Chel hadn’t been built for stillness. Her earliest memories were vanishing into the canopy of the trees only to reappear with leaves tangled in her hair and covered in scratches from whatever adventure she’d cooked up. From the early days Chel spent little time in her natural form - preferring jungle cats or tropical birds that gave the illusion of freedom. 

But today she wears her natural skin even though the edges always seems to blur when she forgets herself. If you were to look closely you may find a patch of leopard spots near a hock or downy parrot feathers at the base of her neck. She’d been surprised, upon returning to Beqanna, to find that things had changed. Or at least changed in ways she hadn’t imagined were possible. The appearance of strange new lands may have just been enough to keep her within the borders if this place had she known. At the thought, something like regret rolls through her, but she quickly buries the thought. 

She’d been every bit a child when the wilds had called and she felt compelled to answer.  She couldn’t bring herself to regret the years spent in places far beyond. But there had been something deep down that had called her back here. Something that had made her give up her pursuit of the horizon and come back. Come home. Maybe she’d make sense of it one day.  But not today. Today she just wanted to refamiliarize herself with what she’d left behind. 

That’s what drew her to this strange, cloudy kingdom. She’d left Atzi behind in the forest.  The little ocelot always lurking in her shadow had no qualms about heights when it came to trees, but she drew the line at flight even though she knew Chel would never let her fall.

She squinted up at the moon as its light poured across the strange clouds. Clouds that looked like they had grown into glowing, molten shapes. Things here were strange. The shadows didn’t behave as they should. They twisted and stretched, folding into shapes that left her unsettled. 

It seems she’s not the only one investigating this strange world. ”Is this normal for this place?” she asks, to the stranger - to the strange world itself. 

And she wonders, for a moment, just what it is she’s stumbled upon.