The stars are alive, child! Did you know that? Everything out there is alive, and there are grand purpose abroad!
Herstillian winters were not kind. While their houses were well insulated, being one with the earth, they had their own unique insulation from the cold and the wind. But one shortcoming was that keeping fires could be a dangerous affair. The Noble families were lucky in that regard, that they had servants who could attend to a fire at all times, and so they were spoiled. Luvena missed those fires, those she did not tend to herself. Those that existed in a time when the flames didn't send her heart into a frenzy. In the end, servants weren't nearly enough to stop the flames that had engulfed the kingdom. She wasn't enough either.
She remembered a time when fire had meant something else to her. When she had come home from a day of walking the kingdom, to lay next to carefully tended flames. Her knees cushioned by the soft pelts of winter hares, her shoulders shrouded by tightly woven cloaks fashioned by the kingdom's finest weavers. Next to those fires, she listened to the gab of her grandmothers as they bickered lightheartedly of kingdom rumors. To the stories, her grandfathers would tell, stories she had heard so many times she could still recite them by heart. Her mother would fret and braid her mane and tail, and then she would sing saccharine songs of times long past. One stood out her, a lullaby, one she had sung to her own children, under her own image in the stars. Her mother had altered the lyrics of course. The old herstillian version of the song was not a lullaby, but a war cry. but it had been her mothers way of reminding her that there was more than one side to every story.
"Softly, and slowly, the willows sway.
And without weeping, the women say
Our souls are guarded, our hearts are drawn
We will not sleep before the dawn
Forever safe are our children here
Innocent, pure, without fear."
Back then, burning embers had meant safety. Now, they meant destruction.
Winters in Novus, as it turned out, were not kind either. Harsh winds roared over the plains, sending violent shivers down her rigid spine. She had survived one winter here, she hoped that her time in the temple had put enough strength into her to survive a second. Even if she had the courage within her to build a fire, the winds prevented it. She had come here to think. Her time in the temples had revealed some things to her. She didn't know if she was in the right place. She thought dusk was it. where she would settle for the rest of her years. She thought she was ready. To let go of what she was had. She had been given her year with Cavalier, her months of immortality. That should have been enough.
But then she had almost died again... and all she could think was that she wasn't ready. to stop living. What if there was more? If she could have another great love... another lifetime of happiness. But could she have it in dusk? or was there something waiting for her elsewhere? She didn't know, and she needed time to clear her mind. Just her. She had even left Picoro behind, something she hadn't done since they had been reunited over a year ago. A year.... she had been in novus for over a year. It had been... years... since she had been in Elysium. It was both a distant memory, and a vivid yesterday.
Novus was... it was beginning to feel like home. Yet it was still... empty. Her children... she wondered if anything could ever fill the hole their loss had left within her- She was pulled from her thoughts abruptly as a frantic crunching disturbed her. She watched a black hare tear across the snow away from her, past a young mare who stood ahead. A stranger looking creature, with both stripes and spots intermingling on a dun coat. An intricate collar of gold wrapped around the girls neck, and she wondered fromwhat noble lineage the girl came from. After all, she had come to learn that normal people tended not to adorn themselves with such fineries.
Luvena walked out towards the mare, extended her head in a gentle greeting. It was clear the girl was no threat, she seemed like she had been rather lost in thought herself. As she got closer she could see the girls expression more clearly. tears welled in her eyes, and fear grew more evident on her face. She tilted her head, concern washing over her. She picked up her pace slightly but stopped a few feet away. Careful so as not to further alarm the poor child. She didn't ask if the girl was alright, she had been there herself, and it was never helpful when to ask when the answer was clear as day. "It's rather brisk out" she started "And you look absolutely frozen, poor thing." she could see now that icicles had formed on the girls jewelry. how long had she been out here? "I'm Luvena, of Dusk" She folded her legs beneath her, settling into the soft snow, next to the bush the hare had jumped from, in attempt to shelter out some of the wind. "come, we can share some warmth at least"
@Csilla
make way, momma bear lu, coming through
She remembered a time when fire had meant something else to her. When she had come home from a day of walking the kingdom, to lay next to carefully tended flames. Her knees cushioned by the soft pelts of winter hares, her shoulders shrouded by tightly woven cloaks fashioned by the kingdom's finest weavers. Next to those fires, she listened to the gab of her grandmothers as they bickered lightheartedly of kingdom rumors. To the stories, her grandfathers would tell, stories she had heard so many times she could still recite them by heart. Her mother would fret and braid her mane and tail, and then she would sing saccharine songs of times long past. One stood out her, a lullaby, one she had sung to her own children, under her own image in the stars. Her mother had altered the lyrics of course. The old herstillian version of the song was not a lullaby, but a war cry. but it had been her mothers way of reminding her that there was more than one side to every story.
"Softly, and slowly, the willows sway.
And without weeping, the women say
Our souls are guarded, our hearts are drawn
We will not sleep before the dawn
Forever safe are our children here
Innocent, pure, without fear."
Back then, burning embers had meant safety. Now, they meant destruction.
Winters in Novus, as it turned out, were not kind either. Harsh winds roared over the plains, sending violent shivers down her rigid spine. She had survived one winter here, she hoped that her time in the temple had put enough strength into her to survive a second. Even if she had the courage within her to build a fire, the winds prevented it. She had come here to think. Her time in the temples had revealed some things to her. She didn't know if she was in the right place. She thought dusk was it. where she would settle for the rest of her years. She thought she was ready. To let go of what she was had. She had been given her year with Cavalier, her months of immortality. That should have been enough.
But then she had almost died again... and all she could think was that she wasn't ready. to stop living. What if there was more? If she could have another great love... another lifetime of happiness. But could she have it in dusk? or was there something waiting for her elsewhere? She didn't know, and she needed time to clear her mind. Just her. She had even left Picoro behind, something she hadn't done since they had been reunited over a year ago. A year.... she had been in novus for over a year. It had been... years... since she had been in Elysium. It was both a distant memory, and a vivid yesterday.
Novus was... it was beginning to feel like home. Yet it was still... empty. Her children... she wondered if anything could ever fill the hole their loss had left within her- She was pulled from her thoughts abruptly as a frantic crunching disturbed her. She watched a black hare tear across the snow away from her, past a young mare who stood ahead. A stranger looking creature, with both stripes and spots intermingling on a dun coat. An intricate collar of gold wrapped around the girls neck, and she wondered fromwhat noble lineage the girl came from. After all, she had come to learn that normal people tended not to adorn themselves with such fineries.
Luvena walked out towards the mare, extended her head in a gentle greeting. It was clear the girl was no threat, she seemed like she had been rather lost in thought herself. As she got closer she could see the girls expression more clearly. tears welled in her eyes, and fear grew more evident on her face. She tilted her head, concern washing over her. She picked up her pace slightly but stopped a few feet away. Careful so as not to further alarm the poor child. She didn't ask if the girl was alright, she had been there herself, and it was never helpful when to ask when the answer was clear as day. "It's rather brisk out" she started "And you look absolutely frozen, poor thing." she could see now that icicles had formed on the girls jewelry. how long had she been out here? "I'm Luvena, of Dusk" She folded her legs beneath her, settling into the soft snow, next to the bush the hare had jumped from, in attempt to shelter out some of the wind. "come, we can share some warmth at least"
@
make way, momma bear lu, coming through
