Imprisoned Spirit [MadEmperor]

[DragonSong]

"I—"

She bit her lip, watching a pair of rare ashen foxes scamper off into the brush. Six weeks. They had traveled for six weeks since she'd been captured.

She didn't even know where home was anymore.

"I will stay," she whispered, glancing up at his back. "If...that's alright."

[MadEmperor]

A smile crossed his lips. The spirit hadn't had a mortal companion that he'd shown his nature since time out of mind. He would enjoy speaking with her.

"That would be grand. I don't get to be myself with a mortal very often." He was nonchalant about it, but he seemed genuinely excited for the company.

The teacup dragon on his shoulder chirruped at him, and he laughed. "You are welcome too, little one."

[DragonSong]

Asta found herself smiling a bit, entirely enchanted by the tiny dragon. Perhaps she should have been more intrigued by her strange rescuer, but honestly he was just...something so far beyond her ability to currently process that her mind seemed to be focusing on the strangeness that she could comprehend.

"I didn't even know her kind existed until I was in that place," she murmured, reaching up to the teacup dragon with one finger. She sniffed at the offered finger, nibbled on the tip, then cheeped and rubbed her cheek along Asta's hand.

The shapeshifter laughed quietly, scratching under her jaw. As though still speaking to the dragon, she asked, "So you aren't, then? Mortal, I mean."

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr surprised himself by answering without the obfuscation popular among magical beings. "I'm what some might call a greater spirit. I am the embodiment of the wild winds that come down from what you call the Kilanthro Mountains and the protector of all that live in Connloath and northmost Serendipity... whether or not they approve."

"My siblings represent the other four prime elements and directions. Our true names would mean nothing to you, nor is it wise to share them."

[DragonSong]

Asta blinked. "...Oh."

Right. A greater spirit. Of course. That was...completely not mind-blowing or world-view-altering in any way.

For a woman who had been raised primarily by a dryad, she actually hadn't had all that much interaction with...well, pure magic. Or--was he even magic, technically? An embodiment of an element...gods.

"You're a...protector?" she repeated cautiously. "Of--of all of Connlaoth?"

[MadEmperor]

"Well, I obviously can't be everywhere at once; I'm not a god. I merely help where I am drawn. It seems that this time I was drawn to you."

It was a relief to be honest for a change. He was so tired of deceiving even his closest allies. For a creature who often acted on his whims, maintaining his mortal identity was especially taxing.

[DragonSong]

"But...why?" Asta frowned slightly. "I'm--I'm no one special. I don't even know if I'm Connlaothian, really..."

That wasn't strictly true; she'd been primarily raised in the wilds of the Sirantil Valley, which made her Connlaothian of a sort, she supposed. But the creatures of the forest hardly observed human boundaries, and so she never really had either.

Maybe she should have. Maybe she wouldn't have gotten caught.

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr shrugged; he had no clue why fate placed him where it did. The spirit simply followed the winds of fate wherever they blew.

"I don't know the will of fate any better than you. I just know I was meant to find you. You weren't meant to languish in that place. None of you were."

[DragonSong]

She shuddered lightly, remembering. "No one is," she murmured, frowning at her feet. She held the cloak a little tighter--then suddenly paused, looking the fabric over.

"Is this...an illusion? Or is it real?" she asked curiously. It have been made from coalesced clouds, after all. She wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't as solid as it seemed.

[MadEmperor]

"It is real, so long as I'm within proximity of it. Beyond the reach of my power, it will dissolve back into air. We should find you something more substantial if you are going to remain in that shape."

They were already deep into the forest. The bear grunted and left the group behind, leaving only magical and foreign things. That only left finding Zephyr's sister spirit.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, I don't have to stay like this," Asta mused thoughtfully. "I could take another shape, if that makes things easier."

She smiled a bit as the bear ambled off, waving to it though she knew the gesture didn't exactly translate.

Glancing sidelong at her rescuer again, she found herself remembering the animal form that he'd worn when they first met. "I've never seen an animal like you before," she noted quietly. "I mean, back at the menagerie, the—the cat. The big one, I mean."

[MadEmperor]

"It's called a tiger. I've heard they are common in jungle regions, but that particular breed can only be found in the northern mountains and tundra. However, that is not my true form." He spoke with pride at being a creature like no other.

"Perhaps I will show you in the future."


They continued to speak of wild things as they traveled deeper into the western wilds. Eventually they stopped in a clearing, where Zephyr told the remaining beasts to wait in peace and restrain their natural impulses just a bit longer; his sister, the Great Earth Bear, would meet them soon.

Before leaving, he turned to her and asked, "What will you do now? Will you go with them, return to your life as it was, or something else?"

[DragonSong]

What would she do?

Asta but her lip, looking at the creatures waiting placidly where he had directed them.

"I..." She frowned. "I want to—can I come with you?"

The words tumbled out of her in a rush as she looked up at him with wide, pale eyes. "I feel as though I've spent so long just surviving, one day to the next, but this—this meant something. This was important. I want to—"

She flushed a bit, the color more than obvious on her pale skin. "I want to...help."

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr smiled in his easy way. "I thought you might say that."

Seriously, he asked, "My task can be dangerous. Can you fight, or take a form in which you can?"

[DragonSong]

She bit her lip again, but nodded. "I—I can." Whether or not she was any good in a fight relied on an uncomfortably wide variety of factors.

But then her eyes lit and she added quickly, "But I can learn more shapes. Bigger, fiercer. The better I know an animal, the easier it is for me to be one."

[MadEmperor]

"Then perhaps I let you know me as a tiger." Another gust passed, and he was a white tiger again. I don't behave like a true tiger, but you can observe their form in me all the same.

Zephyr approached her slowly so as not to frighten her. Up close, his size was even more apparent, and his fearful symmetry was at once threatening and... beautiful. No mere housecat or even a lion even compared to the savage grace in his every moment.

[DragonSong]

Asta held very still as the massive feline approached, then slowly knelt to be at eye level.

It would likely take quite a bit of time before she could take such a shape herself, but...

She closed her eyes and allowed her body to become malleable, changing into the form of a forest cat, with tufted ears and proportionally large fangs. She wasn't even half Zephyr's size, but it was the only wildcat form she knew.

Sniffing at him curiously, she took a step forward and stretched her nose up toward his, a cautious thrum in the back of her throat.

[MadEmperor]

The tiger smelled real enough, though perhaps cleaner than an actual specimen. He lowered his head to her as if to let her bump her head into his.

Well met, fellow feline. His voice sounded pleased.

[DragonSong]

Asta mewed quietly and hopped up onto her back paws for a moment to rub her head along his cheek. Well met.

She settled back on her haunches, head tilted curiously and the tip of her tail twitching back and forth. I don't use this form often, she admitted. It tends to draw too much attention--white forest cats are not common in the woods where I live. It--oh!

Her head snapped around as a tiny fluttering of wings drew her attention. The teacup dragon seemed to have chosen not to remain with the other creatures; he circled Asta's head, cheeping, then settled to perch between her ears.

Asta chuffed quietly, amused. Hello, little friend.

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr chuffed along with her, but it was a much deeper sound. Narrowing his eyes in a feline smile, he said, He seems he likes you. His kind are good judges of character.

Turning, he added, Come, we will head north where we will blend in better. Besides, I am stronger there.