(se) eastbound
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
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Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#1
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
Stepping back through the portal had been strange, finding herself no longer in the cold of the fangs but in the bed of the spire.

Even stranger was walking to the manor, opening the door and finding it how she had left it. The kitchen smelled of stew, the fire was burning, it was as it had always been. Not enough.

The strangest thing was sleeping in her bed, the room she'd spent a full year in, the room she'd watched feel smaller and smaller. Her blanket wrapped around her shoulders, reminding her always of her first day in Caido and the comfort she'd found in Oliver. She slept restlessly, dreaming of flying above the sea of ice on the fox's wings, flapping through the night and diving upon prey that hid in the barren crevices. There was so much about the place that she despised; the cold, the desolation, the endless white and jagged stone. But there was something she really liked as well; the atmosphere of the citadel, the excitement of living somewhere new.

Even icy blues are better than gray.

The next morning she awoke to the familiar sunlight streaming through her window, and she threw off her blanket to head downstairs. She had some things planned for while she was here, and one of them was to work on a Ludo doll for the event in Torchline. She had no obligation to go, but she was interested in meeting the god herself, and flexing those artistic skills she definitely didn't have (she was gonna try though).

And so she sat down at the long table in the dining room with some things she'd collected; fiery toned paints concocted from ochre and berries, some straw, a stick and some charcoal. She started by weaving the straw doll, the way her mother had taught her when she was very young. Probably the only craft of the like she'd ever been taught, for there was a similar doll making festival back in her city.

She wove the straw tightly around the stick, thick in some places and thin in others to create a small feminine form. A sharp leopard's fang worried at her lip as she focused, trying her best not to fuck up like with the last straw piece she'd done.
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart
Anden Huff
Huntsman

Age: 30 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 1 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 11 - Luck: 6 - Int:
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#2
Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Anden looked around his room. It was barren. Compared to his childhood home there was so little here that made it feel like his own. No paintings by Eloise, no keepsakes from the forest, no gifts from the travelers. It was just an empty room, with a bed that served no purpose. In reality it was his cell. One of the many rooms in the manor where he would wait in until the Sun faded away, or for one of his roommates to return from their own adventures.

But Oliver had joined the council, Aisha was often off travelling or training, and Dani seemed to have a soft spot for the Artist's guild. He didn't blame them - but he often felt forgotten about, and alone in the empty manor.

Except today it wasn't empty. Anden closed his eyes, listening for the soft footsteps. They moved almost as though they were hunting for prey. Aisha. His roommates all had their own footsteps, but Aisha's always sounded as though she was hunting. She was a warrior at heart truly.

With renewed energy, Anden sped through the manor in search of his feline friend. "Aren't we a bit old for arts and crafts?"
The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chachy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#3
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
Aisha heard the footsteps of one of her roommates follow her down the stairs shortly after her descent. She figured it had to be Anden, the other two were out at the time. She had guess that he would be going out, not worrying over whatever she was doing, but as his footsteps drew closer and stopped in the doorway, she turned her head to see what he wanted.

Company it seemed, the teasing words that came from him brought a grin to her face. The ascended man was welcome anytime. The fang that'd partially shifted of it's own accord turned back to a usual canine, "I like to keep em guessing," came her playful response, a finger beckoning him over to the table. She lifted what she'd made so far, turning it around to show him her work, "I'm making a Ludo doll for the festival, it's tradition or something, you wanna try?" she shoved the rest of the straw and sticks his way, and pulled out a seat for him.

Once he'd sat she got back to work, putting some reddish orange paint on her finger and smearing it carefully along some of the strands on the doll's straw dress.
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart
Anden Huff
Huntsman

Age: 30 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 1 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 11 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Mro..ddy Offline
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Posts: 110 | Total: 128
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#4
Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Anden knew any time with Aisha would end in laughter. Something about her was more playful than the naturals in the Grounds. She saw the world in a way few others did. Anden pulled up a chair to the dining room table, and watched as his feline friend worked on the doll.

"Isn't Ludo one of the gods?" Anden coughed. The doll itself wasn't a thing of beauty. Really it seemed scary to Anden. "Are you sure he'd like you making him out to be some monster?" Anden had heard the gods like to give out curses for the strangest of reasons, the last thing he needed was for Aisha to get cursed.

Anden ran his hand through the straw, not even knowing where to start. "Is it something like the festival of lights? Except with dolls?" Anden asked, remembering making the lanterns with Henry and Dani. Caido had so many strange festivals, but they all sounded so beautiful. He glanced back at the doll in Aisha's hands as she gently painted it. "Is that what Ludo looks like?"
The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chachy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#5
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
Aisha looked from Anden down to her doll as he spoke. She opened her mouth in a scowl as he finished, "This isn't supposed to be Ludo you dolt, it's my mom," she admonished with a flick to his forehead. Of course to anyone else her doll wasn't a thing to be in awe of, but to her it was beautiful. In an ugly and crude and fiery way. Her mom would probably laugh and say "Aisha Khai what the hell is this, and the smile that would light her face would be all the daughter wanted anyway.

She brought the doll back close to her, sheltering it from the insults from her friend. He sat, asking her questions and running his hands through the leftover straw she'd offered him. She honestly didn't have the answers, she hadn't gone to the leafchange festivities last year, and knew the least about Ludo that she did any of the gods. "I think so, all I know is that Ludo likes toys, and I guess little things like this."

"No it doesn't look like my bad art okay," she replied with a playful roll of her eyes.
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart
Anden Huff
Huntsman

Age: 30 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 1 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 11 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Mro..ddy Offline
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Posts: 110 | Total: 128
MP: 0
#6
Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Her mom? If Anden squinted his eyes, and tilted his head just right, he could maybe see a passing resemblance between the straw doll and Aisha. It would be hard to capture her beauty in anything so small and inanimate though. Her skin was Sun-kissed, reminding Anden of the other half of life, the half beneath the Sun. A life that was always just out of reach for the Ascended. "Then, I'm sure it's beautiful."

Anden pulled one of his spikes from his back out, and sliced part of the inside of his jacket apart. He laid it out on the table infront of him. Clumping together some of the hay, Anden wrapped the piece of fabric around what would become Ludo's head. He didn't know much about the God, only that it was a mystery to most.

"It sounds like a fun time... When it's not tormenting us with our memories." Anden added with a frown.
The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chachy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#7
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
Yeah Anden, just squint your eyes, you'll see it. In all honesty the doll was more made just to recreate the dress, an article from her memory that brought her such joy. The story there was warm, happy, and that was what she wanted to put into this doll. It didn't quite capture the essence of her mother's golden dress in all it's ember hues, but it was an effort. The real thing, the ribbon her mother had cut from that dress, stayed tied up in her hair, hidden by the curls, and would not be used in this art project. That, she could not part with.

She smiled at his reply to her admonishment, "She is," came a soft answer, savoring her mother's smile before it was gone again.

The girl paused in her work as Anden started his own doll, pulling something vicious from his back and using it to slice and torment a piece of fabric. "Neat trick," she commented, wondering what other things the ascended could do. Even more so, where exactly had he pulled the spike from. She didn't ask, instead continued working on laying the shimmery gold paints she'd taken from Oliver's supplied to cover the fiery ochres.

"I want to meet it, I want to meet em all really, see what makes them so special," she said, tying a small string around the doll's waist.
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart
Anden Huff
Huntsman

Age: 30 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 1 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 11 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Mro..ddy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 110 | Total: 128
MP: 0
#8
Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Neither spoke of their family often. For Anden he did his best to move past them. When he first arrived in Caido, he spent every waking minute thinking of them, and trying to find a way back to his loved ones - it drove him into a dark place. He knew better now, but he still wasn't able to freely talk about them. Their memories were too strong, the urge to find them still there, just beneath the surface waiting to bubble up. As for Aisha, Anden knew she kept her family, and her past life close to her heart.

"I don't know about it being a trick." Anden chuckled. An evolution maybe, a gift from the Voice, yes. But a trick, maybe not. All he knew was that it was no longer a curse. He once pictured the adjustments the Voice gave him as curses, things to fear, and feel guilty about. He was changing, becoming something not human... But he was still Anden beneath it all.

Anden stuck the spike through the center of the doll, giving it support as he braided the strands of hay around it. "I've only ever met the Voice... And that's really only to keep myself going." Anden flashed his smile. "The others though, they all sound so... intriguing." Each unique, and with each a new tale. Anden didn't know much about the deities in Caido, and was always excited to hear more. "Maybe one day we'll meet them."
The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chachy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#9
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
Upon bringing up the gods, Aisha realized that Anden was a rather unique situation. She'd always been so curious about the ascended, their connection with this goddess who wasn't necessarily benevolent to Aisha's kind. Who had brought her to this world without permission, tearing her into an Aisha who moves on, becomes general, stays in the eastern kingdom, and the Aisha who lives here and started anew.

She'd always wanted to know more about the Voice, and Anden was a relatively unbiased opinion considering how new he was, and he had the connections. She continued her work on the doll, trying to get the straw figure to look like it had a dress, "What is the Voice like, is she kind?" There was a lot she didn't know about the lady of the dark, so much she'd like to ask.

"I've only met Safrin, and a couple shrine spirits. Safrin is beautiful, you would like her a lot actually! Yeah she's a star goddess, constellations and stuff," she gave him arm a brief nudge, finishing up the golden coloration on her doll. Now it was just the face she needed to finish, and for this she'd take out some charcoal and make a dark circle, "Even the spirits have been kind to me, I can't say I've had bad luck."
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart
Anden Huff
Huntsman

Age: 30 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 1 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 11 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Mro..ddy Offline
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Posts: 110 | Total: 128
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#10
Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
What was the Voice like? Anden wish he knew. When he'd seen the Voice it was usually for silent feedings. Unwilling to speak to his own goddess. Anden had moved past his hatred for The Voice. The hate replaced with an emotion he wasn't able to put words on. A mix of resentment, pity, but mostly curiosity. The Voice did so much for the Ascended, whether it was asked for, or not. "I probably know less than you." He admitted to his roommate.

"I know most of the other ascended respect her, for all she's done though." He'd yet to meet another ascended who saw The Voice quite like he did. "But I don't know. She did take me - take us from our homes. She gave me gifts - that I once saw as curses." Anden rubbed his back, the spikes laid dormant beneath his shirt. "So that I could be stronger, so that I could survive... But  I never asked for them. It's like she knows more than she tells us, that she's protecting us against the future itself." It was the not knowing that bothered him the most.

Anden mashed a handful of the darker berries in a smaller bowl, adding some water to the mixture. He began to randomly dip his doll into the paint. "Safrin does sound fantastic. I am sure her beauty exceeds words."  A goddess of the stars. That was someone he longed to speak too, instead he had The Voice.

"So many different deities. So many different points of view. It's amazing."
The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chachy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#11
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
She wasn't disappointed with his answer, perhaps more deterred by it. Anden hadn't been what he was when he'd first come, from what he said now he hadn't asked for it. Solemnity took it's place in her expression, her focus returning to the doll as she dipped her finger in the charcoal. She'd done so much to him, and yet he didn't know her, she wouldn't speak to him.

All the gods were petty, but that just seemed cruel.

"I'm sorry she hasn't spoken to you, I hope she does," she paused, "I'm sure she will, most of the ascended I know say she's really loving and stuff," that was the best compliment she could form for the Voice, but she wanted to give her friend something to work with. He started working on his own doll, which brought a smile back to Aisha's lips.

"So many different deities... it's amazing," Aisha nodded, smearing the charcoal in a circle across the straw head of her doll, "They're definitely different alright. If we're being honest, the most transparent creatures I've met here have been the shrine spirits, the gods are so complicated." She finished off her creation, lifting it to look it over, the little mannequin replica of her mother's dress. It's face was empty, because only her memories could do justice to the beauty of her mother's expression.
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart
Anden Huff
Huntsman

Age: 30 | Height: 5'11 | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Nomadic
Level: 1 - Strg: 17 - Dext: 11 - Endr: 11 - Luck: 6 - Int:
Played by: Mro..ddy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 110 | Total: 128
MP: 0
#12
Anden

The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
"Maybe it's best she hasn't." Without The Voice, Anden had found his own family. His own place in Caido. He was happy. He didn't need her guidance, or wisdom. "Besides I doubt she'd be pleased to know all of my friends aren't ascended." Anden chuckled.

Anden hadn't seen much. So much of this world was still past him. Just past the horizon. Unknown, but if he squinted he could make out the faint outline. His future was coming - he just had to be patient. "Everyone says something like that. They speak in riddles, but they seem to care much for their followers." Anden paused, taking a look at Aisha's doll. "She's beautiful."

He removed his doll from the paint mixture, blowing on it to quickly dry it off. When he was happy with its colour, he took a knife and began to shape the hay into a more human figure. Whoever Ludo was, Anden wondered if they were watching with a smirk as he did his best to recreate the deity. "I think... I'm going to leave this place soon." Anden admitted, turning his attention back to Aisha.
The Sun and the Moon
In an endless game of hide and seek
Aisha Khai
Swordmaster / Deepfrost Shield / Guildmaster

Age: 28 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Halo
Level: 4 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 18 - Endr: 17 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chachy Offline
Change author:
Posts: 879 | Total: 1,111
MP: 1615
#13
AISHA
kiss my skin, she said to her star
we can be the sun
Anden's response was something Aisha appreciated. Something reciprocated as well. Aisha had never felt like she needed the gods. She wanted to know more about them, and meet them if she could. But what had they provided her but advice, and what had they provided the people here but a divide? She liked the old gods, and scorned the new, but they did not rule her mind and decisions. She forged a way without the gods, relying on people, on hearts and souls. She chuckled with her friend now, warmed by this mortal bond they shared.

She nodded as he spoke of the gods again. They did love their followers, though only as much as a being of divine power could love their subjects. Of gods and kings, she'd watched her parents abdicate the lives of her people, even in their care for the kingdom, they controlled. And so she agreed with him, but she didn't. One thing though she certainly did, the beauty of her doll. Yeah, not too shabby. "Told ya," she teased, finishing up the last smear of paint.

Now she leaned back to simply watch him build his, wondering what entity he'd construct. She gave her gaze attentively to his actions, his movements as he removed the doll from it's paint and began to shape it. And then to his voice, his statement. Tentative, as though asking for an answer. If she had a good one she would be singing it from the rooftop, but unfortunately she only had her own experiences to share.

"I'm going too, to Halo. I've been offered a position there and I'm taking it," she replied.

They continued chatting for some time, all the while weaving their dolls.



Fin!
breathe your light into my eyes
while i breathe fire into your heart


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