Submission (#1837) Approved

Quest: Resonance - Act 4 - Final
Act Type: Character
Word Count: 1477
Adult Elnin Present: N/A
Regional Affinity: N/A
Claiming Regional Affinity for: N/A
[Noble] Rank Unlock Mini-Requirement:
- Standalone Advanced Quest

Act 4 – Final: What We Leave Behind [A Peculiar Self]

 

Skyhaven was aptly named. The bright green ripples of the leaves atop the great Yggdrasil tree danced in the free wind of the above. Nearby the blue crystals reflected bright hues like the ocean colors themselves awash in the sea of green. Far beyond the horizon were the shifting cerulean waves, rolling over into a kaleidoscope of blue and white. Surprisingly, the air still felt warm, likely from the elder tree’s influence below, though the warmth did not suppress the breeze’s crisp, light feeling. It was a great place to rest, especially after the long climb.

 

The young kittom had been set free to his own devices at the ethereal respite while his guardian unloaded the rest of his deliveries to the town proper. Ilari found himself outside of that realm, fallen in an open, flat area of a branch with the brightness of the crystals around him. The warmth from the sun kissed against his fur, and he rolled onto his back, closing his eyes in a state of complete relaxation. There would be more time to look out from the majesty of the tree, he’d decided, feeling the tug of sleep pull him into a blissful state. 

 

It was a well-deserved rest.

 

From that comfortable warmth, Ilari felt his paws twitch. The warm breeze moved through his hair but slowly shifted into a cold breeze, and he felt himself shiver. With a roll, he opened his dual-toned eyes, feeling a familiar chill around his body and wetness against his feet, staring in awe at the silent, sparkling world of the Strynhalde mountains. He shuddered, feeling his fur puff up to protect around him and his breath clouded as he spoke. “Where… am I?” 

 

Silence echoed his words onto the snow, and he felt the soft crunches invade that perfect quiet as he took a few steps, staring ahead of him like a circle of trees and snow-covered, craggy rocks behind a burnt-out village. Ilari stopped walking and sat in the snow, looking at the blackened wood that barely stood in the half-broken frames. The stone foundations were covered in ash mixed in snow, looking untouched since the day of the fire. At the center was a broken well with stones fallen over and a rotten rope hanging off to the side, blowing idly in the wind. 

 

Deep in his core, he felt an anvil trample any good feelings he had only moments ago. His thoughts were racing as it all felt so familiar to him. But from where? 

 

There was a swirl of wind that swept across his body, sending the chill straight to his bones. It kicked up the snow that swirled around him, and he gasped as he saw a visage in front of him, dancing in the soft mists that the wind brought forward. The body was white but moving like a cloud. The body frame looked elnin-like, but in an uncanny way that made his fur bristle.

 

“Are you… a ghost?” He squeaked. 

 

While the mysterious, misty elnin did not speak, he could feel that it was not, which it affirmed with a soft shake of its head. 

 

Feeling curious, though fearful, Ilari reached up a paw to feel, but as soon as he came close, it dissipated and reformed further away from him. He shivered. “How did I get here? I was at Ealei!” His voice started to grow as his fear slowly tilted into confused frustration on his emotional scale. 

 

Silent and unmoving, the misty visage moved to a spot behind a building as Ilari followed, and it moved back, showing a small space where there was less snow than in the other areas, a large wooden barrel on its side protecting a small spot without snow. It pointed with a ghostly paw and stood near the spot, staring expectedly back with its expressionless gaze to Ilari. 

 

Ilari cautiously followed, wincing at each step, and looked back at the spot in wonder. The barrel wasn’t particularly large and sat on its side. As he approached, he stepped over a frozen leather strap and looked down at it. The visage nodded and stepped forward as if to encourage him further. Slowly, he moved, seeing how it connected to the barrel. “Its…?” He stopped, staring down at the little juice barrel he had since Geir had found him a long time ago. 

 

“He said it was a burned down village.” Ilari spoke softly, staring around the silent area, listening for the whistle through the trees far off, and he moved around. “He found me in the snow, he never said where. It was here.” He saw the misty nin move over to the side, nodding, and he stared down. “…Right here. Protected by the side of this barrel from the snow… My birth parents...” He was having trouble speaking and felt a lump in his throat. 

 

Slowly, the idea was forming in his mind, and he looked down. “I had been thinking of them, recently.” He spoke softly, sadly. “Why they abandoned me during the fire. Why no one came for me. And why the pang of that stays even after living with Geir and Yazhu for so long as my father and mother. And my siblings too.” He shook his head. “I never belonged, because…”

 

Ilari sat in the cold snow, feeling the hot sting of tears. 

 

“…Because… I make a part of myself stay here. Assuming the worst of my situation, cursing myself… for never knowing my true family.” The tears slowly fell into the snow. “That’s why you’re here, right?” 

 

His dual-toned eyes stared up at the misty visage standing over the area, and he saw as it’s body twisted, showing him the shape of his younger self, curled against the barrel and crying. “Geir heard me here, and saved me. After they must have put me here intentionally.” He was speaking gently, to the deepest truth of himself, and the visage moved again to stare, now with shining eyes in the same color, looking back at him. 

 

“I get it now.” He rubbed a paw against his eyes. “A part of me never left here, because it’s still a part of me, right?” Again, the visage nodded, slowly coming into view as a solid being rather than a ghost made of wind and frozen mists. 

 

The truth.

 

For a long time, he put it past him. He knew his parents and siblings but often felt like a stranger among them. A child of misfortune discovered in the snow, abandoned and forgotten. Now a “late-bloomer” that was still small regardless of his younger siblings growing before him. It was that resentment, all leading back to the original place, here. 

 

A sigh escaped him, and he looked at the barrel again with a sad smile. “Whoever they were, used this to protect me, to get me back to Geir.” He felt a sudden warmth, despite the cold around him, and he looked back to the other-self, now looking like a mirror image with a warm, loving gaze.

 

“I can’t stay here anymore. It’s a part of me that needs to come with me, right?” More tears fell, and he shook his head. It was at the core of everything, even during the trip with Geir when he’d started to feel better. Maybe it was all to lead him to this epiphany. “Alright…” He said with a more humble smile at the other, stepping close. 

 

“Let’s go home together, okay?” Slowly he stepped into the other, feeling a sense of relief wash over him as the cold turned into numbness. There was a bright light before he closed his eyes, feeling an alignment, and back to the warmth against his fur. Slowly he opened his eyes, staring at the clouds rolling above the tree, and he squinted from the reflection of nearby crystals. Slowly, he rolled to his side and sat up, staring out at the endless horizon far beyond. Unlike before, when he had a sense of his vacation and excitement, now there was another sense of calmness.

 

Dream. Vision. Epiphany.

 

Whatever he wanted to call it, he was sure that it had been meant for him to see at the spot where he was, perhaps whatever divine intervention that brought him with Geir in the first place. Sniffing the air, there was a sweetness mixed with a hint of crisp air, maybe a lingering wisp from the frost.

 

“Ilari! Let’s get something to eat! We gotta look around and enjoy before heading home!” There was a call from behind him, and his ear turned, nodding at the suggestion, and he stood. 

 

 “Home.” He repeated with a nod, bouncing his tail, and he stood. 

 

For the first time in a long time, Ilari felt whole. Like he was his own elnin, with all the pieces finally back in place.