Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 5, 718, following this
Qit'ria awoke with a start as she felt movement in her arms. Still groggy, she was confused, eyes sputtering open. She looked down and saw Caza wriggling around, mouth opening and closing. Smiling, Qit'ria held her baby close and sat up. She pulled her swollen breast out of her blouse and Caza instantly latched, suckling greedily. The relief was nice, her normally small breasts always hurt when full. Looking across the hut, she saw Yeye, still fast asleep. She yawned, stretching an arm, when she felt a twinge of pain in her back. Her stretched out hand touched something leathery, and she was startled. Looking over she saw a black, batlike wing. And then her early morning mind remembered. She'd shifted back into her form, with the wings left over.
This broadened her smile. She was going to try to fly today. She was excited by this prospect. She switched Caza to her other breast, happy her baby was such a hungry creature. She'd grow big and strong in no time. Once Caza was done, Qit burped and changed her, talking and cooing to her all the while. Qit'ria herself then dressed and ate the leftover rotisseried frogs she'd caught the day before. Once she was ready, she put Caza in the basket Yeye had made, packed blankets, food, and the like, and left the hut.
Qit'ria made her way down toward the coast, wishing to stay in the tamer parts of the forest while with Caza, though she wanted to be mostly out of sight of people who might be startled to see her flying. She found a nice clearing with a raised mound in the center of it. Her first instinct was a large rabbit burrow, which was perfect. That meant the area was extremely safe. She spread out a blanket, made from a bear's hide, and pulled Caza out of her basket. She set the basket in the middle, and rocked it until Caza was asleep. Once she was, Qit'ria stood up and moved to the side of the clearing. Time to test out her wings.
She started first by just trying to get used to moving them. She was under no illusion that she'd be flying right away. She'd have to practice in her other form first before truly being able to, she assumed. She began by stretching her wings out fully. It was slow work, unnatural, jerky. Once they were fully extended, Qit'ria immediately felt the strain in her back muscles. She tried to pull her wings back in, again, tougher go. Once all the way in, she found them draped down her back like a cape, and holding them in this position was the same as resting.
She continued anew, but this time, just extending her left wing, while keeping the right tucked. That felt really weird. The muscles she had were not used to these strange ranges of motion, and were protesting the entire time. Once it was extended, she immediately began to pull it back in, feeling the tightness, not just across her back, but also her chest. She had no idea that wings used the front muscles as well as the back. She repeated the process with her right wing, extending it out slowly. She repeated this process over and over for a full break.
She was getting used to this particular motion, but her chest and back needed a break. She tucked her wings in, and wandered over to Caza. The little girl was sleeping soundly. Qit'ria sat down next to her in the grass, and began rocking the basket lightly. She watched the little girl's chest rise and fall, watched as she fidgeted while she slept. It put a pit in her stomach. She just realized there was a place she couldn't protect her daughter. Emea. In her dreams. Qit'ria had seen more than a handful of Nightmares there, and knew the damage they could cause. Qit'ria was a dreamwalker, but she didn't know how to find her daughter's dreams. She remembered the hallway full of doors that Jesine had showed her, when she was granted this power. She made a promise to herself right then and there. Every night would be dedicated to finding her daughter in Emea.
Qit'ria leaned over and kissed her child atop the forehead, and the little girl woke up, giggling. Qit tickled her nose with her own, cooing softly, and picked Caza up out of her basket. And there they played for a while until Qit'ria felt rested enough to continue. She set Caza down on her back, just like Yeye showed her to do. He said it would help her to get stronger if she was able to move more. Qit'ria then stood and moved a fair distance away from Caza, and stretched her wings out once more. She found it much easier this time, and was pleased with that. She decided to experiment more with the range of motion . She started to try and move them in unison now, for she assumed it would be the default case more often.
First, she stretched them out wide, and then pulled them backwards as far as they would go. She felt her muscles straining to be pulled that way, but the wings almost touched behind her back. That was a good range she thought. She didn't want them to touch, for that might mean getting tangled in each other while flying, and that simply sounded like a terrible idea. She then slowly moved them forward. As a whole they could only come to about equal with the front plane of her body. But they also had a few joints.
She bent them at the joints and found the wings bending over her shoulders and wrapping over her like a cloak of sorts. This was a pleasant surprise. She reached out and touched the leathery wings. Exactly how they'd been on the beast she'd taken them from. She found they were extremely sensitive to touch, and when she held them to the light, she could see through them. Such fragile things. She played with the joints, amazed at the range of motion they had. She hugged them down over her body, and it reminded her of the night she'd danced with Noth. He'd used his wing to pull her in close, to embrace her. It was in that moment she knew she was his, and he was hers. She closed her eyes and remembered the feel there against his powerful chest. She'd find him, soon, once Caza was old enough to travel. He needed to see his daughter. Another promise made to herself this trial.
Qit'ria shook out the nostalgia, and pulled her wings away from her body. She stretched them out to the side once more. It was time to practice for flying She pulled the wings back, nearly touching, and then slammed them forward as best she could. The amount of air they caught took her by surprise, and vaulted her backwards, sending her onto her ass. A string of Xanthean curses came out, and Qit'ria looked around, double checking that no one had seen her make a fool. Annoyed, She stood back up, and this time she planted her feet, one back, one forward.
Once more, wings stretched out, she snapped them back, then thrust them forward. The amount of force was staggering, and her torso leaned back, but she managed to keep her ground. Pleased, she reset, this time decided to do more than one flap. Whoosh one, but on the pull back she found her wings moving slower, fighting resistance, and that made them slower still on the second flap. Growling, she tried to push through that resistance, repeatedly flapping back and forth, over and over, each time getting harder and hard as she wore down.
Snarling in frustration, she kept at it, until finally one one of the pull backs, the angle of her wings dipped a bit, out of weariness. This change in angle cut through the resistance, allowing her wings to reset more easily. Eyes widened at this discovery, she flapped again, and repeated the motion intentionally. It worked! It wasn't just an accident! Over and over she did this, finding the wings to be moving a bit more similarly to swimming arms than how she thought they worked. She kept at it, until eventually her legs gave out, sending her ass over kettle once more.
Sitting there on her rump, she laughed, her chest and back searing with pain and weariness. Somehow, she found the pain a bit delightful. Perhaps it was because compared to when she used her Becoming it was practically a tickle. It most certainly wasn't anything compared to breaking and reforming your entire body and feeling every excruciating moment of it. It was kind of nice, this pain. She relished in it. She got up, went over and grabbed Caza, holding against her chest, kissing her forehead. She rounded up her stuff in the basket, and continued onward to the coast. She wanted to spend lunch by the water, and get Caza used to it as well. Ever since her birth, Qit'ria had a stronger desire to swim.
To be continued...
.
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 5, 718, following this
Qit'ria awoke with a start as she felt movement in her arms. Still groggy, she was confused, eyes sputtering open. She looked down and saw Caza wriggling around, mouth opening and closing. Smiling, Qit'ria held her baby close and sat up. She pulled her swollen breast out of her blouse and Caza instantly latched, suckling greedily. The relief was nice, her normally small breasts always hurt when full. Looking across the hut, she saw Yeye, still fast asleep. She yawned, stretching an arm, when she felt a twinge of pain in her back. Her stretched out hand touched something leathery, and she was startled. Looking over she saw a black, batlike wing. And then her early morning mind remembered. She'd shifted back into her form, with the wings left over.
This broadened her smile. She was going to try to fly today. She was excited by this prospect. She switched Caza to her other breast, happy her baby was such a hungry creature. She'd grow big and strong in no time. Once Caza was done, Qit burped and changed her, talking and cooing to her all the while. Qit'ria herself then dressed and ate the leftover rotisseried frogs she'd caught the day before. Once she was ready, she put Caza in the basket Yeye had made, packed blankets, food, and the like, and left the hut.
Qit'ria made her way down toward the coast, wishing to stay in the tamer parts of the forest while with Caza, though she wanted to be mostly out of sight of people who might be startled to see her flying. She found a nice clearing with a raised mound in the center of it. Her first instinct was a large rabbit burrow, which was perfect. That meant the area was extremely safe. She spread out a blanket, made from a bear's hide, and pulled Caza out of her basket. She set the basket in the middle, and rocked it until Caza was asleep. Once she was, Qit'ria stood up and moved to the side of the clearing. Time to test out her wings.
She started first by just trying to get used to moving them. She was under no illusion that she'd be flying right away. She'd have to practice in her other form first before truly being able to, she assumed. She began by stretching her wings out fully. It was slow work, unnatural, jerky. Once they were fully extended, Qit'ria immediately felt the strain in her back muscles. She tried to pull her wings back in, again, tougher go. Once all the way in, she found them draped down her back like a cape, and holding them in this position was the same as resting.
She continued anew, but this time, just extending her left wing, while keeping the right tucked. That felt really weird. The muscles she had were not used to these strange ranges of motion, and were protesting the entire time. Once it was extended, she immediately began to pull it back in, feeling the tightness, not just across her back, but also her chest. She had no idea that wings used the front muscles as well as the back. She repeated the process with her right wing, extending it out slowly. She repeated this process over and over for a full break.
She was getting used to this particular motion, but her chest and back needed a break. She tucked her wings in, and wandered over to Caza. The little girl was sleeping soundly. Qit'ria sat down next to her in the grass, and began rocking the basket lightly. She watched the little girl's chest rise and fall, watched as she fidgeted while she slept. It put a pit in her stomach. She just realized there was a place she couldn't protect her daughter. Emea. In her dreams. Qit'ria had seen more than a handful of Nightmares there, and knew the damage they could cause. Qit'ria was a dreamwalker, but she didn't know how to find her daughter's dreams. She remembered the hallway full of doors that Jesine had showed her, when she was granted this power. She made a promise to herself right then and there. Every night would be dedicated to finding her daughter in Emea.
Qit'ria leaned over and kissed her child atop the forehead, and the little girl woke up, giggling. Qit tickled her nose with her own, cooing softly, and picked Caza up out of her basket. And there they played for a while until Qit'ria felt rested enough to continue. She set Caza down on her back, just like Yeye showed her to do. He said it would help her to get stronger if she was able to move more. Qit'ria then stood and moved a fair distance away from Caza, and stretched her wings out once more. She found it much easier this time, and was pleased with that. She decided to experiment more with the range of motion . She started to try and move them in unison now, for she assumed it would be the default case more often.
First, she stretched them out wide, and then pulled them backwards as far as they would go. She felt her muscles straining to be pulled that way, but the wings almost touched behind her back. That was a good range she thought. She didn't want them to touch, for that might mean getting tangled in each other while flying, and that simply sounded like a terrible idea. She then slowly moved them forward. As a whole they could only come to about equal with the front plane of her body. But they also had a few joints.
She bent them at the joints and found the wings bending over her shoulders and wrapping over her like a cloak of sorts. This was a pleasant surprise. She reached out and touched the leathery wings. Exactly how they'd been on the beast she'd taken them from. She found they were extremely sensitive to touch, and when she held them to the light, she could see through them. Such fragile things. She played with the joints, amazed at the range of motion they had. She hugged them down over her body, and it reminded her of the night she'd danced with Noth. He'd used his wing to pull her in close, to embrace her. It was in that moment she knew she was his, and he was hers. She closed her eyes and remembered the feel there against his powerful chest. She'd find him, soon, once Caza was old enough to travel. He needed to see his daughter. Another promise made to herself this trial.
Qit'ria shook out the nostalgia, and pulled her wings away from her body. She stretched them out to the side once more. It was time to practice for flying She pulled the wings back, nearly touching, and then slammed them forward as best she could. The amount of air they caught took her by surprise, and vaulted her backwards, sending her onto her ass. A string of Xanthean curses came out, and Qit'ria looked around, double checking that no one had seen her make a fool. Annoyed, She stood back up, and this time she planted her feet, one back, one forward.
Once more, wings stretched out, she snapped them back, then thrust them forward. The amount of force was staggering, and her torso leaned back, but she managed to keep her ground. Pleased, she reset, this time decided to do more than one flap. Whoosh one, but on the pull back she found her wings moving slower, fighting resistance, and that made them slower still on the second flap. Growling, she tried to push through that resistance, repeatedly flapping back and forth, over and over, each time getting harder and hard as she wore down.
Snarling in frustration, she kept at it, until finally one one of the pull backs, the angle of her wings dipped a bit, out of weariness. This change in angle cut through the resistance, allowing her wings to reset more easily. Eyes widened at this discovery, she flapped again, and repeated the motion intentionally. It worked! It wasn't just an accident! Over and over she did this, finding the wings to be moving a bit more similarly to swimming arms than how she thought they worked. She kept at it, until eventually her legs gave out, sending her ass over kettle once more.
Sitting there on her rump, she laughed, her chest and back searing with pain and weariness. Somehow, she found the pain a bit delightful. Perhaps it was because compared to when she used her Becoming it was practically a tickle. It most certainly wasn't anything compared to breaking and reforming your entire body and feeling every excruciating moment of it. It was kind of nice, this pain. She relished in it. She got up, went over and grabbed Caza, holding against her chest, kissing her forehead. She rounded up her stuff in the basket, and continued onward to the coast. She wanted to spend lunch by the water, and get Caza used to it as well. Ever since her birth, Qit'ria had a stronger desire to swim.
To be continued...
.
