LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Talbot nodded as Ridahne mentioned keeping together at night as Darin scowled at him. She knew perfectly well that it was safer to keep together. It was just sometimes she didn’t want to and felt that it was wiser for both their mental and physical stability to spend some time apart. She didn’t need the warrior telling her that, and she didn’t need her horse agreeing with her. Still, she wouldn’t complain out loud. That would just start another argument, and she didn’t need one of those this close, or this soon from leaving, The Farm. She was trying to be better. She had to be better. Despite what Ravi said she wasn’t magnificent. She had a hard time believing that she ever would be.

Darin just nodded at Ridahne, “Of course, safety first.”

Though Darin rather suspect that it was a moot point. If they continued her training odds were that she would be too exhausted to storm off after. She wasn’t sure, but she was still willing to bet that it was true. Besides, if she really needed to get away from Ridahne she could probably climb a tree. She wondered of the warrior knew how to climb trees. Darin knew that the Elf had grown up in a desert, but she had seen a few trees in Azurei. Not many, and they didn’t look the same as pines and oaks, but Darin still saw them when she had been part of The Tree. Darin wasn’t sure and she wasn’t going to ask either.

Instead she said, “If you wouldn’t mind talking to me in Azurein. The Tree gave me a gift as we were leaving, but it will still take practice to learn how to use. So, I would like to practice while we travel; if that’s alright with you.”

Darin didn’t see how it would be a problem though she was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she had understood Ridahne when she used the Azurein word to refer to Ravi as “Sighted One.” She had picked up on the fact that it was a different language which caught her off guard. She had imagined that it would all sound the same and she would have to practice telling the difference between languages. That hadn’t been right at all. Instead she knew it had been Azurein, and she had been left scrambling to mentally translate for a moment. She figured that meant she needed to practice knowing what had been said and mentally processing the words. Darin also thought she might have to practice speaking the various tongues as well.

So, she took her time to see if she could make her request in Azurein, “I will have to speak to many, many people on this trip.” She was saying the words, but she could tell that she was butchering the cadence, tone, and pronunciation/ It made her cringe, “So, I need as much practice as possible if you can help. Please and thank you.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Alright. As long as your not over doing it.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I'm so glad you are feeling better! Don't overdo it though or you'll be right back where you started. And I don't think we want that.

That sounds so pretty! I'm almost jealous!

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin pointed at Ridahne as the Elf mentioned the leather, “Good! He got my other shoulder. If I don’t do something soon then Taja will rip at least one arm off. Maybe even both of them!” Taja let out a screech and Darin scowled at him, “You hush! I like my arms! It would be like if you lost a wing. Which, by the way, I can’t fix if I’m missing an arm.”

Taja looked at the human with a baleful eye. Then he let out a screech before fluttering towards the travel basket that was currently on her lap. Darin let out a small hiss of pain as his claws left her skin. This was not going to be a pleasant six weeks. Darin supposed it might not take that long, but that was a good estimate. Darin reached over to make sure that Taja was in the basket comfortably. When that was taken care of, she looked at her shoulder. The injuries were not wide, but they were deep. In addition, her new shirt was already ruined. Darin resisted the urge to sigh. It certainly wouldn’t help. She studied her shoulder until Talbot stopped. Darin looked up to see that Ravi was standing smiling at her.

Darin smiled back, “Goodbye Overseer Ravi.” She laughed lightly, “Despite our differences it was an honor to meet you.”

Ravi reached out with a hand that Darin gladly took, “It was an honor to meet you Seed-Bearer.” He was being surprisingly serious, “You take all of the hope of Astra with you. It is grand task, but I have faith in you.” He looked at her dead in the eyes, “If you learn nothing else learn to have that same faith in yourself. You are simply marvelous. You must learn to believe that.”

Darin chuckled nervously, “I guess I can try.”

Ravi’s laugh was much more genuine, “In the end that’s all any of us can do. But if we try with all our hearts and all our strength, we may just do instead of just try.” He then turned his attention to Ridahne, “You have been called to a grand task young Guardian. You too must learn to have faith in who you are rather than what your face claims you are.” Ravi held out his free hand for Ridahne to take, “Darin my carry our hope, but you protect it. This is not a job for the faint of heart. Go with courage. Go with determination. Go with every ounce of strength you have and then find some more. Darin will not succeed without you, so do not think that you can be used as a sacrifice.”

Well Darin agreed with that one. She didn’t think that she would get very far without the Azurei. She didn’t want to even fathom trying. It had still been less than a week since she meet Ridahne, yet she already couldn’t not imagine doing this without her. In the end she didn’t think she and Ravi were actually that different. They just had different ways to see the world. That did not make either one of them wrong, and if the Overseer was willing to agree that Ridahne was someone that couldn’t just be thrown away Darin supposed that she could at least try to understand him better.

When Ridahne and Ravi was done speaking Darin sat up straight and looked at the gathered Workers, “And we are off! Thank you so much for your hospitality. May The Tree Bless you. Until we meet again whenever and wherever that may be.” She looked over to Ridahne with a smile on her face, “Are we ready to go? The day is still early. We should be able to cover a fair distance before the sun begins to set.”

- Fragmented - (dead; stay tuned for the next one!)

Ashe had successfully gotten another drink. For a moment they just studied the light pink liquid. This was their second glass, and they could already feel the headache they would have tomorrow. Ashe almost wanted to escape to their room now. Instead they took a carefully controlled sip of their rosé. Maybe if they found real food instead of a couple of crackers, they would fare better. This was why they didn’t like this type of party. There were too many people, too much noise, and not enough food. Ashe started looking for an exit. At least they could get away from the noise for a moment. Even a restroom would be good for now.

As they were looking Ashe bumped into someone. Their wine went all over the person’s shirt and they started babbling an apology, “I am so so …”

Their voice trailed off as they saw who it was. It was Isaac Abramson, one of the hosts. Ashe felt their eyes grow impossibly wide. They had done some research on their hosts, but what they could find was very little. Since they were Noble_Dancer Ashe could respect the desire for privacy. However, that meant they had no idea how the white-haired twin was going to act given that they had just ruined his clothes. Ashe could feel what little courage the alcohol had given them crumble away like it was nothing. This was a worse disaster than their about to spring up migraine. IN fact, this was only making Ashe’s migraine come that much faster.

Ashe swallowed to try again, “I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. It’s my fault. Do want me to see if I can find a towel?” Suddenly their hand shot out to offer a handshake, “I’m Ashe Cross by the way. Thank you for the invitation. This certainly is quite the party and a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Ashe forced themselves to be quiet. They were babbling. The gamer was confident they were making a terrible first impression. They weren’t sure why they cared about making a good impression. It wasn’t like they would see anybody from this party again after this week. Still, it was possible that they would be thrown off the mountain for this incident. That wouldn’t be all bad, but it certainly wasn’t ideal. That would be a great thing to report to their father. “Hi dad. I know I’m home early. I spilled a glass of rosé on Isaac Abramson the first night so he had be shipped off.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin walked towards The Tree briskly. She didn’t really have time to waste, but she needed to say goodbye to The Tree. If all went well Darin planned on never being this close to The Tree again. This would be the last time Darin had a chance to speak directly to The Tree. That didn’t mean that she was being abandoned. She knew more about how The Tree worked. She knew how to listen and knew that The Tree would come to visit her in her dreams. That was already more than she could ask for Darin. Still Darin wanted to touch The Tree one last time. The Seed-Bearer did not think that was too much to ask for. At least she hoped it wasn’t.

The moment she crossed The Barrier The Tree called out “’Darin! You brought Taja to meet me!”

Darin continued heading towards The Tree, “Yes. And to say goodbye.” She moved to sit with her back against The Tree’s Trunk, “We will never be together like this again.”

“But I will always be with you.”

“That’s not true. You’ll only be with me as long as I am in Astra.”

“You’ll be here for a little while longer yet. I wouldn’t say a final goodbye right now.”

Darin sighed, “I will never see you again. Probably, if I don’t have to come and drag Workers with me.”

Darin got the impression that The Tree was laughing, “Some will come. Some will stay.” And it seemed like The Tree was heartbroken, “And some we will lose.”

There was a moment of silence before Darin spoke again, “In the end we can’t make anyone’s choices for them. We can only ask them to choose what’s right.”

The Tree agreed, “That has always been true. For everyone, everywhere.”

Darin just sat for a few minutes under The Branches of The Tree in order to watch them sway in the wind. In was funny how even The Tree followed the natural order of things. It could sway contrary to the wind if it wanted to, but it chose not to for the most part. There was no reason to break rules put in place by nature itself. Darin knew that she could do a lot of things contrary to nature; things she couldn’t do before that first conversation with The Tree. She didn’t see a reason to do them just because she could. She would have to need a good reason. Thankfully protecting The Seed was a good reason.

Finally, The Tree spoke again, “It’s time for you to go. Ridahne looks for you, and Ravi would speak to the two of you.”

Darin stood and brushed off the back of her pants, “I best be going then.”

The Tree commanded, “Hold out your hand.” Darin did so and an Apple fell into it, “A parting gift my glorious Darin. It is all the tongues the Children of Astra speak. This should help you make friends. It will take practice to use them, but you will know them.”

Darin nodded solemnly, “Thank you.” Then she turned to hug The Tree as best she could, “I will do my best. I promise.”

The Tree laughed again, “That is all I can ask any of my Children to do. Now off you go and go with my blessing.”

Darin nodded and then walked off. As she walked, she studied the fruit in her hand. It looked like a normal apple but knew it was much more. Most of the Apples were essentially normal. Only when The Tree chose to make them more did they become more. Still each Apple was of great importance. It was almost a metaphor for people. Most people were normal and average even though not one was unimportant. Then occasionally, like her or Ridahne, a person became vastly important to all the people of Astra. Eventually Darin rubbed the fruit off on her shirt and took a bite out of it. It tasted like an apple; sweet and just a little tart. She ate it all, including the seeds. It wouldn’t kill her, but she knew she had to take even the bad parts of the words of Astra. She was finishing up as she, Talbot, and Taja joined Ridahne,

She nodded, “Yes we should go.” Talbot bent his knees and Taja was smart enough to hold still as she climbed up on the horse, “First we need to find Ravi or maybe let him find us. For while we don’t agree on many things, he is still more experienced than the both of us combined. We can at least listen to any parting wisdom he may have. It won’t hurt. That much is for sure.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I'm sorry. I wish I could help. Hopefully the injections do.

- Fragmented - (dead; stay tuned for the next one!)

This wasn’t the first time Ashe Cross was on a plane. Grandma and Grandpa Davidson lived in Florida and Grandma and Grandpa Cross lived in Louisiana. Flying was something they had done every year for as long as they could remember. Still, this was the longest that they had been on a plane and this was their first international flight. Ashe was looking forward to it and enjoyed watching out the window as all the land changed underneath them. At one point they fell asleep and only woke up to the announcement that they were beginning their descent. Ashe rubbed at their eyes before stretching out and making sure their seat belt was buckled. Luckily the landing went smoothly as she filled out the form to declare anything they might want to declare.

The first thing Ashe did after getting of the plane was to find a bathroom. They were heading to a cocktail party and hadn’t wanted to wear their party outfit for 5 plus hours on the plane. It wasn’t that difficult to change into the pressed white pants, neat blue button up shirt, suspenders, and fancy-dress shoes that Ashe had purchased specifically for this party. It was the biggest party of the young 23-year old’s life so far. They wanted to make a at least a decent impression; even if they didn’t think they anything would come of it. Their shoulder length curly hair was tied back into a simple ponytail before being toped with a white headband. For a moment the young adult wished they hadn’t packed their binder in the checked bags. Still their gender wasn’t perfectly clear, and that was just the way Ashe wanted it.

The next step was customs, and that was a new experience for Ashe as well. The customs agent asked, “Name and purpose of visit.”

Ashe responded in what they hoped was a polite manner, “Ashe Cross.” They handed over their passport, “I was invited to spend a week in The Winds; an estate owned by Isaac and Raphael Abramson.”

The customs agent’s eyes were drawn to the black band on Ashe’s right wrist. They quickly shoved their hand in they pocket as the customs agent asked, “Anything to declare?”

Ashe smiled as she handed over the document that they had filled out on the flight, “Nope!”

The customs agent handed back the passport, “Have a nice stay Ms. Cross.”

Ashe took the passport with their left hand, “Thank you.”

Then they were off to the luggage carousel to pick up their twin suitcases. Their passport was tucked inside their carry on, so they would have both hands free. It wasn’t long before the black rolling bags with yellow ribbons tied to the handle were collected. Ashe had brought two bags, hopefully, with enough clothes to last a week. They took a handle in each hand and then wandered aimlessly for a moment before they saw a man in a black suit holding a sign that read, “Shuttle to The Winds.” Ashe made their way over and loaded up their bags before taking a seat. They weren’t the first one on the shuttle, but the back-corner seat was still free so that was the spot Ashe took. They looked at the window and ignored the other passengers. Soon enough the shuttle was full, and they were off.

Ashe watched out the window as the sun set over the mountains. It was stunning. They had never seen such a sight before. It was alluring. There was some chatter from other passengers, but Ashe ignored them for the most part. They had never seen real mountains before. Even if they didn’t accomplish their main goal at least they would get to do a little bit of exploring. That would sure to be exciting. To be honest Ashe didn’t think their main objective would be reached. The odds were just stacked against them. Though this was the largest number of Fragmented they had ever seen in one spot, and this was just a fraction of the party attendees. Maybe the universe would give them a miracle.

Ashe was the last one off the shuttle and as such the last to join the security line. They were still impressed with how fast the security check went. Their bags were taken away by staff members and they followed the crowd into the main foyer. Okay, there were too many people in this room. Ashe had just gotten here and already wanted to leave. Instead they focused on making sure their translator was in their ear properly. It was stunning! Gamer’s Nightmare had a translation program, but it was nowhere near as smooth as this. Ashe found themselves being distracted by conversation after conversation as they let the ebb and flow of bodies push them to a bar a little ways away from the main gathering.

They spoke to the bartender, “A glass of rosé please.”

The bartender nodded, ”Right away sir.

Ashe nodded in thanks as they waited for their drink. When they received it, they nodded their thanks again before scooting to stand near a window. It was the closest thing they could see towards a corner in the circular room. They didn’t want to stand out too much from the crowd. They took a carefully control sips of their drink. Ashe did not want to get drunk. They wanted just enough of a buzz to take the edges of their nerves off. They grabbed a cracker and a slice of cheese from a tray. They were starving. It would be good to get some food in their stomach. They hadn’t eaten in a while.

Ashe found themselves looking at the people. It was clear that the guests had come here from all over the world and from all walks of life. Some were clearly the elite of the elite. Some looked like it was a good thing they didn’t have to pay for this trip. Ashe was willing to bet that they were somewhere in the middle. They then turned their attention away from people and towards the magnificent room. They pulled their phone out and started taking pictures of the columns and other decorations. The hologram birds were stunning. They were taking pictures of the birds when they moved towards the entrances on the second story.

Ashe watched the hosts enter the room with no limit to the drama. They supposed that it made sense. Anyone, or rather any persons, with enough funds to build this house and put on a party of this magnitude could also afford to be dramatic. Though the pretty speech did remind Ashe why they were here. Ashe looked down at the black band on their wrist. This was their chance to become Reunited. Ashe wasn’t sure they wanted that. In their experience being Reunited was more trouble than it was worth. Besides, they were ace. They didn’t think they wanted a Romantic bond and an Antagonistic bond sounded like it would take too much energy. Besides they couldn’t imagine hating someone without even knowing them. Still, they had promised their dad that they would try. As such they pushed off the wall, grabbed another cracker from a passing waiter and slowly began to mingle. Honestly, what was the worst that could happen? Ashe probably shouldn’t have asked that; even if it was just in their head. They probably just jinxed themselves. They rather suspected that they would wind up back up against the wall at some point soon.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

That works. I finally figured out a good next post. Sorry I took so long.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin couldn’t remember much of the walk back to the Main Farmhouse. She sort of remembered Ridahne humming as the Elf helped her walk. She vaguely recalled Talbot nudging her shoulder as they passed the horse. She had a cloudy recollection of falling into the bed she had been given. That was about it. The next thing she could remember clearly was waking up to the roosters crowing feeling sore all over. Darin woke up suddenly as she looked around the room. For a brief moment she didn’t know where she was. Then she remembered and slowly left the bed to change out of the Worker’s outfit she had fallen asleep in and into one of the outfits Ridahne had stripped from the horse thieves. One of the Workers had gotten of hold of it, so it was clean and fit with a belt around her waist. The belt was new and included a spot for her scythe and waterskin. As such she put them where they belonged.

After that Darin quickly got ready to go. It was a bright morning, so it was easy to repack her bag with her fiddle at the bottom. Once that was done, she headed done to the kitchen. She planned to fill the rest of her bag with supplies only to have an already packed bag practically shoved into her arms by a motherly looking Siren. Darin was smart enough to protest. As such she just took her bag and headed towards the stables. Talbot was waiting for her. Darin instantly felt guilty. She hadn’t been taking care of the stallion the way she should have been.

She reached up to scratch his nose, “I’m sorry Talbot. I’ve left you in the hands of strangers.” She smiled, “Good hearted strangers but still strangers.” She sighed, “I’m sorry.” Talbot pushed his nose against her shoulder causing her to laugh, “I guess that means I’m forgiven then.”

Talbot nodded as Darin moved to tack Talbot up as much as he would allow. That meant no saddle and no bit, but he did let Darin tie her bags to his withers. Then she took ahold of the reins and led him outside and towards the little hut were Taja was still, hopefully resting. It wasn’t long before they got there to her the hawk screeching loud enough to prompt Darin to break into a run. When she got there it was to see a Worker trying to get Taja into a traveling basket.

Darin’s eyes were wide, “What is going on?”

The Worker quickly turned to look at Darin, “Seed-Bearer! I was just trying to get the hawk ready for travel. It did eat breakfast, so I was hoping.”

Darin didn’t give them a chance to answer before shooing them off as she flapped her hands, “Go! Go! Go! I’ll take care of Taja.” The Worker didn’t hesitate as Darin turned to her bird, “That was rude Taja!” Darin carefully extended her hand, “Let’s have a look at that wing.”

Taja eyed the human warily, but still let Darin see that the wing was still set. Darin was then left with the fact that she really did need to get Taja in the traveling basket. She didn’t seem to be doing well and gave up when the hawk flapped his one good wing to land on her shoulder. Luckily it was the shoulder without stitches. Unluckily his talons pierced both her shirt and her skin. Ridahne was going to love that. Seriously, how long could she go without being injured. Not very long it seemed. Still, it meant they could take Taja with them without too much fuss. Darin did grab the travel basket. She could try again later.

She stepped out to see Talbot had joined them, “Come on boys.” She started a slow walk towards The Tree, “One last stop and then We can be on our way.” She sighed as she ran a hand though her short hair, “Let’s go say goodbye.”