The Prosperos Quest

[Sakura]

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"You fools!"

Ethel was growing more and more frustrated with the arguments as she watched the avian tear at Shardis and the thief. It seemed like each one of these party members wanted to claw at each other's throats. Ethel found their immaturity and their bickering a ridiculous waste of time. Though she appeared to be a soft-hearted, gentle individual, Ethel's temperaments were anything but. Her insides were squirming and she was becoming further irritated by the second. If one of these fools kept..

Shardis kept at Aerie with a ferocity that Ethel couldn't believe was being used against an ally. "Shardis!" Ethel shouted sharply.

Ethel's eyes were flashing anger. She could deal with their recklessness, their arguments over who went where and who killed which troll. She could even put up with the random outbursts of arguments between the avian and the thief. But blatant ignorance was an irk Ethel couldn't ignore. And when she was beginning addressed calmly by Tegol, she felt a sudden surge of frustration.

As the feline held the Aerie against the ice wall, Ethel let out a frustrated sigh, which was more of a sort of strangled sound between a whine and a cry. She absolutely fed up with this lot of bickering individualists.

"Enough with the fighting already. Aerie, stop arguing. Medwick, can't you give orders, you're supposed to be the leader! Shardis, let her go this instant! She's part of the team, however obnoxious she might acting towards you. You," she pointed to Kal, the thief and then to Tegol, "and you will go together. I'll scout in the air. It'll be easy for me to carry messages back and forth if the need arises."

She looked around at the other members of the group, her hands on her hips. For a tiny fae, she had quite a temper, albeit if she wasn't so serious someone might have laughed at the sight of a fragile little girl barking orders at the group of rag-tag individuals.

"Does anyone have a problem with that?" She stretched her wings, fluttering them twice. Light swirls of magical energy hovered around them as she prepared to fly.
[/DASH]

 

[DotCom]

She wanted -- maybe more than she had ever wanted anything, except perhaps to fly -- she wanted very badly to keep the fact that she was angry hidden from the others. But looking into Bitch-Cat -- no, not Bitch-Cat, true enemies didn't get cute nicknames -- Shardis was her name. Looking into Shardis's eyes, Aerie knew full well she could not mask her fury.

A truer Avian than she would have handled the whole thing with a cool, if dour, disdain. Ruffled feathers, dignified grunts of frustration. Little more. But Aerie had not been disowned for being a good Avian.

She'd have driven her knife into the cat's paw if she thought it would do as much damage as ruffling her pride. As it were, even keeping her voice steady was a herculean task. The rest of her was shaking with cold, and anger, and probably a healthy dose of fear, because that made the second time the cat had been responsible for a back injury, and if she couldn't fly, she would absolutely fall.

"That's right, kitty," Aerie said coldly as Shardis released her and stalked off to pace in the snow. If the fae and the new-ish comer were speaking, she gave no notice. The entire cliffside might have fallen away, and she would have missed it. She had eyes only for the cat.

"Listen to your fucking master," she went on, taking careful, deliberate steps through snow that threatened to drag her down with each pace. "He isn't to be blamed if he forgot your leash."

She knew she was pushing her luck. She didn't care. If Shardis attacked again, she'd fight back. If it cost her her life, she was sure she could at least half skin the Felleon first.

"Or don't you want to try again? If your first stunt got us here, maybe the second time around will get us free. Please, kitty, tell me some more about how devoted you are to the human you nearly froze to death with your own fucking incompetence."

She turned toward Ethel, feeling half an instant of guilt before it was quelled by a seething rage. She hardly even felt cold anymore. "I'm going," she said quite plainly, "to the tower. If I stay, I'm afraid the cat may loose her temper again, and another avalanche at this range would certainly alert any tower dwellers to our presence."

 

[E.T.]

Caoihme could almost not believe what was happening. She had just put her head down, eyes half closed to prehaps get a bit of sleep while the others were off exploring when Shadis finally just snapped and attacked Aerie. In a second all of her instincts fired off and she kept forward send Galra tumbling into the snow along with her bag. In a second she was at the wall level with the two foes. Her stance was set low and the noise that fought its way up from her throat was even lower. The only hint that she was holding back was her stock still composure and the fact that she had not erupted into a stream of snarls and barks. Instead she was just crouched low a deep growl warning Shardis that she would intercede if necessary.

When Shadis did step back at Medwick's request Caoihme stepped forward so that she was almost touching Aerie her front torso positioned defensively in front of her new found friend. And although she stopped growling she still had her canines bared, her tong dodging of to lock them nervously. If she was being honest with herself she could say that this was one of the stupidest things that she had ever done. Shadis was obviously faster, and probably stronger than herself leaving her at a very distinct disadvantage.

When Caoihme heard Ethel and Tegol she had a moment where she believed that things might actually calm down. Aerie seemed to like Ethel, and Tegol had enough of a commanding air about him that she hoped that the disgruntled Avian might actually listen to reason. She got about two seconds to slowly relax her shoulders when Aeie opened her mouth and took a few steps forward.

Out of some off kilter sense of loyalty Caoihme moved forward with Aerie trying to keep herself both off to the side a bit and inbetween her and Shardis. She the tension that had snapped jus a momet ago was now yet again at a breaking point. Sure she owed the bird one but, if Aerie took every opportunity to uphold her pride this was either going to be a very long trip or a very short one. Watching as Aerie addressed Ethel Caoihme stood up and with a quick purposeful movement placed herself squarely between Shardia and Aerie. If anything was going to happen it would have to go through her first.
"And when you're there, leave your pride." She said softly. As a wolf Caoimhe had learned to walk proudly and to bow her head low. She had pride in herself but, she had taken enough punishment so that it was curbed beneath the basic need to survive.

 

[Asmodeus]

Between the stillness of her neck and the motion of her wings, Medwick's hand came to rest on Ethel's shoulder. It was half an act of comfort, and half a punctuation to end this commotion, this heated moment amid the freezing snow. They were the only two connected now. Tegol stood ahead of them, about to venture over the snow ridge. Kal sat shivering at the edge of the group. Shardis paced in the distance. Aerie lingered by the wall with Caoihme half-turned between the Avians, both ally and intercessor. And Kana remained at the rear, saying nothing. They were like players on a chessboard, their positions speaking volumes.

"Alright... we're agreed." And from that murmur Medwick rose to a louder declaration, his head turning to regard each of them while his hand remained on Ethel's shoulder.

"Now all of you, listen. We are in the coldest heights of the Norsigal Steps, among the deadliest places in all Sunnepheia. Our frustration is inevitable. In fact... turning on one other may be the only means to some of us surviving. If so... then so be it. But in this suffering I have one request. Remember. Remember why we are doing this. The Blue President sends us out here because of one belief - one small, fragile belief..... That WE, the people of Pegulis, are the only ones in this world who can hold the weapons of gods with conscience and restraint. That is why we go, to take those weapons before the savages and warmongers of other nations lay claim to them."

He stepped towards Aerie while drawing his blade. It may have won a wince or a note of alarm from the Avian and Caoihme, but there was nothing threatening in the man's manner. Inverting the falchion, Medwick held it by its hilt and ran his fingers over the gems studded there. They glowed with eldritch light of blue and green, and the heat that gathered was unmistakeable. He reached around and ran the hilt close to Aerie's wings, spell-melting the ice from her feathers as he continued speaking.

"I share the President's belief," said the scholar. "Pegulis rose from the Cataclysm beneath the mantle of enlightenment. Even as we froze, even as we struggled to bring the tribes together and build new shelters, we held on to the values of austerity and reason. I believe... without a doubt... that we can salvage the weapons, nay even the bodies, of our creators, and bear that power with responsibility."

He finished warming the girl's wings then returned to the group's centre. "But if we cannot demonstrate those values amongst ourselves, then we are on a fool's quest. That dragon fell from the sky with metal in its belly. It was our call and our test. Let us not fail it so soon."

He ended with his gaze on Shardis's back.

 

[lynzy]

As if she felt his gaze on her, the felleon turned and looked at her spirit brother. She took a deeeep breath in through her nose then sighed it out and with it all of her anger over the silly flier and it's stupid behaviours. Shar knew she had erred in keeping the argument going now, in the heat of her anger she had lost her perspective on everything, especially what thee goals were. Starving didn't help ether. If Shardis would allow herself, she could hunt her own food, maybe even some for the others. She was an accomplished hunter with or without weapons. Stubbornness wouldn't let her leave Medwick's side though. In that moment she decided what to do. she needed space from the flier to think some things out and they desperately needed food. She would go hunting, not too far off, so that if something happened she would be back in time for it. Shardis stepped over to Galain and told him so quietly in his ear, patted him on the back gently and ran off into the white before anyone could say anything, she was gone.

 

[DotCom]

Aerie was many things. Most of them were...far from admirable, to say the very least. An impulsive thinker with a head too hot for her own good -- or anyone's -- she found herself in trouble more oft than not, and likely would have paid the price with her life thrice over, if it weren't for her wings and her somewhat more levelheaded aenigma. It wasn't, after all, as if she had friends. Friendship required an ability to sit still, and give of oneself, and say nice, not sarcastic things, all of which were abilities she very much lacked.

She was not, however, stupid, nor was she blind. Conversely (or not), she was very loyal, very quickly. First to Ethel and Caoihme, and now, apparently, to the bossy human. Aside from his foolish insinuations, and indeed, his pride, for which the blame, Aerie thought, paled in comparison only to the idiot cat's bumbling self, she had nothing against the strange mage. Which wasn't to say she was beholden to him. At all.

But this unexpected act of...could it be called kindness? If she wasn't to say it was self-serving, evidence, if thin, was not far off. Even so, there was another flier. Easier it may have been to send two, but Ethel was clearly intelligent enough in her own right to get the job done solo. Aside from separating Aerie and the Felleon, he had no real reason to warm her wings, and yet as soon as the deed was done, she knew, at the very least, she was in his debt.

Which did not require a 'thank you', or at least not a spoken one. She'd leave off hounding the cat for now, and do what she could to secure the tower. That would have to serve well enough, because she was not in the mood for more lengthy speeches on teamwork and the importance of amicability.

"Pity we don't have a bard along," she muttered to herself finally. "The human speaks such pretty words."

 

[E.T.]

Although Caoihme had jumped a little at the sight of Medwick drawing his sword a quite glance at his face showed her that his eyes held no mallace, no ill intent. She watched fasinated as the crystals came to life, glimmering with light, and apparently with warmth. Reaching up she could not help but, to play slightly with the heated gem that hung over her own heart providing her with a similar warmth. Seeing that everything was indeed under control she retreated back to her spot in the shelter of the ridge. Galra had remained with her bag throughout the flurry of excitement and now, seeing that things had blown over, scampered up Caoihme's arm and curled around her neck like some odd translucent scarf. While Caoihme herself fetched her bag handling it with great care, a maternal worry creeping into her mind as she thought about the egg that she was carrying.

Throughout this entire ordeal she had carried this egg making sure to keep it warm whether by some of Medwick's magic crystals or by her own body heat. The problem was that she did not even know if it was still alive. She had heard that some eggs died if they were moved around, but, on the other hand she had seen birds flipping their eggs over in the nest so prehaps it was fine for the egg. Quickly slipping a hand out of her glove she felt the surface of the egg and and pleased to descover that it was quite warm and the smallest of smiles crept onto her face until her hand brushed against something else. With a slight frown she pulled out a large potato like root, looked at it for a few moments before she remembered why she had them in them in her bag.

Putting the root back she felt around a little more just to make sure that she still had all of the roots. Pleased to find that she did indeed she closed up her bag and, sitting cross legged against the ridge, placed it in her lap. Seeing as everyone seemd to be suffering from a bit of hunger aggression she thought it might be time to divide up the roots. From what she recalled their bright purple flesh was rather starchy and fiborous, with a taste that was like the love child of a cherry and a water chestnut. But, it was very filling so hopefully it would at least take the edge off everyones' hunger, although she had been hoping to save it until they were really desperate.

 

[lynzy]

Shifting from left to right she felt her muscles tighten just right. They had the feeling needed for a perfect pounce. Her eyes never left the target, not even for a split second. Shardis was totally focused, she had even increased her oxygen intake unconsciously for the muscles' great exertion that would come very soon. She flexed her claws slightly to check them and the icy terrain she was on, to make sure she would get a good launch. Hunts were lost because of slips.

The felleon had caught and eaten several ice hares at their warren earlier so she wasn't really hungry anymore. This kill would be for the others and to her that was more important. Eating for herself first was paramount in that it let her focus. She was less likely to jump the gun and loose the kill because of a premature start.

She had just finished eating the last hair when she had seen him on the ridge. He was upwind of her and hadn't noticed Shar's presence yet. She had swallowed the last bite of hare and instantly dropped into a hunters crouch. Then slowly, but not too slowly, had worked her way closer to the ram's position. He didn't have any females following, that was good, the more eyes the less the chance for a good kill.



She crept closer and closer stopping when the ram looked her way or when the wind would start to change (at those times she would pray to the God of the hunt that it would be favorable) or if she would need to look for a less crumbly way up. Finally she had reached a point where she felt comfortable with the length of Terra firma between them. It seemed like hours had gone by but in all fact it had only been a few minutes.

When the moment came it felt right. That perfect feeling one gets when all the variables match up. All the work comes to fruition and everything just... flows. The actual hunt was over in moments, the poor beast never stood a chance and went down quickly and as painlessly as possible. Shardis didn't believe in making animals suffer for amusement.

With one extended forclaw she slit the ram's throat then let the blood drain out. Afterwards she hefted the beast by its rear hooves and started the trek back to base camp. A smile warmed her face and spirit as she imagined their happiness at having a decent meal for once.

 

[DrPepper]

Enough was enough. Ethyl wasn't the only one who shared that train of thought in this moment. "Be my eyes?" Kal asked his serpent, ignoring all of the other party members' bantering. He didn't really care what anyone else had to say at this point, everything was getting a bit overwhelming.

"Without fail. I'm the best pair of eyes you've ever had." Sarrthas hissed in reply to Kal. The cold snow didn't phase Sarrthas as he slithered ahead of Kal, keeping his eyes out for anything interesting. The forest kin and the serpent were already on their way towards the tower once Medwick started spinning his newest monologue. All that he needed to hear was "we're agreed." With a small toss of his hand, Kal waved farewell to anyone that may have been watching him walk away.

As usual, the cold was chilling to the bone. Kal could only hope that the tower could offer some semblance of warmth. "How's it looking? Any traps?" He would follow Sarrthas carefully, the tower drawing closer and closer by the moment. If there was nothing for the rogue to deal with before reaching the entrance, Kal would stop briefly before attempting to enter to glance over his shoulder at anyone who may have followed him.

"Stealth." He reminded himself and anyone around him.

 

[Elflady]

Leaning against her spear Kana observed the surroundings, there was not much to see but white, white snow, white tower, white everywhere. Of course it would make it easier to spot assailants sneaking up on the group, unless they too were white. Shivering as a gust of wind twisted its way through her coat Kana tried to remember the heat of Kausteria, the sand that prickled like needles against your skin when a storm blew up, like snow only warm. There the colours went in reds and browns making a warmer impression from the start, although if you weren't careful the scorching sun would wear you down in an instant. Her mental excersise didn't exactly work though, her concentration broken by the argument that errupted between Shardis and Aerie.

The fight was quite quickly broken up by Ethel and Medvick but it didn't bode well that this early there were tears forming, they were more individuals travelling the same way than a group with a single goal. Maybe Medvick was the one who could unite them, at least he knew how to put his words to get everyone's attention and make them obey. This country seemed to be all about working together and work for a common goal, if it was because Pegulis was so small compared to the other countries or because the leaders spread courage and inspiration to the people, Kana didn't know but those traits sure could be used now.

As Kal made a head start for the tower and the other scouts would soon follow Kana shifted her weight to her left leg, she decided to stay still for now, it wouldn't be much of a point to send a small group to check things out if no one stayed behind that would defeat the purpose of having scouts.

 

[lynzy]

The walk back to the group was uneventful and fairly quick. As the felleon came into view of them, she waved and quickened her pace a bit.

Her mood was much improved now since the hunt. Shar smiled as she lowered the ram to the ground in front of Medwick. "It was a good hunt! But if it's not enough I know where to find more now..." She hesitated hoping that for once she had done the right thing. The hunt had been fairly quick and not so far off, so she had made it back to the group before dark.

Squatting down, Shardis skinned and then began to dissect the carcass. Setting aside the choice meats in one pile and the lesser ones in another and the bones in yet another. Eventually she would clean the skin and tan it but not now. Now it would serve as a carry bag for the left over parts so that they could take the meat with them for later.

It was at that moment that Garth showed up. She hadn't seen much of him since the death of the dragon, she had supposed that he had been trying to rationalize things or something to that effect. "Well, where have you been?" Her tone, as ever when she talked to him was level and her words were straight to the point.

He settled to the ground and gave a winged shrug and spoke in a low quiet voice that made her frown from the fact that it wasn't like him. "I was thinking... I agree She made the mistake of trying to make a home near people, but no one even tried to speak with her... to see if she was, as they say, evil....did they?" The dragon made of thought and vapor looked up at her with very sad eyes that looked like they carried the burdens of the world in them. He needed to hear that his lapos wasn't like the others. That Shardis did what she did for good reasons and not to just destroy a creature because it was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Letting her head droop and eyes close Shar was still a moment then inhaled and let out a deep sigh then began to speak. "I am not sure what you want from me dragon! I have no love for others of your kind, only you. That beast threatened my home, family, friends AND my kingdom, and even my very existence. What would you have me do?...HUH? leave everything and run away? I can't and wouldn't do that, I can't even think of such a thing! I protect, it's in every fiber of my being to do so. I do not run away, do not ever ask me to." Shardis went back to her work with vigor and did not give the conversation any more of her time.

Garthon hopped off and laid down at the edge of the group. He continued to mope alone and avoided the eyes of anyone that bothered to look his way.

 

[DotCom]

To be able to fly in earnest again was heaven, and Aerie was too happy to be bothered over having to share the sky with another. Granted, if she'd had a choice, it probably would have been Ethel, despite her little 'let's all be friends' speech moments earlier. But even now, the cat could have flung her enormous, hairy backside into the air alongside Aerie, and the Avian was fairly convinced she'd have been too contented to care.

Pyre flew next to her instead, predictably stoic, quiet in his agitation and general exhaustion at the whole preceding incident. Really, it shouldn't have taken so long to choose scouts. It was, he'd decided, the reason and and Aerie chose to spend their time alone. Alone, one could be selfish or selfless, without either attached stigma weighing them down. Neither of them had ever been much for patience or rational thought; standing about in the snow making political decisions was best left to politicians in their manors.

As if reading his thoughts, Aerie chimed in suddenly, almost defiantly cheerful, despite the 'comrades' bumbling below and behind her.

"What was all that nonsense about a President and and savages and survival?"

Pyre only looked at her. Aerie seemed unperturbed. "The human," she went on, straightening her wings to coast for a moment, savoring the feeling of the wind dropping out from beneath her. "Who fixed my wings. Going on about some mission or another. What was that?"

"Why would I know?"

"Because you're the one who generally keeps track of such boring things?"

"I was a bit distracted."

"What, the Felleon? She's harmless. Just cagey. Probably from spending all her time with a human."

Pyre did not respond this time, and after a moment, Aerie shrugged and spun a tight figure eight in the air, just because the could. She circled around the tower a few times, then wrinkled her nose, dove in closer, and pulled up short. Pyre beat around her head.

"What?"

Aerie stopped quite abruptly, not five years from the tower's apex. She said, "If there isn't someone or something in there, I'll eat my hat."

"You haven't got one."

"Details, friend. Details."

 

[Hounds]

Tegol followed just behind Kal, he was obviously better suited for leading this given his prior occupation. Being sneaky wasn't a strong point for Tegol, he'd been a hunter most of his life, but that didn't make him an expert at stealth animals are dumb. People you have to be careful around, and if anyone had the most experience on sneaking up on people it was Kal and Tegol knew this. Only thing he could do for now was follow the thief and if the time came be prepared to fight.

He hadn't seen Lyall for a while now, he wondered if she was alright. She had a tendency to stick her nose in places it didn't belong, and when time came to get away she managed to drag whatever trouble she was in all the way back to him. From bandits to drunkards she always managed to bring trouble back with her, and given the solitude of this place he could only imagine what snooping she could have possibly found out here.

Looking back in Kal direction he began to peer over his should trying to see if he could make out any thing inside. "How it look?"

 

[Asmodeus]

As Shardis commenced her ensemble of butchery and moral discourse, Medwick paced around her with a scowl.

He was kicking snow into a line, forming a raised wall that would stop the run-off of body fluids. Sure, Shardis had bled the carcass, but there were plenty of deeper juices ready to spill beyond the ridge and gleam in the snow like some painted bullseye.

Giving their position away via clumsy cooking would be the height of embarrassment. Nonetheless, he allowed Shardis this indulgence. It would keep her occupied and keep her warm.

If she tried to make a fire and roast the animal, however, she would certainly earn herself a slap.

Noticing Caoihme involved in her own foraging, Medwick crossed to the slope of the ridge. He peered over to check the progress of the scouts, before kneeling beside her.

"Ah, Indus Root! I remember this." He took one of the sinewy potato-like fibers from the girl and held it up in the light. It was a dull but succulent purple. "When Shardis and I made the first expeditions to these mountains, years ago, we were cut off from supplies for days at a time. This little root kept us alive in the caves."

He glanced once at the bag on Caoihme's lap, with its odd spherical bulge, then turned and put his back to the slope, sinking to a squat. Together they watched Shardis go about her dissections.

"Why are you here?" he asked the wolf girl after a long pause. "You don't look like a citizen of Barval. So..."

He spoke like a scientist proposing some new theory. "...what makes a wildling rush to the aid of a dragon-slaying army then volunteer to join them on a pillaging mission?"

He broke the Indus Root in half and passed the larger piece back to her.

At the peak of the tower, Aerie hovered above a roof of robust slate now feet-thick with snow.

It was larger than the tower's radius and formed an overhang where icicles as long as her wingspan hung in eerie silence. There was a chimney stack iced over from disuse, and about ten foot down the highest of the windows, dark and arching.

A sense of desolation presided here. She smelled only mildew. The stone was no mason's work that she had ever seen - no mortar, no carving nor polishing.

The stone simply rested together with no cementing, as if the wind had blown the chunks into configuration.


Eight storeys below, the tower doorway loomed before Kal. Wooden and frozen, the door hung from one hinge and through the crack showed only shadow and mildewed stone. There were no lights, no smells, no warm breeze to speak of habitation. He could not even see evidence of vermin - no droppings or scratches on the threshold.

It seemed every element of life had forsaken this place.

There was only absence here.

A low whistle came as wind rushed in and out of the crack, and as the door drifted Kal caught sight of the first few steps of a spiral staircase, twisting up through the innards of the tower.

 

[lynzy]

After finishing the dissection and then organizing the pieces, Shar finished the ram meat by cutting the choice sections into slivers and laying them out on a bed of ice shavings she had prepared. It only took moments for the chilled meat to freeze solid. She then stacked them into a neat pile in the skin and repeated the procedure while waiting for the spies to return. It was a good way to organize thoughts and pass the time, there was nothing else for her to do since her pack was gone, she really missed it.

She had seen the look of disgust that Medwick had given her for doing the ram here. If she had done it there, at the hunt sight, she ran the chance of it being stolen or worse. She had left the offal and the bladder behind, they would have tainted the meat and risked the chance of making everyone sick. Normally a butcher could use the intestines for sausages and the bladder for other various uses like a carry bag and such but it needed special curing that Shardis, at this time, did not have access to.

No, there really was no reason for the 'trench' he set up for fluids but she let him go, it kept him busy. She was not as clutsy as he liked to fool himself into believing, especially when it came to meats and anything to do with catching the animals that became them. After all, she had been doing most of this for all of her life. Shar also knew his rules about campfires, so she didn't even bother. Instead the meat was frozen then packed away for future uses.

"Ah, Indus Root! I remember this." 'Yuck!' Shar hated that stuff. Wood was a better meal, she shook her head to get rid of the memory of that taste and snarled quietly. The clean up and removal of blood from her fur went quickly and she stood up, stretched then walked around a bit to work out the kinks then climbed the bolder of ice and snow she had mounted before she had left on the hunt. Watching the tower now became her point or interest.

 

[E.T.]

Now that the others were starting off towards to tower Caoihme propped herself up on her elbows while keeping herself in a relaxed lying down position. While for the most part she keep her eyes on the half of their group that was probably in the most danger she did turn her head once in a while to squint off at the land around them. Of course she couldn't see anything to their back as that dirrection was blocked by the ridge of ice however she felt pretty good that at least she would be able to spot anything coming from most other directions. At least that is what she hoped, in this land of snow and ice the swirling wind could play tricks on your eyes.

Keeping with her constant scanning she was quick to spot Shardis when she returned, and equally quick to notice the meal that she brought back. Excited by the prospect of fresh meat she moved in a little closer prehaps she would get to snag a spare bone since they didn't seem to have any real plan for then, besides she could see a few choice ones that had some nice scraps of meat still clinging to the white surface.

Glancing up as Medwick approached she passed him the root that she was holding after he made an gesture of interest towards it. When he made an exclamation of recognition she tilted her head in interest before wrinkling her nose slightly when he spoke its name.
"I-e-Eendus root?" she said slowly trying the new word out much like a swimmer testing a body of water. "I learned 'bout them while watching the elk. Mothers' would sometimes dig them up for their pups." This is actually how she mostly learned about what was safe to eat and what was off limits, of course there were sometimes things she had best not eaten but thankfully the worst thing she had ever gotten was a bad stomach ache.

For a while there was just silence, the scouts had left and there was not much to do besides watch Shardis butcher the ram. She actually almost started to drift off for a second of two but, she gave herself a slight shake to ward off the feeling; knowing how dangerous it could be to fall asleep exposed to the open chill of this unforgiving landscape. When Medwick spoke next it gave her a long pause. Absently mindedly accepting half of the root from Medwick she took a bite of the stachy root, giving herself time to try and think up the best way to phrase her "why".

In the end she just let out a sigh and tossing back her hood pulled a small necklace from where it had been hanging, folded inbetween the layers of her clothes. It was a simple thing, string crafted from animal sinew, two carved bone beads knotted towards the center, and with one large canine tooth carefully tied to the center. Handing the necklace to Medwick Caoihme was silent for a few long moments.

"That is my den brother's." She said indicating the tooth and then pointing to her own canine tooth as though making sure there was no doubt where the thing had come from. "We left him to protect the pups during hunt for he was one of the strongest and always was good with pups. When we came back he had his throat in the mouth of a snow cat. This tooth I pulled from the cat's shoulder after it died from the wounds he gave it." Her hands moved with the story, trying to fill in for a word here or adding emphasis to a word there. When she spoke of the cat biting her brother's neck she bent her fingers in imitation of teeth and made a biting gesture at her own throat.

"When I was first found, I thought it impossible that I could be human. I had only ever been wolf. Even when I learned your tongue I had doubts. I say to myself, how could we be the same, these people are so strange, we do not think the same, do not act the same. I saw to much pointless fighting, and many of your customs I saw as being very stupid. But, when I came to Barval I see you all fighting and protecting." Here she paused slightly casting Medwick a curious look as though trying to guage how much of this he was understanding.
"So I think prehaps we are not so strange from eachother, that maybe there is more to learn before I am so sure. So now, I am here." Finished speaking Caoihme took another, much bigger, bite from the root gently stroking Galra as she did so, watching to see what Medwick would do or say.

 

[lynzy]

After sitting on her haunches for a length of time that seemed to be hours to her, Shar leaped down from her perch on the ice rock and began pacing. Her ears began twitching which was her tell for how bad her nerves were and set her earrings jingling. This set Medwick's nerves on edge even more than they already were. There was no way anyone could miss there where-a-bouts with that racket going on. A soft growl came from her throat and she turned to him and snapped, "How long is this going to take? Shouldn't they be back by now? Do you want me to go and rescue them?" her fist hit her palm as Shar's shoulders flexed a bit and the snarl began to show her pearly whites.

 

[Sakura]

тнe ғαe

єтнєℓ ℓуѕαη∂єя
[DASH=#F5C4D4]
As they reached the tower, Ethel spread her wings, sparkles of light fluttering through the air. With a single sweep of their expanse, she took off into the air, following after Aerie, leaving streams of multicolored color light in her trail. The tower was odd. As she circled to the top, Ethel noticed it was wider than she would have expected a structure of it's height to be. Icicles danged from the arching tops.

In her mind, the sensation of Medwick's hand upon her shoulder silenced all wandering thoughts. He'd put his trust in them to scout out this tower. She would do just that.


She moved closer to examine one of the windows, halfway to the top, her wings stretched and her feet dangling. She pressed her palms against the glass to peer inside.














[/DASH]

 

[DotCom]

Down below, the others seemed to have finally gathered round the base of the tower, and the tiny fae a ways further up, apparently peering into the desolate darkness the tired thing offered. Flying was all good and well, but simply hovering was another thing entirely. Aerie had been making lazy, curious circles around the strangely-shaped apex of the tower for nearly ten minutes now. The cold bit into her wings, and the similarly freezing white stuff stacked and frozen onto the tower's roof offered no respite, even when she tried to dig into it, first with a tentative hand, then a boot.

It was cold and white and far too quiet and she was quiet annoyed with the snake man, for no real reason outside of his relative presence eighty feet below. Ethel had been peering into the tower for what must have been at the very least a handful of seconds, and no ill had befallen her.

Aerie's cool head and rational thinking were not what had made her popular in her clan down south. Mostly because they were non existent. This trip, with its unclear end goal, and its plethora of dangerous adventures and people, and that blasted cat had made her quite anxious on her own. Rational thought had no part in it.

Shrugging, she tossed a glance to Pyre, who glared back, attempting to be impassive and failing.

"I know what you are thinking, and you should know -- "

"That you think I'm an idiot. Yes, well I find you rather stuffy and judgmental. And still we get along so well. Shall we?"

"We shouldn't," Pyre said, ruffling his feathers and lurching forward to hover near her ears. The beat of his wings offered a pleasant, if imagined, warmth. "But we shall anyway, shan't we?"

"Oh, you do know me," Aerie said, delighted.

She pulled up and away from the tower, then with a trill of absolute glee, tucked her wings, aimed for the highest window, and plunged, headfirst, into the darkness waiting there.

 

[Asmodeus]

The darkness became luminous blue, as suddenly as if the tower were taking one single, waking breath. Aerie collided with an oomph! and found herself sprawled on an arch of stone. Ice shards broke away and dropped into the darkness beneath her hanging limbs, and with a tinkling indicated the floor of the chamber, twenty feet below. Winded as she was, her cheek almost fused with the icy rock before she came to her senses and lifted her head. Aerie saw that the arch on which she lay was one of ten extending over the room and joined in a circle of faultless stone. It was as if someone had placed a scaffold within the chamber yet forgotten to build upon it.

The blue light, as smooth as jellyfish-water under ice, was pulsing from a column just below these buttresses. Yet its placement, dead-centre with the stone circle, was no idle thing, and its construction was far from masonic. It seemed as if the glowing stone had grown from the floor. On its polished surfaces were swirls of darker seams that appeared almost like conscious designs. Her feathers fluffed. There was magic in that column.

And but for this, the same absence she had sensed on the roof was in court here. What stone and furniture there might have been was smothered in millennial ice. And what creatures might have lived here would have lived only on harsh edges and jagged misery.

The only life was in the light... where Aerie swore she could see the outline of a face, taking shape by crystal imperfections.

Through the window, a floor below, Ethel was puzzled by the sight behind the glass.

She had expected the tower's dull exterior to be hiding wondrous insides. Yet there was no such dichotomy. The room she peered into, which took up most of the sixth storey, was no less interesting than the outer wall - a blank, unfurnished space where ice had encroached over stone. The only light was what came from the sky behind her, and through the glass it picked out a carpet of snow coming up to the windowsill. Perhaps it had gotten in during a snowstorm through a breach in the wall.

Her heart sank a little. If there had been food inside it had surely spoiled. And if there had been people living here...

The thought was interrupted when she caught sight of something else. Squinting, pressing her face to the glass, Ethel saw what was mixed with the snow carpet.

Pine needles. Millions of them. But no trunks or branches to tell of trees. It was as if a forest had been planted inside the room and then removed, leaving only this litter.

The scent of pine was pungent, even through the window pane.

Stranger sights lay below.

Through the crack in the main doorway, as the scouting part drew closer, they glimpsed more of the staircase. The ice here was not rough and frosted like on the outer walls. It had been worked smooth by expert hands and sculpted exquisitely, and by this artistry the sense of absence was at once a sense of abandonment.

Whoever had carved this staircase did not indicate their presence by candlelight or footstep. There were no sounds of occupation; no smells of cooking; no sight of sleeping blankets or carcass bones.

The tower was more like a work of art, left to sparkle on the mountainside.

They even saw the figure of a young boy, carved in ice, positioned halfway up the stairs. His features were naive... curious.

Around him were shafts of sunlight coming from small windows. They seemed to put the boy in a web, tangling him in light, or perhaps watching him like a helpless audience. And though the light shone it could not melt the ice one flake. The chill was absolute - the work preserved.

The only thing that was not ice were the objects waiting above him, at the doorway to the second level. Here the scouting party saw a clutch of cauldrons, some on their side, some frozen-over, half-dragged from the rooms above. The disorder suggested looting. Someone had climbed that staircase and rummaged through those cauldrons.

The eyes of the statues that supported the staircase were downcast and mournful. It only emphasized the sadness of this place.