“And if my heart be scarred and burned,
The safer, I, for all I learned.”
A week had been long, full of accidental blackouts. Waking up in unfamiliar places, in cold places, in bright places. The tired form of a red bird lain huddled in a cubby hole among the ridges, exhaustion had overtaken her and she had been resting for what seemed like days. The cave was strange, but now she felt like she had been to every inch of it in her strange, bizarre way.
And to think she had wanted to spend some time with Leon and Makyna and Cancer. To get to know them better, to become closer to her new group. She had seen hardly hair nor hide of anyone since learning to fly, and it was horribly frightening. Poor Bevy had been struck by some strange mind problems, different personalities taking form and control over the small, young bird.
Enna, the one who was usually in charge of Bevy, was the one who was drained the most from it. Despite being afraid of flight, she had flown back from every strange venture that had taken her far from home. She never wanted to leave Pisces again, but it seemed like her body had a mind of her own when she wasn't paying attention. Ratchie, the only other voice who spoke to her, the one who had taught her wings how to fly when she was too scared, hadn't been responsible for the weird blackouts. They seemed confused by it as well, which only made her more frightened.
She had been keeping track, when she was home, of who came and left from Pisces. She even brought Azazel through on a tour, though he hadn't seemed keen on being escorted. So it wasn't any surprise when Bevy, although sleepy, had noticed the activity that sprung up in the distance. Her eyes widened as she saw Makyna, off in the distance. Although she did not know the cub very well, she could tell from there something was wrong.
It was up to Bevy to investigate, and so the young bird did. She spread her wings and took off from her ledge, swooping over the grass to meet up with the lioness. As she approached, she could see the injury, and a fear ceased her. What had happened? Was it an awful monkey beast, or?
The tiny pitohui bird landed in front of Makyna, and let out a short, scared peep, "Makyna?" Her feathers were shivering as she drew her wings in, seeing the burn close up she could tell it wasn't good, not at all. "What happened?"
tag;; Makyna!
“The human race tends to remember
the abuses to which it has been subjected
rather than the endearments.
What's left of kisses?
Wounds, however, leave scars.”
Life is precious.
The pain in her chest was awful, terrible since coming back from the spar. it had almost been too much for her to get back and without Leon's help she probably would have just lain in Eridanus, bleeding out onto the grass. As it was she allowed Leon to help her back and it was almost too much. When the bear helped her up the ridge to her little ledge that she called her own and there she had lain, unable to move for fear of hurting herself and expending too much energy. Besides, the ground beneath her was cool and helped her burn to feel better. The wound also hurt so badly that she didn't even want to clean it so blood coated her chest and limbs and the ground that she lay on. Coating everything in a layer of red...
Makyna didn't care though she just wanted to rest. The lioness had even sent Leon away and told him to bring her back something to eat. Not out of spite but because she didn't want to cause him any more pain. He had felt so guilty... It was all her fault for making him spar her! Why had she been so stupid? Her blue eyes closed as she tried to block out the pain and guilt but it was hardly working. It hurt so bad... Tears started to squeeze their way from between her closed eyes as she lay there.
Then she heard that soft voice.
Her pained eyes opened and there was the tiny bird Bevy. She wanted to speak but a sob just came out and then tears as she started to cry. With her voice effectly not working she resorted to other means, her powers. The lioness showed the bird what had happened with her memories. Of how she and Leon had sparred and how Leon had accidentally swiped her chest with heated claws.
"It was all my fault... I should never have asked him to spar..." She added at the end. Showing how she didn't blame Leon but herself.
table by lisa
words: 345
tagged: Bevy
ooc: ---
muse: 6/10
Getting the sudden memory from Makyna was startling, but somehow it seemed almost natural for the Pitohui bird's mind. Understanding filled her to the brim, and worry bubbled in her heart. She had to do something to help, the poor lioness couldn't even speak she was in so much pain.
While Bevy didn't have a lot of magic, she knew she could make herself feel better when she felt sick or hurt sometimes. It hadn't been anywhere near as bad as this burn, however, so the poor bird was a bit nervous about trying it right away. "Oh, Ky," she chirped softly, wishing she could give comfort like her other friends. Unfortunately, touching wasn't something she could do so much-- her feathers were coated in something nasty that made others go numb, and not the good kind of numb.
"I think I can help... But it might not do much. I can make small good things, um.. They flush away the bad things, make you sick?" Bevy had no idea how to explain, and words were having a hard time coming to her, especially around the cub she had never spent any time with alone before. Her head tilted and then she looked down at her talons, her heart fluttering with anxiety.
Still, she pressed on, timidly trying to explain what she knew. How she could maybe help. "I could get some moss full of water to wash the blood off, keep it clean. Dirty wounds make you sick." It was all so frightening. Leon hadn't meant to hurt her, of course, but it had happened all the same. What if Leon accidentally hurt her? A tough lioness could handle a burn, but something like that would probably kill poor Bevy.
"Do you want me to try those things? See if they help? I wish I could make it not hurt..."
Life is precious.
The lioness watched the bird, watched as the understanding dawned in her eyes from the memory. Good. Now she knew everything. The lioness just hoped that the bird didn't completely blame the cub... He hadn't meant to do it. That was all that mattered. She listened as the bird explained that she might be able to help. That raised her spirits a bit, anything would be better than just lying in a pool of blood. The lioness would have normally licked the blood off and tried to clean herself but the burn. It was a different type of hurt than a normal cut.
Makyna understood that the blood coating on her wound would only become bad and maker her sick. The wound needed to be cleaned and she needed to take it easy until it scabbed over. The idea of moss and water sounded like a godsend. That would be perfect!
Sniffling and trying to make herself stop sobbing to talk the lioness managed to say,
"Y-yes... Thank-you, Bevy. Washing the wound... is good..." She managed to say before a fresh wave of tears made her unable to speak again. Her eyes once more closed as she waited for the bird to fetch the items and begin work.
table by lisa
words: 208
tagged: Bevy
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10
A still calmness came over Bevy as she watched Makyna slowly stopped sniffing and manage to speak. That was good, she wasn't too sick yet. Just in a lot of pain. The lion cub seemed to know that what she was planning would help, which gave the bird a bit of confidence. It had to be a good idea if someone else agreed with her.
Bowing with a playful flourish, her wings brushing the ground, Bevy peeped, "Right away! Don't you worry about a thing, Ky!" With that, the chick hopped over to where a large patch of moss was growing on the rocks. It took a little effort to get a good clump built up in her talons, but once she had she took off towards the waterfall to get the fresh, clean water.
;; post roll
It was a bit tricky-- she was only a small bird after all, but she managed to get the moss soaked with the cool water of the waterfall and bring it back in once big clump of moss. Landing in front of Makyna once more, she held her beak high. "Water got! Now just to clean up." It would be a little bit difficult, with only her short form to do it, but diligently she hopped up and started to drizzle the water over the wound and wash it out.
Hopefully it wouldn't hurt too much. Bevy had never had a serious injury, but just looking at the young cub was enough to make her wince. The tears, the bawling, the trembling fur. It was all quite worrying for her little bird heart. She would do her best to make things better for her.
"Leon's really tough, huh?" She cheeped, trying to sound hopeful. "He'll be able to protect us from anything."
Life is precious.
While the bird was gone the lioness managed to slip into a light sleep. The darkness behind her eyes was permeated with flashes of color. The image of the fight replayed itself in her mind. It started off nice just as the fight had but then the ending came when she was pinned beneath Leon, laughing, while he reached back a paw. Then, before she could stop him he slashed her and the pain awoke anew except it wasn't a dream. It was real. The bear trundled over to her in her dream with concern and guilt in his eyes. She tried to tell him that it was alright, that she didn't blame him but the words wouldn't come. All she could do was look at the bear while he looked at her with those sad eyes. Finally, after a long moment he spoke but it wasn't with his own voice. It sounded strangely light and female,
"Water got! Now just to clean up."
Her eyes snapped open to find the bird in front of her again with the moss in her claws. The lioness nodded and lay still on her side, trying to make it as easy as possible for the bird. The water drizzling over her wound was painful but not nearly as bad as it could have been. After the initial pain of having the wound touched it the cool water made the burning subside even further and the lioness gave a content sigh. Her eyes focused on the ground in front of her while she let the healing water wash over her.
Her tears had all but subsided and her voice was regained. A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks but then they stopped altogether.
"Yeah, he's really strong." The lioness agreed. Far stronger than she could ever hope to be.
"I'm glad he's around here with us... I don't know what I'd do without him." Her best friend and the first person she ever met, he almost seemed like more than a friend sometimes with how closely they were in sync. It seemed like most of the time she only had to think about how much she wanted him and he would appear there for her. It brought a smile to her tear-stained face as she thought about that connection.
"Have I ever told you about the day we first met? Or rather... the day he found me?" She hadn't told anyone officially on how the cub found her after she'd hatched and really it would feel nice to be able to share a memory of value with someone new. Maybe she could make a new best friend.
table by lisa
words: 444
tagged: Bevy
ooc: ---
muse: 7/10
Bevy thought to herself that Makyna would recover given plenty of rest. Already she seemed to be tired and in less pain, enough to sleep. As the lioness began to speak again, the small bird felt a prickle of curiosity. Her eyes lit up as she took a perch on a rock by Ky, tilting her head with bright wondering in her gaze.
"No, you haven't," the pitohui replied in a gentle chirp. She wouldn't mention that they hadn't talked much at all; it seemed rude at the time. Just... Bevy really did want to be friends with this cub, and she definitely wanted to hear all those stories. "I'd love to hear all about it." Falling into silent thought, the bird tried to figure out the best way to try her magic. Obviously she had to be quite careful-- the line between helpful and harmful was thin with her magic.
That and her feathers were a bother. Maybe someday she could find a fix, a way to make the poison not hurt those she wanted to be close to. It must be nice to snuggle up to others, to share in their warmth. She shook the bothersome worries from her mind and focused, building up the helpful bacteria in her body. If it worked, she simply had to touch Makyna and push the invisible helpers to her burns. She wouldn't try until she had concentrated them to her beak however, because messing up was not an option.
She would help her new friend. She was a guardian of the waterfall, a protector. This was her duty and she would not fail.
Life is precious.
She knew she hadn't really talked to the bird at all since arriving which this was good. They could get to know each other better now. The lioness' eyes glowed with warmth and happiness as the bird said she wanted to know all about that day. Oh, wonderful! The lioness' tired blue eyes seemed to take on a faraway look as she began her tail. It was nice to focus on others things besides the wound and pain, it made her feel much better.
"Well, I hatched in a tunnel full of snow on my back. I just laid there looking up at the light above me, I remember. Not the light like we have now but the glowing light above. I was studying it and trying to figure out what it was... when Leon found me. He called me and asked me if I was cold with the way I was lying in the snow." The memory was vivid as if it had just happened yesterday. To be fair her hatching day had only been a month prior, almost. Still, it felt like a lifetime away because she had learned so much since then.
"Obviously I was since I don't have the thickest of fur. So, I wandered over to him and he let me use his fur for warmth." Makyna's eyes closed happily as she thought of Leon's soft coat. It was that day that she decided he would be her best friend, protector, companion, for the rest of the days to come. When he'd come to her and aided her in getting warm and talking to her.
"He even helped me learn one of my powers. The one where I can touch things and look back into their past. I touched his cheek and awakened my power for the first time. I remember I saw shadows of him and some others playing together." Her eyes opened up again and locked onto the bird.
"Ever since that day we've been together. Not a long story but one that I find to be my favorite." The lioness said.
Now it seemed like the bird was getting ready to do something but not before Ky managed to get off another question.
"Do you have a special hatch-story?" The lioness asked curiously. It seemed only fair that if she got to share a story then Bevy should too.
table by lisa
words: 397
tagged: Bevy
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10
Bevy had seen a lot of gembounds hatch, and her own story wasn't anywhere near as nice as Makyna, but she couldn't imagine hatching into the cold like that. If Leon hadn't come around, would the young lioness even have survived? The bird wondered to herself, knowing that the cold could have killed her back when she was too young to handle herself. She was happy for the warm, wet home she had found, and her nest that was sheltered from the wind.
Ky had asked about her hatching story, however, so shyly Bevy begun to explain. It was complicated, because it was before she understood that there were different parts of her-- so young, everything was muddled and fuzzy. She did her best, howver. "I hatched in Polaris," she chirped this fact, though she thought Makyna might already know. "Back when it wasn't full of golems or anything. Instead, there were these two loud gembounds... One had a bunch of shiny gems and rocks, but they were mean... They nearly attacked me, if it wasn't for the nice tall gembound I don't know what I would have done."
Her feathers ruffled as she began to focus her magic. The gem on her breast glowed as she began to use a new spell subconsciously, gathering more bacteria than she usually did. "I couldn't fly back then. I.. For some reason, I had grabbed one of the gems they had dropped, and the mean gembound hated me for it. I don't know why I stole it, but, I did, and..." It wasn't Ratchie, and it wasn't Enna. The pair of them had a sneaking suspicion that there was another one of them that took over and did all sorts of weird things without them knowing.
"Well, in the end they let me have it because the tall one kicked a bunch of crystals into pieces for them."
;; post roll
As Bevy spoke, getting wrapped up in the story, the bacteria drifted off. Thankfully nothing horrible happened, but since she had never used such a spell before and wasn't even doing it intentionally, the bacteria didn't seem willing to hang around. The bird finished her story and gently poked her beak to Makyna's chest, the healthy bacteria she had already gathered with fauna cleanse scrambling to the lioness' burn to try and heal.
"I still have the gem, actually. Wanna see it? It's really pretty." Perhaps some day she would be able to create that strong cloud of bacteria that would be able to strengthen herself and her friends. First, she would have to realize she had this new ability, of course.
Life is precious.
Makyna's ears tilted towards Bevy when she began her tale. Polaris, that place was full of magic and wonder. Bevy was lucky to have been born there. Minus the problem she had with the one gembound but fortunately she had been saved. She wondered how scary it would have been to be attacked right after hatching. The lioness wouldn't have known what she would have done if she had been so young and had a violent creature near her.
"That sounds like it would have been really terrifying. I'm glad the other gembound saved you."
Ky didn't understand why someone would get upset over gems. There were plenty around the caves, you could always just find another. No need to rip someone's head off over them. Some people were just got too upset over silly things like that.
"I don't understand why some gems get upset over little things like that. It's not worth it." The lioness sighed but decided dwelling on it would do nothing but give her a headache. So instead she focused on the bird's glowing gem. It was really pretty. The lioness didn't associate the glowing gem with a new ability, instead she thought it related to what Bevy had done previously so she didn't mention it.
When Bevy poked her beak to her chest she could feel it tingling with... something. It wasn't a bad feeling but one that promised good healing. The lioness didn't know exactly what happened but she knew it was good.
"Sure! I'd love to see it." Yeah, why not see the gem that such a big fuss was caused over. The lioness stretched her legs out while sh elay on her side and waited while the other went to fetch this gem.
table by lisa
words: 292
tagged: Bevy
ooc: ---
muse: 5/10