(( 10 ))
As it ran on the wall (translated into English, of course wink ):
Blessed are those souls whose existance is protected and cared for by the great goodness and mercy of the spirits above; and even more blessed are they who can claim the right of direct divine protection, as has been the honor of we whose very lives have been snatched from the gaping maw of Death so very recently.
We feel that it is our solemn duty, therefore, to record for the knowledge of future generations our story, so that the great debt owed by the nikkos to the great faery Miada is never forgotten.
As is known by all who inhabit these parts, we nikkos are a non-violent race who are peaceful and friendly to the other residents of these mountains. We have been denizens of these hills for ages and ages, ever since the very first nikko was created, and we had managed to survive with our wits and our physical abilities. For the most part, we had no problems, but as exists in any place, we had our enemies.
These mountains are also home to many creatures whose names we nikkos fear to name, but for the most part, we are able to protect ourselves and our packs from the threats of destruction at the hands of our violent neighbors. Such is the way nikkos had lived from the beginning, and so was the way we continued...but sometimes, fate and nature have a habit of throwing a wrench into the wheels of simplicity, as I and my pack were the unfortunates to learn.
A very short time ago, I and my pack inhabited a small valley near the foot of Laika mountain, bordering the woods. Although we were few in number, we were string in unity, and we were happy with our lot in life. But that all changed with the arrival of...it.
The "It" I refer to was a monster; a creature of such vicious and ruthless designs that all it seemed to live for was the bloody and unnatural demise of others to glut it's huge form even more. This massive beast of orgins we know not appeared one day in our peaceful valley, and the results....
*here the text trailed off for a bit, but it resumed a bit further down*
The monster attacked without warning, and we nikkos were nearly helpless to do anything against it. Our natural defenses of tooth and claw were no match for our enemy, even one claw of which was almost as big as a tot. There was nothing that could be done excpet flee, and such was what those of us that remained tried to do.
But that damned fiend, that monster of nature couldn't let even one creature escape his clutches, and we were pursued; the only place we had to flee to was the mountain itself, and it was there we turned our steps...with the beast on our trail. Those of us who were old enough to realize the danger were nearly given to despair, for nothing seemed to posses the power to save us; in our terror and despair, we called out to the only one who was left to help us; the great Fae Miada. And she heard our pleas, and in her greatness came to our aid.
As we fled up the mountain, the beast had gradually ground, and it seemed to all of us that we were near to out end; then the great faery intervened! Before our astonished eyes, a chasm opened in the side of the mountain in front of us, one wide enough for all of us to enter at once. But as soon as we were inside, the opening closed, leaving a crack barely wide enough to accomadate one nikko. We were astonished by this, but realized immeadiatly what was going on and called out praises to the Fae.
But there seemed to be little time for celebration; the monster had finally caught up with us, and he viciously attacked the rock outside the cave. We could hear his furious snarlings and the terrible sound of his claws tearing at the rock, and we knew that we'd better continue on.
If you are reading this, then you know of the passage that leads from that cave to this cavern; we, although we had to light, were directed hence by the Fae, and once we had made it this far, we were finally able to rest. But once we were able to relax, our plight was thrown into greater light and we were given to despair; of our original pack, a mere 13 remained; 4 adult males, 5 adult females, and 4 kids. And we were alone, in a huge underground rock cavern with no food and no water and no hope, and were consequently given to despair once more.
This was a foolish and selfish thing to do, for we had already been shown great kindness by the Fae...but she took pity on us once more, and actually appeared before us, undeserving creatures that we were. And she dried the tears of the weepers and smiled on us, then led us through the darkness of the cave to where a small pond of water, fed by a small stream, sat.
"Times are no longer as simplistic as they once were, my beloved nikkos, and you are not as well-equipped to handle these new adversities as you currently are. Therefore I bestow upon you a gift; you will be able to take a new form unto yourselves; this new form is powerful, fleet, and adaptable and will aid you in your fight against the new foes you face. See how the water changes even now." Thus she spoke, and at the same time gestured to the pond, which had changed from clear cool water to a thick glowing green slime. The Fae, observing our looks of revulsion, smiled. "Do not be alarmed, my nikkos; this is the agent that will allow you to take on your new shapes. One drink from this font, and any nikko will be able to assume the shape of a humanoid, such as I myself posses. You will be smarter and stronger, but you will still be able to exist as a common nikko if you are so inclined. The choice is entirely up to you, of course, but if you want it...it's yours." So she spoke, and then she vanished.
We all looked at each other, still amazed by the gift we'd been presented with and dazzled by it's power. But when it came down to it, no one wanted to be the one to try the slime...so I volunteered.
The experience was indescribable. No sooner had a taste of the ooze touched my lips than a tingling like that of a lightning strike ran through me; the world swam before my eyes for a minute, then suddenly sharpened into even stronger focus as my eyes moved slightly apart and largened; my spine straightened out, my hind legs lengthened and my front legs shortened....my front paws shrunks and became slender, with two extra digits appearing and my hind feet flattened out; then my fur shrunk to become a fine short covering, and I stood up as a nikko...but in the body of a humanoid. I was tall, I was strong, and I was powerful...all because of the gift from Miada.
My companions had soon drunk of the pond themselves, and we knew then what a gift we had been given. We knew that with the Fae's gift, we'd be able to triumph over our foes, and no more would we be defenseless.
But at the same time, we knew that what we had was a gift of remarkable power; and we swore that we would protect our well-spring with the power that it had itself given us. And so we decided to reserve the knowledge of this cave for a select few, protecting it from harm and abuse by those who knew not what they were meddling with.
~Thus is the account of I, Nikko pack leader Hiaor, in hopes that nikkos will never forget the origins of our amazing morphic form and our great debt~
