ORIGIN - Scavengers of Inspiration

Nemo

strong language

Giggle's words echo in his mind as he stares at a strange footprint in the dried mud -

An omen.

Did hatching in such an unfortunate place, with his magic, really make him an omen? A herald of what's to come?

Him fearing flight, but his magic encouraging it and the only thing keeping him safe in the storms of Ursa is his lack of touching the snow. His desire to assist and paint pulling him into the orbit of Master Vargas and that cursed cave that group calls home.

Now, he has to wait to get confirmation of Aure's thoughts on the matter of what he's gotten the Bonebound into, and he's waiting for two stones - a black pearl, and a bright white quartz holding life - to shatter and open into his life.

Now, he can feel his magic evolving as well, new ideas feel more within reach, things he's tried with one gust suddenly coalescing into their own cast, their own pull on his life and stone.

Now... he's out on flat, boneless ground, staring an an ancient footprint for answers instead of asking anyone, asking anything, his questions that never quite form.

It feels fitting, with how his thoughts are running in well worn circles within his mind.

"Ahh..." an audible sigh, and he shakes himself out, dark dyed feathers rustling and rising in irritation. His crest, which is even more dramatic after his time after Ursa, is still blue, as is his face and neck, but his chest and underwings are green and purple with ground flower petal and berry paste. Not a trace of white remains, his bauble like an odd star in a dark sky of feathers. "Why the dust-damned caves do I do this to myself..."

The magic curls around him, he can feel his still flat feathers rising in a small breeze which peters out almost instantly.

Some things don't change, like his inability to cast spells when he wants, or his oft-ignored temper.

"FUCK!"

@Lemonface

'FUCK!'

A small chirp left Lemon's mouth as he flew high above, his wings spread wide as he coasted along the jet streams travelling throughout Canis. He barely had to even flap, the air itself keeping him aloft as he peered down through his golden goggles.

He closed his wings and dove down, the air ruffling his feathers as he shot towards the ground like a bullet. His goggles kept his eyes from watering as he narrowed in on his target, wings opening just barely... and then snapping wide, filling with air and keeping him from going splat on the ground.

"Hey!", he squawked, flapping wildly before landing and hopping forward, head tilted to one side before he shook his head, letting his goggles loosen and rest around his neck instead, "What're you screamin' about? You get bit by somethin'? Feather twisted?"

He fluffed his snowy white feathers and stared at Nemo with his intense golden eyes, slightly more amber than his bright yellow face, which lacked any feathers at all. He did kind of look like a lemon...

@Nemo

Nemo

He can barely register the distant chirp of someone else, but the whistling of wind in feathers makes him whip around and search for the individual, the then almost sudden blur of white diving towards him gets a squawk of surprise from him and sends him tumbling back.

Lemonface is able to land and speak before Nemo has managed to right himself, but he shakes himself out and tilts his head left, right, and then almost upside down as he eyes this other bird.

They asked a question, breeze for brains... part of his mind reminds him, and he straightens all the way up to stare at Lemonface with a good deal of blinking and an apologetic laugh.

"Ah, ahah, sorry! Just... had to let that stress out you know? Sorry, didn't mean to spook you!" he rubs at his bauble with his right wing, chuckling a bit more. "I feel like I've seen you around? I'm Nemo, I live over on the ledges further near the Chambers. I think if you... squint, you'll be able to see my uh... nest and kids." he gestures in the vague direction of his home.

@Lemonface

Lemon blinked and snorted, "Me? Spooked? Do you even know who I am? The bravest, most awesome bird in all the caves, that's who!!"

He hopped forward like a sparrow to peer at the bauble, though he neglected to ask about it as he stuck his neck up to try and be taller than the larger bird (he was unfortunately the smallest of the Bone Kids and the Bonebound in general), his neck sticking up comically.

"The name's Lemonface!", he squawked, jamming a primary into his chest like one would a thumb, "I'm a part of the Bonebound! You know Eythan, or Aure? You look kinda like 'em, your head at least."

He craned his neck to try and look in the direction of where Nemo gestured, squinting like Velma without her glasses. "Nice. The fuck's stressin' you out, though? Should I be worried? Is it here 'cause I'll protect us!"

Lemon threw up his wings like one would fists, baring them to their empty surroundings as he turned around with his feathers ruffled to make himself look bigger. But he was still smaller than Nemo. Sad.

@Nemo

Nemo

Ahah- is this how I come across to others? He can't help but think, Lemonface's exclamations brushing a bit of his frustration away from the surface of his mind. Nemo does decide to mimic this other's bird's body language, though, so instead of simply standing tall he stretches just a liiiitle bit more, but he tucks his chin down to gaze at the younger Bonebound with a kind and amused expression.

"Ah, so we're both apart of the same family huh- but- I uh... Hmm." The lammergeier is having a bit of a hard time putting some words together, but it only takes him a small pause and a deep breath before he keeps talking. "I actually followed Aure and some other members of the Bonebound here a good few cycles ago, I saw they looked like me and I was looking for... well. Someone other than me, who looked like me. I was a bit tired of being alone," he gestures with a wing towards where the Bonebound tend to live, and he draws his wing across his body to gesture at his nest. "I have no idea who Ethyan is-Or... uh. If I remember hiiimm...? Him, I think, then I uh. Don't talk to him no. As for stress- I've stressed myself out a lot and I just needed to let it out. You know? Sometimes art isn't enough, and I just gotta scream it out."

Nemo chuckles and shakes his head. "Besides, its a long story and I promise you don't want to know too much of it... other than the fun stuff." You know that tone you use when you're telling someone a fun secret? That's the tone he's switched too now. He'd lift and wiggle a teasing eyebrow if he had 'em.

@Lemonface

Lemon turned back around and folded up his wings once it was clear there was no danger, though his head feathers remained fluff. That seemed to just be what they did, though.

"If Aure's the Bone King, Eythan's the Bone Advisor or somethin'. They're brothers, I think, and Eythan's the dad of my best friend! Avi!", he squawked, "But you're Bonebound? Fuck yeah! More like the Birdbound, though, with all the flying types makin' up the ranks."

He wheezed at his pun, taking a moment to appreciate his lame joke before looking (up) at Nemo.

"But you got the deets?", he said, eyes glinting in interest, "Well go on then! Spill the beans, pour the tea, let the cat out of the bag! Give the game away!!"

With each metaphor he became more and more excited until he looked like a giant marshmallow with how fluffed his feathers were, his tail shaking from side to side like he was a lamb rather than a fully grown vulture. But hey, he was a kid at heart- no wait, that's goats.

"Talkin's the best de-stresser I always say!", he boasted.

@Nemo

Nemo

Nemo nods along to Lemonface's statements abut the Bonebound - and now he vaguely remembers Ethyan. The lammergeier has slightly... skewed memories of the first Bonebound meeting he'd been to. Lots of yelling... who would have thought that he'd willingly get into even bigger conflicts after that?

Running a wing along his chest and head, slicking down his feathers as well, since him dying those things repeatedly means he tends to lose those very useful oils that lets them stay sleek - maybe he'll work that out in a bit - he offers a beaky smile to Lemonface. Of course, he can't help his soft snort at the joke, and it evolves into soft laughter as the other winds himself up into a fluff-mallow.

"Oh, okay, calm down Lemonface- take a deep breath. One thing at a time, and I can't say too much until I clear it with Aure, but~..." He leans in, and lifts a wing and twists it like how we would use the back of out hand to share a secret. "I've been all across the caves, and made some crazy acquaintances. Even with one of the most terrifying Gembound I've met- and his name is Master Vargas."

Nemo puffs himself up, then, and arches both wings over his head. "He's massive, and rules a group that lives in a cave that breathes all by itself- now... there is... a lot to that story that I'm not sure of. I want to get as much information as I can," here, he's almost apologetic as he lets his wings drop to his sides with a sigh. "But I can tell a story of how myself, and Giggle, and a lot of other Gembound attempted to walk through Ursa in winds colder than the tornado in Monoceros is strong... and killed a massive snow worm with more teeth than I have feathers."

@Lemonface

Lemon hopped forward like a sparrow, tilting his head forward to hear more clearly. He put a wing up to his mouth as he gasped, brows raising as his tail feathers shook with excitement.

"Master Vargas!!", he whisper-yelled, spinning around in a circle before returning to Nemo, eyes wide with interest, "So big!! A cave that moves!? That's so cool!"

His posture shot up as the prospect of another story and he rapidly nodded his head, utterly amazed. His eyes were sparkling with admiration for Nemo, his wings pressed up against his cheeks as he flopped down to sit, his legs stuck out in front of him.

"Tell me! Tell me!!", he squawked, his wings braced against the ground behind him.

Sitting like a hooman.

@Nemo