Thanksgiving 2018 Writing Contest

Card name: (Your Legacy Name): Thanksgiving 2018 Template

Display Name: Magnolia
Legacy Name: Mybliss
Preferred Pen Name: Ruu Xuannuu
Title: Thanks Giving

Put your story below here:

..........

Night


The storms have finally stopped. I’m glad cause I can finally see the stars again. My Master and me are sitting outside on the balcony tonight…the air smells so nice…the rain lotuses bloomed as soon as the rain stopped…their fragrance is everywhere and wraps around our noses the way honey wraps around a mooncake. The flowers will live until pollinated...only a few hours. These came from my native land…but I’ll talk about that another time.

My puppy is in my arms…he’s fast asleep and wriggling in his dreams…he’s an orange ball of fluff and energy and has tiny pointed ears…the same kind of dog my species gives their kits. He’s the only one of his kind here…Master wants to bring more of this dog here…but needs to be sure they can tolerate this warm climate…they grow heavy coats that withstand the cold weather of Flamekin Valley.

I’m restless after being indoors during the storms…they lasted longer than usual…Master says the weather is changing cause the planet is settling into its new rotation…I don’t know enough it to understand how it all works…I have been reading the books in Master’s library…and learning a lot…Kitsune Flamekin minds are more geared to magic, tho. Master and the other qwhillas I’ve come to know are scientists…Master is looking for the…ermmm…correlation…between magic and science to pull the two together.

I use fire magic…along with ice magic. All Flamekin use fire magic…some are more skilled than others…and some can use other kinds more easily than fire…my mother excels at fire…my sire prefers arcane. The Elders said I would perfect the use of fire…maybe I did. Master likes to call me an archmage…

I want to go for a ride…or a flight, if I had a hippogriff…I have’nt met my hippogriff yet…so I ride with my Master on hers…I’m a lot smaller so I sit in front in front of her. I should clear up one thing…my Master is female…she wo’nt let me call her Mistress…cause it has another meaning…and it reminds her of a heartache…from a previous lover…she won’t go into it…and she says the word is “too girly”…that makes me giggle cause she is’nt what you’d call “girly”.

I keep looking at the hippogriffs that live around here…I spend time with a young mare…she’s fire colored…her feather coat shimmers between gold and orange…her antlers, talons, and hooves are shiny gold and sometimes shift to blue…she’s barely past his first year tho and they don’t choose their riders until their second year has passed.

Oh! Tea! N’ha'nah brought out tea for me and coffee for my Master…mmmm…firemint tea with honey…it’s my favorite. Master and I finish our drinks quietly. N’hanah slips back indoors, and after few minutes I can smell fresh suncakes cooking, and some kind of meat…sausage, bacon, or chops.

I’m still not comfortable calling my Master by her name…but I try…Oops…my puppy is awake now…he jumps out of my lap and walks…more like tumbles…down the steps to the grass. I should get a bath. The sun will rise soon and I really want to go riding in the dawn light.

..........
Morning

The sun is peeking over the mountains. Our packs are loaded with food and waterskins. I’m still drowsy from a short nap before dawn…Master is wide awake and anxious to go. She has some plan…she told me, but I was’nt awake all the way and forgot everything she said…

Two hippogriffs volunteered to carry our supplies…they eagerly divided everything between themselves...they lifted each pack in their beak, weighed it, and decided which would carry what…hippogriffs are very intelligent beasts.

Master wraps her arms around with a hug, kisses the top of my head, and hoists me onto Prism, her hippogriff…he’s kneeling so it’s not hard to do…and she settles behind me. He squawks at his companions and together they take off at a gallop to the cliff…their huge feathered wings spread as they leap into the air…for someone not used to this it’s terrifying. I still whimper…I ca’nt help it…but Master holds me close and coos in my ear.

Once we’re in the air, I open my eyes again…we’re high over the treetops. We’re flying into the morning sun…Master has her sunglasses on…some qwhillas ca’nt see well in bright light…the hippogriffs’ wings are beating in rhythm against the air, I’m so sleepy….zzzzz…

..........

Early afternoon

Master nudges me...I mumble something in my native speak…Master chuckles…”Wake up, Ruu. You’ve been asleep for a while. You should see this.”

I rub my eyes and look around…we’re circling above some foothills. In front of us there’s a big waterfall…rivers of water rushing down from the mountains above…carrying chunks of snow and ice…it’s beautiful in a scary way…we fly down and watch everything crash into a valley…the snow and ice shatters and rip trees and clumps of dirt from the ground…it all washes downstream, tearing up more trees and dirt as it goes.

We fly upwards to the top of the waterfall…and over it…there’s water pouring from underneath thick layers of ice…glaciers…I hear the deep groaning as the ice cracks deep inside…more chunks…icebergs…much bigger pieces will be following soon…
What if….what will happen if others are in this torrent’s path…We have to follow this…Master turns our mount and we fly along the river.

Prism’s wings beat hard against the wind…we’re flying very fast…I feel dizzy watching the land beneath us speed by…suddenly I see a swarm of wild hippogriffs some way ahead…Master ca’nt see it yet…I point and she urges our mount in that direction…

Oh…no…the hippogriffs are herding a stampede of panicking deer, wild horses, wolves…every earthbound creature we know of in the area and some we don’t…of all ages…away from the swollen and rising river…Prism shrieks loudly…I cover my ears against his voice and Master winces…the two pack hippogriffs immediately leave our sides and turn tail in direction we are leaving…

Prism dives down quickly…my stomach stays in the air and the sudden drop makes me feel dizzy…he shrieks to the herd and touches the land with a thump and settles to a gallop in front. The wild hippogriffs land running, content to bring up the rear and keep the herd safe…

We run for what seems to be hours…Prism’s sides are heaving…he’s wearing out…but…the frightened herd behind him is pushing him on…he screams and turns to the right…the other hippogriffs force the herd to turn up this incline to a flat wooded hilltop…when the last hippogriff has topped it, everything stops…

All the animals are heaving…breathing heavy...some of the older ones collapse…Master slides off Prism without a glance at me…leaving me there…she rushes to a fallen cervid…she kneels and places her hands one its side…she mutters something and green tendrils of mist surround the animal…covering its body…the cervid stands as the green fades…I look around at the herd…more than half have fallen…there are so many…

Master sees this too…I see her chest heave…and…tears….she stands….she wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her riding cloak…
She stands there…I know how she feels…helpless…hopeless…I know that feeling….

Time slows down…Master takes a deep breath and looks skyward…she raises her arms…a comforting hum fills the air…the same green tendrils that helped the first cervid…they cover the ground on this small hilltop…all the animals are wrapped in green…so am I…I’m tingling all over…I feel refreshed…the older animals begin getting to their feet now…the younger ones have recovered…babies are finding their families…some begin eating the rich grass, some stare at Master with wide eyes.
It feels like this happened slowly…but it really happened in a few seconds.

Master slowly lowers her arms. Prism…with me still riding him…walks slowly over to her…he lowers himself to the ground and she mounts…she’s trembling…but not complaining…she gives me a gentle hug and lets go of a shuddering sigh.

Prism straightens up and fluffs his feathers…he’s gleaming now...such shiny feathers…he lifts his beak and sings a very soothing song. The wild hippogriffs all turn to look at him. He flaps his wings and a lot of the others flap with him…he breaks into a sudden gallop…I was’nt expecting it and I get jerked…he dives off the hill…most of the other hippogriffs follow and we gain the air quickly. I glance behind and see the animals are ok…the hippogriffs that stayed behind are walking around…watching them…keeping them calm. I notice hundreds of small animals, snakes, rabbits, squirrels are darting around on the ground…they had been holding onto the larger animals…and I did’nt even think about them…I’m glad someone is looking after them…

...........

Mid Afternoon

We have’nt seen anymore herds…but we found another river…it looks the same as the first one…ice…snow…I bet the herd we found was two or three combined…all the animals are gone from the area…I wish our pack hippogriffs had’nt flown away…I’m hungry and a drink of water would be so good…but…there’s a greater need than mine somewhere ahead…I can feel it in the air…

We’re seeing flatland now…its level with the river and as the river rises, the flatlands are being covered with water…I can see It rising…my mind keeps going back to last night’s chat about the weather…could the planet’s rotation be making the icecaps and tundras melt? Could the storms we had be part of it? I wish I knew more about…ge…ol…ogy…so I could understand better. The mountains surrounding Flamekin Valley are ice-capped…

Prism is slowing…what…there’s something ahead…the land is terraced…it’s a farm! A farm means a house…or a village! Prism descends but does'nt.land.

We’re close enough to see figures…upright biped figures…moving around…rushing….closer…I see arms raised…pointing…I hear shouting…then I realize what they see…they see a cloud of hippogriffs…I’d be scared too if I had never seen this…we’re closer…some figures cower…some cover their faces…some run…I see structures now…on top of the terraces..there are houses!

It is! A village! With people!
Closer now…I can see the people! They look like kitsunes...like me…but not quite…

Prism lands at the base of the terraces…his feet and hooves splash in the shallow layer of water…the other hippogriffs land behind him…splish splish splish…lots of splishing…

This people is’nt Kitsune…they look like my kind…but they have shorter and fluffier tails, with rings on them…the ears are rounder and shorter…Raakkuuns!..but not…could it be Kitsunes and Raakkuuns interbred?...what do they call themselves?
Master slides off Prism’s back, then reaches for me…I slide off into her arms…she whispers something in my ear but I do'nt quite catch it…

One of the Raakkuun-Kitsune people walks up to me…he’s old…he must be an elder…he speaks to me…but I don’t understand his words. I dumbly shake my head…he turns and motions behind him…a younger female Raakkuun-Kitsune approaches…she seems closer to my age. She smiles…I smile back. She steps forward and I do too. She holds her right hand out with her palm facing me…I know that gesture…that is how my kind greet each other! I place my left palm against hers. She nods…and then she points at herself, then at me…she spreads her fingers. I spread mine and we link our hands together.

She’s smiling now, and it looks like a tear is in the corner of her eye…she looks to the elder and speaks…I can almost understand her words…almost…so familiar…The Elder glances at my Master, the hippogriffs, then at me…he nods.

The young Raakkuun-Kitsune…still having my hand and hers linked…begins to speak to me…she barely stops to take a breath…a word…a word! I remember the language! I knew it a lifetime ago…
I answer her in this language…MY language…the elder stands nearby listening, his eyes are wide in wonder…

They have tomes…volumes of history I need to read…there are drawing of Kitsunes like me and Raakkuuns, like the elder…and like this young female…she has a ringed tail…and a mask like a Raakkuun…but has pointy ears and a long tail like me …
But there’s a closer problem…their farms are too wet…vegetables are rotting before they can be gathered…water is everywhere…they ca’nt get their fish cause the water is wrong and fish are getting in the fields and dying before they can be caught…their lower houses are filling with water…can we help?...

Can we?

Can I?

……….

Seeds

My Master is very quiet while we’re talking…I glance at her and see she’s hovering over the watery ground…just above it…with dry feet, dry pants, dry cloak…she only hovers when she’s confident in her natural magiks…when she’s relaxed and focused enough to do something big…

She quietly raises a taloned finger to get the Elder’s attention. “I can remedy part of this fairly quickly, if you like,” she speaks softly. The Elder blinks…the young rakkuunn-kitsune perks her ears. Master rustles around in her cloak’s pockets. “I have these seeds,” she says…she pulls her hand from a pocket and opens it…she’s holding a pile of seeds…each is about the size of a watermelon seed. “These are Qwhillfruit seeds. I carry them with me wherever I go.” She holds up one between thumb and forefinger, holds it to her lips, whispers something…the familiar green misty tendrils wrap around her hand and then the seed. “Watch,” she says. She tosses the seed a few feet away…it makes a wet PLUNK as it lands in the water.

The seed immediately sprouts and grows…it is soaking up water as it goes…bigger…taller…the wispy tendrils follow the tree’s growth…and still wrapped around Master’s hand…she’s focusing on the tree completely…that arm lifted towards the new tree…it keeps growing…it is soaking up some of the water…we can all see it…but the ground is still soaked.

“This seedling will keep growing until it reaches maturity, which will be in a short while,” she says. The wisps flow from her hand…they sparkle as they leave her fingertips…but stay around the tree…they glow brightly now…the tree grows faster…”When mature, the fruit will be different, according to the variety of seed. Some are similar to modern citrus produce, some more like water balloons filled with honey, some are exactly like our watermelons. You can see here how the seeds for each type differ.” She holds out her hand so we can all see the seeds. “The water balloon strain can hold liquid indefinitely. Our qwhillings are fed with the nectar from these when infants. I carry seeds with me everywhere, as they work well in an emergency.”She holds up another of the same seed…whispers to it…then tosses it. It makes that plunk again as it hits the water…and it sprouts and grows…wisps doing the same as on the first seed. “Enough of these and we should be able to alleviate this flood for a while, at least until reinforcements arrive. Hope y’all don’t mind some extra produce. These will be permanent.” She gives her one sided grin and a slight nod.

The Elder and the young female are looking at Master with their eyes wide and mouths gaping…they did’nt understand a word she said…I translate for them.

More villagers are crowding around…the Elder turns to talk to them…his voice is loud…confident…hopeful…the crowd holds its breath…when he finishes…cheers fill the air…Raakkuun-Kitsunes of all ages gather around me…all chattering…reaching out hands to touch me…I glance over at Master… she has already floated over to the overflown riverbank… know she does’nt want to be disturbed…she needs to focus on the seedlings…so I do my best to keep the crowd focused on me…I’m answering the same questions over and over…reassuring the people… explaining my Master’s magiks…Yes…this will help…No…this is’nt bad magik…Master would’nt do anything to hurt others…

……….


Wings of Fire and Ice

Everyone is talking…some people are trying to break from the crowd to see the trees…but the Elder and the young female warn them back. Master keeps looking at the horizon…dropping a seed…looking up…dropping another seed…the water is flowing faster now…The Elder encourages his people to go further up the terrace…Prism is leading the hippogriffs around the crowd..the hippogriffs are urging the crowd further up…something is going to happen…soon…the air is tense with it…

A black mass breaks over the mountains in the distance…it spreads across the horizon…it’s hippogriffs…and pegasuses…wyverns…dragons…manticores…small and large birds….individuals break off from the mass…some head to the melting icecaps…some go in different directions…a few stay on course to us…I see Master’s brother on his sleek noble red and black hippogryph…his mate on her pale blue-purple shimmering one…there’s our two pack hippogriffs leading…and…look! There…the firey mare I like!

The two Qwhilla dismount…several of the house…ermmm…servants dismount…including N’ha’nah! She rushes to me and gives me a hug.

The firey mare lets loose a song…she lands with a sploosh in front of me! She’s much taller than me and she comes close…she stares into my eyes… “I know you…I take you as mine.” The words echo in my head…but it’s not words…it’s thought…I’m stuck in her flaming eyes…red…orange…yellow…shifting to blue…white…a feeling…something… passes between us…I feel her feet standing in the water…I feel her wings and she ruffles them…what?...she breaks the gaze sinks to her knees…she wants me to mount…she wants me to ride her! This…this is…strange…I...I feel …so many things…

I climb atop my hippogriff…she’s not wearing saddle…I feel a stab of fear…but it goes away with a thought from…a name…what’s her name…? “That is not important now…little Ruu…we have more important things to do.”

We lit off into the air with a powerful flap of her wings. I see tiny flames mixed in her feathers…there are flames wrapping her antlers…a lot like master’s tendrils…the water sizzles where her wingtips touched it…we fly.

The icecaps loom in the distance.

……….


The cats

My hippogriff stops in midair…hovering…she turns and we both look back…I can see Master, her brother and his mate…and look! There’s Master’s mate barreling over the mountaintops…on his large white and grey spotted hippogriff…it looks like a snow leopard and the two match…Master’s mate is a snow leopard Qwhilla...she throws her head back and shrieks in greeting…the other hippogriff shrieks back and his rider waves.

My mare begins flying again…spiraling up….up…closer to the icecaps and tundras of the mountains. The sun has dropped to late afternoon…we crest the mountains…I can heard the thick layers of ice still groaning…the cracking is louder and I can see hairlines starting on the surface…we have to do something fast…I don’t want to see the village wiped out! Another huge chunk breaks off at the top of the waterfall and I watch it crash down enough force to shake the area…smaller chunks follow…this whole sheet will fall soon…

We fly closer…passing over the falls…onto the tundra…sheets of ice lay there…groaning…cracking…why is this happening?

Further…all ice…snow…In the distance I see the familiar shape of the peaks that surround Flamekin Valley…I did’nt know it was so close…but look…I see movement along the peaks…something white is boiling up…what is it…it’s looks like a solid…a solid mass of something…we fly closer…what….

Cats…snow tigers and ice lions! There could be thousands…all rushing over the ice……towards us…I thought they lived only in my homeland…they’re rushing to the cracking ice…so…many…of…them…

Something is happening! The whole ice sheet is vibrating…the air vibrating…what…the land…vibrating….mountains…the snow…the big cats have topped and are standing on the cracking ice…I look back towards the village…the ground is covered in glowing green mist…a golden glow is mixing with the green…the riverbanks are rising…the land is rising...the water is glowing purple…and is slowing down…what…
The sound…like the way the air was humming when Master healed the animals…but more…different tones…highs…lows…it envelopes me and my mare…it makes me shudder...

I see Master’s mate nearby…down near the river…his hippogriff is beating its wings…the other winged beasts are beating theirs too…the water is being moved backwards…by the sheer force of the air…I look towards the cats…all are looking at me…

My hippogriff suddenly bucks in the air…”We do this NOW.” She does a loop and flies as fast as she can to the herd of cats...I hear sounds coming from the terrace…it’s far away…but the sound comes rolling across the land...it's like the world is thrumming...it washes over us...there is power in it…

My mare sings a long melodic song and skims over the cats…as she does…her feathers and coat shift from firey to icey…going from orange and yellow to blue and white…the flames that trail from her are turning into streams of ice and snow…my body is tingling…almost unbearable…My hands are burning…they’re turning from deep auburn to blue..my tan coat is turning white…it burns…it hurts…help…something urges me to lift my hands…I feel ice trickle down my spine…so…cold….my hands are glowing now…hot…cold…please…ice…coming from my fingers…hurts…my mare flies around and around the waterfall…streams of ice…snow…frigid force…my hands…please…

The cats all roar…there’s a white glow…it looks like swirls of snowflakes…wrapping itself around them...the snowflakes and glow are coming…from…ME…the cats all sit…no…lie down…no…they melt…dissolve…into the ice…I hear their cries blend with the sounds of the ice…the groans and cracking are slowing down…the ice is freezing solid! How…it’s….me….

My mare has’nt stopped singing…the cats are almost merged with the ice…the waterfall growing smaller…no more chunks of ice are falling…it’s a normal waterfall now…not a torrent…I still see the cats in the ice…shapes…like snow drifts…but still…big cats…still living…

My mare lets her song taper out…she turns and flies low across the ice one more time…chill and snow still spread across the tundra…

……….

The feast

We turn and fly back to the village…I’m shaking…I still feel the ice in my body…I feel the fire too…I…I need to think about this…It still hurts…both hot and cold…

the…land has…changed…there are trees…full sized…where there were none…the land itself is higher than the river…the riverbanks are taller…the river is rushing smoothly…normally along…my mare lands on the ground…she’s glowing…I’m glowing too…

We don’t touch the ground…we’re standing on a layer of…air…everyone is…except some of the beasts who are having fun playing in the puddles and mud…oh…there’s some villagers too…with their children…splashing around…several kits are covered head to toe in mud…


The Qwhillfruit trees will suck up what water they need…I’ve never seen so many Qwhillfruit trees in one place…some of the balloon fruit are full to bursting…some have already fallen from the trees…

The villagers are bringing baskets to harvest their foods and qwhillfruit…some of the winged beasts have chosen to wear a harness and a cart to make gathering easier…birds are perching in some trees and are helping pluck smaller fruits…I’ve never seen so many different kinds of…everything…working together…

My Master and the other Qwhillas are glowing too…but faintly…all look a little worn…I know I’m still glowing…I can feel it…My fur is trying to change back to tan and auburn…but it’s not quite getting there…maybe it will soon…I hope the icey burn will go away soon…I’m trying to ignore it…

Everyone pitches in and helps harvest…the Raakkuunn-Kitsunes’ usual produce is gathered too…the fish are gathered up and sent to the fish house…yes…we rescued some and put them back in the river…they can grown and breed for the next harvest. We work until sunset…we stop and point at the sky…it’s beautiful…some villagers bring out torches on stalks…I light them…that’s easy…I’m still buzzing from the fire and ice…but I’m getting used to it…or its fading…my fur is looking more tan now.

There’s too much food to store. There is’nt time to prep it all before it spoils…the fish especially. I help build fires to cook lots of it…but some has to be stored…I try freezing some…it works…solid frozen fish…cleaned before so it only needs to be thawed and cooked…I play…ermm…experimented…with freezing things…I think I can freeze things so they’ll stay frozen until needed…I need to practice more…but…oh…all the food smells good…do I feel hungry?…I remember I have’nt eaten since breakfast…maybe the Elder will share with us…I get up the nerve and go ask…the female Raakkuun-Kitsune beams at me when I ask…before I know it…tables are set up on a higher terrace…one that’s not soaked…villagers spread around…it’s almost midnight…we’ve been busy…dishes of meat…vegetables…fruits…even Qwhillfruit…are placed all around…stacks of plates…forks…spoons…knives…napkins…bottles of wine…mead…beer…sake…cakes…everyone fills a plate…two or three plates…goblets of juice…wine…beer…fresh water…
Villagers bring out music instruments…Master’s brother has his guitar…he does’nt go anywhere without it…everyone who can play a music instrument joins in…everyone sings…kits play.

Finally…everyone quiets down…bellies are full of good food, alcohol…souls are at peace…even the beasts enjoyed feasting on fruits, vegetables, and meat. A feeling of peace and harmony fills everyone and everything. The young female Raakkuun-Kitsune leans over to whisper to the Elder. As he listens, a large smile breaks across his face…he ruffles the female’s hair and laughs a heartfelt laugh…

He stands…the young female stands with him…she’s blushing…the Elder addresses the crowd and speaks…then looks to me to translate…I blush too and cough to clear my throat…Dawn is just breaking over the mountains…

I speak clearly…

“Elder Ping and his daughter Miada , in honor of this day…wish to recognize the Qwhillas A’ri, A’di, Crim, Y’ara and their companion hippogriffs Prism, Brood, Rain, and Ocean for their selfless acts in saving our home. We know your goal was to explore, and personally, I presume you were not expecting to save a culture and a species when you embarked on your journey. We thank the Kitsune Flamekin, Ruu Xuannuu, and her hippogriff Blaze, for facing and averting disaster as a true warrior of her kind. It warms this old heart to see an ancient race, one from which we are descended, alive and strong.”

He bows and steps back as the young female steps forward…she bows…her soft voice rings out like a crystal bell…I state her words in a clear voice…

“By decree of your Elders and your Empress, we shall declare this day as the Thanks Giving Day. During each harvest, in rememberence of this day, we invite all other species, beasts, animals, birds, every culture, every race living on this world to come harvest and feast with us! All are welcome at any time. We are very grateful for and to all of you!”


Written by Magnolia Bliss {real last name kept private} in November of 2018.
Kitsune copyright by whoever invented them. Raakkuuns copyright by Magnolia Bliss and Aria Wolfram. Qwhilla created by Toki Cure.