Post by Reyukka on Mar 17, 2016 4:10:18 GMT
Name: Shiora Aldrien Silverwing
Apparent Age: 25
Years Since Hatching: 21
Species: Formerly Thirian
Race: Froya
Gender: Female
Rank: Citizen
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Basic Appearance
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Hair: Black, shoulder length
Facial Hair: n/a
Eyes: (better described in the description)
Skin: White as the full moon on a clear night
Build: lean
Height: 5'7"
Weight: Varies
Special Features:
Detailed physical description: Shiora is rather thin despite the amount she eats. Her hair, which falls at shoulder length, is a dark black with flecks of soft color like one would often see in opals which shimmer almost like stars when light touches the soft strands. The darkness of her hair is a grave contrast to her skin tone and causes her youthful face to appear slightly chubbier than it is. Large, almond shaped eyes seem to give her a doll-like quality especially with eyes like the bloodstone on which her "egg" rested. The deep green irises with dark red flecks in random places seem almost as though they were made of the stone themselves.
Her usual attire consists of a pale pink shirt with "fluffy" sleeves that end in ties at the elbows, a black leather vest that has two straps to buckle it in place, a pair of black shorts that end halfway down her thighs, and a purple sarong tied about her hips that ends just slightly below the knees with the slit up the right side. Shiora hates to wear shoes and usually wears silver anklets with bells. However, on the rare occasions she decides to wear shoes, she wears sandals as they are as close to being barefoot as she can get.
Around her neck is a simple silver chain with a single pendant. The pendant is an odd one a teardrop shaped opal with a small portion of it not the color of the opal, but of the bloodstone color of her eyes. This is known as her "Spirit Stone" and is described in her gear.
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Personality
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Personality: Though sweet and seemingly innocent, Shiora is a bundle of mischief. She holds a great capacity for love, showing it even in the darkest of times. Often, she has been referred to as her former crew's guiding light. It's hard not to love her and even harder to stay mad at her. Since the incident at Elvegaste, though, she's a mild bit shyer than she once was and no longer picks up a conversation with any stranger she can.
She learns at an increasingly fast rate, often picking up things just by watching.
Quirks and Habits: For some unknown reason, Shiora is terrified of silverware to the point that if she even catches a glimpse of a spoon, fork, or knife she freezes instantly or runs from the room. Oddly enough, though, she is not terrified of knives meant for weapons, decorative knives, or ceremonial daggers.
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Skills and abilities
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Abilities:
Weight Adaptation: Shiora can change her weight though her size does not change. For instance, if she needs to be carried, she can cause her body to be light enough to be carried, but at the same time, if she does doesn't want anyone to pick her up she can change her weight so that her body feels as heavy as the stone she was birthed from (which took two full grown men to carry).
Emotional Influence: Shiora's very presence has the effect of calming even the wildest and angriest of beings. She is learning to control this to where she can remove all the calm or give a large dose of the calming energies. Once she's mastered this, she intends to learn to single out the energy. Basically meaning to be able to calm just one being without affecting anyone else.
Astral Projection: Astral Projection is where the spirit leaves the body and can travel, uninhibited anywhere the spirit wishes. It's important, however, that the body remain in a safe place because if the spirit loses it's body it will be forced to roam the world as a shade. It's also important to note that if the spirit is destroyed then the body will be left in a comatose state until it is no longer able to function or until a wandering soul with no body of its own claims it.
Dream Walking: Shiora has the ability to enter another being's dreams. In the beginning she will not have any control inside the dreams and will need the dreamer's help to influence the dream, however, the more she uses it the more she is able to control until she can influence the dream herself.
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Gear
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Bag of Secrets: Shiora's "bag of secrets" is a leather bag tied to her shorts at the right hip. Everyone knows she carries an assortment of stones given to her by the crewmen, but they also believe she has put other things inside because she refuses to let anyone look inside.
Spirit Stone: The stone around her neck seemingly composed of both opal and bloodstone. The attributes it possesses are not fully known to Shiora just yet, but she does know that if she gave it to someone that not only would they literally have a piece of her but they would also be able to contact her no matter where either party is. She's afraid to learn all the possibilities, as that would mean experimenting with it, but she craves the knowledge. The connection she once had with it, however, is no longer as strong since her change. This deeply concerns her.
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Weapon
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Zhua: The Zhua appears to be a giant back scratcher. The "handle" is a pole about six feet long with a highly detailed hand at one end with "claws" in place of nails that are so sharp that it can tear the very flesh from bone. The weight of the hand itself is heavy enough to quite possibly kill a person with a single blow in the right spot. Shiora's zhua is actually mildly modified from the traditional weapon with a weight upon the other end as well to balance it out. The handle, however, can also be compacted to where it's only around two feet long. This makes for easier transport. Another interesting fact is that for some reason the hand of the weapon seems to move on it's own free will, but it's not really. The weapon was made specifically for Shiora and as such has an enchantment that allows her to move the hand as though it was her own living hand. She often makes it move to freak people out.
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The Thirians aka Chrysalians:
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There are four different types of Chrysalians: the Froya who make their eggs out of stone, the Adana who make their eggs out of ice, the Beghi who make their eggs out of living trees or plants, and the Jaykair who make their eggs out of webbing or cocoons. There were normally only about fifty of each race alive at one time which form a "tribe", and more often than not the parents would not get to see their child come into the world. This is not as grand a tragedy as it seems, however, for when a Chrysalian dies, they consider it "Ascension" rather than calling it death as it isn't entirely final.
The Ascended are still linked to their Spirit Stones, which are stones that are formed at the same time as they are when the comet known as Thraidon's Tear acts as the catalyst to turn the "egg" into a living body. The process on this is still one that the few who are obsessed with the Chrysalians are trying to figure out. The stones are linked to the individual Chrysalian's heart and spirit. There is no logical reason behind why the Spirit Stones exist, at least none that experts can figure out, but the Spirit Stones were exchanged when a couple married as a sign of love and trust.
When a Chrysalian "Ascends," their body turns to dust or melts - whichever the case may be - and leaves only the heart and the Spirit Stone. The Spirit Stones are usually taken off to different areas so that the Ascended can travel the world, but their hearts are taken and added to the "nests" of the eggs waiting to be hatched. This is done because the hearts contain the energy and powers of the Chrysalian that owned them. This made them highly sought after when a Chrysalian died outside of it's homeland and it's powers were discovered. The purpose of adding them to the nest is to allow the eggs to absorb the energy which will aid them in hatching when the time comes.
After a while, the Chrysalian's began to be hunted humans in hopes of stealing their hearts for the power. This is why many of the Chrysalians began to hide their eggs and travel off too far from the nests to keep their children safe - though often it left the children with no hope of leaving the egg state without help from an outside source.
Chrysalian's are born with different powers, though most are not able to use said powers until they reach the age of maturity. The powers they are born with vary based on what their eggs are made of, the hearts that rest below and around them, and their surroundings. This grants a grand array of attributes. However, the powers they are able to use upon birth can drain them and cause their usually slow aging rate to speed up depending on how much of a drain the ability caused.
The aging rate of a Chrysalian is usually about one year to five human years for a child up until they reach the physical age of twenty-five. After that, it significantly slows to one year to around ten human years. This often gives them the illusion of immortality which is another reason they were hunted as humans wanted to learn the reason of their longevity.
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Bio/Backstory
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Fate has an odd way of working in manners you would never suspect.
Shiora's story starts back when the world was fresh and teeming with wildlife and creatures now lost to myths and legends. Chrysalians, for those who didn't know, were rare even in times of old. Their birth was one of ritual. Every three hundred years a comet can be seen from the planet's surface. This comet, today, is known as Thraidon's Tear. This is based upon a myth no one actually believes anymore, but is still passed on from generation to generation. Without this comet, a Chrysalian cannot leave their "egg" state.
There were four different sub-species, or races, of the Chrysalia species. Shiora is of the Froya. The Chrysalia are a unique species. They do not lay the eggs they are birthed from, but they do create them. The Froya, for instance, carve their eggs out of rock or precious gems. One couple even created their egg from mud, molding it like clay.
The child is created within the egg when the parents join spirits within the egg, creating a sort of "spirit child" inside. The child feeds from the energies around it's egg, using those energies to "build" its own physical body within the egg. The comet is important, because it gives off waves of energy strong enough to be felt upon the planet's surface - but not below it. This energy, once absorbed by the child, awakens the child and gives it the strength to free itself from its egg.
Shiora's egg was carved from opal. The egg stood at three feet tall with a width, at it's broadest point, of one foot seven inches. It rested upon a pedestal of bloodstone, hidden deep in a cave on the Valterren Isle.
Captain Jacobs and his crew stumbled upon the egg while hunting for treasure said to be stored within the mountains. It was midday when they found the egg, spiderwebs hanging from the walls and ceiling like blankets of lace. The beauty of the white stone, shimmering lightly with colors of the rainbow drew them closer to it, much like the song of a siren might. Though the grown men would not admit it aloud, each found it beautiful. Assuming this was the treasure they had heard about, and not wanting to leave empty handed, they took the egg to the ship.
The plan had been to take the stone and sell it to jewelers, but such did not go according to plan...
Midnight struck after three days out at sea, it was the first night Thraidon's Tear appeared in the sky after 300 years. It was as though something fell from the sky and hit the ship, causing it to dip a little deeper into the water and toss those in and on the ship about. As one could expect, the captain was furious for being tossed out of his bed. He stormed up to the deck, fully prepared to yell at the first person that crossed his path, but what he saw stopped him dead.
They had placed the egg near the mast, covering it in old, torn sails they needed repaired and nets they used to catch fish to keep them from going through their supplies too quickly. These things were no longer on the egg, seemingly blown off by whatever had hit the ship. But no one was even concerned about it, their gaze was on the egg. The egg was glowing and the colors that shimmered oh so lightly before were now vibrant and dancing upon the stone.
Mattias, one of the crewmen close enough to the egg, reached out to touch the egg only to pull his fingers back with a yelp of pain. His pain was quickly forgotten, however, when the egg began to shake. It started lightly, like a slight shiver a person feels when something bad is going to happen, and grew till it was so violent it shook the entire ship. Jacobs was frightened the ship would capsize, but the entire crew (himself included) couldn't do anything about it as they clung to anything they could grab ahold of. As the shaking grew stronger the egg began to lift into the sky, barely missing the eagle's nest.
Slowly, the egg began to spin in midair only to pick up pace with each rotation and the faster the egg spun the more distorted the shape of it seemed to be. Faster and faster it spun and the stone seemed to grow longer and thinner until it was more of a cylinder than an oval. At this point, it began to slow. By this time the ship had slowed to a gentle rocking allowing the crew and the captain to avert their full concentration on the now descending figure.
They couldn't believe what they saw. A girl, around the age of seven based on appearance stood upon the deck now. For a moment they were too stunned to react, even as she walked towards the captain who was awkwardly sitting on a crate with his arms tangled in some rope. Saying nothing, she crawled onto his lap to sit like a child might do to her father to play lightly with his beard.
"What.. What is it Cap'n?" One of the crew members asked.
"A... Child.." He muttered softly. She was absolutely adorable and Jacobs found the dream he had in his youth to have a family rekindled.
"What's your name?" He asked the child, but she didn't answer.
"Alright men," he continued, "Clean this mess up."
Though the men were all curious about what she was, they obeyed and in fact worked quicker so they could learn more about the girl and what exactly she was all the quicker. Jacobs, however, took her to his cabin. The first thing he did, was put one of his shirts on her. The shirt was much too large, coming down to her knees like a dress. He had to cut the sleeves so that she could use her hands. The entire time he did this, she stood silently with her large eyes staring up at him. Once finished, he felt rather awkward.
"Uh.. Are you.. I mean do you want.. What do you eat?" He managed, though her only response was tilting her head adorably to the right.
"Right.. You don't understand. I'll be right back." He said, holding up a finger before heading for the door. The moment he opened it half the crew fell into the doorway in a huge dog pile. This caused a laugh to escape her. It was simply beautiful. Like the soft sounds of bells. They all stared at her a moment before Jacobs ushered them all out and headed for the galley. What he found when he came back shocked him silly.
Shiora, in all of her cuteness, sat in the middle of the room - which was now a wreck- surrounded by papers, odd knick knacks that had large bites out of them, his telescope which now had gnaw marks, and in her lap was a book from which she was tearing papers and steadily stuffing in her mouth.
"No!" He screamed and quickly set the food he had retrieved down and ran towards her. This frightened her, causing her to emit a strong pulse of relaxing energy which quite nearly put him to sleep in mid run. By the time he reached her, she was crying.
"No no.. Its okay, you didn't know any better," he said as he scooped her up in his arms to rock her and stroke her back until she stopped crying - all the while fighting the drowsiness the relaxed feeling she was creating caused.
Having calmed her down, he immediately summoned the crew's medic, Theo, to make sure none of what she had eaten would hurt her. Theo could find nothing wrong. In fact she appeared to be a perfectly normal child. At this point a crewman by the name of Galen stepped in.
"I think I found something of yours." He muttered softly and extended his hand to reveal a small teardrop shaped stone. Its seemed to be made of the same stone she had emerged from with a small portion of dark green and red in a condensed area. Immediately, her face lit up and she took it only to leap off the table she had been placed on for examination towards him. Her arms wrapped about his neck in a snug hug, which he returned after a moment of shock. With a kiss to his cheek, she released him to slide down to the floor. Stone in hand, she made her way to the captain's bed and crawled onto it.
Shiora named herself. It was a few days after she came into being and the men were arguing over what to call her. One man had said to name her Sally, another Trinity, and the list kept growing until her soft little voice silenced them all.
"Shiora," she said as she looked them all in the eyes, "Shiora Aldrien Silverwing." The name was the same as the main character of her favorite book series. Shiora Silverwing - Pirate Captain of the Skyship Tempest.
As the following year passed, she learned things at an alarming rate. Already she had a vocabulary far beyond that of the crew. She still looked as young as the day she came into being, and a style all her own. Jacobs had to compromise with her to get her to wear a sarong, despite the fact he wanted her to wear dresses. She said she disliked dresses as dresses constricted her movement.
It was her first birthday and the crew wanted to do something special to commemorate it. They docked in a port on the coast of Pelara, a country known for it's fine cuisine. It was funny seeing the group of fifteen men, who were usually dirtier than the floor of a barn, clean and finely dressed. They were all uncomfortable in the attire, but it was a special day for them all.
Colbert, the one who had made the actual reservation, had screwed up and forgot to ask the waiters to remove the silverware - so as they entered the reserved room, Shiora immediately froze the moment she spotted the silverware.
"Quick men! The cutlery!" Immediately the men went into action, grabbing every last bit of the silverware and taking it out of the room. It took her a moment to relax and, although the men were all upset with him, she forgave Colbert and paid him special attention that day to make sure he knew she wasn't upset with him. Aside from the odd looks the employees of the restaurant gave them for eating with their hands, the party was a huge success ending, as some parties do, with the birthday girl falling asleep before time to go.
As they were carrying Shiora back to the ship, Mattias spotted a red-tailed hawk following them. At first he thought nothing of it until it hovered over the ship as they began to board. It was curious the hawk would be following them, but then in the past year weirder things had happened. They stayed in port that night so they could go the next day to restock their supplies and visit some of the locals. Well, when they woke up they saw something else that shocked them. There in the early morning light, Shiora was playing with the hawk.
"Been playin' wit' that bird since the sun came up. Went to the galley to get somthin' to drink, came back and saws the two havin' a grand ole time." Jack, the man who was keeping the night watch explained when they all came up. It didn't take much to get Jacobs to say yes to keeping the hawk, whom Shiora named Hubert.
The hawk was a loyal companion, helping in anyway he was able especially when it came to keeping the ship rat free. In a way, he was a guardian for the young child. He died two years after joining the crew. It was the saddest day any of them had ever experienced.
It started out as a beautiful day, the first day of fall, in fact. The wind was slightly colder, a tidbit harsher, and the sky was a bright, but pale blue. Everyone was feeling a bit lazy due everything outside of their beds being colder than the inside of their beds. Shiora seemed to be the only one not too affected by it. She and Hubert stood outside, facing the sun to watch it as it lifted into the sky. They loved watching the sun rise together, almost as much as they enjoyed dancing in the light of a full moon. The tranquility was disrupted by a thunderous sound from behind the ship. They were under attack.
The men sprung into the action, readying the weapons as Shiora raced to the hidden compartment they had made for her in case of an emergency like this. The attacking ship made it to their port side and boarded. The battle lasted for hours and ended when one of the opposing crew killed Hubert. It had been an accident. The bullet was meant for Captain Jacobs, but Hubert had gotten in the way and saved his life. The battle stopped for a brief moment before picking back up with the men fighting far more viciously, this time aiming to kill. This drove the attacking crew off their ship and sent them running. Jacobs let them go, there was no point in chasing after them.
Once it was clear, Shiora came out. She knew it before she saw it. As she scooped the dead bird into her arms, she wept for the second time in her life. It was interesting what happened next. Her tears fell into the pool of the bird's blood, mixing in with it and seemed to crystallize. It wasn't long before there was a pile of small, tear shaped gems. They were as red as the blood with flecks of green, dark blue, orange and even a few spots of purple. No one noticed this until they moved to take Hubert from Shiora. As a result, each of the crew now carries one of these blood opals in remembrance of Hubert. Shiora's is inside her bag of secrets.
Despite the sadness of her loss, Shiora kept her head up and faced each day with a brightness that only seems to grow brighter with each passing day. Often, that brightness is the only thing that kept the crew going.
Several years passed and nothing terribly amazing or utterly disastrous happened, though it seemed Shiora had stopped aging. While, technically, only seven years of age, she should appear to be in her early teens yet she only appeared 10. Jacobs wasn't too worried about it, for what father wanted his little girl to grow up? They discovered something interesting, however, one day when a couple crew men got into a fight with some locals in a tavern.
Shiora had talked Jacobs into taking her to the tavern as she was utterly starving - despite the fact she ate only a few hours ago. Jacobs would swear that she could eat any king out of house and home. The fight started when one of the drunken patrons of the tavern bumped rather rudely into Galen, one of the crewmen. The argument turning into a fight, Shiora let out a pulse of energy that replaced the hostility of the people in the tavern with a light-heartedness that had the men laughing and embracing as though they were brothers. After that day, she seemed to age rather quickly for a year, or at least to them it seemed quick, before she returned to the a growth rate that suited Jacobs just fine.
It annoyed Shiora how she seemed to be aging so much slower than the kids she visited in the ports and wondered desperately what was wrong with her. It wasn't until Jack, the first mate, brought her a book of myths that she came to the awareness of what she truly was. She began to study like a mad scientist when they feel they are onto something. Many of the crewmen became worried for her health, but Jacobs reassured them that it was only a phase.. Which was a fact he didn't fully believe himself.
Within the next couple of years, Shiora discovered more and more things she could do and practiced her calming abilities on the crew - who were mostly unaware of their role as guinea pigs. It didn't take long for her to discover she could travel places by spirit alone. It was confusing at first, but with the help of Triadi - one of the Ascended Chrysalians that chose to remain bound with his Spirit Stone - she was able to figure it out. Triadi taught her about her culture and even showed her where her ancestral home was. Shiora had a faint hope to possibly be able to see her parents, her real parents, but that hope was quickly destroyed when the Ascended told her that they had died outside of the Ascended's territory, that if she wanted to see them - or their spirits as the case may be - she would have to travel far off and even possibly into a different world. Though she wanted to, she couldn't bare to leave Jacobs or the rest of the crew.
The next couple of years turned out to be eventful as, once again, they were attacked. Only this time, Jacobs nearly lost his life. This seriously pissed off Shiora who let loose a combination of her powers. To those attacking, she added on the calm, causing them to lose their resolve to fight while she removed the calm of the crew men and sent them into a fighting rage that matched her own. This effectively guaranteed their victory, but at a grave cost to her age. She aged quite nearly five years in one human year. This caused Jacobs, whom of which they took to the nearest port to take to the hospital, to think he was worse off mentally than he was - for he was in and out of consciousness for several months as he recovered. However it would take longer for him to fully recover. When the time finally came that he was almost fully recovered, it came to be that his crew had settled down in the town, and he himself was finding he was falling for the nurse helping him with physical therapy.
Shiora, however, was restless. With Jacobs blessing she joined another crew to adventure with. Sadly this crew wasn't any fun so she left them at the first port they landed. She traveled alone for a while, exploring before she began her first business. "Shiora's shop for the weirdly odd and the oddly weird" was the title she gave it. She sold things that most people had never even heard of. Deciding to actually set up a shop rather than just traveling around selling goods, Shiora finally stopped in a kingdom called Elvegaste. But not long after setting up shop, her life was soon to change...
The day was to be a day of great joy - the day of the Everhearst Festival. The Everhearst Festival was a day in honor of Alvina Everhearst - a woman who sacrificed her very being to ensure the safety of the land and it's people. But the Everhearst Festival had lost such meaning many years ago when, after many generations, people began to forget the true meaning behind the festival. The king had bid the festival to continue for in such dire times, they all needed something joyful in their lives.
But such was not to be the case....
A scene was laid out in the very center, for all to see. A circle of nearly twenty people lay upon the ground, their heads pointed to the center. Each face was frozen in a look of terror that left the question of what horrendous sight had been their last. Oddly enough, they were all adults, not a single child amongst the outer circle - in fact, if one might recall, each was a parent of a child that died at the hands of Apollymi - a creature almost as old as time itself.. A Sekhephyr. She had terrorized the village for months, claiming the lives of children and replacing their hearts with flowers. No one could catch her, as Sekhephyr were not only a race so old they were myth to those present but also could also change their form in the blink of an eye.
Each parent had their chests opened, the heart removed, and bouquets placed inside of the chest cavities just as their children had been. The flowers this time, however, were a mixed assortment. Hyssop, rosemary, lilac, stargazer lilies, and sweet pea and each had a meaning to the one that put it there. In the center of the circle, sat a young girl. Her hands rested neatly upon her lap and her large pale blue eyes straight ahead with a seemingly empty expression. Her dark brown hair hung in ringlets down her shoulders and was a grave contrast to the snow white dress she wore. She could easily pass as nothing more than a lifesized doll.
As the crowd began to form, they could only stop and stare at the gory scene. The silence was louder than any scream. The king was the one to race to the circle to check if the young girl still had breath in her tiny body, but the moment he touched the poor child she seemed to crumble into dust at his feet. He stood there, frozen in place for several moments with his hand still stretched out to the child before his son approached him, pleading for him to return to the castle.
"Yes, that's right. Flee like the coward you are. Hide behind stone walls though they offer you no protection from me." The sound of a female voice, wicked and mocking, called out, echoing through the silence of the gardens. From a tree before them, a raven fell from it's perch only to pick up flight just before crashing into the ground below. It flew to the center of the circle with the king and his heir before flying straight up. Five feet from the ground the black of it's feathers seemed to elongate as it's ascent halted. It's body seemed to stretch. The bottom falling to the ground until it was the size of a mortal, it's feather's turning into shadowy wisps. The very sun seemed to hide as this creature changed shapes before their very eyes.
The head was no longer a head, but a hood covering the face of the creature that had been haunting the king. He knew the voice.. He knew the scent she carried with her.. A soft, sweet fragrance that spoke of innocence and innocence lost. She threw back the hood to reveal a face of beauty and danger with eyes of a snake. Green slitted eyes bore into the king's own and he felt his anger rising.
"So finally you reveal yourself." His tone was laced with hatred as his glare met her calm gaze, breaking the silence that passed between them for what seemed like a life span.
"Aye. I'm giving you one final chance to win this game." Her eyes flicked towards the people. This sent a wave of panic through the crowd, sending the townsfolk running to escape. Let them, she could find them later.
"Game?! You think this a game?!" he yelled, stepping past his son towards her. Her ruby lips curved into a wicked grin as she returned her gaze to him, seemingly unaware of the woman moving through the shadows behind her and began to climb a nearby tree. Rayne was trained in the art of assassination - something she despised every moment of her life. The king, however, granted her a second life as his personal guard. She would not let this creature - for in her eyes it was not fit to be called a woman - lay a finger upon him. The king gave a subtle twitch of his head without even glancing at her, telling her to halt. A glance would have given away her position and the king did not want that.
"Couldn't you tell?" She asked, seemingly astonished at his naivety. Shiora, who had stood her ground as people ran to escape began to approach. Her anger was threatening her control over herself.
"You call murdering people.. Innocent people a game? How is that fun?" Shiora called out to the being. She may be crazy, but that didn't even make sense to her. This caused Apollymi's gaze to shift to Shiora.
"You.. You don't understand. None of you do!" Apollymi's venomous glare turned on the king, "And I thought you would be the one!"
It didn't make sense to any of them, but the only one interested in learning why was Shiora. She saw how Apollymi's eyes began to water as though she was near tears, as though she wanted to break down and cry. Shiora saw the sadness hidden deep within the slitted green eyes and she craved to know this creature's past. Before any of them had any chance to react to Apollymi's angry statement, she screamed. Windows shattered as the scream continued and Apollymi began to change. Her body began to grow and her skin seemed to become stretched thinly across what appeared to be black muscle beneath until finally the fragile flesh tore. The black mass that had been concealed beneath seemed to either dissolve or absorb the tattered pieces of what had been of the woman. Not even the clothes remained when it was done changing.
A creature now stood above them, a good ten feet high. It had no face, only a mouth that nearly wrapped around it's head - lined with jagged teeth. It appeared to have no gender, or really anything distinguishing at all save for the black skin and the mouth.
"You are all nothing!" the creature screamed as it spun around, flinging it's hand out to knock a stunned Rayne from the tree.
"Father, run!" The prince yelled, grabbing his father's arm in an attempt to pull his father with him. But his father would not move, the king pulled his arm from his son's grasp and unsheathed Brequiar, an ancestral sword with powers long since forgotten. The king was always to wear it, but never unsheath it without dire cause.
"My son.. Leave. Lead our people out of here and into safety. That is your duty now. Our people need a leader, and that leader must be you."
"Oh how cliche.." It was as though a thousand voices spoke together in perfect time - male, female, young, and old. The voices came from the same source.. Apollymi.
"Hey! Who are you to say what's cliche and what's not?" Shiora yelled as she stomped towards the massive thing. She reached back behind her, retrieving the zhua - a weapon that looked somewhat like a large backscratcher with a finely detailed hand on one end with claws instead of nails and a weight on the other end. The hand waved tauntingly at the creature. With the creature's focus on Shiora, Rayne ran for the king and his son only to grab the prince and force him to follow her.
"What are you?" The king yelled at Apollymi.
"I am Death personified. I am Insanity. I am the everything you fear most.."
"Oh yeah? Well I fear nothing!" Shiora yelled at the Sekhephyr, attempting to keep it's attention on her, but it was in vain. Apollymi attacked the king, who was doing his best to parry and dodge. In his age, his speed was faltering. Determined to keep harm from the king, Shiora began to attack the beast herself. She swiped at it's arm as it aimed a hit at the king with her zhua, the claws dug in and latched to it as it lifted it for another attack. Dangling from it's arm, she swung her body up till she was above the creature's arm only to have her zhua release it's grip at the same moment she increased her weight to the maximum. Her body slammed down on the creature's arm, causing a scream to issue from it's hatch of a mouth. Shiora landed on the ground, creating a decent sized hole from her weight, before lightening herself again. Apollymi lunged for her, too angry to think clearly only to have Shiora leap just seconds before it's hand would have made contact. The king, emboldened by Shiora's distraction, made his way behind Apollymi and sliced at the back of it's knee. It fell to one knee, another scream leaving it just before a light-as-a-feather Shiora landed on it's shoulder to use it as a launching pad. She flew up into the air and just a second after she began to fall back down, she once again increased her weight. Her speed increased, but Apollymi was now too concerned about the king. Apollymi swung it's arm back towards him as it turned it's body. The king was knocked back from the blow, his body only stopping when it made contact with a building. The impact was made just as Shiora landed on the creature.
"NOOOO!!!" The scream was heard above the sound of the creature being driven into the ground. The prince had returned just in time to watch the fatal blow. Shiora couldn't see from the dirt in the air as she climbed from the hole she had just created. The creature wasn't moving, though. That much she knew. The dust cleared slowly, revealing the prince holding his father to him with Brequiar in his hand.
"I'm sorry." Shiora muttered softly. The prince's only response was a shake of his head. She touched his shoulder softly before slowly beginning her tread back home.
The sound was subtle, the slight shifting of rocks, but Shiora heard it and spun just in time to see the Sekhephyr rise from it's hole. It had a wicked grin that bared it's jagged teeth.
"RUN!" Shiora screamed as the creature lunged for him. Shiora got there first, shoving the prince out of the way only to be grabbed and tossed into it's mouth.
There was no sound nor light. There was simply nothing.
What are you? A voice broke the silence. A child's voice, soft and innocent. Shiora opened her eyes, finding she was giving off light and illuminating the nothingness just enough to reveal the child.
What are you? it repeated before the empty space around her began to fill with a number of people - all repeating the question. Shiora tried to speak, but found she had no voice. And the voices grew in their intensity until it she had need to cover her ears. Once again there was silence. Gentle hands touched hers, pulling them away from her ears to reveal the madness of the people gone. All that was left was a woman. She was strikingly beautiful with a kindness in her eyes, yet there was something familiar about her.
Thank you The woman said.
"For what?" Shiora responded, her voice finally working.
You have cleansed our souls. The love you feel for all, for life itself, overpowered the hate and the anger.. You've released us. We are free. The woman backed up slightly.
"But.. Wait.. What happens to me?"
You will live. Our bodies have combined. You are now love and hate. Darkness and light. Your love is stronger than the hatred, keep it that way or this land will surely suffer for it. The woman's voice and body faded from view only to be replaced by a loud scream and a burning sensation all over her body. It didn't take long to realize the screaming was from her as she was pulled back to the world. Slowly the burning pain faded, leaving her to whimper and curl into a ball. The sensation of cloth touching her overly sensitized skin caused her to look up and find the prince standing above her, in his hand her spirit stone. She tried to speak, but her tongue would not work correctly.
"Hush brave one. Be still." And that was all she heard before she passed out.
Shiora woke to find herself in a room she had never seen before, with a sleeping gown she knew she didn't own.
"You're awake." She started before realizing it was the prince and nodding slightly.
"Why am I here?" She asked softly.
"You saved my life, so I brought you back to be cared for. Thank you." He seemed hesitant, as though there were more to say but he could not say it.
"I am to leave aren't I?" His lowered gaze gave the confirmation.
"The people fear you. Despite my urgance that you are safe. It would be safer for you, if you left. I will supply you with everything you need and more. Just ask and it is yours." Within a short time, Shiora was on her way out of the kingdom and heading out on a new adventure. This time was to discover what had happened to her. Her research led her to Etirath, a kingdom said to have a grand library that could very well have the answers she needs.. But only time will tell.
Apparent Age: 25
Years Since Hatching: 21
Species: Formerly Thirian
Race: Froya
Gender: Female
Rank: Citizen
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Basic Appearance
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Hair: Black, shoulder length
Facial Hair: n/a
Eyes: (better described in the description)
Skin: White as the full moon on a clear night
Build: lean
Height: 5'7"
Weight: Varies
Special Features:
Detailed physical description: Shiora is rather thin despite the amount she eats. Her hair, which falls at shoulder length, is a dark black with flecks of soft color like one would often see in opals which shimmer almost like stars when light touches the soft strands. The darkness of her hair is a grave contrast to her skin tone and causes her youthful face to appear slightly chubbier than it is. Large, almond shaped eyes seem to give her a doll-like quality especially with eyes like the bloodstone on which her "egg" rested. The deep green irises with dark red flecks in random places seem almost as though they were made of the stone themselves.
Her usual attire consists of a pale pink shirt with "fluffy" sleeves that end in ties at the elbows, a black leather vest that has two straps to buckle it in place, a pair of black shorts that end halfway down her thighs, and a purple sarong tied about her hips that ends just slightly below the knees with the slit up the right side. Shiora hates to wear shoes and usually wears silver anklets with bells. However, on the rare occasions she decides to wear shoes, she wears sandals as they are as close to being barefoot as she can get.
Around her neck is a simple silver chain with a single pendant. The pendant is an odd one a teardrop shaped opal with a small portion of it not the color of the opal, but of the bloodstone color of her eyes. This is known as her "Spirit Stone" and is described in her gear.
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Personality
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Personality: Though sweet and seemingly innocent, Shiora is a bundle of mischief. She holds a great capacity for love, showing it even in the darkest of times. Often, she has been referred to as her former crew's guiding light. It's hard not to love her and even harder to stay mad at her. Since the incident at Elvegaste, though, she's a mild bit shyer than she once was and no longer picks up a conversation with any stranger she can.
She learns at an increasingly fast rate, often picking up things just by watching.
Quirks and Habits: For some unknown reason, Shiora is terrified of silverware to the point that if she even catches a glimpse of a spoon, fork, or knife she freezes instantly or runs from the room. Oddly enough, though, she is not terrified of knives meant for weapons, decorative knives, or ceremonial daggers.
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Skills and abilities
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Abilities:
Weight Adaptation: Shiora can change her weight though her size does not change. For instance, if she needs to be carried, she can cause her body to be light enough to be carried, but at the same time, if she does doesn't want anyone to pick her up she can change her weight so that her body feels as heavy as the stone she was birthed from (which took two full grown men to carry).
Emotional Influence: Shiora's very presence has the effect of calming even the wildest and angriest of beings. She is learning to control this to where she can remove all the calm or give a large dose of the calming energies. Once she's mastered this, she intends to learn to single out the energy. Basically meaning to be able to calm just one being without affecting anyone else.
Astral Projection: Astral Projection is where the spirit leaves the body and can travel, uninhibited anywhere the spirit wishes. It's important, however, that the body remain in a safe place because if the spirit loses it's body it will be forced to roam the world as a shade. It's also important to note that if the spirit is destroyed then the body will be left in a comatose state until it is no longer able to function or until a wandering soul with no body of its own claims it.
Dream Walking: Shiora has the ability to enter another being's dreams. In the beginning she will not have any control inside the dreams and will need the dreamer's help to influence the dream, however, the more she uses it the more she is able to control until she can influence the dream herself.
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Gear
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Bag of Secrets: Shiora's "bag of secrets" is a leather bag tied to her shorts at the right hip. Everyone knows she carries an assortment of stones given to her by the crewmen, but they also believe she has put other things inside because she refuses to let anyone look inside.
Spirit Stone: The stone around her neck seemingly composed of both opal and bloodstone. The attributes it possesses are not fully known to Shiora just yet, but she does know that if she gave it to someone that not only would they literally have a piece of her but they would also be able to contact her no matter where either party is. She's afraid to learn all the possibilities, as that would mean experimenting with it, but she craves the knowledge. The connection she once had with it, however, is no longer as strong since her change. This deeply concerns her.
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Weapon
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Zhua: The Zhua appears to be a giant back scratcher. The "handle" is a pole about six feet long with a highly detailed hand at one end with "claws" in place of nails that are so sharp that it can tear the very flesh from bone. The weight of the hand itself is heavy enough to quite possibly kill a person with a single blow in the right spot. Shiora's zhua is actually mildly modified from the traditional weapon with a weight upon the other end as well to balance it out. The handle, however, can also be compacted to where it's only around two feet long. This makes for easier transport. Another interesting fact is that for some reason the hand of the weapon seems to move on it's own free will, but it's not really. The weapon was made specifically for Shiora and as such has an enchantment that allows her to move the hand as though it was her own living hand. She often makes it move to freak people out.
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The Thirians aka Chrysalians:
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There are four different types of Chrysalians: the Froya who make their eggs out of stone, the Adana who make their eggs out of ice, the Beghi who make their eggs out of living trees or plants, and the Jaykair who make their eggs out of webbing or cocoons. There were normally only about fifty of each race alive at one time which form a "tribe", and more often than not the parents would not get to see their child come into the world. This is not as grand a tragedy as it seems, however, for when a Chrysalian dies, they consider it "Ascension" rather than calling it death as it isn't entirely final.
The Ascended are still linked to their Spirit Stones, which are stones that are formed at the same time as they are when the comet known as Thraidon's Tear acts as the catalyst to turn the "egg" into a living body. The process on this is still one that the few who are obsessed with the Chrysalians are trying to figure out. The stones are linked to the individual Chrysalian's heart and spirit. There is no logical reason behind why the Spirit Stones exist, at least none that experts can figure out, but the Spirit Stones were exchanged when a couple married as a sign of love and trust.
When a Chrysalian "Ascends," their body turns to dust or melts - whichever the case may be - and leaves only the heart and the Spirit Stone. The Spirit Stones are usually taken off to different areas so that the Ascended can travel the world, but their hearts are taken and added to the "nests" of the eggs waiting to be hatched. This is done because the hearts contain the energy and powers of the Chrysalian that owned them. This made them highly sought after when a Chrysalian died outside of it's homeland and it's powers were discovered. The purpose of adding them to the nest is to allow the eggs to absorb the energy which will aid them in hatching when the time comes.
After a while, the Chrysalian's began to be hunted humans in hopes of stealing their hearts for the power. This is why many of the Chrysalians began to hide their eggs and travel off too far from the nests to keep their children safe - though often it left the children with no hope of leaving the egg state without help from an outside source.
Chrysalian's are born with different powers, though most are not able to use said powers until they reach the age of maturity. The powers they are born with vary based on what their eggs are made of, the hearts that rest below and around them, and their surroundings. This grants a grand array of attributes. However, the powers they are able to use upon birth can drain them and cause their usually slow aging rate to speed up depending on how much of a drain the ability caused.
The aging rate of a Chrysalian is usually about one year to five human years for a child up until they reach the physical age of twenty-five. After that, it significantly slows to one year to around ten human years. This often gives them the illusion of immortality which is another reason they were hunted as humans wanted to learn the reason of their longevity.
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Bio/Backstory
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Fate has an odd way of working in manners you would never suspect.
Shiora's story starts back when the world was fresh and teeming with wildlife and creatures now lost to myths and legends. Chrysalians, for those who didn't know, were rare even in times of old. Their birth was one of ritual. Every three hundred years a comet can be seen from the planet's surface. This comet, today, is known as Thraidon's Tear. This is based upon a myth no one actually believes anymore, but is still passed on from generation to generation. Without this comet, a Chrysalian cannot leave their "egg" state.
There were four different sub-species, or races, of the Chrysalia species. Shiora is of the Froya. The Chrysalia are a unique species. They do not lay the eggs they are birthed from, but they do create them. The Froya, for instance, carve their eggs out of rock or precious gems. One couple even created their egg from mud, molding it like clay.
The child is created within the egg when the parents join spirits within the egg, creating a sort of "spirit child" inside. The child feeds from the energies around it's egg, using those energies to "build" its own physical body within the egg. The comet is important, because it gives off waves of energy strong enough to be felt upon the planet's surface - but not below it. This energy, once absorbed by the child, awakens the child and gives it the strength to free itself from its egg.
Shiora's egg was carved from opal. The egg stood at three feet tall with a width, at it's broadest point, of one foot seven inches. It rested upon a pedestal of bloodstone, hidden deep in a cave on the Valterren Isle.
Captain Jacobs and his crew stumbled upon the egg while hunting for treasure said to be stored within the mountains. It was midday when they found the egg, spiderwebs hanging from the walls and ceiling like blankets of lace. The beauty of the white stone, shimmering lightly with colors of the rainbow drew them closer to it, much like the song of a siren might. Though the grown men would not admit it aloud, each found it beautiful. Assuming this was the treasure they had heard about, and not wanting to leave empty handed, they took the egg to the ship.
The plan had been to take the stone and sell it to jewelers, but such did not go according to plan...
Midnight struck after three days out at sea, it was the first night Thraidon's Tear appeared in the sky after 300 years. It was as though something fell from the sky and hit the ship, causing it to dip a little deeper into the water and toss those in and on the ship about. As one could expect, the captain was furious for being tossed out of his bed. He stormed up to the deck, fully prepared to yell at the first person that crossed his path, but what he saw stopped him dead.
They had placed the egg near the mast, covering it in old, torn sails they needed repaired and nets they used to catch fish to keep them from going through their supplies too quickly. These things were no longer on the egg, seemingly blown off by whatever had hit the ship. But no one was even concerned about it, their gaze was on the egg. The egg was glowing and the colors that shimmered oh so lightly before were now vibrant and dancing upon the stone.
Mattias, one of the crewmen close enough to the egg, reached out to touch the egg only to pull his fingers back with a yelp of pain. His pain was quickly forgotten, however, when the egg began to shake. It started lightly, like a slight shiver a person feels when something bad is going to happen, and grew till it was so violent it shook the entire ship. Jacobs was frightened the ship would capsize, but the entire crew (himself included) couldn't do anything about it as they clung to anything they could grab ahold of. As the shaking grew stronger the egg began to lift into the sky, barely missing the eagle's nest.
Slowly, the egg began to spin in midair only to pick up pace with each rotation and the faster the egg spun the more distorted the shape of it seemed to be. Faster and faster it spun and the stone seemed to grow longer and thinner until it was more of a cylinder than an oval. At this point, it began to slow. By this time the ship had slowed to a gentle rocking allowing the crew and the captain to avert their full concentration on the now descending figure.
They couldn't believe what they saw. A girl, around the age of seven based on appearance stood upon the deck now. For a moment they were too stunned to react, even as she walked towards the captain who was awkwardly sitting on a crate with his arms tangled in some rope. Saying nothing, she crawled onto his lap to sit like a child might do to her father to play lightly with his beard.
"What.. What is it Cap'n?" One of the crew members asked.
"A... Child.." He muttered softly. She was absolutely adorable and Jacobs found the dream he had in his youth to have a family rekindled.
"What's your name?" He asked the child, but she didn't answer.
"Alright men," he continued, "Clean this mess up."
Though the men were all curious about what she was, they obeyed and in fact worked quicker so they could learn more about the girl and what exactly she was all the quicker. Jacobs, however, took her to his cabin. The first thing he did, was put one of his shirts on her. The shirt was much too large, coming down to her knees like a dress. He had to cut the sleeves so that she could use her hands. The entire time he did this, she stood silently with her large eyes staring up at him. Once finished, he felt rather awkward.
"Uh.. Are you.. I mean do you want.. What do you eat?" He managed, though her only response was tilting her head adorably to the right.
"Right.. You don't understand. I'll be right back." He said, holding up a finger before heading for the door. The moment he opened it half the crew fell into the doorway in a huge dog pile. This caused a laugh to escape her. It was simply beautiful. Like the soft sounds of bells. They all stared at her a moment before Jacobs ushered them all out and headed for the galley. What he found when he came back shocked him silly.
Shiora, in all of her cuteness, sat in the middle of the room - which was now a wreck- surrounded by papers, odd knick knacks that had large bites out of them, his telescope which now had gnaw marks, and in her lap was a book from which she was tearing papers and steadily stuffing in her mouth.
"No!" He screamed and quickly set the food he had retrieved down and ran towards her. This frightened her, causing her to emit a strong pulse of relaxing energy which quite nearly put him to sleep in mid run. By the time he reached her, she was crying.
"No no.. Its okay, you didn't know any better," he said as he scooped her up in his arms to rock her and stroke her back until she stopped crying - all the while fighting the drowsiness the relaxed feeling she was creating caused.
Having calmed her down, he immediately summoned the crew's medic, Theo, to make sure none of what she had eaten would hurt her. Theo could find nothing wrong. In fact she appeared to be a perfectly normal child. At this point a crewman by the name of Galen stepped in.
"I think I found something of yours." He muttered softly and extended his hand to reveal a small teardrop shaped stone. Its seemed to be made of the same stone she had emerged from with a small portion of dark green and red in a condensed area. Immediately, her face lit up and she took it only to leap off the table she had been placed on for examination towards him. Her arms wrapped about his neck in a snug hug, which he returned after a moment of shock. With a kiss to his cheek, she released him to slide down to the floor. Stone in hand, she made her way to the captain's bed and crawled onto it.
Shiora named herself. It was a few days after she came into being and the men were arguing over what to call her. One man had said to name her Sally, another Trinity, and the list kept growing until her soft little voice silenced them all.
"Shiora," she said as she looked them all in the eyes, "Shiora Aldrien Silverwing." The name was the same as the main character of her favorite book series. Shiora Silverwing - Pirate Captain of the Skyship Tempest.
As the following year passed, she learned things at an alarming rate. Already she had a vocabulary far beyond that of the crew. She still looked as young as the day she came into being, and a style all her own. Jacobs had to compromise with her to get her to wear a sarong, despite the fact he wanted her to wear dresses. She said she disliked dresses as dresses constricted her movement.
It was her first birthday and the crew wanted to do something special to commemorate it. They docked in a port on the coast of Pelara, a country known for it's fine cuisine. It was funny seeing the group of fifteen men, who were usually dirtier than the floor of a barn, clean and finely dressed. They were all uncomfortable in the attire, but it was a special day for them all.
Colbert, the one who had made the actual reservation, had screwed up and forgot to ask the waiters to remove the silverware - so as they entered the reserved room, Shiora immediately froze the moment she spotted the silverware.
"Quick men! The cutlery!" Immediately the men went into action, grabbing every last bit of the silverware and taking it out of the room. It took her a moment to relax and, although the men were all upset with him, she forgave Colbert and paid him special attention that day to make sure he knew she wasn't upset with him. Aside from the odd looks the employees of the restaurant gave them for eating with their hands, the party was a huge success ending, as some parties do, with the birthday girl falling asleep before time to go.
As they were carrying Shiora back to the ship, Mattias spotted a red-tailed hawk following them. At first he thought nothing of it until it hovered over the ship as they began to board. It was curious the hawk would be following them, but then in the past year weirder things had happened. They stayed in port that night so they could go the next day to restock their supplies and visit some of the locals. Well, when they woke up they saw something else that shocked them. There in the early morning light, Shiora was playing with the hawk.
"Been playin' wit' that bird since the sun came up. Went to the galley to get somthin' to drink, came back and saws the two havin' a grand ole time." Jack, the man who was keeping the night watch explained when they all came up. It didn't take much to get Jacobs to say yes to keeping the hawk, whom Shiora named Hubert.
The hawk was a loyal companion, helping in anyway he was able especially when it came to keeping the ship rat free. In a way, he was a guardian for the young child. He died two years after joining the crew. It was the saddest day any of them had ever experienced.
It started out as a beautiful day, the first day of fall, in fact. The wind was slightly colder, a tidbit harsher, and the sky was a bright, but pale blue. Everyone was feeling a bit lazy due everything outside of their beds being colder than the inside of their beds. Shiora seemed to be the only one not too affected by it. She and Hubert stood outside, facing the sun to watch it as it lifted into the sky. They loved watching the sun rise together, almost as much as they enjoyed dancing in the light of a full moon. The tranquility was disrupted by a thunderous sound from behind the ship. They were under attack.
The men sprung into the action, readying the weapons as Shiora raced to the hidden compartment they had made for her in case of an emergency like this. The attacking ship made it to their port side and boarded. The battle lasted for hours and ended when one of the opposing crew killed Hubert. It had been an accident. The bullet was meant for Captain Jacobs, but Hubert had gotten in the way and saved his life. The battle stopped for a brief moment before picking back up with the men fighting far more viciously, this time aiming to kill. This drove the attacking crew off their ship and sent them running. Jacobs let them go, there was no point in chasing after them.
Once it was clear, Shiora came out. She knew it before she saw it. As she scooped the dead bird into her arms, she wept for the second time in her life. It was interesting what happened next. Her tears fell into the pool of the bird's blood, mixing in with it and seemed to crystallize. It wasn't long before there was a pile of small, tear shaped gems. They were as red as the blood with flecks of green, dark blue, orange and even a few spots of purple. No one noticed this until they moved to take Hubert from Shiora. As a result, each of the crew now carries one of these blood opals in remembrance of Hubert. Shiora's is inside her bag of secrets.
Despite the sadness of her loss, Shiora kept her head up and faced each day with a brightness that only seems to grow brighter with each passing day. Often, that brightness is the only thing that kept the crew going.
Several years passed and nothing terribly amazing or utterly disastrous happened, though it seemed Shiora had stopped aging. While, technically, only seven years of age, she should appear to be in her early teens yet she only appeared 10. Jacobs wasn't too worried about it, for what father wanted his little girl to grow up? They discovered something interesting, however, one day when a couple crew men got into a fight with some locals in a tavern.
Shiora had talked Jacobs into taking her to the tavern as she was utterly starving - despite the fact she ate only a few hours ago. Jacobs would swear that she could eat any king out of house and home. The fight started when one of the drunken patrons of the tavern bumped rather rudely into Galen, one of the crewmen. The argument turning into a fight, Shiora let out a pulse of energy that replaced the hostility of the people in the tavern with a light-heartedness that had the men laughing and embracing as though they were brothers. After that day, she seemed to age rather quickly for a year, or at least to them it seemed quick, before she returned to the a growth rate that suited Jacobs just fine.
It annoyed Shiora how she seemed to be aging so much slower than the kids she visited in the ports and wondered desperately what was wrong with her. It wasn't until Jack, the first mate, brought her a book of myths that she came to the awareness of what she truly was. She began to study like a mad scientist when they feel they are onto something. Many of the crewmen became worried for her health, but Jacobs reassured them that it was only a phase.. Which was a fact he didn't fully believe himself.
Within the next couple of years, Shiora discovered more and more things she could do and practiced her calming abilities on the crew - who were mostly unaware of their role as guinea pigs. It didn't take long for her to discover she could travel places by spirit alone. It was confusing at first, but with the help of Triadi - one of the Ascended Chrysalians that chose to remain bound with his Spirit Stone - she was able to figure it out. Triadi taught her about her culture and even showed her where her ancestral home was. Shiora had a faint hope to possibly be able to see her parents, her real parents, but that hope was quickly destroyed when the Ascended told her that they had died outside of the Ascended's territory, that if she wanted to see them - or their spirits as the case may be - she would have to travel far off and even possibly into a different world. Though she wanted to, she couldn't bare to leave Jacobs or the rest of the crew.
The next couple of years turned out to be eventful as, once again, they were attacked. Only this time, Jacobs nearly lost his life. This seriously pissed off Shiora who let loose a combination of her powers. To those attacking, she added on the calm, causing them to lose their resolve to fight while she removed the calm of the crew men and sent them into a fighting rage that matched her own. This effectively guaranteed their victory, but at a grave cost to her age. She aged quite nearly five years in one human year. This caused Jacobs, whom of which they took to the nearest port to take to the hospital, to think he was worse off mentally than he was - for he was in and out of consciousness for several months as he recovered. However it would take longer for him to fully recover. When the time finally came that he was almost fully recovered, it came to be that his crew had settled down in the town, and he himself was finding he was falling for the nurse helping him with physical therapy.
Shiora, however, was restless. With Jacobs blessing she joined another crew to adventure with. Sadly this crew wasn't any fun so she left them at the first port they landed. She traveled alone for a while, exploring before she began her first business. "Shiora's shop for the weirdly odd and the oddly weird" was the title she gave it. She sold things that most people had never even heard of. Deciding to actually set up a shop rather than just traveling around selling goods, Shiora finally stopped in a kingdom called Elvegaste. But not long after setting up shop, her life was soon to change...
The day was to be a day of great joy - the day of the Everhearst Festival. The Everhearst Festival was a day in honor of Alvina Everhearst - a woman who sacrificed her very being to ensure the safety of the land and it's people. But the Everhearst Festival had lost such meaning many years ago when, after many generations, people began to forget the true meaning behind the festival. The king had bid the festival to continue for in such dire times, they all needed something joyful in their lives.
But such was not to be the case....
A scene was laid out in the very center, for all to see. A circle of nearly twenty people lay upon the ground, their heads pointed to the center. Each face was frozen in a look of terror that left the question of what horrendous sight had been their last. Oddly enough, they were all adults, not a single child amongst the outer circle - in fact, if one might recall, each was a parent of a child that died at the hands of Apollymi - a creature almost as old as time itself.. A Sekhephyr. She had terrorized the village for months, claiming the lives of children and replacing their hearts with flowers. No one could catch her, as Sekhephyr were not only a race so old they were myth to those present but also could also change their form in the blink of an eye.
Each parent had their chests opened, the heart removed, and bouquets placed inside of the chest cavities just as their children had been. The flowers this time, however, were a mixed assortment. Hyssop, rosemary, lilac, stargazer lilies, and sweet pea and each had a meaning to the one that put it there. In the center of the circle, sat a young girl. Her hands rested neatly upon her lap and her large pale blue eyes straight ahead with a seemingly empty expression. Her dark brown hair hung in ringlets down her shoulders and was a grave contrast to the snow white dress she wore. She could easily pass as nothing more than a lifesized doll.
As the crowd began to form, they could only stop and stare at the gory scene. The silence was louder than any scream. The king was the one to race to the circle to check if the young girl still had breath in her tiny body, but the moment he touched the poor child she seemed to crumble into dust at his feet. He stood there, frozen in place for several moments with his hand still stretched out to the child before his son approached him, pleading for him to return to the castle.
"Yes, that's right. Flee like the coward you are. Hide behind stone walls though they offer you no protection from me." The sound of a female voice, wicked and mocking, called out, echoing through the silence of the gardens. From a tree before them, a raven fell from it's perch only to pick up flight just before crashing into the ground below. It flew to the center of the circle with the king and his heir before flying straight up. Five feet from the ground the black of it's feathers seemed to elongate as it's ascent halted. It's body seemed to stretch. The bottom falling to the ground until it was the size of a mortal, it's feather's turning into shadowy wisps. The very sun seemed to hide as this creature changed shapes before their very eyes.
The head was no longer a head, but a hood covering the face of the creature that had been haunting the king. He knew the voice.. He knew the scent she carried with her.. A soft, sweet fragrance that spoke of innocence and innocence lost. She threw back the hood to reveal a face of beauty and danger with eyes of a snake. Green slitted eyes bore into the king's own and he felt his anger rising.
"So finally you reveal yourself." His tone was laced with hatred as his glare met her calm gaze, breaking the silence that passed between them for what seemed like a life span.
"Aye. I'm giving you one final chance to win this game." Her eyes flicked towards the people. This sent a wave of panic through the crowd, sending the townsfolk running to escape. Let them, she could find them later.
"Game?! You think this a game?!" he yelled, stepping past his son towards her. Her ruby lips curved into a wicked grin as she returned her gaze to him, seemingly unaware of the woman moving through the shadows behind her and began to climb a nearby tree. Rayne was trained in the art of assassination - something she despised every moment of her life. The king, however, granted her a second life as his personal guard. She would not let this creature - for in her eyes it was not fit to be called a woman - lay a finger upon him. The king gave a subtle twitch of his head without even glancing at her, telling her to halt. A glance would have given away her position and the king did not want that.
"Couldn't you tell?" She asked, seemingly astonished at his naivety. Shiora, who had stood her ground as people ran to escape began to approach. Her anger was threatening her control over herself.
"You call murdering people.. Innocent people a game? How is that fun?" Shiora called out to the being. She may be crazy, but that didn't even make sense to her. This caused Apollymi's gaze to shift to Shiora.
"You.. You don't understand. None of you do!" Apollymi's venomous glare turned on the king, "And I thought you would be the one!"
It didn't make sense to any of them, but the only one interested in learning why was Shiora. She saw how Apollymi's eyes began to water as though she was near tears, as though she wanted to break down and cry. Shiora saw the sadness hidden deep within the slitted green eyes and she craved to know this creature's past. Before any of them had any chance to react to Apollymi's angry statement, she screamed. Windows shattered as the scream continued and Apollymi began to change. Her body began to grow and her skin seemed to become stretched thinly across what appeared to be black muscle beneath until finally the fragile flesh tore. The black mass that had been concealed beneath seemed to either dissolve or absorb the tattered pieces of what had been of the woman. Not even the clothes remained when it was done changing.
A creature now stood above them, a good ten feet high. It had no face, only a mouth that nearly wrapped around it's head - lined with jagged teeth. It appeared to have no gender, or really anything distinguishing at all save for the black skin and the mouth.
"You are all nothing!" the creature screamed as it spun around, flinging it's hand out to knock a stunned Rayne from the tree.
"Father, run!" The prince yelled, grabbing his father's arm in an attempt to pull his father with him. But his father would not move, the king pulled his arm from his son's grasp and unsheathed Brequiar, an ancestral sword with powers long since forgotten. The king was always to wear it, but never unsheath it without dire cause.
"My son.. Leave. Lead our people out of here and into safety. That is your duty now. Our people need a leader, and that leader must be you."
"Oh how cliche.." It was as though a thousand voices spoke together in perfect time - male, female, young, and old. The voices came from the same source.. Apollymi.
"Hey! Who are you to say what's cliche and what's not?" Shiora yelled as she stomped towards the massive thing. She reached back behind her, retrieving the zhua - a weapon that looked somewhat like a large backscratcher with a finely detailed hand on one end with claws instead of nails and a weight on the other end. The hand waved tauntingly at the creature. With the creature's focus on Shiora, Rayne ran for the king and his son only to grab the prince and force him to follow her.
"What are you?" The king yelled at Apollymi.
"I am Death personified. I am Insanity. I am the everything you fear most.."
"Oh yeah? Well I fear nothing!" Shiora yelled at the Sekhephyr, attempting to keep it's attention on her, but it was in vain. Apollymi attacked the king, who was doing his best to parry and dodge. In his age, his speed was faltering. Determined to keep harm from the king, Shiora began to attack the beast herself. She swiped at it's arm as it aimed a hit at the king with her zhua, the claws dug in and latched to it as it lifted it for another attack. Dangling from it's arm, she swung her body up till she was above the creature's arm only to have her zhua release it's grip at the same moment she increased her weight to the maximum. Her body slammed down on the creature's arm, causing a scream to issue from it's hatch of a mouth. Shiora landed on the ground, creating a decent sized hole from her weight, before lightening herself again. Apollymi lunged for her, too angry to think clearly only to have Shiora leap just seconds before it's hand would have made contact. The king, emboldened by Shiora's distraction, made his way behind Apollymi and sliced at the back of it's knee. It fell to one knee, another scream leaving it just before a light-as-a-feather Shiora landed on it's shoulder to use it as a launching pad. She flew up into the air and just a second after she began to fall back down, she once again increased her weight. Her speed increased, but Apollymi was now too concerned about the king. Apollymi swung it's arm back towards him as it turned it's body. The king was knocked back from the blow, his body only stopping when it made contact with a building. The impact was made just as Shiora landed on the creature.
"NOOOO!!!" The scream was heard above the sound of the creature being driven into the ground. The prince had returned just in time to watch the fatal blow. Shiora couldn't see from the dirt in the air as she climbed from the hole she had just created. The creature wasn't moving, though. That much she knew. The dust cleared slowly, revealing the prince holding his father to him with Brequiar in his hand.
"I'm sorry." Shiora muttered softly. The prince's only response was a shake of his head. She touched his shoulder softly before slowly beginning her tread back home.
The sound was subtle, the slight shifting of rocks, but Shiora heard it and spun just in time to see the Sekhephyr rise from it's hole. It had a wicked grin that bared it's jagged teeth.
"RUN!" Shiora screamed as the creature lunged for him. Shiora got there first, shoving the prince out of the way only to be grabbed and tossed into it's mouth.
There was no sound nor light. There was simply nothing.
What are you? A voice broke the silence. A child's voice, soft and innocent. Shiora opened her eyes, finding she was giving off light and illuminating the nothingness just enough to reveal the child.
What are you? it repeated before the empty space around her began to fill with a number of people - all repeating the question. Shiora tried to speak, but found she had no voice. And the voices grew in their intensity until it she had need to cover her ears. Once again there was silence. Gentle hands touched hers, pulling them away from her ears to reveal the madness of the people gone. All that was left was a woman. She was strikingly beautiful with a kindness in her eyes, yet there was something familiar about her.
Thank you The woman said.
"For what?" Shiora responded, her voice finally working.
You have cleansed our souls. The love you feel for all, for life itself, overpowered the hate and the anger.. You've released us. We are free. The woman backed up slightly.
"But.. Wait.. What happens to me?"
You will live. Our bodies have combined. You are now love and hate. Darkness and light. Your love is stronger than the hatred, keep it that way or this land will surely suffer for it. The woman's voice and body faded from view only to be replaced by a loud scream and a burning sensation all over her body. It didn't take long to realize the screaming was from her as she was pulled back to the world. Slowly the burning pain faded, leaving her to whimper and curl into a ball. The sensation of cloth touching her overly sensitized skin caused her to look up and find the prince standing above her, in his hand her spirit stone. She tried to speak, but her tongue would not work correctly.
"Hush brave one. Be still." And that was all she heard before she passed out.
Shiora woke to find herself in a room she had never seen before, with a sleeping gown she knew she didn't own.
"You're awake." She started before realizing it was the prince and nodding slightly.
"Why am I here?" She asked softly.
"You saved my life, so I brought you back to be cared for. Thank you." He seemed hesitant, as though there were more to say but he could not say it.
"I am to leave aren't I?" His lowered gaze gave the confirmation.
"The people fear you. Despite my urgance that you are safe. It would be safer for you, if you left. I will supply you with everything you need and more. Just ask and it is yours." Within a short time, Shiora was on her way out of the kingdom and heading out on a new adventure. This time was to discover what had happened to her. Her research led her to Etirath, a kingdom said to have a grand library that could very well have the answers she needs.. But only time will tell.