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꧁༼༶•┈┈⛧┈♛ ✦ ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶༽꧂
The wind raged on, like an untamed beast trampling everything in its way. The waves crashed against the shore as the occasional pelican stopped by, only to fly off once losing interest. The sky is grey, furthermore settling the general mood of the area; depressing. As sad as it looked.
Splash!
A large object– no– figure, crashed into the shore, completely unconscious and unmoving. A statue on cold sand as the sea seems to have taken mercy upon her. She is, after all, just a lost soul amongst many like her. And ending up like that wasn't what she wanted for herself nor for her friends.
When she awakened, her hair was wet, sticking to her forehead and furthermore blocking her vision. She groaned in annoyance, pulling the snow-white strands out of the way as she staggered to stand. Her vision is blurry and black around the edges, her head swirling with images of what had just occurred; she had jumped in to save her friends, only to have to sacrifice herself. And now, she is completely lost. Stranded somewhere unfamiliar to her.
She took shaky, hesitant footsteps forward, one leg in front of the other, until she made it far enough that the water wouldn't bother her anymore. After all that, she's had quite enough of going to the sea.
However, she only realized what was missing as soon as she turned back for one last look– Coalsie isn't here with her… She's all alone with nobody to take solace in. Nobody to hang out with or to share shiny pebbles she finds. She's truly, utterly alone in this world.
Vortice gulped down her nerves as she rushed back, dropping to her knees just before the shoreline, the waves here just barely reaching her. “.. Coalsie gone… friends, all gone.” She held in her breath for a long moment, only to sniff at the next. She's never been good with her emotions even as a child. Whenever they got the best of her, her strength got out of hand and she hurt those around her. It was never on purpose, but she still felt bad.
“Vortice miss Coalsie…” Nothing but silence responded to her, and soon, she really couldn't hold it in anymore. A few tears slipped as she leaned forward, hands covering her face as she sobbed away. Only the sea would hear her cries, yet never will it respond.
She doesn't know how long it's been since she's been drifting in the ocean, nor how long she's been unconscious. All she knew to care about is that her bad fortune caught up with her faster than it should've. She's been alone before after being excluded so much, but she's always had at least one person or little companion to return to when she felt sad. Now? She has nothing, nobody to hold her close as she cries. Nobody to share her pain with, nobody to understand her…
The girl sat in front of the sea for what felt like forever, her cries going unanswered. Hours could've passed for all she knew. But now that she's got no purpose, what's the point of keeping track of time? Nobody will miss her now. She's the problem, always has been. Deep down she knew that, and yet tried to deny it for the longest time now, only for it to bite her. Hard.
﹏﹏෴﹏෴﹏﹏𓊝ᯓ﹏෴﹏
They say Gods are the ones who listen to prayers. The entirety of the people surrounding her always kept praying to some Deity that would save them from calamity and unknowns, only to end up being killed and eradicated.
Vortice can still remember the fire and the cries as she hid and ran for her life. She managed to escape by sheer will alone. She was tiny enough that nobody noticed her when she stole a boat and got away with it. She had laid in that boat for what felt like days, the sun scorching her skin during the day and the moonlight making her freeze at night. All she had was herself and her racing heartbeat.
Her vision had swam, and she swore she could see sounds at some point, only to lose consciousness the next as hunger and thirst overtook her. She was, after all, just the average unfortunate child caught in a disaster. She couldn't survive long in the middle of nowhere with no food.
Be it by luck or some divine will, her boat crashed into a tree on a small island. She was awakened by the noise and sat up, barely able to move around. Her small hands clutched on anything she could find to straighten herself. The little girl's stomach rumbled, and she felt sick, but unable to throw up anything. The moment she looked up, something caught her eye; fruit. Red and ripe-looking, hanging from a tall tree where the sand of the beach turned to grass.
It didn't take long for her to get over, only to have to try and climb to get the food. However, she slipped and fell, as she couldn't hold on as well as she thought she could. Then, she tried shaking the tree, only for that to also not work in her favor. She looked around desperately for several minutes, then found a long stick, picking it up and…
Thud!
A few apples fell, and she let go of the stick, falling onto the grass to catch the apples. As soon as she had them, she didn't even hesitate to start chowing down. The sweet, tangy taste hit her taste buds immediately, and she hummed happily as she continued to savor the tasty treat. “So…good..” She hummed, smiling. For someone her size, even this much was enough to feed her. She kept one apple close to her chest as she walked, exploring the area now that her hunger was quenched.
As expected, not a single sign of life around here save for the few animals wandering around aimlessly. This place is completely empty. At least that is good in a way, as it means nothing can possibly hurt her. The last thing she wants to do right now is to have to run even more. She is more than capable of conserving her energy.
A sudden wave of nausea hits her, but she pushes on, knowing she can't stop now, not when survival is looking almost certain for her if she just hangs on a little longer..
A little longer…
Only a little longer..
. . .
. .
.
Did time pass? She couldn't tell. She's been sitting in the same spot for a long while now, against a rock by the shore. For whatever reason, she just doesn't want to leave this place, almost like something is urging her to stay here. Like something important might happen and she'll miss it if she moves on.
So she stays as still as a rock, the once pristine fruit starting to rot as hours blend into days, her consciousness slipping in and out the more tired she gets.
The world is so dark and scary at certain times that she just huddles into herself, hugging her knees up to her chest as she waits it out.
It's not like she can do anything anymore. She has nobody and nothing to return to, nothing to fight for. It's her fears that keep her lucid, enough that she can't be considered a monster no matter how pale or weird she may look. She is, after all, just a grain of sand drifting through the wind. She has never had a purpose, because this world didn't want to give her the chance to have one.
So, the most she can do is obey this mysterious force's pull.
. ݁ ₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁ .
Vortice let out a yelp, returning to the real world after spacing out for quite a while. She's spent the last few minutes on a rocky shore, poking the now dead crab laying on its back in front of her. After making sure it won't sting her, she picked it up and scurried away from the open space. For whatever reason, it felt scary being exposed
Her bare feet hit the soft sand in one too many directions as she hurries along. Until she arrives at the cave just underneath the cliff of a mountain, scrambling inside out of fear of the dangers lurking outside. Her hands feel numb from the force she's gripping the sea animal with. Soon enough, she devours it on her own accord, the raw crunch bringing her back to reality now that her hunger has settled.
Before going back to sleep, she made sure her clothes are still clean, settling down onto the makeshift bed of leaves and grass that she's made. It wasn't comfortable, but it was much better than the cold beneath it. And it kept her just a little warmer, which is all that mattered for her.
What she didn't anticipate was to wake up to a raging thunderstorm outside.
She shuffled out of her little hideout, stumbling through the overgrown roots of trees and onto the sand once more. The ocean waves raged, fueled by a fire unlike any she's seen before. She's not sure why she even ventured back out, but something was amiss. Her gut told her that much, at the very least.
Checking around the area, she didn't find anything particularly interesting or worthy to remember. Until she stumbled near the rocky formations once more, the faint noise of splashing and struggling, able to be heard even over the lightning hitting. She hurried along, her long legs carrying her along. The noise was now more akin to a whimper. Her chest felt weird, but she ignored that, even her breath fogged up in front of her.
Her hair is sticking to her skin by the time she finds the source of the wailing cries. She drops down to one knee, brushing white locks aside, and gasps at what she finds; a net, and inside it, a struggling otter.
With no time to hesitate, she gripped the net and ripped it, surprising even herself at her own strength. She carefully got the animal free from the rest of the contraption before holding it against her torso, stumbling her way back across the sandy shore, into the forest and finally into the cave where she dropped to her knees next to the nest of grass and leaves.
Ever so carefully, she laid it down, catching her breath that she didn't feel like she needed, but her lungs still berated her when she didn't take in the oxygen provided so freely.
Finally, after calming down, she started to look over the otter, trying to see if it was injured. But aside from a scratch along its paw from struggling, nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary. It gazed at her with glassy black eyes, and she froze in her movements. Vortice gulped nervously, for whatever reason, feeling judged by the very creature she saved.
However, she didn't linger long on that, making a decisive decision to rip off some of her shirt's length, wrapping it around the wound without tightening it too much, worrying it might worsen and bleed out. Which isn't ideal for something this small.
After making sure it isn't as scared anymore, she settled down on the bed next to it, falling asleep. Her frame was stiff and yet drained of all energy, the leftover adrenaline from her rush already over as soon as she settled down. It's a miracle she can even close her eyes. But something tells her things will only get better after this, now that she's got a friend. Some company after being lonely for this long.
.
. .
. . .
Many days pass after that fateful encounter, and Vortice is finally able to smile, even though she feels like she's forgetting something. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter anymore, as her wishes were already granted. It must not be important in the first place if she forgot it. At least from what Coalsie says.
After becoming the bestest of friends, she named her little companion ‘Coalsie’ because of its shiny, black eyes that felt like staring into the void, only to be stared back at.
“Coalsie up!... Vortice wants to play!” She speaks up in a sing-song voice, holding up the little otter and spinning around with it. It squirmed as if to say ‘Wait, let me down first– I'm getting dizzy!’ In reply to which, Vortice listened and settled it back down onto the ground. She followed it back to the place where the ocean meets sand, chasing it around like every other day.
They play for what feels like hours, hiding and finding each other without fail. After all, they've learned each other's patterns like the back of their head. And not a single time is it not fun to watch the progression of it.
But as expected, with Coalsie’s great memory, it wins today, clearly on a streak, ready to take down Vortice’s after she keeps showing off.
Vortice chuckled to herself as she sat down against a rock, the otter climbing into her lap. The two of them got along so well that being close was comforting, instead of scary, like how it was before meeting one another. “Coalsie good at find… Coalsie good at hide, too!” She notes, her smile wide and genuine, reaching the corner of her eyes fast.
“Coalsie teach Vortice?” She tilted her head, and got a serious ‘mrrph’ in response, which means ‘Maybe. Only if Vortice listens well. You weren't paying attention last time!’ To which, she let out a long puff of air, feeling targeted. And considering she's the only ‘Vortice’ around here, well, the feeling is amplified a hundredfold.
Coalsie let out a puff of air before scattering off, tail between its legs, and Vortice gave chase, her earlier fit forgotten in the midst of their game. Which lasted long enough that the sun was starting to lower in the sky, hidden behind the large flora of the forest.
After deciding where to sleep this time, since Coalsie suggested other spots, the girl followed along, lingering out to watch the sun set across the horizon. When she heard a loud ‘eep’, she snapped out of her trance, hurrying along.
The following night was quiet, but a lingering feeling of sudden unease didn't let the white-haired girl even so much as close her eyes. This cave, hidden far on the other side of the shore, was better off. With an opening both to the sea and one to get inside relatively easily, it was more than just beautiful, it was perfect. The slippery rocks in the area didn't even matter, as they're small enough to be overlooked.
Falling asleep here was significantly easier too, as around this time the outside world seems to be much warmer and forgiving even during the night. Which in itself is a blessing. The stars started to show up and the moon, just shy of being seen beyond the horizon, came with a calming aura, their light washing over the ocean, creating a beautiful shimmer on its surface.
Everything was perfect. Everything was finally quiet. And she wouldn't have it any other way…
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Once more, she awakened.
Not to a familiar landscape, but to somewhere completely different from where she remembered she fell asleep at. Her companion, the only solace she had in her painful existence, was gone. Like it never existed to begin with. That brought along a lot to take in, and her heart started beating like it wanted to escape from her body.
The girl doesn't recognize where she is, not even as she got up and started to look around. This confusing maze of buildings that rose from the ground like titans towered over her menacingly, almost like they're mocking her for being so weak next to them. Noise came second, loud and swallowing her own thoughts beneath, until she could barely focus on one thing before another came.
And the third source of life she encountered wasn't an animal. No, it was… humans. Two legs, two arms, one head. They walked, interacted and lived normally, no violence involved in their daily activities. No need for the rule of ‘survival of the fittest’. They all did something that continued the cycle they set up.
Many people who gazed her way, shorter than she is, gave her weird looks that made her quickly look away in shame. It felt like everyone was staring and judging her.
By the time she got out of the town near the sea, she was already lost. Unsure of where to go, she kept walking in one direction until it led her to a giant building that seemed to stretch on infinitely. And as her curiosity got the better of her, she walked inside without thinking twice about what it would mean later on.
The place was filled with people, small and big, pink, black and white, fish, human and other… All living besides each other without a worry in the world.
Vortice didn't get much of a good look before she bumped into someone, small yet seemingly guarded. A boy with light yellow hair and a woman with deep purple hair. “Who are you?! You're not a student at Mythag! I'd have known that–” The woman yelled, her weapon poking the tall girl's torso, making her back up faster than she should've.
A commotion like that clearly drew a few gazes. Intruders aren't that uncommon for this place, but one that walked in so blatantly? Quite rare. Of course, since the girl didn't answer with anything comprehensive, the woman seemed to get more and more ticked off until she almost swung her weapon.
“Lotan, stand down!” A human, or what Vortice assumed to be one, yelled over the noise, her long green hair swaying as she shielded Vortice from getting hit. Lotan, as it seems, begrudgingly lowered her stance, backing off. After the situation was called off as a false alarm, the woman with the breathtaking green hair led Vortice inside, her hand warmer than expected.
A long moment passed between them until they arrived at an office, the door shut behind them the moment they stepped inside. “Doll! I found this awakener wandering in the courtyard!” The girl talked to the other one, the one with pink hair and a weird pink blob floating above her head. In return she only got a nod from the more mature-seeming woman who stepped forward.
“Thank you Keeper. While I make a report on it, make a link with her. She doesn't seem to have been around for that long now.” Doll walks right back to her desk, sitting down to start taking notes. Like it's just a daily occurrence. And to her, it probably is. She's been here for a long time.
It seems like today is a packed day for the Keeper of Mythag, not that she would have it any other way.
Thank you for reading<33
Have a good day :p
~ With love, Keeper sunyandmony of Mythag University