#Seldnac'Rae

[nordlichtkunst]

This week's Weekly Theme Word for Seldnacs was "Fall". Considering it's late April, that may have meant it as in, falling. However. I immediately had this pic in my mind. So :3

[nordlichtgeschichten]

A Thorny Adversary

Lena was just trying to catch some lunch when a scream forces her to change plans.

POV: 3rd person Warnings: None Word Count: 879

Lena’s ear twitched, and she stopped her prowling to scratch it. The blue flame on it flickered from the movement, but with all the glowing plants around her, that shouldn’t startle any potential prey.

Strange, though. Lena’s spiral markings glowed a little more brightly amidst her black fur as she gazed into the future, looking for some sort of imminent threat to set off the itch, but nothing. Hm. Maybe sometimes, a twitch was just a twitch.

Back to the matter at paw, then. She’d smelled a mouse just a moment ago, and now slightly opened her mouth to locate the scent even better. Just a little bit further…

A high-pitched yelp ruined Lena’s attention and sent the mouse skittering away. Not that she cared, not this time; the yelp had sounded far too familiar, and there was exactly one thing allowed to torment her little apprentice, which was Lena herself. Twigs and brambles tried to hold her back, but whenever they would catch her skin or fur, she just liquidized the area, letting them slide off harmlessly. No bothersome plants would stop her from saving Sky.

It didn’t take her long to spot Sky’s sand-colored fur through the green bushes, back turned towards her. With an impressively loud hiss, Lena leapt over the fennec, paws just barely missing Sky’s glowing white wings, fur bristled, claws unsheathed. When she landed, the blue glow of her bared fangs reflected from— the leaves of a thistle bush.

She turned towards Sky, who was rubbing her nose with a paw. “Uh, sorry?” Sky offered sheepishly. “I didn’t know you were in the area… Or that you’d come running!” She stepped closer to Lena. “Sooo… I guess that means you do care about me!”

“Well,” Lena said, and quickly groomed her chest to cover up the embarrassment of trying to start a fight with a piece of vegetation, “I didn't expect my apprentice to be foolish enough to scream because she didn’t manage to see a bush bigger than she is.” Once Lena’s chest fur was nice and shiny, she moved on to her paw. “And as your mentor, it would have been my duty to protect you from any actual threats.”

“That’s so nice of you!” Sky lowered her torso to the ground, behind still high and tail wagging quickly. “So, since you’re here anyway…” There was a playful twinkle in Sky’s brown eyes, all the more noticeable thanks to the two glowing stripes on her cheeks.

Lena lifted her head to look at Sky, but kept her paw raised. “Don’t push your luck, kitten.” When Sky took another step towards her, Lena swiftly batted at her, claws of course sheathed.

Sky jumped back, flapping her wings and hovering a little above the ground. “Aw, come on!”

“My lunch got away thanks to you.” Lena’s tail tip twitched. “So I’ll have to find something new.” She paused, faced with Sky's big pleading eyes, then sighed. “Maybe afterwards, I can teach you some more.”

“What if I helped you?” Sky landed again and neatly folded her wings against her body, almost covering up the white splotch further back. Not like it mattered; Lena knew Sky didn’t actually need the wings to fly. “You know, if I caught you something!”

“And you think you’ll find something faster than I can?” She had confidence, if nothing else.

“Well, maybe not faster,” Sky admitted. “But if there’s two Seldnacs looking, then that’s twice the chance of finding something, right? So even if I’m not faster than you in general, I might get lucky, and then you’d have your food sooner!”

It didn’t seem like Sky would give up on the plan that quickly, and in a way, it was a little endearing. “All right. Show me your forest hunting skills.”

“I came here to practice those! Look!” Sky kept her tail still and ducked close to the ground, moving forwards quietly. Seemed like she had indeed trained, even if she was still a little clumsy when it came to avoiding all the little twigs, branches and roots that littered the forest ground. And bushes, apparently.

Lena circled Sky, nudging her slightly here, pulling one of her legs into a better position there. “Fine, you can try to help. You go that way, I’ll go this way. And remember to keep your legs on the ground while you’re here.”

“I will, promise!” Though Lena had no doubt Sky meant what she said, the fennec’s feet were again hanging a paw’s width above the ground.

Lena bit Sky’s foreleg, just gentle enough that her teeth wouldn’t pierce the skin, and yanked her back down. “Don't forget to look where you’re going, I can’t save you from every thistle you might run into.”

“Yeah, I learned that lesson.” Sky rubbed her nose one more time. “Okay, I’ll go, and I’ll be back with some nice lunch for you before you know it! See you!” And off she ran, though to her credit, her paws did in fact touch the ground with every step.

Lena shook her head and turned the other way, carefully sniffing the air. There had to be more prey hidden somewhere between all these roots, after all.

[okardare]

For a long time I been wanted to change, a bit, the design of Amaranth, as well are-design his reference sheet. His original sheet was very dark, and I really don't like how I arranged the information, not to mention that design was a mess and his mane was so dark that you couldn't see any detail. I didn't change his original design much, because in the end it's a design I am very fond of, but if I simplified it a bit and changed the green tones for more orange tones, seens it was the least I liked about his original design.

[froggyfriendart]

Painted commission for @kalu-chan of their Grimalkin Seldnac'Rae, Lena! Thank you :)

Want a commission? Request one here!

[lycan-sakura]

I did this for the Seldnac-shenanigans contest over on Deviantart. I tried to do a more realistic style with these two and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Tho I do see quite a few mistakes. Can we not mention Ignis's raised paw too much please. Thank you. I tried fixing it so many times. q~q ...... As for the story in the scene. As sunset set fell Keon told Ignis the way everything glowed and reflected each others light is why it was his favourite place in all his territory and it always filled him with a sense of calm. And as Ignis watched the river flow and heard the sound of the wind thru the rich soft grass he felt the same calmness. All the flora and fauna in this grove seemed to sing a soft song that could calm even the most troubled heart. Ignis (right) belongs to FelonDog (Species creator) . Keon (left) and the art belongs to me.

[lumiklyde]

Neo Galaxy Tye and her Seldnac’Rae girlfriend Photon Stream

[nordlichtkunst]

Doodle for this week's Weekly Theme Word, "Flower"! Showing Leah with a flower that was probably put there by one of her kids.

Bay cats are hard to draw ngl. They have different Shapes than other cats. I need more practice.

Seldnac'Rae are an open species by FelonDog

[nordlichtkunst]

Day 11 of @icryink's Cringetober! But late but shhh. Technically the prompt was Yandere, but I switched it to Tsundere because I like those more. So have Lena offering her student a mouse, totally not out of niceness or anything.

[nordlichtkunst]

'Tis October, and with October come various Art Prompts - I'm doing Cringetober, and Day 5's Prompt was "MS Paint". So, a mouse drawn MS Paint drawing (well, JS Paint, same thing but online) of Fantasia xD

Cringetober Prompt List is by @icryink

[nordlichtgeschichten]

Unbroken Shine

Emerald, a young Seldnac'Rae, was just headed home, when someone was in dire need of her help...

POV: 3rd Person Warnings: Bullying, injury Word count: 819

Emmy felt the warmth of the setting sun on her back. Soon, its bright light would be replaced by the soft glow of Arbalednac's leaves and grasses. Or so Emmy assumed; she'd never been outside that late, only seen it from windows. Her parents worried easily, so she always tried to be home before dark. In a few years, Emmy would be an adult, and then she could explore Arbalednac at night all she wanted.

Right now, though, she was headed home, when a scream cut through the air.

Emmy found herself running in its direction before she'd even realized what she'd heard, heart beating so hard it felt like it might burst, paws drumming on the ground.

The scream had come from a Grimalkin Seldnac, a lynx, maybe a year or two younger than Emmy. They were cowering on the ground, the purple flames on their tufted ears flickering erratically. Towering above them were two Vargkins, bigger and older than Emmy, snickering to each other.

“Hey!” Emmy called out as she jumped between the duo and their target. “Pick on someone your own size!”

One of them, a hyena with swirling lime-colored markings, leaned in until their fangs were just inches from Emmy’s face. “Oh? You mean like you?”

Emmy fought the instinct to cower, and instead let her flames and markings glow brightly, their green light reflecting in the hyena’s eyes. She didn’t answer—didn’t trust her voice to be steady enough for that—but growled, hoping the younger Seldnac would flee, though she didn’t dare look away from the hyena to check.

“Hey, what are you, a puppy or a deer?” the other Seldnac, a wolf like Emmy, asked, nudging Emmy’s antlers with his snout.

The hyena laughed. “Aww, prey trying to fight back?”

“I’m not prey!” Emmy defended herself, but she couldn’t help but flinch when the wolf’s dark red flames flickered higher.

“She’s cheeky prey, I’ll give her that!”

The hyena finally took a step back, still standing too close for comfort. “Maybe we should teach her a lesson.”

“Hmm…” The wolf tilted his head to the side.

He moved faster than Emmy’s eyes could follow. Pain shot through her head as sharp fangs locked onto her ear and the soft fuzz covering her antler, pressing them together.

Emmy yelped, then growled, then whined, but the wolf didn’t relent. “Let go!” She tried to break free, but his grip was too strong, and the pain only worsened the more she struggled. “Please!” When begging didn’t help, she tried to snap at him, but he was too large, out of reach of her teeth.

“Seems like she still hasn’t learned!” the hyena howled. “You’ve gotta show her!”

With a deep growl, the wolf began throwing his head left and right.

Emmy’s front paws were lifted off the ground as a new bout of white-hot pain shot through her, not quite drowning out a sickening crunch just before she fell to the ground, her eyes clenched shut.

The wolf snorted and turned away. “Hope you’ll know better next time.” His footsteps moved away from Emmy. “Come on, before those brats’ parents get here.”

“Good plan!” The hyena’s footsteps followed, slowly fading the further they got away.

Emmy’s head hurt too much to speak or get up. She just lay still, trying to keep her jagged breaths as steady as possible.

The other Seldnac licked Emmy’s ear, trying to clean away the blood, but more kept flowing. “I’m sorry,” they repeated again and again. “I’m so sorry.”

The pain slowly faded enough for Emmy to pry her eyes open, her vision filled with reddish fur and purple glow. Her left eye burned when some blood dripped into it, so she quickly shut it again, only keeping the right one open.

“Can you make it to your parents? Should I help you? Should I go get them? Can you tell me which way?”

Part of Emmy wished that the other Seldnac had gotten hurt instead of her, but she knew that was unfair. As the pain dulled, Emmy managed to catch her breath. “Just… Just give me… a moment.”

The lynx nodded and went back to trying to clean Emmy’s wound.

Finally, the pain faded enough for Emmy to push herself up, but as soon as she did, the world started spinning. The lynx pressed themself against her flank, preventing her from falling again.

“I’ll help you,” they promised. “Just tell me where to.”

Emmy nodded, causing a fresh pang of pain to shoot through her. “This way…”

She took a few unsure steps towards home, trying not the stumble over the piece of broken antler on the ground. With the lynx pressing against her even warmer than the evening sun, Emmy made her way back home, arriving long after the stars had taken the sun’s place on the clear sky.

[nordlichtkunst]

[ID: A colored pencil drawing, lined with black marker. A large black wolf Seldnac is lying on a grassy field, watching a humanoid child that's leaning against the wolf's body and writing a letter. The wold has black antlers, one of which is broken, a torn left ear, and green markings. End ID]

This week's Seldnac Weekly Theme Word is "Letter", so I went for Emmy watching/helping one of her kids write a letter back to the kid's home world :3

Seldnac'Rae are an Open Species by FelonDog on deviantArt

[nordlichtkunst]

[ID: A feline Seldnac'Rae, looking like a black cat with blue spiral markings and blue flames on their ears. The Seldnac is lying on their back, the head making the body a bit L-shaped, like cats sometimes do when fooling around. End ID]

Lena being A Cat. Reference image was a photo of my (well, my parents') cat Lena in that pose lmao. Seldnacs are an open species by FelonDog on dA :3

[nordlichtkunst]

[ID: A feline Seldnac'Rae with sand-colored fur, black markings, and light blue ear flames and flame markings. The character has one paw on a sword lying on the ground, and behind them is another pile of swords. The background is a simple green meadow and a blue sky with some white clouds. End ID]

My secret santa for TikiTikie on dA! Larkspur is a very cool character, glad I got to draw him! (Larkspur enchants weapons with poison magic and sells them for 'unconventional prices', hence the swords)

[nordlichtgeschichten]

A Call Unanswered

On a warm day, Shivers hears something calling her from beneath the ocean's waves, and she leaps, bound to follow the call.

POV: 3rd person Warnings: Mild one for a character not being able to breathe Word Count: 1611

Shivers yawned as the sun shone on her fur and sparkled on the waves below. It was… Well, honestly, it was too warm for Shivers’ liking. Even aside from her ice magic making her more cold resistant, her white fur was rather thick, trapping the heat underneath. Emmy and Leah were watching over the children, so for once, Shivers had opted to relax near the ocean, futilely hoping for a cool breeze to combat the heat. It was too warm for a nap, but also definitely too warm to play.

The sea twinkled, almost like an invitation. The air was warm, but maybe it would be colder between the waves that were hitting the cliff again and again.

Shivers had never had much in the way of impulse control. He stood up, took two steps back, and leaped off the cliff. While falling, he pulled the water in the air together and cooled it down, creating an icy slope. Now this was something to do on a hot day! The ice cooled Shivers’ paws, and he howled in excitement.

Once he felt he was low enough, he let the slide curve upwards, making a ramp that tossed him upwards, the closest he'd get to flying without the magic for it.

In the air, she turned, muzzle pointing down towards the water’s surface. Shivers dove in, cool water immediately soaking her fur and banishing the dusty warmth. Above, blurred by the waves, Shivers saw her slope melt in the heat and drip into the water.

Shivers wasn’t a good swimmer, if he was honest, but right now, he wanted to see how deep he could go. It was nice and cool down here, and more importantly, he felt like something was calling him down, further and further down.

What could possibly go wrong?

As the water around her grew darker, Shivers’ markings glowed more brightly, icy blue lighting her way into the depths.

Diving became easier the further he went, much easier than swimming had ever been before, and curiosity won over the drive to reach that mysterious call. Shivers twisted around and froze, stunned to see his soft fur replaced by smooth scales, and hind legs turned into a long fin. He twirled around twice, thrice, trying to take it all in. His scales were white like his fur had been, with the same black spots and glowing icy blue splotches. Shivers gasped, and when he realized that didn’t make him drown, he breathed in and out. Huh.

Something was calling her further down still. Shivers took a deep breath. “Hey! Who are you?”, she called back, moving forwards again, dashing through the water faster than she’d ever thought possible for someone who wasn’t a fish. Maybe she was a fish now, kind of.

Nothing answered his words, but finally, Shivers saw some figures moving in the distance. Shivers sped up, trying to reach them more quickly. Why, he couldn’t have said. He just felt like he had to get to them as fast as possible.

Soon she was in their midst. They all had scales and tails just like Shivers, but their scales glittered and shone in all the colors of the rainbow, making it hard to look at them for long enough to truly see them. Were they Seldnacs? Humans? Hippocamps? All Shivers saw was strong fins and bright scales.

The mermaids moved around Shivers, creating a vortex of swirling colors that almost made his head hurt.

“You listened!”, one of them called out, but Shivers couldn’t make out which one.

“You came!”, another added.

Shivers spun in a circle, trying to focus on one or another. “I did! Something pulled me down here! Was that you?”

“It was us!”

Was the group of mermaids growing? Shivers stopped turning, she couldn’t keep up with them. “Why’s that?”

He reached out to touch one of the Mermaids with a paw, but they were just out of reach.

“We often call ones from above to us!”, one of the mermaids answered.

Another agreed. “We want to meet them every now and then.”

“And you were right there when we needed you!”

A cloud of dust rose up when Shivers’ tail fin struck the ocean floor. She hadn’t even realized that they’d kept moving down as they’d talked. “What do you need me for?”

“Follow us, we’ll show you!”

The mermaids darted off, and Shivers felt like he should, no, like he had to follow them. He raced after them, watching their glittering shapes switch positions more quickly than his eyes could follow, moving further and further away from the shore.

… Away from the shore.

Shivers stopped, even as all her instincts were screaming at her to continue, to follow the mermaids. “Where are we going?”

“Not much further now!”, the mermaids answered. They'd stopped when they noticed Shivers wasn't following them anymore.

“But where to?” Shivers would've flicked his ear, but whatever had given him scales had also taken away his ears.

The mermaids came to her again again, swimming around Shivers like when she'd first met them. Left, right, even above her, an impenetrable wall of sparkling colors. She had no reason to distrust them, she should listen to them, follow them—but something was off. Shivers bared her teeth.

Those weren't his thoughts.

“Come with us!” the mermaids kept saying.

“Follow us!”

“We need you!”

“It'll be great!”

Shivers shook her head. She was curious, and she almost wanted to follow them just to see, but—she needed to go back eventually, return to her family. And she had a feeling she never would if she stayed with them. “No.”

The swirling wall of color closed in.

“You must.”

They spoke in unison now, their voices an echo of themselves, of each other. If Shivers had still had fur, it would be standing on edge now. He still couldn't see the mermaids clearly, and as he watched, they sped up, colors changing so fast it made him dizzy.

One chance.

Shivers blitzed forwards, swimming as fast as she could as she formed an icy tunnel around herself. The gap between the mermaids was tiny, but the ice was slippery enough to let her slide through. The cold managed to burn even Shivers' own skin, but then she was out, still keeping the tunnel around herself as she shot upwards.

The mermaids screeched, like claws on a chalkboard. Shivers' ears hurt, but he kept going, up, away. Behind him, ice broke as the mermaids tried to stop him, crunching like broken bones.

But Shivers was fast, and the ice was thick. Just once did sharp teeth break through right in front of her, scratching her scales, but then she was past, shooting out of the water.

He made a platform of ice on top of the waves. The landing hurt, but he'd gotten away, and was sure the mermaids couldn't get him up here, not as long as he stayed out of the water. Shivers sighed and took a deep breath.

Only to realize she couldn't. She dug her claws into the ice, trying to force her lungs to accept the air, but they refused. If she could've just shoved her head underwater—but the sun glimmered on countless rainbow scales circling Shivers' little platform, ready to pull her down again if she came within reach.

He couldn't let any part of him touch the water, he knew. But he was choking on the air. He couldn't stay up here, either.

Shivers' tail fin prickled as it split back into her curled tail and back legs, fur slowly replacing scales.

He dug his claws deeper into the ice, trying to combat the panic he felt at not being able to breathe, waiting as the prickling moved from his tail up his spine, hoping that he'd be able to breathe once it reached his lungs.

If it was fast enough.

Shivers' vision was darkening when a breeze tugged at her ears, and warm, salty summer air filled her lungs again.

For a few minutes, he just lay there, occasionally re-freezing the platform that was chilling his stomach while colorful mermaids waited for him to make just one single mistake. Then, finally, Shivers managed to stand up again, shivering just as much from the cold as from the experience. At least the sun would take care of one of those things soon.

Shivers headed back towards the shore, creating a bridge of ice in front of her as the end behind her broke apart and became one with the ocean again. The mermaids followed her, hoping for her to run out of magic.

But he didn't. Eventually, Shivers reached the cliff he'd leapt off of, and formed a frozen staircase on the side of the rocks. The ice was slippery, even to him, but he'd had more than enough experience, creating an icy railing around him just in case he lost his footing as he stepped further and further up.

At last, she reached the top and glanced down. The glittering scales below were visible for just a second longer before they sunk to the bottom again, the mermaids realizing Shivers would not be their prey today.

Shivers turned away, the sun already drying his wet fur. He had enough of the ocean for the time being, and family to get back to. The children would not believe what had happened, Shivers was sure, and a little smile played on his lips as he thought about how excited they'd be about the tale. Especially with a few embellishments here and there...

[nordlichtgeschichten]

Down Below

Fantasia and Sky are out on a morning walk when something wraps around Fantasia's paws and sends them falling far, far below.

POV: 3rd Person Warnings: Mentions of death Word Count: 3270

(Based on @theworldofprompts OC-Tober, today's theme word was "Trip", and the week's word was "A thin line" (and, well, the tripwire that starts the story is thin and in the shape of a line))

--------------------

It was a nice fall morning, still close enough to summer that the pale sun warmed Fantasia’s fur. Sky bounced in the air above him, as if she was hopping through deep snow, only that her paws were never even close to touching the ground. “So, like I was saying—”

But before she could finish, something tangled around Fantasia’s paws, tripping them and sending them tumbling to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Sky asked, flying a little lower to check up on her friend.

Fantasia opened her mouth to answer when the ground opened up, and they dropped. Sky called after them, but the ground closed as quickly as it had opened.

The landing was rough, pressing the air out of Fantasia’s lungs, and for a little while, all they could do was lie there and try to catch his breath. The thing he’d stumbled over, thin metal wire, was cutting into her legs; once the pain had subsided a bit, she carefully pulled it off, losing bits of spotted fur in the process. The only light down here were Fantasia’s flames and markings, bathing the cave’s walls in a dim red glow, almost spookier than complete darkness would have been. They took a little time to lick their injured paws, healing the cuts with their magic.

Now what?

Fantasia leapt up a wall, digging her claws in as well as he could, but after his second jump the wall crumbled. They lost their footing and barely managed to land on their paws, dirt showering them. So climbing wasn’t an option.

There was a single tunnel leading out of the cave. Fantasia walked to it, but hesitated. It felt like a trap—it definitely was a trap, judging by the tripwire.

He sniffed, but there was no sign of another Seldnac down here, only the scent of soil and stale air. What to do? He could follow the tunnel, he could hope for Sky to bring help, or he could try to dig his way out. None of these options was great, and if they chose wrong…

She took one timid step into the tunnel, then immediately retreated. Sky would definitely try to help, but would she be successful? And how far had the fall been, was it a height Fantasia could dig, or would they die of thirst before reaching the surface? What kinds of traps were hiding in the tunnel? Could they avoid them, or would they take them by surprise?

Fantasia panted as they paced the walls of the cave. Stop. Calm down.

He forced herself to take slow, deep breaths. Think. If he wanted to use the tunnel, she had to go now, or they might end up too weak to deal with whatever dangers lurked in it.

The thought made her shiver, and caused her to accidentally activate her barrier magic.

They deactivated the shield again. Someone had made this trap, and that person was presumably not an idiot, which meant that they had probably taken some precautions to make sure a Seldnac would have to use the tunnel. Maybe there were metal plates all around, or maybe something else to stop someone from digging out.

Fantasia stepped up to the tunnel entrance. She had no way of knowing whether it would even lead outside. But if the trap had any purpose, then there should be access for whoever made it somewhere, right? At least Fantasia hoped so.

He took a deep breath and activated the barrier again.

Fantasia’s paws shook as they took one step, then another. No traps so far. The soft glow of the barrier made it even harder to make out anything in the darkness beyond, but Fantasia didn’t dare drop their only means of protection. Every breath was shakier than the last, and they had to force their paws forward for every single step. The tunnel felt endless, but maybe Fantasia was just walking incredibly slowly. Still nothing.

Somehow, that only made Fantasia even more anxious.

The tunnel finally made a turn. Fantasia stopped and leaned forward, squinting past the barrier when something shot towards her. She yelped and jumped back just in time, and the object, a small stone, bounced harmlessly off the wall.

Fantasia’s heart thumped so hard he was worried it might just stop. Ten seconds. Thirty. A minute. No second shot. After another minute, Fantasia forced himself to return to the corner, shivering worse with every step. They leaned forward again, and—nothing. No second stone, no arrows, and nothing even worse.

One step, then another, and another, and Fantasia was around the corner. She continued down the tunnel even more carefully than before. Was the ground sloping downwards, or was that just their imagination? Fantasia desperately hoped for the latter. If this path really was the wrong one, they were doomed.

The barrier magic was starting to tire Fantasia out. They stopped, and after some more hesitation, Fantasia dropped the shield and sat down to rest for a moment. He felt incredibly vulnerable without the barrier, and his ears kept swiveling back and forth, trying to catch even the faintest sound, get the warning just a split second earlier.

Something was glittering in the red light, only a few meters ahead of Fantasia. She carefully edged towards it, stopping after every step to look for dangers. A noise sounded behind him, making him duck, but it was only a bit of dirt coming loose from the ceiling.

The glittering turned out to be an underground pond, the other shore just barely visible at the edge of Fantasia’s vision. It wasn’t too far to swim, but the water smelled sour; definitely not safe to drink, and they didn’t want to take a bath in it, either. But they did have to cross in some way if she wanted to continue.

A few logs swam in the foul water, smaller branches scattered between them. Even if the pond had formed naturally, those had to have been placed by someone!

Fantasia wasn’t too great at climbing, and if the walls were similar to the cave, then they were too brittle to carry Fantasia’s weight, but maybe they could jump over the logs… If the wood wasn’t too rotten, and if it wasn’t a trap. Not for the first time in their life, Fantasia envied Sky’s flying magic.

He wished he could turn on the barrier magic again, have at least a little protection, but that would’ve made it even harder to see where he had to jump, and with the choice between being vulnerable to traps and risking a fall into this water, Fantasia opted for the traps.

He gathered her paws underneath themself. If there’d ever been a moment she did not want to trip, it was right now. He aimed at an old tree stump, jumped—and landed on it. The stump swayed side to side as Fantasia looked around for the next piece of wood, the sour air stinging in their nostrils.

They made it to the next log, but it moved around more than the last, and the water touched the pads of his hind paws. It felt weirdly slimy, and Fantasia had to fight the reflex to shake their paws; she could not risk making the log move even more, or else she might end up losing her balance.

The next few jumps were uneventful, and the shore was close now. For a moment, Fantasia considered trying to leap all the way, but that jump would have been risky. Instead, they aimed at another tree stump about halfway to it. Their front legs landed on it—and crashed through the wood with a loud crunch, followed by a splash as the water closed above Fantasia’s head. He quickly got back to the surface, the water burning in his eyes and nose as they made their way to the shore. Soon, Fantasia pulled herself on dry land and shook her fur. The grimy water stuck to his pelt, though, coating him in foul liquid. Fantasia tried shaking it out again, but to no avail. The red light from their markings was dimmer now, and his skin soon started to itch.

She activated her barrier magic again and continued, slowly following the tunnel.

After a little while, a part of the floor gave under Fantasia’s paws and dropped a little, not far, just enough to startle them. Only a heartbeat later, whistling sounds filled the air, and Fantasia dropped to the ground right as something flew past above them. The whistling didn’t stop. More things Fantasia couldn’t quite make out soared past, and every now and then, something bounced off the barrier. It wouldn’t stop, so Fantasia, still lying on his stomach, crawled forward, just hoping that the barrier would hold.

He had to clench her teeth to keep it up, always expecting that the next thing would break through, that soon would be the end.

Then the attacks stopped. No whistling, nothing hitting the barrier, and instead—light! Fantasia waited as long as he could before dropping the barrier and looking around, paws firmly planted in place lest they ended up activating another trap.

She was in a cave again, larger than the first. The light was coming from another tunnel far above, just underneath the ceiling; it was faint, but it was there! Light had to mean an exit! They just had to get all the way up there.

Most of the cave was taken up by a large tower-like pile of dirt, covered in half-rotten wood. There might one day have been platforms or stairs attached to it, but if so, time had torn them down. Fantasia’s best bet were probably the rusty pieces of metal and the occasional stones poking out from the tower, then.

Fantasia carefully approached the pile. The cave was huge, and if they fell from that thing… But it couldn’t be too much worse than the first drop, right? And he’d survived that one. And, more importantly, she didn’t have much of a choice. If only his paws could stop shaking!

They mustered the rest of their magic reserves to activate the barrier one last time as they walked around the pile, trying to find the best place to start. There was nothing in reach of just one jump, so Fantasia had to settle for something else. Above her, a rock was poking out of the tower, right next to the remnant of a wooden ledge. Two, maybe three jumps should get them there, and if the ledge held, that should allow them to get on the rock.

If.

If the ledge held, and if they managed at least those few jumps.

Fantasia took a deep breath, ignoring the stench of the foul water that still clung to his fur, dropped the barrier, and jumped. The dirt here was denser than on the walls, and seemed to support his weight. What had their father told them about climbing back when they’d been a cub? Never look down, don’t think too much, focus only on what’s ahead, use your claws.

All good advice, though Fantasia had always struggled with properly following it. Her skill had to be enough for now, though. Fantasia pressed their hind legs against the pile, trying to push himself a little further up. The dirt still held. Another one, and now the ledge was in reach, right when the soil began to crumble, and Fantasia’s back paws lost their footing. Now she hung on with only their front legs, trying to find some place to put her back paws, but all she accomplished was kicking even more dirt loose. Not much longer, and the whole area would fall apart, sending Fantasia back to the ground. They wanted to yelp in a panic, but were panting too hard for that. His right front paw was starting to come loose, too.

They reached up, and her claws barely managed to grab hold of the wooden ledge. The wood felt far too soft for comfort, but it was better than the crumbling earth! Fantasia pulled himself up until both front paws were attached to the ledge, and over here was still enough dirt to put their hind legs, allowing him to jump on the rock.

She waited for a few moments, trying to get his breathing back under control. She was nowhere even near the mid-point, but she had to rest for a bit before she could continue. At least the rock seemed secure, there was no dirt falling away around it and it wasn’t shaking or slipping. But where to now? One of the wooden platforms had mostly survived the tooth of time, and Fantasia could’ve reached it with one big leap and a little bit of luck, but what if it was too rotten to support their weight? Then he’d have to start again from the beginning, if he didn’t break a paw in the fall. Better to look for something else.

In another direction was a piece of metal, red with rust. It was narrow, but big enough for Fantasia to stand on and jump off of.

Two climbing jumps over the dirt and Fantasia reached the piece. They were looking for a good place to go to next when a loud screeching filled the air, and the metal dropped sharply; Fantasia nearly lost his footing and barely caught himself when the metal slowed, but it didn’t quite come to a halt. She jumped, vaguely in the direction of something that had looked like a rock, just before the metal dropped to the floor with a loud clang.

Their front legs reached the rocks, but their back legs now dangled uselessly over the edge. They struggled, trying to find a foothold in the smooth stone, and after some sheer endless seconds, pulled herself up fully. Then the rock too, moved, and Fantasia could only jump further, digging her claws into the tower again. Where to now? She knew she didn’t have much time, or else the dirt might come loose again. Left? Right? Just straight up?

Fantasia tried up, climbing as fast as they could, until they spotted another rock out of the corner of his eye. But would that one hold? What if it didn’t? But what if the dirt came lose instead? Maybe they should try the wooden pieces? Or more metal? Fantasia’s heart was racing, he hated not having the time to think, to pause, to calm down, but they had to keep going.

He moved towards the rock and finally landed on it. It held. All Fantasia wanted to do right now was sink down and close her eyes, try to forget the whole situation, rest, wait for her heart to stop thumping quite so hard. But that would risk this rock coming loose, too. Fantasia should keep moving as soon as possible. So instead of resting, he looked around, trying to find the next ledge, rock, whatever could bring them closer to the exit tunnel. She was almost there. Only a few more jumps.

There, right across from the tunnel, was another metal platform. That should work, but he had to climb quite a bit. What if she couldn’t hold on anymore? What if the dirt was more brittle up there?

But Fantasia forcefully shook his head. He couldn’t wait long enough to think about better paths. She took some shaky breaths and jumped as high as they could, digging their claws into the dirt, paw after paw, slowly climbing higher and higher. The dirt held. Once or twice one of Fantasia’s paws came loose, but while her heart beat as if it wanted to jump out of her chest every time, he always found a new place to hold on to, until he finally reached the metal platform.

This time, she didn’t need to—nor dare to—look around and immediately jumped off it into the tunnel.

Now, finally, Fantasia could sink to the ground, eyes closed, panting heavily. He whined softly, even though he knew that there was no one here to come and comfort her.

It took Fantasia a few minutes to calm down enough to open their eyes and slowly get up again. She didn’t have enough energy to use her barrier magic, so he had to rely on just her senses to get through this tunnel safely. He walked carefully, eyes wide open and ears perked, as the light steadily grew stronger. It almost hurt his eyes after the dim tunnels.

Finally, the tunnel opened into a third cave, smaller than the other two. A tattered banner hung from the ceiling, too old and torn to read, and behind it was a set of stairs. Was that the way outside?

Fantasia wanted to run, but he forced themself to walk slowly, still on the lookout for traps, but nothing happened. Only a few steps up, and she was finally, finally standing on grass instead of dirt, lit by sunlight instead of flickering red flames. Fantasia wanted to curl up and cry once again, this time out of relief. How long had she been down there? Hours? A day? It seemed to be early evening by now. When she and Sky had come this way, it had been sometime in the morning, but was it still the same day?

Sky! Sky had seen him fall, she had to be incredibly worried! Fantasia wondered how far away they were now. She knew the tunnel had made at least one turn, but that was all he was really sure about. How should they find Sky? Or their way back into the city? Was Sky looking for them? She probably was, but where?

He tried sniffing the air to see if hers and Sky’s scent was anywhere, but the dip in that pond made sure that all Fantasia could smell was sour underground water. Their voice wasn’t loud enough that calling would be of much help, either. What else? Maybe if he came across another Seldnac, he could ask if they had seen Sky… That would mean talking to a stranger, but…

Luckily, a very familiar voice ripped Fantasia from their thoughts.

“Patches! There you are! I was so worried!” Sky landed with so much speed she kicked up quite a bit of grass and dust and showered Fantasia with it. Not like it made much of a difference, considering the state of Fantasia’s fur. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need anything?” Sky hovered again and circled Fantasia, as if looking for any wounds.

Fantasia nuzzled their friend. “I’m—I’m okay. Mostly. I promise.” Physically, at least. “How long… How long have I been down there?”

“A few hours, I think.”

At least it hadn’t been a whole day.

“Oh, I called some help, I’ll go tell them we’ve got you back safe and sound! As soon as you’re somewhere nice. The city is that way. Do you need anything? Food? Water? A hug?”

Despite of how tired they were, Fantasia couldn’t help but smile. “Mostly, a bath. And then what you said. And then some sleep.”

“All right!” Sky flew in a circle right above Fantasia’s head, then dropped to the ground so the two of them could walk side by side. “I’m so glad I didn’t lose you.”

Fantasia leaned down to nudge Sky. “And I’m glad I didn’t stay lost.”

They spent the rest of the way back to the city in silence, but despite that, or maybe because of that, Fantasia was more than ever happy to have Sky’s company.

[nordlichtgeschichten]

Floating Isles, Floating Seldnacs

When Sky, a young Seldnac cub, starts practicing her flying magic, her parents take her on a trip to the Floating Isles, the best place to learn how to fly!

(Based on @theworldofprompts OC-Tober, Day 9 "Flight" + Week 1 "Leap of Faith" :D)

POV: 3rd Person Warnings: None Word Count: 548

Sky glanced over the edge of the isle. It was a pretty far drop to the ground, and her wings suddenly felt very, very tiny. Then again, she’d seen other Seldnacs fly without any wings at all… She looked back at her parents, who were watching her patiently. “And you’re sure I can do this?”

Her mother nodded. “We’ll be right there with you, love. I promise.”

“And even Seldnacs without flying magic can float between the Isles,” her father added. When Sky still hesitated, they stepped up next to her, their sand-colored fur touching Sky’s.

“All right…” Sky took another deep breath and focused, causing her wings and the white markings on her fur to glow so brightly her father had to blink a few times before he got used to it. Not giving herself more time to think, Sky leaped off the isle, tiny wings outstretched as she hit the updraft and—floated!

Her parents followed only a heartbeat behind her, hovering just far enough away to let Sky figure things out on her own. She tumbled in the wind for a few moments, but soon managed to keep herself upright. Once she’d stopped spinning, Sky smiled at her parents, then flapped her wings as she tried rising higher and higher; it wasn’t long before Sky left the stream of air behind, now higher up than even the highest isle, and paused. The world looked tiny from up here! Down on the ground were some Seldnacs, but all Sky could see was the flickering light of their flames, like watching ants with glowing backpacks.

There was so much to see! Sky had never realized just how huge Arbalednac was, but no matter how high Sky went, how much she could see, the world just kept going on and on and on! And that was just one single world! Sky twirled around her own axis, all her worries about flying completely forgotten. Maybe she should just go on an adventure right then and there!

And maybe she would have, if she hadn’t dropped sharply in that moment. It didn’t take Sky long to catch herself, but it made her realize that flying was exhausting. Maybe the adventure should wait… At least for another day or two…

The rest of the way down to her parents went more slowly, and soon Sky was back in the updraft that kept the isles afloat and tugged at her ears and tail. Her parents gently nuzzled her when she reached them.

“So, did you like it?” her mother asked as they guided her back towards the isle, one parent on each side.

“It was amazing!” Sky made a little jump—or rather, flew a little higher for a moment and then returned to between her parents—and would have probably done a looping if she hadn’t been so tired. “You were all so tiny, and the world so big, and I could see so far, and—” A yawn interrupted her words just before her paws landed safely on the isle.

Her father chuckled. “I feel like we’re going to spend a lot of time out here.”

“You bet!” Sky’s tail wagged so much it hit both of her parents. If the choice was up to her, she’d never land again!