Many months have passed since Maybelle had left home, and little Karra had still barely adjusted to the significant change in atmosphere. She sat alone on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest, as she reflected on all the time her and Maybelle had spent together over the last few years. Karra was now seven years old—her birthday has long since passed, with no news about her sister reaching her.
A soft knock sounded at her door, catching Karra's attention, and soon the door could be seen opening as Karra's parents gracefully walked in.
"Hey sweetheart, are you doing okay?"
"You haven't gone outside in a while, why don't you find someone to play with?"
Cinni, much like Karra, had a coat of black and white. She was a very soft-looking woman, bearing a slightly smaller frame than that of her partner. Her jaw-length hair is feathered, with the fur of angora, and twin tails that are well groomed. The difference in patterns between her and Karra, is that Cinni's black and white hair is a mix of patches—whereas usual, half of Karra's hair is black, while the other half is white.
Karra had decided to remain quiet, her gaze falling to the floor before her.
Seeing this, Mora had decided to make a move, approaching Karra as she sat along her bedside. Mora rested her hands into her own lap, cupping them over one another, as she sat with a well kept posture.
"What's wrong dear? What's got you so glum?" Mora already had an inkling on the matter, as Karra has had her ups and downs since Maybelle's departure.
Cinni, Karra's birth mother, silently approached Karra's bedside and sat on the other side as well.
"When is Maybelle coming back?" Karra murmured into her knees.
Both women had their suspicions, and even though they already knew, nothing could have braced them for the impact behind their daughter's words. Cinni and Mora both flinched, their breaths hitching back, as they soon turned their gaze upon one another.
Cinni soon dropped her eyes to look towards Karra's half-buried face.
"These things are different for everyone, sweetheart. I'm sure she just needs a little more time," Cinni answered.
Karra buried her face slightly deeper, as her eyes tensed at the reply.
"But she said she would be back soon..." she softly cried, "She told me that she would be back before I knew it..." Karra sniffled, her eyes wet with emotion. "Well I've been waiting for her all this time, and she's still not here..."
Mora and Cinni were at a temporary loss.
Several weeks would pass before any news of Karra's dear friend would surface. Towards the east side of the village, Sir Kenrir was making his way out of the forest.
Propped against one of the many outskirt trees, Variann rested in wait. Her eyes were closed; her arms crossed, and her staff was tucked in the pit of her elbow at her side.
"You found something, didn't you? After all this time..."
Variann could hear the slightest change in Kenrir's heartbeat, notifying her that something was weighing heavily on his shoulders.
"What is it?" she asked from beyond the tree.
When Kenrir stopped in his tracks, he was standing next to Variann, who remained in place.
"I never could hide anything from you could I? Not even when you were a child..." Kenrir replied. His voice was low, a soft melancholy reflecting off his heart.
Variann opened her eyes a fracture, as she shifted their view onto Kenrir.
"So what was it?" Variann asked. "This rhythm isn't like you."
Kenrir had remained silent, while his eyes reflected a loss. He looked to Variann for but a moment, then proceeded ahead without another word.
Variann watched as Kenrir walked on, and her eyes tensed in concern.
"None of this is..." she muttered, under her breath.
With Kenrir carrying on ahead, Variann soon left the tree side and followed after him in care and devotion.
As Karra continued to grow, she would go to the south side of the village to visit the spot where Maybelle had departed on their rite of passage, each and every day in hopes that she would one day be there to welcome Maybelle home.
Three years had passed since Maybelle's departure, and by now, Karra was very nearly ten years old, but her longing for her dearest friend—her sister—hadn't depleted in the slightest.
Karra stood there, at the root of the great divide, staring off into the distance.
"Sis..." Karra began speaking into the air, "...when are you coming home? I miss you..."
Karra lowered herself, crossing her arms over her knees on her tiptoes as she sunk down.
"Was there... something I did wrong?" she asked herself, as she once again reflected on all she could remember.
Soon, Karra could hear footsteps approaching, which caught her attention. The sound had diverted her attention out of her sulking mood, which had nearly brought water to her eyes. Upon looking ahead, her eyes widened, as Karra had recognized the person slowly approaching from the distance.
Karra rose to her feet, as she stood in a moment of silence, and recalled the face before her. She soon dashed over, as out from the divide approached Kenrir, Maybelle's former master.
"Sir...!" Karra began, running up to him, "Mister Master sir—!"
Kenrir's expression hung off in an almost emotionless state, but he was slightly surprised as the young girl approached him. He had barely recognized Karra with how much she had grown. Her hair was longer from how he remembered her, and her height had increased almost vastly in the last few years.
"You..." Kenrir began to reply, "What is it?" he asked.
"My sister Maybelle... Is there any word on her? Will she ever be coming home?"
Karra's eyes were hopeful as she looked into that of Kenrir's. This was the first chance that she may finally have a sign.
Kenrir's eyes alone flinched at this young girl's question, and now he knew for certain who this young girl was.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid there isn't much I can tell you about your friend." Kenrir didn't want to come outright with the troubling news discovered in times of recent past, nor did he feel it was right to formulate a lie to his disciple's closest friend. This statement alone was the closest he could offer her at thistime.
"If something changes, I will do as I can so the word will reach you, but there isn't any formal guarantee."
The sudden burst of hope Karra had in her eyes now seemed to be lost, as she subtly dropped her jaw in disappointment—her doe-eyed gaze stuck on Kenrir's eyes. She was still soft, but this addition to her hopelessness weighed in over her heart.
"I apologize, but I must take my leave," Kenrir insisted, as he walked around Karra, and departed her side.
Karra remained still, and soon she felt hurt again, as something inside her stirred. It seemed to Karra that everyone was walking away from her life in one way or the other, and she began to feel heavy, desperate for any sign of hope that everything may eventually go back to the way it was before.
As her weary mind grew tense, and the sounds of Kenrir's steps began to fade—Karra turned over her shoulder to see that all was silent, and no one was there. Not a tear was shed in the moment, though in its place, there was a tightening sensation—as her heart cried out inside her; it was a whimper of the heart.
"Come back..."
And now alas, a tear began to trickle down her face.
Days had passed, and soon gossip had begun tospread.
There had been an influx of young travelers who still had yet to return; children who set out on their quests to fulfill their rite of passage and be welcomed back home.
It had been several months since even those before Maybelle had left the village, and the folk of their home had begun to bicker. Some initiations would take years to complete, but this was something less common among their people. By now, not one person who should have returned had come home, and it had the village beginning to worry. There were those that even questioned whether or not it would be best to stop their traditions, despite the decades that had been stacked around them.
As Karra sat rested against a smaller tree, she continued to stare out beyond the divide. She had become obsessive in her desires to see her sister again, and soon found herself spending daily hours waiting in silence. It was now that her heavy heart grew more familiar to her, as her emotional breakdowns became less frequent than they were before. She felt awful, but what had crying about it done thus far? Still, it didn't stop her from feeling the need to do so, as time continued on without her beloved friend.
Back at the temple grounds, Kenrir was silently mopping within his quarters, and Variann was standing in the doorway of his private hall—her hand on the sliding door's edge.
"Ken, so much time has passed now since your last visit through the forest. You haven't been yourself since... Just what is it that you haven't been telling me?"
Variann was deeply concerned for Kenrir, as she was well aware of his frequent distractions. Though he was her master, someone she had dedicated her life to, Kenrir at the end of the day had also been widely considered her friend.
Kenrir hearing these words was hesitant to answer—his hand resting on the trunk which bore the robes of his dearest student.
"You were right," Kenrir answered, his voice carrying melancholy, "That day, I did find something."
Variann took a deep breath, preparing to hear of the very thing that has kept Kenrir closed off for all this time. She remained quiet—waiting.
As Kenrir lifted his hand from the chest, he turned his side to face over towards Vari, as a subtle silence clung to the air.
"It's about my student..."
It was the following day when Karra was once again sulking, now off the side of her bed. Karra's mothers, Cinni and Mora, had entered her room bearing eyes full of hope.
"Karra sweetheart, Mora and I have some news to share with you~" Cinni stated lovingly.
Karra slowly lifted her face, looking to Mora and Cinni with a practical disinterest. Already, she had sulked to the point that she had become numb, but raised her silent attention out of respect.
As they got ready to share the news, Mora and Cinni stood close together, and took each hand from one another, standing hopeful that they had something to raise their daughter's spirits.
"A dear friend of mine is going to visit The Great Tree today, and she has a daughter I'm sure you would love to play with," Mora began to explain. "The little girl's name is Alena, and she's currently six years old. She's a little angel much like you are, and I'm certain the two of you would make the best of friends~"
Hearing these words, Karra's face tightened; this wasn't the news she wanted to hear.
"I don't care—" She spoke quietly, "I don't want to go..."
Karra lowered her chin back onto her knees,she was huddled up in her usual position, hugging her legs close to her chest in dismay.
Cinni and Mora's very expressions hitched; their glimmers of hope practically falling away, as Cinni's hands instinctively tightened around Mora's.
"Sweetheart, I understand your pain—I really do, but you can't hold onto the burden you're carrying forever. Mora and I want you to be happy. We want you to make more friends who will love and carry y—"
In that moment, Cinni's words were cut off, as Karra had shot up to her feet in a sudden rage.
"Didn't you just hear me?! I said that I don't care!"
Karra's eyes began to water over in her trembling fit of rage.
"I don't want some other little girl! ALL I WANT IS MY SISTER—!" she exclaimed.
Mora and Cinni froze, as their daughter had begun trembling quite noticeably, as her shoulders shook and tears streamed down her face.
"I only want my sister to come home... Nothing else..."
Karra dropped to her paws and knees—her shoulders and body continuing to shake.
"Why? Why isn't she home? It's been so long... I thought we would be together forever—"
Her eyes snapped shut, and tears showered the floor beneath her. Karra was badly hurt, the only friend she had ever known gone without a trace.
"I just... want May to come home..."
Mora and Cinni's eyes welled up at the sight, once again heartbroken for their daughter.
As she cried, Karra's head descended to the floor. The puddle of tears soaked her hair, and her claws poked out against the surface below.
"When will... she come back to me...?"
Karra's trembling turned to heavy convulsions, as her cries grew louder, and an emptiness filled her heart.
Later that day, Karra was making her way towards the divide as usual—this day however gloomed, as the sky had darkened with an overcast of rain. It was as if the very sky had reflected her heart.
As she approached the location of departure, Karra noticed a hooded figure standing barefoot before the blossom-free trees that forged the divide. Their dark, gold-lined clothes were soaked, and in their hand was a drenched white staff—the path muddy under their feet.
Karra had stopped there, drenched by the rain, her expression soft and confused by the presence of another. The hooded figure remained still, staring off into the divide. With their back turned, Karra couldn't believe her eyes, but the traits of the figure before her were ones she had known.
Karra's desire was to run to the figure, eager to seek out answers; but with a hole in her heart, Karra's whole body felt as though it were weighed down by that of the very rain.
Before she knew it, Variann had turned around to see the empty heart that was soon approaching—her very own eyes in a gloom.
Karra flinched in surprise, but soon rose her foot forward to approach the recognizable woman.
"You're that woman... The one that's always with my sister's master..." Karra dropped her chin, seeking any trace of hope with desperate eyes. "Please... when is Maybelle coming home...?"
Variann's very heart knotted up at this poor girl's question—her eyes reflecting that fact. She knew what the answer was—now... after so much time.
The sound of rain weighed heavy, echoing through the void.
"I'm sorry..." she began, "—but your sister... isn't coming home..."
Karra's voice hitched, and her body tensed, as she was hit with a sense of shock unlike anything she had experienced before—her pupils tunneling tight.
"She... isn't—?"
Karra dropped, overburdened in loss, as her knees slapped into the muddy ground. She couldn't believe what she had just heard—the way she had heard it. It had completely broken her conviction, any glimmer of hope she had clung to that one day her dearly beloved sister would one day return home.
Variann's very cheeks flinched rhythmically, her jaw locked tight, as she too became overwhelmed by the sound and sight of a completely broken heart.
Many minutes would seem to pass, like that of an eternity, as Karra and Variann remained frozen in the pouring rain.
CRACK—BOOM!
The sky itself tore apart, as lightning crashed overhead.
Days would pass, and Karra had closed herself off, completely to the world.
Every step was heavy; every movement labored. She hadn't bothered with anything beyond her basic clothes, as she slowly pattered along in every step. The ground beneath her feet was all she felt, as the shock had yet to wear away. If only by muscle memory, her body barely carried her through, as she swayed lazily to the great divide—Broken...
When she finally set foot before the great divide, Karra gave up her weight as she once again fell to her knees. Images of everyone, and her dear sister Maybelle, flashed before her eyes. As the image of Maybelle walked away, Karra's eyes welled up heavily so—a tear already dribbling down her face.
"Don't go..."
The other eye, matching a tear.
"Sis—sy..."
Sitting there, Karra's body jolted in flashes, the shock and heartbreak, too great... as the consistent tears continued to stream.
The world weighed heavily, and there was nothing; not in, above, nor below.
Within moments, Karra's very eyes tremored—until they stopped.
As her eyes faded to white, there was nothing, and she was nowhere—the very life she had with Maybelle flashing before her eyes.
In a white space, void of any sound or presence, there was nothing. Not a tremor, nor a single hue. All was empty, lacking feeling or emotion. There were no thoughts—no sensations.
It was empty. Not even a trace of time.
As she sat there, stuck on her knees, everything had soon returned to Karra. She blinked her eyes, left in a fit of confusion, as a sense of being lost washed over her.
She couldn't remember the last time she had a dream—had she ever?
In this moment, taking in the familiar surroundings, Karra began to question if she had fallen asleep. Though left confused, the sensation of nothing dawned familiar, as though she had experienced it before—however long ago—she didn't know.
It was a shadow without a trace.
It would only be mere moments later, when a knot returned to her chest. As Karra gritted her teeth, and clutched the fabric over her chest, a brief sadness hovered over her heart—untainted and pure. That was, until something snapped in Karra, and her emotions welled over with a complex fit of desperation, sadness, rage, and ambition.
"MAYBELLE!" she screamed into nothingness, "I will beat you! I'll become stronger than you ever were! Strong enough to come back home—FOR BOTH OF US! I WON'T EVER FORGET! I'LL COME BACK HERE~!!"
For a moment, the very world seemed to tense—as Karra slammed her fists, with her head, on the ground. Gathering a deep breath, Karra screamed out with all her might—her voice piercing the world beyond.
"MAYYY~~!!"
—CRASH!
As though in a vision, a black-panned window snapped—an empty white light splintering through the cracks.
There was nothing, and she was nowhere—yet Karra remained.