beauty in the breakdown July 21st; Early morning; Partly Cloudy; 68° F/20° C The sun had yet to dawn upon another day. Somewhere and sometime between twilight and daybreak, the Raven continued to make his rounds. He had been spending so much time on the western side of Relic Lore that he had almost forgotten about another recent tragedy, something that had occurred in the past year. Just like Lani and Rihael's story, this one was just as heart-wrenching. Ideal wind conditions and swift ebony wings bore him up over the mountain range and within a few hours, the feathered spirit found himself trying to balance himself on a slippery stone at the base of the Secret Falls. He fluttered his eyelids and shook out his feathers, sending a number of small droplets here and there. Taking some precaution in moving about, he spread out his wings, looking to and fro for something in particular. A sign or telltale mark of sorts. Surely the Darkwater Rapids pack had been located here once upon a time? His taloned feet click-clacked slightly on the cool stones surrounding the pool at the bottom of the falls. His beady black eyes drew into slits as he became still for a few seconds. Was that a den? He raised his wings and flew on over to a shadowy nook within the cliff. Nope. Hmm... Oh, wait. An overhanging curtain of drenched ivy caught his eye as it hung above him and he dashed upward for a look-see. This place was just like the others, but different in its own way. It's own sorrowful tale heavy on his still-mortal heart. If there had been something worthwhile to offer this abandoned place, he might have. But, as it was, he merely stared at the bone-dry cavern, wishing that the family that had once lived her had prevailed. He winced as he folded his wings. Well, maybe he did not wish that (he did not wish to subject them to more flash floods if and when conditions allowed), but at the very least, he hoped that the wolves in the area recognized that this place - just like Sacred Grove and Hidden Tree, Dragonfly Fen, and Corinna's tree within Oak Tree Bend - as a hallowed space. |
Looking around she felt like it was missing it's life of previous memories. Yet she assumed she was just crazy and kept moving along. That was until she caught site of a raven. Flicking her tail she sat on a rock on the shoreline of the water looking at the bird. Majestic as the creature was Auva had heard stories of them being rude too. She remembered running into one that took some of her collected herbs before. She never understood what a bird would want with goldenrod.
Barking out to the bird she wondered if her bark might send it flying. Or if it would caw and mock her for doing such a thing. Auva was never very confident with other creatures, even when it came to birds. The large female could only hope this bird would shoo and wasn't in the mood for taunting her. If it did then who knew what might happen. Maybe it was a nice bird though and would do a kind act.
beauty in the breakdown The sharp sound of the bark caught the bird off-guard. He fumbled about with his wings spread out wide; he probably should have looked down first instead of left to right. If he had, he would have instantly seen her there, a curious white wolf, whose eyes were trained up at him while she waited to be acknowledged by the pool below. Immediately he tucked his wings to his sides, twittering to himself at first with a number of various sounds and notes before opening his beak to utter a loud greeting, "CAW!" Hello? Something in her facial expression or her body language told him of her uneasiness or lack of confidence in such an encounter, but he did not test or forcefully press her for any sort of reaction. Instead, he continued on in a sort of out-of-tune song, as if he had been some sort of black-feathered, lackluster, large-bodied songbird. In raven-speak, it was really just a sort of nonsense, something almost along the lines of, "Pretty, witty, canine of mine. Why's your fur so white 'n' divine?" He angled his head to and fro, looking for a place to land so he wouldn't have to continually "yell" at her if she dared to stay and indulge in some partially jumbled interspecies conversation. In a manner that could possibly be attributed to a rather silly wolf cub or another type of gregarious bird, he hopped around before gracelessly swooping down alongside the falls, landing with a small splash into the shallows. He doused his feathers then shook them out, calling to the young woman again with a small, squeaky, "Awk?" |