Closed Within Temptation (Phoenix)

[Sira]

Taking the egg, leaving Aela, it was the hardest thing in the world for Sira to do at that moment. She had forgiven Aela, it was true, but that still didn't mean she approved of what she had done. But neither did she think Aela deserved to die. The old Sira might have killed her.. actually, the old Sira definitley would have killed her, without hesitation. Aela would have been dead the first time they found her, and Sira wouldn't have bothered catching the deer and giving Aela a chance to speak her case.

The new Sira was different. The new Sira had seen enough death. She had seen innocent lives taken and lost in the djed storm. She had seen people driven to madness by an immortal monster and watched as they tore each other apart. The new Sira had taken more lives than she ever wanted to. And the new Sira was a mother. The new Sira understood Aela's desire to raise the child. She understood what lengths a mother would go to for the protection of their child. Aela thought of the egg as her child, and the new Sira understood that.

But she also knew that the egg would die if it stayed in the wilderness. She knew that the baby wind eagle would be found almost immediately after it was born, once it started projecting its thoughts around for any random passing eagle to hear. Sira knew what she had to do, and she was ready to leave.

And then two random people showed up in the cave, and Sira stopped in her tracks, eyes wide with surprise and jaw gaping. She nearly dropped the egg in shock.. nearly.

"N.. no.. I did not bring them," she finally said, taking a step toward Aela and away from the entrance of the cave.

Sira quickly regained her composure and closed the distance between herself and the rogue inarta, keeping her eyes on the two newcomers even as she turned and placed the egg into Aela's hands.

"Hide that somewhere safe, and then get back here quick," Sira commanded as she drew her talon sword, stepping in front of Aela to block the two newcomer's view of wherever she went.

"Who are you? And what are you doing out here?"

There was something strange about the two individuals. Something... different, but Sira couldn't quite figure out what it was. They didn't exactly put off an aura of danger, but Sira had to be cautious anyway for the safety of the egg. As much as she wanted to get it away from the cave, she wasn't about to let two strangers have it. Still.. there was something about them. The gnosis on Sira's hand began to glow brightly, filling Sira with the courage she needed to fight the two strangers. Sira would do whatever it took to keep the egg safe.

[Phoenix]

After posing their question, the two travelers simply stood their ground and watch the panic unfold within the two women. Clearly, they had stumbled upon an intense moment, or perhaps a secret. The tension in the air was nearly palpable, giving goosebumps to the pair as their gaze flickered simultaneously from Sira to Aela and back again, twin smiles quirking the corners of their mouths.

“Interesting.” The man murmered softly, his gaze locking with Sira’s when she spoke, practically freezing her in place with the intensity of it. Rather than answer the question, however, he countered with one of his own. “What are you going to do with that egg?”

Whether Aela had tried to creep away with the precious armload or simply flung herself towards the exit the strangers words would bring her up short, and not of her own accord. Though she wanted to run, her feet would not move, almost as if the stone had risen up and trapped her there.

“No, I don’t think we’ll go anywhere just yet.” The woman spoke this time, though it sounded as if there were a smile in her voice. Was she enjoying this? “I think there is something going on here we don’t understand. It almost looked like the tall beauty over there was going to have at the short one with her sword. What do you think, Wyn?”

“I think there is a story we need to hear.” Still with his gaze on Sira, Wyn took a step closer to her, the smile on his lips broadening into a grin. There was no malice in the expression, though the left over anger and mistrust that Sira and Aela had been practically spewing tainted the newcomers good intentions. “Why don’t you tell us the truth, then. From what we saw when we stumbled in here… you weren’t going to let her leave alive, were you Sira?” Oh, and it looks like he knew her name.
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[Alori Sai]

Aela didn't know what to do at the moment, but she couldn't trust Sira. The woman had tricked her already, and the rogue teen had come to the realization that the whole thing had been a trap. Somehow Sira had figured out that she still had the egg, just as she had known where to find it once they reached the cave. Sira claimed not to know the strangers, but Aela wasn't so sure. Maybe they were just waiting to get close enough to take her down without risking harm to the egg.

That was until Sira did something that Aela wouldn't have expected, she gave her the egg back. For a tick Aela just stared wide eyed at the Endal, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Surly Sira had to know that once she released the egg to her, that Aela wouldn't allow her to take it again. She slipped her hands around the egg and held it firmly to her chest. A small bit of relief washed over the girl as she was reunited with it.

"I won't lose you again.."

Aela nodded to Sira and followed the woman's orders, but she would be hiding the egg from the strangers as well as the Endal. But something froze her in place, a powerful voice that stole her mobility away and left her standing only a few feet away from where Sira stood in front of the strangers. They were an odd couple but soon Aela started to realize that something was very off. At first they seemed like wanderer's looking for shelter, but as they continued to speak she started to get the feeling that they hadn't come there by accident.

"What do you want here?"

She finally spoke up as it appeared that Sira was repairing to face off against the two. The next words that they spoke didn't do anything to help Aela's trust issues with the Wind Eagle kelvic. Nor did it give her anymore clue to what the strangers were after. The fiery teen wanted to leave, she wanted to run for the entrance of the cave and disappear into the forest. If she could, she would leave the Unforgiving and never return.

"I have to try and get out of here.."

[Sira]

Something about the strange duo bothered Sira. Sira was not easily frightened, not anymore. She had faced enough powerful beings to be used to it, or as used to it as anyone could possibly be. She wasn't frightened of these two either, but there was something about them that bothered her. Something.. unusual, and powerful. But Sira could not tell what it was. They seemed to know her, which was important, but Sira could not figure out why. How did they know her? The kelvic was certain they had not met before. But they were also wrong.

"Actually," she retorted, raising her sword defensibly before her once more, "I have no desire to kill her at all. I forgave her. As long as she let me leave with the egg, she would have been fine. But now I have to protect her from you two, whoever you are."

Sira took a step toward the two strange figures. Her golden eyes glared at them, and Sira was surprised when they did not flinch. Most people could not withstand the stare of an eagle, but whoever they were, they were not afraid of her.

Aela, Sira's mental voice sounded in the Inarta's mind, What are you doing? Get that egg out of here!"

[Phoenix]

“Right…” Wyn was watching Sira with those strange, too bright, unblinking eyes. The arch of his brow practically screamed skepticism; the twist of his lips that tried to hide the hint of a smirk belayed instead his amusement at the Kelvic woman’s proclamation. “... Kel?”

Meanwhile, the woman had moved around towards where Aela was stuck to the cave floor, clutching the egg tightly against her chest and casting looks at Sira when the Endal wasn’t looking. “There is no trust here, only conditions for peace that will never be met.” Her gaze, identical to her brothers, flickered towards him and held. Though their facial expressions hardly changed, a conversation passed in the blink of an eye. Oh, to be twins.

But a decision had been made.

Having squared off against either on of the two women, it was Wyn who moved first as he abandoned his guard of Sira to move to Aela’s side. His steps were quick and purposeful, his back a little straighter and his shoulders a little squarer now that he moved with intention but there was no threat there. Aela would feel the weight of both siblings gaze on her, and would recognize it as the presence of divinity she had felt but once before.

“Aela.” Kel’s voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but no one within the cave would miss a word that she said. There was a soft sort of sadness to her eyes now that she focused her full attention on the little huntress. “Your live is no longer your own. The egg that you clutch is more than a lost cause.” Though Sira had felt life flickering within, not even a Wind Eagle is infallible. “Does it not strike you as strange that the chick had not hatched seasons ago?”

“That for which you have thrown the life you know away is fruitless. Nothing will come of this except for your death.” More straightforward than his sister, Wyn spoke with none of the airy casualness his tone had held before. “But you took a chance once, though prompted strongly by another… are you willing to take a chance again?”

The quest hung heavily in the air between the Trio, so strong that Sira would even feel the compulsion to answer though the question had nothing to do with her. With the air practically vibrating between them with the anticipation, the twins became still as stone, their entire attentions focused on Aela while the question waited for its answer.

[Alori Sai]

"I can't move.."

Aela said, her voice barely above a whisper. She continued to hug the egg to her chest, casting wary glances at the others in the cave. She heard what Sira had said, took the Endal's words into her soul and hoped that she meant what she said. Still the Inartan teen wasn't about to give up or back down, and she couldn't see it ending any other way than a repeat of what had just happened before the strangers arrived. "Why won't my legs move?"

The little huntress gasped, clutching the egg tighter as she looked up to see that the woman was suddenly in front of her. The stranger's words were cryptic, and although Aela wasn't following exactly, there was an air of foreboding around them. "What are you saying? Who the petch are you?" she demanded and turned her body to hide the egg as best as she could. The day couldn't possibly get any stranger, she was trapped in a cave with an Endal she wasn't sure that she could trust, and two strangers that knew way more than they should...something was off.

"Hah!"

Aela squealed when the man suddenly closed the distance and made it so that he and the woman had her cornered and blocked off from Sira and the exit. A cold chill raced up her spine and caused the girl to shiver. It had been seasons ago, and only once in her life that she felt something so powerful that it almost suffocated her. "This..this can't be. It's just like.." Just as before, on that fateful day, Aela found her voice silenced at the woman began to speak. Although the woman's words were a whisper, they echoed inside the girl's mind and struck at her already fragile emotions and stirred them about. "It's not dead..It's not. Sira?"

Again her voice was silenced as she turned to look at the man who was now speaking. At first his words came off as more harsh judgement, more needles to stab guilt into her soul, but then there was a question. Aela looked at the man puzzled, her eyes darting back and forth between the two. A question of chance, a gamble, but of what he didn't say. Still she had nothing left to lose and even before she could come to terms with her own thoughts and feelings the words slipped out. "Yes...I will do anything to fix this."

[Sira]

Kel and Wyn were not the first of the divine Sira had ever met, and somehow she doubted they would be the last, but no matter how many encounters she had she was never prepared for them. Upon realizing what is was she was looking at, and there were two of them, Sira's eyes widened in surprise and she nearly lost the grip on her sword. She was not familiar with Kelwyn. In fact, Sira didn't know much about any gods other than Priskil, Ivak, and Rak'keli. She was not overly interested in religion, save for her own, and had never been a good study during her bendi tasks. She had no idea who it was she was looking at, but she could tell they were gods.

Their words concerned her more than what they were, however. They spoke of lost causes and hinted that the egg was dead. Sira was certain that she had felt life.. but.. perhaps she had been wrong. Aela looked to her questioningly and Sira opened her mouth to speak, but could not find the words. In the end she simply shook her head, the confusion blatantly apparent on her face.

Wyn, though Sira did not know that was his name, was more blunt about things than Kel. He told Aela outright that she was going to die, and while Sira wanted more than anything for Aela to live, she could not deny the distinct possibility that Aela probably would die in the end. Either by the harsh Unforgiving, or by some last ditch effort to keep the egg for herself, there was only the slightest chance that Aela would have survived much longer. But Wyn spoke of a way out, a gamble, and though the question was not directed to her, Sira felt compelled to give a response of her own as well.

"If there is a way to save her, I'll do what I can to help, whatever the risk."

[Phoenix]

The deep sincerity in Aela’s voice brought a smile to both of the gods mouths, twin expressions that Kel and Wyn passed between themselves, subtle shifts in their expressions serving as communication far better than words; a crinkle of Kels eyes, the slight tilt of Wyn’s smile said all that could be said.

“Well, then.” Kel was the first to move, shifting so that she stood on the little Inartas right side while her brother silently flanked her left, their smiles warm and inviting as they shifted their gazes from each other to the stricken young woman. Aela, to her benefit, kept her expression firm and defiant even though both gods knew that tears could spill from her eyes at any moment. She had heart, this one, and it only reaffirmed their choice.

Without explanation, Kel gently pried Aela’s fingers from the precious bundle she clutched so dearly while Wyn carefully transferred the egg into his own arms, ignoring any protests that Aela might make and answering them only with another smile and a shushing sound. It was into Sira’s arms that he deposited the egg, which was unusually warm to the touch. Though she had a child of her own, Sira had never before mothered a Wind Eagle, nor possibly even laid an egg. Would direct contact give her any more insight to the status of the chick within the stolen egg?

Before returning to his sisters side, Wyn stepped lightly to the pack he had set down by the mouth of the cave, rummaging for a moment or two before producing a small, round and flat metal disc with a palm-length, leather wrapped appendage. This was also offered to Sira, who would have to carefully shift the egg in order to grasp the proffered handle.

Silence still reigned supreme when both Kel and Wyn grasped one of Aela’s wrists tightly, though not bone crushingly so. A warm, stinging sensation that wasn’t wholly unpleasant traveled up both arms and then down her spine, as if spiders with little needle feet traipsed across her skin. Almost immediately, Aela would feel her feet come free of their mysterious entrapment but would have little chance of breaking free of the twin gods, even if her locomotive skills were returned to her.

Instead of letting the little Inarta go, however, the twins firm grasp lead her over towards where Sira stood. Kel glanced sharply at Sira and gave a sharp shake of her head. Whatever the Kelvic woman had just seen, the goddess wanted her to wipe any expression clear of her face until the process was complete. The next few chimes would decide everything for the little huntress.

“Alright. Brace yourself, Aela.” Wyns voice was soft and deep, a reassuring sound.

“You said you were willing to do anything, and I hope you meant that. You’ve said it before and well…” A significant glance towards where the Wind Eagle egg was cradled in Sira’s arms and back to the youn woman’s face before Kel continued, “… we all know how that turned out, don’t we?” Gesturing to the flat disc that Sira held, Kel addressed her next. “Hold that up, and hold it steady. Let Aela see what her willingness to take a chance got her.”

Though Aela felt nothing except the strange tickle-prick of those imaginary needle spiders, Sira was getting an eyeful of something else entirely. From the instant that the gods clasped her wrists in their own Aela began to change. Literally. Her hair shifted color, length and texture, flicking wildly from shade to shade and style to style, like a teenager who couldn’t make up their mind on exactly who they wanted to be that day. Her skin shifted colors as well, from milky pale to dark and dusky, to like night itself. Eyes, mouth, nose, chin, brow, ears, everything changed. Masculine, feminine and anything in between flashed across Aela’s face. Her height shot up and shot back down, though she noticed none of it until she looked in the mirror.

As soon as Aela’s eyes found themselves in the reflective glass, the shifting stopped.

“Well, what do you think?” Kel’s voice was hardly less than a squee, suitable for an excited woman who had just completed the makeover of a lifetime. “Do you like it?”

[Alori Sai]

Aela had no idea what she was getting herself into. It was a pattern that she had started years ago and couldn't break away from. Often times she let her emotions guide her judgement, her actions dictated her thoughts, instead of being the other way around. She didn't know why she felt things would be different this time, but the young woman had always held out hope. Hope that one day things would be set right again.

The twins seemed pleased with her answer, and the girl couldn't help but feel a chill rush up her spine, for another had smiled upon her in the same fashion just before her world collapsed. Aela stood her ground mentally, and stayed her inner voice. She had made her decision and she would see it through to what ever end it led her. She watched them both, turning her gaze from one to the other as they moved to her sides.

"What..What are you doing?"

The little huntress almost squealed when the man removed the egg from her arms. The shush of silence that came after only worked to make the girl feel even more worthless, and in control of her destiny as much as a fresh yasi was. She watched as the egg was once again in Sira's arms and at that moment she felt a spike in her chest that seemed to turn with each heart beat. Even the Gods saw her unfit to care for the egg just as Sira had said. But she held her tears and looked on in silence as it seemed the world was turning back to normal without her.

Aela watched the man move from Sira and over to his bag and didn't bother to wake a thought, instead she just watched, a stone breathing figure standing close to the walls of the cave. There were moments when she even forgot to breathe and a soft escape of breath slipped from her pale lips. When she first saw the handle to the disc that he handed Sira she wondered if it was some sort of godly weapon they would use to execute her for her crimes.

When the twins returned to her and grasped her arms, Aela was sure that they would do away with her just as she had thought Sira would. Her voice was gone now and she could only look from one to the another even as the numbness in her legs withdrew. Suddenly there was another feeling coursing up her frame and if not for the two holding her, the teen would have jumped around. Her eyes widen as they moved her over towards Sira and she caught sight of the look in the woman's eyes.

"What's happening to me?"

The moment that the young Inartan's eyes meet with the mirror, she saw a flash of jet black streak across her hair. The raven shaded locks turned into curls throughout her hair as they suddenly lit up into spools of gold and settled against her shoulders. Her eyes became fuller, more prominent than they were before and appeared as a shinning green reflective of the gens of emeralds, now blended between gold into a bright hazel brown. Her skin had turned tanned, then darker to finally shift into a milky white color again. Her nose, once pinched became upturned and her cheeks grew dimple imprinted and bubbly. The girl's figure changed as well, adding a fuller figure to her already athletic body tone. Her height stayed the same but her weight rose from 95 to 100 lbs.

"Holy petch!!" she squealed as she reached up to touch her face and hair. "Sira, are you seeing this? This is insane, this can't be real?"

[Sira]

Sira was still a bit nervous about the entire situation, but there was something about the two gods that.. well, to say put her at ease would be wrong, but she did not feel that they were dangerous, either. When the egg was taken from Aela's hands and placed into Sira, the endal cradled it gently against her. At least until she was handed the mirror and expected to hold both. At that point things became a bit more awkward, but she was still as careful as she could be with the egg. She still had no idea what the two deities were up to. What they did caught her completely by surprise, and it was only because of the sharp look from Kel that Sira didn't gasp out loud.

Before her very eyes Aela changed, going through a myriad of different sizes, shapes, and colors. If there weren't two gods standing on either side of her, Sira might have thought she was going insane. But when gods and goddesses were involved, the insane suddenly became sane, and what was once impossible was now happening right there in front of her. Sira's eyes tracked every change until finally it slowed and stopped, settling on the final product. She was asked to hold up the mirror, and Sira did. Aela exclaimed in surprised, and Sira took that as her cue that it was okay for her to finally respond.

The first thing she did was let out the breath that she had been holding in, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping in a gape. Sira found it hard to form words, stammering a bit before finally getting something understandable out.

"Y.. yes, I see it."

Aela had changed. Not just a little, but a lot. She was a completely different person, at least on the outside, and Sira saw it happen before her very eyes. It took her a few minutes to realize the significance of this, but after a few moments she began to understand. If nobody knew that Aela was Aela... then.. Aela could return to Wind Reach!