[Zaniah]

A E S T H E T I C       A R T

There was a part of this unusual forest that he found himself fond of. It was unlike anything he had seen in his homeland, but there was a willow tree that towered above the other ash trees that surrounded it. He basked beneath it's pale green leaves in the morning sun, and hid in the space beneath it's roots when the light began to fade. It was a peaceful existence, at least, and he rarely had visitors here.

It was no thanks to his 'Goddess'.

Mother Moon's guidance had led him to a near-demise, drowning her child within filthy, muddy water. His nocturnal habits that he was raised on were quickly abandoned once he had awoken, washed up on some beach with the warm rays of sun upon his face. He had wanted time to think, time to consider what his next step was now. He couldn't return to his family, not after abandoning them the way he had.

(Maybe they think Mother Moon has sent you to join the rest of your litter, sweet lunar child).

Strange things were happening during the nights he slept. Weird, deformed corpses of creatures he couldn't comprehend turned up in the forest. Sometimes he awoke in the darkness of his den to horrifying screams and screeches that had echoed to him from somewhere deep within the ash trees.

Today, blood stained the river he frequented and pieces of decaying flesh floated downstream. The corpse it came from had become caught between two boulders that sat in the middle of the river, water flowing around and over it. Zaniah had never seen a horse before, but that wasn't what worried him.

The fact that it seemed to be nearly torn in half was what worried him.

A new scent reached him, and he turned to see a woman approach.

"You should leave before night falls."

A Goddess is angry, it seems.

[Filianore]

#996699

It wasn't uncommon for Filianore to leave the den, often she did it to recite her hymns and sift through her thoughts. Her boy safely tucked by the Knight's side, she had no need to fear then. Templar would protect him, but not on his own. Their Lord was with them as well.

She clung to that safety net still, even after the collapse of Borogrove, even after she faith had been tested time and time again. It would not waver, she was and would always be devoted to the religion that saved her and gave her new purpose. From this day to her last.

But it was with a furrowed brow and an unreadable, yet warm expression did she find her self looking upon a sun touched figure. Fur, glinting in the afternoon light as it caught his golden coat, shimmering with each strand of fur. He turned to her then, but she remained silent, regarding her with only a warning. Fear the night? Head would turn and the redness of the water took her only slightly by surprise.

Jaw tensing, tired eyes would look back upon the stranger's golden furred form. "I do not fear the night, nor the dark it brings." The Apostle's voice was quiet against the loud trickling of running water. "Not when He is with me." The Lord was the brightest light she'd ever known, and his signs were all around her, constantly guiding her. Like a hidden friend, he was always there. Watching, protecting.

The wolfdog took a tentative step forward, catching drifting flesh out the corner of her eye. "You've a reason to fear the dark?" Came her soft words, stopping once she caught sight of a half bloated corpse. She knew hellhounds and all the like, but had never seen a creature like this, half submerged, eyes milky white and dripping, fangs, a face of a demon rather than a horse. A beast like no other.

Stopping slightly closer to the golden male, she'd bow her head in prayer, words clear and quiet. "Oh gracious be our Lord, oh holy avenger, gallant protector. Thine divine will is thine own, and with thine hands cast this poor accursed beast away, purify these waters. Heal thine earthly wound so that no demon shall walk before thee. Blessed be it's resting place, maketh this desecrated grave pure once more, reborn to hallowed ground." Pausing, warm sunlight clinging to her back. "Amen." Pale, tired eyes would glance upward as a boulder shifted against the water and the corpse was let lose to drift down the river. "Praise be to thee, great Lord."

[Zaniah]

A E S T H E T I C       A R T

"I do not fear the night, nor the dark it brings. Not when He is with me."

"A bold claim." Zaniah wouldn't pry into who 'He' was. Whoever he was, he certainly wasn't watching over Zaniah - not when he was caught in Her wrath. Blood continued to drift down the river, and he began to notice the unease in the woman's eyes. "You've a reason to fear the dark?" She asked softly, taking a step towards him - resulting in a more clear view of the abomination that was rotting in the flowing stream.

"Yeah, kind of."

"Oh gracious be our Lord, oh holy avenger, gallant protector. Thine divine will is thine own, and with thine hands cast this poor accursed beast away, purify these waters. Heal thine earthly wound so that no demon shall walk before thee. Blessed be it's resting place, maketh this desecrated grave pure once more, reborn to hallowed ground."

He watched her with an obvious curiousity as she recited her prayer. It was a practice that Zaniah was entirely unfamiliar with; there were many in Nardir who believed in the Lunar Goddess, and many Oracles over time who claimed they were her voice, but he had never seen anything like this. While she was in her own little world, he took the opportunity to stare for other reasons: her appearance, mostly. Soft silver fur, a long wispy tail that dragged behind her, and a strange piece around her neck that he didn't even know what to think of.

If his Goddess wasn't trying to actively kill him, he would've said she was kissed by the moon.

He quietly gulped as he looked away, just as she finished her prayer and the corpse was swept away.

"Praise be to thee, great Lord."

"Whether you're frightened or not," He spoke up after a moment of silence. "You should still leave. For your own sake. This isnt the first of these creatures that I've come across." He started heading back towards his willow tree, assuming that she'd follow. "I was kept awake during my first night here by horrific noises. Things screaming in the forest. Every morning, theres a fresh corpse. It's always some...malformed monstrosity." He paused when he spotted the familiar pale green leaves of his current home, the drooping branches of the willow swaying gently in the breeze.

"You still have time to get out of this forest. The Lunar Goddess has not been kind to me, and I wouldn't want you getting caught in her gaze."

(Kissed by the moon, he reminded himself as he held back a blush).

[Filianore]

#996699

Tired eyes rested upon the golden male then (oblivious to his staring before when she was praying and even now), listening to his words with a quiet thoughtfulness a smile touched her lips if only slightly. It warmed her features and she shook her head at him. "I will not leave." She said simply enough to him, within that tired gaze rested a fire that flickered with hope. "I will not leave because there is a need of me here." She cast a glance at the river and then back to him.

"If there are those in need of aid, it is my sworn duty to provide it." Her tone firm, she had made it her strict job back in Borogrove to care for any and all that she came upon. This would be no different. "I won't be dissuaded by what I've seen today, if anything I'm more driven." Her gaze even with his own, as a breeze swept through her fur.

She toke note of his use of Lunar Goddess? Brows knitting together, and she tried to reassure him with a warm smile. "You fear the moon?" It was both rhetorical, as well as for curiosity's sake, head tilting slightly. "If she hasn't been kindly to you, perhaps it's time to follow someone else." Filianore offered softly, would Father Ripley be proud? "My Lord, the one of which I follow, protects me. He has done nothing, but protect me and the ones I've traveled with." Paw sweeping the ground to poke at a leaf thoughtfully.

"If you fear the moon, then perhaps following His light would be better? His sigils and scriptures, the sign in which we pray under, the Sun and Flame." The Apostle paused before she got too ahead of herself, she had seen all the miracles back in Borogrove, and the golden male before her had seen one for himself just moments ago. "Praise the Sun, if you wish it so." For no greater, radiance will ever turn it's back upon thee.

[Zaniah]

A E S T H E T I C       A R T

"I will not leave."

Stubborn, stupid, or both? Zaniah couldn't help but wonder.

"I will not leave because there is a need of me here. If there are those in need of aid, it is my sworn duty to provide it."

Duty was a word that floated around in his mind with a number of possibilities. Was she part of a group, perhaps? Had a pack moved into this area? Or was this simply a woman who wanted to spread hope and joy and try to help anyone she came across? A dangerous game, he thought if her reasoning was the latter. There was plenty of danger out here, and while he didn't want to doubt her, she didn't seem like the fighting type.

"I won't be dissuaded by what I've seen today, if anything I'm more driven."

Definitely stubborn and stupid.

"You fear the moon?"

He experienced what felt like an iron grip around his throat, letting out only a choked "Uh-" before she continued:

"If she hasn't been kindly to you, perhaps it's time to follow someone else. My Lord, the one of which I follow, protects me. He has done nothing, but protect me and the ones I've traveled with. If you fear the moon, then perhaps following His light would be better? His sigils and scriptures, the sign in which we pray under, the Sun and Flame. Praise the Sun, if you wish it so."

Well, that explained a lot. Zaniah didn't think he would run from one deity only to be swept up straight into the following of another. The former Prince of Nardir was raised within the darkness, the moon was everything to them. It was their beacon that guided them, that decided their fate for them. She was clearly mad at him already, how upset would his former Goddess become if he turned and followed what sounded to be her opposite?

On top of that, how could he guarantee that this Lord of Light wouldn't blind him and smite him like the Lady of the Night did?

"You'll forgive my caution," He stated, watching the shadows climb the trees as the sun went down below the horizon. "I've fled from a powerful being that took my littermates and collected them as the stars around Her. It wasn't particularly my intention to drop one belief and pick up another."

(But he remembers how he woke up after that fateful night, draped in the gentle morning light that led him to this place).

A noise echoes through the forest; something grunts and gurgles as it emerges from it's cave.

"I'm going to go kill the demon that stalks these woods in Her glow. If your Lord truly wishes for my fealty, then we'll see if he protects me as I strike this beast down in His name." He turns then, to look her straight in the eyes. "If I come back alive, then I will swear my life to Him."

Zaniah was tired of these mysterious forces testing him.

This time, he would turn the tables onto them.

[Filianore]

#996699

She watched him with those same tired eyes, warmth exuding from her, a smile coming to the woman's lips and she shook her head. "Merely an offer, I didn't mean to call into question your faith, I apologize." Fili would give him an apologetic look, she was always so devoted toward her own faith, that at times she got a little ahead of herself. She could admit that, it was something the definitely needed working on.

The sun was setting, she cast it a glance, knowing soon that her Knight would awaken wondering where she had wandered off to, and her not so little boy would be missing the warmth she provided for him. Pale gaze would flicker back to the golden male then, a shrill cry echoed across the breeze, his monsters he had spoken of no doubt. The Apostle blinked once, twice, three times brows raising, but not much else.

Her ears perked forward as his attention was now focused squarely upon her, and she gave him a solemn nod. "Then allow for me to bless your hunt, I can offer you a prayer in His name." The lady said softly, taking a step forward. It'd be a boon of sorts, something for this young paladin to find hope within. And if he so did accept, she'd inhale deeply. "Great Lord of Sunlight, thine God of holy flame..." The creature moaned a cry, but the Apostle cared not. "Protect thine son, a holy pilgrim, young paladin of gold." The trees shuddering in the wind. "Grant your sword to be his teeth, your cloak to be his shield, protect him from any ruination. Bestow upon this paladin the strength to free this wood from whatever evil plagues it, amen." Her paw raising as she stepped closer and if the lad so allowed, she'd gently tap his chest and then reached up to tap his forehead.

The beast's cry seemed closer now, a roar almost, a fire in the woman's tired gaze as she beheld the young male that stood before her. "Go, the Lord is with you." She motioned him onward.

[Zaniah]

A E S T H E T I C       A R T

"Then allow for me to bless your hunt, I can offer you a prayer in His name."

He blinked in confusion for a moment, surprised at her offer. He had little interaction with anyone in Nardir, even his own family had likely forgotten his name. He had grown up alone in this world and that was always how he intended to be; so he struggled to truly understand why this stranger would want to help him. "I, ah...yes, thank you." He softly mumbled with a nod after he finally found his voice.

"Great Lord of Sunlight, thine God of holy flame...Protect thine son, a holy pilgrim, young paladin of gold. Grant your sword to be his teeth, your cloak to be his shield, protect him from any ruination. Bestow upon this paladin the strength to free this wood from whatever evil plagues it, amen."

He lowered his head so she could finish her ceremony, ignoring how quickly his heart beat in his chest.

(Nerves for the upcoming fight, he decided).

"Go, the Lord is with you."

He headed towards the heart of the forest, but stopped a moment, looking back at her. "Uh..." There was a moment of hesitation in what he wanted to tell her, and to be entirely honest, he wasn't sure why. "I've been living beneath this willow tree. It's safe, so...you're welcome to stay for the night."

And with that, he sprinted away into the shadows. Ready to discover who he really was.