[Quest] it cries through the night

[Random Events]

praying someone will come

There had been a storm the night before with wind that had howled and pounded against the Dusk Court -- mothers held their children against their sides as the rain poured down, had prompted them into cover with nips and squeals -- but in the rising light of dawn, the entire Court is beginning to awaken to weak sunlight and a clear sky of blue. There are signs of spring beginning to peek through, small buds nestled down amongst the grass, and yet there is damage as well -- destruction from the storm blocks the path of a young explorer eager to roam.

And in the early hours of the morning comes a song -- there is something calling you, weaving its way into the midst of your very heart. There its grip tightens and grows cold, and it yanks you trembling to your feet. You may resist it at first or you may bound into the swamp immediately -- but the result is the same either way. You will follow, and it seems to know and delight in that fact. 

However, finding your way around the downed trees and across the swampy ground is no easy feet. The song guiding you seems to pull you straight into the heart of the swamp, but you must make your own path. It grows louder the closer you get to the Cliffs, like a cicada buzzing in your ears, like the waves crashing against the salt-crusted rock. Help me, the voice calls out, loud and piercing the closer you get, over and over again until it feels like your heart might break along with whoever is crying.

At the top of the cliffs, you will find a mighty tree that has fallen onto its side, and the crying is coming from within the tangled mess of branches and leaves. In a small pocket of free space within the limbs sits a destroyed nest with an osprey chick inside, crying out for the parents who never returned from the storm -- but you have found her instead, and when you look at each other, you think perhaps that it is fate that drove you to find each other after all.

---

@Charlotte will be awoken by the call, a song without words that speaks directly to her heart. And when she finally gives in it will lead her through the swamp to the cliffs, where it will intensify exponentially, like a crescendo. There she will find a tree, downed by the storm from the night before.

But there is a chick in the tree, where a destroyed nest has been abandoned. And it may seem to her, that it has been the chick calling her all along, or something magical bringing her here.

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This quest was written by the lovely @bruiser and edited by sid.

Enjoy!

[Charlotte]

find me where the wild things are

The storm hadn’t bothered Charlie. She wasn’t like the other foals, who quivered at the first sign of lightning or hide beneath their parents at the booming of thunder. She loved to watch the dark clouds roll in and blanket the sky, but that didn’t mean her mom would let her out in it. So, she’d had no choice but to watch out her window until her lids were too heavy and she fell asleep.

The next morning, the pegasus filly charged out into the court streets, splashing through puddles and laughing with youthful abandon. She raced down alley after alley until she was free of the court and her hooves landed on soft grass instead of cobbled stone. Nothing would stop her, of that she was sure.

Nothing, except the pile up of downed trees at the edge of the swamp. Charlie paused before the destruction, but something inside her said she needed to find her way through, or around. She couldn’t explain the feeling, but it was like a need. Sort of like the one she had the first time she saw the sea, and knew she was meant to sail it one day.

Charlie was determined to get past the trees, to find out what was on the other side of them, but the ground was pockmarked with sinkholes and unsuspecting ditches filled with water. The filly narrowed her bright vermillion eyes and began to circle around them, watching her steps and beating her wings wildly to help keep them light. It was tedious and time consuming but she refused to give up.

Soon she was free of the marshes and onto more solid ground, the grass giving way to hard rock and sheer drops. Charlie loved the cliffs, loved the feel of the wind in her feathers and the sight of the sea far below her. But beneath the beating drum of the sea and the whispering song of the sea there was a voice, calling—no, crying. For help.

She followed the sound to the very top of the cliffs, where Charlie found the great tree felled onto its side. The crying was coming from among the branches, a sad, searching sound. Charlie had never heard anything like it, except for that one time she remembered walking with her mom through the marketplace and saw some little lost colt screaming for his mom.

Charlie squeezed her way into the branches, gritting her teeth as they snagged in her hair, tugged on her wings and scratched against her skin. When she found the nest with the one lone chick sitting in it, her eyes widened in surprise. “...You alone?” she said, and to her great surprise the young bird seemed to understand and bobbed its head up and down, golden eyes wet and sad.

“It’s okay,” the girl said, stretching her nose forward to pick up the small bird, “You can come home with me, I will keep you safe.” And as Charlie freed them both from the fallen tree and turned back toward her home she thought that this was the best adventure she had been on so far in her life, “My name is Charlie.” Her new friend and companion nestled into the mess of hair on the filly’s head and spoke, ”...Charlie,”and realizing that she too could understand felt like this was right.

"Speaking."

credits

@Random Events