Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 23rd, 718
Part 1 - Careless Whisper
Part 2 - A Mother's Duty
Qit'ria didn't wait long, knowing that if she didn't stem the tide of blood pouring from her, she'd not have the strength to go on. And she recalled the shadow lands that were next, according to the vision the Induk gave her. She held up her slashed arms, looking at them. The cuts were deep, even moving her fingers sent stabbing pain through her. She clenched her fists, amused by the increase in the blood flow, at least until her fingers began to tingle. Something about feeling this pain was nice, a reminder of both a success and a failure. A reminder that she wasn't yet dead.
She looked over at her friend, only to see she wasn't there.
In a moment of panic, she looked all around, but didn't see the spirit anywhere. Her fear spread through the connection in the vines bracelet on her wrist, and she felt fear in response. Fear that wasn't her own. The Induk was growing weaker. Qit'ria stopped thinking, and simply acted. She began the shift to the batcat form. As her body twisted and broke and stretched, she paid mind to the wounds she'd acquired on her Sev'ryn form. They disappeared in the transformation, but she knew they'd be there when she changed back.
She'd just have to make sure to get to Yeye before that happened.
Once the transformation was complete, Qit'ria dashed off in the direction shown in her vision. Deeper into the forest past the Iyo tree. She ran on the silent paws of the winged panther, her eyes cast forward. Her life didn't matter right now. The life of her friend, of her people's forest mattered. So she pushed herself, settling into the long strides of the panther, her wings tucked against her back so as to not cause drag.
She bounded around trees, hopped over roots, until suddenly she was in darkness. She could still see, thanks to the panther's eyes, but she could tell, she was in a much darker area now. She quickly came to a stop and ducked behind a tree. Every hair upon her body was standing upright. This whole area felt... wrong. She sniffed the air, smelling the acrid smoke of the fire. Her eyes looked at the trees in the distance, at the brush. They didn't appear burnt.
She listened. The forest was completely silent.
Qit'ria knew she was short on time, but she knew that if she ran in blindly, she'd run too high of a risk. It was something she'd done too many times. And she couldn't afford to be so careless now, not with Caza waiting at home, not with Yeye counting on her to come back, not with her new friend and the forest needing her help. She had to be smarter.
She needed to know more.
Turning to the tree she hid behind, she raised her wings, as she scrunched down her body. She flapped her wings down hard a moment before she pushed against the ground, for an additional boost to her leap. She jumped high up the trunk, her claws out before her, and swatted her paws at the trunk to get ahold.
Except the tree wasn't solid like she was expecting.
Her thick paws punched through the bark and ash billowed out, blanketing the cat. Her back paws punched through as well, and she found herself beginning to scramble for purchase. She began to fall backwards. She pushed away as best she could, twisting her body around, extending her wings out wide as she landed back on the ground.
She turned, looking back up at the tree of ash, as it began to lean away from her. There was no wooden creak or the whoosh that normal trees make when they fall. No, it feel in pure silence. And when it hit the tree next to it, it fwumped into a cloud of ash. The tree it struck also began to lean away, and it too began to fall. She watched as the trees for a large swath began to fall and disappear into ash because of her touch.
But while she was watching in the distance, she failed to notice the movement in the ash nearest to her. The grey ash stirred, and on perfectly silent wings, the first moth rose. It was the size of Qit'ria's fist, and its wings were perfectly undetectable. And soon, it was joined by dozens, then hundreds more, and only now Qit'ria could see them. She didn't back up, but she did crouch in her watching of them.
And in unison, they all turned toward her.
She didn't wait to see what she knew was about to happen. She dashed around, immediately running in the opposite direction of them, when she felt her friend crying out in pain. She truly didn't have long. Qit'ria sprinted, around one of the falsely living trees. She began flapping her wings as she sprinted, before jumping up into the air, catching just enough breeze to stay aloft. She banked hard around a tree, to turn back deeper into the darkness. She caught a glance at the moths, seeing the strange red orbs they were carrying.
And seeing just how fast they were.
She flapped her wings harder and harder, as she turned again. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she needed to go deeper through this shadow land. Her back muscles were aching already from the flapping, and she didn't know why. She had seen these cats fly for much longer and further than she herself had. So why was she already wearing down?
There wasn't much time to consider the answer as the first wave of moths caught up to her, looking to cut her off. She just caught a glimpse of them, and dove down hard and away from them. She was hurtling toward the ground, and tilted her wings and shoulders to begin the pull up, to get away from crashing quite painfully. As she completed the bank, she felt a surge of heat and wind from behind her.
And the wind became a full blown burst.
She was sent tumbling forward in her upward trajectory. She tried to right herself, but her wings weren't strong enough. She crashed through another ash tree, and another, as she began to fall back down to the ground. She couldn't regain control and she knew she was about to crash in a moment. But she had to do something.
She Unleashed, going to the smallest form she had, the Aye-aye mouse. She was still spinning tail over ass, but maybe she could get lucky. The ground hurtled up to meet her, and just before she struck, she saw the vines encapsulating her body. And she bounced. The cocoon took much of the damage, but still, she felt her ribs and a leg break. The cocoon bounced and bounced until it came to a stop and the vines retreated within the bracelet.
Qit was left there broken, but alive.
She struggled to stand, finding that she was half buried in the ash. The twisted and mangled front left leg was shooting pain up through her. But she smiled. Or as much as a mouse can. She was still alive. Shaking off the ash, she looked toward where she'd fallen from. Her form couldn't see well, and it was dark here. She reached inward toward her spark when she felt something from it she'd never felt before. Exhaustion.
Her Spark was exhausted, she'd never used her magic this much in such a short period of time, and her Spark was near to its limit. She gingerly reached out to it with her mind, caressing the critter upon her soul, exuding pride in it. It hadn't failed her, hadn't fought her during all of this. She was truly proud of this being that gave her the magic she used. She then tried to feed it the determination she felt. The need to keep going, for the sake of her friend. Of their friend.
She felt her Spark perk up a little, willing to fight with her as long as it could manage. She tapped into it, and reached into her batcat totem, echoing the vision from the creature. It was just a dribble of ether to use and she was thankful for that. As the magic washed over her eyes, the darkness faded, and she saw the creatures that had assaulted her, off in the distance. Moths carrying the strange red orbs. Or were. Some still held them, but it seemed a significant amount of them no longer had them.
The fire.
It was the only explanation to the huntress. There had been that explosion of heat and flame that had knocked her off her flight. Those orbs must have something to do with that. Abominations, why would such creatures exist in a forest of Moseke's? They went against the very nature of it all. They were monstrosities. Unnatural, she would never abide such things. Unless. They weren't hers. And the reason this forest felt wrong is because it was wrong.
This was Lisirra's part of the forest, it must be.
The moths appeared to be fluttering about, searching, likely for her. And she hadn't been seen
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 23rd, 718
Part 1 - Careless Whisper
Part 2 - A Mother's Duty
Qit'ria didn't wait long, knowing that if she didn't stem the tide of blood pouring from her, she'd not have the strength to go on. And she recalled the shadow lands that were next, according to the vision the Induk gave her. She held up her slashed arms, looking at them. The cuts were deep, even moving her fingers sent stabbing pain through her. She clenched her fists, amused by the increase in the blood flow, at least until her fingers began to tingle. Something about feeling this pain was nice, a reminder of both a success and a failure. A reminder that she wasn't yet dead.
She looked over at her friend, only to see she wasn't there.
In a moment of panic, she looked all around, but didn't see the spirit anywhere. Her fear spread through the connection in the vines bracelet on her wrist, and she felt fear in response. Fear that wasn't her own. The Induk was growing weaker. Qit'ria stopped thinking, and simply acted. She began the shift to the batcat form. As her body twisted and broke and stretched, she paid mind to the wounds she'd acquired on her Sev'ryn form. They disappeared in the transformation, but she knew they'd be there when she changed back.
She'd just have to make sure to get to Yeye before that happened.
Once the transformation was complete, Qit'ria dashed off in the direction shown in her vision. Deeper into the forest past the Iyo tree. She ran on the silent paws of the winged panther, her eyes cast forward. Her life didn't matter right now. The life of her friend, of her people's forest mattered. So she pushed herself, settling into the long strides of the panther, her wings tucked against her back so as to not cause drag.
She bounded around trees, hopped over roots, until suddenly she was in darkness. She could still see, thanks to the panther's eyes, but she could tell, she was in a much darker area now. She quickly came to a stop and ducked behind a tree. Every hair upon her body was standing upright. This whole area felt... wrong. She sniffed the air, smelling the acrid smoke of the fire. Her eyes looked at the trees in the distance, at the brush. They didn't appear burnt.
She listened. The forest was completely silent.
Qit'ria knew she was short on time, but she knew that if she ran in blindly, she'd run too high of a risk. It was something she'd done too many times. And she couldn't afford to be so careless now, not with Caza waiting at home, not with Yeye counting on her to come back, not with her new friend and the forest needing her help. She had to be smarter.
She needed to know more.
Turning to the tree she hid behind, she raised her wings, as she scrunched down her body. She flapped her wings down hard a moment before she pushed against the ground, for an additional boost to her leap. She jumped high up the trunk, her claws out before her, and swatted her paws at the trunk to get ahold.
Except the tree wasn't solid like she was expecting.
Her thick paws punched through the bark and ash billowed out, blanketing the cat. Her back paws punched through as well, and she found herself beginning to scramble for purchase. She began to fall backwards. She pushed away as best she could, twisting her body around, extending her wings out wide as she landed back on the ground.
She turned, looking back up at the tree of ash, as it began to lean away from her. There was no wooden creak or the whoosh that normal trees make when they fall. No, it feel in pure silence. And when it hit the tree next to it, it fwumped into a cloud of ash. The tree it struck also began to lean away, and it too began to fall. She watched as the trees for a large swath began to fall and disappear into ash because of her touch.
But while she was watching in the distance, she failed to notice the movement in the ash nearest to her. The grey ash stirred, and on perfectly silent wings, the first moth rose. It was the size of Qit'ria's fist, and its wings were perfectly undetectable. And soon, it was joined by dozens, then hundreds more, and only now Qit'ria could see them. She didn't back up, but she did crouch in her watching of them.
And in unison, they all turned toward her.
She didn't wait to see what she knew was about to happen. She dashed around, immediately running in the opposite direction of them, when she felt her friend crying out in pain. She truly didn't have long. Qit'ria sprinted, around one of the falsely living trees. She began flapping her wings as she sprinted, before jumping up into the air, catching just enough breeze to stay aloft. She banked hard around a tree, to turn back deeper into the darkness. She caught a glance at the moths, seeing the strange red orbs they were carrying.
And seeing just how fast they were.
She flapped her wings harder and harder, as she turned again. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she needed to go deeper through this shadow land. Her back muscles were aching already from the flapping, and she didn't know why. She had seen these cats fly for much longer and further than she herself had. So why was she already wearing down?
There wasn't much time to consider the answer as the first wave of moths caught up to her, looking to cut her off. She just caught a glimpse of them, and dove down hard and away from them. She was hurtling toward the ground, and tilted her wings and shoulders to begin the pull up, to get away from crashing quite painfully. As she completed the bank, she felt a surge of heat and wind from behind her.
And the wind became a full blown burst.
She was sent tumbling forward in her upward trajectory. She tried to right herself, but her wings weren't strong enough. She crashed through another ash tree, and another, as she began to fall back down to the ground. She couldn't regain control and she knew she was about to crash in a moment. But she had to do something.
She Unleashed, going to the smallest form she had, the Aye-aye mouse. She was still spinning tail over ass, but maybe she could get lucky. The ground hurtled up to meet her, and just before she struck, she saw the vines encapsulating her body. And she bounced. The cocoon took much of the damage, but still, she felt her ribs and a leg break. The cocoon bounced and bounced until it came to a stop and the vines retreated within the bracelet.
Qit was left there broken, but alive.
She struggled to stand, finding that she was half buried in the ash. The twisted and mangled front left leg was shooting pain up through her. But she smiled. Or as much as a mouse can. She was still alive. Shaking off the ash, she looked toward where she'd fallen from. Her form couldn't see well, and it was dark here. She reached inward toward her spark when she felt something from it she'd never felt before. Exhaustion.
Her Spark was exhausted, she'd never used her magic this much in such a short period of time, and her Spark was near to its limit. She gingerly reached out to it with her mind, caressing the critter upon her soul, exuding pride in it. It hadn't failed her, hadn't fought her during all of this. She was truly proud of this being that gave her the magic she used. She then tried to feed it the determination she felt. The need to keep going, for the sake of her friend. Of their friend.
She felt her Spark perk up a little, willing to fight with her as long as it could manage. She tapped into it, and reached into her batcat totem, echoing the vision from the creature. It was just a dribble of ether to use and she was thankful for that. As the magic washed over her eyes, the darkness faded, and she saw the creatures that had assaulted her, off in the distance. Moths carrying the strange red orbs. Or were. Some still held them, but it seemed a significant amount of them no longer had them.
The fire.
It was the only explanation to the huntress. There had been that explosion of heat and flame that had knocked her off her flight. Those orbs must have something to do with that. Abominations, why would such creatures exist in a forest of Moseke's? They went against the very nature of it all. They were monstrosities. Unnatural, she would never abide such things. Unless. They weren't hers. And the reason this forest felt wrong is because it was wrong.
This was Lisirra's part of the forest, it must be.
The moths appeared to be fluttering about, searching, likely for her. And she hadn't been seen
Ledger of damage and Ether use
Part 1 - 1 Use of Unleash, Minor cuts and bruises on Sev'ryn form
Part 2 - 2 uses of Echo, 1 moderate use of Borrowing, Deep gashes on back, forearms, moderate gashes on face on Sev'ryn form
Part 3 - 1 standard transformation, 1 unleash. Strained back muscles on Batcat form and burns. Broken/mangled left front leg on ayeaye mouse form
Part 2 - 2 uses of Echo, 1 moderate use of Borrowing, Deep gashes on back, forearms, moderate gashes on face on Sev'ryn form
Part 3 - 1 standard transformation, 1 unleash. Strained back muscles on Batcat form and burns. Broken/mangled left front leg on ayeaye mouse form
