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[Govan]

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Coming in the front door, Govan was glad she was finally home. She had taken Daishi, her white wyrm friend, out for a short hunt, but even that short time seemed to seep the life from Govan. She tired easily as of late, yet, despite that, she went on many of the hunts with the guild that she was in, and still went out with just some of her animal friends. Today, like most of the times previous, Govan was so exhausted, she had to let either of her nightmare friends, Raven or Fafnir, or, like this time, her unicorn friend, Winter, continue to carry her until they reached her room, on the third story of her house. There Govan, as usual, slid off the 'mare's back, on to her bed, where she quickly fell asleep. Charis and Aisling watched her carefully, worried that she was becoming sick yet again. This time, Aisling, the burning-now-yellow pheonix, stayed perched on Govan's headboard and watched her until she awoke, all the while taking notice of little changes in Govan's appearance and sleeping behavior.

This nap Govan took lasted several more hours than usual. She awoke a couple times, only to fall asleep again. When she finally woke up for more than a minute, Govan found Aisling peering down at her, with a much worried expression.

"Have I slept long?" Govan asked. "I feel as if has been but a couple minutes."

"You have all but slept the day away," Aisling replied, in pheonix speech. "The sun's evening rays are peaking through the window."

Govan lifted and turned her head to see the window, only to find that it was true.

"How do you feel?" Aisling asked.

"Tired. Weak. Quite hot. Like I have hardly slept at all."

"Rest some more. Charis is making some broth for you."

Govan nodded and layed her head back down. It wasn't long before Charis brought in a mug of broth, which Govan drank ravenously. Aisling then instruced Govan to continue to rest, and Aisling and Charis quietly left the room to allow her to do so. They went down to the Common Area and proceeded to discuss Govan's condition.

"I do not like it," Charis spoke. "She sleeps too often and even small trips out of the house weaken her."

Aisling closed her eyes and nodded. "There is something different about her. I am not sure yet, however, if it is a bad difference or not."

"What do you mean?"

"There are small changes I have noticed about her, but they might be circumstantial."

"What changes?"

"Her skin color has grown a little more pale, as have her hair and eyes. She also sleeps as she hibernates."

"I noticed that as well. What do you make of it?"

"We must watch her a bit longer, but I suspect that she is approaching her adolescence."

"Adolescence? Is she not past that?"

"It is one of the differences between her people and humans, though nobody really knows how it came to be as such. Her people age slower, and so experience adolescence later in life. They also experience it in a quite different manner, as I understand humans."

"How so?"

"The first stage consists of what we've seen, becoming easily exhausted, becoming pale, and sleeping often. The second stage consists of finding a quiet, secluded spot and hibernating, so to speak, and, thus, not being seen or heard from for quite a while, sometimes a week, sometimes several. This is usually followed by an emergence, where she will come out of hiding. Usually, there will be some physical changes, if even slight ones, and her hair, skin and eyes will look temporarily frosted-crystalline in color and texture. She will also be accompanied by a guardian spirit, which will be in the form of one type of animal or another. The guardian spirit will then stay nearby at all times until either the her appearance returns to normal, or until she has fully readjusted to the world around him or her, then it will disappear only to return in times of trouble. She may seem quiet and dispondent at first, but it is only for the time she spends readjusting from the quiet seclusion to the normal world."

"How does the guardian spirit come to be?"

"No one knows for sure. Some believe the adolescent summons it from the surrounding energy, or from his or her own life force. Others believe it is born as a child, yet leaving no signs of birthing. Yet, nobody ever witnessed it, so none can really know."

Charis nodded. "Could we possibly convince her that her room is the quiet, secluded spot she needs, if she is about to go into that stage?"

Aisling looked as thoughtful as a pheonix could, considering the suggestion. "Perhaps. If we were to cover her windows so it is dark, and perhaps enclose her bed somehow, perhaps she will accept it."

Charis nodded again. "I will talk to the crafters. Perhaps they have an idea on how we could do so."

Aisling dipped her head in a nod. "We must be quick however. If she is entering the second stage of adolescence, she will need her spot soon."

Charis nodded. She stood up, donned her cloak, and left the house, heading to the crafters' and vendors' house, a short ways away.

Aisling looked towards the stairs. "Things will be well, one way or another, Govan. You just wait and see." The pheonix then headed down to the stables where Winter, the unicorn was last seen heading. Aisling would speak with her, Fafnir, and Raven about everything that might be happening.
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[Govan]

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Three weeks had passed. The crafters did come up with a few ideas to make Govan's room seem as it needed to be. The next time Govan went out, a tent-like canopy was constructed around Govan's bed, and the windows were covered with thick cloth. The ideas worked. When Govan got home, on the back of Winter, the unicorn, Winter took her upstairs, as usual, though this time, nosed under the front panel-cloth of the canopy, and then let Govan slide down to the bed. Winter's leaving the room was the last anybody heard from the room since.

It was late during the middle day of the week, when a little bit of sound came from Govan's room. Charis and Aisling perked up at once and quietly rushed to Govan's room. They opened the door just barely enough to see what was happening. The front panel-cloth of the canopy seemed to be being poked from the inside, as if something was trying to find its way out. Once it reached where the panel ended, it poked out, gently, warily. It was a quite-large canine nose. The long muzzle and the rest of the head emerged, showing it to be only the beginning of a extraordinarily large wolf. As the wolf continued to emerge, it became obvious that the wolf was two or three times the size of a normal wolf. It also appeared to be made out of crystal or glass, not really transparent, but soft and glowing in nature. The guardian spirit wolf looked around after it was completely free the fabric of the canopy. Aisling glided in, knocking the door open a bit further, and landed onto the desk, then greeted the wolf. The wolf seemed momentarily startled, but seemed to quickly recognize the pheonix, almost like an old friend. The two animals conversed in their own tougnes, yet not in any animal language Charis could recognize or understand. It was only after what seemed like several minutes of explaintion that the wolf gave a curt nod to Charis, as if recognizing her as a friend of Govan's. Aisling turned her head and looked to Charis.

"We can take down the cloth from the windows," Aisling said in the pheonix speech she usually used to speak to Charis. "The canopy needs to remain for a while longer. Also, Govan will be hungry when she emerges. We must fix some broth that will be easy on her stomach."

Charis nodded. She went into the room and took down the window cloths, then headed downstairs to start fixing another pot of broth. Upstairs, the wolf nosed under the canopy and seemed to communicate to Govan that it was time to wake up and safe to emerge. After a moment, and some rustling behind the canopy, the wolf slowly backed up, this time, a pale, frosted-crystalline hand was weakly holding onto the nap of its neck. The wolf held still as two pale feet slipped down from the bed and found the floor. Another crysalline hand pushed the canopy panel aside as its owner tried to get up, leaning heavily on the wolf. The young lady that emerged could have easily been mistaken to be someone else. Govan's skin was pale and crystalline, like her hands, her hair looked as if each strand was a glass thread, and what little that could be seen of her eyes, between her half-closed lids, was almost white, more like a very light, icy, grey. In addition, Govan's ears seemed to have become pointed, showing her Elven heritage. Her dress hung quite loosely over a frame that looked possibly stronger than before, but Govan would need to regain her weight first, to be sure. Aisling wondered what Govan would look like once her color and weight returned. In the meantime, Govan appeared to still be tired and very weak, as well as rather sensitive to the light, which was understandable, having spent three weeks in complete darkness.

The next few days for Govan were spent regaining strength and weight. Charis kept a steady supply of broth ready, and Aisling and the wolf stayed with her, encouraging her to either keep moving around, or to rest, whichever was needed, even though Govan seemed to only hear the wolf. As Aisling predicted, Govan was quiet and dispondent for the most part. Her vision only seemed to emcompass the wolf, and anything in her path that she needed to avoid bumping into. It seemed that those three weeks in seclusion had also taken quite a toll on both her mind and body. She was just skin and bones and did not have much energy. It really was no wonder she paid heed only to the wolf.

Late during the second week after Govan's awakening found Govan in much better condition. Her hair had regained some of its color, her figure had regained a healthy slimness, and she was much more alert to everything around her. Between the wolf, Aisling, and Charis, they decided to start letting her eat more solid foods as well. Govan's skin was still rather pale, but her overall health was much improved.

It was a few days later that the guardian wolf decided that she was well enough to be on her own again. It made its goodbyes and told Govan something which only she understood, then it vanished into thin air. Govan smiled and her eyes sparkled a little, and everybody knew everything would be just fine.
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