Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a while since she awoke, inhaling that first sweet breath of life that threw her back into reality. She could still remember the pounding headache, the stiff muscles, and the extreme headrush that rendered her incapable of moving, despite the voices of humans around her calling her a success and pushing her to her feet. But it wasn't as she once was. Her weight shifted to her arms just as much as her legs. Her spine felt at ease being bent over like she was pantomiming a beast.

Over the years, she went through the basic stages of grief. She denied her transformation altogether, and waited to wake up. When that didn't happen, she became angry and went back to the place she was "born" and ripped it apart. She then spent years trying to find a summoner to change her back-- she would do anything, give anything to be human again. When the Neverlin mages told her it was impossible, the depression set in. She spent many days listlessly wandering, barely consuming enough life energy to go on. And, occasionally, she would lie down in a patch of mossy grass and ponder if she should let herself die-- if, after all, that was how she got into this mess in the first place. She died. She could die again.

But something deep inside her, her "animal instincts" perhaps, told her that it wouldn't solve any problems. She had been a holy woman in her first life. Holy, pure, and kind. But once she had been turned into a Kage, her soul had also become a monster by letting wrath and sloth into her heart. She soon realized that instead of being a curse, her second life was a blessing. She was blessed by the gods she had worshiped all along. They had given her a second chance to spread the message of god and retain all former wisdom.

Once she finally accepted her fate, she felt renewed. Although she was lost in the giant mass of land known as Dragon's Maw, she decided to scour the countryside in search of her former church.

The church was mostly empty, save for a homeless man tarrying about the rows of pews. She knew her sisters and Father would be in back, cleaning or writing. She limped through the stone room, smiling cheerfully at the designs that she had once seemed to take for granted. It was all too surreal being back where she belonged. She could feel her god's love filling her heart, knowing they'd recognize her soul. If anyone could read souls, it was her church!

"Beast! How did it get in?!"

The sudden screams and shouting took her aback, frightening her. The entrance to the back room had slammed open, with the pastor and nuns frantically gathering any weapons they could find-- rods, mops, brooms, buckets. "Monster! Leave our house of purity!" came a shrill voice, one of the sisters she had loved dearly. Oh, how her face had aged... had it been so long?

Lira couldn't help but stare at them as they moved in and began their assault, her overwhelming joy at seeing them again flushed away and replaced by a sense of loss. They were gone. No, she was gone. Instantly she felt sick and stupid. Stupid, stupid. Opening her mouth to speak, only an animal yip and bellow came out and further incensed the angry mob.

It was too much. As they descended upon her with rattling buckets, shouting, and smacking with wooden makeshift staffs, Lira turned and darted back out the way she came. She ran down the stone steps, down the trodden grass path, past the thick foliage that protected the town. Brambles and thorns clung to her and nicked her face. She panted and cried as she ran, her old paws thudding tiredly against the earth as the old depression, old hopelessness sprang back up within her chest. It burned and sizzled like a fire, creeping from her heart, up to her throat, and down to her gut.

The clouds had long since burst open above her, rain trickling down lightly at first, and then harder. At last, her body could no longer propel itself forward any longer. She slowed to a trot before falling beside a rotten tree trunk, a quivering mess of tears and pain.