Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
5
Renown
Female
Crescent Isles
Act with love and sincerity.
168 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Beak on Jun 29, 2024 7:46:47 GMT -5
... The Hag had gifted Bell the ability to be at his wife's side regardless of circumstances. in exchange for one of his greatest works at the time. That was the story, as Beak had been told in previous conversations with her datemates.
His finest work...
The work itself was never what the deal had truly cost him, was it?
"She...."
And then they asked for help to overcome their grief at the loss, and things got even worse! And she was the one who had put them in that position to begin with!
Beak has no glowing eyes to change color, no embered hands to heat up to express her anger... but the sound of scrunching leather as Beak's gloved fist curls tighter than anyone with soft tissue would ever be able to manage.
"She always twists the deal...."
And now it's her turn to feel shame: She was going to do it. She knew that the Hag always twists the deal, and that was why she'd refused. Not because the trade sounded like a bad one to her, but simply because she didn't trust the Hag to honor it fairly. Which, she wouldn't have. That was the correct assumption. But it still haunts her that she would have, that she had no comforting answers about how she refused because it would have been wrong or anything like that. The only reason Beak wasn't the Hag's latest victim is because the Hag herself had accidentally saved her through her own duplicitous reputation. Beak... has a lot of problems swallowing the notion that she only still walks alongside her family even now because the Hag is merciful enough to have given her advance warning not to trust her. If the same offer were once again at her feet, but genuine and sincere....
She rattles her head--not the slow shake of someone gesturing "no," but the quick whipping motion seen in dogs. Dogs and warriors who have thoughts that have overstayed their welcome and that neeed chasing away.
She is only mildly surprised to see Bell destroy the hammer--if anything, the fact that he has the power to do that with his bare hands is the larger surprise to her than the notion that he'd want to. To destroy one's finest work so casually would be unthinkable to her, but to destroy an object that had done this... an object that had cost the Blackfeather clan so much... yes. Good riddance.
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
13
Renown
Crescent Isles
25 solars in the void
573 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 30, 2024 17:30:57 GMT -5
“...every deal, bargain, and contract,” Rena trills softly as she packs away the pieces of Nev’s frozen corpse into a particular pocket on her satchel. no sense in contaminating the food, after all, “...carefully formulated to net her as much suffering as possible…every single Hunter volunteered for it, y’know? They saw what she did to me, what she turned me into, and they lined up for the same as though they thought they’d be able to control it where I couldn’t,” the lich stares down at her hands as though repulsed, “...I made that deal because I thought I needed it to be more useful to the Blackfeather Clan, ‘cause I thought I owed them everything I could give and more…” Rena sighs softly, slowly closing up her satchel and pushing to her feet, those massive wings of hers flaring a little for balance as she glances about…
Nev trills softly, gently tucking the remnants of their long dead offspring into their own little satchel, the raven’s cobalt eyes hardening as they crack their neck and head off once again, a sense of purpose to their strides that wasn’t quite there before…
…the wraith leads their family through the town, expertly navigating the increasingly crowded roads as they travel the intricate, winding path required to reach the Archives…
…the town seems to expand around the group as they walk, the buildings growing older and grander and larger, despite there seemingly being no space for any of it. the turns don’t make any sense, routes that should circle back on themselves instead leading ever deeper into the increasingly impossible city…
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
5
Renown
Female
Crescent Isles
Act with love and sincerity.
168 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Beak on Jun 30, 2024 22:21:55 GMT -5
Beak stops so cold, so abruptly in her tracks, that she likely accidentally alerts the rest of the family to start looking around as if she'd just seen something. She hadn't; she was just... that word just hit her that hard, made her freeze that completely.
Useful.
Rena took the Hag's deal, allowed the Hunter form into herself because she wanted to be useful. Because she wanted to be useful to the Blackfeather clan.
And if Beak hadn't known for a fact that the Hag was going to twist the deal somehow, she'd have not only taken the deal she'd been offered; she'd have done it for the exact same reason.
"Useful...." she telepathically mutters. She broadcasts the word out loud partly just so the rest of the family knows she's lost in thought and that she hadn't just seen an Iceweaver just ahead or something like that, because it does belatedly occur to her that she might have given the wrong impression there.
"... The more everyone in this family loves each other, the more each of us want to do right by all the others... and the more she sees that as a target, doesn't she? An insecurity to go after. Almost got me with it, too... only reason I didn't take the same deal you did--for the same reason, no less--is because you were unlucky enough to first. Else I'd have been the cautionary tale you learned from."
And even now, there's a part of her that wishes it had gone like that; a part of her that would sacrifice herself so that Rena could have been spared those horrors. That's... noble and all, but she really needs to chase those thoughts out of her head before the Hag tries to exploit them again.
Unfortunately, the walk doesn't prove as much of a distraction as she'd have hoped. She has... it's actualy rather sad at times if not endearingly dorky in others, the way her entire sense of direction just shuts down when following someone; you could lead the poor girl in anything from a perfectly straight line to guiding her through an actual labyrinth and she'd hardly notice the difference and wouldn't be able to find her way back to where she'd started, such is the extent of how much she's paying attention to you and how little she's paying attention to literally everything else. Thus, some time passes before she even realizes that something is weird about the city's architecture, about how the paths aren't lining up, about how this geometry doesn't make sense... though even she catches on eventually, at which point she does start to pay more attention to her surroundings, looking around in sudden confusion.
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
13
Renown
Crescent Isles
25 solars in the void
573 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jul 1, 2024 3:33:31 GMT -5
Nev trills softly, cobalt eyes flicking about, drinking in every detail, every way their people’s most sacred charge has remained unchanged…
…the family walks through the twisting city, each building they pass a little stranger, each alley seeming to curl in on itself like a serpent…the graffiti, the murals and drawings on the walls seem to loop on themselves again and again, the - something just moved.
Beak can’t get a fix on it, can’t pin it under her focus, but there’s something here with them, keeping to the shadows, the blindspots, the edges of her vision…and none of the Blackfeathers seem to notice…
…the clouds above seem to shift and roil, the buildings warping and twisting while out of sight, silhouettes appear in lit windows, and that thing in the corner of Beak’s vision seems to creep closer with every passing moment…
…and through it all, the Blackfeathers remain unconcerned, seemingly oblivious to the twisting, fractal cobbles beneath their feet…
…and at the distant end of the spiraling road, a great, crooked tower looms high above. it’s a spindly thing, akin to a mummy’s broken finger…
…and then Nev speaks, the raven’s voice soft and curious, “...how many times have you been here, Beak?” the wraith chuckles, “...that’s a trick question. no point in counting the number of times you’ve dreamt…we’re almost there. just a few more teeth…I’d advise you get your Stylus ready, love…”
Rena blinks, tilting her head in confusion but slipping her ornate Inkstone Stylus from her sleeve regardless…
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
5
Renown
Female
Crescent Isles
Act with love and sincerity.
168 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Beak on Jul 1, 2024 3:44:23 GMT -5
The elder skeleton is... concerned, to say the least.
On one hand, the rest of the family seems utterly unconcerned by these half-visions, these... fleeting glimpses. It's entirely possible that what is new and strange and alarming to her is just normal to them, and that her mentioning anything would be... perhaps a bit embarrassing, that she's worrying over nothing.
On the other hand, she still remembers the sound of Bell's voice when he looked Beak dead in the eye sockets and told her there was no one over there, where she was hearing that voice... and then Nev appeared and proved him wrong.
She... it's probably nothing but she can't risk it.
"Do you... do any of you see that...?" How does she even explain it? "It's like... something... something just out of sight, but... there, right where you're not looking...."
THat's half the reason she doesn't answer Nev's trick question; she's too focused trying to identify what she's seeing, even though it's completely in vain. The other half is that she's not sure she even understands the question or its implications, but... well, she's an uneducated warrior. She thinks about whether there's danger first and foremost; the... the understanding of... whatever Nev meant by that... second.
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
13
Renown
Crescent Isles
25 solars in the void
573 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jul 1, 2024 20:57:08 GMT -5
The raven nods softly, cracking their neck and turning their eyes skyward, “...that’s fairly standard. The Archive just wants to get a look at those who would peruse its charge…” Nev sighs, whistling a short, lilting melody as they continue walking…
…and soon enough, the wraith comes to a stop, softly trilling as they examine the blank stone monolith at the center of the square with shining cobalt eyes, “...and here we are…Rena, I believe you have the key?”
The lich blinks, silver eye lights confused and quizzical, “...I do?” and then she blinks again, her head slowly tilting as she examines the monolith, letting out a soft, slightly frustrated trill as she idly twirls her ornate Inkstone Stylus through her fingers, the intricate silver inlay catching the dim light…
…Whistle and Loci glance around, heads tilted curiously, the emerald eyed skeleton’s fingers twitching in an itch for his pencil and sketchbook as he drinks in every detail of his surroundings that he can get, while his sister examines the buildings and streets, even prying up one of the branching, fractal cobbles from the ground, turning it in her hands and watching the way it seems to twist and reshape as it turns…
|
|
Adventurer
IS OFFLINE
5
Renown
Female
Crescent Isles
Act with love and sincerity.
168 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Beak on Jul 2, 2024 3:40:29 GMT -5
"Ah, that's... a relief. I wasn't sure if whatever I was seeing or... almost-seeing... meant us harm. I am pleased to... ah... make the Archive's acquaintance, then...?"
... Wait.
Wait.
The way she's twirling that stylus around... a dark shaft inlaid with silver. That... she saw that mental image before. Just a flash of it, when Nev was talking about....
"... You do," she answers Rena, giving a telepathic smile-equivalent as she approaches her girlfriend from behind. Gently wrapping one hand around the crow's waist in a hug, the other traces up her arm and holds the hand that holds the stylus, guiding it in font of Rena's face to get a closer look.
"... And here I feared for the worst," she admits. "I thought you'd hidden the key here somewhere, counting on no one else being able to find it, and we were going to arrive here and find to our dismay that someone had beaten us to it...."
"... But you gave it to Rena as a courting gift. You sneaky, sneaky raven." Beak has to let out a laugh at that, releasing the hug she's giving Rena to go give Nev a big one as well. "I suppose I should apologize for underestimating your plan, but mostly I just want to praise... clever. Truly." Another mental grin.
|
|
Tradesfolk
IS OFFLINE
13
Renown
Crescent Isles
25 solars in the void
573 POSTS & 0 LIKES
|
Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jul 5, 2024 1:50:19 GMT -5
Rena blinks, a soft flush in the ruffling of her feathers as she glances from her girlfriend to the Inkstone Stylus in her hand, those silver eyes widening as it clicks…and then the lich chuckles, slowly shaking her head as she softly presses against Beak’s side with a gentle trill, “...sneaky raven indeed…” she smiles, taking a slow, steadying breath before laying the tip of her Stylus against the ivory monolith…dark, rippling ink flows from the point of contact, sinking into the pale stone in twisting, fractal patterns peppered with curious runes…and then the shape finishes forming and…there’s a moment of cognitive dissonance, of confusion, of disorientation as the flat, two dimensional image seems to extend impossibly deep onto the stone, giving the appearance of a doorway into an expansive, colorless hall…
…the little family is silent for a while, heads tilted as they try to make sense of the sight before them…and then Nev chuckles softly, the inky wraith letting out an amused trill as they step forward…and into the pattern, the stone and ink not even rippling as the spirit enters…
Rena lets out a soft curse, darting forward to follow with a cry of, “stars damn it, Ne-” her words are cut off as she slips into the twistiny fractal of ink on stone…
…the fledglings are quick to follow, giggling and chirping as they rush in after their Mom and Bab’sk, the sounds being cut off just as suddenly as Rena’s cry for her starry bondmate to wait was…
Bell just sighs, grumbling a fond, “...children, all of them…” before sedately stepping into the image, the intricate pattern of the hall shifting around each person within...
|
|