Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 23rd, 718
Part 1 - Careless Whisper
Part 2 - A Mother's Duty
Part 3 - I am the Wild Side
Qit'ria walked away from the fire, not bothering to looking back. She knew it would die down fully, contained. She continued onward, unsure of her direction. She tried to tap into the vines of lori on her wrist but they were nonresponsive. She held her hand up, looking at the bracelet, seeing a distinct wrinkling in the leaves. It was wilting. Her friend was fading, wherever she was. The first leg of the journey had seemed to bolster the forest spirit, but these last few only seemed to drain it.
Qit'ria exited the burned section of the forest, hoping that Lisirra's touch hadn't been too deep and it would recover. Slipping into a more normal section of the forest, Qit'ria began seeking out her next journey. She remembered the vision vividly. A deep blue glow bathed in darkness. It felt familiar yet alien. She paused, knowing that to go off without direction could be worse. She closed her eyes and remembered the vision.
The glow was.. immense. It enveloped her completely, and faded into blackness all around her. It seemed bottomless, warm and cold at the same time. Powerful. It was intense. Then Qit'ria felt a stirring within totems. Her hand reached down, caressing the sword-totem she'd crafted from the strange dolphin thing in Scalvoris. She hadn't had much time to use that form, she acquired it while pregnant, so the entire journey over the ocean had caused her to refrain from using it. But now, this blue glow called to it.
Water.
Qit'ria's eyes snapped open, she needed to find a source of water nearby. Her face furrowed in determination, this was where she lived. Survival in the wilds. A quick glance around showed that there was the slightest decline in the land leading away from the burnt section of forest. She set off in a jog, heading down hill with it, eyes scanning the forest as the day's sun began to set, darkening the shaded canopy even further. She moved nimble through the forest, following the natural paths carved by animals and time. Down hill paths always led to water.
Soon she heard it, a stream. Continuing on the path, she found herself running parallel to it. She continued alongside it, eyeballing it, seeing that it was crystal clear but not blue. Disappointed, she kept going. Eventually the decline leveled out, and she saw a clearing in the trees up ahead. A lake. A large, blue lake. She smiled, and tapped into her totem, thanking it for giving her the hint she needed. However, her spark was still pouting from earlier, refusing to give her access to her magic. Still running along, she had little patience for the childish creature. She sent wave after wave of disappointment at it, and she could feel it both shrinking from her but also wishing to rebel.
Reaching into her totem once more, she felt the spark relent and grant her access. She flowed the ether out of the totem, taking it in waves that would wash over her body, just as the ocean might on rocks. With each crashing wave, her body began to transform into that of the Shimfin. She was still running toward the lake, so she focused her efforts on her torso, head, and innards. She felt everything grow lighter, and her organs compress, some changing completely into others she didn't naturally have. It was curious feeling a hole open up in her skull while her hair disappeared. Her bear jaws elongated further and her nose shot out into the sword nose.
Once she neared the water she dove straight in without hesitation, kicking with her Sev'ryn legs. Once she got a bit deeper, she continued the transformation, only to find it struggling. Her body was trying to transform, but seemed to be stuck. Her arms and below her waist were still Sev'ryn, and that was not acceptable for the huntress. She tried to pull more ether out of her soul, but as she did, found her body seizing up in great pain. She tried to scream in pain, but it came out as more of the strange chortling of a dolphin. She touched her spark, begging for it to help her more. It was still pouting, and seemingly turned a shoulder to her. She pleaded with it, promising to never sacrifice a totem as she had done, apologizing for even considering it.
The spark responded, albeit still begrudgingly. It reinforced her efforts, holding her soul steady as she drew more ether through. It burned to do so, but she was able to maintain the focus just long enough to transform her legs into the proper tail. But before she could change her arms, the flow of ether was cut off, her soul unable to take any more rending. She still had her arms, but the rest of her was shimfin. Good enough.
She took some time to recover from the pain of the transformation while getting her bearings. She found that she could see and hear much better underwater than she could in all of her land forms. That was good. And the water wasn't even the slightest bit cold upon her skin. That was most interesting. She looked all around her, spinning about, getting used to the new form's movements, her powerful tail kicking. Once she pointed herself downward though, she was assaulted by déjà-vu. This was her vision, this view right here.
And so, she swam downward, unsure of why the spirit wanted her to go into the bottom of a lake, but had no desire to question it. She kicked her tail up and down as she dove, feeling the water cut around her dorsal fin, much like a wing when she flew. As she went, a sound rang out from down in the deep. It was deep, melodic sound, mournful and yearning. She found her tail swimming to the beat of it as she continued on deeper and deeper, her arms swimming out in front of her as she disappeared into the blue.
The glow grew and the song grew stronger, and soon more and more voices joined in with it. There were no words in the song and it seemed more along the lines of a pod of whales. As Qit'ria neared the bottom, she saw the source of the glow and of the singing. There was some sort of... hole in the water, and around it was a few dozen Mer. She slowed her descent, but they were looking up at her already. A few of them broke off the group and swam toward her, and Qit'ria was already preparing to flee.
"Do not swim away, trespasser."
She paused, floating there as the Mer surrounded her. There were no weapons on them, but she could see their claws and teeth and tentacles quite clearly. She was surrounded, exhausted, completely out of ether. She knew if this came to a fight, it would be the end for her.
"The forest sent you?"
They pointed at her bracelet, and she looked down to see that it had grown a few more leaves. She nodded her head, unsure of how to speak back. She looked around at the group, having never seen so many different types of Mer together. They were so exotic, with so many strange parts, she thought they could be Becomers too, pieced together by underwater animals.
"One of our own, Makleah, and her child, was pulled into..." They pointed at the Fracture down below, "We cannot go after her. It is forbidden for us to consort with magic and worlds unknown. You will go. Or we will kill you."
Qit'ria nodded, recognizing she had no choice, and swam down toward the Fracture. She'd never experienced a fracture before, so as she edged close, she grew nervous. But as she did so, her Spark woke up once more, responding to the ether being given off by the tear in reality. It pulled at the water around it, not terribly strong at this distance though it seemed to grow as she neared. Qit'ria let the current pull her toward, and her Spark grew in anticipation and excitement.
Once close, Qit'ria gave a kick of her tail and dove toward the membrane covered hole. She punched through and felt herself pulled through. The world quickly shifted from the deep, blue glow to a violent and sickly green. She looked back, seeing that the fracture was still there behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief. She knew where her exit was at least.
Looking around, she found herself still underwater, surround by a lattice work of seaweed. More noticeably though, she found herself surrounded by ether. It felt just as that time she first exited her own dream into the realm beyond. So much ether, it was stifling. Qit'ria tried to reach out to it, but found that her soul or her spark or simply herself could not. Or didn't know the proper way. She was dying of thirst and in an ocean she could not drink.
And, of course, her spark returned to pouting, upset that it couldn't use this seemingly unlimited amount of ether.
She swam through the forest of seaweed, and let loose the dolphin clicks and other noises. She knew it was dangerous to do so, to potentially draw predators toward her, but she hoped it might draw the missing Mer instead. The seaweed seemed limitless, and Qit'ria continued to cry out, her hands parting the plants ahead of her.
Then a scent filled her nostrils. Blood. Her eyes widened, fearing she was too late. She gave a sharp left turn and began powering through with her tail, following the trail. It was strange, it drifted lazily about turning at strange angles, but she followed it true. With a powerful kick, she surged through, shooting out of the seaweed forest unexpectedly.
Then she was falling. Upwards.
She rolled, to get her body turned the right way. There was another lake above (or was it beneath) her, and she was falling with the current of a waterfall toward it. And toward the transparent purple rocks at the bottom of the falls. Instinct kicked in, and she reached in once more toward her tired and battered soul, calling upon her magic once more. There was little more than drip of ether coming out. And no more could be squeezed out.
Turning her pull outward instead of inward, she pulled at her spark too, urging it on to help her, or they would die. Her soul scrambled to reach out of the confines of the body, to reach out into this ether filled world and draw upon its power. Further and further she fell, tumbling sword nose over tail. Still she never gave up.
Something inside her snapped, and she felt her body open up to the ambient ether, which flooded into her just as the waterfall she was in might. It invigorated her, quickly restoring her depleted soul. But it never stopped, it kept pouring. But she didn't have time to worry on that right now. She delved deep into her totems and ripped the essence out in full.
The batpanther form was Unleashed with a resounding roar. But it wasn't the form she knew, no. There were wings, so many wings, dozens of wings, for that was the focus she'd been going for, the most important aspect of this form in this moment. Wings all out of her back, out of her panther tail, her limbs were wings, her tail was wings. Nearly everything was wings.
And they all flapped in unison, stopping her from crashing into the rocks below. She alighted gently on the stones as the ether continued to pour into her body. It was burning her, and she could feel her organs and bones melting, growing, shifting, changing, well beyond her control. It reminded her of her initiation, when her body tried to unmake itself.
She could feel the hole in her body that was allowing the ether to pour in, and she thrust her soul at it, hoping to plug the gap. It felt impossible, holding back a river with a frying pan. But still, she pressed against it. Then her Spark joined her. It pressed against it as well, emboldened by the baptism in raw ether. They pushed against her boundaries until the flow finally subsisted, and Qit'ria was brimming with power.
She calmed down her body's wild, chaotic transformation by settling into another, a slower, proper transformation. She took her time, making sure to do it right. It expended a bit more, but she needed to be cautious. She summoned her self form as the base and summoned parts from so many of the other forms. She summoned the wings of the panther upon her back, she called the blade of the shimfin in place of one of her hands, she called forth the spikes of the turtle to grow from her skull and down the length of her spine, and finally the face of the bear.
Upon completion, she could still feel the ether of Emea trying to force its way into her, but she, and her Spark, had the strength to keep it at bay, for now. She could feel it wearing on her though. She had to make her time her brief. Which was made easy once the scent of blood reentered her bear nostrils. She looked in the direction, finally taking in her surroundings. It appeared as if she were in a forest here, but everything seemed off, aside from her being upside down. Even though she were standing upright, she could still feel the pull in the opposite direction, it was quite disorienting.
The lake extended around her, and the forest was off in the distance, still giving off the strange vibes that she couldn't pinpoint. She reached out toward them, and watched her arm plunge deep into the woods. She grabbed a tree and brought it toward her eyes. It was so tiny. It was so strange. Following her noise, she looked down toward her feet, and that's when it truly sank in.
The world wasn't small, she was enormous. The size of a mountain. How had she failed to even notice that in her transformation. How was that even possible? Panic started to try and step in when she saw movement near her bare feet. She crouched down and looked closer. It was a small Mer, baring its fangs as it stood over the broken body of its mother, who had been dashed upon the rocks.
Qit'ria reached down and grabbed the mother's body, and the child clung to it, hissing at her. She brought them both up to her eye level. The child couldn't be more than two or three arcs, but it was fierce, as it moved to bite at her finger. But her sheer size made that a near impossibility. She looked upwards over her shoulder, seeing the top of the waterfall, and concocted a plan. She gingerly put the mother's body and the child into mouth and covered them with her tongue.
She felt the child thrashing, but knew it was futile for it. She then flapped her great batwings and took to the sky, quickly flying toward the waterfall. She soared out and away from it, then dove through the wall of water of the first lake she'd been in. She kept her wings tucked as she swam through the seaweed forest with great ease. She made her way back toward the fracture.
Upon arriving, she spat out the Mer child and mother's body, grasping them gently in her hands. She began to push them both toward the fracture, making sure to shove with enough force so that the child and corpse would break free from the fracture's pull. Once they disappeared through, Qit'ria looked at the gash in reality, unsure if it would be okay if she went through as was.
But she tried anyways, starting with her hand, and kicking through. It felt much like trying to squeeze through a hole in cloth, first with an arm, then getting her massive head through, eyes closed as she squeezed and contorted her way through. Once she opened her eyes, she swam away from the tug, which felt just as strong, and she saw the child and mother up with the other Mer. Qit'ria went to them, to discover that she was the same size as them, the proper size.
And there was something strange in her bear mouth, but she dared not mess with it, for her tongue was giving her a good hint as to what it was. She quickly realized she didn't possess the ability to breath underwater, and echoed that from the shimfin, before taking a deep draught of water through her nostrils.
"Thank you, Forest Friend. Give our thanks to the great spirit."
There was a nearby rumbling, and Qit'ria looked over toward a rocky slope that led up to the shoreline. Stones fell away and a tunnel opened up. She felt her bracelet urging her toward it. She nodded toward the Mer, and they watched as they strange friend of the forest swam off and through the tunnel.
Once Qit'ria surfaced, she pulled herself onto land, spitting out the Mer hand that was in her mouth. The mother's hand. The sky above her was dark, and the bracelet seemed to be urging her to rest for a bit. Qit'ria pulled her feet in beneath her seated position, settling into the meditative pose Bear had taught her, pulling the hand into her lap. She reached into the domain bag that hung from the belt at her waist and pulled out some leather cord. She made an intricate knotted web around the hand.
She then began the process of meditating, pouring her ether into it, feeling the strain on her soul, ragged and sputtering, but after the influx of raw ether, managed to create the totem. Qit'ria expected her spark to be pleased, but there was nothing from it. She reached out toward it, finding it completely silent. She reached into her other totems, finding them all unresponsive. Panic set in. She'd pushed herself too far, and now her magic was lost to her. She looked at the bracelet on her wrist, and prayed to it.
Her mission was almost over.
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 23rd, 718
Part 1 - Careless Whisper
Part 2 - A Mother's Duty
Part 3 - I am the Wild Side
Qit'ria walked away from the fire, not bothering to looking back. She knew it would die down fully, contained. She continued onward, unsure of her direction. She tried to tap into the vines of lori on her wrist but they were nonresponsive. She held her hand up, looking at the bracelet, seeing a distinct wrinkling in the leaves. It was wilting. Her friend was fading, wherever she was. The first leg of the journey had seemed to bolster the forest spirit, but these last few only seemed to drain it.
Qit'ria exited the burned section of the forest, hoping that Lisirra's touch hadn't been too deep and it would recover. Slipping into a more normal section of the forest, Qit'ria began seeking out her next journey. She remembered the vision vividly. A deep blue glow bathed in darkness. It felt familiar yet alien. She paused, knowing that to go off without direction could be worse. She closed her eyes and remembered the vision.
The glow was.. immense. It enveloped her completely, and faded into blackness all around her. It seemed bottomless, warm and cold at the same time. Powerful. It was intense. Then Qit'ria felt a stirring within totems. Her hand reached down, caressing the sword-totem she'd crafted from the strange dolphin thing in Scalvoris. She hadn't had much time to use that form, she acquired it while pregnant, so the entire journey over the ocean had caused her to refrain from using it. But now, this blue glow called to it.
Water.
Qit'ria's eyes snapped open, she needed to find a source of water nearby. Her face furrowed in determination, this was where she lived. Survival in the wilds. A quick glance around showed that there was the slightest decline in the land leading away from the burnt section of forest. She set off in a jog, heading down hill with it, eyes scanning the forest as the day's sun began to set, darkening the shaded canopy even further. She moved nimble through the forest, following the natural paths carved by animals and time. Down hill paths always led to water.
Soon she heard it, a stream. Continuing on the path, she found herself running parallel to it. She continued alongside it, eyeballing it, seeing that it was crystal clear but not blue. Disappointed, she kept going. Eventually the decline leveled out, and she saw a clearing in the trees up ahead. A lake. A large, blue lake. She smiled, and tapped into her totem, thanking it for giving her the hint she needed. However, her spark was still pouting from earlier, refusing to give her access to her magic. Still running along, she had little patience for the childish creature. She sent wave after wave of disappointment at it, and she could feel it both shrinking from her but also wishing to rebel.
Reaching into her totem once more, she felt the spark relent and grant her access. She flowed the ether out of the totem, taking it in waves that would wash over her body, just as the ocean might on rocks. With each crashing wave, her body began to transform into that of the Shimfin. She was still running toward the lake, so she focused her efforts on her torso, head, and innards. She felt everything grow lighter, and her organs compress, some changing completely into others she didn't naturally have. It was curious feeling a hole open up in her skull while her hair disappeared. Her bear jaws elongated further and her nose shot out into the sword nose.
Once she neared the water she dove straight in without hesitation, kicking with her Sev'ryn legs. Once she got a bit deeper, she continued the transformation, only to find it struggling. Her body was trying to transform, but seemed to be stuck. Her arms and below her waist were still Sev'ryn, and that was not acceptable for the huntress. She tried to pull more ether out of her soul, but as she did, found her body seizing up in great pain. She tried to scream in pain, but it came out as more of the strange chortling of a dolphin. She touched her spark, begging for it to help her more. It was still pouting, and seemingly turned a shoulder to her. She pleaded with it, promising to never sacrifice a totem as she had done, apologizing for even considering it.
The spark responded, albeit still begrudgingly. It reinforced her efforts, holding her soul steady as she drew more ether through. It burned to do so, but she was able to maintain the focus just long enough to transform her legs into the proper tail. But before she could change her arms, the flow of ether was cut off, her soul unable to take any more rending. She still had her arms, but the rest of her was shimfin. Good enough.
She took some time to recover from the pain of the transformation while getting her bearings. She found that she could see and hear much better underwater than she could in all of her land forms. That was good. And the water wasn't even the slightest bit cold upon her skin. That was most interesting. She looked all around her, spinning about, getting used to the new form's movements, her powerful tail kicking. Once she pointed herself downward though, she was assaulted by déjà-vu. This was her vision, this view right here.
And so, she swam downward, unsure of why the spirit wanted her to go into the bottom of a lake, but had no desire to question it. She kicked her tail up and down as she dove, feeling the water cut around her dorsal fin, much like a wing when she flew. As she went, a sound rang out from down in the deep. It was deep, melodic sound, mournful and yearning. She found her tail swimming to the beat of it as she continued on deeper and deeper, her arms swimming out in front of her as she disappeared into the blue.
The glow grew and the song grew stronger, and soon more and more voices joined in with it. There were no words in the song and it seemed more along the lines of a pod of whales. As Qit'ria neared the bottom, she saw the source of the glow and of the singing. There was some sort of... hole in the water, and around it was a few dozen Mer. She slowed her descent, but they were looking up at her already. A few of them broke off the group and swam toward her, and Qit'ria was already preparing to flee.
"Do not swim away, trespasser."
She paused, floating there as the Mer surrounded her. There were no weapons on them, but she could see their claws and teeth and tentacles quite clearly. She was surrounded, exhausted, completely out of ether. She knew if this came to a fight, it would be the end for her.
"The forest sent you?"
They pointed at her bracelet, and she looked down to see that it had grown a few more leaves. She nodded her head, unsure of how to speak back. She looked around at the group, having never seen so many different types of Mer together. They were so exotic, with so many strange parts, she thought they could be Becomers too, pieced together by underwater animals.
"One of our own, Makleah, and her child, was pulled into..." They pointed at the Fracture down below, "We cannot go after her. It is forbidden for us to consort with magic and worlds unknown. You will go. Or we will kill you."
Qit'ria nodded, recognizing she had no choice, and swam down toward the Fracture. She'd never experienced a fracture before, so as she edged close, she grew nervous. But as she did so, her Spark woke up once more, responding to the ether being given off by the tear in reality. It pulled at the water around it, not terribly strong at this distance though it seemed to grow as she neared. Qit'ria let the current pull her toward, and her Spark grew in anticipation and excitement.
Once close, Qit'ria gave a kick of her tail and dove toward the membrane covered hole. She punched through and felt herself pulled through. The world quickly shifted from the deep, blue glow to a violent and sickly green. She looked back, seeing that the fracture was still there behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief. She knew where her exit was at least.
Looking around, she found herself still underwater, surround by a lattice work of seaweed. More noticeably though, she found herself surrounded by ether. It felt just as that time she first exited her own dream into the realm beyond. So much ether, it was stifling. Qit'ria tried to reach out to it, but found that her soul or her spark or simply herself could not. Or didn't know the proper way. She was dying of thirst and in an ocean she could not drink.
And, of course, her spark returned to pouting, upset that it couldn't use this seemingly unlimited amount of ether.
She swam through the forest of seaweed, and let loose the dolphin clicks and other noises. She knew it was dangerous to do so, to potentially draw predators toward her, but she hoped it might draw the missing Mer instead. The seaweed seemed limitless, and Qit'ria continued to cry out, her hands parting the plants ahead of her.
Then a scent filled her nostrils. Blood. Her eyes widened, fearing she was too late. She gave a sharp left turn and began powering through with her tail, following the trail. It was strange, it drifted lazily about turning at strange angles, but she followed it true. With a powerful kick, she surged through, shooting out of the seaweed forest unexpectedly.
Then she was falling. Upwards.
She rolled, to get her body turned the right way. There was another lake above (or was it beneath) her, and she was falling with the current of a waterfall toward it. And toward the transparent purple rocks at the bottom of the falls. Instinct kicked in, and she reached in once more toward her tired and battered soul, calling upon her magic once more. There was little more than drip of ether coming out. And no more could be squeezed out.
Turning her pull outward instead of inward, she pulled at her spark too, urging it on to help her, or they would die. Her soul scrambled to reach out of the confines of the body, to reach out into this ether filled world and draw upon its power. Further and further she fell, tumbling sword nose over tail. Still she never gave up.
Something inside her snapped, and she felt her body open up to the ambient ether, which flooded into her just as the waterfall she was in might. It invigorated her, quickly restoring her depleted soul. But it never stopped, it kept pouring. But she didn't have time to worry on that right now. She delved deep into her totems and ripped the essence out in full.
The batpanther form was Unleashed with a resounding roar. But it wasn't the form she knew, no. There were wings, so many wings, dozens of wings, for that was the focus she'd been going for, the most important aspect of this form in this moment. Wings all out of her back, out of her panther tail, her limbs were wings, her tail was wings. Nearly everything was wings.
And they all flapped in unison, stopping her from crashing into the rocks below. She alighted gently on the stones as the ether continued to pour into her body. It was burning her, and she could feel her organs and bones melting, growing, shifting, changing, well beyond her control. It reminded her of her initiation, when her body tried to unmake itself.
She could feel the hole in her body that was allowing the ether to pour in, and she thrust her soul at it, hoping to plug the gap. It felt impossible, holding back a river with a frying pan. But still, she pressed against it. Then her Spark joined her. It pressed against it as well, emboldened by the baptism in raw ether. They pushed against her boundaries until the flow finally subsisted, and Qit'ria was brimming with power.
She calmed down her body's wild, chaotic transformation by settling into another, a slower, proper transformation. She took her time, making sure to do it right. It expended a bit more, but she needed to be cautious. She summoned her self form as the base and summoned parts from so many of the other forms. She summoned the wings of the panther upon her back, she called the blade of the shimfin in place of one of her hands, she called forth the spikes of the turtle to grow from her skull and down the length of her spine, and finally the face of the bear.
Upon completion, she could still feel the ether of Emea trying to force its way into her, but she, and her Spark, had the strength to keep it at bay, for now. She could feel it wearing on her though. She had to make her time her brief. Which was made easy once the scent of blood reentered her bear nostrils. She looked in the direction, finally taking in her surroundings. It appeared as if she were in a forest here, but everything seemed off, aside from her being upside down. Even though she were standing upright, she could still feel the pull in the opposite direction, it was quite disorienting.
The lake extended around her, and the forest was off in the distance, still giving off the strange vibes that she couldn't pinpoint. She reached out toward them, and watched her arm plunge deep into the woods. She grabbed a tree and brought it toward her eyes. It was so tiny. It was so strange. Following her noise, she looked down toward her feet, and that's when it truly sank in.
The world wasn't small, she was enormous. The size of a mountain. How had she failed to even notice that in her transformation. How was that even possible? Panic started to try and step in when she saw movement near her bare feet. She crouched down and looked closer. It was a small Mer, baring its fangs as it stood over the broken body of its mother, who had been dashed upon the rocks.
Qit'ria reached down and grabbed the mother's body, and the child clung to it, hissing at her. She brought them both up to her eye level. The child couldn't be more than two or three arcs, but it was fierce, as it moved to bite at her finger. But her sheer size made that a near impossibility. She looked upwards over her shoulder, seeing the top of the waterfall, and concocted a plan. She gingerly put the mother's body and the child into mouth and covered them with her tongue.
She felt the child thrashing, but knew it was futile for it. She then flapped her great batwings and took to the sky, quickly flying toward the waterfall. She soared out and away from it, then dove through the wall of water of the first lake she'd been in. She kept her wings tucked as she swam through the seaweed forest with great ease. She made her way back toward the fracture.
Upon arriving, she spat out the Mer child and mother's body, grasping them gently in her hands. She began to push them both toward the fracture, making sure to shove with enough force so that the child and corpse would break free from the fracture's pull. Once they disappeared through, Qit'ria looked at the gash in reality, unsure if it would be okay if she went through as was.
But she tried anyways, starting with her hand, and kicking through. It felt much like trying to squeeze through a hole in cloth, first with an arm, then getting her massive head through, eyes closed as she squeezed and contorted her way through. Once she opened her eyes, she swam away from the tug, which felt just as strong, and she saw the child and mother up with the other Mer. Qit'ria went to them, to discover that she was the same size as them, the proper size.
And there was something strange in her bear mouth, but she dared not mess with it, for her tongue was giving her a good hint as to what it was. She quickly realized she didn't possess the ability to breath underwater, and echoed that from the shimfin, before taking a deep draught of water through her nostrils.
"Thank you, Forest Friend. Give our thanks to the great spirit."
There was a nearby rumbling, and Qit'ria looked over toward a rocky slope that led up to the shoreline. Stones fell away and a tunnel opened up. She felt her bracelet urging her toward it. She nodded toward the Mer, and they watched as they strange friend of the forest swam off and through the tunnel.
Once Qit'ria surfaced, she pulled herself onto land, spitting out the Mer hand that was in her mouth. The mother's hand. The sky above her was dark, and the bracelet seemed to be urging her to rest for a bit. Qit'ria pulled her feet in beneath her seated position, settling into the meditative pose Bear had taught her, pulling the hand into her lap. She reached into the domain bag that hung from the belt at her waist and pulled out some leather cord. She made an intricate knotted web around the hand.
She then began the process of meditating, pouring her ether into it, feeling the strain on her soul, ragged and sputtering, but after the influx of raw ether, managed to create the totem. Qit'ria expected her spark to be pleased, but there was nothing from it. She reached out toward it, finding it completely silent. She reached into her other totems, finding them all unresponsive. Panic set in. She'd pushed herself too far, and now her magic was lost to her. She looked at the bracelet on her wrist, and prayed to it.
Her mission was almost over.
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 - 2 standard transformation, 1 unleash. Strained back muscles on Batcat form and burns. Broken/mangled left front leg on ayeaye mouse form. Severe burns over the entire body of the Aye-Aye mouse.
Part 4 - 1 standard transformation that failed to form fully. Heavy Overstepping - Complete lockout of magic. Stuck in current 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 - 2 standard transformation, 1 unleash. Strained back muscles on Batcat form and burns. Broken/mangled left front leg on ayeaye mouse form. Severe burns over the entire body of the Aye-Aye mouse.
Part 4 - 1 standard transformation that failed to form fully. Heavy Overstepping - Complete lockout of magic. Stuck in current form.
