{FIN} Wind and Wings, Land and Feet {Rhovanna & Akahoshi}

[Regal Renegade]

"Wind and Wings, Land and Feet" - RP
Characters: Rhovanna & Akahoshi
Players: Regal Renegade
Wordcounts:
→ Regal Renegade || 4,065 | 1 Complete RP's |
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4,065 words total

 

[Regal Renegade]

Rhovanna remembered very little from when she had awakened, but she did remember seeing others gathered around her and listening to their excited voices as she opened her eyes. She remembered a warm breeze tickling her wings and filling her nose with the scent of freedom, and how it almost welcomed her with its quiet song. The first thing she did was stretch out her wings so that she may feel more of that sensation, and she remembered the others smiling and nodding at her actions as though she were doing something exactly as they had hoped. She remembered feeling perfectly at home as well as extremely grateful that she had awoken in this place.

As she stared over the edge of a floating mountain with her wings spread she smiled at the thought of how her awakening was only a few days ago. She was still fresh to this world, but this sensation never got old. The way her feathers would lightly dance on the tips of her wings as they were caressed by the tender breeze. She wanted to fly more than anything but she was still a bit clumsy and needed to learn a bit more before jumping off of a cliff and hoping for the best. Nevertheless, she was excited for the day when she would be able to dive off of the edge and soar.

The other lands that she could see from her high perch did not call to her or ask her to explore them. She was more than happy to remain exactly where she was at. Everything here was so beautiful and so perfectly suited to her life that she couldn’t imagine finding anything out there worthwhile. She had everything she could ever possibly want here, and so there was no reason to go scouring for more.

She had heard others talking of their adventures in passing, but she had never been interested in anything like that. It wasn’t as though she were a snob, but she felt that being among the winged ones was the best place to be. What was the point in meeting another who could not fly? Her kind were meant to be in the sky so hanging around with a wingless would make no sense. Why should she clip her wings like that? She was sure the other races were plenty nice, and that she could definitely make a few friends but she was not willing to give up the sky for it.

And what of love? How cruel would it be to enter into a partnership with a wingless? They would expect her to be around at all times thus clipping her wings. And what if the cubs they had couldn’t fly either? She had heard tell of winged ones who had settled down with the wingless but she would often just scrunch her nose in disagreement and wander off to feel the wind beneath her wings. She could never give that up; she would never give that up. Why would anyone want to?

As the sun began to set she slowly stepped away from her favorite place and began heading inland. As she went she contemplated love and the wingless a bit further until it was simply narrowed down to love. She had seen it all around her. She witnessed it in the gaze between a mother and father, or in the giddiness of two coming to realizing their feelings for one another. The thought of love occupied her thoughts more than anything else, yet she did not know why. She could not even remember what had caused her to think about it in the first place. It had just always been there as far as she could tell. That too was something she looked forward to; the day when she would be able to fly with the one she loved. A shudder caused her to giggle and skip along toward the center of the Wind Tribe habitat, a blush to her cheeks and a song on her lips.

Her giddiness ceased only when she noticed something strange about the place of awakening, there was something there though no one else seemed to be around to see it. Though she had only been here a short time she hadn’t ever heard of an awakening taking place at twilight. There was some significance to the hour but at the moment she was more excited to see what was coming than to think over the significance of the time of day. She jogged slowly forward until she came to a stop when her eyes came to rest upon what looked to be a gray lump. Was this a B’alam awakening or had she imagined the whole thing, or could it be that something else was laying there? Cocking her head she began to draw nearer to it. It looked to be breathing but it still looked like a mass of gray in the dim lighting.

Eventually when she drew near enough she could make out wings and what looked to be a golden helm protecting a face she could not see for it was concealed beneath one of the wings. Still no others gathered around which she counted as being unusual. Normally there would be a crowd here speaking in hushed tones and flapping their wings in excitement. Someone would have even come to greet the newly awakened, but she was all alone. And so was that B’alam.

She stared down at the mass, willing it to move or even lift its head but it remained as still as stone. With one gentle movement she reached out with her paw and tenderly brushed it over the helm. “Hello?” She questioned gently. Normally the Magus would be here doing this part, but whenever he was not able to attend an awakening she knew others were able to step up to the plate and welcome the new ones. That was what had happened in her case. So once she shrugged off the fear of getting into trouble she nudged the still B’alam once more. “Time to wake up now.” She sang quietly. Why she was so drawn to this one in particular she did not know, but she truly wanted it to look up at her.

 

[Regal Renegade]

The fog was thick and colorless which threw off his senses and the feeling of weightlessness caused him to feel dizzy and queasy. He had no idea where he was or what was going on, but he knew he wanted to leave. He was not frightened, not at all. There was a presence around him that spoke of warmth and tenderness but where he was at currently felt only uncomfortable and hollow. He reached out toward the voice and began following the gentle tenor, but continued to feel as though he would be swept away at any moment if he didn’t push just a little harder.

Push? What was he pushing? He began to hear something. A whooshing noise that grew frantic and he recognized a tightness in his muscles. Turning his head he looked over his shoulder until he saw appendages sprouting from his back, appendages that were pounding furiously at the nothingness as he attempted to keep up with the voice. At first he could not identify them but eventually the realization that they were wings designed to help him fly struck him from nowhere. Fly? What was fly? It was something magnificent he could tell, but it took a few moments for the true meaning to materialize in his groggy mind.

He pushed his wings harder finally treating them as an extension of himself and although the burn intensified he could not stop. There was something intoxicating about flapping them, something that made him feel strong. Though, he felt as though her were too noisy. Something told him he needed to fly more quietly if he wished to get where he wanted to go. More quietly and more swiftly. After failed attempts to silence the pounding he closed his eyes to the fog and darkness and visualized each feather slicing through the air with the utmost precision. Silence.

Now he needed to go faster, he needed to catch up to the voice before it left him behind. His wings stretched farther and cut more quickly through the air, the burn in his muscles eased and he finally felt as though he were doing exactly what he needed to be doing. He was just about to reach the voice when suddenly he felt something coming from someplace outside of this one. Another voice began to overwhelm that of the original until he lost track of it altogether. Had he been left behind? What was happening?

Again the voice that had drowned out the other reached him and told him to wake up. Wake up? What was wake up? The fog began to grow thicker and the darkness more crushing. His wings seemed to be growing weaker and his strength began to fade. Until he heard the other voice briefly ringing out in the darkness. “Now.” It said. A light began to open within the darkness and he flew as hard and as fast as he could toward it. “Now.” He echoed quietly.

The fog cleared and though the world still remained dark it was not as crushing as it was before. Before what? He had been remembering something but now he could not begin to think what it was. His brows nit together in thought until a rustling noise startled him. His eyes searched futilely for the source of the noise until he found himself peering through white feathers. He thought to lift them and as soon as he did they began to move exposing an overhead of darkness filled with glowing white dots. It wasn’t until a moment later that his eyes began to focus on the creature standing over him.

Rather than jump up and flee he remained exactly where he was, his eyes fixed on the being that stared down at him. The fear of being seen kept him rooted to the spot and he began wishing for darker shadows in which to hide. He did not like things looking at him, it made him uncomfortable yet he did not know why. He wanted to be invisible. To remain elusive and silent. Despite his wishing and attempts at concealing himself mentally the creature continued to look at him and even touch him.

In one swift movement he spread his wings and shot straight up into the air, escaping the gaze of the creature for now. He needed to find a place to hide, and he needed to do it quickly. He ignored the sound of surprise he had left in his wake and concentrated only on making the world around him turn to a blur before the creature could follow him. No, not a creature, a B’alam. The realization had him slowing bit by bit until he finally came to a full stop. A B’alam was like him, no, he was a B’alam. A B’alam of the Wind Tribe and so was she. She, a nantlil. His head began to spin causing him to focus on his surroundings. It only took him a moment to realize he was hovering very high up in the air and past the edge of what looked to be a floating mass of land. “A mountain.” He thought.

All at once the jumbled mass of terms and ideas within his head began to make sense, like the pieces of a puzzle coming together one by one. This was his home, where he belonged and those that inhabited this area were his family. No, not a family necessarily but something quite close to it. With a few delicate flaps of his wings he brought himself back to the mountain and landed upon the ledge. Both the sky and now the land. They felt so good beneath his paws and beneath his wings. Turning to look back in the direction from which he had come he saw the nantlil that had been standing over him before coming this way. She looked…concerned? Yes, concerned, that was the term he was searching for. He waited until she came within ear shot and bowed his head respectfully. “I am sorry.” The words came out before he knew the meaning, but he did know that they needed to be said after what had just occurred.

 

[Regal Renegade]

Rhovanna did not know what to do as she watched the feathers begin to part and was suddenly fixed upon with a crimson eye. The newly awakened did not move or make a sound, he just stared at her and she began to hear her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She stood quietly looking down at him, words escaping her and actions seeming impossible. He was unlike anything she had ever seen before, and she couldn’t understand why he was simply watching at her. She had expected him to stand up or to make some kind of noise at least, but there was nothing but sheer silence.

She wondered what the others would do if they were here, would they too be waiting with baited breath to see what happened next? Surely, they too would be confused by his stillness. When Rhovanna had awakened she had stretched her wings and exhibited her happiness, nothing like what he was doing now. “I-“ she began but was promptly cut off as he took to the air so fast that she had no idea what was going on. She hadn’t even noticed her scream of surprise until his dark form had already melded with the night sky. The only thing she could make out where wings of white moving more quickly away than she ever could have imagined. In some respects it was like watching a shooting star streak across the sky toward the mountain’s edge. “The mountain’s edge!” She cried before chasing after him on foot. “Wait!” She screamed after him to no avail.

Now more than ever she wished she hadn’t been the only one around to witness this. Terror flooded every fiber of her being as she visualized him careening carelessly off of the edge of the mountain and falling to his death. She would be responsible for allowing a newly awakened to die because of her lack of experience and carelessness. Tears began to sting at the corner of her eyes as she pushed herself to run faster. Even if she had flown she knew she wouldn’t have been fast enough to catch up with him. How had he been so fast? And how had he been such an expert flier upon just waking? Questions that needed to be saved for later as she saw his form hovering in the open air above the lands below.

He did not seem to be struggling or sinking down below the edge of the mountain, in fact he seemed to be hanging there with quite a bit of ease. She was all at once jealous and impressed by his display of strength and acuity at the act of flight. Still, she slowed her running only when he landed on the ground and turned to face her. She would have felt beyond terrible if she had come only to watch him fall. The image still haunted her for a few moments after he was already safe on the ground. Once fear and heartache passed anger washed over her and she began to march toward him, her nose scrunched unpleasantly and her mouth opening to unleash her wrath when he again did something unexpected.

She was left staring at him with an open jaw as he bowed his head and apologized for his behavior. She hadn’t even scolded him before he had figured out that what he had done was wrong. Or was it? Should he apologize for not wanting someone to lord over him when first coming into this world? Purple orbs fixed in an ocean of black fell to the ground between her paws. She had gotten angry at him, but not because he had taken off. More so because she was concerned that he would hurt himself in his recklessness. Finally she brought her head up and looked him in the eye. “Okay, just don’t do anything like that again.” She breathed. “If you had gotten hurt or killed I wouldn’t have known what to do. I mean, that would have been horrible!” She squeaked.

Before she could say more she closed her mouth and giggled hollowly. Here he had just apologized to her and she was scolding him anyway. For the first time during this whole thing started she was glad no one else was around to see. A moment of awkward silence hung between the two and Rhovanna began spreading her feathers uncomfortably. “I uh-“ What exactly was she going to say? The only awakening she had ever been to was her own and she hardly remembered formalities. “My name is Rhovanna.” She finally said. “How about you?”

Though the excitement was over her heart never stopped beating quickly, and the image of him shooting into the sky with such strength and speed kept playing over and over again in her mind. As she took a moment to observe him she noticed his mysterious appearance and the quiet fortitude hidden behind his crimson gaze. He was unusual and quite cool and she found herself very glad to be in his presence now. Perhaps she could befriend him and he could teach her how to fly like he had. Then she would finally be able to embrace the sky fully, perhaps with him by her side?

The thought was far too delightful for words as she momentarily transformed into a silly little cub with a crush. She didn’t even know a thing about him, but she would hold onto the fantasy as long as she was able. Besides, maybe he could actually be her other half. Smiling at him she took a few steps forward and spread her wings. “I have never seen anyone fly as fast as you.” She commented happily.


 

[Regal Renegade]

He took her chastising in stride and remained silent the whole way through. Just as he knew he needed to say those words, so too did he know she needed to. He began to realize why he had said them shortly after she explained the part about him getting hurt or killed and her not knowing what to do. If that had indeed happened he would have put her in a horrible position and that was what he was truly sorry for. By the same token though, he knew the situation could not have been avoided no matter how hard he tried for even now her eyes upon him caused him slight discomfort. It was as though he were fog and someone was staring too intently for too long as he squirmed under her gaze.

After a moment he was finally able to focus on the question she had asked him. It took him a moment but, as though born from the air his name came to him. “Akahoshi.” He responded simply. What an unusual yet fitting name he thought. Her name too was strange, yet it suited her in some way that he could not quite discern. He took a moment to look at her briefly but soon took to staring over the edge of the cliff instead. With introductions done he didn’t quite know what to do but before he had to agonize over it she spoke again and he watched as she approached him.

“Thanks.” He responded shortly. He looked at her stretched wings and began to wonder why she had not flown after him instead of walking but, thinking it rude to ask kept his mouth shut. “What is this place?” He asked instead. Though he vaguely knew the answer he did not quite know what to do other than ask a straightforward question at this point. She was acting a bit strangely and he wished to get his mind off of it. It wasn’t as though she were irritating him, but he still couldn’t quite make out what was going on.

When he focused below them the world was bathed in the silver light of the moon and he could tell it was much bigger than he had initially thought. “What is down there?” He enquired. In fact, it seemed that what he was standing on now was only a very small fraction of what was actually down there. Opening his wings he scooted his paw closer to the edge, thoughts of taking off and exploring filling his head. Was it just an open expanse of land? Or were there others inhabiting it? Perhaps others with wings? He began to wonder if what was below could be just another floating island of some kind, only bigger than what they were standing on. Was the whole world sky? He had so many questions, but he knew standing here would not give him the answers he sought.



 

[Regal Renegade]

She took his short responses as nothing more than him being distracted by the new world he had just awakened to. She had also imagined he would speak this why from her earlier observations. He just seemed quiet in every aspect of his being. From the way he moved to the way he spoke he was all about stillness. Though it was the opposite of herself she found something quite fascinating in it. “Maybe you could teach me to fly that way someday.” She stated rather shyly. Though part of her behavior was due to her flirtatious nature the other spoke to the shame she felt at being unable to fly as well as he could upon first waking. He was something special, she knew that for certain.

She was thrown off a little by his question but she soon found herself giggling and shrugging her shoulders. “Your home of course!” Though it may not have been the answer he was looking for it was the one that made the most sense to her. What did it matter what a place was called as long as it was your home? This was the only place she cared to know about and so she made that slightly apparent in her answer.

When she noticed him leaning over the edge as though he were about to fly she stepped closer to him and gently head-butted his shoulder. “Nothing down there but a bunch of wingless ones and a dull world.” She replied honestly while still attempting him to turn away from that place. “C’mon! Let me show you around the Tribe! You will love it!” She bit her bottom lip for a moment before grinning. “We need to find you a place to stay and sleep! There is a great tree right beside mine, we could go there. And in the morning I will answer all of your questions and we can fly around the floating mountains.” She knew she was getting ahead of herself with that one, but this time she was allowing her excitement to pull her along. She finally had a handsome friend of her very own and she wasn’t about to let that slip away. “Then maybe we can introduce you to the others Akahoshi.” She added with a smile.



 

[Regal Renegade]

Akahoshi was reluctant to turn his back on the world beneath but he finally allowed her to steer him away from the edge and he folded his wings neatly at his sides. He still felt as though something down there were calling to him, but he figured he would let Rhovanna show him around his home before doing anything else. Her comment stuck with him though, the one about wingless ones and a dull world. Perhaps he would learn more about what she meant tomorrow for those words truly stuck with him.

He tuned the rest of her words out as the thought of the ones without wings. What were they like? How was life different when one couldn’t fly? This world held so many mysteries and it was his goal to unlock most if not all of them if he could. He found himself excited over gathering information and soon began to grin a very slight grin.

“Alright.” He responded absentmindedly to Rhovanna.




 

[Regal Renegade]

THE END