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 Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:12 pm
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Subject || Obtainment
Word Count || 2,160
Rasslyre smiled down at the two small figures before her, affectionately ruffling the dirty hair of both before standing from her crouching position. Reaching into her slightly heavier coin purse, she withdrew a handful of coins and handed them to the children who were huddled in the shadows of one of the many cramped alleyways.
She sighed, a bit saddened over the situation the two young orphans had revealed to her. Homelessness in this small village was far from uncommon, and although she was very much used to the notion of it, it was neigh impossible for Rasslyre to turn a blind eye on the two siblings.
Especially given how even the smallest of differences in circumstance could have landed herself in their position.
Any distinct details were lost to the shadows that swallowed the narrow alley, though it was not difficult for even Rasslyre to notice how unhealthily thin the two were, and how severe the condition of their clothing was. The money she had given them would at least buy the two some food and if they were smart with the money, even a pair of better shoes for one of them.
Her voice was soft and smooth as she chuckled lightly as she addressed them, "May I have my other pouch back please? I can assure you the stones in it hold no monetary value."
Her keen hearing did not miss the startled gasps from the two children, and the rueful smile that twisted upon her lips widened. This situation was rather common actually. Rasslyre wore two pouches tied to one of the sashes she wore around her waist; one was filled with her money and the other with several smooth stones. More often than not, the pouch laden with her stones was obviously the heavier pouch; so cut purses would always go for that one right off the bat, only to discover later that all they had gotten was a purse of stones.
The young boy glanced up at her, and she could feel the weight of his gaze on her face. She knew what he saw; eyes that were clouded with progressing blindness. It was a small miracle really that she had even the limited vision that allowed her to have a severely narrowed line of sight, and since it really took more effort than it was worth, Rasslyre normally just allowed for people to make assumptions without bothering to correct them.
The boy's voice was stuttered as he spoke up, "But how…? You're-"
"Blind? Not quite, or rather… not yet. I saw you and your sister make off with it after I left the Orphanage earlier this afternoon." Rasslyre chuckled good naturally, interrupting the boy.
She flipped her right hand palm up and left it partially extended towards the two, the gesture obvious in its purpose but not crowding either of the children. Being in shadows severely crippled her already limited vision, but even she was not so foolish as to blatantly announce such a weakness aloud. Regardless, there was still enough light to illuminate the small forms before her, and the action of the young girl pulling the heavy pouch from under her threadbare top. Rasslyre waited patiently and allowed the young girl to place the pouch in her upturned palm before withdrawing her hand, deftly re-tying the pouch next to her coin purse. She stood, picking up the walking stick that had lain on the ground near where she had been crouching and pulling herself up to her full height before stepping back out of the shadows of the alley.
Eyes that were once a vibrant green regarded the children further, a small frown pulling down the corners of her lips. She knew that the money she had given them could have easily bought them food, but she also knew there were other things that those few precious coins could obtain for the two of them besides sustenance.
Rocking back on her heels, an easy smile lit her features again as she pulled the light traveling pack that was slung over one of her shoulders into her hands. Reaching inside, she pulled out the small half bread loaf and sliced cheese that was carefully wrapped, and found herself crouching down in front of the children once more.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
Rasslyre was familiar with the few villages that were within a reasonable distance from the town that she and her mother lived in. On occasion, she would travel to a few of the more remote villages to assist the nuns that managed the orphanages, however her progressing blindness made travel in general a much more difficult.
That did little to stop her however, for she was never one for stillness and stagnation. She had been traveling between the villages from when she was as young as 16, always with merchants whom were familiar with her mother of course.
The town where she had grown up was small, even by rural standards. A large portion of the villages surrounding it heavily relied upon agriculture to make a living, and as such most of the flat lands around the town was cultivated. There was a rather dense forest that separated the northern villages from the city however, and it had been Rasslyre's intention to depart from the village she had been at with plenty of time so that she would be able to make it back to her hometown by following the public road that skirted around the forest before sundown. She hadn't anticipated running into the two orphaned siblings however, and as such had to go buy the several of the crops and items her mother had requested from vendors much later in the day than she normally would have.
The sun was low in the sky by the time she stepped out of the village proper boundaries. She frowned up at the sky contemplating if she would have enough time to get back to at least the outskirts of the city before the sun completely set. Judging from the position of the sun and the small pocket watch in her pack, she most definitely did not. There was always the short cut through the forest however to be considered, it would cut her travel time in half, and she was just as familiar with the twisting forest path as she was with the wide open public road.
It had been a while since she had listened to the music that was distinctly pure and unfiltered nature, so in a split second decision, Rasslyre turned and headed resolutely towards the tree line.
About half an hour later, Rasslyre had made good traveling time, and though the leafy canopy of the trees above her cast shadows with the retreating sun, she was still able to make out the path.
She estimated that she was just shy of a quarter of a mile back to town when a male voice startled her by saying, "Good evening Miss."
It had come from behind her, and since she was pretty sure that no one had followed her from the village, she surmised that she had likely walked right past the man. Surprising given that she normally was very much aware of her surroundings, but regardless she pushed down any questions and politely greeted him. "Good evening, sorry that I walked past you without any acknowledgment. I didn't see you." Rasslyre finished with a light and embarrassed laugh. She paused for a moment, focusing on trying to make out the figure that stood by the trunks of one of the trees. With the limited light, all that she was able to make out was that he was tall, and had blonde hair. She was curious however about his presence, this path was not very well known except to the residents of the northern villages, and a select few of the city. This man's voice was unfamiliar to her, she was sure that she had never heard it before in the city or any of the villages she had visited before, so how exactly had this man ended up here? She wanted to know who he was, what he was doing here, how-
"Who are you? I don't recognize your voice… Most outsiders don't know of this path either, yet you're not from around here are you? How did you find this short cut?" Rasslyre blurted out, momentarily oblivious to the relative rudeness of her questioning and word phrasing. Her head was tilted inquisitively to the side, attempting to get a better assessment for the man before her.
Luckily for her, the man in question seemed unruffled by her interrogation, and instead seemed… amused if anything.
She shifted on her feet, impatient for his answer while feeling the weight of his gaze on her. The man seemed to exude a certain calm and there was something about him that seemed to set him apart from others she had met in the past- from herself even.
His amusement bled over into his speech, "I am called Voren, miss…?" he trailed off, allowing the unspoken question to hang for a few moments before continuing regardless, "It's perfectly fine that you didn't notice me, I know you're not blind. Not yet at least." Pale and clouded eyes widened in shock, but Voren continued on easily, "Besides, not all things are so easily seen even by someone with perfectly healthy eyes. Things like necessity versus comfort. Bread and cheese versus warm clothing or new shoes."
Rasslyre was, for lack of a better term, flabbergasted. Not only had this man known that the condition of her eyes was still progressing, but he had directly referenced her actions taken with the two-orphaned siblings from the village. She tensed briefly, wondering if the children were in any sort of danger due to her actions and realizing that this man must have been in the village earlier and seen her. Perhaps even heard her as well considering how he pretty much parroted her words. Regardless however, she realized he was still staring at her, with an unspoken air of expectation.
It took her a moment to realize that she had never introduced herself despite her presumptuous behavior. Her cheeks heated in embarrassment, her mother had taught her to be better than this.
"I… Oh merda. My name is Rasslyre… I'm so sorry. That must have… I must have sounded terrible!" she trailed off, her entire visage seeming to wilt as her hands seemed to suddenly find the patterns of her long skirt particularly interesting.
Voren actually chuckled. His blue eyes seemed to spark with mirth over some private joke or predicament that only he was aware of. His regarded this young woman with amusement, and seemed to come to a decision. Slipping his satchel off of his shoulder, he closed the distance between Rasslyre and himself and held the satchel out between the two of them. He was not unaware of this being yet another mirrored parallel to her own actions with the two siblings from the small village to the north. That fact seemed to be shared with Rasslyre, as she seemed to hesitate for a moment before reaching out and taking the offered item.
Rasslyre was close enough now to be able to make out the grin that broke out across the male's face as she accepted the satchel. Curiosity was gnawing at her to investigate what was in the obviously occupied satchel, however seemed hesitant with Voren still standing before her. As if sensing her reluctance, the man turned and began to walk away back towards the village. She was able to pick up a string of words from him as he retreated, though she could not help but wonder if he was intentionally directing them at her or if he was simply speaking to himself.
"Take extra care with that particular child. It will be most interesting to see how your… influence affects it."
As soon as he had begun to retreat, Rasslyre had lifted the flap of the satchel and had revealed a bundle of cloth. Carefully lifting the bundle from the leather bag, she slowly began to unravel it, only to be rather shocked at a large seed of all things. It was certainly not like any of the typical crop seeds that she was used to seeing, it was a startling mixture of blue and purple with icy teal leaves and a single green vine. Her lips parted in muted shock, it was lovely, but what exactly was she expected to do with something like this. Moreover, what kind of… flora would this eccentric seed bloom or grow into? Contemplating this for several long minutes, Rasslyre finally decided to just rewrap the seed to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, and bring the thing home with her.
It wasn't until much later, as she lay under the thick quilted comforter in her bed that she thought over Voren's departing words again.
Wait a minute. What child?
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:41 am
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Subject || Waking Dream
Word Count || 2,060
The quiet calm of the night was abruptly interrupted but a choked cry, followed shortly by a gasp that sounded much more like a muffled sob.
The girl's eyes snapped open as she awoke, only to be greeted by darkness and the sudden, unnatural silence that surrounded her.
The travel cloak, which doubled as a makeshift blanket in the evenings, had become tangled around her legs while her arms were free and had lashed out at empty air and now remained raised above her, grasping at nothingness.
She slowly lowered her arms, one to rest on either side of her body. Her right hand falling on the walking stick she had been using for the past week or so, and her left forearm draping over her eyes that remained open, but unseeing in the dark. Her body settled into an uneasy stillness as she focused on regulating her breathing and calming her racing heart.
The lingering traces of fear wound tightly in her chest, it's iron grip on her lungs made apparent through her quick and shallow gasps of breath.
Fear. Rasslyre's lips thinned and fell into a frown, trying in vain to convince herself of the irrationality the lingering emotion held over her. The chilling sensation slowly bled into itching confusion.
Why was this bothering her so much? she canted her head to the side in consideration as she tried to piece together the dream again from memory. Why does this feel so important?
Unsurprisingly, she found it neigh impossible to recall the dream. Like most of them, as soon as she reached out to try to pull it from her memory, it drifted further away from her, becoming ever more obscure. Sitting up slowly, she was not alarmed in the slightest that her eyes failed to adjust to her surroundings. It was a small miracle in itself that she possessed a narrow field of vision in full sunlight, and had long ago come to terms with the fact that all of the sights and views the night had to offer, were now lost to her.
Her progressing blindness did have some advantages however. Her other three senses had stepped up to compensate for the loss of her vision, and thus eased her transition from a world of colors and vibrance to a muted one of darkness. Not only that, but due to her resignation of having to now view the world and see only empty darkness, the dark no longer held the frightening qualities it had in her childhood.
Acting on a nervous habit, her hands ghosted around herself as she sat, locating and identifying the familiar objects she had placed near before laying down earlier that evening. The long and smooth staff she used as both a walking and guiding stick lay several inches from her on the right, and her pack sat undisturbed next to where her head had been while lying down.
A sudden impulse to reach out and touch the seed she was currently carrying with her caused her to reach out with practiced ease to the travel pack that one of her hands already hovered over.
Slipping her slender fingers into one of the many large pockets, she delicately scooped out the seed. As she brought it out and held it up to her face, the smallest of glimmers permeated the darkness she had grown accustomed to. The small object, while in direct contact with her she had found, actually glowed. While significantly muted, the glow of the seed shone like a single unwavering firefly before her eyes. Sighing, she allowed her fingers to curl over it and let her fingertips rest lightly against the palm of her hand. Though no doubt still subtly glowing due to her unbroken physical contact with it, her fingers had provided just enough obscurity to snuff out the small illumination the seed was emitting from her sight.
The sudden tightness in her chest and chilling stab of panic was swift and unexpected. The onslaught of emotions automatically had her reaching for the guiding stick beside her. While it would make a poor means of defense, it still reassured her that she actually had something in her possession and within reach to protect herself with. That she wasn't completely helpless.
Her entire body was shaking now, this inexplicable and startling reaction utterly baffling.
The seed.
Perhaps this seed had been… no, must have been in her dream. Clearly it had been important as well, she unfurled her fingers, and was troubled when the panic and desperate protectiveness didn't lessen at the return of the tiny light at all, instead the churning emotions intensified. Rasslyre remained sitting, her legs still twisted and tangled in the confines of her very own cloak as she desperately tried to make sense of these new and sudden happenings. By now, her breathing had evened out, yet it did little to ease the tightness that sat heavy in her chest as she regarded the dim light her seed threw off. This was good, this was a clue, a place to start looking. She knew from experience that once awake, her dreams took on the same hazy quality of her deteriorated vision, fuzzy and darkened around the edges. The full picture was gone and slowly being devoured by the encroaching darkness.
She huffed in frustration as she fell back into a lying position once more on the ground. It had only been several scant minutes since waking, however she could already feel the details slipping further and further away. The dream itself was gone, her recollection of it growing more hazy and confused by the second.
One thing persisted to remain stubbornly however, the unshakable feeling of terror.
That and flashes of memory; an endless field of white, stretching further than what was visible in every direction. A bright, albeit empty, space that seemed to hold such finality, proof of something finite, a place of endings.
This was nothing new, she had long dreamed of the white and empty plane, long before even her eyesight began to fail her. She pulled images of the expansive space from her memory, wrapping her mind with it like a security blanket. This was familiar, this was comfort, this was--
Black spots.
Much like the ones that appear to dot one's vision if they begin to have trouble breathing. Only these were not supposed to be here, they did not belong.
As she regarded them, they seemed to pulsate, as if alive as they writhed and churned while growing rapidly larger and multiplying.
The world of white was efficiently devoured before her eyes, the darkness corralling the whiteness and moving in from the edges, until only the smallest sliver of light was visible of the once expansive white world.
Rasslyre felt a lump form in her throat as her eyes remained fixed on the small, weakly flickering shred of whiteness left, suddenly struck by how similar this vision was to what she saw on a daily basis.
The vibrancy of the world strangled and muted by the encroaching darkness that promised to one day rob her of the light entirely and veil her eyes in shadows.
She was not afraid of her impending blindness, however the devouring blackness that surrounded her now was not the simple shadows that she knew would one day become her only visual companion. The mass continued to pulsate and churn, an entity that was entirely sinister.
A ragged breath was pulled into her lungs as the last flicker of white was fully engulfed by the darkness. There were no distinguishing features on the dark mass, but Rasslyre could feel it the very moment that the thing turned it's attention on her.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that this could not be real. For starters, she could actually see. Not just the blurred generalizations she had become accustomed to, but the details, the exact shade of the dyed fabric of her long skirt, and the details of its texture.
It still did nothing to lessen the experience of this. She knew this was a recollection of the nightmare that had been eluding her, and yet even with that knowledge, she was unable to snap out of it.
Rasslyre's skin crawled as she felt the focus of the dark churning mass upon her. It never even touched her, but she felt it, the sudden searing agony that exploded behind her eyes and radiated pain through her entire body. Her mouth opened in an attempt to scream, however the cry lodged itself in her throat, refusing to sound. She fell to her knees, and collapsed forward, allowing her body to fall to the ground and curl in on itself. Violent spasms wracked her body and with a start she realized the seed had still been clutched in her hand. It had rolled from her palm as she trembled on the floor until it was right next to her cheek, it's beautiful colors flickering and fading as tendrils of the darkness moved over her outstretched arm and curled around the small form.
Upon that realization she was pulled in a downward spiral of fear.
For the second time that night, a strangled and panicked cry cut through the air.
Wide and clouded, but nonetheless green, eyes blinked rapidly, momentarily thinking she was still trapped in the remembered dream with that…. thing. That entity.
It was a tense moment of sharp, shallow gasps and racing heartbeats before she realized that the darkness before her eyes was stationary, and not the violently churning mass from… from where?
That had felt too real, far too real. The lingering pressure remained behind her eyes, a dull throbbing sensation, and there was little she could do to cease the tremors that wracked her entire body.
A thousand questions flew through her mind at once.
What the hell was that thing? Did it actually exist? Was that it's true manifestation? If it wasn't real, where had that monster remained hidden within her sub consciousness all this time?
It seemed so… real, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, it… felt like it had belonged. Somewhere in this world or perhaps Gaia, it very possibly could exist.
A very real monstrosity from an alarmingly real dream.
In a terrifying moment of déjà vu, Rasslyre found herself curled up on her side with her hand resting palm up near her face, the soft glow of the seed illuminating her vision. Pale and clouded eyes stared unblinkingly at the tiny light nestled in her palm, half expecting the surrounding darkness to reach out and attempt to snuff out the dim light. Like this she remained, for an indeterminable amount of time, feeling her breathing slowly even out and her heartbeat return to a steadier pattern.
It was impossible for her to even think of closing her eyes and sleeping again, not after that. So Rasslyre remained curled on her side, staring at the soft glow of the seed in her palm until the light of dawn chased away the shadows and she felt the warm rays of the sun against her back.
It was easy enough to get on her way that morning, especially given the lack of morning grogginess that she normally had to get through. After she had draped her cloak over her shoulders, she paused as she crouched down near her traveling pack. She still had the softly glowing seed in her hand, and her hand hovered uncertainly over the small pocket where she had kept the seed for the past several days since receiving it from the male who had introduced himself as Voren. After a moment of indecision, she reached down to her waist where she knew two small pouches were tied to one of the sashes she wore.
Skipping past the first, her coin purse, she opened up the drawstring pouch and emptied of the 3 small stones she had been keeping, before gently placing the seed in the pouch.
After picking up her pack and guiding staff, she navigated the short distance back to the road and continued her trek on towards Omach.
In the time while she had simply lain and regarded the soft glow in her palm, she had come to a decision.
She would protect this seed.
She would protect Casimir.
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Edited version of one of the Opening Event's Flatsale prompts.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:22 pm
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 7:01 pm
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Related RP :: [Kites and Inns]
Subject :: After departing from Safiyah's home, Rasslyre heads back into the town.
Perspective :: Rasslyre Zonaire
As lovely as this little town in Neim is… I don't think I would be too keen on returning here once my blindness progresses any further than what it currently is. In full daylight, or rather what I assume to be full daylight since it seems that there is a thick cloud layer up in this elevation, I can make out the huge chasms that lay under the suspended walkways that link most of this town.
People actually crowd closely together on these too, I can't even begin to fathom why anyone would want to be pushing and shoving around so close to the edges where the very long fall is quite obvious.
It makes me nervous.
Nonetheless, after asking for directions, I was easily able to locate a local grocery and general store. Browsing for basic non perishable foods, fresh water, and an extra blanket for the bedroll I had stored in my travel pack proved to be uneventful. I admit that I probably could have stocked myself better if I had not been so keen on getting back on the road. The cashier was a friendly and chatty elderly woman whom insisted that I stay for the Lantern Festival that was being hosted in the town later that evening.
As tempting as the prospect was, I had already stopped by the local inn once more and was informed that there were still no vacancies since many of the visitors planned in spending the night once more after the festivities. I wasn't too surprised honestly, and really, my curiosity had been sated.
The chilled winds seemed to be relentless in this region as well, and the idea of sun warmed sand dunes were beginning to sound very appealing. |
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:18 pm
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Subject || Time Progression
Word Count || 794
While Rasslyre did indeed usually travel around quite a bit, chasing after whatever had currently caught her fancy, there was a small village several miles from the border of Elore and Omach that she had become particularly enamored with. She was not naive enough to not recognize the various bandits and cut purses which flocked to the small village, but all the same Rasslyre found that she did not find the company of the locals off-putting. The inn keeper had allowed her to rent a room out reserved for her alone, even while she was away traveling with the numerous bands of traveling musicians and performers that breezed through the village every week.
The first times that Rasslyre had been in the village, she would venture into the Inn late in the evening after returning from wandering about or traveling, only to find that the rooms were almost always already completely rented out. The little old woman who owned the place however allowed Rasslyre to stay in the tavern area of the inn and rest her head on a table in the corner, just to be inside from the cold temperature that fell upon Omach once the sun set. After a couple of weeks, when it became apparent that Rasslyre seemed to be becoming a regular resident in the tavern night to night; and not the dining kind mind you, the owner offered Rasslyre a room that she could permanently rent.
Of course, in a village full of thieves, one locked door would mean little, however she possessed nothing of value so nothing was lost so to speak. The Elderly woman who ran the Inn had a small and sparse garden in the back of the building. She somehow managed to keep the small collection of herbs and potatoes alive, and most of it made it into the rustic meals that she cooked and served at the inn. When Rasslyre had first arrived in the village, she still carried the overly large seed in the satchel that Voren had handed to her. At that point however, she had figured the best thing to do with a seed would obviously be to plant it. She may not have been big on herbology or horticulture, but she figured the seed was either going to be planted or eaten. She quite obviously chose the former.
The old woman had been very accommodating, and had cleared a section of the garden for Rasslyre. She had planted the seed with ample amount of space and soil around it, and made sure to water it daily. She was unsure if that was for the best, but reasoned that it was necessary because of how Omach's harsh sun dried out the soil everyday. The first few weeks after she had planted Casimir, Rasslyre forced herself to remain in the small village and not wander off, it would do her no good to go off and leave the seed to wither in the dried up soil. Her wanderlust had grown to a nearly unbearable level during that time, though when she ventured out one evening after several weeks, she was quite surprised to realize that her seed had sprouted into something! A vibrant purple spark of light illuminated the area before her, sporadically flickering on and off.
Scrambling closer to it, Rasslyre knelt down on her knees before the tiny plant and hesitantly reached out towards it. She was able to make out a stubby little growth from where it had split the seed, and a few tiny blossoms nestled among a few sparse leaves. Peering closer, she gently ran her fingertips across the surprisingly smooth surface of what she supposed was the stem or bark of the plant and promptly started slightly when the spark of light seemed to brighten a bit. What exactly was this thing? From what she could see, the little plant still seemed to maintain the unusually vibrant coloring of the seed it had grown from. In fact, as she moved closer so that she could more clearly attempt to make out the colors of the little plant, it became increasingly apparent that each of the different parts of the plant seemed to have taken it's coloring from some part of the original blend that was on the seed.
Leaning back, Rasslyre sighed as she pulled the small glass of water she had brought out from inside the inn and very carefully poured the water around the base of this small little sprout. More questions seemed to be forming while any possible answers fled further and further away. While she was unsure how exactly she should be going about this, Rasslyre still couldn't hold back the feeling of excitement over the sprouting and growth of the seed.
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:08 am
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Subject || When Push Comes To Shove
Word Count || 1,985
The travel back to Omach from Vritra after her participation in the summoning of the dark Queen Iyzebel was uneventful. Though honestly, Rasslyre wondered if her definition of "eventful" would ever really be normal now. She had gotten the distinct feeling from the resurrected Queen that she had some serious plans of retribution in the planning stages, and that somehow her little Casimir would one day be called upon to help put those plans into action. Rasslyre was fairy frazzled from recent events, so honestly she could have been attacked on her way back by a dyslexic poetry spewing crab walker, and she likely would have considered that uneventful in comparison to the summoning she had just taken part in. The exact nature of the growing seed she had received had never really been too clear, but never had she imagined what exact it would one day inevitably grow into. Rasslyre's head was full of clamoring thoughts and speculations the entire trip through the darkened forests of Vritra into Omach.
There was also the little… tree creature thing that was following her about now. A treeling Kerberos had called it, and this one was now hers. She turned her head slightly to regard the plump little thing as it toddled alongside her; it seemed to be in a complacent mood at the moment at least. She recalled how when the two had first departed Vritra, the treeling had made a series of insistent chirps and proceeded to tug at her long skirt until Rasslyre realized that he wanted to be carried. She had attempted to do so, however navigating the dark forest with the animated creature in her arms proved more than she was capable of. After the first few falls, Tsahik had stopped fussing to be carried.
A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as soon as she felt the familiar sand under her feet instead of the hard packed dirt and raised roots of the forest. Rasslyre knew that she had somehow gotten herself into something much bigger than she had initially thought, although if she were being completely honest with herself, she knew that she was looking forward to any of the adventures her decision would bring her way in the future.
Something that she was not looking forward to however was definitely any more confrontations like the one she had experienced with that other female at the summoning. Rasslyre hadn't been able to get close enough to be able to see her face clearly, and as she thought back, she realized that she even had troubles recalling the other's voice as well. Moreover, it was not even as if she was unfamiliar with defending herself, but the fact that all fighting held the basis of intending harm. Biting her lip, she paused to look around at her surroundings as she realized she had not been paying attention to her surroundings as she had been thinking.
Rasslyre had made sure to wait until the following day after the summoning to set out on her way back to the small town where she had more or less set up as a base of operations in Sanctum. She had to make sure that Tsahik was recovered enough after the summoning skirmish, additionally, traveling during the day was rapidly becoming the only real viable means to do so for her. Even as she acknowledged this, Rasslyre was still determined to never truly stop exploring. She would be damned if she were forced to remain in one place for the rest of her life just because she no longer had the gift of sight. That would become dreadfully boring very fast.
Even though it took another hour of extra walking under the sun, Rasslyre managed to find the path she had originally been following and set herself on track once more. Within a couple additional hours, she came upon the tracks of what appeared to be a caravan that had moved through the area recently. It headed slightly more to the West than she was planned on going, but if she were to catch up with them, perhaps she would be able to tag along with the group until she needed to break off to head back to the little town. It would certainly help deter any possible incidents where someone may attempt to rob her along the way, but at the same time, she was tired. She just wanted to find the quickest way back to the bed she knew was waiting for her, and the little plant she planned on investigating more. Mind made up, Rasslyre turned back and continued to make her way over the sun-warmed sands.
Luck it seems, was not smiling upon Rasslyre that day. She should have expected it really, but as she finally was approaching the last couple of miles to the town, her sensitive hearing managed to pick up on the muffled footsteps that were approaching her. Fast.
Rasslyre was by no means a violent person; she quite literally just went with the flow of things depending on how she was feeling. But every woman had her breaking point, and Rasslyre had reached her own. The soft slide of the sand beneath the feet of the would be robbers gave them away long before she would have been able to see them in the rolling sand dunes that surrounded her, and with a sigh she came to a halt. The sun was quickly fading, painting the sky in shades of orange and red as the two men descend upon Rasslyre. She considered it only fair to warn the two men of her darkening mood, so she called out, ”Back off. I’m really not in the best of-”
The two men either didn’t hear her, or intentionally chose not to listen as they split and attempted to strike at her from two sides. Huffing in frustration, Rasslyre gestured toward the thief attempting to flank her while his partner rushed her head on, “Tsahik, take care of that one while I deal with this.” She took a step back and fell into a defensive stance as the opposite man made a threatening swipe towards her with his dagger. Hearing the startled yell from behind her, she called out to her treeling, “Don’t kill him though. It would be terribly awkward to be responsible for the death of a person who may end up being a future neighbor of ours one day.” Rasslyre turned her attention back on the matter at hand, and raised her staff horizontally to block a slash that had been made towards her side. As the knife collided with her walking stick, she adjusted the angle of the staff. Simultaneously pulling back with her left hand and pushing forward with her left to make controlled strikes. Several advancing steps were taken forward as the staff connected with her assailant’s temple, neck, and side in rapid succession before letting up as he backed out of her range.
The man displayed an impressively colorful vocabulary as he staggered back away from Rasslyre and seemed to glance over at his partner for the first time as the previously mentioned man scrambled past Rasslyre towards his partner in a panicked rush. The two of them backed away further as it became clear that this deceptively harmless looking female was making no move to restrain the furious little creature that was currently charging at the two of them. Tsahik crashed into the back of his assigned target, and Rasslyre watched with grim satisfaction as the falling man dragged down his partner in the process as well in a flurry of limbs and sand. She made her way towards the three beings sprawled in the sand, whistling sharply to catch Tsahik’s attention.
The hoods that both of her would be attackers had been wearing had been knocked back, and as she strained her slowly blinding eyes, she was able to make out small details in the dying sunlight. The one she had exchanged blows with had choppy ash blonde hair and a large scar from his temple to jaw, and his friend had long auburn hair pulled back in a low ponytail along with several lacerations on his face from the struggle with Tsahik. She drew up to them and watched as two pairs of dark eyes flicked nervously between her and the treeling who somehow managed to loom over the two fully-grown humans.
Rasslyre glared down at them, lips pressed together in a severe line as she stared down at the two with narrowed eyes. She derived a ridiculously large amount of satisfaction at how the two seemed to squirm uncomfortably like a pair of school boys under her gaze and were actually inching away from Tsahik and herself. She regarded the two for several moments with something akin to quiet fury before addressing them once more, ”Now would be the time for the two of you to be running.” They wasted no time in skittering back and flat out sprinting towards the little town of Nova Nona in the distance.
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Rasslyre smiled tiredly at Nakolah, the sweet old lady who owned the Nova Nona Inn, as she finally stepped through the threshold. She walked over to the woman whom she had begun to consider like family, and leaned down to allow the older woman to kiss her cheeks lightly in greeting. Tsahik chirruped at her side, immediately demanding attention from the older woman and causing her to look down in surprise at the chubby creature who had made it’s way over to her and had raised it’s arms towards her. Rasslyre’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she stepped forth and picked up the treeling, apologizing for the bother. Nakolah just chuckled good naturedly and shook her head, bidding Rasslyre goodnight as she headed towards the stairs that led up to the rooms on the second story. As Rasslyre was halfway up the flight of stairs, Nakolah’s voice drifted up towards her.
“Ah, you have company in the room across from you now too dear. Just rented out for the next six months actually. He's a good looking boy that one.” Rasslyre shook her head in amusement before continuing on her way to the second story. She walked down the long corridor towards the rooms in the back that Nakolah reserved for long-term visitors and stopped at the third to last one on the left. Producing a key, she unlocked the door to her room and walked in, gently placing Tsahik and her belongings down before turning and closing the door. Tsahik had wandered in to explore the room as she prepared for bed, and as she exited the bathroom, she found the little creature already asleep on the spare bed in the room. Smiling in amusement, she decided to follow his lead and crawled under the covers of her own bed, falling asleep quickly.
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Despite her late return the previous night, Rasslyre was early to rise the next morning. She needed to go check on and water Casimir, so stifling a yawn she got up she slipped into a simple dress. She only bothered to finger comb her long hair before plaiting it into one long braid, choosing to not put on her cloth headband for the moment. The treeling was still curled up in the blankets on the spare bed, so Rasslyre quietly slipped out into the hallway of the Inn, turning to close the door with a soft click. At the same moment, she heard another was exiting the room across from her, and a sharply drawn breath caused her to turn and look at the other across from her.
She felt the grin on her lips almost as soon as she recognized the ash blonde hair and vivid scar. The male seemed frozen in place, eyes wide and shoulders tense as he regarded the girl across from him.
"Well I’ll be damned. Good morning neighbor.”
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