Submitted for Points (boo)

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Aelia

Sleep did not find Amaris as the moon's heavy glow took hold of the skies, brightening the dimly lit shadows as silent paws would venture to the water's edge. He would not sleep tonight. Not out of fear for what the shadows would foretell in his dreams but rather due to the restless energy that seemed to come to him in waves. A rhythmic pull appeared centered at his core, a pushing and pulling sensation that left the pale boy tossing and turning only heartbeats before.

Frustrated yet exhausted, Amaris had found himself at the lapping water's edge of Fate's Respite, staring dimly down the reflective surface that bore secrets before him. The wind was silent here; the snoring of others veiled behind the quiet echo of the ever-roaring water at his side. Too late in the year was it that not even the chirping of insects could be heard as his paws sunk into the small granules of sand beneath him.

In ways, Amaris was alone.

Sunlit eyes would narrow and hang heavy beneath sleep-deprived eyelids as his attention would drift to the shattered pieces of the moon. They would shift and bend beneath their reflection, fragmenting along the inky surface of the night. A whole composed of parts, he'd think. Much like the ever-growing story of life, he'd imagine.

Amaris would find himself lost to thought in the quiet spaces of the night, thinking and ruminating in a space where speech could not be found. Alone was he with his thoughts, but perhaps not for long.

If it had not been for the movement of Amaris, maybe she wouldn't have awoken. But, even her dream is evidence of why that isn't true. There had been a pull to the lake. It's waters are cold and silent, still even with the soft roar of the waterfall. Something was there. Whether or not this was reflected in reality too, well, they were surely going to find out.

You know, I can feel you even all the way out here. Aelia's voice sliced through the night like the sun finally fighting its way through the remnants of a rainy day. She wasn't far off, treading the path between water and sand, the golden bands of her paws gently nudging at the lake. Her lunar eyes are set on the waterfall, yet fall to her twin brother, If it called to me, I assume it called to you? She asked but knew the answer. There is a little rawness in her voice; still a tiny bit hurt that he was surpassing her in his visions.

There is a silence surrounding them, as it feels always when it is the two of them. Reality seemed to blur, and the world around them drowned out, especially in the dead of night, under this broken moon.

Amaris

Despite the grip his thoughts held on the moon-kissed boy, an ear would twist at the sound of approaching paws. Had it not been Aelia's, perhaps he would've continued on in the twisting expanse of his mind, walking and wandering and never to be found. However, the dim-lit shadows that veiled his eyes from the rest of the world appeared to part, as though they were a swing of curtains from the memories and thoughts that had entangled him, and at last, he could see.

The world came to him in a sudden wave of rushing sounds, the trickle of water louder than his own heartbeat, and the wind singing daftly in his ears. He turned, eyes encased with the heaviness of sleep and yet shining just enough to convey appreciation for his golden sister's presence.

Our bond, He said with a smile, though his voice was no louder than a murmur as the wind silenced and the water finally turned to nothing more than a quiet burble. His attention drifted towards her, nodding solemnly along her words.

There was a pain that sliced deep within his chest, a warring of emotions that only left him battered and bruised within. Amaya had done this. Amaya had made everything go to shit with her prancing paws and dark nose in everyone's business. Aelia, he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as his own sunlit gaze searched her own, I...

Ears would splay to his skull, the hammer of his heart appearing louder in the night's silence.

It was a lie... he wished to express. He did not remember the dream upon waking that night with Amaya. Her over-excited paws, dancing steps, and incessant heavy breathing...she hung over him like a cloak of darkness, and Amaris could do nothing more than allow any and all words to slip from his tongue then. If only to appease her overexcitement, let her live in the world she did.

I don't remember what I saw. I don't know what I did. He tried to express in the searching gaze he gave his sister.

And then, a sigh appeared to rattle his bones, and for a moment, Amaris would suffer in silence as he bore the weight of something that could not be undone. Gods, smite him now.

What do you think it wants? He managed to utter (just barely).

Aelia's eyes flicker over to Amaris at the sound of his words. Our bond. It sparked a hope inside her. She knew that with some things, especially those in the psychic realm, came easier to her when she was around Amaris. Which made it particularly hurt that he was more in tune with his own otherworldly side, while she was stuck meditating at the Rise hoping that one day it'd come to her as well. Of course, this was not Amaris' problem but her own — but she can't help but retain the jealously. One that she can feel part her with Amaris, just a little broken piece.

Yes, our bond... She whispered, finding herself looking back to the falls, what lie beyond them. Then her eyes closed for a moment, trying to steady her heart. But with Amaris' voice, her heart lurched forward as she flashed her lunar eyes towards him once more, finding the sun in his own — a truth he was reaching for. Her own eyes widened, waiting for her brother to speak. But it amounted to nothing.

Pain thumped in Aelia's chest now. As if every beat was constrained by a chain constricting her heart. No, no. She stopped him, feeling the words hitch in her throat. Don't do that to me. She said, the heartache could be felt by her twin, she was sure of it. Don't start keeping secrets. Don't grow up without me. The volume of her voice lowered, feeling guilty. Everyone seemed to be now. Growing into themselves. She felt her eyes start to water. She was trying to hold herself strong, too proud to admit her feelings, but seeing Amaris try then back away, she was afraid she'd been too hurt. Too hurt for her own twin to tell her something. Please. She said, hoarsely.

I don't... I don't know. Her voice too, was a whisper on the wind. All she knew was they needed to confront it.

Amaris

Amaris could feel the coiling of his insides tighten and constrict at the sound of Aelia's words. A broken plea brought forth by the hindrance of his silence. Those words became a brand that seared across his flesh, burning and smoldering just beneath his skin. His ears would rear themselves back, falling to a place atop his crown as he fought the urge to drag his sunlit gaze away. He couldn't, but he threatened to try.

She didn't deserve this, he knew.

The bond shared between the twins was special, an unbroken agreement gathered and confirmed through the sanctity of their blood and souls. He imagined that no being in Elysium nor the world could ever understand the shared thoughts, feelings, and security between the sun and the moon. And he was breaking it. He was threatening that connection between them, chipping away at something once unbroken for the safety of a lie to remain hidden.

He didn't lie to Aelia.

A strangled whine, so quiet yet so broken, slipped from his maw as a gaze would search her own. It was a lie, all of it. Yet, the deceit did not just eat away at him, but his twin just as much. A chipping of her heart was evident across his own as that twisting feeling of nausea once more came to Amaris in waves.

What would Aelia think?

'Please,' she uttered through a sound that nearly broke the moon-kissed male.

I-- His words stuttered again, swallowing down a thickness that crept up his throat. I am not growing up without you, I promise.

Finally, his gaze would track to the water's calm surface as something shivered down his spine. He hated this. He hated lying. He hated Amaya for forcing him to deceive and manipulate all those he cared for around him.

It's a lie, he whispered, a voice no more than a squeak as he squeezed his eyes shut. His head fell to a place between his shoulders, shaking back and forth as he swallowed down the last bit of hidden courage he could accumulate. I had a dream where I was screaming, He recounted what Amaya had told him when he woke, hanging above his head with a smile, I was chasing or fighting something, I don't remember. His words were as quiet as the wind, She thought it a premonition, and I--

A silver-lined gaze tracked his sister's as a tail would unceremoniously hug the space between his legs, Aelia, I don't know what I saw. I don't--I can't...do what Amaya said I could. There. The truth. A kernel of that darkness that had been sweeping into his soul now bayed in response to his words, I lied.

His breath loosened a fraction as he breathed and a gaze would search the darkened horizon as if his dark-haired sister would be somehow watching, waiting with bated breaths to uncover the fraud that Amaris was. What would his mothers think? He couldn't tell anyone. It has to remain a secret, Aelia, please. He couldn't let his mothers know. He couldn't let Amaya know. Not his siblings---not anyone, but Aelia.

Only Aelia.

Amaris would swallow once more, dislodging the thick rock that had now lodged itself between his throat Come let us...investigate it, His eyes would flicker to her own, Together.

She could hear it. She could hear the breaking of his own heart too — the chains that linked them struggled against one another, but they held. They held on for dear life because that's all they could do. And all she wanted to do was reel him in. Save him from the darkness that she knew he drowned in so often.

The words that finally broke from his lips made the tears fall further, dragging to her chin. She felt breathless, like enough air wouldn't get into her lungs. Is this what he felt like when he was sinking? Why did it feel like she was suffocating — like her heart was? The confirmation that he wasn't growing up without her was nice but she wanted the truth—

'It's a lie.'

And again, it is just them, in a galaxy far, far away from the Respite or the eyes of The Five.

Just her, tearful, and him, shaking. Her breath hitches.

'I had a dream where I was screaming...' He continued, and Aelia couldn't even explain the feeling of overwhelming gratitude for the lie. She knew, so very obviously knew, that it was the part of her that wanted to consume. The jealous part of her. But the other part that clashed with the nice feeling was the now gut-wrenching feeling she got from watching her twin now repent in the weight of the lie.

Their eyes met again and she was overcome with it too. The fever dream of him chasing — screaming on the outside. How awful it must have felt and then to awake to such an allegation. As his tail wrapped around his legs, she reached out with a paw but found herself scooting along the ground until she wrapped her arms around her brother. Shhhh, Amaris. She whispered into his fur, closing her eyes, all she wanted to do was breathe, to alleviate this pain that was so crushing on the both of them.

No one will ever know. No one. She swore. Just us. Another tie held them together, gluing the parts of them that were fractured. She couldn't help but worry what they would do to him if anyone ever found out. Or if Amaya could even be convinced it was a lie. Now she wondered how they were going to find a way out of this one.

The daystar would hold eye contact as she nodded, Together. She whispered, slowly rising to her paws.

Amaris

Though nothing more than an illusion, Amaris could feel the breaking and rebuilding of bone and sinew. It was a lie that had chewed its way to his core, nibbling and scrambling for any light inside the moon-kissed child, and at the utterance of his admittance, a new breath appeared to hold his lungs steady. A moment of relief, but only short, as his sister's breath hung heavy beside his own. It was her touch, however, that offered a significant reprieve from the damage and weight of the feelings his body endured.

He leaned into her touch, even as the cold shiver of something dark crept its nail-bitten hands across his spine.

They could not breathe a word of this to anyone within Elysium walls, not to Amaya, not their mothers, not even their other siblings. No one could know the fraud that Amaris now became—no one and not a soul.

He nodded along his golden sister's breath, acknowledging the promise in which they held but offering no voice of his own. It appeared even the weight of the admittance could not bring Amaris back to the world of speech.

He matched her gaze; however, silver warring with gold as a loving determination took hold of the pain behind his eyes. Together, she said, and he nodded. A chin dipped in silent thanks as he rose to his paws, waiting for Aelia to lead the way.

And so, it would be, just the two of them against the world. Bound not only by flesh and bone but by promise and soul. It was their fate to be intertwined, but by choice, they kept this connection strong.

The silence of her twin did not go unnoted, but as he met her gaze with a nod, a telling sign that he was ready. She too would sagely nod then shine her lunar eyes forward. The waterfall stood in the distance, its waters dark, beckoning the twins forward. It held something for them that even the Five might not. What lay beyond there was unknown, she hadn't even heard of her mothers speaking of it. Maybe it wasn't for their parents, but for an omen that the twins would adhere.

The Daystar did not look back at her brother, she felt him there, as she moved forward, the roar of its falls growing louder. The alpines' shadows cast even further over the reaches of the water, making it seem like an abyss. She'd known the waters since birth, but at the sight of them now, she could feel a pit forming in her stomach. She shook it off; nothing was going to stop her. They were here for a reason.

Come now, Amaris. She said, feeling at war with the clamor of the waterfall, All we have to do is be careful and sidestep our way across the rocks. Don't fall, alright? Even if one of them did, they would just have to remind themselves that there were no lake monsters, nothing that the night could trick them into seeing. The golden girl took a deep breath, sliding herself between the sharp edges of the leading cave wall and the water that poured down, spraying in every which way — it made it hard to see. She didn't stop moving, not even when she had to close her eyes to make it some of the way, feeling forward with her paws. She was lean and light enough to delicately traverse her way across.

Once she made it the whole way, she looked back to her twin brother and grinned, See. Not so hard! She hadn't thought that her voice would be as loud as it was, echoing throughout the cave.

It took merely a second to tick by before loud, sharp screeching* started to surge forward...

Amaris

* imagine about 10-20x that sound

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Skill point: Seer

There was an undeniable strength within their bond, one that Amaris fell back toward even when his own body quivered and shook within. The life of a fraud was unbefitting for him, not a title nor name he ever wished to utter. And yet, beside Aelia, the weight of his secret became lighter, a burden shared not only by him alone but with another's unwavering strength beside him.

Together, they could do anything.

Amaris would follow his sister anywhere. Deft paws of moonlight trudged away in the wake of her own footfalls as eyes of starlight gold narrowed along the inky darkness that grew around them. A pit had formed in his stomach, a dryness capturing his throat, but Amaris could not be sure whether it was due to the roaring falls before him or the secret that he had only just shared.

He did feel light-headed, though.

That much was evident as the roaring falls widened before them, the falling water an ominous hum against the emptiness of his thoughts. Shadows, he could tell, skirted along his vision. Their disembodied whispy forms were no more than nymphs cackling at the fear that now sat like a rock in his belly, their darkened shapes finding purchase along the inky rocks of the mountain.

Aelia's voice was a light in that darkness, in the all-seeing eyes he wished to claw straight out of his skull. 'Come now, Amaris,' she encouraged as their paws made for the moistened path ahead. A snap of his gaze would bring him towards the clamor of water, the unnatural hum that seemed to sing with the shadows beside him. His body all but vibrated beneath the warring reverberation.

A hard swallow came next, forcing down the lump in his throat.

For Aelia, for the Five, for whatever reason, the water had pulled them out into this midnight air. He could do this.

The stones beneath their paws were slick, moisture coating their granite slabs in warning and with promise. One wrong move, and he'd fall to his death--well, probably not his death, but into the inky darkness of the Elysium's lake. His mother hated this lake; maybe she knew something about it that Amaris had yet to discover. Maybe, in the dead of night, the darkened abyss came alive--maybe his shadows were the ones who lived within it, maybe the water was their origin...

His breathing became ragged as he followed closely behind his sister, his nails failing to find purchase along the darkened rocks. And whether it was due to the racing of these thoughts or the shadows that nipped at his heels, Amaris slipped.

One leg that had once been sturdy along the ground now tripped in empty air. Because, of course, Amaris would be the one to trip. His body wavered and swayed, a hammering of his heart now echoing as loudly as the water to his side. But he did not fall into the inky darkness. No, rather, his body ungracefully found purchase against the sharpened edges of the wall on their other side, his flanks now burning with tiny sharpened points.

This was fine. He was fine—nothing to see here. Don't look back.

Amaris was all but ready to hyperventilate.

The yearling was a quivering mess of barely sodden fur when the pair had finally made it into the cave behind the falls. 'See. Not so hard,' Aelia had screamed, and Amaris could only cheeze--a smile filled with pulled-back lips, narrowed eyes, and a tail tucked shamelessly between his legs.



Right. Not so bad.

And then disaster struck.

Like clockwork, upon their arrival, the echoing screams of something otherwordly echoed into the cave's darkness. A hissing sort of mechanical sound that had Amaris' ears rearing back while his fur stood on end. Aelia... He croaked.

Amaris hadn't a second to breathe or speak before a wave of darkness flew toward them. The beat of wings like a war drum in the air as his body lunged for Aelia's in an attempt to topple her to the ground with a scream, GET DOWN.

By the Five, he pleaded for someone to save them.

skill: seer

The ominous cave had many gifts in store of them — of all of Elysium. The screeching, at first, was a mere sound of an insect flying too close. And as the girl looked at her sodden brother, an eyebrow raised in question, her mouth ready to form words — the noises became louder. The Daystar's head turned slowly towards the inners of the cave as her brother whispered her name, her ears fell to her head. Crap.

Just as the first wave of bats reached them, Amaris' body came down on top of her own. With an 'oof' she hit the floor, chin slamming against the hard stone. She groaned a sound of slight pain, but not before her lunar eyes watched in horror. The bats' screeching was now overpowering, making the cave vibrate with their numbers. Their tiny wings flapped around in the darkness, and she could feel the braver ones dip past them. It was terrifying.

Though in the shrouded darkness, she could feel their energy pulse along with the twins' own. It was not angry or fearful but hungry and annoyed. Much like she would be if any of her siblings shook her awake. She took a breath, It's okay Amaris, they won't hurt us. She murmured, keeping her voice low as she craned her head back to see them smashing through the waterfall as if it were nothing. She was surprised such small creatures were strong enough to withstand the brutal downpour.

Just stay low. Her voice is the lullaby amidst the screeching. However the noise had diminished considerably, yet a few still flap their wings above. She didn't want to disturb them further by letting their presence fill the room like it had before.

For the first time, she blinked and the room started to come into focus. The darkness being lit by the ripples of light that leaked in from the moon outside. It is not only a cave. Three tunnels burrow their way deeper. They lay out before the twins, Aelia shifted, pushing up with Amaris' weight on her, half sitting as she squinted toward their choices. Amaris... She whispered, three different paths; but to which would they follow? Which of them called the strongest...?

Amaris