"Oh, oh... These things always come upon us so quickly," Noora fretted softly as she fidgeted with Dagney's mane, flicking at the lengthy strands with her nose. A moment later, she pressed beneath the lilac doe's chin and lifted it lightly, beaming from ear to ear. "Keep your head up. This is such a proud day!"
Dagney shifted her shoulders, lifted her gaze, and adjusted her stance. It was a proud day. Her body trembled with expectation, with the hum of Grandfather Tree's call. She had looked forward to this moment for moons, but it felt important to keep her composure as best she could. "Mama, don't fret," Dagney soothed, tone airy. "I have been waiting," the word cut from her with an eager sharpness, and her tail gave a snap behind her. "I am ready. I have been ready for some time." And then, to soothe her finicky mother, she leaned to rest her head against the older doe and rumbled in a quiet voice once more. "It was you who made me ready."
And she had. Noora was an Atmos adept who had once thrown herself into her duty. But ever since she'd had her first and only foal, Dagney had taken up nearly all of her life. Dagney was the next generation, and for her to be ready, for her to be prepared, Noora would sacrifice anything else. Her own destiny be damned.
Dagney's reassurance pleased the older doe, and Noora beamed again. "Come, then. I will walk you out of Homewood."
This didn't seem necessary to Dagney, who hadn't heard of many who traveled even that far at their parent's side. But she expected it wouldn't hurt anyone, and it would soothe her poor mother. So they moved together through the trees, hooves stepping lightly over fallen leaves and whispering fronds. To Dagney it sounded like encouragement. Even the grasses were ready for her. The trees rustled in her name. She kept her head up.
Noora knew what it meant to be called, but for whatever reason, such information had been kept a secret from Dagney. She didn't know what to expect when she stood before the great white oak for the first time in her life, but her mother was jittery with glee. Dagney saw no reason to fear.
"The trek across the Barrens is the most troublesome," Noora promised. "It would be quite difficult for a foal. But for you, it will be easy." The Barrens stretched before them, and Noora let out a tiny huff of sound. "Alright, alright." She shook out her mane. "This must be where I leave you, then. I'll of course be waiting for you, when you're ready to return." Noora shot her daughter a smile and took one step back, encouragement for Dagney to move forward.
But Dagney didn't need encouragement. What she'd said before was true. She was ready in mind, body, and soul. She reared back in excitement, front hooves pawing at the air while she let out a loud whinny, then took off at a gallop across the plains.
She'd never seen Grandfather Tree, but her hooves knew where to go, and it was with her flanks heaving and eyes alight with exhilaration that she arrived before the massive oak.
'Chin up,' she reminded herself as she stepped forward. "Oh, Grandfather Tree," she began as she approached its roots. "I have trained for many moons and I have been waiting for your call. I am ready- I am so ready to do whatever it is that needs to be done. Whatever it is that you need of me." Here, Dagney gave a tiny dip of her head in respect.
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 8:22 am
Though no breeze passes through, Grandfather Tree's leaves rustle as Dagney approaches.
Choose one of the following prompts for Dagney's dream vision.
Quote:
You are in the ruins of Erli. Smoke billows out of one of the laboratories. You hear a cry of fear. What do you do?
Quote:
Newly revived seeds have been planted in Homewood and started to sprout. A powerful Vivify noul has resurrected a new species that eats the new plants almost exclusively. How do you deal with this conundrum?
Quote:
You have been travelling the barrens for days without sign of food or water. You are on your last legs when you finally spot something green in the distance. Is it a mirage? Or is it real? Do you risk going further to chase the green or do you take the safe route and return home?
Newly revived seeds have been planted in Homewood and started to sprout. A powerful Vivify noul has resurrected a new species that eats the new plants almost exclusively. How do you deal with this conundrum?
She didn't remember returning to Homewood, but soft light filtered through fluttering leaves overhead, and Dagney opened her eyes to see the luscious surroundings of her home. She bathed in the sunlight that lay in dappled streaks across the forest floor, and lifted her nose to the air to inhale the sweet and earthy scents of abundant life. There was something unfamiliar on the wind, though. Her lids pinched shut, and she snorted softly.
With eyes closed and body alert, she could sense that there was something more than an unfamiliar scent, but a sound as well. There was chatter nearby, a group of noulicorn, it sounded like.
Dagney's lashes lifted. She rose to her hooves, gave her mane a toss, and strutted toward the sound. A commotion so close to her place of rest must surely be her business, and she couldn't imagine a world where others wouldn't be grateful for her input. It became more apparent as she neared that not everyone in the chattering group was pleased. Voices rose exponentially as she approached, and the group hadn't even come into view when she heard an accusation of, "It is you selfish, hasty vivify-users who take no time to consider the repercussions before you act! You release your revived spawn on the world as though their rummaging won't affect anything else in Homewood!"
Dagney's ears flicked, and she gave pause to hear the quieter, almost a growl of a response. "It is my duty to give life to those creatures who lost it when the Others invaded. They existed once alongside your plants, and they will again."
"You gave my garden no chance to recover before introducing the very thing that would seek to destroy it. The work I've put forward has been ruined because you have no patience, Sylestra."
She didn't recognize the name. She didn't recognize the voices. And as Dagney stepped hoof into the clearing, she found she didn't recognize the noulicorns that stood before her, either: a Botanic adept doe with a dappled grey coat whose ankles were ringed in the flourish of her magic, and a stark white ascended doe with fiery markings over her eyes, giving her the appearance that they seared in her ire. The ascended kept her wings tucked, but even Dagney could see the strain of trying to be calm.
She probably had no place intervening in the argument between these two powerful does, but how could she not, when all of them wanted what was best for Homewood? Her opinion should be as important as someone who'd already received and trained in their gift.
Her steps were soft, and she moved to take up a stance to the side of them. Dagney blinked at the creature that stood between them, something small and dark-furred that she was unfamiliar with.
She couldn't help but ask, "Is there only one?"
Both does looked to her, and for all their differences, both gazes flashed in annoyance at the intrusion, but the ascended spoke first. "There is only one," she confirmed with a nod. "And without another, it will never be a permanent threat."
"The same is true of my plants!" The Botanic retorted, nostrils flaring. "If your vermin devours all of them, there won't be more to protect. The magic I spent on bringing it back will have been for nothing, and it will perish once more..."
Dagney surveyed the scene. The little creature was chewing on a root now, crouched beneath the protective cage of its resurrector's hoofs. "It is such a small creature, though," Dagney replied, tipping her head. "Can it really eat that much?" Even as she said it, though, she could see the damage it inflicted. The ground all around was burrowed up, likely difficult terrain for a new, small plant to have opportunity to grow larger. She wasn't sure which one deserved to live, and a part of her assumed that the council had already ruled that the little tunneler would be allowed to be brought back, so it was simply a matter of finding even ground.
She hummed, low and soft in her throat. Her hooves carried her in a tittering circle around the pair, and though each seemed annoyed, there was also a curiosity.
No matter how Dagney looked at it, there was no solution except to simply work together, to appreciate what the other had made and combine their efforts into keeping both safe. She nodded to herself, praising the words she'd not yet spoken, but feeling pleased all the same that she was the one to say them. "If you can tend to these plants, then you simply must allocate enough resources to give to her so she can care for the little beastie," Dagney said thoughtfully. Her attention turned to the ascended. "And if you've revived this creature, then it's your responsibility to look after it! It can't go rummaging wherever it pleases! Look at the mess! Look at the waste!" She indicated to upheaved roots that had been gnawed on and dug from the earth without even being fully eaten.
At least those might be able to be salvaged, if watch was kept over them.
"We can do this, can't we?" Dagney pleaded, using her most gentle and almost childlike voice to try and reason with these two intelligent does. "We must give it our best! No matter our gift, we are all striving toward the same purpose. We must work together!" She received grumbled acceptances, but Dagney's answering cackle was filled with delight just the same.
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:16 pm
Grandfather tree's roots settle and a soft red light swirls around Dagney, warm to the touch and smelly faintly of comfort.
Dagney has been bestowed with the Vivify gift.
Her initial ability is Mend.
the user mends one large broken bone or several smaller broken bones (eg. fingers) +1 vivify healing to an area
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