Night.

Quiet.

But never completely quiet.

The goddess stepped over the earth with soft foot falls. Her head was high, arabian neck arched so that the moon glinted off of her peltage. Her mane was picked up and it fluttered in a cool night breeze. Her nostrils flared and she breathed in the cool fresh night air. Mist swirled around her pillars as she moved towards the clearing that all gods knew.

She stepped from the undergrowth like a ghost. The moon was finally able to illuminate her completely. Her white hide glowed, the intricate green markings that spiderwebbed across her pelt glistened eeriely. She was gloriously beautiful. Completely unique, elegant. No other horse was like her...nor would any horse ever be. She was the life blood of Zanzira, the heart beat of the noble relm. She had the The Core inside her, the creator of the world. The Core was powerful, but that did not make Eliza powerful. Eliza had only begun to tap the power that flowed through her from the cosmic being. She could only do so much.

But this she knew. The moon was full and high, and it was time. Time for a meeting.

The horse bounded forewards elegantly like a deer. Her tail fluttered in the breeze as she cantered across the green gras. Dew sprayed like diamonds from her hooves. She leapt, arching her neck and curling her legs under her, before coming down hard on the rock. The bluff like stone that sat in the center of the clearing was hard, worn, but beautiful. It was gray, with dark blacks and browns swirled in. Eliza braced herself before bounding forewards again.

At last The Core reached the peak of the bluff. She looked down at the the rock pillars arranged in a circle below her with her clear blue-green eyes.

"It is time." The voice that echoed in her head was male, crisp, clear and young.

Eliza reared, pulling her hard daggers away from the rock and flailing them against the star strewn sky. She whinnied a clear note into the sky, and then came the voice again. It was like at thunderous boom in her head, like a storm had suddenly formed and a clap of thunder had sounded.

"Gods and Goddesses of the land, gather in The Meeting Place! We have much to discuss!" The voice of the Core would boom in every God's head, calling them towards the clearing. Soon they would come. Eliza's hooves met the stone hard, and sparks flew from them. They alighted only for a moment, fluttering into the air like birds before disintagrating completely.

And then they waited...

Stripping the last meat stoms from the impala, of skin and bones it's head with eyes clouded. My tounge consuming the last few remains of it. The hyenas laugh and cackle below, as I lift my paw and the fatty tissue, organs and skin of the antelope fall and land in the savage mouths of the hyenas. I however was trying to sleep under the moon-lit sky with the stars glittered across the belt of dark blue, it shining in my green orb like eyes. My limbs hang over the wood of the sausage tree in which I lay, shifting ever so slightly to get comfortable. My head lays on the bark, my eyes close. My green dissapearing into the darkness of the sockets. I relax, my heart beating slowing and my paws relaxing. I was drifting into a sleep, another soul giving sleep.

I can still hear the snarling cackles from the hyenas as they battle over a rib cage, bloodied with the organs, that are whipped out in a few seconds, shoved down their foul smelling mouths. I raise an eyelid to watch them, running off we the few remains. Again the air turns quiet, I can finally get so real sleep. But again I am awoken.

Gather in the meeting place... gather in the meeting place

The dappled light from the moon became lighter, I knew that all of 'us' would meet sometime in the gods of Zanzira area. Where I would see my mate, how I disliked him. I did not know why but my fear of fire from an adolescent made me weary around him. It scared me to my bones. As well, was the goddess's of the wolves and horses alike. Someone I could talk to without the mention of cubs make me snarl back. Fire had killed my family, and the word of cubs brought that fear into my mind scaring me like a mamba snake does when you see it's ebony mouth, pitch black like a night when the moon does not want to show.

I swiftly glided down, smelling the mixture of Impala blood with the Hyenas. They were long gone into the sat lit night. I set off on my paws, instead of flying. The criss-crossing branches was both a danger to my wings and me alike. The baboons till after years tried to savagly kill me in their numbers. My paws touching the sandy soil, out into the savannah blur. My pace quikens to a canter into the long grass and the familiar echo of crickets. Even when the sky was visble all round, I did not use my hawk wings. Something told me that they weren't even there. Like a century old indinct to pad along with my slender paws.

Being so far from the shared lands, I ran and with the wind making my paws seem to float, like that in water; almost garvity decending. Ofcourse just a yonder was the large lake as I swooped into the air; spining at it's clouds in the sky. After flying very fast, I make it to the misty and eerie dusky fog swirling my paws. Eliza, her vains deep with the green lightof the core gittered into my green surronding of my lessing pupils. Her arab build, so slender.

Akila, goddess of the cats; has heard your plea. I will listen to your worries and your achievements through-out the land.

As soon as the words faded from the foggy scene, I leap opun a blouder near to Eliza, watching her with eyes. Watching like a predator watches the impala. I was ready for tonight's session with the god.

{GASP my best yet!}

On an anonymos spot a red glow appeared, it got brighter and brighter. Soon a flame started swirling it and ingulfed it. It's immesity grew then it quickly dispersed, and there standing majesticly was Ayo, god of the cats. He had heard Eliza's call, and he came immediantly. He looked around and saw Akila, his mate. He though got an eeri feeling. She wasn't excatly his 'type' , and she didn't seem to like him either. He though had to come, he approached Eliza, in the corner of his eye he kept in sight Akila.
" I, Ayo , God of the cats have bidded your command." He took a seat distant from Akila. He kept wits about as they all waited for the rest.

A large blue-gray wolf rested in a cave on an unclaimed peak. Neither the chill in the thin air nor the warm sunlight disturbed him. No, it was the whispered call of the Core that woke him. Gods and Goddesses... Gather ... With a sigh powerful enough to blow away the leaves piled in front of him, Azul stood up. The feathers on his neck and shoulders stood on end as the call repeated: Gather... Gather... Gather

He knew where he must go to sit in council with his fellow deities. The meeting place was as silent and empty as it was hidden and beautiful. Azul summoned a strong wind to carry him there, using the powers he had first fostered as a cub and had used the most since. With a wild howl, a gust swept the God of Wolves off his feet. He relaxed as the wind carried him over his species' homelands, some places empty, others not so.

He landed among the tall grasses just outside of the Meeting Place. He walked, alone, into the sacred grounds, the wind gently caressing his fur. As he stepped through the misty barrier, he heard soft voices. As the mist cleared, he recognized two great cats and the Core's form, a horse. I, Azul, God of All Wolves, have heeded thy call to meet. The blue-gray wolf padded softly towards his fellow beings and sat upon a flat space among them.

Aqua breathed in deep. Fresh kill surrounded her on all sides. She bent her eck down to take a nice, plump, juicy mouse. The smell filled her nostrils. This mouse had eaten well. She held it tight between her paws and bit a big mouthful out of it. Instantly its fresh taste filled her mouth as a bone crunched and its spine snapped in the middle. Its tale wriggled as she swallowed it down and she bent towards the pile for another...

Aqua awoke o find her paws thoroughly slobbered. A rock lay near her, white marks on its originally all black surface. She stood. Her stomach growled and she looked around. Mice were scurrying about, she could smell them. She dropped into a hunting crouch, planning to eat now and groom her fur out later.

She stalked it eve so carefully. She placed one paw down at a time. Making especially sure not to make a sound. Then she look out the corner of her eye for a millisecond to make sure no other creature was planning to make the hunter the hunted, and pounced. The mouse was caught between her paws. She threw it up with one paw and--

Gather, gather, gather...

Ugh... she sighed inside her mind. The mouse landed n the dirt with a thump. Aqua sighed and gulped it down anyway. She leaped up onto a nearby rock and awaited a wind. She waited... and waited... and waited....

Eventually, after a few minutes of standing there with her wings out and her head poised to take off gracefully to the gathering, she leaped down and began running to the meeting place. Her fur shone and her eyes sparkled as brightly as she could make them. Dust whpped up around her, staining her white fur and getting rid of the picture perfect image she had strived to make for herself. This was not her night.

Soon, Aqua reached the meeting place, but she didn't rush in all at once. Standing behind a tall rock, she groomed down her white fur. Her wings twitched with every stroke she made with her tongue.

She stole a glance into the clearing and cursed herself for being late. She was never late for anything. She looked down at her paws. They were still brown and muddy. But she couldn't keep them waiting much longer. Quickly, she splashed them in a nearby puddle. They were still muddy but she could lie and say she had been rescuing a pup from the water. There was no excuse for a Snow Wing to get their paws muddy by running, though.

She entered the clearing. Her eyes shone as brightly as normal and her wingtips glistened slightly. Her fur was dull though, and you could tell that she hadn't gotten a chance to completely groom all her fur. "I hear your call, Eliza," she spoke, dipping her head with respect at the Goddess of the horses'. "And, I answer. Ready to give my life for the safety of our beloved Zanzira." She hoped that the long hello would draw attention away from her tardiness.

Aqua stepped delicately away from Eliza and went to sit beside Azul.

AS USUAL, Onzilli had been staring across the beautiful waters of Dolphin Beach. Sometimes he wished to be a lord, to claim this land, but as a God he could still enter it whenever he pleased. Stars reflected on the water, making it seem that they swam within the waves.

Gather, gather... The voice was received in his mind like a golden arrow. He had been so enchanted, so mystified, that he'd forgotten to listen to it for about ten minutes. The Core wouldn't be happy at the least; Onzilli knew that, being God of the horses, he could not spend all day at Dolphin Beach, much as he wanted to.

Onzilli's majestic form galloped tirelessly towards the meeting place, hooves crashing down like thunder on the ground. His mane and tail sailed in the breeze like a boat in the waves. Within moments he stood among the crowd, tail twitching in embarrassment as he saw all five other Gods.

"I, Onzilli, God Of Horses, have arrived." The unicorn said formally, dipping his head. Lowering his voice, he also said, "Sorry I'm late."

The eyes of the mare flicked to each God in turn.

Suddenly, a shiver of dread ran through her body. But it was not her dread. It was The Core's. Her pelt tingled with fear. "What is wrong..."

The Core's shaky voice replied, it sounded absoloutley terrified of something. "Fire...fire is raining down and the sky...the sky..." Eliza looked up into the starlit sky. Nothing seemed out of the oridinary. "Eliza...Eliza...something is wrong...very very wrong..."

She was confused. Her body tensed, and she ignored the Gods. She was waiting for more information, but no more info came from the celestial being. She glanced up at the sky again. The stars twinkled back.

Suddenly, a crack of thunder sounded. Lightning lit the sky, illuminating the world in white. Her fur prickled. This was not normal. Something was wrong. The sky lit up again as another bolt of lightning flashed across the cloudless sky, but this time a flicker of red was there as well. The sky boomed with thunder louder and louder, more lightning, until her ears and eyes where blinded. When it at last stopped, she opened her aqua pools and stared again. Dark red clouds where rolling across the sky, but they where burning, burning like the embers of a dying fire.

Ayo looked at Eliza as she stood there frozen. He then watched as she repetedly glanced at the sky. Trying to make out what she was looking at he stared at the sky, then the fire came boomed down through the atmosphere. He eyed one as it went blazing down to the earth of Zanzira, as it landed he felt the ground tremor by the impact.

"Meteors," he whispered staring at the ash clouds. He felt the heat with his powers, it was pure fire. The fire though felt wierd. Up right above him he saw a very small meteor coming straight at him. He dashed off to the side as a reflex. The meteor hit the ground only slightly away from him causing dirt to fly upwards. The fir caught onto a tree and started to burn. Ayo look a bit taken back but quickly went into action.

He stared at the tree intensly and the fire died imediatly. Looking around remorsefuly, he had a bad feeling about what was happening.

Aqua glanced around quickly. She watched as a meteor nearly hit Ayo. Then the dirt spiralling in the air hit her eye and she flinched backwards. She looked up into the sky and saw another meteor coming down from the heavens. StarHerd, save me! she thought as she took to the sky.

Carefully she dodged burning rocks and flew higher and higher, trying to see above the ground and estimate how much of a problem this really was. But the higher she flew, the more meteors she saw and it became harder and harder for her to dodge the oncoming ones as they began to move faster and faster towards her.

A spark landed on her coat and Aqua dove back towards the ground. She glanced at her side and saw the spark flicker out. She sighed and flapped her wings to pick up speed. Unknown to her, a medium-sized meteor kept pace with her and followed her down.

Aqua landed, not with her usual grace, on a rock near the outer rim of clearing. She glanced upwards and leaped out of the way. The meteor landed on the rock. She yelped with fear and hit the ground, her paws covering her head. Glancing up, she saw a fire burning where the meteor had landed. She hadn't dealt with fire much in her lifetime, being an ice wolf, but concentrated her thoughts on the fire. It died out quickly and she sat up, staring out at the clearing.

How are we ever to survive this? she thought in fear. StarHerd, help us!

Though the burning projectiles did not hurt Azul, the loud sound of them smashing into the did. He flinched as a particularly large one nearly landed on Aqua. He made his way over to her, dodging falling stones. He could smell her slightly singed fur. "What in the name of the Starbeings is happening? And what in Their names can we do about it?" He murmured quietly, looking up at the firestones.

He turned his attention to his fellow gods and goddesses. Eliza looked shocked into a stupor. The rest were dodging meteors the best they could. An ember caught his tail and he sat on it to put the fire out. If we're having a hard time of it here, in this sanctuary, what is going on out there? Oh Zipporah... He thought suddenly of his daughter, living in the wind lands, and gasped. What can we do?... The question rang through the air like a bell tone...

She was staring at the sky, tuned out to everything as the rocks of death hurtled towards the ground. She could smell smoke, every particle of her body told her to run, but she couldn't. No, she was too busy thinking. Is this it? Is this the end of everything? She flicked her tail. It sure looked like it.

BOOOOOOM!

Sand stung her skin and she flinched, leaping aside. A meteor had crashed to the earth right beside her large perch. Her backlegs propelled her forewards off of the stone and she landed neatly on the earth. She gathered herself up, turning towards the other Gods with a sort of desparate determination in her eyes.

"If you can stop this, you better stop this now, if your making it happen, you better stop it!!" She roared at The Core inside of her head.

"I'm not! This is not my doing, I would never create such a thing to destroy my beloved lands!" The Core snapped back at her.

"Can you stop it?!" Eliza yelled.

"No, this is from another part of the universe, not in my control, not part of my relm."

Eliza snorted with frustration, turning her head towards the distance where she could see flickering flames. The sky boomed with thunder again. She had to do something. But she didn't know what, and The Core wasn't helping her with this at all.

Aqua stood completely still. She looked at Azul. "I... don't... know," she said to him, though her eyes stared at the sky above. Meteors crashed to the ground all around her and she felt the dust and sand stinging her eyes. She closed them tight and felt a sense of security, like she was in an entirely different place....

"Calm down, my dearie," said a familiar voice beside her. A horse figure stepped forward and she saw her old mentor and adopted father.

"OPHION!" she squeled with joy and licked his neck with joy. Then she remembered the scene that had been buzzing around her only moments before. "What are we going to do?" she murmured.

Ophion sat down in front of Aqua, his legs curled up as close to him as possible. "What's that? Oh, the meteor shower," he said, and Aqua thought she saw a smile creep across his face. "That you'll have to figure out yourself, my dear."

Aqua looked at him, her eyes wide. "Why?" she asked, her eyes shone with desperation.

"I can't help you, me dear," he said.

"Why can't you help me? You said you'd always be there for me, always!" she was getting hostile and she felt like a small pup again.

"Now, Aqua," he said, his eyes narrowing into a hard stare. "I can't help you, but I can tell you this:--"

Aqua suddenly awoke from a trance-like state in time to see a meteor about to crash down on top of her. She looked around at the red hot stones all around her, "Get out of here!" she shouted to Azul. Then she flapped her wings once and glided to a safer spot next to Eliza.

She looked up at the horse Goddess in desperation, "What are we suppose to do?" Her eyes were filled with panic as she stared at the mare.

She didn't know. She was so utterly confused by everything happening around her. She reared up, tossing her lovely arabian profile from side to side. "FOLLOW ME!" She boomed, partly with her mouth and partly with the connection that she shared with the other gods.

Her body gathered itself up, her hindlegs bunching under her. Her hooves struck the ground with ferocity that sent her forewards. Her hooves flashed faster and faster, until they where nothing but a blurr. Her eyes glowed bright blue, her tail rasing up abover her back like the banner of some sort of Crusade. Which it was. It was a Crusade.

The veins along her back and neck pulsed with light brighter than ever before. Thunder crashed and meteors began to decend around her, but she weaved left and right left and right between them, making quick stops to leap out of the way and once or twice even leaping over top of the fizzing rocks.

The shower was stopping though, the steady stream of deathly rocks zooming to the earth was begining to slow. No, now she could smell smoke, smoke was billowing across the sky.

Fire.

Onzilli obeyed instantaniously. His hooves pounded the ground, following Eliza's path except for dodging other meteors. His night-colored mane and tail flew behind him, and at that moment he truly looked not like a young, frisky stallion but the God he was.

"Where are you taking us?" he asked, now only a hoofbeat away from her.

Ayo tailed behind Eliza, glaring up at the sky everyonce in while to make sure he wouldn't get squashed. The meteors weren't heavy any more. He glanced to the side and saw flickers of red light. "O no," he gasped. He quickly went up to Eliza ,"How are we going to stop this?" He motioned to the flames. He was worried, not for himself but for the land. He could srvive the flames but the land might not.

Fire... Death


I looked at the flames, but I could not hear a single shout from my fellow gods and goddesses. My pupils widened my emerald eyes, cloaking the green. I fixed my eyes, on those fire death balls. Instinct told me to run, my heart to summon winds, and my other vital organs seemed to kick in my pass dreadful memories. My majestic, fearless cody fell into nothing but a scared cub. I just stood there, frozen in a trance I could pull out of. Memories, fire which could only add up too;

Death

Even a goddess like myself can fall into the bony hands of death. I did not fear as such, but I know of it. I had nearly died as a young leopardess. Yet I died when my parents collasped in the flames, I died when my soul mate vanished. I died when I saw the flames. My weakness, exposed more than a naked being. My ears became clogged with a terrible static, high pitched noise ringing through me like a wild beast. My frozen body, collasped, body hitting the grass under the fog looming below me. A couple of firey meteors fell near, as my wings became flightless.

Was I dying?

It felt like it. My whole body went in a strange spasim. I shrieked and growled with pain as I saw my fellow beings mouth words. I resorted to speak words in my ancient leopard lanauage. My words, make no difference, even if she was shouting. I could not hear her own thoughts. My wings caught flame. It stung me even more. Dying, slowly as they fled. I drifted into darkness, into light and repeatly. How it stung, memories, had punched me into this mess.

Aqua looked at the spot where Eliza had just stood. She blinked once and then shook her head realizing that she had almost given up hope. Then she gathered her thoughts and ran ahead, straight after the fleeing gods and goddesses.

Her eyes stared straight ahead and her paws guided her in the steps of the other animals, but her thoughts drifted to her old mentor once again. A tear ran down her furry face as she remembered how he had died. Invisible chill bumps rose beneath her white fur and they cooled her down despite the intense heat around her. She shook her head to clear it again and forced herself to concentrate on keeping up with the fast pace of the others.

Azul followed his fellow deities. He could feel the burning of the air around him as he ran. He was the last one to leave the meeting place behind as he raced to catch up with his fleeing companions. He soon was keeping pace with the rest. Hearing Ayo's question, he gasped for air. "Maybe we can't; perhaps the burning rain can only be stopped by outsiders."

He thought of his daughter again and wondered if the rain of embers had begun in her homeland as well. The flames rose in height as an unearthy wind fanned them into a firestorm. The smoke began to dye the sky above blood red. Azul's heart fell. The sight of his pure blue sky smothered and burning made him uneasy.

He tried to summon water from that sky, to douse the flames, but there was no response. In a moment, he realized a way to protect the gathering of gods from the advancing firestorm. "I have an idea! Let's start our own fires to protect us from the great one." To demonstrate, he summoned a flame and set fire to the dry grass before him. The eerie wind whipped the new flames into an inferno. Waiting until the burning area had been cleared of hot fuel, Azul lay down on top of the scorched earth, safely knowing that flames would not burn where there was nothing to burn.

She skidded to a halt at last, her muscles rippling as her hindquarters slammed down onto the earth. Dirt sprayed from her hooves. The meteors had stopped. But they had set fire to the land. She could hear screaming too. Animals where screaming and running. Screaming and screaming and screaming...

She shook the sound of desparation from her ears, and instead concentrated on the fire roaring before them like a monster.

"Do anything you can to stop it."

She said the words to the Gods. Her veins pulsed brighter than ever, and suddenly thunder sounded. It rang out across the land like the bong of a bell.

*KICKS THREAD*

Onzilli concentrated hard on his horn. After a moment, a small light sphere emerged, and when it hit a meteor, the meteor seemed to dissolve. He lifted an eyebrow and continued doing it until his energy was completely drained.

Onzilli backed away underneath a rock. He settled down underneath to regain some strength and destroy more meteors. It seemed that Zanzira's fate might be sealed.