Hunting For Clarity [Audren]

[Coci Heavenshield]

Westmark

Between the Fortress of Dawn and the city of Fridheim, is a forest that edges the tail of a range of mountains. The morning dawning casts a soft orange light bleeding into the fog that clings to the snow and trees. It is the beginning of the thaw, the signs of it already cutting across the landscape in small brooks that meander their way toward the rivers, or vanish beneath the ground filling the under ground basins so vast. It is a magic song the water sings dribbling over stone and ice and it is along this noisy brook that she walks toward the meeting place. A dark cloak of fur wrapped tightly around her body and she leaves behind the tell tale sign of her presence in the snow. She does not have his gift, the man she will meet today, and she smiled at the thought that he might already be hidden in the forest.

Coci's cheek damp with the fog, sat cold on her skin, her breath streaming out as she pushed her booted feet through the snow, it was tiring work, no matter how long she had the experience of living on Midvinter, it would always be a difficulty. It was only when she reached the edge of the forest did she stop and pause to catch breath and took in her surroundings with delight, there would be nothing so beautiful as this place.

But she is not here to sight see, and with a heavy puff of breath Coci resumed her course to her destination. A bridge, straddling the brook and upon which she would await Master [member="Audren Sykes"].

Her hands pushed away the snow sitting inches thick on the stone rail, an idol gesture while her mind turned toward the beginnings of today's work. It was the sudden burst of avian from the trees that returned Coci's attention to the here and now, something had disturbed them, a creature on the hunt maybe, or bird of prey soaring on high spooked them or was it something else?

 

[Audren Sykes]

The morning would be considered brisk by native Valkyri, possibly even by the enigmatic Aelvar. To Audren, who was most decidedly not a native, that meant it was uncomfortably cold. Small wonder, that...the local area was just now beginning to enter the warm season. Rather than a vertical meter of snow, there would simply be permafrost once the season fully hit. For now though, streams still froze over at night, but the ice was thin and melted at the first rays of sunlight.

In some ways, the thaw - the 'between' state - was worse than either extreme. Sure, it was picturesque and hopeful for the months to come. When it was cold however, the Sephi could literally walk on the surface of the snow most of the time, barely leaving a footprint or making a sound. When it was warm he was near-silent no matter the footing. The thaw made 'soft spots' in previously supporting snow, which had the potential of embarrassing face-fulls of snow. It was something that the natives learned about as children, which he'd never needed to. It had fortunately been discovered while on his own so he wasn't the laughingstock of the season. He'd tried moving from one cold spot to the other, but as a few days passed and the weather grew increasingly warmer, such movement became more like hopping, which itself had the effect of greater force on the surface and was more likely to break through.

The elfin Jedi was thus late for the meeting. To someone who stumbled across the tracks it would no doubt have appeared odd: indications of a humanoid slogging through the snow, only for the tracks to disappear for handfuls of paces at a time and reappear. Then again, perhaps that manner of walking was itself a tell of who's tracks had been encountered. He'd have to think on that more at a later time. Barely a hundred meters from the meeting place however there was a burst of activity from the wildlife. It was a bit to his left and further into the forest, but he paused just the same. Midvinter had its own array of predators, and if one was headed his way he would need to react. He didn't hear and - more importantly - didn't sense any new danger headed his way though, so he continued on.

[member="Coci Heavenshield"]​

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

The babbling brook sang merrily below her under the bridge, completely at odds with the surroundings and the approach of the day, it certainly did not forebode anything that might have startled the birds but she could not sense anything that was set to cause harm to them, or to her. Who knew the minds of birds. Yet, among the array of life that teemed with the force from large to small, a familiar presence was felt, one she has known for years now, and he approached. Coci turned in the direction of the coming presence and waited patiently enjoying the soft warmth of the sun peeking through the surrounding trees, it was nice to feel warm again, even if it was only slight.

Although the trees were laden with snow, they perpetually dropped droplets of water as a result of the sun and sparkled with the light and through these trees Coci could just make out the figure of the man, his white hair as white as the snow but the rest of him stood out against the starkness of the place. Over the years of knowing Audren, he had been a man of few words, and when he did speak they were to the point and intelligent which is an admirable quality in anyone. Not once had he ever spoke an untruth, not to her at least and nothing in his actions had ever caused her to doubt him.

She made her way toward him, coming off the bridge which did not require her company only the land and the water beneath it was important to it's purpose. Whether anyone used that bridge was by the by. Within meters of him she smiled, he would know she was there well before sighting her but still a face to face greeting cannot be foregone. "Good morning Audren", she greeted him informally, titles had been foregone years ago. "Nice to see you on this typical Midvinter morning", and it was, and would always be .. cold.

What he was here for would take more than a day to learn, even for a master of the force, but the journey had to start somewhere, and so it would by this bridge.

​

[member="Audren Sykes"]​