Shifter

I drift through the aether.

Insubstantial and Shapeless yet free and inscrutable.

Staring at the lives of the Living
with the will to live like them at times and morosely indifferent to their affairs at others.

I glide through the aether.

They're singing, I walk with them. I'm made flesh and they hold me. Their joy echoes in my unliving heart and I smile. It has some warmth in it.

I haunt their steps waiting for their summons. I await their stumbles and their falls patiently, my council given.

The aether beckons.

They rush headlong, they lose control. They cause their demise and wallow in themselves.

I'm flesh once more. I'm fully flesh to warm them with my touch. Gentle encouragement and kind words. Pick them up and tend their wounds.

They're strong, healthy, they can take on this world once more. They rush forth and they triumph and they conquer.

They're invincible... for now.

Slowly I become uncomfrtrable in my own skin. Lonely in my own skin I stare at their distant dashes for glory and wealth.

I shiver, I choke and talk to myself. Did it swallow me up? The winds of the aether feel weak, nothing but a slight breeze.

I can't see them in the distance anymore.

My skin, my flesh. I burn, I wither and die. I call out and my own echoes are my only reply. I close my eyes.

I burn calmly with the quiet certainty of a phoenix.

I glide through the glorious aether once more untouchable and unreachable.

In this world I may tap you on the shoulder.

I fly once again by their side. Their singing becomes half hearted and their steps falter though they do not notice.

I soar through the aether. I see their lives floating to the dark side of the moon. I see them stumble and fall and cry out. Something in me flickers.

The cycle begins anew.