It had been a week so far, a whole week sludging through the wild, like a primitive. Raisa could barely tell where she was going, all the trees blended into one another, layer after layer of dirt constantly mucking up on her. And yet, as soon as she thought of finding some water, the clouds opened up and answered her prayers. Fabulous. If she thought of food next what would the sky send, then? Hmm, thunder. A nice harmony with her stomach, but less helpful.
Growling under her breath, she huddled under a tree, taking a break and trying to salvage herself from the downpour. Yet, the rain dripped down annoyingly, and she was thoroughly soaked through in minutes. This had been her last good outfit too! The pink haired noble bitterly recalled how back at home she had constantly been surrounded by people, with nearby estates & houses for social calls. But in the past week she had barely spotted anyone worthy of giving her help.
Thinking of home furrowed her brow, and rather than longing, the feelings of anger were still fresh. Pushing herself off from the tree, she continued her journey with renewed energy, her stomach still growling, but her feet slapping the ground with determination. No one could fault resentment for being a good motivator. The woods seemed to thin up after a few paces, and Raisa hoped to finally be near the end of the infernal bark covered land. She had left home hurriedly, without any sort of map or compass- not that she would have been able to read them anyway, but she seemed to have sorely underestimated just how many trees there were in Darken Vei. She at least took small satisfaction in the fact that she should be far far away from home by now, again proving her ignorance, she had barely made it past 10 miles.
Brushing a few strands of dripping pink hair away from her face, Raisa squinted at plain terrain up ahead. Despite the pitch dark of the storm, Raisa's vision was actually quite unhindered, although she didn't realize this. In fact, it was the lightning that occasionally stung her, making her pause for a few seconds as the bright flashes pierced the sky. Blinking hard after a particularly strong blast, Raisa spotted the oasis- a road! To finally be rid of the trees!
Clutching her now pitiful knapsack tighter, she quickened her pace, ignoring her protesting tendons and newformed blisters. Perhaps she could find a nice inn nearby, with a steamed bath, and steak... Mouth-watering Raisa reached the edge of the woods and froze in place at the sound of a scream. Heart racing, she whirled her head around, initially anxious that she had been caught, but no, the yell hadn't been directed at her. A few paces down the road to her left was what seemed to be an accident scene. A carriage had toppled, people were fighting, whatever. Raisa had her own issues to worry about.
Having made up her mind about most certainly turning right, she pivoted and was all set to continue on her way when the sounds of the scuffle reached her ears. Turning back, a decision she was sure she would come to regret, Raisa analyzed the scene quickly. Magical mad women, whimpering victim- oh he had fallen too. Rolling her eyes and cursing her damn kind heart, Raisa hesitated but ultimately turned and made her way to the fallen carriage, sizing up the women and the energy radiating off of her. Anger did that to power, Raisa was quickly realizing, it made it stronger.
"At least let him stand up." she interfered dryly, raising an eyebrow at the women's raised arm. Raisa didn't have the slightest idea what she would do if the women turned on her, but she'd always been the best sweet talker back home. Something in the back of Raisa's mind seemed to realize she didn't really have much else to lose, so might as well do something after coming all the way out here.
