Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts

   Was she awake, or was she dreaming? After the day's walk, she had returned with Nahia to where Bora was waiting, and... somehow, she was here, in this darkness, eerie, yet oddly comforting. And before her stood... floated? Swam? Was she on land, or in the sea, or high above in the sky? Then again, if this was a dream, did it really matter?
   Regardless, before her was a figure, formed of mist, familiar yet alien. It was... her, wasn't it? Was this her? Is this how she appeared now, or was this her true form? Whatever the case, it didn't matter. The figure would not remain as such for long, separating quickly and reforming in another three shapes.
   A heart, beating rhythmically. Something she'd never seen before, and found herself discomforted by - It wasn't a real heart, it had the wrong shape, even she knew that, but the way it pulsed made her own feel off-beat.
   Four paw prints, which she could have sworn were walking at a steady pace, were it not for the way their floating obscured them. Ambling along as if on land... something she had yet to adjust to, despite her efforts that day.
   And, in quiet stillness, a skull. Sitting there, unmoving, save for the soft calm, gentle floating of the mist itself in the darkness of whatever strange void this was.
   They each called to her in their own ways. And each of them made her want to pull away. She was no hero. She was just a lion, like anyone else. Ask the gods, not her. She was just a mortal. No powers, no weapons.
   Yet despite this, she felt as though she had to select one. What did they stand for? A heart... Emotions and such, yes? Frankly, she felt she had far too many of those already. That was a pass, easily. The last thing she needed was more fear and uncertainty. Then... The pawprints, they were physical things, imprinted upon the ground that was simply too solid for her to get a grip on. They must symbolize strength, then, strength of body. She would need that, surely, if she really did have to fight.
   But then again... Nahia had suggested that she could outplay the titan, perhaps. Strategize, drive it into the sea, use her existing strengths to her advantage. If she could do that, she might stand a real chance. Claw and fang alone could surely not stop the beast, but a quick mind... And, if she considered it, emotions were part of the brain too, weren't they? Hormones and signals and electrical impulses and neurons firing off to make you feel things in response to stimuli, that was how it worked, right? So perhaps...
   The steadiness of the skull - Not the harsh steadiness of the earth, but something stabilizing, calming - called to her, and with a deep breath, Tamaya reached out to it. If she could strengthen her mind, she could calm her nerves and assuage her fears, and use her brain to work through this problem, find a strategy to get through it, as Nahia had suggested. She was chosen to be a hero - She had to acknowledge that, accept it, and learn how to be what everyone expected her to be.
   And as she touched the misty skull, it seemed to solidify beneath her paws, while the other two shapes faded away. Her choice made, she closed her eyes and wrapped herself around it, curling up into a ball with the mysterious skull at the center.
   It was the right choice. It had to be.