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There are things in this world that humans don't see, and therefore don't care to believe in. Take for example, the mythical. What if the creatures of myth and folklore have been walking among you this whole time? Only, disguised? My name is Tawn Hyland, I am one of those creatures.
I am what is referred to as a great Kirin, but I don't hold myself above anyone. There are powers greater than me, not only on earth, but in the universe itself. I am a subject of one of those powers.
A spirit, or a dream. Truth be told, I'm still unsure of where exactly I fit in. It feels as if…No longer in the world of the living, but also not here, where I walk the line between the human conscience, and unconscious.
This is The Dreaming, a place that exists between waking and sleeping where dreams and reality cross paths. My lord, Dream of The Endless holds jurisdiction over myth, which is how I wound up here.
My story begins in a small druid village where I was found lying in the middle of the woods. Believing me to be a Faun abandoned by his mother, I was taken in by the village, and raised there.
As I started to mature, so too, did my body. A Kirin's scales appear as we grow. Upon my village noticing this, I was taken to the chief in the company of the elder. "A Kirin! We have found a Kirin!" I recall the chief shouting gleefully. "Do you understand the power that this creature holds?!" responded the elder. There was a hint of fear in his voice.
Why did the elder fear me? I would never know. Life went on peacefully for a little while, I became the village guardian as my abilities began manifesting. I tried my best to guard them, and learned the ways of the druids by observing them. I was happy...Until the poachers came with their guns and fire. Late one night, I awoke to the screams of my people. The forest which we lived was engulfed in flames. As a young Kirin, I did not possess the ability to control the flames. I could do nothing to help them. As I was trying to escape, one of them cut me off. He mistook me for a buck and took the shot.
Struggling to breathe from the smoke, and the searing pain in my chest, my grief overtook me as I collapsed. Had I only been stronger, perhaps I would have been able to save some of them. As I lay on the forest floor, sure I was going to die, the Dream King, clad in white appeared before me. He looked sad to see me in such a state. He knelt down and placed a hand upon me. I flinched at first at his touch, but somehow I felt as if I recognized him.
"Great Kirin, you have sacrificed much for this village. No creature deserves a fate as vile as this. While you are a part of her domain, I have been allowed to make you an offer if you so choose to accept it." He said. I used the last bit of my strength to look up at him. "Lord shaper, what...Is your offer?" I managed to ask. "I must ask you, divine Kirin. Do you wish to continue living among the humans, or return to The Dreaming, and your fellow creatures of myth?"
"Why....Why do they hunt me at every turn? What point is there to staying here, trying to save them when I could not even save my own people...?" I asked as I began to cough. I could feel tears beginning to form in my eyes. "You did all that you could, yet so cruelly caught in the crossfire. You've done well, guarding your people for so long. That is why I am making you this offer. My dreamers, young Kirin, need protecting and I believe you can teach them great compassion." I mulled over the offer for a moment. What purpose did I serve here now?
"If I come with you, Lord Dream...I ask only one thing in return...Peace....A place where I may roam free without the fear of being hunted....I have seen enough violence both outside of, and within these woods....Now my village is destroyed...And my people gone, there is nothing left for me here..." I choked out. "And you will have it. I will fashion you a new body and grant you passage between the waking world and the dreaming. My palace has a garden that I believe you will find much to your liking."
He said, freeing my essence from the binds of my body. We left before the fire swallowed it. I believe, he didn't want to look at it any longer.
End of story 1.
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