Being a pirate, her home was the skies and the sea and when the tidal waves and horrible winds came, she rode it out as well as any other sea or sky pirate could. While she figured many died, she was doing what she could to survive. Her ship was her home, and in a recent visit to another realm, it had been severly damaged. While it had been fixed, it seemed luck just wasn't with her lately. It seemed to be war all around her, and she just needed a break from that. Peace....it was damned hard to come by it seemed. Would she ever be able to have some peace and quiet?!
She had wound up traveling west, figuring on maybe finding somewhere to rest for a while and on maybe exploring some too; if the mood struck her. After weeks of travel, she wound up way over near Vandual. Maybe it'd be a good enough place to have a fresh start in life...again. So many times she's tried to have a fresh start...or has been forced too. Her airship was anchored off shore, where it had been for the last few days. She had taken to exploring the area, unsure of what she'd find in this place. Apparently, the mood for exploring had struck her; plus she and the crew needed water, so it was just one of those days where she had to do something as well as try to find a scrap of time for herself.
Little did she know that her walk would not go as she had hoped it would. She was only searching for water, and no sooner than she had found a likely spot, it seemed the weather might be against her. The sky had grown dark and there was an ominous feeling in the air. The forest had turned dark with shadows, complete with a fog rolling in. That in itself was strange, considering the skies had been clear just a short time ago. Even the air smelled nothing like rain; just the earthy aromas of the forest.The captain soon realized it was no thunderstorm, it was something else. Something was making her skin prickle and crawl.
Her head turned at a noise, a dark lullaby. So darkly enchanting, she paused to listen to it, for she had never heard something so hauntingly beautiful before.
Who the hell could be out there?!
Whatever this was, it felt oddly alive in a sense. She didn't know what it was, but she definitely began to get the sense that something or someone else was in this forest with her. And it felt very wrong. This unknown force or entity seemed to have not only a mind of its own and a darkly mysterious and beautiful voice, but a hankering for toying with what it thought was an 'easy' victim. Little did 'it' know she wouldn't be going down without a fight! As always, she was determined to survive, and if something was going to attack or even pester her, it would find she was no willing participant.
So wretched was this lullaby, the ancient trees even seemed to dislike it, for they creaked in protest.
And she wondered if at first she was imagining things, for she had noticed no tracks, no visible signs of anyone being in the area. Not even a campsite had been spotted. The game trails were well used by the creatures of the forest, but didn't notice any signs of any sort of people in the area. Hefting the water-skins onto her other shoulder, she continued walking, though as try as she might, she couldn't escape this haunting lullaby.
Before too long, the forest was cloaked in darkness and the life essence was pulled from the trees, flowers, ground, water, and probably every life-form within the area of the immensely dark and vaporous fog which settled over the clearing she had found. She had managed to wash her face and fill three of the six water-skins she had brought with her before the water turned putrid and undrinkable, for this mysterious entity had turned the meadow into a bog! Whoever had such powers, she was getting the impression they didn't like visitors. Maybe it was the forest itself, or some guardian of the forest. She wasn't sure yet, she decided, staring at her reflection for a few moments.
All this time, it had been trying to glean information from her, trying to pry into her mind and when she had first felt the pressure of someone hammering at her mental shields, she had immediately began to resist. Strengthening her mental shields, it would have felt like stepping into searing flames for this entity. It's mental barrage was persistent and deep down, she knew that she couldn't keep this mental battle up forever; but she would fight for as long as she could. The battle had already begun, but to anyone else approaching, they would only see a woman sitting on the edge of a bank before a bog with her head propped on her arms, which were resting on her knees for the time being.
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 4:43 pm
