[center][h1]Flight of the Nisshiniek[/h1][/center] [hr] A lone Nisshiniek winded its way through the tall trees of the forest, bringing a cool breeze as it went. There were many smells here, from the sweet scent of the sap, to the earthy smell of the ground below and, of course, the water that trickled over rock and stone. It was a place that was different from what it had seen before. There were no great hills to glide over, or deep ravines to wander through, or open plains to race the four legged ones. No, this was a place full of many new currents and sights, and the water of life permeated everything. It was an ever curious spirit, chasing after anything that caught its attention. And as one could imagine, In that cool place of many waters, the most curious of all was the smaller creatures that lived within. Every snap of a twig, every birdsong, every new smell- all elicited an impulsive response of investigation. It did not know why, for it had no such thoughts on that particular matter, really on any matter, save those that drove instinct and the most important one of all. Protect. However, curiosity was a dangerous foil. Not that it would know, or at least until it learned that not everything was as it seemed to be. It had run into a sharp, stinging thing with many stingers once. Luckily it’s rocky form at the time had prevented any harm {not that it would have been harmed in its natural form anyways). Thus, it still had not learned the important lesson of self preservation. Perhaps it was not even within its capacity to learn such a thing, as the Nisshiniek were fickle things. Forged by the god of the north as guardians and servants of the realm. A noble purpose, lost on them with their limited intelligence. It isn’t that they didn’t know what their purpose was, it was ingrained into their very essences. It was just that the scope of such responsibility was hardly fathomable. What were they to protect against? Were they to keep the cycle from performing? Predators hunted prey, prey died to feed predators. Predators died to feed the grass that the prey fed upon. Over and over, who would they protect? The predator or the prey? What about the land? Surely they were not to protect it from itself? When it rained, it rained. When it snowed, it snowed. When it was growing, things grew. When it burned… They let it burn. For even the Nisshiniek knew that fire and warmth were dangerous. Ah but was curiosity as dangerous as fire? Wasn’t it ironic that the drive to protect meant they were curious but also lacking in self but only when it didn’t come from the all consuming blaze of a fire? Well, the Nisshiniek did have little else to fear… Oh, what was that? The Nisshiniek that flew amidst foriegn branches had spotted something next to the water's edge. A smaller counterpart of a creature it had seen before in the west. A funny tail, two large buck teeth, covered in the brownest of fur. It got closer, right behind the thing as it smacked the water with its hands. Two others swam and splashed each other with the water. When they saw the Nisshiniek, (for they could be spotted in fact), the small furred things cried out in alarm, slapping their tails in the water and diving down. That left the one on the bank all alone, the poor thing. Slowly the small thing turned around and when it saw the Nisshi hovering behind in it’s massive scope and frame, (looking nothing more than a large cloud of wispy smoke) the creature screamed and fell backwards into the water. The Nisshiniek followed after, taking the shape of the water. It became the water then and easily scooped up the swimming creature. It wrapped itself around it, watching it kick its legs and tail in vain to get away, before it deposited it back onto the river’s edge. It sputtered and coughed as it lay there. The Nisshi lifted a tendril of water, almost like it’s head, out of the water to view it up close. Why had it done that? Why save the creature, surely it could swim? The furred thing stood up and looked at the Nisshi with large, inquisitive eyes. It tilted it’s head, and the Nisshi mimicked the movement back. This produced a strange sound from the creature, a high pitched squeal, followed by a frantic display of awe. It heard sounds it did not understand and the little furried thing waved into the water. The Nisshi followed the small one’s gaze and saw the other two from before. It went back into the water fully and grabbed them too, before depositing them on the river bed alongside the other. The first one fell over, holding its stomach as it cackled. The other two groaned and the Nisshi slinked back into the water, watching and waiting for what would happen next. They seemed to huddle and then they peered over into the water’s edge, as if looking for something. It was then that the largest of the trio, pushed the smallest in! Like before, the Nisshi grabbed it and placed it back on the bank, but unlike before, it splashed at the larger one. Mimicking what it had seen earlier. The trio of furried things let out mighty glees and jumped into the water one by one. This alarmed the Nisshi, who did the same thing it had been doing. Over and over did the small furried ones come into the water, and again and again did the Nisshi pluck them out. It never seemed to be bothered by this after the first few times, but then it began putting them farther and farther away from the waters edge, only for them to run back. They whooped and hollered as they went and the hours grew dark, before long (and after many failed ways of keeping them from their sure demise in the water) the Nisshi saw a large one call to the small ones and it at last recognized them for what they were- offspring. It watched them go at last and as night came upon the land, the Nisshi sank low into the water. It was confused as to what had happened between it and the trio. Then, a bright fish swam by and the Nisshi chased after it. [hr] Night turned to day and the Nisshiniek in the water still yet remained. It had slept for a time, letting the cool waves lull it to sleep but now a new day was upon them and it was time to wander some more. It did not need to eat food, for its body did not work like all the others it had seen. No, Nisshi subsisted off of the cold, thriving in it as they were want to do. Soon enough it would be time to migrate to the far north, where colder temperatures prevailed and the time of the mating season would begin. It did not want to go there… It… It... A splash jostled its thoughts and it spied a rock sinking into the water, then another and another. The Nisshi soared to the surface with explosive power, splashing the land in droplets as it spotted the trio once more. They had returned to the water, making more strange noises as they pointed and… Laughed. Yes, laugh, that was what they were doing! But… How did it- It spotted more small ones, more offspring. The trio had brought friends and these ones, well, some ran away screaming and others did not move out of fear or surprise, it did not know. What it did know was that they were already going back into the water. It had begun again and this time [i]it[/i] would protect. This went on for many days, the… Game, as it came to understand, was that the small ones became happy when they were picked up and tossed around. It was odd, it also came to understand. It did not know why. Thoughts were becoming… The small ones never tired of the game but it did reach a point of new excitement when it grew tired of the water and fled into some rocks. There was much excitement and hollering after that, and it was used as a climbing area, and a jumping pad. It had to shed some rocks when it realized just how terribly fragile such little things could be and was much smaller then it could have been. But for the most part it was… pleasant. An odd feeling. There were many odd feelings and more thoughts… but… One day, the small ones did not come. It felt sad at this as the day wore on and it sat motionless by the water’s edge. But a bird landed upon one of its rocks and its attention fell upon that. But wasn’t there something… Else… Yes… Its small ones! The rock shook and the bird flew away. They should have been there by now, that was the pattern it had come to realize. It fled from the boulders and traveled in the direction it had always seen them come from. It was not long after that it came upon a curious sight. Wood and bark strewn about, chipped and clawed to splinters. The water here rushed and flowed, broken with many logs and sticks and muds and grasses. It grew closer, deeper into the strange land. There was a foul stench here, of something it knew only to be as death or the dying. Predators needed to eat… Both prey and predator died… Trees wilted… But this was different. It knew that, how did it know that? Then it came upon the strangest sight yet. There had been a large pond here, but it was emptier now and there were many sticks bundled together in strange shapes on the water and it could see many of the large ones walking about moaning and crying, it thought. And and and, it came upon something it did not understand right away. There was a small one, but it did not move. It pushed the offspring but without a form it was powerless to interact. It eye’s fixated upon the wound, a large gash… A large… killing… Dead. The offspring was dead. It was dead. Why was it dead? It knew things died but why was this one dead? It was supposed to be playing, it was supposed to be laughing and running and smiling and and… the offspring was dead! Something snapped inside it, a foggy feeling dissipating like frost on the wind. It was… She [i]was[/i]. And the first thing she ever did… was weep. [hider=Summary] We follow the journey of the Nisshiniek champion on the journey to awareness. It involved a certain Bjork clan and goes into some Nisshi details. In the end, the champion finally awakens but at what cost... [/hider] [hider=Spirit] The spirit gets… 2 Spirit?? [/hider] [hider=Vigor] None [/hider]