The+cleansing+ritual+dance

Evening was falling within Heroes' Rest, it was still strange to see the sun falling to the horizon and painting the edges of the sky in reds and oranges… while knowing they were inside a ship. Wren paused on the dirt paths between the homes, closed her eyes, and breathed in the smell of the trees and water.

She opened her eyes, and smiled over at Inali, "It's been too long..." Inali nodded to her and leapt onto her shoulders, "What do you have in mind?" Wren looked around, noticing a few people in the area. She could hear water splashing from the lake from someone, Posy and Uther were slipping off into the home the young gnome had chosen, and Sir Reston was chatting with Kale by the training area. Kale looked up and smiled when he seen her. She smiled and blew him a kiss. She turned back to Inali and pointed to a quiet corner, "Cleansing ritual. Out there." Inali nodded.

Wren sat on the cool grass and carefully stacked up the firewood into the symbol she had been taught. She dropped the robe she was wearing to the ground, and pulled out her calming lavender oil. She layered it slowly over each arm, and along her neck. She tipped the bottle over the top of her chest, letting it run down in rivulets over her sensuous ripe body, taking in the sensation before running her hands to smooth it out over her skin. She rubbed it down over her firm abdomen, toned from years of dancing, along her slender hips and long, shapely legs. Inali helped to drip it down her back, covering her skin.

Wren took a moment to breathe in the calming oil mixed with the scent of the earth and trees around her. She could hear the sound of the waterfall in the distance as it cascaded down the cliffside. She felt the soft breeze against her newly oiled skin.

She took out her paintbrush and mixed the earth with some water into a mud that she used to paint symbols over her arms and legs... earth, air, fire, water, tranquility, balance... Inali dipped her paws in the mud and pressed them onto the top of the young witch’s feet to represent their bond. Wren slipped a few braided necklaces with dangling beads, feathers, and charms around her neck that hung to various lengths. She slipped on a wide belt that hung loosely over her hips, dangling chimes, beads, feathers, and charms.

She blew a whispered magical phrase, igniting the spark that soon had flames licking along the length of the logs. Wren closed her eyes and listened to the crackling of the fire before setting up two drums to the side. She set a teapot down and dropped in leaves and a powder into the water to heat on the open flames.

She called her unseen servant, and handed it two sticks, instructing it how she wanted the drums hit. Steady, rhythmic... a little harder strike on the base to feel it... she nodded, satisfied, letting the beat echo into her own spirit. The strong steady beat could be heard throughout Heroes' Rest, and the light of the fire flickered in the evening light like dancing ribbons of orange, red, and yellow. Wren sipped a warm and soothing liquid from her cup as she closed her eyes, letting everything come together.

The lithe elven woman let the beat wash over her as she moved close to the fire and started her dance... Slow, deliberate, and practiced. The colors of the fire, reflected off of her well-oiled skin as she danced in the circle around it, drips of sweat now trickling down the curves of her body. The chimes dangling from her added to the beat as she swayed, slowly drowning her into another state… It seemed she slipped from conscious thought to free spirit, as she succumbed to the rhythm of the drums, the fire, and the dance… where she could feel all worry, stress, and anger lift away as the cleansing dance fulfilled its purpose. Inali laid in the grass, absorbing the heat of the fire, and kept an eye out for anyone who might be drawn by the drums and the fire.