Asha attempts to reach Shinya Rest but has unexpected setbacks.
(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forums. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)
The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.
Asha stood at the edge of the city, where the buildings ceased and the Misty Peaks wilderness began. She was excited to strike out into the mountain forest to discover creatures and plants she had never seen before. She had a scrollcase with a single piece of parchment, small vial of ink, and a quill inside. Asha hoped to do some note-taking and write down the characteristics of plants she did not recognize to research later. She was startled out of her excited thoughts by a tap on her shoulder.
“Pardon me, I noticed you were looking very intently at the woods. Are you planning on venturing out?” When Asha turned she saw that the owner of the voice belonged to a man wearing the robes of the Shinya. Lhavit’s protective force that she had little understanding of.
“Yes, I was planning that. I want to learn more about the environment around the city and what kinds of plants grow around here. Um….. is that okay?” she asked hesitantly. Perhaps exploring the forest would not be allowed.
“If you wish to venture out, I will not stop you. However it is plain that you are not from this area, and so I feel it is only right to warn you that there are many dangers in the wilds. If you cannot defend yourself you are taking quite a risk to wander out there alone.” The man said, his tone and expression extremely serious.
“I understand. I don’t plan on going very far from the city. I just want to learn about area.” Asha said softly, nervousness clenching her throat. She understood the dangers of unseen predators in the woods and thought that she was capable of taking care of herself. The man’s serious tone put her on edge that perhaps she did not fully comprehend the situation.
“Do as you must. A few hours that way is a resting place for Shinya patrols. Sometimes they allow travelers in the woods to rest there as well in safety. That’s your best bet if you can’t get back to the city by sun down. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.” The man pointed towards the Misty Peaks and Asha mentally marked the direction he noted. This resting place seemed like a good goal for her first foray it was truly only a few hours’ walk. Establishing landmarks was essential in exploring wilderness.
Asha thanked the man for his advice as he walked away with firm strides. She appreciated the Shinya’s assistance though his manner made her nervous. Asha sighed deeply to calm herself and return her mind to the goal of striking out. She turned herself towards the direction the man had pointed out and began walking. Nervous of the dangers the Shinya had spoken of she walked as softly as she could and strained to listen for any sounds of other large creatures around.
Last edited by Asha on July 31st, 2014, 7:55 pm, edited 4 times in total.
A quarter bell from the city, Asha came across a small dirt trail that seemed to follow the direction she was headed in. The snaking turns of the trail combined with its small size gave Asha the inclination that it was likely made by some kind of deer native to the area and then perhaps widened as occasional humans traversed the path as well. The rich vegetation of the Misty Peaks closed in around the trail; Asha occasionally had to duck under a low-hanging branch or step carefully around the long, searching tendrils of a bramble-filled bush. She was smiling despite these annoyances, happy to be inhaling the fresh mountain air and feeling dirt beneath her feet. After so much time spent in the city she felt almost giddy to be surrounded by wilderness once again. Her feet padded softly on the dirt path and brought her further and further into the wilds surrounding the mountain city.
Several times she hesitated in her journey as she noticed trees and bushes she had never seen before and her curiosity demanded she inspect them. She forced herself to continue on and leave those inspections for another time. She wanted to reach the resting place the Shinya man had mentioned before she got engrossed with the local flora. It would be dangerous if night fell before she found the resting place; nocturnal predators were something to be feared. She had no wish to deal with those sorts of creatures and so pushed any desire to stop and inspect a beautiful flower or an interesting bark pattern on a tree out of her mind.
Two bells into her walk the trail, which had been slowly snaking its way down the side of the Shinyama mountain, began to climb steeply upward towards the peak. Only a quarter bell passed before Asha began to breathe heavily and sweat began to form on her skin. Her legs continued to pump firmly along the path, though it rose so steeply upwards she might as well be climbing a set of stairs. Her arms reached for nearby branches to help pull her upwards.
Her head filled with Jamouran curses as she realized that she had been a little too confident in her abilities and should have found a more experienced guide to introduce her to the Misty Peaks wilderness. She was used to exploring wilderness but the topography of the Misty Peaks was new to her and the sudden slopes and ascents were difficult to navigate. She wasn’t even entirely sure if she was still going in the correct direction.
Asha was tempted to just continue on and hope to find the resting place soon but her more sensible side demanded she think through her situation a little more before acting. Asha found a large, flattish rock beside the path to rest on and regain her breath while she considered her options. As soon as she sat down her left calf cramped horribly and she winced in pain. Bending down she used her thumbs to massage her leg vigorously until the cramp had eased. Asha sighed deeply; her enthusiasm for this trip was evaporating rapidly.
She didn’t dare wait long before making the decision to continue or return to Lhavit. Only a little more then two bells had passed so she figured she had plenty of daylight left but if she continued on she risked getting lost and not being able to retrace her steps. She mulled the decision over in her mind until her roving gaze fell on a thick tree nearby. Perhaps getting a better view of the surrounding area would help her make the decision. If she could see the resting place for Shinya patrols then she might as well continue on to find it. However, if her survey of the surrounding area showed only wilderness, then retracing her steps and returning to the city would be the safest option.
Asha laid her scroll case beside the rock she sat on so that it would not be crushed on her ascent or descent if she fell. Standing up, she walked over to the tree and looked it over critically to determine if it was a good candidate for climbing. The tree seemed very tall and when Asha wrapped her arms around the trunk her hands could not meet. She reached for a branch at her forehead level and quickly stepped onto a branch near her knees. She held her position for a moment to see if the wood was soft and would break but luckily the branches held with only a small groan of protest.
Feeling more confident, Asha reached out and pulled herself up to the next branch. On the third branch, she was less careful about where she put her foot and suddenly stepped into open air. Her arms tightened and her small claws dug into the bark to hold herself in place as she found a branch for her foot to grip. She stopped for a moment to inhale and calm her rapidly beating heart after averting the minor crisis.
Catching her breath, she continued the climb with much more care for her feet, which was a lesson Asha was not soon to forget. Three branches later and her arms were beginning to strain with the effort of moving her body weight upwards. Every few branches she would pause for a few moments to rest her muscles before continuing the climb.
Despite Asha’s tired limbs her movements began to feel a little smoother as she developed a rhythm for her movements. Her right arm reached for a new branch as her right foot sought a new place to grip. Once her hand and foot had found strong candidates to grab onto she pushed herself upwards with a strong step of her left foot as her left hand sought for a new branch. Then the process repeated itself. Right foot and hand, then left foot and hand.
A dozen branches later and Asha looked up only to notice that there was not much tree left to climb. The last few branches she had grasped had begun to get thinner and groaned more as she put her weight on them. The branches above her looked even thinner and she doubted whether they would safely hold her weight. Wrapping her right arm around the trunk of the tree Asha carefully turned her torso so that she could look out at the wilderness surrounding the tree. She gasped as her eyes traversed over the beauty of the Misty Peaks.
Dealing with the sudden dips and rises had been irritating at best on her walk, but the whole picture of the Misty Peaks filled her with awe. Those annoying dips and rises created a beautiful contrast of shadow and light from Asha’s vantage point. From the tree she could see cliffs and large, upthrusting boulders and far below a distant glimmer of the Amaranthine River. The Spires was a city of treetops and so Asha was used to living high above the ground, but this was something completely different. A few particularly tall trees lower on the mountain impeded her view slightly but even so she could see farther then she had ever been able to see before. The vast distance her eyes beheld made her feel small and insignificant clinging to the tree.
The crunch of a foot on dried leaves snapped Asha out of her blissful trance. Looking down, she spotted a large cat sniffing at the scroll case she had left lying on the ground beside the rock. Adjusting her grip around the tree so she had a stronger grasp she stilled her body and her body’s instinctual camouflage was triggered. Her fur lightened to match the grey-brown of the tree she clung to and her natural scent dissipated until even the best of trackers would not be able to sniff her out in her current state. She was unsure if the creature below was interested in attacking something as large as her but she didn’t feel like taking the risk. For all she knew the creature could have poisonous fangs that would kill her after a single bite.
Asha was too high up to see the cat in great detail but she noticed the golden color of its fur and the sinewy length of its body. The cat batted curiously at her scroll case but when nothing interesting happened it turned away. The large cat seemed to be sniffing around, and Asha’s heart sank as the cat began to sniff in earnest around the tree she was currently lodged in. The scent of her body was camouflaged but the sweat she had left behind in her climb was not subject to the same change. She knew traces of her scent were likely left behind on the tree bark. The large cat sniffed vigourously and looked up into the tree but did not seem to notice Asha’s unmoving bulk amidst the tree branches.
Asha held perfectly still on the tree, hoping the large cat would go away though she enjoyed the chance to view a breed of predatory cat she had not been in contact with before. To her great frustration, the cat leaned down bunching its muscles and then jumped into the lower hanging branches of the tree. She had to bite her inner cheek to prevent herself from sighing. Any movement could easily disrupt her camouflage and give away her presence to the big cat.
The cat laid down upon a branch and settled itself in for a long wait. It did not seem like it was interested in napping, its ears were constantly shifting and its head moved slowly to scan the trees and rocks around them. Asha theorized that it was hunting, perhaps lying in wait for unsuspecting prey. The big cat seemed in no hurry to leave so she would likely get to see her theory play out.
As she settled into waiting out the big cat, she remembered why she had climbed up into the tree in the first place. Without moving her head, she let her gaze roam over the surrounding area. Her heart sank as she could see only rocks and the green of vegetation. Now she had to wait out the big cat only to return the Lhavit having failed in her goal of reaching the Shinya Rest. This could be a long afternoon.
A bell passed and Asha was still sitting in the tree. Her bored eyes gazed out across the wilderness while occasionally glancing down to see if the large cat had given up or found some other reason to leave the tree. It hadn’t. She was beginning to feel a bit irritated with the situation. Surely there was some way to scare away the large cat without giving away her presence. Each idea that came to mind she set aside quickly. If she broke off a branch to throw she would be obvious to the cat and she could not make apparitions appear for it to chase. Again she resigned herself to wait for the cat to find its prey or get bored and leave.
A second bell passed in the tree and Asha’s body was getting exhausted from holding herself among the branches. She wouldn’t be able to take this much longer. It seemed as though she would be forced to deal with the big cat or risk full exhaustion and falling out of the tree. Neither option was exciting but dealing with the cat at least seemed more reasonable.
Asha grabbed at a slender branch above her and with a prayer of forgiveness to Caiyha ripped it from the tree. Her scent was unmasked, even she could smell herself and her fur quickly turned back to its natural black. Looking down, the cat was already looking up at her, the shaking from her grabbing the branch had alerted it to her presence long before her scent could reach it. Asha aimed the branch and let it fall towards the cat. It hit the cat in one of its back legs and the creature hissed in annoyance.
With a sigh, Asha reached down with a foot to find a lower branch to begin climbing down the tree. Her muscles were sore from holding her position for so long, and she winced as her foot made contact and her leg muscles burned from accepting her full weight as her other foot began to seek for a lower branch. Once both of her feet were firmly on lower branches, Asha chanced looking down for the large cat. It was standing up in tree, its gaze very intent on her. She sighed in annoyance but ignored the large cat as she sought a new branch for her right foot. The cat was a problem but there was quite a bit of distance to be dealt with before she had to face it.
Carefully placing each foot, Asha made her way down the tree. She looked down every few steps to check on the cat, it still waited down below but did not seem inclined to climb up to meet her. A few feet above the cat she stopped fully to consider her next move. The cat’s tail twitched and it growled at her. It’s long body stretched up along the tree and one of it’s paws reached out to bat at her feet. She sighed deeply. She did not relish the thought of engaging in conflict with the cat but it seemed as though she would have little choice.
Asha’s annoyed eyes focused on the cat, still thinking. Really, the animal seemed more curious about the huge creature suddenly in its tree more then anything. The lithe creature was a predator but predators weren’t stupid and rarely took stupid risks. Perhaps she was too hasty in thinking that she would need to fight off the creature. A good scare or act of intimidation might be enough to encourage it to leave. Asha thought quickly as a paw reached up to attempt to bat at her feet again.
An idea passed through her mind and she inhaled a deep breath. Asha’s muscles tensed and bunched for a moment as she prepared herself, then she stepped back and let her body drop. All 450 pounds of Jamoura woman came slamming down on top of the unsuspecting cat who yowled in surprise as Asha’s mass dislodged it from the tree on her rapid descent to the ground.
Asha was unfortunately not a woman of grace and the fall seemed to last both forever and be over in half a second. She could not seem to turn herself around in any manner to land safely and the breath whooshed out of her body as her back slammed into the ground. The tawny cat had fallen too and lay sprawled beneath Asha’s legs for a moment before regaining its senses. Choking noises came from Asha’s throat as she struggled to suck in breath and she could not react as the cat flailed wildly to get away from her. One of its claws slashed across her calf as it came yowling to its feet. Clearly having had enough of the large black creature that came hurdling down upon it, the cat sprinted away with a slight limp in its back leg.
Asha watched it disappear as breath returned to her body. She had not had the wind knocked out of her in some time and she lay on the ground for a few moments enjoying the act of breathing. She felt a little guilty for injuring the cat but it could have been worse, for both of them. With a deep groan she sat up and inspected her calf. The cut was long, running down almost the entire length of her calf, but thankfully shallow. Dark blood ran out of it and soaked into her fur. The metallic scent of the blood struck her nostrils and she had to look away. The smell of fresh blood always upset her stomach.
She scanned the area around her for any materials that might work to cover her cut and staunch some of the blood flow on her trek back to Lhavit. The smell of blood would almost certainly attract predators far more concerning then the big cat so time was of the essence. Asha slowly stood and carefully limped towards the flat rock where her scroll case still lay. She sat down on the rock gingerly, trying not to put more pressure on her injured leg until she figured out a way to cover it.
Near the rock was a plant she identified as a fern, a common plant hardy enough to grow in many environments. She reached down and ripped off a small section of a frond. The ferns she was familiar with that grew around the Spires were certainly safe but this could be a slightly different cousin or even a plant that only looked fern-like to fool unsuspecting creatures and travelers. She crushed the leaf pieces in her hand and rubbed them against the skin on her chest. She tried to be patient and sit still but after two chimes decided enough time had passed. The skin she had rubbed the broken leaves on was not itchy or irritated in any way so she figured that the leaves were unlikely to have any negative properties that would upset her shallow cut.
Reaching down to the base of the plant she broke off three large fronds. Takine one at a time she wrapped a frond around her leg twice then tied the ends of the stem together in a shoddy knot. Once all three were tied she inspected her work, it was terrible at best but it would have to do. She wanted to kick herself for not bringing any basic medical supplies. She knew she had been foolish to think that nothing would happen. If her mother would here now she would scold Asha severely for her lack of forethought.
Asha grasped the scroll case lying nearby contemptuously, her purpose of studying local flora foiled by her own foolishness. She stood and began to retrace her steps back toward Lhavit. The journey to her present location had taken two bells and she did not relish the thought of the return journey. She hurried as quickly as she was able without setting her calf to stinging too much.
The return journey was lengthy and tiresome. She was extra cautious this time. Any time she heard a branch break in the distance or strange shadow in the corner of her eye, she immediately leaned against the nearest wide tree or side of exposed mountain rock face to lean against and allow her natural camouflage to take over. She always waited two or three chimes to see if any creature or person would appear before continuing to walk.
A bell into her return journey the ferns poorly wrapped around her leg loosened and fell down around her foot. She bent down and inspected the cut again. Fighting back a rolling stomach, she noted that the blood had coagulated. She was lucky it had not been worse. Asha tossed the blood covered and broken fern fronds away from the path and continued on her way, walking a little more gingerly in order to not reopen the shallow cut.
Three more bells passed before the sights and sounds of Lhavit reached Asha once more. She breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly realized how much anxiety and tightness her shoulders had been holding as they finally relaxed. She sent a silent prayer to Caiyha for her safe return to Lhavit and lack of any further encounters with predators. Asha looked down at her calf, her fur was matted with blood but the gash was not actively bleeding. She considered going to a healer to get it cleaned up but exhaustion from the long day was beginning to swamp her. The cut was not life threatening, it could wait another day. Her jaw cracked as a powerful yawn forced its way out of her mouth and she turned to head towards her soft bed at the Solar Winds Apartments.
Long, shallow cut on calf, should heal naturally in 10 days (by the 16th of Summer, 514 AV)
Additional comments
This was a great read, I enjoyed how she handled the kitty-cat! I look forward to reading more from you. Please update or delete your post in the grade request thread to show this thread as completed.
I will do my best to give you what grades you have earned! However, if there is something you feel I missed or anything you have questions on please don't hesitate to PM me and we can talk.
by Asha on June 18th, 2014, 4:07 pm 
