[center][u][b]Part One[/b][/u] [i]Existence[/i][/center] It was dark. It was cold. Shackles made of concrete and asphalt kept a vicious grip around her wrists and ankles. They were connected to chains that snaked all the way into the darkness. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. Not one of them cared to find what the chains were attached to until the first time they went taut, and the screaming girl was pulled into the darkness never to be seen or heard again. The shards had all mourned, and then they tried to come up with a plan akin to the one they had to fight the Beast... And the chains went taut again, and both the elegant woman and the playful one were swallowed by the Dark. Only two were left, for the longest time. One of which was Laina, Second Princess to the Sen’Kalla Clan of the Plains and Mountains, the beautiful yet timid girl with platinum hair, baby blue eyes and the fairest skin only seen on those within the Royal Families in Dai’Sora’s Expanses. The Princess that after months of daily abuse at the hands of those she once loved, respected, admired and trusted with her life; had died due to disease all those eons ago, in a different existence. And the other was Silver, herself, who had only received a name after meeting her first friend, Orvus, and who had only considered herself a real person with real feelings and thoughts after meeting her first love, Laurien. A love that she could truly call hers, and not Laina’s or Li’Kalla’s. A love that she had held close to her heart throughout the worst moments, throughout the loneliness of Orvus’ peaceful farm, and throughout the fear and desolation within Li’Kalla’s sown-together soul. It is what gave her the strength to keep trying, to keep fighting as the chains went taut over and over again. Silver was the one thing that held steadfast against the pull of the Architect’s influence. She was the one to keep Laina on her feet and away from hopelessness, in spite of everything that had happened, in spite of everything that [i]could[/i] happen. There, in the darkness, the bond between two parts of the same soul grew stronger than it had ever been. Laina with the role of the princess, who gave Silver a reason to move forward and a person to care for; and Silver with the role of the knight, who served as a pillar that Laina could rely on in her time of need, and hold onto when the darkness came screaming at her. In the end, what they all needed to overcome the thorns digging into their hearts, was being accepted and loved by themselves. [hr] Silver and Laina lied on the dark ground, with their heads side by side as they stared at nothingness. There were no words to exchange, as everything that could be said had been said long ago. Now, there was just the comfort of being next to each other, as the last time the chains went taut had been so long ago they’d almost forgotten about it. Who knew that being chained and imprisoned inside your own soul could be so... Peaceful? The darkness cracked. Beams of light, something Silver had forgotten existed, penetrated the thick dark fog and converged on the two lying individuals. “Laina.” Her own voice sounded almost foreign. “Laina, the sky just broke.” There was no response and Silver turned her head to look at Laina and realized, that she was all alone. The next thing she knew, she saw Laurien. She spoke to her, after all this time. It was like a dream, like it didn’t really happen, and then the darkness claimed her back… Except it didn’t. She wouldn’t let it. After all this time, after losing herself in it for so long, after becoming so accustomed to it and seeing the world for the first time in so long… After having a real body again, she would never let it take her again. [i]Never.[/i] A small thread had tied itself to her the moment she’d been pulled into the world to meet Laurien, and when the time came for this thread to leave, Silver grabbed onto it as tightly as she could, baring her teeth and digging her own nails into her palms. She pulled and pulled, and screamed and grunted as the silver thread gave way and the sky cracked more, showering Silver in the pure light of reality, and just like that, the thread fused into her and she found herself expelled from the darkness. It was all a blur. There was no sound, no sight, no speech, no taste, no touch, and yet she knew. She was alive, and the darkness around her was no darkness, but a world she could not see. And with life and independence came the loneliness she’d missed so much. She thought of Laina, of her fellow shards, and of Laurien. Even still, she thought of Li’Kalla, the one she knew had kept her trapped for so long, and found it in her heart to forgive her. There were those that she had to leave behind, and nothing could be done about that. She would shed a tear and move on as life always did, as she was sure it moved when it was her who was left behind. Half-awake, half-conscious, half-real, the falling star that was Silver phased through the high leaves and branches of the largest tree in the Land of Li’Kalla, through its thick trunk and past the happy, simple Foreas, and into one of the pods. Inside of it there was a half-developed body with no soul of its own, and so the bodiless soul took it as her new home away from home. [hr] In time, her body would grow in size and consciousness. What once was a pleasant warmth inside the pod, embraced in the loving aura of the Eternal Tree, was now a blazing hot dance with the collective soul of her species, her brothers and sisters. And one day, [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Sw0_bBrpY]Silver opened her eyes in a dream.[/url] She could see without seeing, and could hear without hearing. She was in a forest, surrounded by flowers of all shapes and colors, bees, butterflies and small animals. She reached up to her head and felt her new leaves. Bipartite, large leaves covered a dense foliage of smaller, sinuate leaves. They all quivered as she ran her hands through them, and a smile graced her face as she felt her heart swell and eyes widen. Why? Why… It flashed before her eyes. Her nanny, patting her head after she helped her peel some potatoes. Her teacher, patting her head with a proud smile on her face after she successfully recited the Clan’s Ancestral Poem. Her beloved knight… Running his right hand through her hair as he wiped away her tears with his left hand, before leaving for battle on the frontlines. Warm tears fell down her face at the sudden recollection. Then she blinked, and saw a tall humanoid in front of her, replacing those she saw in her memories. A beautiful, lush foliage covered her scalp and reached down her back, resembling furled wings. She was smiling proudly down at Silver and patting her head. [color=yellowgreen]”My sapling,”[/color] The voice was soft, motherly, loving… It felt like a cool breeze in a summer afternoon. Silver’s tears didnt stop, and she embraced the figure’s waist, crying silently. The figure, her new Mother, hugged her in return, and she couldn’t help but bawl like a child… Except, no sound came out of her while doing so. [color=yellowgreen]”My young one, I love you, from the bottom of my heart… I am so happy to have you, I am so grateful to the world, to the air, to the earth, for giving me such a bright young sapling. I love you, so much.”[/color] Silver hugged the figure tighter, but in the end it gently pushed her away and got on her knees, coming to Silver’s eye level as she planted a kiss on her forehead. Tears glistened in the sun, tracing paths along her mother’s pale yellow cheeks and welling up in her light, completely brown eyes. [color=yellowgreen]”I am so sad that I can’t spend more time with you, that our Dream should be this short, my love… That I can only tell you I love you so few times, that I can only hold you this one time… Do not feel alone, however, as I will always be thinking of you and I will tell everyone of you...”[/color] Silver wiped her eyes and sobbed silently, looking into her mother’s deep eyes. [color=yellowgreen]”My young autumn sapling. The world you’re awaking in is beautiful, and there are so many things to see and love. As I have done for you here, as I made you feel, that is how I want you to make others feel. In my stead, sapling, love the world and be happy.”[/color] As her mother spoke, everything grew blurry, and her eyelids felt heavy. While she drifted off to sleep, she heard her mother’s words in the distance. [color=yellowgreen]”Visit me every once in a while… Tell me of your travels, of your experiences. I will listen, I will be there for you, my sapling.”[/color] And just like that, Silver awoke from the Dream and opened her new eyes. [hider=Summary] A recounting of what it was like for Silver inside Li’Kalla’s soul, up until she was awakened to speak to Laurien at which point she rebelled and escaped Li’Kalla by stealing some of her power and becoming an Avatar. She goes on to inhabit a new Foreas body still growing inside a pod. eventually she awakens to the Dream, a ethereal plane of existence where unawakened Foreas learn basic things of the world and meet their Mother, the Avatar of the Eternal Tree. After a short Dream, she awakens to the real world. [/hider]