[Flashback, Nya] Prisoner's Dilemma

[Tarot]

The layout of this room was quite simple... it had no windows whatsoever. It might have had some in the past, but they had been long walled in so that the only lights were the magical ones powered by the old man's gnosis powers. This place had not known sunlight in a long, long time. As for doors, there were only two - one of them being the one she had come in from, at the end of the corridor. The other door was green, smaller and quite unassuming, sort of a backdoor between two long tables loaded with metallic contraptions.

"My name..." the man whispered. Yes, it occurred to him that he indeed had one. Perhaps this one would come to him easier than the message he was meant to relay. "Aruin, I am called Aruin. I was born in Kalea... in the mountains... with the winds whistlng between the peaks." He struggled to claim more territory from the mists enveloping his awareness. It was a slow, arduous task... inch by inch. Everything felt murky; the brain was just another muscle, and if not flexed regularly, it would grow weak and unreliable.

Nya leapt up and down the platform with feline grace, and went about freeing the old man. She could see that the shackles were robust, but if she tore the pole down, he could leave with the shackles on. It would not be comfortable, but the chains were not overly long and would likely not weigh him down too badly. "Don't worry about my pain... I deserve it... this pain is cleansing..." He said so, but Nya could see clearly that he really was in a lot of pain when she started to pull the wires out of his skin. Thankfully the cruel devices were attached to veins rather than arteries, meaning that he was not going to bleed to death from the extraction, but his body was severely worn out. It was a minor miracle he had survived this far. His face was gaunt, and Nya could easily make out the silhoette of his skeleton throughout the body.

Finally, as the last of the wires was separated from the old priest, he gasped and seemed to recover a bit of his life force. There was a side effect, though - all the lights went out all of a sudden. Which wasn't so strange, come to think of it; the Kelvic had just pulled the magical plug powering the whole structure. And now, all the machinery had gone silent, the eerie lights replaced by a silence and darkness that were in a way just as creepy. Nya's forest cat eyes could adjust to this level of lighting, but if she was trying to be stealthy about the whole rescue, this was a major fail.

[Nya Winters]

Nya knew she had made a mistake the moment the lights went out. She also knew that the man had something important to say that he couldn't remember. And torn, she hesitated only a moment after freeing him from the device to catch him up by the shoulders and even in the darkness stare into his eyes. She knew hypnotism for a reason. Forest cats had a penetrating near mesmerizing stare naturally. And even in the dark her eyes could be luminous. But she didn't chance it on gaze alone. She poured Djed into both - her voice and her eyes - to insert a single potent thought into his brain. It was a command, a simple phrase.... "Remember what you needed to tell. Remember the important thing and speak it." She needed to know and wanted to understand why they were both here. Zulrav had driven her here for one reason, to rescue this man or learn what he knew - which reason she wasn't sure of.

And then she waited, giving up precious time. If the man spoke, she'd shift, probably destroying the remains of her clothing, and tear at his pole, to free him from where he was shackled. She knew the piece of timber didn't stand a chance. And if there was any time left... any time at all.. she'd take him through the smaller door, carrying him as a forest cat. That might require one more shift back to open the door and look out, and then a shift back to cat form where she could shrug him over her shoulders and try to escape.

If he didn't speak, she'd try one more time, risking overgiving, and pour more djed into the effort, trying to unlock whatever was hidden trapped within his failing mind. Zulrav sent her here for a reason - to free him or to learn his secrets - which she wasn't sure. And if she got through the little door and into the clear, she'd call out, dependent on her faith, to see if the breeze was still lingering. "Which way, little breeze? Which way to freedom?"

It couldn't be that easy... she knew it wouldn't be. But she'd fight for the old man to get a few last moments of sunlight before his death. And if she could save him beyond that, she'd certainly try. Even if it meant fighting tooth and claw for it.

[Tarot]

Aruin gasped as the command from Nya forcefully entered his mind. The Kelvic had been assertive, perhaps even brutal, but time was a luxury she could not afford. For a long moment, the old man seemed entranced and unresponsive, but just as Nya was starting to doubt she'd get an answer out of him, a few words slipped out of his parched lips.

"The... the goddess first, then the tree, the city, the god, the star and the wheel. In that order."

He fell back into his semi-comatose state, and his body got limp and unresponsive. If not for his ragged breath, Nya might have thought him dead now. She quickly shredded the pole to pieces and carried Aruin on her back. She did not even have to shift back to human to open the door - it would just give way with minimal resistance if pushed.

"I was a fool..." Aruin's soft whispers were Nya's company beyond the door. The old man was revisiting old memories, seemingly jumping through key points in his life. "Forgive me, Zulrav... I used what you gave to me for my own reasons..."

There was a long corridor, probably running parallel to the hall in which Nya had caused so much commotion. Doors were positioned at regular intervals along the walls. Nya could make out a few of the signs even in the reduced lighting. "Classroom 205", "Scroll storage", "Spiritism lab".

The breeze did not answer her question directly, yet did her a service nevertheless. It brought her a whiff, a scent, a warning... blood. Blood from more than one person, more than one race. She heard the faint sound of approaching footsteps ahead of her in the corridor.

"You killed them, little dove. You killed them all. Not that it really matters - lowly specimens such as those are easily replaced." The wizard was near, though not yet in sight. Nya and the old man may very well be the only living souls left in the whole building. They were alone with the enemy.

[Nya Winters]

Aruin's words reminded her of a puzzle box her mother had once given her to play with. She had to twist the wooden pieces in a secret order so that the hidden compartment in the box would spring open and give her a treat. There were symbols on it a lot like what Aruin was saying, save for they were animals only and it was a game designed for children. She concentrated on getting him free after that, tearing at his pole, shouldering him onto her massive form, and rushing through the doorway. Nya didn't know what Aurin was speaking of, nor what exactly a fool was, but she noted his words and the regret he had for using what Zulrav had given him for his own reasons. Selfish? Maybe... but she had to focus on that later.

Had she been alone, she would have charged the priest to take him by surprise. Nya was an apex predator and her instincts always told her she was bigger, stronger, and the dominant one in any combat situation. But magic was tricky, and truthfully the blood smell was dimming her more human side and causing the cat side to grow increasingly uneasy and more than willing to flee the situation without a confrontation. As she traveled towards the priest, she fought a battle within herself, one that her human verses cat was always fighting - who would lead? Who would think? The cat was no good at thinking, only reacting and fighting, so Nya fought to keep her mind human which would be, in her feeling, the best way to deal with the situation.

And humans understood doorways.

She tried to shoulder into one of the rooms... though she avoided the storage and lab room fearing they had no windows. What she wanted was a room that had windows, that might lead to the outside and not past the priest... or at least a place that was dark enough she'd be at the advantage in a battle with the priest himself. So she pushed into the first one labeled classroom, still carrying the priest, hopeful that there was a window or something she could break out and escape.

And then it hit her.

Zulrav sent her here for information. The breeze had said something to the effect... but he'd also sent her here because something was happening that wasn't supposed too. The wizard. Nya looked around, took stock of the room, to see if there were any windows. If there were, and they were big enough, she'd bust one out and try to drag the priest through to the outside, keeping her promise. Then she'd come back through immediately for the priest... laying in wait (if there was time) and letting him believe she'd escaped. They had a far better chance of survival outside than in the room, but this was more than survival. This was because Zulrav wanted her here... for whatever reason.

If the room was dark and there were no windows, Nya would gently lay the priest aside, hopefully behind something like a desk or table, and go meet the wizard at the door. She'd fight him... kill him if she could. The best thing to do when it came to wizards was to fight them in close quarters, with immediate contact, so they had no time to cast or disarm or neutralize. She'd try to take his throat, if it came to a confrontation, as he came into the room - if he did.

And if the window was there but too small, she'd find something fast to break it out, to give the priest the impression she had left or tried too so he'd be looking at the far side of the room and not right behind the door.

[Tarot]

The first door gave way easily under Nya's strength. A cloud of dust flew up, signaling that nobody had been in this classroom for a relatively long time. The Kelvic pulled Aruin inside the room, finding it quite dark, but not impossible to navigate with what little natural light was streaming through. Yes, there was a window, though getting through was not going to be just a matter of crouching and jumping out. Planks of ancient wood had been nailed onto the window frame from the inside, obscuring most of its area. It was still enough for Nya to see that night was falling upon Mizahar. The wood was old and Nya would probably be able to yank the planks off and gain the exit, but how long would that take?

The Kelvic also had the dubious privilege of witnessing what a pre-Valterrian magic classroom looked like. There were around twenty sturdy desks, four by five, fitting well in the slightly elongated room. They had seen better days, but had not collapsed just yet. The teacher's desk stood in front of the others, larger and on top of a foot-high platform proclaiming the master's superior status. There were no chairs: a sitting surface with a straight, uncomfortable-looking back was embedded in the desks.

Now began the strangeness: Nya saw more of those strange metallic wires: there was a bundle of them coming out of the teacher's desk and reaching every one of the students'. Here the wires seemed to split, smaller copper threads burrowing into different parts of the desks. A set of suspicious-looking levers - a console of sorts - on the teacher's desk hinted at the possibility of very... interactive classes.

Behind the teacher's desk was a blackboard. Some kind of mechanical arm was secured against the frame and holding a piece of chalk between three simplified fingers. A second arm on the opposite corner had a rag for cleaning up the board. Master wizards needed not get dirty with chalks - they could simply dictate their thoughts to the device. They would probably have even better tricks at the Royal Academy of Magic, but this was not it. Right now there were some glyphs drawn on the board, with a few explanations as to their various parts.

Aruin happened to glance up at the board in his half-conscious delirium. It did seem to bring back a memory or two "The ward! Gods, a warding glyph! Payton, don't step on it! Payton! No!" He gave a muffled yell, visions fleeting before his raving eyes. "He's dead! Like Francine! This is too much! Zulrav, give me more power! What kind of nightmare is this? Did Tallshade truly hide it in this gods-damned rattrap? We just keep dying one by one!"

Outside, the footsteps were closing in. Slow, so incredibly slow. Each carefully printed to be loud enough for Nya to hear, like the ticking of the clock counting the time to the gallows.

[Nya Winters]

Nya had to think fast. There was a little too much going on for her to process it all at once. The bad man was coming... and he was worst than most. Nya could sense it. But also, Aruin knew more than he was saying, or his broken mind was grasping at pieces that were slowly forming a mental image. She needed to buy time..

So she turned, shifted, and used her great cat's strength to push the teachers desk over to block the door. It made a hideous squealing noise - wires breaking - as the cat pushed it snarling over to block the entrance. Then the beast turned, charged to the window, and reared up to claw at the boards covering the entrance. She pulled at the wood, clawing and trying to shred it to open up the escape path. If she got to glass, she'd turn, paw at one of the desks, and try to fling it through the glass to see if she could break it.

Then, if there was still time, she'd try and shift back, clean the window seal of loose glass shards with one of the shredding boards, and try to stuff Aruin through the opening and escape herself.

If she could just get free of the compound, she'd have time perhaps to ask him all the questions she needed too. What was the rattrap? Who was Tallshade... and what was he hiding? There was so many questions, but first she had to get away from the bad man... and take Ariun with her. So she got busy, her kelvic mind - thanks to her mother's training - well able to plan ahead as she moved swiftly both between the shapeshifts and the activities.

[Tarot]

The cat was strong and trapped, which made her stronger still. The desk did not stand a chance as the large but graceful silhouette of the cat pushed it against the door. It wasn't pretty, but it looked quite sturdy. Aruin crawled towards the wall, finding a minimum of strength. Whether his mind was with Nya or elsewhere, though, was still unclear. "We failed. Everyone but Kiphos and me died. The Cube's still there. The Seven Robes don't take lightly to failure. They caught me. Kiphos got away, then again he is of Ionu. We called him Hundred Faces."

The cat lunged at the planks, tearing them apart as fast as she could. She didn't know how much time passed. She thought the noise of footsteps had stopped, but nothing seemed to attack the door or otherwise try to enter.

After what seemed like an eternity, the last obstacle fell to her claws and muscle. There was no glass to the window - maybe a long time ago, but not in a few centuries. They were... free?

Nya pushed Aruin through the open window. He felt like a dead weight, not unlike the desk she had pushed in front of the door. He did not resist, and did not help. The window was at ground level, and there was no fall involved. "The ceiling is so high..." Aruin wondered, in childish awe, as he glanced up at the sky for the first time in who knew how many years.

It was Nya's turn now. She prepared to leap through the open window and meet with Aruin outside. She was about to regain her freedom.

But her body did not move, would not move. The window was there, she could see it, she could see the woods all around the building in the fading sunlight. A leap was all it would take. One second. Maybe less than that. And her body would not go there. It wasn't like she was paralyzed or anything: she could still move around the room, but as soon as she prepared to leave this place, all she experienced was the dull throbbing of a vein in her ears. This was...

"Mental inhibitors," came the voice from the other side of the doors. "You are not the only one who can use Hypnotism around here, little dove. Your mind was wide open back then, when our eyes crossed for a moment. The rest of the suggestion was in my own footsteps." This man's Hypnotism was something else, something old and vicious. It was something out of advanced books from another age, when wizards had existed to make the young post-Valterrian ones bow their heads in shame.

The desk began to move aside, pushed by some invisible force.

"You are pretty good, little dove," said the voice, "how about we make a deal? You agree to do what Aruin could not do - find the Powercube of Areesa Tallshade - and I'll spare you. I will let that useless old man go. I will even teach you more about magic than you ever dreamed existed. Those with the power of Djed are born to rule, after all."

The desk continued to move.

The breeze whistled in her ears. "This is where. You make your choice. I will understand either way. But both paths have consequences. Good and bad. Can you live with them?"

[Nya Winters]

Nya was a predator, through and through, but because of her kelvic nature, she also was designed to serve. All her life had been a search for the one person she'd obey without question. Zulrav's mark had never changed that, but it had never demanded too much of her either. It had gifted her with playmates that came at times the forest cat really needed some, but otherwise the mark had given her no burdens and asked nothing of her.

But when Aruin was free through the window and she tried to step forward to take her turn, things changed... drastically. It wasn't the wizards control of her body that effected her. It wasn't that she couldn't move. Nya quietly accepted it... for there was a precipice here that she hadn't anticipated. It was as if the frozen state of her body came at the most perfect time ever. It gave her a chance to think, to reflect, and for the first time in her life, she didn't panic at the restraint as she normally would have. Instead, she stood frozen... and exactly as the voice has said... her mind was wide open. But the man behind the voice hadn't looked lower, to where there was even more power. If he had such abilities, he perhaps would have been surprised. Because even a predator had the capacity to feel things... and maybe because she was fierce and proud, her feelings were incredibly strong too. For beneath her open mind, her heart beat strongly in her chest and it was wide open as well and near bursting with the choice that she knew her God offered her.

Nya let the moment take her. The Forest Cat in human shape's bright green eyes closed to absorb what the voice said. But in her heart, the decision was already made. It had been made ages ago, even before her birth when her mother held her close to her heart and thought she was fully human.

She spoke, but it wasn't out loud, not yet. Instead, a voice bloomed out of her heart, like a living thing, reaching through the gnosis mark on her back and straight to the stronger more truer voice that filled her mind through the breezes soft whistling voice.

"There is no decision here. You knew me when I was something small and weak, just a spark of life, and even then I wanted you, needed you, listened to you. That will never change. I can live with any path you set out for me, so long as your voice does not leave me. I do not mind if it is hard, lonely, or rewardless. I will still always choose you, Zulrav. I am sister to the wind, and nothing... not even this madman with too much power... can change that. And so long as that is true, I can live with the good and the bad easily enough. And the consequences might be heavy - beyond price - but I put my trust with you. My heart with you. My body with you. All are yours. There is no choice. There never was. Believe me, and if I die this day, remember that. But I think death is not necessary."

And as the desk slipped back away from the door, moving of its own accord...

Nya's voice rose again. She would not answer the man until Zulrav had heard her final words and had a chance to respond if he would. Once more, her words swelled up, heartfelt and burned through the mark on her back. "If you require me to kill this monster, I will do my best to do so. If you require me to find this cube and destroy it... I will do so as well. If you require my death here, then so be it. I will spill my blood for you. You know who I am. You know what I am. There can be no better life for me than to have a master such as you. I will gladly do whatever it is you wish of me. Just tell me so when this man gets in here, I can know how I should fight. For I will fight in your name, Zulrav, always." Nya said fiercely, speaking within, and awaiting Zulrav's answer.

Strangely, she wasn't scared. Nya knew she should be... she'd seen what the man had done to Aruin and truthfully didn't want to end up like him. But she had been serious about what she'd said to Zulrav. The forest cat would fight for him... serve him... and she'd do her best to win if she could, because apex predators didn't know any other way to live. Win or die. Be strongest or fall. That was how she was designed, and that was what she was going to prove... both to herself and to Him.

And so she waited, quietly, willing to face the future and to face the man that was about to walk into the room.... hoping her God would answer her and reveal a clear pathway to his Will.

[Tarot]

The breeze was silent for a long moment, or more precisely flowing in a way Nya could not understand, as if not talking to her anymore. The desk had slipped all the way to the side now, and the door was unguarded. Undefended. Slowly opening. Would Zulrav speak to her? Would he tell her what to do after she had opened her heart to him?

"Your purpose here today. Was not to fight. You cannot win against this opponent. One day, you may. But not today." The voice of the breeze told her, with something akin to a sigh, as if it had realized it had to explain every little thing to her. There was that slightly annoying feeling of having to explain a joke until it wasn't funny anymore: even gods were not immune to that.

The door opened. Evil, eagle-like eyes with no brows over them peered icily at Nya, just like the mouth had barely any lips.

"You wanted to say no, Nya," said the breeze, "but asked for my approval. This time I do not particularly care one way or another. You will live either way. You will learn either way. You will suffer either way."

"Well, well, well," grinned the wizard, his eyes radiating an aura that made it difficult to even approach him. It felt like walking into a mental storm of fear and terror. Facing him with her current resources seemed utterly hopeless.

"Some day, there will be more choices. Much harder than this one. Choices that will hurt you. And sometimes, there will be no breeze to give you counsel. Look now. Look at the consequences of your actions."

The wizard extended his hands, his fingers seemingly flickering and twisting like so many worms.

Suddenly, a great wind picked up, but it wasn't the wizard's doing. Quite the opposite, the man seemed highly displeased with the fact - he snarled and stepped back in surprise, covering his face with the bloodied sleeve of his robe. The wind was coming in from the window, moving clouds of ancient dust in swirling vortices across the room. Nya was like in eye of the storm, caressed by the air but not hurt.

"Aruin, you bastard!" the wizard hissed.

Outside, Aruin was smiling, his arms spread out as if embracing an old friend. He pulled on the strings of the storm that raged inside the old school.

"Thank you, young lady," the old priest laughed, awareness back in his tired voice, "one day you will understand what you did for me." He directed the storm with expert hands, and Nya felt herself being lifted up from the floor, scooped up and channeled through the window: the barrier only existed in her mind, and the way was clear.

"Farewell," Aruin smiled at her as she was still levitating, wrapped in her cocoon of raging wind. "Up you go."

There was no further warning. The stormy air bubble shot upwards to the sky with Nya in it. Cats liked high places, but this one was really high. She could see the dilapidated building getting smaller and smaller, Aruin but a tiny dot in the grass. Nya saw the woods, the sea, even faint city lights in the distance. Up, up, up. She was suspended in the air now, chilly and tingly and electrical. Around her she could make out clouds, pregnant with rain and thunder.

A sudden awareness hit her. Aruin's presence, the familiarity of the fellow mark-bearer, had disappeared completely. She knew, she just knew, that it wasn't just a matter of distance. Aruin the priest of Zulrav was no more. Then, after a moment, she felt it again, though it was very different this time... close, as if on her own soul. The smell was one she recognized, but it mixed with her own now, and the two could not be separated.

"You gave him everything," said the breeze, except it wasn't a breeze sometimes, it was the powerful west wind, bringer of change: vast and unrelenting, showing her the true might of her guide. There were no more whispers, but comforting roars. "His freedom, and the courage to ask for forgiveness, which I granted him. Within a couple of lifetimes, he will be ready to follow me to the Ukalak."

"I even granted him his last wish, even though I am not sure you are ready for it. I gave you one of his marks. You are still a pup, Nya. One day, the meaning of this will be clear to you. One day you will be asked to do great and terrible things. That man will be after you, as well. The Cube is not out of your life; rather, you have entered its own life."

"Come, call upon the winds," said the west wind, "let them carry you into that cloud over there." There was no need for gestures: Nya knew he was talking about the huge, dark grey cloud that was discharging furious lightning upon the Suvan Sea. He wanted her in it. What an initiation it would be.

[Nya Winters]

It had never simply occurred to Nya that there were bad things she was suppose to witness and not fight. Fighting had always been the way she'd worked things, because it had been in her nature. But she understood suddenly, in the way that her world was filled with new discoveries daily because of her age, that it was time finally to stop reacting so much like a beast would and perhaps begin to use her humanity a little to think. That frightened her, slightly, because thinking required her to move outside her comfort zone. Acting required no weighing of consequences, no moving outside the here and now. When you thought, you had to run through the possibilities, remembering the past as well as anticipating the future. Such thoughts made her feel small, weak, insignificant. Nya didn't like scenarios where she wasn't the biggest, strongest, or smartest. She didn't like being... nothing... though deep inside she knew that ultimately the world would move on after her death as it had before her death. The best she could hope for was to be able to choose a time and a place for it. Such choices required thinking. And thinking, she was starting to think, meant survival. The voice was right. Nya knew, deep down, that the man was stronger, more powerful, and crueler than she. It was a hard realization - knowing that you've been stupid. But feeling, reacting, unplugging her mind and letting her body do the work... was dangerous. Very dangerous.

And she understood suddenly why the voice wanted her to choose. It was as if there was a hearth deep inside of her that had never known fire and suddenly someone lit tinder in it and the hearth suddenly understood the reason for its existence. It wanted her to think to be able to come to a logical choice on her own. Nya blinked , opened up her awareness to the winds, and let all the thoughts that filled her head fill the wind. It was easier that way, to show Zulrav, in her own way, how his words - for she assumed they were his words - changed her perception, altered her reality, and in a way stole the rest of her childhood away. The reality of the situation... the horror of the wires, the suspended life, the magic things ran off the power of human life... caused her to stagger. She wanted to vomit and indeed the taste of bile filled her mouth. The words of the voice made sense - terrible sense - even as it hit her how stupid it was to think she could fight someone with old knowledge... knowledge of the times before.

This was the dark side of the lore her mother sought out - sought to restore - though why her mother would want to know such things was not a question Nya could answer. She didn't do it for the betterment of mankind. It was really just to satiate Zilvia's own curiosity.

But when the voice said she wanted to say no, Nya shook her head. "No. I would have learned from him. I always... want to know things. Though I see now how stupid that would have been. With him. I would have wanted learned so I could know what he knew ... but he probably would not have taught me anything useful. It would have been like Aruin. Use and use up." Nya said softly, thinking it through. "Teaching is never free. There is always a price in learning something... especially from someone like him. And even from someone who is supposed to love you." She said, then started to say more when events begin to move really fast.

The man facing her was a terror to her. It was a truth she couldn't deny. She was afraid in a way that she couldn't explain. Afraid of the unknown, the wires, all the strange evil in the man's eyes. She lost her cat shape then, turning back into a woman as the man stretched out his hand - fingers flickering.

When the wind came, she welcomed it, rejoiced that it would surround her and dance with her in a way that seemed utterly like a close kinship she hadn't realized she'd had. Nya tipped her head back, letting the wind whip her hair, closing her eyes to the sight of what she knew Zulrav was doing to the wizard. Was it Zulrav? Or Aruin? No.. Zulrav through Aruin. Tools... each and every one of his marked. Nya understood it and embraced it even as she dropped her chin, opened her eyes, and met Aruin's eyes through the open window. The wind picked her up and liberated her from the awful stone walls, through the window, and skyward.

She should have been terrified, but she was a sister to the winds that cradled her. The bubble was of Him and because of Him. Aruins presence was also calming, reassuring, though she cried out when it vanished and only silenced her cry when it rejoined her, scents mingling and understanding dawning with Zulrav's words. Aruin was part of her now, in a small way, just as she was part of something bigger, in another small way.

Aruins joy at freedom and forgiveness infused her. And learning that a part of him was now a part of her flooded Nya with her own joy which mingled with his. She would remember this day, this lesson, and the promise that more hard things were to come and that this was just the beginning of a long road, one that would never be easy. Great and terrible things... the man again... and the Cube... she was in its life.

But her joy was not for the cube, the wizard, nor great and terrible things. It was for Zulrav at that particular moment, and when he invited her to call upon the winds, she did so, opening her awareness to them and pouring her will out in a way that left no question of what she wanted. The west winds voice filled her with encouragement, and she twisted and twirled in the air, buoyed up by her joy, her passion at life, and the knowledge that she could do this now. There was no hesitation, no question, she went right to the cloud carried by the very winds themselves, lightening crackling around her, and danced within it, howling in her own way with the stormwinds she was within.

It was in that moment she realized what it truly was to be a Stormwarden. The stormscloud's mood was open to her, as readable as a book was to a normal human. It had a personality, a voice, a purpose... and she thrilled in the knowledge of it. Her mind opened then, bloomed, and she was ... in a way... the cloud, the lightening, and even in a small way the west wind itself.

There was nothing better... nothing.