;; a different path to atonement

Red sun; black robes - silence; no sweat.

It's just not in her nature.

Elphaba takes her boots off and shrieks at the smell. It's been a while since she got out of the river (How did a river managed to fit into a bucket, pray say?) and she has strayed as further away from water as she could.

She tries to summon anger for Dorothy, for Glinda, for Nessarose, even for Lir and his stupid fascination with Dorothy (everybody loves the sweet and ignorant Dorothy) - but it's all fading. What she still knows is that she will get those shoes, but she will never get forgiveness for Fyiero. Dear Fyiero.

She watches lazily her monkey flapping its wings.
She's just green; and empty.

Ghanima Atreides is taken from the end of Children of Dune. Henceforth, it's right after her twin brother proclaimed himself Emperor of Dune, and post-Farad'n. She's been swept off her familiar landscape one morning, when she went out walking through the sand to take a hold of her thoughts. She's quite restless and worried -- being suddenly in a completely different place doesn't scare her, but it makes her terrible anxious.



"I --. Leto?"

Calling her twin is plain stupid, and she should know better. There's no one to be seen around, and night is falling; for some reason, Ghanima is used to have her twin by her side, to share everything with him - angst included. Finding herself here, amidst a totally different landscape, doesn't frighten her. There's the Litany for it. Not being able to share her emotions, that's what she loathes.

"Could anyone come out and tell me where I am?" she asks louder, hoping that possibly - maybe - there are humans in this place.



Character: Ghanima Atreides
Medium: Book - Children of Dune (Frank Herbert)
Things you should know: Ghanima is prescient, which means that she was born holding all the memories of her maternal ancestors. Therefore, wise is quite a petty word to describe her.

Ouch.

"You idiotic manservant, you --."

Shaking dust off his tunic, Arthur stands up - barely - and finds his balance after some seconds of struggle. He looks around, eager to find Merlin and to push him around a little, at least to cool off his nerves, but finds his horse blocking his sight and his way of action.

"Idiotic horse! MOVE!!!" he bellows. The horse stares placidly back. "You're not listening to me!"

Well, of course. It probably doesn't understand English, be it old or new. More and more annoyed, Arthur looks around for support, for anyone to tell him that it was Merlin's fault and sorcery that opened that odd whirlpool just when he was enjoying his morning ride, but faces naught but deserted landscape and the same placid horse.

"I demand you to get out, wherever you are! This is absolutely NOT a good joke!"

"Oh!" Vasilissa exclaims, jumping graciously to her feet. She quickly inspects the area and brushes a fold of her dress, in case - you never know - someone is watching. Getting her composure back, she relocates the unfortunate hedgehog she was about to sit on and, finally, manages to sit down.

Tiredness took its toll. She has been rowing upstream for a week now, right from the sea, but she got distracted by a pool of shiny fishes and smashed the little boat against some rocks. From a distance, this place looked like it was inhabited - food, warm bed, a bath and mayhaps aromatic massage...but now it seemed to her there will be no such thing in this poor place.

But Vasilissa is not the type to get discouraged nor upset. So she waits. Surely, something good will come her way; if not, she'll go find it on the morrow.