Ursa: Guarding the Grounds (Chyril 22nd, ET)

[Brytan]

The path didn't crumble.

The wind didn't knock her off the path.

The gaping chasm to either side didn't consume the young kit as she rushed towards the struggling creatures across the ledge.

The Osprey was fighting for it's life. Xenovia could see it was hurt, bleeding from several gaping wounds. Feathers tattered and ruffled, some pulled out and scattered amidst the rocks and gravel beneath the two creatures battling on the edges of Xenovia's conciousness. It seemed to be losing the fight as the Cryer tore at the magnificent bird with unrelenting tenacity.

Xenovia rushed to it's aid, made it across the ledge without seemingly drawing any attention to herself. Her spear at the ready she ran to join the fray.

Finally...

As she thrust her spear towards the creature, it turned towards her. The spear sinking deep into the Cryer's skin, which turned translucent almost instantly upon impact. The eyes of the Cryer burning with a fierce white light directed themselves towards her, two tendrils lashing out to knock her back. Other tendrils that had been holding off the osprey let go, causing the bird to drop to the ground. Blood was pooling around it, the creature breathing heavily.

Soon you will join the darkness Xenovia, you and your spirit will know what it is to keep us from our rightfull place.

The creature advanced towards Xenovia now, urging her towards the edge of the plateau they were upon. Dark chasms of blue sky and white clouds gaping beneath her. Darkness and white eyes before her.
The voice of her childhood again. The voice from her dreams, good dreams. Eyes of the osprey turning to the kit aswell, barely open.

Her own eyes...

Light, destroy it with light.

[Xenovia Canace]

The curse that started to escape her lips when the Cryer turned translucent around her spear was knocked from her chest as she was thrown back. Though she managed to land on her feet, stumbling slightly, she found herself being pressed back toward the ledge. She began to think frantically.

Where was she? Surely this was some sort of dream, for her Inner Animal couldn't be outside her body..could it? Her eyes flicked backward as she watched the ledge come nearer, then returned to the Cryer's burning eyes. Perhaps she was in her own consciousness. Regardless of whether or not it was a dream or her own mind, would she not have some control over her own environment?

Then the voice came to her again. So familiar. She knew it belonged within her, that it was a part of her that she could not and would not lose. But how? How could she create light from nothing?

The ledge grew nearer. In a last desperate attempt, Xenovia prayed. At the same time focusing all of her will on the dark clouds around her, Xenovia willed them to part, praying to find the sun at her back, to banish the Cryer from her dream or mind or wherever she was. Her eyes narrowed at it as she imagined a shaft of pure light finding its way through its horrible body, to pierce the darkness and purge it from her psyche. You will die, she thought angrily, amplifying the thought with her strength and anger, her muscles tensing and flexing from the effort she put into her desire. The light will take you, and you will die!

[Brytan]

And then...there was light.

Clouds parted as if by magic, revealing a sun which had been there, though hidden, lurking. Suggested to hide from the darkness at the fringes of the mind. Now it was called out by it's owner, called to purge the invader.

Something it happily did.

Beams of majestic light pierced the sky, the clouds. A magnificent scene unfolded of Ursa Etheria washed in a sacred light, before the wave massed into a single beam, focussing on the Cryer.

It did not even have time to cry.

The light hit his body without even a chance for it to dodge or escape. It was as if the light struck it like a hammer, making the Cryer crack and then shatter into a thousand little pieces, before dissapating entirely into the wash of sunlight. The wind carrying the flinters of darkness over the edge and out of her thoughts.

Well...done...

A hesitant voice reached Xenovia from the direction of the Osprey, which lay still on the ledge several meters away. It was wounded, hurt. The sheen in it's eyes was faded, cast over by a gray sheet.

You...saved...yourself...and me with...it...

At the edge of her vision, Xenovia could see blue and silver sparks creep away from the body of her Inner Animal, seeping away with the blood pouring from it's physical shape.

You and I...are one...But we are...trapped...on this ledge of semi-conciousness...

A crystal shape started to form above the osprey. A single blue shard, a silver liquid seemingly swirling in there endlessly.

Embrace it...and take the leap...

The osprey faded, leaving nothing but the crystal behind, hovering in the air above where it had been.

[Xenovia Canace]

Xenovia could hardly believe it as her effort actually counted for something, and it made it quite clear that she was indeed in what was either a dream or her own unconsciousness. Light pierced through the Cryer's form and she yelled triumphantly as it cracked, shattered, and disappeared. Her excitement, however, was cut short, as the voice of her Inner Animal came to her and she turned to see it bleeding upon the ground.

Fear gripped her once more. Would it die? Was she too late? Could she heal it in the same way that she had summoned the light? She was hesitant to move toward it, lest it disappear before her. It seemed to take such a great effort to speak. But disappear it did, along with a message.

Xen's golden eyes stared uncomprehendingly at the crystal that had been left behind. The osprey had told her to "embrace it, and take the leap." Was she to take the crystal and leap off the ledge? The ledge of semi-consciousness..where does it lead to when leapt from? Cautiously at first, then with resolve, Xenovia walked to the floating crystal and put her hand out. Her fingers hesitated centimeters from it, before she suddenly grasped it in her hand and paused to see if anything would happen.

[Brytan]

The crystal pulsed with light, the pulses quickening as her hand reached towards it. When she grasped it, a bright flash of light emanating from between her fingers coincided with the sensation of the shard melting away, it's hardened exterior flowing outward, covering her hand, arm and then, for just a flicker, her entire body.

Then the glow was gone, the feeling was gone and Xenovia was left there all alone. A strong wind sighed over the mountains, working it's way through countless chasms, causing it to howl like the wolves. Beneath her the depths lingered. To one side a depth of unfathomable emptyness. Clouds and air. To the other the familiar vision of Xenovia's home basking in the sunlight.

[Xenovia Canace]

Her sunny orbs widened as she found herself covered by the flowing exterior of the crystal, and then suddenly it was gone. What just happened? Stepping back and sighing heavily, Xenovia looked upward and tried to collect her thoughts. It was no use, though. There were too many questions running through her mind, too many things to think about just yet. Her eyes fluttered shut before she again remembered the last thing her Inner Animal had said.

Embrace it...and take the leap...

Her eyes opened as she looked toward the familiar sight of the village, the new sunlight shining upon it. It seemed welcoming -- but then she realized that she could not possibly "take the leap" back to the village. Her gaze than turned back to the emptiness to the other side. The endless, unfathomable emptiness. Her eyes widened faintly. Am I to leap into that? If she were a bird she would have felt no fear, but as it were she still found herself with four sturdy limbs and no feathers. The howling of the wind echoed through the mountains. Xenovia suddenly felt cold, and alone.

Again she reminded herself that this was not the real world, that she had some modicum of control here and perhaps she would not be harmed. Also, her own Inner Animal had told her to take the leap. If any could be trusted, would it not be that part of herself which had been with her all her life? The osprey had just fought valiantly to stay alive, and she had saved it. It lived through her, and without her it would die; surely it would not wish to kill her, and thusly itself.

Her decision made and her logic as sturdy as she could manage, Xen squared her shoulders and took a deep, steadying breath. She stepped backward once, twice, three times. Then, in a burst of speed and something akin to desperation, she ran forward to the ledge and leapt off and away from it, spreading her arms wide and closing her eyes.

[Brytan]

"By the mother!"

Oni jumped back from the cot Xenovia lay on, almost knocking over Gannas who was to her side, and not at all moving as the girls eyes and mouth shot open, streams of blue and silver light streaming from the openings.

"Does this mean? I mean, it looks like it, but I've never seen it manifest this intense."

"She has defeated the Cryer. Her eyes are opening to a new dawn." Gannas Hawkeye got up and ushered Oni out of the tent, moving out with her, closing the flap behind them. "She is Awakening."

-----

Xenovia lept. She dove off the cliff, the edges of her mind, into the vast unknown, arms spread and eyes closed she could feel the soaring of the air around her as she plummeted to the depths beneath her. How long the free fall lasted for she could not tell. It could have been flickers, but it seemed more like marks. Until suddenly a well known voice sounded in her head.

Let's try that again shall we?

The voice had taken on a different tone than she was used to. Usually, in her memory at least, it had sounded more commanding, demanding even. Urging and pushing, driven by animal desires and instinct. Now it spoke in a friendly, guiding tone. A sense of gratitude in it even.

She could feel a warm sensation emanate from her chest, her heart beating, it's beat quickening as a warm feeling passed from the center to every fibre in her being. She fell, but she could feel her body glow, would she look she could see her skin covered in the same blue and silvery sheen it had taken for just a moment when she had grabbed the crystal.

It molded her.

It changed her.

Into something she had always been.

She could feel her limbs change. Fingers into feathers, toes into talons. Down in the depths the colour of the sky changed from a deep aquamarine blue into a dark black. No clouds could be seen in the empty void. Should she try to scream, she would find she only had a beak to try it.

No time to fly, she was going in...

-----

Xenovia's eyes shot open.

She was in a tent.

It had been but a dream...

Why did she feel the need to pluck her tail feathers?

[Xenovia Canace]

Xenovia fell for what seemed like ages to her, the wind whipping round her body, her hair lashing and flicking behind her. It felt good, but it wasn't like flying; she was sure of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard that familiar voice in her head, and she would have yelled for joy if she hadn't been too surprised to. It wasn't at all demanding or controlling as before, but rather it held the tones of a dear friend, perhaps with a trace of gratitude. A gentle smile came to rest on Xen's lips as she realized this. So, they were more than two entities stuck together, now.

There was a warmth in her chest, and her heartbeat sped up as her eyes widened. The warmth spread to every part of her, permeating her slender form. She turned her head to gaze at her hand and found it glowing brightly just the same as the crystal. She was changing. Excitement accelerated her heartbeat.

Her fingers became feathers, her toes became talons, and the sky changed from blue to black. It was a void, no longer the endless sky. Her beak opened, and then she met the darkness.

Xenovia's eyes opened. A tent. I'm not dead. It was a dream. With a jerky movement Xenovia got to her feet, then faltered. She felt different. Perhaps she was still a bit unsteady from the battle. It had been quite fierce, after all. She'd had no idea the Cryers were so determined, nor that they could get inside her that way.

Without thinking Xen swiveled her head round and began to preen and pluck at her tail feathers, and it was only after a few flickers that she froze. Her eyes moved over her large, bird-shaped frame. The wings..her tail..white feathers with black speckles and stripes...

And from inside the tent, the excited whistles of an osprey pierced through the silence.

[Brytan]

The end. Thank you for a thread well written. Skills have been updated. I'll be starting you in a fresh thread soon like we discussed.