[SE] still wild

The world was unfamiliar again – and he took to it with spread wings and a ravenous soul.

Coming through the portal, and back to the Hollowed Grounds, in its smoldering cinders, in its encased devastation, had been a sight. He’d briefly traced over the ruins, walking down familiar streets, avenues, and passages, noticing any pathways he’d once tread had been marred by embers and ash. That the touches, the fringes, the edges where he’d strived to make a mark, blended into the background like old scars. The barracks, once mighty and stalwart and one of his favored places, was now a burnt landscape. He’d turned before he went any further – incapable of seeing the bakery, or his previous domicile.

The Sword lingered long enough in some steads to pick up a few remains, place them amidst debris, and hasten to find Aisha where they’d agreed to meet. Each step was a lingering motion away from these less-than-hallowed regions, a smothering of his breath, an intertwining of smoke still remembered in his lungs. No looking down, no bowing of his head, but no indulgence to step into its wake either.

And when they were ready, they flew.

The world erupted into vibrant color and hues, where the lightning had stopped them before, was only a varnishing, a lacquer of fields upon fields. This was what they’d been after, when the unicorns erupted out of the land, when they’d dug their way through dirt and loam and simply ran out of time, out of strength, out of munitions, out of grace.

[say]What do you think?[/say] he finally spoke through the bond, not by measures of what was left behind – but here and now – on the stones marking a winding, winding staircase, of spirals that eventually seemed to cease.

A relief, perhaps, that this land had been untouched by the hells and horrors of late.

Leaving the grounds, finally, and all too soon. Arguably there was still work to be done, but not for Aisha. Her responsibilities were elsewhere now, and with everything as in order as it could be, she had other ventures to indulge in. She left her temporary stead at early night, arms unraveling into leathery wings as she took flight.

To find Deimos, to begin an exploration long overdue. On feathers and furs, beasts of the sky, the two attuned soared past the grounds, past a boundary that no longer stood and to somewhere new. All the melancholy and disorder of the grounds was left behind, she found herself smiling, feeling free, feeling alive as she looped and twirled and let the winds carry her over a sea of rolling hills.

They carried on for some time, Aisha diving at times to dart between trees or hover above flowers. A strange grouping of structures appeared ahead, a staircase into nothingness. She was partially distracted by it when he asked his question, dark eyes scanning over the mossy steps. [say]It's amazing, I don't think I've seen green this green since I left home,[/say] she replied, playful in tone.

The Sword didn’t have to ask his fellow shield if she was feeling better, or if the curse had lifted. The ebullience and exuberance instilled through the bond hinted at a fortitude of normalcy, at a trust to her flame-touched whims, to her affable nature. With the subject of the frailties out of the way, they left the others behind, scraping over broken, splintered, and fractured earth, until it changed and shifted to green.

He couldn’t remember a world so fertile, so rich, so ignited and alight with hues since Helovia. With no access from humans, as far as one could tell, it must’ve permitted and allowed the lands to ignite with their beatific fervor, growing, unheeded, unbroken, unbothered, by a group of inepts’ hands. What would come of their rampant explorations then? Would someone want to render it their own? Would someone yearn to claim it?

Or would it be left to its own devices, the law of the land dictating its martial accordance?

The last thought would’ve hastened a smile, had he not been in eagle form. Perhaps the mere notions would slide through anyway. He stretched and spread the magnificent plumage, felt the rays of the sun striking across their regal expanse, and didn’t want to cease. Didn’t want to give in to the feel of the earth. The sharpened juncture of his piercing gaze slid over the stones, the staircase towards the sky, as he flew around and around and around, descending, then soaring back. [say]Neither have I[/say] he murmured, quiet and humble. But the segment of his curiosity now leant into the rocks, into the carefully carved nuances, into the way they hastened towards heavens, and then ceased entirely. [say]What would this be for?[/say] Maybe they were both too foreign, too Outlander inclined, to understand.

To feel the sun on her dark skin, gently caressing her wings and seeping warmth into the fur of her mane, Aisha couldn't be more grateful. It clearly showed, they didn't bring up ills or maledictions from cruel spirit tongues, they just flew. With that all behind her, she was eager to forget what it was like to be constantly frigid, caught in a blizzard with no escape. Forgetting, moving on, began with the sun, as did everything.

Good spirits were with them now, burgeoning across their bond with an invisible smile. Aisha could feel the amusement that her words brought, the bat's tongue lolled from her mouth in her own display of levity. He spoke of the staircase, Aisha glided down to hover above the steps, [say]Doesn't make much sense does it,[/say] she commented, following the spiral up and up before diving back down to fly at his side.

[say]Doesn't look like they ever went anywhere,[/say] she observed, there was no sign of ruin below, where the steps might once have lead.

Raptorial predilections caught the movements of the familiar down below, roaming their way through the tall, fertile grass. He was half-tempted to dive, to unfurl talons, to snatch and maim, the predatory instinct to maul and ruin, oblivion in an avaricious gleam. Some other prey lingered along too – mice, mushrooms entangled upon their spines. Had he any brows to convey his expression, they would’ve been arched and bewildered. As it was, they could only maintain his attention for so long, distracted by the more human intentions of uncovering the stone steps, and their purpose, their state.

Aisha seemed perplexed by them too, and together their insights went relatively nowhere. The beast had no inclination of landing upon the top step, wondering if there was some kind of snare, a trap, laden in their midst. [say]Maybe that was not the point.[/say] But to those machinations, he didn’t know what would be.

Deimos rounded once more around the monolithic columns, before descending, touching down hesitantly, gingerly, upon the bottom. Talons clicked against the rock and rubble, waiting for something to happen, to occur, before proceeding to the next interval.

Maybe not, maybe the spiral staircase was of some spiritual significance. It did seem like something made for the divine; maybe not for mortals to ascend, but for the immortal to hail down to earth. Aisha imagined Safrin, the goddess she'd met, descending the stone cloaked in stardust, her dress blazing out behind her and raining light in it's wake. [say]Seems like a 'god thing' doesn't it,[/say] she said playfully, though did consider the notions.

The sky beasts flew down, nearing the steps still cradled by earth, ivy climbing and stretching across the smooth rock. Where Deimos planted himself atop a step, Aisha tucked herself below it, folding her wings and grasping onto a vine. She hung there, viewing the world from the bat's perspective, gazing around with curious eyes. When he moved on she dropped from her perch and followed, though when the pattern of start and stopping continued Aisha quickly got bored. Nothing was happening, and she came to explore.

Impatiently circling, the flying fox called down to the eagle, [say]It's a shame you're not warden anymore, you'd get to fill out papers and talk to people instead of boring old this,[/say] teasing and taunting, integral to their relationship.

From another time, another place, ancient and archaic, stones still not moving beneath his feet. They held his avian form well, as he ascended, rock by rock, taking his time, pondering over the nature of god things. They’d had similar markers within Helovia too, unidentifiable, unreachable, and so entirely unknown, with no one to ever around to truly encompass or explain what they were meant to convey. Maybe it was the same here and now, with naught else touching the world. Maybe it’d been closed off and permitted to reign free. Maybe it was just lying in wait. Maybe they were all ignorant fools.

[say]Yes[/say], he reluctantly agreed, circumventing a hint of amusement through the particulars.

His eyes caught her motions, settling in beneath instead of clambering and climbing around like his actions, and he stifled his impending snort. Only when she followed did he maneuver over, permitting her some space as he continued onward, reaching the middle step before she circled and wandered.

The statement thereafter did hasten a deep rumbling laugh, coursing along the bond – what he needed, what he hankered for, rather than all the moody conflagrations. [say]True. Two of my favorite things.[/say] Then he sauntered along, plumage extending, pondering.

[say]Want to launch off of it?[/say] Like he’d once done along the Spire – though that hellhole was much more vast and towering. When Adam had goaded them, when they’d chased after daring, stupefying audacity, hurtling themselves down into manifested flight, and pulling away, away, away before they splattered upon the ground.

Aisha loved to hear him laugh, feel that amusement and contentment that coursed through the bond. This venture to King's End would be another one of those memories, the ones that she would look back on to remind herself of the good in this world, the things she loved and hoped to rekindle. This was fun, this was free.

They'd stopped at a step, Aisha hovered above it rather than landing as he did. Her fur bristled, he would feel the spark of excitement in response to his proposition. [say]I'll beat you to the bottom,[/say] she mused, spiraling down into a dive. The wind whipped against her, a cool reprieve from the sun that'd seeped in to her body. As she reached the bottom, back near the flowing grasses, she opened her wings and parachuted up with the wind.

The challenge taken, the gauntlet raised, and he could give into antics, folly, and amusements, rather than the tidal waves of daunting trials and heartache. Another short, abrupt laugh kindled through, and for once he was content in not adhering to someone’s goading – taking his time, angling and righting himself until he was at the very last step.

It was a towering precipice, but not reaching, reaching, reaching for the sky. Just there, hanging in between, hovering over valleys, over meadows, over thickets. Perhaps someone once surveyed their domain, their kingdom, from the rocky ramparts. Perhaps no one did anything at all. It felt mortal, human, and transfigured.

Poignant, strange, and odd.

The Sword stilled, and then launched. It was a controlled movement and motion, wings unfurling, sienna plumage rising to the forefront – and then descending in rapid volley, a swift shift, a steady turn, until it looked like he might crash and burn into the ground.

Only to rise on a gust of air, following the bat’s tracks of flight. Content, bemused, stretching out into the expanse, unknown and foreign and enigmatic. Wanting it all.

Those raptorial eyes still caught the movements of blink hares and the bizarre mice down below – the predator predilections, the carnivore indications, too great. [say]Shall we hunt?[/say] His nod, his head, indicating the prey scurrying amongst wildflowers and grass.

[thread=5217]

This portion of the thread is now over (but not fin'd, that would happen in the linked thread. Both count as exploration for the purposes of the seasonal event requirements). Good luck getting home.