Uncertainties of a Newcomer

by **Keira Star** on December 30th, 2012, 1:50 am

Winter 512 AV day 11

Keira walked out of her tent after a well rested and satisfying night sequential to her arrival. She had brushed her long hair and dressed in her simple clothing appearing to be fresh and healthy. She had eaten a small meal from her provisions and prior to sleeping she had applied for a job. The 14 year old female was 5'5 with hazel eyes and a slightly tan complexion. Many people would describe her as beautiful. She was ready to get acquainted with the city she had arrived in and began to hesitantly walk away from her tent and into the city.

Her surroundings were new, but nothing really surprised her about Zeltiva yet, aside from the large university with its many students. The people seemed happy enough for any normal day, and moderately busy. Her first thoughts were about her instructor's words before he sent her off; "she would gain experience and adventure from her trip." She was uncertain about how she would make that possible, but that was the last thing she was concerned about at that moment.

She shifted her glance the mountains and the natural setting it was depicting, and decided to visit the area to just to relax and rid herself of some of the other worries sprouting from her head. She took a deep breath, sighed deeply, and picked up her walking pace, confidently heading to her desired location. It wasn't that she didn't like the city; it was more than she was hoping for. She was just unsure about herself, her ability to get stronger, even her ability to survive on her own dependency. She was a bit young to be on her own, but she didn't have a choice, she had nothing to go back to.

She thought about these things fiercely, and it showed because she displayed a somewhat worried expression on her face as she walked out of the city alone, -to her knowledge she was alone- heading to the mountains.

She continued to walk until she reached the area she had just recently come to Zeltiva from. The mountains were rocky and hard near the pass, and she ventured in the opposite direction, finding herself in a more stable terrain with some soil and a few pine trees, scattered apart like dots of paint on a canvas. Keira walked a bit more slowly now, taking in her surroundings and enjoying the peace of mind. She could think now, but it would be much easier and calmer for her think here.

Thinking, It could sometimes be a chore. She wondered what would become of people if they could choose when to think; she then realized there was a slight problem with that. If they couldn't think, how could they decide to start thinking again? She then thought about a timer as to how long they could not think before people started thinking, but then grew tired of the subject and thought about what she would do next after this.

As she pondered about those things her thoughts kept driving back to a question: what was her purpose and what could she amount to? Perhaps this was because her father had always told her, "being constructive is how you will make it in life!" as she imagined the lecture her father had given her long ago, her expression changed to a pained one and she sat down in some grass under one of the pine trees, burying her head in her hands.

"It's times like these that I wish I had been given a better life," she muttered, a gloomy dismal feeling occupying her for a moment.

by **Gale Austin McCenry** on December 30th, 2012, 3:35 am

OOCSorry for the ramble bamble in this post but it's rather important to get your character into the setting somehow I think, so I hope you don't mind too much.
It was about this time that even the hypocrite realized he was being too repetitive for his own good. This daily activity that was created had always given the artist time to collect his thoughts and mind set for the day but has also become a nasty habit of preventing the proper amount of rest one should receive. It has gotten better over the previous season but for a long while Gale had been scared by a single outcome that was caused by his own hand. The scar reminded him countless hours of how his mind really worked and his sleeping habits shifted drastically for most of the Fall due to the single image and voice that was repeated inside his head.

This time alone was precious to Gale for more reasons, however, then to simply relax and enjoy the softness of nature’s voice, even though it deprives him of sleep at times. This was the time that was chosen in the day where he could be who he wanted to be without interruption, with the exception of two intriguing younger lasses. He could be as depressing as he wanted. He could be as pathetic as he wanted. A hero if he had the mind for it. As silent or as talkative as he wished with only one voice to hear and acknowledge it all.

As usual, the blonde packed up his bag with the normal items for his brief walk. His prized sketchbook and charcoal, an old wooden flute, a small snack that he had saved from his breakfast in case he got hungry on his venture back, and the books that would teach him how to use the piece of wood.

As always, he hesitated to decide whether to bring his cloak. With Winter finally here and the plague that befell the city, the Zeltivan had a much harder time deciding whether the suspicion that followed a mysterious hooded figure would be worth it. Have the appearance of what you were or take your chances with the bitter weather and sickness? After much thought going into the subject, the tie breaking though was that plenty of people wore cloaks and coats during the cooler seasons. Snatching the clean, unused brown piece of cloth from the corner of his room, he slipped it on with the leather backpack to follow.

Gale left his hood down as he exited the city with as much determination and anticipation as his previous visits to the home made grave. One of the few times a genuine smile was seen upon the artist’s lips. With the dirt and grass crunching and moving out of his way as he took his steps, the path he had taken was more than clear now if one was to observe their surroundings in the general area of the path, due to his repetitiveness over the near decade Gale had known about the location. Though one never observed the man’s steps along this path, but if one was to do so they’d think that each step was embedded into his muscles, never to step off the thing path he had created with his own two feet.

It was lovely out here. It still held the beauty it had several years ago when Gale first met this piece of land. The opening within the small bunch of trees wasn’t nearly as groomed as it was now, Gale picking away weeds and grass around the small lump of dirt, but still peaceful. The tree that had been the man’s seat for all this time was now considered as his “Forgiving Tree” where all his wrong doings and thoughts could be tucked away and be excused for a short period of time until he would journey back to his home. Taking a seat at his tree after reaching the desired destination, Gale had started to think his thoughts out loud.

“That path is going to end up being followed by someone one of these days.” He started today conversation. “Hopefully when and if that happens they wouldn’t be too disrespectful.” The hypocrite chuckled at himself as his head lolled back and hit the bark of the foundation with a soft thud. “But what are you going to do about, huh? Can’t control what people do.” As usual, and expected, only the whispering of the slight breeze answered him, giving him some comfort for one reason or another.

“You know, I am starting to realize a pattern.” The blonde told the corpse with no hesitation to continue on,” It’s as if I was cursed with the worst of luck. Seems as everything wants to end around me.” His smile diminished to a smirk. It wasn’t entirely true, but with the recent deaths Gale was starting to think it was true. “I cannot remember if I mentioned Ricky’s dog dying or not. I suppose it is just coincidence then. The poor lad.” Gale mumbled softly as he trailed off into silence, looking up at the branches above with his knees pulled up and his arms laying on them.

The focus on the tree branches lessened and the twigs melded together to form single blocks of color instead of individual limbs of the magnificent flora. Blue eyes shifted here and there observing the vegetation with different amounts of focus and attentiveness, the mind of the lonely moved aimlessly from subject to subject, occasionally mumbling a sentence or two for the wind to pick up. It was one of those days where he simply wanted silence. Stillness.

After a chill went down his spine after an abrupt realization of the temperature, the longer fingers drew the hood of the brown cloak up in attempts to warm himself in some way. But after doing so, his chin fell to meet his chest as if he lost consciences, rapidly deciding to relax once more. With his elbows placed on his knees, forearms outstretched ahead of him and hands tranquil and dangling motionlessly, the Zeltivan sat there for quite some time. It wasn’t the first time he has sat before the grave as if fast asleep. The variety of actions and speeches he has given this location was most definitely countless, nonetheless this being one of the resetting states of himself.

With no will to track the time, Gale sat there for approximately a bell, maybe two, mumbling his soft words to the air and the dirt. But with such silence, normal sounds and noises that Gale would not normally hear, or care to hear, were vibrating in his ear. The whistling of the wind between the branches instead of buildings or sails of the city and its dock. The hushed murmurs of the occasional fauna that would fly or scurry by. His even breathing. The growing footsteps of someone or something approaching…

Lifting his head with a perked eyebrow hidden under this hood, Gale observed his surroundings. Was there another person around? Again? It could be an animal… After standing to his feet as silently as possible, the artist looked around once more, half expecting to see a figure within the trees and half expecting it to be in imagination kicking in. No. It was clearly the sound of soft footsteps. He couldn’t imagine a sound that real, could he? Gale places his left hand on the hard bark, glancing around him paranoid.

Though the slim man has been able to survive a large fight, and a brief, deadly encounter, he didn’t want to encounter a wild animal, never being fond of any type of fauna, especially those bigger or more aggressive then he was. Almost deciding against it, Gale finally decided to follow the steps, but as silently as possible, in case if it was an animal or someone who did not wish to be followed.

It was more difficult of a task then what Gale had always assumed. Tracking and listening to sounds was always something that the Zeltivan thought as an easily learned skill, considering most use their sense of hearing and observation every day, however, he was proven wrong. Even the short amount of time Gale was attempting to follow the sound was a challenge. Pin pointing exactly where a sound came from was difficult for his untrained ear, but luckily it wasn’t long before his sight started to kick in, seeing movement in the corner of his eye.

Turning quickly, as if expecting a beast to leap forward and slash at his face, his blue eyes fell upon another lass. A younger one, nonetheless. Now what was she doing out here by herself? Gale cautiously moved forward, watching the ground for twigs that he wished not to step on, still not knowing what she was doing, nut only a few trees away. But upon further observation, he watched her go several more paces before sliding down a tree and sitting down miserably and concealing her face in her hands.

"It's times like these that I wish I had been given a better life." Another half-smile made it to his face, both from her statement and from the fact that he was able to get so close undetected. At least he thought he was undetected…

Gale crossed his arms, and leaned against the nearest tree with his shoulder. “Don’t we all?” The murderer asked, looking more mysterious then he intended. The blonde didn’t pull his hood back down to look welcoming as he would likely regret later. This anticipated misunderstand is why Gale never wore his cloak in the first place…

by **Keira Star** on January 2nd, 2013, 1:35 am

She had been lost in a pool of misery, wishing the world to go away, wishing that everything would magically sort itself out, when she heard the footsteps stop and then a voice. “Don’t we all?” was the inquiry of a man, middle aged, but still youngish.

Keira was a sweet and good-natured person, not wishing to cause trouble or harm to anyone, even if they were the ones who had been found guilty. Usually. But at a time like this when she had just traveled to a foreign land, a time when she was testing her luck on her own in the world, a time when she couldn't stop thinking about the past, the young teenager would not react in a positive manner to one who would attempt to sneak up on her so creepily. Not this time.

Appearing to be pretty nervous her heart lept, and she got to her feet quickly her strawberry blonde hair falling to her sides. Her breathing intensified as she took in the mysterious person's appearance. A tall cloaked figure... after half a second she had enough looking. She frowned and began creating a ball of res in a matter of seconds, speaking as it happened. If she was afraid, she didn't show it, although to be truthful she was probably a little terrified.

"Give me one reason... I shouldn't throw this at you..," She uttered in a tense, flat tone, a drop of fear forcing its way into her voice as the ball was engulfed in flames.

by **Lullaby** on July 8th, 2013, 5:16 pm

Here is your reward!

Kiera Star :

Gale McCenry :

Let the stars light your path

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.

Closed Uncertainties of a Newcomer