[Strudel]

Sylvi and Freya | Tyramet (mentioned with James.'s permission)

Changelings were not their own people, they never were. This was no different for the young Sylvi. As any fae changeling was destined to do from birth, she had been with a family that was never meant to be hers. She aged at the pace of a normal viscet, living a life with a loving mortal family as any viscet might.

To her, and to any fae changeling, this wasn't wrong. It was just life. She was meant to live with mortals-- to be raised by them. She was supposed to fit in with mortal viscets, to stay inserted into their society to give the fae race as a whole a real foothold in mortal society. It was the way of things, it was the natural order. Her own species would have died out millennia ago without changelings such as herself pulling the right strings to keep their mythical race safe from prying mortal eyes-- and from mortal greed.

It wasn't unusual that no one suspected she was any different. She was placed with the family as an infant, just like it was always done.
Sylvi knew what she was, as any changeling of course did, but she didn't know who she was. The only name she had ever known was Sylvi. Her own fae mother had never named her, things were not done that way. She was meant to be Sylvi, right?

And so the young fae lived her life with another family that should have had a different child-- a different "Sylvi" and instead had her.

Despite all this, despite what she was and who she knew she was meant to be, she was different. In some ways, she was like any other changeling. She had come to the world in the same way, she had the same mission. Yet in many ways, she was indeed so very different than her kind.

She wasn't meant to do it, and it wasn't supposed to be possible, but she had learned to love the family she was with. Her family. By her tenth year, she didn't even remember a time when she didn't love her mother and love helping her cook the family meal. She couldn't even fathom not having her father wrap her up in the largest hug after a long day of work, and twirl her around while she peppered light kisses on his jaw. She never thought about a life where it was any different anymore, not like in her youngest years when she couldn't yet speak and yearned for the touch of her birth mother above all else.

Most of the time, these days, she would forget that her mother and father weren't actually her real parents. When her papa tucked her into bed and kissed her head she always said "I love you" before he could manage it, like a game. When her mother woke her up in the mornings, she would bounce out of bed and let her mother help her pick out the perfect outfit to wear for the day. Her mother would compliment her, and give her a kiss on the cheek, and love would always fill Sylvi's heart. She spent her days with her little brother, doting on him (and sometimes dressing him up in her old clothes). Life was beautiful and perfect for her until one sweltering summer evening.

The world was hot, muggy, and miserable. Yet the family found themselves outside in the backyard with a small fire burning. There had been thunderstorms every day that week, doing damage to power lines across the county. The family didn't even have their power on, hadn't in several hours now. The inside of their house was nearly as sweltering as the outside now, and at least outside there was a small breeze to run through their furs occasionally.

The brownout in the daylight had been miserable, it's not as if they could sit out in the sun all day, but now with the light of day fading fast and a small fire roaring it felt almost magical. There were no artificial lights, even in their relatively large neighborhood. Occasionally, you could see candlelight in the windows of the other homes as well, but for the most part, the other homes were dark.

"Alright you two!" Sylvi's father bellowed as he returned in his truck. He parked and didn't bother to put the windows back up as he stepped out. "Now that the sun is gone, and the moon is out to play, it's time for dessert!" and with what seemed like magical intervention, their father pulled a box from his truck and raced back over to them out of the shadows surrounding the parking space from the carport above. In the box were the ingredients to make smores. Now, suddenly, the sticks their mother had been whittling made a lot more sense.

Sylvi's eyes lit up as her brother squirmed out of her lap toward the box. He pulled out a marshmallow immediately and popped it into his grinning maw. Sylvi chuckled as he unsuccessfully attempted to speak around it.

"Quit that, little man. You have to swallow first, silly!"

He simply laughed and ran around the yard as she chewed. Their father laughed too as he began to open the other packages.

As she normally did, Sylvi found herself helping her father build the s'mores. Her baby brother kept trying to sneak all of them off, but Sylvi would use her tail to swat him away. It didn't take long for them all to finish making and eating them, and then it was time for their father to tell them a story around the campfire. Their mother had gone back inside for the fire iron to stoke the flames back up in the meanwhile, and they were in the middle of the tale by the time she arrived and began stoking the fire with it and a few more small logs.

Sylvi's brother was already fast asleep in their father's arms by the time her mother sat beside her and held out the poker for Sylvi to take. Not thinking much of it, she grasped it in her paws. She felt a white-hot pain hit her, and she immediately dropped the object. She held in a hiss best she could as both of her parents looked at her, worry in their eyes.

"Is everything alrigh--?"

Sylvi cut her off "Fine, momma." she said quickly "Just fine. I'm just tired. I must have touched it a little too far down, but it didn't burn me. Don't worry."

It had indeed burned her, but not for the reason her parents might have thought. As all fae are unable to do, Sylvi was also not able to touch iron. It was a jarring thrust back into reality-- her reality. She was fae, not mortal as her parents and brother were. No, as the original Sylvi's parents and brother were. She was lying to them, always lying to them. And worse, she believed her own lies.

She stood, not looking either of them in the eyes "I'm just going to walk around to the front of the house..." she mumbled.

Her parents looked at her, concern apparent on their faces, but they said nothing as she slipped away. She was ten years old-- almost eleven. A young girl so close to becoming a young woman. For now, at least, they would let her be. She would be back at the fire with them soon, and if it took her too long, her father would just find her and cradle her in his arms until she fell asleep as well.

Sylvi didn't stop when she reached the front of the house. She kept going, past all the neighbors' houses and into the small grove outside of their suburb. It was times like these she found solace in the small grove. It was her own little slice of nature-- the domain of her kind. It was her birthright, the fruit of the earth. And it was what she was to protect, by taking on this mortal form. She was meant to keep her kind hidden and at peace from mortals.

But what was so wrong with mortals? Her family was nothing but full of love. Almost everyone she meant was kind, and courteous, and surely that wasn't any different than the fae? Couldn't they just explain to the mortals why they couldn't destroy forests and bother fae? Wouldn't they understand, or at least respect the fae's wishes?

If that was even possible, she wouldn't need to be there. She wouldn't have her family.

She could feel guilt clawing her from the inside for the first time.

Fae were not meant to feel guilty. She didn't know what the feeling in the pit of her stomach was, but she didn't like it. It only worsened as she continued to think of her family.

"All I've ever done is lie to them..." Sylvi grimaced at the thought. She looked to her paws, her eyes focused on the angry red lines across her palm and fingers from grasping the iron poker. "They love me, as I love them, but they love a lie..."

From the shadows of the trees emerged a real mystical sight. Something rare and extraordinary appeared in that grove that very night.

A fae accepted her conscience.

Perhaps she wasn't the first fae to do so over the many millennia they had existed, but it was something magical all the same. Fae, the selfish creatures that they tend to be, really only care for themselves and their own kind, but if the stabbing guilt was anything to go by then this young fae had learned to care for her pseudo-family far more than she ever cared for herself.

Now Sylvi was faced with a choice. Would she continue with her purpose, could she bear it? Or did she slip away, leaving the ones she loved behind to do what her newly-born conscience was telling her was the right thing to do?

Sylvi didn't make the choice until she could hear her father's shouts in the distance. His voice echoed through the grove. He was close. Her father knew her well-- or at least knew her habits well-- of course he knew to look here first. If she waited any longer, she would see him, and the choice would be made for her. He would see the tears spilling down her cheek, he would wrap her in his arms, and he would chase away all the scary feelings she was facing. He would dry her tears, maybe brew her some tea, and ask her what was wrong. She wouldn't answer, but he would somehow understand and carry her to her bed-- tucking her in with a kiss to the crown of her head. She could see all of this, in her mind's eye. She knew exactly how it would play out, and she wanted it so terribly badly. She wanted to wait for her papa to make everything better.

But she knew what would eventually happen too.

She knew she couldn't keep living like this, that she would keep being reminded she wasn't part of this world, even though she wanted nothing more than just that.

In a flurry of panic, with only her heavy heart and the love for her family slowing her down, she slipped out of the grove and made a run for it.

Her choice was made, she wasn't coming back.

She didn't know when she left that she would be cursed to remain the same age she had been when she ran away for as long as she lived. She had no clue that her form changed the moment she stepped out of the shadows of the grove, cursing her with another sentient being attached to her tail to spend her remaining days with.

She didn't know, that because of what she had chosen, her own kind would treat her as a traitor. She didn't know the mortals would be wary of her and sense something wrong in her. She didn't know that the fae would come and erase her family's memories to make them quit searching for her. She didn't know her family would be so happy, even without her when she checked back a year later.
She didn't know that despite all the fae meddling, her brother wouldn't forget her. That her parents would think he heard the name Sylvi from them, it was what they had always planned to name a daughter, and made up an imaginary friend. That one day in the distant future, he would hunt for her to try to bring her home.

Back then, she only knew that she had to get away. She ignored the extra weight on her tail as she ran as fast as she could.

And after she did finally check on her family, that year later with Freya by her side (as her tail always was of course) she finally knew where she had to go. There was only one place for someone such as her, exiled from the mystical forests of her people and shunned by mortal society.

She would journey to the frozen wasteland-- to the underworld. The dominion of the mighty king of the Pit-- the king of Hell. She would travel to Tyramet's domain and broker a deal with the Red Devil himself. What else was left for her, after the event in the grove that long year ago? What could be left for her now, on this mortal plane?

Things were going to change again, for Sylvi and Freya. They could only hope that it was for the better.

[2284/2500]

[tenlittlesoldierboys]

During one warm summer night, from shadows emerged a mystical sight...

Otaktay


Once upon a time, many, many years before foreign settlers came and gave it the name “America”, this land of a million names inhabited thousands of native tribes; most of them living in quiet peace, some of them in everlasting war.
In one of these tribal villages lived a young man, whose name was Otaktay. Otaktay was not particularly skilled in anything – he was a fine rider, but he fell off more often than he liked to admit; he was good enough for caring for the crops and flowers and he at least was able to feed the animals, his family owned, but that’s about it.
His given name had left the whole village in high hope – Otaktay. He, who kills many. The warriors had hoped, that he would become one of them, a skilled user of the blade or the arrow, killing many enemies and keeping the village safe. The hunters had hoped, that he would become one of them, with sharp eyes and ears, providing animals for food and crafting. But it turned out, that Otaktay was neither.
As his mother was a hunter and his father a warrior, he was trained in archery from a young age, but it was soon obvious, that the boy was anything but skilled. He wasn’t able to hold the bow straight, every arrow he shot landed miles away from the target and he couldn’t handle a spear or a simple dagger either. When he hurt himself with a knife once, while trying to skin a rabbit, he fainted, as soon as he saw a single trop of blood. Otaktay was a hopeless case.
He didn’t have the personality traits for a hunter nor a warrior either. Instead of being sly and cunning, perhaps even slightly aggressive, focused and daring, Otaktay was a coward. He did not only fear the sight of blood, but he was afraid of nearly everything. It took him until his late teens, until he finally agreed trying to ride a horse, because he had been so afraid of the big beasts. He was afraid of the hounds, too, not to mention the buffaloes. He also retreated as soon as someone raised their voice and even refused to participate in playful fights with boys his age. His own shadow scared him.
And although everyone mocked him for his cowardice, in the end, it still somehow saved his life. That fateful day started just as any other – the sky was clear blue, and the sun was shining down. The tribespeople were calm, hardly any of them was working after noon, as it was way too hot for any activities. Some children were playing in the river, most adults sought the shadows of their tepees and for them, life felt good. None of them were suspecting anything, even though their shaman had warned them of a red summer drawing near.
Otaktay was enjoying the silence, he certainly favoured those calm days over the very busy ones. When the enemy tribe attacked, he didn’t even notice, at first, as they did not come running and screaming, but they came silently. Thus, it was not a sudden noise, that Otaktay was alarmed by, no. It was rather the fact, that the silence had begun to feel uncomfortable. It was his sole luck, that he happened to sit close to the forest and as soon as he laid eyes on one of the enemy warriors decapitating his father, he turned around and ran.
He ran as fast as he could and did the only thing, that he had ever been good at doing: cowering and hiding. He hid for hours and hours, until his limps felt numb, his mouth was dry of thirst and his stomach growled for food – but he still did not dare to move. Afraid of dying, he cowered behind a great rock, holding his breath whenever he thought to hear a noise. He sat there for days, scared to death, that they might find him. But they never did.

Only after a few days, Otaktay gave up on hiding. He was too thirsty, too hungry and too tired to hide anymore, and even his panicking self, did tell him over and over again, that the enemies were gone. He left his hiding place and slowly went back to his tribe’s village, afraid of what might await him there. If asked, Otaktay would not have been able to tell, what he expected to find, but it certainly was not this: There was no sign of life left, everywhere he looked, he saw dead bodies and raided tepees. It was as if he had stepped right into a dystopian horror scenario; he went on searching the grounds for hours, but he could not find a single remaining living being, except for some of the livestock, that the enemy tribe had left behind.
Otaktay was shaken and sad. He sank on his knees, gazed at the sky and let out a loud and desperate cry, a cry that was even heard by the spirits and woke some of them from their eternal slumber. Something else was woken, too: For the first time in his life, Otaktay felt his heard being taken over by an emotion, as strong as a mountain and as dangerous as a volcano. He felt anger. Anger and rage, the call for revenge. A part of him blamed himself, perhaps because he happened to be the only one still alive – and that just, because he had been a coward.
And now, Otaktay decided, that he did not want to be a coward anymore. He wanted to avenge his tribe, his family, and have the enemies pay for the sins they committed. He was not stupid, nonetheless, and he knew, that he would not be able to do this on his own. Therefore, he searched for the tent of the Shaman, who was not spared either, sat down next to his corpse, took a deep breath and started meditating. He actually had not a clue, if it would even work, but it was the only thing that he thought he could do.
He sat there and meditated. For hours and hours, even though he was tired and hungry and thirsty. But the call for revenge was louder.
The realm of the spirits is a place, that can hardly be described with words. It is so vastly different to the planet of eqorah, that we all know, but yet so similar. The place appears to be only black and white and yet, at the same time, full of amazing colours. Completely silent, not a single sound to be heard, but full of wonderful music. Most of the realm was empty, as most spirits had already decided to leave, because their people did not believe in them anymore. Other spirits were still there, but they ignored Otaktay and his pleads for help.
Only one of them listened. And answered. Otaktay heard a deep and soothing voice calling out for him, telling him, that everything would be fine and that he would help him avenge his family. He told him, that he just had to wait, and the spirit would soon accompany him in the realm of the mortals. “Don’t be afraid, when you see me.” The voice echoed through Otaktay’s head. “Go back to the forest and wait for me. I shall come to you after sunset.”

And with his heart full of trust for the spirit and anger for his enemies, Otaktay obeyed. He rose and left his village behind once again, but this time not to hide, but to wait. Dusk came soon and with the dawn, Otaktay’s fear came, too. While the rage so far had had him forget his fear, now it was back, as he was staring at the blackness of the deep forest. When he had been in there, hiding, he had just closed his eyes, but this time, he had to keep them open. He had to wait for spirit, that generously offered to help him.
As the spirit promised, he came just after sunset, and he was nothing Otaktay could have expected. Growing up, the young Viscet had learned, that spirits were able to take the form of an animal, when they came down to earth. He learned about father wind, who soared through the skies in the shape of an eagle and his son the ocean, who showed himself as a great water snake.
But the sight that appeared in front of him, stepping out of the shadows of the trees, was anything but an animal. It did have hooves, similar to a deer’s, and it had huge antlers too, but nothing else was even close to be comparable to the beauty of nature, no, what Otaktay saw, resembled a nightmare.
The create appeared to be made of bones and vines and the little spots of fur it had, reeked of decease. The hooves were strong and the noise they made, made Otaktay sick. The monster’s thorax was open and empty, except for the heart, which glowed dimly in the darkness, softly beating and emitting a cold, that made Otaktay shiver. The skull bared sharp teeth and empty eye sockets, the front legs were arms with bony claws, reaching out for the young Viscet. The creature snickered and growled, it appeared to be highly amused by Otaktay’s fear, who stumbled backwards over a root and fell into the grass. Once again, he was scared to death and sure, that he would have to die, but the monster did not attack, it only spoke in a voice, that Otaktay was familiar with.
“I promised I would come by sunset. I promised I would help you avenge your tribe.”
As horrendous the sight of the creature was, as soothing its voice appeared to be. To Otaktay, it was inexplicable, but as soon, as he heard the creature speak, his fear was gone, trading places with anger and rage once again. Nothing in the world meant more to him right now, than the thought of revenge and his creature was able to help him. Only the thought of that, and nothing more, allowed Otaktay to raise and walk towards the spirit, who now seemed to be amused by Otaktay’s change of mood.
“Fine, fine.” It growled, its claws reaching out for the Viscet. “Take my power as a gift and an aid. Let me accompany on your search for revenge.”
He hesitated for just a moment and then took the repulsive looking paw, or hand, or whatever you might call living bones, twined together by twisty roots. As soon as the two beings touched, the air changed, and an immense bright bolt of light was to be seen. Otaktay had closed his eyes, to shield himself from the brightness, and when he opened them again, the spirit was gone. However, it was not completely gone, as the Viscet could feel, that it was still there: Inside of him. They were one now.

And together, as one, the two left the forest and went on their way to find the enemy tribe, that was responsible for the eradication of Otaktay’s whole village. And just as they felt no danger drawing closer a few days ago, just before they were raided, the other tribe was in great mood, celebrating their victory over the other. Otaktay could not help but smile over the sight and the sounds of the celebrations.
What a shame, he thought. What a shame, the celebrations would not last long. Not for them, at least. What a shame, indeed.
While travelling there, Otaktay had not spared a single thought to how he planned on ambushing them. Sure, he had the help and the powers of a spirit now, but nonetheless, he was still on his own, while the warriors of this tribe were possibly in their hundreds. Only when he reached their village and saw some guards watching the borders of their territory, it briefly came to his mind, that he alone was no thread to them. But the spirit, who was now the other part of him, only laughed and said just one word: “Kill.”
And Otaktay obeyed. As soon as this one word reached his mind, his whole past self was gone. He forgot who he was and even why he was here, the only thing that mattered now, was to kill. With a deep and fearsome growl, he announced his presence right before he striked.
He did not kill all of them, just the warriors and any of the others, who were bold enough to try to stop him, and when he was done, he searched for the chief, who had run away and hid, just as Otaktay had done himself, when they had raided his village. But the chief could not hide and was soon be found by the beast, a thing with the mind of a revengeful spirit and the body of a rageful Viscet, that already had begun to change: His once smooth horns had begun to twist, like the vines on the spirit’s body, and he had grown spikes like the spirit’s thorns and hooves had traded place with the paws on his hindlegs, too.
This was the sight, that the chief was greeted with and the sight, that was the last thing, he would ever see. Otaktay, or whatever he was now, smiled viciously, his claws reaching out for the once proud chief, who was now trembling and begging for his life. The begging made him laugh.
“Beg all you want.” He growled. “Did my father beg too? Did my brother? Did my mother? If you did not listen to them plead, why should I listen to you?”
A scream was heard, so loud, that the birds hastily fled into the sky and every animal on the ground was looking for a place to hide. Then – silence.
But whoever might be listen close, was able to hear the noises of the Wendigo, chewing and growling, eating the heart of his enemy, gaining his wisdom and his strength, his silhouette nothing but a mere shadow in the moonlight.



[2360 words]

[Unleashed Squiid]

Small reminder that you all have one more day to work on forms. Remember, there are no extensions. c:

[Unleashed Squiid]

Closed! Any future edits will result in your form being disqualified.

[LimeThing]

It's two in the morning please don't judge me if I misspelled anything
It was really hard to judge it for both of us. Keep in mind we were giving more points to forms who fit well with the theme.
Thank you to all who participated and may you all have a splendid summer ahead of you!

AANd the winners...

these are the forms that reached the minimum requirements. users listed below will receive the following; x1 Stubs & 1 raffle ticket for weekly raffle

Yugi
NurseGlowButt
SilverSamurai
728 squid limonade 728

next, these are the forms that exceeded minimum requirement / hit maximum allowance. users listed below will receive the following; x2 Stubs, x1 Items & 1 raffle ticket for weekly raffle

juice box.
grifforik
Razors
.kaede
lex
Gadgetrocks
Barnes&Rogers

next, these are the top 5 special mentions. users listed below will receive the following; x3 Stubs, x2 Items & 1 raffle ticket for weekly raffle

Mint Chip
mareep
james.
~Prophecy~
tenlittlesoldierbois

last, but not least, our two Event winners!. users listed below will receive the following; 1 of the Weekly Event Adopts, x2 Items & 1 raffle ticket for weekly raffle

Viscet #2561 - universal song
Viscet #2562 - Strudel
Comment with name and gender in order to claim these fab bois ^^

no i didnt still mints form

[dzo]

Thank you so much for the Special Mention!! Congrats to the winners of the two viscets!~

[universal song]

Oh wow! Thank you so much!!

Congrats to everyone!

name: Nova
gender: female

[Unleashed Squiid]

Oh wow! Thank you so much!!

Congrats to everyone!

name: Nova
gender: female

You've been added, congratulations!

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728728728

I also did want to add: please keep all salty comments or negative thoughts to yourself. We don’t want to see any hurtful things about the winner(s).

Thank you. c:

[grifforik]

Super congrats guys!!!! And thank you

[Barnes&Rogers]

Congratulations guys! And thanks for the stubs/items ^^