Spring 31, 515 AV - Sunset Falls
Sayana awoke to find herself curled up against the blue Akalak and taking over most of his bedroll. He was nice and warm against her and part of her longed just to snooze the day away. However, as she shifted against him, she found her muscled ached all over. She couldn’t tell whether the riding was finally catching up with her or whether it was from sleeping practically on the ground. With a groan the Eypharian got up with a stretch and bumped her head against the sloped tent wall. How could some people choose to live like this on a regular basis?
It didn’t seem like Isolde was in the tent. Perhaps she had had gotten up early. And then Sayana remembered the little bit the nuit had said about not needing to sleep. What a life… or death or whatever it was. Never getting to sleep and wake up against the one you love.
She still felt sore, mostly her side, but she hoped that would go away as she started to get moving. She was about to go outside when she realized something. Something beautiful. She could see Syna’s rays coming in through the tent. A smile lighted upon her face and she suddenly had new energy. Out here in the woods, there were no dark stone walls to block out all the light.
Since she had done so the previous night, and since she knew where her axe was, Sayana began gathering wood for a fire. She collected small sticks here and there for kindling and larger branches to truly fuel the fire. Several hacks later with the axe, she managed to get two fairly large pieces of wood that would still fit in the fire pit. Carefully she began arranging the sticks with small thin ones near the middle and spreading outwards with thicker pieces of wood. It didn’t take long since she was used to building fires regularly at home but she decided to wait for Aren or someone else to get the first spark going. If necessary, she even brought a bit of fine tinder to make it easier.
After building the fire, she thought to get some water for Orin and whatever meal he planned for breakfast. Surely he’d need something, and if not, their waterskins could probably use the fresh water from the river. As the meal got underway she was happy that Orin had come along. He always seemed to be cooking something mouth watering.
At last, with a quick cleanup they were ready to go. Sayana got out her map and with a frown, she grabbed a piece of charcoal from the remains of the fire and drew a line where she thought the fork in the river was. She hoped there wouldn’t be any further inaccuracies in her map and that it was just a straight path along the Avitar River to reach the falls. She tossed away the blackened wood and readied her backpack with the map inside.
Sayana mounted her horse and gave a quick thanks to Isolde for taking such good care of them. It almost seemed as though the nuit had a nurturing instinct about her. With a gentle kick of her heels, she set off on the trail that ran along the river. Sometimes the forest was quite dense and it was tricky getting through the branches but usually the trail was easy to follow despite it winding away from the river at times. Those were the times that Sayana was particularly careful to keep watch of where the river was headed and to make sure she could at least hear the flowing water even if she couldn’t always see it.
Fortunately, they didn’t run into anything bigger than a fox. And the small reddish creature darted away at the approach of the group. Sometimes when the path ran close to the water’s edge, Sayana could see various paw prints pressed into the mud or the sand. They were generally small but there was one that was larger that even had claw marks pressed into the mud. Mostly she just tried to keep her eyes out for any danger.
A rumble in the distance made her look up to the sky. Yet there was hardly a cloud and she doubted it would rain. That’s when she realized it might be the sound of water. Water crashing down from some place really high. “I think we’re nearly there!” She shouted out to the group in excitement. The Eypharian spurred her horse onwards and crashed through some of the undergrowth in her excitement to reach the falls. They had been traveling for such a long time and even with the pounding of the hooves beneath her, she could hear the thunderous sounds of water growing nearer.
She almost got wacked in the face by a low hanging branch but soon the trail broke out into a rocky area and the famous Sunset Falls could finally be seen. It was an incredible height as she looked up and there was so much water pouring down from the heavens. A glint of colour caught her eye. “Look look! It’s a rainbow!” She cried out with glee as she pointed to the arc of colour created by the waterfall’s mists.
Sayana awoke to find herself curled up against the blue Akalak and taking over most of his bedroll. He was nice and warm against her and part of her longed just to snooze the day away. However, as she shifted against him, she found her muscled ached all over. She couldn’t tell whether the riding was finally catching up with her or whether it was from sleeping practically on the ground. With a groan the Eypharian got up with a stretch and bumped her head against the sloped tent wall. How could some people choose to live like this on a regular basis?
It didn’t seem like Isolde was in the tent. Perhaps she had had gotten up early. And then Sayana remembered the little bit the nuit had said about not needing to sleep. What a life… or death or whatever it was. Never getting to sleep and wake up against the one you love.
She still felt sore, mostly her side, but she hoped that would go away as she started to get moving. She was about to go outside when she realized something. Something beautiful. She could see Syna’s rays coming in through the tent. A smile lighted upon her face and she suddenly had new energy. Out here in the woods, there were no dark stone walls to block out all the light.
Since she had done so the previous night, and since she knew where her axe was, Sayana began gathering wood for a fire. She collected small sticks here and there for kindling and larger branches to truly fuel the fire. Several hacks later with the axe, she managed to get two fairly large pieces of wood that would still fit in the fire pit. Carefully she began arranging the sticks with small thin ones near the middle and spreading outwards with thicker pieces of wood. It didn’t take long since she was used to building fires regularly at home but she decided to wait for Aren or someone else to get the first spark going. If necessary, she even brought a bit of fine tinder to make it easier.
After building the fire, she thought to get some water for Orin and whatever meal he planned for breakfast. Surely he’d need something, and if not, their waterskins could probably use the fresh water from the river. As the meal got underway she was happy that Orin had come along. He always seemed to be cooking something mouth watering.
At last, with a quick cleanup they were ready to go. Sayana got out her map and with a frown, she grabbed a piece of charcoal from the remains of the fire and drew a line where she thought the fork in the river was. She hoped there wouldn’t be any further inaccuracies in her map and that it was just a straight path along the Avitar River to reach the falls. She tossed away the blackened wood and readied her backpack with the map inside.
Sayana mounted her horse and gave a quick thanks to Isolde for taking such good care of them. It almost seemed as though the nuit had a nurturing instinct about her. With a gentle kick of her heels, she set off on the trail that ran along the river. Sometimes the forest was quite dense and it was tricky getting through the branches but usually the trail was easy to follow despite it winding away from the river at times. Those were the times that Sayana was particularly careful to keep watch of where the river was headed and to make sure she could at least hear the flowing water even if she couldn’t always see it.
Fortunately, they didn’t run into anything bigger than a fox. And the small reddish creature darted away at the approach of the group. Sometimes when the path ran close to the water’s edge, Sayana could see various paw prints pressed into the mud or the sand. They were generally small but there was one that was larger that even had claw marks pressed into the mud. Mostly she just tried to keep her eyes out for any danger.
A rumble in the distance made her look up to the sky. Yet there was hardly a cloud and she doubted it would rain. That’s when she realized it might be the sound of water. Water crashing down from some place really high. “I think we’re nearly there!” She shouted out to the group in excitement. The Eypharian spurred her horse onwards and crashed through some of the undergrowth in her excitement to reach the falls. They had been traveling for such a long time and even with the pounding of the hooves beneath her, she could hear the thunderous sounds of water growing nearer.
She almost got wacked in the face by a low hanging branch but soon the trail broke out into a rocky area and the famous Sunset Falls could finally be seen. It was an incredible height as she looked up and there was so much water pouring down from the heavens. A glint of colour caught her eye. “Look look! It’s a rainbow!” She cried out with glee as she pointed to the arc of colour created by the waterfall’s mists.
Sunset Falls :
Sunset Falls Springtime :
