Freedom?
I had been imprisoned for several days now. My captors were kind enough, but they clearly were not allowing me any chance at escape in lir-shape. The bars that formed the sole window of my admittedly-small room were too close together to allow for my falcon form - the smallest of my lir-forms - to squeeze through without causing harm in the form of broken bones to it.
And so I resigned myself to being confined - a state no Cheysuli - man or woman - could bear. I did what I could to distract myself from the unending boredom of confinment here in the strange forest.
At least, until today.
Today, it seemed, I was going to be released from my confinement and allowed to return to my su'fali and hopefully, my family as well. My rujholli - Brennan, Hart and Corin, and their lir - Sleeta the ebony-coated mountain cat, Rael the white hawk, and Kiri, the small red fox. Maeve my half-sister I longed to see too. The guardsmen led me towards a small clearing. In this forest, "clearings" were few and far between... There I was asked - with much gesticulation on the part of my captors, to assume lir-shape. I could not believe what they were asking of me: Become a bird, as we'd seen you do. With a slight smirk, I let the void take my human form from me and replace it with that of a falcon.
As I watched their faces register astonishment, surprise and shock, I lifted myself up off the ground-
-into the air-
-towards the opening in the canopy.
At first, the guardsmen were too surprised to do anything about my actions; the shapechange had stolen their wits from their minds-
-until they saw where I was headed.
With a shout, they loosed a volley of arrows from their bows. I laughed inside my falcon form: I'd had many an arrow loosed at me while in bird-form; I easily dodged them all.
But just as I was approaching the canopy's opening, an arrow I hadn't noticed came shooting past me-
-a sharp pain-
-my left wing had been struck - on the lower arm.
I fell, not fast, but I fell.
When I hit the ground I reverted.
The guardsmen came up to me, their arrows clearly telling me that if I shapechanged - or moved at all, I would be shot where I was.
With a much rougher hand than before, I was led back to me cell. My wound was bandaged, then I was shoved back into my cell, with the door slamming shut on me.
Escape - once thought to be "difficult", was now an impossiblity...
And so I resigned myself to being confined - a state no Cheysuli - man or woman - could bear. I did what I could to distract myself from the unending boredom of confinment here in the strange forest.
At least, until today.
Today, it seemed, I was going to be released from my confinement and allowed to return to my su'fali and hopefully, my family as well. My rujholli - Brennan, Hart and Corin, and their lir - Sleeta the ebony-coated mountain cat, Rael the white hawk, and Kiri, the small red fox. Maeve my half-sister I longed to see too. The guardsmen led me towards a small clearing. In this forest, "clearings" were few and far between... There I was asked - with much gesticulation on the part of my captors, to assume lir-shape. I could not believe what they were asking of me: Become a bird, as we'd seen you do. With a slight smirk, I let the void take my human form from me and replace it with that of a falcon.
As I watched their faces register astonishment, surprise and shock, I lifted myself up off the ground-
-into the air-
-towards the opening in the canopy.
At first, the guardsmen were too surprised to do anything about my actions; the shapechange had stolen their wits from their minds-
-until they saw where I was headed.
With a shout, they loosed a volley of arrows from their bows. I laughed inside my falcon form: I'd had many an arrow loosed at me while in bird-form; I easily dodged them all.
But just as I was approaching the canopy's opening, an arrow I hadn't noticed came shooting past me-
-a sharp pain-
-my left wing had been struck - on the lower arm.
I fell, not fast, but I fell.
When I hit the ground I reverted.
The guardsmen came up to me, their arrows clearly telling me that if I shapechanged - or moved at all, I would be shot where I was.
With a much rougher hand than before, I was led back to me cell. My wound was bandaged, then I was shoved back into my cell, with the door slamming shut on me.
Escape - once thought to be "difficult", was now an impossiblity...