Mosaic Enigmas

[Kurisu]

Who was this woman? Why was she here? The Mystical Beauty asked herself that every day but nothing came to her. Though, what was known thus far, was that traveling was something she enjoyed doing, meeting beings of various types along her trek was something she quite enjoyed. With her walking stick, scrolls and equipment within her satchel and her prized cloak and robes that adorned her form, the Sorceress known as the Healer throughout the lands as it was her main sense of magi that she allowed to be seen by these beings. Though, it wasn't always a Sorceress, or Healer. Her birth given name was Kosima, Kosima Aveskrian, daughter to a royal family. Not that it mattered much anymore, that life was behind her. Truthfully, it’s not like she remembered much of it either. This was who she was now. A being of magic, a healer to most, but a female who harbored many strengths. So, for her to travel with a simple walking stick spoke volumes of who and what she truly was, even if most of her memories were hidden from her.

    Periwinkle robes blew in the breeze as the female walked, the light thump of her well carved ivory walking stick sounded against the earth as she traveled. The sorceress had traveled to many places but always enjoyed stopping to enjoy the simpler things in life. So, upon reaching the mountain top, a castle came into view which caused blue hues to widen a fraction as her brows rose "Now would ya look a’ tha’ ... a castle" she whispered, her Scottish accent thick within her vocals, reaching up and adjusting her hat. "So those tales mus’ be true. The scrolls an’ knowledge tha’ castle must ‘ave..." knowledge and learning was always something that had always been a part of her at her core. So of course, her curiosity was peaked and regardless of the risk, it was worth a shot taking a look.

   Stories that the sorceress had come to learn about the castles of old and the tales she'd heard in the villages below spoke of the terrors that came to those who approached the castle. Honestly, the female didn't care about riches, she had all she needed in her satchel. Gold and jewels meant nothing to her. What the sorceress wanted was to travel, help, and learn, having dabbled with numerous types of magic, experimented on herself of course, so, needless to say her DNA was a bit more muddled than most beings. "Such beauty." Breathed the petite female as the trek down the slope of the mountain began. ‘This mus’ be the one.. I’m sure o’ it. My vision ‘ave never sent a stray.’ The true reason the sorceress traveled was to read and learn, yes, but that wasn't the full intent. The 'Sterling Sorceress' was what she went by now, the 'White Healer' by most others. Though when it came down to -who- she truly was? All that had been collected were fragments of herself, bits and pieces that came to her in glimpses during her slumbered nights. Even then, it was still a fog. Princess Kosima Aveskrian is what she could piece together during her dreams or visions as she called them, with blanks of course, nothing was truly clear.

    The journey ‘home’ was almost useless as there was nothing but destruction. Was it a fire? If so, it wasn’t normal fire, having been able to tell by the scent and feel of the crumbled and singed grounds with the only surviving artifact that had survived whatever it was that caused the chaos was a pendant. A pendant of pure Rhodium, The crest of Aveskrian the symbol of her family, her bloodline, a white rose with beast like horns sprouting out of it The pendant Kosima -knew- belonged to her family, as it was more than a pendant, but a key. How did the beauty know this? It could be -felt-, could almost be heard, even. The artifact that held secrets in which she had yet to unlock, unable to actually, was a better term for it. Truthfully, it was as if the history of her family had erased itself, for Kosima could never find much of anything and only traveled where her visions hinted at. It was why she was here, had seen the glimpses of this castle in dreams for many moon cycles and this day the sorceress had finally found it. This place had to have answers. Oh, the questions, why couldn’t she remember? What was so horrid that it was keeping her from the truth?

[Mr. Cuddles]

An old being stood leaning against his staff overlooking the forests blow, there he stood on a tall grassy hill, the wind blowing against his robed back. So many years spent guarding, so many years spent fighting so many wars, it was coming. The energy within him was fading, the earth was calling to him, telling him it was time to just let go. There was more work to do, but he did have a fruitful life, maybe the next one will do better than him, make less mistakes. His knees grew weak, and he slowly slid down to the soft grassed earth, reaching down he lightly dragged his fingers through it and smiled. He was the guardian of earth, chosen by the mother tree to protect it, but his time has come to an end. With a faint smile, he pressed the staff into the ground and closed his eyes exhaling "...Thank you..." were his words as a gentle wind blew by once more.

His body faded, and the essence within him floated gently in the coming breeze, the gentle air carried it deep within the forest, to the mother tree. There some of the animals stood watching as it danced around the leaves before being absorbed, they bowed to the tree and left.

It was sad when a guardian died, the tree weeped, but during this time she was vulnerable as it would take two springs for another guardian to take their place.

The second spring came, and all the animals of the forest came to lie witness of the birth, the tree roots were engorged with nourishment, the tree new the time had come as small fine tear appeared on the front of the trunk. The tree was indeed alive, she was a mother to all, but this birth was different than most. All the animals could feel the energy, soon a light green sac slid from the opened gap, and it soon closed up healing herself. The sac laid nestled against the larger root of the tree, her vines carefully cradled it as the being inside slowly wiggled. The guardian was born, but it was also in danger while in this state. Days would pass until the guardian grew more, the sac soon tearing exposing the lifeform. There he laid curled up, but a child snuggle against his mother, a female deer walked up and licked his face which stirred him. Slowly the boy opened his eyes, he looked up and smiled sleepily while reaching a greenish hand up to pet the deer. All the knowledge from the last guardian was given to him, it was his duty to continue where the other left off.

Guardians weren't always the same, each one held a different personality, a name, and look. Most of them had greenish skin, some even had rare colors, but this guardian was unusual as well. Despite most of his body being a soft light green, his left side of his face around his eye and cheek had a faint orange tint, with some red specks. His eyes were yellow like goldenrods, his hair the color of a deep green, and soft like a feather, it grew back in a leaf like manner. His skin had plant like textures, though very smooth to the touch. The guardians were known for their hearts to glow, the essence that coursed within them made their chest glow based on their moods. The boy would grow quickly, and then he would age normally like a human man. The news of the new guardian would spread throughout the forest, only those who could speak the language of the forest, knew.
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Many days had gone by, and the boy was now a little older, he explored a lot, was more adventurous, but he always communicated with his mother. Most guardians did not mingle with human, some did befriend them, but it was very rare as most humans weren't so easily trusted. A few times he would catch sight of some of the humans passing, but he learned to always hide from them and never be seen, unless something happened, then the animals would help. Until he came across a dying animal, it was greatly wounded by some human weapon, he had pulled out the arrow and examined it before looking to the young buck. It wailed in pain as it kicked and gasped for air, how could humans be so cruel? Why? He tended to the animal and healed it, it stood and nuzzled him before sprinting off. It was the last act of cruelty he would see, what happened pushed him to to a darker place.

It all started one morning when he was standing high up on a tree branch, he looked out as far as his eyes could see, and saw humans fighting one another in what looked to be some village. He swung from the vines from tree to tree to get a better look, crouching low he made sure to hide, he learned to camouflage himself just by watching a chameleon. These two men stood proud as they wiped their bloody blades on the tattered clothes of their victims, they slaughtered what looked to be a family. Words he did not quite understand echoed as they laughed, they even grabbed up items and walked away. Once he made sure they were gone, he hopped down to check on the people that laid still. How could humans be so cruel to one another? Upon examining each body, one was a man, the other a woman and their two children. They were dead, he revived animals unless they wanted to go, but humans? They died a horrible death, but if he brought them back they would die again...

Standing he hopped up the tree and went to find the men who had done this, he caught up to them as they had settled by a fire and were going through the things they took from the family, dark thoughts went through his head as to what they deserved. They did not deserve life, that which they took from others. Gritting his teeth he gripped the side of the tree, summoning vines that sprang down and wrapped around their throats, they didn't get to see him do it. Just then he heard his mother's voice "Don't..." he always listened to her, but he just couldn't let them go, what they did was cruel. The vines grew tighter he could feel her trying to unbind them, but he fought back against her. "They don't deserve life" came his words as he tightened the vines hard enough to snap both their necks. Their bodies dangled in mid-air, he released them and felt his body shudder. "...What have you done?" were her words again, he could feel a sudden change in him, he dropped to his knees while gripping the branch "I'm sorry mother...I'm so sorry" tears welled and streamed down his face.

This was the day, the mother tree sent him away, she loved him dearly, and it made her heart break. Taking any life was against the rules of nature, any creature that did so in that sacred forest would be banished, and it also meant her very own son.

There was no place for him to go, he had to rely on any past memories of guardians to navigate to a safer place, he had found a cave where he stayed. It was hard, he hurt deeply inside for what he had done, his duty still remained, but he was not welcomed in that forest ever again.

[Mr. Cuddles]

It took many days to figure things out, while he remained in the cave he managed to start a fire and work on making it a little more comfortable, laying on a flat ground was making him sore. Being rejected did take a mental toll on him, all he did was remain curled up feeling sorry for himself. It took a lot for him to even mess with getting a fire started, and he needed to get some sun soon, it was sure to help his energy a bit. Night had fallen and he had crafted a makeshift curtain out of large leaves, some twine, and sticks for the frame, he had placed it at the entrance to deter any possible predators. The past guardians all had to learn to survive at some point, they encountered beasts, and various evil, so all that they knew was passed down to him, so it was his job to utilize this knowledge. Sitting in front of the fire, he crossed his legs and stared into the flames in deep thought, he was all alone now, so he was going to have to do what it took to survive.

As the night drew to a close, gentle rays trickled in through the tiny gaps of the leaf curtain, it crept over the dark rock floor to the sleeping guardian. There he slept peacefully, something he had not done for the longest time. Slowly he stirred and opened his eyes to look over at the morning light, today he was going to go out and try to see the world more, even gather some food since it had been some time he had not eaten. Due to his nature, he could go without food and water for a little while, but he had been going for too long, so it was taking a toll on him. Pushing himself up he went to pick up his leaf satchel he made out of twine, and large leaves so he could carry things to and from. Making his way outside was nice, he had stepped out before, but he did not venture far out of fear of these wildlands, he was no longer in the safe haven of the forest. Carefully he walked along a different path, it was taking him further away from the woods nearby, and out into what looked to be a field. Bringing his left arm up he raised it to shield his eyes from the sun's glare so he could make out what lied just over the horizon.

Two rabbits hopped along, they wiggled their noses as they sniffed and pawed at the earth. Where there were animals, there were usually edible things, he watched intently as they hopped around till they found some leafy greens. Slowly he walked over, then noticed they both stopped and looked at him, he froze in place unsure if they saw him as a friend or foe. The rabbits then continued to munch on some of the greens not really caring that he was there, they didn't see him as a threat. That was reassuring at least. Getting closer, he knelt down and started to pluck some of the greens to stick into his satchel, he was not greedy. He reached out and patted one of them on their soft and furry heads before making his departure. The gentle breeze felt nice against his skin, he extended his arms and noticed that some of the coloration was off, and he wasn't as green as he once was. The sun should help, he kept walking and stopped to look out over at the beautiful landscape, it was nice, he rolled his head up to the clouds and smiled, his golden eyes were closed as he stood embracing the morning. There always had to be happiness, and although he was still hurt by his loss, he had to keep going, he wasn't sure if he could win her back. If she stopped loving him, he sat down and laid back on the soft grass.

Just then he heard voices, human voices, they sounded like children. Sitting up he looked around and could see them walking just down the hill from him, he had to hide, it wasn't known for a guardian to really be seen by humans, and after his experience, he wanted to keep it that way. Slowly he got up and hurried off to a large rock where he hid behind, he peered just around the side of it to see if they noticed him in his haste. They did not. Just then he heard one of the children say "Over here!" he got worried but noticed the small group take off running further out of sight. Why would children be out here? Were they close to other humans? Civilizations? The guardian looked up and over and he did not see any buildings anywhere, and it left him feeling very curious. He slowly crept from behind the rock and made his way down the hill into the wooded area the children came from, he noticed smells of various things, and heard voices of other people, they were older. Carefully he moved through with grace, trying not to disturb any of the fauna, and trying to blend in his surroundings. As he grew close, he could see people, some were gathered around a fire, while others were doing other strange things. There were men laughing, and he noticed some of the women, one of them was shaking a large piece of cloth and draping it over a stick. They even had housing of some sort, all built from trees, and that did upset him, but he refrained from allowing himself to feel that way. Those feelings got him in trouble before, he had to be more understanding to their circumstances, they didn't seem to be a threat. They were smiling, laughing, they were happy.

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