<div class="floatleft">(https://www.artwave.it/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mariacarlaboscono5.jpg)</div><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Cerise Jillian Pendleton</span><br/><strong>Blessed By::</strong>Artemis<br/><strong>Location::</strong>The woods west of the village, the Artemis House yard area<br/><strong>Company::</strong>Snowflake (Siberian Husky)<br/><strong>Date/Time::</strong>Friday, 19 June, 0900.<br/><strong>Mood::</strong>Anxious<br/><strong>Wearing::</strong>Black shirt, grey vest, black pack<br/><strong>TRIGGER WARNINGS::</strong>None<br/><br/><br/><hr/><br/>Cerise wakes early the morning of the 19th, the day before the annual solstice celebration. She grimaces as she sees the reminder about tomorrow's festivities. Like she needed one. The young woman was well aware that one of the big annual social events was coming up shortly, when she'd have to be around other people in a large group. She wasn't good with large groups.<br/><br/>But there was nothing for it, so she got up, stretched, fed the dogs, gave them scratches and pets as they ate. After they were done, she took them for their morning walk through the village, letting them stretch their legs. She returned to Artemis House, but she was agitated, and went to get her things for a trip out into the woods. She gathered a pack and vest with all the tools and supplies she'd need and then some, simple black and grey.<br/><br/>She liked simple clothing. It was...functional. Like her room, which was so spare that one might think she'd just arrived at the village rather than living there for nearly two years. She had packs, knives, hunting gear, and not a lot else. The only decoration of note was a poster of a wolf on the wall above her bed. She had one plant, a sturdy ficus that she kept alive more by its own tenacity than her skill. Nothing else to show a sign of her personality, no other mark she'd made on the place.<br/><br/>Not much to show for a life.<br/><br/>She took Snowflake out with her, the husky not requiring a leash, and went out to the woods. She felt better as soon as she was out among the trees, more relaxed, more confident. It was so much easier to function out here, away from the bustle of the village. Away from the people. She smiled, and though she didn't know it, she hummed tunelessly. She let her mind empty of conscious thought, just experiencing the trees, the earth, the light breeze. It was like meditation, but not the still and silent meditation the elders taught her, which she struggled with. This sort came naturally.