It is night. The moon has risen long ago--you travel through the dark, haunting, unfamiliar forest, fearing that you will never find your way home...and just when it seems all hope is lost...you see a flickering flame, a camp. A young girl sits beside the fire, and she looks up at your approach, smiling in a friendly way.

"Welcome to the Shadowglade Woods...are you a traveler? Have you gotten lost on your way? Don`t fear the darkness...you can rest here `till the sun returns tomorrow. And while you wait for the morning to come...would you like to hear a story?"
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^^ Welcome to my blog! I`m Selendrile, or just plain Selen, Draiky-chan if you must. XD Here`s where I`ll be posting the stories I write--if you have a deviantART account, you can see `em at xxzenithxx.deviantart.com. Sometime`s I`ll post a video, maybe a short story, whatever strikes the mood. Have fun reading~♪

Rush of Wind

{{Note: Yush, I AM just writing this to prove a point. XD This is how we roleplay Kiriia, Ari-neechan...^^ For those of you who are and will be confuzzled, Kiriia is my main roleplay character, a demoness and a +Anima.}}

The playful wind blew through my dark, chocolate-brown-shaded locks, teasing at the hem of my long, white cloak that I wore in all seasons. I dangled my legs over the side of the cliff on which I sat, my light, honey-colored eyes focused on the deep forest below. I judged the distance to be somewhat over forty or fifty feet, but it wouldn`t bother me.

Standing, I brushed the dust off my light-hued clothes, all in shades of sky-blue and varying degrees of white. Fearlessly, I placed a foot on the edge of the cliff, the other following...and simply stepped into empty, open air.

I did not fall. Long, sleek, wind-tapered falcon`s wings spread to each side, the feathers predominantly creamy white with highlights of ice blue, the same feathers that layered over the slightly tanned skin on my arms. The wide wings caught an air current that would have allowed me glide to the forest floor below...but of course, that was no fun. Beating my wings with wide strokes, I rose to a higher warm thermal, then locked my wings to my sides and dove to earth.

The wind was exhilarating, the rush of adrenaline spectacular--I closed my eyes for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of what had been a slight breeze, but what was now a strong wind that whipped my long hair back from my face. Snapping my eyes back open and concentrating fiercely, I spread my falcon`s wings a moment before hitting the ground, landing in a crouch.

I straightened up, the wings and arm feather melting away as if they had never been, vanishing to leave no trace but the black spiral-and-star patterns on each shoulder.

"Showing off again, Kiri?"

A familiar voice caught in my ears, and I turned swiftly, grinning, to face the tall, white-haired, blue-eyed figure of my older brother, Solan Fallensky. "Sol-niisan!" I sang, smiling broadly as I greeted him. "I didn`t know anyone was watching," I went on, looking a little embarrassed--I wasn`t usually one for showing my falcon +Anima in front of others.

He didn`t laugh--he never did. But the slight smile on his otherwise expressionless face and his soft voice was enough for me. "I like that. You`re cute when you`re embarrassed..."

He didn`t get to finish. I pretended to punch him in the arm, laughing. "Sol-nii..."
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It was about then that I woke.

Woke from a dream of a memory...of him...Solan-nii.

I sat up from underneath the oak tree I`d fallen asleep, gritting my teeth together in a hopeless effort not to cry as I realized the truth again...it had only been a dream. I would never speak to him again, never see that smile...

I clutched my forearms with shaking hands, leaning against the unsympathetic, cold support of the tree. Only...a dream. My brother was gone...gone, away from here....away from me.

I remembered the last time I`d seen him, vivid blue eyes filled with shock, then despair, as he realized he wouldn`t make it...as he realized there was no way he could escape from our old, dying world. As the old world collapsed, taking him with it. As I reached out, fingers grasping for a hand that I`d only missed by a hairsbreadth...

"...Niichan..."

And I cried, alone, in the lightening forest, watching a sunrise that held no warmth nor promise of a new beginning for me.

Solan was dead.