Alanna of Trebond (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_lioness) wrote2005-09-12 01:44 pm
the_lioness) wrote2005-09-12 01:44 pm
Entry tags:
(no subject)
The Temple District smells of cinnamon, sage and roasting chestnuts: scents of clarity and comfort. Fragrant smoke rises from the fires lit in honor of almost one hundred different gods, in just as many temples. Harmony Way curves peacefully between these divine houses, as if offering solace to the legs of weary travelers recovering from the steep road to and from the palace. Solace and reflection are on the minds of many tonight as the sudden chill in the air reminds Corus that the Autumn Equinox is not far away. Balance would be sought, and thanks given to the gods for the harvest's bounty. It never hurts to start giving thanks early, thus Alanna is far from alone as she leads Moonlight through the district, the soft clip-clop of the mare's hooves echoing down the lane.
I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night.
Alanna rounds a corner and rests a hand on Moonlight's nose, quietly ordering her to halt. They stand in the shadows, eyes trained on the Temple of the Great Mother Goddess. Two of the Temple Guards (muscular women dressed in armor and carrying the huge axes that now remind Alanna so strongly of Mel and her scythe) stare back, their eyes suspicious in the faint light. On any other night, Alanna would laugh at being mistaken for a male in her long Bazhir burnoose, but all she can manage is a small smile as she loops Moonlight's reins around a tree. She shouldn't be too surprised. After all, she does walk like a boy, and the cloak hides her dress and hair. However, she took particular care with her appearance this evening, and can't help but be a tiny bit frustrated. I am a woman. I have every right to be here. How odd to be denied entrance as Alan where Alanna is welcome.
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars.
Slowly pushing her hood back, Alanna shrugs out of the cloak and drapes it over the saddle. After a long day of meetings and training with the squires (swords and staffs), it is nice to feel her skirts swirling about her ankles. The dress is light and loose, cinched at her waist but flowing elsewhere. If it weren't for several layers of fabric, sheer white on purple on white, Alanna thinks she might freeze to death. As it is, her lack of sleeves almost has her retreating to the warmth of her cloak, but she grits her teeth and presses on, wondering if the guards can see the sword strapped to her back.
Maiden.
They can. The axes drop briefly, then lift in a salute as the two women turn to let her pass. Almost as one voice, they whisper, "Chosen."
Mother.
Sparing them a quick, curious glance, Alanna enters the temple and sucks in a breath, awed. It's larger than it appears on the outside, and gives one the sense that everything beyond its doors, all cycles and change, center here. Craning her neck, she follows one of many great columns up and up, until she spies the square patch of open ceiling over a central hearth, a thin curl of smoke rising toward the stars. An involuntary gasp escapes when she sees two constellations, the Goddess and the Cat, directly overhead. Trailing her fingers along an altar, Alanna smiles and keeps to the edges of the temple so as not to disturb the other women seeking the Goddess' aid. Here in this sacred space, there are no titles other than "Daughter."
Hag.
Several intimate chapels branch off the main chamber, one for each of the Goddess' appellations. Mother of Mountains, Mares, Waters and Crops are but a few. Idly, Alanna wonders if her brother-consort Mithros could claim as many. She slips off her shoes before entering one such chapel, shutting the heavy oak door behind her. The stone floor feels cool beneath her toes, and Alanna shivers slightly, taking in the deeply hued paintings (the hunt) on the walls and the lovely gold and crimson of the altar cloth.
Ride on
Through the night
Ride on
Needing some sort of noise beyond the occasional hiss of the fire, Alanna hums a song Maude used to sing while drying her herbs. She removes a small sprig of honeysuckle from where it had been tucked safely through the silver rope at her waist and places it in the center of the far side of the altar. Moistening her lips, she nods and glances next at the small bowls to her left and right. Bread for the left, honey mead from a small pitcher for the right. Sweeping her skirt aside, Alanna eyes a small collection of stones in the middle of the altar, her hand hovering briefly before she makes a decision and pulls several toward the edge. Unrefined sapphire (wisdom), serpentine (meditation), cat's eye (confidence and willpower) and green tourmaline (balance for love and passion). She smirks a little at the last, her fingers smoothing over its surface. It has other uses. Help me see with my heart.
Father Universe, Mother Flame,
By all the Gods in the Divine Realms,
I offer myself for She is my Mother.
We met along the winding path,
And in the moon tides She showed me truth.
Hear now my call for peace.
Only one offering remains. Swallowing hard, Alanna reaches back and unsheathes her sword, testing its weight in her hand. Tip to the floor, she kneels slowly and bows her head. The blade is soon flipped horizontally with a minimum of effort and set at the foot of the altar.
Tilled from the earth, made in fire, cooled in water and raised to the air, my blade is yours.
"Great Mother," Alanna whispers, eyes closed. "You once told me that your time for guidance had passed. That I was to make of my days what I chose, and bend the crossroad in time to my will. I think I found the courage. I think I did what you wanted me to do, for you and for Tortall. Since then... I'm not so sure." She pauses, biting her lip.
Suddenly, I knew that you'd have to go
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why.
"I killed a man without thinking that perhaps there was another way. I forgot myself, and my oath." Alanna explains slowly, sweat beading on her forehead. "I gave in to temper, or madness. Perhaps both. I am sorry."
There are visions, there are memories
There are echoes of thundering hooves
There are fires, there is laughter
There's the sound of a thousand doves
Alanna opens her eyes, smiling thinly around an undercurrent of tension. "The visions, my lady. They are getting worse. I hear his dying laughter in my dreams, and constantly feel as though time is escaping us. Some would say that I am obsessed with Roger, but I know in my heart it is not over. You are not allowed to reveal what will happen, I realize this. And so I ask for patience. A chance to let events play out as they will, and trust me to do what I feel is right. I will not let you down. I refuse."
In the velvet of the darkness
By the silhouette of silent trees
They are watching, they are waiting
They are witnessing life's mysteries
Fidgeting, Alanna struggles to stay focused but finds herself distracted by a question that has been plaguing her as of late. "You said... you instructed me to learn to love. Is it possible to love too much?" She blurts out, rubbing her nose. Blushing, she hurriedly continues and pretends there isn't more she wants to ask. "It's just... the people in Milliways, friends and family alike, they are a part of me now, and I feel as loyal to them as I do to Jon and Tortall. I have duties there, just as I have duties here. I can not abandon either." (Help me balance, do right by both places.)
Cascading stars on the slumbering hills
They are dancing as far as the sea
Riding o'er the land, you can feel its gentle hand
Leading on to its destiny
"A friend said something to me recently," she whispers. "I do not think I'll be able to move past it until I mention it to you, whether or not you hear me. He said that when one is loyal to two worlds, one never fully lives in either. After several days of brooding about this, I think I've reached some conclusions. I promised Thom that I wouldn't leave him again, and I will not break that oath. Nor will I break my oath to Jonathan." Pausing, Alanna starts to smile. "I suppose what I am trying to say is that I want to be the exception to that rule, if it is one. I am determined to make it work. I've battled greater obstacles before, surely. Giving up on one world or the other is not an option, and neither is doing anything less than living life to the fullest."
Take me with you on this journey
Where the boundaries of time are now tossed
In cathedrals of the forest
In the words of tongues now lost
Blinking, Alanna wonders if she would be so bold with the Goddess standing before her, that immortal voice driving her to her knees. She glances down with a wry smile and stands, shaking her head. After a moment of hesitation, she blows out the candles on the altar and returns the stones to their former location, pausing briefly to wrap her fingers around a bright piece of amethyst. "Great Mother, forgive my tongue. I merely wish to assure you that although I have many unanswered questions, I'm not giving up." The amethyst rocks back and forth on her palm and finally tumbles back to the pile of stones. Retreating, Alanna whispers softly, "It's an adventure."
Find the answers, ask the questions
Find the roots of an ancient tree
Take me dancing, take me singing
I'll ride on till the moon meets the sea
The emberstone at her neck flashes with a reddish light, and for just a moment, the chapel echoes with the distant howl of hounds scenting the kill. Quietly, and with an odd mixture of calm and excitement, Alanna lifts her chin and responds to an unspoken question, "I will, my lady. For I am your Daughter, and I shall not fail you."
Ride on
Through the night.
Ride on.
Giddy, Alanna forgets her shoes and dashes through the temple, ignoring the startled looks of several priestesses. She passes another group of guards and laughs softly when Moonlight lifts her head and whinnies in greeting at the sight of her mistress scurrying down the temple stairs. Unmindful of her dress, Alanna vaults into the saddle, tucks her skirts about her and urges Moonlight into a quick canter. Her bright hair streams out behind her as she rides through the city and for the forest, her heart lighter. A gift from the Goddess? Perhaps. All Alanna knows is that she doesn't feel quite as alone or divided.
[OOC: White text lyrics are a combination of Dante's Prayer, The Old Ways and Night Ride Across the Caucasus by Loreena McKennitt.]
I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night.
Alanna rounds a corner and rests a hand on Moonlight's nose, quietly ordering her to halt. They stand in the shadows, eyes trained on the Temple of the Great Mother Goddess. Two of the Temple Guards (muscular women dressed in armor and carrying the huge axes that now remind Alanna so strongly of Mel and her scythe) stare back, their eyes suspicious in the faint light. On any other night, Alanna would laugh at being mistaken for a male in her long Bazhir burnoose, but all she can manage is a small smile as she loops Moonlight's reins around a tree. She shouldn't be too surprised. After all, she does walk like a boy, and the cloak hides her dress and hair. However, she took particular care with her appearance this evening, and can't help but be a tiny bit frustrated. I am a woman. I have every right to be here. How odd to be denied entrance as Alan where Alanna is welcome.
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars.
Slowly pushing her hood back, Alanna shrugs out of the cloak and drapes it over the saddle. After a long day of meetings and training with the squires (swords and staffs), it is nice to feel her skirts swirling about her ankles. The dress is light and loose, cinched at her waist but flowing elsewhere. If it weren't for several layers of fabric, sheer white on purple on white, Alanna thinks she might freeze to death. As it is, her lack of sleeves almost has her retreating to the warmth of her cloak, but she grits her teeth and presses on, wondering if the guards can see the sword strapped to her back.
Maiden.
They can. The axes drop briefly, then lift in a salute as the two women turn to let her pass. Almost as one voice, they whisper, "Chosen."
Mother.
Sparing them a quick, curious glance, Alanna enters the temple and sucks in a breath, awed. It's larger than it appears on the outside, and gives one the sense that everything beyond its doors, all cycles and change, center here. Craning her neck, she follows one of many great columns up and up, until she spies the square patch of open ceiling over a central hearth, a thin curl of smoke rising toward the stars. An involuntary gasp escapes when she sees two constellations, the Goddess and the Cat, directly overhead. Trailing her fingers along an altar, Alanna smiles and keeps to the edges of the temple so as not to disturb the other women seeking the Goddess' aid. Here in this sacred space, there are no titles other than "Daughter."
Hag.
Several intimate chapels branch off the main chamber, one for each of the Goddess' appellations. Mother of Mountains, Mares, Waters and Crops are but a few. Idly, Alanna wonders if her brother-consort Mithros could claim as many. She slips off her shoes before entering one such chapel, shutting the heavy oak door behind her. The stone floor feels cool beneath her toes, and Alanna shivers slightly, taking in the deeply hued paintings (the hunt) on the walls and the lovely gold and crimson of the altar cloth.
Ride on
Through the night
Ride on
Needing some sort of noise beyond the occasional hiss of the fire, Alanna hums a song Maude used to sing while drying her herbs. She removes a small sprig of honeysuckle from where it had been tucked safely through the silver rope at her waist and places it in the center of the far side of the altar. Moistening her lips, she nods and glances next at the small bowls to her left and right. Bread for the left, honey mead from a small pitcher for the right. Sweeping her skirt aside, Alanna eyes a small collection of stones in the middle of the altar, her hand hovering briefly before she makes a decision and pulls several toward the edge. Unrefined sapphire (wisdom), serpentine (meditation), cat's eye (confidence and willpower) and green tourmaline (balance for love and passion). She smirks a little at the last, her fingers smoothing over its surface. It has other uses. Help me see with my heart.
Father Universe, Mother Flame,
By all the Gods in the Divine Realms,
I offer myself for She is my Mother.
We met along the winding path,
And in the moon tides She showed me truth.
Hear now my call for peace.
Only one offering remains. Swallowing hard, Alanna reaches back and unsheathes her sword, testing its weight in her hand. Tip to the floor, she kneels slowly and bows her head. The blade is soon flipped horizontally with a minimum of effort and set at the foot of the altar.
Tilled from the earth, made in fire, cooled in water and raised to the air, my blade is yours.
"Great Mother," Alanna whispers, eyes closed. "You once told me that your time for guidance had passed. That I was to make of my days what I chose, and bend the crossroad in time to my will. I think I found the courage. I think I did what you wanted me to do, for you and for Tortall. Since then... I'm not so sure." She pauses, biting her lip.
Suddenly, I knew that you'd have to go
Your world was not mine, your eyes told me so
Yet it was there I felt the crossroads of time
And I wondered why.
"I killed a man without thinking that perhaps there was another way. I forgot myself, and my oath." Alanna explains slowly, sweat beading on her forehead. "I gave in to temper, or madness. Perhaps both. I am sorry."
There are visions, there are memories
There are echoes of thundering hooves
There are fires, there is laughter
There's the sound of a thousand doves
Alanna opens her eyes, smiling thinly around an undercurrent of tension. "The visions, my lady. They are getting worse. I hear his dying laughter in my dreams, and constantly feel as though time is escaping us. Some would say that I am obsessed with Roger, but I know in my heart it is not over. You are not allowed to reveal what will happen, I realize this. And so I ask for patience. A chance to let events play out as they will, and trust me to do what I feel is right. I will not let you down. I refuse."
In the velvet of the darkness
By the silhouette of silent trees
They are watching, they are waiting
They are witnessing life's mysteries
Fidgeting, Alanna struggles to stay focused but finds herself distracted by a question that has been plaguing her as of late. "You said... you instructed me to learn to love. Is it possible to love too much?" She blurts out, rubbing her nose. Blushing, she hurriedly continues and pretends there isn't more she wants to ask. "It's just... the people in Milliways, friends and family alike, they are a part of me now, and I feel as loyal to them as I do to Jon and Tortall. I have duties there, just as I have duties here. I can not abandon either." (Help me balance, do right by both places.)
Cascading stars on the slumbering hills
They are dancing as far as the sea
Riding o'er the land, you can feel its gentle hand
Leading on to its destiny
"A friend said something to me recently," she whispers. "I do not think I'll be able to move past it until I mention it to you, whether or not you hear me. He said that when one is loyal to two worlds, one never fully lives in either. After several days of brooding about this, I think I've reached some conclusions. I promised Thom that I wouldn't leave him again, and I will not break that oath. Nor will I break my oath to Jonathan." Pausing, Alanna starts to smile. "I suppose what I am trying to say is that I want to be the exception to that rule, if it is one. I am determined to make it work. I've battled greater obstacles before, surely. Giving up on one world or the other is not an option, and neither is doing anything less than living life to the fullest."
Take me with you on this journey
Where the boundaries of time are now tossed
In cathedrals of the forest
In the words of tongues now lost
Blinking, Alanna wonders if she would be so bold with the Goddess standing before her, that immortal voice driving her to her knees. She glances down with a wry smile and stands, shaking her head. After a moment of hesitation, she blows out the candles on the altar and returns the stones to their former location, pausing briefly to wrap her fingers around a bright piece of amethyst. "Great Mother, forgive my tongue. I merely wish to assure you that although I have many unanswered questions, I'm not giving up." The amethyst rocks back and forth on her palm and finally tumbles back to the pile of stones. Retreating, Alanna whispers softly, "It's an adventure."
Find the answers, ask the questions
Find the roots of an ancient tree
Take me dancing, take me singing
I'll ride on till the moon meets the sea
The emberstone at her neck flashes with a reddish light, and for just a moment, the chapel echoes with the distant howl of hounds scenting the kill. Quietly, and with an odd mixture of calm and excitement, Alanna lifts her chin and responds to an unspoken question, "I will, my lady. For I am your Daughter, and I shall not fail you."
Ride on
Through the night.
Ride on.
Giddy, Alanna forgets her shoes and dashes through the temple, ignoring the startled looks of several priestesses. She passes another group of guards and laughs softly when Moonlight lifts her head and whinnies in greeting at the sight of her mistress scurrying down the temple stairs. Unmindful of her dress, Alanna vaults into the saddle, tucks her skirts about her and urges Moonlight into a quick canter. Her bright hair streams out behind her as she rides through the city and for the forest, her heart lighter. A gift from the Goddess? Perhaps. All Alanna knows is that she doesn't feel quite as alone or divided.
[OOC: White text lyrics are a combination of Dante's Prayer, The Old Ways and Night Ride Across the Caucasus by Loreena McKennitt.]