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+---- Thread: [o] Initiate (/showthread.php?tid=11581)
Initiate - Soren - 06-24-2025
Leaving Aithne still sleeping, Soren flew low through the trees, stretching his wings in the early morning light. He had always been a morning person, opposite of Aithne’s late night heart.
As he flew, the grove opened beneath him. At its heart stood the wellhouse—limestone walls weathered pale, arched windows yawning without glass, and a round roof tiled in fading red. He landed on the roof’s curve, claws clicking lightly.
Inside, rainbow cobblestones shimmered faintly in the dim. Two thick posts cradled a winch and a cracked oaken bucket, unmoving. The well shaft itself yawned dark and deep, the crystalline water at its base hidden from view—but something about it tugged at his senses. Full of curiosity, he drew in. Soren dropped through the window, wings flapping in short bursts to keep him off the pebbled ground. He circled the shaft, clacking his beak.
He plucked a coin-bright pebble from the floor with one claw and hopped up to the side of the well and dropped it in.
No splash.
No echo.
Only silence.
Had he been in human form he would have sighed, disappointed. His wings spread wide, then he pulled them closer and began to clean his flight feathers.
RE: Initiate - Alys - 06-30-2025
These days, Alys could use a pleasant dream.
She wandered through the grove, Sascha at her heels, and made her way to the old wellhouse. It was said that a spirit dwelled within the well, with its rainbow cobblestones and its red-tiled roof. Alys had never seen such a thing here, but she wholeheartedly believed that it was possible. So every time she passed this way, she brought a shiny pebble to toss in, just in case.
And every time, she marveled at the lack of a splash, or a clunk, or any other sign that the pebble had hit the bottom. Every time, she wondered if perhaps the spirit had caught it, tucking it away with other bits and baubles to add to its collection.
Today was no different, and as Alys leaned against the edge of the well, movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. A cinderscourge sat outside, cleaning its flight feathers. Alys frowned. Such a creature was a beautiful sight, sure, but it didn't belong here. So she stepped out of the wellhouse to look up at it, cocking her head thoughtfully to one side.
RE: Initiate - Soren - 07-02-2025
Soren paused mid-preen, feathers still flared wide, one leg lifted as he cleaned. The soft crunch of approaching footsteps caught his attention before the scent did. His head tilted sharply, fiery eyes locking onto the woman who emerged from the wellhouse. He recognized the way she moved, careful but not afraid--it was a similar air to his grandmother's gait.
His feathers ruffled.
Soren didn’t fly off. Instead, he watched.
Curious.
Then, as if remembering himself, he gave a slow blink and turned his head just so—offering her his profile, all avian radiance and just slightly smug.
This was his perch now.
He’d found the well first.
Parting it slightly, a soft hiss curled from his beak. It sounded almost like laughter. Then he clicked it shut, tail flicking, and waited to see what she would do next.
RE: Initiate - Alys - 07-02-2025
The creature didn't belong, but neither did it leave. It watched her as she left the wellhouse, ruffling its feathers as it turned to one side. Its profile was striking, and even from afar, Alys could tell that the bird knew it. Sascha followed along behind her as the seer took a few steps forward, curious as to what the beast might do. Would it leave? Would it attack? Or was it, perhaps, not exactly as it appeared? As a master of illusions, Alys knew a thing or two about looking one way while being something else entirely.
A soft hiss that might have been a laugh slipped from the bird's parted beak. Alys looked up, bracing a hand on her hip as she considered. A few more steps, and she was close enough that she was able to sense the bird's emotions - which suggested that perhaps it was not a bird at all, but a person, though who, precisely, it was, she couldn't say. [say]"Hello,"[/say] she said conversationally, lowering a hand to rest on top of Sascha's head. [say]"I don't suppose you'd like to come down for a chat? I'm going to get a crick in my neck with you all the way up there."[/say]
RE: Initiate - Soren - 07-25-2025
He watched her. He listened to her. He tilted his head and ruffled his feathers more.
He let her wait.
Then, he clicked his beak once more, just for the drama of it—then shimmered.
Feathers folded into skin, heat retreating inward, until Soren crouched atop the roof in his human form, all dark tousled hair and wiry limbs. [say]“I’m quite comfortable up here, thanks,”[/say] he called down, voice dry and unmistakably human. “No cricks in my neck.” Soren grinned, youth on his side. [say]“What gave me away?"[/say] He asked, though he knew that birds of prey that held the nature of his shift were not native to King's End--there was just so much fun in the game he started in his own head, with his own words.
But he wasn't coming down. He'd found the well first.
RE: Initiate - Alys - 07-27-2025
Her guess, it seemed, was a good one: feathers melded into skin, beak became flesh, and talons morphed into nails until a man - an Ancient - sat upon the roof. Tilting her head to one side, Alys shaded her eyes to look up at him. He was quite young, with dark, tousled hair and the air of one with entirely too much self-confidence. It was, in her opinion, a common error on the part of youth, and one that she wouldn't hold against him.
[say]"Well, for one, we don't get many Cinderscourge around here,"[/say] the seer said. [say]"Aside from that, you could say that I have a sixth sense about these things."[/say] And he could take that as he would; she wasn't about to give up her secrets to a perfect stranger. Not when most of her closest friends didn't even know that she could read emotions the way she did. [say]"Do you have a name?"[/say] she asked, amusement in her voice. [say]"Surely that would be a fair exchange for being a pain in the neck."[/say]
RE: Initiate - Soren - 08-06-2025
Soren stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his hands, perfectly content to lounge in the sun like a cat on a windowsill. Her answer drew a spark of laughter from him—not loud, but real, and quick to fade. He didn’t ask what she meant, though. Didn’t press. He respected the art of holding one's cards close.
When she asked his name, his grin widened just enough to show teeth, fangs glinting. [say]“Only if you say please,”[/say] he said, mocking a solemn tone, but the fire in him had already mellowed, and it wasn’t meant to sting.
A beat passed. Then, with a shrug of long limbs and a glance down at her companion, he relented. [say]“Soren.”[/say] He didn’t offer more than that. No family name, no origin, no explanation of what he was doing perched on a roof playing at riddles with seers. Just the name.
[say]“And you?”[/say] he asked, voice still light. [say]“Or shall I just keep calling you ‘well girl’ in my head?”[/say]
RE: Initiate - Alys - 08-18-2025
Soren. Just Soren - nothing else. No family name, though Alys could understand that well enough. Perhaps he didn't have one, or maybe he was like her, and didn't have a good relationship with his family. Whatever the reason, she wasn't going to press him. Instead, she shaded her eyes with one hand as she looked up to the roof, offering her own name in return. [say]"Alys."[/say] Although, really, there were worse things to be called than 'well girl,' weren't there? In any case, the seer reached down with her free hand to scratch behind Sascha's ears. [say]"And this is Sascha."[/say] The little bear rumbled her own greeting. Then, seemingly having lost interest, she meandered to a nearby tree to sharpen her claws on its bark.
[say]"Well, Soren,"[/say] Alys added after a moment's pause, her gaze flicking from her companion back to the boy. [say]"It's a pleasure to meet you. I need to be getting home, but you're welcome to join me if you'd like. I can offer tea and good conversation, unless you'd rather stay up on the wellhouse roof."[/say]
RE: Initiate - Soren - 08-30-2025
Soren’s grin faltered, just slightly, when the offer left her lips. Home. The word sat heavy on his tongue, bitter and sweet all at once. Too familiar. Too nice. He could already imagine it—warmth in the walls, a place where people knew each other’s names, knew more than that.
He leaned forward on the tiles, elbows on his knees, pretending to study her instead of the twisting in his gut. [say]“Tempting,”[/say] he said at last, voice lighter than he felt. [say]“But I’m not much of a guest. I wouldn’t want to set your curtains on fire.”[/say] Or maybe he did, he didn’t really know.
Soren stood, stretching, balance easy atop the roof. [say]“Besides,”[/say] he added, feathers beginning to crackle along his arms, [say]“I’ve got wings for a reason.”[/say] With that, h e leapt, wings snapping wide. In another heartbeat, he was gone—soaring above the grove, leaving only the faint scent of smoke behind.
He needed to find Aithne.
FIN