Welcome to Gaia! ::

Zoje smiled "I wouldnt worry about him too much Ovan. Its true Morgan will try and kill Jed, but Im not too worried." Her smile faded. "He'll have to get through me first. And I dont see that happening any time soon." she rolled up her sleeve and showed Ovan the faint X scarred on her forearm. "This is Jeds sign. He and I are bonded. Im not letting anything happen to him.

Zoje smiled and kissed him "Im not letting anything happen to you either."

"Are you coming?" called Jed annoyed. Zoje laughed and walked over to the tree.

Jed was sitting in front of the tree staring at the carvings when they got there. He looked at Zoje "What do they mean?" Zoje smiled "They tell a story." she pursed her lips "My story actually."

Zoje smiled as Jed agreed with Ovan. "Ok then. But lets get to the top first." she began climbing up the ree her eyes searching through the tangled mass of carvings along the tree.

Zoje pulled herself over the edge of the platform and sat down with her back leaning against the tree turnk. She smiled as
jed curled up like a little cat in her lap. She took off her flame pendant and set it on the ground before her. "This will help you to see what happened to me as I tell my story."

Zoje smiled and closed her eyes "I dont remember much before age eight. That was the age when my mom died and I was cast out on the streets." Her smile faded. " I was so scared. I didnt know what to do." the smoke screen shifted and showed the image of a small girl crouching beside a dumpster as it rained. She was painfully thin and her hair was matted down and dirty. Her clothes were torn and there was along gas on her left leg and on her forehead.Her knees were drawn up against her chest and her shoulders shook with silent sobs. "I stayed hidden for weeks, scavenging food from trash cans. It was dangerous every where I went. It didnt take me long to learn how to fight." She rubbed her temples as memories flooded into her mind.

Zoje stared into the smoke screen for a while studying herself at eight years old. "I stayed a firghened little girl for about a week. Then one night I was hiding in an alleyway and some local teenagers walked up to me." her face hardened "They wanted me to...do a favor...I guess you could say. I refused and they got angry. They attacked me and I snapped "she paused for a moment and the corners of her mouth twitched "I let out all my fear and anger at once and it was like all of sudden I was invincable. Things got a bit better then. Word spread around that I broke some guys arm in three places and people suddenly werent so keen on bohering me."