This is my entry for the Chibera Character Story writing contest that you can find here.
The backstory so far: We welcome you to Chibera, a land that is still recovering from being torn apart and mutated by an explosion that was caused by a mana experiment centuries ago. Because of this accident, a tree was mutated into what is now called the world tree, along with the mutation of humans, elves, dwarves, and animals which lead to the rise of multiple new intelligent bipedal species.
Some races are now fully dependent on the mana for technological, economic, cultural reasons and some even need to consume it just to survive. This has caused a rift between some of the factions and a fight for control over as much of the resource as possible. The only mana sources now in the world are hard mana crystal deposits and the power that the world tree provides which is the only replenishing resource. This has lead to factions fighting for the resource for their own selfish reasons.
Lily
I run towards my grandmother's house crying, just like any other day, another name called at school. Why me? I slam open the door and curl up in the wooden rocking chair next to the patio, my grandma seated at the dining table which is cluttered with bills and other paperwork.
Noticing my abrupt entrance she gets up from the opposite end of the table. "Lily, honey, what's wrong? Did the boys make fun of you again?" she asked patiently.
I nodded looking down at the ground sniffling, "Th-they called m-me a t-treehugger," I stutter while nervously twirling a strand of hair on my finger. "Why me..." I mutter quietly.
"Those are some harsh words for such a young girl," she says, pushing the strand of hair behind my ear. "Why don't I make some tea for both of us," she offers with a sympathetic smile. "You can go to the garden and I'll meet you there once the tea is done."
I give her a tiny smile, I'm glad I have such a nice grandma. Slowly I get up from the cramped chair, already missing its ability to rock and lull me to sleep. The sun is peeking out through the clouds and I see the stone bench warming in the sun. What beautiful weather for such a bad day. A soft breeze picks up my hair and the sun hits it making it look golden instead of a bland yellow, this is the only time I can appreciate my hair. Instead of going to the bench to sit, I go to my favorite spot in the garden, the magnolia tree.
Seating myself at the base I lean up against the tree and notice the beautiful magnolias that are in full bloom, bearing fruit. Sleepy from all of the crying I lay down on the grass, curled up against the base. Feeling the warm breeze against my body and the smell of fresh grass I can feel myself being lulled to sleep.
Opening my eyes I feel a big rumble that felt like an explosion nearby. I hear a loud deafening clap a few seconds later, the force probably breaking the sound barrier. I try to convince myself that it's just a dream, but when I look down I find myself plastered against the tree, the bark feeling sticky against my skin.
I try to cry out but my vision is consumed by darkness and my voice feels lost, I nearly feel like I'm suffocating. I realize that the stickiness is from the sap of the tree and it continues to cover most of my body. The sap starts to tingle and suddenly the invisible grasp that held me tight had let go. I found myself able to breathe again and quickly gasp for air. I turn to the tree and see an indent of myself left there, horrified I quickly rush into the house. Please be okay, please be okay, my voice pounds in my head as I search for my grandma.
Rushing towards the kitchen I quickly scan the room but see no sign of her. I run to our landline and call 911 but surprisingly there's no one to pick up. I have to be dreaming, I must be. I run into the bathroom to splash my face off with water, but when I enter and see the mirror my eyes go wide and I let out an ear-piercing screech.
"This isn't me, it can't be. Why is my hair green, why is my body twined with branches," I ask myself, "And why do I have a huge magnolia sprouting at the top of my head?!"
I quickly splash my face with water but all I feel is refreshed and energized rather than waking up from this nightmare of a day. "Why me?!" I yell at myself in the mirror. I start to hyperventilate and I feel the oxygen escape my lungs and my vision starts to cloud, I collapse on the ground and see darkness.
When I open my eyes I find myself in the indent made in the tree and I exit the space slowly, my hands and arms trembling. I try to calm down and tell myself - inhale, exhale, just breathe. I look down at my body to see that it hasn't changed, other than a few berries had sprouted and was speckled around my body. This isn't too bad, at least I'm a part of my favorite tree, right?
"Alright, I guess I'm just going to have to live like this until I find out how to reverse this," I tell myself with a huff. "Mind as well find out what happened, right?" I feel the flowers on my body pulse with need giving off a vibrant pink glow, a pull that needs me to head somewhere, I guess that's where I start.
Ava
I feel the weight of gravity dragging me down, explaining that you're not supposed to be going up, but I drive away that feeling and haul myself farther up. I feel the howling winds whipping my face with full force, thankfully my blonde hair had been put up so that it wouldn't get in the way.
Nearly at the top of the climb I give myself a bigger push, "C'mon Ava, you've got this, don't let a bit of wind get in the way of your goal!"
Finally, with a last final pull, I'm at the top of my cities church. It's one of the tallest buildings in the city and the only building that I'm able to climb. Pleased with myself I lean onto the roof to rest my head and catch my breath for a bit.
I've always loved having an adrenaline rush, and even more so if I'm up in the sky. When I turned 13 my dad's idea of a birthday present was to go to skydiving and I loved every second of it. I'm pretty sure that's where I got my desire for adrenaline. My dad's always been a hotshot race car driver and my mom had been a scuba diving instructor but she died before I reached 7.
Looking down my heart thuds a bit at the sight, I can hardly see the people walking at surface level. "They look like little ants," I giggle at the sight. I feel on top of it all and I wish it could stay like this.
I see an eagle in the far distance soaring over the spruce forest that the city was built near. I reach down to the multiple whistles on the necklace I wore, different types of whistles were stringed along, each one a different bird call. They're engraved with an image of the bird they call. I had received them from my mother when I was 5 since she knew I had an interest in birds.
I grab the eagle whistle and blow, it produces a high-pitched whistle that resembles an eagle's call. The eagle shifts its outstretched wings towards me, and watch as it searches for the sound, I spread my arms out and pretend to be flying alongside it.
I hear a large explosion, my head whips towards the source, hundreds of miles away, but I can still clearly see debris flying everywhere. Throwing my arms up to try and shield my face I can feel the ash cutting my face from the velocity. I can feel myself falling through the air, and I close my eyes. For the first time in my life I'm flying without anything to fall back on, and for the first time, I feel truly free. I let go and I spread my arms out once again.
Feeling a burning sensation throughout my arms and legs, I take a chance and open my teary eyes, wet from the pain. Wings and a tail had grown from my body, freaking out, I thrash my arms around in the air. What the heck happened? I close my eyes in concentration, knowing that I'm currently plummeting towards the ground to my death. Trying to find control of my wings they refuse to work unitedly and I end up tossing and turning in the air.
I search deep in my core and my wings abruptly burst open and my tail feathers expand. Up I tell myself, just go up. I try to find my wings and I grab ahold of them in my mind, tugging them with my will. UP
Suddenly bolting I'm blinded by the sheer speed that I'm going, the wind howling in my face. I try to find a landing spot, anywhere that I can find. I see the church that I had previously climbed, and I have a mental battle with my wings. Turning towards the church at a sharp angle, I can feel my wings heating up a little, more than unpleasant but less than painful. Not sure how to stop I just try to roll as soon as I hit the ground.
Gathering my thoughts I catch my breath, feeling my heart in my throat. I flew. I have little control, but I still flew. I'm enthusiastic about this, I can finally feel the freedom I've never truly felt before. Looking down I see a blanket of ash covering the whole city, I give myself my own little mission: Find the survivors and save them from harm.
Sources:
Magnolia Tree
Mutated Lily
Mutated Ava