Member
Lord Zee
LokiLeo789
Enzayne
Squad 404
Thayr
Vec
WrongEndoftheRainbow
ActRaiserTheReturned
DezuelLi’Kalla
Goddess of Rain
9 FP - 9 MP
&
who is super broke
”Ah… The wind is so nice today...” Muttered a certain, angelblue-haired Goddess. She sighed happily as she dipped her toes into the boiling lake, sitting herself on the edge of a small and shoddily constructed dock. In the past, doing such a thing would’ve been dangerous and outright stupid, but with the body of an immortal, boiling water could do no harm to her, and in fact felt rather nice and cleansing!
”Usually it’s way too cloudy and misty to see anything, but today the wind has been so lively… Really,” The woman tilted her head back and looked up at the sky, to see the plume of steam being blown away from the island by the constant breeze, ”I wish I was the one in charge of Wind… That would be so much more fun.”
As if called, the conductor of winds arrived through the steam only moments later, her radiant if somewhat unkempt feathers lighting it up and producing rainbows of colour as she slowly spiraled down through it. Upon spotting Li’Kalla the great bird called down ”Hello there! I hope I’m not intruding” before landing gently a short distance away along the shore of the boiling lake.
Li’Kalla stared in surprise at the huge macaw, her eyes wide, ”Oh. My. Lord.” She spoke breathlessly and as she did so, she retracted her legs from the water and stood up on the creaky dock. Slowly, she approached the Great Bird, her expression gradually changing from shock to curiosity and then to adoration.
With big, sparkly eyes she came up to the bird and froze a few feet away from it, fidgeting in place and clasping her hands together, with her eyes never leaving the form of whom she instinctively knew to be Azura, her fellow Goddess.
”Your feathers are- Your beak… Your wings!” Li’Kalla began bouncing on the spot, holding her hands against her chest, ”Oh lord, oh lady, oh nooo, you’re soo pretty!” The Rain Goddess said in a pitch so high birds would be jealous of her. In her excitement, she didn’t notice tears of pure joy beginning to travel down her delicate face.
”Oh my” Azure responded a touch flustered, before ruffling her feathers and puffing up her chest a touch with pride. ”Thank you for saying so little Li’Kalla, your too kind. Honestly though I’m a bit of a mess at the moment, so do you mind if I take a quick dip in your pool to clean off?” The goddess bobbed her head to the side in the direction of the boiling lake
”O-Oh, of course! Feel free to use my Lake.” Li’Kalla nodded and got out of Azura’s way, ”If you’re h-hungry, um, I could prepare some f-food for you, or perhaps just… Just bring you some water. I’d offer fruit, b-but...” She trailed off, looking at her feet bashfully.
”Thank you kindly” Azura bobbed her head before heading into the pool. Cold gentle breeze followed her in, blowing upon the lake as if it were bird’s nest soup to temporarily lower the temp just a touch from scolding to delightfully tosty. Azura gave a pleasant sigh as she settled into the boiling bird bath ”No no it’s quite alright. this is more than enough Li’Kalla, I assure you. I appreciate your generosity, but I’d rather not eat you out of house and home. Besides I haven't eaten since... well I can’t remember, but the point is I’d rather not make a habit of something I don’t need to do. Frankly if I ate now I don’t think I could ever stop.” the bird laughed to herself at this before setting to work cleaning her messy plumage, shaking her body too and fro gently in the water to get it all though her feathers, though fortunately this was not violent enough splash Li’Kalla. Meanwhile Li’Kalla sat on her knees on the sandy shore and tried to relax as she watched the Bird Goddess bathe.
All throughout her bath Azura the giant parrot ground her beak contently.
”... P-Please don’t take offense to this, Miss Azura, I used to have a masc- Um, companion a long time ago. He was a beautiful gold and orange feathered bird. He was the only company I had while-” She cut herself off and after a moment, she sighed. ”He would do that thing with his beak whenever he felt relaxed after taking flight around my chambers. I take it you’ve had an eventful time so far, Miss Azura?”
”None taken.” Azura insisted even as her content sounds where cut off by her last question to be replaced by a cocked head and a thoughtful hum for a few moments. ”I have been very busy, that is true. Not all of it has been the good kind of busy but… I’d rather not ruin the present pleasant atmosphere with that when there are so many other beautiful things to speak of.”
Azura dunked her head beneath the water briefly before continuing, ”Have you traveled far from your lovely home Li’Kalla? I’ve been all over, from the sun too the stars...” She paused there for a moment, clicking her beak impulsively in before shaking her head and continuing ” and all across Galbar. Some of our peers are have been very creative indeed in their work.”
Li’Kalla looked down at her hands and shrugged lamely, ”I haven’t really… Visited anywhere, yet. I don’t feel safe walking on water, so I suppose I’ve been hoping someone with a boat comes by.” Li’Kalla then showed Azura a well-practiced smile, ”I’ve only met a few of our fellows. K’nell, Parvus, Chopstick Eyes, V-” She shivered and immediately changed the subject. Azura seemed to consider pressing her to continue, beak opening to speak, only to think otherwise and closing it once more to let her continue.
”Miss Azura, I do have a question. How does it feel? Flying… I remember looking out of my window and seeing the flocks of birds fly by the Palace. They always look so free, so… Alive.”
”Oh it is liberating” Azura responded passionately ”to soar the sky, feel the wind on your feathers, to be unchained from hard earth and stone.” The great bird stood as she spoke of this, shaking off her wings as she stepped out of the boiling lake looking rejuvenated, radiant and reinvigorated. ”It is something all should experience. Sadly I don’t have the strength to gift you that but” she insisted before gasping and humming to herself excited ”I could take you flying! oh oh, or better yet, if you have power to spare, I could teach you how to fly Li’Kalla! Then you would be free to explore to your heart’s content!”
Li’Kalla’s eyes lit up and she straightened her back and balled up a fist and pumped another into the air, ”Yay! I’m going to learn how to fly! Thank you, Miss Azura!” Li’Kalla grinned and looked up at the Great Bird’s face. ”B-But, I don’t have beautiful wings like yours...”
”oh. well no, but you could grow them. Somewhere. I… sort of remember creatures like you with wings on their backs? Its hazy though. I think I don’t want to remember them? Regardless, it’s a place they could go. or you could turn into a bird yourself? I think that is a thing we can do. or turn your arms into wings or… let’s just say the sky’s the limit hehe” Azura rambled excitedly ”oh. but before you chose what is your favorite color?”
”Oh lord! My favorite color!” Li’Kalla sprang to her feet and pursed her lips for a moment, ”I think, I think white! No, wait, blue! Or maybe… Yellow? How to choose? They’re all so pretty, Miss Azura!” She giggled. ”Although… My skin is ghostly white these days you see, maybe that should be my favorite color now?” She shrugged.
”Well I have no need to be frugal with these so” Azura reached round and carefully plucked a blue, yellow and white feather from each of her wings, resulting in six in total that she leaned down and presented to Li’Kalla. Each one was about the length of her arm. ”Here” she said through the beak full of feathers ”You can use these as a starting point for your own wings.”
Li’Kalla gasped and gently took the six enormous feathers in her arms, hugging them against her body, ”Aw, thank you Miss Azura!” She said excitedly, ”I think I’ll go with white!” She declared and the feathers to float mid air while she sat back down on her knees, closing her eyes as she slipped her dress off her shoulders and let it pool around her hips.
Li’Kalla took in a few deep breaths to calm herself and finally, stopped breathing altogether. Her entire focus lay on the task at hand. There was no room for error, no room for distracting thoughts or feelings. Right now, it was her and her goal.
A wave of energy went down her body, then another, and then she felt nothing and heard nothing.
When she opened her eyes, the entirety of her field of vision was blocked by what seemed to be an enormous face. Black, with vines and tendrils of unknown material crawling along its skin -- or maybe those were its skin; With a snarling maw filled with rows upon rows of rapier-like teeth; bright golden eyes that bore into Li’Kalla’s skull and breath that smelled of rot.
Li’Kalla stared wide-eyed at the monstrosity in front of her, she watched as it opened its maw and a single, black tongue slithered its way toward her, she gave shallow breaths as the tongue trailed her body roughly, tasting her.
There was a low sound, something she’d never heard before and couldn’t describe. It came from the monster. Li’Kalla didn’t dare close her eyes, but she didn’t dare move either. When the tongue reached up to her face, she began shaking. That’s when the monstrous entity lunged forward and ate her.
Thousand of thorns tore away at her flesh. She tried to scream, to call for help, but her voice had abandoned her. The sharp feeling as her bones broke and pierced skin, as parts of her were ripped apart by th-
She opened her eyes.
She was hyperventilating, her eyes wide and teary, her body sore and tired. And yet she felt something was… Off, different. From her back two large, beautiful wings had emerged. hey were a very pale gray in color, much like her skin, but the feathers had yellow highlights.
Li’Kalla tested her new wings, and moved them erratically. One of them she couldn’t get to stop shaking and the other was furled tightly against her body.
”Did I… D-Did I do it… Miss Azura?” Li’Kalla asked between pants without looking up at the Great Bird.
”You did wonderfully me dear” Azura insisted, concern clear in her tone. ”But now you just need to breathe Li’Kalla. It's ok.” Azura Shure her, ”You’re Ok. I promise.” Li’Kalla could see out of her peripheral vision the great bird moving closer cautiously, so she took the time to breathe. In and out, slowly, until she managed to calm down enough.
”... My left wing w-won’t stop shaking up and down...” Li’Kalla said softly, as she looked up at her new friend’s face and reached out to place her hands on her beak.
Azura move a little closer, sofly pressing her feathered head agasint Li’Kalla’s cheek ”You have limbs so learning how to control them might take a little time I think? It’ll fix itself if you focus on calming it. Even if it doesn’t then we’ll find a way to fix it.” Azura assured her
At those words, Li’Kalla closed her eyes once more and rested her head against Azura’s. After a moment, her wing stopped shaking and she even managed to move it so it’d brush against Azura. She did the same with her other wing and gave a small chuckle.
”I took inspiration from your wings, Miss Azura. I hope that’s okay. Your feathers feel really nice. So, what’s next?” As she spoke, her left wing shook a little bit and her right one twitched, but Li’Kalla got them back in control in the blink of an eye.
”I’m honored that you did.” Azura said before carefully pulling herself up and away from her. ”Now? Now fledgling we learn how to use those wings of yours. I suggest doing a bit of stretching to limber up while I make you somewhere to practice”
”Okay!” Li’Kalla grinned and stood up, wings outstretched excitedly. ”Thank you, Sis- Um, Miss Azura!” She said before turning and walking away from the shore of the lake. She’d go near the Manor’s courtyard to stretch, as it was much grassier and cooler there.
”Sis huh?” Azura could be heard murmuring to herself before following, whistling happily as she went. While Li’Kalla got used to the extra weight she was carrying and the accompanying center of gravity shift Azura began to craft a little practice equipment. Humming softly to herself she formed a pair of small milky white Luft stone platforms out of the air itself, each about the size of a dining table. Once she was done she aproched the frolicing Li’Kalla asking ”How are you feeling now little sister?”
”Oh!” Li’Kalla looked up in surprise at Azura, but quickly smiled bashfully at her. She had been stretching her wings and her body in every way she knew how, not wanting to be underprepared for the undoubtedly difficult training she was going to undergo. Li’Kalla jumped up to her feet and pumped a fist into the air triumphantly. ”I’m super ready, Big Sis!” She said and flapped her wings causing her to gasp and sending herself off balance and falling on her bum. ”Ow- That was amazing!”
”Glad to see you are feeling better little sister” Azura said cheerfully as she floated the two little platforms over to them both, the gravity defying stone needing only a little guidance from gusts of wind to move it around. She plopped the two boards in front of her ”hop onto one of these and we’ll get started” she instructed, and so Li’Kalla did a small flap of her wings and hopped onto one of the boards. Once upon it, the smaller Goddess couldn’t help but keep her wings outstretched.
”And up we go” Azura said as the boards began to float up in the air until Li’Kalla found herself face to face with Azura once again, only now the big bird was standing tall as can be. The air was completely still around her, meaning there was no risk of her being blown off her now rather lofty perch.
Li’Kalla peeked over the edge of her board, down at the ground far below, and then looked at Azura. ”Okay, Sis, ready to follow your orders!” She said, giggling.
”I give guidance not orders” Azura insisted, ”But to start off with, all you need to do is jump between these two.” the other board, which was only an easily hopable distance away, bobbed up and down a little when she spoke of it.
Li’Kalla answered with a nod of her head. She focused for a few moments, jumping up and down on the board and flapping her wings in preparation. Then, in an instant, she jumped off the board and onto the other. She barely flapped her wings a couple times, but that gave her the edge needed to reach the platform. Once she landed, she stumbled but managed to maintain her balance. ”Yay!”
”Good job Li’Kalla!” Azura praised as she moved the boards just a little further apart. ”Now. Do it again.” and so she did. Over and over again with each jump just a little further and a little harder. Most she cleared, but when she fell Azura’s winds where there to soften her landing and her words were there to wipe away the embarrassment of failing, encouraging her to step back up and try again. What began as fluttering leaps slowly but surely became short glides and then finally actual flights from board to board. Eventually when she was pretty sure she was getting the hang of it Azura stopped her from taking another leap back saying ”You’ve done so well little sister, I think you’re ready for the real lesson. Do you trust me Li’Kalla? Do you trust yourself?”
Li’Kalla was smiling even as she panted lightly, she looked at Azura’s face and tilted her head curiously, drops of rainwater splashing down onto the board. ”I trust you, Sis, and I trust my new wings!” Li’Kalla flashed a grin and flapped her wings excitedly, ”I love this practice, let’s go to the next level, Sis.”
Azura whistled happily in response to her enthusiasm and then said ”Then here we go!” before a gust of wind grabbed her, causing her to squeak in surprise and launching her skywards while the bird flew beside her. Up and out of the steam and clouds surrounding hed domain they soared till they were high in the sky. Far below them was her mirrored home and the island it rested upon. To the west was Kalgrun, its vast tracts of barren stone slowly being filled with greenery as the Gemstone Gardeners gathered seeds from across the world to plant in its varied climates. To the north where a series of tall mountains, the tallest of which poked into the Blue. To the east was the great sea between her island and the spinning twins of Swahhitteh and Tendlepog and in that sea something strange was floating. what she at first thought was a floating island of some kind like the ones seen in the Blue sky above dived down towards the ocean, its vast mouth opening to scoop up an immense haul of tiny sea life before breaching back out of the water again, a massive jet of sea water shooting out of its top. Seemingly noticing the pair, the great whale slowly turned and began a rapid ascension towards them. The flying sea creature, about the size of a small island, ended up circling them, about a hundred meters or so away, where its song echoing through the blue skies to greet them both.
As she finished taking in her surroundings Li’Kalla came to notice that the updraft that had lifted her skywards was slowing gradually. When it finally stopped the great bird who had soared up beside her told her to ”Fly Li’Kalla fly!” because now it was indeed either fly of fall.
For a second, Li’Kalla’s face held a most relaxed smile, she took in her surroundings with glee, savouring every moment the gust of divine wind kept her afloat… And then she stopped mid-air, and at that moment she felt Galbar’s pull hit her.
”Wait wh-! AAAAAHHH!!”
She fell, heading for the ground. Every passing second hastened her fall. She tried to flap her wings, but found her left wings twitched and her right one too tense to move. Her heart leapt to her throat, her head felt light and her legs were cramping up as she flailed.
”SISTEEEEEER!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, forcing her wings to move. She tried to flap them but they were uncoordinated and just sent Li’Kalla barreling, falling even faster. She got dizzy and gagged.
Azura appeared beside her, also falling though doing it with a lot more grace than Li’Kalla. her wings where clamped tightly by her side and she was falling backwards, yet seemed to be entirely at ease with the situation. ”Well now sister, this is the exact opposite of what I asked you to do” she teased, being far to calm for their current plumat. ”Trust your wings LiKalla, trust yourself. This is no different from what we where doing with the boards, we’re just a little higher up this time is all.” she said, even as their height continued to diminished rapidly. The fall’s acceleration had stopped however, with the pair having somehow reached the same terminal velocity.
Li’Kalla had lost her voice. Everytime she tried to speak, a scream came out. So instead she let her screams out and tried flapping her wings as wildly as she could, in hopes that she’d somehow stabilize herself. It didn’t work.
”AAAH!”
In her panic, she outstretched her wings and locked them in place.
Her fall turned into a glide in the blink of an eye. An extremely dangerously fast glide, however, one that was headed straight down. She grunted as she adjusted her wings’ angles and corrected her trajectory, and then flapped her wings to slow to a stop.
She panted heavily and occasionally gagged. She kept her mouth covered and kept her narrowed eyes trained at the ground just a few meters below her.
”... Y… You are… Evil, S-Sis...” A weak groan followed her soft words.
”I had everything in tallon I assure you” insisted the great bird that had shadowed her every move as she fell. Azura flapped round to fly next to her and then said ”I’ll admit it was perhaps a touch, ah, extreme. but it worked! You’re flying dear sister!”
Li’Kalla stared in disbelief at Azura, ”V-Very amusing, Sis- Wait.” She froze and dropped a meter, ”Eek!” She flapped her wings with renewed vigor. She was flying, she realized, she was flying! All those years longing to fly, to be free, back home. All those nights she’d let Ka’Li fly free around her chambers so that she could watch him. She was free, now! There was nothing to keep her grounded, no room that could imprison her! Why, she could jump out of the window if she wanted to, and her wings would carry her up and away. Her eyes sparkled and she became slightly teary. Her heart leapt as she took in Azura’s presence, and she suddenly shot towards her and embraced her Big Sister’s neck. Or, well, embraced as much as she could, which wasn’t much at all.
Tears of joy flowed freely and she nuzzled her Sister’s feathers and took in her scent, ”Oh, Sis! Sis, Sis! I’m flying! I’m flying right now! I love you Sis, so sooo much! Oh Lords, I’m flyiiiing!”
Azura laughed happily in response to her joyous embrace ”Yes, yes you are!” she said while performing a few slow merry spins while Li’Kalla clung to her. While she did so Li’kalla felt a warm breeze pressing her against the birds chest as the armless goddess returned the hug as best she could. ”The skies are yours to roam dear sister. So... Where would you like to go first?”
Li’Kalla felt her body relax, her adrenaline rush was disappearing, and the remaining energy in her body was quickly dispersing. Soon, her arms, legs and wings felt like gelatin and her breath came in a slow ryhthm. ”Weell-” She yawned and used what little energy she had to climb her way onto Azura’s back, especifically the spot between her two great wings. ”T-There’s a place with ponds near here, there’s these flowers called Lotus blooms, they’re really beautiful. I-I think we could go there and, and relax. I don’t think I can move much more...” She said.
”mmm, you have been working very hard after all, so a rest does seem wise” Azura agreed before they began a slow and careful flight towards the pond Li’Kalla had pointed Azura towards. Above them the eclipse whale poked his way through the clouds, having caught up with the falling pair. It sang merrily and softly at seeing they were ok.
It was a comfortable position to be in. Curled up on the back of her big sister, caressed by the soft, warm multicolored feathers, with a constant, gentle breeze keeping her body cool and constantly blowing away all of the cursed rainwater that kept materialising on her body. Li’Kalla let out a sigh as she stretched her new wings and wrapped them around herself and Azura’s back. Eventually she felt herself drifting off, and no sound escaped Li’Kalla but that of gentle breathing.
I love my Big Sis, she thought, she’s so warm...
