The Testing

[Anonymous]

Nia was an idiot. Why hadn't she chosen some more practical clothes over her favorite white robes for this? The answer was simple: if she had realized that this would require scouring through the mountains for some obscure object that the teachers had put here, she really would have dressed in something more practical. That probably wasn't any excuse, though, since the teachers liked to put the students through rigorous trials of endurance and magical abilities. One of their favorite things to say was that you never knew what you might be using your magic against, and might not be able to control where.

Therefore, the test. Nia followed one of the paths up the mountain, glad that she had seen fit to wear sturdy boots for this. Eventually the air began to thin, and her breathing became more shallow. Glancing around, Nia saw an outcropping of rock. Perfect! She edged over to peer over the cliff. Strange- she didn't remember those clouds being there as she climbed up. A sign of things to come? Standing up straight, Nia hoped that wasn't the case. Murmering a brief encantation, a ball of light appeared in her hands. She parted her palms and it fell down towards them. Unfortunately, it disappeared when it hit them, as if they had swallowed her magic whole.

Nia wasn't impressed. Even though her magic was decently strong, it would be useless against any creatures that came here, and most other magics that existed. Light and dark, serving only to illuminate and hide. One had to be discretionary when one used them, since it could easily be obvious when she was using them.

Regardless, she had to press on. The thing she was looking for was inside the mountain, and Nia had no idea how to get in. There had been no openings or ways in so far- that she noticed, at least. This could get ugly. Students did occasionally die here, on tests like this. But if Nia wanted to advance to the next level of classes, she had to do this. There was no turning back or refusing. After all, where else could she go, or what else could she do, if she refused? The answer sobered the slight fears that had started to nag at the back of her mind. There was no where else, and nothing else she could do. Her fists tightened for a moment, and she turned to look at the imposing stone edifice behind her.

[Anonymous]

"Echo!" Came a loud voice from...well it was impossible to really tell where the voice had come from. Considering the word, it very well could have just been an echo. "Eeeeechoooooo!" Came the same voice, this time longer drawn out. "Echoechoecho!" Again, this voice called out, apparently amused by the sounds of their voice ringing through the mountain. It was a dominantly young sounding voice, but not too young. One would have put it mid or late teens no doubt, and they might have been correct if the owner of the voice was a natural boy in a natural world.

In the case of the mysteriously amused voice, everything was far from natural.

Up through the twisting trails and winding roads of the mountain came a figure, climbing the rough terrain with relative ease. The figure was tall, reaching almost six feet tall but only falling a couple inches short. He was dressed in very...odd clothing. Oh it was normal in terms of shape sure, a regular tunic with a button up vest overtop, simple leggings and breeches, a belt around his waist, and leather boots on his feet. The only problem was...well, there was the problem of his clothes being multicoloured. As if someone had just thrown it into a bunch of dyes and let whatever take hold. There was no discernible pattern to it, none that was purposeful anyway, frankly it looked a little bit like an eye sore.

People weren't usually looking at his clothes though.

The boy appeared born of colour. His hair was a long ponytail and done in green, a vibrant bright green that you wouldn't expect to see on a person. Either it was freshly dyed or natural because the boy didn't show any different coloured roots. That wasn't even the thing that people really stared at though. It was his eyes. Great pools of swirling light and colour, all sorts of different colours endlessly swirling and mixing together. No irises, no pupils, just these pools of psychedelic colour.

Oh one would think the lack of oxygen might have gotten to their brain at this point.

The young man, who's face made him seem much younger than his late teenage years was...definitely odd. The belt about his waist holds eight little cloth and straw dolls it seemed. And...right now he was plucking one with dark hair off said belt. "You know Mister Terrin, it's nice up here. We definitely need to go to more mountains. Well, of course you'd agree, you like mountains because of caves." The boy said as he...it almost appeared that he might have rolled his eyes, all the colour having suddenly moved in one direction. "What's that? Oh yes, Plar likes it too I'm sure cause it's so close to all the sun and stuff. But it's still pretty cold. Imagine that! Close to the sun but still cold!"

The boy was...not in his right mind perhaps.

[Anonymous]

Nia has started up the trail again when she heard a voice calling from somewhere in the area. Looking around frantically as she tried to pinpoint where it was coming from, Nia called out in reply, "Hello! Where are you?" It seemed silly to say, perhaps, but she wasn't exactly thrilled to be here alone. And if she was lucky, then this new person would be able to help her find her way into the mountain!

Of course, that thought was stopped by the realization that the voice hadn't exactly sounded like someone experienced in the mountains. In fact, the voice had sounded like it had come from someone around her age, or perhaps younger.

Her fingers clasped together and twisted a bit. Well, she would just have to help them if they were lost. And even a child of the mountains would be able to help her a bit! Right? Nia prayed to whatever god was listening that it would be so. At this point, she wasn't going to be picky with any divine force that was willing to help her. However, to help or be helped, Nia had to find them. She took a few steps up the trail to see if she could see them farther up the trail, and then turned around to go a few feet down. The movement down revealed a long stretch of trail, and on it...

Her eyes widened for a moment, caught and fascinated by the rioting rainbow that seemed to make up this person. Whomever... or whatever... he was, it wasn't human, nor was it any race or species that she had come across or read about. Perhaps she shouldn't have been so hasty with that prayer...

Regardless, whatever happened now, happened. She gave him one of her kindest smiles and a slight bow. "So you're the one going about yelling? What are you doing here?"

[Anonymous]

Generally he wasn't one to pay attention to what was going on around him. He didn't really need to and being born of chaos and disorder didn't stop him from having a pretty good case of A.D.D usually. However as of late he found himself a little more...into it. Lucid almost. Like everything was fine and he was awake. This was good of course, despite being an avatar of Chaos he rather liked it when he could count from one to a hundred without being sidetracked.

Now if only he could figure out why he wanted to count that much.

Someone now was talking to him. Usually he was aware of his surroundings but with lucidity being on top today he felt a little more focused on his dolls. Instantly the doll in his hand went back to his belt. Well. People called them dolls but they were action figures. Yeah. Plus they did magic so there was always that right? She seemed friendly enough though! That was good! Her smile made him blush and he had to look away from her. Oh a girl, it was just his luck! A cute girl too!

"I wasn't yelling..." He started slowly as he reached back to his neck and held onto it, feeling like this would be a good thing to do. "I was calling out to the echo." He told her as he stole a glance at her. Once more it was like all the colour in his eyes moved to one side to look at her then returned back to normal swirling about. "And I'm out for a walk! I saw this mountain and thought it would be fun to walk on. What about you? Did you think the same thing?" He got up enough courage to look at her and try and smile, though he was nervous.

It was hard to believe that anyone this tall was actually only thirteen years old.

[Anonymous]

Nia couldn't help her growing smile as she noticed his blush, or the way his hand went to the back of his neck. It was so cute! Well, whatever defined 'cute' for someone so much taller than she was. But was he older? It was hard to tell, and age was something you never wanted to under- or over-estimate with beings like him. Even so, she thought it was really sweet. Even though he did seema bit strange. Who talked to echoes? Ah, well. At least he was friendly, if a bit odd. The small smile he was giving definitely clued her into that.

Her fingers laced behind her back. "I think it would be a nice place to walk sometime. Too bad I'm not here for that, though. I'm an apprentice mage, and my teachers sent me up here for a test. I need to go in there and find something." She tilted her head and wandered closer to the boy... man... person. "Hey, do you want to come with?" It certainly couldn't hurt!

Nia knew that her powers weren't much use, but even a friendly face could help her find the courage to keep going through with it! "I'm Nia. You are....?" A name would be nice if she were going to be doing this with him.

[Anonymous]

Most people would have found the fact he was talking to dolls a little stranger. Well. Action figures. That's what they were really! Little figures that did actions for him. Yes. That was a completely acceptable way of putting it. He had never been good around girls. Well. Some girls he was okay with. Girls that were probably his age though...yeah, that wasn't something he was completely good at. And it wasn't like he got a lot of practise either. He was usually scared to talk to girl in villages and towns. With the way that he played with the action figures one couldn't blame them either, considering it was a little more childish than some were used to.

"Oh! A test! That must be fun. Maybe. Actually not really. Tests are kinda boring. Those who learn now know, and they are tested by life not people. That's what Grandpa Vec used to say." Right? He had to think for a moment but he was pretty sure it was Grandpa Vec that said it. "Really? You want me to come with you?" He sounded rather surprised as he looked over his shoulder for a moment. Maybe she had been speaking to someone else. Nope...looks like it was him! Grinning he looked back to her and nodded. "I can protect you, I'm not afraid of anything!" Well, that wasn't completely true but what were the chances?

"Oh! My name is Fenris. Fenris Lanrete! I'm the third Fenris." The young boy said with five quick nods, as if she might not believe him. She had to believe him, he was telling the truth after all!

[Anonymous]

Nias relief couldn't be hidden when he said that he would come along- or the amusement she felt when he said that he would protect her. Could he really? A person around her age (at least he seemed to be a teenager), that seemed to be slightly off his rocker, really help her? It was probably a safe bet that he wasn't going to push her off the cliff- he didn't seem violent- but.... Then again, she probably shouldn't second-guess a being like him. His colorful eyes marked him out as something different, and it wouldn't be wise to say anything or suggest anything to the contrary.

Nia would discover soon enough if he was able to help her or not. At least until then, she would have company.

His introduction left her surprised. "Third... Fenris?" She asked cautiously. This was new to her. Had something been left out of her religious instruction? Nia made note to talk to her instructor when she returned. If she returned.

With a shake of her head, Nia gave him an apologetic smile. "You can tell me as we go. I haven't found a way into the mountain yet, and I think we'll want to before those clouds catch up to us."[/b] Her eyes had noted that as they stood there speaking, the clouds that she had noticed earlier were rising, and it was somewhat ominous.

Nia motioned for him to follow her further up the path, keeping an eye out for a way in as well as noticing that she was hearing noises in the wind- and as they kept climbing, the noises started turning into the vague sound of voices. What disturbed her was that it was coming from the clouds that rose up the mountainside. Nia wanted to get in as soon as possible, and avoid whatever was in it. She also didn't want to let Fenris get hurt by it.

[Anonymous]

There weren't many who would overestimate the being that stood before Nia. He was the wackiest of things all put together it seemed, and with this strange eyes and vibrant looks, one couldn't help but harken to the deadly insects and fish of the world. Those with bright colours often had something going for them, something that most things wanted not to deal with. That was Fenris all right. They just didn't know what exactly he COULD be so it was best not to mess with him. Of course, animals and monsters might not always see the correlation, which is when he hauled out his action figures and let them do the talking.

Literally, sometimes.

"Well there are two other Fenris, so I'm the third Fenris. I don't think I've seen the second Fenris, but I've heard of him from the first Fenris." The boy told her as if this was the most normal thing in the world. For the little Godkin, this actually was pretty normal for him.

"But that's not important Miss Nia because it's only me here, those other two aren't so don't worry." He gave her a friendly smile, as if to try and calm any worries she may have. He certainly didn't have any so why would she? It would be a silly thing to be worried about.

Fenris didn't look over at the clouds but just shrugged. "They don't scare me, but they'd be much better if they were a nice bright pink, don't you think?" Everything looked better when it was a colour that it wasn't supposed to be. Normal natural colours could be so boring! No one ever seemed to complain about them though really, in fact some people seemed to hate neon green tornadoes more than regular ones.

As she motioned for him to follow, he did so, somewhat giddy as he followed after her. A girl wanted him to join her on a quest! This was so exciting really! He loved it and couldn't believe it honestly! How lucky was he? The answer was very. Not every day a cute older girl wanted his company. She had to have been older. She looked it, and smelled it too. Not that many people would be able to tell age by scent of course.

"So what're we looking for? You wanted to go in right? So we need a cave? Or a tunnel? A cave ends right, so it has to be something that...leads into it...so some sort of...hallway or tunnel right? Oh! You're an apprentice mage, maybe you're supposed to blast a hole into the mountain tunnel, make your own entrance. Be spiffy though, you gotta strike a cool pose if you do that. I bet we're being watched and will be judged on style and posing."

[Anonymous]

She had to admit, knowing that the other two Fenris' weren't around did relieve her a bit, strangely enough. Fenris had to be a god of sorts, from what she could see of this Fenris and what he was telling her. It would be terrifying to meet the other two, Nia was sure. Unless they were just like Fenris, in which case, it would be slightly odd. She couldn't quite imagine it.

His suggestion about pink clouds made her smile a bit. It was so childish and innocent- but she had to agree with him a bit. It would look more like candy that way. As they walked, he asked about ways in. She rubbed her head nervously when he said she should try blasting a way in. "I... I could try, I suppose. I'm not very good with Earth magic." It might be something that they were testing her on, actually. Thinking about how sadistic the teachers could be, Nia wouldn't put it past them.

Thankfully, up ahead she could see a dark area in the rock, something that didn't look quite right. She stepped up her pace and realized it was a crevasse into the mountain- big enough for three people to walk abreast. "This could work! Come on!" Nia was relieved that she had found something that they could use.

As she started in, she went ahead and asked some of the questions that were on her mind. "So who exactly is this first Fenris? How old are you? And do you have magic?" They seemed like good things to ask. As long as they were going to be doing this together, Nia might as well get to know him a little better! It wasn't every day that she met someone like him.

[Anonymous]

Fenris was particularly happy with this day. He felt rather lucid and he didn't really mind that. It was nice to be able to talk. Sure, there were some things that were going wrong, and his ability to filter what he thought and said wasn't working the best but it still was nice to be able to think and know what you were doing. This was a good day then, and he'd continue to enjoy it while it lasted. That could be a day, that could be an hour, it could be weeks. He hoped for longer than an hour or a day.

If she liked his comment about pink clouds, she'd love the rest of his silly commentary!

"Nothing to it! Magic is magic. That's what I was taught. You just shape magic to what you want, since it's all...not shaped at first." There had been a word he was looking for. It was not evil, not good, but that thing in the middle. Balanced? No. That wasn't it. He'd think of it later, it was a pretty big word and he could show off that he knew it.

"What is...oh a cave! Hey yeah that's much better! Oh! Did you make it? It seems like someone might have made it!" Fenris followed beside her as best he could, absently clutching a blindfolded male action figure in his hands as he walked. Just in case, never could be too careful right? It was a big dark cave after all, and in his experience with stories about great adventures with heroes, big dark caves had big scary things them. The bigger and darker the cave, the bigger and scarier the things in them.

As they walked, she began to post questions to him, ones that had to make him think. "That's a lot of questions to answer...uhm well...the First Fenris is the first Fenris. He's in a different place though, back at home. He's making sure that everything isn't boring there and that Aunt Feris doesn't make everything run so...boring." It was true, Feris was boring to him. She was order, water running down hills, trees growing up, birds flying forward and all that. It was so...boring and normal and ordinary! Luckily the First Fenris was there to help.

The tree that shrunk as it grew was super cool.

"I'm as old as First Fenris, since I'm kinda him and he's kinda me. So we don't have a number for that. It's big though. Like...super billions. But First Fenris said that I'm like this cause he never had a childhood and I like it. It's pretty fun, but I'd rather be...shorter." The Godkin lamented as he looked down at her with a slight smile. "But it is pretty cool to have people think you're like twenty summers old." He said proudly. "First Fenris said I'm supposed to be like...thirteen but I dunno." He was...very mature and immature for his age really, it was honestly hard to pin down just how old he might be, or if this was all just the fantastic story of an overactive imagining eight year old with a pituitary gland problem.

"I'm...I'm talking a lot aren't I? Some people don't like that. But but but! You wanted to know if I had magic, and I can say that I don't. My action figures do though!" He said proudly as he held up the blindfolded blonde cloth doll. "This is Grandpa Vec. He protects me from things that want to hurt me. Watch!" He looked ahead for a moment, and suddenly a strange shimmering golden sphere surrounded the two of them. It was a rather beautiful shield of golden light, it looked almost like someone had poured gold around them and it was swirling about. Fenris looked rather impressed as he glanced down at his companion. "Pretty neat huh?"

[Anonymous]

Nia thought over his statement about magic. "I suppose that's somewhat the case. Perhaps I'm just making it harder than it really is." She shrugged. "Not sure how to make it easy for myself, though."

When they entered the crevasse, Fenris made a comment about her creating it. "I didn't make it, but maybe someone did..." It did seem just a little too convenient, but she wasn't about to question it at the moment. Nia listened as he told her about the first Fenris. Ah! So he was a God of Chaos! That was... uh, interesting. A lot of possibilities on how this could go ran through her mind. Chaos wasn't always a good thing, and that gave her momentary visions of her lying at the bottom of a pit, dead from some sort of gruesome accident. Then she mentally shook herself back to reality- that certainly couldn't be any worse than whatever fate could befall her without chaos.

Besides, it sounded like Fenris had his own issues being the avatar for a God. Nia believed it, not completely unquestioningly, but with those eyes, she couldn't think of anything else he could be.

Fenris was so cute in his own way, though, when he proudly showed off his 'action figures', as he called them! She gazed at them with mild interest as he told her about Grandpa Vec (another avatar for a god?) when Fenris used it to create a shield of light. When that happened, she gasped, twirling around to see it in all it's glory. "It's amazing! Fenris! I wish I could do magic like this!" She turned to the thirteen-year-old avatar with a grin. "You're really lucky to have good friends like those, then." With a motion to his dolls- ah, action figures- she patted him on the shoulder.

"We'll definitely make it through the mountain safely. I'm glad I have you, and your actions figures, along!" Hmm. Did that sound like she was using him? Nia hoped not. Fenris was a sweet boy, and she was sure that they'd become good friends eventually. Right now, though, her mind was preoccupied with the test, and knowing that Fenris had such things that could protect him- possibly protect both of them- from any things that could reside within the mountain. She gave a light tug on his sleeve and motioned to where they had been headed before he had raised the shield. "Let's go. The faster we go, the faster we get out!" Her confidence had returned, and her mood was brighter than it had all day.

[Anonymous]

"You just gotta learn that all magic is not good or bad but one thing, and you make it into what you want. Then you can turn it into fire or ice or make the ground move and cause trees to grow." He had it explained to him once, but that was a long time ago and he wasn't sure he'd be able to put it into the right words. The Godkin didn't have magic himself, at least he didn't think he did, so he wasn't an expert on the subject.

Fenris gave a little nod as he looked around at the crevasse they were descending into. "It's not....feeling proper. Like when two bugs are stuck together and you think they're one, but they aren't. This feels like they look. Natural but not." It was the only real way to put it into words. Fenris could feel something decidedly off about the cave crevasse thing, but he wasn't sure what. What he did know is that he wanted to see a bug that wasn't one he'd seen before now.

"Pshaw, they're just my aunts and uncles and...grandfather looking out for me. They wanted to make sure I would be protected. And you could do this stuff too! You just gotta learn how magic is magic." Despite not knowing any magic himself, he made it sound like that was the simplest thing in the world. To one who was born of magic and other such things, this was pretty basic stuff. Sure he couldn't actually use magic really, but that didn't stop him. Slowly he pulled back the magic of the shield and let it disappear, putting the doll back onto his belt.

Fenris actually looked embarrassed as she praised him, his cheeks stained red as he waved her off with a hand. "Me? Naw, I'm sure you'd do fine without me." He said, trying to be humble as he looked away from her. She flattered him! Yeah! She totally liked him, this had been a good choice to walk up this mountain, even if he couldn't exactly remember the reason why he did it. Something had sparked his interest anyway. She tugged on his sleeve and he could only grin and nod to her. "Okay! You lead the way cause I don't...I don't really know where to go, but oh oh! We need some light right?" Again his hand went to his belt, pulling off a white robed doll. He held it tight and slowly the area began to grow brighter and brighter.

It wasn't as if the light was centred on the doll, but just as if there was light being created in all areas to chase away the darkness. Soon they were able to see a good ten feet in front of them, and even a little bit beyond that if they squinted into the darkness. "Uncle Plar never fails to light the darkest days. His friends used to say that all the time, and he seemed to like it."

[Anonymous]

Nia wondered how the relatives thing worked. It made the most sense that they were avatars, but given the nature of Chaos Gods, it might be that they had been turned into dolls. But, at the same time, Gods were Gods, and she could understand why they would want to watch over the young avatar. Regardless, Fenris' reassurance that she could do the same magic didn't make her feel that she was able, but Nia would keep it in mind when she was doing it next. Perhaps... Perhaps it would work like that for her. She did want to be a better Mage, and following his advice certainly couldn't hurt! The magic sheild pulled back and disappeared, both a relief and a disappointment. It had been beautiful.

Of course, Fenris wasn't without more surprises. Another doll was brought out, and light emmitted from it, lighting the way into the mountain. "Your Uncle Plar seems like a very nice person, then," she said, meaning it. Nia could have lit the way, but manipulating both light and shadow at the same time was more difficult for her. Instead, as they made their way deeper, she nudged the shadows aside in the deeper crevasses, so that the light could illuminate them and she could see whether there were things lurking there.

As they walked, the path flattened out, so that they weren't going down as quickly as they had been. And to make sure that they didn't fall into an uncomfortable silence, Nia tried to keep up the conversation on her end. It was also working to distract her from the distant dripping sounds that were coming from up ahead. "I'm 14, so I'm only a year older than you!" she shared perkily. "Do you get any older, or are you going to be 13 forever?" As she asked that, her hand brushed against something greasy on the wall. Putting her hand into the light, she saw that whatever it was, was blue. It didn't hurt or anything, so Nia just wiped it on her robes. They would probably have to be scrapped after this, anyway.

It also made her move closer to Fenris. She didn't know whether it was because she wanted to give him comfort or the other way around... but somehow, Nia suspected that he wasn't one to need comfort. It did make her feel better, however, as the dripping sound got louder.

[Anonymous]

Everyone had a soft spot for Fenris. Whether it was the original Fenris, the second Fenris, or the child before Nia, every one of the Gods seemed to have some affinity for the God of Chaos. They may have felt sorry for him, unable to really make himself into a lucid and functioning member of Godhood society. It wasn't that he was less intelligent or powerful, it just that he didn't have that much focus!

The avatar before her however wasn't a full incarnation. It was just a little incarnation, since no matter what one couldn't contain the full power of chaos within a simple body.

Now if only he could help her with the magic thing!

"I dunno, lots of my aunts and uncles say that he's kinda...full of himself. But that makes sense since they all have their elements inside themselves." It must have meant something else because they said it like it was a bad thing. He wouldn't say that though, because it would be mean and he did love his aunts and uncles.

Fenris didn't have fear so to speak. He knew that he couldn't be killed, at least not in the completely dead sense. He would come back when his power returned to his original world after all. So he didn't technically fear death, but he did fear what might happen to him if he weren't careful after all. He could be hurt after all, somewhat, so there was that! Still, he was worried that he might get attacked by something big and scary. Oddly, he wasn't paying attention to the strange dripping noises that were coming from in the darkness. It was that he probably didn't hear them.

Fenris scratched his head with his free hand as he thought about the question. "I don't...actually know if I do. I mean I must right? But I think I've been this age for a looooong time." Then again, a year could be a long time to someone like Fenris. He just wasn't sure really, nor did he think that it mattered. "I'm sure that I get older, I must get older, but if First Fenris doesn't age then why should I?" He coughed as he thought about that, it wasn't altogether strange that he didn't know if he aged or not, it wasn't something that ultimately mattered to him.

"So do you know what you're supposed to be looking for? Is it a super cool sword? Or like a big glowy light thingy?" He wanted to know more about why she had been sent here. "Or are you gonna vanguish the Shadow Beast of the Mountain and become the powerful sorceress!"

[Anonymous]

Nia nodded as she listened to him explain about his uncle and family, a small smile excaping her. It did seems a shame that he wouldn't really age. Being 14 forever would be a terrible fate, indeed! How could anyone stand being in puberty for that long? Ah, well. That was the form that the God of Chaos had given his avatar, and that was when he was stuck with, it seemed.

"I'm looking for a globe of light. The teachers are supposed to have hidden it somewhere in the maze that's in the mountain. Apparently, we're supposed to use our magic to find it!"[/b] Nia explained. Of course, his statement about the Shadow beast got a laugh out of her. "I don't think I'm cut out to be a sorceress, though. A mage, perhaps! If I get good enough." That gave her pause. "Hey, what's the difference between a mage and a sorceress?"

At that point, they had reached a larger cavern, and the path split in three directions off of it. Nia paused, wondering which path to choose.

[Winters-Feather]

OOC: Mind if I jump in?

In  the corner of the right most past, a small, white cat stretched, a bit irritated.  She had been exploring the mountains all morning. The change of scenery was a thrill for the fairy, for the feline form was just a guise she wore for the sake of wearing it. Yes, she was a Cloud Faerie, only there was just one tiny problem.
Her Cloud was missing.
It wasn't lost- Wisp knew it wasn't lost. She could feel it nearby. No- she had  been running about and had simply left it behind. The two would be reunited by the end of the day, she had no doubt of it, but the faerie's time on the earth was short thus far and still felt uncomfortable if she was too far away from her's.  Wisp knew she could go back, but she was tired from scampering about. Besides, it was probably trying to find her now. So, the faerie in the cat's form fell asleep.
          She woke up to the sound of voices. The milky white cat opened its eyes to find a pair of odd looking youths - the  boy more so than the girl- approaching the cavern. Wisp mewed with excitement. She could tag along with them and maybe even, she gleefully thought, tease them a bit and take something shiny. The faerie liked shiny. Out of the corner of her eye, she spot her approaching Cloud, which hovered behind the branches of a nearby tree, hopefully out of sight and interest of the pair of travelers.
        Pleased at the arrival of her Cloud, Wisp decided to be bold and cheerfully approach the girl, looking up at her with interest, clawing gently at her feet. The vain little creature liked attention. Besides, she was curious as to what these two even were. What adventure were they going on, why were they wearing such  funny clothes?  She didn't get why humans made such a fuss about them. Had she  been in  faerie form, Wisp would have delightfully flew about observing the cloth, her hair, the trinkets both the girl and the boy carried. So many details!  For extra effect, Wisp mewed again.

[Anonymous]

((I don't mind! Though we are inside the cave now, not still walking into it :P))

"But I bet if I do grow up, it'll just be in my head cause I think my body is already waaaay older." He looked down at himself for a moment, shaking his head. It was very much...not like normal body. It was definitely older looking so...his head had to get older before his body did. That made sense to him! He smiled as he thought about that, it would be super cool if that's how it worked. He wouldn't doubt the First Fenris doing something like that because he could.

"Globe of light. That's pretty cool. We can look for that! Shouldn't be hard, it's dark here, the globe is light, and so it'll be easy to see right?" They should have hidden the globe of darkness in here, that would have been a real challenge! Oh! He'd have to talk her teachers about that, because that would be a good challenge. First they had to find the Globe of Light right?

"Uhm...A mage does mage things, and a sorceress is...uhm..." He scratched the top of his head as he thought about that question. "You should ask your instructors. I think they'll know! I bet one is like...higher level than the other though. Like a mage is just your average magicy person, and the sorceress is like...above that." He kind of liked this girl, she was talking just like he did. Very oddly! He enjoyed that very much!

Something confused him. A noise. Sounded like a little creature making noise. Why where there a little creature in here making noise? It was approaching, and he held onto the Vec action figure at his side as something approached. "Look out, something is coming!" Bravely he stepped in front of Nia as he held up his action figure...only to find it was...a cat. He looked down at it as the strange little cat walked toward Nia.

"You're not a kitty." Fenris scolded as he held up one finger and wagged it at the little kitty. "Naughty little not-kitty, what're you really!" You couldn't hide from something that had eyes of light and colour. They definitely weren't seeing the world the same as anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Nia hadn't really heard anything beyond his explanation of what the difference between a mage and a sorceress was, but a white form approaching her made her stop and smile. A cat! She was about to comment when Fenris moved in front of her protectively and asked the cat what it really was. Nia paled a bit and looked down at the cat. It was strange to encounter one so high in the mountains, inside a mountain, to boot! Her hands curled into the back of Fenris' tunic, and she looked out from behind him cautiously. She didn't have the hang of magic yet- not really- and he was her only real protection if the cat was dangerous.

[Winters-Feather]

OOC: Sorry XD

      Wisp sharply turned her head at Fenris' direction and mewed loudly. How did she know she wasn't a cat? In her feline way, she stuck her nose up in the air, a little put out that her disguise was seen right through. And what was that little figure that he was holding? A toy? Defeated,  the white cat suddenly disappeared  and was replaced by a minuscule naked pixie, with skin as white as the cat form's fur. She flew up  to tug at Fenri's hair.
"Not fair, not fair!" she protested, "How did you know?!"
How did he know?
She had met humans with magic...Mages they were called. At least, some of them. She never met one that could see things true forms,  though. This one was new. Was this boy a mage? What about the girl?

Her Cloud was slowly trailing its way towards the trio, causing the tunnel to feel a little more colder than it should have been.
"Hmm?" Wisp stopped trying to assault the strange boy to greet her Cloud.
"Where were you?"  she asked, gleefully flying to embrace it.
The Cloud shuddered in content.

That all settled, the small fairy turned her attention back towards the two travelers.  She pointed towards the boy.
"He could see through my cat, he did!" she told her silent friend. Wisp paused.
"Who are you two, exactly?" she curiously asked.

[Anonymous]

If there was one thing that he was going to do, it was to protect Nia from the not-cat! He was the mighty hero after all right? He had to be the one that made sure that the little not-cat wouldn't hurt them! From what he could tell, it wouldn't be dangerous too much right? It still wasn't nice to try and pretend it was a cat though! It was something that bad people did right?

Well he had Vec with him, he'd be safe!

Though not so safe when the little white cat turned into a little naked woman and flew around at him. He gave out a soft noise of surprise as she tugged on his hair. That at least distracted him from the fact that she had no clothes on...though it was also very difficult to see anything so he was okay with it. Probably. He'd figure that out later. "Cause of my eyes of course! Silly!" How didn't the little woman know it anyway? He thought it was obvious...then again....he had lived with his eyes forever so...he knew better. Okay he'd give her some slack then!

Things got a little weird when a cloud suddenly floated in but...then again this was not a very normal thing was it? There was a tiny flying lady, a mage in training, and a small avatar of a God...so really a flying cloud that was following them wasn't exactly that strange. Apparently the flying lady was friends with the cloud. That'd be pretty nice wouldn't it? He'd been friends with a lot of strange things too, but never a cloud. That'd be pretty neat actually.

Slowly he let his doll go back to his belt and watched the flying lady carefully. "Well, this is Nia, she's a training mage...er...mage in training. That one. Yes. And I'm Fenris! I'm with Nia, we're gonna find something that'll make her into a full mage! I think that was it right? Or was it into a full barrel? No. Full belly? Nope! Must have been full mage then!"