Elixirs and Echoes of Honor

Pyrrha followed Kali outside to one of the large fields. She blinked when she saw one had been cleared of the briers that had previously covered it. Even though she was definitely having trouble remembering more recent things. should really remember seeing the large field covered in briers and other plants. "How did the field get cleared? And why?" She could see piles of different types of briers. Obviously having been thoughtfully sorted through by whoever had cleared the field. She personally couldn't see any difference. but they were obviously sorted, so they had to be different. "Oh, Blake cleared the field so that way the Solaris Blooms and sunfruit can have a place to go. Arjun, Ghira’s father, kept a large flock of auroraswifts until the last few years of life. He died when Blake was around ten. She helped keep the flock well cared for until he died and we took them to the Sanctum." "If Ghira's family is descended from Leianis. Why would he keep birds sacred to Rhyza?" She looked at Sunveil who sat on her shoulder. There was no doubt with the colors the bird was sacred to Rhyza. Their bodies were a golden hue with the main part of the wing being blue, the first feathers on the wing being pink Then the next being purple, then the tail feathers being orange. They were really pretty birds, but why keep a bird dedicated to a different deity than the one whose child they were descended from? It made no sense to her. "Rhyza called Arjun to be a Lightweaver and a Wardcrafter. Normally, magic is relatively predictable. My family is normally Lightweavers and Wardcrafters due to being descended from Solaro. We are normally Illumancers, but the gods just have other ideals for us." Kati shrugged "And, dear? You can be frank when speaking to me. This isn't high court where manners are everything and one little misstep can result in you being expelled. We're commoners. Yes, manners hate their place, but they aren't everything." Pyrrha sighed. "If only it were that easy... I've had manners drilled into me from the time I arrived at the pegasus Knights." Even though it'd been months, it would take more than that to override such deep in stick. That and, with how she'd been betrayed, she didn't want to talk to people too much. Kali nodded. "Well, as you get more comfortable being here, you can speak your mind openly." She paused before continuing. "Now, You wanted to know how the gods interact with commoners in their everyday lives?" Pyrrha nodded a bit. She held her hand up to Surveil and he hopped onto it. Aside from the main body color, she had noticed that Sunveil's colors were more saturated than his mate's. Hers had been more pastel. The bird leaned his head forward and she petted it. "All I'm used to is dedicating everything to Heshia… Stormladies are dually trained as knights and priestesses if they reach the rank. I didn't reach that rank when I was…cast out. I'm just so used to following what Stormladies and Windcallers say… We had to give morning prayers and simple rites in the morning, then again in the evening. Heshia demands our pure loyalty and purity of mind, body, soul, and heart. I have no idea how to deal with deities outside of Heshia." Life in the knights had been so structured and focused on Heshia. She simply didn't know how to cope without that structure and with having turned her back on the gods as a whole. "For the most part, the deities don't interact with us on a personal level unless there's a good reason to do so. Apparently Velora sent a message to Blake this morning before she found you. Well, it was a message from Heshia through Velora. But it was through a divine message we even knew to look for you." Pyrrha frowned. "I don't understand the will of the gods. Heshia didn't stand up for me, but sent a message to Blake through Velora?" Why? Why would Heshia do that? She really didn't understand. Why attempt to help her now after ignoring her for half a year? The gods made absolutely no sense to her now. She thought she understood Keshia's will after being in the deity's service for so long, but she was apparently wrong. Nothing made any sense to her now. The pegasus knights had made the gods seem so cut and dry, but now, they seemed more complex than she'd thought. "Even Diviners don't fully understand the will of the gods, dear. The demigods are easier to understand as they were once human, but even so, they're eons old. They know things well beyond mortal Ken. Especially Alaethe. We can't talk know the will of any divine or semi-divine figure. You're hurt from what happened, right?" Pyrrha's heart constricted in her heart at the question. She really didn't want to give up information about herself so easily... but Kali seemed to see straight through her. She sighed internally and gave a small nod. "I won't say your feelings are right or wrong, but the will of the gods is their own. There may be a greater reason Heshia released you from their service than you know. I won't force you to try to believe and be devout again or anything like that, it isnt my place. But please don't treat San veil or Echo badly. Rhyza told them to come to you and help you heal." She sighed. "I know you're no Diviner, but do you think there are strings attached with these animals?" She didn't want the bird or the dog but there wasn't a lot she could do about it. They were animals and deserved to be treated well. She just really didn't want Rhyza to make her feel indebted into entering his service. She really didn't know much about the gods outside of Heshia. She had no idea what Rhyza would be thinking in a situation like this. She just... It was hard to know what to think anymore. Kali shook her head. "Keep in mind Rhyza is the god of dawn renewal, and second chances. He wants to see people grow and flourish. He probably gave them to you as companions so you could start to thrive again. Auroraswifts and Dawnsworn retrievers are both very sweet animals. Auroraswifts are pure joy while Dawnsworn retrievers are known to be sensitive to people and their needs. They can sense bad moods or other things. I'm no expert, but I believe you may be experiencing heart bound shadows." Pyrrha blinked at that. In the pegasus knights, it was known as unquiet winds. She had seen sisters experience an quiet winds after severe events like bandit ambushes or other highly traumatic events. It... would honestly make some sense if that were the case... "Is there anybody that could help me understand if that's what I'm experiencing?" She really just wanted to understand what she was experiencing now. She was so distraught and so numb. She knew she wasn't who she'd been months ago when she'd left the Pegasus Knights. She really just felt... nothing anymore. No joy, no warmth, no nothing. She was so numb now. Winter's harsh cold had really frozen her heart over but she could still feel rage toward the gods and indignation at how she'd been treated. All she wanted was to go back to the knights and her sisters. It was the only way of life she knew. All she wanted was to go back, but she also knew the sisters that had betrayed her wouldn't sit right with her. What a mess. She wished she had succumb to the cold of winter and hadn't seen the new spring dawn. "Not here in Hazelmire unfortunately. You'd have to travel to Willowhaven which is about thee weeks' travel back west. It'd be faster on your Pegasus, of course, but with the state you're in, I don't think she's much better." Pyrrha sighed and shook her head. "Nendia's not in great shape either..." She confessed. "I probably wouldn't survive another three weeks of travel and neither would she." No, both of them were very much at their limits. Even if she had provisions, neither of them had very much energy to continue on. Honestly, she was shocked Heshia hadn't called Nendia back. She had neglected the pegasus and pegasi were Heshia's most sacred animals in The will of the gods truly was unknowable. Kali nodded. "And we really don't have the resources to supply you for three weeks either… Thankfully, last fall's harvest was bountiful, so we have enough to comfortably stay until the first harvest of this year." Pyrrha frowned." Yes, even with you staying with us. You aren't eating much right now, so it's not a burden. By time you start eating fully again, the first harvests should be rolling in. I'll make you a fourth of a serving for now. When you start feeling up to more, let me know." Pyrrha nodded a bit. "Okay." She sighed. "What about me working? I don't want to just be a leech on your reserves..." She wasn't the type of person to sit on her laurels and not do anything. She really wanted to help out in some shape, may, or form. Granted, she knew nothing of herbs or apothecary life. she was more than willing to learn. She was always willing to learn, but Blake had been trained for this since birth. She would understand everything going on here unlike Pyrrha. And she was still so weak. "Though, I also do seem to be having memory problems on top of being so weak… The past few months are nothing but a blur…" Kali's ears twitched. "Don't worry about that right now, dearie. Focus on recovering and regaining your strength. I suppose if you want to, though, you can be in charge of our stables. It'll be a few hours of work a day. And you can take care of your Nendia as well." she smiled at Pyrrha. "Just know that Symphony, Blake's mount, can be touchy due to being an Everwild horse." Pyrrha nodded a bit. "I'll try to remember that." It'd likely be hard, though. At least from the verbal perspective. Her mind was so foggy that she couldn't easily remember much right now. Was it the lack of food? Lack of rest? Both? She had no idea. She was really just trying to figure her life out now. It was so hard to be motivated to do anything right now. The lack of energy made it hard to even practice her spear. Though, would she ever need it again? She doubted it. This town was large enough it had trained guards and tall walls. The entire town was encompassed. "For now, why don't I show you when things are and where each horse goes?" Pyrrha nodded at Kali's words. They left the field they were in and Kali gave her a good rundown of each of the horses as well as well as where everything was. There was a board where each horse's feed was written down. That would be an absolute lifesaver for the time being. No way would she remember the details of each portion of feed fora while. She could see somebody had already written out Nendia's name but grain portions hadn't been given. She could remember what Nendia had had back in the Sisterhood, but she was no Pegasus nutritionist. She didn't know what Nendia would need. "Is there anybody that can help me figure out what grain portions Nendia needs?" "Kaelen at the Sanctum is the local horse expert. He's one of Lorrick's Diviners and works with a lot of animals. It's getting to be dark now. So either you can go or one of us can." Pyrrha must have looked putout from how Kali responded. "I'll go first thing in the morning and bring him so he can look at her. Does that sound all right?" Pyrrha nodded, "I know how to do a lot for Nendia, but her nutrition is beyond me, though… Her feet are really in a bad way. I learned to ferry her hooves. Do you have the tools for that? I'd like to take care of it maybe tomorrow." The sun was setting, so she really didn't have the daylight to take care of it. There wasn't a whole lot she could do about Nendia's hooves on the road. All of that muck and mire had really done a number on the pegasus' hooves. Getting them back on track would take time. "We don't have any of that equipment on us unfortunately, I can have Kaelen bring it with him." Kali smiled. "We'll get your Nendia back on track, I promise. You're in good hands here." She walked over to Pyrrha. "Would you like a hag, honey?" Pyrrha blinked, not sure how to respond to that. She hadn't had physical contact with anybody in a long time that wasn't Nendia. She really wasn't sure what to do with this… “I'm... not sure." She just... She didn't know how to deal with people anymore. Her courtly manners were gone now. She'd avoided people for close to seven months. And she'd not much interacted with commoners either. Almost everyone she knew was disinherited nobility or taken into the knights at a young age. She really just had no idea how to deal with people outside of the knights. All of this hurt so much. All she wanted was life to go back to normal—at least, normal for her—but she knew That would never happen. She felt tears welling in her eyes and she pushed them back. No. Right now wasn't the time or Place to cry. She really didn't need to break down in front of this kind, warm woman. She was frankly getting tired and the sun was very low on the horizon. She was incredibly exhausted despite the nap she'd taken. "I should sleep. We should all get to bed. Can you show me where I'll be staying?" She really didn't want to continue this conversation. She felt cornered and needed a way out. She wasn't lying and really did want to get to bed. "Very well. Although be prepared to wake as the sun dawns. Auroraswifts start singing at the first rays begin to come over the horizon. That is if you want to stay with Sunveil and Arielle." Kali rested her cheek in her hand. "Are you okay with that?" "I'm used to rising with the first light of dawn anyway." She shrugged. No need to change that. The past months had been hard and the only constant in her life had been the sun's rise and set. Well, Nendia was a constant as well, but that was a given. A rider and pegasus rarely parted with Pegasi usually watching over their riders in sleep. Pegasi were rarely ever tied in pickets like normal horses because when trained, a Pegasus was one of the most stalwart companions a person could have. They would rather fight than Spook and run when bonded to their rider. Kali nodded. "All right then. Go to the top of the stairs then find the room where Blake put your things. There are only two bedrooms on the floor, so it shouldn't be hard to tell which one you'll be staying in." She smiled and Pyrrha nodded, following Kali's directions. The climb felt long to her with her weakened state and she was out of breath by time she reached the top. And it was well and truly dark by time she got there. There were no lights for her to see by.. She could see some lights off in the distance, likely The sanctum, as well as twinkles from below her of other homes. She sighed and looked down. She wasn't sure she'd be able to make another trip down and up the stairs again to get some candles... Then a boof came from the darkness and she blinked. "Echo?" The dog boofed in response again and she felt a Paw, then a nose touch her leg. She leaned down and gently put her hand on the dog's back, slid it along, and then very softly wrapped her hand around her tail. Her hold was soft, just enough to keep hold of the fluff. "Okay, can you guide me?" The dog started walking slowly, Pyrrha completely blind. After a few minutes, Echo stopped and she heard the dog's nails scraping on wood. She stood up and found the door handle. As soon as she opened it, a soft light flickered on to her relief. She was more than glad to be able to see more and more about freely. The room itself was surprisingly spacious with large windows. Nobody would be able to see her this high as she didn't see any other lights. Everything else twinkled below her. She heard a whine and looked down. seeing Echo with her ears pinned back. Oh, right. She went back over to the dog and patted her head. "Thank you for the help." Echo's ears came up and she let out a little, tiny bark. With that done, Pyrrha grabbed some clothes and changed into them. A glowing orb stood on the small table next to the bed. She crawled beneath the covers and touched it. darkness flooding the room. Before she knew it, sleep had claimed her and she drifted into nothingness.