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Silence, darkness, void...Something stirred in him however; far away he could hear a voice, barely, calling out to him. He focussed on the voice and became more distinct by the second. He remembered that lovely rumblepurring voice..he had missed it. Lovingly but getting more clear, still with some far away echo: "..Drias...Drias. Wake up Drias, wake up..." He saw her face, that well-formed smooth muzzle, those lively vivid yellow eyes.Djakarii? The muzzle went to his cheek, giving him a slender but truthful lick. The smell of jasmin that lingered in her fur penetrated his nostrils. He sighed contently with a purr. Djakarii, Drias missed you so much..._A hearty chuckle could be heard and then a clearer female voice: "You silly kitty, get up, you're needed for Dranae's _"Iheithian". Drias' widened and he jumped up immediately, remarking somewhat confused: "Drias almost forgot about that..." He walked straight to the entrance of their living, a small home made from clay and branches which at one side had a thick treebranch as a wall. A smirk could be heard and he peered at his spouse; a tan coloured, slim, auburn haired female cheetah, wearing a long ivy green dress. She looked at him from head to toe, hands on her sides and nodded: "Although I still think wearing nothing at all suits you best, I think it would give a bad impression to wander into an Iheithian like that..." Drias coughed and peered down himself; just another agile spotted male cheetah. He however was maybe a bit more lean and slimmer than most. Some might even call him thin. He walked to the side of their living where he found his usual clothing, hanging over a branch which emerged from the large branch which formed the main wall in their home; black sturdy leather pants and a black sleeveless leather armor top with hardened plating in it, which exposed most of his waist, back and belly. He also took the satin black hooded cloak and draped it around him before he fastened the thick leather laced bracers. He left both his swords in the weaponrack; an Iheithian was no warzone, but a joyful but hard trial for another young Sheida.

The year was 1437, in humankind counting. For Drias' race, the Sheida it was merely called the 12th year of the Raven. One year in Sheida terms was equal to nearly 5 human years. The Sheida were a race consisting of anthro felines that could not die through age. Although their higher than human resistance against diseases, diseases could still nest in their midst but rarely were fatal. The Sheida's appearance resembled that of several feline-like species and although the largest portion of the Sheida looked like cheetahkin (60%), other felines were present also; lynxes (smaller than the cheetahkin) and pantherkin (black and more robust and muscled then the cheetahkin). Eventhough the versatility within the species, it wasn't uncommon that the three different subspecies mingled together. In their own speech the cheetahkin were called "Shara-Sheida", the lynxes "Reinin-Sheida" and the pantherkin "Velron-Sheida". The Sheida were by nature more shadow-loving/nightcreatures; the sun could harm them if it came directly on their skin. The dense leafy forest however never gave any entrance to the sun. The pantherkin seemed more resistant to the sun and these could be found on the grassy plains outside the forests as well. Mental powers weren't present within the pantherkin however.

The Sheida were a peaceful shamanistic culture which barely had rebuilt itself after the war with the previous king of Rajuss. The conflict on Rajuss had brought the Sheida closer together. This however had made them more suspicious regarding outsiders. The society of the Sheida consisted of clans spread all over the Island. They had no king nor any ruler and war was only against outsiders and not within their own race. Their economics didn't involve coin but fared through trade between the various clans. Trade overseas barely happened; the Sheida preferred the seclusion of the Island. On the mainland, Rajuss, where the humans roamed, their kind was seen as a myth, though a dark one. Over 120 years ago the king of Rajuss stumbled upon the Sheida through exploration. Seeing the fightingskills of the felines and due to their heightened senses and instincts, he started raiding the villages and kidnapped the children on a massive scale. The children he brainwashed through extensive training before they reached their Iheithian and slowly he forged them into lethal assassins to annihilate his opponents. The people however were told told that the Sheida were invading their country, which gave the king public motivations to raid the Sheida. Although the Sheida were physically faster, stronger and their senses were better, they were overpowered by the mere amount of humans invading their Island and thus were vastly outnumbered. In the end the king was assassinated by a group of which Drias was part of. The shroud was uncovered and the plot of the king was brought in the open, which started a revolt. Others seized power in Rajuss afterwards but the Sheida were left alone. The stigma of the assassinating felines would still linger for decades to come however. The Sheida hadn't been at war ever since and within the time of peace the felines rebuilt their society and culture again.

The race of the Sheida couldn't be distinguished from the human race till the age of +/- 22. After this the young Sheida would transform into a full Sheida, a full anthro feline. This transformation was called "Iheihtian". Iheithian resembled the release of the animalside from the fragile humanoid body and happened within one or two nights. Every "Iheithian" needed a guide that helped the young Sheida through the transformation, and Drias was one of those guides too. The "Iheithian" was seen as the growth to adulthood and happened only once in the life of a Sheida. An Iheithian was the cause for a big celebration in the village. Drias had a function within his clan as a sort of Shaman; he could read thoughts and even implant them if he wanted to. However, his gift was only used as communication between the various clans to establish trades and to help others, if they wished. Every village had several Guides like Drias. A Guide was seen as a profession like any other, like leatherworkers or smiths but a bit more ceremonial.

The Sheida lived within clans in small villages. There weren't big cities present on the Island. A big part of the Island (85%) was covered by dense forests with trees that were the size of at least 3x that of the normal inland trees. Villages were situated in the treebranches themselves and one tree could be large enough for a whole village. Because most of the villages were situated in the trees, the infrastructure was present in the trees also; big hanging bridges made of dense manthick ropecables and sturdy wood connected the trees together. The roads were broad enough for carts to travel upon. The houses of the Sheida consisted of clay and woodwork, which were draped around the thick coiling branches of the tree. They almost seemed to emerge seamlessly from the trees themselves, indicating that the Sheida were in balance with the nature around them.

After being dressed he walked over to his spouse and gave her a slender lick over her muzzle. She chirped and nodded him bye as he opened the door and went out. The village was located within the middle section of the branches of the giant tree. The trees had dark red bark and carried yellow golden leafs. The organic formed livings, which were planted against the treebranches were situated around the centre of the tree; leafy paths were formed around the trunk itself in several terraces. The terraces themselves were connected together by broad winding stairs. The village itself was busy as usual; the leatherworker was busy outside his shed and gave Drias a friendly nod as he passed. Every clan was like a community; everyone knew eachother and there was a high social control. Hunters were always around, bringing in foodsupplies; game, herbs and other necessities. Some children ran around, chasing after a cotton ball. Even if they looked more human, they were raised like the full Sheida they would later become. A cry of agony reached him; he had reached the home of the female that was having her Iheithian. He knocked on the wooden door and it was opened right away. A proud and glad male Reinin-Sheida let him in. His eyes showed worry too though, an Iheithian could be very intense. Drias nodded at him and peered at the female that now sat straight in bed. The young woman was sweating heavily and even though her appearance still looked human, her eyes were that of a feline already. Fear could be read in those eyes, almost an animallike fear. With a sigh she fell down again on the bed, exhausted. The bed was a layer of thick vines weaved together on several sturdy branches which were set against the wall. Warm and cozy rabbithides that were stitched together formed the base where the woman laid upon. She stared at the ceiling, somewhat feverish and turned her head towards Drias: "How long will this take? Will it hurt?" Drias sat down a couple of meters away from her and had closed his eyes already. He answered: "This is the first night and most likely it'll be the only night needed. However...some need two nights." He paused for a moment before he resumed, his hands on his knees, concentrating: "It will not give any pain, see it as your second puberty. It might be confusing at first; you'll smell things you didn't smell before, see things more clearly than before. Just follow the flow, Drias will guide you." The woman seemed content with the answer and closed her eyes again, this time a bit more relaxed. Her breathing slowed again after a couple of minutes; she slept once more. Drias still sat down and started to make a connection with the female's mind, to guide her into her new self and making sure the balance between her animal instincts and her own mind stayed equal. He took a deep breath and let his thoughts wander...expand outside his own body. He then sought out the thin thread of the mind of the female next to him. It was easy to find; it was vibrating, incoherent and shifting colours. He frowned however; something was wrong; a shadow came over the connection, a gloom. Suddenly his own thoughts were spinning, totally out of control. He tried to break the connection, which didn't work. He tried not to panic, to stabilize. However, the spinning became faster until his sight was clouded and faded away. He tried to reach out to reality desperately but then all went black; Silence, darkness, void...