On the Wings of Cruelty (Aidara/Closed)

[Creeper]

Timestamp: Summer 52, 512 AV Time: Before Sunrise Location: The Spires Who: Aidara It had been so long since any of the Endals had slept so soundly, not since before they failed the world and Ivak was released. There were, however, two fiery redheads in the deepest of slumbers, cradling one another in an embrace of lovers, with a younger version nestled between the arms of the one known as Aidara. There was one, however, who was not asleep. A single crow was perched on the ledge of the Aerie that formerly belonged to Catabasis. It looked quizzically around for a moment, let loose one caw, a noise that would not stir the lovers. Aidara was having a dream unlike any other she'd had before. She was laying in bed, just as she was in the waking world, with Natalie in her arms, and Sira pressed against her back. The healer's eyes shot open in shock, only to be met by a fierce hazel gaze. The man looked nothing like her own people, his hair dark and wave, tanned skin, and much to her surprised pleasure, a large nose. His taut, lean arms were crossed, his emerald adorned fingers tapping restlessly against his bicep. His smile was firm and pleasant, and he looked to be waiting on her. But not a word left his lips, and none came from hers. She slipped from her place with her remaining family, and walked up to the man in nothing but her skin. She gazed up into his eyes, the striking demeanor of those hazel wonders seeing her completely, dashing away all defenses. She kept the stare, losing herself, before she had to blink and look away. She looked back up to see a crow's beak snapping down at her, an angry caw ringing her ears. She screamed and fell backwards stumbling. She awoke to find herself falling. Panic set in, thoughts flashed through her mind, Natalie's sweet face, Sira's touch, the memories of her twin. Her naked body twisted and turned, as she fell, her eyes took in black sky, and unforgiving mountain face. She saw the rocky exterior speeding toward her as Dira prepared to take her, when she hit something solid, but much less so than stone. The wind was knocked from her chest and her eyes shut in pain, when a thought pierced her mind. Hold tight! Out of instinct, she found herself grasping at feathers? I'm saved! This is an Eagle. The large bird twisted into a stomach churning roll, his wing tips a bird's hair away from the mountain. When Aidara managed to open her eyes, time seemed to slow to a stop for mere moment. She was looking sideways into Catabasis' Aerie, and Sira and Natalie were staring at her in total disbelief, tears streaming down both their faces, mingled with joy and confusion at her survival. But then the moment was over as the healer and her savior continued upward at breakneck speeds until her family was nothing but a speck on Wind Reach. The bird leveled out with the horizon and Aidara was able to get her bearings. She had thought she was on an eagle, but when she looked down, it looked nothing like them. It was somewhat smaller, suited only for her it seemed, and its feathers were as black as the night they flew through. The shape of the head was much different than that of Sira's among a million other details. She reached out at her bond with her Wind Eagle, but felt nothing. She was alone with this ebony bird. Its mind had touched hers earlier, and she tried to remember that feeling, and reached out for it. Who are you? Where are you taking me? In response, her mind heard a bird's chuckle as they continued onward, heading east towards the rising sun. The air this high was frigid, and Aidara was forced to press her body against her captor for fear of freezing. This was worse than being in a cage. If she tried to escape, she couldn't even fall to her death, for it would just catch her. Fighting it was useless, she had nothing but her hands and her hair. Entering her mind, You're cold. The bird shot up and back in a flip, a package flying from his large talons, upward. He completed his impressive maneuver, the force of which kept Aidara in her seat with no effort of her own. As he leveled out once more, the package came to a gentle plop right on his back in front of her, perfectly balanced. It was a pack, and within it she would find a full Inarta hunting outfit, scarf and mantle included to protect her from the elements. With some difficulty, and some previous practice of her own, she would manage to dress herself with out slipping from her kidnapper's back. For five full days they flew nonstop. Aidara had been forced to fall asleep against the feathered back. Who was this bird? Sira would never be able to fly this long without resting. Her mind grew restless as her captor had spoken to her aside from the occasional comment or chuckle. The only time he had ever said anything of an importance was when she was wondering why Sira hadn't given chase after her, and as if he could hear her thoughts, Because I told her not to. The view rarely changed. There was water in all directions as far as her eyes could see. She could make out the sporadic appearance of a whale, or various cloud shapes in the sky. But every day, Syna rose, and every night Leth chased after her. Just when Aidara had given up any sort of hopes that she would ever her child, her lover, her home again, a coastline appeared in the distance. The trees looked massive, so thought they would be landing soon. Two full bells passed before they began flying over trees that were an arrow's flight wide. She'd never seen trees anywhere near this size in her life, and they appeared to only be growing bigger the further they traveled. She had thought about trying to escape now and trying her luck with the trees. But the trees appeared to be higher from the ground than the aerie she'd fallen out of, and if the trees were that large, how big were the animals? For another bell they flew, before he began circling the six tallest trees within sight. He slowly descended when her eyes began taking in a whole new world. There was a city hear filled with large hairy creatures! Her mind sorted through the details she had packed away and she plucked a name out. Jamoura. And if there were Jamoura then this must be The Spires! Her eyes grew wide. They'd flown all the way across Thunder Bay! She saw several buildings being built, everything of wood. The lack of metal, glass, and stone was evident and extremely alien to her. How did they manage? Her captor slowed as they approached a massive nest, a loud caw signaling his arrival. His entire body landed with ease in his home, and with a dull thump, they were on a solid surface once more. With a shrug, he slipped off of his back, gently, carefully. He turned his body from her, and in brilliant emerald flash, he was turning back to her, as the man from her dreams, holding longbow and full quiver. "I imagine you have many questions for me little bird."

[Aidara]

Feathers generally invoke images of soft things; beds, pillows, blankets, cute and fluffy baby chicks just begging to be pet.

It was all lies.

By the second straight night on her Nameless Kidnappers back, Addy had more aches, pains and sores than she could count. Feathers aren't soft at all. In fact, they are just about the slipperiest things you could hope to sit on. With Sira's saddle always conveniently nearby, Addy had never bothered to learn to ride bareback; it had always seemed like a waste of time. Now rueing this decision, the little healer kept herself pressed forward on the giant bird, her arms wrapped as firmly as possible around its great neck.

As high up as they were, there was little to entertain the woman; the mountains, trees and water far below them all looked the same after a while and Addy could no longer allow herself to gaze down upon them after she had leaned too far to one side, nearly spilling from her Kidnappers back. It was only his swerve at the last second in the same direction as her imbalance that saved her, regaining her lost balance.

The dream she'd had the night before was the only thing left to entertain her, in the forefront of her mind it still came back in vivid detail; Addy always found herself staring off into the uniformity of the clouds they flew through, unaware that she was even reminiscing until that terrible feeling of falling jolted her back to reality with a shriek. If the giant bird beneath her heard this each time it happened, he kept his comments to himself.

Where are we going? It was futile to try, but Addy wouldn't give up. Each time the chuckle echoed through her mind, the resentment that had built up around her like a protective wall grew a little more. Even when she pelted him with other questions (who are you, why are clouds white from the ground and wet when you fly through them, why is the ocean blue...) he gave her no answer, each adding another brick to that metaphorical wall.

Sleep did not come easily. Frustrated and tired when she finally drifted, Addy woke even more frustrated and tired. The initial fear of being kidnapped had faded, leaving behind the faint hint of desperation. Sira was not coming, that she knew. Whomever this bird was had a firmer hold on Sira's real self than Addy had on her heart. The thought twisted like a knife in her gut, and tipping over the edge of the giant eagles back didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Why are you doing this to me? Do you know who I am? Clearly you think I'm someone else because I'm hardly important enough to be kidnapped! It was the fifth day since Wind Reach had been left behind, and Addy's patience was gone. All other emotion was drowned completely by the surge of irrational anger that sent the blood pumping into her face, turning it bright red as she clung to the feathered neck and scowled; the obvious helpless state she was in did not help.

What gives you the right to literally swoop in and steal me away? I don't even know how I got into the Aerie anyway! I don't sleep walk! A realization made the healer almost scream with rage. You did it! It was you! What did you do to me! WHO ARE YOU! The tears came then, fast and hot as they stung her windburned cheeks. Anger held off the shame that lingered at the edges of her conscious thought, ready to swoop in when the stronger emotion died as Addy buried her face into the black feathers beneath her and simply sobbed her heart out.

She didn't notice the change in scenery or their decent, her balance thrown enough that even all her time in the saddle didn't tip her off to the Kidnappers change in course. It was the air, dryer now that they had left the cloud cover, that alerted the little woman. Puffy, splotchy and not pretty at all, Addy lifted her head and peered around through swollen eyes.

HOLY PETCH! They had descended enough that the trees they circled towered above them, bigger than anything Addy had ever seen. And she lived on a giant mountain with giant birds. Those bright green eyes opened wide and her mouth was left hanging open and speechless- until a bug flew directly into her throat.

Sputtering and trying to cough the thing out, it was nonetheless what Addy needed to snap herself back to reality... and where exactly was reality? Everything was foreign, from the trees to the smells and the sounds. Never having strayed from Wind Reach any further than the surrounding Unforgiving or Thunderbay, Addy immediately felt panic wash over her.

Where are we... The anger was gone, her mental chirp sounding tiny and scared compared to the demands she had made not even a few bells ago. Her gaze richoceted back and forth between the new sights as they decended still, looking for something...anything... for her to connect with; this feeling of complete isolation in this unknown place was completely unsettling to the healer.

There! In the tree, a flash of dark fur and massive amounts of muscle. I know what that is! The words rang high pitched and strained with a desperate excitement as Addy tried to follow the flitting form of the great Jamoura. But still, her captor said nothing.

A nest appeared, bigger than her entire aerie back home, and they were rapidly spiraling down towards it. The great bird loosed an ear shattering caw, and Addy instinctively clapped her hands down over her ears; used to being able to hold on with her legs, the little woman didn't even take the time to consider the consequences. Muscles that had stayed locked in one position for days screamed in protest at this sudden movement. Addy screamed in pain as her arms seized, her body instinctively jerking to the side as if it could separate itself from the feeling. Her legs lost their grip behind her Kidnappers wing joints, the muscles also seizing as she had wrenched herself.

Completely helpless, there was nothing Addy could do as she slid from the great birds back, eyes wide in panic as the pain stole the breath from her lungs. So this is how she was going to die?

The thump of the landing and her impact with the bottom of the nest was one, the beauty of the great eagles transformation lost on the woman as she curled into a ball and continued to cry out, tears still streaming down her cheeks. How long she stayed like that, it was hard to tell. Somewhere past the agony, a man was talking to her. The muscles in her neck allowed her face to lift and turn towards the sound.

YOU! The mental accusation was her fist instinct, the pain forgotten as her body immediately responded to her outrage and she wobbled to her feet. "YOU!" This time, she screamed it, a shaking hand raising to point at the man.

"Of course I have questions for you." Green eyes flashed sharp and cold, that pretty face twisted into an ugly mask of pain, confusion and more pain. It hardly left the little Inartan woman with any decorum at all. "We will start with this one: Where the petch do you think you get off?"

[Creeper]

The man flashed a dazzling smile, chuckling at the woman's fiery spirit. His hazel looked on her own, his gaze locking her in place, commanding, knowing, old, but there was pain there, pain of knowing. He closed the gap between them, his lithe, naked body inches from her own, a hand adorned in rings cupping her cheek as if he were an old lover. His sight had never wavered off of hers, "Those emeralds in which you see the world through house more intelligent questions than that little bird. However, I will answer that, and much more, but first, a gift." He moved in and pressed his lips firmly against her own, the hand sliding from her cheek and entangling in her hair as the moment lengthened to several ticks. When he broke away, she would no longer feel the pain or discomfort from her hard journey here, her hunger and thirst were sated, her energy revitalized and restored. He stepped away from her and grabbed some clothes from a niche in the branched and dressed himself, smiling at the first song. A parrot was staring at Aidara and singing a low, mournful pitch. That bird was soon joined by multitudes of others of varying species, songbirds, warblers, even owls in the midday. "I need help, and the birds of the lands sung your name when I told them what I needed. I apologize for taking you in such an impromptu manner, but we needed to make haste. Thankfully a stiff breeze helped push us here ahead of schedule. Aidara of Skyinarta, daughter of Shealynn, I need your help, more than any other than those the birds sing about." He looked up at the sky, catching glimpses of Syna's rays, as an owl floated silently down and perched lightly on Aidara's shoulder, and began nipping playfully at her hair and ear. As the man looked back at her, "We have maybe a bell. I will take you back whether you help me or not, but if you don't there will be great tragedy falling upon this innocent city," switching to Nari, he grabbed a vine that was dangling within the nest, and pulled himself up with extreme ease, "Follow me if you'd like to get out of my roost, you need to see something to truly understand." Hand over hand, legs dangling loosely, showing his upper body strength as he climbed the vine easier than many of the native Jamoura could've done. Quickly he was way up the vine, sitting atop the branch it hung from waving and shouting down at her to hurry up.

[Aidara]

"A gift? This is hardly the time or place to give me gifts, even if I were to accept such-" But he was on her before the fiery little woman had the chance to finish the venomous string of words. Her Kidnapper slid forward, a look in his eye that Addy was more than familiar with; she had been on the giving and receiving end of such a look since she learned the joys of another's body as a teen.

Anger and denial made her scuttle backwards, green eyes locked on this mystery man's face. The edge of the giant nest clipped the back of her heels and the little Inartan was primed and ready to take a tumble over the edge of the nest. The Kidnapper was there instantly, his arm encircling her waist and drawing her against the unusually warm skin of his chest. She fought, placing her hands between their bodies and pushing away. "No I don't want-"

Again, interrupted. This time by lips. A surge of anger bubbled from the depths of her already smoldering temper as she tried to cry out against his kiss. It was hard, like the hand holding firmly onto her hair, and invasive and... wonderful.

Between one tick and the next, Addy went from struggling with all her might to rising to her toes, her small frame pressed to his as her fingers sought and found hold in his hair. The anger hadn't faded in the slightest. Where the hot, burning anger and indignation has been, there was now nothing. Slowly, ever so slowly, the emptiness was replaced with a relaxed sort of contentment. Numbness faded from her fingers and toes, replaced with a rejuvenating sort of tingle that made all the hair on her body stand on end. The gnawing hunger that had lingered on the edge of all her thoughts disappeared, and Addy did not notice or lament it's leaving. The healer wanted for nothing, her blood humming in her veins, her state of no emotion a pleasant place indeed.

But her stranger stepped away, and she felt the wanting. A cry was muffled as Addy bit down on her bottom lip, lowering the hand that had tried to hold on to the man as he reached for his clothes. Whatever power the man had held over her was gone now, leaving her emotions a fraction of what they had been previos; the anger was still there, though a simmer now. It flared a bit, rankling as the moments caught up with her. A blush crept in and enflamed her cheeks, green eyes darting down and away in embarrassment. She was normally the seducer, not the seducee. The tables turned, and she did not like the vulnerable state it had left her in.

It was only then that she noticed the birds singing. She could feel their rather intense gazes on her, flesh prickling in response. Looking away from the man as he dressed, Addy made note of the parrot and moved carefully until she was standing before it, chirping at the brightly colored beauty in Nari. "Are you talking to me? I'm afraid I can't understand. You sound sad, though..." The others had joined, but it was the hoots of the owls that made Addy look up in amazement. Making up her mind to confront her Bird-Man again, Addy nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke again, directly behind her, as if reading her mind.

"Who are you?" She turned slowly, fingers splayed as her hands perched on her hips, cocked to the left with as much attitude she could muster; whatever he had done to her still lingered, muting her feelings. "How do the birds know of me?" Was what Addy meant to ask. But he had mentioned her mother. The mother that still, to this day, Addy wouldn't have thought existed except for the fact that she knew babies had to come from somewhere. "W-what? Aidara, Daughter of w-who?" It was embarrassing the way her voice shook.

Birdman plowed forward, ignoring her questions as he continued to lay out the situation. Addy listened as best she could, green eyes wide and staring until he finished. "Follow me" he had said, but it took all the woman's strength to stay standing upright, let alone climb. Thanks to her vertical impairment, it wasn't far for Addy to fall when she finally collapsed on the nest's floor. "Just give me a second..." It was a weak, choked whisper that she wasn't even sure the man could hear. He had disappeared from sight already, up into the leafy boughs of the giant tree.

Too much information. Though rejuvenated by the loaded kiss, it hadn't expanded the capacity of her brain... which was now overloaded. Rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands, Addy stared at the twigs, leaves, and feathers that littered the nest, kicking a stray stone away with the toe of her boot. Her mother... the birds had chosen her... What birds? The parrot that was singing? She lifted her gaze towards where she had seen it last, but the branch was empty. And how was he supposed to get her back within the bell...? It had taken much longer than that to fly here...

There was a rustle over her shoulder and Addy's head whipped around, scrambling to her knees as she hunched defensively against whatever had made the noise. Fathomless black eyes regarded her from where the Parrot perched now on the side of the nest. It tilted it's head, trilled a few more mournful notes and.. rolled its eyes? No way.

"What? You think you could do better in a situation like this? Don't judge me." Feeling foolish nonetheless for allowing such a self pitying moment, Addy stood to her full height and crossed her arms over her chest. "Let me guess, you're also going to tell me I should follow him, right?" The parrot said nothing, cocking it's head to the other side instead. The pair stared at each other for a few long chimes before the little bird puffed out all it's feathers, shook itself and took off over the edge of the nest. And Addy was alone.

"How in goddess's name am I supposed to do this..." She had paced to the vine, gripping it in one hand and tilting her head back to look up for any sign of the top. Ah. Only like a bajillion feet above her, Birdman sat and waved his hands. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" Waving back, Addy shook her head and gripped the vine with both small hands. Using her feet to propel her, she made it up a few feet before the muscles in her arms began to shake. "I'll be petched... I'm out of shape."

"Hurry up!" Naked man called.

"I'll go as fast as I please." Between gritted teeth as she pulled herself up another foot or so, face reddening from the exertion. "If you're in such a rush, why didn't you just fly me up here?" But she still kept going.

"I'm gonna need another one of those kisses." Panting and pulling herself awkwardly onto the branch, Addy wrapped her arms around the limb and lay there panting for a moment or two. "I am not made for climbing." After a few chimes of this, her breathing slowed and she was able to move without fear of simply toppling from the branch. Wiping a hand at her brow once she was able to sit upright, the little woman wasted no time interrogating her kidnapper. "What am I to see? There are only leaves, good sir, and some birds. But the birds already know me, is it them I have to see? I still don't know why I am here... puzzles are not my strong suit, you know. You probably should know that, as you seem to know everything else. Enough riddles."

[Creeper]

The man gestured to many of the piles of rubble and buildings half built. He pointed at the tired faces, the sad looks, the overall sense of loss and loneliness. Wind Reach had felt like that for a many days after Ivak's escape, but this city was still in mourning, still rebuilding, still scarred irreparably. Aidara could see the former beauty in every aspect of the city, and seen that it had been torn asunder, ripped apart, a flower shredded by a bolt of lightning. "This is one of my homes Aidara, and this one was nearly destroyed entirely. We know who failed, and some of us know the instigators, but the blame matters not. This is the effect of our actions, and our inactions. Nearly half the population died during the storm, they lost their city to madness born out of magic, and just recently got it back. They were foreigners in their own city. And their hardships aren't over I'm afraid. The birds say that we don't have long." He grabbed another vine with one hand, and wrapped a strong arm tightly around her waist, and leaned forward, the two beginning to fall. But his grip, on her and the vine, let them swing up and out toward the largest building in the city. He let go of the vine, and landed gracefully on the roof, and set the ginger woman down, "You will see why you are here, daughter of Shealynn. The birds know your name just as they knew your mother's." His eyes took on a sad hue, as he looked away, toward the center of the city, settling on the sight of a beautiful garden nestled between several of the largest trees, trees that could give every Inarta in Wind Reach a thousand bows, and still have plenty of leftover. He led her down the sloping roof, the pair jumping down to the wooden platform. Many Jamoura gave him a startled look, then smiled and whistled a bird's tune to him. He continued his gait toward the garden, stopping before the gap between the Petal and itself. He whistled shrilly and there was shuffling about, and several turtles approached the edge of the garden, all brighter shades of green than Aidara had seen. Simultaneously, wings seemed to sprout from some hidden location, and began beating rapidly, much like a hummingbird's. The flying turtles floated out from the garden and formed a bridge in the air between them and the garden. Taking her hand, he stepped out onto the shell of the first turtle. The creature didn't dip or sink as it supported his full weight, and slowly and carefully, the unlikely duo made their way across stepping into the spongy grass. "Welcome to Caiyha's Temple Aidara. Come, we must find the current priestess." The wound their way past many birds, plants, animals, and curious combinations of them all for several chimes, before coming across an Akvatari woman praying over a single, beautiful, pure black flower. Without looking up, she spoke, a mournful voice, "Welcome Yaweat, found another little bird I see. Have you come to warn me of what I already know?" "No, I came here because the birds sing tales of this being the epicenter, and I wanted to meet the daughter of your predecessor. This is Aidara, daughter of Shealynn, former priestess of Caiyha's Temple, and one of my deceased wives. We will need her for this coming event. No other matched her mother in getting through to the lost, and these are truly lost. How much time do we have Sue?" Suequortie didn't show her surprise at the revelation of Shealynn's offspring arriving. She simply smiled, and embraced the young redhead, "You have her nose, and her eyes. You got your father's hair and smile though. But no time for pleasantries. They've arrived." The trio looked up as a single ebony bird alighted on a branch in the Temple. Then another, and another. Over several chimes, the entire temple was blotted out in blackness, and the few areas of the city proper that Aidara could see, they were covered as well, and every bird was silent. They all simply sat and stared. Then the screams began. Aidara could see people moving jerkingly toward the edges of buildings they were working on and stepping off, crashing into the wooden boards below. Others walked off the Petal, into the nets below. But the one that caught her eye most was a naked human woman, that Aidara had a gut feeling was a Kelvic bird holding a sharpened stick, the handle to a tool perhaps. The woman then, in one swift, powerful motion, forced the stick up into her eye and into her brain, and fell over, twitching on the Petal. The birds in the Temple began to speak, and Aidara could hear her voices that only she could possibly know. Natalie, "Mom help me! I'm over here!," sounding as if she were near the edge of the Temple, followed by the sound of her scream, distancing itself as she fell. Sira, "Stay away you petching birds! Don't hurt my baby!" this was followed by the loud bird cry of Sira's eagle form, then silence and a loud thud. Aidara would continue hearing a cacophony of voices that could only possibly be in Wind Reach, all of them dying or injured. The man dropped to a knee, his face pained and drenched in sweat. The Akvatari priestess was shrieking and insects began to swarm toward the birds, only to be driven into the sides of trees or into their waiting mouths. The shrieks and chilling cries would never end, not so long as these birds were here. Through tear filled eyes, she could see the birds flocking on the dead woman's body, and beginning to peck at and eat her. They were predators, of the deadliest kind, somehow they got their prey to kill themselves.

[Aidara]

It wasn’t until her guide gestured around them, an all encompassing wave of one hand that brought to light every problem as it passed, that she really saw; Aidara had been blinded by her own irritation and confusion, unable to see the real problem that surrounded her, the pain that should have overwhelmed her senses.

“Oh…” The word was expelled in a huff, as if a fist with some weight and purpose behind it had just slammed into the little woman’s stomach. “We failed.” The Inartans, the Wind Eagles. Though Aidara hadn’t even known Ivak’s name prior to his escape, nor did she really understand how or why it happened, there was hardly a doubt in her mind as to who was to blame for the whole ordeal. She felt sick to her stomach as the hunger that had been temporarily sated started to claw again at her intestines; she had no lunch to lose, but that didn’t seem to make a difference to the disgust that nearly doubled her over with its force. Each of the man’s carefully chosen words hit the woman where it hurt.; foreigners in their own city, just like Addy didn’t quite belong in hers, never ending hardships.

“I have to help them!” The little woman’s response to the cryptic warning was immediate, hands grasping tightly at a muscled forearm as she held on with a determination that matched the conviction in her voice. “I have to! What do we do? Where do we go?” Tearing her gaze away from the broken scene that had unraveled before her, Addy turned those pleading green eyes up to her kidnapper, tugging on his arm like a child would when begging for a sweet. So many questions and, apparently, so little time. “I still don’t know your name. Do you like the idea of me thinking of you as my kidnapper… or perhaps ‘Big Ugly Meanie Face’ is more preferable?”

Of course, there was no answer from the man aside from another secretive smile. With an eyeroll of a response, the fiery haired woman let go of the man’s arm and started to turn back to the ruined city. Though Addy was no stranger to being picked up, tossed, carried or otherwise flung about thanks to her petite size, she nevertheless felt her heart beat in her mouth for a moment as her kidnappers strong arm encircled her waist and swung her outwards with him. Having logged hours upon hours of practice in the sky with Sira was the only thing that kept Addy from wrapping her arms and legs tightly about the man as they swung, resisting the urge to bury her face in his shoulder so not to see the empty space below them. The height didn’t matter, she lived on a mountain for gods sakes, but the vine… well, that was questionable.

The landing wasn’t a graceful one; Addy let go of the man as soon as they were solidly on the roof, taking a few quick paces away before casting him a glance over her shoulder. “There it is again. The cryptic-ness.” He had mentioned her mother again, and he must have known what it was doing to her. Addy had never known her parents, and just the mention of the name of the woman who birthed her gave the little healer chills down her spine, though she couldn’t decide if she liked it or not. “How do you know my mother? I don’t even know my mother!” There was still some anger there, yes, but Addy had long ago given up on the search for her parents, figuring that they hadn’t wanted to be found. Sairque had insisted Addy drop the matter, and so she had. But this strange man, the look in his eyes when he said her mothers name… “You knew her.” Biting down on her tongue before she asked more questions, some of which Addy didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer to, there was no resistance this time as her hand was taken up once more and she was guided down over the roofs.

The Jamoura were given half a glance, Addy’s mind still clearly elsewhere; if this man knew her so well, he wouldn’t have slapped her with just the right information to send her into an introverted stupor. They were given a polite nod, of course, but hardly a reaction otherwise. It wasn’t until they were halfway across the turtle bridge that Addy even realized what they were walking on.

“Holy petching…!” Nearly jumping out of her skin, Addy stopped in her tracks, looking wildly around at her feet, the whirring wings and the beautiful turtle-shell bridge before her. The man kept walking, the resulting tug completely unbalancing the woman and nearly sending her tumbling off the edge. “This is so weird… so petching weird…” Her Kidnapper pulled her back upright, pulling her close with an amused, patronizing chuckle that did nothing to slow her runaway heart. In fact, the only thing it did do was earn him a glower as a blush crept unwillingly across her chest and into her cheeks.

It was with this flustered air about her that Addy met the Priestess. “A pleasure.” The breathless murmur of a hello was followed by an awkward bow, half completed as the action was second-guessed and quickly straightened. Green eyes flickered between the two as they spoke, making no attempt to decipher the past held in the words they exchanged. Did no one speak their minds anymore? The cryptic back-and-forth of these strangers was giving Addy a headache. Her people said what they meant, and if words weren’t clear enough there was always some kind of physical action that could properly back them up.

Words flew rapidly by but a few stuck like burrs in Addy’s mind, starting her from her polite stupor. Again she grabbed for the man’s arm, green eyes wide and a little wild. “What did you say?” Her voice was no longer a blushing whisper, but a dozen octaves higher and cracking with uncertainty. “Did you say former priestess? My mother?” Despite how she tried to separate herself from her parents, young Addy had nevertheless created a little fictional world in which her parents were the greatest Endal in all the land, having saved Mizahar from utter destruction multiple times before being dragged away to some distant land, unable to return for their daughters… “A priestess?” The pain was there, in her eyes, in her voice as the faux reality she had locked away so long ago exploded out of its box and shattered.

Sue spoke gently, but Addy couldn’t hear the words. She saw the Priestesses eyes linger on the different parts of her face, a hand lifting to stroke her own hair as she spoke of the Aidara’s own fiery locks. None of it mattered, though, because none of it made sense. The stubborn woman rejected that which she didn’t like or couldn’t accept, and her mind was busy fighting the news.

The black bird alighted on a branch near Addy, giving her restless gaze someplace to rest, though not for long. It’s brethren swarmed and covered every surface available, Addy’s reactions delayed as she automatically backed away from the swarthy flock. They felt wrong. Everything felt wrong.

It was only a moment or two before the first one screamed that Addy could place her finger on the wrongness; the forest had grown quiet, the natural rhythm of the place gone as if time had simply stopped. Even the Jamoura and their human companions were still. It was wrong… It was very wrong, and every fiber of Addy’s being screamed at her to get away. Though she was still clinging to the man, the little healers fingers dug deeper into his flesh as she cried out. “We have to-!”

But it was too late. The screaming began, and all hell broke loose.

At first, Addy watched with sickened fascination, the shock and unreality of what she was seeing gluing her feet to the floor. A small hand lifted to cover her mouth as the few individuals stepped over the edge of the Petal, her mind rejecting what was happening until a movement out of the corner of her eye allowed her to drag her gaze away from the horror…

…And onto a greater one, a scream ripping loose from Addy’s throat as the woman stabbed the stick into her eye. Her hands reached outwards, as if she could stop the woman by sheer will. But there was a sickening pop and a crunch, and Addy screamed again, her feet finally moving as the woman dropped bonelessly to the floor. Pulling desperately away from the strong arm she had been clinging to, the little healer vaulted through the chaos, pushing past plant, animal and human alike as she fought towards the fallen Kelvic.

Deep down, Addy knew that she was too late, but since her mind was so good at rejecting reality lately, it just kept on doing so. Falling to her knees beside the woman, Addy looked down onto the still face with a choked sob. There was so much blood. Wrenching mindlessly at her shirt, attempting to tear it into strips from the hem up, she laid them out over the woman’s still chest, unable to take her eyes from the stick protruding from that still face. She’d have to take that out first.

It took both hands and a strong yank upwards that nearly sent her toppling over backwards to remove the stick. Addy tried to ignore the pale, spongy matter that clung to the bloodied end, laying it aside and using the remains of her shirt to mop away some of the blood that ran down her cheek like tears. “It’ll be okay…” The whisper was barely audible.

Somewhere between trying to clean the wound and wrapping up the woman’s head in the ruins of her shirt, Addy started to hear voices. Her baby. “Natalie?” Confused, those green eyes distant and clouded with denial flickered slowly around the Petal, seeing none of the horror that still unfolded around her. It was a blessing in disguise, really. Determined to help and save whatever she could, the amount of death that was unfolding from among the chaos would have sent her over the edge, metaphorically and perhaps even literally. But Natalie’s voice grounded her, though panic sent bile burning up the back of her throat in the process.

“Sira?!” She knew that cry, her heart in her mouth once more as the severity of the situation started to grip the woman. But still, she finished tying off the knots of the bandages around the dead woman’s head, the blood from the empty socket already having mostly soaked through the fabric. “You, take care of her.” A random hand was pointed at the nearest being, though Addy didn’t look to see exactly who or what she was talking too. It didn’t matter.

Scrambling to her feet, Addy dashed to the edge of the Petal, crying her lover and her daughters name the entire time. There was no response from either no matter how many times the little woman shouted. Her eyes, completely wild now, found and pinned her kidnapper. She dashed to him, practically climbing up his frame in her panic. “I heard them. They’re here. They followed! They’ll be hurt! KILLED! We have to get them out. I will do anything, just get them away from here… My daughter… she can’t see this.”

Next to her, another man fell to his knees. Instinct sent her surging forward a few steps to his side, her hand going to his sweaty brow immediately. He was burning up. Addy managed to get him to lay down, holding his shoulders flat as she glanced around for someone, something, anything she could use to help. But there was nothing. Again, Sira shrieked and cawed, sending adrenaline rushing into Addy’s head, making the world spin for a moment… until the cry was cut off and paired with a loud, heavy thud. The world stopped.

Faster than she thought she could move, the little woman was back to the dark man’s side. Addy hadn’t realized the voices had come from the birds, her hands scrabbling and grasping for the mans face as she pulled it down to her level and spoke in as serious a tone as her hysteria would allow. “I’ll do anything.”

[Tabarnac]

Everything was happening so fast, and Aidara didn't get any answers to her questions before the dying began. The Kelvic was too far gone for her skill to resuscitate, even with the grace of Rak'keli. Then there was the man with the fever, but she had no kit, no medicine, not even a cool, wet washcloth to leach away his fever. The attack had brought her to her knees already, nearly broken her with the losses of her loved ones echoing in her ears like pain to phantom limbs of her soul. "Yaweat," Suequortie begged, or as much as begged. A priestess of Caiyha no longer felt quite as an unmarked person felt, rather a part of the whole of nature than a mere part. But he shook his head, grim and determined, all signs of earlier humor erased from him as if they had never been. If she had felt an attraction to him before, he was about as attractive as a foreboding statue now, larger than life somehow, and not quite human either. The Akvatari made no further request for his intervention. Whatever was to happen, Aidara was the key. "They do not listen to me as they ought," she said, kneeling close to Aidara's ear. "The storms have twisted them into something Other. They feed on despair as much as flesh, so do not feed them with your own. The attack is psychic. Whoever you hear dying is not here. But you are an Endal and a Healer." Her hand grasped Aidara's left arm, revealing the healer's knot insider her elbow. "Reach out to them, Aidara," Yaweat said, suddenly doffing his clothes again. Suequortie helped the Inarta to her feet with surprising strength, pulling her back from the fever victim. The man tucked a hank of hair back behind the healer's ear, and his touch burned. But suddenly she could hear a great deal many more voices, a chorus like unto a hive mind. A slight crest of feathers fanned out behind her ear. "What is He doing? What is He doing? So hungry. Feed us." He jumped, shifting almost instantaneously in midair and landed astride the feverish man, black wings mantling as he glared defiantly at the flock. A nervous ripple passed through them, their chorus incoherent for a time.

[Aidara]

When her kidnapper didn’t respond immediately to her pleading, Addy dropped her hands to her sides and took a step backwards away from him. Why would he bring her here and then not help? Was this some personal torture? Perhaps she was still actually dreaming, safe and sound in the bed and aerie that she shared with her lover and daughter.

Beyond caring how she was perceived by anyone present, Addy closed her eyes and slapped herself across the face as hard as she could possibly manage. Her cheek immediately erupted into a flush, stinging where her fingers had landed. The feeling was real, even if everything else was becoming unbelievable. More reasonably, in the short time that she had been in the presence of this strange man, he had worked some kind of magic upon her, sapping her of her anger and manipulating her. She had allowed it, and turned to him when the situation became overwhelming.

Though the priestess didn’t know it, her light touch and gentle words had derailed the nasty path the little healers thoughts had been headed down. A skeptically arched ginger brow was directed towards the Akvatari “What am I supposed to do if they won’t listen to you?” But the woman cut her off, once again bringing up the fact that she was an Endal and a Healer.

Huffing out a breath of frustration, Addy crossed her arms over her chest and tried to swallow the stress induced wave of bile that was climbing up the back of her throat, all while attempting to ignore the pain and destruction that was unfolding all around her. “I think there is some sort of mistake here, I can’t just talk to any bird, you know. Do you understand the Endal, Wind Eagle bond?” The question was almost shouted at the woman, Addy’s arms dropping to clench into fists at her sides, the flush rising higher into her face, the red hand print she’d left on her own cheek burning painfully.

But her kidnapper broke his frustrating silence, the fiery haired woman whirling to face the man as he spoke. She had barely made it all the way around when his hand was in her hair, brushing against her ear, those little fists rising in immediate defense. “No more kisses! Get away from me!” The touch had been gentle and, with the loss of his clothes, Addy had assumed the man was just completely off his rocker. She had figured out by now that he was more than just another human, but she wafted the thought to the back of her mind lest it cloud her judgment. Mortal or not, she wasn’t going to be mindlessly controlled.

Before that handful of thoughts could even be strung together, however, the little woman’s head exploded in a cacophony of screaming voices. Yelping and clapping her hands over her ears, only then feeling the feathers that crested there, Addy closed her eyes against the pain that had erupted along with the voices. “What have you done?!” Forcing her face back up towards the man, Addy was immediately blown backwards onto her rump as the giant black bird once more took to the air, a few quick and powerful beats of his wings bringing him further out onto the ledge.

The pain in their voices brought tears to her eyes, driving all thoughts of motives and previous irritation from her mind. She had to help. But how?

Who is he? When her voice invaded their thoughts initially, the shrieking of the birds increased tenfold until Addy found herself yelling her questions outloud, even as the shout protected across their new telepathic connection. WHO IS HE?! Garbled responses were all she received at first, leaving the woman feeling just as helpless as before.

Unable to communicate coherently, the healer instead did what she did best. Sinking down until she sat crosslegged, Addy pulled her meditative state around her, blanketing herself in as much silence and calm as she could, focusing on that coil of golden power that lay within her. Gentle fingers pressed against the endless knot on the inside of her elbow as the woman pulled upon her power, gifted by Rek’keli. Hefting a thick cord of her power, Addy threw it across the space between herself and the nearest of the hypno-birds, allowing the end to sink into the creature upon contact. From there it was only a matter of extending herself into its awareness. The bird didn’t even fight as the little healer slipped into it’s mind, and she braced herself for what she would find there.

[Tabarnac]

Suequortie did not seem impressed by Aidara's protests, but her love was Caiyha's love, and while that could encompass the warm cuddles of mammalian parents, they were surrounded by birds, and their love involved shoving their young from the nest's dizzying edge to fly or die. And though the Akvatari's form seemed delicate, her will was hard as flint now and Yaweat was clearly prepared to defend the fallen. This was battle, and any follower of Rak'keli could understand that. It was the birds who answered her, full of a terrible awe for the great black bird who challenged them for their prey, love and admiration twisted horribly. Their voices too created a harsh, discordant cacophony where there might have been the chaotic beauty of normal birdsong. "Lord! Crow! Brother! Lord! Eagle! Feathered! Brother! Prince! Crow! Eagle! Prince! Crow! Lord!" There were words to pick out, disjointed and hardly illuminating. Though he had shown her some of the abilities of a Kelvic, he was hardly submissive, but rather expected it of those around him and if Suequortie was not submissive, she was deferential. Yaweat had invaded her dreams, carried her away from her home, and opened her ears and her eyes. A dreamwalking shapeshifting sorcerer, perhaps? It was so much to handle, and yet she had the tools she needed, or so they said. The impulse to seek her center, the eye of the storm of emotions within her, proved more difficult than normal, but ultimately effective. Suequortie seemed to be enough threat to keep the birds off Aidara in her vulnerable state, but they remained like vultures watching. As they moved over from answering her question, though, their neverending chorus returned to more upsetting things. Despair. Feeding. And as the feverish man was kept from them, their attention shifted too, and she began to feel questing fingers edging along the boundaries of her mind, gently enough seeking purchase or, worse yet, entrance.

[Aidara]

A scream ripped itself from the Inartan woman’s lips of it’s own accord, the sound clawing its way from her throat as the voices of the birds invaded her mind even as she tried to inspect theirs. It was louder than before her Kidnapping Man had touched her and allowed her to hear the distorted, diseased voices of the birds. No. Creatures. They weren’t birds.

In a matter of ticks, the birds had transformed her, made her into one of them with the pure force of their emotions, Addy’s empathetic bond to her twin sister providing this vulnerability. It was a connection she hadn’t used in a long time, but it had been used against her once before. The despair and hunger overwhelmed her, consumed her while she found herself chanting the disjointed words along with the birds between sobs, though she didn’t even realize she was crying. The wind was cold on her face,

Those most mundane of thoughts managed to slip past the cacophony inside her head, acting as strings that ground the woman to her sanity lest the indescribable pain of it all swept her away. Thought by thought, Addy was able to differentiate herself from the birds again, grounding herself so to speak as she tried to push the cries away.

“Lord, crow, brother…” Muttering still to herself, Addy felt her gaze drift to where the great black bird perched, guarding the body. Something… something told her they were speaking about her Kidnapper. Who was he? It was driving her mad! Secluded, undereducated about the outside world, Addy had hardly any reference points to allow her to draw a conclusion.

Though she had pulled herself back away from the birds, the connection with them remained, the despair a constant cold trickle down her spine, drawing her attention away from the nagging mystery. But neither Suequortie nor the Kidnapper Man made any move. All of them were just standing there while the birds cried.

Exhaustion swept through Addy when she realized that it was really up to her, and the longer she waited to act, the worse it would get. She had no weapons and she hardly knew how to fight. She was further off the ground than she could calculate and with no way down. There were hundreds of the birds, and only one Aidara. They had told her she had what she needed, but she had nothing.

Drawing a hand over her face and rubbing vigorously, Addy found herself remembering that one hunt, all those seasons ago, with Renol, Kovac and her sister. They had all gotten hurt in one way or another, and it had been up to Addy, against overwhelming odds, to save them all. The memory triggered a feeling similar to what she felt now, though the current situation was magnified tenfold. Nevertheless, it was the jumpstart her mind needed.

In a burst of movement, Addy sprinted towards the edge of the platform they all occupied, seating herself on the edge and as close to the birds as she possibly could, settling down before she simply lost her nerve. Though it was never exactly quiet or calm, the little healer did her best to pull her meditative state around her, a blanket of assurances that she could use to keep calm. It worked, if only slightly, and Addy felt the stiff hold of her shoulders loosen as her eyes slid closed.

Her power glowed within her like a pool of molten gold, tendrils reaching up out of the middle when she reached for it, her gift jumping to hand like a well-trained pet. Only a first marked disciple of Rek’Keli, Addy could do little to heal each bird, and she would wear out long before the job was finished. So it was a good thing that was not what she planned.

Normally taking a delicate thread of her power, Addy instead gathered it up in both of her envisioned hands, hefting more of her gift at one time than she ever had before. It took every ounce of will she had in her body to do so, but the little woman flung her gathered power at the birds, the golden mass scattering into dust once it hit the wind. Of course, Addy was the only one that could see this but never the less, as she sat there, she turned all of her attention towards the flock, every ounce of her power focused towards cleansing them, healing them.

She had no idea if it was what they wanted or how well it was going to work, but still they cried of feeding. “I don’t have anything to feed you! I gave you everything I have!” The tears had long dried on her cheeks, but Addy’s voice still cracked with a sob as she slumped, the energy drained completely from her as she flung everything she had at the creatures.