The Start to Decline

[Fela Meason]

1st day of Summer, 511 AV It was dark and cold. Pure blackness covering all possible figures on this dreary plane of existence. Fela felt along the nearby wall as she stumbled around in the darkness. Her feet seemed to be drawn to any and everything she could not see but could trip over. The wall fell away from her hand and left her waving in the darkness. With no more support the darkness seemed that much more oppressive. Her chest tightened and panic started to bubble up her throat eventually spilling out in a fit of hysteric laughter. Her leg slammed into something and sent her sprawling on the floor. Pain started the dull throb of a broken bone in her foot. Wincing and pulling herself up on her arms Fela scanned the room for any sign of what she hit. Just as before the room was still plunged in the invading darkness. All of a sudden an overhead light was shining directly in her eyes blinding her. Chupra! Fela called out and shielded her eyes. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light and shapes took on form. She covered her mouth in horror when what she had tripped over became known to her. It was a body, small and frail with a crown of silvery blonde hair. Fela let out a strangled cry and cowered away from the corpse. Voices rang out in the darkness. Murderer...Liar...Failure... The words repeated themselves over and over again. Fela covered her ears and screamed at the darkness beyond the light to shut up. Show yourself! How dare you! What makes you fit to judge me! Tears rolled down her face in steady streams. The light began to flicker and with each pause statues emerged from the darkness and seemed to stare directly into her soul. The piercing eyes of stone would vanish as soon as they came, but another would just take their place. My silent jury...

[Fela Meason]

1st day of Summer, 511 AV Wind rushed through the room and chilled the jaguar down to her pit. Frost quickly covered the limp form at her feet and was spreading upwards to cover her as well, she was freezing in place. She was taken back to that horrible day in the far northern reaches. She could not stop the feeling of guilt that tore through her and left her sobbing and shaking with emotion. She just wanted it to stop, wanted to forget everything that had happened. She wanted her friend back by her side. The room changed, it began to spin and shift. The temperature was on the rise and the darkness of the room was receding to reveal green. Shapes formed trees and shrubs. It took on the appearance of the jungles outside of Taloba. Fela had heard stories of the heat and the strange flora it brought with it. Plants that had an air of ferocity surrounding them. Like they were as deadly as they were beautiful. She walked out into the thick and up to a strange tree growing in the middle of the dense area. It stood a massive 30 feet tall and its trunk would take several grown men latched with arms out stretched to even hope to encompass it. From its limbs hung massive balls, possibly the trees fruit or nut it produced. Fela backed up and dared not reach for a piece. The sounds of wild animals were all around here. Screams could be heard on the distant wind, the screams of animals and of man, the tearing of flesh and cracking of bones. One noise above the rest caught her attention though: The roar of a large cat. Fela turned with her back pressed against a large tree and surveyed the surrounding area. She found her source. The ebony cat stared back at her with a lackadaisical expression. Fela knew the cat. This cat haunted her dreams and often appeared to her in meditations. The cat was her, her animal side.

[Fela Meason]

1st day of Summer, 511 AV They circled each other slowly, neither made any fast movements or took their eyes off the other. The screams of animals were getting louder and closer. Sweat began to pour down Fela's neck. Her shirt was plastered to her back and she felt like she was melting in the jungle heat. In her cat form it would not have bothered her, one more example of how human she was becoming. Her cat seemed irritated at those thoughts. A low growl joined the hodgepodge of sounds and put Fela more on edge. The cat stopped moving heckles raised. Fela stopped as well. She didn't understand, most times her and her cat co-existed. They were as one. Deep down inside she knew she was an animal but craved to be so much more. Her human form gave her the chance to do that, she had the ability to learn and to make choices her animal brothers and sisters did not. Other Kelvic shunned her, they had no idea or concept of religion or magic or anything that did not have to do with their master's wishes. They were animals wearing masks. These strange thoughts rolled around in Fela's mind and drove her to madness. The cat in front of her roared for her attention. She gave it her undivided. All around the cat the scene melted away. Colors ran together and soon nothing had shape, only puddles where left on the floor to dry up and disappear. Soon she was left standing once again in nothingness. Just her and her cat.

[Fela Meason]

1st day of Summer, 511 AV The darkness was not consuming, only there. There was nothingness all around them. A void if you would in the middle of the universe which was only designed to hold two small scared creatures, Fela's human and animal self. The stare off had no end in sight as neither back down. Fela spoke to the creature, I stand for logic and reason. Our base instincts cannot drive us any longer. The need to eat and mate are not the catalysts for life. To grow and become that perfect being with all the understanding of the universe. Isn't that the whole point of existing? To reincarnate and grow until at last you understand. The cat stilled and tilted it's head to the side as if listening to her every word. Fela waited for the cat's reaction, after a few long moments of considering it spoke. A growled whisper through her mind that no one else could hear. You stand for reason yet you fight your own nature. If we are made to learn and to grow then you would have been born that way. You were not. You were born an animal and you cannot fight it any longer. That human costume has poisoned your mind and made you think you are equal. No matter how hard you fight it you are and always have been just a dumb animal. The words stung Fela and left her speechless. The part that hurt the most was that it was herself that was saying it. She felt cursed and alone in the world. The one person who understood her was dead because of her and she had her own dumb animal brain to thank for it. As if the jaguar could read her thoughts, and sought to put her out of her misery, the cat tenses and readied for the pounce. Fela did not run, she did not put up any means of defense. She just let what was going to happen happen. The cat sprung and one massive paw began the descent to end her life. Fela woke in a cold sweat. She was shaking from head to toe. She looked around at her soundings, she was alone in the forests still curled in her fur bedroll. There were no cats in sight and the forest held a stillness as if the earth itself were holding its breath. It was all a dream, no, a nightmare. Fela held her head in her hands and tried to chase away the images. Once I reach Alvadas everything will be better. As soon as I leave the wild lands and the waste behind I can come to terms. Fela took a deep breath. She had no desire to complete this trip but someone had to inform Salida's father and no one was better suited to take a tongue lashing than the one person whose only job was to protect her.