It was unexplainable, what would tug at @Somnus' gut and heart. Something was telling him to go, to trek out into the lands eclipsed in snow. But to where? And who in their right mind would just wander out into the snow in a blizzard so fierce?...
No time to answer those questions, as the call was too loud, too deafening to ignore. But, should he trek out into the snow - the sky nearly discernible from night or day - he may just find the answer to something else.
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It seemed as if the winter of Year 501 was exceptionally harsh and unforgiving. The winds whipped angrily throughout the land, howling around corners and chilling residents of every Court to the bone. Not even the harshest of environments, Solterra, was spared - instead, the deserts became a death-wish at night.
High up in the trees, where the air chilled to below freezing temperatures without even needing to move and frozen dew hung heavy on the leaves, was a small nest. Burrowed into the core of a tree that was long since dead, the dried twigs lay crumpled, frozen together by the moisture that had nearly turned to ice. It was not uncommon to find abandoned nests during the winter months, when all the animal families had headed for warmer areas of the continent... or perhaps, on a more grim note, they were abandoned because those who once inhabited them had succumbed to winter's harsh grasp.
But this one was different. Inside the heap of gray twigs lay a fuzzy, baby Barn Owl chick, its feathers shivering in the cold, unforgiving embrace of the season. Her down - fluffy and wild, a mimic of some frazzled elderly woman's hair - did marginally better at protecting her against the elements.
And as her tiny dark eyes peered out of her nest, she stared into snowy emptiness. It had been days since her mother and siblings had disappeared, leaving her stranded in the nest all by her lonesome, cries left unanswered. Did they abandon her, or did something steal them from her? Truth be told, she couldn't remember that, let alone the last time she had even seen aother living being.
Her cries grew weaker and weaker as the time passed, and more hope dwindled from her heart. Still she peered out into the white abyss.. until finally, she saw something in the distance. It was bright, like the sun, even though the snow tried to smother it.. hurriedly she toddled over to the edge of the nest, and peered down at the approaching creature. It was something she had not seen before... wait, did it have wings?
Was it one of her parents? Those wings, they looked so familiar! Bright eyes flitted from the approaching figure, over to her own wings. They looked so similar! This must be someone who she knew... or at very least, someone who could help her!
In her hasty thoughts, she did not see how far forward she had leaned until it was too late - and she tumbled. Down, down the tall tree, her wings attempting to spread but her muscles not well-developed enough to allow her to take flight. Instead, her flaring her downy-puffed wings allowed her to slow down just enough---
THUMP! Right on the golden figure's butt!
It took a moment to process, as she sat there shivering, before she turned her gaze to the creature. It was no owl, that's for sure... even though he had the wings of one? How confusing! But if he had the wings of one, he must be... one? Something like that! Whatever he was, he was good enough for her.
Flaring her wings up as she scrambled to get her balance, the shrill whistle that left her little beak was .. well, for her size, quite deafening. But either way, unless a startled Somnus bucked her off, she'd slowly waddle up his back and nestle - quite leech-like - in between the shoulders of his wings.
He was home now, whether he liked it or not.
When @Somnus treks through the blizzard howling through Viride Forest, searching for an answer to a question that is unknown to him, he will pass by a long dead birch tree with a hollowed out niche about fifteen feet up. As he passes under it (maybe he notices the white fluffy thing? maybe he's aimlessly wandering? who knows!), little Alba, alone in her nest, will peer down at him. In her curiosity, she will not see how close she is to the edge, and will tumble from the tree to land on Somnus' rump!
Unless Somnus spooks and bucks her off, she will shake off the accumulating snow, puff her wings up and raise them high (as if such a fluffy, fuzzy bean could look menacing, even if she tried). And then promptly waddle along the Regent's back to nestle between his shoulderblades and the base of his wings.
Looks like Somnus is stuck with her, huh?
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01-16-2018, 02:04 AM - This post was last modified: 01-16-2018, 02:10 AM by Random Events
It started as a subtle itch, nestled at the base of his skull, connecting head to spine. It was a physical manifestation, something irritable, and it had driven the Dawn Court Regent from the warm sanctuary of his own personal chambers within the Citadel and to the library. There, he fully intended to seek out a good book, nestle in a corner amidst warm quilts and read until the queer feeling passed, but it wasn’t meant to be. The feeling changed the longer he lay there, verdant eyes skimming the words presented to him but not truly reading, the feeling twisting and morphing into something that seemed to seep into his very core, deep within his chest, his heart. It wasn’t painful, not at all. It was simply strange, manifesting into a curious sensation akin to being pulled in a certain direction. Instinct, maybe?
The tactician’s emerald eyes flicked upwards towards a library window, narrowing in distaste at the sight of copious amounts of snow falling down in fat flakes. There was a noticeable chill all throughout the Citadel, the winter season holding Novus in a cruel, frozen grip. That feeling remained, and for a long while, Somnus simply stared out of the window, ruminating on what it could possibly mean. Was he ill? No, this was nothing like any illness he’d ever contracted in the past. There was no pain, no discomfort. It simply was, almost like a sentient being, almost as though… Someone was calling him. Beckoning him into the snow.
Somnus frowned, his expression growing terribly grave. Instinct and the bond of love were two incredibly powerful things. Was someone injured? In need? Stranded in the snow and at the mercy of the elements? He immediately thought of those in the Dawn Court he was closest to; Ulric, Caelum, Kasil. Were they well? The tactician hadn’t seen any of them that morning, and he wasn’t certain if that alleviated his growing concern or added to it.
Knowing that he wouldn’t be returning to his book, Somnus quickly straightened upright and replaced the worn novel to be picked back up at a later time. For now, he needed to figure out what was going on. Leaving the library, the Regent wove his way through the hallways that he was now intimately familiar with. Was it really only this last summer season that he had arrived within Novus, ignorant to the world around him and nothing more than a stranger? An outsider? Now, it was home. He was devoted to his Court and his King, wholly and completely, and if not for this queer feeling within his breast, he would be content.
The first slap of wind and snow upon stepping out of the Citadel was incredibly unpleasant, but not enough so to call this all a moot point or to deter him. The feeling only grew now that he was standing outside, the invisible pull beckoning him in a direction. North-eastern. Verdant eyes glanced back over his shoulder towards the way he had come, wondering if he wasn’t about to make some sort of mistake, but the feeling was simply too strong to ignore. Letting out a breath, the mist of his exhale was quick to disappear beneath the onslaught of snow, Somnus began his trek into the raging blizzard. It was far too windy to take to the skies, so he traveled by way of earth instead.
Where he was going, he didn’t know, but the world seemed to blur around him in a white, snowy haze until the dunalino found himself within the Viride Forest. There was nothing rich or particularly green about the forest now; the trees were dead and barren from leaves, snow covering the earth and bare branches alike. It was empty and desolate and nothing like the wood where he had found Ulric seasons ago. There wasn’t a sound other than the whistle of wind, and despite the snow clinging to his winter fur, Somnus pressed on. Whatever it was felt as though he was getting closer, nearly there, possibly even at the tip of his nose…
Or, perhaps, upon the end of his rump.
A sudden weight landed upon his rump as he passed beneath an old birch tree, causing the golden tactician to balk. He stepped to the side, taken by surprise, head whipping around to see what the small weight had been, halfway expecting it to be nothing more than a pile of snow having fallen from the branches overhead… But what rested upon his croup was something that he hadn’t been expecting. A young owl chick, a Barn Owl he surmised, stared up at him with wide black eyes. The nestling was shivering from the cold, the downy cushion of her adolescent plume doing little to ward off the freezing temperatures.
“Oh.” The single murmured word was nearly lost when the owl chick opened her beak and shrieked, a sound rather fierce for one of her petite size. Somnus only stared, neck twisted, watching as she ruffled her feathers in almost an indignant manner before waddling from his rump and up his spine, only to nestle at the base of his own tawny wings. She nested in amidst the warmth of his body and feathers, and against all better judgement, the Regent felt his heart melting at the sight.
“Hello there,” he crooned softly, his voice nearly lost within the wind, “Poor thing. Have you been here through the whole blizzard?” She made no indication to answer him other than to nest deeper into his warmth, and unbidden, a chuckle left the stallion’s dark lips. It was then, and only then, that he came to a startling realization that the feeling, the beckoning, the urge to get out and find whatever was calling him was gone. The need to search was over, leaving his chest bereft of the near frantic feeling. Instead, something felt right. Whole. Sated. He wondered, in a strange moment, if this Barn Owl chick was what he had been searching for, or, if it had been she who had beckoned him into a snowstorm.
“… It’s no matter,” Somnus answered his own musings, turning back around as he tipped his wings up to better shield the shivering chick from the buffeting force of wind and snow, “You’re positively freezing. Come, little one. Let’s get you back to the Citadel, hm?”
And with that, Somnus, the Regent of Delumine and the Dawn Court, turned back to return home, none the wiser to the fact of the gift he had truly been blessed with.
I hope that this is satisfactory! :D Thank you so much! I’m so thrilled to begin Somnus’ adventure with Alba, and see what the future holds for them both!
