#typhaon

Smoke humming down a log's bruised neck

The spruces, they burn black, but they'll sprout back up again

Would I show who I am, if I knew this world would end?

The Okapi, Vessel of Leshy and the New Chaos. Madness in burned skin, yet with warmth hidden in the smoke. Verily a child of Chaos, she doth shift betwixt male and female at whim, ever unstable and impetuous. A frantic and lively Creature, folk are drawn unto her for the freedom she bestoweth. Depravity and recklessness are her chosen aims; she holdeth that anarchism begetteth independence, and independence bringeth joy. She smiteth the heretics that would bind, seeking naught but liberty. As the Last Okapian, Typhaon refuseth to leave the world confined in its own cage.

Before the world sharpened its teeth, Typhaon lived a warm, noisy, beautifully chaotic life with her three brothers, two sisters, and two fathers. But then came the genocide of the Okapia. The invaders burned monuments until they curled into blackened ribs. They torched villages until they sank into their own ashes. And one by one, they dragged every Okapian they could find toward the flames. Her fathers were taken first. Her siblings followed. Bound, hoisted, set alight, each becoming another terrible pillar of smoke twisting into the sky like a plea the heavens refused to hear.

The world was ending one body at a time, and the fire feasted without mercy. Finally, they seized Typhaon - shoved her toward the inferno, the heat kissing her face like a cruel mockery of affection. She was the last. The very last of the Okapia.