Stealth and I walk through the trees in Saltus. Our path is lit by the moon's light that shines through the trees. Night guides our path with a cool warmth. We finally find a spot beneath a tall oak and we take a seat.
"Okay, so why am I here?" I wonder, sitting crossed legged in my black training suit with jade edges.
"We are here to work on the third form, meld." Stealth replies casually.
"Okay, well what is it?" I ask, a little lost.
"Oh yes. Well let's start by defining the other 3 forms as well. You remember them?"
I nod. "Human, animal, meld, shift."
"Yup, and since you are already familiar with the first two, that just leaves the last two."
"Okay, then explain away."
She nods. "Well, the last two forms directly connect with the animal form." I give her a confused expression. "Let me finish. Now, remember what form I had when I was an animal?"
"Of course, you were my calico cat, Julie."
She smiles, nodding. "Yeah, well can you tell me other animals in the cat kingdom?"
I smile widely. Finally my vast knowledge of the beautiful animals would pay off. "Yeah, you have Savannas, Bombay's, Main Coon, Rag doll, Sphinx, Persian, Osicat, Angora, Tosh-"
"- No no no, I mean wild, not domesticated."
"Well, Savanna's are half wild half domestic." Stealth gives a short laugh. "What? Don't believe me? Then explain to me why they are outlawed in six states in the USA back on Earth." I sass.
"No, I believe you, I just find how passionate you are about this funny."
I roll my eyes. "Both of my parents died, I had to do something with my time!"
"So you chose to devote your life to studying cats? Or would you feel better if I used the term feline?" She laughs.
"Actually, the scientific term is Felis catus, and stop mocking me!" I whine.
"You're right, I'm sorry." she calms herself, cheeks slightly red.
"You're forgiven. And to answer your question, some examples of wild cats would be the jaguar, cheetah, tiger, lion, cougar, leopard, and also the bob cat." I answer casually, cheeks still red from being slightly embarrassed.
She nods. "Well, in the shift form, I can become all of those animals."
I gawk in amazement. "So you could become a saber tooth tiger... right now?!"
She nods, smiling. "But I can only do this when necessary, such as if I'm attacked or on a mission."
I nod. "So the shift form is changing or evolving from one appearance to the next?"
"Not exactly, I can only become something with my animal species. Make sense?" I nod. "Then that just leaves meld. Basically, I become one with you."
"Huh?"
"Think of Renee and Wisdom. When in the meld form, they become--"
"A centaur!" I answer as the dream floods my mind. "So when we enter the meld form, I become half human, half cat."
"Exactly, how did you know that?" She inquires curiously.
"Uh-" I ran a list of pre-prepared lies through my mind until I found one that fit the situation. "You see, in my sophomore year of high school, our English class had a line of fantasy books and-"
"You can stop talking now, I know you're lying."
I'm hesitant to speak at first. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, you'll never know." I eye her suspiciously in a joking manor.
"Melody, I read your mind, I know about the dream."
"What dream?" I continue to play along with the clueless act.
"The one where your mother came and told you about all of this but then your father came, killed her, then wiped away your memory."
"Oh, that one." Damn that mind reading elf.
She laughed. "So now that you know about all for forms, it's time to jump right into the fun stuff."
"The what?" I cock my head to the side, confused.
"I talked to the other Guardians while you were off talking at Aeternon," I'm so tempted to correct her, but I fight the urge. "and turns out, they all decided to use direct involvement."
"What?"
"It means they jumped right in, like I'm about to do. Ready?"
"Wha-"
"Good."
The white light flashes and I pass out.
* * *
"Melody. Melody," a voice calls from far off. "Melody," it sounds distant, faint, echoing slightly. "Melody, wake up!"
My eyes lazily open. I groan, unable to make out the fuzzy image in front of me. I struggle to sit up, my eyelids fluttering in an attempt to clear the image. "What-?" Is all I can manage.
It's a while before I can clearly make things out. Stealth sits in front of me, expression worried. "Melody?"
"Yeah," I moan, shaking my head clear.
She smiles. "You passed out,"
"You don't think," I glare at her and she rolls her eyes.
"Look, if we want this to work, you can't pass out."
"I don't think that's something I can control."
"Ugh!" she groans, standing. "I don't know what else to do!"
It's silent for a while, but then I remembered something that my mom told me. "Teach me about Kole Fornun."
"What?" she stares down at me, wearing this expression or doubt.
"Yeah, I heard from a bird that I can stay conscious if I learn about Kole Fornun."
"Uh, really?" she sits back down, expression amused.
I nod. "Mind explaining?"
"Not at all. Kole Fornun is, in short, the power of the inner force, using self against another. When one possesses this so to be thought ancient gift, they can do wondrous things."
"Really? Like what?" I smile eagerly.
Her smile falls. "Well, no one really knows what perks are had when one possesses Kole Fornun," I roll my eyes. Great, another blank theory, just like The Big Bang Theory, but the only difference is here is that they admit to it being a theory where as in this case, it's real. "Hey, don't think that!" she stands abruptly, interrupting my thoughts harshly. I sit up straight with a start. "We know it's real." she booms back defensively, pointing at me, eyes narrowed.
"But you have no proof, real convincing." I roll my eyes.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" she rubs er temples, beginning to pace in circles in front of me. She groans. "We do have proof!"
"Oh yeah, like what?" I sass.
She stops pacing. "Only those with the Kole Fornun can enter the meld form." I open my mouth to speak but she cuts me off before I can even utter a word. "And don't you dare say that this is bull, it's not. And if you ask why you should believe me if you get knocked out every time you enter it, I will cut you down to size." she kneels down to get eye level with me, her eyes burning with the same passion that Renee had when giving me the speech about getting the rush. "You need to understand that this isn't just some theory that we just I invented this to make ourselves feel better, because it isn't. We know because we are Guardians. Kurmanians assign the four forms at birth in the hopes that we will become Guardians. All Kurmainians have the first two forms, but we assign the last two for good measure. This is the first time in twelve centuries that eight of us, let alone one, got blessed with the gift to be Guardians. When we were sent down to test if we were or not, as we had before due to tradition. But something happened with us. We had this feeling to find you, and we did. This is how we know. Kole Fornun drives us to do these things. You hear me? And we did what it told us to do. Do you understand? It's not a theory, it is fact."
I stare at her, a little frightened. She stands, expression stern. She saunters back over to her spot across from me. She sits casually, head hung low, eyes closed.
"Okay," I agree shyly.
She looks up at me. "What?"
"Okay, I believe you." she doesn't respond, just stares at me, so I continue. "Kole Fornun is an unknown ancient force that is only had by few. For each one, there is another. One is the Guardian, the other, the Humana. Kole Fornun guides the Guardian to their Humana. That sound right?"
She nods. "You sure you believe it's not just a theory?" she asks shyly.
"It makes enough sense to me to be true. I believe," I admit, no longer ashamed.
She starts to smile. "What else?"
I look at her, slightly confused. "What do you mean?"
"Tell me more. Tell me what else you know about Kole Fornun?" Her voice is sweet, yet it rings with this sort of curiosity that reminds me very much of a child.
I'm silent at first, eyes wide, but then I think about it. Ideas began popping up in my head, and before I could think, they were spilling out of my mouth like a bucket overflowing with water. "The Humana carries that ability to both physically and mentally connect with their Guardian. They become part of two worlds, the normal world and the spirit world. The spirit world holds the abilities to do and see the supposedly impossible. Those with Kole Fornun have the special ability to kill the ones thought to be immortal, or in other words, demons. Each that possesses Kole Fornun hold the high titles of kings and queens, each listed in the Guide of the Circle. They hold power over the other members. Each individual holds a special ability unique to each. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to kill these kings and queens for-"
"Stop," her voice is relaxed. I stop as her hand rests on my shoulder. I look up to find a calm smile on her face, expression soft. Everything becomes silent, but then she whispers "You're ready."
I nod slowly, and then her eyes close.
All goes still as the white light shines, blinding me. But then I enter it.
My entire body begins to burn almost, as the feeling of another body melting into me begins. Everything begins to feel different in a magical kind of way. Before I even open my eyes, I can tell that every one of my senses has been enhanced. I can hear the breeze whistling through the trees, the faint call of birds singing within their branches. I can hear off in the distance soft foot falls rustling through the leaves. I can even hear a small river running through the wilderness without a care. The smell of grass is calming, the nature around me holding many scents that set my mind at ease.
But then the warmth fades, and I'm left with a cool feeling, my body seeming to tingle with delight.
I'm hesitant at first, but then I open my eyes.