LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin nodded as she accepted Ridahne’s answer. To be honest she wasn’t sure she wanted to find a village. If the Eluri really did receive vision it was possible that one or more of them already knew who and what she was. That would be the very opposite of the discretion she was trying to maintain. The young human was almost half tempted to tell her companion that maybe they should avoid towns until they finished being in the Eluri land and crossed over to Azurei land, but the goal was to make friends. She wasn’t going to be able to do that if she avoided people. She needed to talk to as many people as she could. She needed to learn as much about the cultures as possible. Darin was going to have to step out of her comfort zone. She just hoped that was never obvious. She had a feeling it would be.

Darin was about to speak when she noticed the silence. It was instant; every creature in the forest stopping making noise all at once. It was odd for a forest this size. It was odd for any forest. There was something out there, and she was willing to bet that it didn’t belong there. As soon as she had that thought The Seed began to burn against her leg. It was sharp and sudden. It was vaguely familiar, and it took a moment for Darin to recognize it. When she did, she knew her eyes had to have grown impossibly wide. It was the same feeling she had when she had first met Ridahne right outside of Greyrock. It was someone like Mark. They might even be connected to the same group of people like Mark. Her grip on Talbot’s reins became impossibly tight. She didn’t know what to do. She knew Talbot had sensed the strangeness. She could only hope Ridahne had as well. Then, if there was a fight, she could only hope to stay out of the way and trust that the two of them could handle it.

She stayed silent until Ridahne spoke up. Then she nodded as she whispered her answer, “Yes. I feel it. It’s like Greyrock. Do you remember?”

Darin didn’t want to go into details. She didn’t know who was listening and who wasn’t. She didn’t want them to know that she knew what they were. It was another monster. She still didn’t know what they wanted. She just knew that they wanted her from completing her mission. Of course, that was only true if this was the same group of people connected to Mark. There were other evils. She did have to wonder if people would be looking to stop her if they knew the truth the same way she and Ravi knew. They might even encourage her. It depended on what their true goals were. Darin had to wonder if they would be open to starting a dialogue. Somehow, she didn’t think that would be the case. Besides, she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what the true goal was. She hadn’t even told Ridahne.

Darin continued, “I don’t want to be caught of guard.” Talbot nodded in agreement, “We should find someplace to make a stand.” There was another nod, “Maybe even find a place to make camp. The sun does look like it’s about to go down.”

The truth was Darin didn’t trust her abilities to defend herself while standing firmly on the ground. Trying to do it while Talbot was battling and Ridahne was fighting next to her would be downright impossible. It would be wiser if they got somewhere where Darin could get out of the way; either by hiding in a cave or climbing up a tree. Darin knew that one day she would be expected to fight her own battles, but she didn’t see that day happening today. Right now, her arm was torn practically to pieces, she had an injured hawk to look after, and she was tired. It was not a good combination at all. She could only hope that Ridahne could see the sense in getting the human out of the way. Though Darin wouldn’t be surprised if the warrior decided that battle would be the perfect place to hone her skills. That seemed like something the Elf would do.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Hello. First let me say that I really enjoy our role-play. I have no desire to end it. However I need to be honest. Given my current work schedule I can only really post on the weekends. So going forward I will only be posting on weekends. I understand if this means you want to back out but I am hoping we can work something out.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin looked around the forest as Ridahne mentioned that the landscape was changing. It looked more and more like the forest near the mountains. Darin had never gone too deep into the forest back home. She didn’t need to be warned that it was a completely bad idea. She was clumsy and had no sense of direction with no real skills to protect herself with. She mostly stayed to the forest directly near the village in order to pick herbs and escape the elders from time to time. Even then she never went far enough to lose track of where she was in relation to home.

That was why she was glad that the Azurei warrior was here now. It was basically what Ridahne had done earlier in her life; guiding people through the Dust Sea. Only this time the people was carrying The Seed and it was all of Astra. That didn’t seem to bother Ridahne though. Darin had seen the map and the Elf seemed to have a much better sense of direction than the human did. Right now, Darin really needed a sense of direction even if she was borrowing it from someone else. Darin already knew that this trip was going to take a long time. She didn’t want to imagine how long it would take if she just traveled without knowing where she was going like she had been doing.

Darin looked forward as she responded to Ridahne’s comments about marriage, “That makes sense. And I suppose in a nation of many more people than in my village it would help keep strangers from trying to woo you. Back home I could go around and talk to everybody in the span of two days or so. Gossip was prevalent as well. It was easy to let people know that you had committed to someone. Then they start a new family.”

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. People usually stayed with their parents in their home until they had built their own home. Some stayed until their parents were gone. It depended on what you and your partner were after and what your goals were. Darin had planed on spending the rest of her life in her farmhouse with her mother. She hadn’t given much thought to inviting another person into her life. There was no one back in her village that she was interested in and they weren’t interested in her either. There was that one boy from Lively, but that would never work out. He wanted a girl who could help him run his parents’ fabric store. If Darin ever did pick someone, they would have to help farm. So, they were incompatible. At least that was the way it was then. Darin had no idea how it would work out now that she was carrying The Seed.

Darin asked another question. “Will we reach a village or a town or will we need to stop to make camp? Either is fine. I don’t really care which. I was just wondering which it was so I would know.”

Hello! Any one for a Role Play?

Okay. That makes sense. Thank you for clarifying. We could do that. Did you have a character in mind? If you want to write a love story then I need to make sure the characters could fall in love. I hate trying to force to incompatible characters together just because they are suppose to fall in love.

Hello! Any one for a Role Play?

@Sharidi37495 I'm going to do something dumb, but I am tired. Please forgive me. I feel like you are missing a word in the last sentence, and I can't figure it out. Can you look at it and let me know if I'm just seeing things. Thank you.

Hello! Any one for a Role Play?

@Sharidi37495 I only read the first of those books and that was a while ago. So I'm a little spotty on the details. I still like cyborgs. Did you have a plot in mind?

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I thought I let you know that I'm suffering a bit of writer's block. I'm not sure what to have Darien say or do next. Also my mom is flying into town this weekend so combining those two facts means I'm not entirely sure when I will get you a post. I will get you one. It just might not be for a week or so. Thank you for understanding.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin clicked her teeth together that threw that idea out; the idea being that the tattoo for being the Guardian could be a symbol already in use just in a different color. The truth was Darin wasn’t sure she was the one to be designing something like this. She knew nothing about tattoos or symbolism. She had already been more direct than symbols required. Though that did lend itself to an idea. Maybe it didn’t need to be a symbol. Maybe it could be direct. Though Darin wasn’t sure about that either. She did know it had to be small and discreet while still being seen.

She did explain one thing, “You are the first Seed-Chained Ridahne. You will not be the last. At least I do not think you will be the last. So while you are correct that the ojih are an Azurein thing the symbol needs to be something that anyone can wear or tattoo in other places. It needs to be something that anyone in Astra will one day know by sight. Like the outfit the Workers wear.” She was checking on Taja, “At least that’s what I think.”

Darin was also thinking about Ridahne’s belief that she would be married when they got to Azurei. The thought of Ridahne married made the human apprehensive for a reason Darin didn’t quite know. She didn’t know if she was jealous or angry or what it was. She did know that she was worried. Darin was hoping that on day Ridahne would be free to live her own life; free from being marked a traitor and from being Seed-Chained. The problem was that the warrior wasn’t free yet. Even throwing out the fact that Darin had inadvenrtanly Chained her to The Seed Ridahne had still agreed to see this journey through to the end. Darin wasn’t going to stop Ridahne and Ajoran from getting married, but she did have to wonder if it was a good idea. There were some … less than good people that wanted The Seed. Would Ridahne be able to leave Ajoran to finish the job of protecting Darin? If the choice, Tree forbid, between Ajoran and The Seed came up what would Ridahne pick? More importantly, would Darin press her into picking the right choice? What even was the right choice? Darin wasn’t sure.

So instead she asked, “What is the symbol for marriage. Why do people even get married? Is it religious or what?”

People in Lively got married for tax reasons. Darin had a vague idea of what taxes were. It was money the lord collected to pay to repair roads and protect the people. Her village didn’t have taxes. If something needed to be fixed the people came together to fix it. If they needed protecting, they took turns keeping guard. Some of the traders got married for religious reasons; a belief that their deity or deities told them to get married. Her home didn’t really have a god beyond The Tree. So there was no reason to make living their lives with someone official or what not. Maybe an explanation from someone who wanted to get married would help it make sense to Darin. She didn’t think so though. She didn’y really like anybody enough to spend her life with them.

She said the next part out loud, “Expect you Talbot.” He snorted at her in question, “I would spend my life with you.” She flapped a hand at the bird, “And maybe Taja if he stops trying to take my arm off, but so far that doesn’t seem to be happening.”

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

Ashe nodded with a tired smile on their face, “Again. Thank you for having us, but I think I will call it a night.”

With that the young gamer nodded respectfully. Moments later the message came though the translators. Ashe was more than happy to follow the lead of a few others they saw. It wasn’t long before they were following a member of the staff though to their room. It was a nice enough room, but their eyes were drawn to the piece of paper that including how to access the internet. That was what they had been looking for all night. It was easy enough to get their phone connected and to turn on wifi calling. Ashe was surprised that they already had a message from a number she didn’t recognize. They listened to the message as they hunted for their toothbrush and body wash in their luggage. Then they processed what the message was and who it was from. The toothbrush and body wash were shoved back into the suitcase.

It was from the police. Gregory Cross had been in a hit and run. It was bad. He was currently in the hospital. No other information could be given over the phone and Ashe was hundreds and hundreds of miles away. That needed to change. They would run down the mountain if they needed to in order to get to the airport. They were halfway out the door of the guest room when they paused. This was their chance. If they left now, they might not ever have another chance to find their soul mate. Ashe looked towards where the party was in full swing. Did they really want to leave now? If they did it was only inevitable that they would become Lost. Then again, Ashe knew how this worked. They didn’t do romance. No one really seemed to want a simple platonic relationship. They weren’t sure that they could hate someone just because. It might just be better to leave now. That in mind Ashe steeled themselves. It didn’t matter. They would take the dark future they knew for the people they knew love them rather than the potentially light future with people that may not even want them around. They had to see what the fastest way down the mountain was. They had their luggage in hand. They were leaving this party behind to go home; to take care of their loved ones.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I apologize for this one being short. I just didn't want to let it drag.