HOME | DD

Description

After suffering through six months solid of confinement within the chafing, mirror-like walls of the Oasis, Verse had thought she would feel better upon regaining her freedom above the sands of Sedo. She imagined that feeling the unfettered wind beneath her wings and the sand rushing across her goggles and coming across her father on the way back would calm her roiling soul. She dreamed of how nurturing the little green plants atop the uppermost Osulas plateaus would wrap her in a mantle of harmony and serenity, and knew it would do it again. She believed being home would transmute her uncomfortably tumultuous feelings into ones that were tranquil, cheerful, or at least less destructive than the ones she had felt within Oasis...

She was wrong.

Her father was still missing, his dark coat and dented goggles nowhere to be seen among the equine that filtered into the remains of Osulas. Her neighbors offered cheery comments like, “Don’t worry, he’ll be along soon, I’m sure,” or, “He’s always been late, hasn’t he?” However, though no one said it aloud, Verse knew they imagined the worst. Their tones had hints of hollowness to them, hints of early apologies. The stallion had been lucky for too many years, she agreed – as every one of his comrades disappeared into the wild and didn’t return, he had, year after year. Of the group he had begun with, he was the only one left. It had only been a matter of when, really, the aging stallion finally wouldn’t return from a trip, and some young gatherer would come back to tell of his heroic sacrifice for their survival. Unfortunately, whether he had returned to Alya, or he was standing shackled somewhere in the underbelly of the Aodhian machine, there was no one to tell of his tale. No one to bring the closure his daughter and wife needed. No one who could say if he had truly lost his battle with the sands at last. Verse tried to hold onto the hope that he might return any day now, tried to grasp onto the fact that no one could say they had seen him go down or had seen him in an Aodhian cage. Yet, somewhere in the back of her mind, Verse silently wanted the stallion to have met his end if he wasn’t still out in the desert somewhere – there was no doubt in her mind the stallion would have rather died than be enslaved.

Osulas was destroyed, crumbling into dust following the use of a cosmic blessing, if the large chunks of pockmarked, star-like rock amidst the rubble were anything to go by. The little green plants she had so carefully tended high above the city were dead, ripped to shreds and buried beneath the stone stands that once held them aloft. The returning folk found themselves with even fewer rations than they had in the Oasis as they struggled to find some remaining loamy soil with which to begin anew. And, while the community as a whole appeared positive, Verse wondered what went through their minds as the sun set each night, when dark shadows trailed off the jagged piles of stone and wood that once were their homes. Were they determined to rebuild? Did they think this was a hopeless endeavor, trying to restore stone and earth to their original place? Did they think this a sign for a return to their roots as nomads? Perhaps they saw it as proof that because so many of their kin were together in one place, more were able to be saved than if they had not settled in Osulas? Did any of them consider the option of establishing Osulas in a new location, with a new name – a place that would allow for a truly new beginning for their herd? From the general lack of energy in the air, Verse surmised that most of the herd, while they were putting on a good show, was hurting just as much as she was on the inside.

Even the wind felt different, Verse realized, as she took to the sky to survey the damage more clearly. It was devoid of its usual wild humor, churning, bubbling, springing pegasi into the sky with a joyous whoosh. Instead, it rushed into and pulled away from the strawberry roan’s wings as if conflicted; angry, depressed and vengeful all at once. Verse wondered if Ayla was angry with her people for not doing more, for so many hiding themselves in her Oasis instead of fighting back, or at the Aodhians that had violated her sacred land. She had heard rumors of visions, of Alya and Ignacio fighting as their herds were – was that why Sedo’s winds seemed so embattled with themselves? Speculation or not, Verse wondered if Alya had lost that argument just as they had lost the war.

Yes, in Verse’s eyes, at least, they had lost the war. Though Aodh had been the one that arrived with the white flag, Verse did not feel like her herd was the victors. Their home was destroyed, Aodh’s still sat pretty in Eithne. Though the Aodhians never did manage to overtake Sedo, the Seroran resistance had never managed to push the Aodhians out either. Aodh’s little one-sided treaty required tithes of peyote, agave, mohair and glass as war reparations for an astonishing 10 years, pulling away valuable help in the effort to put Osulas back together. The Aodhians even had the gall to send along the foodstuffs that had been a source of ignition, a source of war, in the first place – but for all of half the time of the Seroran side of the trade. Goodwill or not, Verse didn’t like it – but she kept her mouth shut. It wasn’t her place to speak up about her personal opinion, her personal trials, her personal issues. Serora was a tightly knit community after all, and they needed to focus on the larger picture, on rebuilding, and not on the Aodhians.

For now.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Verse assists with all she has in rebuilding her home. Once that’s completed, she settles her mother into their new quarters and takes off into the night to look for her father. Intent on finding out once and for all if he had been captured as a slave or was lost to the sands of Sedo, she even travels to Aodh, to no avail. It seems her father was lost to the sands after all.

1 (hs) + 1 (shading) + 4 (1003 Words) - Total: +6 AP to Verse (Astral Tracker )
AP is being repurposed and applied to two incoming characters, Auspex (Astral Tracker ) and Ayleth (Astral Tracker Incoming). Appropriate retirement note has been sent.
Time for a new beginning! c:

Description

After suffering through six months solid of confinement within the chafing, mirror-like walls of the Oasis, Verse had thought she would feel better upon regaining her freedom above the sands of Sedo. She imagined that feeling the unfettered wind beneath her wings and the sand rushing across her goggles and coming across her father on the way back would calm her roiling soul. She dreamed of how nurturing the little green plants atop the uppermost Osulas plateaus would wrap her in a mantle of harmony and serenity, and knew it would do it again. She believed being home would transmute her uncomfortably tumultuous feelings into ones that were tranquil, cheerful, or at least less destructive than the ones she had felt within Oasis...

She was wrong.

Her father was still missing, his dark coat and dented goggles nowhere to be seen among the equine that filtered into the remains of Osulas. Her neighbors offered cheery comments like, “Don’t worry, he’ll be along soon, I’m sure,” or, “He’s always been late, hasn’t he?” However, though no one said it aloud, Verse knew they imagined the worst. Their tones had hints of hollowness to them, hints of early apologies. The stallion had been lucky for too many years, she agreed – as every one of his comrades disappeared into the wild and didn’t return, he had, year after year. Of the group he had begun with, he was the only one left. It had only been a matter of when, really, the aging stallion finally wouldn’t return from a trip, and some young gatherer would come back to tell of his heroic sacrifice for their survival. Unfortunately, whether he had returned to Alya, or he was standing shackled somewhere in the underbelly of the Aodhian machine, there was no one to tell of his tale. No one to bring the closure his daughter and wife needed. No one who could say if he had truly lost his battle with the sands at last. Verse tried to hold onto the hope that he might return any day now, tried to grasp onto the fact that no one could say they had seen him go down or had seen him in an Aodhian cage. Yet, somewhere in the back of her mind, Verse silently wanted the stallion to have met his end if he wasn’t still out in the desert somewhere – there was no doubt in her mind the stallion would have rather died than be enslaved.

Osulas was destroyed, crumbling into dust following the use of a cosmic blessing, if the large chunks of pockmarked, star-like rock amidst the rubble were anything to go by. The little green plants she had so carefully tended high above the city were dead, ripped to shreds and buried beneath the stone stands that once held them aloft. The returning folk found themselves with even fewer rations than they had in the Oasis as they struggled to find some remaining loamy soil with which to begin anew. And, while the community as a whole appeared positive, Verse wondered what went through their minds as the sun set each night, when dark shadows trailed off the jagged piles of stone and wood that once were their homes. Were they determined to rebuild? Did they think this was a hopeless endeavor, trying to restore stone and earth to their original place? Did they think this a sign for a return to their roots as nomads? Perhaps they saw it as proof that because so many of their kin were together in one place, more were able to be saved than if they had not settled in Osulas? Did any of them consider the option of establishing Osulas in a new location, with a new name – a place that would allow for a truly new beginning for their herd? From the general lack of energy in the air, Verse surmised that most of the herd, while they were putting on a good show, was hurting just as much as she was on the inside.

Even the wind felt different, Verse realized, as she took to the sky to survey the damage more clearly. It was devoid of its usual wild humor, churning, bubbling, springing pegasi into the sky with a joyous whoosh. Instead, it rushed into and pulled away from the strawberry roan’s wings as if conflicted; angry, depressed and vengeful all at once. Verse wondered if Ayla was angry with her people for not doing more, for so many hiding themselves in her Oasis instead of fighting back, or at the Aodhians that had violated her sacred land. She had heard rumors of visions, of Alya and Ignacio fighting as their herds were – was that why Sedo’s winds seemed so embattled with themselves? Speculation or not, Verse wondered if Alya had lost that argument just as they had lost the war.

Yes, in Verse’s eyes, at least, they had lost the war. Though Aodh had been the one that arrived with the white flag, Verse did not feel like her herd was the victors. Their home was destroyed, Aodh’s still sat pretty in Eithne. Though the Aodhians never did manage to overtake Sedo, the Seroran resistance had never managed to push the Aodhians out either. Aodh’s little one-sided treaty required tithes of peyote, agave, mohair and glass as war reparations for an astonishing 10 years, pulling away valuable help in the effort to put Osulas back together. The Aodhians even had the gall to send along the foodstuffs that had been a source of ignition, a source of war, in the first place – but for all of half the time of the Seroran side of the trade. Goodwill or not, Verse didn’t like it – but she kept her mouth shut. It wasn’t her place to speak up about her personal opinion, her personal trials, her personal issues. Serora was a tightly knit community after all, and they needed to focus on the larger picture, on rebuilding, and not on the Aodhians.

For now.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Verse assists with all she has in rebuilding her home. Once that’s completed, she settles her mother into their new quarters and takes off into the night to look for her father. Intent on finding out once and for all if he had been captured as a slave or was lost to the sands of Sedo, she even travels to Aodh, to no avail. It seems her father was lost to the sands after all.

1 (hs) + 1 (shading) + 4 (1003 Words) - Total: +6 AP to Verse (Astral Tracker )
AP is being repurposed and applied to two incoming characters, Auspex (Astral Tracker ) and Ayleth (Astral Tracker Incoming). Appropriate retirement note has been sent.
Time for a new beginning! c: