- You can use this lineart if you want, idc - The group of Team Mythical was restless. They missed their makeshift beds at the Base, the rest of their Team, and the food. Now they had to search for food out in the forest, in which they were camping in the middle of with nothing to rest comfortably upon. "No thanks to Shadow," Helio sighed, using one of the small bones from the rabbit he'd just eaten to pick at his teeth, "We're lost." Her attention immediately diverted from her friend Sapphire, Shadow snapped at Helio, "We are not." "Then where are we?" "In the forest." Josh snorted, returning with more dry wood for the small fire the Team managed to create, despite the rain that had fallen. Helio had been terrified, and vanished completely until the rain had passed. "Well of course," Helio shot, "But where exactly?" Shadow rubbed her temples, letting out a sharp breath, "Ten miles from our location. Ten miles, Helio. Anything else?" "Which way?" "East!" Sapphire growled at her older brother. "Geez, Heliathus." "Can we all just shut up?" Jeremy growled from above, having sat in a tree earlier when he claimed to take a rest. "You're making my head hurt." "Then go to sleep, dimwit," Hazel snorted. "What do you think I was trying to do?" "Hazel, just leave Jere alone, he hasn't been feeling well." Fritz attempted to defend, his eyes looking like embers from the reflection of the fire. Sapphire smiled his way, but he was busy squinting up at Jeremy in the trees. "How about a story?" Silhouette, Shadow's brother, suggested quietly. Everyone's heads turned his way, eyes interested at the thought. Why not? They really didn't have much to do anyway. At the sudden attention, Sil's cheeks became a light pink, and he stuttered, "W-well I'm not good with stories, so does anyone else..?" "I got one," Helio grinned, a devilish look in his clear eyes. "No." Shadow snarled,"I have one." Silhouette immediately shrunk, becoming a mouse. He darted over and hid by Joshua's leg. 'Maybe asking for a story was a bad idea,' Sil thought up to Josh, who nodded his head in agreement. "By all means," Helio submitted, sitting back with a bored glare. Shadow grinned at that, before clearing her throat and looking among the others. "A long time ago, maybe around the 1800's, the dominant creature of earth was the human," Helio whistled sarcastically, "No way, really?" Sapphire shushed him. Shadow continued, ignoring Helio, "that was, until our Mother arose from the ocean. She had grown restless from humans spreading around the world, claiming more and more land that once belonged to the 'Natives'." "The Indians?" "No," she answered, "Our Natives. The original shifters of our kind. They had to disguise themselves as regular 'animals,' if they were ever going to live on to escape extinction. But even then, they were in danger as human populations grew. So Mother had washed the majority of them out with disease, natural disasters, and worse..." Shadow paused, the campfire growing small for a moment as she stared into it. Then it grew again in with a roar of the flames, shaping a kind of dragon-like figure before returning to it's natural fire state. "She created our now known enemy, the Devalin," Jeremy fell out of the tree at the sight of the fire, and wheezed when he hit the ground. But Shadow didn't hesitate to continue, "They only had to destroy a few of the humans, it was their built purpose. But Mother had been so angry, her creations got out of hand. Mankind was in danger as Devalins began to spread, invisible to the human eye. "Now, the shifters had gotten a chance to take back what they needed. But once they had realized the destruction of--" "Shadow, unfortunately I think all of us know the dang story." Helio interrupted with a yawn. There was a challenging glint in his eyes, as if he knew he could tell a better story, but protests arisen. "I haven't!" Fritz exclaimed, glaring at the blank eyed man. "Me neither," Sapphire agreed, looking at Shadow, "You'll have to tell me later, since somebody," she flashed a death glare at her brother, who shrugged at her, "doesn't feel like hearing." "Yeah," Josh sighed, "What else you got?" "Something none of us have heard," Hazel agreed. Shadow grinned, a very evil grin, and looked Helio in the eyes as she began with a new story. "Okay..." She lift her chin, cleared her throat, "A couple hundred years ago, the first Native was born. Her name was Wasser. She was an accident, really, and was left by a river to die." "What?" Sil squeaked in mouse form, kind of shocked. 'Who would do such a thing?' Josh shrugged. "But she didn't," Shadow relieved Silhouette's worries, "She was taken in by the water. It cared for her, taught her many things, and even shown her her purpose. But we all know, that once a shifter's destiny is revealed, many, many horrible things are to come." Helio was actually quiet this time, even though he had many questions, like; How in the world does a river take care of a kid?
"For instance," Shadow lowered her voice, "She fell in love." "Love isn't bad!" Jeremy blurted from the ground, and Hazel shushed him. "She fell in love with a king. His name was Feuer, ruler of all bodies of water, and the world's biggest Slitcher. He was the one mistaken for the famous Nessie; the Loch Ness Monster." "Is this a real story?" Josh asked. Helio only turned his head when Shadow nodded, "And of course, Feuer had to make Wasser promise only to remain in Slitcher form, if she could ever be his queen." "That's dumb," Sapphire whispered. "Well she agreed anyways, no matter how dumb it is. Love is love, and that's that." Hazel huffed. Shadow snickered evilly. "But why ignore the power you hold, after you've become a queen?" Josh grumbled. "She would leave the water, just every now and then, to be a bird. So she could fly again, and feel the wind. She would be human, just to run along the riversides, and along the beaches. Until one early morning, she had been out of the water so long, in the form of a small raven, she forgot to return to her king by sunup. She had run into a blur, a small kind of dust cloud that constantly shifted before her. It was small, and she had to pause in the air to realize it wasn't a figment of her imagination. And it spoke to her, "'Are you aware, Wasser, you hold the child of your king?' But she didn't. So she shook her head. The blur said in a small voice, 'You better tell him, before it is too late.' But Wasser hadn't a clue what this little cloud could possibly mean. Then it cackled," Shadow laughed in a mocking tone, making Silhouette, Fritz, and Sapphire jump in surprise when they hadn't expected the sudden laughter. "Foolish shifter! If you can not make it back to him by the time the sun has completely arisen from the mountains, I will take his life, and your child's.' But why? 'Because you had swore to remain in a single form for the sake of his love. If he ever found out you had broken your promise, surely he would have banished you.' And she had raced the sun to get to her king. But she never had enough time. She hadn't even realized the sun was barely touching the mountain tops before she flew away. And when she had returned to the lake her king had been seen last, there was nothing left living of him. It was just a bleeding corpse at the bottom of the lake." Shadow's voice quieted as she announced the king's death, and Sil choked on a small sob, having been the most emotional of the group. Helio seemed rather depressed too, staring at the foresty floor. "And... and her baby?" Jeremy asked softly. Shadow smiled softly at her friend, "His name should have been Sonne, prince of the water." "The blur took him," Helio said softly. Shadow nodded, and glared at him while adding, "And gave him a new life, where he became an emotionless monster because of a promise his own mother couldn't keep. So he was burdened with the curse of being unable to lie until the end of time, so he wouldn't end up like Wasser." Gasps were heard around the camp, all eyes on Helio. He snarled, "Was that really necessary?" When Shadow didn't respond, he growled at the others, "Don't listen to her. And get some rest, we have ten miles to walk tomorrow." Immediately, everyone took their places and became silent. But Shadow stayed in place, her gaze unforgiving as she stared at the purple haired man. She whispered as he tried getting comfortable on the ground, "They may as well know." - Just felt like writing something here, yay? -
