Kotka
Aatu shivered, clutching her animal skin cloak a little closer to her body as she landed on the ledge of a small cliff. She paused for a moment to turn around and gaze out across the land. Before her stretched an endless sea of brown and green, as the vast grasslands met the borders of the forests far beyond. It had been two weeks since that fateful day, but the view was beautiful as ever…
Had it already been that long? Aatu thought for a moment before nodding to herself. Yes, it had been that long! That day had felt like an eternity. The confusion, the chaos, it was such an insane day… The day when he took power…
Day 1, Week 1, Cycle 1
Days ago...
A humanoid lay in the open plains that hugged the gently sloping mountain. At first glance, one could have mistaken it to be a human, yet, the large, impressive wings that spread out just below the waist begged to differ. This was a Kotka, and a confused one at that, for it had just awoken.
Aatu’s eyes shot open and she quickly sat up. A million questions flooded her mind as she began to process her surroundings. This quickly overwhelmed her, leaving her slightly dazed and confused. Shaking her head, Aatu quickly prioritized what she knew already, then worked from there. For starters, she knew her name, Aatu. That much was already concerning. How did she know her name? A thick fog persisted in her mind, one that began to give her a headache.
“Try not to think about it too hard, or you’ll get a migraine and that won’t help anyone.” A voice said, lurching Aatu from her thoughts. Another Kotka was kneeling beside her, hand outstretched. He was of similar age, brown, messy hair covered his head and large, grey-brown wings stretched behind him. Shaking her head, Aatu pushed aside the barrage of questions and took the offered hand. Nodding, the Kotkan male turned toward the sky, cupping his hands to his mouth. “Eetu! I found another one!” he yelled.
Aatu soon found herself among many Kotkans, all gathered on a windswept cliff that overlooked the grasslands below. A great bonfire had been seemingly erect and as the sun set, its purpose became clear. Like the others, she was lost, confused, and afraid. Shivering naked, they crowded around the fire, but a single Kotkan stood above them, atop a small boulder near the fire. HIs wings showed a brilliant white and his eyes a glistening gold in the firelight. Had he been there the whole time? Aatu was not sure, but now in his presence, she was transfixed as the others as he surveyed the group before him. Unlike them, the cold seems to not bother this Kotka. Unlike them, he appeared neither scared nor confused. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw before him, he smiled and nodded.
“My kin, my kind, my… clan. We are lost, cast from an unknown home into this strange land. Our collective knowledge is scattered and fleeting, yet it is still there. That odd sense of familiarity as we drift through these skies, yet with no memory of ever doing so before.” His voice boomed, resonating with the crowd, their attention completely captivated. “Within this haze of the unknown, I have plucked a single memory. Yes, listen to me! I remember but one thing from our previous lives, our world. We, the Kotka, are the people of the sky! We are a proud, noble people who survived countless persecutions and trials. This memory I have wrestled from the abyss showed me that before we were robbed of our minds, we had fought for our freedom from fate itself! And so… here we are now” He gestured grandly to the lands around him, the setting sun brilliantly illuminating the rolling fields below him. “Our fates are unknown, but our freedom has been achieved! We must unite our scattered peoples! Rebuild our greatness! Claim our rightful place in the sky!”
A Kotkan man suddenly stood, a sudden flash of anger in his eyes. “Who are you to claim such things! I only remember my name!” He heckled. The white winged Kotka simply shrugged at this.
“Really? Only your name? You seem to also remember how to fly, how to speak our tongue, how to burn this fire, do you not? My people, my clan, we are not helpless! It will take time for you to steal your knowledge back from the Abyss as I have, but I assure you… we already have all the foundations of greatness within us.” replied the white winged Kotka cooly. The disgruntled man simply huffed and sat down, feeling the pressure from the crowd. However, before the white winged Kotka could continue, Aatu stood, finally finding herself again.
“And who are you? Why did you remember when we didn’t? You act as though you’re meant to be in charge of this… this… rebuilding. Who are you? What do you mean ‘clan’?” Aatu said, her voice only wavering slightly. Yes… now that she thought of it, she did know what clan meant. But how did he…?
“I knew what I was, what this was, from the beginning. In fact, I can answer your two questions with one answer. I knew because I am the King of the Skies, leader of our peoples before the Abyss stole our memories in exchange for our freedom! I, who dominates the skies above, was the only one who possessed the strength to keep hold of something, anything from the time before, so that I could share it all with you today. I knew when the… the Abyss came to take our minds in exchange for freedom, that I would have to retain the core of who they are, in order to survive! Not just you, but all who are here, you are my clansmen!.” The King of the Skies shook his head, facing away from the crowd, towards the setting sun. “You are my people, indeed. And now what I ask of you is no small thing. It will be a long journey, filled with plenty of uncertainty. Doubt will dog at you from every corner, with the very Abyss lurking at the edges. We will struggle, we will fight… but through all of it, we shall realize our dream, our purpose…” The King of the Skies turned to face them once again, the light of the sun now disappearing below the horizon. “My Taivas Clan, I now ask you to help me! We must reclaim our Sky!”
A silence fell on the crowd below the self proclaimed King. Nobody spoke a single word as they stared. A man suddenly stood, his arm raised with a clench fist pointed toward the sky. “I am with you my King!” he shouted. Soon another Kotkan man stood, proclaiming the same oath. A dam of uncertainty, of bottled emotion broke open within Aatu, as it did with every other Kotka that was present. It mattered not if what this man said was true. He was giving them something they all had desperately craved since the moment they had awoken lost and confused. More than the growling hunger in their bellies, or the cold winds that whipped at their bare skin, he had given them all what they had truly desired… Meaning. Purpose. Direction. No longer were they aimless or confused, they were driven.
And so, the story of the Kotka and the Taivas Clan began. It began with a sense of loss and a sense of hope. Confusion and direction. Terror in uncertainty, yet meaning in purpose. It began, oh yes… it began with a lie. A lie told by one bright Kotka man, who was just as lost, just as confused, and just as scared as the rest of them. Unlike the rest of them, however, he would never show it. For Hakkan, the King of the Skies, leader of the Taivas did have a single memory aside from his name. It was no memory of grandeur or conquest. No, it was a single phrase, a montra that echoed through all the fog and confusion that so clouded his mind when he awoke.
“To lie is neither good nor evil. Only who wields the lie and why.”
And so, he lied.
