NIKI
Rain hisses through the trees, tossed about by a wind as wild as the woods it whispers through, and a small, rickety cart creaks to a stop beside a cluster of particularly gnarled branches. From this cart, a slender figure climbs down into the mud, leaning against a dark cane and with the hood of his oversized coat drawn deep over his head. Murmuring his thanks and palming off payment to the driver, he manages to get out of the way just before the cart rattles off once more; gratitude is not enough to keep any self-respecting merchant in Ludo's Woods for too long.
Niki doesn't make it a habit of visiting this part of the Greatwood, much less trying to approach it on foot; it's one thing for the forest to trick him in its own way, but add in a sprinkling of mischief from death's own herald, and he's more than likely to die from Ludo's well-intentioned pranks than anything else.
The afternoon is as quiet as expected, the weather and the general fuckery of the place more than enough to discourage birdsong and other wildlife. Parting the nearby branches with his cane and stepping through onto a sodden but still workable trail, Niki presses onward in that same silence, passing all manner of trees and boughs, all morbidly shaped and reaching for him with twig-like appendages. But there's only one shade he's interested in visiting, and he doesn't reach it for a further few minutes.
The sapling is the colour and texture of old, leathery skin, and the lantern that has been hung about it is almost entirely filled with water. Jamming his cane into the mud where it sticks fast, if not at a somewhat jaunty angle, Niki adjusts his hood enough to see properly, and sets about cleaning up the area around the sapling, drying off the lantern cage, and removing a small bag from the inside pocket of his coat to refresh the offerings and tributes.
Niki doesn't make it a habit of visiting this part of the Greatwood, much less trying to approach it on foot; it's one thing for the forest to trick him in its own way, but add in a sprinkling of mischief from death's own herald, and he's more than likely to die from Ludo's well-intentioned pranks than anything else.
The afternoon is as quiet as expected, the weather and the general fuckery of the place more than enough to discourage birdsong and other wildlife. Parting the nearby branches with his cane and stepping through onto a sodden but still workable trail, Niki presses onward in that same silence, passing all manner of trees and boughs, all morbidly shaped and reaching for him with twig-like appendages. But there's only one shade he's interested in visiting, and he doesn't reach it for a further few minutes.
The sapling is the colour and texture of old, leathery skin, and the lantern that has been hung about it is almost entirely filled with water. Jamming his cane into the mud where it sticks fast, if not at a somewhat jaunty angle, Niki adjusts his hood enough to see properly, and sets about cleaning up the area around the sapling, drying off the lantern cage, and removing a small bag from the inside pocket of his coat to refresh the offerings and tributes.
my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face
I can feel the light shine on my face
