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Famous Last Stand - Amarantha - 07-10-2018 Hot panting breath against her heels and flanks. The sharp tear of teeth in her skin. Her own heartbeat pounding in her chest as she struggled to outrun them. Somewhere, not too far behind, the sound of hunter's horns echoing stridently through the air. Pain lanced up Amarantha's leg as one of the hounds sank a fang into her left hind leg. A desperate, flailing, kick was followed by a sharp yelp and jaws releasing her hock. Staggering but upright, she gathered her legs under her and leapt. The series of surprised barks, howls and yelps behind her told Amarantha that the hounds had tumbled down into to the old, dried creekbed. The thick undergrowth meant that, unless you knew it was there, you wouldn't see the steep embankments until you were right on top of it. Not that it would stop them long. Already, Amarantha could hear their claws scrabbling up the loose, crumbling bank. She cleared the distance and landed with a stagger, her injured leg nearly giving way. Pushing on, she dodged around a tree trunk, it's rough bark scraping her hide. Plunging through the choking undergrowth, she pushed past thick the thick, thorny, scrub. Though she knew this forest inside out, Amarantha found herself starting to get disoriented. The effects of exhaustion, no doubt. She scrambled over a tumble of fallen logs and nearly plowed into a granite boulder. Dodging around it, she nearly ran into a patch of Stingweed. This time of year? And so far from standing water? She barely had time to register the thought, as a steep ditch forced her to veer right. Crashing and stumbling, a massive ancient tree brought her to a bone-jarring halt. Eyes darting frantically, she saw that it was a dead end. The only way back was the way she had come. Well. She had known she couldn't outrun them forever. But if she was going down, she was going to take as many of them down with her as she could. Amarantha turned to face her pursuers, legs trembling with fatigue, her flanks lathered with sweat, chest heaving with deep, ragged breaths. The glowing markings that covered her skin flickered and dimmed. Horn lowered, Amarantha waited for death. And waited. The sound of the hunt came steadily closer and then, with startling abruptness, was silenced. In the unsettling hush that followed, the only sounds were that of her pounding heart and gasping breath. No birds sang. No leaves rustled. An oppressive, unnatural silence filled the space with it's presence. Where am I? Nothing looked familiar, and she knew every corner of the forest. Somehow, she had stumbled into the unknown. Overwhelmed, her legs finally gave way under her. As she crashed into into the leaf litter with a loud thud, she was suddenly acutely aware that she was in an unfamiliar place, smelling of blood and sweat, and too exhausted to run. To exhausted even to heal herself. Well, I never expected to live out this day. Let it be what it will. With determined resignation, Amarantha raised her head to look her fate in the face. Amarantha
You were named for the Amaranth
Whose bloom means life unending And whose name means Love Lies Bleeding Magic: Healing: Ability to heal with her touch, preferably with her horn. Difficult or big jobs take exponentially more energy the more complicated they are Offensive: Ability to twist her healing to cause harm - unknitting bones and muscles, causing infections instead of healing them, turning medicine into poison, etc. Healing: Ability to calm and soothe with her song Mutations Bioluminescent blue-green markings that can flicker or change brightness depending on her mood and energy. RE: Famous Last Stand - Eira - 07-10-2018
Eira doesn't have a horn yet (ignore the picture), and she is speaking telepathically. RE: Famous Last Stand - Rift Presence - 07-10-2018
The Rift is not only a place - it is a being. Dark, mysterious, and suddenly, it is all around you. You are vaguely aware of its presence, of burning eyes watching your every move. It almost feels like the same force can read your thoughts, leaving you vulnerable, out in the open. There is no hiding here. But if you peer into the shadows, try to find it, there is nothing. Only a cold, gentle breath of wind that sends chills running down your spine and eerie susurations in your ears. “Talk.” the Rift | ACCEPTANCE NOTES : Amarantha | Magic: Offensive: With the touch of her horn, Amarantha has the ability to cause great harm - unknit bones and muscles, trigger bodily infections, and turn medicine into poison. The Rift devours both of your healing magics. Mutations: Bioluminescent blue-green markings that can flicker or change brightness depending on her mood and energy. Welcome to the Rift! RE: Famous Last Stand - Amarantha - 07-10-2018 Amarantha's ears twitched as a faint noise broke the stillness. It was the crunch of hoarfrost and leaf litter underfoot. So faint as to be barely perceptible. Slowly someone came into view. A pale filly appeared. One of the Erienuin? Had Amarantha somehow found her way home? But no, the hope died almost as soon as it had been born. This was a stranger, with wings and no horn. With the sureness of a practised healer, Amarantha read the tale suffering, starvation, and hardship written in the little filly's delicate, stunted features. Clearly, this was a harsh, dangerous, place. But equally clearly this child - no, on second glance she was older than her size might indicate, a yearling maybe? - was not one of those dangers. It was the first friendly face she had seen in a long time. Or at least, the first one that wasn't trying to kill her. It was more than she had dared to hope for. Slowly she rose up, front legs first, and then the hind ones. The stranger asks her if she's hurt, and Amarantha does a quick mental inventory - blood loss, pulse thready and rapid, numerous puncture wounds - painful, but not deep enough to be dangerous - bruising on her neck, chest and shoulders, luckily no broken ribs, and, of course, bone-deep weariness. Not good, but not fatal She gingerly shifted her weight into her injured leg and winced. The tendons are swollen and painful but, luckily, not torn. "I..." she stops, startled by her in voice after so long. "I'll live. I'll just be limping for a few days. Maybe less, if I can heal it. I was... am... a healer." Even after everything that she's done, Amarantha still thinks of herself as a healer, first and foremost. Throughout this conversation, Amarantha had been aware of a vague sensation of uneasiness. A directionless sense of being watched. Now, as her words died away, she felt as though her very soul were being wrenched apart. Suddenly thrashing on three legs, she looks around wildly, but see nothing. "Is it you? Are you doing this?" she demands of the stranger. "Make it stop! Please!" she begs, as she feels all that she holds dear, all that she is, evaporate away like morning mist. A low moan escapes her, hollow and broken. She reaches for her magic but she already knows. "It's gone" she whispers. All her healing, her only remaining purpose in life, is gone. It makes a horrible, chilling, sort of sense. Amarantha had once forsaken her calling, and now her calling had forsaken her. All that remained was darkness and death. Amarantha
You were named for the Amaranth
Whose bloom means life unending And whose name means Love Lies Bleeding @Eira RE: Famous Last Stand - Eira - 07-13-2018
- Able to speak into the mind of another, using images or words. - Able to summon thunder-snow storms (she doesn't know it yet). Forgive my inability to avoid drama >.> RE: Famous Last Stand - Amarantha - 07-13-2018
Hollow. She was empty and hollow. Inside her, in the space where her one comfort had remained, nothing but a gnawing void. No way, any longer, to pretend that she wasn't a monster. No way to atone, to forget all those who had died because of her
As the sense of violation fades, and the invading force withdraws, panic gives way to desolation Her markings flicker, dim, and go dull in sync with her spirit. Images flicker into her mind. Experiences not her own. From the flood of images and words, Amarantha pieces together an undertanding. Looking up at the other girl, Amarantha can sense the honesty of her vision. The frail blue and silver waif looks ready to bolt, her body taught as a spring. She looks ready to vanish into the snow. Silence stretches out between them as flakes of snow flurry down through the frozen air and fall thick on the forest floor. Amarantha wants to comfort her, but doesn't know what to say. In the end, she settles for the truth. "I was afraid," she says softly. "I'm sorry if I scared you." Amarantha
You were named for the Amaranth Whose bloom means life unending And whose name means "Love Lies Bleeding" Sorry this post was so up in Amarantha's head. Future ones will be less internal drama, I promise! RE: Famous Last Stand - Eira - 07-13-2018
I love your girl <3 RE: Famous Last Stand - Amarantha - 07-13-2018 "I have a home here," the words turn up in Amarantha's mind. “It is safe. There are others.” The words feel like an invitation. Images of people, and feelings of security flash through her thoughts. A safe place. People to belong to. For Amarantha, who has lived in self-imposed exile for so long, the idea is alluring beyond words. But would they even want you, if they knew what you are? What you've done? The thought creeps unbidden into her mind, sending a chill down her spine. And yet what choice did she have if she wanted to live? In this strange, perilous place whatever magic she does have might fail her at any time. And she was no warrior. She had never trained to fight. So she bows her neck in gratitude to the yearling's kind offer. "I'm not sure how long I can stay, how long you might be willing to late me stay..." she says hesitantly, "My past is... " she falters. "I can promise that I offer you no malice," she finishes somewhat awkwardly, cringing at how abrupt and suspicious her words sound even to her own ears. "I limp too," "Oh, maybe I can...." Amarantha begins then stops abruptly. "maybe I can heal you," she'd been about to say, but of course she couldn't. "Maybe I can lean on you and you on me," she amends. She steps towards the petite yearling carefully, moving slowly so as not to scare her. She was not quite as old as Amarantha's own sister, Nocturna, would have been, but her eyes held the suffering of one much older. For a moment, the older woman feels the urge to groom the silver not-quite-child's mane, to work out those tangles, as she used to do for her Nocturna. But she checks her presumption and drops her gaze. "Lead the way. I'm Amarantha, by the way. I don't think I caught your name?" she asks, as she follows her new guide into this unknown world. Amarantha
You were named for the Amaranth Whose bloom means life unending And whose name means "Love Lies Bleeding" RE: Famous Last Stand - Eira - 07-17-2018
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