Solo Trouble in the Tall Grass

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A delicate bloom

Timestamp: 73rd Day of Summer, 515 AV
9th Bell, morning

It was a beautiful day, and Seirei wanted to make the most of it. The sun was bright in the brilliantly blue sky. There were a few fluffy white clouds floating by, but they only enhanced the beauty of the day in Seirei's mind, rather than detracting from in. White contrasting with the blue was a pretty sight indeed. It was hot, but that was only to be expected this time of year. It was late summer, after all.

Lian agreed to look after the twins for a few bells this morning. He seemed to truly enjoy spending time with them. That brought a smile to Seirei's face when she thought about it. She didn't think she would ever forgive the man for what he had done to her...but no one could deny the fact that Lian was a good father. Lukar and Lira had the poor man wrapped around their tiny fingers, and they knew it. It was funny to watch, sometimes. Even with the disaster involving paint a few days ago, Seirei knew that she could trust Lian with her kids. She didn't think he would make that mistake again any time soon. And even though the thought of what could have happened made Seirei shudder, the sight of Lian's completely befuddled expression as he crouched in front of the twins with paint dripping out of his hair made her laugh. No, Seirei didn't think that Lian would make the mistake of leaving the twins unattended again.

Seirei had considered bringing the twins with her today. It was a beautiful day, after all. And it was good for the twins to get them out and about. But Seirei planned to venture out into the Sea of Grass today in order to gather some fresh grass that hadn't been trampled by the goings on within the city. There was little danger to Seirei's mind since she was going to stay within sight of the city. But exposing Lukar and Lira to any amount of danger, no matter how slight wasn't something Seirei was willing to do if there was any way around it. Besides, without the twins, she would be able to carry some more grass. Seirei suspected she would need a lot of it. She hoped to experiment, and practice her weaving some. Maybe make a small basket, or something if she was lucky. And if she wanted any hope at all of ending up with something usable, she was going to need a lot of material to practice with. Seirei also planned to get some drawing practice in. She really needed to improve her skills so that if she ever reached a level where she was ready to attempt a masterpiece with wood, she would be able to make a detailed sketch of what she had in mind to assist her.

So Seirei made her way to the edge of the tent city slowly. Faint mutters, and dark, disapproving looks followed her, but she ignored them as best she could. The day was too beautiful to allow anything to spoil it. It didn't take Seirei long to find the perfect place to practice drawing. A small clearing in the tall grass made a good place to sit while she worked.

Seirei opened her sketchbook to the first empty page, and pulled one of her charcoal sticks out of her pouch. Then she looked around. What did she want to draw? There were hundreds of things to choose from. The grass surrounding her, and the flowers sprinkled among it. Something etched so strongly in her memory that she could picture it perfectly, like Lian's tent. Or the sky, since it was such a beautiful day.

After a few ticks, Seirei decided to draw a cloud. It could be challenging, or simple depending on which one she chose to draw. Seirei looked up, and studied the clouds that she could see. It didn't take her long to choose one. The cloud was one of the larger ones that she could see. It was mostly white, but there were a few dark grey spots that made Seirei wonder if it would rain in the next few days. The clouds one could see when it was raining were dark grey, after all. So maybe clouds turned from white to dark grey as the gods filled them with rain. And when they were full, that's when it started raining.

Seirei set her charcoal stick to the page, and began to draw. She started with a roughly circular shape as that was the shape of the cloud she had chosen to draw. It filled the page. Seirei added curves, both in the outline of the cloud, and in the interior, trying to give it some shape. When she was finished with that, she tried using the side of her charcoal stick rather than its point. She picked a few areas, and rubbed the stick against the page to create darker areas. Much the was there were dark spots within the cloud she was attempting to draw. Time ceased to have any meaning for Seirei as she focused on her work.

When she was done, Seirei stopped to examine her work. The image looked like a cloud...mostly, anyway. Seirei thought that someone else looking at the picture would recognize that it was supposed to be a cloud, at least. And that was probably the most she could hope for. But she was well aware that she had a long way to go before her drawing ability would be good enough to produce a detailed, reliable sketch.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A delicate bloom

Seirei closed her sketchbook with a snap, and put her charcoal stick away. It was tempting to spend some more time drawing, but she wanted to make sure she left plenty of time to gather grass since that was the main reason she had ventured out of the city. She had lost track of time while drawing the cloud, and she didn't want to leave Lian alone with the twins for too long. While she trusted him not to hurt them, or give them paint to play with again, her imagination was all too good at coming up with all sorts of other disasters she might come back to.

Seirei stood, and looked at the tall grass surrounding her. At first glance, it all looked the same to her inexperienced eye. But as she studied it closely, she began to notice some differences. Some of the grass was taller than the rest. There seemed to be many different shades of green around her. That suggested there were different types of grass. Some seemed to have tiny flowers in a variety of hues growing along their stems. Other blades of grass looked as though their tips were some kind of seeds.

Which type of grass was the best type to use? Could you use more than one type to weave with? Seirei paused at that thought. It sounded familiar to her. She thought she remembered someone telling her once that different grasses turned different colors as they dried. Those different colors could then be used to weave patterns and even pictures into whatever you were making. So Seirei decided to gather several different types and see what happened when they dried.

The next question was how, exactly did one go about harvesting grass when said grass could be as tall as you were at times. Seirei bent down, and grabbed a handful of grass near its base, and pulled. Nothing. The grass seemed to be deeply rooted, and required more strength than she had to pull it free. Frowning, Seirei tried again. Still nothing. When a third attempt failed as well, she gave up on the idea of pulling the grass up in clumps. Seirei had better luck pulling a single blade of grass up by the roots. But if she harvested her grass blade by blade, she could be at the task all day, and still not have enough to meet her needs.

Fortunately for her, she did not have to resort to that. Lian had been reluctant to loan her his hunting knife, fearing that using it on plants would dull the blade. But with some convincing, Seirei had managed to talk him into it. Seirei thought that he might have agreed in the end because he didn't like the thought of her out in the Sea of Grass alone with no way of defending herself if she ran across a predator. She didn't remind him that even with a hunting knife, she had no idea of how to use it if she were attacked by something.

Using the knife made her task far easier. The sharp blade cut through small handfuls of grass with ease. Larger ones required more work as she had to saw through the clump using considerable strength. As she worked, Seirei cut one type of grass at a time. When she got enough to create a good sized bundle, she cut a few strands of grass, twisted them together, and tied them around the bundle to keep it together.

Seirei wasn't sure how much grass she would need, but she knew that it would be easy to go out and get more if she needed some. There was plenty of grass to be found anywhere you looked. Because of this, Seirei decided that she really only needed one bundle of each type of grass she wanted to experiment with to start with. So she continued to work until she had five good sized bundles, one each of five different types of grass.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A delicate bloom

The sun had moved through the sky, indicating that bells had passed. Seirei knew that there was a way of telling time by keeping track of the position of the sun. Jared had told her so when she was a child. But she did not know how it worked. Only that it did. The sun rose in the east, and set in the west. It also rose and set at the same time each day as far as Seirei knew. So using that, she guessed that one who was skilled in such things could tell what time it was. But how far did the sun move in a bell? Or half a bell? A quarter of a bell? What happened if the sun was hidden behind a cloud? How did you know what time it was then? Such things were completely beyond her.

However it worked, Seirei decided it was time to get back. She had harvested enough grass to get her started, and she missed the twins. Seirei looked around, eying the bundles of grass thoughtfully. There were more than she would be able to carry back in one trip, so she would have to make multiple trips in order to get everything back to Lian's tent. Fortunately, she wasn't all that far away from Lian's camp. With luck, each trip would only take a quarter bell or so.

"What do we have here? Trying to escape, are we? Did you really think that you had a chance at succeeding?"

Seirei whirled to face the man who had spoken, her eyes widening in shock. She had been so caught up in making plans to get the bundles of grass back that she hadn't been paying attention to what was going on around her. Now she found herself faced with five men standing between her, and the city. They all looked to be a few years older than she was. Some were smirking at her, while the others looked angry at her supposed "escape attempt."

"N-no." she began in heavily accented pavi.

She hated the nervous stutter in her voice, and she glared at the men in annoyance.

"It should be obvious what I'm doing - harvesting grass." she said, gesturing at the bundles of grass laying nearby.

"Harvesting grass? Right. And why would you do something as stupid as that? No, I don't believe you. You're trying to escape. The bundles of grass are just an excuse in case you were caught trying to leave. You probably brought them with you."

Seirei stared at the man who had spoken incredulously. If she had been planning to escape, why would she have brought bundles of grass with her as an "excuse" to be near the edge of the city instead of supplies she'd need to travel through the Sea of Grass?

"Runaway captives need to be punished!" one of the men called out to his friends.

"That's right! And I know the perfect form for her punishment to take. If her master won't...or can't see that the girl is fulfilling her duty to us, then there's no reason for us not to see to the matter for him. Who knows? He may even thank us for assisting him!" another man said with a leer.

Seirei shuddered. As the men began converging around her, she bolted. If she lost sight of the city, she'd be hopelessly lost within ticks. But even death out in the Sea of Grass was a far better fate than the one that these men had in mind for her. She didn't stand a chance. The men were faster than her, and they had been prepared for her to flee. It was only a matter of ticks before they had her surrounded.

Seirei clutched the hunting knife in her hand so tightly that her hand hurt. She had no idea how to use it properly, but panic made her desperate. So she gripped the knife as firmly as she could, and turned the pointy end towards her attackers. Her hand trembled violently, making the blade shake in her grip.

"Leave me alone!" she demanded, fear making her voice shrill.

The men laughed.

"I see we have a fierce little fighter on our hands!"

"Careful now, we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself!"

One of the men lunged at her. Seirei braced herself for the attack, and lashed out at him with the knife. She managed to catch his arm, giving him a light scratch with the blade, but the difference in their skill was painfully obvious. He caught her off guard, when he didn't even try to block her attack. Instead, he grabbed her arm, and easily knocked the knife out of her hand.

"You'll pay for that!" the man snarled.

The man yanked her arm brutally, pulling her towards him. Then when she was close enough, he shoved her in the chest hard. The two opposite forces sent Seirei crashing to the ground with enough force to drive the air out of her lungs as her feet flew out from under her. Then the men were on her.

Before Seirei had a chance to react, one of the men had grabbed her wrists, raising her arms so they were stretched out on the ground above her head. She struggled desperately to free herself, but another man knelt on her outstretched arms, pinning them to the ground. A third man fumbled with her pants and undergarments, pulling them down past her knees. And a fourth forced her legs apart, laughing at her attempts to resist him. All of this happened while the fifth man leered down at her.

Seirei screamed for help as she struggled madly to free herself. Her frantic efforts seemed to amuse her tormentors. They laughed at her struggles, telling her that she might even enjoy their attentions if she simply relaxed and allowed herself to. No one came to help her. Gradually, exhaustion set in, and it wasn't long before her desperate efforts to free herself faded into feeble, uncoordinated movements. Her wrists burned from twisting and chafing in the powerful grip that had captured them, as she lay panting on the ground.

Pain overwhelmed her. Cries for help quickly turned into screams of agony as one of the men violated her. And still no one came to help her. Seirei hadn't truly expected them to. No one had come to help her when she screamed for help as Lian raped her either.

They took turns with her. One man raped her while the others held her down, and bragged about what they would do when it was their turn. Seirei felt sick. The pain was unbearable. She was helpless to resist. Helpless to fight back. And her voice was starting to fail, worn out from her screaming. All she could do was pray that it would be over soon.

When one of the men tried to kiss her as he raped her, Seirei bit him, defying him as best she could. The man shouted in pain, and his eyes darkened with rage. He punched her in the head with enough force that her vision swam, and she felt dizzy. The pain in her head pushed her over the edge, and she passed out mercifully.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

A delicate bloom

"Come on, Terrin! Mom says that if we can pick enough berries, she'll make a pie tonight! We have to get going now so we'll have time to find enough!" Teisaia said impatiently.

"Hold up a tick, Teisaia. I thought I heard something just now."

**********************************************************


Voices. Consciousness returned slowly, and with returning awareness came the sound of voices. One of them sounded like a man. The sound of a male voice triggered the memories of what had happened to her earlier, threatening to swallow Seirei up in them. Seirei shuddered, terrified that the presence of a man nearby meant that she was going to be raped again. She didn't think that she had enough strength left to endure that again. The movement caused renewed agony to sear through her body. Seirei moaned softly in protest against the pain. Tears filled her eyes, and she tried to bite back a terror filled sob. She prayed to any gods who might be listening for a return of pain free oblivion. It was safer there.


*************************************************************


"There it is again!"

"I heard it too, that time!"

**************************************************************


The voices came closer. Seirei...drifted in and out of awareness. Time had no meaning for her. Everything hurt horribly, and she felt sick, lightheaded, and cold. She couldn't seem to stop trembling, which only made the pain worse. She felt herself being lifted. A voice she thought she knew said something, but Seirei couldn't understand more than her name. She couldn't even be certain that she knew who the speaker was. They sounded very worried, though. Would someone be worried about her if they didn't know her in this place where she had no rights, and her only use to most people was the children she could give them?

The thought of children suddenly became a terrifying one. When Lian had raped her, he had succeeded in getting her pregnant. Had these men succeeded in "seeing to the matter of breeding her?" Was she pregnant again? Was it even possible to get pregnant after being raped once? Five times? More if any of the men had raped her more than once? What if she was being brought somewhere so the men could keep raping her until she was pregnant again? Would Lian allow them to do that? Would he decide to rape her again, too? Terror overwhelmed her. It was too much for her to bear, and she sank into the darkness once more.

*********************************************************


When she returned to full awareness once more, Seirei was laying in someone's bedroll. The pain was less than it had been, suggesting that someone had treated her injuries. It was possible that she had even been healed.

"Where...?" she asked hoarsely.

"You're in the River Flower. Terrin carried you here when we found you out in the Sea of Grass."

Seirei looked up at the girl who had spoken. It was one of her few friends, Teisaia Sunweaver.

"One of the healers healed you for the most part, but they said that you'd be sore for a while. So you should rest for a bell or two, at least."

"How long...?"

It was hard to think. Seirei's head felt like it was full of wool, and it ached fiercely. It wasn't the worst pain she felt, but it was safer to concentrate on the pain in her head. That was far better than thinking about what had caused the pain between her legs. And while it hurt far less than it had the last time she'd been awake, it was a constant, painful reminder of what had happened. Even so, it was just another thing that hurt. Everything felt as though it was coming at her from a distance. Seirei suspected that when whatever barrier was keeping things at a distance wore off, she'd feel a lot worse than she did now.

"You've been unconscious for a little over a bell." Teisaia offered gently.

Seirei tried to add up how long ago it had been since she had left Lian with the twins. That had been in the morning. Was it afternoon now? Early evening? It was still light, at least. That meant that Lian probably wasn't out looking for her. Probably. The thought of the punishment waiting for her if he did think she had run away terrified her.

"Before dark..."

"What?"

"I have to be back before dark. Lian will think I ran away otherwise."

Seirei struggled to remain calm, but fear at the thought of punishment was quickly overwhelming her.

"Don't worry, Seirei. You've got plenty of time. It's bells til evening, yet. You can rest for a couple of bells like the healer said, and still make it home before dark. And if not, I'll ask Terrin to tell Lian what happened. He'll understand."

Panic seared through Seirei.

"No!"

"No...what?"

"Don't tell him. Lian...he'll..."

Seirei was terrified that if Lian learned of what happened to her, he would decide that it was time for him to start raping her again, too.

Teisaia frowned pensively. She thought it would be obvious that something had happened. The healer had healed what she could, but Seirei was far from fine, and wasn't likely to be for some time. But Seirei seemed so frightened...if there was any chance that her master was going to blame her for being attacked, and possibly even punish her as Seirei seemed to think...Teisaia couldn't betray her friend to that.

"Okay, don't worry, Seirei. We won't tell him, I promise. Just rest now, okay?"

Seirei nodded shakily. She looked relieved as she closed her eyes, and tried to get some more rest.

[Tribal]

G R A D E S

Seirei

Experience

• Logic: 1
• Planning: 1
• Observation: 4
• Foraging: 1
• Weaving: 1
• Mathematics: 1
• Socialisation: 2
• Intimidation: 1
• Unarmed Combat: 1
• Wrestling: 1
• Endurance: 2
• Rhetoric: 1
• Drawing: 1

Lore

• Lian: Is a good father
• Observation: The shape of a cloud
• Drawing: Start with something you know
• Drawing: Shading techniques with charcoal
• Using a hunting knife to cut grass
• Mathematics: Time keeping
• Slave: The dangers of Endrykas
• Seirei: Blacking out
• Terrin: A kind soul

Notes

Was not expecting that! If I missed any lore you really wanted, let me know. I will leave you to decide whether or not Seirei falls pregnant.