Somnus  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!
@Random Events
