Storm's eyes flutter open and she immediately sits up and looks around, tense and ready for action. But upon seeing no enemies and recognizing the familiar tent she and Saige share together, her gaze drops to the ground. There, on the cold, hard ground beside her makeshift bed is Saige.
"Saige!" Storm reaches over and shakes the Elf.
Storm shakes her even harder when she doesn't respond.
There is a soft fluttering sound behind Storm and she twists around and snarls. But there is nothing behind her. Snarling softly, Storm returns to focusing on Saige as panic rises up in her chest.
"Saige! SAIGE!" Storm begins shouting her name as she shakes the Elf.
The tent flap flies open and Ruvean pokes his head in. There are other voices flowing into the tent from behind Ruvean but he is blocking their way in.
"Everything okay in-" His words fall away as he looks at Storm, eyes wide.
Storm tears her attention from Saige to look at Ruvean. "She isn't waking up!"
Ruvean rushes into the tent and drops beside Saige opposite to Storm. He begins shaking Saige as well.
The Elf remains unresponsive.
Storm frowns. "A couple instructors from the Academy fell victim to some sort of... Sleeping curse. And Lord Julien of Seshtau too. Now Saige?"
Ruvean visibly swallows and looks at Storm, but his eyes focus on her shoulder. "Saige carried you in here a few minutes before we heard you shouting. She looked fine but you? She was carrying you in her arms and didn't say a word to anyone before she dipped off into your tent."
When Ruvean continues to stare at her shoulder, Storm snarls. "What?!"
Ruvean points a shaky finger at Storm.
Storm freezes. She stares over her shoulder and her eyes widen in disbelief.
Wings. Multicolored and big. Without meaning to, her wings expand and she jerks away instinctively but they move with her of course. Storm reaches a hand back and grabs the edge of her wing. She hisses through her teeth as a jolt rushes through her. Her wings were sensitive to touch so she withdraws her hand and stretches her back. Her wings flutter open fully and she works the muscles in her back to test the movement of the wings. They are four panel wings, like a butterfly... Or... A Faerie.
"What... The... Fuck?" Storm says as she turns her head both ways to look at her very colorful set of wings.
She stiffens once more as something waves up near her face and then plops back onto the makeshift bed. She looks passed the wings, down to the thing that had plopped onto the bed. Swishing behind her is a long tail. Storm snatches it in her hand to stop it from flicking around. She stares at the tail that continues wiggling in her hand as though it has a mind of it's own. Scales fade into golden fur as the tail extends down and the tip is fluffy darker fur. She stares at it in confusion.
Storm releases the tail and begins looking for any other new appendages or changes to her body. She finds nothing else new. Her yellow scales still patch her skin, her horns still rise from her head, and everything seems to be in the right place. The only exceptions being the colorful wings on her back and the tail swishing chaotically behind her. She grimaces as the tail swings wildly behind her.
She turns her attention back to Ruvean, ignoring the heads poking through the flap of the tent.
"She did something reckless to save me, didn't she?" Storm runs a hand over her horn to stroke her black hair. "Dammit, Saige! Stop-!" She looks down at Saige, her words failing in her mouth. "Fuck!"
Storm twists again to look at the wings and tail. She shakes her head.
"What the fuck am I? What kinda deal did you make this time, Saige? And... With who?" Storm huffs out a deep breath. "Probably that chaos guy. Or maybe..." Her eyes widen for a moment before she snaps them shut with a cringe. "Dammit Saige."
Ruvean clears his throat. "What should we do for her?"
Storm turns to look at Saige once more. "Look after her. So far no one has died, that we know of anyways, so just keep an eye on her. I... Have someone I need to talk to. Then I'll be back."
Storm stands up and nearly falls over, tipping to the side immediately. Ruvean jumps to his feet to grab Storm and steady her. She mumbles her thanks and then without another word, stumbles and sways over to the corner to grab her glaive before slipping out of the tent. She says nothing as the family gathered outside the tent hammer her with questions and other bits of conversation she was not ready for. Instead, she drunkenly walks in the direction of Volaire, leaning on her glaive for extra support.
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