A Walker in the Snow

[d0ntc4r3 104]

     A hooded woman would walk the forests of the frozen North at night, having just returned from a long pilgrimage. Her hand brushes against the bark of a tree as an owl hoots, far off. Her worst fears are being realized. The death of her father will never be forgotten. The loss of her home will never be forgotten. The death of her brother will never be forgotten. She vows for vengeance. For justice.

     "By any means," she whispers to herself.

     Holding her daughter close to her chest, she gazes up at the moon, using it as her guide. The bushes rustle and the sound of wolves can be heard a ways off. She doesn't fear them, however, for fear is the mind killer, and her mind is alive with a rage, a sadness, and a determination not felt in her family for generations.

     She makes her ways south, hoping to find her husband or someone she knows. Someone she can trust. But where to go? Riga? Felsen? Nowhere is safe. No one is safe. She holds her daughter closer, wanting to turn back time to the days of innocence. To the days before everything went out of control. She thinks of her friend, Valeria, long dead now. She thinks of her home, Nikae, most likely in ruins. Oh, how she wished the world weren't so cruel!

     She whispers a few names to herself: "Jaromir, Ivan, Fiske, Brittannus, Dagr..." There were a few others, but their names escape her. She thinks of futility, and the unlikelihood of any justice prevailing. Looking down to her young daughter, the hooded woman sees a warrior to train.

 

     By daylight, the eaten corpse of a rabbit lies next to a fire. The hooded woman sharpens her axe. Gathering her supplies and kicking the ashes away, she sets on her journey once more. Where to, no one knows. But for now, she walks.

[HeroOfDuLoc 1935]

Jaromir looks down from the seven skies, "What?"

[iris1612 1780]

Brandon feels relieved for a reason he can't explain