"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
The Mazikeen that returns to the mountain is different than the one who descended last winter. There are no tears or cursing this time. There is a steady thrum of nerves as she carefully picks her way up the rocky slopes in the darkness. This quest is a strange thing - she feels more confident in this form, what it can accomplish, but she still recognizes that the ability to shift is a handy tool. It’s not her entire identity like she’d thought a year ago but it can still help keep those she cares about safe.
And there’s a heavier weight to those thoughts now. She’d always been devoted to her friends and now she has become rooted into a home in a way she had never expected to be.
She finds her way to where she had stood last time (or… she’s pretty sure, anyway. The slopes of the mountain all look the same to her now). Mazikeen thinks about using her fire aura to light her way but decides against it - she can, and should, finish this without any tricks at all. Nerves prickle across her skin though she feels an odd sort of calm. One way or another, this is going to end - she survived it and, yeah, it was rough at first but it also might've been just the kick in the ass she needed. Mazikeen hadn’t called out last time and she does not think she’ll have to again - as she waits patiently for the fairy’s judgement on her quest.
MAZIKEEN
mazikeen
Learning to appreciate her equine form: one (confronts some of her insecurities with a not-so-gentle helping hand and begins to realize she’s Just Fine and still strong however she is) two (faced and conquered one of her long-term fears, something she hadn’t even been able to do with her shifting) three a/three b - (kind of a two-parter where she had an epiphany that there are things more important to her than being able to shift and she can still try her best to accomplish them as is) four (learned about the darker side of shifting and worked on accepting that its not the be-all and end-all)
* I know this is more than 3 threads but wanted to include all of them just to cover my bases
Something useful for Beqanna: five killed a monster and saved sweet baby Selaphiel
