storm - a sky cotl au

chapter 1 - vale

I wake up to the sound of yelling.
Great.
Reluctantly, I pull myself out of bed and shrug on my cape before I gently glide down, out of my nook.
I land softly on the ground and look around for the source of the yells, and I see a scout from the nearby village. His face is pale, and he looks traumatised. Poor kid.
On the ground before him is a girl. She seems to be about my age, with an iridescent cape covering her. She's also unconscious.
I hesitate and ask the scout, "What happened?"
"...I just found her...like this..." He sounds very, very nervous. Luckily, this isn't the first time I've encountered a situation like this.
"I'll take care of this," I reassure him as I crouch down. With a sigh, I heave the girl up into my arms.
He looks a little nervous, but I try to smile to calm him, before I stumble off towards the healing cave.

Why is she so heavy?
I eventually enter the healing cave, after multiple strange looks from people around me. I try to gently set her down on a stone platform, inevitably failing, but she doesn't twitch a muscle.
The nerves inside of me are growing. If she can't even react to being dropped down, she must be actually out cold. "Ripple?"
I hear a yawn from the healers' room, before our resident healer, Ripple, emerges from her room. Her orange butterfly cape is draped haphazardly around her shoulders. I realise how early it must be, if even Ripple isn't awake.
"What is it, Vale?" she asks exhaustedly.
I hesitate, feeling a little bad as I mumble, "A scout found this girl unconscious...can you help?"
She hesitates, the exhaustion disappearing from her gaze as she walks quietly towards the girl. "...yeah, I think I can. Pass me some fungi spores."
I wince. Those really smell. But then again, I'm pretty sure that's why Ripple wants them. The smell can wake anyone up.
Pinching my nose with one hand, I scoop some spores from a vase, and pass them to Ripple, who doesn't flinch as she waves them under the girl's nose.

Her eyes flicker open.

I feel a wave of relief wash over me as I look at the girl. She seems utterly confused as she looks around. "...where am I...?"
She pauses, and I can see the memories flowing back into her mind. "Thank you so much..," she whispers as she looks at Ripple.
"You take care of her," Ripple nods softly and looks at me, her work done, before she retreats back into her room.

The girl looks at me quietly. I hastily mumble, "Hi...uh...this is the Cave of Prophecy."
She hesitates and nods softly. "Thank you for helping me." Her voice is soft and weak, but I can hear the gratitude in it. "I'm Moon."
"I'm Vale, nice to meet you," I say calmly. She still seems a little shaken, so I just sit quietly, waiting for her to gather her senses.
She slowly sits up and wraps the cape around her shoulders. It's iridescent, and shaped like a lotus flower, and it's glowing in the faint light of the healing cave. Judging by her cape alone, she's probably not from the village.
"Nice cape," I murmur, feeling a little envious.
Moon flushes awkwardly upon hearing my words. "I...someone gave it to me." Her tone is quiet.
Noticing her discomfort, I quickly change the topic.
"...so, what brings you to the Isle of Dawn?"
She hesitates, and closes her eyes, sighing quietly.
"I...I'm here to visit the temple."
The temple...? But no one's visited that in years...
"Are you looking for the Elder...?"
She nods softly.
"But...I hate to have to tell you, but the Elder is kind of...uh...not accepting visitors?" I mumble awkwardly. In full truth, he's too weak to accept visitors, but I don't want to make her think that the kingdom is weak.
Moon hesitates, before looking at me and murmuring, "I need to see him." The determination in her voice kind of scares me.
I can't help it. "Why?"
She pauses for a moment, and looks down at the ground. Like she's trying to figure out how to phrase it.

"I need to open the doors to Eden."

—————
hi
this is my first ever author's note
i would just like to say that i do not have a life