Character Name: Nehalennia
Character Age: 8>
Character Gender: Female
Preferred Specialized Rank: Kashyapa
OOC Name: Noelle
Other Characters Played: Bangle Guffawri, Giselle Fantasia
OOC Second Form of Contact: MSN or AIM.
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For Razzy! :x On the tippy tip of the east side of Phoenix Forest, late afternoon/early evening.
We'll kindle a Fire, A light 'neath the Moon & Sun
It was the earth that told her where she had been, and where she was going. She needed only to feel and hear the environment around her to sense the vast changes in Mother Nature. The Mother had a strange way about her, in this course, where her mounds of earth rose and fell unsteadily, arms open wide to reveal the land and its inhabitants at one moment, and close off the sky with trees in the next. But whatever course that the earth carved out for the Wise One to take, the old woman knew she was going in the right direction.
A cloak the color of earth draped over her hunched form, dragging behind her as the hybrid hobbled under a setting sun. Her slow, careful steps spoke of sureness, but were in no hurry to get to a proper destination. She would get there, the silver one knew, a patient gaze painted on her moonlit-hued face as her feet traversed the mountainous region. In silence she raised her staff a few inches above the ground, and planted it a few feet ahead of her, its beads jingling softly against the gnarled oak. A hood, elaborate in bead work, masked the crone's face from any view but where she was going - forward. Often the ends of her cloak snagged upon a shrub, but with patience she disentangled herself with spindly fingers and continue as if there was no delay.
Stopping was not an option, even for the wizened woman. Her milky eyes watched as shapes began to form ahead of her, looming trees that would soon envelop her in their wooden embrace. A gentle caw echoed from her shoulder and to the lands ahead, followed by a ruffling of wings. Though her steps never halted, a yellow-toothed smile stretched like a quarter moon on Nehalennia's face. "You feel it too, Bran, this I know." Her tone was light, almost a whisper, speaking to the raven upon her back. The creature's golden gaze looked out ahead, as if seeing something that was not there, among the wild woods. "Byddwch yn fy llygaid," she commanded in her clan's old tongue, to which the bird responded almost instantly. Leaping from her shoulder, Bran spread his wings as black as night and glided silently ahead.
The arms of the earth soon closed the silver woman in a cloak of trees, and softer earth. She stopped when the sun's loving kiss diminished, leaving her in the cool shadows. Nostrils flared wildly as Neha inhaled deeply the rich scents of damp soil and pines that dropped its new and old nettles along the forest floor. Dry, stale air and open plains quickly transformed into moisture and flora, which seemingly stretched on for miles. Slow, shuffling steps could be heard again, her cloak now beginning to trail leaves and twigs from the forest floor, but if the old woman cared any it did not show. The journey continued, until she fell upon a patch of light among the forest, where the scents of others grew stronger with each step.
Large ears, painted in opposite hues, stood unmoving upon her head as she stopped at the strong scent of markings. This was the earth's way of telling her where she would be, where she needed to be. In the dappled, diminishing light above, the old crone stood still, letting the painted runes and beads illuminate in the sunlight that moved with each gust of wind along the treetops. Bony fingers rose as she removed the cloak from atop her head, letting it fall behind her. Wispy strands of hair fell along her forehead in the movement, and her muzzle lifted to the sky. Bran fluttered down from a branch at his master's arrival, perching lightly on her draped shoulder. Neha looked at nothing, and yet she saw everything. Her face remained pointed to the sky, searching, yet she made no intention to move. The corner of her lips curled upwards, to taste the sign she had been given. "We're home," she uttered, and the raven too lifted its sharp, dark head to the sky and called out. 'Home! Home!' He cawed, the sound surrounding them like a crashing wave upon calm seas. Bran shuffled as he began to preen himself, as both creatures of the earth watched, and waited.
Sorry for the wait. Been buried in homework and then sick as a dog. @_@ And as I told you, you're free to post since you're already titled up and we know who you are 8D I'm still pretty sick, so this post is yucky. Sorry! I gotta run to class too, so I'll HTML this up later.
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As if all the heavens and earth could celebrate them, the onset of autumn was a glorious one. Razekiel held no preference of one season over another — each held its own surprises and benefits — but the quickly-cooling weather of the incoming shift in climate he found to be endlessly refreshing. The Great Mother had yet to truly begin painting at the leaves, though the coyote rushed from his hut every morning expecting the canopies to have shifted in colors overnight. He waited with great excitement for the day he could stand at Halcyon Mountain's highest points and view the autumn colors as they glowed over their Ichikan countryside. How beautiful this place was — how beautiful his home was, and with great pride he could only hope those he had gathered with him to create Ichika no Ho-en surveyed the land with a similar warmth in their hearts.
As if it was all he needed to keep warm, the Seiryu threw a scarf over his neck and the throat of Lark's alike, much to the stallion's discontent; together the two strolled the territory like equals, the blue roan neighing chuckles at Razekiel's hazy stories as they went along. The coyote would never truly know whether the horse understood him or not, but the red-faced coy certainly never minded the company, ignorant or otherwise.
A raven drifted past, cawing as it went, and in a sudden spurt of energy Lark kicked up his heels and trotted after it. Razekiel could not do the same — running while "inspired" usually ended with the male in the mud one way or another — but the coyote followed after them at an even pace, humming to himself absentmindedly and puffing at the joint between his teeth.
An exclaim of, "We're home," caught his ears from a short distance, and as Razekiel approached, he tried to discern who may have left them and returned so quickly. Lark was first to meet the aging woman and her raven companion; the horse stopped rather suddenly and tossed his head about, wary as always of strangers. "Peace, Lark, peace," the coyote said as he joined them, straw eyes lit with interest. "Hello, hello, I am Razekiel of these lands called Ichika no Ho-en. Whom have I the pleasure of meeting, man?"
Hope you feel better soon. <3 As per our PM discussions, I'll assume they had met before, some years ago. If you want me to change it, let me know and I'd be happy to
We'll kindle a Fire, A light 'neath the Moon & Sun
It was said once, when the silver hybrid was young, that ravens were messengers of the world, carrying words to and from. More often than not they were dark reports, but to Nehalennia they were merely tidings; there was no good or bad. Bran was her eyes, and other times her words. There was a special symbiotic relationship between the dark and the light creatures, one of the earth and one of sky... bodies of two different worlds that came together as one. As the raven's words were repeated, he beat his dark wings once, then twice, and then settled among his perch upon the silver hybrid.
Then the wind carried a voice, and her ears caught its traces immediately, the darkest one flicking forward to catch the tones. 'Peace', it said at first, an airy tone full of color and worldly knowledge. The wise woman made a habit of memorizing the voices of others - and this one was certainly not new to her. Milky eyes swirled in their depths in concentration, but remained unmoving, as if attempting to channel the circle of thoughts in her mind to pick out a certain memory. However, it was like catching a butterfly in flight, fluttering just out of reach from her grasp. It was only until the voice came with a name was Nehalennia able to catch that flitting thought, and slowly, oh so slowly, a knowing smile crept along her grizzled muzzle.
Several breaths passed, and Bran quorked into the skies, breaking the silence. With extreme patience, the old druid moved her free hand upwards, palm open, and made a deliberate circle in the air. "Cyfarchion, child," she addressed to the man, with an aura of calm laced in her voice and posture. The same hand arched in the air when directed towards the horse, whom had greeted her first. "Bendithia chi, creadur o'r ddaear." Everyone was a child in her otherworldly view, children of the earth that would one day give their bodies back to Her and allow for nature, its energy, and all living things to prosper.
The woman allowed for another moment to pass, looking up towards the other, as if seeing him. "I know you, this I know," she told him, her smirk remaining as her staff hand moved forward and shook the stick lightly at him, the hanging beads ringing. "Are you not he, child? The one with the heart of a wild stallion?" Though the Wise One made it a point to not forget anyone, with old age often came the withering of the mind, like an apple gone out of its prime. Her memory was sharp, though, and the faint one of this coyote was all it took. He had been traveling by her clan, him and his horse, many full moons ago. The meeting was brief, but enlightening all the same for both animals of the world. 'Know, know, know!' Bran chimed in, leaning forward from his perch on the woman's shoulder as if to look at the strange pair closer, black pools unblinking.
I'm doing much better, thanks! 8D Just trying to get through huge art projects dumped all at the same time. XD
A thousand faces he had seen and met, yet only a small number whose faces found room in his short supply of memory space. The coyote had known many travels and membership of many communities and packs in his still short life; every memory he treasured like the sweetest of honey, held close to his chest that they may be always warmed by his beating heart. Her words, peaceful in nature and foreign in sound, lit his awareness beyond previous. Instantly recognition began to set in, and with that came a broadening of his already wide and friendly smile and the throwing open of his welcoming arms.
"Nehalennia, yes!" Razekiel exclaimed, pausing in his movements to embrace her only to pull the joint from his teeth. "I apologize, man; this stuff works too many wonders, and maybe I've aged a thousand years since last we've met, yeah?" Or it certainly seemed so — leadership was a trial and a task he thoroughly enjoyed, not to mention a process of growth Razekiel previously though unimaginable. Was this what Jefferson had so proudly spoke of? Experience, wisdom, duty — and the ability to be recognized by anyone and everyone? Surely the coyote did would not further shy away from the opportunity.
Moving to embrace his elder, and as they separated the raven crowed exuberantly into the dazed coyote's red-masked grin. "Yeah, man, I remember you too. You are still real loud, man." He gurgled some sort of laughter a moment, then redirected his gaze and attention at the long-lost woman.
"You stand like the mountain itself with the sun in your eyes," he observed, excitement calming to a level more necessarily in the presence of a woman her age. "This old guy never expected to see you here, man. Stay as my guest, man, at least for the night, yeah?"
We'll kindle a Fire, A light 'neath the Moon & Sun
The silver ear twitched when she heard recognition in the wild male's voice, causing its earring to tinkle softly. A toothy grin crossed her pensive features at the child's question of age. She was sure he was still young in contrast to herself, but her silver coat betrayed her aging signs. "Ee-hee-hee!" The old woman cackled, causing her shoulders to heave and Bran to flap his dark wings in response. "And twice as long for me, child." She told him, studying him with blank, swirling orbs.
The stench of wild smoke practically made this man, an acrid swirl of inspiration, truth, beauty, and prosperity. It was that smell that loomed closer with each moment, until it surrounded her in an embrace. There were hints of wildflowers and horse in the man's fur, and it told Neha everything she needed to know about the one with the heart of the wild stallion. She tried to recall when they met, a chance encounter in the neighboring mountainlands. The woman tried to envision all that they spoke of, and all that had yet to be said, but time had woven its fingers across the sky and abruptly ended all talk of Mother Nature and Her creatures.
However, the thought vanished like smoke as soon as it had formed in her mind, as the white-necked raven cawed shrilly. 'Loud! Loud! Corn?' His head moved from side to side, before hopping from the silver one's shoulder and onto the stallion's back. "Digrif gan bob aderyn ei lais ei hun," she offered in her old tongue, nodding towards the bird. The hybrid shook her staff once, and offered a wise smile at Razekiel's statement. "Then perhaps I've been staring at the sun for too long," she mused with a small smile. "The moon will soon come, this I know." Turning her face to the dappled sky, Neha watched with limited vision the shadows begin to dance on the tree tops. "The world is wide to everyone, child, yet She brings her creatures together after a period of separation. It is harmony. Ahh.. Tell me, aging child, what has become of your teachings? What world have you created from Her earth?" Her words were practically without pause, as her question indicated what kind of home the man had shaped for himself.
Again she spoke in that foreign tongue, and at that sound his heart swelled with admiration and near-jealousy, envious she could create something so wonderful and he could not. The raven cawed and crowed again in a constant demand for attention; already the coyote could see ties between the blue roan it jumped on and the bird itself. Lark, none too pleased to lend his back to someone other than Razekiel, grunted and tossed his head disapprovingly, coaxed to peace again only when the red-masked Seiryu touched at the stallion's face. He smiled at the bird, digging into the satchel at his hip a moment only to find a small sack of birdseed — seed petite and delicate, typically reserved for timid songbirds. Pouring a small amount into his palm the coyote offered it up to the crow, though he would not have been surprised if the bird refused it.
"She works in wondrous ways," he murmured, and for a long moment he busied himself with pulling leaves and sticks from the blue roan's mane while considering how to begin with the foundation he'd built. "She guided me here, so it was here I built. Those who came were those I brought together, man. Real groovy bunch for a real groovy place; it's radical."
A pause. Had he answered the question? "Ichika no Ho-en," he repeated. "Birthed by her advice, man, but not as a place for her alone. We allow all kinds, as long as they seek happiness, man. A thousand lives, a thousand spiritualities to unite here, my mountain, in peace to learn from one another. A hub for the circle of life, perhaps." An amused chortle.
This was a very strange post to write, I'll admit. XD
We'll kindle a Fire, A light 'neath the Moon & Sun
There was a moment or two under the greying sky that all she heard where the nickers of the horse, and the quorking of the raven. Neha did not need eyes to see that they, indeed all creatures, had personalities. It was no wonder how one species could understand and communicate with another, in her aging mind, they were all part of eachother in some way. Creation and existence was a beautiful and often self destructive cycle, but what mortal body dies becomes a spirit of the world, often reforming into creatures of the earth.
She listened carefully as Bran hopped along the blue roan's back, much to its disappointment, and hear the rattling of seeds. The dark bird stirred the air with his wings, cautiously approaching the male's proffered hand. 'Corn? Corn!' His sharp beak flew down to snap at the seeds, which wasn't at all the giant kettles of corn he was requesting. Regardless, the raven was not picky, and heard a rhythmic peck peck peck as he ate with reckless abandon.
The silence was a comfortable one, Nehalennia was used to it between meditating and listening to Her music. And then it was soon broken, yet the words were about Her all the same. The silver hybrid began to hum lightly as he spoke, as if he were chanting with his words. She was already convinced he had done work upon Her bountiful lands and wanted to share it with the world, as it should be. Nothing could ever be kept secret from the world, and if there were its answers would soon come to light, uprooted from the ground.
Her humming stopped but briefly to respond. "You are generous and kind, dear child, this I know." A nod, as if to confirm her thoughts. "This one would like to know the world the wild stallion has made for others," she said with assurance in her airy voice. Only when he chortled, though, did she grip her staff firmly to lightly whack in the man in the shoulder, enough for him to feel it, its length long enough to reach him despite her short stature and distance. Beads instantly rang into the air like a choir, as if already knowing what it must do.
When she withdrew it, she smiled up at him, showing old yellowed fangs. "That was adversity," she explained, as if she had done nothing wrong. "Adversity bringeth knowledge, and knowledge wisdom. That too, comes full circle." The smile remained, wisps of white hair waving softly between her ears. "There is no learning without sense," Neha continued, beginning to shuffle forward past the stallion and his creature towards the direction he came from, towards his world. All the while, she raised a finger from her free left hand into the air, without stopping or looking behind her. "And the stallion senses much, this I know."
Such a gentle soul, he considered, in her mannerisms and speech; and yet the bump at his shoulder did not startle him. Alongside laughter she spoke of adversity and its unpredictability, and with a unhinting smile the coyote wondered if she had any knowledge of his birth place, his blood, his mother, his brother. To be born a Lykoi yet step aside from traditional beliefs and dissension with wolves was a difficult thing to do, yet his family had never treated him differently. Even Gabriel, at the time of his leadership of Inferni, had not minded his half-brother to be so exotic and peaceful in the face of what Inferni saw as enemies. Kaena loved her son no less. Samael had never mentioned a thing on it.
Nehalennia brushed past, mentioning a belief that he did already understood her words, and at that the Seiryu could only nod and smile. "I've been around, man," was all he could really offer on the subject. No need to get into details. Not this soon, anyway.
Turning, Razekiel moved to step in time with her slowed and aging form, and with a smile moved to take her arm in the most gentlemanly of fashions he could muster. The mountainous terrain was not the safest and most comfortable of land, after all. "What more have you learned?" he asked finally, turning the round pink lenses to her with grinning straw eyes hidden behind.
Why yes indeed! After I wrote this, I had to watch that part in TLK again xD; Hope you don't mind that I pp Lark?
We'll kindle a Fire, A light 'neath the Moon & Sun
There was no reaction from the male, but it was as she suspected. The Lykoi man had seen, heard, tasted, and felt much in his life, but there was always more. More to do, another step to walk, another hill to climb. A grin on her pensive face was present for but a moment, almost forgetting how much she missed the man's company. They had shared the same train of thought, much of which had to be taught to her own clan. "Ydych chi yn ei gofal yn awr," she prayed silently under her breath, feeling the air grow colder if for an instant.
Muffled steps continued, as Neha stayed silent until he fell in step with her, unflinching as the wild man touched her arm. He would not hurt her, not for an instant, but she would prepare herself for his version of adversity if the need arose. Though Nehalennia had no real need for him to guide her, she would allow it this very evening. It was one thing to guide her through uncertain territory, though that was the part the hybrid did not mind, but she attempted to put aside all concerns for the lack of sight. She could see as well as anyone, and if anything she was grateful for the gift bestowed upon her.
The darkest of her ears swiveled sideways, the clip clop, clip clop of the blue roan's hooves falling in tune to her heartbeat. Bran swiftly took to the skies again, cawing out in the trees overhead. "Ah yes.. but have you been through? Or over? Under, perhaps?" Her cryptic questions were enough to confuse any common soul, but surely the stallion knew how to best answer. Her humming picked up yet again, to the tune of a song she had heard many a time. Purposely, the silver one let his question hang in the moist air, listening to the tiny orbs in her staff as they collided with sturdy oak. "'Tis not a question of what has been learned, child. But of what there is to learn yet.. this I know. Eee..hee-hee-hee.."
