So I have the small hobby of writing bios for every pet, and stories for every pet site that I come across. Unless I'm missing something, I don't see a profile page for my sylesti, so I'm just posting this here. This is a constant work in progress, so please don't post anything!! I'd be happy to have a conversation by PM though! These will be unbeta'd and un-proofred, so warnings and apologies. With that aside, onward!!

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Not many paid any attention to the sudden increase of wandering sylesti. Seeing flocks of Aurleon, or the occasional roving pack of Vulnyx wasn't exactly an occurrence that needed to be documented. However, there have been rare occurrences when someone was seen wandering alongside the nomadic sylesti. No one really knows who they are, or why they so frequently went from place to place. Not many even managed to get close enough to look. The person was always in the middle of the sylesti cluster, and anyone who tried to breach past it was met with piercing glares and furious growling from the sylesti.

The group came and went, never hostile and never friendly. Once or twice, the mysterious person would pause by a particular city to help look for rare medicinal herbs, get rid of bandits, or any other mediocre tasks requested of them. An oddly coloured Aurleon goes back and forth with written letters asking for help, and the replies given to such letters. If any compensation was given, the Aurleon carried it back too. No one really spoke to the person behind it at all.

But people were still people. Despite the air of mystery, or perhaps because of it, stories and myths began to spread. The nomad who lived with sylesti: one with skin pale as moonlight, hair as black as a raven's feather, and a cold, ice-coloured gaze. Some say that they brought misfortune wherever they went, others proclaimed them as a bearer of good luck. Skeptics wave them off as nothing but a reclusive adventurer who just didn't speak, and others suspected that they weren't even human.

Whatever the truth was, the ice-eyed person never became anything more than a rumour whispered amongst villagers. The nomadic horde of wild sylesti heralded their arrival; the group ever-changing as sylesti came and went.

More rumours sprang up: the group rescued sylesti from bandits, took in eggs that were left behind by their parents, acted as a sanctuary for those who had nowhere to go. No one could really prove the theories. No one could disprove them either.

So they left the nomad be.

People began to keep better track of the sylesti after that.

Arias was the first.

The very first memory he had was of cold eyes peering down at him. They were the colour of winter's ice but to him, he saw only warmth. Although he would never learn the concept until he was older, Arias was abandoned. Left for dead, the only feasible way he survived was because this person saved him. Yet, even for Aria who had known them longest, their name was a mystery. So Arias gave them an alias: Ice.

It was an ironic name. Ice was not cold, Ice was not heartless, Ice was not cruel. Still, it was the first thought that came to Arias whenever he thought of his savior. Those eyes could freeze someone if Ice willed it.

Which is why the humans weren't so welcoming of his friend.

They traveled. Wandered would be the more accurate term. Staying in one place too long meant exposing Ice to the capability of humans to cause harm. At the time, Arias was still young, dependent for food, shelter, and safety. Despite the circumstances which pitted the world against them, Ice somehow got them through.

There were still things that Arias didn't understand.

He didn't understand why humans avoided Ice. He didn't understand why Ice never spoke a single word. He didn't understand why Ice still helped humans despite the obvious distaste from both parties. These were only a few of the mysteries surrounding Ice. Spending his entire life with them didn't clue Arias in the slightest.

Still, it's not as if he was going to leave, so it didn't really matter.

Ice is safety, warmth, love, and family. In many ways, they were the one constant in Arias's fleeting life. Being together with Ice taught him how the other communicated.

A brush of Arias's feathers, a flick to his forehead, the subtle roll of their eyes, soundless laughter, a pursed lip, a relentless glare. In time, reading Ice's face became just an effective method of communication as the words humans often spoke.

(Unfortunately, Arias couldn't understand humans that much, given that he only recently started hearing words)

Right now, Ice wore an expression of loneliness.

Arias saw that face more and more often. While it was plainly obvious that Ice enjoyed his company, it was just as obvious that there was something missing in their weird-enough normal. When Ice fervently gestured to the rolling expanse of nature around them, there was a lapse in his arm, a hesitation to his fingers. It was the look of someone who wanted something, but didn't know what it was.

The loneliness didn't abate.

While Arias didn't really feel whatever Ice was feeling, seeing his companion stare wistfully in the direction of the villages they passed sent a pang through Arias. Here was the one person who gave him a place to belong, and Arias can't even figure out how to help him!

Then, that incident happened.

It was after they finished systematically eliminating the bandits surrounding Esior's Haven. Arias preened his feathers, resting after a difficult battle. Ice frequently wandered after fights. Although they looked frail, they could easily hold their own in a fight until Arias got there. Or, if all else failed, they could run and escape. Besides, Ice never wandered far anyway.

Arias finished preening himself, and Ice has yet to return.

That was when Arias began to look for him.

What he found was something he never even expected.



Ice sat on the ground right beside an abandoned egg. Their face was a mixture of concern, sadness, and anger. One look told Arias all that he needed to know: This was how Ice found him, as an egg, abandoned and left to the cruel mercy of the world. Seeing the egg incited memories in Ice that he'd rather forget.

An idea came to Arias.

With a gentle nudge, he brought the egg closer to Ice. The shell made contact with their hand, and an incomprehensible look came to their face. It was then replaced by worried confusion.

Why did you give me this?, they seemed to ask.

Arias gave the egg another nudge, more insistent.

As Ice caved in and held the egg in their hands, Arias inwardly cheered. He found a way to solve Ice's problem. In whatever small way, he could repay the one who showed him such love and kindness.

Now came the part where they had to look for more sylesti to expand their family.

The egg is a Zolnixi.

How do I care for it? I've never even been remotely near Zolnixi before. I mean, I've never been near an Aurleon before I found Arias, but taking care of one Sylesti doesn't really make me qualified to raise two.

Right?

Oh, Arias is laughing at me. Is there something on my face?

...

I look weird? How? Why?

Well, nevermind that. I know why I look like this. Arias just handed me an egg! I know I cared for him, but raising a Zolnixi is severely different compared to raising an Aurleon.

...

Well... I don't have any experience in raising anything. I just couldn't leave him alone when I found him. Of course I don't want to leave this Zolnixi behind either, but it's not as if I can feasibly care for it properly. I mean, Arias turned out fine, I think, but I can't exactly stay in one place and give him a home. Arias is family, and we keep moving. This zolnixi would be in the same boat, wouldn't it?

We've been travelling around with it for a few days now. It seems healthy enough. Arias still has this smug look on his face like he discovered the answer to the world's biggest mystery.

Maybe I should go back to Esior's haven. Elora sent word that some of her pets were missing. Again. She should keep better watch of them.

...

What's that noise?

It sounds like wings, but Arias is sleeping right beside me. What on earth?