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Children of Light… You were born to die. Dark phoenixes… You will never rest.
The dense, cold darkness feels crowded. The walls pressing in.. But there’s just enough space for small, jerky movements. The environment seems to crack, and shatter, opening up to something new. For the first time.. Soft features reach out, feeling something other than cold void cushioning their bodies. The air is cold, heavy, and stale… The ground.. Unstable. Sharp. Loud and slick, trying to step over the smooth and fractured remains of those before them. There is nowhere to go but to try and climb up, as the smaller and more frail of the two clings to their twin.
Barely able to use their limbs, and yet, driven by a keen instinct to fear their own kind. To fight. To survive. To escape. Climbing higher, higher, scrabbling over rocks and leaping in blind hope, unable to see very far in the suppressive darkness. The loud clatter of bodies breaking as they collide with the stone or stalagmites at first brought pause, and then fear as wrathful shadows rended free of crumbled mortal bodies.
There’s a blinding light, and cold steel sends a shiver through their body. For a moment, there’s a glimmer of hope.. And then.. Betrayal. Abandonment. Small, soft limbs still slick from crawling from their egg fail to keep a grip on the smooth, polished surface.. It both feels as if something twists and wrenches within them, and yet, everything becomes weightless. Things are too dark and blurry to see- but they whirl by nonetheless. And one small impulse changes everything. Grabbing the small hand clinging to their shoulder, pulling them over, wide black sockets staring back just a moment-
CRACK.
A new pathway is opened, as a wall crumbles to the dull strike of a broken nail. A foreign, yet somehow familiar view far beyond, sparkling lights along a broken and crumbling path. A leap of faith strikes fear, but they can’t pin down why, the landing ever effortless- albeit heavy. The wind whirling in the dusty cavern, odd shapes and structures lonely and abandoned. A figure stands alone, but it is unfamiliar to them, and as a hand is raised, meaningless sound fills the air.
Curious, but empty eyes stare for just a moment, before mimicking the motion and then continuing on to leap into the darkness ahead.
A small pitter patter of traced steps runs the same path, with a similar moment.. Though.. Taking a moment’s hesitance. Trying and failing to comprehend, before descending to the winding tunnels below.
So many curious sights and sounds, aimless wandering, and learning through trial and error to fight. This place.. It was.. Dangerous, but there was so much to see, the idea hardly deterred them.
There was so much to explore! Not with much grace, but with passion, and a bit more ease- many threats already dispatched by an unknown force. Well.. Perhaps just ease in that sense, trying to climb through the caverns was no easy task at a diminutive size.
Time and time again, feeling a sense of something close, but just a bit too far to reach… Hearing all sorts of noises, seeing and fighting all sorts of different things, but never understanding what it meant, or why- just a sense of self defense. From soft green landscapes, to glimmering crystalline caves.. And eventually.. Chasing down that feeling.
Another figure, like themself.
Taller. Wielding a similar weapon. A posture of curiosity and confusion, wandering aimlessly, seeming… Lost, and uncertain.
So small, but not quite frail, armed and walking with a bit of purpose in their step. Yet not feeling like a threat.. Somehow.. This was a friend, they could already feel a sense of security wash over them as they’re greeted with a soft chirp. Finally.. Something.. Something they knew, but how? Why?
Small, calloused and scraped hands connect, and from there, the rest is seen together.
The grand towers, wet stone and metal glimmering in the city lights. Facing tougher, better armed opponents, but doing so together. Learning to cooperate, and understand, driven by a want for knowledge and a keen eagerness to explore. As a startling and powerful enemy fell, granting them a new strength and testing their resolve in a disorienting, terrible escape.. A return was overdue. Young hearts were broken, but far from defeated. Losing more of what they hardly knew pushed them ever closer together…
Descending and facing more familiar figures.. One lost already.. Another.. Treading a fine line, both encounters ending in combat, but only one in death. An odd reward to both; empowered nails from one, and restoration of wings from another.
Running down with more confidence, though hardly an idea of what the following battle would mean for them. A fierce competitor confronts them as the wind howls in a pale and battered landscape… And a mark is burned into soft palms, forever to change what was to come, though far beyond their understanding.
Then it was to a claustrophobic, dark, confined space- a nightmare for both of the yet young warriors. Divided by mistake, distressed, lost, and rushing through the dark in a panic. A terrible lie dealt to each, a visage of kin turned to a monster, and a spot of safety turned to a vicious trap. Two beasts fell that night to their nails, though each leaving a terrible scar of their own…
Deeper, deeper, and terribly deeper, into unforgiving depths that birthed them. A sheer drop that dug into their stillborn heart, frozen in a moment lost to time. But there was no choice.. There never has been.
Jumping down and landing on their feet, though a terrible cracking sound still made them both cringe. Familiar and raging shadows surrounded them as they ran, adrenaline piercing through fear and forcing them out of a terrified paralysis. An understanding piecing together, yet not complete, enough to boil rage within… Only a small, familiar gesture brought them out of it to continue, to hunt down those responsible. The pale lights, the pale fragments, soon to warp and twist into a crystallized form of its own origins.
Memories restored, and kindred connected, a heart once again beating as fury and grief revitalized the void’s hatred.
Hatred of the light.
The light they would pursue; destroying the remaining seals, and racing to the finish, a terrible family reunion. Half-kin and eldest sibling, pained and sealed, chains broken and the true source revealed. Exposed and weakened by madness, to be rended and devoured by darkness as their older brother and sibling watched with silent, helpless terror.
Such a wild and unexpected journey.. Damaging, and yet, uniting. Freeing lost and trapped kin, giving rest to those yet to be saved. Leaving sensitive, dark-adjusted eyes free of blinding light as they slowly stirred, the cool, calm darkness of a freed kingdom welcoming them back to the waking realm. The static drone of unfamiliar voices greeting them softly.. Comfortingly in their native tongue, not straining them to learn the unfamiliar speech of the survivors.
“Ah, how young and sweet the minds our heart has been reborn with.. Good morning, little ones. We aren’t quite acquainted with your voices yet, who are you?”
A pause.. They had to think about that… Meeting their older siblings, they did seem to have a concept of something.. “Names”. The only things they could think of were what they had always seen in each other. Leaning against their twin, the slightly more chirpy of the two responded.
“... I think they’re a Seeker. They’ve always been so thorough and curious, they drove us to find answers.”
“... You always patter off so quickly, you know what and where everything is.. You’re.. a Traveller, I guess.”
“Hm.. Seeker and Traveller? That’s rather cute! Well, we will keep a close eye on you two.. Always here with you.”