New Beginning

Graea wandered into the port, her now permanently narrowed emerald gaze scanning around quickly. She didn't like to be so close to populated areas. People wound her up and her temper was not something she cared to control these days... which meant things got messy when she wandered into places like villages and ports. Her general demeanor and constant scowl meant that most people gave her a wide berth though and so as she dropped her bag beside a barrel and perched on it, she was left to herself.

She eyed the ship currently docked, head tilted to the side thoughtfully. Her nose wrinkled against the smell of damp wood, fish and the salty ocean. A quick look was cast back inland. She'd wandered far and wide over the land and found nowhere that called to her. Nowhere that made her want to stop. She wanted more distance from her memories, a futile ambition considering that she carried them with her, but Graea had become rather masterful at burying such things. She seemed to make a decision then, sitting there on the barrel. A way to put more distance between her and her family home. She didn't care where the ship was headed, it didn't matter... she just strolled up to the captain with a small pouch of coins and bartered for passage to wherever the ship was going. She didn't even ask. Her only question - how many days would they be at sea? The full moon only a few days behind her meant that there was a fair distance she could safely travel on the ship and that would serve her well.

She sat on a crate on deck as the ship headed out of port and never once glanced back, staring past the prow of the ship to the horizon. The crew avoided her like the plague... she unnerved them, constantly staring out like that, never speaking, expression cold and distant. But equally, she gave them no trouble, staying out of the way... more of a figurehead than a passenger. A couple of weeks passed before they saw any sign of land, then Graea's relentless staring fixed on that.

They pulled into port several hours later and the ship docked. Graea looked around the fairly quiet port from the deck, gaze then trailing off into the lands beyond. The captain had said this was the Realm of Valahari and was only a stop off, another weeks travel ahead to their final destination. The garou female nodded to herself. Another week's distance was what she wanted, and she had time before the moon became full once again. The ship would be in port for a couple of hours so Graea took the opportunity to hunt, leaving the ship, bag shouldered and a quick glance at the sun to check the time before she headed into the woods.

Hunting was quick. The woods here were full of hares and in no time she'd caught one and eaten. Another glance at the sun told her there was a while yet before the ship would leave and she had no desire to sit around the hustle and bustle of the port so she headed up to an outcrop that looked over the docks, planning to watch until the ship began preparing to leave. Chewing on the last of her meat, she perched on a stone wall, watching the people skitter around the ship like ants, loading and unloading until a flurry of movement distracted her.

She looked up to see a fae hovering nearby. It began flitting around, obstructing her view of the port. She gave a low, threatening growl and the creature began to chatter incessantly, still flittering until Graea snatched up her dagger and swung it at the irritating beast to scare it away. At this the fae's babbling changed tone slightly and it began to point at her. She gave an irritated snarl and swatted out at it again, but it flittered out of reach. Seeing no end to its games, Graea, already agitated, decided to head back to the ship, hopping down from the wall with a snort of annoyance at the fae before heading out over the bridge.

But the seelie's mumbled curse had already taken effect. The creature flew away cackling gleefully as Graea began to stumble on the bridge. She clutched at her stomach and her head as a wave of dizziness and nausea hit her. Her mouth felt dry and her limbs weak. She tried to run on to get back to the ship, but as she headed down the hill from the bridge, she became disorientated, the surrounding landscape swimming around her until eventually she collapsed. Consciousness faded in and out for a few moments, the scent of wolves reached her nostrils, not the musk of a single rogue but a mingle of scents. She became aware of a man and a woman peering down at her. A deep voice trying to speak to her. Then she was lifted from the ground and the world went black.