Reliqua

Chapter 1

Four Reliqua walked along the snowy moor,  their footsteps slow and tired as they hiked through the strong winds and flurries. All four of the exhausted silhouette-like spirits were barely visible in the snow.

The smallest seemed to be struggling to stay up, but kept quiet and held back her runny nose. She was the most tired of all of them, her pelt seeming to be falling apart like soft white petals in the abyss of the storm. She shut her eyes really tight, and collapsed to the ground.

"Violet!" One of the older spirits spun around, eyes wide and full of despair. Her voice edged with panic as she laid down beside the fallen pup, nudging her softly.

"Pick her up." The gray spirit mumbled, sounding tired. "We're nearly there."

The spirit next to the pup stared at the oldest spirit for a moment before picking up the small pup by her scruff and standing again. "She's fading, North. We need to hu-"

"Just go." The last spirit scowled. "If you expect Violet to survive to become the Keeper Of The Great Lake, then we need to pay attention to getting there."

"Prism," the oldest spirit, North, turned his head to the others behind him. "Be kind to Shadow. She's just worrying about Violet, remember her spirit has been here for longer than you."

Prism bit his lip, annoyed. They kept walking forward, until about ten minutes later they reached a cave.

Shadow gently woke up Violet and laid her on the cave floor. "Violet," she whispered. "We're here."

Violet sat up, paused for a moment, confused, then tears began to form in her eyes. She dove beside Shadow again, and sobbed the words "thank you" multiple times.

Shadow comforted her softly as North and Prism went to a tunnel. They patiently waited for Violet and Shadow. Shadow rested her paw on the pup's shoulder, and nodded. They walked into the separate tunnel into a cave full of blue crystals and a magnificent pool in the middle. Violet's eyes were wide with admiration.

"How the reincarnation works," North explained, "You just have to clear your mind and take a lap of the water. You'll be sent to a dream state and you have to find three special crystals, you'll recognize them when you see them. Once you've found them, touch the dream pool with your nose. Then you will be back here."

Violet turned to Shadow, who blinked proudly. "It won't be scary at all, promise."

Violet took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay." 

She cautiously stepped over the crystals and walked up to the pool, taking a small sip of water. Her body immediately stiffened up and her eyes closed.

Prism watched with great interest, as he'd never seen a reincarnation take place, however in his heart he despised the fact it was Violet. Prism's sister, Doe, was the former Keeper Of The Great Lake, meaning she looked over this pool. It was her job to check on the Reliqua of the mortal world whilst Prism, who is The Keeper Of Dreams, sent them dreams and prophecies. Together with the Keeper Of The Stone, North, who looked over this cave and created the prophecies, and The Keeper Of The Five Tribes, Shadow, who was meant to protect Tartania and the Reliqua of the mortal world, the four were The Lost Spirits, old as Tartania itself. They were the gods of the Sky Tribe.

However Doe's spirit was killed by an angry Zebroad spirit who hated crossbreed's existence, so Doe was dead a second time and wiped from existence forever. All of the Lost Spirits were very upset at Doe's death, and mourned her deeply, however they needed a new guardian for the Great Lake. North chose, for a reason he won't tell anyone, a pup named Violet, who'd died long, long ago. She died as a pup in the mortal world of poison, but dying as a pup means you keep your young physical form in the Sky Tribe. Violet was most likely older than Prism, who was older than Tartania, over a hundred years, but she didn't look old like North because she was still just a pup, just a pup that has been a spirit for a hundred years. Violet was wise though, so Prism could see why she was a good choice to become Doe's reincarnation, however why North chose Violet instead of a Reliqua spirit who was physically stronger was still a blur to Prism.

"Why did you choose Violet?" Prism asked North hesitantly.

North flinched as if he'd retrieved a memory from his mortal life, but simply closed his eyes. "If you want to know the truth," North whispered. "Because she's... she's my daughter."

Prism flinched. Shadow's eyes were wide.

"North..." Shadow mumbled. "What... what happened?"

North dipped his head. "She was my pup in my mortal life, I know that. I'm not sure who the mother was or what happened after that but... I have the memory of two little pups playing in the grass with me and calling for Dad to give them a fish. I-I think I remember their mother... or just a blurry face, I-I'm not sure, but someone told me Violet had been bitten by a widowa and the poison killed her... When I first met her in the Sky Tribe, I noticed something so familiar about her, b-but our memories were both long gone..."

Prism stared at Violet's sleeping state. "Does she know that?"

North shook his head. "I don't think I have enough facts to prove she's my child, she just seems like the closest thing to a memory..."

Shadow nodded, understanding. North was older than Tartania and one of the first crossbreeds, well over a hundred years old. He'd lived a long mortal life, but he'd been in The Sky Tribe for much longer, so long that all of the memories of his mortal life started to fade away. "I don't think you should tell her yet, she's still got so much in her paws as a new reincarnation."

North blinked. "Thank you, Shadow."

They sat in silence and surprise for a few more minutes until Violet woke up, calm. A water drop symbol had been imprinted onto her chest by the lake's powers, confirming the reincarnation worked.

"Violet," North whispered to her. "The Keeper Of The Great Lake."