Completed Perfect Blue (Iosha)

[Alori Sai]

Time Stamp: 4th of Fall
Where: The Unforgiving
Who: Aela/Iosha

Aela awoke that morning feeling sore and twisted. The straws and stalks that made her bedding were all flat and broken. It felt as if she were sleeping on the ground again, and while she tossed and turned in her sleep, it made her body ache that much more. She awoke sometime that early morning, uttering a soft grunt as she slowly pulled herself up from the cave floor.

"Oww...uhh..petch. Why aren't these things more stronger...I just replaced them a day ago."

Aela huffed, lifting her hand to push back the mess of bangs covering her face. She was awake now, but still very tired. A night of tossing and turning wasn't the best way to sleep and now she felt tired but unable to sleep. She huffed again as she leaned against the wall, before slowly slumping back down onto the floor. She glanced over at the egg that still remained in the nest. She had lost count of how many days it had been since the eagle laid it, how many days it had been since she stole it.

Although she didn't know much about taking care of birds, she did her best to keep the egg warm, and to make sure that no animals came into the cave to eat it. Still, she was a long way from being a proper mother, and the untrained teen could only hope for the best. Many nights she had lied away, staring at the egg, wondering when it was going to hatch, or if there was anything else that she could do to help it along. It was moments like this, that made her wish that she had been assigned to clean the aeries instead of going to the hot shop. At least then, she might have learned more about how to care for the egg.

Aela could only shake her head at her wayward thoughts, thoughts that were neither productive or good for her heart. She rested against the wall of the cave for ticks more, before she decided to crawl back into the nest and check on the egg. "I hope you're ok in there..little one." she paused afterwards and rolled her eyes at the fact that she was talking to an egg. "Yea...right."

Pushing herself up again, Aela stumbled over to the wall where she kept her bow and quiver. She decided that while she was out fetching new stalks for the bedding, that she would also get something to eat, and possibly take a bath as well. Once she had slipped the quiver and bow over her shoulder, the little huntress headed out of the cave once again. She paused in the entrance, almost hugging the wall as she peaked out. She had to remember that she was on the run, that she was still being hunted by the Endals. Aela had been lucky to escape the city as she had, but with every growing day, her hunters could get lucky enough to stumble onto her location, and if she wasn't careful they may find her.

Once she was sure that she didn't see anyone, or anything moving about, Aela left the cave and took the rocky path down and back onto the ground. It was still early that morning, but there was something different about the sky. A strange hue of darker blue was stretched across the sky, with a brighter shade, almost while coursing along the path that lead from one end of the sky to the other. Even to the middle the spectrum of colors varied between hues and holding a bright glow unlike anything that she had ever seen in the sky. "That's...wow, what is that?"

From a distance, it was hard to tell exactly what it was, as the aurora was set high in the sky, and somewhat covered by clouds at points. Aela wandered further into the forest, still staring up into the sky. There was something about the aurora, something mystical. She had to see it closer, had to find out what it was and how far it reached. Looking around, the rogue Avora figured that she might be able to get a better view from a higher platform. And so she set off, putting her bedding, food, and bath from her mind, at least for the moment.

[Iosha]

Looking down at her white pants, Iosha notices the large collection of burs have decided to hitch hike with her on her hike through the forest to find seeds for her personal garden. She makes a disgusted face at the burs, plucks one from her pants, and tries to flick it into the under brush; however, Zulrav had a different plan for the prickly seed. When the bur took flight, it was immediately blown back at her by a sudden gust of wind. The cursed seed than decided to hitchhike in her hair. She looks up at the bur and curses loudly at it in Kontinese, “You better hope! I don't find a fire!” Lucky for the sake of her sanity, the seed doesn't respond to her curse. Clearly annoyed at this trip in to the forest and very close to calling it quits altogether, Iosha says playful curse at the wind and the god controlling it, “Zulrav if I ever meet you! I am dumping a bucket of burs on your head! Have fun picking them off you.” Suddenly a gust of wind hits her, and the bur gets buried deeper into her pale blond hair. Letting out a long sigh of surrender, Iosha blows stray piece of hair from her face. She decides to continue on looking for her plants. Scanning the forest with her eyes, Iosha fixes her sight a thorny vine climbing a trunk of a tree. She pulls out the book, she checked out from the Enclave, titled Wild Flowers of Kalea. She walks closer to the thorn vine, and she opens to the marked page. Looking at the brown withering leaf and than back to her book, she smiles in satisfaction that this was one of ten flower. She was looking for most of the morning. The climbing rose was call Ivak's Tendrils. The vine will climb up anything around it, but the most remarkable thing about the rose is the brilliant reddish orange blossoms. Iosha picked this rose because it reminded her of little flames that flicker from colors of reds, yellows, orange, or a combination of all three. It was beautiful flower, and hopefully can thrive in the warm city of Wind Reach. Iosha found this rose to be low maintenance. Its roots dig into all most any natural surfaces like rock, wood, or soil, and it takes moisture out of the air. The vine grows quickly in the early spring and blossoms in midsummer. Looking at the thorny vine, Iosha has one concern that the vine would spread out of control if left to its own devices, but even a novice gardener like herself knows to trim the plant occasionally. She walks up to the plant, and she pulls out her dagger and cuts off a seed growing under the withered flower. She takes about twenty seeds from the plant, and put them into her mostly empty backpack. Iosha smiles to herself and continues her journey into the forest. After a mile of hiking through rocky terrain of the foot hills of the volcano, Iosha is surprised at how lush the forest is beneath the shadow of the Mt. Skyinarta. Deciding to take a break, she decides to rest by a tree. Leaning up against a tree, Iosha pulls out a water skin and takes a swig. She leans back and closes her eyes remembering her days of traveling through Taldera with a group of hunters. She sighs sadly to herself and corks the end. Those were sad days and nights for her. She spent most of those sleepless nights trying to remember her daughters face. Master sold her to a rich family when she was six mouths old. She pushes the memories from her mind, but her mind still tries to remember Lutes' violet eyes. As she puts the water skin on her belt, she says to herself “It starting to get warm, I should find some fresh water.” Looking up at the sky, she sat in awe at strange phenomenon in the sky. Across the span of the sky, she can clearly see a contrast between the darker blue of the phenomenon and the brighter late morning sky. Putting her hand over her eyes, and she sees another line of color, but the odd thing about this line. It was bright as the sun. She puts down her hand and says to Rak'Keli, “I guess even the gods are artists when they want to be. Thank you Rak' Keli...” Being deeply devoted to the natural gods and goddesses of the world, Iosha uses her faith to answer her questions about the phenomenon or things she can't explain with logical reasoning. She pushes herself from the tree, and she continues her search for her flower seeds. Farther into the forest, Iosha jumps off a fallen tree truck, and she notices the trees are giving way to a small clearing near the base of a large cliff. She smiles to herself when she sees shrubs of all types in the clearing. She eyes a thorny bush in the shade of cliff, and she walks over to it pulling out her book at the same time. She kneels down and plucks a dead leaf from a scrub, and she opens the nexted marked page in her book. Suddenly, she sees a shadow move above her and she quickly remembers the pair of hunters tell her to watch for monsters. Iosha figured it is the new slang for the mutate creatures of this area of Kalea, so she pulls out her long sword from her scabbard and looks up at the cliff hoping to see what caused the shadow. When she looks up and sees a pretty young Inartan woman looking up at the sky. She watches her for a moment trying to figure out what she could say to her. Iosha wasn't good at small talk since she lived most of her young life in a book. Sheathing her sword, Iosha looks up and calls out to the pretty young woman, “Hey you on the cliff! How is the view?” Iosha mentally cringes on how stupid that sounded as soon as she said it, but what done is done. After calling out to her, she smiles up at the girl and starts waving both hands to get her attention.

[Alori Sai]

Aela made her way up the side of the rocky formation. She leaned forward, knees bending to level off her weight and keep her balanced. The boots at her feet stamped on the tiny rocks and small crevasses packed with dirt. She moved upon uneven ground, legs attempting a steady march as they stumbled across the turf. She glanced down to her footing, anytime she would feel her boot turn uncomfortably to right herself, before returning her gaze to the sky above. The strange aurora appeared much larger now that she was up higher, and from where she stood it seemed to stretch across the sky from one end to the other. It was a wondrous sight, full of mystery and intrigue. Something the young cast way needed in this time in her life.

She pushed on forward, traveling further up the side of the mountain to stand where she could not only see the sky, but the land that stretched on across and beneath the cliff. The warmth from the rays above kissed at her skin, the air around her, cool and crisp, circled her tiny form and tossed her hair about. Aela closed her eyes for a few chimes, allowing the serenity and piece to calm and sooth her emotions. Standing up so high, the world below appeared untouchable, as if she were no longer apart of it. As if the live of the Inarta was insignificant, and all of her problems were less than the subtle breath that she exhaled to mourn them.

Allowing her arms to stay limp at her side, her eyes closed as she tilted her head backwards. The cool wind continued to swirl about, causing her flesh to tingle as her hair blushed across her face and neck. She felt free for the moment, a sudden burst of coolness taking her over and allowing her to leave her human form and become one with the wind. It was an amazing feeling, and she felt like she could simply fall away and let the wind carry her off some place where no one knew her.

Aela had been so far off in thought that she hadn't noticed that someone was near. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't heard the foot steps pecking at the earth, or even noticed the whistling of the sword as it was drawn then returned to it's sheath. It wasn't until the woman called out to her that she became aware of her presences. She suddenly opened her eyes, emerald green orbs coming into focus as she whirled around, a loud yelp escaping her lips as she stumbled back onto the ledge of the cliff. Her gaze fell upon the woman waving up towards her, the thumping in her chest continued as she noticed the sword that the woman carried. "No..no no no!" the little huntress thought to herself.

The woman was armed, possibly a hunter, maybe even riding with the Endals. Aela could only guess that she was, and that they had found her. She couldn't say how many there were, or if the woman had simply chanced upon her by accident and hadn't told anyone just yet. Whatever the reason, she wasn't going to be caught. "Stay away from me!" she cried out, pulling her bow from her shoulder and reaching back into her quiver for an arrow.

[Iosha]

Eyes widen all of a sudden, when Iosha sees the young Inartan woman stumble back from the edge of the cliff when she reappeared she was aiming a arrow directly at her. Iosha murmurs in Kontiese under her breath, “Petch...me” Looking up at the girl, Iosha stand there motionless and starts to frantically think her next move. Immediately, she thinks something wrong or happened to the scared teen to point her bow at a complete straneger, but all she can think about is self-preservation now. Feeling the weight of her quiver on her back, she realizes she would have no chance to get her own bow out and fire before the girl shot an arrow in her chest. Iosha figures violence isn't the answer to this scary situation. Iosha thinks to herself, “Hopefully this Inartan girl knows common.” Moving slowly forward towards the base of the cliff now, Iosha still looking at the girl yells up in common, “Hello, my name is Iosha Moonchaser, and I am a Konti from Mura....I mean you no harm. You just startle me with your shadow, and I thought you were a monster, so this is the reason I pulled my sword out. Once again please put away your bow, I mean you no harm.” She looks at the base and notices it about ten feet away if she can get to it, she will be out of the line of fire of the girls arrow. Her violet eyes never leaving the girls face, Iosha puts her hands in the air and smiles up at the her. Still walking forward, She says loudly, but calmly to not startle the girl, “Hello, I mean you no harm. I was just out in the forest foraging for seeds for my garden when you startled me.” Still looking up at the girl She slowly reaches down and starts unbuckling her sword sheaf, and she yells up to the girl, “See... you have all the control right now. I will disarm myself of my bow and my sword now.” She takes off her sword sheaf and holds it up to the woman, and tosses it on the ground besides her. She starts removing her bow and quiver, and see tosses them onto the sword. She takes her dagger out its sheaf, and she drops it onto the pile of weapons. Iosha eyes still on her smiles up at the scared girl and says calmly to her, “See, now I am disarmed can we talk? I will sit right here with my eyes closed. If you would like to run go ahead, but if you need to talk. Come down to me, and I will listen...” Deciding not make a run for the cliff, Iosha takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. She sits down cross legged in the grassy meadow. She puts her hands on her legs and starts to feel her heart start to beat faster. She thinks to herself, “Calm down Iosha. You been in scarier situations than today. You just need to control your breathing and calm your mind. Concentrate on the orb like Grandmother taught you.” Iosha starts envisioning a clear globe of Rei start to form in her mind. With her mind, Iosha starts trying concentrate all her fears and anxieties into the orb. Each time, she puts a fear into the orb the ball of Rei gets smaller, and it starts turning faster. Waiting in the darkness, Iosha takes a deep breath noticing the meditation took away some of her fear, but she defiantly not all of them. Suddenly, she silently prays to Rak'Keli, “I know. I am not asking for you help with healing, but right now. I really need your bravery my goddess, and if it is my time, please make it quick Rak'Keli.” Feeling a urge to do something, she rolls up her sleeve and shows the girl her gnosis mark, and she looks up at her with her eyes still closed, and says to her with a laugh, “Also, if I was hear to hurt you, I would have to treat your wounds soon after I injured you. See Scared One I am healer of Rak'Keli, and I can only kill if my life is endangered, so honestly, I can't hurt you if unless you land the first blow. The choice is yours choose wisely..” Feeling a soft cool breeze on her face, she starts thinking of the violet eyes of her daughter, and all the fear is washes away for the moment.

[Alori Sai]

Aela narrowed her eyes, her fingers wrapped tighter around the bow as she aimed the arrow directly at the blonde-haired woman frozen in place. This wasn't what she wanted, she knew the dept of her ambition, she knew the strength in her resolve. It was like an untamed fire, ever burning brightly and consuming all around it. Her spirit, her life had become that flame and raging out of control and destroying the world around her. She wanted to be left alone, forgotten in the mess of trees in the forest. She had hoped that no one would ever find her, and she had done well to hide herself until this day.

The aurora above had caught her attention, and she just had to see it. But now, as she stood atop the cliff, aiming her arrow at a potential hunter, she wished that she had just stayed inside. Her legs trembled nervously from beneath her waving bryda, beads of sweat formed on her palms, and a foreboding icy chill raced up her spine. "Just go...just leave me alone." the thoughts echoed throughout her mind, pounding violently as if they threaten to break free. The young huntress gave pause when the woman announced herself as a Konti. She remembered them, the group that had traveled to the city not long ago.

They had come to the city baring fortunes for the people of WindReach. Aela had visited with them hoping of getting a glance of her future as an Endal. However, the advisers could not have foretold what was in store for her. A monster, the woman had said, and she wondered if she was right. Had she truly become a monster? Aela was sure that the people of the city thought so, and perhaps they were right. Even so, she had to protect herself, she had come too far to lose out on her life just yet. "Why are Konti still here....I thought they left?" she thought to herself as she moved slowly away from the edge of the cliff.

"Just go away.." she frighten teen spoke, her voice choked up in her throat, and only slipping out with a gasp of air. She watched with an uncertain gaze, as the woman removed her weapons and tossed them down. Aela lowered her eyes, seeing the sword, bow, dagger, and quiver all displayed upon a messy pile by the woman's feet. She stared at the woman still, her bow aimed at her with the arrowhead pointed towards her chest. She didn't want to have to shoot, she didn't want to have to harm another person, but even in her grief, Aela didn't want to die.

What happened next caught her by surprise, the woman sat down and started to meditate, or perhaps she was praying. Aela wasn't sure, but she didn't seem like she wanted to harm her. However, she had been granted an opportunity, she could run now, and it wasn't likely that the woman could caught her. She could disappear in the labyrinth of trees never to be seen again. It was a good plan, and one that didn't involve blood shed. Finally she lowered her bow, and slipped the arrow back into her quiver.

Aela stared down at the woman as she slipped her bow back over her shoulder, and slowly moved down the cliff. She was just about to walk away when the woman suddenly rolled up her sleeve and showed her the mark on her arm. She instantly recognized the mark, it was like Aidara's. She remembered the night that the healer showed the mark to her, and the events that came after which brought them closer together. Bu that was in the past, and the healer most likely thought her evil, just like the rest of the Endal. Frozen in place, Aela did all she could to hold back the tears that trickled from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"I didn't want this...I didn't want it to be like this." She finally cried out as she dropped to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

[Iosha]

Opening her eyes, Iosha see the young woman sobbing in front of her. For a few moments, she thinks to herself, “What is it that she did to make her break down like this?” Immediately, Iosha tries to resist the urge to comfort the young woman, but finally, she breaks down herself. Iosha crawls over to sobbing woman, and she wraps her arms around the girl and pulls her close to her. Iosha says to her in common in the most soothing voice she can muster, “No..one here is going to hurt you especially not me. You are safe...now. You can cry as long as you want too.” Trying to remember what her mother did to help calm her when she was younger. Iosha starts smoothing out the young woman hair, and she starts humming to herself. Sitting their holding the young woman, Iosha remembers the day of her mothers funeral. When her mother's friends and family lite the fire on the funeral pyre, Iosha went hysterical trying to put out the blaze. She couldn't believe her mother was gone, and in a childish attempt to save her mother. Iosha started throwing dirt onto the fire hoping to snuff the ever growing inferno. Immediately, Iosha's grandmother took the young girl in her arms and started to sing trying to calm the distraught child eventually the uncontrollable sobs turn to soft whimpers. It was a hard year for the young girl. Little Iosha would strum her mothers lute hoping it would make the same sound when her mother played, but it never did. Iosha wipes a tear away from her eye, looks down at the girl, and thinks to herself, “It happened so many years ago, but my mothers death still hurts even today.” Iosha was a notoriously bad singer, but she figure it would be worth a shot in trying to comfort the young woman. In a soft voice, she starts singing a quiet tune. It was a simple tune, but Iosha only knew the melody. When she started to sing, she sang a few of the words in Nari, but if the young woman was listening it would definitely of sounded like gibberish, so she switches to Kontinese and the words come much easier to her. Still stroking the girls hair, Iosha just finished her song. She looks down at the mess of red hair, and she says to the young woman, “I am not sure what you did, but I won't ask unless your ready to tell me.” She lets out a deep breath and continues, “By the way, my name is Iosha Moonchaser, and I just arrived in Wind Reach a couple weeks ago.” Thinking what else to say, she asks quietly, “Since I can't call you crying girl, what is your name?” Figuring she should start with a simple question. Maybe she can figure out a little about this my mysterious woman.

[Alori Sai]

Aela had thought that she would be over it by now, at least in part. That offal day back in the Spring, when her world was shaken to it's very core and left nothing behind but ashes. Since that time, the exiled teen had spent her days in the forest, always looking over her shoulder for those who pursued her. She had thought herself hardened by the solo life, and the constant threat of death by the creatures that inhabited the forest, as well as that from her hunters. However, it seemed that it was all temporary, after seeing another person, the first person after she had escaped, Aela broke down.

Behind the strong ambition, and fierce passion, she was still just a seventeen year old girl. A girl who was without a home now, without anything... She continued to cry, shoulders twitching, and hands covering her face to hide the flow of tears streaming down her redden cheeks. She was shocked, and even jumped when the woman placed her arms around her. She hadn't expected that and it only made her more confused. The little huntress didn't know if she should push the woman off or allow her to comfort her, a comfort she could really use.

The frighten Inartan decided to stay, uneasily resting her head on the woman's shoulders. The woman had said that she didn't want to hurt her, and Aela took her at her word, though after her break down there wasn't much fight in her even if she had too. "Safe?" Aela thought to herself. "I'll never be safe. Not unless I..." she quickly removed herself from the thoughts, finding them unbearable. She finally glanced up at the woman when she felt her fingers gently stroking her hair. The woman was kind and gentle, much like the Konti's she had met before. Aela wondered if the woman could see her future, but was to afraid of what the woman might see to ask.

A soft gasped slipped from her lips as she stared into the woman's dark violet eyes. She mentioned her mothers death, and it made Aela wonder if she thought that she too was in mourning. The fiery-haired teen slumped even further down, almost losing the strength to sit up at all. She wasn't in mourning, but it was likely that the city was. Although she hadn't taken the life of a human, she had killed a Wind Eagle, and to the Inartan people, it was just as bad, if not worse. It made her feel even worse, and the fact that the egg would grow up without it's real mother.

The singing that followed, odd as it was, seemed to calm her whimpers and slow her tears. However, once she changed, her singing seemed exotic, and for the moment, Aela stopped her sobbing and listened. Once the song was finished, Aela glanced up again, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I don't know where to start.." she said as she searched to find her voice, after the woman asked what she had done. "It doesn't matter anymore...I'll probably be dead soon." She wiped her eyes again, before allowing her gaze to fall upon the woman. It seemed the woman had attempted to make a joke by calling her "crying girl" but at the moment, Aela didn't see the humor in anything. "Aela.." she said simply, as she pulled herself from the woman's arms and stood up again.

The woman had said that she had only just arrived to the city a few weeks ago. It was likely that she hadn't heard yet. Still she realized the risk in it all, though it was too late to do anything about it. Aela took up her bow again and pulled it over her shoulder as she took a final look at the sky, before turning to look at the woman again. "Please....don't tell anyone that you saw me here." She stood there in silence for a tick, hoping that she could trust the woman, before she finally walked past her and back down the side of the mountain.

[Alori Sai]

Once she reached the very bottom of the hill and placed her feet back onto level ground, the little huntress started back into the forest. She first started into a brisk jog, and moments later sped up, and another few ticks going even faster until she was racing through the trees. Aela ran and ran, her boots stamping against the earth beneath and turning up dirt and leaves as she traveled through. It was better this way, if she escaped far into the forest before the woman could see which direction she went to. Aela realized now that she would have to be more careful. If that woman was able to sneak up on her as she had, then so could others namely the Endal.

The transition was hard, and she had to remind herself to always be on the look out. To always look over her shoulder, and always to be sure not to be seen leaving or entering the cave. This was her life now and she would have to make due, Aela would have to survive. She finally stopped running when she found herself back in a familiar area, and one not to far away from the cave. The huntress paused and leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She panted softly through her parted lips, her chest rising and falling in a quicken pace.

"I can't let that happen again...ever. I have to be more careful I have to be stronger than this..petch...petch." her voice strangled off, getting caught in her throat as she did all she could to hold back more tears. It seemed hopeless at times, as if there was no way out of the nightmare that she was now living. Deep down, she knew that they were coming and she knew that they would find her. It was only a matter of time, and when that day came, she would have to escape or face their judgment.

She dropped to her knees again, leaning sloppily against the tree, her limbs going limp as if she had nothing left. Her emerald green eyes stared off into the distance, though not looking at anything particular. She sat there for a time, allowing the red that now covered her skin to fade away, and the rapid beating of her heart to calm before she decided to move on. In the silence, she suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes near-by.

Sitting up, Aela slowly crawled around the tree trunk to investigate the sound. It was a scurrying sound, small feet tapping against leaves and grass. Mostly likely a small animal looking for food. The Inartan teen stayed low, slowly crawling a bit closer and until she could see where the sound was coming from. A lucky brake it would seem, only a few feet in front of her stood a rabbit digging around the bottom of a tree trunk. Aela reached for her bow and as silently as possible took an arrow from her quiver and slipped it into her bow. She raised it then, aiming the arrowhead on the rabbit's body and fired.

Within a tick, the arrow soared across the grass and slammed into the rabbit, causing it to tumble forward into the bushes close to the tree. Aela then pushed herself up, slinging her bow over her shoulder as she hurried across to find her kill. "Petch..where did it go?" she huffed as she looked around for it, having lost sight when it fell into the bushes. "There.." she sighed a breath of relief when she found the rabbit among a mess of twigs.

She took the rabbit up, leaving the arrow inside for the time being, and gave another glance about her. She hoped that the woman hadn't tried to follow her and had simply gone about her way. In truth she didn't know Aela, and there was no other reason for her to follow behind her. It was just as well, the woman likely had a future where ever she was heading, Aela wasn't so sure about her own.

[Whimsy]

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Experience Award

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Aela Calder

Exp
+1 Climbing
+2 Observation
+2 Weapon: Longbow
+1 Running
+1 Tracking

Lores
Taking Care of Eggs
Recognising Auroras
Emotional Release

Iosha

Exp
+2 Gardening
+1 Negotiation
+1 Weapon: Longsword
+1 Singing

Lores
Wild Flowers of Kalea
Prayers to Rak’Keli
Comforting

Comments
I still awarded Iosha xp and lores, as it seems she is active in other threads. I really enjoyed the emotional conflict that Aela is going through, and yet her stubborn refusal to give up and go back to her old life. Just a note for Iosha: on Mizahar, it's a rule that you write in omniscient third person past tense. Make sure you don't use present tense in your other threads! PM me if you have any questions or concerns.