On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

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Alianora
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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Alianora » July 28th, 2019, 8:31 pm

Stefana Sedai
Stefana gazed off into the gardens, trying to make sense of what she knew as the Gaidin talked to the older woman. While she did pay attention to the conversation, most of what she heard didn't help her clarify any of what they'd recently learned. Something about it didn't quite feel right to her, but Stefana was having trouble identifying just what that something was. She frowned while she thought, but once she rejoined the conversation, displayed nothing but polite interest.

"Your garden looks fine from here," she offered after the mention of rabbits. "They might have nibbled on the plants around the edges, but most of it hasn't been touched."

The woman smiled and said, "Well, that's good to know. Perhaps it won't be too bad once I can stand going out there again. But right now, I've some baking needs tending to, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Stefana said, and as soon as the door closed behind the woman, the Aes Sedai was heading down the farmhouse's few steps. She walked back towards the woman's garden, moving carefully towards the place where they'd left the foot. She glanced towards the house, checking to make sure the woman hadn't come back outside, then looked at Natlya.

"I think it might be best if we bury this," she said quietly, waving a hand in the general direction of the foot. "I wouldn't want that woman to have to see it if she does decide to work in the garden soon." Her eyes left Natlya's briefly to study where the foot lay, partly hidden under a fallen lettuce leaf, and seeing it again brought to mind just what had been bothering her earlier.

She leaned down, moving the leaf aside, and muttered quietly, "I can barely see the tattoo now...and I know it's here and where it is. I know she said her husband never had one, but do you think she might have missed it? It's so small, and I don't think it would have been hard to keep the bottom of his foot out of her sight anyways. I just don't believe it's a coincidence that it was left here when her husband is missing."

After standing back up and turning her attention back to the Gaidin, Stefana said, "After we finish with this....I think we should leave the village and see what we can learn along the market road. I thought about going to talk to the other families, but I'm not sure they'll know anything we haven't already heard."

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Bella » August 1st, 2019, 6:15 pm

"No, I don't think it's a coincidence," Natlya agreed, her expression solemn. "But... I don't know if I think it's her husband's. Even on the bottom of his foot, it could take a lot of work to hide it from his wife of so long. You live with someone, you slip up on things. The truth is always easier to remember than a lie."

Kneeling on one knee, she also examined the foot another time. The crusted-over stump revealed no more secrets now than it had before, but she looked anyway.

Natlya thought it through. "The wife could be lying," she said, "but my gut says not. Maybe this was left here as a warning of some sort, to the wife or maybe someone passing by..." She sighed heavily. "Just in case the wife is completely innocent in it all, burying it would be wise. Shall I do so now, Aes Sedai, or do you have more you wish to look at?" She stood again.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Alianora » August 2nd, 2019, 10:13 pm

Stefana Sedai
"I never said she was lying," Stefana objected, if quietly enough that it wouldn't be heard by any ears but the Gaidin's. "I just thought she might be possibly be mistaken." She shrugged. "But you may well be right that it would be too difficult for a husband to keep anything from his wife, even something so small." After all, it's not as if I know anything about married life, she observed to herself. While true, the thought made Stefana feel rather ignorant, something the Aes Sedai hated.

Her expression didn't change from the calm she almost always displayed in front of others, but inwardly, Stefana fought to ignore her irritation with herself. The long years of practice allowed her to do this with relative ease, though it was never exactly easy. Her eyes shifted towards the foot, and she shook her head at the Gaidin. "I don't need to see the foot again," she said, "so you can bury it, if you wouldn't mind."

The Red sister paused, considering the other woman and the differences between them. It hadn't taken long after her arrival for Stefana to notice that nearly all of the members of the Grey Tower involved themselves with the world beyond it in a way that was completely unfamiliar to her. She'd never been one to seclude herself within the White Tower, and had always worked well with the people she met outside of it, but she always felt slightly separate from that world, a sense of isolation that as far as Stefana could tell did not exist in the Grey Tower.

Her thoughts did nothing to improve her mood, and she took a deep breath before addressing Natlya again. "When you're done with that, do you think it would be better to try to speak to the other families, or see what we can find on the market road?" The decision would be hers in the end, but she wanted the Gaidin's opinion. She didn't like to admit it to herself, and would never have spoken of it to anyone else, but she thought she just might trust the other woman's input over her own right now.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Bella » August 12th, 2019, 9:10 pm

Burying a single foot, separate from the rest of its natural body, was certainly not a task that Natlya had much experience with... As a Gaidin, she had seen--and created--her share of corpses, but there was something entirely other about burying a limb minus its host. That it was a limb with so many mysteries took it to another point entirely...

"...do you think it would be better to try to speak to the other families, or see what we can find on the market road?"

Some Aes Sedai asked the opinions of their Gaidin, although it was usually the bonded or those more familiar with one another. Still, she appreciated that the Red did. The redheaded Gaidin tilted her head slightly and thought it through, though she did not dawdle over it either because she knew they did not have all the time in the world to stand here and think.

"I believe your plan is our best bet, Aes Sedai," she said with a small inclination of her head. "We should move along the market road and see what we can find out."

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Alianora » August 14th, 2019, 10:23 pm

Stefana Sedai
Once the foot had been disposed of, Stefana got back on her horse, riding down the narrow village road to where it met the larger one that presumably would lead them to the town where these people went to sell their goods. While the road was wider than the one in Blackstone, there didn't seem to be many people traveling on it. It could just be the wrong time for it...but maybe there's a reason why so few people are using this road. The Aes Sedai brought Blackbird to a stop before the horse could continue on, pausing to read the sign that stood beside the road. Unlike most she'd seen, this sign only listed a single town and its direction.

"It looks as though we're heading to a town called North Bridge," she said to the Gaidin, and then urged Blackbird forward. The village of Blackstone quickly faded away behind them, and just as the sign had suggested, it was not replaced by any other small villages. Stefana had expected that this part of Arafel wouldn't be heavily populated, but the isolation of it was unsettling. It seemed to become even more so as they rode, seeing nothing but trees, grass, and very rarely, an occasional farmhouse set back from the road.

She had just caught sight of a few rooftops, suggesting that they were getting close to the town, when she noticed that they were approaching another small house. At first glance, it looked just like the very few others they'd seen on their way, with nothing in particular to draw attention to itself. As they got closer to it, however, Stefana couldn't miss seeing that the wooden front door was wide open.

In her childhood home in Kandor, the doors had always been at least closed, usually locked, and the Aes Sedai doubted that any Borderlander would be so careless. She tugged on Blackbird's reins, bringing the horse to a stop, but didn't get down yet. Instead, Stefana studied the house, looking for anything else unusual. She couldn't help but think of the strange foot they'd just dealt with, and rather hoped she wouldn't notice anything else like that here.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Bella » August 29th, 2019, 1:53 am

Natlya Cade would have been a poor excuse for a Gaidin if she hadn't noticed the open door as well.

She had not grown up in the borderlands, but she had spent many, many years as a thief. She studied people and learned different traits for those in different areas. Borderlanders were cautious, sometimes outright suspicious to the point of paranoia, and given their proximity to the Blight, who could really blame them?

All that being what it was, the open door was unusual...and Natlya was immediately on edge.

Her hazel eyes snapped from point to point around them, looking at everything and for everything. Her body posture was that warder-trained tight and loose as she prepared for trouble. She had no idea what sort of trouble it might be, but she was ready for it. She pursed her lips slightly. "I presume you would wish to investigate the house, Aes Sedai?" she asked, voice low and taut.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Alianora » September 1st, 2019, 8:51 pm

Stefana Sedai
The Red was still staring at the open door when Natlya spoke to her, startling her away from her study of it. From her place in the saddle, stopped on the road, Stefana had seen nothing of obvious interest besides that door, but hadn't really thought she would. If she wanted to learn anything, they were going to have to look inside, exactly as the Gaidin seemed to be expecting, She slid out of Blackbird's saddle, the reins still clutched in one hand as she walked over to the other woman.

"Yes, I think we should," Stefana informed her, looking up as she spoke. "In the Borderlands, we just don't leave doors sitting open like that. Nobody wants to risk inviting in anyone from your common thief to Trollocs or worse." She turned her head for a moment, contemplating the possible threats that could lay beyond the open door. "This may or may not have anything to do with the missing men from Blackstone, but the only way to know for sure is to go in and see what we find out."

Knowing that the Gaidin would wish to enter first, Stefana walked away then, locating a tree in the yard and leading Blackbird the short distance to it. She left the horse there, securely tied, and occupied herself with studying the outside of the house while she waited on Natlya. Now that she was closer, the Aes Sedai could see several signs of wear. The wood of the doorframe was slightly warped, the roof lacked thatching in several areas, and one of the shutters on a side window hung limply from its hinges. Either someone isn't caring for this place.....or nobody lives here. More curious now, she moved toward the window with the broken shutter, leaning close to it until her nose almost touched the window. She'd hoped for a glimpse of the inside of the house, but the window was too dirty to reveal anything to her.

Stefana sighed and returned to the front yard where she could hear the Gaidin when Natlya called for her. She looked down, since she'd already looked over the front of the house, and that was when she noticed a red stain on some rocks in the yard. She crouched beside them, holding her skirt out of the way, and the closer view of the stain left Stefana with no doubts about what she was seeing. She'd seen enough battles to know bloodstains when she saw them. Letting go of the dress, Stefana got to her feet, considering where the blood could have come from. It could have been from an animal, or nothing more than a simple accident, but with the nearby house appearing so neglected, the Red struggled to believe that there wasn't a more disturbing explanation for it.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Bella » September 16th, 2019, 4:48 pm

It wasn't an accident, nor was it an animal.

Natlya had dismounted and drawn her sword, entering the house in the state of calm but keen observation that was now second nature to the Gaidin. She neither heard nor saw anything untoward but the smell began to give her hints, and she still moved as thought a fist of Trollocs would explode from behind every panel of wood.

From an architectural perspective, the house wasn't much to talk about. It was a single-story farmhouse, with a large living area at the front that had the table, chairs, the hearth, and the kitchen. Off that, a long hall led to the other end of the house with three bedrooms splitting off each of it. The rooms were small, but they had the feeling of being neatly-kept.

At some point in the past.

Now, however, every piece of furniture was dislodged. Some were broken while others were just askew. The dining table had been partially broken down the middle, like something large--perhaps a body--had hit it with force. One bedroom door had been split with a blade, probably a large ax, and a wardrobe shoved away. Someone had been barricaded in there, but now they were gone.

And then there was the blood... Splattered here, or a print of some sort there. Hands. Feet. Heads. Drag marks.

There were no bodies until she reached the bedroom at the very end of the hall, however.

It was a woman. She didn't look much older than Natlya, really, with light brown hair dried with blood. She was on the floor, hands above and feet below, pinned to the floor with long, impossible sharp blades. Nat swallowed hard, even her stony facade wanting to crack, until the woman...moved. She gasped softly, eyelids flickering open.

"H..." she began before running out of breath.

"AES SEDAI!" Nat hollered as she rushed to the woman's side.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Alianora » September 22nd, 2019, 7:29 pm

Stefana Sedai
Stefana's eyes immediately went to that open door when she heard the Gaidin yell for her. There was an urgency to the other woman's voice that made the Aes Sedai want to gather up her riding skirt and run inside. She didn't, not quite, but she did pick up the skirt, and wasted no time getting to the house and through the door. The first room she entered was an absolute wreck. Most of the furniture was destroyed, and there were smears of blood on the wall closest to her. There was no redhaired Gaidin, however, so Stefana didn't pause to look around any further. She found the hallway and scurried through it, checking both of the bedrooms she passed, which were in the same condition as the larger room.

It was in the last of the bedrooms that she finally found Natlya, and another woman Stefana first thought was laying on the floor. A couple steps into the room and a closer look at the scene before her revealed that the woman wasn't laying down at all. Or rather, she was, but only because she couldn't move. Someone had driven knives through the woman's hands and feet, and the sight of the wounds, and the blood trickling from them, caused Stefana to freeze in her place for a moment. If either the woman or the Gaidin had looked at her right then, they would have witnessed the very rare sight of Stefana's composure slipping. Battles and fighting she was used to, but this was neither, and it struck Stefana in a way the Red couldn't explain.

The instant of pure horror passed quickly, if only because she forced herself to move, returning to her normal emotionless appearance. Her steps were fast as she hurried to kneel beside the brown-haired woman, letting her skirt fall and trying to keep it out of the blood. She made herself study the hand that lay closest to her, and came to the fairly obvious conclusion that Healing was what was needed here. Truthfully, that made Stefana a little nervous, not that she allowed herself any display of that. She was no Yellow; her Talent for Healing was small, and seldom used unless she found herself in a situation like this where there really was no other choice.

Light, can I do this?

She thought she could, judged her ability with the weave as adequate, if barely that, but she knew it wouldn't be the best that could be done. Stefana hated knowing that, but there was no possibility of getting the woman to one of the Grey Tower's more competent Healers fast enough, and to leave her as she was wasn't something she even considered. Still on her knees, Stefana leaned forward so that the woman could see her face.

"Will you allow me to Heal you?" the Aes Sedai asked softly. The woman gave the shortest possible nod, and Stefana suspected that was all the consent she was likely to get. She scooted down until she knelt beside one of the woman's hands, rearranging her skirt as she did.

"I'm going to have to remove the knives first," she warned the woman. "I need you to try to stay still, even if it hurts." She knew it probably would, but there was no alternative. Placing her left hand over the woman's fingers to keep her hand still, Stefana took the hilt of the knife in her right hand and pulled it out as quickly as she could, trying not to prolong the woman's pain. The woman moaned loudly, the sound fading into soft whimpers once the knife was out. The Aes Sedai pressed her lips together, regretting the necessity of what she was doing, then moved on to the next limb.

When she finally finished, the woman didn't move from where she laid. Her body shook slightly as Stefana knelt down and laid a hand on her head. "I'm going to Heal you now," she explained. "You'll probably feel cold, but there won't be any more pain." She could have sworn she saw the woman smile before she reached for saidar and began to work. Stefana held her breath as she formed the Delving weave, relieved when it didn't show signs of any further injuries she couldn't manage herself. She shifted straight from that into the Air, Water, and Spirit of Healing. It was a slow process, since she did this so rarely, and she focused entirely on her weaving, even once she finished and allowed it to sink in.

She kept her eyes on the woman's head as she shivered under the effects of the Healing weave, refusing to let herself look at the woman's hands. Scars from her wounds would be forming as the weave worked, a direct result of her lack of Talent that Stefana didn't want to see. When she finished, the Aes Sedai sat down hard on the floor, more tired from the effort Healing took from her than she wanted to admit. In front of her, the woman had rolled over with her back to Stefana. The Red sister looked towards the Gaidin.

"Did you happen to see any food or water in the other room?" she asked. "She's going to be very hungry, and is probably exhausted. Light alone knows how long she's been here. We may need to stay here for a while, until she's up to looking after herself." Stefana herself didn't feel capable of further travel either, but that wasn't something she felt comfortable sharing with Natlya.

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Re: On the Hunt (attn: Natlya)

Post by Bella » September 30th, 2019, 3:25 pm

Natlya knew this was going to pain them all...

While Stefana Sedai worked, the Gaidin did the best she could to help. She held the woman in place, trying to gently keep her still through the painful process of removing the blades, and she helped to do that part as well. They were not driven through lightly, not to cut through a human's flesh like they had.

After the Healing, Nat looked briefly at this unknown woman but she seemed...as okay as one might be. A look to the Aes Sedai showed a clear look of fatigue, even if Aes Sedai placidity covered most of it.

"I didn't look for such things, but I will now," Nat said with a quick nod.

Of course, every room was a disaster and had not been tended for at least a couple of days. She found a well outside and the water tasted fair, so she pulled up a bucket and then brought it inside where she found two dented metal cups on the floor. She filled these up from the bucket and brought them into the room before going back.

There was a wrapped package of salted meat on a shelf that wasn't upturned, and she brought this to the other women as the only safe thing to eat. She gave a little to the Aes Sedai and then went to the woman, helping her to sit up and sip the water. While the latter did that, Nat looked up at the Red. "Are you well?"

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