Lilly bumped into Wraithvine and Bibird many years after the incident with the floods. She'd opened a little shop that sold many various plants, both decorative and useful. The sign on the door had the name "Lilly's" upon it, and the symbol of a beautiful lily blossom.
@internutter/challenge-04500-l116-one-favour -- Anon Guest
The whole town had moved to more stable ground. The unstable ground looked like a bizarre garden. Half the remaining slope was covered in regiments of trees and ground-cover. They had to be purposely planted because the flood had washed every plant some miles downstream.
That had been decades ago, but the scars of the old flood were still visible to those who knew where to look.
Wraithvine was more focussed on the village that had grown where once there had been blasted, muddy rocks.
Ze knew that central structure. Made out of the stones that the flood had disturbed. The biggest ones cut into walls or corners and mortared with the help of Dragonfire. Not a city hall. Not a castle nor a mayor's mansion... but a hospice for the survivors.
It was still a hospice now. It couldn't be anything else because Bibrid had carved the tree of life above the door with his own claws. The rest of the city had grown around it. Houses, businesses. They had plenty of material to make cobbled streets, but these streets were lined with trees.
Trees with deep, complicated roots that would hold the entire road together. Lanterns could hang from the boughs, or street signs. One, a relatively small Yggdrassi[1], had been shaped into the local Watch House. And by the hospice was a garden shop. Sort of a garden shop. It sold plants, true, but it sold specifically useful plants.
Ones that held the land to where the farmer found it. Ones that enriched growing soil. Ones that could be medicinal and beneficial to their task of reinforcing the hillsides. Ones that grew in terraces and prevented landslides.
The sign above the entrance was a simple lilly. The house attached to the business was another relatively small Yggdrassi. Made into an echo of Wraithvine's portable cottage. Just enough space for a cozy little life, and room for good company.
There was also a lazy cat dozing on a windowsil.
Lilly had grown old since the last time Wraithvine had seen her. Her eyes had clouded, but they still lit with glee when she saw who'd come to her little place. "Nice of you to visit. As you can see, we've been busy. There's still time for tea and cake. Come in. Rest your feet a while."
"There should always be time for tea and cake," Wraithvine agreed.
Lilly had indeed been busy. The portraits hung about on the walls or standing on shelves depicted a spouse, children and grandchildren. Handprints preserved in clay. Treasured tchotckes from other lands.
They called their new town Wraithvine's Haven.
[1] The normal size for a Yggdrassi is a tree large enough to house a village or a small town. Especially once it's been shaped to do so.
[Photo by Lawrence Krowdeed on Unsplash]
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