[FIN] Remembering the Past [Aylin]

[Alethryia]

Remembering the Past
Prompt 3


Can be used toward Solo or RP req


It has been seven long years since the Great Oban Invasion. It almost feels like a dream, considering all of the changes that have occurred in Tendaji since the great war. A new King sits on the Oban throne, and he has opened the boundaries of Oba and Matori. Many already are taking advantage of the open boarders to travel and explore. The world was expanding and changing all things to the massive war of the great nations.

Since the war, Tendaji took a stand against the extremist Alkidikes and won. They came together to show a new alliance that many could never dream of. Everything was settling, and now that there finally was peace everyone has begun to to take a moment and remember all that has come and gone.

How have the major wars and changes impacted your character these past few years? Are they bitter for their failures or happy about their success? Do they see a peaceful future to come or are they concerned about those who may be still holding grudges?

[Characters not part or even alive during the war can still respond to this prompt. Maybe they have a different way of understanding the war compared to those who were part of it, so feel free to explore those feelings and thoughts in your response]

|| Solos must be 750 words to count for a growth point.
|| RPs and solos (all event responses) should be posted in the events forum in the guild and marked fin once they are finished.
|| Prompts can only count for one point regardless of length of the response.  

[Alethryia]

Aylin sat on the smooth bough of her favorite tree, sitting back against its trunk with one leg curled beneath her and the other swinging mindlessly. The mist was thick tonight, even in the canopy the moisture clung to her skin and stuck in her throat with every breath. She lost herself in watching the patterns of the foliage above her, shadows dancing across her skin, pale in the moon’s light above. It was times such as this that this perch in particular felt like the crook of her mother’s arm wrapped around her shoulder, when she could be lost in thought with the embrace of the forest numbing the pain of loss that would ambush her unexpectedly some days. She did her best to look at the future and not live in the past, but it was hard at times, and there was no use tonight. It was the anniversary of her village’s demise.

She looked up to the moon through the leaves above; today had been particularly dreary, which certainly didn’t help her mood. She’d avoided Ast today, shying away even from Biroki and Reshel, seeking solace in solitude. She’d need to get back soon enough, but for now she savored the sight of the full moon, feeling her spirits lift somewhat as it rose into the night sky. Some thoughts still nagged at her mind, left over from her unpleasant brooding today.

She thought of the Alkidikes and how their struggle with the extremists had taken Biroki away. Good riddance to them and their blood-seeking ways, she was happy with the tentative peace Tendaji had found. The fear she had felt at losing someone else ate away at her as she lay awake at night, worry keeping her from sleep. Despite those nights of worry, she had enjoyed her time studying under Reshel- he was a calming influence in her life that she desperately needed. Training in medicine had made her feel useful, focusing on the constructive use of magic rather than the destructive. There were days that it had reminded her of working with her father - gathering medicinal plants in the canopy to make mundane cures and learning about the flora and fauna of her home. Those days were bittersweet, she loved the work and wanted to preserve those memories, but even after all this time there was still sharp pain- she couldn’t help but think of how things might be different if he were still alive.

Relief filled her when Biroki had returned relatively unscathed, she honestly couldn’t grasp the thought of him not having returned- even now her throat closed up just at the prospect of emptiness in her life. She was glad the issue of the Extremists was resolved more quickly than the war with the Obans had, although she supposed the Oban forces were also greater. She had found herself more isolated here in Ast than she had in her village in close proximity to Neued. She mostly only ever encountered other Shifters and occasionally Alkidikes, but news and rumors still managed to make their way here. Word of the actions of the new Oban king filled her with hope for the future; he at least seemed to want peace and had even opened up the borders.

She knew others had already taken advantage if the open borders and Aylin sometimes dreamt of traveling to Oba and Matori too; some part of her desperately wanted to understand in some way, understand why. What in the Oban culture prompted the attacks, why had they invaded Jauhar all those years ago? Those dreams turned to nightmares more often than not, hazy images of fire and the smell of smoke mixing together with vague figures of dark skin and bright, warm crystals, taking the shape of an Oban fighter approaching menacingly. Aylin leaned her head against her knees and shut her eyes, wincing against the too-close pain of her recurring nightmare. She felt the tug of her magic on the world as it reached out to the cloying moisture in the air and the comfort of a slight, warm drizzle dappled across her. Aylin let out a frustrated breath and looked back to the moon with longing, I'm afraid Selin, I’ve been afraid since that night and I’m tired- tired of living with fear in my belly. Please help me to be strong Selin, let my heart heal so that I may heal others. Tendaji is changing- has been changing- but I've been stuck. I need your strength to move forward, to understand my magic and start truly living again.

[WC: 765]