Thread: The Coming Storm (Zaila & Alvis)

Ananya had been born blind, but this didn't mean the girl's life was spent in darkness. You see, the majority of the time when someone is born with the total obliteration of a sense, they acquire a new more...extra sensory gift. Ananya was blessed with such a gift which, given the company, could also be a curse. She had perfected this gift to make her into what she is today, a truth-seer. While the name isn't exactly applicable in the literal sense, she still, in effect, sees when people lie. The world around the girl is akin to her being a bat and having echo location. While she doesn't emit a high pitched sound to bounce the images back, her brain still perceives her surroundings in the same manor. Everything is in black and white. Things lighter in color tend to run through the grey spectrum while darker colors fall into the darker greys and blacks, as is commonly known. Here is where things get different for the girl though because, aside from seeing the world in this black and white appearance, she can see colors as well. Now, these aren't colors like people are used to seeing they are aural colors. People emit them when they are nervous, happy, excited, frightened, no matter what emotion the person is feeling, these colors are emanated. Ananya can only see the colors that are presented when someone's nervous, particularly when they've said something and lied about it. The color she sees also pertains to that person's alignment and the severity of the lie. Seeing colors on the light side of the spectrum means the person's of good alignment and is only making a small lie and most likely doesn't lie frequently. The darker colors mean the people are of dark or evil alignment and probably lie on a daily basis since their occupation could possibly tinge on being a spy or an infiltrator of an enemy sect. This is why it can also be a curse. Imagine talking to people, not being able to see their facial features, and seeing that they're lying directly to you! It's been hard on the girl and has made it nearly impossible for her to have people she calls friends. The ones she -does- have know of her gift rather well and are very careful as to what they say around her because, even if one doesn't think it, one lies several times in one day to just keep up in conversation or to be civil and societal even. The news of the battles in the outlying towns had people fussing over the girl's safety. She was a sweetheart, never hurt anyone, and generally liked by most of her community. But, she was also a ward in that she had a coveted gift which could definitely be dangerous for her, and the whole of the village, were she to fall into the wrong hands. Fearing that the battle groups had heard of Ananya and her rare gift, they settled her into the basement of one of the elders' houses. They prayed that if the group came through the town, and searched the house, they would dismiss the basement thinking there was nothing but belongings down there. It was only a small group that had offered to do this for her since she was like a daughter to a couple and had helped the others with different situations. They believed they owed it to her. Unfortunately, not everyone in the town shared this sentiment, but they kept their traitorous thoughts to themselves and made sure to steer clear of the truth-seer else she'd see their true intentions. They had heard of the wars happening, and while they were small, or so they thought, they figured the girl was a precious commodity and would fetch a pretty penny if sold off to some group of brigands. Now the group had only to wait until this invasion happened, their thoughts running rampant with what would be done with the money since they were expecting some grand reward.