israa nilas ; waking sea ranger (israa) wrote in thedas, @ 2010-01-07 20:30:00 |
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It wasn't everyday that a group of rangers came looking for one of their own, and she certainly wasn't used to having people look for her while she was out wandering. Israa had been just east of West Hill when her peers found her, and explained that the bann had called them to return to the bannorn. Word had come from Denerim that there was another Blight rippling it's way north, and that the queen was requesting the preparation of all armed forces. Bann Alfstanna, being the woman that she was, wanted more information than Anora offered, so she took it upon herself to send her own detectives out to collect it. She sent a small group of picked horsemen and women west toward the mountains to see if there was any sign of darkspawn there. To Denerim she sent a pair of her most courteous knights - the men and women of the Waking Sea bannorn weren't known for their grace or diplomacy, if she wanted more information from the horse's mouth, she'd have to send those with only the sweetest, or most silver, tongues. As for Israa, Boadicea sent her, and four other rangers, south, with a day's worth of travel between them. She was first in line - those behind her were there to send word back if she either felt it was necessary for her to stay south, or if she was dead. The former was likely, but the latter wasn't far from her mind. It was okay, though. She trusted Alfstanna's judgment - if the Bann's confidence in her was enough to send her in the first place, she felt good about her chances of survival. Before leaving, though, her mother insisted on seeing her. News of an oncoming Blight stirred up bad memories for the both of them. Israa's father disappeared the last time, and she was still pretty sore about it. No, she would never admit that to anyone - that would ruin her tough girl image. It was just the idea of coming from a man who had the nerve to abandon his pseudo family during a time of crisis. It bothered her, and in her opinion, anyone with any sort of pride in themselves or where they'd come from would have felt the same way. Of course, that wasn't what was on her mother's mind. It just reminded her of why she was no longer in Alfstanna's service, and it put her on edge and made her seem a little pushy. She hadn't called her daughter home to discuss their respective bad moods - she had things to give her, to help her along on what was going to be a long, trying journey. First and foremost was an old bow she'd gotten years ago. She wouldn't tell her where it was from, but it was beautifully carved, and solid despite it's age. Along with that, she gave her a new, full quiver to keep at her hip in conjunction with the large one on her back. A Blight was no joke - she'd need as much ammo as she could carry - one quiver wasn't going to do anyone any good. And for the road, a pair of new, sturdy boots. Israa had pretty much walked holes in her old ones, and as comfortable as they were, thanked her mother tenfold for the new pair. She couldn't stay and visit forever, though. She had a job to be doing, and she was given little time to prepare for it. That was understandable, though. The Blight wasn't going to wait for her to get to Lothering so she could send word back. She set out the next morning, anxious to make her way to southern Ferelden. She rode from the bannorn to a small camp that the rangers kept just north of the lake, and from there, she would travel south by boat, and then east to Lothering. By the time she'd reached the familiar camp, she'd missed the day's last boat south, which was fine. She was tired, and was perfectly comfortable settling in for the night. After building a moderately sized fire, she decided to spend a little time hunting before the sun disappeared completely. Since she'd been on the road, Israa had been enjoying the company of a rather nosy wolf. It had become one of her habits to call on wolves to trail her, or to patrol her campsite, for the extra eyes and ears, and for some temporary companionship. This one couldn't seem to keep his nose out of her things, and followed after her when she went off to hunt. He was more like a spoiled Mabari than an actual wild wolf, so much so that she was starting to get a little attached, and she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it. When she was satisfied with her hunt, the two made their way back toward the camp, but before they got too close, she noticed the puppy-like wolf tense up like she expected from an agitated wolf. She'd never seen anything like them, but knew exactly what they were from her mother's description. Blight wolves, three of them, surrounding her camp. The fight was predictable. While their numbers were few, Blight wolves were stronger and more rabid than their untainted counterparts. A few well placed arrows kept them off of her, but her poor wolf companion hadn't done so well. Once the intruders were completely taken care of, she took a deep breath and put the poor thing out of his misery. She saw what the taint would have made of him - prolonging his suffering would have been cruel compared to what she'd done. It made her sadder than she would have preferred. It wasn't often that she got attached to her companions, and she'd only been in the company of this wolf for a day or two at the most. Still, the Blight was affecting her life again, and she didn't like it. Taking this insignificant event as a direct challenge, Israa knew she wasn't going to get much sleep that night. The sooner she found out how far this thing had advanced and how she would be involved, the better. |