Cordelia nervously followed a dark purple striped doe out into the barrens. It was like revisiting the past in a way, that first time they had met. She looked over at the older doe who took her in and raised her as her own despite being so young still. Cordy was thankful that Tempest had found her. Cordy eyed the blue sparkling swirls that now adorned her adoptive mother’s back, she’d grown stronger and the tree blessed her yet again.
Tempest picked up a light trot as they entered the barrens, knowing Cordy would keep on her heels. Each doe bore a jack hop on their back as they trotted in a single file line. Today they were heading to the grandfather tree, Cordelia was an adult now and it was time to make it official. Nothing seems to say “I’m an adult,” like a gift from the grandfather tree. Tempest was so proud of her adoptive daughter and excited for her to take this next step in her life.
Cordelia was excited and nervous all at the same time and butterflies fluttered in her stomach as the tree came into view. She practically danced her trotted steps.
“Easy now Cordy,” Claystone, the jack hop on Cordy’s back, said. “Don’t send me flying now. I know you’re excited.”
“Sorry Clay,” Cordy laughed sheepishly. “She calmed herself with a couple deep breaths and continued on her path. But Tempest had come to a stop in front of her so Cordy came up to her shoulder. “Why have we stopped, Tempy?”
Tempest was gazing up at the tree and then turned to look at Cordy. She grinned, “You get to go the rest of the way with me. Clay can stay with you but Basalt and I will stay down here. When you’re done, we can walk home together.” Tempest was doing her best not to bounce in place. Despite being older now, Tempest was fully of energy as always. Cordy couldn’t help but smile.
“Ohhkay, I can do this,” Cordy said mostly to herself, receiving a reassuring pat on her back from Clay. Cordelia took her leave of Tempest and began the climb to the plateau of the grandfather tree. Reaching the top, she had to still herself again, breathing deeply and calming her nerves. “I’m ready for whatever comes my way,” she spoke in a steady voice, her eyes rising to the massive white oak before her.
WC: 407
Posted: Fri May 08, 2020 7:50 am
Though no breeze passes through, Grandfather Tree's leaves rustle as Cordelia approaches.
Choose one of the following prompts for Cordelia's dream vision.
Quote:
You find yourself in the barrens with a rumor planted firmly in your mind: there are underground caverns somewhere nearby, filled with pools of clean water. You don't remember where this rumor came from or if it's true, but a new discovery would be fantastic for Homewood. What do you do?
Quote:
You find yourself in the ruins, standing over a deep well built into the Other’s sewage system. A cry for help echoes out of the darkness, but there’s no means to get down into the hole to help. What do you do?
Quote:
You find yourself trapped in a maze of metal walls, disoriented and unsure of your surroundings. What do you do?
Cordelia was thankful that she had asked the right questions when she prepared for her trip to the Grandfather tree. The change from standing before it to standing somewhere in the barrens wasn’t a surprise. Cordy shifted the packs on her back, Tempest told her she was taking too much but Cordy wasn’t one to take chances. Her adoptive mother may like to live on the edge but Cordy preferred being ready for anything.
She was about to wonder what her goal for this vision quest was to be when a random, new thought floated through her mind. There’s been talk about underground caves around here and they’re full of fresh water. Oh that would be beneficial to Homewood and the expanders! It was still pretty bright out, Cordelia took into account the placement of the sun in relation to where she was and the direction Homewood might be. Once she had her bearings, Cordy pondered on where to look for potential entries to caverns. She began to turn in a circle, taking in the dry expanse of the barrens. After she completed her survey of the area, she pulled out a rolled up map of the barrens and inspected it. With a red marking tool in her mouth, she carefully marked her approximate location and then circled spots she intended to check. Cordy wasn’t entirely sure how far these spots were but could figure out what was closest to farthest and planned to start with the nearest spot.
She tucked her map and marking tool back into her bag, turned towards the nearest possibility and picked up her adoptive mother’s light travel trot. Her hooves ate up the distance between her and the outcrop of rocks. Carefully, she circled the whole thing, deducing there was no dangerous and went about poking at various rocks and stones, hoping maybe the entryway was covered. Hmmm, it seemed this was not an option anymore. Cordy pulled out her map and marking tool once more and crossed off the symbol for this outcropping.
“Not here. Perhaps one of the other two. Though if not them, I’ll need to ponder some other possibilities--” Cordelia cut herself off as her eyes went over wavy lines in the map just past the second option but before the third. Wavy lines means deep cracks in the ground, maybe the entrance was sealed up by the ground. She circled that as a possibility and put her items away again. She trotted off towards the second outcropping, taking a swig of water on her way. Wouldn’t it be great if she found these caverns? She thought, though it would be wonderful if she had at least one other here with her. It’s nice to bounce off ideas and questions with another, different perspectives.
A wind kicked up, blowing sand into her face. Cordy paused, turning her back into the wind, sand stinging her back instead of her face. Putting her head down, she carefully used her legs to pull a pair of googles down. Tempest thought they looked funny but Cordy loved them. Usually she had Claystone here to help her but this was a vision quest. Once she got them down around her eyes, she turned back around and headed into the wind once more. It was slow going but Cordy continued on. Her eyes could see safely through the sand and wind, the stingy was getting to be a bit much so she had pulled her canvas roll down and around her, tucking it into her harness. Much better.
Arriving at the outcropping, Cordy was able to get some relief from the wind and hunkered down to wait the rest of it out. If Tempest had been there with her, she wouldn’t want to wait. She’d check out the outcropping and take off to the next option. Always on the move, Cordy thought quietly, my mother struggles to wait for anything. She smiled wryly to herself and shook her head. By the time the wind had died down, it was twilight, the sun had already vanished but the sky was colored in saturated blues, purples, reds and oranges. Stars had popped out, sparkling in the darkening sky. Cordelia looked up in wonderment. She had developed a deep love of the night sky and wondered what was out there, what are stars really? She was also fascinated that stars where still and could be used to navigate by, even with the sun gone.
She stood up and shook off any sand build up. She took her time walking around the outcropping of rocks and after a while, determined that this was not the place. She pulled her map and marking tool out, found the outcropping on the map and crossed it off. Cordy took a drink and had a quick snack. After repacking her bag, she rose to her feet once more and gazed up at the stars. She had a book at her grandparents’ that showed pictures of stars and drawings of how to navigate, she’s look over it again for sure. Cordy decided she wanted to learn to navigate by stars, how fun would that be!
Her next destination was the cracks in the ground and arriving at them, she can see why they where marked on her map. They were deep and numerous. She tested a few spots with a hoof, they held up but she was suspicious. Looking around she found a decent sized rock she could roll but she pulled out a strap of cloth and laid it on the ground. Cordy rolled the rock to the center of it and gathered both ends of the cloth. She lifted the heavy rock and swung the makeshift sling, letting go at just the right moment. She rock flew and landed just off center in the cracked ground before vanishing.
Cordy’s ears perked up and her eyes widened a bit The ground crumbled more, a big hole forming. Carefully she walked to the edge, testing each step with a hoof and slowly adding her weight. She braced each time thinking that was the moment she would fall in too. It was a slow process but she didn’t want to risk unnecessary injury, though she did have a small first aid kit. Reaching the edge, a step made it crumble more and she backed up and then leaned forward a bit to look down. There was rocky walls the went down but not far before it went sideways into darkness.
Her ears stained forward, listening for the hopeful sounds of water. Was that a drip? Cordelia moved away from the cracked ground to solid ground once again. She pulled out her map and put a waterdrop symbol next to the crack ground symbol. She also drew an irregular filled in circle in the middle to show there was now a hole. She packed her stuff back up. Now the question begs, did she go in herself and find out what’s down there or take the news back to Homewood risking not being to go find out herself. She was dying to know what was down there and she could have sworn she heard the quiet drips of water.
There were many options for alternative lighting, there could even be some sort of bioluminescent fungi or insects down there. It would be better to bring news of actual caverns with water than a possibility with no guarantees. With her mind made up, Cordelia took the dive into the deep.
WC: 1,252 Total: 1,659
Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 7:16 pm
Grandfather tree's leaves settle and a deep blue light swirls around Cordelia, refreshing and carrying the scent of ocean salt.
Cordelia has been bestowed with the Aqua gift.
Her initial ability is Douse.
The user can find sources of water, even if they are deep underground. +1 aqua healing to an area
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