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Post by Badrani on May 16, 2021 13:00:17 GMT -6
There comes a point in one's life- typically towards the back half of it, in which death seems much more tangible each and every day that passes. Badrani can remember her childhood decently enough, though it felt like brushing cobwebs past an old foggy window to look out into some distant too-bright technicolor world. From within the decrepit mental tent of her mind- Badrani can barely capture the innocent days of playing Tekhp-Tekht in the pale sands with the other youngsters... This was before her apprenticeship- wasn't it? Or was it?
She remembers the fleetingly slow days that melted altogether more and more these days. However, she remembers them as carefree days at least- days without the looming death over her. Sure, she was in good health for now, but those things ended in an instant. She knew.
Today was one of those days, she thought. She could feel the chill of it cloak her in dusk. She stands at the bottom of an eerily familiar staircase- and yet she has never before seen them. She squints her eyes up at the top of it- and holds the items in her hand gently- so as not to squish the berries.
[1]
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Post by Badrani on May 16, 2021 13:15:05 GMT -6
Badrani opens her leathery palm and counts them, again. She's done it several times on the way here, but she wants to make sure that the amount was accurate to the tome she read, and to the individual words that the furry antlered individual had stated to her- in her own tongue at that! (Though it sounded foreign on her ears.) A single oval pink stone- it felt... Empty, pliable to her almost- though in form it remained hard enough. Three berries- though she did not know where they came from. Berries were such an odd thing, something she saw perhaps once or twice (dried) in trading negotiations. These were plump and rich. Then the three main things- these crystals were nothing but shards of magic. She could feel them singing to her soul- but felt deaf to it. It was an odd sensation that left her feeling like a hollow cave.
These were not for her. They were for a trade- her services for that of the individual that rendered her services previously. Certainly the trade was good.
She began the climb, closing her hand gently around the items to secure them.
[2]
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Post by Badrani on May 16, 2021 13:23:26 GMT -6
Her joints creaked a bit. She'd done her best to stay in good shape over the years, but it was difficult at this stage. She'd done so much travelling over her time that her body was worn down. Some days she hardly felt it at all, but sometimes chill and exertion would cause it to flare back up all over again. Still, she makes the climb faster than most had (not that she knew!) that were half her age. She was not winded when she got to the top, the pads of her scaled feet making no sound (but the clack of her talons against the cracked stones was enough to alert anyone around she was sure). She looks around, her eyes thankfully adjusting to the surprisingly dusty light well enough.
The individuals in cloaks gave her pause. She was used to seeing people in cloaks- in the bad way. However, she knew that she had to keep her strength and witts about her and keep going regardless. Badrani pushes forwards- altar in sight. It was almost all she could see.
[3]
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Post by Badrani on May 16, 2021 13:29:15 GMT -6
Badrani keeps her head up high- nose up a bit higher than her eyes even, as she walks between the cloaked figures. The items were in her hand, though her weathered palm was starting to feel a bit slick with sweat. Thankfully the items were bagged up- would sweat contaminate them? The idea of any part of this process going wrong made her stomach flip. It was an abnormal feeling. She was typically so stoic. When was the last time she'd been anxious? A chuckle wells up inside her. How bizarre. She's in front of the altar quicker than she was perhaps prepared for. She stands there, feeling a little nude perhaps in the dusky light of it. It was disgusting in an elder-danger sort of way. A primal fear wells up inside her and spills over. It is now or never. There was a blade on the table. Her gaze fell on the gross thing. It felt like someone was watching her (of course there was). She opens her palm, and unbags the Mind Crystal first. She places it on the altar. Second goes the Three Hollow Crystals. Those go on the altar beside the mind crystal- arranged with care around it by old trembling hands.[4]
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Post by Badrani on May 16, 2021 13:43:39 GMT -6
She couldn't let the fear overcome her. In fact, it made her bolder in the face of it- what Ssashirk did not become so? She puffs out her chest, and pushes her chin out confidently- a bluff. Now the crystals lay on the altar slab, looking rather innocuous for all of the weight of it. She holds the bag the berries were in between two claws, and gently nudges the pouch open with another. She turns the pouch upside down over one of her cracked palms. The berries fall out- teal and pink and purple. She steals her eyes away from them to look at the cursed blade again. Berries first. She remembers this. She opens her toothy maw and pushes them into her mouth without looking at them. Three little berries pop in her mouth, coating her tongue with a sickly sweet taste that could have made her gag if she wasn't so anxious. She would not eat them if she did not have to. She snatches up the blade after having finished the berries and she makes the incision with the blade upon the top of her forearm. It is difficult with her scales, but there is a soft spot where her wrist bent. She didn't really feel the pain of it. A drop of blood a piece on all of the ingredients now- as quickly as possible but she made sure to do each one properly. She didn't want to mess up. All crystals down on the slab. Berries taken. Blood on the ingredients from her arm... What was she supposed to do now- oh yeah, kneel down! She remembered it as soon as the pain began, and thankfully she was most of the way down before she felt the harsh rip of it. Tears welled up in her eyes.
All she could think of in that horrible moment was how it felt like producing an egg for the first time- that first time one was never prepared for. It'd been so long ago now that she hadn't really remembered the truth of the pain until now. She grits her teeth and cries out on her knees holding her chest;
And it's suddenly blissfully dark.
[5]
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Post by Nadia on May 17, 2021 7:43:19 GMT -6
Node creation: success! Cooldown ends 16th May 2022
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