LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin looked at the hand that Ridahne held out in offering. The warrior was right. The very thought of someone like Khaltira, who was so evil that The Tree reached out to anyone who would listen just to get rid of her, having The Seed made her very ill. The thought of someone like Mark or this Red Hand having The Seed made Darin want to cling to The Seed all the tighter. She found herself fighting an urge to lean down and rub her hand against the band on her thigh just to make sure it was still there. She could feel it and shouldn’t check in such a public place.

To be honest she shouldn’t be having this conversation in such a public place either. Yes, it was secluded but anyone could walk by at any time. She didn’t need to draw attention to herself unless she could help it. Darin had let her panic get the better of her and that had been a foolish mistake. She almost wanted to brush the whole thing off and let Ridahne lead her back to the inn. She wasn’t sure that was wise. She didn’t want to get in another fight. They hadn’t been in a fight since The Farm. She didn’t want to break the streak in way shape or form.

Still she did not reach out for the hand. Instead her arms wrapped around herself in a semblance of a hug, “I’m scared.”

Her voice was quiet and betrayed her fear. It wasn’t something she had really discussed with anyone. Ridahne was right. Everyone started at the beginning including her. Darin knew enough to know that at the beginning of his journey The Gardener had felt similar feelings of inadequacy. He had also had the same fears. The Tree had told her that. That didn’t mean those feelings weren’t valid. If Darin failed there would be no redo. There would be no fixing any mistakes. IF Darin failed all of Astra, all of the Children of Astra would be doomed. The Gardener had barely succeeded. That was not something that the world could afford to have happen again. Darin couldn’t just barely succeed. She had to gloriously triumph. That wasn’t something she could tell anybody. The truth about Astra’s origins was a lot more complicated than people thought. It was one piece of a cycle that was practically endless. Darin had a responsibility to keep the cycle going and she was scared. She did not be one the one break it or cause a delay. No one had really failed in over a hundred changes.

Her shoulders hunched over as she fought tears, “When you messed up being a fisherman’s daughter you became an Eija. Then when you messed that up you saved lives.” Darin was doing her level best to make herself seem as small as possible, “If I mess up all of Astra is doomed. I don’t know if what I’m doing is right. I don’t know if I have enough time to do what I am doing.” She looked at her coming in desperation, “You’re right, maybe, most likely. But I’m still.” A pause as she cast her gaze back too the ground, “Scared.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin looked Ridahne in the eyes as she forced herself to breath the way her companion asked her to do. It wasn’t easy and honestly the human wasn’t sure that it was helping. How could Ridahne not know? Did anyone know? Darin was doing this whole thing blindly and it was making her nervous and stressed out. She felt woefully underqualified. How could the warrior look at her with such faith and determination? It seemed like Ridahne was seeing more in her than was really there. She wasn’t the only one. Ravi and the other Workers at The Farm had done the same thing. Darin wondered if she was inadvertently lying to them. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

Darin gently but firmly dislodged the hand from her shoulder, “How can you say that? I’m basically uneducated. I know enough reading and writing and sums to avoid getting cheated, but that’s it. I know nothing about Astra or its cultural or its history or its heritage. I don’t understand people. I understand animals better than I understand people and I barely understand them. I understand dirt. That’s it; dirt. I might could tell you when it’s about to rain but that’s it.”

These weren’t new feelings. They had been there since The Gardener had given her The Seed. The strength of the feeling of inadequacy ebbed and flowed like a tide or storm. Right now, they were strong and even though Darin was doing her best to take deep breathes as Ridahne had instructed she still felt like she was teetering on the edge of a very high cliff. One wrong move and she would go tumbling off the edge and towards unseen bottom that was madness. Darin didn’t want to fail. She wanted do do her very best. It just seemed like her very best was destined to fail.

Darin began a pacing a short distance as she gnawed and her thumbnail, “You seem so sure that I’m the best person for the job. Ravi is so sure that I’m the right choice. And I get why it has to be a farmer, I really do. Only a farmer couldn’t understand the full gravity of the situation. Only a farmer could understand why what has to be done has to be done. But there have to be farmers that our better educated, that know Astra and its people better than I do, that can fight and defend themselves and others, that can be more confident.” Her paceing suddenly stopped as she looked at Ridahne with a look of wild desperation on her face, “So how can you say that, you who barely know me, how can you be so sure? How can Ravi, only only knew be for a few days say that? How can Elder Nicoli, who has known me all my life, who has been frustrated with me all my life, say that?” Her laugh was not a good sound, “He practically hated me you know. Then, right as I was leaving, he looked me dead in the eyes and said, ‘Darin, I can think of no one better to accomplish this task. I can think of no one better to carry this burden. Darin, I know we have constantly been at odds, but I have the utmost faith in your ability to do this incredible job magnificently.” She resumed her pacing, “How can three very different people, with whom I have had three very different relationships, all say the same thing? How can they all have the same faith in me when I have no faith in myself.” She stopped pacing only to stare up at the canopy. As her hand reached out towards the sky she barely whispered, “This is such a large job; such a high honor. And I’m just me; a small person with no real sense of how big this job is except to know that it is probably a bigger role than I can ever hope to fill.” Her hand closed as her arm slowly lowered, “So how can you say that and be so sure?”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin thought about how Ridahne had spent her time. That was good. It was good that Ridahne was making friends. She hadn’t been doing that as they traveled though her goal wasn’t really to make friends while Darin’s was. She supposed that was to be expected. It was like Ridahne had said. Darin had found herself drawn to the farmers as they traveled. It was easy to volunteer to help in the communal fields that seem popular among the Eluri. Thankfully she had had the good sense to not do a repeat of her first performance with the rain. Darin hadn’t even tried to influence water or anything else like that since then. It still slightly scared her. Still she couldn’t stop the animals. Even now a few of the uloia landed on her. She absently brushed them off, but they still hovered.

Darin thought about Ridahne’s question, “There is one I heard. But it wasn’t really a story. It was more like a chain of thoughts. The thoughts being that the first Sirens came as the first drops of The Tree’s Sap hit the ground as carried by rainwater. The Elves happened as the first of The Leaves flew into the wind, and the humans came as the first Apples fell to the ground.” She shook her head, “Except that’s not right. I know that’s not right. The Tree is older than all three species, but The Tree had nothing to do with their creation. The Tree is older than anyone living, but It did grow with Astra. Its planting was Astra’s first days.”

There were other stories that people back home and in Lively and that the traders told, but Darin had never really paid much attention to them before. Now she wished that she had. She hadn’t felt the need back then. She had just been a farmer worried about the next day and the day after that. She never thought that she would ever be in a situation where she would basically be carrying all of Astra on her shoulders. If her plan to make friends failed, she would have to shift into learn all she could about Astra and its culture and history. Luckily trying to make friends meant she was already asking a lot of questions. It would be an easy transition.

Then another thought struck her. Ridahne said autumn; that they would get to Azurei in autumn. It was harvest time now; or it had been when they had gotten to The Farm. It was probably closer to winter now. It was going to take almost an entire year to reach the next portion of their journey? Darin stopped as she tried to fathom that. She almost couldn’t. When she had started this trip, she thought it might take a year or two at most. Then she learned that she needed to make friends and her estimate had increased to three maybe five years. How long would it be? She had no real sense of Astra’s size, and it wasn’t like they were being deliberately quick in this journey. Darin wasn’t sure how long it would take, but she knew it couldn’t take too long. She had to move on to the final phase of the journey before The Tree entered the very last stages of Its death. Did she have that long? Could Darin afford to basically try and meet as many people as she could? Should she focus on leaders of people rather than persons? She wasn’t sure and a hand slowly creeped up to cover her mouth as she tried to avoid being sick.

Her voice was a quiet whisper; tight from the fear that suddenly struck her, “Just how big is Astra?”

The worse part of it all was Darin didn’t know when The Tree’s finally days would be. Ravi didn’t know. The Gardener hadn’t known. The Tree Itself didn’t even know. The only reason why The Gardener knew that that he was going to die when he gave The Seed to Darin was because he had deliberately chosen to give up his life to give The Tree more time. Who knew how much time that had really brought? Who knew how much time Ravi’s actions were buying? The worst part of not knowing how long this trip would take was the fact that she was racing against the clock and she didn’t even know how much time was on that clock. It was all so overwhelming and all the peace she had gotten from seeing the sky again had vanished.

She took a few staggering steps towards her traveling companion before stopping again, “How long is this going to take?” Her hand moved from her mouth to tug desperately at her hair, “Do you know? Do you have any guesses?” Her breath was coming in short and painful gasps, “Ridahne! How big is Astra? How long? I don’t have forever! I don’t …! Ridahne!”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I have had a really rough weekend. And now I have a migraine. I have to be honest. The odds of me posting this weekend are low. I will do my best to get you one next weekend for sure. Thank you for understanding.

The Curse of Strahd Von Zarovich

@ReedeThe23rd

I can't promise that I will be available if this comes up again but if I am I would love to give it a go.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin heard Ridhane from the ground as she slowly made her way down. It seemed the warrior really had come to find her. Darin almost want to role her eyes. She had been taking care of herself for years. Nothing bad was going to happen in a city people seemed super nice and willing to help others. Alright, she supposed that she could get lost and she was still way clumsier than she really had any right to be. It seemed all the blade training in the world couldn’t train that out of her. It was slightly frustrating, but she supposed that it was what is was.

Darin called down, “Give me a minute. It’s dark. It’s harder to see where to place my hands.”

Zeven called up, “Do you need help?”

Darin responded, “No!” She muttered under her breath, “I’m not that bad.”

It took a few more minutes before she reached sheer truck again. Given the fact that it was dark Darin opted to use the ladders this time. She didn’t want to make it this far only to fall flat on her face. Once her feet were firmly on the ground a smiled lit up her face as she walked over to the two Eluri waiting for her to come down. Her smile turned into a smirk as she held up the chit that meant she had reached the top. She couldn’t help but savor the shocked looks on her challengers faces as she handed the chit over. Not one of them reached out to take it even as Darin held them out to do so.

Yari finally got out, “Keep it. We let people who make it too the top keep it. As a sign of accomplishment.” He suddenly remembered something else and reached into his money pouch, “And here.” He held out a few copper coins towards her, “Your entrance fee.”

Darin took the coins with a polite smile. Then suddenly the two Eluri bowed a bow that Darin could only vaguely recall about being the person bowing honored the person they were bowing to. It threw the young human off and for a moment her smile faltered. They she recalled her manners and bowed the bow she had been taught that came from a grateful guest to an attentive host. She hoped she didn’t offend either one of them and she didn’t think she did if the repeat of the strange bow meant anything. She wished she knew what that one meant. She had a feeling it was important.

Instead of asking she simply waved in farewell, “Fare thee well. My master has come to collect me so I must be off.”

Zeven hesitantly waved back, “Fare the well.”

YAri then told Darin, “If you ever want to scale the trees again just come show us your chit. We’ll let you up without the fee.”

Darin laughed as she told them, “I might just do that.”

With that being said Darin turned to Ridahne and they headed back to the inn. Darin supposed it was glad that the Azurei came to get her. She couldn’t rember the way back to where the inn was. As Darin followed her companion, she found herself thinking about what she had been thinking when she had been above the canopy. Ridahne’s brother was a fisherman and mad a living off of the sea. Where did the names come from? Did The Gardener know? The Tree hadn’t told her. Then again, The Tree mostly just told her about the history of Thee Trees and The Gardeners. The specific history of Astra hadn’t really been touched on. Before this journey Darin hadn’t cared much about history. Now she didn’t even know why humans were called the Children of the Stone.

She did find herself asking, “Ridahne? Why are Elves called Children of the Sky? Do you know? Are there stories that the Azurei tell?”

Darin had a feeling that it was like the story of Ravi. Both she and Ridahne had two different versions of the same story and it was possible that there were more. The true history had been lost. The Tree had been planted thousands of years ago. It made sense that some of the truth had been lost. Yet even in those stories some truth could be found. After all, in both stories of Ravi had included Ravi’s desire to ensure that no one got lost like they had. Both stories had included deities. Darin had heard a few different Eluri versions of the story and those facts were present in those stories as well. That made her think that whoever Ravi was they really had asked some sort of deity for help to guide others. There had to be stories about why Elves were the Children of the Sky. There might even be some hidden gems of truth in them.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Same to you.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

If you get a post up I can post on Sunday. Maybe. No promises.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I'm glad to know that you are doing okay. It's a relief. It's good to here that you get to do what you love. I'm doing alright. I moved to a day shift which is awesome but it's still retail. So it has been busy as people clean out our shelves. My vacation is in two weeks. I cannot wait.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

You've been online more than normal recently. So I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I hope your hands are okay.