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This Most Familiar Chain: Tale of Spirit and Magician
- Thread starter Cetashwayo
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
pantherasapiens
you were always my best friend
- Location
- somewhere over your shoulder
[X] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
Jhin Lemon
Lawful Cute
- Location
- Trapped in the interwebs, please send help
[X] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
[X] Befriend the Eagle
Weird to have a vote with only one option. :<
Weird to have a vote with only one option. :<
- Location
- Austria
[X] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
Starfall's bizarre romantic mishaps with birds are the best.
Starfall's bizarre romantic mishaps with birds are the best.
will408914
(slouching towards bethlehem)
- Location
- California
[x] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
pantherasapiens
you were always my best friend
- Location
- somewhere over your shoulder
You know, the really great thing about Befriend the Eagle is the outcome: the leshy, terrified of our power of Shipping, returns to barging.
DeepWaters
No one will be the wiser.
- Location
- Land of Spiders and Shipping Charts
[X] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
- Location
- Somewhere.
[X] Make the Eagle Smile
Hello, brackets. Have we met?
Hello, brackets. Have we met?
[X] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
bobbananaville
A giant crab, atop an even gianter crab
- Location
- The Philippines
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Befriend the Eagle. It is possible that you could alter dreams even when you are within them. Manipulate the dreamtime to give yourself wings and try and convince the eagle, bird to bird, that it shouldn't eat Ariela.
Friendship is Magic!
Friendship is Magic!
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
There will be a new update later today.
16. Mortal Insults
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
16. Mortal Insults
Ariela stands tall and proud, utterly unwavering before the eagle whose great sin is the greed of two heads rather than one. She clears her throat, no doubt preparing a grand oration to appeal to the bird's sensibilities. You are sure it would be splendid, it would be utterly fantastic in every way, that she would speak that eagle half to death, and it would likely repay her by swallowing her whole to death. You know birds better than she does, better than anyone has. You have loved, and you have lost. As you draw upon the energies of the dreams that you never knew you had, and will likely never be able to draw on again mainly because you have no idea what you're doing, you just do things and they happen, you know you make this sacrifice for her.
Ariela bows before the talons of the beast and then rises, announcing herself in a deferential tone, eyes facing downwards, "Oh, great eagle, I am but a humble subject of the Illustrious Empire that you once called your home-"
"Caw, caw, I'm a bird," you shout at the top of your lungs. You didn't really have much time, so your disguise as a bird is a paper cone on top of your nose resembling a beak and two poles sprouting of your back, with feathers hastily glued onto them. Also, did you mention you don't actually know what you're doing? You should mention that. But somehow, it seems to work. One of the eagle heads is interested, though the other still has its attention on Ariela, and it does not look happy. You do have a bit of an idea, though, and it's based around the fact there is someone else here who doesn't know what they're doing.
You clear your throat and repeat yourself. "I, am a bird. I have two wings and a beak. I like to fly. I...steal food from hapless maidens." These are all things birds do. Yes.
One of the eagle heads- you're going to call it Perky because it seems more interested, shifts its head from side to side rapidly, tilting to the side. When it speaks, its voice is high-pitched and aristocratic. "Brother, did you hear the starling? She said she is a bird too!" You're going to call the one Perky calls brother Peckish because his first response is to raise his feathers slightly in what you guess is a gesture of annoyance.
"I was trying to listen to the wingless subject, and now you bother me with little starlings. Do not irritate me, so, Brother, or else my beak shall be upon you as the sharpest spear." Yup, definitely Peckish. Peckish's voice is low and guttural, as if there's always something in the back of its throat that it can't quite get out. Probably a bone. You learned why you don't swallow them the hard way!
"Starfall, what in the name of-" Ariela begins to give you some blanket condemnation, but art is in progress and you shall not see it stopped. You put a hand up to her face as you daintily walk down the ridge, the poles attached to your back bouncing up and down, one slightly higher than the other. Your beak almost falls off your nose, but you endure. This is art not for its own sake, art not even for her sake, but art for the sake of the good and the beautiful. You cannot fail now, not least because you've confirmed that the leshy knows or at least remembers as little about birds as you do and thus you can really say whatever you want here as long as it sounds plausible because, after all, this is all the leshy's dream.
"Forgive me, great winged...sky brothers," you begin to Perky and Peckish, affecting a certain flighty elegance that you are sure all birds affect, "I am but a humble starling. I fly. I lay...egg. It grows up and flies away, still egg. In the sky, it breaks the egg. It is now bird. This is me, again. This is my story."
"A storyteller, brother, of the life cycle!" Perky exclaims, while Peckish scoffs. "Maybe for such lesser birds such a fable is true, but we are the biggest of all the birds. We were birthed not by eggs but by the imagination of Tsars, the truth of kingship."
"The biggest of birds come from the biggest of eggs," you suggest, sagely. "Perhaps even the eggs of royalty."
"A priestess, brother, of the flogs of the sky!" Perky says with sudden excitement, flapping the wing on his side.
Peckish is still unconvinced. "The lesser flocks, with lesser wings, brother. I do not need her oracles. I come here to this leshy's place to consume its stone body for our egg, I do not come here to hear the starling's tales."
Ariela is rapidly turning her head between you and the eagles and seems on the verge of some kind of breakdown, but you know that despite the fear in her heart at being consumed by these eagles, you must continue. Even as she screams and orders you to stop "being insane", you do not hesitate to fulfill your duty. Even as she makes explicit commands to you, you ignore her. This is no point for orders. This is a time for action.
"I...am from the great sky land, of the clouds," you start, "and I fly there many times. I steal...a great many things. From beautiful princesses. Especially ones in...tall towers. Sometimes, I even seduce them first, and then, when they least expect it, after they've already decided that they're going to start a family with me, and they've even built a nest out of cloth, and they've begun affectionately calling me dovey, even then, I leave them alone, with an empty nest." By the end you have to hold back from sniffling. It's a harsh memory. You were together for a whole three days and after everything you had been through the dove still left you alone.
Perky makes a loud sniffle as well. "Such a cruel, unrelenting story. That is the life of birds, though, is it not? We are cruel."
Peckish lowers its head and sighs, saying, "it is true. Even the great leshy, who was really an excellent and fine god to these broken toys, even he, we break." As Peckish finishes speaking, a wistfulness breaks through his irritation, though you partly suspect it's being embellished by the fact that the leshy is subconsciously telling this story. You bow your head to their mourning. Even birds, the most terrible of all creatures, who in their consummate apathy to others, may indeed feel the sting of their misdeeds.
"It does not have to be that way," you offer, turning to Ariela. "My wingless companion here, such as she is, is searching for clues to your whereabouts. She says that you have been lost for very long, but perhaps you might return to the Empire-"
"Return!" Peckish says, a high-pitched, shrill laugh emanating from his throat. "Return to that terrible place? Do you know what they did to us? The unbelievers threw our Tsars to the giants. The Tsarina Gabriella, with songs so sweet, the giants killed in the most wicked way. Tsar Alexei, with a dance so merry, they smashed his legs and left him crippled. We fought hard, and for what! One by one the magicians let them die, till there was nothing left but a false king, Azriel, the Rosayine. But our kings are Rukovich, and we shall not bow to a haughty courtier and his whelps!"
"Haughty, so haughty!" Perky chimes in as if he's a background chorus.
Ariela grips you by the hand. It is surprisingly tight, and you see a strange glance of anger. When you wave her off, she grips even harder and whispers something in your ear for you to say to them, clearly realizing that only you are the eagle whisperer. Carefully, you pay attention to her, and then transmit her words with the utmost precision.
"My wingless companion suggests...that it has been a long time since the um, the Tsars, and that since then the new kings are even...later," greater, Ariela mouths, but you don't see it, "even gooder than the Tsars. And that they are very...colorful." Powerful, she tries to correct you, but too late.
"Well of course they are later, they are after them in the chronology! But regardless of how many colors they possess, we will not bow to the false kings," Perky says, refusing you. Frustrated, you try your last trick, and turn your back to them.
"Starling!" Perky yells, clearly shocked at your sudden attitude. "Starling, please, you must listen to reason! Oh brother, please do not let her turn away from us, she has been such a wise companion!"
"Do not fear, brother," Peckish says, comforting his sibling by scratching his brother's neck with his beak, "We shall keep her forever."
You freeze as a great shadow covers both you and Ariela. Peckish moves its wing upwards, covering the sun, before taking a tremendous step forward and separating you from Ariela. "My lady," Peckish says, the guttural tone replaced by that of a soft-spoken gentleman as you try to back away from his wing, only to hit the ridge with your back with a panicked yelp. "I would invite you to build our nest with us, on the Simarg Peak to the North. I would be honored."
"We would be honored," Perky corrects, as his wing descends down as well, blocking you on both sides on the edge of the village clearing. You can hear Ariela screaming for you to run from the top of the ridge that she's scrambled up to, but as soon as Peckish's attention falls on her, she chokes on her words mid-sentence.
"Of course," Peckish says to his brother. "She will attend to the needs of our nest and say many sky prayers for our egg as we raise our kingdom in the sky, so that it may grow to a ripe and full age. She will scratch my neck, and perhaps on the days on which I am sufficiently scratched, she can scratch your neck. As my brother I can grant you this charity."
"That is absolutely ridiculous," Perky intones. "She deserves better than that." The crimson blush on your face starts to fade and relief washes over you at the great bird's defense. At least Perky knows the meaning of boundaries. Thank you Perky.
"She deserves me," Perky declares.
No thank you, Perky.
"Careful, brother. I am the elder. To the elder go the spoils, to the younger the scraps. This is divine primogeniture. This is the law of kings," Peckish says with a certain self-serving condescension, and you see his attention going back to his brother, an opening forming as his wing lifts up slightly. Maybe you can just rush through...?
"The noble lie of elder brothers," Perky retorts, "that allows them to do whatever they wish! I was the first to listen to her. She first opened her heart to me!"
"Um," you try to object, "I actually didn't open my heart to-"
"SILENCE," the brothers say in deafening unison, and you have to cover your ears.
"I warn you, younger brother of mine, that an eagle only needs one head to fly," Peckish advises with a new menace.
"I'd like to see you try, elder. Who will give you scratches then, hmm? Do you think the starling would give you, the dull and less handsome brother, with much less plumage and a much less inspiring crown, her love after you smite her first choice of suitor?" Perky rebukes his brother with a savage retort.
"You dare suggest my plumage is lesser?" Peckish is raising his voice now, his wing returning to his side. Now's your chance. You rush up the ridge, but when Ariela offers her hand to pull you up you just jump past her, almost unthinking. You don't have time for dramatic rescues, you need to go.
The contest between the brothers is escalating now. You strip the cone from your face and the wings from your back and start to run into the forest before they notice you're gone. Their shouting echoes throughout the entire wood.
"MINE!"
"NO, MINE!" With their fighting comes thunderous quakes throughout the ground, as their wings flap and cause hurricanes, tornadoes, blowing away spirit constructs and breaking branches. You try to protect yourself by opening the parasol but almost get blown away. Ariela is panting for air behind you but you keep running, trying to put as much distance between you and the birds, looking for an exit. Uusally, you don't just leave a dream, you have to wake up-
And then, everything freezes. The dream falls apart, disappearing, the forest fading away into nothing, then rebuilding itself until you are alone in a well-lit room inside the barge. The only indication you are still dreaming is the pleasant haze of your mind as you get a grasp of your surroundings, something you recognize from some past experience. At the far end, facing you, is the dismembered head of the leshy, half-petrified, surrounded by icons and talismans and on a golden carpet. When it speaks, it does so as a disembodied echo, its head unmoving.
Alright, I get your point.
...Your point?
I am the leshy of the barge, and I see very well what you've done. What a mess you've made of my dream!
Um.
I had planned it out to be a terrible tragedy, a rehearsal of my final moments as a free being. My fall from godhood to generator, nothing more than a power source for mortal men. But you know what! You know what! I'm done with that. How is this supposed to be a serious dream when you turned it into a romance?!
Well, you didn't exactly want to-
I'd like to thank you for that.
What?
I have been replaying that same dream in my head for days and days. Ever since I caught a glimpse of that accursed eagle. It haunted me so, and made me remember my time as a free being, when I was a god of the forest. But then you came along, and now when I see the dream in my head I can't stop laughing! I mean honestly, birds, right?
Yeah. Birds.
Anyways, kiddo, you did me a big favor by getting me out of that rut. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. So thank you for that. I suppose laughter is the best medicine. It's just hard to take myself seriously when I'm just a spectator to that kind of thing.
Um. Well, you tried your best. And Ariela helped too.
What, the human? Way I see it, she was just dead weight the whole time. You were the real mover and shaker there. Really showed me you don't always need magicians after all. What a load they've been selling us spirits, ha! Anyways, kiddo, thanks again. I suppose I'll return to being a barge now. It's not such a bad retirement. It has its ups and downs, but you know, this whole romance thing has given me some thought. The river is single, after all...
Ew. And that's not fair to Ariela-
Regardless, you better get a move on. You've been here all day. Don't want to begrudge you with my problems any longer. Thanks again. And by the way?
Yeah?
Your secret's safe with me, "Dustfall". You might want to get a better disguise though. Humans might not know how you look but Frost has been touring the spirit realm for ages talking about how cute you are and showing baby photos and let me tell you, you stick out sore to us.
Oh. Grandpa, you could have restrained yourself for once...
Now with that one free tip from your friendly neighborhood barge, I'm off. Better get chugging along. Take care of yourself. And my advice? Ditch the magician. She's dead weight and you can do better.
You say nothing to that, frowning at the leshy's harsh statements to your magician as you fall out of the dream, though for whatever reason you cannot find it in you to protest.
Ariela bows before the talons of the beast and then rises, announcing herself in a deferential tone, eyes facing downwards, "Oh, great eagle, I am but a humble subject of the Illustrious Empire that you once called your home-"
"Caw, caw, I'm a bird," you shout at the top of your lungs. You didn't really have much time, so your disguise as a bird is a paper cone on top of your nose resembling a beak and two poles sprouting of your back, with feathers hastily glued onto them. Also, did you mention you don't actually know what you're doing? You should mention that. But somehow, it seems to work. One of the eagle heads is interested, though the other still has its attention on Ariela, and it does not look happy. You do have a bit of an idea, though, and it's based around the fact there is someone else here who doesn't know what they're doing.
You clear your throat and repeat yourself. "I, am a bird. I have two wings and a beak. I like to fly. I...steal food from hapless maidens." These are all things birds do. Yes.
One of the eagle heads- you're going to call it Perky because it seems more interested, shifts its head from side to side rapidly, tilting to the side. When it speaks, its voice is high-pitched and aristocratic. "Brother, did you hear the starling? She said she is a bird too!" You're going to call the one Perky calls brother Peckish because his first response is to raise his feathers slightly in what you guess is a gesture of annoyance.
"I was trying to listen to the wingless subject, and now you bother me with little starlings. Do not irritate me, so, Brother, or else my beak shall be upon you as the sharpest spear." Yup, definitely Peckish. Peckish's voice is low and guttural, as if there's always something in the back of its throat that it can't quite get out. Probably a bone. You learned why you don't swallow them the hard way!
"Starfall, what in the name of-" Ariela begins to give you some blanket condemnation, but art is in progress and you shall not see it stopped. You put a hand up to her face as you daintily walk down the ridge, the poles attached to your back bouncing up and down, one slightly higher than the other. Your beak almost falls off your nose, but you endure. This is art not for its own sake, art not even for her sake, but art for the sake of the good and the beautiful. You cannot fail now, not least because you've confirmed that the leshy knows or at least remembers as little about birds as you do and thus you can really say whatever you want here as long as it sounds plausible because, after all, this is all the leshy's dream.
"Forgive me, great winged...sky brothers," you begin to Perky and Peckish, affecting a certain flighty elegance that you are sure all birds affect, "I am but a humble starling. I fly. I lay...egg. It grows up and flies away, still egg. In the sky, it breaks the egg. It is now bird. This is me, again. This is my story."
"A storyteller, brother, of the life cycle!" Perky exclaims, while Peckish scoffs. "Maybe for such lesser birds such a fable is true, but we are the biggest of all the birds. We were birthed not by eggs but by the imagination of Tsars, the truth of kingship."
"The biggest of birds come from the biggest of eggs," you suggest, sagely. "Perhaps even the eggs of royalty."
"A priestess, brother, of the flogs of the sky!" Perky says with sudden excitement, flapping the wing on his side.
Peckish is still unconvinced. "The lesser flocks, with lesser wings, brother. I do not need her oracles. I come here to this leshy's place to consume its stone body for our egg, I do not come here to hear the starling's tales."
Ariela is rapidly turning her head between you and the eagles and seems on the verge of some kind of breakdown, but you know that despite the fear in her heart at being consumed by these eagles, you must continue. Even as she screams and orders you to stop "being insane", you do not hesitate to fulfill your duty. Even as she makes explicit commands to you, you ignore her. This is no point for orders. This is a time for action.
"I...am from the great sky land, of the clouds," you start, "and I fly there many times. I steal...a great many things. From beautiful princesses. Especially ones in...tall towers. Sometimes, I even seduce them first, and then, when they least expect it, after they've already decided that they're going to start a family with me, and they've even built a nest out of cloth, and they've begun affectionately calling me dovey, even then, I leave them alone, with an empty nest." By the end you have to hold back from sniffling. It's a harsh memory. You were together for a whole three days and after everything you had been through the dove still left you alone.
Perky makes a loud sniffle as well. "Such a cruel, unrelenting story. That is the life of birds, though, is it not? We are cruel."
Peckish lowers its head and sighs, saying, "it is true. Even the great leshy, who was really an excellent and fine god to these broken toys, even he, we break." As Peckish finishes speaking, a wistfulness breaks through his irritation, though you partly suspect it's being embellished by the fact that the leshy is subconsciously telling this story. You bow your head to their mourning. Even birds, the most terrible of all creatures, who in their consummate apathy to others, may indeed feel the sting of their misdeeds.
"It does not have to be that way," you offer, turning to Ariela. "My wingless companion here, such as she is, is searching for clues to your whereabouts. She says that you have been lost for very long, but perhaps you might return to the Empire-"
"Return!" Peckish says, a high-pitched, shrill laugh emanating from his throat. "Return to that terrible place? Do you know what they did to us? The unbelievers threw our Tsars to the giants. The Tsarina Gabriella, with songs so sweet, the giants killed in the most wicked way. Tsar Alexei, with a dance so merry, they smashed his legs and left him crippled. We fought hard, and for what! One by one the magicians let them die, till there was nothing left but a false king, Azriel, the Rosayine. But our kings are Rukovich, and we shall not bow to a haughty courtier and his whelps!"
"Haughty, so haughty!" Perky chimes in as if he's a background chorus.
Ariela grips you by the hand. It is surprisingly tight, and you see a strange glance of anger. When you wave her off, she grips even harder and whispers something in your ear for you to say to them, clearly realizing that only you are the eagle whisperer. Carefully, you pay attention to her, and then transmit her words with the utmost precision.
"My wingless companion suggests...that it has been a long time since the um, the Tsars, and that since then the new kings are even...later," greater, Ariela mouths, but you don't see it, "even gooder than the Tsars. And that they are very...colorful." Powerful, she tries to correct you, but too late.
"Well of course they are later, they are after them in the chronology! But regardless of how many colors they possess, we will not bow to the false kings," Perky says, refusing you. Frustrated, you try your last trick, and turn your back to them.
"Starling!" Perky yells, clearly shocked at your sudden attitude. "Starling, please, you must listen to reason! Oh brother, please do not let her turn away from us, she has been such a wise companion!"
"Do not fear, brother," Peckish says, comforting his sibling by scratching his brother's neck with his beak, "We shall keep her forever."
You freeze as a great shadow covers both you and Ariela. Peckish moves its wing upwards, covering the sun, before taking a tremendous step forward and separating you from Ariela. "My lady," Peckish says, the guttural tone replaced by that of a soft-spoken gentleman as you try to back away from his wing, only to hit the ridge with your back with a panicked yelp. "I would invite you to build our nest with us, on the Simarg Peak to the North. I would be honored."
"We would be honored," Perky corrects, as his wing descends down as well, blocking you on both sides on the edge of the village clearing. You can hear Ariela screaming for you to run from the top of the ridge that she's scrambled up to, but as soon as Peckish's attention falls on her, she chokes on her words mid-sentence.
"Of course," Peckish says to his brother. "She will attend to the needs of our nest and say many sky prayers for our egg as we raise our kingdom in the sky, so that it may grow to a ripe and full age. She will scratch my neck, and perhaps on the days on which I am sufficiently scratched, she can scratch your neck. As my brother I can grant you this charity."
"That is absolutely ridiculous," Perky intones. "She deserves better than that." The crimson blush on your face starts to fade and relief washes over you at the great bird's defense. At least Perky knows the meaning of boundaries. Thank you Perky.
"She deserves me," Perky declares.
No thank you, Perky.
"Careful, brother. I am the elder. To the elder go the spoils, to the younger the scraps. This is divine primogeniture. This is the law of kings," Peckish says with a certain self-serving condescension, and you see his attention going back to his brother, an opening forming as his wing lifts up slightly. Maybe you can just rush through...?
"The noble lie of elder brothers," Perky retorts, "that allows them to do whatever they wish! I was the first to listen to her. She first opened her heart to me!"
"Um," you try to object, "I actually didn't open my heart to-"
"SILENCE," the brothers say in deafening unison, and you have to cover your ears.
"I warn you, younger brother of mine, that an eagle only needs one head to fly," Peckish advises with a new menace.
"I'd like to see you try, elder. Who will give you scratches then, hmm? Do you think the starling would give you, the dull and less handsome brother, with much less plumage and a much less inspiring crown, her love after you smite her first choice of suitor?" Perky rebukes his brother with a savage retort.
"You dare suggest my plumage is lesser?" Peckish is raising his voice now, his wing returning to his side. Now's your chance. You rush up the ridge, but when Ariela offers her hand to pull you up you just jump past her, almost unthinking. You don't have time for dramatic rescues, you need to go.
The contest between the brothers is escalating now. You strip the cone from your face and the wings from your back and start to run into the forest before they notice you're gone. Their shouting echoes throughout the entire wood.
"MINE!"
"NO, MINE!" With their fighting comes thunderous quakes throughout the ground, as their wings flap and cause hurricanes, tornadoes, blowing away spirit constructs and breaking branches. You try to protect yourself by opening the parasol but almost get blown away. Ariela is panting for air behind you but you keep running, trying to put as much distance between you and the birds, looking for an exit. Uusally, you don't just leave a dream, you have to wake up-
And then, everything freezes. The dream falls apart, disappearing, the forest fading away into nothing, then rebuilding itself until you are alone in a well-lit room inside the barge. The only indication you are still dreaming is the pleasant haze of your mind as you get a grasp of your surroundings, something you recognize from some past experience. At the far end, facing you, is the dismembered head of the leshy, half-petrified, surrounded by icons and talismans and on a golden carpet. When it speaks, it does so as a disembodied echo, its head unmoving.
Alright, I get your point.
...Your point?
I am the leshy of the barge, and I see very well what you've done. What a mess you've made of my dream!
Um.
I had planned it out to be a terrible tragedy, a rehearsal of my final moments as a free being. My fall from godhood to generator, nothing more than a power source for mortal men. But you know what! You know what! I'm done with that. How is this supposed to be a serious dream when you turned it into a romance?!
Well, you didn't exactly want to-
I'd like to thank you for that.
What?
I have been replaying that same dream in my head for days and days. Ever since I caught a glimpse of that accursed eagle. It haunted me so, and made me remember my time as a free being, when I was a god of the forest. But then you came along, and now when I see the dream in my head I can't stop laughing! I mean honestly, birds, right?
Yeah. Birds.
Anyways, kiddo, you did me a big favor by getting me out of that rut. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. So thank you for that. I suppose laughter is the best medicine. It's just hard to take myself seriously when I'm just a spectator to that kind of thing.
Um. Well, you tried your best. And Ariela helped too.
What, the human? Way I see it, she was just dead weight the whole time. You were the real mover and shaker there. Really showed me you don't always need magicians after all. What a load they've been selling us spirits, ha! Anyways, kiddo, thanks again. I suppose I'll return to being a barge now. It's not such a bad retirement. It has its ups and downs, but you know, this whole romance thing has given me some thought. The river is single, after all...
Ew. And that's not fair to Ariela-
Regardless, you better get a move on. You've been here all day. Don't want to begrudge you with my problems any longer. Thanks again. And by the way?
Yeah?
Your secret's safe with me, "Dustfall". You might want to get a better disguise though. Humans might not know how you look but Frost has been touring the spirit realm for ages talking about how cute you are and showing baby photos and let me tell you, you stick out sore to us.
Oh. Grandpa, you could have restrained yourself for once...
Now with that one free tip from your friendly neighborhood barge, I'm off. Better get chugging along. Take care of yourself. And my advice? Ditch the magician. She's dead weight and you can do better.
You say nothing to that, frowning at the leshy's harsh statements to your magician as you fall out of the dream, though for whatever reason you cannot find it in you to protest.
---
"I just wish you had listened to me more, that's all," Ariela remarks idly as she sits down with you a few minutes later after delivering a report in private to Pariya and the captain, a cup of hot brown juice (cocoa) in her hands and Pariya's congratulations buoying her spirit, and saying that you'll be spending the night on the barge and departing again in the morning when the barge has delivered its cargo. The barge captain is a little bit more affectionate, and kisses Ariela's hand profusely, as well as offering his son in marriage (Ariela looked like she wanted to kick him in the gut right then and there) stirring a bit of annoyance within you. It's not like she did all that much, something at the back of your head whispers (it's me, just to be clear, I don't allow anyone else in the back of her head, it's prime real estate). You are not given any cocoa and no congratulations, which only increases your irritation further.
"Well maybe if I had listened to you we would have both been eaten, how about that?" You blurt out. Ariela pushes herself back in her chair, her cup stopping just below her lips. She puts it down.
"I'm sorry?" Ariela asks, more confused than offended. "I'm not sure what you mean. You accomplished a lot, it's true, but without my strategy we would have gotten nowhere. Even if you were a bit unorthodox in how you handled "stealth", and we would have extracted more out of the eagles if you had let me speak. As it was, I was content to let your little child's play go on." (Okay woah woah cool it with the patronization here kid we're fifty years old and you're like, eighteen, and that's human years, maybe that translates to like two years old in reality- actually no it doesn't, but still).
"My child's play? Is that what you think it was? My intense spirit magic, creating objects within a dream, tricking a great apparition to reveal secrets to us? We know it's on Simarg Peak, and that was because of me!" You say, maybe yelling a little too loud at the last part.
"We are not going to have this argument. It's childish. As a spirit your job is to execute my commands. That's what the partnership is about. I order, you obey. Partners," Ariela says, and you can feel the utter arrogance in her words. You try to suppress the bile in your throat. How dare she, honestly? (Uh oh, Starfall, I was with you, but remember that your anger comes from your mother, let's not start a fire-)
"That's not a partnership! That's...something else!" (Slavery), "That's slavery! Besides, partners admit that sometimes the other partner did a better job than them!"
Ariela narrows her eyes. You can tell she's getting annoyed. But you don't want her to get annoyed. Annoyance is the way you were treated when you yelled at your parents about something. They'd be annoyed that you were doing that. You want her to get angry. "Okay, so I may have overplayed the order and obey analogy too hard," she admits in a self-serving, smarmy way (I can see you are an unbiased narrator), "but that doesn't change anything. Is that what this is about? That you think you did better than me? What does it matter? Do you want to make me feel bad?"
"I don't think you have any intention of feeling bad, when you got all the praise! The captain kissed your hand and Pariya said how great it was that 'you were taking your first steps up the magician's chain', and they barely even noticed me! I don't understand it! It's like you embellished the report to them, but you would never-" You stop in your tracks and stare at her, as a flash of guilt crosses her face and she averts her eyes. "You didn't."
"I didn't have a choice," Ariela says softly, flinching at your anger, "what was I supposed to say? That I was useless and did nothing? That I didn't even get to shoot or blow up a single thing because you just cleared your way through and I was too scared of it?"
"Yes, it's better than lying to them that you accomplished something!" You shout, too hasty on your draw, and when Ariela draws back, her face recoiling in pain, you try to soften the blow (honey I think we're about to draw up battle lines softening isn't going to do much here). "Well- that's not quite what I meant- you were there, and that helped-"
"I was there," she breathes, incredulous. "So that's it. I'm just there. That's my job as a magician. Pleasant company. Never mind you never let me do anything, you never listened to my plans. I tried to stealth, and then you just walked through it and you didn't even pay attention when I was getting nauseated! You didn't even offer me your hand or care. And then with the eagle- you didn't let me speak to them, you just did it all yourself. Does that sound useful to you?"
"It's better than lying," you counter with your arms crossed.
"Yes, better to tell the truth. That I'm useless and pointless," she says bitterly.
"That's not what I said."
"That's what you thought," she says, her voice breaking. "That's what they all think. Poor Ariela, her mother banished and disappeared, her father imprisoned for being a sharp-tongued commoner. Her brother the talented one, the polite one, who knows how to hide his anger behind his spectacles. She's not fit to be a magician, they'd say. She's too wound up in her own fantasies. They'd never say it out loud. But you could see it on their faces. Just a rung above a bastard, that girl, the spawn of an inferior marriage, not even set to inherit. Useless. Why can't I have this lie? You won't even let me have that?"
"It's still a lie," you insist, "and one which makes me look bad. Maybe the leshy-" You stop talking and bite your lip, screaming internally. Why did you have to bring it up?
"The Leshy. Oh, did he have something to say about me? Perhaps he wanted to add some insult to injury?"
"He said you were dead weight," you say, sheepishly. (STARFALL YOU CAN'T JUST-)
"And did you contradict him?" She asks coolly.
You hesitate and it's enough to make her ball her hand into a fist. "Um-Um. Well, I did think it wasn't quite fair, but there was some truth to-" Parentheses literally clamps your vocal cords shut but it's too late.
Ariela's face sets in a stony expression and she's almost trembling with anger and you wilt, shrinking beneath her frigid glare. You change your mind, can she go back and being annoyed? "You know what, fine. Fine, Starfall. I think I get it now. You're like that dove you were talking about. You don't pay attention, you don't listen, you leave when you care to. You're flighty, and disinterested in others, and you just say what you want even when it hurts them. Maybe I rushed ahead- maybe I made some mistakes. I make a lot of mistakes. For the empress' sake, even my familiar doesn't have any confidence in me. But I don't know if you're even capable of understanding what a mistake is, of apologizing."
"I can apologize-" You start, ready and trying to say sorry-
"You're a bird, Starfall- And I hate that we have come to the point where this is a cutting insult, but- you're a bird. So why don't you just fly away and go somewhere else and leave me alone."
The apology stops in your throat and you swallow it as you feel the burning feeling of bile rising. Your face goes red, and you draw a sharp breath. Even Ariela realizes she has gone too far, but you just stand up, push your chair into the wall of the crew quarters, and stomp away, bursting onto the deck and slamming the door shut (Starfall, can we talk about this-). No. No you will not. You were this close, this close to apologizing to her, but now you can't. It's too much. She's called you a bird. A Bird. You retrieve a potato from a sack left on the deck and chew on it as you simmer with wrath.
How dare she. How dare this human, this mortal, say such a thing. You promised you'd keep an open mind, but this is absolutely...you don't even know where this came from. You'd think Ariela would be happy you're solving her problems. Sure, you might get your words mixed up one way or another, but you always try your best to help them. It's a partnership, so why on earth would she be upset if her partner did everything? You're just advancing the partnership! It's certainly better than what's she's suggesting, you being some kind of "slave" to her. And you know what, her face is dumb too, and she's just a little too tall for your tastes, and you think that your hair is a much nicer color.
You release a groan of frustration and hoist the parasol onto your back, clawing at your face with your hands. Why are humans like this? Why do they have to be so complicated? You can't discern a thing that's going on. You can never read anyone or anything. One moment Ariela is happy and flying with you and the parasol, the next she's calling you a bird. One moment Pariya is trying to arrest you, the next she's helping you. You are so hopelessly lost. It's night out, and the river shimmers with the light of the moon. You walk to the edge of the deck and plop yourself down, boots dangling over the edge, kicking against the hull.
There has to be something that your parents taught you for this kind of situation. Isn't that what parents are for? (Oho, not ours). Still. Even yours. There has to be something in your memory...
"Well maybe if I had listened to you we would have both been eaten, how about that?" You blurt out. Ariela pushes herself back in her chair, her cup stopping just below her lips. She puts it down.
"I'm sorry?" Ariela asks, more confused than offended. "I'm not sure what you mean. You accomplished a lot, it's true, but without my strategy we would have gotten nowhere. Even if you were a bit unorthodox in how you handled "stealth", and we would have extracted more out of the eagles if you had let me speak. As it was, I was content to let your little child's play go on." (Okay woah woah cool it with the patronization here kid we're fifty years old and you're like, eighteen, and that's human years, maybe that translates to like two years old in reality- actually no it doesn't, but still).
"My child's play? Is that what you think it was? My intense spirit magic, creating objects within a dream, tricking a great apparition to reveal secrets to us? We know it's on Simarg Peak, and that was because of me!" You say, maybe yelling a little too loud at the last part.
"We are not going to have this argument. It's childish. As a spirit your job is to execute my commands. That's what the partnership is about. I order, you obey. Partners," Ariela says, and you can feel the utter arrogance in her words. You try to suppress the bile in your throat. How dare she, honestly? (Uh oh, Starfall, I was with you, but remember that your anger comes from your mother, let's not start a fire-)
"That's not a partnership! That's...something else!" (Slavery), "That's slavery! Besides, partners admit that sometimes the other partner did a better job than them!"
Ariela narrows her eyes. You can tell she's getting annoyed. But you don't want her to get annoyed. Annoyance is the way you were treated when you yelled at your parents about something. They'd be annoyed that you were doing that. You want her to get angry. "Okay, so I may have overplayed the order and obey analogy too hard," she admits in a self-serving, smarmy way (I can see you are an unbiased narrator), "but that doesn't change anything. Is that what this is about? That you think you did better than me? What does it matter? Do you want to make me feel bad?"
"I don't think you have any intention of feeling bad, when you got all the praise! The captain kissed your hand and Pariya said how great it was that 'you were taking your first steps up the magician's chain', and they barely even noticed me! I don't understand it! It's like you embellished the report to them, but you would never-" You stop in your tracks and stare at her, as a flash of guilt crosses her face and she averts her eyes. "You didn't."
"I didn't have a choice," Ariela says softly, flinching at your anger, "what was I supposed to say? That I was useless and did nothing? That I didn't even get to shoot or blow up a single thing because you just cleared your way through and I was too scared of it?"
"Yes, it's better than lying to them that you accomplished something!" You shout, too hasty on your draw, and when Ariela draws back, her face recoiling in pain, you try to soften the blow (honey I think we're about to draw up battle lines softening isn't going to do much here). "Well- that's not quite what I meant- you were there, and that helped-"
"I was there," she breathes, incredulous. "So that's it. I'm just there. That's my job as a magician. Pleasant company. Never mind you never let me do anything, you never listened to my plans. I tried to stealth, and then you just walked through it and you didn't even pay attention when I was getting nauseated! You didn't even offer me your hand or care. And then with the eagle- you didn't let me speak to them, you just did it all yourself. Does that sound useful to you?"
"It's better than lying," you counter with your arms crossed.
"Yes, better to tell the truth. That I'm useless and pointless," she says bitterly.
"That's not what I said."
"That's what you thought," she says, her voice breaking. "That's what they all think. Poor Ariela, her mother banished and disappeared, her father imprisoned for being a sharp-tongued commoner. Her brother the talented one, the polite one, who knows how to hide his anger behind his spectacles. She's not fit to be a magician, they'd say. She's too wound up in her own fantasies. They'd never say it out loud. But you could see it on their faces. Just a rung above a bastard, that girl, the spawn of an inferior marriage, not even set to inherit. Useless. Why can't I have this lie? You won't even let me have that?"
"It's still a lie," you insist, "and one which makes me look bad. Maybe the leshy-" You stop talking and bite your lip, screaming internally. Why did you have to bring it up?
"The Leshy. Oh, did he have something to say about me? Perhaps he wanted to add some insult to injury?"
"He said you were dead weight," you say, sheepishly. (STARFALL YOU CAN'T JUST-)
"And did you contradict him?" She asks coolly.
You hesitate and it's enough to make her ball her hand into a fist. "Um-Um. Well, I did think it wasn't quite fair, but there was some truth to-" Parentheses literally clamps your vocal cords shut but it's too late.
Ariela's face sets in a stony expression and she's almost trembling with anger and you wilt, shrinking beneath her frigid glare. You change your mind, can she go back and being annoyed? "You know what, fine. Fine, Starfall. I think I get it now. You're like that dove you were talking about. You don't pay attention, you don't listen, you leave when you care to. You're flighty, and disinterested in others, and you just say what you want even when it hurts them. Maybe I rushed ahead- maybe I made some mistakes. I make a lot of mistakes. For the empress' sake, even my familiar doesn't have any confidence in me. But I don't know if you're even capable of understanding what a mistake is, of apologizing."
"I can apologize-" You start, ready and trying to say sorry-
"You're a bird, Starfall- And I hate that we have come to the point where this is a cutting insult, but- you're a bird. So why don't you just fly away and go somewhere else and leave me alone."
The apology stops in your throat and you swallow it as you feel the burning feeling of bile rising. Your face goes red, and you draw a sharp breath. Even Ariela realizes she has gone too far, but you just stand up, push your chair into the wall of the crew quarters, and stomp away, bursting onto the deck and slamming the door shut (Starfall, can we talk about this-). No. No you will not. You were this close, this close to apologizing to her, but now you can't. It's too much. She's called you a bird. A Bird. You retrieve a potato from a sack left on the deck and chew on it as you simmer with wrath.
How dare she. How dare this human, this mortal, say such a thing. You promised you'd keep an open mind, but this is absolutely...you don't even know where this came from. You'd think Ariela would be happy you're solving her problems. Sure, you might get your words mixed up one way or another, but you always try your best to help them. It's a partnership, so why on earth would she be upset if her partner did everything? You're just advancing the partnership! It's certainly better than what's she's suggesting, you being some kind of "slave" to her. And you know what, her face is dumb too, and she's just a little too tall for your tastes, and you think that your hair is a much nicer color.
You release a groan of frustration and hoist the parasol onto your back, clawing at your face with your hands. Why are humans like this? Why do they have to be so complicated? You can't discern a thing that's going on. You can never read anyone or anything. One moment Ariela is happy and flying with you and the parasol, the next she's calling you a bird. One moment Pariya is trying to arrest you, the next she's helping you. You are so hopelessly lost. It's night out, and the river shimmers with the light of the moon. You walk to the edge of the deck and plop yourself down, boots dangling over the edge, kicking against the hull.
There has to be something that your parents taught you for this kind of situation. Isn't that what parents are for? (Oho, not ours). Still. Even yours. There has to be something in your memory...
---
"Alright, twinklebug, let me teach you something about conflict resolution." Your mother says, kneeling beside you in a red coat. It is snowing out, and there is a snowman that the two of you made the previous day on the clearing beside the tower. You're very short, and have a coat so thick that you look almost like a walking potato. You nod your head up and down profusely.
Your mother points at the snowman and says, "Imagine that he's just delivered to you a terrible insult. You thought him a friend, but now he turns against you. What is the right thing to do?"
You think about it for a few moments, and then turn to your mom with a confident smile, letting go of her hands and making a stance in front of the snowman, which is a head taller than you. You ball your mitten-gloved hands into fists, each arm off to one side, and make a face to the snowman. You glance back, and your mother is grinning, beckoning you to go on.
You take a step forward towards the ruffian. Then two. Then you break down and start crying and rush up to the snowman and give it a hug. "'M sorry." you whisper, sniffling. You hope that whatever you did to him can be forgiven.
Your mother pries you from the snowman with an exasperated sigh and wipes your tears. "No, Starfall. That's not what you do."
You make an "oh" sound with your mouth. "Oh. But you and dad do that! You have a fight and then you hug and kiss! And you're like...best friends!"
Your mother suddenly gets very flustered. "Yes, dear, we do that, but your father is flame-retardant, which makes things easier for both of us."
You're by no means convinced. "So what? Should I eat the snow then? You do that too-"
Your mother puts a finger to your mouth. "Shhh. Just watch me. Just focus, and watch me. I'll give you a potato if you agree?"
You gasp and shake your head up and down so much you almost fall over. Your mother giggles and gives you a kiss on the forehead, and then puts a potato in your hand. The tribute provided, you adopt an atmosphere of utter concentration on her.
"What you must understand, Starfall, is that a spirit's power is in its confidence. Depressed and broken spirits can no longer use their powers, no matter how strong they are. Insults cannot be allowed to get under your skin. Which means that you must purge them at the source."
She stands up, igniting fire in her hand. She stands a few feet away from the snowman while you plop yourself down on the ground, hands clinging to your booties as you watch, chewing on the remains of the potato you have almost entirely eaten already.
"It could have ended differently. We could have settled this with words. But that time has ended. You've made your choice. Now, I shall make mine," she says, utterly seriously, her faced darkened as if she remembers something. Then the fire in her hands turns into a torch, glowing more and more brightly, turning white and then blue. Even without leaving her hand, the fire melts the snowman, cooking the carrot instantly, while white flames form on the snow and then melt it down to the ground. She starts to laugh lightly.
"M-mum?" You stutter out, standing up, as the fire starts to consume the woods as well. "Mum, I think he got it-"
Your mother laughs turn to cackles as the forest is engulfed in flames.
---
Okay, so maybe there isn't any help to be had from memory. But you have to...wait! You can ask for advice! You're still angry, of course, and so your line of questioning might be tinged with the slightest hint of bias in your favor, but you're sure that they'd be on your side anyways once you explained the situation. The only question is who...you gaze up and spot the Moon, her crescent light shining brightly. Of course! And high in the sky, there's Polaris, the instigator of this whole mess! You should demand a refund on your wish and get another magician! Or-or, you could go straight to the source of this disastrous situation, and demand Pariya explain herself! Yes! Excellent. You just have to choose who to go to, because after all if you go to all of them for advice you will be hopelessly confused, and that would simply worsen the problem you're having...
Article: You are absolutely fuming about Ariela's outburst, outraged at the unrestrained mortal wound she has inflicted upon you. But you're not going to sit around- oh no. You're a a spirit of action. Your grievances must be settled. And so you do what all spirits of action are meant to do- you complain a lot to the first thing who's going to listen. But who is that?
[] Grandma Moon. You will raise Ariela's behavior with your dear grandmama. You will make sure she doesn't take it too personally and fire a moonbeam, but the Moon, who has to deal with so many unruly daughters, could surely give you some advice on how to handle a single cranky human.
[] Aunt Polaris. You will ask Polaris if she has a return policy on wishes. Yes, you did say you wanted a practical magician, but not one that would actually disagree with you in any way! Besides, Polaris does not dislike you, so she must have had some reason to put you with the girl. Find out what it is.
[] Master Pariya. You will investigate if Pariya is to blame for her apprentice's behavior. The human magician is the one who trained Ariela in being a magician, and she might know best why her apprentice is such a jerk. You will demand an explanation from the master for these cruel and unusual insults against you.
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- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Heh, bird talk was awesome. I'd ship it if Starfall was up for showing the real one who's boss. Ariela is a meany though so I wanna set Grandma Moon on her.
[x] Grandma Moon. You will raise Ariela's behavior with your dear grandmama. You will make sure she doesn't take it too personally and fire a moonbeam, but the Moon, who has to deal with so many unruly daughters, could surely give you some advice on how to handle a single cranky human.
[x] Grandma Moon. You will raise Ariela's behavior with your dear grandmama. You will make sure she doesn't take it too personally and fire a moonbeam, but the Moon, who has to deal with so many unruly daughters, could surely give you some advice on how to handle a single cranky human.
- Location
- SomeWhereElse
Polaris probably knows what's up. Moon is scary and Pariya would probably grumble something about putting us in our place or whatever.
[X] Aunt Polaris.
[X] Aunt Polaris.