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The Grounded and the Moon

Discussion in 'Character Journals' started by Tallen, Dec 27, 2014.

  1. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    ((OOC: First off, I'm open for critiques and revisions. I'm still new to the community so it won't bother me. I'll add in edits as needed.

    I get frequent itches for writing, especially when I roleplay. Yesterday was pretty big with quite a few events (some fun some filled with quite a bit of drama), and it just felt like Glauen would grow quite a bit in a very short time. I don't know the forum handles of the characters mentioned here, though. If you know them and you think they might be interested in reading this wall of text feel free to link them. From what I can remember they were Stab-Dancer the Floran, Koi the Hylotl, Luke the Apex, Dynyl the Human, Arc the Glitch, Sunny the Avian, an Avian priestess that I can't remember the name of but I'm pretty sure it started with "R" and Venus the AI (I only know Firewing here >.<).

    Cheers everyone!))

    ------------------------

    Grounded

    Logically, Glauen Moonseeker should not be happy at the moment.
    Around two weeks ago the Avian had fled his home planet of Avos, leaving behind friends, family and a job as a cook he loved. Two days ago, he accidentally set off a distress signal that attracted a Floran, who ended up robbing him of his spear, pixels and his best bow. Today his money had practically run out, he had gone foraging in the woods for berries that ultimately proved to be mostly poisonous for carbon-based lifeforms, got in an argument with a flightless priest, and now he was getting ready to rest under the stars in a borrowed sleeping bag in the hopes of waking up early to do some more foraging for berries that won't give him an indigestion.
    Despite all that, Glauen was happy.
    More than happy: he was too excited to sleep. He simply looked up at the stars and hooted contently to himself. Glauen was tall, standing at 1,85 meters/6 feet, but aside from that he had no distinctive features whatsoever. His feathers were a common brown, his face plumage was simple and not extravagant, and his only apparel apart from his translator were a set of avian worker clothes and a red scarf. One of the humans he had met on the colony called him a "country bumpkin" - Glauen had no idea what it meant, but he imagined it had something to do with the fact that he had no idea his universal translator wasn't working until the human reached out and turned it on for him.
    Glauen was happy because, against all odds, his life was getting back on its tracks.
    A few days prior to his escape Glauen lost a dear friend in an Avian religious ritual. All lives lost in Ascension attempts were mourned, but it was what Glauen witnessed at the top of the Ascension Tower between his brother and his friend Niquan that shattered his view of life and Kluex entirely. It left him broken and depressed as he traveled the galaxy, but it all changed after he chanced upon the colony of Asani.
    So many different aliens. So many different cultures. So many different individuals. He met a strange Hylotl during a human festivity of gift-giving that would no doubt baffle Avian psychologists. He met another individual he was still unsure if he was human or glitch, given his unusual voice and large number of prosthetics. He met avians who worshipped Kluex that weren't terribly phased by his atheism, and even - by his feathers that might have topped off everything in his list - an artificial intelligence manning a drone, or something to that effect. He still had much to learn about technology.
    Glauen was slowly coming to the realization that he knew very little about life outside of Avos, and that terrified him and excited him at the same time. Even if he had yet to talk to the viceroy about employment he spent a lot of his time in the inn, talking to the locals and asking them questions about life. He was surprised at how nice many of them turned out to be - Dynyl had given him the spare sleeping bag he had with him at the moment, Luke the Apex gave him a ride to the colony of Asani, and Arc the Glitch peacekeeper had been kind enough to ignore any laws about sleeping out in the open that may exist in the colony. The best help he'd recieved so far, though, had been Firewing. They'd met at the human festival, and the talk they had helped Glauen calm down from his robbery and given him a new perspective on life. Firewing's right, he thought to himself. I'm not the sharpest beak in the colony and I'm still naive, but if I stick around and learn some more about the aliens living here it might turn out alright.
    Glauen yawned and turned to his side. He felt safe. Even if he were robbed again, what would be the worse they could take? His forage wasn't valuable, he only had seven pixels on him, the sleeping bag wasn't worth committing a crime, and he could just build a new bow for himself quite easily. Before he fell asleep he realized he knew very little about Firewing after all. The avian lived in the Glitch colony and was a believer of Kluex, but Glauen had spoken so much about his own life and he knew very little about the other avian. His last thought before falling asleep was to ask about the strange hooded avian in the morning.
     
    #1 Tallen, Dec 27, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 30, 2015
  2. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    Family

    Silently, a hologram appeared of a featureless humanoid raising its gun at the Avian.

    Glauen Moonseeker spun in place, raising the assault rifle and aiming as carefully as he could in what short timeframe he had to return fire. He squeezed the trigger and a bullet flew from his gun, zooming in on the target. The hologram froze, its arm colored blue from the place the bullet struck. Above it the words “non-lethal” appeared in blue as well as a score based on speed, precision, number of shots fired and appropriateness of response.

    The assault rifle he was wielding wasn’t actually his – it belonged to a Floran warrior named Huntbiter whom he had met the day before he left Asani. The Avian intended to return it to the Floran, but the day he left for the Ares Novos colony he received the grave news that Hunt had taken his own life. He was anxious to return to ask for more information, but right now he was more concerned about why his sister still hadn’t contacted him yet.

    Back at the simulator another featureless hologram appeared, this time charging at him from his flank and holding a spear. This time, Glauen aimed for the legs. His aiming was poor and he only managed to hit the hologram when it was nearly on top of him.

    This would not work, he thought angrily to himself when he saw the frozen spear pointing at his heart. It could just carry the momentum and lunge at me anyway. I would be dead. Next time, go for lethal if it gets too close.

    He had no time to analyze his score – that was for the benefit of friends outside to watch the progress of their comrade inside the simulation center. Glauen didn’t have anyone with him at that moment, though, so only the Glitch running the business observed his training session in that slow day.

    The Avian was wearing a full set of his species’ Owl armor. It was light and not very resistant, but it was surprisingly easy to move in and made very little sound – even the white skirt didn’t actually do much to impede movement and instead worked quite well to muffle his footsteps and hide his movements in battle scenarios. It was all too fitting – the Strix in Avos were never frontline warriors and instead worked much better as a speedy and stealthy unit.

    Glauen knew he would have to keep that in mind if he managed to join security when he returned to Asani. He wasn’t sure if it was better for him to pick up a more standard protective armor or if he could somehow make it work, but he didn’t have the money for it anyway – or even connections with Avos merchants to buy better armor suited for Avians. That would have to do at least for the moment.

    The ten minutes were over quickly. Glauen stepped out of the combat simulator, discharged his gun and plopped down in the waiting lounge while his scoreboard uploaded in the touch screen monitors. In real life, those numbers would be meaningless – all that mattered was whether he shot his opponent in time or not. Still, it was a good way to gauge his progress.

    The Glitch running the business appeared by the door. “Statement. These last four runs have shown steady progress. Encouraging. You are a fast learner.”

    Glauen checked his ammo. “Is my time up? Can I run another sim?” He estimated around fifteen bullets in his gun as well as the three remaining cartridges. The establishment did not provide them free of charge, but at least gave hearty discounts for its patrons to restock.

    “Apologetic. Your time ran out three minutes ago. Generous. It is a slow day and you have been a good customer, so I allowed you to ride that simulator until its conclusion.”

    “Thanks.” Glauen nodded and checked his second-hand phone. No new messages. He attempted to call his sister for the thousandth time those past two days. No response – she was either unavailable or, what was more likely, too far away from Ares Novos to receive the call. “I would like another hour, then.”

    “Concerned. You have been running the sim for three hours straight. Suggestion. It might be time for a break.”

    Glauen thought to tell the Glitch that back in Avos he would do constant martial training with his brother for four to five hours straight, and that wasn’t even counting the other heavy tasks he had to do in the Tower of Ascension as part of their religious duties. He reminded himself the best policy was to keep his beak shut. “Alright. I’ll be back in a few hours then.” Maybe he should ration his pixels a little better too, even if he already had all the food and fuel he needed for his return trip to Antares.

    The Glitch brought him a water bottle as Glauen was packing to leave. “Generous. On the house. Cheerful. You honor us with your patronage.” Glauen gratefully accepted it and waved goodbye before he stepped out into the steel corridors of the colony. Ares Novos used to be a high-tech U.S.C.M. base, but it had been mysteriously abandoned and now housed many different alien species alongside the humans who rediscovered it in the first place. The young Strix wondered if the combat simulator was original to the base or if the Glitch built it there himself. He might just ask him when he returned.

    Glauen considered his options briefly and decided he should just head back to his ship to take a nap and check if he had news from Antares and Asani. However, just as he turned around he found himself face-to-face with a curious and almost featureless being glowing bright yellow. Glauen almost thought it was a hologram from the simulator until he realized it had a strange m-shaped brand where its face should be and it happened to be wearing wild-west clothes he occasionally saw back at the colony.

    “Glauen? From Avos?” It called to him with a curiously juvenile voice.

    “Er… yes?” Hearing his first name out here in Ares Novos startled him somewhat.

    “Package!” It raised a small, sealed brown package. “…And letter. The sender wanted you to read this first.” He handed a similarly sealed letter. Glauen’s heart raced when he saw the envelope had signature Avos drawings in it. He picked them up hastily as the strange alien produced a clipboard. “Sign here, please.”

    Glauen was anxious to read the letter addressed to him, but he still could not contain his fascination at meeting yet another strange alien. “Err… pardon my ignorance, but I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone of your species before.”

    “I’m a Novakid! Name’s Quickshell.” He pointed where Glauen had to sign.

    “...Thanks. I’ll search the Starnet later.” Glauen was in such a hurry to sign he barely registered what the androgynous alien asked him next.

    “…he real then?”

    “Whoot?” His response was somewhere between a ‘who’ and a hoot. “Err, I’m sorry, who?”

    “Kluex? Is your avian god real?”

    Glauen tilted his head sideways as he returned the clipboard. “…I don’t know. I mean, he hasn’t made a public speech or appearance in many years now.” Many, many years.

    “The avians asking me questions a while back said just because you can’t see or feel something, it doesn’t make it any less real. Like air!”

    Glauen wanted to argue that Kluex wasn’t immaterial like air and supposedly still alive in a physical sense and in constant communication with the Clipped Council despite having lived well past the normal avian life expectancy, but he desperately wanted the Novakid gone so he could read his sister’s letter. “Yeah. Makes sense, I guess.”

    “I hope I get to meet him one day.” The glowing yellow alien cheerfully waved him goodbye and left. Glauen checked and saw his sister’s handwriting in the envelope, and carefully opened the sealed letter with trembling hands. He took a deep breath and started to read.


    “Glauen.

    I am so sorry. Our brother found out about our reunion and took steps to keep me from meeting with you. He never found out where we were going to meet, and I’ve taken steps to make sure this reaches you without falling in flightless hands, but I’m still worried for you. I don’t know if he called anyone else, but I would leave as soon as possible.

    It is not much, but I hope you’ll accept these as my apology.

    -Lianne.”


    Glauen had not even registered his sister’s signature when his mind began to race. Their brother tried to stop her? Not their father or the other priests? Leave as soon as possible? Would the Stargazers really follow him to that colony? He thought about what the Novakid said. “The avians asking me questions a while back…” Was he getting paranoid? Or maybe the avians were asking questions about him?

    Glauen was about to make a dash for the Colony’s beampad when he recalled Firewing’s words. “…they aren’t well-mannered when it comes to colonies outside of their own secure space.” Would they try something inside a heavily armed U.S.C.M. base? Glauen turned around and headed for Ares Novos’ emergency exit instead. He would need to brave the creatures outside and stay in an open space for ten minutes in order to return to his ship, but the young Strix felt he had better odds to lose any pursuers outside than in the claustrophobic spaces of the retired USMC base. His armor wasn’t restricting his movements too much, his skirt muffled his footsteps and his acute hearing might just be enough to help him spot anyone chasing him. Worst-case scenario, he had had quite a bit of instruction and practice with Hunt’s rifle ever since he left. Glauen didn’t wave the human guarding the exit good-bye before he bolted for the forest.
     
    #2 Tallen, Jan 3, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 30, 2015
  3. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    Journey


    Glauen Moonseeker’s first night sleeping inside his ship had been restless. Growing up in Avos he was used to clean air, the chirping of insects and the occasional shuffling of a fellow guard in their sleep at night. In his ship, however, the air was cold and artificial, no other living creature was there to let their presence be known, and the only sound he heard was the gentle hum of the ship keeping its basic functions working. The change was so drastic it took him the better part of his two-week trip to Antares to get used to it. Now, thankfully, none of it bothered him anymore. Sitting inside his cockpit, right hand holding a carving knife and left hand firmly grasping a wooden totem that was being constantly hacked away at, he no longer registered the ship’s humming nor the cool, filtered artificial air he was breathing. His left eye was covered by an eye patch, his right leg was outfitted with a prosthetic just below the knee and he wore a simple set of avian worker pants, his naked torso exposed to show his tan belly feathers.

    The brown-feathered owl-like Avian put the carving knife down and raised his new creation to eye level, carefully examining it. A wooden pendant, carved to represent a rabbit… or so that was his goal. Instead, the more the avian looked at it, the more convinced he was that it looked a lot more like the bastard child between a Floran and a Hylotl than a cute little hopping rodent. He warbled quietly to himself despite of his terrible craftsmanship, putting the wooden abomination on the ground to look outside the cockpit’s window, watching the stars fly by past him.

    Behind him he heard the cockpit’s door click and open with a small whoosh. “Hoi, Alo. Can’t sleep either?” He said cheerfully, slowly spinning the captain’s chair in place to meet his companion, turning around just in time to see her whip a nursery book and whack him on the side of his head. He shrieked in pain. “By the Aether, what is wrong with you?” He squawked as he raised his hand to the right side of his face where the book struck him.

    “That was for scaring me when I woke up to see you were no longer in bed with me.” Alo Sunstriker stood over him, brown-feathered and clad in midnight-blue bedroom robes, looking down at Glauen firmly. “And this…” She reached with one hand for his face. Glauen flinched and closed his eye, but instead of another punishment he felt her hand lightly caressing his cheek. “...this is for your hospitality.” He opened his eye to see her face right in front of his, rubbing her beak in his own.

    He relaxed as she sat down in the chair next to him, placing both his arms around her as they swiveled the chair to look at the stars beyond the glas. Alo gratefully snuggled against his chest. “So… why aren’t you in bed with me, sweet gizzard? What is troubling my little warrior such that he can’t even sleep before the big battle?” She spoke in the childish voice she knew irritated him immensely, grabbing his cheeks with both of her hands and squeezing them. He shoved her gently away, flustered as she laughed at his reaction. “You’re so much fun to tease, sweetie, you need to learn to take a joke!”

    “Someday, maybe.” He relaxed and let her settle once again in his arms. “Can’t sleep. I just… had a bad dream.”

    “A nightmare?” He nodded slowly. “You cannot let such things bother you too much. They’re just dreams. They can’t hurt you now.”

    The two sat in silence for a time, watching the stars beyond the glass shelter of the cockpit. As the silence grew heavy, Alo finally chirped up. “So… Glauen. About Dynyl’s offer…”

    “No.” His answer was immediate and blunt..

    “It’s just a puppy! A little dog! A pet! You can’t be this terrified of fatherhood that you would refuse this gift from one of your best friends, would you? Kluex’s sake, it isn’t even close to taking care of a hatchling!”

    “I’ve…” Alo sat up and was looking straight into his face. He seemed to shrink at her imperious gaze. “Fine, we can accept his offer. It's just... I have never taken care of a living being before, that is all. Not a pet, not a hatchling or anything else.”

    She gave him a pitying look. “No pets allowed at the Tower of Ascension?”

    “...And no infants either.” He took a deep breath and sighed as Alo snuggled up against him again. “When I hit ten years of age my parents took me out of the nursery home at the village next to the tower and put me to live there. Study, train, learn prayers. Khulainn had already gone the year prior, so I was actually eager to be able to live with him again.” He warbled quietly. “Well… the tower is a sacred place, so infants aren’t allowed. The new arrivals would always get in trouble during their first few months before the discipline required to live there settled in.”

    Alo cooed as he took a pause in his story. All the pieces were starting to fill in.

    He continued the story. “Of course we would go to the village, and of course we would see hatchlings and infants down there, but… I never got to hold one, or watch them be fed or groomed or taken care of otherwise. The Tower was everything, my whole life. Discipline, religion, penance. Cold showers, hay beds, wake up for training before your breakfast, lessons after lunch, chores to do in between…” He warbled. “...And terrible food. Worse than your chopped veggies.”

    She flicked his beak, chortling, and he flinched at the gesture. “So then you decided to be a cook after that? Does that mean you went to work in the village?”

    “Hrm. No. Like I said, the Tower was everything. My whole life. I became a cook right there.” He tilted his head side to side. “It… well, I became a bit of a celebrity in our small community. As I got better, families would climb to the Tower for religious rites and stay during lunch for the food. I asked for recipes, pilgrims would come, and I was going to stay at the tower my whole life, if only…” He paused, a pained look crossing his face.

    “...If only your friend weren’t forced by the Stargazer to make the jump.” She concluded for him.

    He nodded quietly. They spent a few more minutes hugging each other before he finally worked the courage to ask her. “Hoi, Alo, sweetheart?” She hummed contently. “Listen… we never got to finish out talk. If you don’t want to, its fine but…” He took a deep breath. “...I wanted to ask you what Ammon did to you. Other than, you know, breaking my neck.”

    “...What do you mean, ‘what he did to me’?” Her voice had lost its warmth.

    “I was under the impression that he, well, bothered you or… ah, enraged you or deceived you in some way..”

    “He… deceived me. Into believing he was Grounded as us.” She said. “He was aloof and didn’t do much about, well, doing anything. I spent some time talking to him about being more proactive for once.” Just like you told me instead of complaining about the colony you joined security to assist it, she thought to herself.. “I was worried…” She slowly got up from the chair. “...That trying to get him to be more outgoing led to him… trying to kill you.” She spoke quietly with her back towards him, holding her sides despite the fact that it wasn’t particularly cold inside the ship.

    “Come on, Alo, that’s a huge leap.” He shook his head as he got from the captain’s chair. “One doesn’t become a murderer because of someone else’s words.” He placed his hands in her shoulders and spun her around to face him. “This is fine. I’m glad he never harmed you. Now I just want you to promise you are not going to go hunting him, or try to settle matters in your own talons. Can you promise me that?”

    It was her turn to avoid his gaze. “...The Fellowship allowed him to escape… and they have done nothing to recapture him."

    “I don’t care.” There it was again, his uncharacteristically firm voice. “You heard about Asani. It was a miracle security managed to last that long in there, anyway. If they choose to deal with it they can, but do you promise me you won’t go chasing after Ammon?”

    “I don’t even know where he escaped to.” She spoke back, her own voice rising in strength.

    “Then you won’t go searching him. Do you promise me?” His voice remained level and firm.

    “He snapped your neck!” She nearly shrieked at him.

    “I don’t care if you want to use that excuse to start a vendetta! I don’t want you to go after him for petty revenge! Do you promise me?

    She stared at him straight in the eye. It stared back at her unflinchingly. Alo’s years of training as a Moonguard against Glauen’s own training as a Strix Guard. “I promise.” She squawked angrily at him. “...Only because you give me no other choice.”

    “Thank-you.” He let go of her shoulders. She studied his body language and saw his hands shaking slightly. “I just… There is no point.” He raised his right hand up to scratch his beak, embarrassed. “What is done is done. Killing will not solve anything, it will only start a vicious cycle of vengeance.”

    She gave him another pitying look. “Glauen…” She raised her hand up to his face but they were interrupted by a clean, mechanical avian voice squawking at them happily like a door-to-door encyclopedia vendor.

    “Nebulae detected! Applying course correction unless ordered otherwise.”

    Glauen scratched behind his head as he looked behind Alo, speaking up. “That’s fine, Daedalus. Course correction confirmed.” She turned to see a red A.I. labrador retriever staring eagerly at the pair. It beamed at them as complicated calculations appeared in the monitor sitting beside it.

    “That is adorable!” She cooed delightedly as she approached the dog’s monitor. “I haven’t seen an A.I. like this! Is it an update?”

    He got closer to her, looking rather flustered. “Y-yeah. I asked Dynyl to drop in and check to make sure my ship was ready to fly, and he said I never updated any of my ship’s drivers in… well, since I got it.” Alo raised her fingers and the virtual lab followed them with its eyes. “I asked him how to do it, and he laughed in my face and did it in ten seconds. ...Then he made sure to turn it into a dog for some Sunborn-damned reason.” He was too embarrassed to say he still has no idea how to update it or change it by himself.

    “Very convenient. I should do the same.” She stood up and did her best commanding tone. “Daedalus! What are the new functions in your programming?”

    “Several to list.” It was strange to see the dog’s mouth open to talk but squawks come out of it instead. It nodded eagerly to her. “Would Operator Alo like me to list them alphabetically, or ask for specific examples?”

    She looked back at Glauen, who just shrugged helplessly. She looked back and spoke up. “Daedalus, what were your three most recent functions used?”

    The A.I. looked elated. “In order of most recent to least: course correction due to nebulae. Periodic scanner to assess ship course. And lastly air-conditioning adjustment in the bedroom to account for both Operator Glauen and Operator Alo’s sudden increase in body temperature.”

    Alo turned to look at Glauen, one hand covering her beak as she tried to hold back her giggling. “Well, that was… creepy.” He said, doing his best to keep a straight face as she exploded in laughter.
     
    #3 Tallen, Jan 30, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 31, 2015
  4. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    (Trying to write stories about what is currently happening just doesn't work - as RPing progresses the stories become obsolete faster than I can write them! I decided to instead focus on Glauen's backstory. Cheers, everyone!)

    Innocent Times - Part 1

    “Welcome to the Tower of Ascension, sparrows. All of you have turned or are about to turn ten years of age now, and true to our Strix tradition it is time to leave behind your childhood and become fully-fledged members of our society. The Tower is your new home, whether you are a trainee, an acolyte, or an aspirant. Consider yourselves honored - very few are admitted here to train, learn and live at our Tower until you can become a guard, a priest or an ascendant. This is the holy ground of Kluex himself - disobedience will not be allowed. Sacrilege, desecration or profanity will be met with immediate and strict punishment. A life of devotion, penance and holy traditions await. May Kluex shine light in our path.”


    “May Kluex shine light in our path.” The hall erupted with chanting. Priest Loclac Moonseeker scanned the new recruits for his second son; a small brown-feathered Strix like himself, visibly wilting under his father’s stern gaze. Without a single gesture of acknowledgement, he turned on his talons to leave.

    * * *

    The force of the staff’s attack sent Glauen falling on his back, hitting the grass with a loud thud. He let go of his own staff, clutching his belly where his opponent struck him and gasping for breath with his open beak. He could not even try to get up as his assailant approached him with light steps, standing by his side and looking down at the wounded Avian.

    “That’s it?” His brother asked him, warbling heartily even as Glauen breathed deeply for air. At eleven years old, brown-feathered and with a tall crest Khulainn was still just a fledgling, but in the eyes of his ten-year-old brother he was a menacing giant. “You let yourself wide open, Glauen. That was a shoddy guard.”

    The youngster chirped angrily as he saw his brother offer him the staff for him to stand up. “Shut… your… beak…” Glauen gasped before taking the butt of the staff with his taloned hand. With a mighty heave, Khulainn helped him get back on his feet, grinning all the way as his brother took a few uncertain steps before placing both his hands on his knees and crouching to catch his breath.

    Bath time in the Tower of Ascension of the Strix village was always a half-hour before breakfast, so Glauen was naturally anxious when his brother woke him up one full hour earlier at the crack of dawn, instructing him to grab his staff and go to the open-air training ring in nothing but his loincloths. What followed was a half hour of the siblings fighting each other with all their might – and with Glauen getting far more undignified falls than Khulainn did.

    Khulainn reached down and grabbed his brother’s own training staff, offering it to him. Glauen gratefully took it and leaned on it to catch his breath. He opened his beak to talk but was interrupted by an angry squawking. “Khulainn! Why are you bullying that sparrow?” They turned to look at a young grey-feathered Strix approaching from the outer ring. Short crest and white spots in her face, her feathers puffed up in anger.

    “Bullying?” Khulainn answered, tilting his head at the new arrival while Glauen continued to gasp for air. “I wasn’t bullying him; I was just sparring with Glauen a little!”

    “He’s a sparrow! A new arrival!” She screeched at him as she made a grab for his staff. Khulainn did not fight back as she tugged uselessly at his grip. “You can’t expect him to put up a fight! Not even your own classmates can defeat you!”

    “It’ll be the same thing for Glauen.” He did not even budge as the acolyte struggled to take the staff from his claws. “He also took lessons from mother for two years, now; I fully expect him to be miles ahead from even the strongest sparrows this year.”

    The grey-feathered female blinked. “’Mother’? You mean Instructor Xianthe?”

    Glauen finally breathed enough to speak. “Y-yeah…” He gasped, doing his best to stand up straight before dipping his head to her. “Glauen… Moonseeker… Sparrow and… trainee guard… at your service.” He took a deep breath.

    She eyed him curiously, top to bottom. Now that she got a good look at him, Niquan could see how much he resembled his own brother. “I see. I am Niquan Lucentbeak, pleased to meet you.”

    The sun was starting to peek out in the horizon. Following a thousand-year Strix tradition a gong was struck at the very top of the tower, its sound carrying itself all the way down to the village located far below it. Glauen sighed in relief. “Bath time.” He decided would take the time to check the bruises beneath his feathers as he bathed.

    “Not so fast, Glauen!” His brother placed his arm around his neck, bringing him closer. “One last fight, what do you say?” He looked at Niquan, who gave him a disapproving look. “One last chance to impress that fledgling, I’ll even go easy on you.”

    He freed himself off his brother, looking flustered as his feathers puffed up. He took a ready stance at his side of the training ring, light on his talons and pointing one end of the staff at Khulainn in an aggressive posture. His brother warbled at the sparrow’s reaction, sinking his talons into the ground into a more stable posture and bringing his staff up diagonally in a defensive stance. Niquan looked at them both and took a few steps back, shaking her head.

    Glauen dashed forward, talons digging into the ground to give him a boost as he swiped at Khulainn’s feet, who blocked it with his own staff and went for a counter-attack with the other end of his stave. Glauen was lighter and speedier, and he knew he had to be quicker on the offense to defeat his older brother’s guard. They continued to trade blows – Glauen hasty and determined on his strikes and Khulainn careful and patient on the counter-offense. In the sidelines, Niquan observed, impressed. Khulainn was right, she noted. His classmates would not stand a chance against someone who had been personally trained by Xianthe for two years.

    Glauen feinted a strike at Khulainn with the short end of the staff; his brother fell for it as he raised to defend his left flank. He’s wide open! Eager for glory and a chance to impress that fledgling, he swung quickly with his staff in a wide arc to Khulainn’s right.

    Clack! He blinked, confused, as his staff struck Khulainn’s own instead of his head. His brother had deftly managed to swap his guard by spinning the staff and reversing his grip on it - something Glauen knew the older trainees could do, but which Khulainn completely blindsided him with. His elder brother grinned and brought his staff up to punish his brother’s death-or-glory attack, hitting him on his own right flank and knocking him to the ground.

    He grunted on the ground, unwilling to get up. Khulainn once again stood by his side and offered him a hand up. Glauen said: “That… was dirty. When did you learn to reverse your grip like that?”

    “Not dirty at all, Glauen. Strix training: ‘All warfare is unfair.’ Make sure you are the unfair one in battle; you should always expect the unexpected out of your opponent.” He paused. “I asked mom how to do it after I saw some of our elder kin train, but you should pick it up far more quickly than I. You were always faster on learning new techniques.”

    Glauen merely clacked his beak in frustration. He looked up to see Niquan walking towards them with a determined look in her eyes. Khulainn greeted her with a wide grin on his face.

    “Hoi, Niquan. Did you see that? Pretty impressive what I did, huh?” His insufferable attitude was rewarded with a powerful slap on the face. She was puffed up so much she looked two times larger than she appeared a few minutes ago. She turned her back to Khulainn and stormed off. The elder sibling cringed as he raised his hand to the place where he was struck, looking at his brother with injured pride. “Yeowch… honestly, she’s the only hen who gets angry at me instead of impressed at my prowess, what is wrong with her?”

    Glauen glowered at his brother.
     
    #4 Tallen, Mar 2, 2015
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  5. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    Innocent Times - Part 2

    “Our people, the Strix…” Priest Hakor spoke to the classroom, solemnly. “Have been living amongst these mountains for generations, now. Our grand temple over at Kilennia predates even Kluex’s Ascension as a Sunborn; it was adjusted to become a place to worship our God of the Aether after our other Sunborn gods fell weak and died. Our Tower here, Tovek, was the first built in our territory after the Stargazers brought us word that Kluex wishes that more Flightless to Ascend to his side.”


    Priest Hakor paused to look at his students. They were all listening to him very intently; it pleased him. “Our traditions have always been marked by honor, dedication and piety. They have endured since before Kluex became the God of the Aether, and they will persist even longer so long as one single Strix continues to uphold them. Take pride in the fact that you are alive today not only to worship Kluex, but also to keep our traditions going. You are Flightless, but also Strix. You shall worship Kluex, but also preserve our culture. You may leave to serve the Holy Fleet, but you will always have a home to return here to us. Never forget that, my sparrows.”

    Glauen nodded, wide-eyed. Perhaps the priest’s intention was to inspire pride into his students, but for Glauen he suddenly felt an enormous burden on his shoulders that he was not sure he could fulfill. He looked to Niquan by his side to gauge her reaction, but instead of proud or afraid, the aspirant seemed to look pensive…

    * * *​

    “Have you ever thought about that?”

    Glauen blinked as he up from his own homework. His glyph for “bravery” was still a little shaky. “Err… thought about what?” Niquan was looking with those piercing black eyes he could swear could look right through him.

    “About what Priest Hakor said. About how Kluex Ascended to become God of the Aether.”

    It was an unusually warm afternoon, so they had taken their homework outside to the stone tables to finish them. At least Glauen was working on them – Niquan was far too distracted to work on her own handwriting. He tilted his head at her, puzzled, before looking down at his papyrus to continue his writing practice. “Well… what about it? He was a mortal who Ascended, and now he wants another Flightless to Ascend to join him by his side.” He chutttered to himself. “I guess he must be feeling lonely after the other Sunborn died.”

    “Oh, I don’t know, but… What about who he used to be?” Niquan said excitedly as Glauen picked up his own quill and dipped it in ink to attempt to re-draw the glyph. “He was Avian, like us… What did he do? What life did he lead? Just who was Kluex the Avian? How did he Ascend?”

    Glauen blinked, looking up from yet another failed attempt to write the glyph. He knew the Flightless in the village would probably never learn how to read or write, but it was a sacred lesson to those who would live in the Tower and one he took very seriously. “Err… I dunno.” He spoke, hesitant; wilting a little under Niquan’s piercing stare. An ink blob fell from his quill to land on the papyrus, blotting out his most recent attempt at handwriting.

    “Do you think Priest Hakor knows?” The aspirant's eyes were glowing. “I want to learn. Kluex was the last Avian to successfuly Ascend, and if it was anything like our own Ascensions then there are going to be hints about his own flight!”

    “Er… if we did know… I don’t think the Ascendants would be having so much trouble right now…” He spoke, voice faltering a little as he set the quill down. So many years, so many failed Ascensions… and here one of his best friends was talking so confidently about her own flight as though it were already a certainty.

    “Hmm…” She looked to the side, thoughtful. “Perhaps… then… I think I am going to study Him. Before Kluex became Sunborn, who was he? What did he do? What was his training? What led him to Ascend?” She gave a single excited hoot as he looked at Glauen. “And when I learn, I’ll have a much better chance to Ascend than anyone else in my class! What do you think, Glauen?”

    He nodded, giving her a small, weak smile. “Hmm… I suppose it would be great if you became the next Sunborn after Kluex himself. What would your title be? Niquan the Strix Goddess of the Stars?”

    She chirped earnestly, clapping her hands like a little fledgling telling her friends about her first crush. “Ooohhh… I don’t know. This is too exciting! I think I will have to ask Kluex himself about what my title would be…”

    “Send him my regards if you succeed.” He said happily, picking up his quill to draw once again. To his own surprise, this time the glyph for ‘bravery’ came off perfectly.

    “Oh, don’t be silly, Glauen. If my wings work and I manage to Ascend, the very first thing I’m going to do is bring you with me to talk to Kluex himself.” He looked up at her, startled, but she merely chuttered at him. “Wouldn’t that be great, now?”
     
    #5 Tallen, Mar 17, 2015
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  6. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    Innocent Times - Part 3

    The rules were very simple: each trainee had two arrows to hit the target. Miss once and they are disqualified. Hit two and they are allowed to continue. Hit the bulls-eye with the first arrow and they pass automatically. After every round, they would take five steps away from the target to continue. Instructor Xianthe’s own rules were different for the sake of fairness; she had a single arrow to hit bulls-eye every time. If a trainee managed to hit the target at fifty steps, he would be allowed the day off. Should Xianthe miss and a trainee hit, they were all allowed the rest of the day off.


    In all her years as combat instructor, Xianthe had lost to her trainees only twice.

    At forty steps away from the target, only two trainees remained of a class of nineteen: Paco and Glauen. The two of them had been hitting bulls-eye after bulls-eye without much trouble even after their companions started to miss their marks. At thirty-five, however, Paco missed and had to hit two arrows at the target. Xianthe watched him miss the target entirely right on his first arrow, and then turned to her son, expectantly, studying his body language.

    She knew what was going on in Glauen’s head. She knew he was feeling the pressure mounting on his own shoulders. As he knocked an arrow into his bow, he fumbled – his hands were shaking slightly. The other trainees watched him, some hopeful, more frustrated at his success. Glauen raised the bow and lined up the target, pulled the string, and let the arrow fly.

    It hit the outer edge of the target; the first time he missed the bulls-eye. Xianthe already knew what would happen even before he drew the string for his second arrow. As the arrow missed, the trainees all groaned in frustration. Xianthe raised her own bow, barely aimed with it and hit dead center easily. “Alright, sparrows. Enough with these games. Go get some water, and then come back for push-ups, squats, and sit-ups.” Most of them left without a word, but Paco actually had the nerve to angrily hoot his dissatisfaction. “Not you, Paco! Five laps around the training field! Glauen, I would like a word.”

    Half the trainees scoffed at Paco’s punishment, while half leered at Glauen as he approached her. “Yes, mom?” He asked, hopeful.

    “That is Instructor Xianthe when we are training, Glauen.” His feathers drooped and he looked to the ground in shame. She knew the next words would sting even further, but she said them anyway. “You must apply yourself further, now. I have seen you hit the bulls-eye at forty-five steps. Missing the target entirely at that distance is unacceptable.”

    “Yes mo- Instructor Xianthe.” He turned on his talons to leave, wilting visibly. Xianthe knew he was hoping for praise for once again trumping his class, but she could not give it to him. He lacked his brother’s nerves and determination, and prayed to Kluex that this would give him the willpower he lacks.

    * * *​

    “Hoi, Glauen!” Khulainn hooted happily as he barged into their shared dormitory, bottle in hand. “Look what I-“ He stopped, looking worriedly at his brother who was laying beak-down into his own hay bed. “Hoi, what is wrong, bro?”

    “…They hate me. They all hate me.” He answered, quietly, as Khulainn sat down next to him and patted him on the back. “The other trainees. The way they look at me is just… Kh…”

    “Of course they hate you. What did you expect?” Khulainn shrugged as he straightened out some of his back feathers. “You’re better than them, and they resent you for it. You trained with mother when they were playing with their toys. I went through the same thing.”

    “Doesn’t it bother you?”

    “Me? Please. Eventually they will understand that it is not my fault. In the meantime, I’m still popular enough amongst the acolytes and aspirants that it doesn’t really…” He stopped, suddenly realizing what was going on in his brother’s head. Glauen had sat up and was looking at him with a pitiful look.

    “…I am not. I don’t have as many friends as you do, Khulainn.” He believed him – Glauen only ever sat with him or with Niquan for meals. “I just… they don’t have to be my friends. I just wish they didn’t hate me for it.”

    Khulainn shook his head, showing him the bottle. “Here, this might cheer you up.” Glauen looked at it, surprised when he saw the label. “It was in the kitchen, but only a little bit of it was left so I guess they were going to throw it away.”

    “Wartwine? We’re not supposed to drink this!” Glauen said, wide-eyed even as Khulainn pulled out the cork.

    His elder brother chuttered. “Oh, please, just a little bit won’t hurt you. I think there is just enough for a handful of gulps for both of us.” He watched his sibling take the bottle and sniff it. “Look… if you don’t want them to hate you… perhaps you can show the trainees that you actually like them?”

    Glauen took a small sip, making a face as the alcohol hit his taste buds. “Kh… Well… maybe? How would I do that, though?” He passed the bottle to the older avian, and watched amazed as his brother took a hearty swig for himself. Looks like Khulainn had been swiping bottles for a while now.

    “I don’t know. Teach them how to loose an arrow properly, maybe? If you keep out-doing them in practice and never talk to them of course they will resent you. They probably think you feel like you are above them because of it.”

    “But I don’t!” He hooted indignantly as his brother passed over the bottle to him – it only had a few more sips left in it. He took a small gulp, nearly gagging. “I just… I’m scared to talk to them… because I know they hate me…”

    “I know you don’t, but that is not the problem. Their perception of you is the problem, and you are doing nothing to change that; rather not talking to them will only reinforce the notion that you think you are superior.” His brother’s feathers drooped once again as he offered the bottle, but Khulainn just waved it off dismissively and placed one arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Give it a try, okay?”

    * * *​

    Paco waited until Glauen finished letting loose his arrows at the target, not trying particularly hard to stay out of sight. He watched closely as Glauen missed several arrows at the forty-step mark. He was coming close – after today’s training, he would finally best that irritating trainee himself. He watched Glauen pick up the arrows and return them to the quiver, slowly walking the path back to the hut with the training materials. Paco boldly strutted past him, staring, but Glauen simply looked away. He’s ignoring me still? The trainee thought angrily to himself. Oh, I’ll show it to him on our next practice.

    He started at the thirty-step mark, but he was not hitting the bulls-eye nearly as often as he had hoped. Cursing, he took five steps back and started to fly more arrows at the target. He was missing the target far too much, now. When he went to retrieve the arrows, he spotted Glauen standing a short distance away, still holding his bow and quiver and observing him carefully. Paco glared at him before extracting the arrows from the target.

    “You’re not letting the arrows fly properly.”

    Paco turned to him, clacking his beak angrily. “Of course I am! They are going where I am pointing them, aren’t they?”

    “I-I mean…” Glauen visibly wilted at that, and Paco suddenly wished he had not snapped so quickly. “When you are going to let the arrow loose… you jerk your talons a little bit.” Paco watched him come closer as he placed his arrows in the quiver. “And… then the arrows no longer fly where you are pointing. They go up, or to the side, or… well…” Glauen shrugged, apologetic.

    “So… what do you suggest?”

    “Just let them go. It’s… a habit that is a little hard to fix, but when you get it… You will notice your arrows will all fly much straighter. Trust me on this.”

    Paco watched him closely. Glauen’s eyes were firm and his voice stopped shaking. He nodded curtly, heading back to the thirty-five step-mark and knocking an arrow. Glauen watched him carefully from the side as the arrow missed it’s mark. “You jerked again-“

    “I know! Shut up!” The trainee snapped at him, and Glauen flinched once more. Paco took a deep breath and raised his bow, aiming carefully, and forced himself to simply let go of the arrow. It hit dead center.

    “Nice arrow!” Glauen complimented him. Wordlessly, Paco knocked another arrow. Two. Three. Four arrows hit their mark in quick succession. He turned to look at his companion, surprised. Glauen gave him a small, timid smile before dipping his head and turning on his talons to leave.
     
    #6 Tallen, Mar 21, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 21, 2015
  7. Tallen

    Tallen New Member

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    Innocent Times - Part 4


    Priest Loclac regarded his wife curiously as he approached the training field. She was holding a training bow loosely by her side and carefully inspecting a training target full of arrows. As he approached his wife, he could see she was in fact smiling. “Xianthe, sweet gizzard.” She spun in place to look at him. “Our rites will begin shortly. Shouldn’t you get ready?”


    “Ah, my moon and stars, you are right. I had nearly forgotten.” She hummed to herself as she started to extract the arrows. “Today is an important day for us all. I apologize. It is a shame Lianne stopped her studies to become a priestess.”


    “There is no need to apologize, now. And, indeed, a shame for Lianne, but it is for the better. Not all of us are fit to serve our Winged Arbiter by joining the priesthood.” He says, watching his nestmate grunt as she extracted one arrow after another. “A result of today’s training? You were training Glauen’s group, correct?” He says as he helps her extract some arrows. Quite a few were struck the bulls-eye.


    “Yes. We were doing range training. These were all fired at fifty steps.”


    Loclac gave her a look. “All of these? By trainees?”


    She gave a satisfied hoot as she pointed at the three arrows in the bulls-eye. “One is mine, one is Paco’s, and one is Glauen’s.” Xianthe started to extract those last three arrows. “Glauen started to assist his classmates. Their abilities with the bow increased dramatically in the past few weeks.”


    Loclac nodded, regarding the arrows. “I see. Good news, then?”


    “This is extraordinary news!” Xianthe turned to her husband, eyes flaring with enthusiasm. “I was worried about Glauen. Too meek to be a Templar, too scrawny to be a Sunguard, too honest to be a Moonguard…” She clicked her beak, thoughtful. “But… he can be a leader. A commander. He has the charisma… perhaps that is what I should start grooming him for…” She looked away, chuttering to herself. “Him and Khulainn… both in the Fleet… both serving our Winged Arbiter and showing the might of the Strix…”


    “It is still a long way off.” Loclac chided her softly, wrapping his arms around her. “But indeed. It would certainly be a grand achievement for them… and for us.”


    * * *​


    “I still can’t believe you’re quitting your training to become a priestess.”


    Lianne did not look up to Glauen as she looked at their improvised game board, tapping her beak thoughtfully. “I know, but it wasn’t working for me.” The brown-feathered female Strix told her brother. It was a game of mancala – two rows of six holes dug out in the dirt, flanked by two larger holes for either player. Inside the holes were several small stones and seeds to indicate the playing pieces. The outer holes indicated the scores of either players.


    Currently, Lianne was winning by a landslide.


    “How? Dad picked you up precisely so you could be a priestess!” Glauen said disbelieving as Lianne finally made her play. She picked up all of the stones from one of the holes in her side and started to distribute them, placing one seed and rock per hole in a counter-clockwise rotation until she ran out of pieces to place. “It is one of the greatest honors you can achieve in our tower!”


    “I know, Glauen.” She said, shaking her head. “It was just… too slow. We always do the same rites repeatedly. Very little variation.”


    “But-“


    “Compare it to this game.” She points to their improvised game board. “Every match is different. Every game we play is unlike the previous one. Playing one set of stones instead of another completely alters the dynamic of the following turns. We are constantly trying to out-play and out-smart each other.” She looks at him, her eyes shining. “It is stimulating!”


    Glauen opened and closed his beak again and again. “…You are without a doubt the smartest avian I have ever met, Lianne.” He says, looking down at the board and finally looking over his possible moves. “Then… what do you plan on doing?”


    She grinned, a glint of eagerness in her eyes. “Dad is going to send me to Temple Prime to study. Find something I like and find stimulating and return to the tower with that knowledge to help our tribe.” She looked down as Glauen’s hand was itching towards a hole full of pebbles and seeds. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”


    He looks at her, scoffing. “Of course you would say that. Four stones. Enough to land right in this empty spot-“ He points at his side of the board. “And take all of these stones.” In the opposite side was three of Niquan’s own stones. “Scoring me five points.”


    She gave him a blank look. “Trust me; you don’t want to do that.”


    Glauen would not have it. In his mind’s eye, this move would help him re-take the lead in the long run against Lianne’s staggering advantage. He executed his move, but no sooner than he had placed the five stones in his scoring mat Lianne was already on the move, picking up two stones of hers in the second-to-last hole and distributing so the final stone stopped in her mat, granting her an extra turn. She picked up the single stone and added it again to the mat for another extra turn. She then picked up one of her last set of stones and distributed so it stopped on her now-empty second-to-last hole – which was opposite to a total of nine stones and seeds on Glauen’s side. She picked those all up and added it to her mat – a grand total of eleven stones in one round.


    Glauen looked at the board speechless, trying to run some calculations, but Lianne beat him to the punch. “Twenty-six stones. Even if you managed to collect every stone that are currently in the board, you will only score twenty-two. You lose.”


    Glauen looked at the board repetitively, counting and counting… but of course, his sister was right. “I don’t think I’m ever going to defeat you in mancala, Lianne.”


    “Hrm… we can play until the day I leave for Temple Prime. You may get lucky one day.” She said, giving her brother a playful peck in the cheek. “I’m going to the baths. Clean up before today’s rites. Are you coming?”


    “Actually…” He looks down at his stomach. “Kind of hungry. I am going to go to the kitchen and get something to eat first. I may see you there soon.”


    Lianne tilted her head at him. “Huh… I don’t know why, but dad said the kitchen was off-limits for now. Maybe you should drop by the farms and get an avesmingo there instead?”


    “Nah. I want some pearlpeas.” He said, getting up and leaving the game board as it was. “See you soon, Lianne.” He said, dashing off.