Rinkah's Prologue
Peace had been restored to Hoshido and Nohr. A new nation had been raised up, one of peace and strength, led by the child of a god-like dragon who had brought the world the moment's reprieve it needed from war. Each day that Valla stood was another day that the east and west lived in harmony with one another.
Each day was another that Rinkah's talents as a warrior and her tribe's isolationism were not needed.
Yet they continued to stay true to their traditions, honoring the God of the Flame as they maintained the holy pyre that stood in the center of their home. Each day, they trained their skills as warriors, lived their lives as tribemen, and pushed away outsiders, did their best to still remain aloof of them. Though the war had ended much of the tension between the Flame Tribe and the outside world, the people within the tribe still remembered the history and the mistakes of the past. Their storytellers would not allow the memory of what had happened the last time an outsider had managed to put out the flame to fade, and as long as they remembered, Rinkah's cousins and fellow tribesmen would not repeat the mistakes of the past.
When the war began, Rinkah could not wait to return to the tribe and remove herself from the outside world. When the war ended, the tribal heiress had believed that the ache for her newfound friends would fade eventually as she accepted her duties as a leader and focused on her life in the tribe.
Yet each day, the pain in her heart grew. She recalled the woman who had proven more devoted to family than any of them, the royal who had hunted with her to take deers and boars, and even that annoying butler that she had shared tea with and who grew to understood her need for solitude... each of them were close friends, along with many others in the Hoshido camp and a few in Nohr's...
But now, she could not simply leave the camp. Her father was preparing her to be the leader of their tribe, knowing that one day, she would need to be ready to guide their extended family in worship and life. Each day was filled with more and more lessons on how to be a passionate as the flames and as strong as the earth, with little break for time to herself.
Which made it all the more surprising when the strange lettered appeared in her tent as she cooked her evening meal, setting itself upon a small box that she kept her cooking supplies in.
"What is this...?"
None of her clansmen had brought the letter to her, in person at letter at least, and she doubted they could have snuck in while she cooking... Nor would they dare, knowing her wrath was not a force to be trifled with. So how did it end up here?
For a moment, she thought of throwing it in the flames, to use it as kindling and as an offering to the flames... but something drew her to open it. Perhaps it was curiosity, wondering if perhaps it was a letter from one of her friends. She doubted that Lord Takumi, Oboro, or Kagerou would send a message in this style, preferring scrolls... so perhaps it was from Charlotte or Jakob? Benny could have as well sent it, to remind her that she did not need to always be closed away from others, or even that hanger-about Keaton...
For as much as she valued the solitude that her tribe proclaimed, she couldn't resist the chance at speaking with her distant friends, or to just read their words and know them once again... which only made her even more agitated when she saw what it had to say.
"Valentine's...? What a load of hogwash. Who even sent this?"
Someone would be in for an earful of her ranting and a sore arm of her beating in the morning... but for now, the woman who did not understand the holiday focused on her meal, nearly cooked and ready. She set aside the letter, far enough in her mind to avoid the flames from consuming it just yet... but just close enough for a bit of ash to fall on the box for one of the responses, and to take her to the ballroom.
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"Lord Takumi, Niles? Is this another of Lady Elise's jokes that she manged to rope Sakura into helping with?"
She had gone to bed before she had been taken, waking up in the new place had been a shock. At the moment, the only thing keeping her from going wild was the presence of men she recognized... Though they seemed just as confused as her.
Whatever, she would keep close to them even so. It was better to keep together as a pack in situations like this... and besides, it would allow her and Takumi to become familiar with one another again. Even if she was rather grouchy at the moment about being spirited away to a new place.
A spiriting away that seemed to have happened because of the girl with strangely pink hair who ran about. With a growl, she barked out at the woman, trying to get her attention.
"You there! What is the meaning of this?"
@Hospes @Takumi @Sen @Yun Lee @Peeps wanting to talk to a grouchy savage @Other Fates players
