[PQ - in progress] called my demons but gave them back

[Mazikeen]

This was a trip she had thought about making for a few years now. The feeling of helplessness after she had been attacked in the forest had faded, it had been soothed by the idea that she had been young and still had so much to learn. And while she did not feel entirely helpless now, she couldn’t shake the idea of coming here and just trying.

Befriending Gale had taken some of the sting out of losing in the alliance but not all of it. She’d gained something there and yet she had still lost, still failed.

And now, with the world in darkness - with monsters crawling around causing havoc, Mazikeen was willing to take some steps to do whatever she could to be more. To become better equipped to help protect her home and her friends from this and whatever other threats might come their way.

The climb up the mountain is a difficult one and Mazikeen shifts into a snow leopard, utilizing the broad, strong paws to help her navigate the tricky pathways. When she thinks she’s gone high enough, she shifts back into herself - only keeping the feline eyes so she can see more easily. It seems right that she should be (mostly) her natural self as she waits. The words to describe what she wants do not come to her, it is difficult to describe the idea out loud but she holds it in her heart as her orange eyes flicker across the slopes of the mountain and she waits.

MAZIKEEN

mazikeen

Mazikeen would like to quest for upgrading shapeshifting to self manipulation

10 posts from within the last 90 days, the ones where she's using her shapeshifting are marked with a *
One *
Two *
Three
Four *
Five *
Six *
Seven *
Eight *
Nine *
Ten *

[Wysteria Fairy]

Shifting into a cat to climb the Mountain is cheating, dear child. The whole point of the trek is to earn the right to even be there, to stand before powers a mortal cannot truly comprehend and ask for something you do not deserve. If you want to be more, prove it.

Wysteria comes though, looking tired and dull, as if the darkness is quietly sapping the magic from Beqanna itself. Perhaps it truly is. But has anyone actually bothered to stop and ask? Of course not. Instead, they seek only for themselves.

Wysteria says nothing at first, reaching out with her magic to snatch away the shapeshifting that Mazikeen seems too keen to rely on. ”Go, learn what it means to be truly yourself for a while. You were given a true form and you ought to respect that form above all else. While you are at it, try doing something useful for Beqanna before you ask for more.”

She disappears as quickly as she had come, leaving Mazikeen to find her way back down the mountain without any aid of other animal parts.

***

You have received a quest, but in the process, lost your shapeshifting. You must have 3 threads learning to appreciate your equine form above all else, and 1 thread where you do something useful for Beqanna (i.e. go kill a monster or something).

[Mazikeen]

The Mazikeen that returns to the mountain is different than the one who descended last winter. There are no tears or cursing this time. There is a steady thrum of nerves as she carefully picks her way up the rocky slopes in the darkness. This quest is a strange thing - she feels more confident in this form, what it can accomplish, but she still recognizes that the ability to shift is a handy tool. It’s not her entire identity like she’d thought a year ago but it can still help keep those she cares about safe.

And there’s a heavier weight to those thoughts now. She’d always been devoted to her friends and now she has become rooted into a home in a way she had never expected to be.

She finds her way to where she had stood last time (or… she’s pretty sure, anyway. The slopes of the mountain all look the same to her now). Mazikeen thinks about using her fire aura to light her way but decides against it - she can, and should, finish this without any tricks at all. Nerves prickle across her skin though she feels an odd sort of calm. One way or another, this is going to end - she survived it and, yeah, it was rough at first but it also might've been just the kick in the ass she needed. Mazikeen hadn’t called out last time and she does not think she’ll have to again - as she waits patiently for the fairy’s judgement on her quest.

MAZIKEEN

mazikeen

Learning to appreciate her equine form:
one (confronts some of her insecurities with a not-so-gentle helping hand and begins to realize she’s Just Fine and still strong however she is)
two (faced and conquered one of her long-term fears, something she hadn’t even been able to do with her shifting)
three a/three b - (kind of a two-parter where she had an epiphany that there are things more important to her than being able to shift and she can still try her best to accomplish them as is)
four (learned about the darker side of shifting and worked on accepting that its not the be-all and end-all)
* I know this is more than 3 threads but wanted to include all of them just to cover my bases

Something useful for Beqanna:
five killed a monster and saved sweet baby Selaphiel


@[Wysteria Fairy] <3

[Wysteria Fairy]

Wysteria does not come, but she does not need to. Glittering, purple magic swirls up from the ground, restoring Mazikeen and giving her just a few new tricks as well. She had done as asked, and her request will be granted.

***
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