4 of my 6 spirits and their guardians, some of which you may remember if searched the very bottom of my scraps folder.

I found some old sketches of them and I wanted to finally give them some colour, since I’ve only ever done sketches for them. Each "pair" is roughly in proportion to each other, but not necessarily to the other pairs i.e.) The Earth spirit is in proportion to the Earth Guardian, but not to the Water spirit. Nekurasune and Shadesaber are in different poses because they belonged to a different sketch project, but it doesn’t matter since both change their size at will. For those interested I’ll go through them in a little more detail, for those that are not, please go to the next deviation in your deviantWATCH.

Going from top left to bottom right

Nekurasune: The dark spirit. Most of you should know because he’s the only real spirit that I’ve posted here… and the only one I’ve coloured before. xD In legend, he and the light spirit are supposedly the first spirits created, giving birth to the others in some climatic battle through the mixing of their blood (also where those scars are supposed to originate from, why only he became scared no one knows, I suppose it’s just one of those things. xD) Both elementals are so old most don’t even think of them as elements any more, those that do call them the ancient elements.
Insiration: random foxes and some OC’s on DA xD
Element: Dark

Shadesaber: The Dark spirit guardian: Like the dark and light spirits, the dark and light guardians are the oldest of the guardians, and so are both very strong and very good at what they do. She is particularly heartless, though loyal, despising pretty much anyone weaker then her. Some say she lost her sabre in a fight with the Earth guardian (whom she particularly dislikes) but know one knows the truth.
Inspiration: Scimitar cats… and some other felines I can’t remember right now.
Element: Dark/fire

Cheick: The Light spirit guardian: Probably the smallest of all of them, he doesn’t talk much.. or use expressions or move his mouth when speaks.. just like spirits don’t. Like Shadesaber he is nearly a spirit in strength.. but what stops guardians from become their own spirits is a mystery. (Perhaps you can only have one spirit at a time, perhaps they simply chose not to, it is unknown) He’s also the fastest of all the guardians and is often seen carrying messages between them.
Inspiration: Servals
Element: Light/earth

Kiris: The Light Spirit: Here we begin to get into the less developed characters, she has five tails that split half way down to produce two ends (so in effect she has ten tails) and little else is known other then she is disliked by the Dark spirit and is perhaps a little arrogant. She keeps herself to herself and is rarely seen by anyone but Cheick.. no one even knows where she hides.
Inspiration: Caracal, lion and… unicorns/goats? xD I might push her design a little more towards the unicorn yet though.
Element: Light

Theia: The earth spirit: (the green one) Gentle and placid most of the time… unless she witnesses you cause damage to plants. Then she can become very VERY angry. For a long time now she has retreated into her sacred forests which humans have found largely impenetrable thus far. Because of this, many of the animals there still retain mystical powers and few outsiders dear to tread there, she is the only animal known to be able to control plants.
Inspiration: Genets, pine martins and random house plants I have.
Element: Earth

Unnamed stag D<: The earth spirit guardian: Why he was chosen as a guardian is a complete mystery, he is pompous, conceited and is interested in little other then impressing females and fighting other males. His only redeeming feature is his impressive strength. Theia seems to like him however and will perhaps one day mould him into a perfect guardian.. though that day may be a very long way off.
Inspiration: Red deer and bongos
Element: Earth/water

Unnamed fox/fish, currently called Eau: The water spirit: Whether “Eau” was originally a fish or a fox is unknown, there are arguments that support both, but most lean towards fox. Now a day however she prefers to spend most of her time as a six fined kumonryu koi, shirking her duties and swimming around the oceans and rivers of the world. She is able to take the form of any marine animal, although when addressing someone she usually reverts back to the watery fox shape form (she also uses this form when travelling across land or when attacking, although often much of it is obscured by water then). Her markings are not fixed and change randomly, though the two lines on her tail are almost always present.
Inspiration: Sand fox, Kumonryu koi
Element: Water

Unnamed otter: The water spirit guardian: Said to be the only animal fast enough to catch the water spirit, he is a friendly and talkative individual, though like the earth guardian he has a lot of work before becoming a perfect guardian. Mostly his duties involve simply catching Eau so that others can talk to her. The scar on his tail is said to be the reprisal of the spirit when first he caught her.
Inspiration: otter
Element: Water/light …the design/colours may be altered slightly to reflect the light influence more.. :/

That’s enough for today I think xD I’ve still got the fire and airs to design yes so I might update this eventually with them. But I’m having a slight problem because I want each group to have some traits that animals of their elements usually possess to varying degrees (other then colour) which is proving difficult. Maybe I’ll make a sheet on day explaining that better then that.. but not today.

Background texture made up from ice and plaster from [link]
Characters © Me, ElementalSpirits