Song for the Sky II

[Lani Stranger]

17th of Fall, 518AV

The morning seeped into her eyes before the light did. She was used to this now, when traveling the caravan always wanted to leave as the sun was rising, so she would have to wake up early if she wanted to prepare. She usually was dead exhausted when she fell asleep though, and this was not the case today. The mixed blood sat up, groggy with too much sleep, a thing she didn’t realize was possible. Today was her day off. Great.

Today would be the first day she had nothing to do in this strange new city, and the mixed blood did not have the guts to simply go out and talk to people. First, the talking to people part was difficult. She didn’t understand the language. Second, she didn’t understand the culture. They seemed to be quite work driven, which was fine, because Lani liked that life style, but they were reasonable people who allowed days off. She hated days off.

Lani was about to fall back into her cot and roll over, snuggling into the warm furs to sleep the day away, when she remembered something. Black orbs zeroed in on the metallic looking rock that rested on the table beside her water pitcher. Excitement began to fill her as she thought about having acquired the strange object. She had gained and lost a possible friend in the same day because she wanted to keep the thing so bad, but at least now she had it.

An errant thought told her that even if she didn’t want it she would have it, the rock seemed bound to her in a way she couldn’t explain. She could feel whatever energy it had embedded in her the first time she touched it. It was a warm, shimmering energy. It felt like standing close to a fire, but over her whole body, and the comfortable feeling one gets when snuggling with a loved one. She stood up, and began walking towards the rock, and felt the sensations grow with such an intensity it almost scared the mixed blood. Stopping in her tracks, she stepped away from the rock again, sitting back down on her cot. She wore a loose sleeping shift, and her toes where bare on the stone floor. She needed to get rugs for the oncoming winter.

Since they were cold she tucked them underneath her thighs on the cot, and placed a hand on her heart. It was pounding like she had a fever, and her own skin radiated heat that she could not describe. This scared her, and spiked her adrenaline, which seemed to throw these strange symptoms she was feeling over the edge. Within an instant, Lani thought she fainted. All her senses where cut off and she was floating in a type of void, however she was fully conscious and aware of the fact, which only instilled more fear into the mixed blood. She tried to shriek but she had no mouth to produce the sound.

[Lani Stranger]

Then, as quickly as she had fallen into the senseless void, she was out of it. Her mouth was producing a sound, but it sounded more like a high pitched howl than the yell of a humanoid. Was something in the room with her? Her vision seemed off, not as brightly colored, and much lower, but she didn’t have time to think about that. She swung her head looking for the source of the sound, and instinctually flattened her ears. She was caught in something. Something flowy and an off-white linen color.

A growl rumbled from her throat and she thrashed around in the strange object, knowing there had to be an out. She whimpered when her arm caught on something, but she felt her tail swish out of the fabric so she knew there was hope. In another couple ticks, she was out of it, darting across the room, which seemed much larger now.

The guttural sound erupted again, and she bared her teeth at the room, looking for what was growling at her. What was in here? It took Lani about two ticks of the tense stand-off with no one to realize it was her. She was not herself.

Well of course she was herself, she could think like herself, and was aware of her existence… but her existence had changed. She twitched her ears, which seemed so natural an extension of her emotion like she controlled this strange canine body easily. Her tail swished with nervousness, and she tentatively stepped forward. The half-Eypharian could feel two sets of legs working in synchronization, knowing how to step and walk in this quad-pedal body she now inhabited. Lani turned her head to sniff her russet fur, and whimpered in concern again. Her nose provided an answer for what she was, some sort of canine, although specifically which, she was not sure.

Had she turned into a dog? How on Mizahar? Panic surged through her and she felt the need to run somewhere in the small one room dwelling. Short and limber legs burst forward, and with the grace of any four legged creature she lept onto the bed, cleared the other side in an instant, and then lept off of it, racing past her position by the door, under the legs of the table, and back to her bed. She circled the room in a panic three times before she stopped beside her table. Glancing up, she knew she had a very small steel mirror on the table with the rest of her unpacked stuffs from market day. It was wrapped carefully in a cloth inside her basket, beside the rock.

The thought of going near that rock concerned her. What if it turned her into another animal before she even had a chance to figure out what this animal was? Panic seized her chest and she began pacing, a constant whine now peeling out of her sharp canine teeth. What was she? What had happened to her? How did she change back? Would she ever change back?

[Lani Stranger]

As the panic rose in her chest, she felt that warm weird tingling sensation again. It was the one that she had felt when she first touched the rock, and again just before she turned into this small wild dog. She recognized the feeling and feared what it could do to her again, and tried to force herself to calm down. Her tail tucked between her hind legs, and she began panting, the closest she could come to deep breathes in this form. The panting was interrupted by a yawn, and she felt her heart slowing. She had avoided another change.

Now she had to get the mirror. Still a little nervous, she padded over to the table, rising up on her hind legs and then placing her forepaws on the chair. She could get up their easy enough. Kicking off her hind legs, she made a not so graceful hop onto the chair, and then merely stepped up onto the table. Immediately she was hit with the smells of all her things. So many different smells! Instincts forced her nose down and she took in short shallow breaths through it, getting as much information out of it as she could. Her sentient mind put names to the things she smelled, the granary mouth-watering sent of bread, the aged dusty scent of the book she had bought to write in. She could smell the tangy metallic of the mirror that was muffled by the warm scent of the linen surrounding it. The wicker of the basket did not smell pleasant in this nose, as it did when she was humanoid, but she ignored it. Carefully, with her teeth she grabbed a hold of the mirror in the cloth. She felt it sit uncomfortably in her mouth but attempted to pull it out.

Losing her grip, the mirror unwedged itself from some of the stuffs in the basket, but did not come all the way out. Again, she grabbed it with her teeth and tugged. The small cloth-wrapped steel released itself from the other objects now, and thunked on the table. The folds of the linen where tucked in on this side, so the small canine pawed at it with her forepaw until it loosened out from where it had been tightly tucked. She snagged this with her teeth, raising her head in an attempt to flip the mirror and begin to unwrap it. She had to do this a few times before enough let loose that the mirror was partially revealed. Then she grabbed the mirror in her teeth again, uncomfortable with the clink it made on her pearly whites, and tugged it out of the linen. Her teeth scraped the edge of the mirror and she whimpered at the sound it made, hurting her ears.

Now the mirror was face down, fine. She flicked the thing with her paw but it was too heavy, lowering her nose to it, she tried to wedge the wet thing underneath the mirror, and this worked better. It scratched her face a little, but she hardly noticed, flipping the mirror over so it faced up. Nervousness spiked in her chest again as she realized she would be able to see herself now. What was she? What had happened?

Not wanting to humor the nerves in case they changed her, she leaned over the mirror and stared at herself. She was a Gods damned Jackal. The desert dog. The anxiety surged, and she realized it was too late. The warm tingling took over, and she fell back into the senseless void. Lani couldn’t help screaming out this time either. Although she recognized this as a reaction, she heard nothing, until a tick later, when she heard her own human voice shrieking again. She found herself teetering on the edge of something that could not hold her, and now her much larger body fell off the table, hitting the chair in on her hip before clambering to the ground. The table and chair screeched across the floor by her clutter, and the mirror she was just leaning over hit the ground, an audible crack sounding as it did so.

The mixed blood let out a soft grunt of pain, and rolled over on the floor so she was laying on her back. She was naked and now cold. But her hip and her elbows hurt from her weird fall, and she recognized that she was humanoid again. Glee shot through her, and she rolled over onto her hands and knees before shooting back up into a standing position. Her hands fell on her head, over her face, cupped a breast and then moved down to her hips. She looked down at her toes and wiggled them, a grateful grin on her face.

She was back!

And she was cold.

The mixed blood stepped back over to her bed, and grabber her shift, pulling it over her and then gathering a quilt to hoist over her shoulders. Her feet were well calloused, but her toes still felt the cold, so she stumbled over to her clothing pile and stuffed her feet in a pair of mismatched stockings. Now she had to figure out what on all of Mizahar had just happened to her.

[Lani Stranger]

Holding the quilt around her shoulders with her left hand, she reached down for the broken mirror with her right. It hadn’t actually cracked, just dented. This was the poor-man’s mirror made of polished steel instead of silvered glass. But there was a dent through one corner of it now, and that bummed her out a bit, she just got it.

In the mirror she could see her encompassing black eyes, straight black glossy hair that was tangled and ruffled from sleeping and flailing around. Her faintly shimmering tan skin radiated back to her. She was herself again.

The glow of her skin reminded her of the shimmering warm feeling she had gotten, and when she focused on it, Lani could feel it, nestled next to her heart, waiting. A spike of panic surged through her, and Lani closed her eyes, taking two deep breathes to calm it down. At this point, she knew that she would not be able to control it when she was upset. Unfortunately, at the moment, many things upset her. She was unusually groggy because of too much sleep, recently wounded by the cold parting with the stranger yesterday, and very very hungry.

Lani decided she could fix the last problem, and then she could focus on the rock. Dropping the blanket back onto her bed, she sorted through the clothes pile for her eastern pants. She sniffed them, deemed them clean enough, and wiggled into them. Her stocking-clad feet poked out the end, and while that might warrant shoes, she decided it wasn’t cold enough and pulled the socks off. She could bear it. She then put on the weird Inartan top, which showed her whole belly-side, and then covered her torso with the Inartan cape thing. She had picked up some of the local fashion, but still liked her tight pants. They weren’t practical; the western flowing pants were far more useful for moving around, comfort, and staying on her hips. But there was a comfort in the Alvadian clothing she wore, and since it was her day off, she continued to do so.

The mixed blood swiped the food voucher from her counter top by her water pitcher, and headed for the door. At the last minute, she glanced back at her table, with the star sitting in the middle. Sighing, she swiped the rock into the pocket of her flowing coat. Best to keep it nearby.

[Lani Stranger]

The line for the Chiet food was crowded as usual. The Endal and Avora got their own food quickly and a choice of it, and the Chiet sort of got whatever was left. It sounded back, but the city had a good system for keeping everyone fed, and Lani was fairly happy with what they got. So they didn’t get fresh roasted and seasoned meat at every meal, but they got vegetables, fruits, nuts, and cheese. It was also more choice than the slush given to the Dek, so she was satisfied.

Standing in the line was nerve-wracking as she fingered the star in her pocket, and tried to even out her breath enough so that she didn’t turn into a jackal out here, surrounded by bird-loving heathens who would likely shoot her if they saw what she turned into. Not that these people weren’t used to Kelvics, they loved Kelvics, she has met a few who lived happily among the Inarta, integrated into the society from birth despite their appearance. Even the Kelvics had more redheads here. The only issue was, she wasn’t a Kelvic. She was no expert morpher, which would allow her to turn into such a small and wildly different creature, but that is what people would think. She was sure the opinion on magic was kinder than that of Alvadas, though it must not be as rampant as in Lhavit because she had yet to meet a morpher.

She didn’t actually know why she feared turning into a Jackal here only that she desperately didn’t want to do it. To distract herself, she counted the Chiet, Dek, and Avora, testing herself if she could tell the difference. The occasional Endal came through, but even without their eagle, they were immediately evident in how they dressed, walked, and were treated by others. It was a communal place, where all the castes could mingle, but if one was watching they could see the divisions.

[Lani Stranger]

Once she grabbed her foot, some cheese, dried meat, and autumn fruits, Lani found the most secluded table she could. She was not the only Chiet with that idea and found herself at a small table with a few loners, trying to eat their meals in peace. Perfect.

Immediately Lani picked up a fig, loving the textured fruit, and bit into it. She knew she was hungry, but didn’t realize how famished she was, and had finished off the three figs in less than a chime. Trying to take her cheese, meat and bread slower, she pulled out the rock, set it on the table in front of her, and tried to figure out what it was. She took her eating knife, scooping the soft cheese out from its moldy encasement, and spread it onto the bread role. Lani licked the knife before taking a bite of her bread. While she chewed, she brought the steel knife up to the star to see if it would cut it. She cringed at the uncomfortable scarping sound it made on the metallic rock, but it didn’t even make a mark. Looking back at the knife, she realized she had just dulled the tip of it by scraping it on the uneven surface of the star. Bummer.

Lani set her knife back down, tearing off another bite of bread.

Suddenly, a bowl of food was set right next to her. She felt the presence of someone else plopping down right next to her, and felt the shoulder of whomever it was bump into her. Everyone at the table left two or three spaces between them to signify that they wanted to be alone, and this person was too close. She turned to glare at whoever it was and recognized the Endal.

“Oh, Hi Narth.” She mumbled, turning back to her rock. He had picked up a portion similar to hers, and grinned at her.

“Why do you still have that thing out?” He jabbering in Nari just when she said: “What are you doing here?” in common.

They paused, not having understood each other, and then he pointed to the rock, raising an eyebrow which answered her question, and she lifted it up, shrugged, which answered his. He shrugged too, and took a rip out of his dried meat.

They sat silently together, eating and staring at the rock. Lani was finished long before he was, and craved some water, but forgot to bring her water skin with her. She didn’t want to leave; Narth had come to sit with her for a reason, only she couldn’t know what it was because they didn’t speak the same language. She wanted to tell him what the rock had done to her, although she knew she would have no way of explaining it. She could perhaps show him… but she wasn’t sure if she could access the Jackal again, and she definitely wouldn’t do it here. So they ate. She glanced at him, he glanced at her, and they ate.

[Lani Stranger]

When he finished, he pulled his own water skin from his hip and took a long swig, washing down the sugary salty meal with the water. Now that he was done, Lani swiveling on her stone chair to face him, resting one arm on the table and propping the side of her face on it. She flipped her long straight black hair over her shoulder, realizing it was probably how he found her so quickly and sat down so confidently. Who else had long straight black hair around here? No one, she stood out.

“Hello, Narth.” She grinned at him knowingly. He hadn’t asked her name yesterday, because he had been upset about how attached to the strange rock she was. And yet, today, he sought her own and actually ate with her. They both knew that, in proper manners, he owed her an apology, and had to at least ask her name. She didn’t quite understand the caste system gave some Endal a superiority complex, but Narth didn’t seem to have it.

“Hello, Black Eyes.” He said something that sounded like a name, or a nickname, but she did not recognize. She furrowed her brow.

“No,” She said simply in Nari, to convey that she did not approve of whatever nick name he had just given her. He grinned sheepishly and then offered her his water skin. She rolled her eyes, took it, and took a small swig, to just moisten her mouth again after eating. She didn’t want to take too much of his water, he might also just make her refill it; she was two castes below him. Instead she pointed at her chest with her right hand, which still held the water skin, casually holding it hostage. “Lani.” She then spoke in Nari. “I am called Lani.” She said, and he chuckled.

“Okay, Black Eyes, give me my water back.” He reached for the water, and she swiped it low, and then brought it up out of his reach above her head.

“No, Lani.” She repeated, patiently, a small playful grin growing on her face. He frowned, and then glanced at the rock and swiped that from the table, holding it behind his back.

“Water skin, please.” He held out one hand, and waited. Lani stood, took two large strides back, and held out her own hand, hoping dearly that the rock would stay with her like it did yesterday when he chucked it away. Nothing happened; she lowered the water skin to hold it by her side and took one more step back. The rock appeared in her hand, and she giggled. He blew out air in frustration and before she could react, darted forward, snatching the water skin from her hand. She let it go, offering him a cheeky smile to mean she meant no harm, but others were watching her now, and he just frowned at her, glanced around, and then pointed towards their food on the table. “Clean it up, then come with me.”

Lani’s grin faded slightly, and she glanced around too. The Chiet had turned back to their tables, not too interested in an Endal bossing one of them around, it wasn’t new. Sighing, she stepped back to the table, stacking the empty dishes, and gathering them in one hand. She watched Narth watch her and then sauntered over to the dish washing station, stacking it with the rest. It was busy so the Dek working there couldn’t take it just when she did. She waved to one who made eye contact with her anyway. “Thank you.” She said in Nari, the Dek only nodded at her, and continued onto his work.

[Lani Stranger]

Spinning on her toes, she turned back to find Narth, who was lingering by the entrance. With long strides, she met up with him. He turned to her, grinned, and walked out of the communal eating area. Now that they were under less idle eyes, he pointed to her. “Where do you live, Black Eyes?” He asked, using the nickname still. She didn’t bother to correct him, trying to figure out what Nari words he spoke.

“Live?” She asked in Nari to clarify, and he nodded. “That way.” She said in Common, pointing down one direction, towards the common living quarters. He ducked his head, and motioned for her to lead the way. A spark of nerves lit up inside her, and she stuffed a hand in her pocket to hold the star. Lani shook her head.

“Black Eyes.” He said with some intention in her voice, and it reminded her that she couldn’t really refuse an Endal. That wasn’t how Wind Reach worked. Lani sighed, and nodded her head towards the direction she would face, which told him to come with. She really didn’t want to show this guy where she lived, it was a pig sty right now, and something seemed off about him inviting himself into her private dwelling.

Still, Narth had already proved to be an alright guy, and as far as she could see, everyone in Wind Reach respected one another enough, she tried not to worry. Despite this, he naivety was tainted with background thoughts of worry. Wind Reach was no Utopia, men would do as men would do, and this man had power over her thanks to the caste system. Did power corrupt? Would he still respect her autonomy despite knowing he didn’t have to?

[Lani Stranger]

By the time they reached her door, she unlocked it with her key, and opened it for him. She would not be sheepish about her dwelling; he had invited himself over after all. The Endal grinned at her and ducked through the door, immediately looking around and taking it in. It was fairly bare, she had only come with a backpack of things. She still had her purchases from market day dumped on her table. She had just been taking what she needed from the baskets instead of bothering to unpack them. Her clothes, clean and dirty, rested in a heap at the foot of her bed, which was unmade. The only thing that seemed to have any relevance of care was the shrine set up for Aquiras in the far corner of her room. He seemed to zero in on this, and walked forward as if he owned the place to investigate it. Lani went it after him, and turned to shut the door, not quite ready to lock it.

The mirror from her catastrophe this morning still lay on the floor, and her two mismatched stockings had been thrown haphazardly about. She was messy, but at least each thing had a designated pile it belonged to. She scooped the mirror up, placing it on the table with the rest of her things. Then she plucked the stockings, balled them in her hands, and flung them towards the clothing pile, a movement she had already grown used to in her time living here.

“Water?” She asked in Nari, and stepped over to her pitcher, trying to distract him from her offering bowl, which had the layers of ash from her offerings and the writing of her travels on it. She had set a few autumn herbs for different moods around the bowl and three candles that were half burned rested by the stone wall on the other side. It looked very much like a personal shrine, but to one, who did not know how to worship Aquiras, didn’t seem to have a designated god.

“No thank you.” He had to glance over to see what she meant, but declined. Lani poured herself a mug and stepped over to sit cross-legged on her bed, pushing the blankets on the floor in case he wanted to sit down too. She just watched him investigate her shrine.

Finally Narth stood up, glanced at her other piles of mess, and then at her. “It’s… nice. Not what I expected, but not bad.” He jabbered in Nari, and she didn’t understand the wording, so she just nodded. He sat next to her without her invitation, but she scooted back to give him some room. A weird tension fell on the room all of the sudden. It roiled in her stomach, battling with the constant feeling of the warm energy to change that the star had given her. She worked to separate the emotion and the energy, hoping it would not trigger it right now. On the outside, she merely stared at Narth stoically of course.

[Lani Stranger]

“Let me see it.” He held out his hand, and she was confused, handing him her mug of water. He laughed, handed it back to her, and then tapped her pocket.

“Oh! Uh, yeah.” She pulled it out of her pocket, now confident that it would always come back to her, she wasn’t so concerned about letting him hold it. Still, a spark of nerves lit of her stomach as well, and she could feel the flames of this emotion licking the energy in her chest while he examined it. He flipped it over, and then handed it back to her. But when she reached to grab it, his hand holding the underside of the star, and her hand falling on top of it, he put his hand on top of hers. Oh no. She thought as this suddenly intimate touch set her heart pounding. Between the anxiety, tension, and now the adrenaline, it was hard to hold back. “Oh no!” She dropped the rock, and let her tin mug fall to the floor, where it spilled water onto her blankets, she buried her warming face in her hands, and then the world disappeared.

She was falling again in the senseless void, but now that she knew where she was going, she did not fear it. She did not scream this time. And when she returned to her senses, the world had changed again. Her vision settled on the muted colors of the world that now contrasted each other in a way that her humanoid vision did not identify. Scents gave her more information, and her center of balance had shifted. Except she was stuck in clothe again. Luckily a jackal was significantly smaller than her humanoid form, so she was not strangled in anything, especially the loose tops of the Inarta. But she was caught.

Unable to help it, panic set in, and she let out a yelp as she struggled to find a way out of the clothing. She felt large hands over her, and the opening was found much easier this time, before she could struggle too much.

“Blessed petch!” She heard his exclaim something in Nari, and while she was still trying to free herself, she hopped off the bed, skittering around the room for a second to get her bearings. It was hard to get used to this new perspective, despite how natural it felt. It was unnatural how natural this felt. The rock was sitting on the bed beside Narth, and he stood up, crouching immediately and spreading his fingers to try and calm her. She whimpered and chirped slightly, tucking her tail and pacing in place with obvious signs of stress. She was going to show him, she wanted to who him, just not like this.

He reached for her, and she yelled at him. She wanted to tell him not to touch her, but instead a sharp yip came out. He seemed to understand the meaning and moved back to sit back down on the bed. She wanted to tell him this, not show him. And not like this. She wanted to have control over it, but it was still so new and alien to her, she had trouble controlling it.

“Lani?” Oh now you use my name? She thought sarcastically, but focused on his voice. “Hey, Black Eyes, relax. You’re okay. I know it’s you.” He seemed to be cooing at her like he would a dog, but she still didn’t understand the Nari in this form. Her ears perked at the sound of her nickname, and she tried to calm herself, sitting on her haunches and looking at him. She was a little miffed he was cooing at her like a damned dog, but she tried to focus on him. She was a dog now, after all. “Is this what the rock did to you? Are you a Kelvic now? Can you control it?” He barraged her with what sounded like questions, and she gave a soft yip to remind him she didn’t understand a work he said.