Arras sprinted through the tunnels of his families old den, desperately searching for any signs that may prove him wrong. Yet, even after he ran through his old sleeping quarters, through the center of the tree, all his siblings sleeping quarters, nothing. Nobody was here, everyone was gone. Nobody had been here for a long time. Maybe three or four days. He knew he should leave, that at any moment something less desirable may show up, let alone the friend he was leaving outside... But Arras couldn't make his body move.
He collapsed, right in the middle of the den. Shivering, trying not to sob at the unfairness of it all. Arras wasn't one to lament over things that could've been, but... Just this once. He felt his own mind slipping from his control. Any possible abilities he could muster fading away. Any control of himself that he could've used, it all vanished. Arras let out a screaming cry, a wail piercing throughout the confines of his den and out into the forest above. He collapsed, sobbing on the ground. He couldn't tell what was going on around them, all he could do was try not to suffocate under the stifling weight of his own emotions.
But then, he heard a voice. "ARRAS!?"
His body snapped to attention, eyes wide at the voice he thought he heard. "Raiga?"
"ARRAS! ARE YOU OKAY!?"
He took off sprinting, bounding in the direction of that singular voice in the hopes that he'd see another of his kind, the sister he missed so dearly.
"TALK TO ME!"
He came sprinting around a corner, the voice was coming from right behind here!... It wasn't Raiga. He was standing face to face with Illia, whom had crawled inside of the den. His legs caught on themselves, and he felt the strength he'd just managed to use quickly leave his body.
I can't do this any more...
The world went dark.
...
He woke slowly, it was warm and comfortable, and his immediate thought was that he merely had a bad dream.
"Was I just... Hallucinating? I'm in my bed... Wait..." Arras's eyes opened a little more. He wasn't in a den, he wasn't huddled with his siblings either. No, he was up in a tree. This was his bed however, he could tell. His old bed from his old home.
Oh. So that wasn't fake.
His resolve began to waver once again, and another screaming cry threatened to breach Arras's snout, that was, before he felt a touch against his back.
"Uhm, are you awake?" Illia gently prodded at Arras, looking at the fox she was currently snuggled up against.
The immediate response she got was like a ship rocking in a storm, an absolute tidal wave of self depreciating and negative thoughts slammed into her mind. All originating from one source, Arras himself. It was mostly intelligible, instead simply thoughts carrying sentiments, but she could pick out bits and pieces. It wasn't difficult to figure out what happened from there.
"Hey, just calm down alright? I'm with you, everything's going to be fine."
While the touch did help to delay their scream, it did not stop it. Arras was trying, but all of it threatened to breach the surface in a very audible and dangerous way. "I-I-" his thoughts staggered as the overpowering emotion once again threatened to take over, there was simply nothing he could do.
A low pitched whine began to escape Arras's lips, slowly growing in pitch.
"Uh-hey! Don't cry! It's gonna be alright! Ah crap this isn't helping-uhm-uh...!"
Illia shifted around a little bit, before wrapping her wings around Arras. "Please don't cry, I'm here with you. Whatever happened, I'm with you."
Somewhat surprisingly to Arras, that actually sort of helped. Somehow, with Illia right there, it didn't feel as horrible as it did just a moment ago.
"What... Are you doing?"
"Hugging you, you seemed like you needed one."
...
He didn't know how to respond to that one, he didn't quite understand what a "hug" was, but from the tone of Illia's thoughts Arras figured it was important. So, he simply tried not to think, to be in the moment rather than think about the past. And it did help somewhat, further dumbing down the fierce storm of emotions that threatened to swallow him whole. After a little bit, it had even become somewhat manageable.
That was when a whole new feeling came into the mix, following a loud BOOM. A stroke of lightning announced the arrival of a rain storm, and almost sent Arras flying out of the tree in fear.
"Whoa, whoa! What's wrong?!"
Illia hugged Arras a little tighter as he tried to squirm away from his spot under her. All she got from Arras in response was a mess of frenzied panic, gone was the overwhelming sadness, instead replaced with a primal fear, all pointing to the rainstorm that had just started. Which was also now soaking Illia, but she resolved herself to endure. Her friend needed her.
She thought fast, and decided on the one thing she could do. Or well, two things technically. First, she started using her healing magic. It didn't do much, but it was what came next that really helped. Slowly, she began to tap into a magic she hadn't used for quite a long time. She was careful not to be too invasive, but Illia casted a senses spell, helping to gently lessen the fear that the loud booms generated
Paired with the healing magic reminding Arras of better times, he somewhat came back to his senses. Though he was still breathing heavily, shivering despite not being exposed to the rain. He was at least conscious of his own actions once again.
"Hey, are you back with me?" Illia asked, concern engraved into her voice. Arras did take a moment to respond, but it was at least a clear one.
"...Yes." He managed to force out, even through the... Now not quite overpowering fear, but still very prevalent fear.
"Are you alright?"
The answer to that question was a much more resounding "No."
"Yeah, I figured. Do you want to talk about it?"
"...No."
"Alright, that's fine." She squeezed Arras a little bit tighter with every thunderous boom, even as the rain began to soak her entire body.
Arras hesitated for a moment longer, but eventually he simply asked, "why?"
"I-what do you mean "why"?"
"Why are you still helping me? You were in the den I'm sure you can figure out what happened. I don't have anything for you. You just asked and I won't tell you anything, so why?"
"I... Oh, no, Arras I don't want anything from you. We're... We're friends aren't we? Friends help each other, they don't need anything from the other to do it. I know you don't want to talk about it but... I do think I get what's going on. I'm not helping you because you can give me something, or give me a place to stay... I'm helping because I like you, because we're friends."
He stayed silent for a moment at that declaration, thinking quietly amidst the harsh thunderstorm. Normally, those two things wouldn't go together for Arras, "quietly" and "thunderstorm", but the outside source of magic assisting him was making it much easier to keep himself composed.
"Friends... I see."
A physical warmth shielded Illia from the chill of the rain, heating her body and creating a thick steam from the rain. She was confused at first, a little flustered even, before realizing what exactly was going on. Arras had casted a very minor flame spell, not powerful enough to cause harm, not even close, but enough to generate heat. Or, more aptly, it was controlled enough to not cause harm.
"Then please don't leave... I really don't want to be alone right now."
Illia blinked twice, before nodding rapidly. "Of course! Wasn't planning on it."
...
The thunderstorm carried on unheeding to the world around it. There hadn't been rain for days, so such a heavy downpour was reasonable. It was odd how long it had been since it rained, and Arras had been beginning to worry, but that fear was completely assuaged and then some. Normally it would've been replaced with a whole new fear, but Illia was currently helping with that one.
Speaking of Illia, Arras figured Illia and he would be stuck here for awhile longer with them. Not that he exactly minded... But he'd prefer that they were both a little more comfortable given this storm would probably keep on going for a few more hours yet. So he gave her an offer.
"If you'd prefer you can lie down next to me instead of holding yourself up like you are right now." He casually proposed inbetween a bolt.
"Eh?"
"Make yourself comfortable, we'll be here for awhile." He dumbed it down, mistaking Illia's shock for a lack of comprehension.
She hesitated for just a moment, but obliged and laid down next to Arras instead of holding herself just above him. It wasn't like the rain stopped though. It was actually hitting both of them now.
"What was it you did before? What did you call it?"
"I... What?" She asked confused, also a little bit embarrassed for some reason.
"I believe you said it was a hug? If you wouldn't mind doing that again? I would do it myself, but I don't think my legs would work very well for the task."
"I uh... Sure?" Illia squirmed around for a moment, making sure to keep at least one wing touching Arras so that her magic didn't drop in effectiveness, then she touched against the edge of the bedding. Laying on her side she wrapped both of her wings around Arras and gently pulled him closer. "Like this?"
"Mhm..." He mumbled as he snuggled in closer. Which also served as the source for another pulse of that distinct feeling of embarrassment, but his intentions were quickly made clear. After he'd snuggled against their chest, Arras began to cast another spell. It was similar to the controlled flame spell he just used, but more refined for the actual purpose of heating something instead of just selectively applying heat.
Illia felt it was as if she was sitting next to a warm fire, that perfectly toasty comfortably warm range that doesn't feel like you're being roasted alive. After enduring the rain for a little less then an hour or so, this sudden heat was a welcome addition. She gave the equivalent of a "fuck it" shrug and hugged the fox closer, curling up as best she could. She'd help him through the storm, he'd help her through the rain.
...
They'd reached a comfortable equilibrium, to the point that Arras was almost sad that the thunderstorm stopped when it did. The closeness had served to help him through a lot through both the physical and emotional storm.
So when Arras squirmed away from Illia's half conscious form, it was with a small amount of hesitation. Though she quickly woke up when he did. Of course, what Arras didn't realize, was that part of his current serenity was from Illia's magic.
He suddenly found it much harder to breathe as he stood up, trembling under the weight of yesterday's events. His heart pounded tremulously as he froze, he couldn't think about anything except the fact that his entire family was gone.
"Arras...? What's going on? You alright?"
Once again, he struggled to form any coherent thoughts, shivering in place as one picture formed in his mind. He began to hyperventilate once again.
All gone.
"Uhm-hey! Just calm down! It'll be alright!"
She moved to hug them once again, holding onto them in the hopes that it would improve something.
"I know you didn't find what you wanted to find here, but I promise it'll be alright. I don't think I can smell as well as you can, but it wasn't like anybody died here! Your family is still alive, they're just... Not here!"
He didn't say anything in response, but he did think about that for a moment. It wasn't like his family was dead, but he would likely never be able to find them... That just made it worse, his breathing quickened.
"Oh I'm just making it worse-agh! Alright, Arras just breathe, breathe! With me, inhale, exhale. On three, alright? One, two, three."
He tried his best to follow along with the instructions, taking in a gulp of air.
"Now exhale in three, one, two, three."
And he exhaled, he regained control of his breathing, but everything still felt wrong. As if he'd implode at any moment.
"I know I'm really not one to talk, because well, I didn't talk. But Arras, please, I know you have something weighing on you. If you'd just talk about it, get it off your chest, I really think it would help. I promise I won't judge you, won't even bring it up again regardless of what it is. But really, please, just say something! It's suffocating you!"
...
Illia composed herself. letting go of Arras and sitting in front of him.
"Please."
"...Alright."
"Wait really?"
Arras stared at Illia incredulously.
"Sorry, I just didn't expect you to listen. I mean... Nevermind."
Arras shook his head, trying to move past that little mishap. Then he thought back a few days. It only took a moment, it stood out like a fire. A burning anger accompanied the moment, followed immediately by freezing cold fear. The memory was easy to find, all he had to do was look.
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He shivered one last time, before he began to speak. "It was... A special day. My siblings would be leaving, so we were going on a final hunt. My sister played a prank on me, but other then that it was normal. We were looking for a Raigahma, but after we found one..."
Illia nodded gently, urging him to continue.
"My brother was attacked by something, with some sort of projectile. All I could feel at that moment was overpowering anger, and I attacked whatever it was that had done that. I'm not even sure if he's alive or dead right now." His thoughts began to tremble, but he continued anyways.
"I attacked it, bit and scratched, did whatever I could. But it wasn't enough, it threw me into the river, yes, the river you're thinking of. I had to watch as I drifted away from my family and everything I've ever known. Struggling for dear life the entire time. It was cold, I was scared, I was angry. And I was alone."
"I almost died multiple times after this as well, I starved, fought, clawed for survival. Then I met you and well... You know the rest."
That was it, by the end of it Arras's breathing had grown heavy, but... Also slower, more controlled. He was surprised, talking about it... Somehow really did help. He felt that Illia was sincere, sincere in what she said. Having an ear to listen, to hear what he had gone through. One that really cared... It somehow made carrying that burden that much easier. It wasn't gone, far from it, but he felt like he could act again.
The sun began to peek past the clouds, signaling the complete end of the rainstorm.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Sorry that happened to you."
"What would you have even been able to do to change it? Don't bother being sorry." Arras spoke flatly, drained from the recent series of events.
She didn't respond to that.
Arras huffed, before standing up. "I know you said you just wanted to help me, and I believe it, really I do. But Illia... I have nothing for you, nothing to help you with and nothing to give you. No place to go and nowhere to be. You're better off leaving me."
"Wh-where the hell did that come from?! No!"
Arras blinked thrice, before tilting his head at her. "Why not?"
"What, do you want me to leave? Or did you forget that I don't have anywhere to go either? I'm staying with you, you're the place I have to be. If you want to go somewhere, I'll come with you. If you want to do something, I'll do it with you. I'd probably be dead if not for you!"
"..." A small hint of amusement budded through the thick cement that was Arras's previous reservations as he listened to his companion speak. "Sorry, you're right. I think I did forget. But... I really don't know what to do. We can't stay here, my little outburst will make sure of that. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the creatures in the forest have already come to investigate."
"...Eh? Wait that's really bad, we've been here for hours by now!"
"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Arras glanced down the tree, looking for the easiest path downwards. "Most creatures don't like to travel in the rain, it makes smelling anything difficult, same with tracking. But we need to get going now that the rain is over... To where though... I'm not sure."
"So... If you have nowhere to go, can I make a suggestion?
Arras looked at her curiously, "I thought you didn't have anywhere to go?"
"I don't, I don't know where we'd find it. Just something to look for, you know?"
"Well, sure, go ahead." Arras sighed, it wasn't like he had any reason to not listen to her. Quite the opposite infact.
"I think we should look for a group of Colonial life."
"What... Is that?" Arras once more tilted his head at Illia.
"Alright, I'll uh... Try to explain this coherently for you. I know you're not really familiar with a lot of the stuff that I am. There are three kinds of classified life, classified by uh... Colonial life. Non Sentient, Sentient, and Colonial. Non Sentient, you can think of that as the vast majority of creatures that you see in The Grand Forest, Sentient, which is what you and me are by the way, would be any beings that can think about something beyond their immediate existence. Colonial is similar to Sentient, but they have a natural drive to seek out other sentient beings and create large groups of themselves. Does that all make sense?"
"...I think so. So you're saying that a group of this "Colonial life" will let us stay with them?"
"Yeah! Pretty much! That's exactly what I mean."
Arras thought it over for a moment. "I don't see why not, I can't think of any better ideas. Would you have any clue on how to actually find one of these groups?"
"Oh, yeah! Yeah I do. Just follow me. You'll be able to get down from here, right?"
Arras was just about done looking for a way down, and nodded. "Should only take me a few seconds."
"Great! Then should we uh, get going? If we stay here much longer, I think we'll be getting swarmed like you said we would..."
"I'm so proud." Arras snickered a little bit at Illia showing a lick of common sense, which she merely rolled her eyes at.
...
True to his word, Arras bolted down the tree within moments. He threw a wistful glance back at his old home, but there was no longer anything there for him. Illia landed in front of him, shaking her wings and shedding a few loose feathers.
"So right now, we just need to get away from here. Right?"
"Yes." Arras confirmed that line of thought nonchalantly. "You said you should be able to find one of those groups of Colonial life, so might as well look for one while we're moving, no?"
"Yeah, I was gonna do that anyways. Just make sure to keep up with me, alright?"
"I don't think that's going to be much of an issue."
So, without further adieu, Illia took off from the ground flying high into the sky. She zipped past the tree line within short order quickly leaving Arras's line of sight.
I... What? How am I supposed to keep up with you if I can't see you? Oh. Wait. They're too far from me to hear my thoughts. Oh dear.
Arras pondered helplessly as he waited for Illia to come back down. Which to his surprise, was about twenty seconds later.
"Sorry, I should've told you that I was gonna look around first before deciding which way to go. You can actually start following me now." Illia laughed somewhat nervously.
"If you say so... But, did you find what you were looking for?"
"Mmm... Sort of, just try to keep up alright?"
Arras nodded hesitantly, and Illia took off. Without a moment longer wasted, he too began to move.
...
Illia hopped from branch to branch, gliding steadily and easily. Only periodically stopping to make sure Arras was keeping up, which, to his credit, he was. Rather easily at that. By now, they were a good distance away from Arras's old home. It was relatively easy avoiding any possible encounters given that anything coming their way was already moving towards the den.
So far, it had been about fifteen minutes since they'd left. Arras had only noticed one creature so far, that being a simple Prong Rabbit, which he didn't even think was drawn here by curiosity. But regardless, they carried on anyways. Illia constantly blipped in and out of the range of her mental magic, so they didn't talk much. But when Arras did hear from her, he didn't notice any uncertainty. So, he felt safe within her confidence, perfectly willing to go along with whatever she wished.
And so they walked, and walked. Leaving the place behind. Slowly, the massive tree faded from view. Even more slowly, their surroundings began to blend together. For Arras, this was now all entirely new uncharted territory. And with Illia's distance, he was left with his own thoughts.
It has... Certainly been a long day. All I can really do is to continue walking, there's nothing else for me to do is there? I don't... I don't think I want to carry on how I have been, I simply can't do it. I know Illia said she'd follow me but... I think I need something to follow for awhile myself.
Though, he was immediately snapped out of his funk when Illia came careening down landing on the ground. "Hey, just letting you know this time I'm gonna go back up to look around again. Stay here!"
She didn't give him a chance to respond, given that Illia was off and into the sky a moment later. Arras stared up and blinked a few times, a little dumbfounded by her birdbrained attitude.
What's the point of telling me if you're still just going to have me wait here?"
Arras didn't feel safe simply sitting around in the open, so instead of doing that, he began to cast a spell. After a few seconds, the air shimmered precipitously, then settled as if nothing had changed. Only there was no fox within view. It was as if a mirror had appeared, which reflected it's surroundings perfectly. Which, in effect, was what had happened. It's just there was no physical mass in it's place.
He sighed in relief, letting his posture drop just a little bit. It wasn't as if he'd covered his scent, but if anything did happen to come looking the open area should be at least a little bit confusing. And so they waited, waited a little longer, then he felt something else. He almost didn't realize it at first, having grown accustomed to always being near something else, but this wasn't Illia. Illia didn't have a... Presence, like this thing did.
Which was why, it was all the worse for Illia to come down at that precise moment. Before she could even get a thought in, Arras immediately silenced her.
"STAY QUIET! Get back into the trees, we aren't safe! Something is here, something powerful."
"Wait-what? What's here?" Illia asked inquisitively, not quite seeming to understand the gravity of the situation. That was, of course, until she felt it. Her eyes widened, and without another question she immediately took back off. Zipping into the skies above, and it was a good thing she did. Whistling through the air mere moments behind her was a shard of ice, piercing into a tree and planting itself half way through it's bark.
Arras stared wide eyed at the majestic beast that stood a mere jaunt away from him. A massive four legged elk with pure white antlers. Artful white patterns stuck against its body, mixed in with the brown of its hide. It almost seemed to glow with an imperceptible power, energy leaking off of it's personage through its sheer force of being. Transfixed, all Arras could do was stare and pray that his magic managed to hold against it's gaze.
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Bestiary
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Dictionary
Non Sentient life
This consists of a fair majority of the life on Araia. Non Sentient creatures may be able to show empathy or compassion depending on the situation, however, they cannot put together higher levels of thoughts. Generally, they can only comprehend their immediate situation and prominent memories that have occurred to them in the past.
This consists of a fair majority of life on Araia. Most creatures you find in the wild will not display any higher level of intelligence that allows for reasoning or bargaining. Non Sentient life can not be dealt with in any way other than physically.
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Sentient Life
The second most common form of life on Araia. Sentient creatures display the ability to reason and think. Being able to care about something beyond their immediate future, a cause or anything similar.
Most instances of Sentient Life usually live on their own or with a small group in the wild. However, due to the fact that they can most all be reasoned with, it is generally considered taboo to kill or drive out such creatures. This however, does not stop the occasional vagabond from making an attempt on a magical creatures life or something similar in order to make a profit.
Sentient creatures will usually live either on their own or in small groups. Though it's not particularly rare for them to live among groups of Colonial life either. They simply have no innate drive to group up and create society. However if it is convenient or the situation calls for it, Sentient creatures would likely hold no qualms with the idea.
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Colonial life
The rarest but also most prolific kind of life on Araia. Their tendency to create massive groups often leads to the domination of their environments. Effectively, they're the same as sentient life in most ways that matter, but with one key difference.
All forms of colonial life have an innate desire to seek out and live with others similar to their kind. They are social animals, forming large and powerful factions over time. Most of the time, such creatures are usually magically weaker than their counterparts. However, their sheer numbers can usually make this a negligible difference.