Disclaimer- I don't own NiGHTS, Nightmaren, or anything or anyone canon. They all belong to Sega, however, Lightans, and all OCS featured in this story are mine.
Lightans are like… the good dream equivalent of Nightmarens. It occurred to me that perhaps while there are Nightmarens, there have to be something to balance that out, right? Hence the birth of Lightans. Though, I have a feeling that to Nightmarens, Lightens are just myths and legends due to an imbalance in the Dream World's natural balance. I also believe that Lightens try to protect the Ideya, whilst staying hidden. However, that's counterproductive on their part.
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Long ago, long forgotten, they hide in plain sight. Within the worlds of Nightopia and Nightmare, there are legends and lore about them. The unknown creatures known simply as Lightans, they existed in total secret under strict rules to NEVER interact or interfere with Nightmaren activity. And none disobeyed; not even the youngest of the Lightans… apart from one.
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"Don't go, you'll get banished! BAH! That eagle is too much of a worrywart to be an eagle. She has to be a chicken in disguise or something." Xantippe murmured to herself, growling under her breath. She was irritated, and that meant the Lightan was going to act rash and make good on her previous declaration.
She was going to the Nightmare Plains.
Even as she flew, her lips twitched upwards into a smirk. Upon the golden cotton-candy bright clouds, a dark smudge was within sight. It was like someone had smeared a huge glob of lavender paint on the clouds, staining them the shade. As she flew over the lavender clouds, they grew darker and angrier, a sure sign that she was in Nightmare Territory.
She flew over a swirl of clouds, a dark colored cloud area. She knew there'd be no parting in the clouds, unfortunately for her. She'd have to deal with their… shocking nature. Sighing, Xantippe flipped, and dove through the clouds, wings held close, and tail stiff like a rudder. As she emerged from the clouds, she plowed headlong into a … pine tree? She blinked at the large thing, surprised that it was here. Looking around, she saw a whale fountain, old doorframes with no doors within them, a few perches, and a … WAS THAT A NIGHTMAREN?
Xantippe quickly darted behind a thick branch, interested and curious. As she observed, she noted that the evil thing was… a lot different from the old texts. Instead of being grotesque and evil looking, this creature appeared to be… oddly good looking. Not enough to cause the Lightan to become attracted to the thing, seeing as how its androgynous colors didn't belie what gender it was.
It turned and she could see it was talking to… an avian of some kind. It seemed to be a bird of prey, but it was dusty brown. She only knew of one kind of being that was a bird of prey but brown. An owl, it seemed. But, the way the Nightmaren was talking to the dressy thing, it was quite tired with it, and seemed to be very bored.
Why would this Nightmaren even TALK to the bird? From the old texts, the thing was more likely to EAT the thing than talk with it. "How strange." She murmured. That was a bad idea, as the Nightmaren turned completely. Staring at her with large eyes that seemed to bore into her sea green ones; Xantippe gasped, her eyes going wide as she whipped back around the tree. She began to breathe quickly, "It… It saw me!" she murmured to herself. She turned back, wondering if it was gone. No such luck. In fact, she seemed to have horrible luck, as it was right. In. Her. Face.
Xantippe's eyes went wide. "YEEEEEEEEE!!" she yelled shrilly, startled. The Nightmaren's eyes went as wide as hers, and the gloved hands clapped over its horns. Shoving as hard as she could, she tried to take flight, only to have her tail get wrapped around the 'maren's arm and drag it with her. She flew all around the fountain and doors, shrieking at the top of her lungs, dragging the Nightmaren behind her much to the owl's amusement.
It wasn't until she slammed headlong into the side of the fountain and pass out did she unwind her tail from the Nightmaren's upper arm. It was moaning in pain, weakly kneeling on all fours on the ground. "W-Well…I normally take Visitor's on flights… maybe now that I got a taste… maybe I should cut it out…" the 'maren eked out.
End Chapter 2