http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e4Crth_Hb8
Yhl’Kirilenko Therkul lay in his bed. The old Pantera released a series of hacking coughs, remaining wordless. His grey fur covered most of his body, old yellow eyes glancing about as his tail lay motionless. The Yhl’ had experinced so much over his almost one and a half centuries of living. He reflected on it all.
His birth, and childhood. The many arguments his parents had over him, which eventually lead to his mother’s death at the hands of his father. The years of grief spent afterwards as he wallowed in pain and sadness. The hundreds of hours he spent praying up to the moon, begging Metztli to bring her back. The days of his youth, he and Khago hopping about the trees in pure joy. Him hunting the monsters of the night for profit, back in the desert of Va’Khajria. The death of Khago, leading to him taking up blacksmithing. And, the fateful day in Asulon where his tongue was removed, rendering him mute. The days of him fishing, on the wall of Va’Khajria. The war with the Orcs, leading to the destruction of the island. The sailing to Anthos, upon Xerdun’s Flight. His life on the kharajyr’s island of Anthos, as the Kun’. Him having his own kittens, seeing them grow older and wiser and having a happy life. The destruction of the new island, with him having no home. He pondered all of this, as he closed his eyes. His death was near, but he would be granted one last thing…
A dream.
And in this dream, was something of value. It was true hope and realisation that his time upon Anthos had come to a close.
It started out in a room, with no doors or windows. It was lit by a fire, which was surrounded by a set of chairs. Beautiful stone chairs with various carvings on them. Kirilenko was seated upon one of the chairs, glancing about the room. The walls made of sandstone, stone bricks, gold and lapis, all of them intricately carved in various patterns. Some of which, may have had meaning, some of which might not have. Vines crawled over the walls, giving them a look of age. Slowly, however, the vines began to un-grow, becoming shorter and shorter until eventually becoming non-existent. Kirilenko’s fur went from a grey, to a black colour as he became youthful.As he did the empty chairs began to fill with people the Pantera once knew. Ones who had died decades, if not a whole century before him. He saw as they all appeared, in a circle. Once all of them had appeared the room aged rapidly once more, as they began to vanish, disappearing without a trace. Once the room returned to its state as it had before, Kirilenko stood. He remained silent as he approached the dying flame, which quickly crackled away, leaving mere embers in its wake. Kirilenko peered down into the fire, as the logs upon which it burnt fell into a dark oblivion. The room began to fall into the same abyss, as it crumbled all around him. He glances about, filled with a mixture of fear and anxiety and...hope. The room had all but been destroyed, other than a few mere chunks of stone under Kirilenko’s feet. They promptly decayed away, leaving him falling into a dark void of nothingness.
In Anthos, however, the Kharajyr breathed out one last breath, as his body went limp. His eyes fluttered close as he left the world. Kirilenko’s body lay in his bed, awaiting discovery.
((All I have to say is that it's been a fun, sad, spectacular, horrible, exciting and generally awesome ride. Over a year as Kirilenko and his story must finally come to a close for a variety of reasons. But, nevertheless, it has still been a fun ride and I hope that you all loved Kirilenko, the Pantera.))