Lost Fledgling [MadEmperor]

[DragonSong]

Lanaya sighed quietly as she screwed the lid back on her jar of poultice. "There are places where we could find someone who would not only be willing, but happy to teach you," she told him--as though she hadn't spent the whole of her life hiding in the woods herself.

Strange, how being responsible for someone else made her more willing to explore, in a way.

"Particularly in Serendipity," she noted thoughtfully. "Maybe Selevea..." It would be a long journey, but if they could find him a proper tutor, and some answers, well worth it.

[MadEmperor]

"Is Serendipity really that accepting?" Grimr asked skeptically. The idea that there was anyone as willing to teach a 'filthy orphan' magic as Lanaya was difficult to believe, let alone one in the body of a diminutive crow-person.

Or a murderer, he thought numbly, careful not to beastspeak it.

[DragonSong]

"Well, Serenians as a whole tend to be more open-minded about odd magics," Lanaya replied with a shrug. "But...people are people. Anywhere. Some will be kind, and others will be cruel. It's a matter of finding the right ones."

True, she lived a fairly solitary life mostly to avoid the cruel ones--but she'd known plenty of kindness in her life, despite her early hardships. And though he was happy enough with her flock and her nest and her lessons now, she worried that sooner or later Grimr would want more from his life; a hermitage in the forest wasn't for everyone.

[MadEmperor]

Once she taught him everything she could, there was a very real possibility that he would start longing for independence. He knew it as well as she did, though he didn't like to think about it. Learning to trust someone else was a frightening proposition. But he felt sure she wouldn't leave his education to just anyone.

"Am I really learning so fast that we need to be talking next steps?"

[DragonSong]

Her smiled softened and she patted his shoulder as she glanced into the cauldron again. "Perhaps not just yet," she conceded, dropping the point for the time being.

"Now. How are you testing this concoction?"

[MadEmperor]

"Not on myself, clearly," he joked.

He cleared his throat. "Drip some on a plant, see if it grows."

[DragonSong]

She nodded. "And what time range are you giving yourself? We talking minutes, hours, days...?"

As a general rule, the more potent a potion, the more quickly it worked--but there were tweaks that could be made to adjust for a longer adjustment period but also a longer-lasting effect and the like.

[MadEmperor]

"Minutes to start working, about half a day to gradually reach full effect," Grimr answered as if giving a report to a professor, "to go easier on the subject."

After all, he knew from experience how painful a rapid transformation can be.

[DragonSong]

Lanaya nodded approvingly. "And how long should the effect last?" she asked as she stepped around him to start tidying up her little corner of the nest--it was a small structure, and with a new person taking up space, she'd done her best to divide what had once been her sleeping space into two with a "privacy screen" of sorts made of vines and leaves to section off an area for Grimr to claim.

[MadEmperor]

"At full, only a few minutes, but it has already done it's job by then," Grimr answered. "Assuming I didn't go wrong somewhere in tweaking the formula. We both know how my last attempt went."

Who knew plants could scream?

[DragonSong]

Lanaya winced at that and nodded. It had taken nearly a full day for her to untangle the knots that attempt had made of the minor ley lines that ran through and around the nest.

"Do you have some time before it's ready to test?" She nodded to where Lenore was napping on the window ledge. "Perhaps you could exercise your wings a bit."

[MadEmperor]

"It has to cook for another few hours, so... I guess I could do that." The crow-boy shrugged.

Looking up at her, he asked, "Do you mind keeping an eye on it for me?"

[DragonSong]

"Of course." She flapped a hand at him. "Now go, go on! You've been cooped up in here nearly all day, the fresh air will do you good."

She whistled lightly to wake the dozing Lenore. The raven cawed and fluffed her feathers, then cocked her head questioningly in Grimr's direction with a low cluck.

[MadEmperor]

"Up for some flying?" he asked the raven. "I'm headed out if you want to keep an eye on me."

With his small stature, Grimr easily hopped up onto the window without disturbing the bird. He crouched there like a gargoyle, waiting for a response.

[DragonSong]

Lenore clicked again and bobbed her head, fluffing her wings out a bit before she spread them and lifted off from the window ledge.

"Be back before dark!" Lanaya called as they set off. The forest was her home, but it was certainly not without its dangers.

[MadEmperor]

Flight didn't come quite as naturally in his current shape; his speed and maneuverability were noticeably diminished. Nor could he keep it up as long before tiring. But that didn't stop him from enjoying every moment of true freedom that it gifted him.

He returned later with a fresh spring in his step, hopping down from the window sill with youthful exuberance. Happily, he sighed. "I'm never going to not love that."

[DragonSong]

Lenore could easily outpace Grimr in his current form, but she often circled above him or would fly ahead and then double back to glide alongside him for a time—not unlike how an adult corvid might keep pace with a still-learning fledgling.

She cawed briskly to alert Lanaya to their return just before Grimr landed, and the witch looked up with a smile for them both.

"I'm glad," she chuckled lightly. Nodding to his cauldron, she added, "Things seem to be moving apace—you may want to scald it once before you test it though."

[MadEmperor]

"Thanks," he said appreciatively as he clamored onto his work stool that had been fashioned from the trunk of a dying tree. "I'll do just that."

He threw some fuel on the fire to maintain the heat level before asking, "So what's for supper? Stew, again?"

[DragonSong]

"Is there something wrong with my stew?" Lanaya demanded, mock-offended. Then she smiled and answered properly, "I actually made flatbread this morning, and we still have some preserves left. I thought we'd have that."

Arching an eyebrow, she added more playfully, "Unless you'd miss the stew."

[MadEmperor]

"No, no, that sounds like a great change of pace!" Grimr said quickly before he realized she was kidding.

He gave an awkward chuckle. "Your stew is great. But everything overstays its welcome eventually."