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Would the harpy get the messenger raven sent by the alchemist? Would word have reached him through the whispers of the wood if not? And if so, would Arsen choose to answer?

Arms folded over his chest and with his own wings nestled against his back, the Lullaby looks up into the canopy of leaves overhead. He's deep in the heart of the Wildwood where it's difficult for sunlight to filter down to the ground. Given how their last meeting ended it might be wise for Remi to keep more of an ear to the ground in case the harpy figured out what and who was the cause of his near-death experience. But, brazenly naive to danger as always, the Lullaby merely waits utterly relaxed with his thoughts on the plan slowly forming in his mind, rather than the youthful corvid he nearly tricked into helping him.

Now don't you look so grand, runnin'
Through the reds of my traffic lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

that was pointlesss. we could have stayed strangers

Corvid to corvid, of course Arsen has received Remi's message. And to be quite frank, there's no way the boy is going to deny the request, regardless of how he might feel about it. Hideous dormice clogged with red lichen will do that to a guy, go figure. And so as the alchemist is staring up into the canopy of trees, he'll spot, quite easily, as Arsen lands on one of the larger boughs nearby. Talons bite into the bark to maintain his grip, his winged arms tucked in close; at a glance, it almost looks as though he's draped in a feathery cloak.

"I got your message," he says, obviously. Mainly because he doesn't know what else to open the conversation with. Brazen and confident he might be, Remi has still successfully culled that nature in him for the time being. It's also why he doesn't move to get any closer the other man, just in case something terrible happens again. "What are we doing?"

Arsen

"Do you know what crowning is?" Remi asks, his voice thickly accented and his tone entirely rhetorical as he scans the treetops. "It's what you see up there, how many of the leaves don't actually touch. You should be able to see a line of sunlight around the foliage of each tree, but.." Trailing off and looking at the places where the leaves have become to overlap, Remi just shakes his head. "It's unhealthy for the Woods as a whole, but it also would make it easier for an ascended to walk in here." Gesturing around where there are thick puddles of shadow, he looks expectantly towards Arsen.

"So I'd like us to do a little pruning if you're up for it." So saying Remi reaches down and pulls out a machete that he holds toward the harpy. "I wasn't sure how sharp your talons were. But it's up to you."

Now don't you look so grand, runnin'
Through the reds of my traffic lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

that was pointlesss. we could have stayed strangers

"Nope," Arsen says in response to the question that doesn't require an answer, and he drops silently out of the boughs to land in a pool of shadow not unlike the one Remi motions to. His gaze follows the Lullaby's up into the trees, head tilting in an entirely avian gesture as he considers the task at hand. Without needing to look back at the other man, he waves a hand at the offered machete. "They're sharp enough," he says.

"So why're we doin' it?" he asks; like all youths, he is utterly unable to keep his mouth shut when there are questions he might get answers to. But if the other man wants to answer him it will have to be from the canopy of leaves, because Arsen is already taking off again, trying to fight through the foliage to get above it.

Arsen

"Suit yourself. Just make sure you cut. Tearing the boughs and leaves isn't good for the trees." Raising the machete as if meaning to chop of the youth's head with it, Remi flings it into the moss where it lodges itself deeply into the ground.

Spreading his wings and taking off after Arsen, the Lullaby adjusts and twists himself as he moves through the branches and boughs. "For the reasons I just said." He explains, more or less patiently. "It's healthier for the Woods, and it will make it harder for the ascended to come through." With hands suddenly punctuated with long claws, Remi begins to prune the upper canopy with all the care and attention with which he might give to his husband. It truly is a labour of love, one he makes sure to narrate carefully for Arsen so that the other man will do it properly.

"But if you're asking why we're doing it, and not just in general...well, I suppose because Mort and Ludo told me to make this place more defensible."

Now don't you look so grand, runnin'
Through the reds of my traffic lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

that was pointlesss. we could have stayed strangers

Arsen ruins his own pride and reputation by flinching - obviously - as Remi throws the machete; it's hard not to be perfectly terrified of the man who did such a good job of it last time. Besides, the Lullaby proved himself capable of calling off the beast that had attacked before - that means he's perfectly able to call it back again. And so up they go, Arsen taking the other man's advice (threats?) and being peculiarly careful with the boughs and branches.

His talons are very well cared for, the alchemist will find, and Arsen doesn't struggle to make clean, precise snips, even if he's forced to hover awkwardly by the trees. (He's made for swooping and grabbing more than this business). Still, he nearly falls out of the air altogether as it's revealed that Ludo and Mort are responsible for the orders, the harpy snorting and shaking his head. "Of course they are," he mutters. "I guess I should have expected as much, hangin' around with the fuckin' Lullaby."

Arsen

It's much the same for Remi; a manticore, badly built though it is, is meant for diving and carrying off prey. It takes considerable effort for Remi to simply 'tred-water', so to speak. But he manages it well enough, the muscular thing that he is now.  

"I have a name, you know." Remi points out, though even as he says it, he isn't sure whether or not he cares to be called Remi over the Lullaby. Certainly the latter is much more pretentious in his mind, but in some mouths 'Remi' is no better.

"So what brought you to the Greatwood in the first place? Beautiful as it is, it isn't the most...welcoming." This is said with an audible smile, dark though it might be, as Remi continues to dexterously hack and slash his way through the canopy.

Now don't you look so grand, runnin'
Through the reds of my traffic lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

that was pointlesss. we could have stayed strangers

"So do I, but I didn't think we really gave a fuck about names," Arsen retorts with a scoff, letting himself fall through the air a bit so he can flap his wings and start on the canopy a little lower down, having created a marvellous pool of light already. The one thing he isn't doing is keeping hold of the branches he snips away, however, letting them fall down, down, down to the forest floor. They'll make good mulch, he figures.

"Mm? Oh, I go all over," Arsen says of his travels. "Went to Torchline, but a dragon bit me on the ass. So I came here, and... y'know, I think I might have preferred the dragon." He snorts, a shower of leaves punctuating his amusement. "Why're you in the Greatwood? Or is it to make sure it stays all fucked up an' unwelcoming?"

Arsen

'Well, I know more than a few dragons, if that's your thing.' Remi replies with a grin, wondering vaguely if the dragon in question was a companion or someone like Sunjata. He hoped it was the latter of course. "Yeah, something like that." The alchemist replies as he too adds mulch to the forest floor. "The ascended have taken up residence nearby. The gods thought it might be a good idea to keep an eye on them. " That was the gist of it, anyway.

The two men worked in comfortable enough silence. I say comfortable enough, but really, when one of them was there by threat of massive field mouse death, it was hard for things to feel entirely organic.

But such was life in the Greatwood.
Or perhaps just with Remi.

Probably just with Remi.

~FIN

Now don't you look so grand, runnin'
Through the reds of my traffic lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!