There is something strange in the heavens to the south, a large mass that ceaselessly ripples but never drifts or strays from its position. I have looked upon it for many hours now and looped my easy circles on broad wings while the sensations of confusion rise from the darting figure of Dog, having grown bored with the loops a long while ago and wondering why I keep watching something she cannot see over the trees; it wouldn’t be hard for her to dart ahead and look for herself, but she never seems to leave me, even when she’s so bored that she resorts to chasing her own tail for amusement.

I look down to her below me, at the strength and stamina she possesses as she easily keeps pace with my flight above and shows little sign of weariness. Her heart is strong and her spirit is indomitable, even if she is weak and flightless; I wonder, for the tenth time or so, if it would be possible to earn her wings through the Gods of this land. I have heard their names and seen their runes etched into the stone, and while I did not live among her children, I would look to the Moon, a shared symbol of my own upbringings in Elysia and a female patron with whom I could find absolute allegiance if she were wise as a Goddess should be.

Skylos feels my eyes on her and stops, yelping a tremendous bark upwards through the trees of the old forest where I’d met Circuta, birds rising with panic into the air at the sound and my ears pinning in aggression towards its sharpness. Conceding to her needs was not something I was used to or even graceful at, and so I am scowling and agitated as I fly down to her and land roughly in the clearing she has stopped in. My tail lashes aggressively behind me as I pin my ears hard and snake my muzzle lower towards her, my voice sharp and hard but quiet as wind over ice. "Skáse!" I shout, and she cowers low to the grass, her blue coat shining white in the high sunlight and pale eyes apologetic.

Even while she is afraid she feels sympathy for me, for through our bond she can feel the poison working at my heart and urging me to bring an end to the wingless maggot that I have kept alive for far too long – and she can feel my love for her, the golden thread that restrains the violence that eats at my resilience. Slowly, she scoots away, her tail slowly drifting across the emerald stalks, the smell of summer rising with each sweet sway and her eyes never leaving my own.

"Let’s go see what it is," I say, hating that I have to speak to an animal that cannot return the gesture with anything more than body language and emotional probes. Her relief is like a wave of glittering air that releases the remaining tension in me as I stride a few paces forward and return to the skies, moving towards the aerial mass and circling its perimeter when I arrive.

Below, Skýlos is stranded on the blue peninsula, at first sad that she cannot reach me but then sending a deep thrill of excitement upwards towards me, a bright, tangy emotion that felt like adventure and satisfaction blended into one perfect moment. I, of course, move to investigate – and find her suspended on a cloud, rising upwards to meet me.

My eyes widen in pleasured surprise at the magic at play just before me, a new light shining on the island of pretty pink trees and heavenly fields that I had spied on my quick round-a-bout. The power of the Gods is on full regale in this drifting land, and both Dog and I feel a thrill of joy at the prospect of venturing in such a place; newly born from the powers of the creationists, gleaming and perfect and full of happiness, a place where my half filled cup with its hole riddled bottom is not so souring.

As the cloud reaches the isle she is instantly off of it, sprinting full speed into the heart of it all while I laugh and chase after from the skies, dark tipped wings spread on full to catch the heady breezes of this world above.

[ OOC: Open to anyone! ]

Cealestis