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Fire. The first grasp of air feels like fire - it burns her chest, fills it with clay, molded by the newborn wind. It expands, and contracts, and the more it rejects that which hurts, the more it demands it.
There's a need for the fire -- it is that flame which now gives her chest its shape. Oval, protected by bones like hands held together. Human.
Then it's the wet, uncomfortable, coarse grass. Her feet try to find a balance, but no matter how hard she tries, they never feel right - this is not concrete, her feet protest. The grass, unlike cement, doesn't answer. It embraces, and tickles, everything.
Dewdrops on the grass make it sensitive to the touch, make her feel oh so very aware that she is not, in fact, the only thing that lives, and though it acknowledges her, it also eludes her. Amidst the grass, bugs, ants, dozens of living creatures enjoy the coarseness, the uncertainty, the ebb and flow of a web of life. The grass seems made for them, not her, somehow, yet there she stands, her little place secured.
And that brings water. While her eyes adjust to the bright lights of this world with difficulty, water bathes the world of red and anguish in a blue serene calm. The sun is warm and fatherly, in every single sense - punishing, though comforting, and strict, yet constant. The sun's warm breath paints the world in brushstrokes of yellow, red and gold, and, well, she cannot help herself.
Tears roll down her cheeks, trailing across her face, falling on top of her naked body, curtailing her shape and awakening her senses. There she lay, born anew, and the view is out of this world. It's the blues, it's the greens, it's the yellows. It's all there for her to see, and she cries.
In comes wind. Dries her tears, brings colds. Brings trembling, brings laughter, brings comfort. Juno looks at the sky. She doesn't know a thing, but she knows she's Juno, and she giggles and laughs aloud.
She catches herself with a hand stretched outward, trying to grasp a cloud or bird or anything that passes her by. She smiles and laughs at herself, falling on the grass, sensory all around, prickling all over.
She's Juno, and she's alive.
And that's when she noticed – from the trail of her tears, following the path of her veins, a solid crystallized structure is taking shape.
It emerges from her skin, circles around her heart, and, in an instant, plucks itself off her chest and starts floating around her head.
It's a bright red crystal, like a gem. Cloudy, Juno cannot see through it. When she tries to grasp it with her hands, a low hum plays in her head. She feels the static pulse emanating from the crystal.
Yet she tries to touch it, and…
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Zap.
Electricity jolts from it, pushing her hand away. She doesn't understand it, but it keeps floating and circling her head.
Though her thoughts dwell on it for a moment, they're quickly drawn back to the present. A flock of birds' brushes across the sky, and as her gaze turns upwards, she becomes conscious of how thirsty she is.
Her mouth and throat feel dry, and her naked body feels cold. She quickly jumps from the grass, taking in sunlight and heading into the forest just ahead.
She cannot help but feel amazed at the many sights, creatures and sounds that populate this place. The little crystal around her head provides no light, but it follows her and seems curious - drawn to certain things.
The crystal guided her towards some fruit, and then to a flower. It kept leading the way, somehow.
Juno quickly regains her smile, and she laughs as she sprints down the bushes. She plays amidst the trees, rolls in the dirt, and notices her bones and the shape of her fingers. She sees how big she is compared to a bug, and how incapable compared to a bird, and she touches the bushes and her voice comes out.
A lullaby of a song she never heard. Yes, she's composing something, being part of this scene, however strange it is. Whatever she sings, that, too, seems to be a child of the fire, earth, and water, and to have a place on the grass amidst the birds and her soft, delicate feet.
The fun is almost enough to forget the thirst.
Almost.
Eventually, her ears brought her where she wanted to. Just beyond the thick trees, she can hear running water. The crystal, however, floats steadily.
It stays perfectly still, just beyond the barrier of the forest. As if cautiously listening.
Juno tries to touch it, but it evades her, quickly regaining its posture.
"Isn't this what…what we wanted?", she asks.
The crystal remains silent. Steadily holding the edge between the forest and the running water, as if saying - "Stay quiet!"
Juno frowns. She can hear a low hum just beyond the forest. Alongside the water, there's something, or someone, and the crystal is stopping her. Why stop her?
She presses forward, not caring for the crystal's opinion, when it stands directly in front of her chest.
"Don't go!", it calls to her.
But there's something there, and there's water – she can hear it! – and she's thirsty! Why, it doesn't matter what the crystal thinks, she wants to go! She clenches her jaw and pushes the crystal away with her hand and as she makes contact—
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Juno sees a face.
A man with blue eyes stares her down.
He constrains her.
She sees a dark sky full of stars.
And then.
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Fire.
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Fire.
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Dark.
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Dark.
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Juno hears running water.
…
Dark.
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Juno smells water, she can taste it on her lips…
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Dark.
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…
Something wet slides across her cheek.
She opens her eyes.
A wolf is licking her.
She looks up. She's on the ground, face covered in dirt. The waterfall just in front of her.
As she looks to the side, she sees two people, just like her. One man with dark hair, and another one, smaller, with long blonde hair. They both have crystals circling their bodies. The dark-haired one has a blue crystal, and the blonde man has a bright green crystal. Her heart is filled with joy.
People! Just like her! Finally, someone she can talk to, someone who can understand her! She can finally say something and -
The blonde man's eyes meet Juno's with a look of terrible recognition. Juno notices they're both bruised, and they're both looking at her with pity while kneeling in the ground. They're naked too, and badly injured, with hands tied behind their backs.
Her red crystal hovers closer to her head now, pulsing frantically, angry, protective, mourning its failure. Trying to guard her from something.
"Fresh spawn", says a feminine voice she cannot identify.
Juno looks back.
There's a tall and strong man. Filled with scars, long black hair that covers his eyes. His body is sturdy, and he is not naked – he wears clothes made of hide, a wolf's pelt around his shoulders, and he has a bow and arrow pointed straight at Juno's heart.
"Another one," the Hunter mutters, nudging Juno with his feet. "You gods just keep falling from the sky, don't you? No people, no tribe, no band, just... appearing. Falling."
To his side, a blonde woman, also covered in hide, strokes the fur of a large wolf, the one who had just licked Juno's cheeks. The wolf sniffs at Juno's crystal with obvious hunger, but the woman yanks it back.
"No, Fen. Light stones are not for eating. They sicken any beast.'"
Juno can feel the tainted breath of the wolf. His eyes are yellow, full of hunger, and the creature is large, his canines the size of her head.
"Look here", commands the Hunter. Juno stares back at him.
"Been more than a winter since the last of you dropped. Thought you were done, and now you're back." He pulls the arrow back, tensioning his bow.
"What changed?"
Juno notices the woman has no crystal around her head, and neither does the man. Whatever they are, they're not like her and the other prisoners. The woman speaks up.
"Ease, Ba. We've gathered three of them now - the Elder will be pleased." The Hunter says nothing, but he lowers the bow. While the woman ties Juno's hand behind her back, she notices she wears only her tunic.
But the man has something around his neck, like a trophy. It's a collar made of five lifeless crystals.