Post by Xi Feng on Jan 21, 2014 14:48:02 GMT -5
+ ZHU XI FENG +
ALIAS / NICKNAMES;
--
CLASS;
Scholar/Shape-shifter.
RACE;
Human.
AGE;
20 years.
BIRTHDATE;
20th of August.
OCCUPATION;
Wanderer.
RESIDENCE;
Ionia.
ALIGNMENT;
Neutral.ABILITIES
Shape-Shifter;Xi Feng lived, worked and trained at Sishòu Temple, a place that believes in connecting the human spirit with the latent animal spirit, which is said to exist in all humankind. One of these connections includes shape shifting, the ability to draw from the spirit within and completely change your form. A shifter's ability is dependent on how well the human spirit can dominate the animal spirit and how much control it has over the feral form.
Xi Feng's shape is in the form of a lynx (Iberian lynx). Her coat is somewhat thinner than most lynxes in order to keep up with the untamed weather of Ionia. Her fur is peppered with dark spots and colored in a reddish-brown not seen on most of this species. The body length is 85 centimeters, with a short bob tail being 15 centimeters; the shoulder height is 45 centimeters. She has no other notable features other than her eyes remaining the same color and an almost human intelligence gleaming in their depths.
When in this form, she is a lynx. She is faster and stronger, with sharp teeth and vicious claws. She is able to climb trees with fearful speed but she is also unable to take down large prey such as bears or tigers. Xi Feng's form was mainly used to hunt and kill game in the woods as quickly and efficiently as possible. The lynx is mostly reserved and unobtrusive to her daily life, but when shifted she can easily find herself overwhelmed by natural predator instinct and heightened senses if not prepared. Her left shoulder was injured in a fight with her sister that left that side - in both human and animal - more prone to pain. Though the injury has long since healed, her human form retained the scars it received as a lynx.
Xi Feng had grasped the concept of shape-shifting with relative ease but when it came to application it was a little more difficult for her. Even after 10 years of studying and learning and finally being able to practice, she struggled to maintain the form and to completely suppress the urges that came with it. Bit by bit and as the days ticked by, she was able to control the instincts and to keep herself in this form for as long as six hours though her human spirit only ever dominates the feline spirit for up to four hours. Any longer than this and her body will tire too quickly. Constant shifting will hurt Xi Feng to the point where she will be bedridden for a day or more if she is not careful.
Someone who has shifted can be forced out of their animal form if injury sustained is life threatening. The animal spirit will fade away from consciousness and the human form will reappear. Any injuries sustained on the animal will also be on the human body. The main example here is that if the lynx's tail is cut off, Xi Feng will feel a constant 'loss' in the form of a phantom limb in human form near her spine. If it is injured, she will feel the pain in human form. Limbs cannot be regenerated, so if an ear or tail is cut off, it will not reappear the next time a shift takes place. The opposite is true where if the human body has been cut, any scars or wounds will appear on the feline's body. Pain is prominent in both forms.
For her, the shift is quick. She spends little time dropping to the ground and allowing the spirit to take over just long enough for her to change before her own mind and spirit becomes the dominate one once again. The process is only painful if she prolongs the shift and even so, the change itself is just a quick jolt of pain through her body before fading. Xi Feng cannot shift and maintain only parts of her body. For example, she cannot sprout a bobtail or grow cat ears. This is because both spirits are unwilling to stay in an 'incomplete' form and doing so is highly uncomfortable and unnecessary.
While Xi Feng can consciously shift, fear for her life may also trigger the animal spirit's instincts and force her human spirit aside in order to change and protect them. When this happens, Xi Feng loses all control of her instinct and turns feral. There are no special enhancements that comes with feral shifts, only that there is only an instinct to kill and defend with absolutely no moral. A person can only stay feral for up to one hour until the body is unable to keep up with constant exertion and force. It is difficult for the human spirit to maintain control when the animal is forceful but it can be done. Other ways can include knocking the body unconscious, putting it to sleep or otherwise restraining it until the human spirit can rein in the wild animal.
In regards to clothing, the Temple's 'uniform' (seen in the picture above) is given to all students who are learning how to shape shift. The clothes are loose at the sleeves and around the ankles to allow for larger forms to grow in without too much pain or tear. However, some forms may be too large to get around this. In that case, shifters either remove their outer clothes before shifting or simply go through with tearing their clothing. Sometimes this knowledge will stop shifters from shifting suddenly without thought. The uniform they wear is easily recycled and ripped or torn fabric can sometimes be sewed into other things such as dish cloths or towels.
Since their shifting is spiritual in nature rather than magical, there is no way to get around this to their current knowledge.
Feline Enhancements;In human form, Xi Feng sports unnaturally sharp nails, despite having never done anything to maintain them. Obviously they are not completely tapered at the end, but she has unknowingly drawn her own blood from a single hard scratch to an itch on her arm or leg. Her eyesight is above average, as is her sight in the dark. She cannot see completely when there is no light, but she can see moving shapes more clearly than most. Xi Feng is a quick climber and is known for her quick reflexes and her ability to subconsciously duck when something comes flying at her.
Please remember that most of these 'enhancements' are only faint at best and reach only slightly 'above average'.
Cat Whisperer;Due to her spirit being that of a lynx, Xi Feng has discovered a natural affinity for all things feline. Though she cannot claim to talk with them or communicate in any fashion as a human, such creatures are drawn to her and her to them, and she is more than capable of calming down any feral felines that may appear... most of the time.APPEARANCE
« Take a Closer Look »At first glance, Xi Feng looks like the kind of person who would be content with soft spoken words and nothing more. Her features seem to be unmarred by frown lines, her mouth devoid of any sort of downcast motion. Perfectly gentle in both countenance and word, it is difficult to cause a fluctuation in her otherwise genial expression. Her mouth is curved softly, dainty in her own sense of perfection though whether it be a smile or merely a look that is her own, it is hard to say. Her movements are always relaxed and controlled like a dancer on the smooth surface of a lake.
« Dyes and Silk »Even as her visage is a canvas rarely touched by the sun, her eyes shine with the reflection of curious waves. Sea-glass green and alight with equal part dream and wish, it beckons both to her wayward nature dancing amongst the writing of torn pages. The shape of her eyes are forgiving, as if any sin was being judged and cast away but perhaps that is where her true intent lies yet some feline femininity nestles within dark lashes. Yet, as demure as her eyes may be, when faced with danger or threat they darken to stormy pools of steel and diluted sky, or when her rage surfaces as clear as day they narrow with unspoken threat.
« Painting the Red Moon »Dark red locks dance down her spine and tickles over her shoulders with a natural curve and bounce to the tips. Her bangs are longer in the middle and a tad shorter when it brushes her eyes as to avoid being blinded by a curtain of ruby fire. She keeps her hair as smooth and tidy as possible, refusing the entry of any split ends into her reality. It is usually kept shaken out to cover her ears and to frame her pale cheeks but has been known to tie her hair back loosely with a black ribbon when reading or musing on a particularly difficult problem. Xi Feng has been known to be very proud and protective of her hair and is quite adamant on insisting that no-one touch it unless they are given her express permission to do so.
« Upon a Lighter Canvas »Her complexion is pale, to the point where many believe a rose will only bloom when Xi Feng subjects herself to either intoxication or a pretty touch. The pale tones of her eyes and face contrast deeply with the rich color of her hair, leading the rumor that one of those could not possibly be natural. Her height is of an average 5'6", falling just a few breaths short of her sister though she has not given up hope yet. While her diet is healthy enough, lack of any sort of intense physical exertion in her human form leads to an obvious lack in muscle definition on her limbs and stomach though Xi Feng's fondness for climbing and running has given her some sense of bodily grace. She would consider herself quite capable of sprinting away if needed, but any punches she may be interested in throwing would more than likely be somewhat ineffective to those of a stockier build. That is to say, most people.PERSONA
« A Whisper Riddled»Her smiles come easily enough and she has no qualms with extending kindness to strangers, provided they prove their motivations are innocent. Her mannerisms border on 'suffocatingly polite' and 'unbearably proper' with more than a just a few please and thank yous peppering her daily conversations. The way she holds herself is reminiscent to that of a typical, well-taught daughter of the East, with soft laughs and gentle touches. But despite what people would refer to as Xi Feng’s ‘serenity and grace’, she does exude a somewhat valiant nature about her as she is more than capable of being flippant to those who irritate her or those she loves.
« Step by Step »Endowed with the ability to comprehend the dense philosophical side of life, Xi Feng is an excellent finder of solutions and conclusions. She takes the opportunities that are the most rewarding and has no qualms with biding her time when necessary. Beneath that soft expression is a mind full of wit, and the formulation of plans and schemes of every sort are constantly being written, drawn out and scrapped for new ones. She can keep herself calm in almost any situation, able to seek, understand and find the quickest way to avoid as many consequences as possible. Her love for books and a natural talent and love for learning gives Xi Feng an almost intimidating fount of knowledge to draw from. Unfortunately, she is more than aware of this and sometimes overestimates just how much she knows, which has landed her into many unfortunate situations in her life thus far.
« To the Stars, for the Stars »Xi Feng is almost ferocious in the way her decisions are made and executed. There is no indecision, and once it's there, it's there to stay. While she doesn't try to project her opinions and ways to do things overtly on others, she still tries to convince them that her way is the right way. She follows through with her plans to the end, even if it's bitter and does it to the best of her ability. Anything beneath perfection is unacceptable, but only for her own personal goals. While Xi Feng constantly strives to be the best, both to herself and to her others, the way she goes about it is no doubt dangerously obsessive. Xi Feng has been known to completely shut herself off from reality when there is a problem to solve and rarely will she give up until she has come to a satisfactory conclusion. She dislikes the thought that her ideas or suggestions could be rejected and requires a lot of security in order to maintain her air of decisiveness.
« Sewn Hearts and Strings »Emotional. That is one way to describe this girl, and there is no denying that when Xi Feng finds herself upset or angry, it explodes into a flurry of high-pitched noises, frantic movements and the distinct lack of logic she prides herself so much on. It is more than noticeable when Xi Feng allows her emotions to get the better of her, and one should not discount the distinct possibility of gross sobbing and tears. Despite her generally calm visage and gentle smiles, beneath the still sea lies a ferocious storm of insecurity and loosely boarded self-failings. Xi Feng has never been known to fully lose herself in moments of emotional panic, and her lessons on shape-shifting has helped her to control surges of sudden anger or irritation.
« May I Have Your Hand? »However much Xi Feng tries to resist, she can never push away the idea of leaving someone hurt. Whether an animal injured, or a human lost, her empathetic instincts take over. She is also very protective of those she considers as her responsibility, and growls away at anything that might dare to harm her little kittens further. She dotes on the injured, spoils the weary and in a nutshell, has a very strong parental instinct within her. Some may find this side of her suffocating, as like an overly affectionate cat, she butts away at her affections and clings like never before. This may also tie into the fact that she has the constant want to know whether she is still needed and useful to those she cares about, though she would never admit it - even to herself.
« Bring the Rain »No matter where she is or what she is, she always tries to find the bright side of life. There is always a silver lining, whether for herself or for others, if one would care to look deep enough. Beneath the sticky mess, there is always a prized jewel for the taking and Xi Feng is nothing if not an optimist at heart. Xi Feng is only an idealist when her books dictate the time is right to be as such. Rarely will she give and take and she has made her thoughts on double standards quite clear. However, while there is certainly a very carefree aura about her, Xi Feng is not quick to forget, nor so forgiving of any misdeeds done to her or those she has placed her devotion on.
EQUIPMENT;Sharp nailsWeaponless.
Xi Feng always carries around spare clothes, but sometimes sudden circumstance leaves her stark naked after a shift.
RELATIONSHIPS;
« Zhu Li Qin »Li Qin is Xi Feng's younger twin sister, and can be said without a doubt to be the only person she would trust with her life. Despite being older by only a mere few seconds, Xi Feng already feels like the elder, having found herself stepping in to stop the constant fretting Li Qin is prone to do. Yet Xi Feng knows that she would do anything for her sister, be it draw water from stone if she so desired it. Her urge to protect her sister may come from the sense of insecurity Xi Feng hides within and in truth, rejection from her sister would all but break her.
« Parents »Their mother was a shape-shifter who perished in an accident in the forest when the twins were only five years of age. Three years later, their father, mad with grief, took his own life which left the sisters orphaned and quite parent-less.
« Lyko »A boy whom Xi Feng befriended at the Temple who could shift into a thickset, brown bull. He had a dreadful stutter and was known to deflect questions about his life. Xi Feng suspected he suffered from amnesia, but was never able to ask if she was right. Lyko was removed from the Temple after goring a fellow student in the stomach. Though the wound was not fatal, it was both his and the teacher's decision to relocate him. To where, Xi Feng did not know and she has not heard from him since.BIOGRAPHYLife was a tangle of grass, trees and warm sun; birds singing to signal the morning, then the evening chirps as their wings surrendered to the slow turn of night. The sound of trickling water and soft splashes riddled her earliest memories, and with it the scrapes on knees and elbows, covered with dirt and face wet with tears. This was life as she knew it, and she would never forget.
Xi Feng was born wailing and grasping at the empty air with chubby fists in a modest house lifted up with wooden pillars and wooden walls and gentle laughs. From what she was told when she asked, her crying had been punctured by subtle hisses that could have been heard as no more than a hiccup gone wrong. Six seconds later, Li Qin was born and thus began what was meant to be a happy family for the rest of their days.
Their father was a woodsman, earning a living by venturing into the thick jungles that made up their backyard and surrounded their homeland armed with nothing but a short, thick axe and his woolen cap. Their mother used to accompany him, but when the twins were born, she was left to stoke the fire and keep the girls safe. So their father went on his way, disappearing for an entire day or maybe two before returning sweaty, dirty and tired. It was a simple life, but it was a life Xi Feng remembers fondly. She remembers pulling at her mother's hair, running her nails against the table legs and chair legs and any sort of leg she could find. She was there when trouble was to be had, climbing this and climbing that and falling not mere moments later, hitting the ground with a short cry then a laugh.
This memory was a little fainter, a haze of words and images. She recalled her mother taking Li Qin aside first, talking in strange low tones with her hands on the girl's shoulder and before she could ask her sister what it was their mother had said, Xi Feng had been called next. Her mother looked at her first, silent and musing with her lips pursed. She ran her soft hands through Xi Feng's hair, cupped her cheek and traced the numerous scratches she had from falling. Her voice was softer still when she spoke.
"Do you feel the trees when they move, the bark as they fall? Does the sky call to you when you breathe?"
The questions had been sudden and Xi Feng was uncertain - she did not want to answer wrong, for even at the age of four she had acquired a strange competitive streak. But she shook her head, not wanting to lie either and her mother went quiet once again. It seemed as if she had expected the answer from the young Xi Feng. Finally, she spoke again, her tone a little louder and a little more certain.
"Does your body tighten when you're scared? Do you feel like scratching when you're scared? Do you hear sounds, sounds you've never heard anyone make, come from you when uncertain?"
Again, confusion flitted across her face. But she remained locked in thought when she nodded slowly. She remembered hissing when she had fallen and hit her head on the ground, a sound she could not reproduce later. Her hands always flexed by themselves, itching to dig into something solid when loud noises echoed and roared outside. Things had always been too loud for her.
"You are nimble and kind. Flexible and strong, a feline in grace..."
When she opened her mouth to ask what she was saying, their mother shushed her, then was still. Father had returned. Xi Feng recalled the numerous cats and birds that had been brought into the house, some injured and nursed back to health and others simply there because their mother had thought the twins wanted some company. Strangely enough the cats did not attack the birds and the birds did not flutter and screech in fear when the girls were around them. She befriended some of them with ease whilst others simply ignored her. She felt at ease when there was a cat in her lap and she always seemed to smile whenever she saw one stretched out on the deck, basking in the sun.
When the twins celebrated their fifth year, their mother decided quite suddenly to deposit her daughters to a neighboring home, a single mother who had three children of her own to look after. It would be a temporary home to stay while the twins' mother followed her husband into the woods. Xi Feng was told later that it was because there was something urging her deep within, a spiritual longing that connected her mother with the smell of soil and rain soaked ferns and the sound of life flitting between the branches of taller trees. The neighboring family did not question too much - the twins were known to be quiet and reserved, mostly keeping to each other and gave no trouble. By now they were walking and talking in their own little language, running and falling and laughing together.
It was on that fateful day did Xi Feng and her sister's life change, though they did not know it. All they were told was that in a flurry of sharp claws and massive paws, bark had been rendered from the tree trunks, much like ripping paper. Monstrous roars had echoed in the dense forest depths and their father had returned, in the dead of night, with his wife's limp and bloody body gripped in his hands. His face was deathly pale and Xi Feng remembers so clearly the way she had smiled and asked why their mother hadn't taken a shower and her father had given her a look that said so much that his sadness had surged through her and she crept away to let her father weep.
The burial was a small and quiet affair, conducted in the community graveyard in which their 'village' shared. Their father's face had been sharp that day, his mouth pressed into a line so thin Xi Feng half feared it would vanish. But it did not vanish, and he spoke of change and difference and in doing so, looked straight at his daughters with a conviction so powerful it did not feel like a funeral at all. He was a different man from the one who had escaped the woods. Gone were the tears that streaked his face and all that remained was the lines to show just how tired he was. With their mother gone, their father was no longer able to stray from home for too long. He gave up on the woods completely it seemed, leaving his axe to rust in a chest beneath the ground as he decided to take any odd job he could find instead.
All this time, the talk of magic began to seep into their life. Like a snake drifting unobtrusively in the water, Xi Feng had discovered the wonder that was books - or whatever else she could find. Though their education was not yet enough for her to read clearly, the little girl found that she could understand somehow. Enough to know that magic was deadly, complicated and completely and utterly wonderful. Their father had turned to seek solace in drinking himself into a drunken stupor and Xi Feng found her own comfort in words and the smell of the pages as she turned them gently. They offered new worlds to explore and drown in without having to leave or be something greater.
It was unfortunate then, that Xi Feng found herself so fixated on this concept of magic that she persuaded Li Qin to accompany her in approaching their father. At seven years of age, she did not know what she was talking about despite her supposed knowledge. She spoke of conjuring up a fire to warm her during cold nights, water to drink when thirsty and lightning to strike down her foes. She talked rapidly, eyes shining even as her father's darkened to a dull, pitch black-brown and when she talked of taming beasts, her father's bottle had gone flying into the wall behind the suddenly stupefied girl.
"Magic? Magic will destroy you! Normal, natural people do not need magic to survive and we never will need it. Magic is greedy and selfish and it will eat you from the inside!"
Xi Feng, being only at a tender age of seven, had burst into tears as her father ranted in a slurred voice that was not his own. A voice with immeasurable pain laced within the depths of anger and unbridled fury for magic. They were told then that their mother had been a shape-shifter and that she had not been attacked by a feral tiger that instead, she had been wandering in the forest wearing the skin of a beast because she missed the feeling of warm mud beneath her paws and the next thing they knew, there was a bullet in her heart.
Despite this knowledge swimming through Xi Feng's thoughts and despite her better judgment, there was a yearning for magic that the young girl had no name for. Their eighth birthday had come and gone when their father found Xi Feng and Li Qin surrounded with papers and books and strange diagrams that no self-respecting little girl should even be touching. Xi Feng was talking to her twin in a voice that seemed to adore magic in all its forms and this only angered their father even more.
His hand came down to the scruff of her neck, dragging the older sibling up and shaking her until Xi Feng could see nothing but a twisted shapes before her eyes. Everything was a blur and her cheeks were stinging from both the tears and the slap her father had branded her face with. Her throat was raw from screaming as her father kept on yelling over her sister's pleas for him to stop. When her small body connected with the hard wooden floor, marked by the thump of her head hitting the ground shortly after, Xi Feng's world was but a smear of black.
When light returned to her eyes, Xi Feng was in their room with Li Qin sitting quietly beside her. Her sister looked... strange, for the lack of a better word. There were bandages wrapped awkwardly on Xi Feng's arm and a moist towel which dropped off her forehead and fell into her lap when she sat up. Dizzy as she was, she opened her mouth to ask what happened and what was going to happen but Li Qin quickly intervened by pointing to two lumpy sacks beside her. Her sister's intention was clear to Xi Feng, but there was still doubt. Even if her father had hit her, Xi Feng was still strangely calm about it all. As if she understood why he had done it and that he couldn't help himself.
There was an unspoken agreement between them as they picked up their bags, Xi Feng slower than her sister as her bones continued to ache, lips and eye throbbing with a dull pain. They were out the door before sunrise (Xi Feng wondered if Li Qin had stayed up all night to take care of her) and the last thing they heard was their father snoring before they left the house. The twins did not go very far, for despite their intention to run away, the world beyond was still uncharted territory that no book would make Xi Feng feel safe about.
Her suggestion to stay in the woods for the night was not taken very kindly to by her sister. Li Qin was uncomfortable for reasons she could not explain and Xi Feng had, very loudly, proclaimed that Li Qin was stupid and should stop acting like a "scaredy cat". Their angry whispers did nothing but make both of them angry when at last, Xi Feng suggested that they should go to the farm that had taken care of them three years ago. Li Qin, tired of fighting and edgy, agreed.
Upon their arrival, the sun was already high in the sky. The neighbors were surprised and slightly concerned that the girls had traveled alone. The mother asked what had happened to Xi Feng's face and her only reply was that she was climbing a tree, slipped and fell. Her tale was not believed, but they did not ask anymore. They did, however, ask what they were doing and the sisters told them they no longer wanted to stay at home. That they wanted to explore the world together. The kindly woman was having none of it and eventually convinced the girls that they should go home and apologize to their father for leaving without telling him.
By then, night had fallen and the woman offered to accompany them back. What greeted them was a sight that changed everything. When the woman had entered the kitchen, a small scream was all they heard before the girls were ripped away and pushed out the door. Xi Feng had only briefly looked inside the room but the image would be burned in her mind forever. Their father had been slumped over the small wooden table in the kitchen, a dark fluid dripping down the sides and pooling on the ground. The room had been low lit, the candle swaying back and forth but Xi Feng had seen it quite clearly. There was no feeling but a slow shock that burned her body, numb from disbelief and denial.
Later they were told that their father had "gone to a better place" but the girls were old enough to know what that meant. They had already lost one parent and though they were not prepared to lose another, Xi Feng found that his harsh words and stinging slaps still stayed with her during his burial. Their grief was not quite so strong, but whispers told them that their father had been so overcome with the sadness that followed his wife's death that he had taken his own life. Xi Feng wondered if her obsession had also driven their father to seek the end.
The neighbors had kindly offered to take care of the twins, but their decision had been made well before. They would go to the temple their mother had trained and studied in. They would seek solace there and they would learn. Their entire life had changed from that one piece of knowledge and Xi Feng was determined to study it and to feed the itch that was her brain. With blessings, the twins were given old clothes and anything else they may have needed before being taken to the temple deep within the jungle.
The Sishòu Temple took them in after hearing of their story from the woman. Their farewell was emotional and tearful, but the twins were ready to start a new life and said goodbye with a little too much enthusiasm. They were taken to see the master of the temple, who listened to their story with an impassive expression on his face. Even when Xi Feng mentioned that their mother was a shape-shifter, his face did not so much as twitch and he said not a single word. They were ushered out straight after, given a room to share, clothes that everyone in the temple wore as a uniform of sorts and told to get some rest. The previous excitement that Xi Feng had felt quickly turned to an emotion quite unknown to her - that of uncertainty. She had the responsibility of looking after her sister now, and despite knowing that everything was a little bit better with Li Qin there, she still felt a slight sense of loneliness.
The next morning, they began their chores and lessons. The temple became their home, a sanctuary and a library of knowledge that taught them all they needed to know and more. How to cook, how to clean, how to read and write. There were other children there too, some older and some younger but Xi Feng felt more comfortable by herself or with her sister though she never hesitated to smile and laugh with the others. Still, much of her time was devoted to studying every single book she could get her hands on or otherwise doing whatever she could to occupy her mind from new doubts springing forward every time there was silence in her thoughts.
When the twins celebrated their 10th birthday, the master of the temple told them that they were to start "looking and searching within themselves". Those were the only words they heard from him for two years and just like that, he was gone again. As confused as Xi Feng was, she recalled reading something of the sort - going outside, meditating and reflecting. As a child, she found it difficult to focus on the quiet but it helped to remember her mother with fondness, her father with a little less fondness and the wonder that was magic.
Except she learned that it wasn't magic. It was spiritual - something deep within, clawing to get out and hissing to be free. At first, the peace was daunting to her. She wanted to latch her hunger for knowledge onto something physical, something her eyes could see. Xi Feng remembered sitting on the dusty ground just outside the temple, her gaze directly on a worm squirming on the ground to keep her mind off things of un-importance when a heavy shadow fell on her. Before her was a tiger of immense proportion with fierce golden eyes and gleaming sharp teeth bared; its shoulders were rolling, tail flicking. Xi Feng knew cats, and she knew this one would pounce. Her arm and shoulder scraped against the hard dirt as she threw herself to the side just as the tiger leaped towards her before a magnificent roar shook her thoughts.
Others from the Temple sprinted out at the sound, but the tiger had already vanished into the dark shadow of the trees. Xi Feng found that though her shoulder ached and her stomach fluttered, she was strangely calm for someone who was about to be attacked by the largest predator that roamed the jungle. She was more in awe if anything and even as she was escorted back into the temple, she only said one thing: He was beautiful. If there was any indication of Xi Feng's connection with felines, this was the one. The tiger rarely showed himself on the grounds and when it did, it was considered an event of both terror and wonder.
Ever since that fateful event, Xi Feng worked harder than ever. Nights were spent awake, skimming books in low candlelight and muttering to herself with a pen scratching on any spare bit of paper for notes and more notes. She pursued any avenue of information, anyone that may give her information she did not already know and proved to be one of the most diligent students in the temple. Xi Feng may not have been the smartest, but the effort she put forth could be seen as borderline obsessive. So great was her need to succeed and improve that, for the first time in her life, she failed to see her sister's own struggles. Her world was her own and it was difficult to break out - and half the time, Xi Feng could barely tear herself away to eat.
At the age of 13, after five years of study, Xi Feng was finally allowed to attempt a shift. She knew that she had the spirit of some sort of feline within her. She knew it was not a tiger, for the spirit felt more wary than dangerous. It was not a lion either for that very same reason. Leopards and panthers had a very peculiar sort of nature, and those she had spoken to doubted that was it. Xi Feng knew the spirit was a tightly coiled spring, ready to pounce at any given notice. There was little patience within her, and there was a streak that spoke of defiance clawing at her. But there was no point in wondering and guessing; they would know soon enough.
She was placed in an empty room, the four walls around her painted in nothing but low grass and blue to represent the sky. Xi Feng hadn't asked for this, but she felt a little uncomfortable. The door was small and low, and she knew that the teachers could see inside from the thin window just above the entrance. Even if she knew the necessities of such a thing, it made her more than a little self-conscious. But she was confident that she could do it and so, when she shut her eyes and reached deep within, she all but grabbed the first jolt of another conscience and began to drag it out with viciously.
Suffice to say, her first attempt had been unbearable. She felt the spirit's claws rake straight up her spine in screeching defiance, like webs of hot coal and a terrible hissing filled her ears and her mind. There were no voices, only a terrible screaming in her head that was part hers and part something else. Her back was burning, her limbs were shaking and her nails were clawing at both wooden floor and frail flesh as she scrabbled at her crawling skin. Xi Feng knew she was crying; she smelled the tears splattering down her cheeks and she could smell her own fear. The scent cloyed her mind, and it was both strange and horrifying. She was not herself and she knew it, and yet could not control it. Nothing in the books could have prepared her for this, no amount of preparation or notes describe the sheer pain and confusion of it all.
Xi Feng remembered waking up in a dimly lit room later. She knew that her supervisors had intervened, had dragged her out before her spirit turned feral. She should have been relieved, but all she felt was the slow burn of shame. After that incident, she refused to talk to anyone. Not even Li Qin could placate the storm of embarrassment that was her failure. The next few days she spent them in bed, nauseous with pounding headaches. Her body was marred by scars and angry red welts and bruises. Her bones ached whenever she tried to move and despite being so young, she felt as if she had been touched by old age. Yet, the animal spirit was there and having been given a taste of the open world, it was waging a war against her human spirit and she could feel it. The teachers wanted to stop her training all together, but she persuaded them to give her another chance. That it would never happen again.
It took a year for Xi Feng work herself into the right state of mind to attempt another shift and this time, she wanted her sister there. Knowing that Li Qin could be watching her was enough to bolster her courage and even if she wasn't there, she could pretend. She was escorted into the same room with the same paintings and, to her immense surprise, they had not covered up the scratch marks from her past failings. Though this would have once angered her to be reminded of it, Xi Feng felt strangely at peace with it. Instead of sitting herself in the middle of the room, she stood near the wall, closer to the paintings. Leaning against it and with a deep breath, she found the spirit.
The second shift was no less painful, but she was ready and for once, she felt some semblance of control however faint it was. The animal spirit within her was still wild, afraid and more important, unwilling to run. The human spirit, determined to dominate, refused to back away. Xi Feng felt her mind stretch, her thoughts swimming and at some points, she found it difficult to breathe. The internal battle raged for more than two hours, with Xi Feng huddled in one corner in human form, and in the form of a lynx in the last hour simply prowling around and hissing at the walls. The teachers later said that it was normal to not remember what happened during the first few times when one shifts; the first time is rarely what one would consider a 'magical' experience.
Subsequent attempts to shift first ended in failure. Though Xi Feng now knew what she was dealing with exactly and knew that she could do it, it wasn't so embarrassing. The lynx was vicious in its own right, unwilling to submit, which was to be expected. Gradually, it began to mellow at the idea of sharing and Xi Feng finally grasped a complete, controlled shift at the age of 19. She had been out in front, always with eyes on her. The shift had taken a minute of burning pain, not unlike the first time but it was muted this time. The lynx was tired of fighting and for the first time, she discovered what it was like to be complete. Though she only managed to stay in this form for thirty minutes, they were some of the best she had ever experienced.
Xi Feng was forbidden from entering the woods, but prowling around the outskirts of the Temple was enough. The sudden shift in senses, to the overwhelming scents and larger-than-life sounds were briefly terrifying to her, and she had been sensitive to anything walking within a ten foot radius of her. Still, her movements were smooth and her limbs were whole and strong. She could run and leap and see things hidden away in the ferns, trembling in fear. She could smell the scent of boyish sweat and incense, the smell of smoke as the monks prepared their lunch. Xi Feng would never forget it.
She had spent 11 years of studying and training to get to the point where she could say that she had truly achieved what the teachers would call 'enlightenment' - but there was always more. There was always room for improvement, and Xi Feng was nothing if not a high achiever. She continued to practice her shifts, always under a watchful gaze and even took to shifting at a regular time each day with another boy who went by the name of Lyko. While she had seen other children shift, the process always seemed too intimate for her to stare. She knew that Lyko was not his real name, and he claimed that he had lost his in a fire.
Lyko was a boy one year younger than her, who was a prodigy when it came to shifting. He was not so good with words or the written language, and he had a stutter that made him self-conscious. Lyko first approached Xi Feng for help in one of their worksheets, shy at first because to him she was a girl who would not give him even a single second of her day. Yet, as days when by, he proved himself to be a talented shifter who helped her with her own spirit after she had gained control.
Lyko's form was that of a bull. He was strong, yet somewhat... slow, though she would never tell him that herself. They shifted together in relative ease, with her animal spirit being more than a little wary of the giant creature. But Lyko was gentle and Xi Feng was beginning to wonder how the bull had affected him. Her answer came none too soon. Lyko was, at heart, an angry and sullen young man. Many suspected that he had amnesia and that he could not recall his state of mind at the best of times. On a day like any other, Xi Feng was poking her nose under some strange looking foliage when a loud bellow had her whipping her body around with a surprised snarl. The bull was scuffing his hoof on the ground, snorting and tossing his head while another student stood his ground. Xi Feng saw rocks scattered around the younger boy's feet but the information came too late.
Before the supervisors could intervene and before Xi Feng could pounce, Lyko charged straight for the boy whose realization came just as late. A horn caught him in the side, piercing right through and ramming the student backwards. The teachers with the larger forms shifted: bear and gorilla swung themselves at the bull while the injured boy was hurried away to be taken care of. The rest of the students, including Xi Feng were ushered back into the temple. The next day, she was told that the wounded boy would live but she was more concerned about her friend. She knew that he had been spurned into action, despite it not being the right course to take. Xi Feng was told that Lyko had been willingly taken away but she was not told where.
Suddenly finding herself quite friendless, she continued to practice by herself and study as she always had. Though she was alone, it was a state that was familiar and comforting at the same time. But she never expected something like that to happen again, which was why the news came as a shock to her when the monks of the Temple approached her and told her that Li Qin was to be isolated. The reason being that her younger sister's spirit was refusing to cooperate and that all distraction was to be removed from her environment in order to help better her concentration. They did not give a length of time, only that she would remain 'away' for as long as necessary.
Xi Feng was in denial at first - she didn't recall any instance in which her sister had shown she was struggling with the animal spirit within. Then she realized that in her blindness to be better and even better, she had completely ignored her sister. It was as if a heavy object had suddenly collided with her. She looked breathless enough that the monks left her alone thereafter, but the guilt was there and it was treacherous. She had spent the entire day prowling on human foot, then on cat paws, thinking and hissing and sulking before making up her mind.
Determined to make it up to her twin, she contacted Li Qin before she was to be taken and locked out of sight which was to be in her mind, forever. She put forth the idea to run away, an ironic twist of the past, and the sisters agreed that it would be better to travel the world together rather than remain separated for so long. Despite the fact that they had found their own life and interests within the Temple, they still held that connection they shared when they were smaller and naive. They left the Temple in the dead of night with all of their possessions (which numbered very few) and returned to their old home. It was dusty and rundown, but the twins decided there would be no harm in fixing this. In Tosa, abandoned houses were rarely reoccupied which was good news for the pair.
Li Qin, with her music, played to her heart's content and drew in a surprisingly steady income while Xi Feng hunted in the woods behind their home - the very same forest in which her father had worked in, and where their mother had perished. The first time she had shifted without supervision had been nerve-wracking for the older sister, who did not want to hurt anyone like Lyko had. It had taken her a few days to gather her courage and when she did, it was only because she realized that they needed what she could do in order to live a little more comfortably. Her shift only lasted for an hour, which gradually increased as she continued to shift more and more. Finally, Xi Feng was bringing back small rabbits, which the lynx enjoyed hunting down but she refrained from bringing back any kind of bird. Other small game included squirrels, possums, weasels and stoats and different types of critters that scurried around. Fur was sold for extra money, though the quality was poor which did not bring much at all. But they survived, they were together and that was all that mattered.
Yet Xi Feng never forgot her promise to herself. One day, she took Li Qin outside. She still remembered how it was, with the sun in the cloudless sky and a soft breeze drifting over her hair and clothes. It was a day like any other, but it would mark an event of much importance. Xi Feng told Li Qin that she would teach her poor sister how to shift, and properly. Up until now, Xi Feng had never really seen her form but she supposed it wouldn't be beyond her knowledge and area of expertise. Full of self-assured confidence, she repeated what the teachers had told her; Li Qin needed to focus and to stop being so afraid of the spirit within. Xi Feng told her that it was easy and reassured her sister that if anything went wrong, she would be right there to stop it and she promised that Li Qin would come to no harm.
Xi Feng always had the bad habit of biting off more than she could chew, and this was one of those times where the bite had been so massive, there was no way around it but to choke and swallow her pride. Li Qin's transformation was beyond what Xi Feng had ever studied or learned about. She was shocked to see the shift, and it was almost horrifying to see it so incomplete. To her, there must have been nothing worse and her sister was, to put it quite frankly, lost to the screeching bird within. With sharpened talons and wicked claws, Li Qin was blind to all and when Xi Feng lunged forward to suppress the beast, her sister turned and attacked.
Her own shift was immediate, the lynx wasting no time in surging forth to meet her attacker with throaty roar erupting from her throat. Her claws had come down against the soft flesh of her sister, leaving surface scratches that seeped soft beads of blood. But the bird retaliated with a vengeance that spoke of nothing but fury. The fight had been vicious; the lynx would bite while the talons would tear into her, and flurries of feather and fur whipped the air as sounds of screeching and the lynx's screams pierced the forests around them. Xi Feng desperately reined in the animal to stop the lynx from inflicting fatal injury on her feral sister.
The clash lasted for 15 minutes of a bloody and bruised dance. Xi Feng was tiring quickly, the level of control to maintain the feline's desire to defend them rapidly overpowering what was left of her human consciousness. In a flash of fright, the lynx's jaw cracked wide open and lunged forward for the bird's neck, only to snap backwards as Xi Feng shoved the spirit down as hard as she could - but the distraction was all the out-of-control shifter needed. The twist of the lynx's body was too slow as both human and animal yowled in pain at the sensation of sword-like talons striking her left shoulder, piercing and raking downwards. Flesh and skin ripped apart like paper and the smell of fresh blood pushed the lynx to sudden action. Ignoring the burning pain, Xi Feng turned and pounced, bulldozing her strength and entire body into the girl's slim frame, knocking Li Qin to the ground before a heavy furred paw slammed the back of the feral shifter's head straight against the ground.
Mere moments later, Xi Feng was acutely aware of the agony that was her shoulder, burning and raging like a fire dancing and waltzing across her skin. Her form shifted again, pain melding with pain and all she could do was curl her tired and battered body into a fetal position, blood slipping and splashing on her skin as it dripped into the ground. She managed to bring her shaking hand towards Li Qin's now human wrist, and as she felt the faint pulse, Xi Feng passed out.
In the morning, she found that her sister was still out cold, both of their wounds already drying and crusting. Xi Feng moved the other girl into the house by dragging her along the ground the best she could with only one usable arm. Realizing that there was no possibility that she could relocate Li Qin to the bedroom, she simply brought a pillow and pushed it under her sister's wounded head before focusing on her own wound. Xi Feng had the sink and a stream of cold water at her disposal, along with some gauze and bandages. She washed out the wound and disinfected it, biting her tongue and hissing in pain but unwilling to really look at how severe the injury was. The bandages themselves were clumsy and she used her teeth to tie the knot. It was awkward looking, but they would serve.
Xi Feng returned to check her sister's pulse once again, though she could hear Li Qin's ragged breathing through the pounding in her head. She did all that she could to make her younger sister more comfortable; she swabbed the small scratches, each one traced with guilt and bound the larger ones with the cloth not dissimilar to the one wrapped around her shoulder. All the while she remained silent, her thoughts pained and raging. This was not the first time she had failed, and Xi Feng knew with a pang of agony that it surely would not be the last.
When Li Qin finally opened her eyes, there was nothing more to be said.
Their life remained largely the same, only now there was something... different. Xi Feng was riddled with constant reminders about her own stupidity and ignorance and vowed never to do anything without proper research or instruction. Though beautiful music continued to flow through her sister, Xi Feng was constantly aware of the feral falcon residing within and knew that things could not stay as they were forever.LONG TERM OBJECTIVES
« The Fix »
Obviously, Xi Feng sees Li Qin's state of mind as something of utmost importance to look at. She knows that the constant struggle and lack of control can be devastating to a person's spirit, more so if the situation continues on with no real improvement. Despite Xi Feng's confidence in her own abilities, her past failures have all but scared her away from attempting to help Li Qin herself. She knows that they cannot return to Sishòu Temple as they will simply take her sister away - and as selfish as it may sound, that was the last thing Xi Feng wanted. Currently, her books have offered nothing of help as shape-shifters are a rare and hidden breed. They would have to search Ionia for someone, anyone, who can help them.
« Transgression, Forgiveness »
Guilt was her undoing and now guilt drives her. Though it is not so much as a goal, everyone wants to find that their past has been washed clean of all sins, even if only the stains remain. From her father's death to her sister's internal troubles, Xi Feng has constantly acted beyond what she can and should do and has also consistently ignored the warning of consequence. Though she is logical by nature, sometimes her arrogance gets the better of her. She wishes to somehow seek forgiveness from those who matter, someway and somehow.
« The Stranger Calling »
Despite magic being absent from the majority of her life, Xi Feng has always been fascinated by the concept and the study of such things. She does not boast any strange or supernatural powers and apart from her shape-shifting, she has had no actual experience with anything concerning 'magic'. Her idea of magic is rather idealistic and borderline reverent. While shape-shifting has been the most dominant part of her life, she still wishes to learn more about magic, how it works and anything and everything else applicable to such things.OTHER INFORMATION
Tosa & Sishòu Temple;
Located directly above the Placidium is a region known as Tosa. A relatively unknown area, the community is small yet spaced out enough where privacy is not an issue. There are only single houses rather than villages and residents must travel far to the main market where most of the trade takes place. It is known primarily for the vast amount of trees and foliage covering the region, with more than 60% of it made up of forest and jungle. It is known as a hunting ground for many strange beasts, both flying and on the ground. Tosa is famous for the quality of furs and horns, along with skin and exotic types of meat.
The Sishòu Temple is not well-known around Ionia. It is fairly reclusive, well hidden within a cleared area in a forest near the Western edge of Tosa, where the sea can be heard and seen. It is surrounded by trees in which beasts lurk, both exotic and common. The Temple protects the animals that roam within their parts of the jungle just as the animals protect them but are unable to protest effectively against the amount of animals being shot and killed for sport. This is mostly due to their small size and lack of influence in Tosa.
The Temple revolves around the belief that there is a latent animal spirit residing in every body and that everyone has the right to know and unify both human and animal spirit. They teach anyone who is willing to learn, about the nature of man and beast and the history of the Temple. When the human and animal spirit can co-exist peacefully within a single body, the Temple believes that the body can achieve what they call 'enlightenment'. That is when shifting can occur and with it, both pain and completion.
The current Master of the Temple calls himself Fu Yutan, who has the ability to shape-shift into a Bengal tiger. He has been the master for over thirty years and still remains a mystery to many who reside in the Temple. There are teachers who teach students practical knowledge - all they need to know and more. Then there are the teachers who are tasked with training the students in the art of actually shifting. The Temple also offers other classes, but their primary focus is on the history of the Temple and on shape-shifting itself. There are only ever thirty people, either practitioners or teachers residing within the temple itself.
The Temple does not worship any God or gods or any such deities. They do not focus on the widespread ideal of balance. They focus on the human spirit and its relationship with the beasts and with nature. For this reason, they have been accused of witchcraft, of voodoo and of unnatural magic but the Temple persisted even so. As such, very few shape shifters speak of where they learned to shift and it is rare that a shifter would reveal themselves as one. This is because a loss of control could mean dire consequence and many are unwilling to take that risk.
Shape-shifters;
The art of shape-shifting is not exclusive to just the Sishòu Temple. In fact, there is no doubt many other schools that offer to teach such magic. However, the Temple focuses on uniting the human and animal spirit rather than relying on true magic to change form. This is why shape-shifters have different capabilities: whether they are spiritual shape-shifters or magical shape-shifters will impact what can and cannot be done, and the consequences involving shifting.
General:
Shifters of any kind will always sustain injury on both forms. A scratch on the hand will remain as a scratch on the animal equivalent. Pain will also be transmitted in both forms and limbs cannot be regenerated. A loss of a tail or ear in animal form will mean a loss of an ear in human form and the feeling of something missing - like a phantom limb - in place of the tail.
Shifters are also rarely able to shift parts of themselves willingly as the control to maintain it would be too great as the animal spirit would fight to complete the form while the human spirit fights to revert the change. A shift cannot be stopped halfway and must be completed before reverting.
Spiritual Shifting:
A spiritual shifter will always, without fail, have a second spirit and be aware of it. Shifting cannot occur otherwise, either conscious or subconsciously. This is because the animal spirit lies dormant and cannot awaken unless actively looked for and drawn out. Such a process can be arduous and can put a strain on the body as the human spirit struggles to "occupy space" with another spirit. The animal spirit may fight for control over the body or otherwise refuse to show themselves. In a situation where the shifter can detect the animal spirit but cannot coax them out, the shifter will be unable to change form. This is where many eligible shifters fail, as they do not have the necessary talent or knowledge to bring the animal to light.
However, if the animal spirit is touched and drawn out, the body must then truly fight the animal for control. Early on, this process can keep the human body up for nights upon end, and the human must always be aware and ready at any given moment. If the animal spirit succeeds in taking over without immediate intervention, the body will shift into the animal form. Without proper knowledge or control, a form that has gone feral will stay in the animal body for up to a week. In which case, the human spirit will relinquish control to the beast and remain dormant. However, because the human mind is still within the body of an animal, it will be unable to 'keep up' with the spirit. Shifters who turn feral rarely survive longer than a month at most. This is why shifting is not practiced until years of study and observation.
A new shifter must be supervised at all times, to avoid feral shifts or unfortunate accidents. The procedure is simple in theory; come into contact with your animal spirit, detect and study it and its kind. Sometimes it is difficult to know what a person's animal spirit is but it is easy to find out if it's a canine, feline or some sort of bird or reptile. Rarely will a person know the exact type of animal their spirit is until the shift actually begins. As stated above, the animal could fail to respond to prompts or is otherwise too stubborn to cooperate. Sometimes a student can lose their way even this early in training, and it is not uncommon for the Temple to stop their lessons all together.
When a person believes they have enough knowledge and sense of what type of control they would need, they turn to the teacher with the most information on that animal, usually one who shifts into a shared species. A test is held to be certain and then the student moves on to actually attempting the shift. The process requires, as always, intense supervision. The student is placed in an isolated room or enclosure with whatever environment they need. Trees painted on the walls, the water or mountains, anything to clear their head. Then, very slowly, the student must draw the animal spirit to the forefront of their mind.
The time in which the student first spends in that room is crucial. Sometimes this is where the teachers realize that the student is incapable of reining back their animal and immediately halts the process. Other times students will thrash against the walls or scream and cry. The teachers will open the doors if the students ask for it but otherwise watch the procedure with very little interference. When the shift begins will quite possibly be the most painful thing the person would have experienced. Because the animal spirit is unfamiliar with the body and because the human spirit is struggling to maintain control, the body's well-being is not being taken into account.
First-time shifters may find large bruises from thrashing around, an ache in the bones from the magic that takes over when shifting occurs or cuts from the animal hurting itself. In all instances, it gets less painful as the shifter practices and is aware of their body and both spirits. As such, mental strain can also bring headaches or migraines along with nausea and mood swings. The shift will always happen with a bout of pain, which many shifters describe as a necessary pain that only lasts for however long the shift is happening. There is little to no residual pain when the shift is completed.
Spiritual shifters are incapable of turning into more than one animal. It is almost unheard of for a person to contain more than one animal spirit within themselves, the only documented case being that of Udyr who is considered a special creature. If a spiritual shifter attempts to learn magic in order to shift into another animal, the animal spirit within will reject the form completely. Accidents have been known to occur and it is considered one of the highest forms of taboo for a shape-shifter, to attempt a complete shift into an animal that is not their own.
Generally, people normally hold some resemblance to their animal spirit be it very minor physical detail such as unusually sharp canines or nails. It can also be in the form of strange habits or instinct. Normally such abnormalities are passed as strange habits or quirks that are unique to a human, but it is believed that the animal spirit will always influence a person in one way or another, regardless of if the spirit lies dormant. Only when the animal spirit is awakened, it will almost always affect the human personality, either consciously or subconsciously. Otherwise personality is unaffected if the animal spirit remains buried.
Spiritual shifters are unable to hold their animal form for long. This is due to the fact that the animal spirit will, without fail, stir and begin to fight against the human spirit in what they consider to be their territory. Trained shifters have been known to stay in their animal forms for up to a week, but have always returned to their human form looking like death and are bedridden for the same time. Flickering shifters, or people who shift every hour, are prone to dizziness and nausea, along with the inability to make sound judgments and have been known to attack people on whim. It is highly recommended that shifters rest for at least the same amount of time in which they stayed in animal form before attempting another shift.
Magical Shifting:
Humans or beasts otherwise who are known to shift due to the influence of magic are uncommon, but there are a few distinctions that can be made between magical and spiritual shifters. Practitioners of spiritual shifting consider magical shifters "impure". They believe that people who shift by magic still have their animal spirits lying dormant, but they will no longer be able to spiritually shift. In this sense, they also believe that magical shifters will never feel comfortable in that skin. Of course, beliefs are just beliefs as they have never explored or studied much on magical shifters, as rare as they are.
Magical shifters will have a higher sense of control in their animal form as their human spirit is not fighting with the animal spirit.
Partial Spiritual Shifting:
In cases where the inner animal spirit and the human cannot resolve their differences, a spiritual shifter will find themselves unable to completely alter their form. While this has very few tangible benefits, as it leaves the body in a great deal of pain, it does give the shifter access to the faculties of their animal spirit while maintaining a somewhat human body. Inexperienced partial shifters are very likely to be extremely emotionally volatile due to the conflicting spirits within, prone to fits of violence while shifted into their imperfect forms. Due to the inner and outer turmoil of such a change to their body, they very frequently lash out at those attempting to control or guide them along their transformation.
