The Song
The sun, always a constant, but never an assurance. They say the sun will never die. You do not think so. Everything dies.
The stars are faded nearly gone as the sun rises again. The earth’s rhythm shudders in anticipation of the coming day. As the sharp rays of brilliant blue light break the morning chill, your eyes darken, filtering the light, and your body loosens, ready to move to the beat of the land around you.
You hate the night. The fire. The silence. The worst is the stillness. It never seems right for the hills to move their own song. The sun is the only song they need. Its harmony brings only good. Without it all is lost.
A lock of red hair lies across your face. You brush it away as you sit up and stretch your limbs. First the legs, as you stand up straight, then your arms as you steady yourself against the wall, and finally your wings. They start feebly, but soon are buzzing faster than you can perceive them. Your slight frame begins to hover as you leave the room. Good thing, because there is no floor. Your companion notices you.
You utter a single word.
What now?
He replies with another word.
We keep going.
He nods, and his wings tilt him towards the sunrise. You follow. It doesn’t take long. But you find them. Your older companion is hesitant to enter but you know he knows he has to. He brought you this far. You both enter the den. A large opening in the side of the mountain. It doesn’t take long for one on the denizens inside to find you.
It is the first time you have seen one of its kind. It has a colorful back and face, with dull brown sides. Its wings rustle against the rock behind, out of sight, in shadows. Judging by the sound it makes, you imagine many others mimicking the movement.
With a sharp gasp; you realize the creatures are moving alongside nature. They feel the rhythm too.
It whispers at you.
Why are you here?
You, still at awe from your realization, don’t answer, and your companion steps up.
Can you take her to Earth?
The creature does not seem to like this, and her eyes narrow to dark violet slits, but slowly she bobs her head.
We thank you for this.
Over the sound of rustling appendages, you hear a whisper from behind the creature and a second steps forward.
I will take you. But we need payment.
You look at the male beside you, worry in your eyes. He shushes your unspoken plea with a word.
We knew it could come to this.
You reply: But we didn’t know.
Yes, you did.
You know he is right. You don’t stop the creatures as they take him away. But you close your eyes and sit on the rough floor.
Eventually something nudges you. It is the female creature who said she would take you.
She whispers a question to you.
Yes, I am ready, you reply.
She leads you out into the sun, now high in the sky, its vivid azure completely drowning out the stars in the sea of the air. Slowly, the creature circles you, and you see the being, as it truly is, no longer shrouded by its cave. Her scales glisten in the sun, a rippling pattern of green and gold, pushed around by lithe muscles. A tail and long neck make the creature quite long. Her head is shapely, a long narrow muzzle, broken by small regular teeth clearly meant for rending flesh. Her eyes are much like yours, darkened by the light of the sun. You wonder what color they shine at night.
Suddenly, looking at your new traveling partner, you believe all the fantastical stories about her kind. Seeing one in person made them all seem very real. You start to fear the beast circling you, as a predator would its prey.
It senses your new hesitation and whispers: Yes, I am exactly of what your kind is afraid. You need not fear me, though. I will guide you to safety.
Her last words startle you, and you mutter: How do you know it is sanctity I seek.
We always know. Now, hold out your hand. I need a drop of your blood. And you will need a drop of mine.
You knew this was coming, your previous companion told you.
You watch as the beast bites the pad of its forepaw until you smell the harsh metallic tang of her blood. Even knowing what’s going to happen you still wince as the beast’s sharp claw pricks the palm of your extended hand. Wordlessly, you press your palm to her paw.
You don’t notice any difference at first, but eventually, you start to feel the rumble of the earth in your bones. The noise deafens you. The world goes black and you pass out.
When you wake, the she-monster is gone, and you wake up in a green forest. You’ve never seen green plants before. You know you’re on Earth. You’ve made it. Sighing with relief you nearly pass out again, but stop when you notice more about your surrounds. For one, the sun is yellow, but what sends chills down your spine isn’t the apparent discoloration of Earth, but that is doesn’t have a rhythm. The very knowledge that a world exist with no song makes you begin to weep.
The stars are faded nearly gone as the sun rises again. The earth’s rhythm shudders in anticipation of the coming day. As the sharp rays of brilliant blue light break the morning chill, your eyes darken, filtering the light, and your body loosens, ready to move to the beat of the land around you.
You hate the night. The fire. The silence. The worst is the stillness. It never seems right for the hills to move their own song. The sun is the only song they need. Its harmony brings only good. Without it all is lost.
A lock of red hair lies across your face. You brush it away as you sit up and stretch your limbs. First the legs, as you stand up straight, then your arms as you steady yourself against the wall, and finally your wings. They start feebly, but soon are buzzing faster than you can perceive them. Your slight frame begins to hover as you leave the room. Good thing, because there is no floor. Your companion notices you.
You utter a single word.
What now?
He replies with another word.
We keep going.
He nods, and his wings tilt him towards the sunrise. You follow. It doesn’t take long. But you find them. Your older companion is hesitant to enter but you know he knows he has to. He brought you this far. You both enter the den. A large opening in the side of the mountain. It doesn’t take long for one on the denizens inside to find you.
It is the first time you have seen one of its kind. It has a colorful back and face, with dull brown sides. Its wings rustle against the rock behind, out of sight, in shadows. Judging by the sound it makes, you imagine many others mimicking the movement.
With a sharp gasp; you realize the creatures are moving alongside nature. They feel the rhythm too.
It whispers at you.
Why are you here?
You, still at awe from your realization, don’t answer, and your companion steps up.
Can you take her to Earth?
The creature does not seem to like this, and her eyes narrow to dark violet slits, but slowly she bobs her head.
We thank you for this.
Over the sound of rustling appendages, you hear a whisper from behind the creature and a second steps forward.
I will take you. But we need payment.
You look at the male beside you, worry in your eyes. He shushes your unspoken plea with a word.
We knew it could come to this.
You reply: But we didn’t know.
Yes, you did.
You know he is right. You don’t stop the creatures as they take him away. But you close your eyes and sit on the rough floor.
Eventually something nudges you. It is the female creature who said she would take you.
She whispers a question to you.
Yes, I am ready, you reply.
She leads you out into the sun, now high in the sky, its vivid azure completely drowning out the stars in the sea of the air. Slowly, the creature circles you, and you see the being, as it truly is, no longer shrouded by its cave. Her scales glisten in the sun, a rippling pattern of green and gold, pushed around by lithe muscles. A tail and long neck make the creature quite long. Her head is shapely, a long narrow muzzle, broken by small regular teeth clearly meant for rending flesh. Her eyes are much like yours, darkened by the light of the sun. You wonder what color they shine at night.
Suddenly, looking at your new traveling partner, you believe all the fantastical stories about her kind. Seeing one in person made them all seem very real. You start to fear the beast circling you, as a predator would its prey.
It senses your new hesitation and whispers: Yes, I am exactly of what your kind is afraid. You need not fear me, though. I will guide you to safety.
Her last words startle you, and you mutter: How do you know it is sanctity I seek.
We always know. Now, hold out your hand. I need a drop of your blood. And you will need a drop of mine.
You knew this was coming, your previous companion told you.
You watch as the beast bites the pad of its forepaw until you smell the harsh metallic tang of her blood. Even knowing what’s going to happen you still wince as the beast’s sharp claw pricks the palm of your extended hand. Wordlessly, you press your palm to her paw.
You don’t notice any difference at first, but eventually, you start to feel the rumble of the earth in your bones. The noise deafens you. The world goes black and you pass out.
When you wake, the she-monster is gone, and you wake up in a green forest. You’ve never seen green plants before. You know you’re on Earth. You’ve made it. Sighing with relief you nearly pass out again, but stop when you notice more about your surrounds. For one, the sun is yellow, but what sends chills down your spine isn’t the apparent discoloration of Earth, but that is doesn’t have a rhythm. The very knowledge that a world exist with no song makes you begin to weep.
This is probably not canon, and is just a test of a couple things. One, I wanted to try second person narration, second, I wanted to write about the Sunsong and Moonsong, and what it feels like. I will most likely use reinterperated version of this in the acual tale. The "you" in this story is Dusk by the way.
The drop of blood thing is the first reference I remember making to an old idea I had about the proprieties of a Shifter's blood. I don't know if I will keep those ideas of not. We'll see.
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