[SE] blinded by the sun

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

The raven had peeled off the accursed bandage from its wing, and in an unguarded moment when the front door was open, it had slipped outside. It would cause Noah a few stressful hours until the bird returned, but it could not be helped. It could stand not a second breath of smoke-filled air, or any more gentle coo's from the kindly little griffin. The expanse called, the wind whispered to him as it rushed over roofs, and the bird named Korbin was accustomed to heeding that call.

Unfortunately, it did not get far. The wound in its wing might be scabbed over and healing, but it was not restored. Only a few blocks away from the Olson's house, it had to settle on the ridge of a building to rest. Pain throbbed through the limb, and in vexation over this most unavoidable hindrance the raven shuffled its feet about.

A clump of ice dislodged from the gable during its ministrations. Rather large, it dragged a whole cascade of snow along with it, and from below came startled cries. It seemed at least a few passers by had been caught up in it. Curious despite itself, the bird edged towards the end of the roof, and peered down.

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah had simply been walking around Halo and enjoying the surprising amount of cheer in the air. People seemed to be in good moods lately and it was infectious. Lost in his thoughts, he wandered aimlessly. That was until there was a muffled noise from above and he looked up just in time to be completely smothered in snow. "Fuck!"  Thankfully he managed to keep his balance and not smash his face into the ground. Regardless, caught off guard, he reacted instinctively. His recently awakened and still poorly controlled telekinesis activated. Snow on the roof above him shot backwards, heading straight for whatever had dislodged the pile that hit Sah. Sah eyed the area afterwards with wide eyes, wondering if he had just attacked gravity. sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

'Gravity' let out a raucous caw when the snow suddenly came shooting back at it. The big raven was hit squarely in the chest, and flapped large wings to keep from tumbling over the edge. The indignity! Who dared? Ruffling every single feather to dislodge the white powder, the bird began to peck at the snow by its feet. Someone had clearly been responsible for this, and if whoever was stupid enough to linger beneath the roof, they only had themselves to blame if they were buried a second time.

An ominous rumble started up on the roof, and before long the sheet of snow began to slide into motion. Leaping into the air despite the pain stabbing through its wing, the Korbin stole a glance down, and found a scrawny looking youth below. Anyone else had scrambled out of the way.

The clever ones, who knew trouble when they saw it.

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Upon hearing the cry of what was clearly a large bird, Sah cringed. Oops. He was just about to call out an apology, because even if it was just a bird it was still an accident, when the rumbling started. Going wide-eyed, Sah attempted to jump back away from the snow just as it began to come down. Unfortuanly a pedestrian who was also fleeing prevented him from getting far enough. With a whoosh, Sah was hit by the wall of snow, the air being knocked from his chest. The force knocked him off balance once more but this time the volume of snow was too much. Slipping on the ice, Sah landed flat on his back. It took a moment for him to catch his bearings but when he did he glared up at the roof. Making no move to get up, he called out to what now clearly had to be an Attuned. His voice leaked annoyance. "Seriously? It was an accident. You didn't have to try and bury me!" sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

Pleased with itself, the raven came drifting down and landed atop the neat pile of snow, out of arm's reach of the young man. Not that it mattered much in this case, where magic closed the distance so easily. The bird had bright blue eyes, and a very smug expression as it looked the person over.

"Sorry! Sorry!" it croaked, trying to apologize. But a raven can only do so much with its voice when speech had been deliberately forgotten for over a year, and despite its best intent, the words only sounded mocking. And really. The Korbin-bird wasn't actually that sorry. It was having way too much fun for that.

Imagine that... Korbin? Having fun? What was the world coming to.

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah raised an eyebrow at the bird, a deadpan look on his face. It looked far too pleased to be sorry. "Oh really?" He asked with clear sarcasm. Letting out a huff, Sah began to sit up and brush some of the snow off of himself. Rolling his shoulders, he sent a glance at the bird. With a playful smirk,  Sah  purposefully flicked some of the snow in the birds direction. Lightly though, as not to hurt the bird. He had noticed the slight difficulty that the raven had in its decent and didn't want to aggravate any healing injuries. Sah knew full well how tedious wing injuries were to heal. "Oops." He spoke with false innocence and a playful grin still on his face. sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

The smug look was instantly wiped away when more snow was flicked at the raven. Only powder, it was still a shot fired and this meant war. Wings flared wide, and the sharp beak was splayed open in a truly menacing display. A warning, if you will, that there was such a thing as going too far.

A closer look at said wings would reveal a patch where feathers had been pulled away. Dried scabs covered the healing puncture marks of sharp teeth, but the bird still moved gingerly as it inched a step closer. And one more.

Then it launched a counter assault against a half-buried boot, pecking at it lightly. The blue eyes glittered as they fell upon the opponent, though it was hard to tell if there was mirth or menace beneath.

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah tilted his head in speculation at the the raven's agression. He hadn't thought that he he'd hurt the bird. At least that wasn't the intention. But at the sight of the still healing wound, he cringed. Letting out a low whistle, he leaned forward to get a closer look. Though he remained out of range of getting pecked in the face. "That looks painful. I fucking hate getting bit on the wing." Sah winced when a well placed peck got a solid hit to his toes. Right in-between two of them, ow. Sah tried to gently kick the bird off of him, not wanting to be further stabbed. "What happened to you anyway?" sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

The waving boot did indeed make the raven back off. Beating its wings, it gained some height before drifting back down, to perch in the snow a few paces off to the side. The injured wing dragged slightly and would not fold neatly against the side, but if the bird was inconvenienced by this it did not show.

Blue eyes lingered on the youth at the question, measuring. No answer was offered however; and the bird gave no sign of wanting to shift to make conversation easier. Instead, it coolly adjusted a few feathers with the heavy beak. There was no mental bond between them to reveal what it might be thinking, and from merely looking at it, little could be gleaned.

But it did linger. That was something, right?

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah eyed the bird with amusement. Even if he couldn't understand them or speak to them, the attitude was clear. Sah finally got to his feet, brushing the last of the snow off of him. It was sticking to his hair particularly, so he gave himself a good shake, not unlike a dog would. Satisfied with his level of success he looked up at the raven. "With that wound you should probably be resting. Need help getting back to wherever you were headed?" He offered. Although Sah didn't know or trust the Attuned before him, the injury to their wing was invoking his sympathy. If they let him, Sah would carry them on his shoulder to wherever they needed to go. The last thing an injury such as that needed was the bird attempting to fly. sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

The offer was not expected, after avalanches and exchanged blows. The bird looked up, assessing the youth with clear suspuicion. There was no trust in the raven's gaze, and not once during this exchange had it relaxed. That did not change now; moments passed during which the Attuned deliberated, still as a statue.

Then, for no apparent reason, it bent its head in a stiff unnatural bow. A nod, clearly, of assent. The large wings unfurled again, and brought the Korbin soaring over towards the magician. If it was permitted, black talons would clasp an arm for support; while heavy, and perched precariously, it made an effort not to let the sharp claws pierce clothing or skin.

Turning its beak towards a street, it croaked quietly. A haughty 'that way, if you please.'

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah held an arm out for the raven to land once it had made its assent clear. Thankfully, the large bird's claws didn't dig into his skin too deeply and Sah only felt mild discomfort. Following the Attuned's instructions, Sah  made his way through Halo. He wasn't sure exactly why he was helping such a haughty person. It may have been sympathy for the injury or maybe because their shift was that of a raven. The birds had been close companions of the canine's species back home so even now Sah had a soft spot for them. Regardless, he found himself acting as means of transportation. Although it was clear that the Attuned had no intentions of shifting, Sah struck up a conversation. Mostly because it felt odd to be helping someone without even introducing himself. "I'm Sah. If we ever run into each other when you're shifted, you'll have to tell me how you got injured." He kept his tone neutral, still unsure about the bird on his arm. Coming to a stop at a crossroads, he glanced at the raven. "Where to next?" sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

KORBIN

A raucous crow, a rootless tree
A coiled adder, night-old ice

The beak clacked a few times, in acknowledgment that the introduction had been noticed. The marked silence that followed suggested that the raven had to do no such explaining; if only Sah knew how unlikely it was for the Korbin-bird to ever shift, he might understand why. There mere suggestion of it had the bird stiffening on its mobile perch, and something hunted flashed through its icy gaze. Pain more grueling than the throb of a healing wing.

It was there, and gone again, and the bird was able to mask it - or was it? Had the boy noticed? - by guiding them to the right at the crossroad. The path was taking them towards the residential area, where the houses grew older and more prominent.

"Korrrbin," the bird rasped after a while. Was it a name? A nonsense sound? Crow for 'please shut up'? Who could say.

A racing stallion who has wrenched a leg,
Are never safe: let no man trust them.

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah's eyes narrowed, having noticed the change in demeanor. Guess that was one story he'd never hear. Prying likely wasn't the best choice given their initial meeting so Sah didn't even attempt to. Instead he sighed, glancing up at the sky. "Fair enough." A pause. "I can't really blame you. What I wouldn't give to have wings back and ditch this form." He mumbled slightly but still audibly. Sah noted the change in houses with a small hum. He paused and glanced at the raven when he spoke again. "Korbin, huh? Nice to meet you." As they continued walking, Sah realized that the path looked familiar. "Are we headed to Noah's?" He asked curiously, wondering if this Attuned had found himself under Noah's care. Sah knew full well how Noah seemed to always be helping somebody out. The man had been the one to find Sah out on the tundra and bring him to Halo after all. sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie