LadyAnnaLee

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

That was … sad. Darin didn’t feel any pity for the two men. It was just sad that they choose a lifestyle that hurt others and would eventually hurt themselves. They didn’t seem to be inclined to make any real changes either. This current incident was probably they had been caught with any indication that they would actually face consequences for their actions. If they had been caught before they had mostly likely been able to weasel out of those messes. Darin didn’t think Ridahne would let them leave without some sort of punishment. The young human didn’t think that she wanted to let them leave either. She just didn’t want to do something that would permanently affect their lives. That would leave a bad taste in her mouth.

Though she did need a new shirt. While the shirts the two men were wearing looking to be a bit big for her it was a start. She had to wonder if stealing from them was the best course of action though. Her Mama was fond of saying two wrongs did not make a right. Darin agreed with that for the most part, but then turned around and stole a dog from an abusive owner. So, she wasn’t sure she could say she lived by that principle. It wasn’t like stealing their shirts would put them in any worse shape than they were already in. The human had a feeling that the Elf wanted to take fingers; or maybe even whole hands. Darin wasn’t sure she could handle crippling them for life. She also knew they could leave them unpunished. The Seed was not reacting. One of these day Darin felt like she was going to stumble off a metaphorical cliff.

Darin spoke simply, “I do need a new shirt, and I’m sure they have other useful things on them. We can do to them like they would do to us.”

Now here came the tricky part. The two of them, Darin and Ridahne, were traveling under the guise that the human was the Elf’s apprentice. As such, to others, it needed to appear as if the warrior had the last word. Darin wasn’t sure that was actually the case. She was fairly positive that she had the last word. She couldn’t say that out loud though, and even the thought of that made her queasy. She had never been in charge of anything before. Well, she was now. She might as well act like she knew what she was doing. Maybe if she acted longer enough, she would finally figure it out. Somehow, she didn’t think that was the case, but Darin could and would hope that was the case.

Darin suddenly had a thought, “Wait! Make sure they don’t have any bugs or anything before taking clothing. I don’t need to wake up with flea bites every morning.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Well that explained what they were doing and honestly Darin could have figured that part out for herself. That still didn’t tell her why they were out stealing horse, and the young girl could remember asking why too. In fact, she didn’t think she asked what they were doing at all. She asked who they were and why they were doing this. At least Ridahne was supporting her in her quest for answers. The Elf and the human might not get along, but at least they could remain unified. That might be the best that Darin could hope for.

Darin gave her head a shake, “That’s not what I asked. I want to know who you are; not what you are. And I want to know why you are stealing from people. There must be a reason. Only children still for kicks, and you two do not seem like children to me. So, there must be a reason.”

Darin did not move closer to the two men. Right now, they seemed afraid of the Elf warrior. Who knew what would happen if they thought the situation could be turned to their advantage? She didn’t want to consider what might happen if she gave them an opportunity to take her hostage. She may not be the smartest person in Astra, or even the most capable, but she wasn’t a complete idiot. She knew better than to walk closer to them. Besides, she didn’t need Ridahne yelling at her. That would just make things difficult and things were already tense between the two of them. Darin really needed to try and avoid any more confrontation with the Elf.

Talbot pressed her nose into Darin’s shoulder. In response She tossed him a quick smile as she resumed stroking the bridge of his nose. It was clear that the horse was not interested in the proceedings. He just wanted attention. That was fair. She had been pouting and needed attention. It was only right to return the favorite. She turned her attention back to the two men. They looked human to her, but it was dark. She supposed they could have been Sirens or Elves. She almost thought that it would be cool if they were either. She had meet plenty of humans, but she had only met one Elf and she hadn’t met any Sirens. It would be nice to learn more about the people of Astra. Theoretically she was looking to plant The Seed for the people of Astra. It was probably a good idea to learn all she could about them. She wasn’t sure that was the best course of action or even the right one, but she was already basically just walking in the dark. IT wouldn’t hurt to continue that trend in regard to this. She could only do the best that she could do. Darin didn’t want to think about what would happen if the best she could do wasn’t enough. That wouldn’t end well. She did know that much.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Thank you for keeping me updated. I look forward to your post.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Have fun at Comicon! Thanks for the heads up!

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

I know my post is short. I apologize. There just wasn't much for Darin to do And I didn't want to ramble.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin watched Ridahne’s performance with an almost reverence. It was beautiful, and it answered the question on whether or not the Elf knew if they were being dramatic or not. There was no way this was accidental. On the other hand, Darin’s entrance was much less impressive. She just walked into the glade. She glanced at then men and was suddenly struck to do something. The Seed didn’t seem to care about that. That only made Darin more eager to do the stupid thing she did next.

She stood closer to Ridahne than to the two men, but she still asked, “Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

Darin wanted to know why the men were looking to steal from other people. She was hoping that if she knew the motives behind their actions it might lead her to a better understanding of what evil was. That was an understanding the young woman thought she desperately needed. She couldn’t plant The Seed without having at least some idea. It was possible that Darin was over thinking the problem, but she didn’t think so. These men were not evil, yet they were doing something many people considered bad. They were also doing it extremely close to The Tree. It was a puzzle that the young human desperately wanted to solve.

Then again there was a chance that they wouldn’t answer her. She wasn’t that impressive looking by herself and compared to Ridahne she was frankly pathetic. She was just hopping they mistook her for a boy like everyone, but the Elf had done so far. Darin knew that she looked like a boy from a far off even if she did look mostly like a farm boy. She was okay with looking like a farm boy. Talbot came up behind her to push her shoulder with his nose. With out removing her gaze from the two men she reached behind to catch the horse’s nose. She absently stroked Talbot as she waited for her answer.

Then again, they might answer. Darin was pretty positive that Ridahne had scared them pretty well. Ridahne’s mere presence seemed to be enough to make them comply at this point. Why they hadn’t just run the first chance they got after being scared was beyond the human’s comprehension. Maybe they were waiting to see if the odds would swing back into their favor. Darin didn’t think they would simply because Ridahne, Ridahne’s animals, and Talbot were now in the same glade together. Darin was well aware of the fact that she was the weak link, but she was positive that she could at least stay out of the way if a fight happened. She could spot at least three trees she could scale in mere moments. These men had to be too big to follow her. She hoped it didn’t turn to a fight. She just wanted answers to her questions. They didn’t seem important, but they were.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin had almost been asleep when Ridahne hissed at her. With a scowl Darin looked at the Elf. Did the warrior really have to wake her up for bandits? The human didn’t think she snored, so she could have been quiet while asleep. Then again, if it was bandits they might need to move soon. That was fair. Darin supposed she needed to wake up then. She slowly rubbed at her eyes to remove the grit from her eyes. She then sat up to stretch her arms out above her head. Alright. That was about as awake as she was going to get. She slowly sat up as well. At least now she wouldn’t be facing the bandits while staring at the stars.

Though it was odd. Could bandits operate this close to The Tree? It could be that The Tree was losing strength as it died. Darin wasn’t sure being a bandit was flat out evil anyways. The few that the village had gotten always turned out to be starving almost adults her age or people with kids to take care of. They usually felt like they had no other options. The ones that took her pack mule were looking for money. So, Darin supposed that the type of bandits these were depended on the type of person they were before they started trying to rob others.

Darin looked to Ridahne to try and gather more clues. The Elf looked mystical as she crouched in the moonlight. Darin almost wanted to raise an eyebrow at that except for the fact that she couldn’t do that. Thomas could and so could Milla. They used to tease her about it all the time. Darin had to wonder if the Elf realized just how dramatic they looked. It was certainly a sight. Darin almost hoped that Ridahne was doing it on purpose. That would be awesome on so many levels. However, the human was willing to bet that wasn’t the case at all. The dramatics were most likely accidental. That was a shame.

A shout filled the air, “Over here! A fire that’s just been put out.”

Darin’s head snapped around at the sound. She slowly got to her feet. Talbot remained in place. He would not be as quiet, and he knew that. Slowly Darin backed up until she was behind Ridahne. She wasn’t a complete idiot. She had no hope of fighting off anyone. Her best bet was to not get in the way of the warrior. That didn’t mean that the human wanted to be too far from the Elf. That would just be stupid. The last time that had happened Talbot had to save her. Darin didn’t know if that was an option or not this time. She didn’t know much about fighting or even defending herself. That was how she managed to get caught the last time she had faced bandits.

A snapping sound filled the air and felt unnaturally loud to Darin’s ears. She stopped moving immediately as she looked down. She had stepped on a branch of some sort. She was not used to sneaking. That much was painfully obvious. She cast Ridahne a look that was half question and half apology. Hopefully the bandits, if that was what they were, would think it was just an animal of some sort. She didn’t know what the odds were, but she wasn’t moving anymore. She couldn’t risk making anymore noise. Darin did spare a thought for The Seed. It wasn’t reacting, so Darin didn’t think these people were like Mark and his crew. Then again, they could just be too far away for The Seed to pick up on. It looked like all they could do now was wait. Darin hated waiting. It always took forever.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Do you have plans for the people Ridahne hears? Are they highwaymen?

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

At some point Talbot bent his knees to sink to the ground. Darin was on the laying on the ground as close she could get to the horse. The human looked up at the stars as she counted them, lost track, and began to count them again. She couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Slowly she watched the moon creep across the sky. She was going to be exhausted when the morning came. For a moment she pondered whether she should just keep moving. She wanted to see The Tree. It wasn’t like she was going to get rest, so she might as well do something productive. The only thing about that was that wouldn’t be fair to Ridahne, and Darin was desperately trying to be a good person. She wasn’t sure that it was working one little bit.

The human turned on their side and pressed and pressed their back to Talbot’s flank. She pondered what Ridahne had said about understanding her and the person she was to marry. Out of all the things the Elf had talked about that was the one Darin would admit she didn’t understand. She wasn’t sure how she could understand it. Once upon a time her mother had told her that love was complicated. Darin didn’t think it needed to be complicated though. If two or more people loved each other shouldn’t the goal be to be together. That seemed fairly simple to Darin. People then went and made it complicated. Mama had told her that she just hoped that her father was happy. Darin supposed that was because Talia had never stopped loving Martin. She supposed that could be the same thing here. It may not have made sense to Darin, but if it made sense to Ridahne than who was she to judge? Darin still thought that Ajoran, was that his name, was more hurt than even Ridahne knew. Darin didn’t even have the strength to let people close. How much strength did it take to let them go? Had Ridahne even thought that as she planned her killing spree? The Elf may not have left on a cold dark night, but she still had left without thinking of how her loved one would suffer. If they truly loved each other the way the warrior had claimed, the two of them would have discussed it first. Then they would have made the choices together. Ridahne’s firm insistence that they were not like her parents led Darin to think that the warriors were more similar to the farmers than the Elf wanted to consider.

Darin shook her head. She was trying to not make assumptions about Ridahne. That was harder than it sounded, but it was one of the things her mother tried to teach her. She wasn’t good at it. She judged people all the time. Even before The Seed came to her Darin had been good at making assumptions about people. That seemed like something the Seed-Bearer should avoid. She shifted on to her back. Maybe there was something wrong with her. Well, that was dumb. There was plenty wrong with her. In fact, she had a whole list. Her cons far outweighed her pros. It was still baffling that The Gardener had picked her. She gave her head another shake. She was not starting down that road again. There were other, more important, things to think about. She needed to figure out how she was going to stop making assumptions about Ridahne. Darin couldn’t come up with any good ideas. Ridahne probably hated her. Darin actually beat her palm against her forehead for that. She wasn’t supposed to assume she knew what the Elf was thinking. She had no idea what the Elf was thinking. Darin scowled. Being a good person was hard. She wanted to go back to just being a sort of an okay farmer. Why did she have to be picked for this? Why did The Gardener pick her?

Frustrated with her lack of sleeping Darin pushed off the ground to start waking again. She didn’t get very far before Talbot caught her pant leg in his teeth. The human scowled at the horse. Talbot looked unimpressed. Darin flopped back down. The horse had a point. Darin wasn’t far from the camp. She could still see the fire’s glow. If she went much farther a repeat of this morning would happen. That wasn’t something that would be good. Not for the first time Darin wondered how someone who could get lost going twenty feet would be able to travel all of Astra. She curled back into Talbot. She was starting to get chilly.

She whispered to the night air, “I miss Mama Talbot. I just want to see her again.”

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Darin wasn’t sure she believed most of what came out of Ridahne that time. People could and did lie to others and to themselves. The human had not doubt that the Elf thought she was telling the truth. It may have even been a version of the truth. That didn’t change the fact that to Darin’s, admittedly untrained eyes, that the warrior had been running all her life. Then again, what did Darin know about the world? She had never left home before this after all, and it wasn’t Darin’s job to call out people who may or may not be lying. It was her job to plant The Seed. It wasn’t a job she wanted, but she was going to do it to the best of her ability.

Darin was suddenly exhausted. Anger was not an emotion she had experience with. She had been exasperated, frustrated, slightly ticked off, but never angry before. She wasn’t sure that she liked it. It had drained so much energy out of her. All the human wanted to do was collapse to the ground and sleep. She wasn’t sure that she could do that though. She thought that might ruining the message she was trying to send to Ridahne. She wasn’t even really sure what message she was trying to send, but she was going to send it at best she could. Maybe she just wanted Ridahne to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was Seed-Chained. She wanted the Elf to know what that meant. The only problem with that was that Darin wasn’t even sure what that meant.

She had never heard those words until she had said them just now. Thomas had been the first to call Darin Seed-Bearer, and that strange title had made sense. Darin was the person carrying The Seed to where it belonged. The burden of this mission fell on to her. No one else could do it until it was done. She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if she failed. However, she wasn’t sure what being Seed-Chained meant. If Darin had to guess, which she thought she might have to do, being Seed-Chained meant that Ridahne’s fate was tied to The Seed the same way Darin was but not in a good way. Being the Seed-Bearer conveyed a sense of honor. Being Seed-Chained had no honor whatsoever. While Darin might not want it being the Seed-Bearer was a privilege. Being Seed-Chained was a punishment. In this case, it was a punishment foe threatening to leave.

Darin suddenly knew what she wanted to say next, “You don’t get to know my mind. You do not get to assume that I would cast you off. You have no right to assume my thoughts unless I share them with you.” She turned to leave the fire, “I’ll be back. Do not follow.” Then as she reached the edge of the small clearing she turned back, “Oh. And I did not think that you cared about your Azurei law. So that’s not a good excuse for what you did to him.”

The animals at the edge of the campsite scattered as the Seed-Bear came towards them. What had happened here tonight was over. All of Astra could sense that. Darin watched them go with question on her lips that she did not voice. Tonight, had been too much. So, even though it meant she was doing it two nights in a row, Darin was leaving the camp to think. She really hoped this didn’t become a habit. She shouldn’t let it become a habit. She stopped as she got to the stream. Then, without thinking, Darin let out a scream of frustration, anger, and desperation fill the air. She then fell to the ground to sob.

This wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair at all. She wanted to go home. She wanted her Mama. She didn’t want to be responsible for all of Astra. She had no idea why she was responsible for all of Astra. By The Tree, why did it have to be her? Surely there were better choices out there. She didn’t even know how to make friends with one person that she wanted to make friends with. It didn’t seem like it would be happening anytime soon. She couldn’t even spend a night with the Elf unless she was drunk. Darin wrapped her arms around her knees as she pressed her face to them in order to stop the tears. She wanted her Mama so bad. He Mama might not have to answers, but at least she would be able to help Darin think it though. \

Like the fact that if the human wanted the Elf to not assume to know what she was thinking Darin had to return the favor. Maybe Ridahne had told the truth. Maybe the Elf really was trying to just do her duty. Maybe the warrior was truly afraid of the fact that Darin might not want her. Darin could see that. If the Seed-Bearer didn’t want her the exile would have to go home to be killed. Darin gripped her knees tighter. She didn’t want to be fair. The world wasn’t being fair to her. Why did she have to be fair to Ridahne? She supposed she didn’t have a choice. At least she hadn’t accused the Elf of lying. She could, at the very least, keep her assumptions to herself for now.

Her stomach let out a sound of protest and Darin was reminded of the fact that she had had nothing to eat besides apples all day. That was not a pleasant thing to remember. It was also a chilly night. She should really head back to the camp. Darin just didn’t want to. She was surprised to feel something press against her back. She turned to see Talbot. She let out a watery laugh. At least she wouldn’t freeze to death tonight.

Then she sighed, “Why is this so hard Talbot? I never asked for any of this.”