Finding Oneself in a Forest...

[Caedyona]

Caedyona looked around slowly, trying to come to terms with where she was. She was in a forest...but which one? Which forests were in this part of the world...the Nichle was to the south...wasn't it? And the Dark Forest...well, that was to the east...or was it west...she shook her head. Everything was still mixed up. Or...or was it.

"My name is Caedyona. I'm an elf. I have a tree....I have a tree?" She shook her head again. No...that didn't sound right. Try again. "My name is Caedyona. I'm an elf. I have...I have a fiance...his name is...his name is...DRAGON'S TOOTH!" Dyona threw the twig she'd picked up and let the curse roll over her. Try again.

"My name is CaeEflora. I'm a bird. I have a tree...and a nest. Oh my god! My eggs!" She flapped her arms, trying in vain to get airborn, before everything blurred before her again. What in all the Gods names am I doing? Try again. "My name is Caedyona...I'm an elf...I have four paws..." She looked down at her hands, shook her head, and sat down. Things aren't looking so good. She'd been wandering for days...she thought...no, not days...only hours...no months...no...she shook her head. Nothing is coming out the right way...or was it not coming out the wrong way...or...she picked up a leaf and started chewing on it...swallowing only seconds before she realized it was bitter...and she wasn't a deer.

"My name is...my name is....."

[narym]

Narym and Fallow flew in ever widening circles over the town. There was no sign of her. Leo was right to be worried, she thought. She sent to him that she was going to fly north and for him to fly south, that way they would get more ground covered. She sent out a message to her friend.
Where are you? Are you alright?
But as before, there was no reply in her mind. Damn, where had she gone?
Caedyona, where are you?

[Caedyona]

Dyona looked up as the shadow passed through the leaves of trees above. The flash of shadow had only lasted a second...but that was strange, wasn't it? "What in the world? Caedyona muttered as she walked towards a small clearing, her eyes on the branches above her as she moved. For a moment, she froze, her entire body motionless as she tried to convince herself she wasn't a rabbit. A blink later, and she shook her head, as everything blurred again. The clearing, she was headed towards the clearing...warm sunlight would make her scales glisten and let her absorb much needed heat...she shook her head as she watched her feet move her towards the clearing, muttering quietly to herself, "I'm not a snake...I'm not a snake...my name is Caedyona...I'm an elf. I'm not a snake." Only a few more feet, but why was she headed towards the clearing in the first place? It didn't make sense, but it was important that she get there, wasn't it?

She reached the edge of the clearing, her eyes blurring as she looked around. Nothing in sight...but always best to stay on guard, her instints told her. She pushed her way through the brush, finding the small clearing was warmer than she'd thought it would be...and sat down slowly, looking around. Again, something flashed in the sky, and her eyes flicked up, trying to see what had attracted her attention. She stood, lumberingly slow, and held her arms wide out at her sides, her roar of challenge loud in the quiet forest. But she was a bear, this was her territory, and she wouldn't allow interlopers, even the flying kind. Best to scare them away now. She lumbered further out into the clearing, her smooth skin warming in the bright sun, though in her mind it was fur she was wearing, and 3 inch teeth, and 6 inch claws. She was a bear, and no one would scare her away from her turf!

(OOC: Hey Narym! Sorry, don't really know where I'm going with this...just wanted to write something crazy! So have fun with it! I'm thinking Dyona is having mental problems...she's thinking she's other animals...but she still looks like herself. What do ya think? Talk to ya soon! Huggs!)

[narym]

(( As she is cursed and changes into different animals each day, praps the curse is changing into something else? ))

Narym faintly felt a familiar presence, then it vanished. She called to Leo, My son, she is close to me I am sure of it. But there is something wrong. Join me here.
She saw a clearing ahead of her and thought it would be a good place to set down.

[leonyr]

Leo urged Brynd to fly quicker. He was desperate to find Dyona, who had been missing for a long time. Forever it seemed to him. He knew there was something wrong, his mother didn't have to tell him that, his fiancee would never just disappear without a word.
They flew over a clearing and he looked down to see his mother and Fallow had just landed. Brynd circled and flew lower.
He cleared his mind and concentrated on Dyona, but he couldn't sense her. Dammit! Where the hell was she?

[Caedyona]

Dyona stared up at the sky, her mouth agape as she stood schocked. That was a dragon that had just circled over...wasn't it. Or rather, it was a second dragon. Two dragons, hunting in one area? The chances of that were pretty slim. As Dyona tried to puzzle through what it meant, her instincts kicked in, or attempted to. Every fiber of her being was telling her to run, dragons liked sheep, but her feet hadn't yet begun to move. And she 'baa-ed' quietly to herself as she tried to quell the thought of fleeing back through the forest.

Dyona shook her head, her body slightly trembling as she fought the urge to run, and tried to gauge where the first dragon had landed. It wasn't far away, of that she was certain...she'd heard it's great wingbeats lashing into the trees as it had set down. And she had the strangest urge to go and find it...but she couldn't figure out why. She tried to take her mind off of her fear, beginning the cycle of words again. "My name is Caedyona...I'm not afraid of dragons...I'm an elf...I'm trying to find my....trying to find my....rock? No. Bush?... No... Blade...No." Her voice was quiet, but just as shaky as she was, and Dyona huffed in frustration. And just as suddenly, her mood changed, as everything blurred. "Mmmmrow....I think I'll go and see what that was..." She purred to herself as she stretched, fingertips reaching high above her head and toes barely touching the ground. She felt the grip of the spotted leopard take over her thoughts...she could run like the wind, her tail stretching out behind her, twisting as she used it to keep her balance, and her paws gripping through the grass and leaves to cleave their way deep into the soil as she launched herself towards the west, where the...the big something had landed. Something interesting...and her curiousity wouldn't be denied. Caedyona turned and sprinted, her passage almost as silent as if she truly was one of those great cats, through the underbrush. Only a few minutes later, she was panting quietly, her feet at rest as she crouched down and stared through the shielding screen of brush that remained between her and the great dragon that had landed. A woman stood just inside the clearing, too, and Dyona started to stand, the urge to run towards them overcoming her natural fear of predators. She could almost feel the name...almost...as she hovered in between a crouch and a standing position. This was a friend...not a foe...she felt it...and stood slowly before other thoughts pushed their way through. Felinely stalking her way through the final screening of brush, she paused as the great dragons head swung her way, it's eye's fixing on her as she stood absolutely still. Dyona smiled felinely, grinning as only a cat can, and let her tail sway slightly in the wind, recognition dawning on her slowly, "Fal...?" She shook her head as everything began to blur again, and dropped down into a crouch fit for a squirrel. As she looked up, she realized as if for the first time, that the dragon was watching her oddly, it's head cocked to the side as it gazed steadily at her. Her thoughts ran in circles, "Oh no...it sees me...oh no...it sees me...I'm gonna be eaten...I'm gonna be eaten...eaten...my acorns...they're around here somewhere...I hid them well...but it was here...no, over there. My acorns, I hid them here...oh, big bird thing will eat me if I move. Don't move. Don't look for acorns...look for acorns..." She could feel her tail twitching unintentionally, it was how squirrels talked to one another, and she couldn't resist it's movement, as her eyes darted around on the ground in search of acorns. After only a few seconds, her eyes darted back up to the dragon and the woman beside it...and it came to her suddenly. Her voice was high pitched and chipmunk like, "Narym?" But then she was drawn back down into her search for hidden acorns, now moving slightly to the left or right, carefully staying on the edge of the clearing as she dug gently into the loamy soil...

[fallow]

Fallow tried to concentrate on the thoughts coming from the young elf, but they changed so quickly, that he found it difficult to understand. He huffed and nudged Narym with his head.
Narym, Dyona is standing over there, he sent to her. She is thinking very strange thoughts and acting most oddly!
He watched as she crouched down, apparently looking for...........acorns?
She seems to think I will eat her!

[narym]

Eat her? Narym echoed, looking around for Dyona. What is wrong with her, she knows you wouldn't...............what is she doing?
The warrior began to walk swiftly to where her friend was scrabbling around in the dead leaves.
"Dyona," she called softly. "There you are, we've been looking for you for ages! Where have you been?"
Leo, we've found Dyona! She's acting very strangely Hurry!

[leonyr]

Leo and Brynd flew into sight of the clearing and saw Fallow and Narym on the ground. Brynd circled once and then flew down to join them. Leo was slipping off his back before he had completely settled.
"Dyona!" he called as he ran to his fiancee. "Dyona I've been so worried! Dyona......................what are you doing?"

[Caedyona]

Caedyona crouched oddly above the ground, as a squirrel would, and sniffed at the acorn she had found and cast her glance towards the people as they spoke. She felt she should run away, but also that she shouldn't, so she crouched perfectly still, poised for action. They were speaking to her, and oddly enough, she felt she understood them. Focusing on the words, she shook her head as she started to remember a bit and stood slowly, as the man approached her.

Dawning recognition bloomed over her face as she stepped closer to him, "Leo...? But where..." She shook her head as a hand moved up to her eyes. Everything was blurring again, and she felt the small bit of reasoning that she'd had slipping away. Turning oddly, she started humming quietly to herself as she bent over at the waist and started inching her way along the clearing, in search of a large blade of grass. Caterpillars liked grass, and she felt the pressing need to find on big enough to camoflauge herself with. MMMM...green green green...The strange large animals near her didn't bother her...she was far too small to be eaten by them...but a good blade of grass would be perfect right now...she hummed as she inched away...

[leonyr]

Leo stood with his mouth open, staring at Dyona as she moved away from him. She had a brief moment of recognition and then it was gone. What was wrong with her?
He looked at his mother, Narym, for an answer and saw that she was as dumbfounded as he was.
"Mother, what shall we do?"

[narym]

"I am at a loss," Narym replied, watching her friend trying to crawl thru the grass. "Perhaps we should get her back to the castle, maybe familiar surroundings will help her. But I don't know how she will react if we just grab her!"
She walked over to Dyona and crouched beside her. "Dyona, can you hear me? It's Narym, Leo is here. We're going to take you home, don't be afraid."

[Caedyona]

Dyona vaguely looked up and then continued to crawl away...but she was nodding as she did so. Her humming took on a more subdued tone, but she couldn't resist the urge to keep searching for something good to munch on, something good to climb on, so she continued inch-worming her way through the clearing, now turning here...now turning there...until she came to the dragons.

Pausing, she stood unsteadily on her back feet, and raised her arms over her head, waving eerily as she hummed...they weren't grass...but they were tall...taller than the short scrubbly trees encircling the clearing, and they were safe, she just knew they were safe. But which dragon to climb? She leaned first one way, and then the other as she tried to make up her mind. Starting towards Brynd, Dyona started mumbling to herself, slowly at first, "My....my....my name is....my name is Caedyona. I'm an elf. I'm not a caterpillar. My name is Caedyona...and this is Brynd...Fallow..." Her eyes twitched towards Narym and Leonyr, as she continued mumbling quietly to herself, "Narym...Leo...my fiance. I'm not a caterpillar....my name is Caedyona...I'm an elf...Hurry. Hurry. It's gonna blur. Tell them something...something...." Standing shakily, Dyona looked around uncertainly, recognition coming to her in short painfully inadequate bursts, but it was enough. "Something...important..." Dyona muttered as she sorted through everything, and it came to her quickly, almost as though it was already there, "My tree...I have a tree...My name is Caedyona...no. My name is CaeEflora. It's my tree. You can't have it. My tree. It's gone. My..." Everything began to blur, and Dyona sat down heavily beside Brynd, one hand gently rubbing his scales near his back feet. Almost unconciously, she began to whistle quietly, a songbird song coming up from strained vocal cords, but one the dragons might recognize, as it was the song of the Phoenix. A supposedly mythical bird that few had seen and fewer had heard in full blown song. Dyona looked up at Narym and Leo, her eyes taking on a more predatory gaze than what was usually on her face. She had eggs to lay, fires to start, and a world to change...she was a Phoenix, and her song could change everything. At least in her mind it could...

[leonyr]

Leo watched Dyona closely as she inched her way towards Brynd and Fallow. She seemed to recognize them.
Brynd? Does she know you?
For a few moments her mind was fairly clear. She knew her name and ours and that she has a tree. But now, do you recognize the tune she whistles? She thinks she is a phoenix!

Leo stepped closer to her. "Dyona? Would you like to fly?"

[Caedyona]

Dyona turned avian eyes to Leo, subtley nodding without realizing it, and felt her song change. Would she like to fly, yes, she wanted to be airborne, to feel the wind humming along her feathers, to hear the howl of it as she dove beak first into a storm. If she'd had feathers, they would have ruffled in remembrance of the feeling, but instead goosebumps appeared scattered along her limbs.