Re: Part 1
Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2024 12:13 am
Sage watched an opalescent shimmer flicker into Elk's tattoos as Jaz spoke about the sky mind, and Sage shivered, sadness and regret pulsing through her. She could not help but wish that things had happened for Jaz
in some other way, and it was difficult not to blame herself for not putting more effort into initiating Jaz sooner. But, Sage reasoned, everything in their time. She took a deep breath.
When Sage looked back at Toffee, the older woman was staring at Elk, a tear rolling down her face.
“I’d like to tell you a story...” Toffee began, and Sage sat back on her heels, suddenly very aware of her weariness. She wanted desperately to hear Toffee's tale--they were often as sacred as the telling itself--but Sage's attention was faltering. Subtly, she moved her head from side to side to try to shake her fatigue.
"When I was a little girl, many, many moons ago," Toffee continued, and Sage shifted again, determined to settle in despite her discomfort, "A horrifying series of experiences began to happen in my village... there was a spirit plague. All of the land was dying, and people who went in to try to tame the land, help the spirits, tend the berries, maintain the crops--they’d become corrupted for their efforts."
Sage's eyes widened, and it was easier to stay awake for a few moments. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. How old was Toffee? How far had she come? Sage had never heard of such an occurrence, and she would think that people would tell frequent stories about an event such as that.
"No one was safe," Toffee said, "They’d be touched by this energy and then become lost. Waking void."
Sage looked over to see that it was Jaz who shivered this time. Tigre and Elk continued to be attentive, and Sage similarly turned her attention back to Toffee, who was quietly crying as she continued to speak.
“No one who became afflicted recovered. Some survived, if you could call it that, but they were never the same. The things that attached themselves to these poor, suffering persons would tear at the head and mind as though they’d undergone myriad harms. They acted as though they’d seen untold wars and become depraved through the glory of blood and gore. Even children would grow caustic, aggressive and hollow… they would do unspeakable things, to themselves and others, and every harm they did seemed to propagate this violence.”
Sage felt immense gratitude that Toffee felt comfortable sharing this story with them, but she couldn't help but wonder why this was relevant now. Sage looked at Elk briefly with fear in her eyes.
"Our prayers were unanswered, and as a society, we felt truly lost." Sage bowed her head to her chest in grief and respect, honoring the long dead. "When my adoptive mother grew ill, I tried everything... Everyone was worried that I would get sick, but I also couldn’t leave her there to die alone... So I prayed night after night, day after day, moment to moment, while this woman who raised me from a young cub came apart at the seams in front of me.” Toffee sighed heavily, and Sage could see the grief in her features. “Eventually, I gave up hope that she would recover, and instead I sat with her, night after night, burning offerings to ease her suffering and her transition.
"This seemed to make her linger longer than others did, and one night, I was possessed to cover my face, as I grieved, as I prayed. It was as though an inner voice guided me to do this, and so with my face covered in ash, I made a call to that voice, the voices of our ancestors, to their practices, and to the blood of the earth. Something within me asked the sky to remember, the Earth to remember, the trees, and the blood….” she said, pausing to reflect upon those words. “I fell asleep atop mother, and that evening I had many dreams--I was told that something heard my prayer, and that something would be coming to help us. I saw that this being was full of love, willingness to help, and a strong, beating heart through which the faeblood flows.
"When I awoke, my mother was gone. She had deflated somehow in the night, and though she spent the remaining days of her life in agony, it was as though that peace from my dream followed me somehow, imparting itself to her through me. I went to my friend the priest, my mentor, and told him of what had occurred, and he was naturally flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to believe, having seen nothing like this before… Our questions were answered with further questions when a young-looking person in tattered clothes appeared that afternoon in the village square. Their name was Y’rith Daeva, and they were Nature’s answer to my call.”
After Toffee's last sentence, Elk's tattoos began rapidly shifting again, and their skin began to glow brighter with every moment. Tattoos grew and wrapped around to cover every previously unmarked space, curling like waves approaching the shore. Black appeared around their eyes and startled Sage, making her mouth part open slightly.
What was this thing?
There was some reason Toffee told her story. Some resonance with who Elk was or what they represented. And when Sage looked to Toffee, she saw recognition in the old woman's eyes.
((OOC: It feels a little incongruous that Toffee should be so surprised, imo. Like, if Elk always appears with tattoos, then Toffee would recognize them immediately. And, at the very least, Elk stirred enough of a memory in her that she wouldn't be shocked out of nowhere that these appearances were related. But, obviously, up to you. I left out Sage's reaction to Toffee's surprise in the event that you want to change it. Also, Tigre is being very respectful and attentive, but Jaz is fidgeting and getting a little restless at this point, in the event that either of those things are relevant. They didn't find it necessary to write their own perspectives this time around.))
in some other way, and it was difficult not to blame herself for not putting more effort into initiating Jaz sooner. But, Sage reasoned, everything in their time. She took a deep breath.
When Sage looked back at Toffee, the older woman was staring at Elk, a tear rolling down her face.
“I’d like to tell you a story...” Toffee began, and Sage sat back on her heels, suddenly very aware of her weariness. She wanted desperately to hear Toffee's tale--they were often as sacred as the telling itself--but Sage's attention was faltering. Subtly, she moved her head from side to side to try to shake her fatigue.
"When I was a little girl, many, many moons ago," Toffee continued, and Sage shifted again, determined to settle in despite her discomfort, "A horrifying series of experiences began to happen in my village... there was a spirit plague. All of the land was dying, and people who went in to try to tame the land, help the spirits, tend the berries, maintain the crops--they’d become corrupted for their efforts."
Sage's eyes widened, and it was easier to stay awake for a few moments. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. How old was Toffee? How far had she come? Sage had never heard of such an occurrence, and she would think that people would tell frequent stories about an event such as that.
"No one was safe," Toffee said, "They’d be touched by this energy and then become lost. Waking void."
Sage looked over to see that it was Jaz who shivered this time. Tigre and Elk continued to be attentive, and Sage similarly turned her attention back to Toffee, who was quietly crying as she continued to speak.
“No one who became afflicted recovered. Some survived, if you could call it that, but they were never the same. The things that attached themselves to these poor, suffering persons would tear at the head and mind as though they’d undergone myriad harms. They acted as though they’d seen untold wars and become depraved through the glory of blood and gore. Even children would grow caustic, aggressive and hollow… they would do unspeakable things, to themselves and others, and every harm they did seemed to propagate this violence.”
Sage felt immense gratitude that Toffee felt comfortable sharing this story with them, but she couldn't help but wonder why this was relevant now. Sage looked at Elk briefly with fear in her eyes.
"Our prayers were unanswered, and as a society, we felt truly lost." Sage bowed her head to her chest in grief and respect, honoring the long dead. "When my adoptive mother grew ill, I tried everything... Everyone was worried that I would get sick, but I also couldn’t leave her there to die alone... So I prayed night after night, day after day, moment to moment, while this woman who raised me from a young cub came apart at the seams in front of me.” Toffee sighed heavily, and Sage could see the grief in her features. “Eventually, I gave up hope that she would recover, and instead I sat with her, night after night, burning offerings to ease her suffering and her transition.
"This seemed to make her linger longer than others did, and one night, I was possessed to cover my face, as I grieved, as I prayed. It was as though an inner voice guided me to do this, and so with my face covered in ash, I made a call to that voice, the voices of our ancestors, to their practices, and to the blood of the earth. Something within me asked the sky to remember, the Earth to remember, the trees, and the blood….” she said, pausing to reflect upon those words. “I fell asleep atop mother, and that evening I had many dreams--I was told that something heard my prayer, and that something would be coming to help us. I saw that this being was full of love, willingness to help, and a strong, beating heart through which the faeblood flows.
"When I awoke, my mother was gone. She had deflated somehow in the night, and though she spent the remaining days of her life in agony, it was as though that peace from my dream followed me somehow, imparting itself to her through me. I went to my friend the priest, my mentor, and told him of what had occurred, and he was naturally flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to believe, having seen nothing like this before… Our questions were answered with further questions when a young-looking person in tattered clothes appeared that afternoon in the village square. Their name was Y’rith Daeva, and they were Nature’s answer to my call.”
After Toffee's last sentence, Elk's tattoos began rapidly shifting again, and their skin began to glow brighter with every moment. Tattoos grew and wrapped around to cover every previously unmarked space, curling like waves approaching the shore. Black appeared around their eyes and startled Sage, making her mouth part open slightly.
What was this thing?
There was some reason Toffee told her story. Some resonance with who Elk was or what they represented. And when Sage looked to Toffee, she saw recognition in the old woman's eyes.
((OOC: It feels a little incongruous that Toffee should be so surprised, imo. Like, if Elk always appears with tattoos, then Toffee would recognize them immediately. And, at the very least, Elk stirred enough of a memory in her that she wouldn't be shocked out of nowhere that these appearances were related. But, obviously, up to you. I left out Sage's reaction to Toffee's surprise in the event that you want to change it. Also, Tigre is being very respectful and attentive, but Jaz is fidgeting and getting a little restless at this point, in the event that either of those things are relevant. They didn't find it necessary to write their own perspectives this time around.))