LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin blinked blearily as Ridahne knocked on the door. That was funny. It almost sounded like it was raining a day early. She stumbled to the window to see that the sky was grey. She distractedly fixed her hair as she reached out to know why Astra was doing this a day earlier. What she got back was a vague sense of worry for her. Darin looked down at her knuckles and the scabs that were starting to form there. She was distracted as Ridahne came bounding to the room. Darin smiled before it fell as she looked towards the window again. Astra was worried for her. She couldn’t … she had to … do something. But what? Maybe she could fingure it out at some point today. For now, she would just play, or, as Ridahne had suggested, dance.

She moved to exit though the window to the roof, grinning again, “Then we best not leave Astra waiting.”

Darin didn’t wait for further comments or more introspection. She continued to grin as she walked across the roof, still barefoot, towards where she could see the Sea. It wasn’t raining yet, at least not by her standards. This was a drizzle at best. Astra wanted a light shower, something to play in. Such an event was just waiting to start. Ridahne was right. Astra was barely restraining Itself, waiting for Its Seed-Bearer’s word. Darin paused at the edge of the roof, almost as if she was about to leap off or fly. If she did what she was planning to do next there would be no going back. She should be smart, but she hadn’t been smart since she got to Azurei. Why be smart now?

The Seed-Bearer let out a command and The Sky carried it to the ears of everyone in Tasen, “Let the rains fall!” She took a deep breath to prepare, “At let Tasen rejoice!”

With that Darin leapt from the roof. The Sky stopped her from falling and instead dropped her down into a circle of animals. Darin saw Talbot and what had to be practically every horse in the palace. There were hunting cats, including Mitaja, galore. There was Taja and Tsura with a plethora of other birds waiting to take flight. There were goats, and dogs, and more animals than Darin thought could be in a desert. She looked around at the faces, eager to go play or rest or find other ways to enjoy the day. She moved to be in Talbot’s line of sight and was surprised when the massive horse bent his forelegs in a semblance of a bow. Darin laughed as she bowed in return before moving the stroke his nose.

She turned with a smile towards the gathering still looking at her, “Well, what are you waiting on me for.” She made a shooing motion with her hands, “Go play.” She watched as the animals scurried off before calling out to Ridahne “Come along Taja Torzenei. There are puddles to splash in and I want to make sure the market is okay.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Thank you so much for your post. I feel I should let you know that there will be a delay in my next post. Work and family will have my attention for the next week or so. Thank you for your patience. Darin will return in due course.

Animal Pictures

@Lord Orgasmo

I love it! Look at the taco! It's adorable!

Animal Pictures

@Dagger

Look at the puppies! They're so cute!

Animal Pictures

@Dagger

I didn't expect anything so fast. Thank you! In my experience pitbuls are just big babies. They are so cuuute!

Animal Pictures

Hello!

My name is LadyAnnaLee! It's nice to meet you. I hate to do this, but I had a no good day at work. Is anyone on the forum willing to post pictures of their cute animals? I'm headed home to an empty apartment and that's not an appealing notion so any help would be appreciated!

Thank you so much!

LadyAnnaLee

PS I will try my best to respond to every one.

LadyAnnaLee's Interest Check.

Bump!

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Thanks for the update. I look forward to it.

LadyAnnaLee's Interest Check.

BUMP! I made some edits! I'm excited to see what this bump brings!

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin did not sleep as well as she would have liked. It was hot and she was still unsure about what was going on in her brain and how to make it shut up. She was also worried about what would happen if that one woman told Ridahne about what she had seen. Then again, Ridahne didn’t come storming in, so Darin could only assume that the warrior had not found out about the farmer’s knuckles. The human’s sleep was restless until she finally gave up right as the dawning started. This was the second night in a row that her own self-doubts and the heat had kept her up. Though it wasn’t completely the heat’s fault. The night they had been with Hadian had been just as hot. The only real difference was that she hadn’t been sleeping near Ridahne.

Darin slowly walked back to her assigned room with hay in her hair and bags under her eyes as she thought about that. For the past year and a half, it had been her and Ridahne against anything that came against them. Now that they had made it to Tasen Ajoran was here and Ridahne wasn’t spending her time with Darin. Was Darin jealous? She thought she might be, and she was mad at herself for that. It wasn’t far to Ajoran. More importantly, it wasn’t fair to Ridahne. The human had known this day was coming, the day that the two lovers were reunited. She hadn’t wanted Ajoran to reject Ridahne. She wanted to be happy for them. She was happy for them. It was just that she felt like an outsider … like an awkward guest … like … like … like. Like being back home.

Darin stopped as she let out a sound of half realization half shock and all dismay. That was exactly it. Back home her only real support had been Thomas and Milla. They had both been her friends. There was no other word for it. They still weren’t close friends and while Darin could and would rely on them, they had other friends besides her. They had duties that Darin understood couldn’t be ignored. They had each other, just like Ridahne and Ajoran had each other and others and jobs to do. There were other similarities. There were the elders and the Sols, both groups wanting Darin to be someone or to do something that she wasn’t sure she wanted to be or even could do. Both groups looked at her with expectations in their eyes and questions in their voices that she wasn’t sure she could meet, that she might not want to answer. And here, like there, she felt alone as she went about her work and day, part of the group, but removed by factors not entirely in her control.

She was supposed to talk to Ridahne about this. Darin knew she was supposed to talk to Ridahne about things like this instead of bottling it away and running to hide, but what was she supposed to say? How could she take Ridahne away from her fiancé to tell the warrior that Darin felt jealous of the man? How could she tell Ridahne that she felt like she was drowning in her desert home when her friend was so excited to be back? How could Darin do that? How could she be selfish like that? She had had Ridahne to herself for a year and a half. Ajoran hadn’t even seen her for just about two years and hadn’t even known that she was coming back to him?

Darin forced herself to resume her walk before she started hitting the wall again. She just needed sleep, and maybe a bath, and maybe some food. And, she thought as yet another person ducked their head towards her and called her Astra-Sol, she needed people to stop calling her Astra-Sol. Logically she knew it was a sign of respect. Logically she knew they meant know harm. It just she wasn’t a Sol, an Azurei matriarch. She was The Seed-Bearer of Astra, a caretaker to be for all of Astra. Except she didn’t think she wanted people to call her Seed-Bearer either. She got to her assigned room and fell face down on the bed. She’d try for more sleep before true dawn came and then go look for Ridahne. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but she had promised not to run, and she would do her best to keep that promise.