and time it waits for no one

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

This had quickly become her favorite shrine. It was a bit remote, but the journey here was usually a pleasant one, and helped Maea clear her thoughts. There was a lot on her mind lately. Many things had happened, and she felt a need to confide in someone. Talk, vent, and perhaps get some feedback... but even if there was none offered, she would still be heard.

And Ludo was the only one she really wanted to talk to right now.

Following the bobbing, weaving light of her small companion, Maea arrived at the shrine and sank to the ground, crossing her legs as she looked around at the candles, lanterns and offerings. As always, she had brought one too; the first and only doll her father ever gave her. She'd salvaged it from the farm, not quite sure why... but now she placed it by the roots of the two trees, and considered the sight of it there. Threadbare, well worn, with one eye missing and almost all the hair pulled out by too frequent combing. She thought Ludo might love it as much as she had once.

"Hello, Ludo. I came to tell you, I'll be moving. To Halo. Sunjata... he asked me to go with him to Torchline and I said I would. But... that doesn't seem to be happening anymore." Pulling her knees up as pain welled up inside her at the memory of their last conversation, Maea rested her chin against one of them, fingers playing with a loose thread at the hem of her skirt. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, like she had cried often.

"So much has happened this season, I don't even know where to start. I suppose, the best summary would be... that I fell in love. He's a bit of a troublemaker, and more than one person has told me I'd be better off with someone else, but... he's been so good to me. And even if I don't know if I'll ever be with him again, I want him to be happy, like I am whenever he's around. For the first time, I've felt... properly alive. Not just existing, but actually living. Even now, with everything hurting like this." She tried to smile, but it faltered and fell away. Shii floated over, and she held her hand out, letting the will-o-wisp rest on her palm.

"It feels strange, to think that I'll leave the Hollowed Ground. That it won't be home anymore. But... is it terrible of me to be relieved too? Lately, I've only thought of it as a cage. I wonder if you could relate to that? You were trapped there too, for far longer than me... I hope you don't hold it against me, if I long to see other places. Ronin says not to use the portals, and I know we're not supposed to open more of them... but I don't think I can stand being trapped anymore. Not in Halo, nor here, nor even Torchline. I wish... I really wish I could find some way to be truly free."

Sighing, she called on her wings; they shimmered white in the glow of the lanterns, but though she flapped them a few times before folding them to her back, they did not even cause the candles to stir.

"Even with these, I can't fly. I wonder how long it will take before these new places begin to feel stifling. How long before everything settles back into being familiar, and known, and tedious.."

Blowing a gentle breath on Shii, she watched it take off and zoom away among the trees, off to explore, or perhaps find some kin to dance with for a while. Maea watched it go, feeling its simple joy spread a warm glow in her mind.

"I don't know, Ludo. Am I being greedy again? There are so many things I want... and they all feel out of reach."

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh

A breeze, cold and crisp compared to the close of the season, rustled through the trees and around the shrine. It would pluck at Maea's hair and seem to tug her forward, beckon her almost, towards somewhere just... behind the shrine. If she looked closely she would notice the offering she gave get snatched up and disappear into the shadows, and should she follow the breeze, it would be to see a patch of sheer nothingness through which the wind was being sucked. "Once you asked if you might give up your magics, sweetling. Do you remember?" Ludo's voice was distant within the nothingness. "It remains as impossible as it always has been. But if it is freedom you seek, and the wind of change... step in." LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

When the wind came, Maea first feared it might mean some kind of rejection. That she indeed was greedy, and that she ought to step away, and work on her flaws. But when it did not fade and she felt it pull on her, tug on hair and clothes to follow, she looked up with more focused attention. The doll vanished. She stared at the void where it had disappeared, goosebumps flaring over her arms; this was quite different from any interactions she'd had with Ludo thus far.

"I remeber," Maea replied, and got to her feet. "Can't forget... I try to follow the advice you gave me that day. To remain modest." She gazed ahead, between the two trees that formed the shrine. Her skin prickled, tingled with both excitement and wariness... but she had meant what she said. Freedom and change. It was indeed what she wanted most.

Maea only hesitated for a brief moment. Then she moved forward, walking carefully between candles and lanterns to reach the shrine. Move beyond it... and step into the nothingness.

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh

The world winked out. Or at least it would appear to do so, at first. But as Maea walked through silence, through nothing, somehow taking steps with only void beneath her feet, soon the landscape would warp and twist and change. Snow crunched underfoot. Where absolute darkness had dominated, now a sky filled with stars sprawled overhead, and the craggy mountains of the Fangs were visible in the distance. And it was cold. "Sometimes the things we seek are challenging. Are you ready to pay that cost?" LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

It would be a lie to say she wasn't afraid. This... went so far outside anything she had ever experienced before, and there was no helping the tight knot of unease and trepidation in her gut. But for all that the girl was wary, she honestly trusted Ludo. If it said this was the way to go? Then she would go.

Was it an illusion, this walking from Ludo's Woods and the shrine, through nothingness and into Halo? Was it real, was it actually snow crunching under her feet, or did it exist only in her mind? Maea had no answers, not even theories she dared put any stock into. She only walked, until she was addressed again. Shuddering as the chill reached her; she was not used to being cold these days. Had not felt it in earnest since she received the shawl, and even less since the Academy initiation.

Yet here, now...? Goosebumps flared across arms and legs, along shoulders and back, and she shivered.

"I've always believed that there is a price for everything," she replied slowly, scanning the surroundings. Not sure what she was looking for... any signs of Ludo, perhaps. "For freedom, and change? Yes, I would pay the cost."

Maea braced herself, tried to prepare for whatever it was that would come next. But it was rather difficult, when she didn't know what was really going on.

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh

"Then run." The words would be whispered, softly and intimately into Maea's ear, and shortly after a truly bitter gust of wind would rip through her, bringing with it a blast of snow and hail. The sensation of something approaching - something big and grim and impossibly dangerous - would pull at her, urging her on. To go, to flee, to panic. Would she lose her composure? Or would she be as cool as the weather against the rising unrest? LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

She cowered, gasping and shuddering as the cold bit into her, wind tearing and whipping about her, through her, like it was a gale storming through her very soul. Run? Why...?

And then she felt it. An intent, a coming, a lurking menace somewhere unseen. In front of her? Behind her? It didn't seem to matter, but the instruction seemed to suddenly make a whole lot of sense.

So Maea ran. Not the panicked sprint of someone fearing for her life, but a cautious jog, for now. Keen to conserve strength, to manage her breathing... she didn't know how long she would be running after all. And though that dangerous something sent shivers of cold dread down her spine, it was manageable. Few things truly frightened her, and while the unknown was one of them... how bad could it be?

Honestly, it was the cold that really bothered her most at this point.

She tried to sneak a glance over her shoulder. To see if the danger could be seen, if she could spot it, whatever it was. An animal, a creature, some prowling menace?

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh

Looking over her shoulder would be a mistake. What Maea glimpsed has little words to describe it - jumbled teeth and mismatched features, flickering in and out of existence in its movements as it clawed and lurched after her, the horror would imprint itself onto her mind for the foreseeable future. But running was working, and as her legs pumped and the air froze in her lungs, she would find herself somehow more sure footed. More lithe and graceful, better able to handle the uneven ground. And then a chasm opened up ahead - impossibly large, it would seem, a yawning blackness without end. And Ludo's voice, again-- "Jump." LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

Well, she wanted to know. And now that she knew, her legs began to pick up the pace, that dread along her back turning into a fear that clawed on her senses and brought her heart to beating a frantic pace that bordered on panic. It was the kind of horror taken from a nightmare, with the only difference being that here, her feet actually brought her forward.

So she ran, full tilt, elation gripping her even in the midst of the awful dread because she had never been this fast before. When the ground fell away ahead, and she was told to jump, Maea dug her feet deeper into the ground, pushed herself harder, to move faster, to gather herself all the way from body to somewhere deep within her soul...

...and leaped off. Like a tightly wound spring uncoiling, pushing off that ledge with everything she had.

Because anything would be better than being caught by that monstrosity. And Ludo told her to. And surely, even if she never reached the other edge, the feeling of the fall would make the impact of landing worth it.

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh

Maea leapt with horror at her heels and nothing but the void ahead, the other side of the chasm a small, snowy wink as she travelled. Did it seem to be getting further away, perhaps? Who knew, truly? Behind her, the monstrous being screeched its irritation, throwing itself after her with wild abandon. But once again the girl would feel things change as she moved, and this time in a much more fundamental way. Magic crackled in her bones, warping and morphing her shape, flooding her with Rae's wisdom and Vi's energy. But it was Ludo that tugged her towards the chasm's end, and as Maea hit the snow it would be on four legs, not two. A pelt of brilliant spots covered her, and her almond eyes would see all too clearly the way the air rippled ahead, suggesting a way back, away from the madness. LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

The world was a blur around her, distance and time suspended. All she knew was the energy sizzling through her body, the vast expanse that opened up within her mind, in her body, in her soul as things that had been blurred and indistinct suddenly became clear to her. Lifted by understanding, instinct, coiling relentless strength and indomitable will, she sailed over the expanse on the pull of Ludo's will, and when she landed, her paws carried her onward without pause like it was the most natural thing.

Because it was, wasn't it. Suddenly so much about herself made sense, like it never had before. And it propelled her forward, along the path to freedom, fully embracing this change as she ran, ran. Her supple, sleek body coiling and stretching in long, ground-covering leaps.

Towards the way out. To the way that surely led back.

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh

Maea was upon it. She raced through the ripples in the air, through snow and ice and adversary... and came racing out once more at the foot of Ludo's shrine. All was quiet, all was peaceful. Leaves rustled overhead. A bird chirped in the distance. And a leopard, not a girl, returned from the frigid wastes of Halo's mountain range. What had she seen? Was it real? Did it truly exist? That was up to her to discover. Ludo's voice echoed faintly, before fading altogether. "Perhaps with these new skills, you might one day turn and fight that which chases you. But do not forget - sometimes running truly is the right thing to do..." Maea has become a hybrid! She is now a Level 1 Attuned and has gained a leopard shift! LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea

And time it waits for no one
It heals them when you die

The return to the forest was as jarring and abrupt as her appearance in Halo had been. The stillness was like a scream on her senses, raw and reeling with the horror, the adrenaline of the chase. Amber eyes scanned the surroundings wildly, her tail lashing in agitation until she had made thrice sure that the horror was nowhere near.

Only then could she settle, and listen to what Ludo had to say. Looking down on herself, to see paws instead of hands, fur instead of skin, and a sleek feline body when she glanced over her own shoulder... it slowly began to dawn on her what had happened. What had been done.

Awe, elation and a gratitude more profound than anything bloomed within her. And as she sensed Ludo fading, about to disappear, Maea threw her whole heart out there, with a fearlessness she hadn't been able to embrace before.

"I love you, Ludo! Thank you!"

It would take time to process this. To truly understand and embrace the full implications of this change. But Maea could feel it already, like a deep, purring contentment within the core of her being.

Aah, so this was who she was.

And soon you are forgotten
A whisper within a sigh