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Mritha -> RE: (DF) I Need a Name! (11/10/2010 19:49:34)
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Part One: Genesis
Chapter Four
It was now the night of the full moon. Looking out of her bedroom window, Violet could see part of it beginning to rise above the treetops to join the many stars in the night sky. She turned away from the window long enough to grab the bag packed with food, a change of clothing, and a spell book Abraxas had given her the morning after Lady Kira's second visit. To learn how to defend herself, he'd said when he told her to read and practice its simplest spells.
Violet crouched on the windowsill, holding the sides for balance. Gosh, the ground looks so far down… She thought to herself. The wind gently toyed with her hair while she considered going out the door instead. But no, that was not an option. Her father's door was on the way to the stairs, she couldn't get outside without passing it. And Violet swore that the floorboards in front of his door would creak only when she was trying to sneak past undetected.
She carefully turned to face the wall and stuck her feet out first, slowly climbing down the trellis. The scent of the yellow flowers filled her nose with a sweet smell as she disturbed the plant in her decent, reminding her faintly of lemon mixed with some other unknown scent. Violet remembered Abraxas telling her about this plant, the leaves when dried would ease cramps and stomach pain if brewed into a tea. She paused in her climb down, trying to remember the name of the plant. The names of all the plants and herbs the shaman had drilled into her mind the past few days seemed to dance around her thoughts, confusing her and not betraying what plant they belonged to. Violet shook her head, giving up and continuing down.
"At least I remember what it does." She quietly mumbled to herself as she jumped to the ground. Violet made her way into the forest, her first few steps taken a little shakily. The dark and a little creepy forest would have hardly earned a second glance on a normal night, but heights always made the dark haired woman shiver a little in fear.
Before passing through the tree line, Violet paused and turned back, wishing she could have felt his arms around her one last time. She hadn't even gone out of sight from the house and already she missed the comforting and loving embrace of her father. Abraxas was indeed her father; the lack of blood relation meant nothing to either of them. A bloodline did not define a man, did not say who he was. It was his actions that would speak about his honor and love, or lack thereof.
Violet wiped a small tear of regret from her eyes, drying her hand on her chocolate brown pants, before disappearing into the shadows of the forest. The steady padding of her feet joined the sounds of the early night. She couldn't see her hand in front of her face, the moon had not yet risen high enough over the tree tops to shed its light on the forest floor. But her feet knew this worn path and she continued walking with confidence. Until she tripped over a fallen tree branch in the path. Arms flailing, she fell forward, almost hitting her face in the dirt! Violet stood and brushed the soil from her hands and knees, grumbling a little to herself as she did. She took care to step over the branch in front of her and continued on, though now slower and a little unsteady, now wishing she had a lit torch in her hand to see with.
Violet's mind wandered back to Abraxas. She had decided to leave after all, feeling guilt and regret for causing the boy's unneeded death. The shaman was right, had she known the potential consequences of her actions, Violet would have never taken the plant outside of the areas he had designated as safe. But knowing that did not erase the fact that had it not been for her, the boy would still be alive. Now Abraxas had to waste time training her when he could be making the potions or gathering the needed ingredients himself, ensuring they would be safe for use and not needing to worry or doubt if she had gotten lazy again and taken a shortcut.
Violet felt the ground beneath her feet begin to rise and turned left until she felt it level again. Already at the bend, I am making good time. She thought to herself. The moon was rising, its light softly piercing through the treetops. Not much was coming through, the leaves above blocking most of the pale glow. Still, Violet could now see well enough to recognize the long dark mass in front of her as a second fallen tree limb. The high winds a day or so before had clearly pulled down some tree branches, odd that they were not cleared from the path yet though, Violet mused as she walked around the obstacle. Maybe no one had walked this way since the storm?
A twig snapped. Violet jumped and suppressed a surprised squeal. A shadow moved in front of her, causing the hair on the back of her neck to tickle. She normally was not scared of the night's inhabitants, but the threat from Lady Kira had dwelled in the back of her thoughts despite Abraxas' attempts to quell her fears. "Who's there?" She nervously called.
"Violet?" Came a reply.
Violet relaxed, berating herself for the unneeded fear. "Yea, it's me."
"I thought you said you weren't coming?" The shadow fell in to step beside her friend, Ondine's figure becoming more apparent.
"I changed my mind." Violet replied, not offering an explanation why.
"Well… I'm glad you did." The nervous smile could be heard in her voice, though not seen in the dim lighting. "It will be a lot safer with another person traveling with us, 'specially since you got all that knowledge of plants we can use if one of us gets sick or injured along the way."
Violet winced at the unintentional jab. "I know far less than Abraxas does."
Ondine shrugged, her friend not seeing it. "You know more than I do, at least."
Several minutes passed with Ondine attempting to make conversation, but getting short sentence answers in return to her questions. "Alright. What's on your mind?" She finally demanded.
Violet sighed. "Just nervous about this whole thing." It wasn't a total lie, she was apprehensive about their plan to run. It just wasn't the reason why she was so quiet.
Ondine, feeling the same about their journey, believed her. "Just because we are leaving don't mean we can never come home."
"I thought Theonoe said-"
"I don't care what she said!" Ondine cut in. "I'll not never see my family again. I'll do exactly what she suggested I do when she was trying to convince us to leave. Go somewhere else, make a good bit of gold, and send it back home."
Violet was surprised into silence by the sudden outburst from her normally quiet friend. The blue haired woman had paused for breath, but now continued in a softer, but no less forceful, tone. "Tonight I'm leaving my home. It's falling apart around the heads of my family members, but it is still my home. Theonoe is leaving for good and I don't know about you. But someday, I'm coming back and then I'll never leave home again." Ondine snapped her jaw shut, saying no more.
Violet never responded to her friend's rant, too lost in her own thoughts to voice a reply. Did she ever plan to come home? By the gods, she wanted to. Abraxas would always accept her back with open arms, this she knew. But was her guilt and regret so great, she would be prevented from returning, forever denied the comforting embrace of her father?
"Ow!" A voice pierced the night. "Stupid tree branch." The same voice grumbled. "Are we far enough away now to light a torch?"
"Not yet." A second voice hesitantly answered. A voice Violet recognized as belonging to Theonoe.
"Where are you guys?" Ondine called out.
"Ondine?"
"Who else has a voice as lovely as me?"
Violet could now see the shadows moving in front of her, two shapes soon emerged from them. One was of average height, the other a good foot shorter. "Who is with you? Violet! You came!" Theonoe quickened her pace and wrapped her arms around the neck of her friend. "I'm so glad you changed your mind!"
Violet smiled weakly, glad her face was still mostly hidden by the night. "Evening, John." She addressed the shorter figure.
"Hi." He replied. John ignored the urge to take his sister's hand for reassurance against the creepy forest. He was the man of this group. He wasn't going to look like a sissy in front of all these girls!
"Are we ready then?" Theonoe questioned.
"I am." Violet answered.
"Yep." Ondine chimed in. She took the lead, knowing this forest well from having hunted it for many years despite her young age. Theonoe followed, her younger brother walking close beside her. After shifting the weight of her backpack, Violet trailed behind them, partly wishing she hadn't brought the thick book with her. She hadn't gone far, but she was already feeling the weight of it.
The walked mostly in silence, Ondine focusing on leading her friends through the forest and the rest of them not wanting to distract her. Violet wished they could have just taken the road, it was doubtful they would be seen this late at night by someone. But Theonoe was paranoid someone would and send word back to her parents, telling them which way she and her brother had fled. As it was, the two siblings and their friends would just disappear without a trace, like the morning mist. Ondine paused at the top of a hill, both to make sure she knew where she was and to catch her breath. Violet recognized this hill; it was just east of the clearing she and her friends usually met.
The moon was shining brightly now, Violet could see faces instead of just the outline of her three companions. She could see that John was getting antsy. "Now can we light the torch?" He pressured.
Theonoe glanced back the way they had come. "No. I can still see the glow of the town from here; they might be able to see us."
"What sane person is awake at this hour?" John grumbled, stifling a yawn.
"That isn't the town," Ondine jumped into the conversation. "The light is too far west and we wouldn't be able to see candlelight or lamps from here anyway. It looks like something is burning."
Violet suddenly felt cold. Abraxas' house was a good walk west of town. Though it was more likely that someone had forgotten to put out their campfire and the trees had caught on fire from stray sparks. Still, she could not fight the churning fear in her belly. Violet ran back down the hill, her bag thumping against her back. She was dimly aware of her friends following her, calling her. She ignored them. By the time she was close enough to smell the smoke; Violet was well winded, her breath coming heavily and her lungs burning painfully. She could now hear the sound of shouting.
Bursting through the tree line, Violet stopped abruptly. Townsfolk, still in their night clothes, had formed a bucket brigade and were hastily trying to save the burning home she'd lived in for many years. Theonoe grabbed her arm, having caught up with her. "Get back before they see you!" She hissed between tired breaths.
Violet shook free, running to the line of people on legs that felt like cooked noodles. "Abraxas! Where is Abraxas!?" She shouted above the roars of the flames and calls of the people for more water. Some glanced at her but didn't respond, either not knowing the answer to her question or thinking that preventing the fire from spreading took priority over breath wasted on explanations. Desperate, Violet grabbed the shirt of a man running past with an armload of more buckets. She pulled him to a stop, causing him to lose part of his carefully balanced load. "Where is my father!?" She demanded to know.
The man turned to look at her, the light of the blazing home illuminating his face. Violet let him go as if it were him on fire and not the home. Of all the people in the town, she had to pick her blood father to question. His chocolate eyes looked down at her with distain. "No one's seen him." He answered, then picked up his dropped buckets and continued on his way, Violet not stopping him this time. She backed up against the old rickety cart Abraxas would sometimes use; she was still tired from the run here and now was also trembling with fear. She stared blankly at the burning home, not blinking when the roof collapsed with a groan, sending flaming debris flying and townsfolk scattering to put them out.
Violet looked over at the side of the cart, something catching her eye. A crudely drawn charging boveox had been painted the worn wood, reminding her of the crest for Lady Kira's house. Numbly, Violet started walking in a random direction. When someone called her name, she broke into a run.
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