[DOTW] The Principal of the Ward

The Last Ward has always been a curious place to Vantablack. Its meant to be a safe haven for Grayard during disasters that force them out of their territory. The idea of having to post up in this place unsettled Vantablack. They had barely been to the Ward, only during drills where they never stayed long. But now as a Rake, it was their job to maintain the area to make sure its at least livable if the worst happens.

Vantablack wondered if a real trip to the Ward was inevitable, that they would live here when the mountains eventually caved into the yard. Or when rains made the territory unlivable or the snow is so great that avalanches happen.

Vantablack shook that thought for a moment as they dragged excess sticks and clutter out of the way, trying to make the area somewhat livable and traversible if anything happened in the near future. The burst of warm weather today made this place a mess, the brown grass making it worse to look at. But there was a certain beauty to the area as well. Vantablack had seen the area first during a time when the trees had leaves. It felt much more barren and exposed during the winter. Vantablack walked over to the big tree, The Principal, in the middle of the ward and looked up at it.

The branches of the tree were sprawling, its leaves sure to shelter Grayard from the worst of weathers if it were summer. The tree was quite magnificent and was fairly larger than the rest of the trees in the forest. It was an interesting feature of this area and made the last ward easy to find.

Vantablack took a moment to sit down and take a breather, as they were working on this area solo today, though they might have to push extra work to tomorrow as the sun was starting to go down. They thought about how far they had come - a Marrow Rake of Grayard, and they were so very close to becoming a Rib. They hadn't climbed this far in ranks even back in Hintertomb, so it felt good to have come this far. They thought about all the friends they've made... sitting alone in an area meant to be a safe haven for bad times was oddly peaceful and a perfect time to reminisce.

They thought of home, too. They were still hurt by the idea that they might not ever get closure about Shale or Hintertomb as a whole, but their talk with Aries helped them come to terms that sometimes the future is uncertain and one must keep going. It was still terrifying to think that Shale was dead, returned to them. Vantablack could only hope that somehow, they had avoided their fate, but it was unlikely.

Alas, their alone time here was short lived. Tonight was Supper, and they needed to start heading back before they were late, so Vantablack got up and left the last ward with haste, as they would be back tomorrow to finish their maintenance around there unless it snowed.

WC: 520

+3 bones

Vantablack doing some work, admiring a tree, and thinking about their time in Grayard and being sad about Shale all in one piece! I kept forgetting to upload this, this was finished like... last night i think LOL. The lit was fairly random but this was meant to be a work related piece and wanted to describe Vanta doing some work so i figured i'd make it a bone worthy lit with some random thinking on Vanta's end lol.