Impetus (Peregrine x Ragamoofin)

The woods were not the place for the simple traveler. During the day, they were easy to get lost in, when the fog thickened at the edge of nightfall and cast a great shadow over everything the sparse light once kept in sight. When the sun dipped below the horizon and all was left of light was the hidden moon, it could be a treacherous and dangerous place. However, Amaris was not the average traveler.

The woods welcomed her with deep puddles at nearly every footfall and tangles of shrubs and fallen logs, sprouting mushrooms half-eaten by whatever creature managed out that far. From the dash of impressions in the muck along many of the paths branching like a river through the forest, it was anyone's guess what happened to the poor thing. A deer, by the dainty track, likely a doe simply looking for something to eat. The mushrooms were hardly poisonous, and yet, there was something off about the line of trees and sunken logs.

Through the air, much like the scent that Amaris had caught before, a strong odor lingered about. Up in the trees, vines curling around a branch, an almost trumpeting flower seemed to beckon to Amaris. In the darkness, and with only the occasional flash of lightning from the sky, the truly pink flower appeared purple. Its smell was lovely, looking as if it'd just grown, perfect and blooms curling just right.

In the same breath, one might've also called it unnatural. Amaryllis belladonna had no business growing in such a cold climate, let along bloom so perfectly. The mere sight of such a flower growing outside its natural habitat would've made quite the sight, had it not been something that made no sense. As strange as the flower was, it shared a very devious connection with the plant Amaris found moments before leaping into the forest; both were incredibly poisonous. Another taunt, or a promise of things to come, perhaps the answer would lie ahead.



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Ansell had never liked the feeling of being numb. In his lifetime, he'd been bumped, kicked, knocked silly by all manners of farmland beasts, but nothing quite compared to the few moments of total nothingness between being hurt and feeling hurt. This, however much he wanted not to be, was exactly one of those times. The only difference was how long he was numb, unfeeling and just so lost. It felt as though he was trapped within his own skull, like a thick buffer was placed around him, blocking out the world and leaving him drifting in a lack of sensation.

At least he had his memories, that's all he seemed able to hold onto. Of Amaris and his blasted entity he carted around, of the apparent ceasefire, and that - that thing.

He knew it, and it knew him. It'd been so long, years and years, Ansell could've sworn it was nothing but a figment of his imagination. His mind playing cruel tricks on him in the midst of his panic. It wasn't, it was real, and it had done something to him. He couldn't move, Ansell wasn't aware enough of his body to do that, he didn't even know if he was conscious anymore. Everything was just gone.

Somewhere, deep inside, sparking like a string of iridescent splendor, was his connection to Jukheyr. Ansell reached for it, desperate and struggling. Wanting for the power of the storm, regardless of if it came from Jukheyr, he just wanted to get away from whatever it was that had taken him.

Ansell touched the bond, and felt power.


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A splitting sound crackled through the air, heat and light merging in one bolt that smashed through a line of trees, leaving them smoldering and blazing. In the distance, easily within what Amaris could run to, lightning had struck, and it was not from Jukheyr.
 
At the speed Amaris was racing through the forest, it seemed impossible that she would be able to spot the faint clues, the faint taunts, that would guide her in the direction of Ansell and the thing that had taken him. However, were there enough light to catch more than faint silhouettes, it would have been possible to see the way her pupils had dilated almost unnaturally wide. What little light the mass of clouds overhead provided more than enough light for Amaris to navigate, and the occasional flashes of lightning might as well have been blasts of sunshine.

Breath heaved in and out through Amaris' lips as she ran through the forest at nearly inhuman speeds. The blood in her veins seemed to wiggle in time with her movements, and bruises spread out under her skin with every step, vanishing a moment later only to be replaced with a new one.

It was clear that there was not an ounce of caution in Amaris at that moment, and she followed the little signs Ansell's kidnapper had left behind without a trace of hesitation. Others might have slowed, chosen to consider whether or not they were about to walk right into a trap, and if there was some way around it. Such concerns were simply pointless to Amaris. Ultimately, whatever trap she walked into would have no lasting impact on her, and she had no intention of waiting to see whether or not the master of the forest would give her enough time to find a way out of this hypothetical trap. The threat to Ansell's life had been clear enough, and the clues that followed it were just as obvious and pointed.

As she ran, Amaris considered the various things that were used to draw her attention. Tracks, animals, plants. Flowers. There were far too many creatures in this wide world for even someone like her to know about all of them, but she had enough experience that even faint clues could allow her to gain insight into the nature of the creature she was soon to face.

Whatever it was, its power was far more subtle than Jukheyr's borrowed lightning. Neither Daphne or Belladonna should be growing at this time of year, but it was not impossible for such flowers to bloom in the correct weather. However, the apparently limited nature of its power didn't cause Amaris to lower her evaluation of this kidnapper any. As a matter of fact, some of the most dangerous fighters she had ever met were the insidious, those who took action before you could even know what they were doing or planning.

The prickling feeling of the hair on the back of her neck standing up was all the warning Amaris got before a sudden bolt of lighting crashed down from the sky and into the forest below. A moment later, the golden glow of firelight began to peek up over the tops of the trees.

Amaris barely faltered in her stride, but she did slow just long enough to allow her eyes to lift and trace across the sky, looking for the silhouette of metallic wings against the dark clouds. But there was no trace of the thunderbird.

That only left one possibility. Ansell had managed to call another bolt of lighting.

With a huff of air, Amaris' pace sped up once again. This time, she didn't bother looking for the clues the creature had left behind to guide her. She had a blazing signpost in the distance. Amaris made a beeline for the flames.
 
There came, at some long stretch in time that seemed too vast to cross in the moment, a saving grace, something to keep him floating among the conscious. The strange irony was that it felt like wood, a harsh, grainy texture on his hands. It was also very hot, but that wasn't as alarming as he might've thought had he not been feeling so away from himself. Light, bursting outside his eyelids for once, felt blinding and scalding. But, only for a moment. Within a span of a few blinks, Ansell was seeing and not close to screaming from how it felt. Limbs clinging to the low branches of a tree that was, oh, on fire, Ansell laid among what felt to be flaming patches of plantlife; moss, probably.

Ansell felt very tired, for one, being on fire didn't help that one bit. Slowly, Ansell waved away the fire, shaking it off his charred bits of sleeve he had left, patting out the fire catching over his pants. Just as burnt as his sleeve, unfortunately. In the weird bit of luck his situation did have, this wasn't Ansell's first time on fire. Jukheyr was a very cruel inhabitant, it just so happened that it took to blazes like a fish took to the stream. In his case, it seemed the storm was a sea all its own. Again, Ansell had felt the lightning in his blood, singing electric harmonies in his ribcage, and that had only been for an instance.

The lightning, Ansell thought, the realization of why he'd been on fire coming at last. He could barely remember why he'd gone so far into the forest in the first place, and that was either from messing up while calling down the lightning or - a gasp, a flood of panic into his tired system. That - that thing!

The fuzz in his mind was all too much to recall it in its wholeness, Ansell only seeing bits and pieces of it. Narrow, almost dainty tracks left in its wake, the intoxicating sweet scent and the hold of a gorgeous bundle of flowers to his nose, and after that, darkness and the fighting tide of his own sleeping mind.

It was odd, but Ansell felt unhappy, deeply so. That thing, was it really the same him he'd met so long ago?

"Ah, there you are," a voice like rust echoed about him, the smothering buzz of that all too familiar lightning buzzing, sparking - crash. Ansell stumbled back from the shock wave shaking the ground, the heat of the lightning striking mere feet from him snapped to his system like - well, a bolt of lightning.

On his back, the avian towered above him, as grand and terrifying as it'd been in the clearing, a storm roiling in the sockets in it's skull. Something like arcs broke across it's face, splitting it into a grin that almost dripped with electric spheres. "Let's get back to the subject of your punishment, hm?"
 
"Honestly, just how dumb are you?"

Breaking out of the dark underbrush, her hair glowing under the light of the nearby tree, pupils dilated, eyes bloodshot, dark blood vessels tracing through every patch of available skin, Amaris looked more demon than she did human. The scowl that was on her face and the veritable glow of her eyes from the reflected fire did little to lessen that impression. Luckily for Ansell, her gaze was currently directed at Jukheyr, rather than at the young man. The loose ground gave slightly under her feet as she skidded to a halt, but despite her obvious speed Amaris wasn't the least bit winded.

For one moment her gaze broke away, quickly flicking from point to point across the clearing. Her first target was Ansell, and she was relieved to see that he seemed mostly unharmed. After that, her gaze leaped from shadow to shadow, looking for any trace of whatever had taken Ansell. But, not only was there no sign of the creature, she also couldn't identify any of the subtle taunts or clues it had left behind before for her to follow. Whatever it was, it had thoroughly disappeared.

Satisfied that they weren't in any immediate danger, Amaris' eyes jumped back to Jukheyr, almost as though the brief second of inattention had never happened. The frown on her face certainly hadn't changed. “Your charge is taken from right under your nose, you can't even find him before he has to defend himself by nearly frying himself alive, you can't locate the thing that has taken him, and all you can think about is punishing someone who's just undergone a major shock, and possibly even been poisoned. Your stupidity and ignorance truly knows no bounds.”

By the time she finished her short rant, Amaris was practically spitting. However, when she turned around to face Ansell, her expression immediately softened. A faint smile crossed her face as she took a few steps forward, kneeling down next to the young man and pointedly turning her back to Jukheyr. At the same time, the darkness faded from her blood vessels, making her veins and arteries look slightly varicose, instead of positively demonic.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Amaris asked softly. Her gaze was gentle, but she didn't reach out to touch Ansell, as much as she might want to. She understood that, with her appearance and behavior, there was a good chance she'd scared him just as much as the birdbrain. “Now that we've got that lightning out of your system, what do you say we get you back to town and make sure whatever took you didn't leave behind any surprises?”
 
A fizzling spark ran through the air, a glimmer of light and sound escaping the avian's maw. For some, the verbal gesture might've been seen as a scoff, but for it, a miniature display of the rare phenomena known as ball lightning. Away into the woods, the ball traveled, luminous and grand, until its light vanished altogether. For once, or as long as Ansell had known it, Jukheyr had nothing to say to what was bound to be more than enough reason for smiting. Instead, it gave him a wry look, static spheres in it's face landing on him, maw opening just a inch wider.

"Oh, give it a rest, witch. Better to shock the whelp up than waste time cooing him awake." Neck twisting around to stare at the vascular witch, that mocking grin still molded into it's face. "If you insist on treating him with the same tenderness as a child, I suppose I'll allow you to." It's feathers rose, shrugging. "It'll be an amusing show all the same." With a snap of metal on metal, Jukheyr's gaze found Ansell, plasma between it's beak.

"Why, Ansell, it seems you've found a friend." Voice washing over the frightened vessel with a unsettling ozone, Jukheyr, surprisingly, moved. In it's wake, was the sight of Amaris he wasn't quite prepared for. In his time, the whole of his life, spent with Jukeheyr, Ansell had seen it take many forms and invoke several horrors he'd much rather forget. Amaris happened to be a sight that was just as shocking. She looked pained, somehow. Veins ran across her skin like roots, and -

"Are you okay?" It seemed absurd for him to be asking if she was alright, given he'd just been taken and nearly blown away by his own lightning, but such selflessness was par for the course for Ansell. Fingers twitching in the dirt, the light of the fire burning in the tree next to him casting strange shadows over his bewildered expression, Ansell blinked down at the ground. In his fingertips, feeling just on the edge of his nails, there was that peculiar numbness. The one he got lost in, endless and as startling as facing his own oblivion in that void of sense.

Fist balling tight, Ansell fought the feeling, or lack there of. Slowly, he nodded, finding the focus to do that, at least. "Y-yes, I think that'd be our best bet right now. I- I don't want to be here anymore," Ansell whispered, sounding small and very weak. Above him, behind him, Jukheyr laughed again, the roll of thunder in the clouds beating down on him.

"If you're so insistent on looking after him, witch, you'll have to get used to this side of him. He's rarely satisfied with anything, places even more so."

Had Amaris been paying attention to Ansell's hands, she would've seen them flex once more, almost trembling from the force they were locked with. In the next moment, he was still, doll-like and staring ahead. Blinking as frequently as the fire flickered next to him, Ansell's eyes were glassy, squinting and widening in the distance. "I didn't want to be here, I-"

"Then why let yourself get captured? Where was that spark of yours then?" That, predictably, was the end of it. Jukheyr was a lot, even when completely rested, Ansell couldn't imagine trying to hold an argument while he was feeling so - out of it.

He sighed. "Can we please go back? I just - really don't want to be out here any longer."
 
"I'm fine," Amaris replied, her voice and eyes expressing her truthfulness. "The effects of that particular bit of magic are just a bit... persistent." It was unfortunately true. Her magic had launched a chain reaction in her body, allowing to to release wildly explosive power in exchange for what should have been her life. But that was not the case for Amaris, and every moment her body was undoing the damage she had done to it. Unfortunately, it would be several more minutes before the aftereffects of her ending the spell faded along with the strength and speed it had granted her.

Kindness might have been par for the course for Ansell, but a lack of concern towards hurrying certainly matched up with Amaris. Whatever had taken Ansell had clearly disappeared, and she saw no particular need to rush the young man, especially not when he had already suffered so much. As far as she was concerned, a shock was the last thing he needed.

It was perhaps unsurprising, then, that Jukheyr's impatient words earned nothing but a short, brief look of disgust from the bloodwitch. However, her glance away was long enough for her to miss the brief moment of tension that flashed through Ansell's body.

This time, when she turned back, she reached out to touch the young man. Her hand was gentle, and surprisingly clean considering the mess that they'd all just been through. "Yes, let's." That was what Amaris had suggested before Jukheyr butted in, but she wasn't about to bother with details like that right now. "Can you walk?"

She stood up then, offering a hand to help pull the unsteady young man to his feet. As soon as she was certain he was stable she released her grip on his arm, cast one last angry look at Jukheyr, before turning to stare off in the forest. Whatever had stolen Ansell had led them deep into the forest, but everything seemed quiet now. Even the storm had quieted, the bright flashes of lightning faded to nothing more than occasional flickers. It would take some time for them to walk back to town, but the danger should have passed now.

Indeed, the walk back to town was just as slow as Amaris had predicted, but she never showed any impatience with Ansell's slow pace, or the occasional moments where he had to stop and rest before they continued. Finally, after an indeterminate period of time, the low, rough roofs of Ilsworth came into view through the thinning tree trunks.

“Shall we get you home?”
 
Although his slowness was something that was sure to be expected by Amaris, the lingering daze he was in might've been that much more concerning. For the length of the trek out of the woods and back towards town, Ansell had kept to himself, and that was saying something considering even Jukheyr seemed uninterested in bothering him. It kept close, seemingly manifesting on random branches above the canopies, shining eyes staring down through the branches. Ansell was - thinking, just thinking. For the most part, he was quiet, glancing around the woods and just tense to be surrounded by it. The thing that had taken him, as far as Ansell could tell it hadn't done anything but left him out cold. Still, the fact that it had gotten to him was leagues more terrifying than Jukheyr's outing.

Jukheyr. Something within Ansell burned at the thought of the avian. The horrendous god was a pressure on his consciousness that never quite abated. If it'd simply stayed put, none of this would've happened. Amaris could've gone on her way, the town wouldn't have the bodies of those beasts lying around, and -

Ansell breathed, deep and sudden. On his inhale, Ansell pulled himself squarely to the present. It wasn't satisfying to remain in the past, no matter how recent, and it'd do all of them a favor if he just focused on staying on his own two feet. To Amaris' question, Ansell managed a nod, breaking into a smile he hoped didn't look as weak as it felt. "Please, I doubt I could stand out here much longer." Literally, as bad as that was. Lightning was new, Ansell couldn't remember if he'd ever done his thing to a stray bolt. As adventurous as Jukheyr was with finding ways to torment him, lightning was something Ansell couldn't had imagined it'd try.

Perhaps, in the bitter and trying ways Ansell saw his life unfolding, it was for the best. If Jukheyr had became a flurry of ice and snow, would that have been better in taking down the beasts? There was no telling.

Besides, Ansell wasn't too keen on the off chance of melting. Stare raising from the far roofs of buildings that were only vaguely familar in the dark, Ansell caught the prying gaze of Jukheyr, it's maw opening in a sneer. Ansell shivered. As long as Jukheyr remained with him, he'd make sure to never give the god a chance to hurt him in such a bizarre way.

Clearing his throat, Ansell nudged his head forward. "I live on the farm just over the hill," Ansell explained, a wrinkle of stress appearing in his forehead. "It's across town, however. We won't arrive until much later with me slowing you down." Ansell bit back the sour taste of his confession, that tension filling his hand as it rolled into a fist.

Jukheyr sighed, a clinking sound that was just a bit grating on the ears. "Yes, yes. Always the burden, the weight to slow everyone down," Jukheyr scoffed as Ansell turned his head away, going silence once more. It only made Jukheyr sigh again, a fresh bloom of ozone around the avian. "I'd sooner rust in place than hear your whining for another moment, whelp. Now," turning around, Jukheyr spread itself along the ground, wings on the ground. "Witch, Pick up the little pest and get on. We don't have the time to stay out here when Ansell seems on the brink of death from a single lightning strike."

As Jukheyr rolled it's eyes, Ansell's face burned at the sheer audacity of the bird. Desperately, he looked to Amaris. She - she wouldn't ride the back of the very thing that tried to kill her, would she?
 
It was just possible to make out the hill Ansell pointed to through the slightly sloped roofs of Ilsworth. No doubt winding through the houses would take them some time, but it was probably faster and safer than trying to go around the town. Certainly less chance of running into monsters. Although Amaris couldn't help but wonder whether or not they'd end up surrounded by a mob of frightened villagers if someone saw her helping Ansell down the street. The last of the marks from her abuse of power had long since faded, but with her white hair and skin and black cloak, a quick glance made her seem more ghost than woman. And there was no telling what they'd do if they saw Jukheyr.

Well, a slow journey was fine with her. It wasn't as though she was in any hurry. As a matter of fact, she couldn't help but laugh slightly at Ansell's comment of slowing her down. "Kid, we aren't going to my house. The only one you need to worry about slowing down is yourself."

Of course, if her amused words had any bolstering effect on Ansell's morale, it was probably lost under the torrent of Jukheyr's scathing words. Heavens above, how Amaris wished she could simply tie his beak shut with a piece of rope to keep him from speaking. Good lord, the birdbrain was full of nothing but hot air and foul words. It was starting to get downright boring; if he wanted to help them travel faster why couldn't he just come out and say it straight.

Amaris didn't have any particular objection to the ides of using Jukheyr as a mount. It wasn't as though falling from some great height would damage her any more than their battle from earlier that night. In fact, the idea of ridiculing the contrast between that and his usually prideful behavior attracted Amaris a great deal. But there was a more important matter to deal with first. She wanted to know Ansell's feelings on the matter.

"Do you want to ride?" Amaris asked, carefully keeping her own opinions on the matter concealed from her expression. "Or would you rather walk. I'm in no hurry."
 
Eyes leaving Amaris' expression to the much too delighted - not to mention sparking - face of the avian, the answer was one Ansell didn't care for. He gave a sigh, shoulders heaving from the force. "It'll be faster," he reasoned, mostly to himself than Amaris. Had he been able to help it, he would've denied the help of Jukheyr as long as he could - but he was tired. The day had been exhausting, and his body was feeling the toll from pushing himself and being pushed. In the back of his mind, Ansell still felt that strange cling of static in his thoughts, a lingering reminder of just how much he hated lightning. He hated becoming lightning even more. Why couldn't Jukheyr had settled for a simple fog again? He could do fog, fog was easy.

Putting such petty, and overall pointless, concerns aside, Ansell looked to the waiting back of the avian. Again, he huffed. It really was serious about this. Upon that thought, Ansell caught the flash of plasma between it's eyes. "I can just as soon take off alone," it spoke, sounding just as bored as Ansell was tired. "I'm sure there's some fun to be had with what remains of this storm." It was an empty threat, Ansell hoped.

The storm was dying down, the fight with Amaris had made sure of that. While Ansell didn't doubt it could do some very bad damage to the town, it was likely such chaos would cause it's form to dissipate completely. Ansell shrugged, lacking the strength or the snark to fight anymore. "Let's just get this over with."

Jukheyr cracked a smile, Ansell frowning back at it. "Good lad," it cooed, mocking and bothersome. Stepping forward, Jukheyr settled flush to the ground so Ansell could climb aboard, feathers undulating like the surface of water as Ansell got on. The metal clung to him, keeping him snug in place, fluid and very gross feeling over his skin. He wouldn't fall, not when he felt adhered to Jukheyr's back. Unless Jukheyr's mood called for a cruel joke, Ansell didn't think he'd have to worry about plummeting to his death.

Shifting around the weight of it's new company, Jukheyr stared out over the city, the few lanterns that had survived the winds dim spots of light within the mist. "That goes for you as well, witch. Hop on or walk," Jukheyr spat, ignoring the stomp Ansell gave it's back.

"I-If you do, I'm jumping!" Ansell threatened, very weakly. He shrunk under the glare aimed his way, Jukheyr glancing over to Amaris again.

"Look what you've done. You've gone and got the whelp all attached. Hurry and jump on," it jabbed it's head in Ansell's direction. "Before he does, anyway."
 
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Amaris nodded in quiet acquiescence to Ansell’s request, stepping forward to follow after the boy as he climbed up on Jukheyr’s back and settled into place. She had been serious about the offer to walk, but was honestly just as glad the boy hadn’t agreed. Amaris was as eager to get him home now as she had been when the boy had first summoned the lightning. She doubted wandering around in the wind and the rain was doing him any good. It wasn’t doing her much good either, for that matter, although she was far less concerned about that. But she was tired of the cold and the damp anyways.

Amaris settled in behind Ansell, the tight grip of her legs squeezing in on Jukheyr’s side hardling loosening even when she felt the metal on his back slide up to lock her legs in place. It would be just like the birdbrain, she decided, to try and dump her mid-flight in order to separate her from Ansell. Seeing as she didn’t even know where they were going, that was actually a distinct possibility should he get the idea in mind. And while Amaris still intended to part ways from the kid once she saw him safely home, those were going to be on her terms, and not on anyone else's.

“Giddyup,” Amaris said, her smile mocking as she clicked her tongue encouragingly. “There’s a good boy.”
 
Between Amaris' quip and the subsequent rise of hair on his arm marked by the scent of ozone, Ansell felt like he was back in that clearing; however, this time, there was no place to hide. Metal holding his legs shifting about, Ansell rested his hand on Jukheyr's back. "If you two want to fight again, can it please wait until I'm out of the way?" Ansell scoffed, just about tired of the entity's bothersome habit of picking fights. "I'd much rather be in bed and sleep then trying not to get fried, again."

Wings rustling, feathers flexing out as the god steadied it's claws against the ground, Jukheyr gave a unamused chirp. "Do watch yourself, witch," it said, a thinly veiled threat, "I fear we might have a bit of turbul-" Words broken when Ansell gave the ridge of it's spine a good smack of his palm, the lad met it's backwards glare with a unyielding stare of his own.

"St-stop that! We can't fly home if you've exhausted what's left of this godforsaken storm dueling with her, so just hurry up before I- before I-" Face burning, tongue fumbling with the tiring force of his anger, Ansell bared his teeth at Jukheyr in the dark.

A moment later, lightning blitzed across the sky, illuminating the boy's face in haunting shadows. In the sky, the lightning flashed away, the crackle that came after far off. Bathed once more in darkness, Ansell's breathing rolled with the thunder. "For goodness's sake, just take us home."

Jukheyr only snorted, a heavy pressure coming to the air as it prepared for takeoff. "Are we in a mood," it muttered, and with a sudden squall, it was off. The bird rose into the sky, higher and higher, the burst of speed it had charged from the earth sending it above the city until it was but a glint among the clouds.

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The air was so much thinner, more so than Ansell remembered. The way the wind whipped around him was all too familiar, icy and almost stinging his flesh. Up in the sky, the clouds were only a stone's throw away, wispy and being chased off by the cold front Jukheyr had brought in. All the better, in his opinion. The weather had been forgiving until Jukheyr had caused such an uproar, it was only right for it to fix the damage it had done to their predictable cold streak.

Ansell sighed, sinking back in the semi-solid nest of feathers around him, feeling sleep already resting in his bones. "Oh, gosh, what a night," he whispered, not really to anyone. "Hopefully no one in town got hurt, but I think most of them holed up inside when the storm got bad." That, however, was towards Amaris. Ansell felt - strange, talking about the townsfolk, especially to her. She seemed interested in slaying the monsters, perhaps the people were secondary.

Ansell fiddled with his fingertips, not looking back to the witch, shoulders tense and high. "I'm - still terribly sorry about what happened earlier, with the, uh, lightning and all." A sour taste came over his tongue at the memory of roasting flesh, that magnificently awful flash of light still preserved in his memory. He couldn't give an excuse or justification for what he did. It was all to be blamed on his own failing to control the power he wrestled from the storm. "I should've held back," he said, hushed and head bowed in regret.

"I still don't know why it was so hard to let go of, I've never been stuck like that before." Ansell took a short breath, reaching off the side of Jukheyr, hand ghosting over it's wing. And like a firefly, a jolt flew from the bird's feathers to Ansell's fingers, an alien glow flowing beneath his skin. With his sleeve having been burned, the skin along Ansell's arm lit up with a mess of ragged skin. Scars, some deep, some deeper, all exposed by the light under his skin. Ansell said nothing for a long while, watching the shimmer spread from his shoulder, sinking until it was absorbed within him. "I've had, uh, a few times to p-practice, after all."

"Nearly there," Jukheyr sounded ahead, wings tipping towards the ground as it ducked under the clouds. On the hill Ansell had pointed out, stood the farm he'd come to know.

"Nearly bedtime, you mean," Ansell retorted, hiding a yawn with his hand. "I'd hope for dinner but I think that's long past cold."
 
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Amaris, unsurprisingly, was not the least bit intimidated by Jukheyr's threat. As a matter of fact, her knees clasped tighter against the bird's metal sides, legs sliding forward so that they were nearly touching Ansell's. As she she'd already promised to herself, she had no intention of letting the birdbrain dump her, no matter what stunts it might try and pull.

But she didn't respond, or otherwise try and bother the avian further. Her goal was to irritate the supposed god, not Ansell. And it was clear, after a night of running away and hiding, the boy was finally getting tired of Jukheyr's attitude,and their near incessant squabbling. Amaris was almost proud of the kiddo for finally standing up for himself, as she hadn't been sure he had it in him, and she certainly wasn't going to do anything that might impede his efforts. With one final quip, Jukheyr took to the sky, the bloodwitch and boy clinging resolutely to his back.

It had been a long time since Amaris had flown anywhere. The bloodwitch was capable of gliding under her own power, forming massive, bloody wings large enough to block out the sun at close range, and with the careful use of thermals she might even be able to gain a little bit of elevation. But it was a slow and intrusive method of travel, and one that she rarely bothered with. Not when it was so much easier and faster to travel by boat, or even by foot. But she had allowed others with power to carry her before, rather like Jukheyr was doing now. For those who were meant to fly, it was an admirable means of travel, and Amaris could see the ground flitting by below them through the wisps of clouds. If absolutely nothing else, it seemed like they were making very quick progress, and the birdbrain want trying to dump her, either.

The wind had long since ripped the hood of her ruined clothes off her head, and her white hair whipped around her face from the cold wind. Ansell's hair kept flicking her face as well, his curls far longer than her own close cut, even tied up in a loose bun.

It took her a few seconds to realise the boy was speaking, his soft words easily lost over the echoing rush of the wind in her ears. However, she was able to pick out a few of his words, enough for her to figure out what he was trying to say. It didn't surprise the woman that he was worried about the people in the village. He's been worried about her, after all, and they were nothing more than strangers.

"I'm sure they're fine," Amaris replied, her consolations far more for Ansell's sake than out of any concern for the faceless villagers. The boy was right in guessing that she didn't care about their fate; they'd never done anything for her, and she had no reason to care about them. But Ansell had shown her kindness, and that she would gladly repay as many times as necessary. "Those hounds came straight for us, and the rain put out the fire long before it could reach any of the houses."

Her comfort, such as it was, delivered, Ansell's kindness turned once more back to her. She would have thought, after watching her fight with the avian, he would have realised exactly how inconsequential his little zap had been. Instead, he seemed as hung up on it as he had been when he first delivered the jolt. Her words seemed equally inconsequential, though. He was determined to feel guilty about it, and it didn't seem like Amaris could really do anything about it until he got over it himself.

Instead, in a rare gesture of comfort, Amaris lived a hand and rubbed it gently across the boy's back. All that was missing from the action was a murmured 'there, there'. It was all she could think to do to demonstrate that she truly held no hard feelings about the matter.

Before she had the chance to say or do anything else, Jukheyr interrupted them, loudly proclaiming their arrival. Powdering over Ansell's shoulder, Amaris could barely make out the lights of a small farmhouse perched on the top of a ridge. She could almost feel Ansell relax in front of her as the building came into view. This, then, must be home for the kid. His night of high adventure was finally over, and things could go back to mostly normal for him. Whatever it was normal meant to him with Jukheyr around.

That also meant it was almost time for Amaris to head on her way as well. As much as she liked the kid, she still craved warmer weather, and she doubted that was something this mist-covered town was ever going to offer. Her boat would be leaving at dawn, and all that stood between her and it was her oath to the hunters. After Amaris finished dropping Ansell off, she would head back into the woods to finish her job, hopefully enough before dawn that she wouldn't be left behind and have to wait for another boat to come along.

"it looks like someone is still awake," Amaris said, gesturing towards the lit window as Jukheyr touched down. "You'll probably still be able to get some food. Either way, I should probably be heading on my way. It was nice to meet you, kiddo"
 
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Call him overeager, but Ansell was already sliding off Jukheyr's back - metal peeling away from his skin - before the bird could land properly. His eagerness caught up with him, leg stiffening until it locked up under him. He fell, obviously, onto the wing of Jukheyr, the bird eyeing him silently.

As usual, Ansell was far more concerned about anything else in the moment. The window, now that he was able to get a good look at it, didn't at all show that his family had went to bed with him gone. Someone had to stay up, and with his rotten luck, it'd be his mother that answered the door. "Oh, gosh," he breathed, shaking his leg to get it out of the painful seize it was in. "I hope that's not who I think it is," Ansell bemoaned, shaking his head at the flash of shadow across the window. Jukheyr was anything but subtle; it wouldn't surprise him if it's landing woke someone - if they'd be asleep at all.

Turning back to Amaris, the look on Ansell's face said volumes for just how shocked he was at the woman being glad to have met him. That was...rare. Even more so, it was unexpected. His mind raced, searching for that moment of his lightning strike, only to shift back into the very same woman sitting before him.


Ansell smiled, tired but warm. "I - uh. Oh, ahm, I-" Shutting his mouth, Ansell collected his words, tongue flat in his mouth. "Thank you, Amaris. It was a - a great pleasure to meet you." Ansell then gave Jukheyr a hard stare. "Behave yourself, Jukheyrthileth."

Jukheyr rolled it's sparking eyes at Ansell's retreating back, limping his way up to the front porch. "Oh, please. When am I on anything less than my best behavior?"

Hand on the doorknob, Ansell looked over his shoulder, eyebrow raised at the bird. "Always. Always." Throwing the door open, Ansell went inside.

Chuckling, Jukheyr twisted it's head around, staring close and closer still to the witch. "It's been a pleasure, witch, but would you kindly get off my ass?" Jukheyr asked, voice as sickeningly sweet as it could make it.
 
"Gladly, birdbrain," Amaris replied, her voice neatly matching Jukheyr's own tone. "As soon as you release my legs." She jerked upwards with one leg, still firmly held in place by the skin of metal that had secured both her and Ansell in flight. She was no more eager to remain on the thunderbird's back than it was to have her there, and more importantly, she would have preferred to conduct her farewell with Ansell with her feet firmly planted on the ground.

She tugged upwards again, and this time her foot finally came free from among the metal. She quickly swung her foot over to the other side, before dropping to the ground. She'd ended up on the opposite side of the thunderbird from the house, and by the time she'd circled around, Ansell had already closed the door. She smiled slightly, somehow glad that Ansell hadn't gotten quite as attached as the thunderbird had implied. Amaris wasn't the kind to stick around for long, no matter the people she'd be leaving behind. "Stay safe, kiddo," she whispered towards the door, before turning away. It was time for her to get to work.

"Later, Sparky," she stated, turning away. "Or hopefully not."

The edge of the forest wasn't exactly near this little farmhouse, the owners having moved the treeline back to give them room to farm. However, Amaris was almost certain she could pick any direction to walk, and end up in the trees before too much longer. The little valley Ilsworth was nestled into was still heavily treed, and had been cleared back only far enough to allow the little pocket of humanity to survive and have some defense from the creatures that dwelt within the forest.

She glanced towards the sky, frowning slightly. Her fight with the birdbrain had taken up more of the night than she would have liked, and she was going to have to move quickly if she wanted to make up for lost time.
 
Jukheyr kept it's eyes on the back of the witch as she walked into the farmland, unblinking until she was lost to the dark of the fields. "No, we will meet again. Of this, I'm sure." Amaris had done in a matter of hours what Ansell had failed to do for years: impressed it. More than that, she dazzled it. She was a walking rejection of nature, bizarre and unique. She would be a fine being to assimilate.

The god's feathers danced at the thought, shuttering against it's moving flesh. As promising as the next few centuries just became, Jukheyr grounded itself in the now, eyes up at the sky. The storm had moved on, and with it, the weather it'd conjured. The wind didn't blow as harshly, nor did the cold bite in the fog.

The farm was quiet. Jukheyr was a stoic figure in the dark, head perched to look to the woods. Jukheyr wasn't so dense, it knew something more intelligent than one of those mutts could've taken Ansell. It wasn't just subtle, it was unnoticed when it had stole him right in the midst of itself and the witch. Despite their bond, Ansell's recollection of the night was missing; it was as though his mind had been put to sleep. For every prope Jukheyr launched, only one thing kept coming back to it's mind: flowers.

It had to go back, to that tree, and find whatever had the nerve to take it's vessel. Jukheyr's bulk shifted apart, feathers shedding and melding together. It crumbled, metal flaking off and bending into new shapes. It fell into shards of black into the grass, pointing to the sky and growing. Moonlight glinted off the murder of crows Jukheyr had become, jagged birds that looked about with eyes of lightning.

They took off with a rumble over the ground, wings swallowing moonlight as they flew towards the edge of the woods. Back to the clearing, back to the tree split by Ansell's cry for help.
 
Amaris didn't hear Jukheyr's parting comment, and as she entered into the woods she put both boy and bird almost fully out of mind. This was the way Amaris was used to traveling, alone, a seemingly insurmountable task before her, destined to be worn down by her patience, determination, and ruthlessness. In the same manner, she set aside the thought of the dark ship docked at the rotten wooden wharf. It would be better if she could return before dawn, her task completed, and continue her way south, but she would not let herself be rushed or harried by the deadline. If she could not complete her self-appointed task in time, she would simply have to find another boat to take her down the river from Ilsworth. They came along often enough, and she had more than enough money to buy her way on board, as little as she might want to remain in the foggy little town long-term.

The forest was silent, Amaris' progress barely disturbing the branches and bramble-covered ground. Her eyes seemed to glow in the manner of cats and wolves from the faint moonlight, the blood vessels surrounding her pupils raw and red. Nothing impeded her progress as she made her way through the trees, eyes peeled for the faint traces living creatures would leave as they passed. Unless the hounds were the summons of some mad mage, they would live within the forest when they weren't attacking the village, and she would eventually be able to find the paths they usually trod through the forest.

All the same, she did not stray too deep into the woods yet, generally making her way back towards the main town of Ilsworth. This was not due to any desire to check in on the villagers, or risk running into those arrogant hunters once more, but simply from the fact that she knew the hounds had come towards the village, and seemed to torment it with a regular basis. As long as they did not travel exclusively through the part of the forest that had been burned down by Jukheyr and Ansell's lightning, she would be able to find their path.

It was a simple plan, but nonetheless effective. She only had to circle halfway around the town before she found the tracks of the hounds, racing off into the forest. They, like most predators, did not bother to hide the marks of their progress, confident in their strength. That made it easy to track them back through the forest, and Ilsworth quickly vanished from sight once more. Amaris traveled deep into the trees, up into the mountains that surrounded the little, foggy, valley.

The hounds might not be all that smart, but they certainly were fast. It was clear they could travel much quicker and more efficient than Amaris could, and she stepped up her own pace as she got further from town, and it was clear that she had quite a ways to travel before she’d be able to find the first pack.

But, despite the time it took, find them she did. A large group of the hounds had established a rendezvous point in a box canyon formed within the mountain cliffs. As Amaris got closer, she could hear the yelps of the hounds, and the high pitched whine of their pups. It sounded as though the pack was mostly gathered, either returned from a hunt, or still waiting for the members that would never return from their ill-fated raid on the small town.

Whatever the reason, it was convenient for Amaris. If she was even more lucky, they might call in reinforcements once she arrived and the slaughter began.

With a deep breath, Amaris strode towards the sound of the hounds, blood beginning to drip down her arms.
 
The tree had ceased smoldering long ago, by Jukheyr's estimate. Ansell's final bolt may have been powerful, but it wasn't magic. It would've made a great difference if it had been, but unfortunately that was not the case. Jukheyr had found it easily enough, finding it just a matter of retracing it's steps, or rather, flight pattern. The flock it'd become made a ring around the scarred tree, eyes scanning every inch of the ground from high in the canopies. Whatever had taken Ansell was clever, more so than Jukheyr was comfortable giving credit to, but it had managed to steal him and that was unforgivable. Fury subsiding, Jukheyr, a single instance of the god, found the first sign of the creature.

A track. Thin, needle-like and plenty of space between them, lead into the woods. Miles ahead, another crow found a similar track. Beyond that one, another. So went it's search, taking it deeper and deeper into the woods that had found a new master. The messy, crowded tracks of the hounds were never too far behind, the creature's dainty ones lost in some places only to emerge elsewhere. A strategy perhaps, a good one, Jukheyr would admit, but not infallible. The hounds lead in several directions, but the smaller ones, the one that really mattered, went into the mountains.

Along the trail the creature left, a few slivers of Jukheyr came across flowers. Nightshade, wilted, the cold getting to them before it had. As a whole, it scoffed, a quiet rumble synced acres apart. A taunt this far into the hunt seemed more ego-driven than an effective jab. Jukheyr could only imagine it knew it was being followed, so why the theatrics? It would make sure to ask it before vaporizing it. It could use a good laugh, and the destruction of plans thought to be so well laid was always so satisfying.

So, Jukheyr followed the blooming trail. On icy winds and ferrous wings, it soared towards the mountains hidden by fog. The tracks of the hounds became more prevalent on it's way there, but it was only when it noticed the sound of a strife that Jukheyr realized it wasn't the only one who had went into the woods. Searching for different targets, yes, but Amaris had found herself in quite the mess.

Not that she was losing, by any chance.

The sight was predictably gory for a witch of her caliber, so much so that Jukheyr had taken to the highest treetops it could find to avoid stepping in the gruesome mess. The rest of it came later, the flutter it's pieces came with hardly heard over the yipes and snarls from the beasts being massacred below.

"For someone who seems thoroughly fed up with this place," Jukheyr began to say, it's voice coming from all around, peering eyes focused solely on the witch at the center of the slaughter. "You sure don't seem to be in a rush to get back to the docks." With the threat of the hounds, it was very likely that the latest ship would leave at the crack of dawn. Any sensible visitor would leave with it, but Amaris seemed more interested in slaying the beasts than getting out of town. It couldn't find any sense in that, but her impact in the woods happened to align with it's own.

A crow, hopping along the muddled tracks of hounds that had raced towards Amaris a few miles, pecked away fallen leaves and twigs, uncovering a thin impression in dirt. The creature had been here, but where, Jukheyr had yet to discover.

"Trying to make a difference, witch? Or are these beasts just for fun?"
 
Amaris noted the appearance of the first metallic crow towards the end of her fight, but did not take more than a split second to acknowledge its existence in the back of her mind, and place it as a direction from which a possible threat might come. She and Jukheyr might have reached something almost resembling a cordial relationship, but she certainly did not trust the birdbrain not to do something stupid and interruptive in the middle of her fight. And while she wasn't too concerned about what damage the crow could wreak upon her, she did not want its interference allowing some of the hounds to get away from her grasp.

Some of them tried to flee on their own when they saw how quickly the fight was turning against them, but Amaris didn't give them the chance. Tendrils of blood seemed to positively leap out of the depths of the forest, tangling up the hounds before sharpened barbs would pierce through their flesh, skewering corpses against ground or trunk. Soon enough, the clearing was silent except for the rustle of metallic feathers.

"And I thought you had better things to do than follow me," Amaris rebutted, her heart not truly in the scolding. She was growing weary of quarreling with the supposed god, and she had a hunt to finish, but her pride did not allow her to let the jab slide. Her gaze turned back out to the silent forest. If there had been any living things in the woods other than the hounds before the fight began, the sound of her battle would have undoubtedly chased them off. The silence was almost eerie.

"I've got an oath to fulfill, so if you would kindly stop interrupting my hunt," the witch continued, voice clipped and tongue snapping against the roof of her mouth.
 
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A short clamor of wings was the first reaction to Amaris' quip, Jukheyr's flock peering down at the result of her hunt. "By all means, continue. It's a wonderful show, but I'm afraid I can't stay to watch." Much like Amaris herself, Jukheyr had places to be and more important things to do in the woods. It was only by chance they'd crossed paths again, and so soon at that. "If you're after the rest of those beasts, I would suggest you head deeper into these woods."

Going quiet for a moment, a crow of Jukheyr drifted down to the gory scene, pecking at a mutilated carcass. "They're getting away," it spoke, a wicked amusement at the sight of what remained of the hounds escaping, some miles away already. "Poor things."

As much fun as meddling with Amaris was, Jukheyr had an objective of it's own, and it was hot on the trail of discovering the coward. Gleaming eyes focused on Amaris, unblinking and still. The eyes went to the ground, searching it, a visual hunt for any sign of the creature it was after. There was a short buzz of frustration when it came up with no signs of it, the clumsy, massive tracks hiding anything that could be linked to the yet to be seen beast.

In the distance, Jukheyr's parts captured flowers in their steel beaks, collecting evidence of the creature's passing. In the clearing, Jukheyr hummed with satisfaction. Closer, and closer still. It was around, and had been recently, and that was all the better for it's intentions. "Do as you like, witch, it makes no difference to me." Humor once again finding its place in the voice of the god, Jukheyr's single bird flew up to the treetops again, preparing to take flight again. "The night is young, and the bloodletting has only just begun for you." Flock kicking up an eerie wind, Jukheyr's many eyes looked up at the sky, the roll of thunder off in the distance.

And with the thunder, came a sense of loss. Jukheyr got a mere moment of insight on the sensation, the feeling of being pierced and smothered, then nothing. It had been attacked, not seriously, but part of it had been cut off. It was amputation of an energetic nature, and the essence stored in the bird that had been destroyed was lost as well, returning to the world the god had stolen it from.

The flock's takeoff halted, a long stretch of silence followed by a growl from the god. "Cheeky bastard," it almost groaned, the pain of losing itself uncomfortable on a spiritual level. "Not one to be hunted, are w-" Stuttering to silence again, Jukheyr's flock fell to the ground in the burst of pain, magnified from the several points of attack. The crows gathered themselves quickly, the god righting itself the best it could with an untold agony running through it's system.

"Seems you're not the only hunter afoot, witch," Jukheyr tried to mock, the grating pain in it's voice leaving the edge of it's words dull. "That thing seems to be taking it's pound of flesh from me!"
 
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Amaris frowned at the bird's quips, but otherwise didn't respond. As little as she might like it, it was true that her prey was getting away, and now that she'd alerted them to her presence and demonstrated her prowess, catching up with them was most likely going to be much harder. Of course, that wasn't to say she was intending to blindly follow the birdbrain's directions, as vague as "deeper into the woods" might be, or how much it might have matched up with her own thoughts on the matter. It would be just like the thing to purposefully point her in the wrong direction, just to see her hunt stretched on longer than it needed to be.

And so, with the bird's steely eyes focused on her, Amaris began her own search of the clearing, looking for the hounds' most recent tracks away from the nest. She knew she hadn't gotten the entire pack, these creatures tend to live in swarms, so now it was a matter of tracking them down.

It took her a few moments to find the tracks, and she wasn't particularly surprised to find they were, in fact, heading deeper into the forest. Her eyes snapped up to the bird, and she smiled the grin of a predator up at Jukheyr, black beast blood dripping from her hair. "Indeed it has," she agreed, voice hoarse with expectation. "And I've got a lot to do before dawn."

With that, she turned, preparing to follow the tracks towards her prey, when a sudden crack of lightning arced through the sky. Amaris frowned, halting as abruptly as she'd started moving. She'd seen more than enough magicked lightning this evening to know that was as unnatural as any other bolt Jukheyr or Ansell had called down from the sky.

If the bolt had been closer, Amaris might have almost expected it to be Jukheyr attempting to get in her way again. But that blast had been far enough away that it didn't even cause her hair to stand on end. There was no way it could have been directed at her.

The sound that followed only a few moments after that was even more unexpected, as the metallic clatter of falling chunks of metal echoed from within the clearing, the sound only somewhat deadened by the wind. Amaris' lips pressed into a thin line as she turned about, fierce gaze locking onto the reflective corpses that now covered the ground.

She couldn't help but cock an eyebrow, a momentarily rueful smile crossing her lips. She couldn't help but deny a burst of small satisfaction at seeing the "god" brought so abruptly low, buried almost immediately behind frustration. She hadn't been the one to cause that, which meant something else was attacking the birdbrain. And while their fight might have been brought to a stalemate, Amaris didn't particularly feel like letting something else take away her inevitable victory of the thunderbird.

And one thing she knew for sure, the "thing" it referred to certainly wasn't the Hounds. That really only left one option.

Amaris' veins seemed to pulse, darkening for a moment. "Which way is it?" she growled.

It wasn't like she was helping him. She simply had a bone to pick with the thing that had taken Ansell.
 
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