Flashback Begin Again

[Asterope]

51st/Summer/515 AV

Wind rushed past her, whipping her hair around her face, and a strange, floating feeling curled in her stomach. Confusion clouded her mind as she found herself staring at a vast expanse of shimmering blue of varying hues and shades. By the time she realized she was falling, it was too late.

The Ethaefal plunged into the ocean, the cold water a shock to her system. The saltwater stung her eyes, and for a moment she didn't know which way was up or down. She kicked her feet desperately, some deep-seated survival instinct telling her to move her limbs. Her lungs were beginning to ache when finally, her head broke the surface, and she sucked in a gasp, coughing and choking.

Her nose and throat burned from inhaling the sea water, her eyes red as she blinked hard to clear her vision, kicking clumsily to keep her head bobbing above water. Waves knocked into her every so often, giving her a faceful of water, leaving her sputtering. She craned her head up to look at the sky, darkening as the sun slid down past the horizon. The sun.

Her eyes fell to the glowing orb, more orange and pink than yellow as it began to set so far away from her. Syna, her mind implored, tears springing to her eyes, mixing with the water on her face and mingling with the salt in her mouth. What happened? Why am I here? She glanced around, but she was alone. Her limbs were beginning to tire, and a deep chill was beginning to settle in her bones. In the distance, she caught sight of something solid and vast. Land.

With one last longing glance to the setting sun, confusion still clouding her mind, the Eth struck out for the land. It was less swimming, more desperately clawing at the water in front of her, kicking haphazardly and keeping the land firmly in her sight. The waves knocked her back every so often or dunked her beneath the water, but they were gentle, and for that a part of her was grateful. It was rough going, and a deep exhaustion soon settled over her. A few times she found herself knocked beneath the waves and she wondered if it would be all bad to just give up then and there and float away.

But every time, she grit her teeth and forced her head back above water, wet hair clinging to her face, and fought on. She didn't know how long she had been swimming, but the tides seemed to turn as she neared the land enough to make out the details of a cliff, instead pushing her gently closer towards safety, as if the ocean knew she no longer had the strength to fight against it.

The sun had slipped past the horizon long ago, though the Eth had been too focused and tired to notice it or the change it had brought on her. Finally, the waves washed her up onto a beach. She felt her toes brush sand, seaweed tangling around her ankles, and dug into the flimsy purchase, pushing herself forward until she was standing, wading through the shallow water.

She made it a few steps up onto the beach before collapsing, sand sticking to her naked body and clumping in her hair, but she hardly had the energy to notice let alone care. She was shivering, the waves still lapping at her toes, and her whole body ached, muscles burning from exertion. Despite that and despite the coarseness of the sand beneath her, she found her vision wavering, sliding in and out of blackness, and finally she slipped into unconsciousness.

Word Count: 612

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

[Asterope]

She was roused from sleep slowly. Consciousness came back to her bit by bit, trickling and slow like a melting glacier. The first thing she was aware of was the warmth of the sun bathing her body; next came the aches and pains in her muscles, then the rough sand beneath her and the cool tickling of waves over her toes. The last thing that she noticed, though perhaps it was what had woken her to begin with, was the whispering.

Confusion clouded her mind in a haze for a long moment before she remembered the day before; suddenly finding herself falling, and fighting through the ocean to make it to land. She cracked her eyes open, wincing at the light, and blinked blearily. The whispers came from her left, in a language she didn’t know. The voices, for there was more than one, sounded young. Slowly and painfully, she lifted her head to turn and look.

Two children stood a few feet from here, and had stopped talking upon seeing her move. They stared with wide eyes, and the Eth blinked back at them. She tried to say something, but her throat was raw from swallowing sea water and her voice rusty from disuse. All that came out was a low croak before she coughed, wincing and reaching up to gingerly hold her neck. At that, the two children spoke excitedly, hands moving in motions she couldn’t quite follow before they turned and ran off, scampering through the sand.

She let her head fall back onto the sand, realizing belatedly that she was stark naked. She didn’t particularly care in that moment, though; she closed her eyes again, breathing in deeply through her nose, letting the heat of the sun soak into her skin. She could almost feel the heat seeping through into her bones, warming her from the inside out, slowly filling her with energy and easing the aches and pains.

It seemed even so far from her light, Syna was still taking care of her. The thought brought with it a fresh wave of confusion and hurt. New grief and anguish welled up inside her, and she opened her eyes to squint up at the shining light of Syna. Sun spots danced in her vision. She felt so lost, and she had no idea why. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and she wiped them away harshly. Turning her face away from the sun, she decided it was best to deal with the situation at hand before anything else.

Word Count: 424

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

[Asterope]

The situation at hand was, of course, that she was alone and naked, stranded in a strange land that she knew nothing of. With a hoarse grunt, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Her vision wavered slightly, her head swimming, but when she didn’t promptly pass out, she forced herself to her feet. Her legs trembled beneath her and she swayed for a moment, the beach spinning around her before finally settling into place, if still slightly wobbly.

She glanced around for a clear direction to head in, perhaps someone who would take pity on her and help, but the expanse of the beach was empty. She took a tentative step forward, sand shifting beneath her feet, when she heard the familiar voices of the children from before.

She jerked her head up and around, watching them scramble down to the beach level. They ran towards her, and then stopped about ten feet away. The children were yelling, pushing and prodding at each other as they glanced at her. She was so absorbed in watching them, equal parts baffled and bemused, that she almost didn’t see the man approaching them at a much slower pace.

He called something to the children in the same language, voice stern as he made a sharp motion with his hands. The children stopped yelling, and slunk back towards the man sulkily. She wondered if he was their father, for them to listen to him so instantaneously. He approached her slowly, hand reached up to run through his hair and then down his face and over his beard; his eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and wonder as he looked at her, something she didn’t quite understand.

Both of them seemed at a loss for what to say, so she broke the silence first. She coughed again, clearing her throat roughly. “Hello,” she spoke, her voice hoarse and low, little more than a rasp. The man seemed surprised for a moment. He said something in the language he had spoken earlier, but she simply stared at him quizzically.

“Hello,” he finally replied in the language she understood, and she felt some relief in knowing they could communicate. His voice was accented, and it seemed it wasn’t the language he was most comfortable with, but he knew it well enough to greet her apparently. “Who are you?”

“I…” she stared at him for a long moment, and that already too familiar feeling of loss and pain tightened in her throat, filling her chest and squeezing her stomach until she felt as if she couldn’t breathe properly. “I don’t know,” she told him, and the grief in her voice was universal.

His face softened, and he said something in his native tongue to the children behind him. Unclasping his cloak from around his neck, he held it out, offering it to her. “Come,” he said, not unkindly. She took the cloak with an uncertain hand, settling it over her shoulders. Her fingers fumbled with the clasp for a moment before she hooked it properly, pulling the coarse black material closed around her, covering herself. The cloak was large on her, pulled shut easily around her form and hanging to just past her ankles, dragging slightly in the sand.

The two children chattered excitedly, running off. Aster followed after the man, allowing him to help her when she needed it with murmured thanks, and cast one last look back at the ocean as she left the beach.

Word Count: 583

"Common" | "Nari" | "Pavi" | Thoughts
"Other People's Speech"

[Asterope]

The Sun Has Risen

And so have your grades!

Asterope

 

Skills

✧Swimming +1
✧Endurance +2
✧Observation +3
✧Socialization +1

 

Lores

✧Lore of the feeling of falling
✧Lore of the confusion of rebirth
✧Endurance: Grit your teeth and keep pushing
✧Lore of losing a goddess
✧Syna: Still cares for her children
✧Lore of a new life in a new land
✧Asterope: Doesn't know who she is
✧Lore of the kindness of a stranger

Thank you for your patience! As always, please edit or delete your request in the grading queue; and if you have any questions or concerns about your grades, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me!