Closed The Flutter of Wings

[Devi]

Fall 6th, 515AV- on the road between the Mithryn Outpost and Syliras Waning afternoon sunlight filtered through the sparse trees, leaving dappled patches of gold to play across the floor before them. Devi felt almost relaxed and for that alone was ludicrously proud of herself. A calm bay horse walked along demurely beneath her. It was a well trained, older steed, loaned to her no doubt for those very reasons. Even so, the fact that cold fear wasn’t seeping through her and making the creature nervous was achievement enough for one day. She started to convince herself that she might actually enjoy riding eventually. As if responding to the thought she leaned forward carefully and stroked the horse on the side of its neck before turning her attention back to the road and her companions. The two knights flanking her managed to seem bored even through their vague alertness towards their surroundings. She supposed escorting an over-zealous doctor who wasn’t overly chatty on the best of days between the outpost and the city was fairly dull work. Still, with some more longbow practice and a brave venture to the stables one day perhaps she could make these trips by herself. The knighthood certainly wouldn’t lament the lack of need to loan her a horse and an escort every time the outpost needed her skills. The road back towards Syliras was a fairly long one, though wide to allow for the frequent traffic and direct enough that even she couldn’t get lost out here. It wasn’t unusual then that they caught sight of a wagon on the road far ahead. The closer they got however, the more apparent it became that the large mass wasn’t moving. Devi squinted at it, noting the slightly off angle of the body of the wagon. Her eyes fell to the its base and noted the damage to the area around the wheel. A man that looked to belong to the outpost eyed them expectantly as they rode up. “E’scuse me sirs but couldya spare some time to help? ‘Tis jus’ the wheel attachments but I can’t get to the base to fix it alone.” The two knights approached and dismounted, speaking with the man and eyeing the wagon to see what they might do to assist. Devi turned her head back to the road and puffed air from her lips impatiently. She didn’t know the route intimately just yet but she was fairly sure they were less than a few hours walk to the city gates. She rolled her shoulders, trying in vain to ease the aches thrumming through her body. The motion reminded her just how covered in dust she was. After a long and dry summer everywhere in Mithryn seemed to coat her in the stuff. All Devi wanted was a luxuriously long soak in a private bath at Soothing Waters, to get every grain off of her. With that thought tempting her she turned back to the knights and farmer. “I’m going to head on towards the city.” One of the knights opened his mouth as if to protest but she cut him off abruptly. Manners be damned, long hours of cleansing and relaxation were at stake. “This looks like it’s going to take a while and I should get this horse back to the stables whilst it’s still light outside. It’s not that far for me to go alone and then you two can get back to the outpost without an extra delay added on.” She dangled the temptation in front of them and could see them weighing it against their orders and their duty. Finally the senior of the two nodded and bade her a cautious farewell. Authoritative as her words had been, Devi would not have ventured on without the knights permission. For one, many of the Syliran peacekeepers didn’t take kindly to being disregarded. For another, she trusted their judgement more than hers to tell her if she really would be safe enough travelling the last portion of the journey alone. She squeezed her legs gently, motioning the horse to continue its steady amble down the road towards home. Once the wagon was out of sight Devi breathed a deep sigh of relief, content to be within her own thoughts. She had never minded being without company and after a full day of rather mundane patients to treat, almost preferred it. As was always the case of late however, too much time on her own left her thoughts wandering in confusing directions. All-too-clear memories of pale wings left a familiar dull ache in her stomach. It left her with a longing that she didn’t want or understand, turning her contented afternoon to brooding. She breathed deeply, physically and mentally shaking herself for what little good it did her. Nothing ever seemed to coax her mind away from that longing and it plagued her mind as she travelled on.

[Noah Amuel]

Noah, usually a calm, collected Kelvic and being altogether, was distraught. The day up to moments earlier had been enchanting. He had woken from his slumber early having had decided the day before that he was finally going to take the time to practice using the half-spear he had purchased. He did just that. That morning he rose before the walkways within Syliras filled up with the traffic that he loathed. He said a merry good morning to Matilda, his landlord at the Traveler’s Row, helped himself to a couple of her freshly baked pastries that served as adequate breakfast, and headed to the main gate of the city.

He was equipped with very little in the way of armor. He wore his usual attire: shorts, a loose fitting tunic, and a pair of nondescript shoes that had seen miles upon miles of the man’s walks. On his back he had his pack filled with a book he had been reading surrounded by air. He held his half-spear in his hand and trudged away from the city, down the road, and into the forest that was the Bronze Woods in early autumn. The smell of the forest and the sounds of his fellow avian species had put the Kelvic in a state of serenity and allowed him to focus on his movements with the spear.

Noah knew very little about the weapon or how to wield it properly. He had watched the movements of another warrior and tried his best to mimic that. He thrusted, jabbed, and slashed with the pointy end and found that the weight of the spear was something that he could get used to. Noah thought that it held the same properties of him in a way. It was light yet powerful, thin yet boisterous, and acrobatic to the point of beauty. He believed that he could be all of those things when he held his eagle form, but wanted greatly to translate that into his human appearance.

Learning combat was the first step into that translation, he figured out sometime ago. If he wanted to be combative on the ground and be just as threatening as he was in the sky, then he’d to have learn a weapon that complimented that. The Kelvic thought he had found it in the spear. Quickly he had bonded with the wooden staffed headed by an iron point that resembled an overly large arrow head. Noah found a groove in which he could ride as he practiced. He hacked, slashed, and cut at the air, trees, and tall grass for hours and worked up a sweat well into the day. The eagle didn’t permit himself to take a break, for he was determined to return home with some sort of grasp on how to handle the spear that had sat collecting dust in a corner of his apartment.

The day was going swell until his actions caught the attention of a lone, but territorial wolf. This wolf, grey, large, and scarred, made his way into the sparseness of the woods that Noah occupied. It challenged the eagle of a duel of wits. Noah was bigger, the wolf was stronger though. In his eagle form the Kelvic could fight a lone wolf with some trouble, but in his human form that course of action was not a possibility. Noah ran and he ran, fast. He dropped his spear, shed his clothes, and kicked off the shoes that had seen miles upon miles before taking to the skies in a flashy display of shimmering lights. As he ascended, the wolf had caught up and leaped into sky where its claws sunk into the feather covered flesh of Noah’s leg.

After the pumping adrenaline died out of his bloodstream, he felt the burning sensation that quickly became a roar of pain. His psyche was shaken from the experience. He had almost died of the initial encounter; it appeared now the wolf would make a dead bird out of him yet if he didn’t find help. Syliras was out of the question with it closed up interior, finding a doctor would be tedious and he couldn’t go about the streets naked without accruing some kind of arrest, no matter how bloody he was. As an eagle, he’d have no luck due to the narrowness of the walkways. Usually he could maneuver such obstacles, but with a carved up leg even the constant beat of his wings weakened him.

Now the Kelvic looked towards the Mithryn Outpost, a ways away from Syliras but within the city’s jurisdiction. Noah flew low, the strength to maintain his altitude was waning and his right leg was getting colder and colder. Numbness was taking root within his muscles and skin. The leg, usually drawn up and tucked under his body, was growing limp and dripped blood onto the yellowing leaves of the trees below him. His belly skimmed over the trees that made up the perimeter of the road between Syliras and Mithryn. The eagle’s eyes scanned with desperation to the ground below where he sought the figure of a person – someone to help him for he could not help himself.

He cried out shrill and high in panic several times before his eyes fell upon the ambling depiction of a person on a horse. “Help me!” he demanded of her, his words coming out like that of a frightened bird – which he was. Noah dipped sloppily and lowered himself until he was beside the person and the horse. He glided and fluttered in the air beside them squawking and tumbling in the wind. “Please!” he beckoned. The eagle knew that the person, a woman, didn’t understand him but he also knew that humans had intuition that told them when something was wrong. They were animals too, after all.

His wings were beating sporadically to keep pace with the woman and her horse’s gaunt. His lungs burned and his leg dripped blood onto the road below. The Kelvic’s sudden dip caught up with him though and the energy expended in the flight could no longer keep him suspended. He fell after fluttering pathetically several more times in a desperate attempt at staying airborne. His feather ridden body fell with a thud onto the ground where he squawked again weakly for help.

[Devi]

Devi’s heart caught in her chest as a high pitched screech sounded close by. Her eyes barely caught the flutter of wings disrupting the gentle pattern of sunlight on the road floor before the source of the shadow was beside her. Perhaps it was the sudden tensing of her body or perhaps it was the abruptly close proximity of the large, predatory bird screeching loudly beside them but her, until now, calm equine companion did not take kindly to the situation. Her attention was torn between the distressed bird keeping pace with her and the sudden gargantuan effort to keep her horse from bolting and throwing her all at once. She gripped the reins tightly and resisted the urge to grip her heels into the horse’s side, throwing the tension instead into the stirrups. Heels into the horse’s side was the sign to run faster, she remembered, and that was certainly not the message she wanted to convey right now. Gradually the beast quieted and she took a moment to stroke her hand down its side, using the same soothing phrases she saved for frightened children on the unusual occasion she came across any. She dismounted with a wobble and tied the horse to a nearby tree so she could be free to work out what in Sylir’s name had just happened without losing her mount and earning the ire of the Knighthood. Looking around she found the source of the commotion and for a moment her eyes met the bundle of feathers on the floor and thought they belonged to the same strange falcon that had invaded her thoughts just a moment ago. As she got closer however she saw that it was not a falcon but another bird, another predator. It had darker feathers, speckled here and there with lighter ones and lightening considerably at the neck. It wasn’t until she saw the wicked curve of the creature’s beak that her mind put a name to it – an eagle. It was staring directly at her. Not at her horse or at the sky or darting here and there in panic, its focus was solely on her. As it let out another, much quieter, noise she wondered lightly if she was some kind of magnet for unusual birds. She shook her head at the thought and edged closer to where the creature lay haphazardly on the side of the road. Instinctively her eyes flickered towards a trail of dark, wet spots angled towards the eagle. She followed them to the bird’s feathered leg, the matted feathers reminiscent of the matted hair on her patients that she associated with a bloody wound. She hesitated, a ripple of fear thrumming through her. Eagles, like falcons, were seemingly tiny birds whenever one saw them in flight. Unless you were being threatening or resembled a particularly easy meal they kept their distance and so you could never really appreciate the finely honed weapons they brandished or even just how big the birds actually were. Devi’s eyes roved again over the sharp curve of the eagle’s beak and then fell to the clutch of razor claws tipping each leg. In a line of thought somewhat parallel to her meeting with the falcon Devi once more found her curiosity warring with her instincts. The latter, of course, told her that getting this close to a predator was dangerous in and of itself. Getting this close to a predator in pain would be just plain stupid. Still her curiosity, as it often did, was winning out over her instincts. Those small, intense eyes were still focused directly on her and, human or not, she had never been able to turn away from that kind of pain. She sighed deeply, finally coming to a decision. She retreated to retrieve her pack from the horse and then, just as cautiously, approached the eagle still lying on the floor. She knelt as close as she dare and returned the bird’s gaze just as steadily. “Do try not to impale me won’t you?” She bent her head a little closer to get a look at the wound. It was ragged, not a clean cut. It was bleeding profusely now the creature was settled and she couldn’t see anything lodged in it still. Considering the nature of her patient she would hazard a guess at an animal bite. Idly she wondered what kind of a creature would prey on the predator. She gave herself an encouraging nudge as she reached to settle the eagle in a less awkward position. “Ok Devi, you do this all the time to humans. How different can it be…”

[Noah Amuel]

A relief flooded the Kelvic’s nimble frame, slowly filling him with hope. The woman had stopped her horse, dismounted it, and now was upon Noah with a cautious grace in her steps. Noah was exhausted, but in this moment, he managed a few more soft coos, trying to lure the woman in, trying to pass himself off for the helpless bird, animal, in need that he was.

Noah studied the woman in the same way that she studied him. Her hair is what caught his attention immediately. He even tilted his head in a quizzical way as he took in the hair’s details. Its color is what really was peculiar, if anything, it reminded him of blood, a dull red whose brightness had been washed out by age or neglect. It was neither in this woman’s case, she appeared young and seemed like she took care of herself. It was simply her hair color. It was fascinating, at least in Noah’s eyes. He wanted to stroke it between his fingers, feel the coils wrap around his thumb, he wanted to play in it like a child did snow come winter.

The Kelvic puffed at the chest, breath laden with fatigue. His thoughts were foggy, mind unclear of what was to come. The woman looked kind enough, but could he really trust his eyes at the moment? If he was sure he would survive the bleeding without the aid of another, he would have never put himself in this situation, exposing every ounce of vulnerability to someone he didn’t know, to a human at that. At least, she appeared human. For all he knew, and could trust of himself, she could have been a Kelvic like he. It would help him make sense of her seemingly inert need to aid him anyway.

Noah watched on still, having his heart tugged by momentary sadness when the woman turned to go back to her horse. She was going to leave him, he thought. He feared that he would die here, a bloody feathery mess on the road between the Outpost and Syliras. He'd never see his friend Elann again, he'd never feel the embrace of Caesarion again. This was the end, he was sure of it. However, he cooed quietly in more relief when she returned to him, this time a pack equipped on her person. She had not forsaken him. In fact, she came surprisingly close to him. Even Noah himself was unnerved by her nearness. He remained still though, for it was all he could do.

Her eyes laid themselves onto his and their gazes locked. "Do try not to impale me, won't you?" she asked of him before bending more to get a better look at his leg wound. He watched her as she did so, tilting his head from either side to focus his sights on her. The way she looked at his wound in her calculated manner and the way thought seemed to take hold of her mind were soothing to the Kelvic. The woman looked like she knew what she was doing. He took a small breath to steady himself, preparing for the next step of this two-party slow dance. She reached towards him but he kept himself steady allowing her to grasp at him in her way.

The eagle heard her mutter something; the words were not understood. Still he spoke in response, cooing softly, sending subtle vibrations through his body.

[Devi]

The creature before her made soft, reassuring sounds which seemed to her at odds with his otherwise predatory appearance. Perhaps it was the fact that the bird was injured that it seemed so docile, so innocent. She frowned at the thought. Animals, even humans for their part, often reacted in unusual ways when they were injured. Fear and pain could cause any number of reactions – a calm beseeching for help was rarely amongst them. Then again, she considered, she seemed to be developing an unexpected knack with wild birds. Satisfied that the bird was not about to lash out at her Devi moved her head closer still, keeping her pace slow so as not to startle it. Blood was seeping laboriously from a jagged wound on the eagle’s leg. There were rough patches of feathers missing, the wound appearing quite messy. If she had to guess she would say the cause was an animal bite. Devi leaned back to think a moment. Given that there was no one else around, she felt no discomfort at voicing her thoughts aloud. “Well this is certainly a new challenge. Usually my patients are a great deal more vocal than you.” She felt the corners of her lips quirk a little as an errant thought crossed her mind. “Never again will I complain that my journey is boring…” She pulled her kit closer and pulled out a small set of bandages, the kind she would usually save for childish limbs or small wounds. Hesitating, she bit her lip as she considered whether she could safely administer any medicine to the creature. She finally decided on a cool salve, into which she had mixed Jile berries and Lidgefar. The former would help to cleanse the wound, helping to prevent infection, and the latter would aid the blood in clotting, preventing further bleeding. “I’m loathe to apply medicines when I don’t fully understand what effect it might have but from the looks of things we don’t have much of a choice.” That much was true. It was bad practice to apply medicines without an adequate knowledge of the patient’s anatomy or any peculiarities about their functions but in this case the alternative would be to let the creature bleed out. In for a copper miza, in for a gold. She thought to herself. As she spread a portion of the salve between her fingers to warm it she noticed the light vibrations shuddering through the bird as it cooed to her. “Not to worry little one. This is a natural remedy. If it works on us lanky humans it should work on you too.” She bent close again and tried to softly apply the salve. In part it would be soothing but no matter the medicine applied, having someone poking at your open wounds was almost always painful. She gentled her hands as she would if treating a child, wishing as she did so that she dared clean the wound more thoroughly or that she had the necessary implements to do so.

[Noah Amuel]

Noah appreciated the woman’s careful approach and slow pace when it came to interacting with him. She was so unlike several humans Noah had met before who had reached out to him quickly, who reacted in such ways that left the Kelvic shaken and untrustworthy. She was different though, he could feel it in the way she acted, the way she cared for him. He wanted to know her name, he wanted to thank her properly. In these instances he felt like he was doing her a disservice by not showing his human form, by not letting her know that they were similar after all, that he held one mind in two bodies.

Even though his leg was succumbing to numbness, he felt safe in the woman’s presence. The way she hovered over him and peered at his wound with her considering gaze. He knew that she was a caregiver, someone who was careful with her hands, probably even more gentle with her heart.

Noah watched on quietly as she pulled her kit of what he assumed to be profession appropriate tools closer to the two of them. Then she pulled out bandages, small bandages in fact. Noah initially thought they were too small, then he remembered that he was actually very small in his shifted form. His legs were several times smaller than when in his human form. Another realization struck him: he’d have to remain in his natural, bird form in order to heal thoroughly. He didn’t have a problem with it, but he’d need to be isolated from many people in order to heal fully. Was that such a bad thing? He did not know.

The woman’s voice scared him when she began to talk. She said something about her patients being more vocal when she was treating them. Noah understood that she really was a doctor, not some wouldbe casual practitioner of medicine; she was an expert. But, an expert on humans, not animals like himself. He cursed himself mentally. Maybe he should shift, save the doctor the trouble of messing with animal anatomy. Or should he wait until his bleeding was handled, stick with her a while, explain in someway that he was a Kelvic?

Noah wanted to encourage her in her actions, but didn’t know how to go about it. His vocal options were extremely limited in this state but his leg throbbed dully. He needed to choose something before she settled on her treatment. He shuddered, his nerves were on end now. He knew that anything she chose would not be a bad course of action, he entrusted her with saving him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of deceit. Somberness settled in his thoughts, he decided to say nothing. He could only trust in her judgement right now, wait for a better opportunity to explain himself.

The eagle gazed attentively in how she moved. In his mental distraction he had missed her mixing medicines into some sort of cream or salve to apply to his wound. “Not to worry little one,” she started. She assured him that her choice was organic, natural, able to work on humans and animals alike.

Again he shuddered nervously as she leaned in. He tried to prepare himself for the pain that was surely to come from her poking around at his open wound, but he didn’t exactly have something to bite down on. He squawked at first in pain, but it simmered down into a whimper as he fidgeted his body, any cooing comfort was replaced by a desperate whimper caused by discomfort and pain. He half wanted to die, just to stop the ache, but he knew that, the woman, the doctor, knew what she was doing. He was in good hands.

[Devi]

Devi winced a little despite herself when the bird before her squawked loudly. She forced her fingers to continue at a gentle pace, easing the cooling balm into the core of the wound. Both the consistency of it and its ingredients should have helped to start clotting the blood seeping out there. As she did so her eyes became drawn to the feathers surrounding the wound, matted with already sticky blood. She sat back on her knees and bit her lip in thought. The feathers on the bird’s leg looked quite fine and delicate. If she bandaged the wound as it was the blood would dry and pull out those feathers later, perhaps even tug the edges of the wound into bleeding again. Coming to a decision Devi wiped the salve from her hands and reached into her bag for a skein of water. She cut a length of clean bandage to use as a cloth and then spilled a little water onto both it and then the matted feathers. As carefully as she could she cleaned blood from the soft feathers, taking care to smooth them in what she hoped was their natural direction. The cloth slowly turned pink as the crimson liquid seeped further into it. Devi found herself settling back into a more natural rhythm and her heart calmed as she did so. The Eagle had not screeched again since the first time it did so, instead twitching and letting out small pained noises. She wished she knew what that meant. She didn't know how to look out for warning signs in an eagle. Even warning signs in a human took some measure of investigation before the cause or meaning became apparent. Still, satisfied that she had cleaned as much as she could in the time given her she turned her attentions back to the wound itself. The bleeding had slowed immensely with the aid of the salve but would not hold without a bandage. Devi applied one last medicine before setting herself to that task – a thin layer of Krolar paste. It should help to numb the pain and lend its aid to sealing the broken skin. Usually she would have applied more but she was still cautious about applying medicines in doses intended for humans onto a smaller creature. She bit her lip again, hoping the dosage was as balanced as she intended. Devi hated having to operate with so much guesswork. In quick succession she finished applying the paste and then sealed it onto the wound with a snug layering of bandages. Her fingers deftly tied off the end and she sat back with a deep sigh. A frown rippled the line of her brow then as she considered what to do next. Mithryn would be a good bet for those with the skill to care for animals but she daren’t travel so far back alone, especially this late in the afternoon. Syliras would surely have those of similar skills, she reasoned. It would simply be more difficult to locate them. Devi pulled off her coat and lay it out on the dusty road. She took a deep breath, tucking the bird’s limbs closer to its body and then carefully lifted it onto the coat. She lifted it into her arms, again surprised at the size of such a creature up close. She lay it in front of the saddle on her horse and awkwardly secured it in place with the belt of the coat. Devi packed her kit back into the saddlebags of her horse and then mounted, quickly moving her hands to steady the bundled up bird. “This will teach me for being so smug about riding, won’t it?” She muttered to herself as she shifted, trying to work out a way that she could keep the bird steady in its bundle and still direct her horse. Eventually she found some sort of balance and gestured to the horse to begin moving again. She was still a few hours slow ride from the city; all she needed to do in the meantime was hope her efforts had been beneficial.

[Noah Amuel]

Noah’s whimpers continued, the casual cooing that usually came from his gullet were laced with the clear indications of pain. Should he have been in his human form he’d be wincing and writhing in discomfort. He reminded himself that the woman was helping him, that healing came from hurt sometimes. Sadly, this was one of those cases. Still, Noah kept his trust about him. That, itself, was a hard thing for him to do. Right now there was only one human he trusted to touch him like this and that was Elann, his friend. This woman, this doctor, was a total stranger. Never had he been hurt to this point, to the point where he needed actual medical intervention.

This was trying for him, but the doctor appeared to be meticulous and methodical in her movements. She moved with confidence at some points while she faltered in others. When she faltered she didn’t give up. Her pale face took on a look of consideration each time pause overtook her. He could imagine the gears churning in her head before she moved again to try something else. He wondered what gave her pause but couldn’t question her directly. His voice was silenced by his animalistic noises and the throbbing in his leg that, surprisingly, began to subside as another salve was applied.

His pained cooing was slowly banished as his leg was bound in a tight wrapping of bandages. The doctor sat back and sighed deeply, mind probably tired from constant working. Noah was a puzzle to the woman, or so he thought. He could not know for sure unless he asked, and right now he couldn’t. Her face creased in consideration for a moment. In the next she was setting her coat on the ground before her hands went for Noah again. A fright came into him as she came to grab him again. He was a great winged beast of the sky, being on the ground, being on his back, and being cared for were things that were entirely foreign to him. He wondered if this was how his prey felt when his talons came down on them.

Lifted and then settled, Noah took in the smells of the woman’s coat. Again, as he settled, he was lifted again. It wasn’t like taking off from the ground or from a branch. The motion was jarring in its own way but he calmed again when he was held close to the woman’s body. To the horse they went, another animal that would act as their transport to their next destination. She said something to herself, something Noah couldn’t catch clearly. He was too busy worrying about falling from the horse and keeping track of the woman’s hands as they moved around the coat and his body. Eventually his rocking ceased and turned into a jaunt that wobbled him slightly.

The Kelvic was utterly thankful for the woman now. His leg didn’t ache as readily as it once did, nor did his heart pound as heavily. Comfort was found within the woman and the horse, a wrapping of two seemingly stable bodies and a coat brought security to the once frazzled Kelvic.

Down the road they sauntered for a collection of bells that Noah couldn’t count. The ordeal, the panic, blood loss, and fright took their toll on the Kelvic. The rocking the horse brought was enough to lull him into the lightest of sleeps until the castle city was reached.

[Izuyanai]

Grades : Grades Name: Devi XP: Riding +2 Observation +2 Animal Husbandry +1 Medicine +2 Lores: Medicine: Aiding an Eagle Animal Husbandry: Identifying Signals Name: Noah XP: Weapon Half-Spear: +1 Endurance +1 Running +1 Observation +2 Lores: Wolves of Syliras Body Language: Calling for Help Trusting a Stranger Inferring a Doctor Notes: Hey Noah, please clarify your ledger to state what season the expenses are for. Let me know if you think I’ve missed something.