Editing Janne Walks-The-Sky (section)

=History=

Janne Jomsdottir was once a simple fisherman's daughter, helping her father cast nets as soon as she was strong enough to help on the boats. She learned the prayers to appease the spirits, and even had the good fortune of greeting one of the inlet-gods who protected her village's boats when they went out to sea (he was quite pleased, actually). In addition to the simple trade of fishing, she secretly learned the use of the sword from her big brother, who found it amusing to teach his little sister to fight, and the arts of bonesetting and wound-binding from her mother and sister, who insisted on giving her a proper woman's education, at the very least.

She might well have gone the rest of her life in blissful obscurity had her village not been attacked by a pack of raiders from down the coast. The men had gone out on their boats, which meant the only people in the village to meet the huscarl's axes and swords were women and children. This was not an unusual occurence; the standard procedure was to run away until the raiders lost interest, because there was no way to fight them even with the men on their side.

Except, this time, one person did not run. Janne took up her father's rusty sword and parked herself between the incoming raiders and the fleeing villagefolk. She hadn't really thought it through, of course, but the general idea was that she would buy time for the others to escape with her sacrifice. And it certainly looked like a sacrifice - she was one girl against dozens of hardened warriors, with a sword that was mroe rust that steel and a thin leather tunic for protection against heavy axes, shields and mail coats. But something inside her said she had to stand her ground - that when she learned how to use the sword, she'd accepted the fact that she would have to use it for the good of others. And if protecting her family and village wasn't "the good of others", then she didn't know what counted. 

As the first man swung in, she parried well, and even got a good riposte in that, unfortunately, glanced off his armor. She tried for another attack, and it got stuck in his shield. Naturally, her opponent wrenched it away, leaving her weaponless in front of upwards of fifty hostile armsmen. But she didn't run, didn't even consider finding higher ground. The burning desire to stop them all and protect her people burned in her heart, as bright and as fiercely as the golden sunburst on her brow. A shining golden sword filled her empty hand, and when she swung at the man who had disarmed her, the blade cleaved through his shield, his axe, his armor, his body, and out through the other side, dropping the gruesome halves on the frozen ground like a sliced apple. Shocked by the sudden reversal, the other raiders didn't even react to Janne leaping the full fifty yards at their group until she landed like a meteor amidst them, and by that time, it was too late. 

It was the raiders who fled back to their ships, willing to risk the certain torture-execution for cowardice rather than face the little slip of a girl glowing with the light of the dawn and holding a sword forged from her soul. Janne systematically slaughtered everyone who had been foolish enough to remain behind, then ran across the surface of the water alongside the ship, practically bisecting it and leaving the luckless raiders to drown under the weight of their heavy mail and weapons. 

Then a sudden cry jerked her head up, and she saw the familiar sight of her village's fishing flotilla, returning from their voyage. She began running toward them, eager to tell them what she'd done... when she realised the people aboard were making the signs of warding against her. In that moment, she realised that despite her actions, she had lost her village, in the end. With a heavy heart, she turned away from the people she'd fought so hard to save, bounding across the stormy seas as though she could outrun the despair in her heart...

Janne made her way down south, to warmer climes, fighting in various places and winning the heavy purses wagered against a seeming slip of a girl like herself. Though her days were filled with violence, her nights were filled with visions; visions that led her to an island in the Coral Archipelago, the Oceanic Oasis, where she received gifts and blessings from three spirits who claimed to have been sent to render aid to her by the Unconquered Sun himself. It was then, after taking the surname Walks-The-Sky over her former surname of Jomsdottir, that she began to understand her true nature as a Solar Exalt, and gradually, the dreams began to make more and more sense. This time, they pointed her to a supposedly haunted island, which the seafolk she spoke to claimed was the lair of a sea witch. Janne steeled herself to slay this sorceress... and instead found Anata, her soulbound Lunar mate. What was supposed to have been a bloody battle ended with them tentatively exchanging confidences, and as the Sun and Moon met above them, they knew that they would seek their destiny in each others' company.

Now, the dreams and visions have brought them to other Exalts, Solars and Lunars like themselves. What legends will they tell about their deeds?