Blackfeather Woods My Insanity Is Inevitable

Nyra will be pledging to Ivory Rose! Calling mainly @Rowan and @Zephyr but AW <3 

Dreams were not often a thing that Nyra was haunted by. Leaving her birth-pack behind so long ago now...the spiritual or even prophetic dreams had lessened, disappeared altogether. But...

A few days before Kynareth and Derg had left for Moonspear...they had picked up again, gaining strength and vividity each passing night. 

Dreams of dark forests, ravens and crows, their caws, the flapping of their wings, and an always-present whisper.... come to us, come to us....

It became an irritating, inaccesible itch that the Saints were not her true home. Did she trust her gut? Or her head? Even her heart? 

No. Not at the moment. She was confused and aimless the more she stayed in the Strath. 
Strangely enough...her mental fog seemed to clear as she left, as she made her way further and further eastward, until she arrived at the borders of this...place. 

As if on cue, an unusually large albino raven, of all things, settled on a tree branch above her head. Ears slanted back with nervousness and mild uncertainty, the warrior tilted up her head and called for the wolves within who claimed this place.

Another call.
He was getting a lot of visitors lately.
MEmbers...visitors. He knew they'd leave. Everyone did - even he did.
But Zephyr was giving him hope. Hope of Ivory Rose becoming his true home now.
His haven.

He trotted to the borders, his yearling legs still long and ears still little large atop his head.
He greeted the pale stranger with a chuff and wave of his high-flying tail.
She was large -- larger than Mother.
"Welcome to Ivory Rose," he smiled.
He wondered what she needed here.​

A raven has taken to following him around Blackfeather Woods, sometimes venturing beyond in pursuit. He doesn't mind as much as he might have thought, actually. It's a cute little thing, and unique, all white-spotted with winter-blue eyes. Smaller than its peers, which he can relate to — and with a certain spark of intelligence. He's taken to calling the bird Kheimon, and sometimes, he follows it around.
Today is one of those days. Kheimon seems to be leading him somewhere, toward the outskirts of the territory, though the bird flies faster than he can ever run. He pursues at a faster pace, hearing the call as Kheimon leads him closer to their destination. The first thing he sees is a huge albino raven, which his own companion settles near — and then he notices Rowan and the newcomer. Hello, He says as he comes up behind his co-leader. I'm Zephyr, one of the leaders here alongside Rowan. A glance toward the dark boy, mostly for the pale woman's benefit in case he hasn't introduced himself yet. It seems that everyone has only just arrived.

The albino caws softly as a grey-russet yearling approaches, soon joined by another. One that looks a bit like a coyote. 

Zephyr. Rowan. Ivory Rose. Leaders. 

Interesting...peculiar...

"My name is Nyra. I am the former Paladin of the Saints of the Dying Light." Though by her body language it was apparent that this status was now void. 

"Before I came here, I began having constant and vivid dreams of ravens and crows and...a dark forest..." As her eyes flitted past the two leaders before her, recognition hit her face...

This was the place from her dreams.

Nyra. With a title from an unknown pack.
Hm.
He glanced up at the tarnished one.
"Shoo," he whispered. There was a reason it sat on the edge of the forest. From below, you couldn't see the plucked feathers from it's back where it had been bullied away from the others.
The albino one was unwelcome in blackfeather woods.

Zephyr follows up soon enough though. Also seeing who called from their borders. He glanced to his counterpart with a soft smile. He introduced himself quickly, letting Rowan turn back to Nyra.

Dreams.
"The Daedra invited you to seek them. Mephala calls your name."
In his mind, she was right. A chosen link to those above...and below.
"Come," he invited her to walk with him.

He wanted to show her the altar. To see if she could hear Them.

The woman introduces herself, speaking of a pack he doesn't know and mysterious dreams of birds and a forest. He follows her gaze into the woods, hiding his displeasure at the talk of prophetic dreams. The thought of it being true sends an uncomfortable prickle down his spine, drawing up memories of childhood that are best left buried. Stoic as ever, Zephyr glances back to her to add his own response. If the Daedra have chosen you, then you're welcome here, so long as you respect our ways, It feels like an odd sentence coming out of his mouth — but it also feels right. He turns to follow Rowan, guessing within a few paces where the other leader is headed; he's already committed the territory to memory.

Hearing Rowan's words, Nyra was interested to learn more, yet slightly hesitant. 

Though as he invited her in, the pale soldier glanced up one last time to the albino raven...how it seemed to say "I've done my job" and then took flight from the woods. 

Perhaps that was goodbye then...

Nyra turned her muzzle back to face forward, following deeper into the trees close behind Zephyr and Rowan

He gave Zephyr a side-eye paired with a smile.
He didn't think he'd be so accepting, so quickly. But here he was, laying down the ground rules too.
It only gave Rowan more confidence that he'd made the right choice.
He was happy with him.

She followed him, and he tilted his head to her now to explain more about the Daedra, like he'd done for Zephyr.
"The main Daedra are Sithis and Mephala. Sithis controls death and the void, Mephala controls the night and things that happen under the cover of darkness."
He looked up, spotting Stone watching them with curiosity.
"The void is where you go when you die. It is nothing and nowhere." He couldn't comment more on it. It made his head hurt thinking about it too hard.

"You dreams are of the crows and ravens? They're sacred here. The Daedra speak to them, I'm sure." He smirked, looking to Stone again, who was in flight. Gliding overhead to the next roost so she could watch them.
"I'm taking you to the tree...it helps you hear them." 
He never got too close for too long to the leaning tree, half uprooted from the earthquakes. Phantom Grove, he called it, for when he first got too close, he saw Falling Star. In the jaws of a coyote.
Dead.

He wondered what she'd see...it wouldn't be too long now before they were there.

since Zephyr's player said we could pp him as silent :) 

To Rowan's explanations, Nyra nodded once in understanding. These deities peaked her interest, for sure.
But despite the constant assault of repetitive dreams that made her come all this way, the pull that drew her to this place was slacking. 
Maybe this place Rowan was taking her to could help with that?
The Shieldmaiden wasn't sure, but she was already here, and she would follow through.
At the very least, to see if she could hear the Daedra or other spirits, as Rowan might've been suspecting.

Zephyr followed in quiet contemplation.
Probably remembering his experience in the Phantom Grove.
He thought it was a fitting name.

He repeated his instructions to Nyra, so she knew she wouldn't be alone here.
And that what she saw was just visions...
"What you may see are just visions from the Daedra. If you feel like you can't escape just lay down, I'll get you. It may take a few minutes for them to reach you, so don't get stressed."
He smiled kindly to her.
He remembered Zephyr. The way he crumpled. Shut down.
He wondered how she'd react. Perhaps like Rowan himself? Denial, anger.

He looked to her again as the clearing became apparent before them and nodded softly. An invitation to enter.

MATURE + TRIGGER WARNING: REALLY FUCKED UP SHIT AHEAD 

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: gore, mentions of repeated r*pe, r*pe-induced pregnancy, miscarriage.

This entire ordeal was being carried by trust. Religious curiosity too, perhaps, but in Nyra's eyes, being allowed and even invited into a sacred place like this was some form of pure trust. 

Listening to Rowan speak before the invitation into the Grove was given, Nyra nodded once in return before padding in. 

This tree looked much like a weeping willow. For all Nyra knew, it was one, though it smelled different from any other she'd come across in her almost 4 years of life. It smelled...dusty? The air here felt tight, too, despite no restriction in the Shieldmaiden's breathing.

She stood for a few minutes, allowing her mind to quiet and her breathing to become deep, calm, as she closed her eyes. 

Almost a full eight minutes later, Nyra opened her eyes and visibly went extremely rigid.
Even though Rowan had told her what she would see are just visions and she was in no real danger, his words may as well have been thrown out a ninth story window with her body language now. 

Nyra didn't see the grove she had originally been standing in. 
She saw her blood family. She saw her mother, her father, the Cult she and her sisters had grown up in, had been groomed to lead. 
The fresh carnage of her entire family left torn apart, their blood and entrails soaked into the earth and pooling on the surface. 

As she turned to try and flee like she had that same night, another flashback sent her to the ground. 

In this memory she was a couple months away from being a year old. Not fully grown yet.Her mother and sisters were gone, and Nyra was left alone with her father. 
"Your insolence and disobedience must be punished." He had snarled, knocking her to the floor with his mass. 
Just as quickly, he had pinned her, restrained her, and completely deaf to her screams and struggling, he...

And further infecting that same wound, that sick, fucking deranged man didn't kill her. He made her live, made her carry his seeds in her womb that were repeatedly added to by force. 

She remembered all of it, and the extreme relief she felt when she had not delivered living, breathing whelps. The abysmal hopelessness worrying that he would do it all over again.

And she remembered the overwhelming freedom she felt upon returning with her sisters to see him fucking DEAD. To know without a shadow of a doubt that she was free. 
And it was that reason she left without looking back. 

On the outside, Rowan and Zephyr would bear witness to Nyra's pleading, begging, crying and shrieking as she relived the memories and the trauma her mind had blacked out for so long. 
They probably also knew that trying to get her out of there while she was thrashing around was a suicide mission. 

Finally, it stopped. 
All of it stopped...
And when Nyra reopened her eyes from the visions, she simply lied there, sobbing and trembling.

She passed into the clearing.
Drifting towards the tree with silent determination.
Passing under the willow's fingers, and into its palm.

She stopped. Letting it sink in. Standing still for a long, long time.
Then, it started. Her body reacting to the infection now in her mind. Revolting against it with screams and cries of horror and anguish.
He blinked, thinking. He had to get her. Pull her out before she hurt herself.
But the danger of facing a stranger when they weren't seeing the real world...

He looked to Zephyr with a nod. He was to watch, to make sure he too didn't get infected while he attempted to rescue Nyra.
His ears slicked back as he stalked towards the raving woman. He didn't want to be mistaken for her visions. But she seemed to be in agony. What had she endured?
He paced around her, corralling her with soft chuffs she seemed to veer away from.

At last, she calmed.
He kept his eyes on her, ignoring his brother trying to reach up to him, still a picture of how Rowan last remembers him. Rowan moved closer. "It's Rowan. I'm going to help you."
He moved closer still, daring to reach down to her scruff. He might have an issue moving her, but he'd have to get them both out all the same.

After such a thing like this, Rowan's voice was barely registered. 
Feeling his breath on her scruff right before his aiding teeth, the Shieldmaiden flinched and curled away slightly with a scared whine, akin to a timid child. 
Yet astoundingly, the monolith woman didn't try to eat Rowan, instead attempting to get back on her feet so the to-be Overseer wasn't hauling her the entire way out of the reaches of the Grove, and the phantoms it contained.

She flinched and shied away.
Falling Star tried to leap up onto his back.
"Stop," he murmured quietly.
The vision of him vanished, and Nyra was still there.

Teeth didn't come for his as he pulled her free from the tree's palm.
Rather, she tried to get up herself then. He let go of her scruff, pushing against her to help her up.
She was strong-willed and perfectly capable.
"A little further Nyra."

Staggering a little as Rowan let go to help push her to her feet and keep her upright, Nyra continued forward with the Blackfeather's aid. 
A light wheeze escaped her lips in response to his words. 

A little further. 
Just a little further...

Almost as if escaping from a forcefield, upon returning to a safe distance from the infected willow - Nyra came alive just enough that she didn't look like her soul was detaching from her body, taking in a huge gasp of air, followed by another, and another, until the deep gasps faded to be replaced with normal, steady, though somewhat shaken, breathing. 

"Thank you for helping me..." The Shieldmaiden murmured, ears flat against her skull as if she felt like she had somehow failed.

"I've got you," he murmured as they passed back into the safety of the trees.
She managed to walk. To stagger out of the toxic air and inhale the deep, pine air.

Strength came to the woman as the visions passed.
He let her go gradually as she strode forth, Zephyr watching from the background.
Learning.

"Of course," he smiled softly as his own hallucinations subsided.
"You're safe," he murmured, letting her sink to the ground now if she needed to.
He looked up, thinking of where the nearest water source would be.

Finally safe, Nyra did lie down. At least until she was urged to stand again...
Clearer now, her mind began to wander, drift back to the Strath...
Once she had an opening in her visit here, she would thank them for their kindness and go home.

The woman rested for a few moments.
Rowan stayed with her, very away that Zephyr was still watching.
He hoped he hadn't hurt her by doing this, but it seemed that what she saw made her want to leave.
She stood, staggering away.

He followed in silent contemplation.
Should he make her stay? Should he offer her a place for a few nights?
She murmured her thanks as she left, and he did indeed offer her to come again.
He watched her leave, then turned back into the woodland to find someone to talk to.