It was early evening when Renaud found himself taking his first steps into the Wildwood, crimson rose in hand. The Ascended didn't have the first clue about his new home, Caido - he didn't know the culture, he didn't know the history, and he certainly didn't know the people. It had only been a matter of days, just a handful of days, since he had arrived at The Spire. He had been entirely aimless, lacking direction in a profound sense. However, once he had visited the Shrine in the Wildwood and dug up those three roses, he found purpose.
Something in his head spoke to him, seemed to shout at him to travel to three locations and plant each rose he had retrieved for himself. It wasn't an explicit voice - no fully formed sentences or even words - but an almost instinctual guide that told him to go into the Greatwood and find the Mathair. And so Renaud went.
He stumbled around the woods, searching everywhere for his goal. He did find it, eventually, but it was in no short time. The sun had only just begun sinking down to the horizon when he set out on his journey - when he finally found his first objective, it would only be three hours until daylight began to return.
Snow crunched under Renaud's boots as he approached the Mathair. A thick, gray coat sat heavy on his shoulder, his white shirt flowing gently as breezes caught it. The collar was untied, leaving his upper chest exposed. His chest rose and fell as he walked, but no steam escaped his mouth. The habit of "breathing" had not yet left his body.
Cartier knelt to the ground before the Mathair, a curious reverence in his body and spirit. He placed a rose carefully on the ground, and began digging up the snow and the dirt with his bare hands. No thoughts occupied his mind. Shit was weird, but he did it anyway.
His almost desperate determination to plant his rose allowed no room for Renaud to keep an eye on his surroundings or even to listen for footprints in the snow. As he dug, anything or anyone could approach unnoticed almost with impunity. And he was unarmed, as well ... how unfortunate for the little soldier.
