Rui
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.
“A Work of Artifice”
-Marge Piercy
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.
“A Work of Artifice”
-Marge Piercy
Appearance
Long white hair that diffuses light trails along the floor after Rui; it’s soft and gentle to the skin, unable to burn even when held to a flame, cold in summer and warm in winter, unable to be cut. Her skin seems to absorb any light that happens to filter through, unblemished and unbothered. Large gold eyes that are considered vacuous and enlightened all at once. Small gold horns sprout from her brow, although to some they look more like mandibles.
Skills and Abilities
- Can turn mulberry leaves in a suitable mush for silk worms (from centuries of inbreeding, the worms have weaker jaws now)
- Can help silk moths exit from their cocoon (from centuries of inbreeding, the worms struggle in leaving their cocoon on their own due to weak jaws and being unable to secrete a substantial amount of fluid to aid in exiting)
- Can tell female and male silk moths apart which aids in pairing up mates (from centuries of inbreeding, silk moths can no longer fly and need help finding mates)
- Can extract silk moth eggs without hurting the membrane
- Can extract silk from cocoons with ease, even if it’s very tedious, she makes it look easy.
- Rumored to be able to talk to bugs. Some rumors imply that she can control them.
Personality
Quiet, soft-spoken, polite, demure, tired.
