Cerise's Transformation (With Art)
#7 of Roleplay Characters
A comic page, and a short story about Cerise's first transformation!
A little short story I wrote, very rough and dirty. Ended a bit abruptly because I found myself rambling ^^;
The trials were arduous. Weeks of testing her cunning, straining the limits of her magic and endurance. Bout after bout of combat, testing her mettle in the arena. All of it just to earn the right to face the final trial.
Would Cerise prove worthy to receive a spirit beast totem, or would she be destroyed in the attempt?
Cerise walked up the steps of the temple, a heavy cloak draped around her shoulders. She was quietly surprised by how warm the stone felt beneath her bare feet. Even in the cool of the night, the steps held onto the warmth they soaked up during the day. That suited the girl well enough, she was never very fond of the cold.
Cerise was a summoner, a magical caster capable of calling forth powerful beasts to fight alongside her. Like all magical users, she had an affimity for a particular element. In Cerise's case, the elemental affinity was fire. She revelled in warmth and took comfort from the light and heat of the sun.
The cool night put Cerise on edge, though it could just as easily have been nerves. Her destiny lay at the top of those steps, great power or certain doom. There were no other options. The final stage of her journey could transform...or consume her.
The top of the temple was a simple clearing, smooth stone surrounded by a ring of torches lighting the night. A large magical circle filled most of the floor, complex layers of runes woven together out of light and magic. The symbols pulsed with power, flowing across the stone, shifting from one place to the next, returning to their original position like the hands of a clock.
Cerise stood at the outer edge of the circle, holding her breath. She shrugged her shoulders back, the cloak falling from her shoulders. She wore nothing beneath the cloak, the trial would destroy anything she was wearing.
The air was cool but she could feel the warmth of the torches, the fire gave Cerise comfort. The summoner steeled herself, stepping forward. Cerise hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath until she let it out in a swift sigh.
Stepping into the circle was like easing into a warm pool of water, spreading over her body in a comforting, yet frightening at the same time. When she reached the center of the circle, Cerise knelt. Her eyes closed, palms pressing flatly to the stone surface beneath her.
Cerise focused on the torches around her, points of fire, her element. She focused on those points, on controlling the chaos of the flickering flames. One by one the points of light narrowed from swaying, dancing shapes into smaller, brighter, hotter points of light. She kept a hold on that focus, that control. She would need it.
Warmth spread through the girl's body, chasing away the chill of the night. The light of the magic circle grew brighter, flaring with power beneath Cerise. The symbols floated along the stone faster and faster, almost bluring.
With a final burst of light, the ring swelled. In almost an instant, the circle withdrew, shrinking towards a point beneath the summoner. All the light, heat and power focused to a single point, infintesimally small.
With a start, Cerise realized the point of light was no longer part of the stone beneath her, but part of her. The glowing light pulsed in Cerise's hand. She stared at it. This was the moment, she would either tame the power or be consumed by it.
The human allowed the power to start to spread, coarsing spreading from her palm to the rest of her body. The magic flowed from that single point spreading out as it had on the stone surface, but now it was the summoner's body that was its plane.
The heat flowed through her, a terrifying warmth that was exhillarating at the same time. Cerise had always taken comfort in heat, but this feeling threatened to overwhelm her. It spread along her with little sign of stopping.
The magic flowed through the girl's core, spreading through her extremities. Cerise watched as the power caused her entire frame to glow. It was as though the fire inside of her wanted to burst forth, free itself from the confines of her frail, human form.
Cerise cried out as she watched her hands burst into flame. Every inch of her skin burned with power as the flames spread. The human tried to cry out but the thundering flames stole her voice away.
Cerise was aware of her body, but could no longer feel it. She knew what was happening. She was being consumed. She had been found lacking, this trial would be her last.
She watched as the shapes of her hands shifted and moved, growing more vague and undefined as the flames licked away into the night air. Soon her fingers were gone, her arms rapidly receded. What struck the summoner the most was the lack of pain as her body was consumed. Perhaps that was one final grace from the gods, to lose ones self silently and without pain.
Cerise could feel her body, no longer a humanoid form just a dancing, swaying pillar of flame. Little by little the fire dwindled, narrowing.
All at once, Cerise realized the truth. She was flame. She was fire. Pure, unfiltered power. She could control fire, focus it. Why should that be any different now that the fire was her own?
The mage drew the fire inward, took control of the random, shifting patterns of flame. The warmth and light narrowed, drawing itself back together. The cool air began to close in, chilling her body.
Cerise was certain the night air was about to snuff out what remained of her flames, that she would be the last in a line of failed hopefuls who had been consumed.
The flames went out.
Cerise waited for the last moment, the final instant where her consciousness would snuff out with that light.
Seconds passed and she realized...she was still there. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It took her a few seconds to understand that she still had eyes. They slitted open, light slowly returning to her senses.
The world around her seemed so much...larger. The torches that stood at shoulder height minutes ago now towered high above. She must have fallen, sprawled against the stone floor. With a start, she realized she still couldn't feel her arms or legs.
Cerise tried to sit up, rising to upright. Her body moved, but didn't respond the way she expected to. She nearly stumbled, falling forward. Landing on the stone with a dull thud, she glanced to the side.
The sight of a long, pink serpentine forme startled Cerise, instinctively she tried to jerk away from what might have been a poisonous snake. It was all the more startling to her to realize that the creature moved with her, or rather, was her.
Cerise tried to sit up again, rising upright once more. She turned, trying to remain calm as she surveyed the long coils. There was no mistake, she was no longer human.
But...a snake? She had known she would be granted a beast form, from her trial but had not expected this. Still, the form had power, dexterity and great potential. She had proven herself worthy of the gods' gift, but she would still have to learn how to use it.
Instinctively, her tongue flicked at the air, tasting in a way she had never done before. Her senses were new, alien. She didn't feel things the same way, in many ways she felt like a newborn, having to learn to walk -or slither- all over again.
Cautiously, she began to slither forward, moving in awkward, uneven motions. Each undulation of her body grew a little more coordinated. She drew her way to the edge of the steps, peering over the edge of the first ledge.
Those steps had seemed so much smaller before. With great trepidation, she eased herself down, until her fore-end touched the step below. Bit by bit, her body poured over the edge of the step, sliding down.
One step down, a hundred more to go.
Cerise bundled herself into a pile of coils, settled into a makeshift nest of grass. The night was cool and made her feel sluggish. In the morning, when the light of the sun had warmed her enough to stir her once more she would wake.
Cerise had much to learn, a whole new form to master. She was also going to have to figure out how she was going to change back.