EMBER, TARAN CAI

[TARAN CAI EMBER]

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 300px; background-color: #7e1627;][cs=2] taran cai ember

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 300px; background-color: #0F104B;][cs=2] male. shifter. sailor. eighteen.

My name is Taran. Most people overlook that, though. To most people, I’m the scrawny one staring through windows with hungry eyes. I’m the shadowy feline figure creeping through the alleys. I’m nobody. I haven’t got a family of any great wealth or influence. To be honest, I don’t have any family that I know of, other than my sister. I don’t know if she’s even still alive. There have been bright points, like my time on the Firecat, but much has been bleak. I barely remember my mother and father. I just remember that Mother had hair the color of the moon and bright green eyes, just like Aislin. She was quite nice and made sure me and my sister were safe, but she always acted like she wasn’t with us on the inside. Father always terrified me. People told me that he was an airship crew member and he liked to go out and drink a lot. When our mother would hear him come in the door, she would usher us into the second room. Aislin was too little to understand what the cries from the other side of the wall meant, but I figured it out. And I cried. Of course, he wasn’t always like that, but I always flinched when he would pat my shoulder or make any sudden movement. I couldn’t help it. I think it made him angry. One night when this happened, he sounded angrier than usual. I noticed that after a while, Mother was really quiet. So was Father. I was too scared to leave that room, or to abandon Aislin. The next morning, however, I peered out to see my mother sprawled out strangely on the floor. Father was lying next to her, her hand in his. Stricken with fear, I ran out the door. Our home was about half a mile from the village nearby, and I sprinted there as fast as I could. Breathing hard and still scared out of my mind, I cried nonsense to anyone who would listen, begging them to come with me. Finally, a man did. After we got back, I don’t remember much, other than that we never saw our parents again. A kind lady took my sister and me in for about half a year, but she couldn’t afford to support us, and at six, I couldn’t earn enough money to pay her back. We had to leave; I couldn’t place such a burden on this woman. Aislin was only three, however. I regret my decision to leave her there even to this day, but it felt like my only choice. I fled to the nearest city under the cover of night, where I stumbled from door to door until someone took me in. Though I didn’t realize this at the time, the man who opened his home to me was a somewhat irritable enchanter with an interest in experimenting with live subjects. We had a delicately acceptable relationship for a while; I earned my keep by tidying up his workspace and generally staying out of the way. Unfortunately, I got underfoot a time too many, causing him to curse and sputter some spell in a tongue I couldn’t begin to recreate. Though I was terrified, all I could do was stand there as a pulsing green light enveloped me briefly. Then the change began. Suddenly my body was much, much smaller and my line of sight was far too close to the ground. I looked for my hands and found instead brilliant orange paws on the dusty floor. My eyes darted up to a reflective shard of glass near the floor and saw a fiery kitten staring back with wide golden eyes. I remember it took several moments to comprehend what had just happened to me, that that furry scrap was indeed me, but soon after I did what I seemed to do best; I ran away. With all four paws scrabbling at the ground below me, I darted blindly through the streets until suddenly it disappeared. Water, it seemed, was not kind to those who never learned to swim, and certainly was cruel to cats. Thankfully, a large arm scooped me out of the water quickly. Instead of putting me down, though, it carried me away. I didn’t care at this point; I was cold, miserable, and entirely confused, and this arm was warm and safe. At some point along this journey, I fell asleep. When I did wake up, I was in the lap of a young girl (though she was older than me). And she was beautiful, indeed. Were I still human, I would have smiled up at her. Purring seemed like the next best option. Over the next few days, I learned that I was on board a skyship, one called the Firecat. I spend many years upon that ship, and much of my time was spent following the girl around. Her name was Serafina. For eight years, my life seemed like it was headed in a much better direction. Though no one really knew who I was, everyone called me Romulus. I liked it. I always had something to eat, the Firecat’s crew loved me, and I was happy. And then the end abruptly reared up. During the ship’s final hour, I was napping on a sunny patch of the deck. A sudden explosion jolted me awake and made my fur stand on end in shock. Panicked, my eyes darted around to watch everyone scrambling to fix whatever happened. Then I saw Serafina transfigure into a glorious bird of prey and leave the ship. My survival instincts kicked in, and I did something I never knew I could do. In a matter of seconds, my fur became feathers and my body became ever smaller. As a tiny sparrow, I leapt from the rapidly falling aircraft just in time. Perching in a tree nearby, my body changed again into its now-familiar feline form. Scanning the wreckage, I knew there was nothing left. Though I was going to stay for a few minutes, the sight of a large falcon swooping in terrified me, and I dashed away behind a large tree. For the first time in eight years, I became human again. This form had certainly changed. It was much larger and gangly. Suddenly, a familiar face framed by those glorious fiery locks peered around at me. She couldn’t know I was a human, though! The look in her eyes looked like one of shock mixed with disgust. Once again, I found myself running. I couldn’t bear that criticism from the beautiful girl I’d grown to like. A lot. I ended up in an unfamiliar town, beginning to feel a slight pang of hunger and loneliness for the first time in a long time. I roamed the streets in feline form, searching for… well, I didn’t know what. At this point in my life, I knew a fair amount about sailing, though I’d never actually attempted any of the work myself. I managed to snag a position on a skyship. In the past few years, I’ve stayed a sailor, moving from ship to ship as I’ve needed to. I’ve thought about trying to find my sister again, but the prospect is incredibly daunting. I’ve wanted to find Fina again, too. I just don’t know what she’ll think of me, and I’m afraid it would be nothing good. So, I carry on.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 300px; background-color: #0F104B;][cs=2] self-depreciating. shy. independent. apprehensive.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 300px; background-color: #7e1627;][cs=2] nage. logan lerman.

[CIAO, CIEL♥]