(Flashback) I Don't Think I am in Avanthal Anymore (Solo)

[Cara]

Spring 1, 507 AV Cara stepped through another misty veil. She pushed the cool, dampened air away with her hands. Oh Morwen, how does anyone see in such a place, when it is nearly impossible to make out one's own hands? A limb that is no more than a few feet away from the delicate face? Cara had been walking for hours, and yet, no matter how far she traveled over the mountainous terrain, in any which direction, the mist never seemed to let up. At times, she could just make out the sun if she looked up. The edges of the mist would be dyed a golden-orange beneath its rays. The light blue sky simply seemed to mix in with the grey mist. The edges blurred. She had learned long ago that there was no point in looking up. You could barely make out the sky beneath the mist, and thus, couldn't use it to help you navigate your way through the Misty Peaks. Cara's legs were beginning to ache. Her shoulders were sore from having carried her bag around for so long. Perhaps you should take a break, it's not like you can actually see where you are going anyway. The girl sighed, her mind was right, she couldn't see clearly. She should simply listen to her mind. She walked a few more steps before she noticed a large grey rock up ahead. The top of the rock was relatively smooth, and could easily serve as something for her to sit on. She strode over to it, and slipped her bag off her shoulders. Gingerly, the young sorceress placed her things on the rock before she sat down. The rock's surface was cold, and coarse. It was rough beneath her fingertips. Deciding she didn't like how the rock felt on her skin, Cara placed her hands on each of her knees. She curled her legs into her body, and looked around. Her lavender colored dress pooled around her feet as she rocked lightly back and forth. It is so nice to be away from home. It is quiet here, and although you are lost for the time being in an unfamiliar place, and don't know if anyone will come to save you, at least there is still hope for it being better than where you grew up. At least here, there is a chance someone will come to save you. At least here, there is a chance that someone will hear your screams and come to help you. Here, maybe they won't turn away when they see you bruised and beaten. This can be a new chapter in your life Cara her brain whispered. The girl sighed, once again, her thoughts were right, but that didn't mean she wasn't at least a little bit scared. Perhaps that was why she was gently rocking herself back and forth. Her mother used to do that for her- hold her in her arms and push her gently left and right, rocking her to sleep when she was young and upset. But that was years ago, before her sister was born, and life had gone downhill. Cara sighed heavily. "Why does life have to be such a stupid piece of shit?" she complained. "All it does is send you through a series of trials that simply make or break you. Nine times out of ten they break you, and you're left a pitiful shadow of the being you once were," she said into the mist that circled her face. There was more she wanted to say, but she was certain she could hear footsteps coming from behind her, so she held her tongue. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as she lifted her right hand away from her knee. She was concentrating, listening to the sound coming from behind her. Trying to figure out what it could be. If the entity carried a scent. But she couldn't figure anything out. Couldn't sense a thing. Deciding that she would rather be safe than sorry, Cara began to concentrate on her djed, in addition to everything else. Within seconds, a familiar tingling sensation had coursed through every inch of her body. It started in her toes, and wove its way upwards, through her legs, to her chest, and then to her arms and fingers. A minute later, a translucent icy blue orb could be seen hovering above the palm of her right hand; res. Cara smiled, as she lit the inner portion of the light blue orb she had created. The orb now gave off a pale orange glow, which seemed to flicker from time to time. Perhaps it is the flame fighting with the mist that seems to be circling the orb. Cara held it out to her side. "Who goes there?" she whispered. OOCAt this point, Cara would only be a novice reimancer. She would only be able to use fire.

[Cara]

There was no reply. "Who goes there?" Cara called again through the mist. There was still no answer. The girl could just make out the sound of feet shuffling through the darkness. Someone or something was coming, but the girl didn't know what. Perhaps it doesn't speak Vani. "Hello?" Cara called out in Common. Still nothing. Or perhaps their manners are even worse than your own. The girl scowled as she waited. It was all she could do; wait. Soon enough, a small black nose appeared out of the mist. Well that explains a lot. The creature stepped closer to Cara. When all of its body had been pulled out of the mist, it began to sniff her. The girl didn't move as it studied her, and she studied it. The animal seemed younger than what she had expected, no more than a year or two old. Its body, from head to tail was about twenty-three and a half inches long. Its tail added another fifteen inches to its body. It weighed no more than eleven pounds. The red panda had long, soft reddish-brown fur on both its head, and on its back. Its fur darkened a bit on its belly. It had white fur on portions of its face- mainly around its eyes, and tiny black nose. A few white whiskers stuck out of the sides of its nose, making it seem more delicate to Cara. The red panda's head was somewhat small, and its ears seemed to twitch as it sniffed her. In much the same way, its long bushy tail, twitched. Its tail was banded- six rings of alternating colors. One band a yellowish-white, the next, a reddish-brown. Its short legs were tucked beneath its body, and were covered in a thick black fur. Cara could just make out its retractable claws peeking out from beneath tiny tufts of fur. "Well aren't you a curious little thing?" Cara whispered with a slight giggle as it walked around her to the front of her body. "You probably don't see too many people up here, do you? Especially not a Vantha?" Cara placed her hands in her lap as she waited for the creature to finish, and be on its way. But the creature didn't seem to finish quickly, in fact, it took quite a while, and it didn't go away. "Be careful around the orb little one, wouldn't want to burn yourself," she commented when it got to close. The creature didn't seem to listen though. Does it remind you of anyone? Cara scowled again, as she lowered her left hand, and brushed the back of her hand over the creature's fur. The fur was soft, and made Cara's skin tingle. Her touch was so light; so delicate, that the red panda didn't seem to notice that they had ever made contact with one another. The creature took a step away from Cara and simply stared at her with its beady black eyes. Cara offered her left hand to it. The creature extended its head and gave it a sniff. Its silver whiskers twitched. Cara could feel its breath on her hand. "Do you trust me now?" the girl asked, as she pulled her hand out from beneath the creature's nose, and made an effort to pat its head. The creature growled at her. Perhaps that is not the best idea. "You could have just said no," Cara commented, somewhat nervously. The red panda growled for a few more moments before it turned away from her. Well doesn't he seem nice? Cara thought as she watched the thing disappear into the mist. Too bad it's the only sign of life you'll be seeing for a few days, her mind added as the inside of Cara's ball of fire began to flicker. That can't be good. "Please don't go out," Cara whispered to it, as she silently blamed the mist. It must have been suffocating the fire, slowly. The inside of Cara's res orb continued to crackle and spit, and finally, the girl simply threw it off and into the distance. It wasn't as though it provided all that much light anyway. Yet, it did provide her with a sense of warmth, not simply because it was a fire, but because it seemed natural. As though not having a res orb around was unheard of for the young Vantha. The girl shivered. It was a disturbing thought, wasn't it? Becoming so dependent on her magic that she didn't quite feel the same when she wasn't surrounded by fire.

[Cara]

"Well this is a pitiful existence," Cara muttered as she stared out into the mist. It seemed never-ending, not even remotely navigable. "Perhaps it will have cleared in a few hours, and one will actually be able to navigate through these mountains." The girl sighed, she doubted the mist would clear completely, but perhaps, it would be just enough for her to get out of there. Feeling somewhat exhausted, if not a little frustrated with the situation she found herself in, Cara leaned back on the rock. She looked up at the sky- the small, glowing orb directly above her head. Somehow, these mists seem to block everything out, Cara thought as she crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes. Because, if we're not mistaken, that's supposed to be the sun. Cara closed her eyes, she could feel her bag resting against the top of her head. Within minutes, she had slipped away into Nysel's realm. Cara had not been sleeping for long, when something soft brushed up against her nose, tickling her awake. Confused, and slightly dazed being that she was forced out of her slumber so abruptly, the girl raised her hands to her eyes, and rubbed them delicately. "What is that?" Cara wondered as she sat up. Her back ached, and her entire body felt stiff, as though she had tried to tense her muscles and hold them there for several hours. Cara dropped her hands from her eyes and placed them in her lap again. The edges of her vision were still a little blurry, which was merely made worse by the mist. Oh, that's right... we're on top of a bloody mountain. "Don't you mean a misty one?" Cara asked herself as the sound of muffled footsteps and crunching reached her ears. The tickling sensation that had crossed Cara's nose still lingered, but she ignored it as she peered over her shoulder. "Why is there a tail poking out of that bag?" Cara whispered, as she hopped off the rock and walked over to her belongings. She could vaguely make out the sound of chewing. Looks like something got into your bag and is eating up all your food. Cara growled as she grabbed her bag and shook it. An angry red panda wiggled out. Its nose and its lips were covered in a thick, sticky looking purple juice. The juice smelled sweet. "Oh would you look at what you did?" Cara growled, as she lifted the bag to look inside. "You have gone and eaten everything!" she scolded the creature. "Now what is a girl supposed to eat? She isn't exactly anywhere near civilization!" Cara huffed, as the panda looked up at her with what seemed to be a satisfied smile. Cara growled. "Well at least one of us is happy you little rascal!" Cara shouted at the creature. It was starting to growl at her. "Well now don't you give me that! You're the one who stole someone else's things!" she huffed. "Now why don't you shoo before you turn into someone's new fur collar! How about that mister?" Cara scolded as she began to lightly nudge the creature off the rock with her hands. The creature growled a few more times, before slinking off and into the mist. "And don't you come back!" Cara shouted after it as she dropped the bag back on the rock, and looked around. Well now what do we do? That was the rest of your food. "We find more, or go without it for the night," she growled. Her eyes were blazing. How come all the cute ones are the truly evil ones?

[Cara]

Cara's stomach began to rumble. The muscles seemed to twist around each other as she stood their angrily, steam seeming to blow out the side of her ears. "Perfect," she grumbled, as she pulled her bag off the rock and walked along the mountain pass, in the hopes of finding something to eat. "No good, rotten little critter should keep his nose out of other people's things," Cara grumbled as her feet stomped the ground, displacing several small pebbles. "Otherwise, next time, he may not escape with his life." Cara smiled wickedly. The idea of the creature dead on its side was growing increasingly appealing to her. As Cara walked along, she wondered what exactly she was looking for. She knew she had set out to find something to eat now that she was hungry, but she wanted to know what exactly she expected to find on the Misty Peaks. Other than the red panda, she hadn't seen another living creature yet, and all she could see through the mist were rocks, and more mist, and mountainside. The girl sighed. Maybe there is some plant life lurking around here somewhere. "Yeah, hopefully," Cara commented as a series of small grey pebbles crunched beneath her feet. Cara sighed as she walked along. There was no sign of anything that may serve as a food supply. Of course, the occasional tuft of grass poked out of the side of the mountain, the cracks in the rock, and a strange flowering vine at one point as well. But it was nothing substantial, or worth looking into. "And of course, there is nothing around," Cara muttered as her foot began to hurt. She had stubbed her toe... on a large rock? Have we just gone in a large circle? "Looks like," Cara grumbled as she set her bag down on the rock, and sat back down. "It figures. Something like this was bound to happen with this mist." There was a long silence, "and it looks like we're going to be stuck here for quite some time," Cara whispered. "Especially if no one shows up to rescue a damsel in distress." With that, she leaned back down on the rock and stared up at the veil of mist that obstructed her view of the pale blue sky. "You better be gone when we wake up," Cara whispered, as she closed her eyes again. But they didn't remain that way for long, soon enough, they had opened. When she looked up, she saw that familiar banded tail sticking out of her bag, and heard a strange, rustling sound. The girl smiled wickedly as she sat up and an idea crossed her mind. When she had sat up fully, Cara turned around, and tilted the bag downwards, so the creature's nose would slide into the stone. Cara clasped her bag shut, and picked it up. The creature was kicking and making a snarling noise when she looped the bag's straps over her shoulders. "Well, next time you should learn to stay out of people's things," Cara commented. "You can't simply expect to go through life without any consequences," the girl muttered as she got to her feet and began walking. "You know, once we get out of here, it's likely you'll be sold. Hopefully with the price you fetch, a girl can get some real food." The creature snarled. "Glad you approve," she smiled.

[Ophelia]

Cara: +1 Reimancy, +2 Animal Husbandry, +1 Navigation


Cara: Everpresent mist, Conversations with yourself, Curious red panda, Having all your food eaten, It’s because we’ve been here before… we’re going in circles!, Capturing a red panda


You have your own red panda! For the first three weeks, it will constantly attempt to escape, you will need to be aware of that. Also, you will need to find some sort of civilisation within 2 weeks to regain food (even if you do manage to find some edible cuisine). Please add your new Red Panda to your CS with a link to this thread. Thanks Cara for a cute read!