A journey to Nowhere

She wasn't even sure exactly how she had ended up here. After the haunting scene on her homeground in the Hollow, she had packed a bag, grabbed her weapons and set a lockrune on her haven. Let the roads take her where they would. She left her home behind and made her way over the great wall around the great city of Dusk. Flying idly near the edges, it didn't take long at all for her to lose herself with the rest of the lost. The gauzy mist was thick enough in the desolate Outskirts that she had not bothered with her full armour, just a veil of spider's lace to protect her sensitive eyes and ears. Nyxadora Bitters had spent her entire life topside, she had never known the nesting life of the underground Thystles and she had long since adapted to the subtle light and soft noises that would pain the more courtly and un-armoured of her kind. Fluttering her glossy black wings, the fog swirled around her tiny body in the vague twilight as she settled on the empty branch of a twisted old tree and swing her tiny feet off the edge. The emptiness of this place gave her a strange comfort and she wanted to spend a moment basking in the eerie tranquility. There were shadows of other lost things just on the other side of the mist, but she didn't mind. Nobody would ever regard her in a place like this; she was the size of a doll, in the dark, in the fog and literally shrouded. She had glimpsed a hint of a pale face, blissfully unaware of his surroundings with the telltale trails of shimmering tears from his round, red eyes... Snowblind, in a sense. If those were the only kind around here, she could be 8 feet tall and on fire and still go unnoticed. Maybe that's exactly what she needed for a bit. She relaxed, nestling herself comfortably against the dry old tree with her feathered wings wrapped snuggly around her shoulders.

It had been following the wyld Thystle since the Harvest, careful not to make an untoward step to catch eyes or ears of her as she made her way closer and into the city of Dusk. Really all too easy, the creature was veiled to protect her tender eyes and ears but that was a double-edged sword in this case as it provided ample extra protection for her tracker. She may have been doing her best to go unnoticed, and her best was very good indeed, but it was too late for her for that. By her very blood alone she was marked and had she kept to herself in the Hollow she might have gone on undiscovered for some time but as soon as she strayed away from the protection of the hollow ground, her essence beamed like a beacon to both her courtly cousins and something else a little deeper to the dream. Unbeknownst to her, Nyxadora Bitters was a wanted woman by different parties for quite different reasons and one of them was already hot on her trail.

The Nowhere was thick with fog and free from the nuisance that comes with society's trappings of civilization, the light was scant and the sounds were soft. It was a peaceful place, yes, but it was also very solemn, almost sad in its desolation and one had to wonder why the wandering Thystle had chosen to dwell here over anywhere in the more vibrant parts of the city ahead. No matter, it was best to stay back and watch. Watch and wait.

She must have fallen asleep in her cozy reverie for when she opened her eyes, everything had changed. There was no gloomy fog or broken tree, there was no dark at all in fact. Nyxadora sat up, squinting in the brilliant sunlight that didn't seem to bother her at all. She was in a lush field of clovers, the sweet scent of them heavy in the air and as she stood she was surrounded by a cloud of fluttering butterflies almost the size of herself. Above her head, the sky was clear and blue, the yellow sun was brilliant and she smiled, letting the golden rays soak her tiny limbs in its warmth. A luxury she would never know in the real world, she jubilantly ripped the veil off of her face, blinked her bright blue eyes and stared in awe at the day she had never seen without the pain that always came with light.

"Do you like it?"

It startled her, though the voice was kind and the words were softly spoken. Nyx shot up into the air with the swarm and spun around to see a sweet lavender face laughing at her reaction. As a Thystle who had grown up outside of the Ter, she was used to full sized folk; though this girl was smaller than average, something about her was immense. She couldn't have been more than 5 Thystles tall, lilac and lovely with butterflies in her hair and infinity in her eyes. She held up a dainty hand, palm up, and when she spoke her voice seemed to ripple from the very air around them.

"Do not be afraid, little one, the time has come."

"The time for what?"

With a beat of her blackbird wings, she landed lightly on the open hand of this magickal stranger and searched her face. It was unexpected to find that the girl was blind, her eyes were blank and looking lost but she smiled at Nyx as if she didn't even need those fathomless eyes to see right into the very soul. As she stood there in the hand of this ethereal stranger in this eerily lovely place, Nyx felt a wave of serenity wash over her. Her frustration and disquiet were replaced by a peace like she had never known. As the two stood there in silence, images from the violaceous being poured into her mind, filling her with lifetime after lifetime in mere minutes. She saw the infinity of the universe, the end of a world and the birth of a new one. Nyxadora Bitters realized that she was looking into the eyes of Creation and she was shaken to her core; this was the face of divinity and it was sharing what most mortals would never know even a sliver of. She couldn't comprehend the immensity of it all and in that moment, she felt so much smaller than she had ever felt in her entire life. Tears began to stream for her cerulean eyes though she was not completely sure why... Awestruck, the burden of otherworldly sight was far too heavy and her shaking legs no longer offered to hold her slight weight. She crumbled to her knees in the palm of this celestial godliness, her newfound peace threatening to be short lived as the visions began to recede. The diety cradled the little Thystle gently, murmuring softly to her in wordless comfort as she stroked Nyx's soft wings with gentle affection to quell the troubles of the new burden brought upon the fae. When she was certain that they Thystle had been soothed, she nudged her softly and scritched under her chin as if she were a kitten.

"I must return you to your home now, childer. You'll not remember this until we meet again, but you will know where you need to go. There will be trouble and there will be the darkest of times but they will not triumph if your heart remains strong."

Nyx took a breath, her brow furrowed. She didn't understand and she opened her mouth with questions ready to pour out but too quickly things began to fade. Her limbs were so heavy, her eyelids refused to stay open. Her inquiries died on her lips and she felt herself gently settled down as she was pulled into a deep slumber. Something small and cold was pressed into her hand and then there was nothing but sweet darkness.

She startled awake, threatening to topple herself off of the barren tree she had settled herself so comfortably previously. With a mighty beat of her tiny wings, she hovered a few inches higher, her little fists clenched tightly as she tried to remember... something very important... Cold and sharp, something bit at her palm and when she opened her hand, she sank back down to sit again at the broad, broken branch. A droplet of crimson blood stained her lily white palm, pierced by what appeared to be a shard of broken glass. She raised her hand up under her veil, the faint scent of her own blood had a different smell than any others. It did not bring cramps to her gut or threaten to sick her stomach; it had almost a perfume to it that rang of a primitive nostalgia, but her attention was steady elsewhere. Frozen solid, this petite semicircle was too intricate and perfect, half of a snowflake cast from ice as hard as diamonds. As she examined it, the crystal trinket began to glow softly and the drop of Thystle blood seemed to absorb into the broken snowflake and left it humming softly with a pull in her heart towards the west. A feeling of urgency nagged at the back of her mind and she couldn't quite place it, but it was enough for her to know that any plans of a leisurely get away were now finished. She had to go somewhere she swore she would never set wing in, she had to return to the homeland of her blood. Nyxadora Bitters had intended to spend her entire life without returning to the Bite of winter with the memory of something she couldn't quite recall lingering elusively just out of her grasp. A soft murmur swept through her mind, a wordless comfort strange in its familiarity but still it filled her heart with a surprising faith. Something she had not genuinely known for a long time now, it warmed her in a way no fire ever would and she tucked her little winter charm away in her bag with a smile. She was refreshed and had enough supplies on hand to get her going. "No time like the now."

With barely a sound, she easily darted into the air and just like that, there was nothing left of her but a swirl rippling through the heavy mist of a forgotten place. Only one set of eyes remained behind to watch it in her wake with a glint of fang showing through the sneer on the lips below them.