Kerianne

WARNING FOR DEATH (INCLUDING IMPLIED CHILD DEATH)

In life, Kerianne was a guard for her clan.
A quiet type, calm and collected in her mannerisms, yet kind and approachable when needed. She often visited the clan's hatchery, entertaining the children with ghost stories and keeping a watchful eye on them when their parents needed a moment to rest. She was well-liked in the clan, appreciated by many, and the children loved her stories.
Words couldn't describe her excitement when she had eggs of her own, and with growing anticipation watched over them, waiting for the day she could greet them into the world...
But that never happened.

On a cold night, Kerianne stood watch in front of the nursery. The children inside were all fast asleep, and expectant parents lay comfortably around their nests.
Everything was perfect. The crisp air ruffled her feathers, cricket songs kept her company... She kept glancing back to her own nest, as though expecting them to suddenly hatch any moment.

Then there was a whisper.
Faint. Almost unnoticeable. Something wisped past Kerianne's feet, slinking silently into the hatchery. It crawled, scouting, invisible tendrils reaching out - lightly touching egg, child and parent alike.
Before it whisked out again.
And came back with thousands.

This time, Kerianne noticed.
In horror, she realized it was a siege of Shade - coalescing together as one hungry force, desperate for hosts. She cried out in alarm to warn the parents, startling everyone awake, and used everything in her power to fend off the approaching terrors.
But she couldn't. There was simply too much of it. It overpowered her, toppling her to the ground, flooding into the hatchery. She shrieked, yelling for everyone to RUN, GET OUT OF HERE, GET SOMEWHERE SAFE - but there was no way out.

The Shade began to suffocate, latching on to every living being within the walls of the nursery, flooding into the eggs and drowning out the hatchlings inside. It clung to children, to the parents, to even the insects and lizards beneath their feet - Claiming, swarming, corrupting everything it could touch.

While Kerianne could do nothing but wail in horror, trying desperately to fight her way up and do something --
But what could she even do?

And eventually, exhaustion overtook her. She felt the Shade creeping underneath her scales, reaching for her very soul; whispers echoing throughout her very mind, turning them to unbearable shouts.
In that moment, Kerianne shut her eyes, her breathing slowed to a stop, and all she saw was darkness.

Until hours passed, and she shot awake.
Gasping, grabbing at her chest, heaving and choking as though she had just crawled out of the ocean.
She blinked through eyes that were now glazed-over, stood shakily on legs that were already beginning to rot.
...She was dead. That much was obvious. And she had been for a while.

But somehow, in death... She soon realized the Shade had not left her.
Which was a curse, yes, and one she immediately resented for the cruelty and unfairness of it all - but then noticed... the control she kept over it.
Somehow, some way, through some miracle (though she would not consider it such), she had gained control over the Shade through death. Like a faint buzz in the back of her mind, she could almost hear it, trying to wrangle itself out of her grasp.

Then she looked up.
What she saw devastated her to fiercely, she turned away almost as soon as her head lifted, refusing to accept it.
Refusing to accept the state of the Hatchery.
Refusing to look at her own lost eggs.

Instead, she called upon the Shade that coursed through her now dead veins, and vanished into the darkness.
She would find someplace in need of her.
And she would be better this time. She would not fail any hatchling, ever again.


Lore by: Clam


Kerianne is a shadow dancer, and veteran of her flight.
She strikes form the dark night sky's and is said to soar on silent wings.


Art by: Immapie


Foundation Female from Keri
Gift
1 out of 35 with her color pattern
Only one with her Gene Combo.


Art By: 404Jubaku