Quest Breaks Over, Time to Get Serious. (Sira, Tia)

[Tiaue'a]

Hurdling through the air, stunned from the explosion, Ti`ue hardly realized what was becoming of her. Her ears rang from the blast, even if she wasn’t that close. The power of it all was overwhelming. She thought she felt crash. There was this banging noise as she pounded into the earth and rolled over, the world filled with colors that spiraled around and eventually stopped. Her body ached from the wall, her drained mind more than anything. The blunt shots from the earth felt like the vibrations from a strike along some outer shield beyond herself. The impact compared not with Ivak’s divine being, and all that he had inflicted on the Wind Eagles. In such a disoriented state, and her mind so narrow and dark, still focused on the task of cutting Ivak back off from the world, unaware of her failure, she moved to get up and get back to the city’s aid. First her left wing folded in and she pushed up off the end joint. She staggered to some upright position, her legs still collapsed. With her other wing, she managed to at least gain stability and “kneel” on the ground to collect her thoughts. Her head was still spinning, and all she could do for comfort was to close her eyes and wait for even the blackness of her mind to just hold still. She let her head hang low between her wings, to let the blood get back into its proper rhythm before she’d get back into the air. If he was free, then she needed to stall him. Her anticipation was that such a god of seemingly infinite power would hold no mercy for Windreach or her people. A captive for centuries, the Inarta would surely die fiery deaths at his hands. She willed herself to get up, though her back was sore – saying the least of it – and hot, and curled back to stand on her talons. She felt off balance. She stared down to her legs to check if she had broken one. The fading pain masked whatever real sensations of pain she needed to worry about now. Then, in the corner of her vision, she saw the red lock slid down into her view, and then more as her head turned over entirely. She froze. No one was ever meant to know of this, no one. She had tried so hard and long to even forget about it. The void of her mind, empty of all energy and thought, seemed to fall even deeper. She felt it now, the same mindless lack of control as she flew over the city moments ago, unable to do anything, just falling further into nothing. She could speak in her common tongue, Nari to the Inarta and Wind Eagles, but all that she produced was a whimper. She looked down at her breasts and feathered half, simply incapable of fully comprehending what she appeared as. Her mind sand to dissonance as she struggled now. The city she wanted to save was the one she always feared would reject her, ridicule her, or stone her for mockery with no pity what-so-ever. And now, like this, a complete freak of a harpy that had never walked Mizahar’s surface, she knew she would be shamed more than ever. The conflict and pain was so severe, she felt the tears starting to drop out from her eyes. They were starting to swell and redden, her lips quivering, her mind in total disarray and darkness like the fire lit sky. She could hardly imagine what chaos was spilling out into the world from her failure. Not even the colony’s, but her own. She wanted to damn herself even more – no, it had already been done; this was the curse she would face. She held herself at too high a standard, even in the face of the impossible. It tore her apart. She collapsed back on wing and talon, letting her crown dig into the ground and sit there. She wept, utterly unaware of Sira’s whereabouts… From anywhere else in sight of her, it would be impossible to recognize her. She thought in a voice very similar to the sounds of her weeping, and the accents of her wings still lit up her darkened wings. The whole thing was shivering, a loose feather falling out of her wing here and there, and the deep red hair a mess. The darkening sky shrouded most detail from afar, only to be lit up from the crackling mile high flames of The World Destroyer.

OOCHehehe, harpy! Well Sira, here's your chance! In other news, lets see if this thing can fly!

[Sira]

Sira groaned in protest as her eyes began to flicker open, light shining into them between the leaves above. Where am I, she thought, What happened. Slowly Sira pushed herself to her knees, her blue hands pressing into the ground. She.. wait. Blue? Suddenly Sira remembered. The blast! Ivak! He escaped, the Wind Eagles had failed! Sira remembered being thrown through the sky. She could see trees beneath her. She remembered falling, unable to fly as she was stunned by the explosion of Ivak's power. She remembered the shift, and then she hit the ground and everything went black. "No," she whispered allowed. "Addy! Natalie!" Suddenly her thoughts shifted. She needed to warn her family, if it wasn't too late. Sira closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Addy, she called. ... Nothing. Addy? Natalie? Still nothing. In fact, Sira couldn't hear anything at all in her mind. No chatter from the wind eagles, no shouts of warning. Surely they had not all died? Surely there was still someone left, someone to pick up her thoughts? Sira rose to her feet, her mind recalling the blue hands again. What is this? She held her hand in front of her and realized it wasn't just her hand. Her entire body had turned various shades of blue and green. Confused, Sira ran a hand through her hair, and that's when she felt the feathers. Her hair, it was gone! Replaced by feathers? "What is going on?" And then she remembered Tiaue'a. She had fallen to, somewhere nearby. Sira remembered seeing her just before she went beneath the trees. A quick search and a short bit of walking later Sira spotted something through the foliage. Feathers, it looked like wings.. though something was off. "Tiaue'a! Don't worry, I'm coming!" Sira broke into a run, shoving her way through the underbrush and darting around trees. The wind eagle was only a short distance away, it took mere breaths to reach her. Sira rounded the finally tree and gasped, stopping short. Before her was a creature unlike any she had ever seen before. Half human, half bird.. a monster. "Gods," she whispered, taking a nervous step backward. She tried to back away quietly, hoping the creature hadn't noticed her yet. But the snap of a twig beneath her feet blew her cover. Sira froze, unsure of what to do.

[Tiaue'a]

Tiaue`a whole body shivered between the intake of djed and acute stress that now flooded through her. She had been transformed perhaps into something she’d think more monstrous than kelvics, no, not even that, more horrible than Ivak! The single being that had now destroyed all she loved, all she knew. Windreach was gone, wasn’t it? They had failed? So many lives…lost, all turned to ash! Caught between self love and the years of selflessness gone to waste, Ti`ue wept. Beyond the transformation of her body, the overall effects on her now poisoned her wings. Feathers still began to shake from her wings and parts of her legs as she curled over, as if some human babe crying for her mother. That inhuman, squeal…not normal enough to be taken as Eagle or Inarta, but some god forsaken hybrid from the void; by the gods, it must have been painful to look upon… Footsteps, her name, her curse… She heard the twig snap and her face darted up to meet Sira’s. Her wings dug into the ground as she looked up to the changed eagle and friend – they were all friends in times of conflict and trial. Ti`ue shouted out some awful cry in her warped voice. High pitched pain rang out from the depths of her lungs and throat, a whole lot of nothing to help her cause. This form, this arrangement of mismatched parts, it was agony. She felt the awkwardness of her joints. There was numbness from having bent in such a way for so long crying in this misshaped form, and there was deliberate pain from joints and sockets that didn’t want to match up, caught somewhere between avian and human. The visage Sira saw was a misty reflection of that internal torment. Ti`ue’s eyes were swollen red, the blue of her eyes standing out against the red background. Every blood vessel might have popped from the changed in pressure, flung several hundred feet out of the sky. Her scarlet hair hung over like a mop, matted and full with leaves, pines, feathers, or otherwise. She was still screaming some incomprehensible command. Ti`ue couldn’t bear to be looked at. She flung her wings up, tragic and glorious to look upon, meaning to swipe away Sira’s face with her occupied talons. Ti`ue collapsed forward, and only screeched one last time. Her back moved up and down as she kept breathing, maddened and terrified. She felt her face dig into the ground, met by sharp rocks and dirt alike; the world had no bias for or against her at this point, just neglect. She was ready to die. Her life was at an end: she had failed her sole purpose, her people were annihilated by the fury of a god now free, and all that was left of her was this scrap of a body, a mockery to the beauty of the Eagles she coveted, and the frail form of her Inarta counterparts she frowned upon in disgust each day. She wore her shame today. She was all strung out and ready to have it end. There wasn’t much left to hide. If she was giving up now, Sira would know. Her suffering didn’t seem to compare to Ti`ue’s. The latter recognized this, and decided she wouldn’t pass over without leaving Sira with all the regret Ti`ue had bottled up for years. Sira would know of the torment Ti`ue felt all this time, even if she didn’t understand. No loose ends, no unfinished business, then she could leave this life at least having had confessed her vain sins and failures. Her squawking voice called out to Sira, “What are you so afraid of? We’ve nothing left to fear. We’ve failed. Come closer, I want to tell you something.” Despite all the apparent suffering, she still managed her disgusted tone. Ti`ue was so filled with hate – hate towards herself, the others, and Ivak alike – that it translated even in her shaken, altered voice. Sira surely recognized it now, her every doubt disproven and the truth revealed. “Don’t dare look at me, just – just listen to me. You, why you ungrateful…” she broke back into tears, now able to see Sira cleared just as her own crying as nearly ceased. Sira’s own transformation shined with brilliance in comparison to Ti`ue’s. Sira’s skin was dazzling like sapphires and emeralds in their shades, and shined from the sweat… Her feathered crown wasn’t even as atrocious. “It’s not fair! It’s never fair, it was never fair! Why is everything always against me! Finish me damn you, finish me off! A decade of this curse that I had to hide! Something, this damnable something that you lived with so freely! I hate you, I hate you! Don’t even look at me!” Ti`ue’s voice was shaking much like her quivering body. She was coughing, and heaving, her voice becoming hoarse… “You’ll never understand this…you’ll never understand! Why me… oh gods, why me…” She buried her face into the ground. Even with her lips pressed half way into the ground she felt the urge to end it. “Decades of this secrecy, only trying to impress my brothers and sisters. My whole life for this city, our people, and now they’re gone. The- They’re all gone! M-m-my family, oh gods, why?! The whole city to the damned fires! My whole life’s purpose, failure! I’ve failed, we – we’ve failed, oh gods we’ve failed! They’re dead, they’re all dead! Where are those gods now? Where are they? We didn’t want this! We never wanted this! Oh gods, how did this happen? Why not us…oh why not just us? Oh gods, we’re dead here, corpses burned up to nothing on the inside. I feel nothing, Sira! I feel nothing inside, just this fire, this burning fire! Help me, damn you, help me! You’ve never needed help! You’ve always helped others! Help me, now, end it! “You’ve had the years to live out and love and have love! You’ve known the grace of companionship and motherhood and stand there, hardly able to look at me! Won’t you even help me now…now in my lowest existence? The earth and I are one in our lowness, Sira… Sira… L-look at me. I said look at me, Sira!!!” She had let that fire burn up inside of her this whole while. So much hate, anger, and frustration could only burn so long. It never had the chance to burn up, it was ousted now, smoked out by the smoking mountain side and Sira’s burning glares. It hurt her so with each glance, that confirmation of her monstrous being. She was a shame to everything she had loved and protected. She had given up on holding herself up. She just laid there on the ground. Each shout had echoed off the ground first, her head stuck in that position. She couldn’t bear to look Sira, just as much if not more than she had first wished Sira dare not look at her harpy figure. Her vision was darkening. The ash cloud must be rising, the whole mountain chain erupting, her end guaranteed swift painless. Her whole suffering burned away, and her failure wiped from the face of Mizahar. Less than nothing, not even ashes like those she had failed. Every inner rage had erupted from her, and she had so little hate left for Sira. Her emotions had finally been brought to the surface as Ivak reassumed his reign over his rightful domain. The currents of the wind were blowing cool air on her now; she was calm and nearly at peace with the world. She was ready to move on. She stared off, though still much alive, in her hollow state, accepting of the end that had not yet come for her, and unaware of Sira. She still had her ears and wits about her, just not as strong. She wasn’t as strong as she thought she was.

[Sira]

The beast lunged at her and Sira jumped back, but as it turned out she didn't have to. Whatver the creature was, whatever horrible place it had spawned from, it didn't seem to be very stable. The thing fell right over onto its face, letting out a pitiful shriek. It was almost sad to look upon, but when it started to speak, Sira's pity and confusion grew even more. Oh, she recognized that voice. Though she had never actually heard it aloud, it was unmistakable. The contempt that Tiaue'a felt for Sira, though Sira had no idea why, was always unmistakable in her voice. Sira ran through a mix of emotions as Ti'ue vented her repressed feelings onto Sira. Throughout it all was, of course, confusion, but she was also angry. Then sad, and by the end of it all Sira just felt pity for the poor eagle. She had no idea how or why Tiaue'a had become what she had, but then Sira herself had changed as well. She also still didn't understand why Tiaue'a hated her so much, when Sira had never done anything but live her life. What did it matter to the eagle what Sira did? Whatever the underlying issues were, they didn't seem to matter to the eagle anymore. Tiaue'a had given up, she was literally begging for Sira to end her. Finally Sira grunted and took a step forward. Her voice was a bit harsher than she had meant it to be, but Sira didn't do well with pitiable creatures. "And how do you expect me to do that? Beat you with a stick? I'm kind of naked here. Now stop complaining, get up, and let’s get back to Wind Reach. If there's anyone left alive, they'll need our help. And maybe the healers can fix you.. us." Sira turned and walked a bit away, putting enough space between herself and the Tia'monster'e so that she could shift without bumping into her. To Ti'ue, however, it merely seemed that Sira just walked a few feet away then stood there and did nothing. Sira frowned. She should have shifted. Maybe I'm just tired... She tried again, but nothing happened. She didn't even feel like something was trying to happen. What is going on? Sira had never really thought about what it took to shift, what it felt like to make herself shift, or anything like that. It was just something she did, without thinking. But she couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it! What is happening, why can't I change? Sira started to panic, but then she remembered Tiaue'a and tried to calm herself down. She tried to shift again, but still got nothing. Biting her lip, Sira turned back to Tiaue'a. "Um.. on second thought.. maybe we should walk back. I don't think it would be safe to fly in that ash. Can you.. walk?" She asked the last part tentatively, not sure if the bird-monster even could walk. She'd already fallen over once, and Sira didn't relish the idea of dragging her all the way up the mountain.

[Tiaue'a]

Sira has harsh in her own way, but she was right. Every word was truth. Tiaue`a was flooded with a new shame and disappointment. She was so foolish! None of it mattered, it was always her. Her own failure to act was just her fault and that was it. She was being overly mellow-dramatic at the worst time. The city…the city! That was another failed responsibility that she had failed to keep. If anyone had reason to be fearful and pained, it was the people who were still in Wind Reach. Even then, that was assuming a lot. She had seen the Inarta huddle into the caverns, but the whole mountain… Did the lava tubes burn themselves shut before they reached the city, or did the entire mountain collapse on itself? Only one way to find out and they’d need to start walking if they even hoped of learning that answer. Before that though, Ti`ue had to relieve herself. Going back into the unknown – ironic, their home was now some place strange to them – Ti`ue had this opportunity to forgive herself of sins. If it were to be the end, she’d rather pass on into her next life, whatever it might be, with no regrets or anger. They had already failed Sylir, but perhaps there were still Inarta and eagles in the city limits that still needed their aid. The two of them, strong young women of their people, could make a difference, right? She coughed and shivered away the last of her frustrations. It had felt so good to scream and cry away her torment. The emotional up heave at that moment was ever so cleansing to her spirits. Her tears ceased to run down her face, and she composed herself a greater deal. The physiological shock of her transformation still stuck her in all the worst ways though. She truly was strong inside, and now she needed to share that strength with Sira, and with Wind Reach. Ivak’s reassertion to his domain was long overdue. She managed to her, for lack of better words, feet and tried to spread her wings. The homologous structures felt strange, even though her wings appeared fine outwardly. Her chest muscles, though finely tuned, would probably be unfit to fly with, to fly far at least or long. Perhaps she could glide, or get herself up a few feet. It hurt too much at the moment to find out, and she had no motivation to try it otherwise. She could push lightly on her wings for support; their abnormal length made them more like crutches, painful crutches at that. She could walk though, if she took her time. Her knees might give in if she were to start hopping around. A slow rhythmic motion would be best. “Sira,” she began sincerely,“thank you. I am sorry for what I said…” She took the moment to pause and look upon herself, her exposed bosom framed in feathers and hair. “It’s been too long.” Words could not describe in detail the revitalization she presently felt. Much like her form, it would not last once she was to see the effects of the storm. It did provide her with the strength to get up, clarity of mind, and preservation for self for the time. Tiaue`a turned her head toward the lengthy expanse of Sanikas Valley to behold the turning events. The sky literally spiraled over Mount Skynarta like the winds and clouds of hurricane force winds. She saw far off, some inestimable distance near the horizon, the wrath of a god unleashed upon the world. It was beautifully terrifying in its appearance. The vibrating power at sight had the influence to make her feathers stand on end. She darted quick back to their overhead sky and found calmness. Peace, there was peace in the world again at this place. It was the eye of the storm. There was no telling whether it would move or dissipate though, in either case time being a factor. If the Valterrian had brought such destruction as Ti`ue witnessed so far off, then she didn’t want to be caught up in it, as if present conditions were not challenge enough. She took her first steps in rekindled spirits finding the beat to move with comfort and dexterity. If they were walking back to Wind Reach, they had best get started. “Which way to the Sanikas Gates…? I only know Wind Reach from the sky. I - well I don’t know where we are on the mountain.” Navigate the valley from unknown perceptions? Challenge accepted, and the next one and the next one. That was the fire that burned in Inarta veins, their unfailing blood: never giving in, never letting go, forever burning, and forever working. Wind Reach was their home, and they were still its guardians before wardens over Ivak.

OOCI think that’ll do it… She doesn’t have much to say with Sira refocusing her like that, but I’m loving this character development. Nothing like having all your worries blasted out of you! Also, I’m thinking Drew Barrymore for her human form. Thoughts on that? Sai and I have been brainstorming. Coltyn is also on standby.

[Phoenix]

It always proved to be true that in the times of greatest danger, ones true colors shone through. Though it was very well disguised, Tia's transformation was a blessing. Turning into the harpy-like monster allowed the young Kelvic to release all of the anger and self loathing that had build up for years inside of her. Perhaps it was not by chance that Ivak's Wild Djed had changed her into something so hideous to look upon. Perhaps now the outside matched what was inside. Sira seemed to take the chain of events in stride, and though the situation seemed to be at hand, it was far from over. Tia could move well enough once she got used to the wings and the legs, not to mention the peculiarities of walking on two feet and holding ones body upright, but the pair would find the going slow. Having fallen in the midst of the trees that surrounded the foot of the mountain, things like roots, rocks and holes proved to be horrible obstacles for the newly-changed Kelvic. Sira would find it hard to resist the urge to change back into her natural form and fly for help. The going was so painfully slow the woman's patience was almost guaranteed to run out. Self pity never flew well among the Wind Eagles; high and mighty as they were, judging potential Inartan rides and scorning those with similar tendencies to those Tia was feeling now, it would be hard for Sira to tolerate. Their progress through to the edge of the woods proved uneventful, minus a few stumbles, shouted words and thinning patiences. The canopy above them began to thin, faint fingers of light reaching down through the thinning leaves. Ivak had broken free in early morning and yet the pale streams of light hinted at a much later time of the day. Had the women been stuck in the wilderness for longer than they thought? It was only when the pair broke completely free of the trees did they see that night had, apparently, already fallen. In actuality, dark clouds blocked out the sun, having rolled in after Sira and Tia had taken their plummet. The light was produced by the swirling colors that danced beneath the clouds, the Djed that now flowed freely over the land, spreading in all directions from Mt. Skyinarta. Wind Reach itself was shrouded in a dark veil, the light from the swirling djed seemingly avoiding the city. The pair would have to follow the base of the mountain to reach the Pass. Staying close to the sheer faces of rock, navigating the paths on the ground that were so familiar from above turned out to be harder than it looked. Unable to completely get their bearings, Sira and Tia would take a number of wrong turns, following edges of the mountain that would lead to dead ends. with Sira unable to change and Tia unable to fly in her new ungainly form, the pair was forced to slog forward despite their seemingly never ending chain of bad luck. Just when the pair thought that they had found the correct path, turning a corner with hopes high in their chests that the Pass would reveal itself before them, the Kelvic women stumbled headlong into yet another dead end. The difference was, this one had a cave at the end. Dark and gloomy, it's mouth gaping with stalagmite teeth, it just begged to be explored.

[Sira]

Oh, it was annoying, waiting for Tiaue'a to catch up every time she stumbled or got stuck on something, but Sira dealt with it as best she could. More than once she entertained the thought of leaving the deformed monster behind, wanting to hurry up and make it to the city, but Sira never did it. She would always wait as the former wind eagle struggled back to her feet and then they would hobble on. Sira was familiar with the landscape around the mountain, to be sure, but even an experienced hunter like herself would have trouble figuring out where they were if they'd just plummeted from the sky like she did. Eventually they found their way to the base of the mountain and continued on in what Sira hoped was the right direction. With the sun blotted out by the clouds it was impossible to tell if they were going north or south, east or west, and Sira could simply had to guess. Granted, it was an educated guess, but still a guess. All the while Sira kept trying to shift. Something had happened to her, as was obvious by the strange feathery hair. She seemed to be stuck between forms which, if she had thought about it more, would have made sense as to Tiaue'a's form. But the thought that Ti'ue was a kelvic never crossed Sira's mind. She was simply a wind eagle that had been transformed into some horrible monster. As for Sira, there was a part of her that wondered if not being able to shift might be a good thing. The hair wasn't all that bad, though the skin color was rather odd. But if she wasn't a wind eagle anymore, then she could just live a normal life with Addy and her daughter... assuming they were both still alive. A few years prior Sira would have jumped at the chance to live life as a normal Inarta, but since she met Addy she had come to love her life the way it was. And besides, this new form wasn't exactly normal either. The feathery hair might make a few Inarta jealous, as feather's in the hair was a popular style, but the skin marked her as clearly something different. It was bad enough being a kelvic, but being whatever she was now might be even worse. Sira's thoughts were interrupted as they came around another bend and found themselves face to face with the gaping mouth of a cave. Sira had no idea how much further they were from the gates, or if they were even going in the right direction, but something about the cave screamed, "Enter me!" It was better than walking aimlessly outside, anyway, and perhaps it connected to the city proper. Sira was rather familiar with the tunnels beneath the city, having explored them on more than one occasion. Her daughter was the end result of one such trip, actually. If the cave met up with the tunnels she could probably get them home a lot easier. "I think we should go in," Sira stated, "There are all sorts of tunnels running beneath wind reach. This is probably one of them. If I can find my way to a familiar area, I can get us back to the city. We don't even know how much further the gates are, or if we're going in the right direction. This is probably our best bet."

[Tiaue'a]

The climb had been a difficult one. These talons were meant for snatching prey and piercing skin, not much walking. It was difficult to even hop along. The bulk of her claws landed her in holes, under rocks and branches, or otherwise stumbling over the loose ground she couldn’t grip to. The dirt, worst of all, shifted through her nails like the sands, and she’d slip. “Ah… Sira,” Tiaue`a had been calling out to her company, “Sira, hold on!” The leading kelvic was quicker of foot. Sira made Ti`ue worry very much when she got too far ahead, and Ti`ue would be shouting “Wait for me” in the distance. Sira always stopped and looked back, but it was rather clear she was annoyed. Ti`ue couldn’t help it. The only answer she really got back was the faint echo of her human voice against the rocky side of the mountain. Sira didn’t realize how lucky she was. She could run from it, but Ti`ue was stuck with it, possibly forever. The frustration of even moving along was taxing on one’s patience, and she had just about enough. It was so awkward without her wings. She had her wings though, so that couldn’t be all. Ti`ue stood upright, like Sira, and behold, she was walking. Well, for what she had to work with she was walking better. There was something awkward beyond the outward appearance f this altered form. She had become heavier, relative to her wings, in this form, and that limited her much, not to mention her bones were different and contorted. At least it was a step closer to keeping up. At long last they came to an end. Ti`ue gazed forward at the maw of the mountain side. The gaping cave seemed to bellow to her the horrors that might lay waiting in and on the other side. What more the storm had in store for the wind eagles - or rather kelvics – bewildered Tiaue`a. Ti`ue and caves never really agreed with each other. Ti`ue’s memory flashed back to the aeries, the open caverns where the light poured in and an eagle could always take wing right away. For a confined space, there was always a way out, somewhere to fly, a way up. Then she thought back to the dark, winding ways of Wind Reach’s interior and began to dread. There were dark tunnels with two ways back and forth typically, and even then the grand halls were limiting. It was a trap, a death trap really, where having a set of wings meant nothing. An eagle was cornered, and the darkness consumed all in its reach. More of a phobia than truth, the darkness about the cave and its stalagmite teeth instilled fear in Tiaue`a. In spite of Sira’s logic, Ti`ue urged a different path. “We should find a way around…” Ti`ue glanced nervously at Sira. “We don’t know how stable it is in there. The eruptions could bring the mountain down on us. We can’t even see anything.” Sira could easily sense the tension in Ti`ue’s tone. The eagle, born of the sky and clouds, was out of her element. More than an invasion of her comfort zone, Ti`ue was fearful. Her eyes, eyes told what her lips could not. She was staring back into the darkness looking for the light at the end fruitlessly. Scanning back and forth, around the cliff side, she wanted another way back. Sira might have found her chance to leave Ti`ue behind, finally. Ti`ue wouldn’t last long on her own though. As she feared, there was no telling what awaited them inside the cave. Still…it would be better to meet whatever terrors awaited them closer to the city rather than far away from help, somewhere in the valley wilderness.

oocshort and sweet. this is transitioning well though. wooh!

[Phoenix]

Even as Tia protested, the cave beckoned. A sharp clattered echoed from within it’s depths, sounding almost like a cackling taunt to the Human-Eagle hybrid that hovered outside. Currently a monster or not, Tia was a Wind Eagle first, and an Inartan to boot… and gingers don’t back down from challenges like that. Even faceless, bodiless ones.

When the two made their way forward, squinting as they tried to pierce the darkness that seemed to hang like a curtain across the mouth of the cave, it only took stepping over the threshold for everything to become clear. A dark, throbbing light pulsed like a beating heart all around them, dark red and almost alive. It took a single glance for the pair to realize this was not a normal cave.

The walls were made up of a single, undulating pattern that swam from the mouth back into the darkness, the beating red light giving the impression that the material of the walls itself was moving, rippling. Though the air outside had been normal for that of spring, the air in the cave hung heavy with heat and humidity. Both women immediately broke out in a sweat, the feathers on both their bodies becoming an uncomfortable burden.

A few more steps showed the Endal’s discovery to not be a cave, but a tunnel like Sira had predicted; the only problem was this tunnel wouldn’t be found on any maps, nor would Sira have been here before. In fact, this tunnel was a brand new addition to the mountains underground network.

Given time to explore, the women would find that the cave trended at a gradual, upward slope. The walls and floor were warm to the touch, some places looking almost as if it was still wet. The dark light shone through these spots, giving the tunnel an eerily, patchy glow. Sira would recognize the light eventually, though she had never been this close to it before; usually when the Endal dropped the bodies for burial into the volcano’s vent, they stayed well above the lava.

These wet spots were dangerous and both Sira and Tia would feel the extreme heat radiating from each one. Once the realization hits them, that this tunnel had been bored from solid stone thanks to Ivak’s escape and the eruption that followed, they couldn’t turn back. The darkness had closed behind them, faint swirls of the pure wild djed coalescing amongst the shadows. The way back was blocked, they knew. The tunnel had lured them in and trapped them surely. Neither of the women would dare walk through the darkened wall of djed that covered the mouth of the tunnel. Look how it had changed them already. With only one choice left, the pair would continue forward. It was uneventful until they started stumbling across the skeletons.

Burnt, dry bones began to litter the foot of the tunnel. At first, there were only a few... but before long, the pair was wading calf deep through them. The bones snapped and crumbled beneath the weight of the women, filling the air with a macabre dust that filled their noses and mouths, choking them.

The Skeletons were deformed beyond their blackened shells. Too many limbs or heads were visible, multiple skulls on one spinal column. The further they went, the worse they got. To their horrors, each of the women recognized a few of what used to be an animal. But still, they had to continue; Tia spots movement ahead, just when the sight of all the dead creatures begins to be too much.

Could it be their culprit?

[Sira]

Sira understood T'ue's fear of the cave, she was an eagle too. But it was a fear Sira had long ago conquered. She grew up both in the caves, and in the sky above. And for the better half of her life she had even tried to be more Inartan than wind eagle. It wasn't until she had bonded with Aidara that Sira truly accepted her dual heritage, and it was only after bonding with Aidara that Wind Reach truly accepted her. But as for caves, they held no power of Sira like they would a normal wind eagle. Caves were her bitch. Sira walked right in, full of confidence, despite the fact that she couldn't see a thing. She knew Tiaue'a would follow, because her pride wouldn't let her do anything else. Wind Eagles, herself included, were full of pride, and they weren't about backing down from a challenge, no matter how much it terrified them. The strange glow worried Sira, more so when she realized what it was, but after noticing the wall of djed behind them she knew there was only one way to go. They pushed forward, and when the crunch of bones sounded under their feet Sira was filled with both hope and despair. Bones meant that they were close enough to the city to find life.. even if it was dead life. Something living had been in the cave, and since it was a new cave, that meant that it had to be connected to something else where those living things could have found their way in. And most likely that meant Wind Reach. "Come on, I think we're getting closer," Sira said, trying not to let her voice crack as she cautiously avoided stepping on what she imagined was probably a human skull. Sira did not see the movement that Tiaue'a did, which meant that unless Tiaue'a warned her, there was a good chance she would walk right into whatever was ahead. Her eyes were more focused on the bones, searching for some indicator of who they might belong to. So it was that she would continue walking, straight ahead, into whatever danger might come her way. OOCSo sorry for taking so long. Life took over for a bit, and Ravok was close behind it. I'm trying to get all my PCs updated though, Sira being the first.