ORIGIN

Dark squawked gently as Eve fell away, standing tall and peering with raised ear tufts toward the crow. But then she was up again. He could hear her shuffling about, feel the tingle of magic, and then he heard--

"HERE'S ONE! HERE!"

Dark tumbled back, flinching away from the screech, which was deafening to the owl. After a moment of laying back against the stone, frozen, eyes squeezed shut, he finally took the second stone in his talons with a quiet croak.

"You are very loud," he observed softly, remembering her screeches when she'd been hatched. "You got louder," he added--referring, perhaps, to those same hatchling cries.

After a moment, Dark sat upright. He nestled down over the two glowing stones, one clenched beneath each spread foot, giving the visual impression of a nesting mother bird. Then, he thought, for awhile. What could he show her?

He looked around unseeing, thinking. The throne they were on had brought him visions, brief, but they'd been terrifying. He wasn't sure if she'd be okay with that.

"Is it okay if it's very scary?"

He could hear a soft no, and he felt rather than saw the bird lose some of her fidgety enthusiasm, her voice a little less bright.

"Okay," he said hastily, "Then I'll make a vision up?"

The bird immediately agreed, and began squawking, and with her enthusiasm returned, Dark felt confident in creating his own vision. In fact, he even felt a little excited; he'd showed others what he'd seen, before, but he'd never created his own thoughts from scratch--not visual ones.

He squatted down, feathered cheeks puffing out and brows drawing down, and he focused. He thought up a scene, beautiful and haunting and just a little bit magical, and then he focused, drawing together his magic--the magic all around them--and trying to penetrate Eve's mind with his vision, to send it directly from his to hers. To show her what he was thinking, what he was seeing, and hearing, in his imagination.

It was difficult, at first, and all Eve would see was a shiver, like a heat wave of shimmering air as Dark focused. He had to concentrate quite hard--but then, suddenly, his green eyes lit up brightly--like Eve's enchanted stone--and a vision flooded to her.

A blue expanse spread vast in all directions, bright and shimmering as if with particles of drifting ice that caught bright light and glittered. There was no ground, no rock, nothing but this deep blue; then there was a strange white creature, like a wolf, or a dog, but long and lean and streaming with flowing white hair from its neck and back and legs. A shimmering rainbow of light followed in its path, pulsing and bright, and as more of the white dog-like creatures began to fill the expanse of blue, so too did the colors, until all was a spinning wheel of hues. Green plants suddenly began to spring up, popping into being and spreading broad leaves until the entire blue area seemed to be the jungles of Eridanus, dripping with dew that shone like diamonds. As the vision came to a close the colors began to fade, flickering into gray; a stream of white birds flitted above as a blackness came into being above them, and a herd of rich red-brown deer ran through the jungle beneath.

Dark had wanted to make more of a vision--a story, of sorts--but he felt the link began to fray and falter as the deep concentration and magical focus both took their tolls. After a moment it severed, the vision fading to black and ending, the owl left panting--head aching and tingling--on the throne.

The green light from his eyes faded, and he looked up to Eve in silence, waiting to see if she had seen.

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Dark briefly tucked his head, squeezing his eyes shut and letting out a soft, surprised chirp as the crow leaned up and nuzzled his head. Then he blinked at her blindly, fluffing out his feathers. So she had seen! The owl began chirruping delightedly, happy with this news. He liked to touch minds with others, to share what he'd seen or to whisper into their imaginations. He could have fun with this! He could show others so much! Share so much... But now, Eve was speaking.

"I made it up. I don't know what the things were," he admitted softly. "There are things called 'dogs' and they are like those. I think one like that was there when the dragon came. White and pretty. ...I should go and warn them," he added softly. "Warn Bevy. I should go and warn them, and bring them a stone!" he then corrected himself, happily lifting up one of the glowing rock-baubles.

The owl began to cheerfully grind his beak, content with this idea, apparently intending to just think about it for awhile--and maybe get Eve's input--before actually leaving. For some reason.

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The owl dipped his head in an instinctive motion of acknowledgement, though he couldn't see Eve, couldn't see what exactly he was doing. The movement was just ingrained, instinctive, and brought him a faint feeling of friendly warmth.

"Goodbye," he agreed, hooting softly. "And--you be safe, too."

For awhile after she left, the owl simply sat there, quiet and content. He still had to flutter his way back to Pisces, to warn the others of the dragon, but he couldn't do that without some rest, first. He'd sleep, for awhile, nestled into the very throne that had so scared the hell out of him last time he'd touched it, with visions of screaming black. But it was quiet now, and the owl--a glowing stone clutched in each taloned foot--fluffed out his feathers, and settled down to rest.

Once he woke he'd lift off, he'd go to Pisces, and he'd find Maji Walezi. He'd seek out Bevy--and he'd present her with this gift. ...If he remembered. Until then, though, it was time for even the owls to sleep.

When I think.

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