WoW Nynkasi: Life

Nynkasi tromped into the mountains north of Boralus, further into the woods, moving until all sounds of civilization faded. There wasn’t a lot she brought with her, not even in terms of clothing. The elemental fire Fenix had granted her still sang in her blood, and while channelling power to keep warm was a well known trick, this…well, this was something more. She wasn’t sure if she liked it yet.

As a result, steam rolled off her shoulders the higher she climbed, hefting the minimal pack on her back, breathing deeply of the chill air. Focus…

Shamanism amongst her people didn’t often focus on the natural world outside the mines. Power was in the blood of the earth and it’s bones. Fire, lava, stone, dirt. Since talking to Mosur, actually listening now and gods forbid, learning, she’d been feeling more of a tug to this outside world. Azeroth spoke in many voices, and the whisper of wind and the song of water were beginning to call to her as much as the fire and earth did.

And there were also the other elementals.

By now she was skirting the treeline, and with a grunt, she acknowledged Kul Tiras as being not a terrible place for elemental study. There was water, and fire, hot springs dotting the landscape, plenty of mountain and stone, rich deep earth, and at this height, plenty of fresh sea air. She found a good spot, a bit of open cliffside not far from the hot springs, a few pine trees dotting the space. All right. This could do. More steam as she took a deep breath, stripped down to little more then a vest, breeches, and sandals. Another breath as she sat. This was…good. Yes. The worries about Fenix and his plans began to melt away as she began to meditate, absorbing and acknowledging the elements and life around her.

He wasn’t the only power in this world. And certainly not the worst one. He was a part of a much larger circle, that included all of this other. A smile actually began to cross her face, and she closed her eyes, letting the fire inside fade a little to make room for everything else. The chill crept in as well, but that was fine. It was sharp and refreshing, and it helped her focus. Give in. Feel Azeroth in all her aspects…

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. But something had changed. SHe had been sinking deep into the world around her, trying to focus more on the air and water, when there was another feeling that kept rolling in. It was so big. So *obvious*. But still vague, and she began to try and follow it. She wasn’t sure why she was having such trouble, but whatever this was it was just BIG.

It was persistent too. Poking at her. Weighing down. It got a point where she suddenly came back to reality and opened her eyes.

To a wolf.

She blinked and looked back at it. It tilted it head, but remained eyeballing her rather steadily.

Nyn felt the fire begin to rise in her. She wasn’t stupid. A predator was predator and wolves were pack hunters. It might have been curious as she had been sitting there for gods knew how long, but anything with teeth eyeballing her like that wasn’t ideal. And then the cold snapped back and sharpened her focus and she realized she was still in the middle of something. The weight settled over her completely, and the wolf continued to watch her. Well. SHe had come here to meditate on Azeroth, hadn’t she?

All aspects of life. LIFE. That didn’t just mean the elements. That meant life itself, the trees and the animals and everything she assumed was more a weird elven or druid thing. They were into that kinda thing. More their bag. But no, that image of the wolf seemed to say. Shamans had to touch on that sort of thing too. They had to acknowledge it. Respect it.

She took a breath. Nodded to the wolf, and reached out her hand. It was harder then she thought. The old ways, the ghost of her father’s teachings, still had a firm grasp on her. Every step forward was dragged through old baggage and it hurt, making her grit her teeth and try as hard as she could to keep the bad thoughts at bay. This was fresh kind of bullshit, she thought. Fuck wolves. Fucking life, really? Was fire not enough? Was the earth just the least important thing?

The wolf sat back with what seemed to be a flat expression. Nyn took another breath and tried again. Why the fuck was letting go of things so godsdamned hard? Acknowledging her people made mistakes, even when she hated her father, was just…hard.

She tried again. And this time, the wolf took a step forward, stretching out it’s snout. Looking at her with wild, wolf yellow eyes. Eyes she kept staring at, now drawn into, knowing the fang and snap and the feel of running through the woods and paws on cold snow. She felt the wolf touch her palm with it’s nose, and even though tears began to squeeze out of her eyes, she acknowledged it.

Life, in all it’s forms and aspects. Azeroth, as one whole. Including her.

She awoke sometime later, shivering, blinking as she looked around. Okay, now she must be truly awake. She felt like it, and it was bloody freezing. But everything still looked very strange. The world was slightly washed out of colour, but in another way it was so…vibrant. Smells and scents slapped her in the face, existing like they hadn’t before. Life prickled at her and when she looked down?

What.

She yelped and paws scrabbled over the ground. She was a wolf. A WOLF. A godsdamned wolf!

The vision of the wolf from before came rolling back over her and she took a few seconds to breath and register the world again. Okay. She was truly awake. And she could…in a blink, she was back to her normal self, and there was a message lingering in her head. All aspects. Something had touched her, and for once it wasn’t Fenix. It wasn’t something nefarious or suspect. It wasn’t *nice*, it just *was*.

She rose wobbly legged to grab her pack, and head back to town. She needed to find those damn blue spacegoats. Maybe Mosur could help her figure this new aspect out.