Eleanora

She couldn't remember anything. Only pain, every inch of her body blazing, her voice rising in a scream. A soft, apologetic face before her before everything went black. And black had remained, swirling through a dreamless sleep, muddying thought and sound and time until at last it released its oppressive grip. Her eyelids quivered, as if about to open, but she could feel the fluid pressing down on her skin. Confused, she shifted, awareness slowly spilling back into her mind, and felt the cage of crystal that encased her. It only took a second for claustrophobia to slam into her chest and she lashed out, all four limbs banging against the chrysalis walls and after only a moment they cracked and shattered, sending her spilling out onto the soft grasses of Lyn's refuge.

Air rushed into her lungs and she gasped loudly, falling to her knees and just barely catching herself with her hands. At last, eyes blinked open, blurry vision trying to focus on the ground before her, seeing her trembling, fluid-soaked hands gripping the grass beneath her. She didn't know...she didn't know where she was. What she was doing. What was that crystal cage? How did she get here?

No...she had to breathe. In and out. In and out. It was hard to breathe down here, the air heavy and old, but it worked. Slowly, her heart began to calm a bit and she looked up, taking in the sights of the cave around her. This didn't look like home...but wait. Memory started returning, like a mind just awoken from a long slumber. She wasn't home. She may never see home again. But she had expected it to be a desolate, dark cave not...this. Beautiful flowers and plants and life everywhere.

She slowly rocked back to sit on her knees, trying to process everything and wondering, not for the first time, if she'd made a mistake. No. No I didn't. And besides, I've made my choice. There's no turning back now.

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone

The sound of the chrysalis breaking caught Meissa's attention first, and she flitted over to her father to wake him; he emerged from the inner pool's shallow waters gently, peering at the witch from beneath the giant petals of his tail-flower. He was coiled in the water with the flower at the center, drawing latent magic from the air and into his stone. Meissa was on her way over to their guest at this point, chittering and trilling for her attention.

"Good morning! Good morning!" she chirped, half-bounding, half-flying in exaggerated jumps. "We took very good care of you like he asked!" She was all smiles and warmth, completely unaware of how the witch might respond to her existence. To Meissa, this was just another friend!

Lyn's neck lifted in the background, his large but gentle face soft and accepting as he trilled his own hello toward Eleanora.

"Father says he hopes you've rested well and welcome to our home!" Meissa translated, her tiny paws bouncing in place. She was eager for their very special visitor's first words. "My name is Meissa and my dad is named Lyn!" she said, tossing her head backward in an attempt to gesture to him. Her eyes were bright and sparkling, her whole heart ready to receive whatever Eleanora was going to throw at her.

@Eleanora

Eleanora

She hadn't expected to be alone. She'd been promised protection while she recovered from the trip here, although at the time she hadn't really understood that that meant or how he'd taken her from the mountains to these caves far, far beneath the surface. His power had always impressed her, she who had never nurtured the gift of magic herself. The stone, at least, she understood. She'd seen it before, from bad hunts to deadly diseases - one would go to sleep within a shell of black and awaken some time later. She had simply never imagined herself inside of one.

But, that didn't matter now.

She lifted her head at the sound of the voice, thankful for the friendliness in their tone, but then she froze. She didn't see any person in front of her, but a dog. And not just any dog, but the strangest dog she had ever seen in her life. What animal had such deep blue fur or ears of that shape? What of the halo behind its skull, and that only speaks of the face! Nevermind the serpentine body or the butterfly wings! At the very least, it wasn't large and she didn't immediately fear for her life, but then it spoke again and she realized that it was the one speaking and not somebody else.

She gasp softly and flinched back, staring at the creature with a mixture of wonder, confusion, and uncertainty. "You...you can speak?!" This was new, this was so new, and she wasn't sure if she should welcome this newness, if this was to be her new normal, or if this creature was one of a kind, an oddity.

And then, she gestured behind her, saying "Father" and giving her their names. Eyes slid up in the direction that she spoke and it was then that Eleanora realized that the shape behind Meissa, which she had assumed was some sort of large snow pile (which now didn't make much sense, as it wasn't that cold in here), was actually a creature. Fear shot through every limb at the sight of him - gigantic, otherworldly, lightning racing across his body, beautiful in a way, but Eleanora knew that there were many beautiful flowers that were deadly toxic. And for someone who had never in her life seen anything stranger then the wildlife of the Vaa or known anything more dangerous then human soldiers from the Verinen wasteland, the sight of Lyn sent her scrambling back, a shriek of terror escaping her throat.

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone

Her reaction had Lyn lowering his head in a sorrowful, apologetic way. As if by an auditory reaction, her scream caused the latent lightning to spark and pop off of his petal-like scales—it startled him as much as she might have felt startled.

But it was Meissa who stepped forward, just one step, and tilted her head.

"Oh no, are you okay!? Tamulus said you might feel disoriented so it's okay! You can take it slow and stay here as long as you need to adjust!" she said quickly, her ears pinning back and her expression full of sympathy. "I know it is very scary outside of the garden but you will always be safe in here!"

@Eleanora

Eleanora

It took her a second to realize that Lyn had reacted at the same time as her. She initially took the lightning sparks as aggression, flinching and cowering for a moment, as if waiting for him to attack, but then the sudden haze of panic and terror cleared enough for her to realize that oh, he was lowering his head. Submissive, apologetic. He wasn't attacking or showing teeth or running. He felt bad.

And Meissa was speaking again, so Eleanora turned her attention - wide-eyed and heavily breathing - back to her. And then she mentioned that magical word - Tamulus - and Eleanora knew that she was safe. She always knew it, deep down, but survival instincts borne of a harsh life in the wilderness had taken over at the sight of the two. She still trembled lightly and uncertainty gleamed in her eyes, but her breathing was slowing and the tension slowly began leaving her limbs. "Oh...you know Tamulus. I'm...I'm sorry." She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself further. When she opened her eyes, she looked back towards Lyn. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I just...you surprised me. I've never seen anything like you before. I didn't even know animals could talk!"

She gave him a small, hesitant smile and looked back towards Meissa. "Tamulus said I'd be protected while I slept. He must have meant you. Thank you, I really appreciate your hospitality." A sudden thought and urge made its way into her head. Memories of the domestic life in the village came to her - the children playing with their dogs in the fields, the cats purring loudly as they were stroked, the cows watching lazily at people walking by, the chickens that always seemed to be running loose. She had known no other friendly creatures and here was another, one that looked so unlike anything she'd seen before, but was also far, far more intelligent then any. She was unsure if it was appropriate or not, but she decided it'd be better to ask anyways, in case it was alright. "Um, this may be a strange question but...can I touch you?"

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone

Lyn rumbled a quiet series of chirps after the witch had spoken, and Meissa's head had swung around to listen before turning back toward their guest.

"Dad says he is sorry too!" she translated, paraphrasing, her brain too scrambled to give the word-for-word. As the witch mentioned their protection, Meissa nodded with deep dips of her chin. "Oh, yes, yes! Of course! Only nice people are welcome in here, and no! valkhounds!!" she said, her nose crinkling on the last word as if it were a naughty thing to say.

When she asked to touch Meissa, the fox-creature wasn't completely sure if that was okay. A quick glance to her dad, who gave her a subtle nod, confirmed it was safe and Meissa wriggled closer, her tail waving behind her in long sweeps. "Yes!"

"By the way, what do we call you? I forget what Tamulus said!" The idea of protecting an important guest completely outweighed the significance of a name for Meissa when he had initially given them the task.

@Eleanora

Eleanora

The word Valkhound rung hollowly inside the witch's head. Was she supposed to know what that word meant? Perhaps it meant something down here, but she had no idea what it was referring to. Perhaps a faction or a family or a specific breed of monster. She wondered what kind of horrid monstrosity would have these two creatures despising so much. Her mind, ever the thinker, instantly scrambled to make up some kind of idea and instantly presented her with what she could imagine one looked like - a wolf with too many limbs, with the head of an owl, and the tail of a scorpion. She shivered. She hoped she didn't run into one.

She felt her heart sink just a little bit at Meissa's initial hesitation to her request, but then the enthusiastic response and the joy in her body had her brightening again and she tentatively reached forward and ran her scarred hand along Meissa's head, fur brushing between her fingers. Soft! She felt more and more relaxed as she gently pet Meissa, hand moving in familiar places, running along her neck and gently scratching like she did with the village dogs. She wasn't sure why it was important for her to do this, but as she did, she felt herself settling more and more and became visibly more relaxed. At the very least, she'd always liked animals.

Eventually, she removed her hand from Meissa, as long as she didn't move away or otherwise stop her from petting and got herself into a proper kneeling position, suddenly very aware that she wasn't wearing any clothes, and taking a proper look around her. "I didn't expect a cave to be so...lush. I was expecting more bare rock and dripping water and stuff. Oh," she turned back, realizing that she had not, in fact, introduced herself. "I'm Elleanora. Some of the other villagers called me Ellie. You can call me either." She suddenly noticed a small bundle nearby that looks strikingly familiar. Reaching out, she recognized the fabric of her tunic and pants and she pulled them close with a smile. Raising herself from the ground, she carefully began to put them back on, their familiar weight and comfort an additional sanctuary in this unfamiliar place.

I wanna visit that place
blow the dust from the bones
Off a body of years that I leave all alone