[se] till every flower blooms
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#1
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
Anju does not often find her mind full of turmoil. She is a straightforward woman, ideals and goals clear and defined. There is no truly negative reason that draws her into the Celestine, only a mind too full of questions that only time can answer. Still, that is as close to turmoil as Anju is willing to allow herself to get, and the Celestine has always brought her nothing but peace. Frey's creatures bring her a sense of rightness, but she has always felt more at home with animals instead of humans. They are easier to read, easier to befriend, for all she may not feel the desire for human friendship the way others do. Loneliness is not a burden on her shoulders.

For once, Riya flies overhead, circling lazily instead of plodding along at her side as she is wont to do whenever they are outside this little sanctuary. Her sister knows that this is a place for peace and reflection, and Anju appreciates that.

The creatures here rotate, so the first noise she encounters in the starlit twilight sidetracks her. A small family of Blink Hares. Unsurprising, they are found here more than most with how easily they are injured. Not as exciting as some of the other critters Anju has had the pleasure of meeting, but she won't be picky. Entering the enclosure - with a small directive for Riya to remain outside where she won't scare them - Anju gracefully folds her legs beneath her and sinks to the grass. The hares eye her warily, the younger kits popping to and fro in bursts of teleportation, worried by her presence. Happily plucking some grasses to offer them, Anju sits and allows them to consider her, hopping nearer uncertainly as they grow used to her patient stillness.
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,647
MP: 9824
#2
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
Revolutions and rotations, war songs and dragons, dragoons and tempests, and Lena continued to serve beneath the arch of stars and galaxies, in the arts of mending, soothing, the most wondrous of creations.

After tending to several more injured animals, including an infected hive of chorus bees from the Grounds, the youth struck up her gentle hum, her basket and her frame making their way towards the next enclosure. She thought she’d heard several others roaming within, but thought nothing of it, considering the peace, the solitude, the serenity the entire world brought. Many ventured, to gaze upon those being healed, or to impart a little soothing on themselves – the shrine beholden to all facets and glories.

But rounding upon the blink hares, a quick glance ensured someone had ventured within. – and she wondered about a quick scolding, about tending to her flock, and then quickly dismissed it once she realized who the individual was. “Anju!” She waved once, intending to seek out the older woman’s attention, before opening the gate herself, and closing it safely behind.

She should’ve known, or noticed earlier, by the ivory dragon overhead.

But no matter, a shrug to her shoulders as she advanced, as her steady gaze went towards the hares, blinking and teleporting closer to her (a promise of treats after medicine and bandages, perhaps). “How are you?” An inquiry extended to any of the mortals contained within – creatures and human alike.
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#3
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
Riya - distracted perhaps, as she often is - does not alert Anju to the newcomer that enters the sanctuary with all the familiarity of a regular, and as such the older woman startles slightly at the sound of her own name. Turning over one dark shoulder, recognition lights up mahogany eyes, and a rare small smile curls at the corners of her lips. "Hello Lena," she greets softly, watching with eyes more akin to a dragon than a woman as the young girl slips inside the gate. A familiar face not just in Stormbreak but the Celestine itself, if Anju had enough faith in herself to call others friends, Lena would surely be among them.

The Celestine is perhaps the most often visited location outside of the Nest for Anju after all. Drawn as she is to Rae's realm, her path has often crossed Lena's, and the woman's presence is as calming as the twilight sphere she is often found inhabiting. A rare compliment, as Anju finds most all people grating in some way.

The question draws a soft, contemplative hum from her throat. "Well," she answers in her normal way; terse but not unkind. "There are big changes on our horizons. I do not know where we stand amongst it all." It's as close as she can get to some form of rambling. Sharing her worries comes easier here though, and she smiles slightly as one of the hares finally comes close enough - likely bolstered by Lena's presence, not that Anju minds - and begins to nibble at the extended sweetgrass she holds lightly in her fingertips. Only once it has firmly planted itself to chew away does she turn her dark eyes up to Lena once more. "And you?" Has she avoided the current of change for now, sequestered away in the Celestine?
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,647
MP: 9824
#4
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
A smile lifted and lilted, harmonious and mellifluous even in its silence – until she stepped along boundaries and enclosures, dropping herself down to a crouch as some of the blink hares came towards her. They instigated flashes and beams of light in their teleporting torrents, making sparks in between hazes, figments of soft radiance she’d never be able to behold, but could admire all the same. And she held out her hand while Anju spoke, her head vaguely tilted to indicate she was listening, as her own makeshift crowd began to hover for the treats laden in her palm. “I’m fine,” she answered at first; the grin not strained, but merely defined, there as it so often was.

While little paws took or tiny teeth snagged, the rest of the contemplations curled and contorted through her. Changes on the horizons had been felt for seasons now – first a ripple, and now larger fragments, building and building, brimming and brewing, until there was going to be a point where everything began to maneuver outward. Sera had been working on defenses with demis. Cian had been bringing them together to discuss the Voice’s diabolical schemes (and the way she’d infiltrated Mort’s realm was still a terrifying notion). Anju, as part of the Dragoons, would eventually have an angle as well.

And there Lena remained, in her sanctuary. “Don’t you, in a way?” And she laughed, though the warmth didn’t reach her eyes. “I imagine you’ve been training for what’s to come.” Her eyes flickered upward, following outlines of the ivory dragon. “How is Riya?”
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#5
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
Petal lips are far more suited for smiles than her own, but it is a beautiful expression to see all the same on the lass as she moves closer. Shrewd eyes watch as the blink hares teleport closer to the woman's outstretched hand, far more accustomed to her than Anju, not that she is without her own curious stragglers. Anju does not fault them for their favoritism; she gives off an aura more suited for a predator, and Lena's softness radiates that of an equal. Even at her most welcoming, their natures are divergent.

A dip of her head is seen in the shifting of her dark tresses, a soft hum of acknowledgement ensuring that Lena knows she has heard the assurance. Anju's reticence is relatively well-known after all, and this is not their first time meeting. Still she finds herself hoping for the mercy of Lena's kindly nature to excuse her own rough edges. For a moment there is shared musing, and Anju gives a tiny smile as the hare nibbling away at what she brought to entice them gets close enough for their soft fur and hard whiskers to brush against her palm. Though it dwindles away moments later as Lena's voice fills the sanctuary like sweet smoke, the contentment doesn't fade so quickly.

"I know where my sword will point, but not where we will all stand when the dust settles," she agrees simplistically, a small wry grin curling at the gentle almost-teasing mention of her religious training. The deflection - if that's what it is, Anju has never been good at reading people - has her eyes turning skyward to where Riya still circles lazily in the enforced twilight. "We explored the Wilds recently. She has been demanding more ever since, capricious girl." There is a level of fondness reached in her tone that is absent when speaking of all others, eyes tracking her sister's flight path for a moment before looking to Lena fully. "Has the Celestine been busy in Flowerbirth? Or does something else trouble you?" It's likely she may be reading her wrong, but there is something off about Lena's smile, and while Anju does not normally care about the woes of others she has a soft spot for the pure-hearted girl.
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,647
MP: 9824
#6
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
The Caretaker was not bothered by the quiet, by the stoicism; if anything, it meant she applied more into her work. No longer crouching or kneeling, the youth slid to a seated position along the ground, beginning to compile her remedies, slipping and sliding them into treats as the blink hares volleyed for position along her knees.

The words echoing haunt her in a way she couldn’t fathom – mostly because for all the certainty she held in her chest (they’d win, they had to, there were no other options), the confidence nestled in her bones, the stalwart, credence and justified beliefs, there was a portion of her devastatingly afraid. That things would happen and fall apart again. That there was some thread that meant Sera might not come home. That everything would be upended.

But the youth said nothing about it, trying not to let her fingers twitch from the hankering of treats from one creature to the next. Instead, her head tilted a fraction, allowing the distraction and deflection of the dragon to give her more, and the notions of the Wilds too, when she’d only recently been permitted beyond Stormbreak’s haven (and only just – grabbing hold of Falke and his companion, and hastening straight home). “And where did you go?” Her smile ensued and gathered she’d like a story, some sentiment of the world beyond.

Her gaze pinpointed downwards as the animals finished their hidden herbs and medicine, petting a few who dared to ask for more. “Quite. It’s been nice to have more visitors.” New demigods, new fauna, new everything - overwhelming but bright. “Nothing more than the ordinary,” she hastened with a laugh.
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#7
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
Lena joins her seated on the ground, and Anju's gaze strays sideways to watch the woman tend to the group of hares in a more medicinal fashion. Far more well-practiced in handling and tempting them than the soldier. She is far from offended by that, after all the nibbling of the hare at her own hand is more than enough to drain away any jealousy. They really are quite cute.

The inquiring tone has Anju sitting further back, spine straightening as she considers the question. "A place called the Feverlands. It lies directly outside our borders, a swamp of sorts. Beautiful, past the muck and swamp. Cleaning Riya was a pain." Casting an exasperatedly fond gaze heavenwards to where the ivory serpent takes wing, she recalls the chaotic joy that had overtaken her sister at the bubble bath. Nearly the same level as what had taken hold the second she saw all that fun swamp water. "We met an intriguing woman named Mildew. Apparently there are far more beautiful areas of the Wilds, but we didn't stay out long." No need to expand upon that, surely they both feel a small sense of trepidation when it comes to venturing beyond Stormbreak after all this time.

It's more words than she normally shares, but for Lena's sake she is willing to spin some small version of a tale. It's likely not so grand and eloquent as it could be, but she hopes it will suffice. "You seem troubled. If it is not the Celestine, what is it?" A line draws between her brows, turning to survey the woman with her hawklike eyes. It's subtle, but the distance in the woman's eyes and her long pauses are enough to trip even Anju's meager emotional skills, and Lena is one of the few she would put forth effort into figuring out the root of those problems.
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,647
MP: 9824
#8
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
Lena used the opportunities to check over the hares for more injuries, to linger along thresholds of healing wounds, stitched seams, or any broken lacerations. She continued to hum while she worked, calm and methodical, mellifluous and warm, tender and stalwart, only ceasing momentarily in her craft to tilt her head, listening to Anju’s response.

The Feverlands. A swamp. She imagined bogs and moss, peat and broken boughs, things from tales of mystery and intrigue, where one might disappear into the murky abyss; enough curiosity to entangle and keep her there. “I’m sure!” At the comment of Riya, the illustrious white and silver likely stained and mottled with the dragon’s indifference; a little light laugh to follow. Lena, of course, didn’t recognize the name of Mildew either – not when she was so often behind these safe and secure walls. “How was this Mildew?” What was a person who lived amongst the swamp like? “And did you see any creatures?” The Caretaker could think of a few who would be in and amongst the mire; but she’d rather have the knowledge and experience from an individual who’d seen them all firsthand.

To have the inquiry pinpointed back on her wasn’t something she wanted though – and the grin fell for half a second, and her head shook. “I’m fine. Normal, everyday worries.” If those circumstances were surrounded by the strife of gods and impending war and whatever she was supposed to be doing within it.

Waiting?

She rose thereafter, gently placing the last hare down upon the ground, and watching as it teleported in flashes of light. “I have some more to check on. You can join me if you’d like.”
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#9
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
Assurances that perhaps would earn scrutiny from any other are instead accepted at face value from the soldier. She is no therapist, and certainly not emotionally empathetic enough to take on a delving expedition on the basis of friendship. If Lena is lying, so be it. Clearly it implies her desire for the matter to be gracefully overlooked. Or, well, as gracefully as someone like Anju can manage, which is a grunt and a terse nod that makes her dark hair shake.

Instead there are inquiries as to her most recent - and so far only - adventure. Anju is no bard or novelist, her words are far from poetic, but it doesn’t stop her from at least meagerly attempting to create a visual for Lena. “Wild. More part of the environment than a person holding claim to land. She was very...bright.” In soul as well as personality. At least what Anju had seen, though she doesn’t often delve deeper than what is readily presented. “There were many new creatures I had not seen before. You may have found them here before, but even for only a daily excursion I was surprised by the differences.” Though with their stone creations and cliffsides, Stormbreak is not the best place to find a variety of flora and fauna.

Lena’s offer for inclusion has a minuscule smile forming on her lips. Normally she would decline, but today she rises. Overhead, Riya dips a wing to circle lower, curious as to what the pair are doing. “I shall.” Simple and sweet, waiting in a posture-perfect rest reminiscent of front lines as she waits to be directed onward.
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,647
MP: 9824
#10
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
Lightness; only the benedictions of old and assurances of new beckoned and preened over her features, waving away anything else. Perhaps the worries were paltry, trivial nothings, and that was exactly where they needed to stay. Lena doubted any retribution if she voiced them, but could predict the surmise of so many of her fellow constituents in one varied phrase (nothing to bother over; we will defeat them) without so much as a passing glance, a confidence in strength and constitution, in will and abhorrence.

So she pieced and pocketed it away – rising from the ground, leaving the current wards to their healing, while Anju spoke of a world far beyond. An untamed individual, this woman of the swamp, bending only to the sway and hold of her lands; a remarkable feeling, perhaps, to hold dominion in between the roots, rocks, and trees. Bright. “You’ll have to tell me what you saw!” She clapped her hands together, rustling in her bag for her notebook as she extended and opened the door to the enclosure, allowing everyone to pass neatly through, before shutting it tightly once more.

Her footsteps were petalsoft on the Celestine ground, as if she wasn’t even there – airy and ethereal in her own gentle, formidable wake. Like a whisper, like a breeze, part of greater, grander parts, but naught remorseless and unmoving in her own shape.

The path bent along a corner, rounding through to more forest inhabited exhibits, where a babbling brook, hastened only by Frey, coursed in between. It elongated to a widening river as one stepped alongside its traces, containing several flickers of scales and voices. “Some sick Whisper Fish have come recently,” and herein her fingers traced over the aperture, following on the same patterns as before, opening, shutting, and waiting. Her head inclined in a curious gesture, as if permitting Anju to go seek them out for herself, while Lena went towards a portion near the opening, gathering adequate supplies left there from the evening before.
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#11
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
Anju follows at a long-legged ambling pace, a tip of her chin unspoken gratitude as the door is held and the two women sidle through back to the pathway. Where Lena seems to float, Anju's steps are solid and fully connecting, as surely as if she were stone herself. Incapable of being toppled or tripped. "I will do my best to describe each creature adequately," she responds somberly, and Riya snorts smoke in clear mockery of her awkwardly sincere nature. Anju narrows her eyes upwards at her sister where she still floats in the half-dark, but says nothing aloud.

The babble of the brook grows as they approach, and again the same motions are repeated. Anju lingers, unsure, for only a moment until she sees Lena gathering supplies. Only then does she venture towards the water and what she assumes to be the inhabitants within if they have not already been healed and returned to their home rivers. Peering down into the water, she marvels at the colorful bodies beneath the surface. "I have never seen these in person. They are...pretty." She fumbles the word uncertainly and frowns, but does not take it back lest she make it more apparent.
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,647
MP: 9824
#12
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
If the notions seemed awkward or stilted, Lena paid them no mind; her thoughts already occupied on the potential commentary from Anju. “All right, we can start from the beginning,” and her eyes were alight – little beacons of gilded range – the hum under her breath increasing as she lowered herself to a crouch beside the rivulet. Her head inclined slightly away the churning and babbling brook, the grand smile there and ready. “What did you see first?” She grabbed her notebook and pencil out of her basket of supplies, just in case Anju had mentioned of creatures she’d never seen or heard of.

As for the whisper fish? The youth could preside and provide knowledge and sagacity in return, bending over and inspecting the rest of her wares, the quiet clink of glass bottles resounding before she found the right one. “They come from the Greatwood.” So it would make sense that the Dragoon, likely never having traversed that far, no matter if she had a compass or not, hadn’t been witness to their illustrious scales. Lena took great care in removing the topper, and sprinkled a fair amount of remedies along the surface of the water, careful, precise in her measurements, and then watching as they embarked towards the surface. “Apparently, if you listen close enough, they tell Fae stories.”
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Anju Rao
Captain

Age: 31 | Height: 5'10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 3 - Strg: 18 - Dext: 12 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 10 - Int:
RIYA - Mythical - Dragon (Fire Breath)
Played by: Brit Offline
Change author:
Posts: 245 | Total: 6,168
MP: 9427
#13
oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there
The fish are a good distraction as she sits loose-limbed along the bank. Though Anju does not necessarily feel nerves, or is even ashamed of her own social awkwardness, she’s not unaware of it either and is hoping to spare Lena the worst of it. Luckily the girl is gracious enough to overlook it, and kindly enough to keep the conversation moving when Anju fumbles.

Greatwood. Hm. Anju is not a bookworm per se, but she knows of the area at least despite having never explored it. Perhaps the world will make a traveler of her yet. Clearing her throat, she aims her mahogany eyes towards Lena’s notebook, and begins to recount all she had seen in the Wilds.

- FIN


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


RPG-D