[The Bronze Woods] Healing & Hurting

[Jeremy Casing]

Jeremy could not hide the joy that flickered across his expression. Others had been amazed when he described his gnosis to them - who wouldn't be? - but nobody before had acted so excitedly, so positively to his tattoo and his words. It was the moments like this one, when animal and person alike appreciated his gift, that made Jeremy so grateful for his blessing.

"Yes, it is amazing really." He replied earnestly. The compliment had not been directed to himself, but to Caiyha. He marvelled at his Goddess every day. Her magic and love for all the natural goodness in the world made his heart swell and his faith strengthen, "and in answer to your first question, it will be three years this coming Spring." For a tick he marvelled at how quickly the time had gone. Had it really been three whole years? "And in answer to your second question..."

His voice drifted away faintly. The Kelvic was unsure how to answer this. For a moment, he stared towards the forest, considering his somewhat limited options. "I'm not altogether too sure what I'm going to. I might be able to communicate with the plants, but I'm limited in how I can help." Frustration inched its hot way up Jeremy's gut. How he wished that Caiyha’s daughter had also blessed him, so he could bring life to crops and plants at a mere touch! "But I think if I can sense some life in the burnt trees, or at least see some sort of life around them, my mind will be put at ease." He chewed the inside of his lip, unsatisfied with his answer even now.

Shifting in his saddle, Jeremy attempted to alter his sitting position to one of more comfort. He straightened his back, trying to stop his upper body from moving by keep his core muscles taut. He flashed a glance over to the red head, a wry smile on his lips. "I also cannot ride a horse for the life of me." His gold eyes scanned her own form sharply, taking in her posture keenly, "I admire your skill."

[Katelyn Marks]

Katelyn couldn't really understood how he felt, not about the plants and the devastation left by the fire, but she thought she could understand his need to see the place. He had a sense of duty it seemed--something that came with that mark on his arm. Kate didn't quite grasp the complexity of his gnosis, nor the job he had, but it was an amazing thing. The mystery of it didn't make her want to shy away. In fact, the redhead found herself drawn to his side, and the insatiable curiosity she felt would only be sated if she followed him into the woods.

Strangely enough, she didn't feel intimidated by the thought of the forest. Until now she'd avoided it like the plague after her brother's murder, for fear of who lurked in the bushes. But that discomfort had been altogether put aside by her intrigue and the calm, confident mannerisms of this strange Phylonurist.

Kate smiled as the conversation turned toward riding, and tipped her head in kind acknowledgement of his compliment.

"It took years of practice. I've been riding since I was a little girl. I remember sitting atop draft horses as they plowed the fields. My father would give me a little pillow and plop me down on their withers while he worked with the other field hands."

She looked more closely at the way he sat atop his gentle mare, suddenly serious. From his feet in the stirrups to the set of his shoulders, Kate gauged how well he was perched in the saddle.

"If you like, I can give you a lesson and follow you along. I'd love to see your work, and you could use some advice if you don't mind me saying. For starters, you're far too stiff. Not a single muscle in your body needs to be tense right now. You don't sit like that when you're on a chair, do you? Relax your hips and let yourself move with her. It'll make you both more comfortable. You should feel like you're on a boat in the water, riding little waves and gently rocking back and forth."

That was part one of his lesson, and she smiled at him. So many others who didn't know how to ride made the exact same mistake with their posture. It was common. Sitting stiffly would only help you fall off easier.

[Jeremy Casing]

Jeremy hadn't noticed how tense he was until the woman mentioned it. With a frown, he glanced down to his left leg, then his to right. Yes, his entire body was stiff with tension. He tried to alter his position slightly, loosening his hips as Katelyn had suggested. Suddenly his hips were moving with each slowly plod from the mare. Cautiously, Jeremy glanced to the redhead to his side. She too seemed to be in rhythm with her mount, but at the same time she seemed to be as sturdy as anything. "Have you ever fallen off a horse before?" He rather hoped Katelyn would lie if she had: the ground seemed to be terribly low down from where Jeremy sat.

He patted his mare's neck twice, silently apologising to her for his shoddy riding. She gracefully accepted his confession in the way only a practised and patient animal could. Jeremy's legs were still tense - so much so they barely rested in the stirrups - but now his torso and hips seemed more relaxed. His amber eyes glanced towards Katelyn once again, seeking her approval or further instruction.

"I think I'd fare better if she were riding me." For a tick, his eyes creased into an easy smile, but this disintegrated as Jeremy looked straight ahead. They were now bordering the woods - or they would have been, had the charred stumps nearest to them had not been burned down the last season. The Kelvic inhaled sharply with horror. The air was still stale with smoke and ash, and the light seemed grey here, as if Syna had decided the two riders were on a funeral march.

The Kelvic pushed his mare forward, ahead of Katelyn and towards the closest charred stump. Cautiously, Jeremy laid his hand onto the remains of the tree. It surprised him that the surface was cold; he had half expected his skin to blister and burn. He remained perfectly still for a chime or so, his hand searching for some sign of life from within the tree. He retracted his hand away, slowly, eyebrows furrowed in mourning.

"What happened here?" Jeremy swivelled in his seat to glance back to his companion, "I've asked a handful of people, but they don't seem keen to explain."

[Katelyn Marks]

"I couldn't even begin to count how many times I've fallen, been thrown, and everything in between. Comes with the territory of horses," she said easily. "Silly things happen. Sometimes you just slide right off, or tip the wrong way. Other times the horse might just not feel like dealing with you and give a nice little buck." Katelyn smiled at the Phylonurist, hoping he understood her humor.

She didn't want him to be afraid of falling. Everyone fell off. It was impossible to ride a half ton animal with its own personality and mindset and not expect to ever run into complications. Just the other day Sebastian had thrown her when he spooked at some snow sliding off a roof in the Outpost. At his good natured retort, a soft bubble of laughter escaped her lips, and her smile broadened.

"She looks like a patient old girl. I don't think you'll be getting much trouble for her, but I don't suggest switching places. You might be hard pressed to make it to the woods," she observed aloud, watching the way the mare plodded along the road. She had a sweet face and big, calm brown eyes. Her ears were set well. One swiveled at the sounds of their voices, and the other listened ahead. Her head was down, and she swayed with an easy walk.

They were soon at the depressing destination, and as Jeremy moved ahead to investigate Katelyn reined in her gelding and watched the proceedings with curiosity and a little pity. The woods here weren't intimidating. Just sad. The life was gone from the place, and nothing was really left but an endless grey. They trees stood like gravestones in the cold, snow dusting their bare, charred limbs. The snow itself all around had a dirty tinge to it, adding to the overall depressing atmosphere.

"I heard that it was simply a lightning strike. It started farther up to the north, near Evantide apparently. That's all I really know," she said, sounding apologetic. Kate wanted to be able to help more, but things like this were the Order's department. The Knights handled situations like this, and had been the ones to fight the massive forest fire. "What will you do?"

[Jeremy Casing]

The Phynlonurist gave a solemn nod. "I heard the same thing." A lightening strike sounded impossible, but a small part of Jeremy was relieved that natural causes, rather than a man-made fire, had damaged the woods. Nevertheless, he felt utterly helpless.

Jeremy inhaled deeply, breathing in that ashy air and smelling the faint odour of smoke and charcoal. "There's nothing I can do." He admitted finally, frustration fringing his voice, "I just came here to..." His voice faded meekly. Why had he come to the woods? To see if the rumours were true, partly. But it all seemed fruitless now.

Another sigh escaped from deep within his throat. "The best I can do is sense what the other trees want or need. But even then I don't know what I'd do." His gnosis from Caiyha gave Jeremy the ability to do amazing things, but his powers were limited. He couldn't heal animals, like those bless by Rak'keli could do. And nor could he bless crops or plants to flourish and grow like one of Bala's followers. At moments like these, he felt utterly useless.

He glanced up to the pale sky. A crow cawed loudly as it glided overhead and Jeremy followed it until the bird disappeared out of his eye line. Then he turned back to Katelyn, forcing a weak smile on his angled face. "I just needed to see it, I guess. To see what I can't help." A shrug accompanied this admittance, and then he gestured to deeper into the wood. "Do you come into the wood often?"

oocSo sorry for the delay!

[Katelyn Marks]

Visiting the place appeared to give the man at least some closure. He seemed at a loss though, and Kate simply couldn't imagine what he was feeling. The responsibilities he seemed to have were foreign to her. Caring for the ecosystem wasn't something she'd ever considered. Not that she was unconscious of the important of the health of the environment. The sheer scale of which Jeremy seemed to work though was baffling. Katelyn couldn't wipe the frown from her face, both from the curious situation she was witnessing and the sheer proportion of what she was discovering from him.

"I don't anymore," the redhead answered slowly, showing some obvious discomfort now. "Not alone at least." When her brother had been murdered by bandits on a hunter trip, the woods were cast in a new, more sinister light. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, and her mind was convinced that something lurked in every shadow. Here, not too far from the road, she still felt relatively comfortable. And with company the threat of attack was not nearly so frightening. Perhaps she was letting her fears run too rampant.

"I lost someone out here, and haven't been comfortable in the trees since." Her tone held an air of finality. It was still such a tender subject. The soil of Garreth's grave was still freshly disturbed. He hadn't been buried more than two weeks prior. "Don't you worry about bandits and wild animals?" The winter was showing to be a harsh one. Very uncharacteristic for the region. Surely even someone marked by the goddess of all wild things faced some danger from hungry or desperate predators, let alone man.

[Jeremy Casing]

Bala. Bless this wood. Heal these wounds and allow the life here to flourish once again. Where there is green, there is life.

Jeremy repeated the prayer over and over again. It became a mantra in his head that his footsteps fell in a rhythm to. He hoped Caiyha's alleged daughter would do his bidding and turn her attention to the Bronze Woods; there was not doubt they needed it.

He tried to remember what Katelyn had said earlier: the ash will be good fertilizer for new plants. New growth would come here, eventually. But the promise of new life did not erase the sadness of those lost. A new baby did not make a family forget those who had died -- and in Jeremy's view, the natural world was no different.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He murmured gently to the woman. Human loss was something fortunately unfamiliar the Kelvic. Both his parents were alive, and he'd had no siblings last time he checked. There were few people he would mourn -- and he expected there'd be few people to mourn his demise in return.

Her comment about the trees puzzled Jeremy somewhat. It was only natural to him to regard trees as a sanctuary. As a Falcon, he sheltered there in tree branches during bad weather. In his two-legged form, the woods provided him with quiet companions who did not judge or criticise. But how would he react if a loved one had been killed here? There was no way for the Kelvic to guess how he would react. "I don't fear the animals. Because of my gnosis, they tolerate me and trust me more than most. Only bandits would harm me and even then-" he shrugged, having not hugely considered this threat beforehand. He was a weak man, untrained in any form of weapon save for his talons. Frowning, he changed his answer: "my falcon form would let me fly away should anyone threaten me."

With a heavy sigh, he turned in a full circle to marvel at the surviving woodland, and the ashy remains of the burned part. "This place is healing." His words were conclusive and gentle.

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Jeremy

Skills

• Riding: Horse: 3
• Observation: 5
• Socialization: 5
• Teaching: 3
• Rhetoric: 2
• Flirting: 2
• Interrogation: 2
• Prayer: 1
• Philosophy: 1

Lores

• Horseback riding: Using Nura's language to make requests of the horse
• Location: Kabrin Road
• Katelyn: Friendly horseback rider
• Socialization: Paying a compliment
• Horseback riding: Relaxing and rocking with the gait of the horse
• Charred remains of a forest fire

 

Katelyn

Skills

• Riding: Horse: 1
• Land Navigation: 1
• Observation: 5
• Socialization: 5
• Interrogation: 4
• Storytelling: 2
• Teaching: 2
• Rhetoric: 1

Lores

• Location: Kabrin Road
• Jeremy: Kelvic Phylonurist
• Phylonurist: Blessed by Caiyha
• Phylonurist: Can communicate with plants and animals
• What Caiyha's gnosis mark looks like
• Charred remains of a forest fire

Comments: What a lovely thread. It was nice reading about how the two connected and shared similar interests involving animals and Caiyha. I thought it was a nice healing sort of thread for both Katelyn and Jeremy and the title certainly suited it.

Your Grader,

Sayana

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