Normally the priestess would have made a joke about Ash starting without her, but she could see the unease in her dear friend, could see so much pain and fear and insecurity.
Luna knelt by her and ran a hand along her mane, noting that it was still damp, "I'm here, Ash. Talk to me. Everything's going to be fine."
Ash talked to her about the various nightmares over the course of the morning, eventually flopping onto one of the chairs, dressed in the clothes she'd left out to dry. She needed to finish getting ready to go but was reluctant to do so before breakfast. Laying in her pond had actually made her feel a bit better, as did drinking the water and even talking to Luna, who worked to put her fears at ease. The priestess was cooking despite Ash's insistence that it was unnecessary, that she could cook for herself.
As if she knew what was going on in Ash's mind, Luna glanced at her, "I like cooking breakfast for you, Ash," she turned everything off and brought the food over, "It means I know you're starting your day off right and actually eating," she smiled and teased just a little, "We both know that if I didn't, you'd nurse that water until everyone messaged you to visit then maybe eat some granola or something on the trail."
Luna looked worried and Ash glanced down at her cup, feeling a bit guilty that it was her fault. The priestess perched herself on the arm of Ash's chair and ruffled her hair a bit as Ash finished off her water and ate the breakfast she'd made.
Eventually, she spoke again, "I know that my parents raised you like a sister to me, that they raised us both to be independent but I don't mind when you lean on me Asha. It brings me great joy to know that you still need me sometimes, even if it isn't for nearly so much as it used to be. Please don't ever forget that." With a light embrace, Luna stepped away and disappeared, off to their world to get her work done.
Ash had just finished getting ready when she received a message from Gardenia and Yarrow requesting to visit her home. She accepted each of them, then the two from Fi and Fel as well, who had obviously arrived at the city's teleportation array just after. Stepping out front, she waved a greeting to everyone as they looked around her home in awe.
Fel whistled lightly as she cast her gaze around, "And I thought the Star Ash back in Redwood Stars was magnificent. If I didn't know better, I'd say this one's probably one of the first of its kind."
Gardenia looked up at the magnificent tree and felt the magic swirling through the glade, "You may well be right, Fel. This place has a sacred sort of feeling to it, as if it is somewhere that has remained undisturbed for a very long time."
They set off before long, appearing from the same teleportation array they'd left from the afternoon before and heading out of town. It was a calm enough journey, though they did stop a few times to fight monsters or aggressive beasts that were too near the road. They all seemed interested in watching Ash cast magic in her unicorn form and the chatter was lively during lunch.
It felt almost as if she blinked and the entire day's journey was over.
They talked a little about how her teleportation worked as they found a good clearing to leave from. She marked it and took them to her home, knowing they'd be able to head to Redwood Stars from there despite her home's lack of a teleportation array.
Ash accompanied them back to Redwood Stars to eat at the temple, heading home before dusk fell. Gardenia joined her on the walk to the teleportation array though it was a quiet one. As Ash stepped onto the array, she paused and turned her soft pink eyes toward the temple.
Softly, so softly Gardenia was certain she wasn't meant to hear, Ash spoke, "Stella would have handled everything so much better. She wouldn't be falling apart like this." Before Gardenia could speak up, she was gone.
Ash endured the evening's bout of pain without complaint, grateful it wasn't near constant anymore. With a weary sigh she headed to bed, she was exhausted already and wanted to be well-rested for the morning since the next leg of their journey would take them to the next nearest city.
The nightmares were much worse than the prior night, jolting her awake in agonizing pain more than once. They stuck with her too, repeating again and again when she was awake as if to remind her of her failings. Part of her was certain something was wrong but her grove remained quiet, peaceful.
She checked the grove over and everything was fine. All of the wards were in place and the tree stood strong, its leaves breathtaking in their colors. There were tones of fear, pain and anxiety to the leaves but that was just from her nightmares. She forced herself to lay down again, letting her eyes drift closed.
Luna found her in the starseeing pond again when she showed up in the morning, her eyes closed as her head rested against dry land. She'd been woken several times over the course of the night, had gotten multiple notifications that Ash was showing signs of reverting back to the way she had been before. Her pain was returning in force and assailing her, obviously stemming from whatever nightmares were driving her to hide in her starseeing pond.
She'd already messaged Gardenia, requested that they put off the rest of the journey for a while after reaching their next destination. She'd also asked that the priestess try to get Ash to open up about what was going on. Luna could feel it in the magic that tied them together, Ash was unwell in some way. She also knew that Ash's stubborn nature would make her stay quiet to keep from troubling Luna during such a critical time. She feared that it would be far too late to fix things by the time the festival was over.
She was gentle with her dear friend over the course of the morning, coaxing her to talk about her nightmares and trying to ease the anxiety around them. Considering how abnormally Ash was acting it was a wonder Sidus hadn't already stepped in, she thought as she bid her a good journey for that day and left to their own world to plan a festival she wasn't terribly interested in.
There was a tiny sliver of positivity from Ash's condition, though; it had allowed her to start grabbing those that should have been running the temples and rope them into event planning while casually chatting about their responsibilities and what it was like to be in charge of an entire temple.