Banshee-Bird

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A'rai
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Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 10:22 pm

Banshee-Bird

Post by A'rai »

The retreating sun casts long shadows in the yard, where a small blonde girl sits quietly. Her hair is pulled in to two long braids, that hang down her back, and she is wearing pink bows at the ends of them. Scuffed knees peak out from below the hem of her pink romper, and the oversized, tattered vest seems to nearly envelope her small frame.

She sits dangling her legs over the edge of an empty wagon, near the gated fence. With an expectant expression, she stares over the horizon viligantly. To the left of her sits a small doll, keeping watch with her.

Approaching footsteps disturb the silence, and she turns to face the woman behind her.

"Come on inside, he'll be here when he gets here. You need to get washed up for bed."

"Just a little longer, Mama. This is important!" The tone in young voice is determined.

"Ok.... just a little longer, but when the sun goes to bed.... so do you." The woman gives a warm smile, then turns her eyes to the horizon. Her heart was hopeful, and she shares the hesitant excitement. He has never missed an appointment. She wrings her hands in her apron, then gives another nod to the little girl.

"I mean it, Banshee-Bird .... He'll be here, but you need to come inside soon."

The little girl nods quietly, keeping her attention to the empty horizon. Banshee-Bird ... her father had given her that nick name when she was just a youngling. He said her cries were about as loud as a Corellian Banshee Bird, and would quiet immediately, when her mother approached. The name had stuck. As she grew, her father would mention that it was so well suited, because, like the bird, she hated to be kept confined.

The images begin to fade, as the rising sun wakes the sleeping blonde. She sits up quickly, and blinks her eyes, adjusting to the morning light.

She has been dreaming about him more often lately. It is pressing her to search once more. Her duty requires it of her, and the dreams propells her.

The sun is climbing into the sky, and a bird overhead can be heard announcing the new day. She pulls her hair back into a tight braid, and then puts her hands on her hips. The scenes from her dream still replay in her mind. With a quick look around the camp, she clamors to her pack, and begins her daily routine.

Her father has been gone for some time now, but those emotions are still strong. Those emotions push her forward.

Even though many of the rangers were dispersed, far and wide, she is determined to search for them. Time has proven the need is again at hand, to have them reunited. Many of them are passed, struck down. Those who remain, have remained hunted. Hunted much like those they lived to protect.

It was more than a profession. Her father taught her that each time he left home, and each time he returned. This was a life long duty, one she held dear. It was what molded a Ranger, what proved a Ranger.

Today, she is heading to the coordinates of a once strong city, a city of Rangers, the city of New Antaria. She doesn't expect to find anybody there. The city has been vacant for years. She hopes to find a clue, perhaps a hint, or maybe just to renew the momentum.
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A'rai
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Re: Banshee-Bird

Post by A'rai »

The sun is at its highest point in the sky by the time she arrives at last rise, just before the site. She left her speeder behind, and opted to hike. It took a little longer, but afforded her the quiet she felt would lend itself to thinking.

She pulls off her hat, and shakes out her long blonde hair. The wavy locks fall to about her shoulder blades, and the sun dances through each roll and curl. Her complexion is tanned, from the days outdoors. Naboo provides a fairly moderate climate, and pretty decent balance of sun to rain.

She unclips her electrobinoculars and lifts them to her eyes. Scanning the area around her, she pauses a moment over the ruins of a city. That city is her goal today.

The days searching, and flying had finally brought her to the city of New Antaria. As she stares through the viewer, she can see the city unfold in her mind.

Walls and buildings in a functional working order, and a few Rangers going about their duties of the day. Her father always told her, a Ranger's day starts before the sun wakes, and ends after it has gone to bed.

She remembers days like that of her own. A ranger's duty is something far more than a mere job. This duty holds with it the deep need to percevere, regardless of the circumstances, continue.

"You don't simply -do- it, you live and breathe it, Banshee-Bird. It is what flows through your veins, and sings in your ears. Duty is something that becomes part of you. Don't join the Rangers, just because you are looking for employment."

The blonde smiles warmly at the memory of her father's words. Those words, spoken so many years ago, still resounded in her head as if she heard it moments earlier.

She lowers the electrobinoculars and tucks them into her pack, then moves closer to the site.

As she reaches the edge, she slows her pace. It has been a long search, and nothing would be well served by moving through it quickly.

Step by step, she searches the area. After about half an hour, she pauses and looks from her feet off to the left. Boot prints. They were leading out of the town, but they were fresh. Maybe a day or so, there hadn't been rain so it was hard to gauge an exact time.

The exact time isn't truly critical, because it was safe to say, they hadn't been there long. The ruins had been disheveled for several years at least, and any treasures within would have long since been removed. These steps weren't that of a scavenger.

The boot prints look to be left by a bipedal being, and likely humanoid. She walks along side the steps, matching the cadence as she does. They disappear as the grass begins to cover the trail, and she pauses staring toward the horizon.

A moment passes, and she looks back toward the old city. She moves back to what used to be a gate guard post. With a long slow breath, she reaches to her hand, and pulls the signet from her finger.

Closing her eyes, she wraps her fingers tightly over it into a fist. It needs to be something distinct. Those tracks were likely left by someone who at least saw this city for some good.

With a glance back over her shoulder to the tracks one last time, she shakes her head. She had to take the chance. If there were others, they would also be looking. It would make sense that they would come here as well.

With a silent motion, she gently places the signet in the corner of the guard post, and stands quietly.

With quick strides, she makes her way toward the site she had used to camp. It would be evening by the time she arrives at the camp, and she is already reviewing in her mind the steps she will take to make a quick camp.

Now... she camps. She will return, and watch, monitor the city. For now, she has to be away. If it was a nefarious visitor, she does not want to be seen.
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Re: Banshee-Bird

Post by A'rai »

The moonlight glistens off of the blonde waves of hair, as the young girl bounds quickly through the high grass. She was at a steady pace, moving toward home. Her rhythmic breathing kept beat with her steps, and she keeps her eyes on the horizon.

It has been weeks since she last saw her, and getting home before bed was important. She could see in her mind's eye the silhouette of a woman sitting at the window, with the warm glow of a fireplace behind her. Her mother always waited at the window. Much like when she was smaller, and she herself waited on her father. It was tradition, routine, expected.

She had sent a message to her mother two days earlier, alerting her of her return. The day was closing in, and she still had just over three kilometers to go. The speeder she usually rode, had a misfire, and she left it at the garage in town. A return trip in the morning would be easy enough, but tonight she had an important date to keep.

As she continues, she begins to see the gated driveway on the horizon. There was a beat up old wagon just the other side of the gate, where she herself used to sit at night waiting on her father's return. A chuckle escapes at the memory, as she presses a little faster.

The sound of a bird overhead, rouses the blonde from her sleep. Another dream. Another place. Another time. Fond memories were returning to her, as if replaying her life at night. Perhaps it was because she had been spending so much time on her own, or perhaps it was because the current state of the galaxy was reigniting those old emotions. Either way, she was finding it harder and harder to want to wake from the memories.

She stretches her arms overhead, and rises from her bedroll. The day was just beginning, and the birds were coaxing the sun from its slumber. She reaches over and pulls on her boots, then stands and begins to strike her camp.

No time for much breakfast today. She had a ration she could eat on the go, and she'd have to go without coffee. As much as she wants to return to New Antaria, she has to keep a little more off the path. It wouldn't be much time before Naboo would be facing the same threat many other planets in the galaxy were facing. She had to move her ship to a more secure location. These kind of events often wreak havoc on ships remaining in a starport.

"Banshee-Bird, always keep your head on priorities.... keep yourself safe, so you can keep your charge safe. If you disregard one, you will lose the other." Advice from her father echoed once more in her head.

She quickly tied her bedroll to the bottom of her pack, and slung the pack over her shoulders. As she moved forward, she leaned and scooped up her helmet. The black chest plate and helmet had become routine for her lately.

The sun began to cast it's sharp shadows, announcing the morning. She brushed her boots over the small makeshift firepit, removing obvious evidence, and then headed toward the city.
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Aimantia Risian - Owner of Jax Jive, Zeltron Correspondent, Mayor New Zeltros, Senator Naboo
Kayleeh Tsanthar Manager Fate Gear
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