Foolhardy Thoughts - Printable Version

Glory stared back at Lust, waiting for a response. Their wide eyes started to creep him out a little bit and he was about to take a step back and frown when the words started pouring out of their little beak. He looked at them, eyes wide, very surprised. He had never in his life been complimented like this. He had never been admired the way this bird admired him. And he realized that it felt really good. He remembered when he hatched, the dream he had before his life began. Crowds, cheering for him, screaming his name, applause from every angle. Yes...this was his dream! The love of the people! Knowing that he had done the right thing. Protecting others and receiving their admiration in turn. Yes. That was what Glory wanted.

He turned fully towards Lust and gave her a small nod, suddenly finding himself very flustered and embarrassed but extremely proud at the same time. "I was just doing what needed to be done," he chirped, a little awkwardly, but his eyes were glimmering. "The monster is dead now, that's what's important. And you're safe." He didn't mention that he was safe, as he could still feel an amount of pain in his chest from where the boulder had hit him, but he didn't mention this to Lust.

Lust nodded as Glory responded to their ramblings. It was so smooth, so humble and nonchalant. Just what you’d expect of a hero. The bird appreciated the comfort that they were safe but a little part of them was also disappointed. It was exciting to go up against the golem. Especially with Glory there to protect them. And being protected the way they were …. In a strange way, that was very exciting for the pigeon as well.

Slowly, though, Lust turned from Glory to look down the pathway where bits of rock still remained of the monster. Hesitantly at first the chick hobbled over to stand before the rocks. Pink eyes studied it intently. They peaked at it, making sure it was truly dead. The stone appeared to simply be stone at this point. “How did stone do that? Was that magic, like your fire attack?” They asked, looking over their wing to glance back at Glory.

Musing over various thoughts, Lust moved towards the larger masses of what remained of the golem’s center. It was an absent-minded action, something to distract from the confusion in their brain. They were confused as to what to think of the older bird. They were confused on what the golem was and why it attacked them. They were confused about the magic they used as well. It felt like everything was a lot to take in.

As their thoughts touched on the idea of magic, energy swelled in them once more as a small pink taloned foot rested on the stone. They cooed a bit in surprise as the magic flowed from their gizzard and their gem, through their foot, and into the rock before returning once more. What did it mean? What would happen this time? Lust was about to find out.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Glory
notes:

Amongst the boulders and otherwise ordinary rock rubble that had once been moving and fighting, there were a few shards visible, glistening as diamonds in the rough. There were many of these tiny shards, silvery spears peeking out from the dormant wreckage of the golem. And it was to one of these fragments that Lust's magic activated, setting the little shard glowing.

Lust might feel a shock of adrenaline, the thrill and heat of battle- they'd feel the lively crackling of magic, thrumming through their bones to the very core. They might see lights all around- and although they might not know it yet, they might later come to recognize the place as Polaris, with the Crystal River rushing by under the ever-watchful eye of the Spire.

The vision shifts.

Lust might feel themselves scream, in the echo of a voice long-lost to the ages as they watch the looming figure of the golem- which lies crumbled at their very feet- rising above them once more. And a formation of rocks and boulders shifts, taking shape into a club with which to lunge. Regardless of any effort Lust may make- after all, they cannot change the outcome- the golem's makeshift club strikes them.

Shards fly.

The golem keeps beating, adding magically-charged shards to its otherwise heavy-built form, the outcome obvious even as the vision fades.

Glory wondered as well how the creature of stone had moved like that. As far as he could tell, the thing didn't have any gemstones, just large chunks of rock. He turned and opened his eyes wide, trying to see any kind of gem in the pile of rubble. But his sharp eyes could detect nothing of the sort. But that wasn't all he could do.

Glory closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying his magic from flame to the solid, hardy magic of earth. He cast out his senses towards the pile of stone and scoured it for any signs of magic gems. Even though it was rather weak, his results came up with nothing. He released the magic and turned towards Lust. Only to find that they had moved. He turned to see them with a talon rested on the rock. For a moment, he admired their courage - for all they knew, the stone thing could still reform and attack them again. But then he realized that his spell might still be affecting the stone. The little surprised noise got him moving towards them.

"Be careful," he chirped as he stood next to them, gently moving their talon away with his own. "The rock could be hot! I melted some of it after all! Besides, what if it reformed and attacked again? We don't want to be anywhere near when it does."

Lust gave a loud squawk of surprise as the shard in front of him started to glow. All of a sudden, their heart started bounding as they felt a rush of endorphins flooding their system similar to when the golem attacked. Next thing they knew, strange images passed before their eyes. A strange room of lights and water and a strange, energetic feeling and a large tower in the middle. Then it changed. Silent cries. The golem rising and attacking once more. The shattering of something, of shards forming and combining with the strange rock monster. And all through the strange incident, a strange feeling of magic and a desire for more of it. No matter what it would take. Not a malicious desire, just a blind and purely feral one. The images were a strange disconcerting blur but that was one thing they could understand. As well as their ferocious nature the rock monsters could demonstrate.

All of a sudden, the invisible grip on Lust’s body was released. With a loud cry they jumped back from the stone with a new sense of fear. They didn’t realize that Glory had moved closer. Nearly stumbling into another they cried out again while spinning around wide eyed. They were disoriented by the images and it took a moment to remember where they were and who the bird before them was.

Breathing hard, shaking, they slowly remembered what occurred just moments before the images passed before their mind’s eye. The attack and Glory’s valiant defeat of the creature. Silently Lust turned to look back at the rock monster still lying on the ground motionless. It was perplexing, the fledgling saw it rise back up. What were those strange images? Would it stay motionless?

Lust shakily turned back to Glory. “Glory! That was really scary. I wanna go away from it.” Lust’s words were slightly stuttered, on the verge of crying again.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Glory
notes:

Glory hopped with surprised and the feathers on his neck bristled, ready for the golem to suddenly start moving again. But nothing happened, despite Lust's terrified eyes looking up into his own. Her glanced over them but could see nothing new in the pile of rocks. He had no idea what had frightened them so much.

Were they maybe talking about the fight that had ended moments before? No, they would have said so then, right? But Glory could see nothing else happening. But he wasn't going to let Lust know that he was clueless to the source of their fear. He was the strong one here, the protection. He nodded knowingly, even though he had no idea what he was agreeing with. "Yes, we should probably move away."

He stepped away, making sure that Lust was following him. A sudden idea came into his head. Perhaps Lust would feel better if the pile of stones was destroyed even further. Yes, they would truly be grateful, wouldn't they?

He opened his beak and bile collected in the back of his throat. After a moment of forcing heat and magic into it, he spat it out, the red-hot lava-like saliva splattering on the remaining rocks. There was a sizzling sound as the lava spread, destroying what stone was left of the golem. Glory stood tall, the feathers smoothing over, and nodded with approval. "It can't wake up now."

Glory started to hobble away from the rock monster after agreeing that they should leave. The chick hesitated while nervous thoughts entered their head. What if the creature returned? What if it attacked like in their weird vision … thing? What if? What if? Thoughts began spinning in the pigeon’s mind. Their breathing became faster as though trying to keep up with the rapid pace of their brain. Faster and faster the fledgling’s body went while rooted to the spot on the ground. Their chest began to hurt as though it were already hit by the golem’s club.

Then suddenly the eagle turned back to face the monster as more flames erupted from his beak. Lust was at once startled out of the maddening spiral, leaping back with a cry. Before their eyes the rock that was once a creature of sorts became a pool of lava that was swiftly cooling. They watched the monster’s fatality with both horror and relief mixed together.

“It can’t wake up now,” Lust repeated silently to themselves. Again, the words were spoken in the fledgling’s head to cement them. It was over with. The rock monster was destroyed (killed?) and would no longer be able to harm them. Fear tugged at the edges of their mind as the image of a golem shifting and reforming appeared before them. Their imagination gripped onto that, imagining the possibility of forming together despite being turned into ash. It was irrational and paranoid, but the thought was there all the same.

Lust shook their head to rid the troublesome thoughts before turning to face Glory once more. “Yeah … it can’t wake up now.” A slight pause was given. “Thank you,” they cooed softly, lowering their head. It was strangely uncharacteristic for the chick to now be shocked into silence as the gravity of the situation hit them.

But that was for another time. They couldn’t bother their hero with such things. After all, the fiery eagle had done so much for them already. They couldn’t burden him further with such concerns and fears. After all, where they not a big bird themselves who was just about to learn to fly…?

Lust turned their head up to Glory again with a shaky smile. “That was amazing! I wish I could do something like that! Did it hurt your beak? How did you learn to do that? Can you do other fire tricks too?” Thoughts buried for the moment, Lust returned to their excitable nature.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Glory
notes:

Glory wasn't sure what had gotten Lust so distracted. Only moments before, it seemed that they had been so full of enthusiasm for Glory's amazing victory. Now they were distant, shocked, even, perhaps, scared. Glory was confused and didn't know what to do about it so he simply stood there, staring at Lust, until they turned towards him, eyes shining.

He almost breathed out with relief as they suddenly started to question him and all of his questions and doubts vanished in a flash as pride took its place. He raised his head a little more, basking in the praise and admiration that the smaller bird was giving him. "Yeah, it hurts a little." He shrugged. "But it's nothing I can't handle! Most of my magic burns a bit but I've gotten used to it mostly! And yes, of course! Fire magic is in my soul. Would you like to see more?" He waited anxiously for Lust's answer, wanting desperately to give them a small show of his flames - something he had never done before, despite always wanting to show off his talents.

While Lust was still very much concerned by the troublesome images that had appeared before their mind’s eye, they were pleased at the shifting change of topic. Plus, Glory was truly a fascinating creature. His wings were bright like the flames he created. He was noble and courageous. Every inch of the fowl screamed of him being a hero. No, not just a hero. A hero among heroes; a champion! And as Lust’s own rescuer they couldn’t help but be more intrigued by him and his abilities. Especially when he seemed eager to elaborate.

The pigeon took in his words. Reseda had also talked about magic and showed some when they first hatched. The rock monster was also likely fueled by magic. Until this day Lust had not been aware of their own abilities. It was a new and interesting discovery that they were able to carry their voice the way they did. Lust did not realize yet the other ability they performed. With this new discovery came a great amount of curiosity in magic itself. Magic from such an amazing specimen? All the more interested!

Lust eagerly nodded their head when asked if they’d like to see more. “Yes yes please! I’d love to see you do more fire magic please! It’s so cool! I bet you win battles and do heroic stuff all the time! That must be so amazing to do that! To be a hero and fight evil and rescue people!”

While Lust rambled on, fantasies played through their mind. Of being trapped by (less scary than the golem) monsters. Of courageous battles by the eagle. Of being rescued off and having the eagle put his wing around them, telling them they’d keep them safe, and ….

Lust shook their head, flushing a bright pink under the white feathers of their face.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Glory
notes:

Glory merely gave the pigeon a glowing look and chose not to respond to their assumption that he did heroic stuff all the time. He was no liar and refused to say any falsehood, but he wasn't going to let them know that this was only his second battle in his life. Instead, he concentrated on what kind of magic he was going to show them.

He could spit fire from his beak, but they had already seen something similar with the lava. He could summon a gem in front of them but he had said he would show them more fire magic. And the rest, well, it was more heat then fire. So that left one option, one he wanted to avoid but he knew would be extremely impressive. He had cast the spell only a couple of times before and just for practice and only for a second to make sure he could do it. Definitely the one spell he was truly terrified of, but he wasn't going to back down now!

He took a step away from Lust, knowing that things could get a bit dangerous. "You might want to stand back for this one," he warned them smoothly. His glowing orange eyes closed as he began to concentrate. He needed to do this without actually setting himself on fire and burning to death. He didn't want to damage his beautiful feathers! With a deep breath, he set his trails of magicka along his skin and feathers, coating them in heat before the spell clicked and his entire body exploded into flame.

He opened his eyes and watched Lust for their reaction, trying to hide the sudden surge of burning pain he felt across his entire body, focusing instead on the little bird and the well of pride in his chest. He had succeeded the spell and, while it still definitely hurt, he wasn't killing himself with it. After a few seconds, the pain became too much and he released the magic, taking a deep breath as the smoke cleared away, relishing the clean air once again and the cool touch of the cave's air on his hot skin.