01-06-2024, 05:32 PM
Drifting has never been a skill that I excelled at. Despite months of lessons, I've never moved a single inch. My sisters were always conciliatory, but I know that their patience with me must be wearing thin. It was the signature trait of our family, the ability to move through the world without a true form, teleporting from one place to the next in the space of a heartbeat.
It wasn't wise to try Drifting during the day, and I knew that. It is safer in the slow moon light; the sun is too strong.
But I enjoy the feel of the sun on my skin, the way it illuminates the faint patterns of orange, pink and yellow that spot my skin, and the way it glitters on the rough surfaces of my jeweled snake. So I stood in the bright sun, and I Drifted.
Nothing happened.
For hours.
I opened my eyes, peering out at the wide blue sky, and sighed. The disappointment is a heavy weight, and as I blink back the tears...something changes.
My vision is hazy, the way they said it would be after Drifting. But I do not see the rolling green hills, and the sky has gone from blue to iron grey. Had I somehow Drifted a long distance? But how, when I have never before been able to move a single inch? And why is the world so very cold?
Blinking repeatedly to clear my vision, I stare out at a world blanketed in snow.
"Hello?" I call out cautiously, hearing the wind carry my voice away. "Melo? Are you there?" My sister had been keeping an eye on me; had she come too? But there is nothing familiar in the wintry landscape around me, only blowing snow and cold wind.
"Hello?!"
I reach for my power, the deep well of it that I have always dipped into before Drifting and find…nothing. No magic. Not even a wisp of it.
It wasn't wise to try Drifting during the day, and I knew that. It is safer in the slow moon light; the sun is too strong.
But I enjoy the feel of the sun on my skin, the way it illuminates the faint patterns of orange, pink and yellow that spot my skin, and the way it glitters on the rough surfaces of my jeweled snake. So I stood in the bright sun, and I Drifted.
Nothing happened.
For hours.
I opened my eyes, peering out at the wide blue sky, and sighed. The disappointment is a heavy weight, and as I blink back the tears...something changes.
My vision is hazy, the way they said it would be after Drifting. But I do not see the rolling green hills, and the sky has gone from blue to iron grey. Had I somehow Drifted a long distance? But how, when I have never before been able to move a single inch? And why is the world so very cold?
Blinking repeatedly to clear my vision, I stare out at a world blanketed in snow.
"Hello?" I call out cautiously, hearing the wind carry my voice away. "Melo? Are you there?" My sister had been keeping an eye on me; had she come too? But there is nothing familiar in the wintry landscape around me, only blowing snow and cold wind.
"Hello?!"
I reach for my power, the deep well of it that I have always dipped into before Drifting and find…nothing. No magic. Not even a wisp of it.