So this story is about the past guardian spirits in Niwen, the spirit Willows children. How their land fell to decay, and their unfortunate fates.
Chapter 1: Ziv
It was a chilly day in Baur's Reach, and Ziv was swiftly charting the snowy area as he curled up in a ball to warm his fur that was now forming small icicles. At least the ink was quickly drying from the unforgiving wind that breezed by, but it was slowing his progress. "Why did I have to be assigned for this?" He questioned aloud through chattering teeth. His fellow spirits had all agreed to map out their forest, since almost no one left the Willow Tree. But the brave ones who dared leave their safe home, never returned to tell the tale. It was winter time, and for this region it was especially cold since year round it was always a little chilly, even in the summer time. It seemed like the light from the spirit Willow was the only thing keeping the Reach from completely freezing over. His paws were stained with black and blue ink, and little splotches were appearing all over his body as he continued forward. If he tried hard enough, he could ignore the freezing cold and focus on the beautiful scenery that surrounded him. Pine trees with furry branches sprouting, caverns with pinkish orange sunlight peeking through signaling sunset was upon him, and the entire area blanketed in fluffy white snow. Maybe he was the right one for this job, he had extra thick fur, and the gift of fire. He couldn't imagine anyone else trying this, picturing a small weak spirit shivering violently in a corner disturbed him. He couldn't exactly use his gift every two seconds, he had to be very careful when he placed his flame on the ground because to his surprise, underneath the snow was a very flammable forest. He had had a few close calls so far, resulting in a small pine tree crashing down and a few dozen splashes of water used in putting it out. Once he had finished, he carefully rolled the scroll back up and placed it in his bag along with the curiously shaped ink pots and their tiny wooden plugs to stop the spill. Once securing the fold on his bag, he set out to climb the next challenging part of this quest: the mountains. He sighed in dreading what lay ahead of him, he knew this part would be the hardest, and coldest. "Here goes nothing..." he gulped, forcing his legs to move forward despite his gut telling him to turn and run back to the sunny clearing of the Spirit Willow. Each step brought him closer and closer to the impossibly tall mountain range, and he got a big "your going to regret this later" message from what he was looking at. Steep cliffs slipping and dripping with sloshy wet ice, and he could tell there was no way he could make it very far up without losing his grip and tumbling downwards into the bushes beside him. But Ivar is expecting me to return soon... he thought, and pictured the tall white spirit pacing in circles worrying about him, his thin curvy ears drooping with anxiety. He shook the image from his head. Ivar knew this was a difficult mission, and therefore it took more time. Well the longer I sit here the longer it'll take, he reminded himself. His bluish white paws brushed against the rocky mountain, and he pulled back with a shiver. This would take a while.
Chapter 2: Ivar
Ivar sat in the center of a vast clearing dotted with white flowers, this was where the Spirit Willow lay, quietly letting its purple and blue branches flow with the breeze. He often came here to think, or when his worries were overwhelming him and he needed space to calm down. This was one of those times, he tilted his round face in the direction of the Willow and got up on shaky legs, letting his hooves carry him towards it. He always felt so small when gazing at the tree, as if looking at it was too much for his tiny little body, and he might shrivel up and turn to a pile of dust from doing so. He was always considered to be one of the taller spirits amongst his brothers and sisters, but it still wasn't enough to make him feel tall. Pushing his thoughts aside, he ran to the base of the Spirit Willow and ran his paws against the smooth bark. It always felt warm inside, even in the dead of winter, somehow the light inside was just enough to keep the tree alive even under the harshest conditions. Once he felt better, he backed away and stepped near the stone table he had helped create with his fellow spirits. It was kind of a meeting space, and the table was big enough for at least 20 spirits to lay comfortably on it. Covering most of the surface of the table were bits and pieces of paper spread across it making a map. There were still chunks missing, but there was enough to recognize what they were mapping. He brushed his paws against the part where the wellspring was located and focused on the big wheels sketched on there. He had always loved visiting the wellspring, it was a beautiful place surrounded by a big lake of water that spouted from it and the wheels kept the lakes water spinning so it was always fresh. Inside, there was a vast space filled with spinning turbines and moss covered tunnels that were fun to race through. His eyes darted to the small painted area to the right of it. A small field used for Moki travelers when they needed somewhere to rest, they had just recently named it "the wellspring glades" and some new houses had began popping up in the recent moon cycles. The glades were planned to be a sort of hub area for everyone in Niwen, aside from the spirits as they already had their own living space near the Willow tree. Ivar had met some traveling Moki merchants that said how the glades were coming along, and he would occasionally visit to see the progress. It felt as though life in the forest was just starting to flourish, with the birth of new spirits coming next spring, and the borders to the Wellspring glades becoming more secure, he finally felt safe living here. He was put in charge of making sure every spirit did their part in finishing the map of Niwen, and it was so close to being complete. Ziv was taking care of the "Baur's Reach" section, each spirit was chosen for a specific part of the map regarding their skills and abilities. Ziv was chosen for the chilly climate because he had the gift of fire, plus he had the thickest fur out of the spirits. Ner was in charge of mapping the Luma Pools, and she was the fastest swimmer out of the group. Not every spirit was tasked with completing the map of course, there were other things to do before the new spirits arrived, such as building new houses and assigning caretaker roles for the spirits coming. He was in charge of ensuring that their group finished the map before winter, and he had taken his new leadership very seriously. He turned his head and leveled his gaze at the spirit village, and all the tiny blue lights running around in the distance. One of them seemed to be getting bigger, and as he squinted he noticed a familiar face rushing towards him with an expression of panic. "Ivar!!" He cried, skidding to a stop and sending dirt flying everywhere "what is it Kiran?" He asked, alarmed. The spirit seemed frazzled and stopped to catch his breath, "I... had... to tell you..." he said in short gasps "are you okay? What's the matter?" Ivar asked, and started getting worried. "There's a giant bug!! Out near the Inkwater Marsh!! It's destroying everything!" He exclaimed, then fell on his knees and started breathing heavily. Oh no.. Ivar thought, his mind racing as he grabbed Kiran's shoulders, "Kiran, can you take me to it?" He asked urgently, and he nodded. "Come on! Hurry!" He shouted as he raced off towards the nearest spirit well.
Chapter 3: Ner
Ner was kicking her legs as hard as she could, as she whirled and twisted around seaweed and stray pieces of coral to try and escape the hammerhead shark that was hunting her down. Now normally, she did her best to avoid these situations, but when your in an area half drenched in water, coming across sea life was almost impossible to avoid. She had so far stumbled upon a couple of clownfish, a sting ray, and a school of minnows. She had even met a strange little creature that wore a big red coat with a small bag, and big bulging yellow eyes along with little spring coils that looked like antennae. He called himself Lupo the mapmaker, however she found him rather adorable considering he was about half her size and had a tiny squeaky voice. But getting back to the shark that was hot on her tail, she was initially trying to study the different types of fish in the water, when she parted a group of seaweed and found herself swimming at top speed from a hammerhead shark. She was honored to be chosen for this part of the map of course, and she was excited to visit some of her Moki friends there. Her legs were getting tired, and the shark was catching up to her, she needed to find land. She caught a fast current that took her slightly upward at the end of it. She looked up with her ears strained to hear an air current that might lead to land, and she finally picked up something close by. A small gap in the underwater tunnels she had been swimming through, there was light coming through that end. She angled her body upward and kicked her legs as hard as she could, trying to squeeze through. Her lungs were starting to tire from holding in so much air, and her arms pushed as hard as she could to fit through the hole. She shark was catching up to her, and she was running out of time. Her hips were still stuck and she was pushing as hard as she could, and the shark came swimming at full speed towards her, and with a ferocious chomp he bit her left leg. She screamed in pain and kicked it away, finally slipping through the hole. She paddled slowly through the water with her arms, and burst through onto a small beach with warm sunny sand. She gasped for air, inhaling in and out heavily and dragged herself to a lonely palm tree swaying in the gentle breeze. She was itchy from the sand that had stuck to her fur, and lay against the trunk of the palm tree in the sunlight. Her eyes closed softly and she took out her map, that was now soaked in water. It was very flimsy but the ink still stayed on it, and didn't smudge when she unrolled it on the beach to dry out. She sighed and looked at her leg, that was now bleeding a soft blue color. She was surprised, most creatures blood was a deep red, and she had never been injured enough to bleed out. It must be because we are born from the light of the spirit Willow she guessed, although really had no idea. The pain was starting to settle, and she looked up at the palm tree's leaves that were gently swaying with the breeze. "Hmmmm" she pondered, dragging herself to the trunk as she held her paws to the warm sunny yellow bark. Hobbling on her non injured leg, she braced herself to climb the curved tree trunk. It was long and very awkward, but eventually Ner was able to hoist herself to the top, sitting beside the palm fronds and plucking a big one from the tree. It was slightly bigger than her, and it was a little flimsy, but it would work as a cloth for her bleeding leg. She held it out to the scar, and tore the leaf in half longwise so she could begin wrapping it around her ankles, then her full leg. Once it was secure, she tied both ends of it together and checked for any leaks in the bandage. None were spotted, and she only needed it long enough until her blood clot. She sat back down on the warm sandy beach and felt something weird underneath her, she situated herself again, but hit another spot that was hard and firm under the sand. Sitting on her knees, she started digging and digging until she came upon what she was looking for, a strange stone structure that looked almost like a bowl. "Oh!" She remembered, this was one of the spirit wells she had come across during her journey, she and her fellow spirits were trying to build more, since there were hardly any of them left, and even fewer ones that were functional. This one seemed to be powered down, and it was covered in sand, but it might still work. She summoned a burst of light and guided it carefully to the center of it. Upon impact, it disappeared and the little symbols on it started glowing a bright blue, and a small wisp of light emerged from the standing platform. She sighed in relief and grabbed her map that was now dry, and settled on the well as she closed her eyes. She felt herself being lifted into the air, and a small whoosh sound blew by her ears and opened her eyes again. She was at the field clearing where the spirit Willow lay, and shimmied herself out of the well and curled up underneath one of the trees massive roots and closed her eyes to rest.