A storyteller's pain ( solo )

[Nehsmay]

35th of Winter, 511 AV Nehsmay stood in front of her tent at the outskirts of the encampment. Next to her Shade was neighing mournfully, nudging his young mistress with his head every now and then. The horse was saddened to see the shape the young Vantha was in. Her ruby red eyes were dull and glazed over, shadows clouding them and her once shiny black hair now hung sickly on her shoulders, matted with grime and dust. The ridding dress she had purchased in one of the cities they had stopped in was tattered and ripped, its hem almost nonexistent. What was worse was the way the young Vantha look. Sickly pale, with dark shadows under her eyes and a thing frame, her skin almost sticking to her bones. Shade had tried everything a horse could do ever since his mistress' friends had disappeared, but nothing had managed to shake the shadows that clung to his Vantha. He watched her, at night, when she was supposed to be asleep, crying names in the darkness of her tent, moaning and sobbing in her backpack. During the day, he stood by her side while she stared into nothingness, scarcely eating and drinking, moving only when the time for the encampment to move came. In her state, the Vantha knew nothing of the horse's concern... all she knew was that she was alone. Painfully alone in a world too big for her that scared her and made her want to go home. But, she couldn't go home, the road was too long and perilous for her to make it alone. The first time around she had had Nida and Sel and even occasional meetings on the road. Now, there was no one, only herself alone in the world. 'What did you expect?' a tretcherous voice rand in her ears for the thousanth time since she had found herself alone in Endrykas. 'Did you think they were going to remain with you? Why would they? Look at you! You are a disgrace! You're weak, you're sick, you're nothing!' "It's not true!" she cried out in her mind to the voice that would not leave her alone. "They are my friends! Nida is my sister! Something happened..." her mental voice quivered, not fully believing what she was thinking either. "I am not weak... I came here... I went through those treacherous tunnels... I found dire wolves..." 'Pfft! You? You did nothing!' the voice mocked her, 'They did everything! Without them, you would have been dead! Of course they left you! They got hurt because of you! You slowed them down! They don't want you anymore!' Tears started rolling down her cheeks, leaving traces in the grime and dust that had gathered on the Vantha's face. Her eyes seemed more unseeing that ever as Shade neighed besides her and beat with his hoof in the ground. "Very well," she finally cried out in the air, her voice horse and creaky due to not being used. "Very well!" With each word if seemed as if she got stronger. "If that's why they left I'll find them! I'll find them and confront them! I'll hear the words from the mouth of my friend and my almost-sister, not from you! I don'y trust you!" With those words the Vantha seemed to have spent all the energy she had left. She broke down in painful sobs, her petite frame shuddering under the tears that kept falling, under the sadness that had refused to get out during all that time.

[Nehsmay]

When he had seen the first spark of life his mistress had showed in many days, Shade had expected her to get up and become her usual self. Instead she did no such thing. She fell in a heap, crying her soul out, muttering words in the melodic tongue he always heard when he was back home. The horse kept pushing her with his head, trying to make her snap out of whatever it had been that made her so sad. When finally all her tears were spent the Vantha rose her head and looked at her beloved horse. He too appeared to be worse for the wear. His beautiful silver coat was tangled in a mass of knots, dust and grime making his color almost hard to see. He was thinner that she had ever seen him and appeared dead on his feet. Nehsmay understood that her problems had not concerned only her, but Shade as well and neglecting herself she had also neglected the only friend she had left. "Oh, Shade," she whispered brokenly, "I am so sorry!" She threw her hands around his neck and buried her head in his fur. "I'll make it better, I promise! I'll make everything better!" Shade watched her with curiosity as she entered her tent and left it with her backpack. Placing the tatters of the blouse she had left home with, but which was no longer usable on the ground, she spread the contents of her background on the ground. Her brush and comb were still in usable condition. Her double bladed dagger, a weapon she had never used was still in its sheath. A bottle of mostly usable water had stood forgotten in her backpack. Her smelling salts were already half used, meaning she had to get home before they were gone. Her healer's kit from mother also would have used some more supplies. A piece of glass she had found on the ground on her trips was still intact. A piece of dried up meet was all that was left, but she quickly discarded it seeing as it was no longer edible. Mostly satisfied with what she had found, Nehsmay took the bottle of water and poured part of it over the brush. Shade's grooming brush had gotten lost during the trip, but hers would work just as well. She gently started untangling his fur, making sure not to pull on the knots. It was a gruesome work seeing as the horse was as dirty as she left. She believed she must look life a fright... probably the Drykas had already labeled her the crazy Vantha with the horse or something similar. She was not crazy... she had been lost in a world of her own making and now she had found her way. Seeing that the brush had gotten dirty she washed it again and return to untangling Shade's fur. A full hour passed until the horse looked remotely like he used to. His mane was not shiny and his color had returned to the beautiful silver that reminded her of the other Shade's fur. But he was so thin... it would take some time before he was ready to return to the wilderness. She had to find a place where he would get the care he needed. Morwen knew what the poor horse had eaten while she had been wandering in the shadows of her own mind. She found herself unable to remember anything that had happened in the past season ever since she had found herself alone in Endrykas.

[Nehsmay]

After she finished tending to her horse, Nehsmay turned her attention towards herself. Her brow wrinkled in disgust seeing the state she had allowed herself to fall in. Entering her tent she took off the once red, now brown covered with dirt, tattered ridding dressed and remained in her undergarments. She noticed with some satisfaction that the layer of dirt seemed to stop at her dress and arms, but regardless she picked up a piece of cloth that had been made from her tattered blouse and wet it with water. Afterward she scrubbed her skin red, getting rid of the dust that had settled on her skin. Partially satisfied with her endeavors she dug in her bag and took out her last pair of good clothing, the ones she purchased from Syliras. She settled the dark blue tunic over her skin and put on the black trousers. Her boots were dirty, but she paid them no attention this time. Her fur vest was settled in her saddlebags as was the read cloak she had left home with. The weather in Endrykas was always warm so she had no need to fear the cold. She took the red ridding dress outside where she left most of her things. Grabbing the double bladed dagger she slashed awkwardly at the hem of the dress, getting rid of the tatters, shortening it making it fall at the level of the knees. The new hem was far from being straight, zig-zagging in all directions, but it was better than nothing. The sleeves were also thorn so Nehsmay went and made them short, leaving them barely covering the shoulders. The dress now looked as if a child had played with it, with its weird hem and mostly diagonal sleeves, but the Vantha woman did not care. She tossed the dress in the saddlebag promising to wash it later on. Looking at herself in the mirror she noticed how much her hair had grown. Whereas it was barely falling to her shoulders when she left Avanthal, not it reached the middle of her back. Grabbing the dagger once more, the Vantha grabbed a handful of hair and slashed it once. Long strands of black hair fell around her as she slashed again and again, mostly blindly and awkwardly, leaving a jagged hair cut in her path. When she had finished, the longest threads of hair barely touched her shoulders, while the shortest brushed her ears. The hair cut was almost spiky, not looking bad, but neither normal. Finishing with the dagger, Nehsmay sheathed it and returned it to the backpack together with the now empty bottle of water, the brush, the healing kit and the smelling salts. Taking the comb in her hand she brushed her hair, pulling on the knots and removing all the grime that had gathered in it. When she finally looked in the piece of glass, the Vantha woman was able to say that she looked almost normal, if one ignored the dark bags under her eyes. Happy with herself, Nehsmay returned everything in her tent and looked at Shade. The horse watched her with caution, almost as if he was expecting her to break down any moment. She feared she deserved his apprehension. Her silly colt had taken care of her when she could not and now he deserved something in return. "Come, you silly colt!" she said to him with a strained smile. "I remember someone telling me of a place where horses are tended to. Let's get you settled there and get some meat back on your bones."

[Lariat]

Nehsmay

Experience:

Horsemanship: 2 xp

Lores:

How to take care of a horse (Basic)

Comments

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