[
@DragonSong Continued From (https://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27319.msg403949#new) ]
After saying their goodbyes to Rosamund, the trio set off into the mountains. They intended to hike to the Skyspear and, well, figure out the rest when they got there.
Currently, they were passing through a small, windswept valley between two jagged peaks. It was desolate, devoid of any signs of life. Or so they believed.
Nani was huddled under three different layers of specially tailored coats and sweaters and she was still cold. The wind felt like it cut right through her, and she hated it.
She had no idea of Ein's seeming imperviousness to the weather was due more to his heritage, or to hers in comparison. Vander didn't seem too bothered either, but then, he wasn't exactly the best frame of reference for what might be considered a "normal" response.
"How many days did you say it would take us from here?" Nani asked through slightly chattering teeth, so intent on just getting one foot in front of the other that she wasn't paying as much attention to their surroundings as she probably should have been.
Ein thought over his answer. "Rosamund told me four days if the weather cooperates. But storms crop up quickly in the Thunderblacks, so we should count on adding a couple of days to that."
In fact, the sky was starting to look a little angry as they spoke.
"Me and my big mouth," he said, motioning skyward.
Nani glanced up and cursed in Yoreiqi, but then gave him a wry smile. "Unless gargoyles have some affinity for controlling the weather you haven't told me about, I doubt it was the fault of your mouth."
She considered that a moment, then shrugged and amended, "Not completely, anyway."
Ein chuckled briefly before taking his eyes off of the sky. Not one for playful banter, he simply resumed walking. "We should try to find shelter before the weather completely turns against us."
His roaming eyes fell upon a cave mouth a little ways up-slope. Pointing it out, he said, "That should do."
She glanced up where he was indicated and nodded, then looked down to Vander. "Can you go check it out, boy?"
The ex-dog woofed an affirmative and went bounding up the slope ahead of them, pausing every once in a while to sniff the air before he reached the cave and disappeared inside.
A happy bark echoed back down to them, which Nani took to be an all-clear.
Ein chuckled. "I take it he thinks it's safe."
As they climbed up to meet Vander, the storm sprang to life, pouring rain down upon them. Ein shielded himself with his wings as he clamored the final distance to the cave. Flicking the rain from his wings, he folded them around himself like a cloak and looked back to see if Nani was close behind.
The rain had caught Nani off-guard, and she stumbled a bit on the suddenly slippery rocks that littered the slope. She went down on one knee hard enough to split her skin and hissed quietly, pausing to try to get a look at the small cut.
It wasn't that big a deal--she'd wrap it when she got in the cave and it should be fine in a day or so--but it left a small streak of blood on the rocks behind her as she finished the climb.
She shivered when she ducked in after Ein and cast his featherless wings an envious look. "Wish I could do that," she sighed, nodding to how he easily flicked the water from them. "Feathers take ages to dry."
"I won't lie, it is convenient," he responded, leaning on the wall of the cave.
Spotting her bloody knee, he gave a sympathetic hiss, even though he had never actually done that. "Is your knee okay? You're bleeding."
Vander gave a worried whine and trotted close to lick at the wound.
Nani tried to wave the concern off with one hand, a gesture that changed to offering Vander pets when he trotted closer.
"Slipped on the rocks," she explained with a shrug. "Stupid thing to do—I'm fine, I just need to clean it and wrap it."
She shuffled further into their makeshift shelter as she spoke, both wings and shoulders hunched against the rain at her back.
Thunder crashed and the storm raged as they huddled in the small cave. Luckily, the shape of the valley kept the wind from blowing rain into their shelter.
Peering out, Ein couldn't even make out the other side. He briefly thought he saw something move, but believed it was nothing but loose rocks shifting. Surely it wasn't what his eyes suggested.
Why would there be a giant chicken out there? Or anywhere, for that matter?
"Everything alright?" Nani asked from where she was knelt with Vander leaning heavily into her side—-she assumed in an attempt to provide some sort of moral support—while she wrapped her cut.
All he was really doing was making the process more arduous, but even in his no-longer-strictly-canine form she didn't have the heart to push him away when he stared at her with worried puppy eyes.
Ein nodded, dismissing the idea. "Yeah. Just my eyes playing tricks on me."
But then Vander stood straight, his attention riveted on the cave mouth as he caught a scent he didn't like. He stepped between them and the opening and released a low growl. Lightning flashed, briefly revealing a large creature, but it was no chicken. It was more akin to a wyvern, though with the head of a rooster.
"Or perhaps they weren't..." Ein said quietly, tensing. He put a hand on Vander to shush him. Maybe it won't notice them.
Nani glanced over to see what had them both so on edge, then quickly scrambled to her feet and limped backward further into the cave as fast as she could.
"What is that?" she hissed, half in fear and half in disbelief.
"I don't..." Ein began, trailing off as a memory ran through his head. Hadn't one of his men once told a campfire tale about such a monster? Nobody had actually believed him; who would believe in a chicken wyvern whose gaze turns men to...
"Don't look it in the eyes!" he whispered with urgency just before the beast snapped its gaze towards the cavern.
"What--"
Years of hunting the jungles had instilled an instinct never to take her eyes off a dangerous predator--which this creature clearly was--but Ein's warning had her flicking her gaze just fractionally toward him.
Just enough that the creature's eyes only met hers for half a moment.
Still, it seemed to be enough.
She felt her body lock up, a frozen prey response...but something more than that. Something that made her limbs feel heavy and fogged her brain, where the usual petrifying sort of fear would have sharpened her senses.
She couldn't move. She couldn't move.
Noticing that his warning was too late, Ein prayed that the tales were inaccurate or that her special nature protected her as it had before. With nowhere to run, he was going to have to fight it off, so he had to be doubly sure to avoid its gaze in case his stone properties failed to protect him.
"Protect her," he told Vander before stepping out into the rain. He spread his wings wide to make himself seem bigger and roared a challenge, hoping he could drive it off.
The creature cocked its head, seeming momentarily puzzled by the fact that its intended victim was still flesh--albeit frozen flesh. But it was swiftly distracted by Ein's challenge, puffing up its own plumage and squawking angrily as it jerked his head from side to side. Trying to catch his gaze with its own.
Vander had planted himself in front of Nani, growling menacingly.
Ein kept his gaze on the creature's body as he strode forward. He didn't believe he could fly in such a storm, and he wouldn't abandon Nani anyway, so he spread his claws and took up a fighting crouch. He wanted it to make the first move.
"Alright you ugly chicken, come at me if you dare."
The cockatrice jerked and twisted its head from side to side again, even as it started to slowly circle to Ein's left. It made a low, growling squawk and darted its head forward to snap at his wing with its razored beak.
Vander barked a warning, but didn't move from his guard position in front of Nani--whose only sign of life was the short, rapid rise and fall of her chest.
Ein hopped back, narrowly avoiding the attack. He immediately lunged forward, raking at it with his stony talons. He had never been so quick before returning to his natural form, his real legs being built for speed as much as they were for power. But he wasn't quite used to them so he wasn't as quick as he'd like.
The avian creature reeled back to avoid the strike, squawking again, then lashed out once more--this time with the almost reptilian tail that had been swaying back and forth behind it. There didn't seem to be a needle or spur adorning the tail, but it was still a cord of thick, scaled muscle that tried to crumple Ein's right wing.
Ein twisted at the last moment, taking the hit on his chest instead. The blow sent him flying against the cliffside, loose stones clattering to the ground alongside him. It was only his inhumanly durable nature that prevented him from having any broken bones.
Pushing himself to his feet, he stared at the beast with eyes that seemed to glow in the failing light. Suddenly, he charged the beast, intending to slide underneath it and claw at its belly.
The cockatrice fluffed up the crest of feathers that crowned its head, hissing and snarling in supposed victory.
The hiss turned to a startled squawk when Ein's claws raked across its belly, and the creature reeled back, beating its relatively stumpy wings and lashing out with its tail again as it hopped backward.
The tail sent Ein rolling across the ground. He jumped back to his feet and noted the blood on his claws. He had seriously injured the thing. It would be all the more dangerous now, should he press the attack. Hopefully, it would decide the meal wasn't worth the trouble. He roared at it again, hoping it would heed the warning this time.
The cockatrice clucked and rumbled, but it was starting to back away, keeping itself curled to protect its wounded underbelly. It gave a last, accusatory sort of squawk before turning and darting away back among the rain-slick rocks.
Vander's barking after the creature changed to worried whines as he started to circle the stone-still Nani, nosing at her and pawing the ground anxiously.
Ein hastened back to the cave to check on his companion. He rushed to her side, concern written all over his normally hardened face.
"Nani? Can you hear me? Can you move anything?" he asked, worry clear in his tone.
She was able to flick her eyes toward the sound of his voice, but not move her head. A soft sound pressed against her lips, but she couldn't actually open her mouth to speak.
However, that was better than things had been a minute ago. It seemed the effects of the creature's stare were gradually wearing off.
Vander huffed and paced around her, nosing at her, but he'd stopped the frantic barking.
Progress was good. He had been terrified for a moment that she would be frozen forever. It was unusual from him, but he gently took one of her hands between his in a show of emotional support. His skin was smooth but textured, like stone but containing the warmth of life.
"It's gone; you're going to be fine. I'm going to be your guardian until then."
Nani's fingers twitched slightly in his hand, and the faintest hint of a humming sound managed to slip from her lips.
It took an excruciatingly long five minutes, but finally she was able to actually turn her head slightly toward him and blink--properly blink, which felt better than it had any right to.
Her tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth, but she was able to creak out, "Are you...okay?"
Ein chuckled; he should have known that the first thing out of her mouth would be concern for his wellbeing. "I am fine. The monster may have managed to send me rolling, but this body of mine is difficult to harm."
"More importantly, how are you? I was terrified you would be stuck like that forever."
"Feel...weird," Nani replied, still slow and a little slurred, but gradually growing clearer. "But it's...getting better."
She tried to smile, and managed something close to it. She was also able to curl her fingers slightly in his grip, and the rise and fall of her breathing gradually deepened as her chest was able to expand and contract properly.
"I'm glad," Ein replied with growing relief in his voice. He felt incredibly awkward showing so much emotion, but she had come to mean a great deal to him. He might even go as far as to say he loved her—not in any romantic way, but as someone he couldn't imagine being without. The thought of losing her terrified him more than anything in his life ever had.
Vander was equally devoted to her recovery, pressing his body against her as if his very closeness would revitalize her.
It certainly took longer than she would have liked, but eventually Nani was able to move from her crouched position. She still felt odd, limbs too heavy and breathing a little labored, but she seemed to be nearly back to normal.
She shook her head slowly even as she reached out to stroke Vander's back gratefully. "I--I thought it really got me for a second," she found herself murmuring as she glanced up at Ein. "When that first happened...I thought I was turning to rock."
She shuddered. Since coming to the mainland, she'd faced the possibility of death several times--but that? Frozen for eternity? Oh gods, would she have still be conscious, but petrified?
Ein's worried expression had given way to relief as she recovered. He had thought the same as her. "I don't want to think about what would have happened to you if you didn't have your Paladin powers to shield you from the full effect."
"Otherwise, I don't know if killing it would have undone its cursed gaze. I'm glad I didn't have to find out."
She smiled at him, perhaps a little shakily. "Me too."
With a quiet groan--gods she was stiff--she pushed herself to her feet and tried to stretch out her arms and legs. She winced at the twinging effort, but thankfully the stiffness seemed to be more from having been crouched and frozen for so long rather than any lingering stone-curse.
Huffing out a breath, she glanced at the mouth of the cave and worried her lip. "It's still raining pretty hard," she noted quietly. "Maybe we should...I know we didn't cover as much ground as we wanted, but perhaps we should wait until the weather clears..."
Glad to be past the uncomfortable emotional display, Ein turned his eyes to the storm. It was true that traversing the mountains in such weather was a recipe for disaster, and he did like the idea of giving that monster a chance to move on, so he nodded. "Agreed. The last thing we need is for one of us to slip and fall down the mountainside. Relying on wings to save us is dangerous in these winds."
"Besides, you should give yourself more time to recover before pushing yourself."
"Perhaps a bit more time," Nani agreed with a small sigh. She was starting to get rather tired of being the one slowing them down--it seemed to be a frequent state of affairs.
Vander huffed at her, and she smiled and reached out to pat his head. "I'm alright now," she assured the strange hound. "I'm sorry I scared you..."
Vander leaned into the contact with a contented grunt.
Ein gave a slight smile and joined in, giving the creature the affection he had earned. "He really is a compassionate soul, isn't he? He always has been. This, of course, made him a terrible guard dog." He smirked.
"Well, you didn't really need a guard dog though, did you?" Nani noted without really thinking about what she was saying. "You needed a friend."
Vander whuffed in something that seemed uncomfortably like agreement. Which was when the words actually register and she found color rising in her cheeks.
"Ah—I m-mean he's been...good for you, that's all."
Ein chuckled lightly, smiling faintly. She was dead on about what Vander was to him; he couldn't deny it. "That he has."
A moment later, he decided to open up. "Truth is, I never intended him to be anything else; after he became more than a reminder of my sins, anyway. I can no longer imagine my life without him—without either of you. I only know that I'm a better man with friends like the two of you."
Nani smiled and leaned over to press her shoulder against his lightly, just for a moment.
"We love you too," she assured him, without a hint of irony in her voice. Despite how much her time on the mainland had changed her, the easy sense of affection she had been raised with still shone through. She'd loved a lot of people through her life, and even though her relationship with Ein was complicated and occasionally confounding, she firmly counted him among them.
Ein cleared his throat, looking away briefly to hide the faint reddening of his stony skin. She had seen right through his words to the emotions behind them. He might as well not have emotional walls with her around.
"We should... probably discuss what we're going to say to my father's people when we find them."
"I suppose we should," Nani agreed quietly. She chewed at her lower lip for a moment, eyebrows drawing together. With a small sigh, she muttered, "I don't...really know anything about your father's people. I'd never even heard the word gargoyle until a week ago."
"I only know what Rosamund told us: that they are a people made xenophobic by their experiences with the outside world. I don't even know my father's name or how they view him. For all I know, he's seen as a criminal," he answered with a half-sigh as he watched the rain fall.
"If we aren't lucky, this could go very badly for both of us. But I know I can't convince you to let me take the risk alone, so I won't try."
"Good." She nodded quickly. "Because I'm with you." She paused a moment, then said slowly, "And...not because I have to be. I think I was--I was scared about that, for a while. After you told me, y'know...about your past. I was scared I was only with you because of this...pull."
She put hand over the center of her chest, frowning down at the stone floor of the cave. "And I can still feel it--I think I always will. But it's not why I'm staying, Ein. It's not. Being your Paladin...I don't think it matters as much to me as being your friend."
She continued to stare at the floor, then shook her head and cleared her throat quickly. "So. When we meet your father's people...maybe we should just try to be honest? Tell them you just...want to know more about them. About this part of you."
Another deeply emotional moment between them made him feel awkward, and he realized yet again that he was woefully out of touch with his own emotions. He was glad to have someone with greater emotional intelligence to balance out his stiff nature.
Ein exhaled slowly. It went against his untrusting instincts but she was right; she had done much to restore some measure of his faith in other people. "Yes. That... is probably the best plan. Lies would only put us in greater danger."
"Beside, it isn't as if we can hide my mixed blood from them. I don't know how my appearance differs, but I'm sure it does."
Almost despite herself, Nani felt her lips twitch up on one side in a hint of a smirk. She reached over to give a lock of his fiery hair a single gentle tug. "Something tells me it might be this--I can't say I really know anything about gargoyles, but judging by...well the rest of you..."
She waved a hand at him to indicate the living-stone appearance to his skin, then shrugged. "I don't think I've ever seen a rock in quite that shade of red."
Ein barked a laugh. "Perhaps a ruby of some unusual brightness but you have a point. If there's any indication of my Adelan blood, it's the hair."
Vander huffed in agreement.
"And how do we explain you, boy?" he asked the animal. "Would they even believe the truth? It is a rather strange series of events."
Nani half-laughed, half-sighed and reached over to scratch behind the strange hound's ear. "Well...I guess all we have is the truth," she mused quietly. "Insane as it sounds..."
"I suppose you're right about that," Ein chuckled.
The wind had ceased to howl, and the rain was getting lighter. It would soon be time to set out.
"Looks like it's clearing up out there. How do you feel now?"
Nodding, Nani pushed herself to her feet. She was still a bit stiff, but she was rather hoping some actual movement would help with that. "I'll manage," she assured quietly. "Besides, we don't have many hours left until sundown—we should try to make up whatever ground we just lost waiting out the storm."
When the rain finally stopped, they departed the small cave and resumed their trek through the mountains. When it became too dark to safely travel, they found a spot to set up camp. It wasn't long into the next day when they finally caught sight of the mysterious, gigantic pillar thrusting up from a broken peak like a spear. Islands of stone floated around the top, tethered to the pillar by enormous chains.
"Dear gods... it's bigger than I imagined," Ein commented, awestruck.
Nani was speechless for several moments, just staring up the improbable--impossible--sight before them.
"How...?" She shook her head slowly. "I mean, just...how?"
Ein shrugged. With awe still in his voice, he answered, "Just another mystery of the world. I doubt we'll ever know where such things come from."
"But to think that I have a connection to something like that. It's surreal. I mean, how do we even fly that high? Maybe some perch exists halfway up where we can rest."
Nani's brow furrowed as she stared up at the spire, considering. Calculating.
"...Island hopping."
She looked at Ein, starting to smile a bit. "We can do this. We treat it like island hopping—I'll teach you."
She glanced down at Vander, then back up. "You'll have to carry the dog though."
"Of course, but..." Ein paused, unsure what she was talking about. "What do you mean by 'island hopping'?"
He had rarely even seen the ocean, and not once had he been on an island of any variety. There was no frame of reference for him to grab onto. And why was the idea making her smile so?
"Ah, right." She chuckled a bit and took a few steps back so she had room to spread her wings. "So, it's this thing some of us do, back home. Before Rosamund did whatever she did to my wings, they weren't strong enough for proper flight--so I'd have to catch air currents to get any real distance."
She tipped her head, eyeing the height of the spire, feeling the chill of the air around them, running half a dozen calculations as she did. "Warm air rises. So if we can just catch a warm current, we should be able to get up there."
Ein nodded in understanding. It was, after all, what birds did. "Ah. I see. We should get closer before we try, though. And perhaps take a moment to rest so we have all the energy we'll need."
"But, you're right, it should get us up there. It's likely what they do."
"If their wings work the same way yours do, I imagine so," she agreed thoughtfully. Without feathers, Ein tended to need to do a lot more actual flapping than she did.
She glanced down at Vander and rubbed his head. "Maybe I should take him," she murmured slowly. "Less weight for your wings, mine are better built for gliding anyway..."
Vander grunted happily.
Ein thought for a brief moment before nodding. "That might be best."
After getting much nearer to the pillar, the trio took some time to rest and eat. The half-breed said less than usual, opting for a short nap instead of conversation. When she woke him later, he sat up with a stretch. "Alright. We should get going if we want to avoid flying in the dark."
Nani nodded, glancing up from their current vantage point to try to judge their distance. "The currents will be rising from the northwest." She pointed to a jut of rock not too far from their resting place, which overhung a sharp drop down the mountain "That's probably our best bet to catch a rise--once we're airborne, we should be able to navigate from current to current."
She traced a path through the air up toward the tip of the spire with her finger. "Wind is moving counter-lee--ah, I mean, counterclockwise. As long as we don't try to fly against it, we should be alright."
Ein felt fortunate to have her there to teach him these things that his father's people undoubtedly took for granted. It would have been in his nature to foolishly fight the wind itself.
"Then there's no time like the present," he responded with a nod. He fished out a pouch from their pack and tossed it to her. "The featherweight treats for Vander."
"Thanks." She whistled for the hound and tossed him a treat when he perked his ears up, clearly knowing that he was about to get food.
"C'mere, you," she chuckled, giving the treat a few moments to begin working before she bent to heft him in her arms. "Woof." She staggered a bit. "Well. He's lighter, but he's still big," she half-laughed as she tried to finagle them into a position where she could at least somewhat comfortably keep a good grip on Vander.
Ein smiled and chuckled. "He may be bigger after his mutation, but he hasn't been small since he was a pup."
He took a few steps towards the drop and glanced back with a smirk. "Last chance to weasel out of carrying him. I'm sure I could manage."
"We'll be fine," Nani huffed. Vander was letting his tongue lull happily as she awkwardly hefted him around so his front paws dangled over her shoulders. At least he wasn't fidgeting.
She jerked her chin toward Ein. "Go on then, we're right behind you."
Ein nodded back to her before taking a running leap over the drop. Spreading his wings, he managed to catch a thermal and soar upward with minimal effort.
A while later, they had nearly drifted around the pillar and were beginning to get an idea of the time it was going to take to reach one of the floating islands. They ran the risk of Vander's featherweight treat wearing off before then if they didn't come across a ledge of some kind. But so far, the pillar was without anything they would be able to land on.
It was strangely reminiscent of island-hopping, this sort of gliding upward with the spiraling thermals. It took a few minutes for Nani to fully trust that the wind would carry their weight, but once she did she began to enjoy the feeling of being buoyed along.
Of course, that relaxed, happy feeling slowly started to erode the longer it took them to rise around the Spire. "Do you think they do this in one burst?" she called to Ein across the rush of air between them. "They must have landing points, if they don't..."
"Then I compliment them on their stamina," Ein commented with a grunt, wings beginning to tire slightly. "I expect we'll find something soon. They can't possibly be tireless."
Surely enough, Nani's eyes soon spotted a darker spot on the pillar's surface, a clear indication of a ledge of some kind. With any luck, it was large enough for all three of them.
Ein, spotting the same thing, nodded in that direction, communicating his intent to investigate before banking towards the pillar.