Over The Horizon [Yassia]

[Lucy Halacre]

The trees were swaying ominously in the high winds that had graced the forest. Torrential rain unleashed it's anger, drenching the forest grounds, turning the firm soil into a quagmire of mud. An occasional 'crack' echoed through the forest, and it wasn't always the flashes pf light from the sky. An aging tree snapped at it's roots and fell across a path with a loud thud. The Forest of Ascetir was haunted by a horrendous gale.

You'd have to be mad to be out strolling in this weather. But the young girl, soaked by the rain and making her way cautiously, was not by any means strolling. She glanced up at the rumbling sky every so often in fear, but kept going, her rumbling stomach her only motivation.

Some people, most likely nobility, would dismiss herb gathering as the simplest sort of work, yet they had no idea of the true hazards. Bandits, wild animals, extreme weather conditions...this job had them all. Why, just the other week, the young girl had nearly been trampled by a startled gizelle.

Yes, there were many, many occasions when Lucy Halacre wished beyond all imagination that she had never began to trade in medicine. Why hadn't she been a seamstress instead? She knew of at least three seamstresses in Camelot, they probably had their feet up in front of a burning fire right now. Warm and toasty. And she was here, in this boggy forest. Trying to collect herbs that had probably already been drowned.

She grimaced as she stepped over the trunk of a fallen tree. If she had set out ten minutes earlier, perhaps she would have been squashed beneath that heavy trunk. She spared a glance at the towering trees, then shook her head and carried on. No use lingering over fallen trees and 'what ifs?'

Lucy was just about to give up and head home because of the distinct lack of plant life, when she heard a muttered curse. Wondering who could possibly be crazy enough to venture out, apart from her of course, she moved towards the voice.

Pushing aside a thicket of gooseberries, she saw a woman she didn't recognise.

"What in God's name are you doing here?"

Tagged: Yassia
When: Late Winter
Word Count: 372

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Had she known Albion was a country prone for tempests and rainstorms, COLD rainstorms to be precise, Yassia maybe would have thought twice about fleeing here, uncle or not. What was it, the third time she had been caught in such a weather unexpectedly?! Or even more?! Well, the number didn’t matter, it was the result that counted and this result was always the same: She was drenched, shivering cold and scared out of her wits! Tempests had seemed alright, even a bit adventuresome when you had the strong walls of a castle around you, to protect and shield you from the worst, but out here, in this nightmare, any step could be your last – even more so as she was inside a forest. There was this unspoken rule of lightning bolts always hitting trees and while the branches at least formed some sort of roof, albeit a holey one, those bolts now had ample choice to strike a tree – and by another unspoken law it was always the tree the poor wanderer had sought shelter under… Just great!

Eventually, Yassia had striked lucky after all, as while stumbling through the slippery forest she had happened upon an elder bush. Now every child knew that the friendly spirit of Mother Elder living in every bush protected the thicket and even the trees around it from catching on fire, and so the dripping princess had crawled beneath it, of course asking permission beforehand. Sadly enough there were not many leaves left to keep the rain off her body and face, but then again, there was not a dry spot left on Yassia, it didn’t really matter.
On the down side, the eldertree was growing in close proximity to several gooseberry bushes, and the thick branches, adorned with thornes of which some had the length of her little finger, teared at the fabric of her cloak and dress whenever she so much as moved. Happy entangling later!

And then, just ten minutes before Yassia had been experiencing one of the most sever shocks of her life when a tree had given way to the storm, smashing on the ground just a few yards away, making the ground tremble with the impact. That could have been another tree, nearer to her, and then even Mother Elder would not have been able to help her.
Shivering, she wanted to draw her soaking wet cloak a little tighter around her small frame, but of course the thornes intervened again. Muttering a curse in her mother tongue, she teared at it to get free – when suddenly a voice was heared over the rolling thunder, nearly giving Yassia another heart attack.

"What in God's name are you doing here?"
Hmm… what did it look like? Given, it was not the wisest thing to be caught out in a rainstorm such as this one and so the question was valid, still, Yassia couldn’t quite help her black humor taking over.
“Oh, the usual I guess”, she greeted the shadow, probably a girl judging from the voice with a tired smile and a muffled sneeze. “Getting drenched, hiding out from lightning, what people do who are unwise enough to get surprised by a thunderstorm. You?”
Even if this stranger could prove a threat to her, Yassia was beyond caring. For all she knew Heaven was a dry place.

[Lucy Halacre]

Lucy had come across people in the woods before, but not when it was throwing such a stupendous storm as this. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't exactly tell her that walking in a wood in this sort of weather was damaging to one's health. Hopefully the woman already knew that though. Perhaps that was why all she could see of the woman were two feet and a bush. She had, however, justified her reasoning she was talking to a woman by the fact that the shoes the girl was wearing were quite obviously feminine.

Lucy had never been taught superstitions, her family not really believing too much in them. However, the druids put a heavy emphasis on them, and while Lucy could not or would not follow them, she knew that an elder bush was supposed to bring protection. Her practical side also knew that while lightening might be prevented from hitting the woman, a tree trunk would certainly be having no qualms about squashing a bush flat.


"Sounds familiar," Lucy crouched on the ground, "I'm just doing my job, actually. You know, to pay for my continued life and all. Storms are all part of the day."

That was a bit of bravado actually. She had barely ever been in a storm quite as bad as this one. Storms very often passed extremely quickly, and this one had been bothering her for the worst part of an hour.

"But what are you doing in this wood? I know most people round here, and you're definately not a local?"

Tagged: Yassia
Word Count: 264 *cringe*
Notes: I'm sorry, both for the delay and the word count. It's six am though, so I hope you'll forgive me?

[Yassia Dyfrène de Ailantha]

Just her job? What was that supposed to mean? Was walking out in a stormy night considered a job? Well, this was Albion she had seen stranger things happening… then again it could be her frozen mind suggesting such odd things… she was clearly too cold and wet for straight thinking. Hmmm… maybe she should ask, to clear the fog in her mind? That might pass the time and distract her from the fearful force of nature striking down all around her. If you met people in such circumstances, you better make the best of it, and this girl seemed nice enough by the first impression Yassia got.

“What’s your job if it involves being out in this kind of weather?” she asked and stiffled a sneeze, wringing out the lower parts of her long hair that were not covered with her hood – a futile thing to do, as the rain still kept coming, even through the elderbrush branches. “Sounds not very amiable to me if I can be so bold.”

The next statement was one very frequently used on Yassia, but she was surprised that the girl still seemed to be able to tell her apart in this semi-darkness and all covered up. It seemed she knew her crowd very well. In broad daylight, Yassia was easy to tell apart from the Albion people, mostly by her olive-toned skin so typical for the Ailanthians, though hers was a little lighter than that of the other nobles she knew or the commoners. Her mother had been from here after all, and it showed.
She didn’t mind being asked in the slightest, though, it was not like being nosy, the question was a valid one. Passing strangers did not always bring good things, and people had a right to be suspicious, however much out of instinct and unintendedly.

“Well, I was passing this wood when the thunderstorm came out of nowhere”, Yassia explained, adjusting her sitting position to get more comfortable. “I’m on my way to Camelot, is it still far?” Realising she was speaking to someone she didn’t even know the name of, she offered her own. “I’m Yassia by the way, soaked travellor, pleased to meet you!”