Blackfridayrule

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin didn't seem inclined to press about the issue and Ridahne looked visibly relieved, releasing the deathgrip she had on her reins. "Yes," she said, "We should get moving. We could be there tomorrow if we are swift." She could practically feel the knots in her stomach untwining. Yes, she had resolved to tell Darin what exactly her job entailed, and all about how it had gone so...wrong. She had decided that the Seed-Bearer had the right to know if she wanted. If it was important to Darin, she would reveal that secret at least. But no part of her wanted to. Her own honor demanded that she present the option to her, but inside the rebellious spirit of hers kicked and screamed and tried to squirm away from the thought. But, darkly, she thought that soon it would come out anyway, no matter how she felt about it. She had never been this close to The Tree in her life and they were getting closer with every step. She had absolutely no idea what the experience would be like for her in particular, but she wasn't looking forward to it.

Maybe that's why it was so hard for her to come clean about her past. It had not generally been something taboo--by the Tree, it was literally tattooed onto her ojih. Everyone back home knew what she was, though not all of them fully understood what she did. And when she had left Azurei, she hadn't thought much of it except that she had her own personal regrets. But the thought of looking Darin in the eye and telling her straight made Ridahne's stomach twist. Maybe it was the Seed. Maybe it was the proximity of the tree since she was closer than she'd ever been. But she felt the guilt so much stronger now. The shame. The regret.

Ridahne reached out and took Darin's things without a word, looking glad to have something to occupy her hands with, even for a moment. Darin got settled on Talbot's back and she passed the items back to her in trade for a bright red fruit that made an odd, almost hollow noise when it struck her palm. Breakfast, apparently. She gave one to Tsura who gleefully snapped it up and chomped it with obvious delight. But Ridahne continued to study it a bit before taking an almost hesitant bite. It was sweet, crisp, but also a little tart, too. And crunchy. "Is this...an apple? That's what it's called?" She had never seen one before, though she had heard of them. "I like it. I have never seen one before. They do not grow in the desert, but we have coconuts near the coast and pomegranates, lemons, limes...though those last two are usually cultivated and not wild. They must be common here?" she looked around her as if trying to spot one in the trees. Ridahne, who grew up a bit poor and also did not know about apple cores, ate the entire thing except the stem. She spit out the seeds, as they were too hard and bitter to eat. She was never one to let food go to waste if she could help it.

They rode on, falling into the dull rhythm of travel. Ridahne looked back at her. "Do you feel...well, how do you feel about seeing the tree? Are you excited? Nervous? I...I have a feeling in my chest, in my stomach whenever I think about it." Tell her what you feel, Ridahne... she thought. She did need to work on being more of an open book with Darin when it didn't involve things that she wanted buried. "I feel dread," she said after a moment's consideration. "I am very nervous. Both to see what state it is in and...I don't know...what the...experience will be like."

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne awoke a bit sore from sleeping on stones and still a little damp, which made her very displeased. She rolled over with a groan, then looked around for her human companion. She figured if she'd come back Ridahne would have heard it (she had impeccable hearing) but there was some chance she could have missed her. Nothing. Aside from Mitaja, who was very unhappy about being disturbed, Ridahne was alone in the cave. The elf let out a long, slow sigh. "Protect the seed-bearer, they said. I swear I'll see it done, I said, whatever it takes, I said. And then I go and lose her. Great job, Ridahne. Absolutely stellar." She looked miserably at Mitaja and stroked her silky belly as the cat stretched languidly. "You made a great choice, Ancestors. Truly top-notch." Perhaps it was stupid to have gotten all heated last night, and perhaps she shouldn't have been so stubborn and should have at least sent Mitaja after her to keep an eye.

Feeling a small sting of regret, Ridahne began to pack up camp but didn't yet mount up and leave. Talbot and her things were still there, and Darin wouldn't get far without them. Something about that encouraged her, made her hope she'd come back. So she waited. And waited. And waited. The sun got higher and higher and soon she was pacing. Now what? She supposed she ought to go look for her, though if she did she would have to leave some kind of sign in case Darin wound up back here after all. Or maybe she'd just bolted and Ridahne had already failed.

Talbot suddenly moved, going to scoop up Darin's pack and trotted off; Ridahne was quick to the uptake and leapt swiftly onto Tsura. She whistled once and Mitaja perked up from where she'd been lounging and smoothly trotted after her, seeming to pick up on a trail that Ridahne could not yet sense. If she was honest, there was a pang of anxiety deep within her that something had happened while Darin was off on her own, something awful, but when she began to hear the calls she knew the truth. Darin had gotten lost. She actually sighed and rolled her eyes, partially at herself and partially at the humor of the situation. Sure enough, she rode up to a little gully to find Darin at the bottom of it with Talbot with twigs and leaves in her short hair from a short tumble.

Ridahne folded her arms and leaned back in the saddle, looking so casual on the back of Tsura that it seemed like they were one and had always been one. "Well well well..." she said, a teasing tone to her voice and a little glimmer in her eyes. "A little lost, are we? It's a good thing you've got Talbot, he's the one who found you. I merely followed." From her tone and demeanor, it was as if nothing had ever happened the night before. That was the way with Ridahne and with most Azurei in general; Shouting matches and small spats were common enough that they didn't weight to heavy on them, so once all parties were cooled off, they brushed it off. Ridahne liked it that way. Things were dealt with up front and people got things out that they needed to, then moved on. It was a good way of going about it, she thought. But she didn't think all humans operated by the same rules, in fact she remembered loosely that they tended to have more subterfuge.

"No hard feelings about last night?" She offered. "I know I am...reactive. It doesn't take much to get my blood up and in Azurei it's more common for us to shout about things than I think it is here. And I never meant to disrespect your friends. I didn't know." She bowed slightly in the saddle, a gesture of humility. As she did it, Tsura dipped his head and lifted a foreleg in unison, making the gesture a little more grand. She had taught him to do this at her signal so she could give proper respect to someone while mounted. "And..." she looked away, obviously uncomfortable as she fiddled with her reins. "If you ask it of me I will tell you more of what it means to be an Eija. More of what it meant for me. It's not a good truth," she warned. "You won't think highly of me after I tell you, whether you did before or not. But..." She couldn't even look at her. This was very difficult for her and that was obvious, but she soldiered on anyway. "You should know what kind of person you have at your side. In part I thought that if I told you, you would not want me anymore and would send me away. It's probably what I deserve but I hoped I could show you that I am more than my past before I told you everything. Anyway. The choice is yours. If you want to know, I will tell you now."

Ridahne still couldn't look at her, couldn't meet her eyes. She had so much shame and that was beginning to show in the way she studied the stitching of her saddle, the way she wrung her hands tight in the worn leather reins until her dark skin went nearly white, the way she couldn't sit still. She'd made up her mind sometime in the night but now that it came to it, it was so much harder to even tell her just that than she imagined.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

It was probably childish of her to be so frustrated and angry. But truth be told, she was frustrated and had been so for much longer than their conversation. And a great deal of that irritation was not Darin's fault either. She really wasn't sure who's fault it was, or if it could be blamed on any one person. She had been frustrated with her work as an Eija. With the Sol she belonged to. She had been frustrated by the vision and how maddeningly vague it had been, and with the months spent on the road, alone, discouraged, and bitter. And now she was frustrated with the way things were working out. Some reasonable part of her assured her that it would blow over and they'd sort things out in time. But she didn't feel very reasonable at the moment.

It occurred to her that the one thing in the recent years of her life that she'd been at peace with was her own death. Execution by her own blade in the hands of another. Somehow that had been so much easier to swallow than any of this. That frightened her. What did that mean? Anything? It wasn't like she wanted to be dead, but when events fell into place and the sentence passed, she'd been so...ready for it. Not eager, just...prepared. She supposed that she'd had half her life to think things through and to know deep down where her choices would lead her. When she had done her crime she knew the price to be paid.

But things had changed so fast. It was like the moment she accepted her path, fate blew up a storm and in hiding that road uncovered another. And she wasn't sure where it would lead. Maybe that was what had her so on edge.

Ridahne rolled over, unable to find rest just yet. She stared up at the gray rock above her and spoke in Azurian, "You got a lot of nerve, Ancestors, choosing me. Was it your intention to find the worst possible person and turn them into some kind of hero or did you just do this to me out of spite? Maybe it's The Tree orchestrating this, not all of you. Doesn't matter. You should have picked someone else. Someone better. I am what they made me and what they made is not good. I should not be the one to do this task."

She burned inside. Frustration, anger, bitterness, and even a small amount of despair bubbled up inside her and threatened to find a way out if she didn't release all that energy somehow. Ridahne stood and, ignoring the rainfall, went outside with her sword drawn and began to go through her stances and forms with all the precision and elegance of a dancer. But there was power there, too as she swung, the steel ringing faintly as it sliced through the air. It was something she did when she was stressed, needed to clear her head, or was upset about something that could not be so easily fixed. It was something to focus on, something that gave her purpose. The intensity and speed of her 'dance' grew, building and building until it came to a peak as she swung her sword hard into the nearby trunk of a tree, feeling the shock of it rattle her arm and shoulder. She released a scream, a feral battle-cry that seemed to sum up everything she felt all at once.

Ridahne stepped back, panting. Well, she did feel better. It felt good to get some of that out of her system. But as the adrenaline wore away she became increasingly aware of how cold she was, not to mention wet, and that did little to improve her mood. Feeling cooled down but not very cheerful, Ridahne heaved the blade out of the tree trunk, went back inside the cave, wiped it down with care and sheathed it, then curled up again close to the fire. Part of her thought maybe she should send Mitaja out to find Darin and keep an eye on her, but with the way Talbot leered at her when she'd just gone out of the cave, Ridahne guessed the horse wouldn't have it. Besides, she had an inexplicable feeling that if something truly awful happened, Ridahne would just...know. She had a good sense for those things anyway but she suspected perhaps there was more at play there. So she settled in and, feeling foolish for getting all wet, eventually found uneasy sleep.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

As Darin began to burst, Ridahne's frustration began to grow. How was she supposed to know these people had been supportive of her? Hadn't she expressed that people generally didn't like her very much back home? Or at least treated her like an outsider. And if Ridahne was going to be sent unprepared on perhaps the most important mission in history, she would want anyone who knew anything to tell her what they knew. Didn't that just make sense? Besides, yelling at Ridahne was a sure way to spark a fire, as she generally didn't like being yelled at. She herself was prone to outbursts, and that combination made her rise to her feet. She was tall even among Azurei people and towered over Darin, the firelight turning her already honey eyes a dangerous orange-gold.

"And how was I supposed to know that?" She shouted. "From what you've told me the people of your village mocked you and disrespected you at every turn! And you expect me to know the difference?" Her eyes narrowed. She had gotten the distinct feeling Darin was not satisfied with the information Ridahne had given her and that irritated her even further. She understood that they were strangers and Darin wanted to know who she was traveling with, but the questions she had asked, Ridahne at least tried to answer. She had explained some basic things about the Ojih and she had accurately described the Eija. They were not one thing and she had tried to explain this nuance. Yes, she had left something out, but she wasn't ready for that yet. Darin would find out soon enough...just...not yet.

"You might think you want answers about me, Darin. But have you ever considered that maybe you don't want to know? I swore an oath I would not deceive you and I meant it. I swore to serve you, Ri'atal. And if you commanded it of me I would tell you every black stain on my pathetic life but you did not, we were casually talking and so I tried to answer you without revealing things I wasn't ready for. I TRIED, alright? What more do you want from me??"

Ridahne growled and kicked her own pack, letting Darin go. She wasn't about to go after her. For one thing, it wouldn't actually do any good. Space was good for both of them. What was more, Ridahne got mean when she stormed out and someone tried to follow her and continue the conversation. She broke a woman's finger like that once. So, frustrated, she paced around the cave for a while before slumping down and taking something to eat. She wasn't going to cook tonight and a cold supper would do just fine. Darin could leave her and never come back for all she cared. There was nothing forcing the human to keep her on as company and she was free to leave her if she wanted. Though she'd left her pack and Talbot, Ridahne still thought darkly about Darin leaving her. Then she could say with finality that she'd failed and could go home one last time, report to the Sota Sol of her failure and have done with it.

Grouchy, Ridahne draped her cloak over her, hood up, and lay on her side with her saddlebags as a pillow, and Mitaja stretched beside her to add warmth.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

"Refused to tell you? Well that seems ridiculous. I mean you had just been given the Seed and named the future Gardener, and they wouldn't tell you? Disrespectful if you ask me." It occurred to Ridahne then that she had not been entirely forthcoming with information herself, though she had never once deceived her. She merely...kept some things quiet. Still, it wasn't like she'd asked and Ridahne refused to answer. She felt like those people, who had always known Darin, now owed her some transparency at least. Unless they had been told specifically not to...hm...

Darin asked the question Ridahne had been dreading to hear (though thankfully and notably she didn't specifically ask what she'd done to get herself nearly executed and then sent away). She grimaced and gave another uncomfortable sound like when Darin had asked about the Ojih, though this was much less uncertain. This was not something just taboo that was difficult to talk about. This was outright uncomfortable. Personal. She debated answering at all for a long time.

--

"Oh. It's Hadian. I thought it smelled like fish. Ugh." The older boy sneered at Hadian and his little sister. He was from a merchant family and therefore far better off than the Torzinei family, and he wanted everyone to know it. This boy, Jirakh, was old enough to have his first ojih mark, a swirling black line form his earlobe to his chin. When he didn't receive a response from Hadian, he stepped forward menacingly, though both the Torzinei siblings were as tall as he was. "Hey. I was talking to you. Look at me when I talk to you, Torzinei."
"Go home, Jirakh. Don't you have better things to do than bother me? We have work to do."
Hadian made to leave, motioning for a young Ridahne to follow him, but Jirahk stepped in front of them both, blocking their path. "That's right, you poor folk always have to work don't you? Especially now." Both siblings' heads snapped up, eyes lit suddenly with anger. "Did you have to sell all her things?" Jirahk continued. "Or is your father holding onto her things in the hopes that your mangy sister might have a husband someday? Tell him to sell them and buy you some half decent clothes, Hadian. This one will never marry anyway...not without her mother to--"

Hadian was already cringing by the time Ridahne let out a feral snarl and leapt at the older boy, throwing her balled fist into his eye. He'd hoped Ridahne wouldn't lose her temper...but he supposed that was too much to ask for. Not that Jirakh didn't deserve it, but now there would be trouble. He didn't even see the rest of the fight unfold, just saw a cloud of red dust as the two went down into the sand, scrabbling at each other and swinging fists. Jirakh was heavier than Ridahne and tried to make use of that, but he wasn't prepared for the fight she had in her, and somehow she ended up on top of him, beating her fist into his stomach as Hadian began to grab her and try to pry her off. She slapped him away, wriggling out of his grip only to be caught in the grip of someone else.

Ridahne froze, looking up to find a tall woman with a complex ojih and a curved sword slung across her back looming over her. Both Hadian and Jirakh were backing away slowly, ready to run if they had to. The woman studied Ridahne for a moment, lifting the girl up to her feet by her arms but not yet letting go. Ridahne swallowed.
"We'll go home. Right away. Promise."
The woman's voice was cool. Icy. "You did a lot of damage to that boy...Torzinei," she said, inspecting the earring in her right lobe. "You can get in a lot of trouble for that."
"Won't happen again, Eija, I promise. We will go home. I promise..." It was perhaps not the most truthful thing she had ever said, but in that moment she believed that she would never fight again--after all, how could she stand defiant while being stared down by an Eija...?
The woman smiled, and neither Hadian nor Ridahne knew what to make of that. "Do you fight often?"
"I...yes." the answer came as a breathed whisper like it had been squeezed out of her.
"Do you win?"

Ridahne blinked, looking first from the woman, then to Hadian, and then Jirakh, who now had a bloody nose. "I uh...y-yeah? Sometimes? But I--"
The woman's smile widened and she let go of Ridahne. "You've got fire, kid. But an uncontrolled fire can burn things it was never meant to. It can cause a lot of damage. It must be tempered with stone. I can give you stone. Tell me, have you given thought to your calling?"
Ridahne stammered, "I'm a Torzinei...we...fish."
"But not you, I think," the woman said, her voice thoughtful. "Go home. I will speak to the scouts of you, and when you have come of age I think they will find you and see if you're meant for something more than fishing."

--

Ridahne took in a deep breath and began, "My family are traditionally fishers. I was expected to follow that path and I thought I would, but...I never really wanted to. I just didn't know what else was in store for me. What else I could be. At a young age I was approached by some scouts--people who try to find young Azurei who have talent for certain callings. The idea is that you train them early and they become better at whatever it is that they do. I um...I was scouted out for being an Eija. And at the time I thought it was wonderful. I liked that someone saw something more in me than just a life of saltwater and fish. When I was old enough I jumped at the opportunity to become an Eija..."

She fell silent again. How to go about this...? "I told you that Taja means 'arm'. They are men who protect and serve the Sol. Eija...it means 'hand'. They carry out the will of the Sol. Whatever she asks, we do. You could call us soldiers, except 'soldier' implies 'war', and there's not any. You could call us constables..maybe...but we were more than that. Too dangerous to be servants exactly, too far-roaming to be guards really." There was something else she was leaving out and it was painfully obvious, but she didn't seem keen on forking over the information so easily.

"There was a time I was honored to be one of their number. I took pride in it. I met the only man I ever loved because of it. I trained and I learned and I owe who I am to being an Eija. I'm just...not so sure that I'm proud of what that has made me anymore. Maybe under a different Sol, things would have been...well just different. But." She cut off with all the hard abruptness of stone, then added, "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Works for me!

In Dark Seas We Sail

"YOU are laughing at me!" Rohaan huffed, his tone petulant. "Don't you dare laugh at me or I will rub Wheel's stinky socks on your pillow!" It was a mark of both how far he had come since Berlin picked him up but also of the points Hana received in his mind for promising not to blow him up that he did not growl or threaten to bite. He wasn't ready to give her use of his second name just yet, but that promise had done a lot to improve his view of her. That and Berlin's seal of approval, of course. "This is NOT funny," he asserted, arms folded across his chest as if to make himself as small as possible in order to conserve heat.

She offered to make the water warmer and this also won her some points in the book of Rohaan. Warm was nice. And considering how he was actively shivering he wasn't going to argue with that. He expected her to go down to the galley and fetch a few hot stones to put in the water--that's what his mother always did. But instead she dragged over a different barrel and started...chanting? He stood in the barrel, confused, but then he felt the water suddenly grow notably warmer. It wasn't an immediate switch to hot, but it was enough of a movement that he felt it change. Rohaan gave a soft yelp of surprise, a small "eep!" as he put his hands on the rim of the barrel, preparing to launch out of it at any moment. Instead he waited, feeling the water gradually get warmer and warmer. Actually it was kind of nice. He did think for a grim moment that if she wanted to, she could boil him alive like a crab, and though he assumed that her promise not to explode him meant that she didn't want to hurt him in general, it crossed his mind that maybe that assurance had been more specific to exploding, not boiling.

"Okay okay! That's good," he said when the water began to gently steam. "Ai'eda," he said softly. Rohaan thought for a minute and then added, "It means um, thank you." No longer cold, Rohaan gleefully sank down so that only his nose was above water, and eventually put that under too and started to snort bubbles; Rohaan liked water and would swim often when it was warm and they docked somewhere. He had to squat to fit completely under the water, and that left him very little space, so he decided to turn into a deep red octopus and swirl silkily around the barrel. He even reached two squashy tentacles out at her hand, wiggling them at her like a tiny version of the ship-sinking monsters depicted in paintings and spoken of in legend.

--

"...You didn't see it's mouth..." Uban muttered, grabbing an apple and taking it up with him. He tied back his wavy light-brown hair and slid out of his shirt, which he hung loosely over a cleat. It was his nice shirt, after all, and he didn't want to rip it sparring. He immediately shivered as the breeze attacked his exposed skin, though he knew he'd welcome that breeze once they got going. When Wheel joined him with the practice blades, Uban took his, hefted its weight a bit, then dropped into a loose, springy stance and swung.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne listened, nodding thoughtfully but then she suddenly screwed up her face like she'd bitten into a lemon and stared at Darin, bewildered. "He...died? Like dropped dead right there in front of you? Okay okay...did he...was...I mean was there any kind of struggle or suffering or like did he seem to know? Did he have time to know? I...I've never heard of such a thing in my entire life." She rested her forehead on her fingertips, still trying to process that. She was no stranger to death and had seen many people die before and for many reasons, including ailments. It was always one of two things: a slow, agonizing march to the end, or a quick, violent halt. The latter was often less horrible. But she'd never heard of someone carrying on a conversation and just...keeling over like that, dead all of a sudden.

She nodded. "Yes, the Sol. He came. I did not see him, I was...away. And guests of such high honor generally are not made to suffer the presence of the likes of...well, me. This was before my execution sentence and eventual exile, but even though I was...involved...in the upper courts, I was not meant to be paraded around. So I was not. Ajoran though, he is a Taja. It is a position of great honor, and they are elite men who protect the Sol and serve them. Taja means 'arm'. But he was there and told me about their meeting. He said nothing of the seed--back then nobody knew there was one. The first the Sol heard of the Seed was from me. I asked him to describe the Gardener and he had difficulty doing so. Isn't that interesting? He never mentioned if he was man or elf or siren. I wonder...what if he is none of them? What if he is not a Child of Astra at all? Or...either that or he is but he is not one of the Three. Odd. Did you ever find out what he said to the prettiest girl and the best hunter?"

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Ridahne sighed, trying to gather herself a little. "That's just the beginning. My people tell stories of it so we remember. It's not just killing each other on a battlefield, its families ripped apart, civilians starving and scraping to get by so the soldiers can be fed, its people's homes being destroyed in fires, sabotage of crops and water sources--yes, in the past people have poisoned water supplies. It's conquering a city and then raiding it. Looting. Murder. Rape." she shivered at that last word. She had caught someone trying to force himself on a young woman once, and as far as she knew the little village still told stories of the way an Azurian Ghost of the Sands had come and butchered him. There was no mercy or help for anyone who did such a heinous crime if Ridahne caught wind of it. "The horror of war stretches far beyond the battlefield, beyond soldiers. And I saw flashes of it in my vision. There is nothing I would not do to see this mission through. Nothing."

And she meant it. If her own brother stood in the way of this quest, she would cut him down if she had to, so long as it meant saving the land she loved. Of course, Hadian never would. He was Ridahne's opposite--if she was fire, he was a cool breeze. If she was stone, he was the ocean. Calm, cool, reserved, and he desired nothing more than peace.

Ridahne's hands started to shake from the repeated tiny stabs of pain from the needle and she began to clean her materials, clean her fresh ink and smear it with the fragrant balm she used for wounds, and packed her supplies neatly away with respect and reverence as if they did not belong to her and she wanted to keep them nice. There wasn't much new ink to be seen, only a small patch that had been filled in. A tattoo could be shaded in faster if the individual dots of ink left by each needle strike were left further apart, but that was not the Azurei way.

The elf thought back to her childhood, memories of lying in the still-warm sand of the beach and listening to stories from her mother as waves crashed nearby. "Hm...we have many stories. I have heard the one about the tree being planted to prevent war. There is also a story of three slaves in ancient times, people kept in fetters and chains and made to work without pay or without reaping the benefits of what they do. At the time, an evil elf king had conquered most of the land and made slaves of those who resisted him. And one day three slaves, a human man, an elf woman, and a siren woman escaped their masters and ran for freedom, seeking new lands where the evil king could not dominate them. They traveled south for many leagues but they met resistance, and one day the siren woman was shot with an arrow. They carried her away and tried to heal her, but they could not, and she died. The man and the woman decided to bury her, but they had no tools to dig with. They used their hands, which bled from the effort, and buried her deep beneath the ground. They wept over her grave, their tears soaking into the dirt. Together they traveled on, gaining strength and support as they traveled, until they led a resistance against the evil king and threw him down.

Now, about this time, a sprout had begun to grow over the siren woman's grave. Born of blood and of sorrow and the hope for better days full of peace and freedom, a plant had begun to grow. And though it grew over the body of a siren, the blood of humans and elves were also in the soil with their tears, and with the blood of the Three this plant grew from no seed and formed a tree. As the evil king fell, the spirit of peace that birthed the tree took hold over the land and as it grew, its influence spread and became the Great Tree we know now. I have heard that the Gardener was the human man who had helped in its creation, but I have also heard that he was the son of the siren buried beneath it, or that it was an elvish man who had lost everything in the wars and wanted to make sure it never happened again. I'm not sure what the truth is, or if there's any truth at all in the whole story. You met him...what was he like? Who was he?"

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Midway through Darin’s explanation of expectations of most women in Lively, Ridahne let out a sudden noise of sympathetic exasperation, even stopping her inking to look up at her new travel partner. “Oh, by the tree, if I was ever condemned to be like that...” she gave a little laugh. “I can’t imagine myself becoming one of those women...the ones who stay at home all day, stay inside, raise children and clean and cook. I’m not a good cook,” she laughed. “I’m better than Hadian, my brother, but Ajoran was always better than me...” A sad note touched her voice as she said this, but it didn’t stay.

“No, I can’t blame you for not wanting to be like that. What a dull life... Azurei women have different standing in society than in human lands. From what I understand, women here are supposed to be second to men, yes? Submissive? The man makes the decisions in the home and the woman follows? We are not that way. We are a matriarchy—-females are the head of the household and they rule Azurei. We believe the gender responsible for giving life should make decisions for those she cares for. And we also believe that those who give life should be the ones to take it, as well. We don’t have as many male warriors, not like you. The sword is a feminine art. It is a dance, prized for its elegance, control, and speed. The idea behind female warriors, also, is that women will naturally have a better appreciation for life and will thus be more careful when taking it from someone else.”

She went back to her tattooing. “I was also expected to be something different than I wanted. The Torzinei clan has been fishers for ages, and it was sort of expected that I would stay in Atakhara. I wanted more. And eventually Scouts came to town and took a liking to me. I wanted what they offered and eventually left home to pursue...new things.” She did not elaborate on what those were; it seemed her former occupation was something she was not keen on revealing unless cornered about it.

Darin asked about the tree and Ridahne sighed heavily, sadly. She had seen the tree. And she wouldn’t forget what she saw. “Yes...I have. In a way, anyway. I h ave not seen it in person, but the vision I had showed it. One moment I was in a cell talking to Ajoran and...the next I was in this...glade. In the center was the Great Tree, its branches spread wide and high into the sky like a living mountain. Around it were once flowers of many kinds and colors but they had all died. Wilted, dry, and broken, their colors faded. The Tree’s leaves fell but it was not autumn. The leaves that fell were not red and gold but black, brown, and gray. The bark, which was supposed to be smooth was starting to flake away like sunburnt skin.” She had dropped her tools now, eyes looking unseeing at the wall of the little cave; they were filled with tears and her voice quavered as she went on. “And I could feel the stillness in the air. No wind blew. No birds sang. The sun gave no warmth. And it showed me what would come if you failed. Darin...what do you know of war?”

Ridahne’s face was haunted as her amber eyes turned to the younger woman. She knew of war. Her people still remembered it and told stories of it, sparing no harrowing detail. The Azurei knew that its horrors should not be forgotten, even when the tree was alive and well. And now, as the Tree was failing and slowly evil was going to creep into Astra, Ridahne knew it would come if they failed.