Sun Mote Copse Starwaves

Maia was thrilled to be at an event and thrived with the challenge of the story round table.  She gave her big sister a wink when she acknowledge that some were accustomed to telling tales, and immediately her mind began to turn, drafting the tale that she'd share.

While that happened, she listened raptly to the younger members who chose to kick the session off.  Wow, those stories were good, but both kinda downers weren't they?  She wasn't much for sad stories except in specific circumstances and decided her own would be a triumphant tale to spin the mood back up.  

As Nellie finished, Maia grinned, then stepped forward herself.  Mine is a story of winter too... the tale of Amina  Ice-eyes, the terror of the north!  Maia gave a little growl to the name and a dramatic flourish.  She had never heard this tale nor told this story, but as she created the character, the details fell into place.

She didn't start with that title.  Amina lived way up north, where the ground and air freezes so cold that you can catch your breath with your paws.  Up there, all of the creatures who hunt work together because the cold is a big enough enemy to share.  Her best friend was a bear, a big white one named Weyo.

One afternoon she and Weyo were out tracking seals when they heard the wolves of Amina's pack calling for help.  He told her to run ahead, but even running faster than she'd ever run before, she was too late. Where her pack once lived she found only a gigantic wall of ice, seven times larger than her friend, even when he stood tall.

Maia paused her for dramatic effect, coming up with the cause as she did so.  At this point, the story was improv, but she (like her writer) would need to bring it to a resolution.

Amina knew this was the work of the winter king and his evil minions of ice and snow.  She was so sad that she began to cry, and she was still crying when Weyo finally caught up.  He took one look and grew angry, and he immediately knew what they needed to do.  'Bayo will help', he growled fiercely.  The king of the northern bears was a ferocious warrior and a sworn enemy of the winter king.  The wolves of the north did not have a king, as each pack had their own leaders.  The bears were different, and the legend was that Bayo was the strongest king ever seen.  So strong that he could even... like... make magic.  Oh yeah magic was totally cool, and if he was the strongest bear ever then it totally made sense.

Weyo led the way, and together they braved the journey even further north. By the time they arrived they were exhausted, but when Amina delivered her story, Beyo did not seem interested.  If she wanted his help, she'd have to prove herself by fighting him.  She had no choice.

Amina was no match for the terrible power of the king.  He threw her down again, and again, and again!! But each time she got up.... got up.... and got up.  By the end she barely could.  Beyo seemed amused, and was going to send her home, but something stopped him.  Her eyes.... they were lit as if from within.  It was almost like the ice itself was staring back at him, resolved.  That was pretty good.

'Ice-Eyes,' Beyo rumbled, his voice booming like an avalanche.  'You have proven yourself to carry a bear's spirit.  Now I will lend you my strength.  You will be my general, and gather my followers with your call.  Together we will destroy my old enemy.'  Maia mocked the bear's voice best she could, then paused again, before drawing the story to a close.

Amina's coat grew shaggy and her frame grew large, bigger than any wolf ever known.  Her teeth and claws grew sharp and strong, and together with the bears she summoned, she destroyed the winter king's forces.  When she stood before him, he was taken by fear.  He released her packmates and fled the north for good.  She grinned.  After that, her enemies knew her by her new title, 'Terror of the North'.  Her friends, though, called her 'Amina Ice-Eyes, Bear Spirit.'  Her family can still be found, wandering the north.  Big, strong wolves with eyes like ice and fur thick as a bear.

She finished, then stepped back, sitting down in the circle where she'd left from.  This was a good character!! She'd have to keep it in reserves... she liked to revisit them later.