Lost Fledgling [MadEmperor]

DragonSong · April 12, 2023, 08:29:13 AM

Lanaya nodded, expression sobering a bit. "I will do my best," she told him softly and solemnly.

Lenore croaked from her perched on the windowsill. Come, youngling. Let's get you cleaned up.

MadEmperor · April 12, 2023, 09:21:27 AM

Grimr answered by flapping over to join Lenore at the window.

He returned after a little while, looking like a whole new ~~man~~ bird. Landing on a low perch, he looked at Lanaya with an expectant tilt of his head. How do I look now?

DragonSong · April 12, 2023, 10:49:08 AM

"Very handsome," Lanaya assured him with a small smile. She had arranged a few sticks into some sort of glyph in the middle of her nest. There was a small pot—or, really, more of a cauldron—just starting to bubble in her fire pit.

"Come inside," the witch urged as she moved to the fire and stirred whatever the mixture was, first clockwise twice, then counterclockwise three times.

MadEmperor · April 12, 2023, 11:29:17 AM

After some hesitation over whether to trust her, he fluttered down to stand within the glyph. He had nothing left to lose. And he would have to trust somebody sometime if he ever wanted to be human again.

What... He stepped back and forth nervously. What are you going to do?

DragonSong · April 12, 2023, 04:24:06 PM

"I am going to..." She trailed off, humming as she tried to think of the best way to explain it. "I am...essentially going to dissect the curse. Or, well, I'm going to look at it's inner mechanism, if that makes sense. Like taking a clock apart to see how the gears fit together. Except, since it's a spell, I can't actually take it apart--I have to make myself a window to look into it."

She paused, tilted her head at him. "It will likely feel very strange. But if at any point you feel pain, you must tell me, and I will end the spell. It isn't supposed to harm the subject."

MadEmperor · April 12, 2023, 04:33:24 PM

Grimr suppressed the relief he felt at learning the process shouldn't hurt. He didn't want to show fear; fear was weakness. Go for it then. He wasn't rude, exactly, he was just impatient.

DragonSong · April 12, 2023, 05:01:26 PM

Lanaya gave him a small smile. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait just a little longer--this potion I'm brewing will make you more receptive to the spell. But it's almost done, just a few more minutes."

She stirred the contents of the small cauldron again, looking at him sidelong. "So. What will you do, if we can get this spell lifted from you?"

MadEmperor · April 12, 2023, 05:30:24 PM

The answer caught the cursed boy off guard. After a lengthy silence, he answered uncertainly, I don't know.

Go back to my friends in Ketra, I guess. He said "friends" in such a way that made the relationship sound like all he had in the world. She also got the sense that his idea of friendship was a bit skewed.

DragonSong · April 12, 2023, 05:44:24 PM

"Oh?" She smiled at him gently, then leaned over her cauldron to squint at its contents. "It sounds like they mean a great deal to you—they must be very worried for you, if you've been missing for a few weeks now."

Gale gave a sleepy hoot from the woven canopy above them, and Lanaya glanced up with another soft smile. Maybe her own idea of friendship was a bit...different. "A flock is important," she murmured, reaching over to take a pinch of dried leaves and crumble them into the potion.

"What will you do when you are back with your friends?"

MadEmperor · April 12, 2023, 06:30:20 PM

Keep surviving. Grimr said with a tone suggesting a shrug. Nobody else is going to look out for us but each other.

Anything is better than the orphanage.

DragonSong · April 12, 2023, 06:42:11 PM

Lanaya paused. She glanced at him. "Orphanage?" Her voice was still gentle--she wasn't going to push him to give her answers if he didn't want to, but she still felt that she had to at least ask.

MadEmperor · April 13, 2023, 06:25:41 AM

Grimr lowered his head. A terrible place. They barely fed us; they beat us, and in my six years there, not one kid left. We were only there to be forgotten. So a bunch of us escaped.

If it wasn't for Kyne, we'd still be there. He's the oldest of us, and our leader, he explained. Sure, power's gone to his head a little, but he kept them alive.

DragonSong · April 13, 2023, 11:04:55 AM

After a moment of quiet, Lanaya murmured, "I'm very sorry you had to go through that, Grimr."

She continued stirring the contents of her cauldron. "How old were you when you left?" she asked after a moment, looking at him sidelong.

MadEmperor · April 13, 2023, 11:33:27 AM

Twelve. Grimr croaked softly; he could guess where this was headed. I was orphaned at six. My mom... she got sick.

I don't even remember her face.

DragonSong · April 13, 2023, 01:29:46 PM

Lanaya glanced at him again. "I'm sorry."

She paused, then sighed and told him quietly, "I never knew my mother either. I was on my own out here quite young."

She suddenly smiled at Lenore fluttered over to perch on her shoulder and run her beak through her hair. "Though I suppose the flock I found for myself is quite a bit different from yours."

MadEmperor · April 13, 2023, 02:17:00 PM

Yeah. None of us pick Kyne's hair clean. His tone suggested a smirk.

Why do birds act so differently around you? Is it because of your magic? he asked curiously.

DragonSong · April 13, 2023, 03:39:48 PM

Lanaya chuckled a bit at that and nodded at him, stirring the contents of her cauldron once more before she rose to her feet.

"I believe it is," she responded to his question. "Though I suppose beastspeaking isn't an inherently magical skill—I have simply always been able to communicate with birds."

She turned away from him to gather up a small earthen cup; she wore her usual attire, which tied around the back of her neck, revealing the long, jagged scars that ran between her shoulder blades.

MadEmperor · April 13, 2023, 04:06:05 PM

I can actually-- Grimr's eyes widened when he saw her scars. What happened to your back?

It looked like whatever it was had hurt far worse than any beating. Bad as the orphanage was, they never did anything that cruel.

DragonSong · April 13, 2023, 05:52:52 PM

"I—" Lanaya looked back at him, eyes a little wide.

"I don't...know," she admitted after a moment. "It—it happened before I can remember."

She shook herself and smiled at him, the fear and uncertainly suddenly gone from her expression. "Now. Are you ready? I will give you the potion, then you should settle yourself in the center of the glyph formation while o cast the spell."

MadEmperor · April 13, 2023, 06:10:27 PM

I'm ready, Grimr answered bravely.

Upon drinking some of the potion, he settled to the floor within the glyph. What should I feel when this stuff kicks-- His little, bird eyes suddenly dilated. Ohhh, there it is...