Snapdragon

Snapdragon the Prismatic Prophet

Pairbond: Waxwing

When she was young, Snapdragon had eyes the color of leaves during a rainstorm.
Desaturated, but beautiful, green. Her eyes had been her own.
And when Snapdragon came of age, she was directed to the Fields. She'd been told stories of the Fields as a pup. A place where no one went. No one, that is, except her grandfather. The Diamond Diviner, great and golden. Snapdragon was the one chosen to uphold his role when he passed.
It was the result of her affinity for his stories at night that convinced the rest of the pack, who'd always treated him as more of a relic than a wolf, that Snapdragon was the only one who could possibly carry on his legacy.
In her first year, Snapdragon's parents had died. Lost to a rockslide that had not been foretold. To her horror, the pack had become angry at the Diamond Diviner for not averting this disaster, and temporarily drove him off.
Snapdragon snuck out the next night and tracked him down. Antir had been his name, though no one called him that but her. He was waiting near the border of the packlands, aware that she would be joining him. She sat carefully next to him and looked up into his monochrome gold eyes.
Antir told her that he'd had blue eyes, once upon a time. That he'd ventured into the Fields one long night to find food, and came back trailed by dancing golden lights, devoid of his pupils. He told her never to go there.
Antir had been given a great many gifts by the Fields, but he'd also had much taken from him. He didn't want her taken from him as well.
Snapdragon looked to the full moon, silver and resplendent, then back at the two bright suns waiting for her response. She nodded slowly, as if to emphasize her understanding of the gravity she knew her grandfather's words carried.
Antir nuzzled her ear affectionately, before curling into the soft mossy ground. Snapdragon flopped against his dusted gold fur and yawned, safe and content.
In the distance, prismatic lights flickered, and she was ushered to sleep by a choir of bells and chimes, falling into stained glass dreams.
Many years later, Snapdragon thought of this moment as she arrived at the ocean of grass and sky. The Prismatic Choir had visited her dreams countless times since the night her grandfather had let too much slip.
The Fields were physical. A place. Nothing special, but for the meaning assigned. Snapdragon had been chosen long before she stepped paw there.
Journeying to the Fields, as her pack directed, was nothing but formality. It was the time that mattered. Longest night of the year, as they said.
She was glad her grandfather had died believing Snapdragon had a choice about her future.
As the rainbow lights fluttered and whistled, Snapdragon looked at the moon one last time with eyes that were entirely her own.
Green, green, green, she though as the lights took her eyes and replaced them with a set of their own.
It didn't hurt, not really. What hurt was seeing the Prismatic Choir in their true form as they sought to view her in whole as well.
Accustomed to the iridescent headaches by now, Snapdragon didn't linger long before making her way onward. She wouldn't be returning to her pack. Why would she? They wanted her for the Choir, nothing more.
Well, they'd have to seek it on their own now. And they wouldn't find answers in the fields.
Snapdragon paused as she passed a small, still pool. Her own face stared back, eyes pale and empty and lit from behind with an otherworldly red.
She blinked and saw rainbows.
Snapdragon moved on, her path guided by flickering lights and insistent chimes.

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Started 1y 1mo 211 - 44 / 45 / 41 / 41 / 40