~~ Face Off ~~

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
When I last astral travelled during the New Moon, I had the honor of finally meeting Unique for the first time.
I woke up in the usual clearing in the woods. It was night and the sky was being strangled by clouds. Rain drops were streaking the sky and flattening my light, purple dress against my skin. I was bare feet and shivering. In the shadows of the trees, a wolf was staring at me, its gaze glowing like embers in the obscure black of night and its outline scarcely discernible. I was frightened, but the wolf did not stir. Eventually, attempting to ignore its eyes which seemed to drift like two fireflies between the shadows, I tentatively began to move my feet over the soggy grass and the slick, jagged pebbles. Not so far away I stumbled on slippery stone steps that led underground and I knew I had to descend. The tunnel was filled with murky, ice cold water. Nevertheless I took a deep breath, paid no heed to the icy tongues that slyly licked my feet and descended the steps until the cold enveloped me in a petrifying embrace. I waited. After a while I felt the strong grip of sturdy arms around my motionless body. Someone pulled me out and dragged me unto the flat stone which appeared to be the floor of a dimly lit cave. An enormous cauldron hurled its shadow over my dripping hair which clung to my face like seaweed to the rocks. Unique smiled. Her face changed continually from that of a hag, to different animals, to a middle aged woman with extremely thick, frizzy white hair bound together in a bushy tail. I scrambled to my feet and accepted a furry cloak to warm my trembling body. In order to speak with her I had to give her a gift, so I gave her the turquentine necklace I was wearing. She then beckoned me and instructed me to stare into her cauldron. Faintly skeptical and unsure of what I would see, I obeyed. The water in the cauldron turned into a whirlpool and sucked me in. When the world stopped spinning I stood in the middle of the woods: it was day and a person I had wanted to see stood beside me.
All in all, what surprised me the most is that Unique did not come across as a daunting, intimidating character. She rather came across as an older friend in possession of wisdom that has been gained through the years and with a mocking sense of humor. Unique to me always appears more like a mother figure, at times she is the tender, considerate one and sometimes she is more aloof. It is interesting to see how every face of her has an own personality and how this colors your dealings with them...