In a shadow of surrounding, deep, icy blue eyes stepped into the open—the shrouded figure of The Oracle barely showing through the darkness.
"Visions at such an early, delicate age; how terrifying..."
The voice echoed through the shadows, the shadows filling with an eerie pulsing sound that grew steadily louder.
"The girl will need to progress her initiation ahead of schedule..."
"Should she not be ready, there will be no escaping what's set to unfold..."
The rising, pulsing echoes grew louder, until finally... —Darkness...
Silence had engulfed the scene for but a split second, as Tatalia's eyes snapped open with a gasp.
She arose in her bed, waking from her sleep. It was earlier that morning, and Tatalia had just experienced a memory on a terrifying level—twisted by her dream.
Tatalia was in her night gown, as after a moment of catching her breath, she turned over slightly to glance upon her husband who had since returned home. Sem was less alert than usual, as he hadn't yet awoken from his tireless slumber.
"Sem..." she muttered softly, but there was no response.
Carefully, Tatalia turned back over, and quietly peeled back the linens that had covered her. She sat up in their bed, drapping her feet and the skirt of her nightgown to the ground—her twin tails curling off towards the head of the bed behind her.
Tatalia remained seated, as she reflected on the memory that had awoken her. It has been days now since she had seen her darling daughter, and the memory had her growing worried.
Tatalia soon turned over her shoulder, looking to the window off the opposite side of their bed. Now, she recognized the sounds of song birds, which had been cheering their morning dues from the moment she had awoken. It was a sunny, beautiful morning; nothing like the state of her dream.
The next moment, Tatalia rose to her feet, and steadily walked out of the room and across the hall. She opened the door to Alena's room, and peered inside. It still didn't feel quite real that her daughter was no longer home. She stared off into the room, as if in a daze—and as her eyes slowly fell upon the floor, she saw a small blue, hand-sized bunny plush laying upon the floor. It had been there for days, untouched.
Tatalia knelt down, lifting up the rabbit. As she stood, she stared at it, and reflected on the times Alena and Elijah would play with the rabbit together. Her head turned, looking down the hall. Everything had felt almost foreign to her—out of place, with Alena no longer home. She stared off in silence, trying to get a grasp of this new reality. It was something she would do day after day, but this time it was different.
Tatalia took a few steps back towards her room, peering in upon Sem in their bed, the plush held close in her hand.
So much has happened since Sem's return, yet she couldn't help but feel some form of relief, finally having him back home. That's when her heart grew heavy, torn up again by the news she had been given by Sem himself. Tatalia cupped her hand over her mouth, as she tried to hold back a whimper as she wondered what to do. Her eyes immediately became glossy, as a heavy weight bore on her shoulders.
Tatalia needed to see her daughter, and she was torn between staying with Sem, or leaving home, leaving him to rest. Between his sickness and her nightmare, much weighed over her.
She soon dropped her hand, still holding the plush close, as she regathered her breath.
In the next scene, our view panned over Sem snoozing away, as a door was heard in the background opening—then closing in its place. A note was seen where Tatalia had lain.
— "I went to see our daughter.
I'll be home soon~"
As Tatalia left her home, she soon made way down the path toward the tree she had tied a ribbon to days ago. As the SCAVENGER HUNT was long over, Tatalia traversed through their small part of the village, which had been isolated from neighbors via the culminating trees. She had turned left at the corner section, which Sem had done, and made her way deeper into the village.
She passed by a few houses as she traveled, soon turning off, as after a long while the scenery had soon changed.
It would seem out of place, as walking from her tree-filled portion of the village, Tatalia came up on the town square. This part of the village was lined with various buildings, each built with brick and mortar. Some buildings had slate roofing, while others were made with terracotta and clay. In the center of the open space, there lay a small circular pond built into the square. Large coy-like fish with exaggerated fins swam around the pond, and lilypad were growing out above the surface.
Tatalia had entered into the square, taking a right hand turn just beyond the pond, and she continued on her way towards her destination.
Other villagers were already up and around as well, all nekomata women and children such as herself. The village square was lively, yet calm and relatively quiet all at once. It wouldn't be long before Tatalia would come up to the next open path on her left, and she turned, keeping her daughter Alena on her mind.
"I wonder how you're doing," she thought amongst herself, "I hope you haven't missed me too much, and that you're working hard to come back home..."
Tatalia became a little teary eyed as she thought about her daughter. She had missed Alena dearly, and the dream which had awoken her only made Tatalia yearn to see her that much more.
Back in the rear courtyard of the temple grounds, Alena, Kazran and Elijah were still focusing on their training. Elijah hadn't left the tree, and Alena had managed to gather her focus. Shutting out all distractions, Alena was tapping into her inner self, seeking out the string of power that looms deep within.
As our scene slowly descends upon Alena in face view, we see her with her eyes closed, sitting quietly as she had done before. Shortly after, our scene grows ever closer and falls, sinking into black. As it descends, we see a white light, waiting to be found. The sound of a plastic ball rattling in the single shake of a bell is heard, and with it, images of Alena's parents had appeared. Memories were coming to the surface.
Alena had opened her eyes, lifting her arms as she swung over onto her back and sighed.
The memories had interrupted her concentration.
"Haaaa... I miss mom. It's been so long now, and she hasn't even paid me a visit..." Alena softly complained.
Kazran peered one eye open, catching Alena in his sights with all her disappointment.
"You know they can't visit you too often," he said, "It'd be difficult for you to make any real progress if they were here all the time."
At the moment, they were no longer concerned by the sparky sound from before; there was nothing there to concern themselves with after all—not for a great while.
"I know... but I feel like them not being here is what's distracting me most right now.
I can't focus like this..."
Kazran closed his eye back up and sighed.
"Well, let's take a break. Seems we're not going to get much further in our training with how we are now."
Kazran was speaking particularly about Alena, but without even realizing it, he had decided to remain inclusive in his words—and he spoke these words as he rose to his feet.
Alena rose back up, her legs sprawled behind herself as they were when she laiddown.
"'A break?'" she asked in interest, "—and do what?"
Kazran had turned over his shoulder, looking down to Alena on the ground at hisside.
"Well, is there anything you'd like to do to pass the time?" he asked.
Alena thought for a moment, and turned her head left to look upon the library.
It was a sturdy structure—one that was compact—yet even from this view, the rows of shelves filled with many books could still be seen—as the doors remained wide open.
"There is... Though I usually do it with others around me..." she stated steadily, taking a sudden interest in the library.
Kazran stepped out, turning his stance.
"Reading?" he asked. "There are many useful topics in there from what I hear... I've been in there a few times looking for skill booklets myself..."
Alena turned her gaze over to Kazran, who had gotten her attention.
"'Booklets?'" she asked.
Kazran looked down to Alena once again.
"Illustrations of combat techniques. Our sensei keeps a number of them," he explained. "Though typically you'll find them within the pages of the books they're correlated to. There are even old journals buried within the mix. Those tend to be locked off however."
Alena's interest had been peaked, as her eyes grew wide from Kazran's description.
"Is there something particular you'd want to read?" he asked, fully willing to relax alongside her.
Alena stared off at Kazran in awe, her jaw ever slowly dropping between the details and the question asked. A moment hung in theair.
"Do you know about the hand book?" she asked.
Kazran then had an almost confused look on his face.
"'Hand book?'"
Alena leapt up onto her feet, looking more excited than she wasbefore, having her paws pulled close to her chest.
"Yes, the one for speaking with your paws!!" she exclaimed, bright-eyed now more than ever.
Kazran now looked even more-so confused, as his gaze soon turned upon the library.
"Hand signs?" he asked internally.