LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Do you have plans for the people Ridahne hears? Are they highwaymen?

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

At some point Talbot bent his knees to sink to the ground. Darin was on the laying on the ground as close she could get to the horse. The human looked up at the stars as she counted them, lost track, and began to count them again. She couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Slowly she watched the moon creep across the sky. She was going to be exhausted when the morning came. For a moment she pondered whether she should just keep moving. She wanted to see The Tree. It wasn’t like she was going to get rest, so she might as well do something productive. The only thing about that was that wouldn’t be fair to Ridahne, and Darin was desperately trying to be a good person. She wasn’t sure that it was working one little bit.

The human turned on their side and pressed and pressed their back to Talbot’s flank. She pondered what Ridahne had said about understanding her and the person she was to marry. Out of all the things the Elf had talked about that was the one Darin would admit she didn’t understand. She wasn’t sure how she could understand it. Once upon a time her mother had told her that love was complicated. Darin didn’t think it needed to be complicated though. If two or more people loved each other shouldn’t the goal be to be together. That seemed fairly simple to Darin. People then went and made it complicated. Mama had told her that she just hoped that her father was happy. Darin supposed that was because Talia had never stopped loving Martin. She supposed that could be the same thing here. It may not have made sense to Darin, but if it made sense to Ridahne than who was she to judge? Darin still thought that Ajoran, was that his name, was more hurt than even Ridahne knew. Darin didn’t even have the strength to let people close. How much strength did it take to let them go? Had Ridahne even thought that as she planned her killing spree? The Elf may not have left on a cold dark night, but she still had left without thinking of how her loved one would suffer. If they truly loved each other the way the warrior had claimed, the two of them would have discussed it first. Then they would have made the choices together. Ridahne’s firm insistence that they were not like her parents led Darin to think that the warriors were more similar to the farmers than the Elf wanted to consider.

Darin shook her head. She was trying to not make assumptions about Ridahne. That was harder than it sounded, but it was one of the things her mother tried to teach her. She wasn’t good at it. She judged people all the time. Even before The Seed came to her Darin had been good at making assumptions about people. That seemed like something the Seed-Bearer should avoid. She shifted on to her back. Maybe there was something wrong with her. Well, that was dumb. There was plenty wrong with her. In fact, she had a whole list. Her cons far outweighed her pros. It was still baffling that The Gardener had picked her. She gave her head another shake. She was not starting down that road again. There were other, more important, things to think about. She needed to figure out how she was going to stop making assumptions about Ridahne. Darin couldn’t come up with any good ideas. Ridahne probably hated her. Darin actually beat her palm against her forehead for that. She wasn’t supposed to assume she knew what the Elf was thinking. She had no idea what the Elf was thinking. Darin scowled. Being a good person was hard. She wanted to go back to just being a sort of an okay farmer. Why did she have to be picked for this? Why did The Gardener pick her?

Frustrated with her lack of sleeping Darin pushed off the ground to start waking again. She didn’t get very far before Talbot caught her pant leg in his teeth. The human scowled at the horse. Talbot looked unimpressed. Darin flopped back down. The horse had a point. Darin wasn’t far from the camp. She could still see the fire’s glow. If she went much farther a repeat of this morning would happen. That wasn’t something that would be good. Not for the first time Darin wondered how someone who could get lost going twenty feet would be able to travel all of Astra. She curled back into Talbot. She was starting to get chilly.

She whispered to the night air, “I miss Mama Talbot. I just want to see her again.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin wasn’t sure she believed most of what came out of Ridahne that time. People could and did lie to others and to themselves. The human had not doubt that the Elf thought she was telling the truth. It may have even been a version of the truth. That didn’t change the fact that to Darin’s, admittedly untrained eyes, that the warrior had been running all her life. Then again, what did Darin know about the world? She had never left home before this after all, and it wasn’t Darin’s job to call out people who may or may not be lying. It was her job to plant The Seed. It wasn’t a job she wanted, but she was going to do it to the best of her ability.

Darin was suddenly exhausted. Anger was not an emotion she had experience with. She had been exasperated, frustrated, slightly ticked off, but never angry before. She wasn’t sure that she liked it. It had drained so much energy out of her. All the human wanted to do was collapse to the ground and sleep. She wasn’t sure that she could do that though. She thought that might ruining the message she was trying to send to Ridahne. She wasn’t even really sure what message she was trying to send, but she was going to send it at best she could. Maybe she just wanted Ridahne to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was Seed-Chained. She wanted the Elf to know what that meant. The only problem with that was that Darin wasn’t even sure what that meant.

She had never heard those words until she had said them just now. Thomas had been the first to call Darin Seed-Bearer, and that strange title had made sense. Darin was the person carrying The Seed to where it belonged. The burden of this mission fell on to her. No one else could do it until it was done. She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if she failed. However, she wasn’t sure what being Seed-Chained meant. If Darin had to guess, which she thought she might have to do, being Seed-Chained meant that Ridahne’s fate was tied to The Seed the same way Darin was but not in a good way. Being the Seed-Bearer conveyed a sense of honor. Being Seed-Chained had no honor whatsoever. While Darin might not want it being the Seed-Bearer was a privilege. Being Seed-Chained was a punishment. In this case, it was a punishment foe threatening to leave.

Darin suddenly knew what she wanted to say next, “You don’t get to know my mind. You do not get to assume that I would cast you off. You have no right to assume my thoughts unless I share them with you.” She turned to leave the fire, “I’ll be back. Do not follow.” Then as she reached the edge of the small clearing she turned back, “Oh. And I did not think that you cared about your Azurei law. So that’s not a good excuse for what you did to him.”

The animals at the edge of the campsite scattered as the Seed-Bear came towards them. What had happened here tonight was over. All of Astra could sense that. Darin watched them go with question on her lips that she did not voice. Tonight, had been too much. So, even though it meant she was doing it two nights in a row, Darin was leaving the camp to think. She really hoped this didn’t become a habit. She shouldn’t let it become a habit. She stopped as she got to the stream. Then, without thinking, Darin let out a scream of frustration, anger, and desperation fill the air. She then fell to the ground to sob.

This wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair at all. She wanted to go home. She wanted her Mama. She didn’t want to be responsible for all of Astra. She had no idea why she was responsible for all of Astra. By The Tree, why did it have to be her? Surely there were better choices out there. She didn’t even know how to make friends with one person that she wanted to make friends with. It didn’t seem like it would be happening anytime soon. She couldn’t even spend a night with the Elf unless she was drunk. Darin wrapped her arms around her knees as she pressed her face to them in order to stop the tears. She wanted her Mama so bad. He Mama might not have to answers, but at least she would be able to help Darin think it though. \

Like the fact that if the human wanted the Elf to not assume to know what she was thinking Darin had to return the favor. Maybe Ridahne had told the truth. Maybe the Elf really was trying to just do her duty. Maybe the warrior was truly afraid of the fact that Darin might not want her. Darin could see that. If the Seed-Bearer didn’t want her the exile would have to go home to be killed. Darin gripped her knees tighter. She didn’t want to be fair. The world wasn’t being fair to her. Why did she have to be fair to Ridahne? She supposed she didn’t have a choice. At least she hadn’t accused the Elf of lying. She could, at the very least, keep her assumptions to herself for now.

Her stomach let out a sound of protest and Darin was reminded of the fact that she had had nothing to eat besides apples all day. That was not a pleasant thing to remember. It was also a chilly night. She should really head back to the camp. Darin just didn’t want to. She was surprised to feel something press against her back. She turned to see Talbot. She let out a watery laugh. At least she wouldn’t freeze to death tonight.

Then she sighed, “Why is this so hard Talbot? I never asked for any of this.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

So, I got done with work. I did my real life adult responsibility things. I went to write you a post only to have my head hurt just by looking at the screen. It was then that I realized I have been up for 24 hours plus. I can hardly think enough to type. I will get you a post as soon as I get some sleep and feel better. Thank you for understanding.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Thank you for all that information! That is super helpful. I will get you a post tomorrow probably. Work is kicking my butt right now.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

That actually answers all the questions I need answered! The only one I have left is would they know how to read the ojih? Oh! And any rules I should follow when it comes to naming?

Also I promise Ridahne would know just how serious "May The Tree take you for evil" really is. Everyone in Astra knows what it means. It's almost like a cross between "I hate you with the fiery flaming passion of a thousand suns" and "Damn you to hell" but way worse. And the Seed-Bearer just said it. So, yeah. No going home for Ridahne. I'm hoping the vibe I was aiming for came though in the post, but I'm not sure. Let me know if you have questions.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

It made perfect sense to Darin. The killing of innocents needed to stop so Ridahne stopped it by killing those responsible. Darin could see the logic behind that, and though it may have made her naïve she agreed with it. She could even be fair to those who had sentence Ridahne to death. Laws had been broken. Oaths had been betrayed. What was the point of a law if there was no punishment for breaking it? Darin might not have agreed the law was right in this case, but for all she knew the people who had sentenced Ridahne to death didn’t have the full story. Darin could understand that. It all made sense.

Until it didn’t. Darin wasn’t sure she had the full story. She wasn’t exactly sure who Ajoran was, but he was supposed to marry Ridahne. The Elf had said that flat out. It also sounded like he loved her. Not only did he love her, but he loved her enough to wait as long as it took for Ridahne to come home. What little Darin had of the story that made sense. What Darin couldn’t comprehend was that Ridahne had said. It almost sounded like she had left him with no hope that she would be returning to him. If the Elf wasn’t going home to the one person that loved her more than anything, the man it sounded like she loved, did she love him after all? To the young human it almost sounded like the warrior had left her lover the same way Martin had left Talia. That was the part that Darin could not comprehend. She was starting to think she would never get it. She hadn’t gotten it when her father left her mother after all and she didn’t get it now.

However, Darin did not mention that. Instead she let her voice grow cold, “Oath-Breaker. You call yourself Oath-Breaker. Go home and that’s exactly what you’ll be.”

Yeah; Ridahne’s dismissal of her lover confused her, but her desire to go home after being so heartbroken over breaking an oath that seemed stupid to Darin made Darin angry. Did the oaths or promises that the Elf had made to her mean nothing? It probably wasn’t as fancy as the Azurei oaths, but in Darin’s mind they had made promises to each other in Greyrock. The village didn’t have any fancy ceremonies for such promises, but they carried a weight heavier than all the earth.

Darin was surprised at how angry she was, “Go home now, go home when you find me a so call better guardian, and may The Tree take you for evil!”

Heavy words; heavy words that everyone in Astra knew. They were not words taken lightly. They were not words spoken in jest. Even children knew not to say them without extremely good cause. To have The Tree take someone for evil was worse than wishing them dead. It was to have all of Astra turn against you. It was to have your name blotted out of soul and mind. It was to be exiled in a place you could never leave. It was the highest insult and the greatest dishonor. For the Seed-Bearer to say it meant the words may actually be literal instead of figurative the way the they were when most people spoke them. If Ridahne truly chose to break the promises she had given to Darin the moment the Elf figured out who she was the Azurei wouldn’t have time to kill her. The very stone, sky, and sea would take Ridahne Torzinei first.

Darin continued, “You named me Ri'atal--the Hope of Many. You offered me your life and blade. You volunteered to protect and guide me.” She was standing and just about screaming at the still sitting Elf, “Even before you knew me as the Seed-Bearer you offered to teach the misplaced farmgirl how to use her knife. Those are serious promises. I would not break them if I were you!” She forced her voice to be calmer, “You killed to make things right. How many more did you kill to do what was wrong? Can you ever truly make that up by killing alone? Will you really be an oath breaker again?” She practically hissed the next bit, “You ran from your guilt by breaking your promises. You ran from your broken promises by running to death. You ran from death by taking this task. You ran from the man that would stand by you despite anything by leaving him heartbroken. You have run from consequences over and over and over again. You do not get to run this time. You will walk with me Ridahne Torzinei Seed-Chained. You walk with me, Darin Seed-Bearer, until The Seed is planted or until I breath no more and my body lies underground to help grow that which we eat. If you chose not to do so, for any reason besides me releasing you, you will die in the most dishonorable way possible. It will not be a death you choose.”

Darin wasn’t sure where those words had come from except for the fact that every single one of them was true. She had started sitting, but at some point, discovered she was standing to yell at the creature more than five times her age. How did the warrior no so little about life? Consequences could not be avoided. Promises, even rash ones, needed to be kept. Darin’s entire attention was on the Elf she was beyond mad at. She could vaguely feel The Seed burn against her thigh is agreement and support of her words. The human was not aware of the unnatural silence that had fallen over the forest. Every creature that ran was gathered at the base of the trees in a circle around the small campsite. Every creature that flew was perched in the trees above them. Even in the nearby stream every creature that swam was as close to the campsite as possible. Every animal (Expect perhaps Ridhane’s two companions) was staring at the Elf. They knew what Darin was. The stone, the sky, and the sea of Astra knew what she was. The Seed-Bearer was speaking, and Astra was listening.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

So much for distracting Ridahne. Darin sat and listened to the Elf’s confession, was confession the right word, confession seemed like a good word, with a slight air od confusion. When the warrior was done Darin had to process. Her head slowly turned from staring at Ridahne to staring at the fire. That was a lot to take in. Suddenly, Darin’s greatest crime (Stealing a dog from an abusing master) didn’t seem so bad. Darin knew what a murderer was. She had vague ideas of what a rapist was. (One had tried to hide from Lively justice in the village. Lively had sent a messenger bird with news of the crime. Darin had been part of the crowd of fellow farmers that the village elders had rallied to prevent his entrance. He was not given a trial. His body was burned. In both Lively and the village that was a high dishonor. Darin knew she was lucky she had not been the one to find him. The elders had ordered him dead on sight.) Darin knew both were bad, but they both still happened. She couldn’t fault Ridahne for getting rid of them. Though if Darin was understanding it right, that wasn’t all she did. She also killed people after being lied to about what their crimes were. Ridahne had killed innocents because she believed they had committed crimes they hadn’t.

Darin found herself asking, “Tell me. Were you exiled for the innocents? Or for the death of the liar?”

Ridahne had told Darin that she might not want to know what had happen. Darin had a feeling Ridahne was right. Darin also had a terrible feeling that she knew what the answer to her question was. That was the question she didn’t want to answer. So far, the human could understand why the Elf felt guilty. Darin didn’t understand how killing while being deliberately misinformed was one hundred percent the Elf’s fault, but she could see how Ridahne could see it was her fault. In Darin’s head the solution to the delimia was simple. The person in power should be stripped from power, thrown in jail, and maybe executed. Ridahne should probably not be allowed to kill again, and yes, everyone should know what happened. Darin didn’t think that was what happened. She was willing to bet that Ridhane killed the liar and got exiled for treason; never mind that her reasons were right. Evil was not black and white, cut and dry. The human was willing to bet that Ridahne and her people had mistaking honor and loyalty for goodness. Then when Ridahne figured out that wasn’t always the case she had been punished for it.

The entire time Darin was thinking she had been staring at the fire. She didn’t even turn as she asked her question. Her eyes blinked slowly. Against her thigh The Seed burned. It wasn’t the same type of burning as when Darin had faced Mark. That burning had led to terror and a surety of evil. The closest Darin could compare this burning to was fury. Darin was trying very hard not to get angry until her suspicions were confirmed. For all she knew she Ridahne had never killed the liar. She might not have even tried. She might have been sent on this mission because she killed the innocents. Darin only had a part of the story. She needed the rest of the facts. Something, she thought it might be The Seed, told her Ridahne was telling her the truth. Something else, probably the memory of her mother, was telling her that Ridahne wasn’t telling Darin everything. Darin was trying not to let rage over take her until she had all of the facts. It wasn’t easy at all. She had never been angry before; tick off yes, but true rage, no. This was new. It almost scared the young girl. Her arms wrapped around her bent knees, and she gripped her knees tightly. Ridahne was right. She didn’t want confirmation of the answer she already knew.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

So, now seems like a good time to bring up part of my plottings. I would like to introduce several new characters when the two of them get to The Tree. I would like one of them to be an Elf. However, I don't know enough about the Elf cultures you have created to do so well. I would like them to be an Eluri, but that's only because the only thing I know about them is that that's the tribe that receives visions the most frequently. I have character traits in mind for them, but I'm not sure what they would look like or what naming conventions are for the Eluri. I know he is an outcast, but he is an outcast by choice. Is there anyway you can help me out.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin was snapped out of her song by Ridahne’s comment about their closeness to The Tree. Now that the human thought about it this was the closest, she had been to it as well. She had a feeling that it was different for the Elf. Ridahne had actually left home before all of this after all. Darin turned to look in the direction she hoped was the direction was home. She was more concerned with the fact that this was the furthest she had ever been from home. Yet again a terrible bout of homesickness over came her. Darin looked over at Talbot. He looked like he was done. He pushed at her affectionately. Darin smiled as she headed towards the fire. The smile fell as she sat down. Ridahne didn’t look good. Darin supposed she should try to help. She just wants sure how. Maybe she could try distracting the Elf. How could she do that? Then Darin had an idea.

She swallowed before she began, “Hey Ridahne? Could you look at my shoulder? I didn’t see anything wrong with it when I fell, but it’s better to be safe rather than sorry.”

The only other thing Darin could think of was stories of home, but she was so not in the mindset to do that. Home wasn’t something Darin wanted to think about even though she thought of it every day. It was always in the back of her mind. She was glad that she hadn’t forgotten home, but she knew that it was distracting her from the job at hand. She thought that might be part of Ridahne’s problem as well. The human would admit that remembering the past was important, but it couldn’t be changed. The best anyone could do was pick themselves up, dust of regret, and keep moving forward. The human didn’t know how to say that though. Hopefully this distraction would work well enough.

Darin continued, “I mean it doesn’t hurt or anything, but it hurts to touch it. I suppose that means I shouldn’t touch it. I mean I’m not touching it on purpose. It hurts when I move it too. I’m having a hard time avoiding that one. I guess it’s not that bad.”

Darin knew she was babbling. She couldn’t seem to stop though. She supposed it was better than having Ridahne wallow in whatever miserable thoughts she was thinking about. Maybe they were miserable. Darin wasn’t sure since she wasn’t a mind reader, but she was positive that they weren’t good thoughts. That was okay. Everybody had not nice thoughts from time to time. Darin didn’t want to stop from her companion from having the bad thoughts. She just wanted to distract the Elf long enough that the bad thoughts would leave her alone for the rest of the night. Somehow Darin didn’t think that would be the case. She could still try.

Darin tugged the sleeve of her shirt down, “I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I guess it’s just a little odd that I don’t have someone fawning over me. Mama never let me alone when I would get injured. Though she tried to stop as I got older. I guess she was trying not to smother me. It was nice though. Even though she didn’t really approve of me running the farm she still took care of me.”

Okay, Darin was shutting up now. That was a little too close to stories about home than she really wanted to get to right now. Then again, would stories about home help? Darin wasn’t sure. On one hand her home was about as far as you could get from Ridahne’s life. On the other it might just remind Ridahne of what she no longer had. Darin would reserve judgement on that case. She looked at the injury. It didn’t look that bad. She didn’t think it was infected and infection was the real worry. It might scar, but that would be the first scar she would get. She had a feeling she would wind up with a lot more before this journey was over. That was honestly the least of Darin’s worries.