Into the Wilderness

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on May 1st, 2014, 9:46 pm

37th of Spring, 514 AV
The Wilderness

She raised the weapon, the blade glistening in the afternoon springtime sun. She examined its surface, took in the most powerful aspects of a metal head on a handle and then lowered it to the ground.

Things had been getting more challenging for her over the past few days. They were severe or sinister changes or irrational difficulties, but Lenz despised the attentiveness she needed when something happened out of the ordinary.

This was something she had full control over.

The axe was held sternly in both of her hands. Her left hand was positioned higher up on the handle so that it was a mere few inches from the base of the axe head. Her other hand was placed a little lower, creating a boundary of a foot in between. This gave her balance for when she would defend or attack those willing to harm her.

She moved her legs and cemented them into the ground of which she stood upon before bending her knees so that they were angled at roughly ninety degrees. This two were prohibit any unbalance on her part. She needed to be graceful in the techniques she portrayed to those criminals.

She closed her eyes then and adjusted to her surroundings.

Birds chirped in harmony, causing her to envision their presence sitting like statues on the limbs and branches of various trees around her. She could hear the wind whistle through the canopy of the trees that shrouded her from the harsh rays of the sunlight.

She was standing in the middle of the wilderness, attempting to expand her knowledge of axe handling. She had the basics down from the first time she had been out practicing, but that felt like years ago. Today was a fresh start for trying something new, and she graced the ability to try new things with open hands and heavy hearts.

There was nothing standing in her way; no trees, no boulders, no dead logs preventing her and posing as obstructions. She was enhancing her capabilities to wield an axe and she would progress. Failing wasn’t an option.

She raised the axe slightly higher than its previous position. The head was suspended in the air, a couple feet from the ground with Lenz’s elbows bent to support its weight. The end of the handle was several feet higher than that, but not far enough that would be difficult for her to control.

An idea popped into her mind just then. It was something that to some would seem risky or dangerous, but to her felt awe inspiring and adventurous. And being the sort of individual who was willing to test her abilities, she was all for expanding the notion that sprouted in her brain.

She took a step forward and brought the axe up, swinging it to the left on enough as to promote momentum. She then pivoted on that front foot and used her back foot to replace it. She spun around and swung the blade so that it was facing the front again.

Once she was back to her original position, she stopped to examine her posture. It was fallible and faulty and gave her a feeling of dejection and frustration. She needed to practice some more.

To finish off her technique, she swung the axe behind her and then forced it downwards so that it slammed into the ground, creating a tumult for the grass under her feet.

She was getting the hang of this.

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on May 2nd, 2014, 12:44 am

37th of Spring, 514 AV
The Wilderness

She applied more pressure to her current stance, using her front foot as a support for her back foot. She planted it into the ground, feeling the weeds and vines around her leg swarm to take cover under her flesh. She was becoming one with the earth and she loved it.

She raised her axe again, using the pressure on her front foot to her advantage. She raised her back foot and lunged forward, keeping the handle of the axe in one hand as she used her other hand for both momentum and balance.

In her mind she kept thinking, Don’t fall and die. Don’t fall and die. And to her fortune, she did neither. She maintained her balance and landed on her foot with semi-elegant grace. With the hand that held the handle of the axe, she thrust it forward, envisioning a dummy in front of her. She watched as the blade stuck into the figure’s abdomen.

She was no longer out of her element. She had gotten a relatively modest understanding of the handling properties of something so large and heavy.

She then sat down to take a break, setting her beast beside her in a friendly manner. The grass rushed to meet the new being, lavishing at the colour and texture of the weapon.

Lenz smiled and then began to sing. Her voice carried over the prairie, riling up the leaves and shrubbery of the forest and flowing on the wind that wafted through the trees.

Her voice sang of hope, of fact and of faith.

“What springs from the ashes is a life anew
Something essential, yet fathomably few
Its power has no impediment, its truth is pure
This chaotic world, like all else, has a cure…”

She paused to take a breath before picking a flower from the ground. She unearthed the stem from the soil and watched it flounder without the habitat it was bred to survive in. She began to soft the petals before plucking each individual one off of the middle.

Wishes began to formulate in her mind as she conjured up alternative outcomes to her current life. She plucked another petal off the flower and wished something. She plucked another and another, each time making a different wish than the last.

Her hand found the axe’s head and began to caress the metal substance. It was cold, icy crudity or frigid malnutrition. It wasn’t alive, it wasn’t breathing, yet it held so many secrets.

“Where have you come from?” she asked it, “what stories do you have to tell?”

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on May 4th, 2014, 7:57 am

37th of Spring, 514 AV
The Wilderness

Of course the inanimate object did not respond. No words left the maw of which wasn’t there. There were no openings for speech, but that didn’t necessarily mean that it didn’t speak of what it had done, where it had been and what it had seen and been through.

She gazed at the axe with desire, watching as a glimmer essence radiated off of the shiny metallic material. The sun was reflecting off of the substance, stroking it and striking the woman in the eyes until she teared from the pain.

Quickly, an epiphany crashed into the back of her skull. She jumped up from her sitting position and snatched the handle of the axe in the process.

“One more attempt at a new trick before doing something else productive,” she said aloud to herself before readjusting her position so that both feet were shoulder width apart and pointing straight forward.

She leveled her waist so that it was almost in line with the bending degree of the back of her knees. She placed balance on both feet, encouraging support on either limb before she pressed her left foot deeper into the ground, unearthing some soil and tossing grass to the side as she quickly lifted it up. She twisted her back and pivoted on her other foot, twirling the axe in both of her hands. Immediately it fell from her control.

She sighed, frustration contemplating to fill up her entire emotion tank. She was filling, almost to the brim with impatience and so soon, yet she continued to suffer through another try. She positioned her feet again and locked her eyes onto the axe, bracing her shoulders for the weight of the beastly weapon.

She started with the end of the handle in her left hand before rolling it over to the right. Her right then rolled it back over to her left, all the while making an arc and circling another hundred and twenty some degrees. She tried it again, only faster, watching the motion of a spherical pattern taking shape before her eyes.

Soon it was rapid and preformed, a blur of which she held the power of, as the tyrannical ruler until her few seconds of fame dwindled into peasantry again. She lost control and observed it pummel to the ground, crashing into the dirt beneath her.

She blew out air, her breath causing her bangs to fly up into her face. She bent down and managed to bring the weapon back into her capable hands. Suddenly a different idea came to her. She wasn’t necessarily done practicing with her weapon, but she had the proposition on gaining strength to better handle a flying object of such mass.

She dropped to the ground and splayed her feet behind her body so that they were touching one another. She used them as support beams as she laid down on her stomach. With her head held above the earth, she brought her arms out so that they were parallel with her shoulders. She then raised herself off of the ground, struggling as the veins popped out in her neck. Blood rushed to her forehead and small beads of sweat became to form on her cheeks and chin. Soon she had completed a push up of sorts before falling to the ground again.

She took some time to regain her breath and to rest from the strain she had put herself through. The pressure of working one’s upper and lower arm muscles really can drain the energy from them.

She assumed the proper position again, lying on the ground to start before bracing herself for another rise. She lifted her chest off the ground and brought her neck up to the sky. She straightened her arms and then bent them as she lowered herself to the ground again.

She had just completed a second push up.

“I knew you could do it,” she said to herself. “But I think that is good for now. It’s time to get back to training. There is still something else I want to do before I head back into town.”

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on May 4th, 2014, 8:14 am

37th of Spring, 514 AV
The Wilderness

She was sitting cross-legged in the grass, simply picking small and stubby blades of grass from the meadow landscape she solicited in. The trees hugged her surroundings, offering her protection and privacy both of which she was delighted to have during a time like this.

She was still perspiring at a modest pace, constantly having to wipe her brow or her neck and chest of the salty liquid that often ran down her skin. Even her feet were sweating, she was sure of it.

After relaxing for a while, Lenz stood up, bringing the axe close to her bosom as if claiming it as hers, which it was. It was starting to become a precious possession to her, one she couldn’t leave alone or survive without. It cost money and money was hard to find, but it was more than that.

“You will save many lives or you will take many lives away,” she said to the object, pulling it away from her so she could examine its appearance.

She twirled around in the grass, watching the bark and the leaves around her spin and spin until she fell down again from the nausea that was building up inside her. She was happy today and after having a small workout and after practicing someone she loved to practice, it had just made her that much more jubilant and enjoyable.

She grasped the handle of the weapon until her knuckles turned as white as snow. She made herself sturdier until she was certain her stability was infallible. She was sure of herself, that she would not fall and that she would not lose the weapon to the forces of gravity this time.

And with her doubts set to a bear minimum, she proceeded to twirl the axe, spinning it and spinning it. Juggling it, she seemed to be doing as she tossed on portion of the handle to the other hand in a cylindrical fashion.

Her eyes followed the movement of the axe, never leaving its spinning pattern. She was in a trance, it almost seemed, as if she couldn’t be stolen from the spell she had just encountered. Only a magic word could stop her, or a personally decisive motion upon her part.

She decided to add her own signature, a flourish as she was twisting the handle of the axe in a relatively slow and steady pace. Her eyes were starting to burn from the strain of staring at it without so much as blinking once or twice.

Finally, she accepted an alternative as she swung the handle to one hand and pivoted on her foot, using said hand as the only limb of control. She finally was able to thrust her other hand over her abdomen to grace it with the momentum it had stored until finally she took a step and struck the tree in front of her.

She struck it again, brining it out of the tree each and every time to throw it back over her shoulder or around her side to swing it into the stump again. She struck and struck with every last amount of power she had trapped inside her small figure.

Until she was satisfied, she did not stop. When she was content with the little energy she was left with, she brought the head of the axe so that it was petting the tips of the blades of grass. She turned on her heel and left the woods, dragging her new friend along with her.

Upon returning back to her tent, she quickly and subtly, without disturbing the child, stowed the weapon away. She covered it with her coat and with her blanket so that it wouldn’t be stumbled upon by either accident or on purpose. She didn’t want anyone getting hurt by that monster of a blade, and that included herself.

She stopped to fill the palm of her hand with at least three golden rimmed mizas in case her eye was caught and stuck on something at the local Seaside Market. She never knew, and with a clenched hand, she had no need to bring a coat to stash her loot.

Her next destination was to arrive back in the town. She had heard rumours about some Svefra woman and men arriving at port a few days prior to now. She wondered if they were still about. Lately she had been missing out on a bunch of things more so because of the fact that she was a rather shy individual. She wasn’t outgoing and willing to try many new things when it came to doing them with other people. Especially when said people were the thugs, perverts, thieves and criminals of a lawless city.

However, with her confidence riling her motivation, she strolled through the Tent City in terms of trying to find a blue eyes seafaring lady to tell her some stories of the sea.

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on May 4th, 2014, 8:53 am

37th of Spring, 514 AV
An Alleyway Near the Ocean

With a gait of slack, yet firm nature, she waltzed past alleyways and behind rotting buildings. She rushed around the corners of corroding establishments and finally managed to see the ocean, its waves crashing against the shore with vivacious interest.

Lenz gasped before tucking her stunning scarlet hair of vivacity behind her ears. She closed her eyes only to listen to the sound of the rolling waves of sea water, licking the sandy rocks before sloshing back into the depths of the blueness of wild.

She leant against a nearby wall and set her currency beside her on a barrel before taking another special, meditative moment to herself. She breathed in deeply, clearing her mind and freeing herself from any and all chains that prohibited her from feeling free. She called to herself in a far off voice, the sounds of the water caressing her head so that it no longer pounded.

She breathed in deeply again and exhaled, soothing her rapid beating heart before she had calmed herself to such an extent where she was able to think clearly again. When she opened her eyes, she smiled. However, as soon as she smiled and as soon as she glanced back over to her barrel, the grin disappeared entirely.

Her money was gone.

It had vanished whilst she was involved in a solitary world of her own creation. She had envisioned happiness and whilst doing so, reality played the ultimate cruel trick of displaying the opposite of happiness. Now, she felt simply deprived of, stolen from and the least bit happy.

However, she couldn’t assume she was stolen from quite yet. She wouldn’t become that way. She wouldn’t let a city make her cynical and judgmental and quick to assume anything. Instead, she thought an alternative possibility. Perhaps she misplaced it.

“Where is it?” she asked as she rummaged over by the barrels. “It could have fallen through the cracks,” she suggested as she began to pull one barrel away from the other, but to no avail, her money had up and left.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a young woman. She was running away with haste and in her hand flashed something significant to Lenz. At first she assumed she was simply running away with joy and that the money was indeed hers and hers alone, although Lenz deducted far more than that.

She observed and deduced that the fact that she was running and away from Lenz, that fact alone proved guiltiness. Seeing as how Lenz was the only one in this alleyway also suggestion that she was the only victim. Also, the way the girl was dressed, it was doubtful she could have such money free willingly to spare as she trampled through the streets unsupervised.

Lenz rushed into action, testing and believing her instincts to defend herself and all that she owned. She launched into a sprint, tackling the ground with one foot and then replacing that foot with the other. Soon, she was panting, but her speed was incredible. It was improving and she was less to become tired unlike how she had been in the winter.

Finally she had managed to gain decent ground until she came up on the girl and stopped her dead in her tracks by using herself to create a sort of obstacle. She planted her foot in front of her girl and managed to trip her accidentally, yet with a certain amount of intent.

“I’m sorry,” Lenz apologised with a croaky voice, but with sincerity. “But you have taken something that belongs to me and I want it back.”

The child, struggling on the ground to maintain some balance before standing up began to burst out in a fit of apologies herself, suffering from the onset of tears. Lenz, being the motherly and protective woman she was, came to her aid, telling her that all was okay.

“It just isn’t nice to steal from people,” she said with a minor scolding attitude thrown into the mix, “even if you cannot afford most. Other people might be as poor as you and to steal from them wouldn’t only hurt them, but you in the long run.”

She felt like she was giving a lecture to the child, a child she didn’t even know. However, it seemed to be working, as the child started to calm down.

She appeared to be somewhere around fourteen years of age, but to Lenz, anyone younger than herself was considered child material. Another thing she couldn’t help but notice was the child’s stunning blue eyes and the way she talked. A slang tone was hinted in her voice and her skin was tanned and everything else simply screamed Svefra at the redheaded lady.

“Say,” she went on, not knowing how friendly the girl could be. For all she knew, she could have been faking her tears and her apologies. “How about you tell me something about the life on the sea and you’ll get to keep a miza or two in return. You are a Svefra, no doubt?”

The child nodded her head before standing up and forking over the money willingly, but with a sour expression on her face and with her head bowed down in tentative sorry.

Character sheet · by **Lenz** on May 4th, 2014, 8:55 am

37th of Spring, 514 AV
An Alleyway Near the Ocean

NoteI have deducted 1 GM from my ledger

“I was born on the sea. My mama gave birth to me while the boat was rocking on the rolling waves. I was born with red hair just like you until I turned ten. Then, it just changed colours and never went back.”

Lenz noticed the brunette shade of long locks the girl bestowed and continued to listen to her story with ears open and attentively awaiting more knowledge to soak up.

“My mama said Laviku wasn’t nice to her the day of my birth, because the waves were real mean, but then one day she told me he was nice because he made us live, let us come to shore.”

For a second Lenz was bewildered. Who was Laviku and why were they spared with leniency to come to shore? Shouldn’t all people be allowed to come to shore? Why did this guy cause such trouble for the woman whilst she was giving birth to a baby? Her head was rambling with questions, and to expel all those thoughts she inquired the girl.

“Who’s Laviku?” she asked to start out with.

“Laviku is the god of the sea,” the girl stated. “Our ship had tons of cargo and when we set sail on his seas we forgot to make an offering to Him. I think that’s why he made the seas rocky.”

“Why is that?” Lenz asked.

“We have to make a sacrifice to him, because he demands one for a safe travel on his domain. The seas are who he is and to honour him we usually kill something like a rabbit or whatever and then offer it to him,” she explained.

Lenz was taking all of this in, eating it and feeding off of it as she became more and more interested in this god named Laviku. She stored the information in her mind as she noted the details about who he was.

“The god of the seas,” she whispered to herself as the child went on with her story.

“Laviku looks like a human man, but an old one with long hair that looks like seaweed. He had a beard too. And I trust him with all my life. He protects me at sea and once I arrived, which wasn’t that long ago, he had been nice to me and my people.”

“You arrived recently?”

“Very recently, but I won’t stay for long. Mama says we need to go out at sea again when Laviku is happy again. We’ll make sure to make another sacrifice.”

The child stuck out her hand, demanding her part of the trade. Lenz handed her a golden miza, but one last thing still lingered on her mind.

“Doesn’t he give people something?”

“What do you mean?” the child responded.

“He gives them some powers or something, isn’t that right?” she asked to clarify.

“He gives them a mark, a gnosis mark to help him with the sea. If someone is special to him he will allow them to have the manipulation of the ocean and all that fun stuff.”

A Gnosis mark was something new to Lenz, but she instantly deducted that it was some sort of magical gift given to special individuals by the gods who see them worthy to have. She was amazed by the story of Laviku and would cherish this information forever.

“Do you have one?” she asked in conclusion as the child started to jog away, her money in hand.

“I will someday!” she shouted back before turning and taking off forever, to never be see again.

“I don’t doubt it,” Lenz whispered under her breath in promise. She didn’t doubt a child such as her, with such intelligence and beauty and strength would attract the attention of someone such as the powerful Laviku.

And with that, Lenz turned to go back home, still with two golden mizas, but with a mind full of new knowledge.

The End