Fantasy RPG Forum - Standing Trials

The harmonic thrumming of the heavy rain soothed Zephy's soul. Snuggled under fluffy, fur blankets and beneath the protection of their cart's thick tarp, she felt as though she were in a separate world to that of the outside. The weather had been dreary for trials, the rain almost nonceasant, but laying cosily near the rear of their mobile home, Zephy felt at peace. Her mother was busying herself drying and putting away the cookware after their simple evening meal, when her voice rung through the stillness, "Are you ready darling?"

Zephy was drawn from her private thoughts and blinked; it took a bit for her brain to come back to reality. When she realised it was time she gasped and leapt out of the cocoon of fur, "Oh yes! Is it really time mother? Do you really think I'm ready?" The glee was hard to contain, it threatened to split her face in two. Her mother chuckled as she put away the last dish in a solid oak chest. Closing the lid, she turned her body towards her daughter with a serious demeanour, "I do, but don't be disheartened if you aren't able to make it tonight. It takes discipline."

Zephy's eyes shot wide as she inhaled her delight. Ever since she had found out what she really was and that there was a secret hidden city full of more of their kin, Zephy couldn't wait to go and meet them. All her life it had only been her and her mother, not that Zephy ever minded. However, on trials when she'd catch a glimpse through the kitchen windows of a homestead and see a whole family sit around a table feasting and storytelling, Zephy did feel a twinge in her heart. It wasn't jealously, she knew, just a distant longing for connection - true connection.

Zephy inched closer to the middle of the cart, throwing away the winter blankets and crossed her bare legs. Her mother cleared a space between them and lit a tall candle, placing it in a bowl in the centre before giving her daughter an encouraging smile. "Alright, you know how at night other people seem to drift off somewhere else and become oblivious to their surrounding world?" Zephy nodded slowly, not sure where her mother was going with this, "Well we, as Yludih, are slightly different. We don't sleep, as the other races would call it, but we aren't that much different either, we simply, just go to a different place during the night."

"Uleuda?" Zephy guessed.

Her mother nodded in confirmation, "Uleuda. It's a sacred place, a safe place for people like us. It's somewhere we can all meet and confer, no matter where we all are in Idalos."

Zephy gasped, "You mean, Yludih from all over the world can meet in this one place? How?" She was simply flabbergasted.

Her mother chuckled, "It's better to just show you. Here, relax your shoulders and ease your muscles," Zephy shook herself, flinging out all the stiffness from their days work and rolled her shoulders back. "Now close your eyes and focus your mind," Zephy eased her eyelids shut and sunk into the blackness of her mind, the rain outside pounded and trickled, but the softness of her mother's voice rung through the white noise, "Ignore the outside, ignore the inside, listen to nothing but your own breath."

Zephy sucked in a long, drawn breath and held it a moment before releasing it slowly. With her breath she let her mind sink deeper into the black of her still mind. She listened to her heart thrum in her chest and eased into her own body - snap! Zephy jerked with the sound of a snapping twig outside. Suddenly the relaxing thrumming of the rain became an incessant hounding on the tarp above her head. The wind rustled the bushes outside and the crinkle of the leaves only irked her ears even more as she attempted to ignore it.

Zephy shook herself and again drew in a deep breath to calm herself and restart the meditation. Hoo-hoot-hoo-hoot! "Ugh!!!" Zephy huffed and slumped, slapping her hands on her knees. "It's no use. Everything outside is distracting me!"

Without opening her eyes, her mother smiled, "Try again," She soothed. "Maybe this time focus on the smooth flicker of the flame. Watch it dance in harmony with the wind and in turn harmonise your mind with the world around you."

Zephy looked upon the stillness of her mother with awe. She was always so patient and contented and Zephy admired how her mother never seemed frazzled with anything. Grunting out the last of her irritation, Zephy smiled inwardly, relaxing her shoulders and back and again rested her hands softly on her knees. This time she did as her mother suggested and watched the candle's small flame dance elegantly in the light breeze. It was pretty, the oranges and reds melding together and shaping around each other in unison. The more she watched the flame the more it reminded Zephy of her mother, dancing around the world. Zephy began to sway her body with the grace of the candle flame and found that by focusing on the serenity of the fire, the world outside began to melt away.

She closed her eyes and breathed deep.

For a while Zephy relaxed into the soothing rhythm of the fall and rise of her chest, breathing deep and exploring the dark serenity of her empty mind. The serenity and peace she found in this meditative state was soothing to the soul and she almost wished she could stay here forever. How much time had passed? She couldn't know.

Zephy abruptly felt a strange shift in her body and mind. She felt as though her body and mind were thrust in all directions at once! It was only for a bit and it didn't hurt, but an odd sensation. She wouldn't have thought much of it but soon thought began to trickle back into the blank nothing of her mind. "Mother?" Zephy softly broke the silence.

A soft chime lilted to her ears, it was close. Suddenly Zephy was very aware of high-pitched chiming all around her. If the sounds weren't so melodic, Zephy would have been very afraid, though uncertainty cracked her voice, "Mum? What is that?"

Again an harmonious jingle close to her resonated through the soft bleating in the background. Curious Zephy slowly peeped open an eye and gasped! Her eyes shot open wide with the bedazzling lights and crystalline structures around her. It was surreal, was this what dreams were?

Before her a beautiful vibrantly coloured crystal figure swayed with joy, at the centre of its being blazed a soothing glow. Zephy couldn't explain it, but she knew this was her mother. How did she know this? The crystal took on a similar shape to that of a human figure, the face though was obscured with the shining reflections of the crystals - not yet fully formed. Zephy shook her head in disbelief, entranced with the vision of her mother.

Her body felt different itself. She looked down at herself and cried out, stumbling back. Her arms were as of blocky glassware, more clear with little colour compared to that of her mother who reached out to steady her faltering daughter. Instead of a lilting chime, her mother spoke in words Zephy could understand, "It's okay darling, you are gorgeous. Let yourself adjust." Zephy glanced at the fuzzy image of her mother's face in shock and bewilderment, she knew though, despite the lack of detail, that her mother's eyes brimmed with tears. Tears of pride, Zephy knew.

The reassuring glance of a familiar face eased Zephy's racing heart and buzzing thoughts. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. She glanced down at her crystalline body once more. She moved her arms and they were hers, yet her eyes deceived her for they did not look like hers. But it all felt so natural and right. She felt comfortable. Her mother's glassy hand stroked her face as she cooed her with gentle chimes.

"Mother, what are those melodic chimes? I hear it from you and I hear it in the distance, what are they?"

Jingling resonated heartily through the space between them, "This is the language of Yludih. This is your native tongue. It's called Ulehi"

Zephy's eyes grew wider (if that was even possible, without her eyes dislodging from their sockets - did she even have sockets here?) Zephy giggled, all fear and confusion and disbelief fleeing from her heart, "It's wonderful! Will you teach me?"

Her mother spun Zephy around, who stumbled into a pure, warm blazing glow of light. Before her stood a gigantic mountain made of smooth crystal floating before her like a beacon in the vast emptiness. When she gazed directly into it she had to cast them away for it pained her. Though she followed it's floating structure to nearly the top, which was obscured by its brilliance, a vast light shooting into the sky.

It warmed her inside and she knew, she knew that this guiding light would always find her in the dark and bring her home. Home. That is where she was. This place. She spun her crystal body around and laughed as the view of the city of Uludea filled her young eyes. This was home now.

Indicating to the gigantic floating white crystal, her mother turned Zephy to see, "This is Yldria. It is the centre of Uleuda, so no matter how lost you are, you can always find your way back by its light." Her mother grabbed Zephy's hand and grinned as she dragged her daughter onward!

Her mother ran and skipped as if she were a youngling and Zephy, giggling, trying to soak in as much as possible as they raced past crystal walls and buildings full of diffracted colours that spun the mind; treasured the burst of joy emanating from her mother.

The pair skipped down an alleyway to the right of Yldria. The crystalline structures were built just like a city in Idalos. Zephy noticed some similarities, though the architecture was something altogether magical. How? How did they shape crystal into buildings with windows? There were no cracks, no sharp or broken lines though the smooth snowy crystals.

Other Yludih roamed the streets of Uleuda and nodded their crystal heads or waved their glassy arms in acknowledgment. Her mother pointed out certain buildings, some used as classrooms, others as libraries and lecture halls. There seemed to be so much centred around learning and education, Zephy thought the Yludih must be a wise race spending all their time with study! They must know almost everything.

As Zephy's mother led her by the hand on through the streets of the city, Zephy noticed that parts of the opalescent metropolis were consumed with thick diffracting crystal, giving the city the look of a network of catacombs. Her mother paused to chime in the foreign language of Ulehi with someone she must know and Zephy's eyes wondered over the miraculous sights around her. Her mind was still struggling to comprehend the magnificent city she found herself a part of.

Suddenly her gaze noticed the waning of the brilliant light of the Yldria. The edge of the city, and the pure darkness beyond caused Zephy's unidentifiable brow to furrow. "Mum." Zephy called out almost absentmindedly as she inched away from her distracted parent. "Mum, what is that darkness?"

Curiosity dragged Zephy's feet away from the street corner and she found herself drawn to the mystery of the failing edges of the light of Ylria. She didn't think Ylrida's light could ever fade, with how fierce and brilliant it's glow shot into the skies above. However, before her, coming ever closer was the darkness.

A harsh chime cried out, her mother's voice, Zephy knew and it caused the youngling to falter. She turned her entranced gaze from the dark mystery and found her mother chasing after her.

"Zephy no. No, not that way!" She was slightly frazzled and this disturbed Zephy gravely. Her mother very rarely ever got frazzled by anything.

"What is it? What is beyond all the light? It's so dark, darker than the nights in Idalos."

Zephy's mother grabbed her glass hand and softly coaxed her away from the city's edge, regaining her composure and brought Zephy back into the warm glow of the streets of Uleuda. "Please don't ever leave the safety of Yldria's light. There are evil things that dwell beyond the Crystal Forest. It's not safe."

This only peeked Zephy's curiosity and sense of adventure even further! The lack of explaination from her mother only fueled her young imagination, however she pushed those racing thoughts away as her mother urged her onwards through the streets. Absentminded, Zephy vaguely adhered to her mother as she pointed to important buildings and landscapes and chattered on about the important lessons Zephy will learn.

"You mean school? You mean that I will go to school here?" The mention of several topics that Zephy must master in a collection of rooms hidden beneath a thick shelter of smooth crystal, brought Zephy to the present. She had never been to a public school of any sort. Everything Zephy knew, she learned from watching her mother and the world around her. She'd never had to endure tests or structure of that sort.

As Zephy's astern pulsed with a mix of glee and trepidation, her mother beamed brightly, "Oh yes my daughter. As Yludih, there are elders here who will begin your education. To keep our race safe, we must meld into the society of the other races of Idalos seamlessly." Her mother grew serious, thoughtful, "You will learn subterfuge, language, history and not just for one race but for many. It will take much focus and many Arcs, but you will begin tonight."

Zephy fixated her once wondering gaze upon her mother in shock, "Tonight? Already? But... I'm not prepared. I, I don't know anything. Where am I supposed to go?" Panic began to creep into Zephy's voice and she staggered back a step, a million fears clouding her mind so much so, she thought her head might explode. This was all happening so fast.

Her mother suddenly embraced Zephy as she inched away and squeezed her tight, banishing the threats of her daughter exploding. "Hush, hush. Shhh. It's okay, it's okay." She lifted Zephy's plain face up so she could see her and smiled warmly, "I know this is much to take in at once, but I will be with you the whole way. Lets go meet your teachers."

Zephy slipped her glass block into her mother's more defined hand and hugged her mother's arm tightly. Her stomach churned and her heart thundered in her chest, but Zephy thought back to the harmonious dancing flames back in their cart in Idalos. She pondered at how wonderous she thought their dance with the wind, weaving around it unfazed and still burning strong.

Zephy breathed in a steadying breath. She would be as resilient as the dancing flames. She would weave around this suddenly discovered, bedazzling world and she would remain a strong pillar.