A Shift of Fall[Evalynn]

by **Moritz Craven** on October 8th, 2022, 11:49 pm

1 Fall 522

Eyes closed, Moritz slowly let out a breath as he felt a bump. Jostled a bit he did his best to keep his focus, trying to keep a picture in his mind of the spot he often meditated on. A large grassy field on the edges of a mountain... A stream of water coming down off the mountain and flowing into the grassy plain... But not normal water, instead it was the mental image in his mind of his djed. At the moment he was not trying to do anything with it like when he used Pathfinding, instead he was just focusing on it. Touching and examining it, trying to feel closer. A slow breath in... And then a slow breath out, picturing in his head... Trying to make it real. A ruffle of air, wind, cutting across the grass...

And then there was another bump, this time worse than before, and he slipped out of his seat on the wagon to land on the floorboard. Giving up on his attempt at meditation Moritz looked around, finding himself on the floor of the covered wagon he was riding in today. He also noticed that it had not been a bump that had unseated him, but the wagon stopping. Looking around then he realized the first bump was likely them going off the road, and then as they had come to their spot a sudden stop as the wagon settled into place abruptly. Looking up a bit he saw the sun was getting close to setting, and apparently the caravan had decided to stop for the night and take up camp.

Some days they road in a carriage, some days a wagon, other days Moritz would stretch his legs for a bit and move around on foot with an occasional break on a empty spot on a cart. The caravan was not too big, but was still a fair number of people. Enough to feel safe in a group, but not so many that it felt cumbersome.

Mostly it was made up of families of caravaners who made regular trips across established routes, with some random people added in who were picked up in one spot or another and joined the group. There were the people driving the carts, wagons, and carriages. People who cooked the meals. People who worked as guards... People who cleaned, and others who did maintenance if needed. Those who worked wood... Honestly the more he traveled with them the more he felt they were almost a small moving city, picking up supplies in each place and then moving on across the sea of road.

Stepping down from the wagon back Moritz stretched a bit, checking then to see where Evalynn was at and if she was ready to get out, if so offering her a hand down. Having come to a stop for the day many people began moving. Guards moved out to check the location, and beginning to take up checks around the perimeter. Others began setting up a small impromptu kitchen, pots over fires and other cooking surfaces, beginning the workings for dinner before long. Others began setting up tents of various sizes, some smaller for individual people, others bigger for families or things. With some time to kill before dinner and nothing specific needing doing Moritz turned to see what Evalynn was up to and wanted to do.

"Anything you want to do while they set up for the night and before dinner? I think we've got some time to kill, at least a bell or so based on prior days... If not I'm sure we can figure something out to keep us busy."

Moritz smiled at Evalynn as he spoke, still holding her hand if she had taken his offered grip to assist in her leaving the wagon, for the moment ignoring everyone else and pretending he was alone with just her. Which effectively he was, since most everyone else had something to do right then and where much too busy to look closely at them or pay attention to anything they said.

WC: 681

by **Evalynn Frostfawn** on October 15th, 2022, 5:07 pm

Fall 1st, 522AV

It had been a long journey along the bumpy dirt roads within this caravan. Eva, having walked with a group of women earlier in the day, had crawled into the covered wagon that Moritz sat at and proceeded to attempt to nap. She was snuggled up to him without disturbing him much, making sure to get a sense of feeling safe before closing her eyes and falling asleep. The next thing she remembered was feeling like she was falling backwards and quickly catching herself in her tired stupor. Had they stopped? She straightened herself and rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear away any sleep that may be clinging behind.

As she suspected, the sun was setting and nightfall was soon approaching, which explains the sudden feeling of falling. Moritz had fallen off his seat, and even in her tired state, she gave a smile as he recollected himself and made his way out. Eva gave one more attpent at waking up by yawning before making her way over and taking her partner's outstretched hand. She looked at him as she spoke and pondered a bit. Yesterday, the women of the camp told her not to worry about helping and just relax, even after she insisted on helping they sternly told her no. So she smiled at Moritz and planted her feet on the ground to stretch.

"Hm, tough decision. I want to explore the area, maybe we can find something interesting. But I also want to know what you were doing earlier on the wagon. You looked like you were asleep, but focused."

Eva looked at Moritz with curiosity as she led the way away from the wagon and out into the grassy area away from the camp.

WC: 290

by **Moritz Craven** on October 16th, 2022, 1:47 am

Focused as he was on his task, Moritz had not noticed Evalynn arriving until he was getting out of the carriage. He had not been completely oblivious, noticing someone resting against him, but had figured it was one of the children often moving about the caravan or some other person with limited thoughts on personal space.

As it was he was a bit disappointed he had missed her before, but was not overly upset as they would not really have been able to be intimate much in such a space, and surely if she needed him she would have gotten his attention.

With that in mind he smiled as she accepted his offered hand, watching as she stepped down to make sure she did not stumble. Only once she was firmly on the ground did he let his eyes move off, though he still kept his one hand gripping hers as he grinned at the woman.

Once she was done talking Moritz tugged on her arm and stepped towards her, bringing her in close to plant a kiss on her with a grin. Partly this was him being playful, and partly him wanting to show some affection.

Thinking on her words Moritz eyes wandered in the sky as he mulled things over, before finally responding.

"Well, if you like we can look around, and talk a bit while we do that. I was just meditating... I feel like I've brought it up before, but did not really go in depth about it. But its been awhile so perhaps you have forgotten. But if you want to try it, I think we would need a place to settle down and sit. I'd not like to try it while moving. Its tricky enough doing it sitting on a moving carriage."

Moving along with Evalynn who seemed to be leading away from the road and into the opening where the camp and things was being set up and spread out, the Kelvic followed along with her lead as she tugged at his arm.

"I think I told you about it before, maybe shortly after we first met. Meditation. Its all about clearing your mind, calming and centering yourself, that type of thing. I've seen a few people who practice it and have been practicing as well for awhile, though I'm no expert. I also used it when I was first learning to use my Iraso sight, and when first learning to make soulmist. I could show you the basics of meditating if you want, but we would need to find a nice quiet place to sit. The fewer distractions the better for a beginner."

As he said this Moritz wondered for a few moments, considering the connection with different types of magic and meditation. He had used it himself in two, but he supposed it might also be used with others... Why was that? The most logical reason was that being calm was better for working magic... But then he had also used imaging and things to picture in his mind what his djed was doing, so perhaps that was also an element.

WC: 520

by **Evalynn Frostfawn** on November 21st, 2022, 9:59 pm

Eva gasped, but that was short lived as she was suddenly taken in by a light and playful kiss from Moritz. The sudden action made Eva grin bashfully and blush as she wrapped her arms around his neck and return a kiss of her own. It was extremely refreshing to have this affection given to her right after their long ride. It gave her a breath of fresh air and a bit of pep in her step as she spoke and walked. Heck, she even was thinking of just pulling his arm into her and holding on tight, but she wasn’t wanting to cause an issue with their walking so she opted to just hold his hand instead.

Eva nodded, having remembered the conversation being brought up, but not remembering all the details. She listened to Moritz as he went over what he was doing and what meditation was before offering to teach her the basics. At that, Eva really jumped on the idea and smiled, nodding to Moritz’s proposal. She knew, that throughout her life on the run, there were several times where she had to really struggle to keep her emotions in check, Not knowing what to really do in the beginning, she went to extremes to refocus herself at first and had adapted until she considered herself closed off and emotionless. She scoffed at that idea, as the moment she met Moritz, all her diligent emotional checks went out the window.

“Well, if a quiet place is what we need, then one we should find.” Eva chuckled and guided Moritz further away from the group, she found a small little rock that looked like a good area to sit, and the sounds of the camp were faint and far away. Unless someone yelled out to them, Eva could barely hear the common chatter from them. “Would this be okay? Or should we continue to look around?”

Eva spoke softly as she let go of Moritz’s hand and walked over to the stone to sit down. She leaned forward and rubbed her shins as she gave them a little squeeze, excited as to what she would learn from Moritz.
WC: 361

by **Moritz Craven** on November 22nd, 2022, 1:25 am

The more time Moritz spent around Evalynn, the more he enjoyed surprising her. Her reaction, her joy, brought him joy in turn as she was pleasantly surprised at something. Something he said. Or did. A motion. A touch. Some where small things, but slowly he felt he was learning what she liked and did not just as he had with other things. It was a strange sort of devotion that perhaps would not make sense to others, but made sense to him all the same.

For the moment he just enjoyed their contact, the feeling of his skin on hers as they touched, and on their closeness... Privacy was not easy in a caravan, but not impossible. And so having a small moment alone with her was also a nice chance of things. If nothing else what she did in response to his caring seemed to indicate she cared for him as well. He kissed her playfully, and she returned with one of her own. Pulling him in by wrapping around his neck with her arms, and then the two of them were off and she was pulling him along away from the others and the caravan hand in hand. In response to that he had to use some of his own calming breathing techniques, if he wanted to keep his mind focused on meditation and not other things.

Once Evalynn stopped they were at a nice rock which was far enough from the others that it was unlikely someone would invade their space, but not so far away that they were truly in the wilds deeply and at risk of getting lost or something. Though, Moritz knew, he could get them back even if they were further away with his abilities.

"This is fine. Private, but still close enough."

Seeing her sit down and rubbing her legs Moritz came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, leaning forward and nuzzling softly with a kiss on her neck.

"Honestly though, I think there are still some things we need to talk about... I mean like... Last time, you kind of explained, without actually explaining anything. About who you are. And not at the best moment to bring it up. It was kind of mean... Plus I had no idea what it meant, so not really a proper explanation, and then you just moved on. And you haven't really fully explained things since then. It makes me think you don't really trust me, if you won't explain things properly."

Here Moritz paused, giving it a moment to sink in, before proceeding with the other things on his mind. He did not want to leave them unsaid, and have it become an issue later. Or in a moment of passion when he was left uncertain where they were or what they were.

"And I mean... The other thing I asked... I'm not sure how far you want to go, but if I hadn't said something we would have risked having babies on multiple occasions. Was it just the heat of the moment? Or are you wanting to have kids? I care about you, but... I don't know what I am to you. I mean, what do you think of me as? What do you want from this? Is that, having kids with me, something you want? I kind of need to know those things as well as the other stuff about who you are. At least before we do anything that might lead to.... That."

Letting out a sigh Moritz held onto Evalynn, not rushing her but being firm on wanting some answers to some things.

WC: 606

by **Evalynn Frostfawn** on November 22nd, 2022, 2:31 am

Eva leaned into Moritz and enjoyed the soft scents she was getting from him, something she never really caught onto before. She was so into him as a person that she never had the time to really focus on the things that most people may have already discovered. While she was thinking this, she heard Moritz start asking questions and her mind came back to reality and she opened her eyes and looked at the night sky. These were also questions she knew she would have to answer, and even some that she wanted answers to as well, so she took in a breath and gently took hold of his hand.

“Come, sit with me. It is definitely time to answer these questions now that I feel like I am in a slightly safer place. Let's start with me being Vantha and why it's dangerous. I will try to be brief, but also give you as much information as I can, with what I have learned.’ Eva found herself fiddling with her hands a bit and looked around before she began. “As a Vantha, we are the children of Morwen, or so I was told by my mother. Well protected and loved up north in Avanthal,, that was until Morwen came up missing and we were suddenly raided and attacked. Our people scattered across the lands, some of us able to survive and make small settlements, mine included.”

Eva gripped her hands a bit and took in a shaky breath as she remembered the snow covered in her people's blood. She shook her head and decided to skip a few parts, to speed up the story.

“Well, after the Vantha was either killed or scattered, I learned that there was a bounty put on our heads through my many years of wandering aimlessly. It is rumored that we were hunted by the gods in hopes to bring Morwen back, and that even the bounty that still stands today is because of the gods. I am still scared of everything, and have been basically isolating myself from the world in order to stay numb and emotionless.”

She gave a soft, tender smile to Moritz before she continued.

“That is, until I met you. You sparked something in me that I have not felt since Morwen had vanished. It fills me with emotions I haven't used since I lost my family. While I am sometimes cautious around you with my emotions, I want to one day be able to let them free. And as for kids, I would love to have children with you, anytime possible. And I admit that anytime we are making love, I get carried away and drunk with the feelings of your touch. Half of me say that right now isn't a good time to have kids, especially with their mother being on the most wanted list. But the other half, that other half makes me want to risk it, to bring us together and form a family.”

WC: 500

by **Moritz Craven** on November 22nd, 2022, 3:33 am

As Moritz waited for an answer, he wondered what it would be... And also what he wanted it to be. It did not take much thinking though to know what he hoped it would be. He felt deeply for Evalynn, though he was not entirely sure if it was love or not. If nothing else he felt a deep attachment to her, and was protective of her. If nothing else he felt he had made these things known. As to Evalynn... He felt she had made some of them known, but mainly her attraction not much else. And so that along with her prior somewhat botched moment of revealing things made him firm on the fact he wanted it worked out and explained more clearly.

He did not rush her, but simply waited for her to say something. When she finally did seem ready to speak he followed along and sat with her, looking into her eyes as she spoke.

He tried to listen closely, but much of it did not make sense, until it did. He did not know the word Vantha before, or Avanthal, but he knew Morwen... And knew that she was missing. Admittedly it was before he was born, but events since then had led to him knowing of details not many others did. Still ,he had yet to be able to do anything about it, despite having informed quite a few people in Syka. He knew his own skills were too weak to do anything, trying would just be in vain until he had the strength and skills to back it up.

Once she finished speaking Moritz sighed at the story, responding in a similar way to how he had before... Though Moritz did not entirely recall who he had said it to, but it probably was not to Evalynn.

"That's stupid. Why would killing her children bring her back? If she could come back, she would."

Meeting Evalynn's eyes Moritz looked deeply within, a serious expression on his face.

"I promise, if its within my power, I will protect you from that. Sometimes I just don't get humans. Its so... Illogical. So many things they do don't make sense, but they insist on them. Like shoes! I mean why must you wear them all the time! It doesn't make any sense. Yes sometimes, like out in the wilds and things to keep them protected, but most of the time they just wear it because people wear them!"

Having gone off on a bit of a personal tangent and his own personal vendetta against common shoe culture, Moritz tried to come back to the conversation at hand.

"If you want to think of me as family, that is fine with me. Honestly, my blood family has always been a bit... Complicated. I mean the reason we are on this trip is a clear example. But blood is not all there is to family, and family is not everything just for the sake of being one. But that being said, you can still choose a family, and make your own. I could see myself doing that with you... I don't really have anything to compare it to though. Love... That was never really the relationship I had with my family. I still care for them, but it is a different sort than most seem to speak of. So... I'm not entirely sure about it all. But I do care about you, I do know that. And once I set out on something, I don't just give up on it."

Pausing for a moment Moritz leaned over and gave Evalynn a kiss, before pulling back to meet her eyes.

"I suppose we kind of got off the original topic you brought up coming over here. If you want, I can still show you some of the basics of meditation. There are a few simple but main things. Like controlling your breathing, focusing on it and making it nice and even and calm... And for starters clearing your mind, or focusing it on a single calming thing. That can help as well. Like I said before, its all about calming and centering yourself, being at ease. Sometimes I picture things in my head... Rooms... Open spaces... A grassy field with wind blowing across it, with a river cutting across it and leading up into a mountain... Uh, but, you might want to start a bit simpler."

WC: 738

by **Evalynn Frostfawn** on December 11th, 2022, 10:34 pm

Eva nodded, feeling reassured that her own feelings about the hunt of her people was illogical. She even found it endearing that Moritz went off on a small tangent about shoes. Maybe, one day, she could discover his understanding on the topic. She gave a warm smile after the pleasant kiss before shaking free of the emotions of her past and refocusing on the situation now. He accepted the fact that she wanted to make a family with him, even with his own family confusions. It makes her warm and fuzzy inside, and made her heart ache for him more, that was until Moritz reminded her that she had asked about meditation.

"Oh, so I should close my eyes like this and focus on a peaceful area I wish to go to?" Eva spoke softly as she brought in a breath and slowly released it. In her mind, it was dark and blank and cold, so very cold. She continued to breathe, focusing harder on a peaceful image and not one that was as cold. Wait, cold? She doesn't even remember the last time she felt cold. She was just about to open her eyes and tell Moritz that it wasn't working, when something grabbed hold of her consciousness and yanked her being into a whole different area.

When she opened her eyes, she hear chattering teeth and soft shivering breaths. A small sliver of light shone above her through a crack above her and she squinted her eyes to try to see through it. When she was unsuccessful, she attempted to reach up to touch it and froze as the light caught a glimpse of her hand. It was small, like a child's, and covered in dirt. She couldn't really make out anything else in the darkness, so she had to get out of here and figure out what was going on.

After fondling around in the darkness, she found a ladder and made her way up to the light, finding that it was a makeshift hatch and pushing it to the side. Immediately, wet hay fell upon her hair and the acidic smell of burning wood filled her nostrils. It caused her to scrunch up her nose and begin coughing heavily as the smell went to her lungs.

"Where am I?" She muttered, paying no mind to how young her voice sounded. She stumbled her way out of the half burned building and out into the snowy weather. What she saw caused her heart and breathing to stop. Her childhood nightmare was once again laid out in front of her it a mess of mangled bodies, blood stained snow, and flaming buildings. Tears welled in her eyes and her chest tightened as a soft snow began to fall, kissing her skin before she suddenly snapped out of her daze and back to reality. Once back, she screamed and jumped up, stumbling and falling hard to the ground in a panic. She whimpered in fear as her eyes and hair went wild with colors, gripping handfuls of grass and staring off into the distance.

WC: 515

by **Moritz Craven** on December 16th, 2022, 1:33 am

Once his instructions were done, Moritz waited silently for Evalynn to try. He was not exactly sure how much he could help, and simply tried to give examples of things to try for her to attempt. If it worked, great. If not then he supposed he would try something else. Meditation was still something he was relatively new to, and he was unsure what worked for him would work for her.

Visually there was not much to see, seeing as it was all going on within Evalynn's head. Instead he just silently watched and looked on, examining her face and hoping to see something that indicated she was working it out. A calming of the face or some such? He was unsure exactly what he would see, though he figured he would know it when he did or did not see it.

"Sure. Or just an empty void of nothing, that can also be calming. Try something simple for now, as long as its soothing or calming to you."

As she quietly and steadily breath Moritz did not see much else, and was resigned to wait it out however long she took. As long as it was not a crazy long time he planned to wait, of course he did not expect it to take long seeing as she was so new to it. He himself still had trouble focusing and keeping his mind quiet during meditation, but he recalled it being much harder to do much when he first began.

The first thing he noticed was her breathing speeding back up, the opposite of what had been happening before. Shortly after that Evalynn suddenly broke from her attempt, letting out a scream and leaping up. Confused Moritz watched on, but he was not certain what exactly Evalynn had been doing.

Offering a hand to help her back up and trying to rub her shoulders soothingly, Moritz looked on concerned, but also confused.

"What the petch was that? I don't know what you were doing, but that seemed the opposite of meditation, calming, or soothing. I... Am pretty sure you did not do what I said if that is the result, but I've no idea what you did do. If nothing else, your idea of calming or soothing seemed to have been off, if that was the attempt with that mental focus... Assuming you didn't mess up before that point... Uh, any idea what happened? We can try again if you want, but if your first try went that badly... Not sure it'd be a good idea. Or we can just do something else, if you don't feel up to it. Plenty of other things we can do today."

Thinking back on his own lesson from before, he tried to think what aspect of his instructions might have gone wrong. But no matter how he looked at it, it did not make any sense. Clearly he was missing something, or Evalynn had not followed his instructions. Nothing else really made sense in light of the bizarre events of her reaction.

WC: 510

by **Evalynn Frostfawn** on October 31st, 2023, 1:57 pm

“I-I’m sorry. I was doing as you told me.” Eva’s breath was shaky as she stared at a point on Moritz’s chest and lightly gripped his hand as she tried recalling what had just happened. “The moment that I started to relax and feel a sense of calm…then it got cold and a small light was before me. When I touched it, it was like I had been thrown into a nightmare of my childhood. There was fire and bodies, and it felt so real that I thought I was lost.” She took in a slow and shaky breath and looked up at Moritz.

At this point, Eva had tightened her grip on Moritz’s hand a bit more and shivered. This wasn’t just some meditation, the thick walls she had been building to suppress her memories immediately seemed to crumble before her, releasing the built up trauma that was behind them. Eva didn't understand the meaning behind these memories, but she was determined to learn meditation.

“If there is a possibility, could we try just breathing exercises?” She paused and cleared her throat. “I don’t think I can see those images again so soon. But I do want to have some sort of knowledge of how to calm myself down when I feel overwhelmed. We don’t have to practice today, but if you can tell me what I would need to do that would be great.”

If Moritz agreed, she would diligently listen to his instructions and any advice he would give. She knew, after witnessing those images, that she would need to have some sort of way to effectively calm herself down in a stressful situation. The sight of that nightmare definitely made her Vantha features run wild, something she couldn’t let happen in a place like Sunberth. Afterward, Eva would steer the conversation to something different.

“So, what will we be doing in Sunberth again? I don’t remember if we talked about it properly or if it was just brought up briefly.” She paused a bit. “Though, maybe we should focus on getting a home together and such first. Then, maybe, make a family?”

WC: 356

Closed A Shift of Fall[Evalynn]