Completed [Dream] Crimson, Compass, Lynx.

[Levali]

2nd of Autumn, 516 AV
Third Bell, A Dream
"Crimson"

Foot after foot padded against the packed snow beneath her. She was chasing something - Hunting something. In her hand the hunter held a bow made of a dark, royal red. Trees made of wide, flat leaves and dark brown bark surrounded her; Just like those she always heard of in stories of the south. Never did it occur to Levali in her dream that she knew neither how to shoot a bow nor track an animal, but for some reason these things came naturally to her in the unreal space whilst asleep. Ankle deep in the snow around her, Levali felt neither cold nor warm despite the obviously frosty weather.

The girl felt like she had been tracking the animal for days now. Perhaps weeks. A great black bird had eluded her for the entirety of her hunt, and it had brought her all the way from her home in Avanthal out to a fictional coastline she had seemed to conjure from her imagination. Once she found the corpse of a similar bird on the way up - One she assumed to be it's mate. After passing it by, the girl couldn't recall why she did not picking it up to take back; Only that she had felt some kind of un-natural cold upon getting close. She moved up from tree to tree as the animal lay perched upon a branch just at the last tree before the sea line, and the huntress knew she had it cornered. If the bird knew it was being hunted, it showed no signs of it. Levali was sure she could take the shot. To miss would be a shame to her own abilities. Reaching back to her quiver, she took out her arrow and carefully slid it into the bow. Standing perfectly still, the girl then drew it back , took a breath, and fired towards the unsuspecting bird before her.

It sailed true across the air, but at the last second seemed to veer right, embedding itself in the bark of the tree just inches from the branch she was aiming for with a resounding thunk. The silence of the southern styled forest was broken, and the bird flapped it's wings with a loud caw. Her target was off with a start, fleeing towards the open waters and away from the dreamer turned huntress. Levali emitted an open sigh, hesitating a moment before chasing it further. If it was going to the shore, it was bound to come back, right?

..Or at least it would have, had the situation been real. She chased it all the way out to the waters as if to stab it with the bow in her hands, only ever a a couple moments behind it. Eventually she got to the waters and jogged to a stop, only barely arriving in time to watch the bird fly off over the sea. Knocking an arrow in her bow, she took aim once more at the bird who was hardly in sight.. But no shot came. It would be a waste of an arrow, not to mention a good bird. If she hit it now, then the ocean would sweep it away and she would come back empty-handed anyways. The thought that she might miss the shot never even occurred to her.

Strapping the weapon once again to her back, Levali made the hasty decision of turning right around and heading back to Avanthal. Her shot was missed; Her hunt, failed. There was nothing left for her here, why waste any time?

LEVALI RODAI

A template by Prophet

[Levali]

2nd of Autumn, 516 AV
Third Bell, A Dream
"Compass"

As the huntress made her way back, the night began to fall. Sunset came and passed in seconds, and like a candle extinguished she was left in the dark. A feeling of urgency kindled within her, spurring her to move faster and take shortcuts around trees and over hills of snow.. The rustling in the branches turned against her, warping her feelings from those of confidence and determination to alarm and a tinge of fear. She raced on for around a minute, but no more before stopping. Weather it was the shadows or a trick of her dream, the land around her was no longer familiar. Jagged grey cocks stuck out from the blanket of snow atop it, the trees standing fewer and further between.. Levali came to a sudden realization that trees like those with the flat green leaves did not stay alive in the winter, and just like that all of the leaves fell from the trees at once to coat the ground in an orange carpet. She felt a sudden compulsion to check the pocket of her cloak, and slipped her hand within, still watching the trees uneasily.

Her hand cupped against a smooth, round, metallic surface within her cloak. Her hand clasped it, and it felt warm. Not hot, but enough to be comfortable.. Alluring. She took out the object to find a sealed circular object made out of what seemed to be brass, closed and locked with a small handle that she need only turn to open the small treasure. It's existence was not questioned, but rather openly accepted. Within her she knew that this would guide her home, or somewhere equally warming. As she undid the cover she already knew she would follow it faithfully, no matter it's direction.

When it was opened, the girl found that the compass had no indication of north, south, east, or west. A single arrow existed within the perfect circle, the same deep shade of red as her bow pointed on in the direction forwards and to her right. She turned to face such a way, and naturally the tool corrected itself to match her direction. Small marks lined the edges of the compass, facing inwards likely as a reference to how many degrees off one one when following the object.

Levali stepped forwards, moving in the direction appointed to her by the compass. She watched it carefully, as if the arrow would suddenly veer off to the side and lead her astray. It had not for a while, and after waking across the dead forest she found herself growing colder. She had long since passed the leaves that coated the ground, and started to feel a chill as she walked. Such a chill was not of the wind, nor the air around her; But rather it came from inside her. Her movements became gradually slower as she walked, but for every step she took she knew she was getting ever closer. Colder. The chill spread across her body as the snow melted away with the land, leaving barren earth beneath. Still the chill grew. Eventually she came to the edge of a clearing, where she could hardly move her body due to the fierce chill. The trees disappeared around the barren hill in what was almost a perfect circle. The silence of the forest was back, and within the clearing the back of a small creature faced her. It looked like a small tiger, with pointed ears and reddish fur. It leaned over something, though Levali couldn't see what.

LEVALI RODAI

A template by Prophet

[Levali]

2nd of Autumn, 516 AV
Fourth Bell, A Dream
"Lynx"

The sound of the creature eating was the only noise there to fill her ears. She couldn't place why, but the scene before filled her with dread.. Levali took a single step forwards - But with noticeable difficulty. The chill prevented her from moving freely; Like a gravity holding her to the very air around her. The lynx instantly raised it's head, ears perking straight up as it tensed for some kind of attack. It rose slowly, cautiously, but Levali did not have the bow out to attack it in any case. In rising, the creature revealed the black outline of some kind of bird beneath it. Just a wing. Dark, long and feathery.. But also bloodied.

The mind of the huntress scrambled to command herself to take out her bow, her knife, her torch - Anything.. But she couldn't move. The Lynx turned and looked to her, locking eyes as it faced her with it's blood-stained jaw. A normal Lynx would often shy away from the danger of a hunter, but this one was motivated by something else entirely. It started to move towards her with an arched back, making itself larger as it approached. Bells rang in Levali's mind, the Lynx coming up in pouncing range.. The bird back behind it was mangled and ruined, with bits of flesh and blood strewn across the earthy ground. There was no snow here for the blood to coat - Only the hard, never-moving rocks. No frost would have been numbing the pain of the animal before it's death, and the same could have been said for her if only a few more seconds had passed.

The Lynx readied it's pounce, lowering itself to the ground and bearing it's claws.. But before it could continue, a loud caw sounded to the left. A bird swooped in, looking extremely familiar. Dark, big, green eyed.. It was identical when compared to the one she was hunting. It caught the Lynx by surprise, sweeping it off it's feet and making it tear the side of it's pelt on the rocks beneath. The noisy intruder flapped it's wings and cawed in a deafening screech, scaring the Lynx so that it got to it's feet and fled away into the trees with a scar to remember it by, causing Levali to release her paused breath.

She could move again. The huntress felt the bow in her hands once more, not able to recall when she was able to take it from her back. The crimson blood had tainted the clearing before her. It was clear that the innocence of both the circle and the birds were lost; No longer ignorant to the cruel world of the hunters around them.. The raven looked up to the girl with eyes of warning in front of the bloodied backdrop, as if to tell her to escape while she still could. As she looked at it, she faltered. The bird never looked away. Not for a second, nor for minute, and not even when she knocked her arrow, pointed her bow to the creature, and shot it straight through the heart.

The creature had not learned.

The chill was coldest then, and when the girl awoke in the middle of the night she couldn't imagine why she did it.

No more sleep was had that night for the mason, who was anything but a huntress.

LEVALI RODAI

A template by Prophet