Once Alone
Aster Nova
Gatherer

Age: 25 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 0 - Strg: 5 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Spero Offline
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Posts: 21 | Total: 43
MP: 50
#1
will you even notice
The starry twilight cast its light like little inkling rays, daggers of memory cascading from the heights of the heavens down to the crumbs of dirt. Pain throbbed from Aster's temples all the way down to his toes, as he ached.

The smell of warm bodies bathed his memory, a dogpile of legs, feet, soft and rough hands, kept and unkempt hair. The reward after a long day of searching as a Hummingbird, heavy little wings beating throughout an open field, returning to a sister, a brother, a mother a father all in a pile of shared exhaustion. The intoxicating fondness of having someone's leg jab his ribs, a hand caress his hair, little toes tickling the side of his forearm and not knowing whose it was. A body underneath him and a body on top, the warm flesh of his own blood coursing through another living being, surrounding him. Crushing him at times.

Aster lay awake now, stricken by the cold. The deep dark hole of deprivation. He grasped against the cold ground, aching for the caress of someone warm, someone close, someone familiar. It was as if the very air he breathed was laced with an unfamiliar frost bite, and one by one the layers beneath his skin were seeped with this cry of longing, of carnal attention, of home.

"WUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHHH!" He gasped for air after his loud, deprived wail. His agony oscillating between the sound waves emitted through his exsasperated lips. For a moment he could not remember any of their names. His mother, father, brothers, sisters, and so he grew afraid. Who was he even crying out for?

Was anyone really looking for him? Did anyone even care? Was the family dogpile pile any less warm without him?

"Help." His voice was reduced to a whimper, as he lay alone in the dirt, the purple roses and dragon lilies and crysanthemum all louder than him as they swayed in the twilight's wind.
when I'm not around?
Aster
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
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Posts: 755 | Total: 10,652
MP: 9824
#2
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
The evening descended and Lena worked; from enclosure to enclosure, tending to the needs of those harbored within. She soothed the aches and pains of dragons, wrapped bandages upon luxere, settled the morose ventures of cloud wyrms, and hummed lightly under her breath all the while, undaunted and fearless. The hours whittled away and she thought nothing of it – no one to return to, save for her own apartment, and after winding down and waving to her sister’s once-companion amidst the Celestine canopies, she went to snag a few snacks from the main stores.

Or would have, had she not heard a wail. Stopping dead in her tracks, and nearly dropping the water bucket in her grasp, the youth’s eyes widened with alarm. Was it an animal, somehow harmed? Was it human? Given the noise, it could’ve been impossible to tell, but of a stern, strong spirit, she unfurled, leaving the water by the closest bench, and following the sounds. It had stirred several of the fauna too, and she could feel the ebb and flow of curiosity, panic, and upheaval; uncertainty beginning to build in her fingers as a result.

Only then did she see a person in the thicket of flowers, and was crouched beside them within an instant. “Oh my goodness, are you all right?”
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Aster Nova
Gatherer

Age: 25 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 0 - Strg: 5 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Spero Offline
Change author:
Posts: 21 | Total: 43
MP: 50
#3
will you even notice
The sound of a gentle, concerned voice, tinged with an ever so motherly tone, reached his dulled senses.

> “Oh my goodness, are you all right?”

Aster processed the tone long before he processed the words, and upon realizing it was a female who was near him, took it upon himself to rebreathe and comport himself as best he could. He pulled his legs in, wiped the streams of tears from his face with his thin, silky green sleeves. The clothes he wore were thin yet durable, a dark forest with interwoven emerald hues akin to his Green Hermit Hummingbird form. He knew not where his clothes came from, but his parents had each of his siblings fitted such that they never had to take them off, (they bathed and defecated while in Hummingform) almost a skin-tight wetsuit that breathed as easy as his own skin.

"I. Don't--" He let loose a deep sigh that almost receded into another sob. He was almost a third of the age of his parents, but knew not how to describe to others anything about him other than his name and his birth order.

Through watery eyes, he feigned a glance at the gentle creature in front of him. Should she at any moment touch him, he would have melted into a stupor, having received at once the warmth his body was craving and used to at this hour. He truly was still an infant, and with his Hummingbird metabolism pulsing through his system, every moment awake outside his Hummingform during which he wasn't asleep, was a tortuously insane experience. A full head of sights, sounds, and a whole body of sensitive nerves, exacerbated every little phenomena.

"Know..." He had a hard time breathing and even replicating speech.
when I'm not around?
Aster
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,652
MP: 9824
#4
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
She didn’t recognize the youth at all, but teetered back on her feet, gauging her crouch into a strong form again. She perused over the unfamiliar thing – completely unaware of his background, his platitudes, and everything else in between, striving to rationalize the circumstances of his confusion and turmoil. It was written plainly on his face, and amidst the Attuned bond, though Lena had no way of patching the semblances together. Instead, she breathed easily and slowly, no maelstroms, no grief, no turbulent storms in her chest, but a comforting, soothing, assuaging contemplation and tone, much like she’d use with any of the wildlife secured nearby.

The Caretaker didn’t reach for him though, with no yearning to overstep boundaries. “Okay,” she whispered, with a light smile to reflect the inner kindness. She’d start with a slower process, permitting the panic to dissipate, the grounding to begin in stutters and flutters. “Does anything hurt?”
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Aster Nova
Gatherer

Age: 25 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 0 - Strg: 5 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Spero Offline
Change author:
Posts: 21 | Total: 43
MP: 50
#5
will you even notice
Aster allowed her oasis-like demeanor to enfold him. It was as if someone had shown a small, warm flame to the dark corner of his forgetfulness and he began to remember slowly. A face, and then another. A flutter of wings. The endless sea of flowers. The consistent twinkling in the sky.

>“Okay,” she whispered, with a light smile to reflect the inner kindness. She’d start with a slower process, permitting the panic to dissipate, the grounding to begin in stutters and flutters. “Does anything hurt?”

At the thought of hurt or pain or injury, Aster looked upon himself. He was not in his hummingbird form, though his heart beat faster than the clopping of terrified hooves in a maelstrom. He distinctly remembered the feeling of being chased, but that also felt wrong to him. No one was chasing him. He was the one who chose to flee.

He glanced over his arms, his legs, his abdomen. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. Everything ached, but he could not notice a rash, or gash or bruise anywhere. His body also yearned to rest, because he must have been flying for so long. If he still had his wings, he knew he'd have socket-fatigue. Maybe that was the clue to figuring out what was wrong. His thoughts remained cloudy in his human form.

"Not. Sure." Aster began to shrink, and he fell into the ritual of sitting crisscrossed with his arms folded at his sides. His face morphed into a beak, his back into his tailfeathers, and his arms stretched out as little iridescent wings.

As he shrunk, the female grew, and yet he felt more and more at ease.

{Who are you?} He asked, seeming to understand that she could listen to him the same way his family could when they were all clothed in feather and afloat.
when I'm not around?
Aster
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,652
MP: 9824
#6
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
The apprehension and confusion only caused her patience to endure and remain; a subtle tilt of her head following as he seemed to ponder over her platitudes. Her eyes only widened slightly as he altered and shifted; though the surprise didn’t last for long. She should’ve known, probably, given Attuned bonds and circumstances, emotions spilling outward and inward – but it’d been difficult to parse through all the other whims, caprices, and mercurial sentiments when bombarded with people nearby day in and day out.

A little hummingbird settled there, and the youth sighed and smiled – wondering if it all made sense. Lena, Caretaker of the Celestine. And since introductions seemed more appropriate than continuing to ask about his health and stability, she persisted and rooted in there. Who are you?
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Aster Nova
Gatherer

Age: 25 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 0 - Strg: 5 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Spero Offline
Change author:
Posts: 21 | Total: 43
MP: 50
#7
will you even notice
The impression of her name and her status in Aster’s headspace dragged him down into a deeper sense of safety. The fright of waking in the midst of separation melted slowly, with the emotional and mental softness of another Attuned’s mind touch.

He spread his wings wide, taking care to avoid the dirt underneath him. He fluttered once, hovering a few inches off the ground, before dropping back down. His wings were still plagued with exhaustion and he couldn’t muster any more energy to rise. His body ached for rest, but he didn’t know how to acquire that in this form without a nest, and to return to his human form now felt a risk.

{I’m the seventh son of Aribelle and Ilumen Nova. Long ago they gave me the name Aster, but very rarely am I called that.} He sent her the feeling that his siblings would send to call out to him, a mix between the feeling of humid air after a storm and being perched upon the sturdiness of a mature tree branch.

He drooped his curved beak and gave the equivalent of a hummingbird yawn.

{Lena, O Caretaker of the Celestine. I’m having trouble finding rest. As you can probably tell, I’ve exhausted myself. But without my flock, I’m scared. But I promised my sister, not to go back to them until the Chimera’s constellation reaches the end of the sky dome. That was the promise.} Aster looked up at the caregiver, eyelids closing shut and feathers drooping. He almost toppled over to rest his dainty feathers on the filthy ground.
when I'm not around?
Aster
Aster Nova
Gatherer

Age: 25 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 0 - Strg: 5 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Spero Offline
Change author:
Posts: 21 | Total: 43
MP: 50
#8
{sorry double post}
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,652
MP: 9824
#9
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
Lena was an attentive listener; always had been, considering her family, and now her occupation. Wisdom, sagacity, and the ability to simply take everything in ensured the animals in her care could be mended and tended to appropriately, and perhaps she didn’t see it any differently now, with the hummingbird fluttering before her.

Sons of Attuned, passing down the bloodline and heritage, siblings interspersed amongst regions and gardens, unfamiliar names that mattered to the little bird. Pondering over the statements, she smiled, easing another wave of gentle and affable ease into the forefront. She wasn’t certain if the current parameters would be the right fit, but she could at least offer something for the exhausted youth. Would you like if I found you another space in the gardens?
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all
Aster Nova
Gatherer

Age: 25 | Height: 5'6" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 0 - Strg: 5 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 7 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Spero Offline
Change author:
Posts: 21 | Total: 43
MP: 50
#10
will you even notice
Aster looked up at her from the dirt that stained his feathers, and pondered her offer. He looked about him, flowers and creatures and starlight and dew. A space in this garden sounded like a delight, a home-made recipe, the scent of a familiar flower patch.

Yet, in his hummingheart he knew a space in the garden wouldn't fill the growing void in his heart, one yearning to be free from the Celestine and another, yearning for the space he already had in the garden with his family.

His features grew taught as he stumbled a little trying to fix his posture in front of the Celestine caretaker.

(That sounds delightful, Miss Lena, but I do not think I'm capable of receiving that offer right now. Many parts of me desire the fields I already know, and yet, I also yearn for spaces outside of here, the Celestine. Yet I do not wish to return nor do I know the first thing of setting wing outside our boundaries.) Aster shook his little beak, and fluttered his wings to get some of the debris off himself.

(I cannot even sleep without the warmth of my siblings... How could I ever learn to be outside on my own?) He let loose a little sigh. Despair tinged his shallow, humming-breaths.
when I'm not around?
Aster
Lena Magnus
Celestine Caretaker

Age: 28 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Stormbreak
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 20 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 19 - Int:
MITTENS - Mythical - Abominable Snowball
Played by: Heather Offline
Change author:
Posts: 755 | Total: 10,652
MP: 9824
#11
Lena
hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
She listened, always aiming to right the wrongs, to mend, to soothe, to assuage. Except some didn’t need those qualities or facets, and so she’d learned alongside the healing postures, were the refusals too. Not everyone needed the Celestine as she, or so many animals, did. Growth could be mustered and valued in so many other alternatives and eaves, and she’d never intend to hold anyone back. Very well, and she smiled, gentle and considerate all the same as she crouched amidst the patch of earth.

But the inquiry wasn’t a simple one, and given the way the youth seemed to crave independence, while yearning for what he already had, Lena wasn’t certain she had the solution for him. I’m not sure there’s a right answer. But it certainly starts with trying. Little bushes, brambles, and branches at a time. You could stay outside the Celestine, and move further when you’re comfortable?
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops at all


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