a a stick from a near by tree. At least this way they'd know if they were going in circles.
"So we need to keep a mind on marking paths we've took just in case but nothing obvious enough that it'd ruin the maze for someone else." She added, "When we get out there's a nice hot cocoa stand, how about I get us some hot cocoa, or I believe they have cider too -- whichever you prefer." She added mind on playing the big sister and comforting the current stranger rather than stressing them out more.
Another pause and she laughed, "How silly of me! I'm Kata by the way!"
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 1:14 am
Halia was surprised by just how warm and friendly this stranger was, and she felt herself relax a little. It was nice how approachable she seemed to be, and it was a welcome relief from the anxiety that had set in.
"You don't have to do that! But... I appreciate the offer all the same." She smiled meekly at the girl, nodding as she introduced herself. "I'm Halia. It's a pleasure to meet you." The idea of this being some fated adventure was both dreadful and nice at the same time, somehow. She was not a fan of whatever strings that fate had been pulling for her lately, but she would never say no to friendly company and someone as warm and kind seeming as Kata was. "Any ideas on how to mark our path?" She thought briefly about pulling threads from her scarf or something, though she really would rather not. She was quite fond of this scarf and would like to keep it in tact if it was all the same. Pale brown eyes scanned the area, trying to see if there was anything they could use to indicate which way they were going and had gone.
Kata smiled, "Ah, I suppose if you don't want anything. But if you change your mind the offer still stands when we're out of here."
"Nice to meet you as well!!" She seemed thoughtful when the other asked how to mark their path she was looking around and then dug into the trees that lined the paths. They were in luck as she found some pine cones the ones on the surface of the firs weren't very large but the ones that had fallen to the ground inside were large enough, "Here we go."
She smiled holding up the cones, "We can pull these apart, they're biodegradable, won't be easily eaten by wildlife and most people likely won't notice bits of pine cone on the ground."
She offered Halia a couple of cones and dropped a couple of more into her pockets, "If we run out there should be some still decent ones on the other trees."
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2024 9:11 pm
Pinecones. That was a great idea! Halia took the offered cones, gently breaking one apart ahead of time and stuffing the others into her pocket. "Thank you..." She gave Kata a small smile, the panic finally starting to subside.
"I...really appreciate you helping. I get so panicky at times and then get worked up..." Her voice was soft as she spoke, and her eyes stayed trained on the ground. She felt embarrassed that she had been almost crying when Kata had found her, feeling silly that she had been so upset over being lost in the maze. "I want to stop being such a crybaby all the time, but every time I do something to try to change, I end up in a situation like this where I just...get way too in my head, I think." She gave her a small smile, lifting her eyes just a bit. "Sorry, I...don't mean to ramble. Still a little nervous, I think.."
Kata nodded, "You're welcome~." She hummed as she started humming the tune that sounded like over the hills and through the snow.
"Of course!" She said as she pulled apart pine cone petals and dropped them on the ground as they walked, "I felt a little lost myself but I usually try to keep a brave face for my baby sister. We're the only two left in the family at this point . . ." She sighed, "So gotta keep clam and carry on her for her sake."
There was another soft smile, "It's not a bad thing to be frightened and need to cry it out though. Sometimes it can help clear the cloud over your head and help you think if you let it."
Nodding softly when Halia said she didn't mean to ramble, "It's fine, really. What makes you feel better when you're nervous or scared?" She asked pausing when they came to a fork, "Hm, which way should we go?" They could go straight and see if they ended up at a dead end or to the right. Kata was trying to listen to see if she could hear anything and from what she could tell they hadn't come this way yet.
Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 2:02 am
Halia nodded as Kata spoke, following her lead with pulling the pinecones apart and dropping the bits as they walked. She stayed close to the girl, taking comfort in her presence. "I cry a lot though. And now that I have...important things happening in my life, I feel like I need to become stronger, become more reliable and less of a crybaby."
As they came to a branch in the path, Halia closed her eyes, straining to try and hear any sort of sound that might give them a clue. "Maybe to the right?" She was definitely not going into a maze again anytime soon, that much was certain. "I can't really hear anything, can you?"
Kata smiled as Halia spoke, "It'll just take time, we all handle things differently."
She looked back towards the other as they walked, "Sometimes it just takes walking through life navigating the maze of emotions and figuring out how you best cope with them and redirecting the energy that usually has you crying into something different."
She looked off towards the right when Halia mentioned she'd go that way and there was a nod, "Lets go then!"
She was trying to listen as well, "Nope I don't hear anything either but that's fine. We've got each other and we'll find the way the way out." She thought she'd heard also to follow the wall as a way to get out of a maze faster but she wasn't there yet.
She asked curiously what Halias' favorite things to do were so she could try to take Halia's mind away from the situation. Knowing it'd seem to take less time to escape if they had something to talk about.
Kata found the time passing as she picked off different topics based on what Halia liked to help as they navigated through the maze. Finally they made it out which had her grinning ear to ear.
"Here we are! That wasn't that bad, now lets go grab something to drink!" She said "My treat!" She herded Malia off towards the cart that had hot chocolate, coffee and apple cider; along with other treats.
