[The Lost Gifts] Home for the Holidays

The Lost Gifts - Tenzin

The magic of natural order danced beneath the surface, to Raoshar's senses, as the Master responded to his call. As his wings lifted him above the pool, the cascade of water that flowed down glittered like ice, or diamonds. But nothing of Tenzin's response was cold: on the contrary, he seemed please to see the two arrivals. "Ahh-... I was wondering," he sang softly. Hues of blue and white flashed as he settled at the edge of his lagoon, a gently amused expression tweaking the corner of his beak. He nodded to the strange, squat little tree that had been planted not far off, two little boxes labelled beneath. "Those are yours, I think. They are safe," he added. Naskital's gifts were often odd, but never treacherous. "This is a season for... family. For giving. I'm glad you're here, Raoshar. It is good to see you. And you," he added, with a friendly nod to Wilder. He was alone here, often enough; the visit of family and friend was more than welcome.

He gently took the box, and with cautious claw and beak he pulled the paper away and tugged the package open. Inside was a strange little thing, formed of marbled pink stone--or was it stone? It seemed lightweight for stone... It had a button on it, and when Tenzin pressed this with his beak (and a quizzical expression), the vaguely flower-shaped object let out a mist from its top. The mist smelled warm and spicy, pleasantly sweet: an incense vaporizer, just with a touch of magic to it. Tenzin inhaled, and then cooed softly. "Oh, this is lovely. Thank you for bringing it here," he murmured.

In the boxes beneath the tree, Wilder and Raoshar would find gifts intended for them, labelled and magically designated both. Wilder's was a beautiful little cape, white trimmed in white faux fur, studded with silver glitter and sequins and with a bright red, velvet inner lining. Raoshar's was a shining chain necklace hung with little brass bells that jingled softly when it moved.

"If you would stay awhile... he left something else," Tenzin told them, amused. There was a small table to the side of the lagoon, and atop it, little bowls of mint ice cream, each with a candy cane sticking out. "And I have something I could offer in turn. It seems strange, but this time of year is about family, and..." Lamenting eyes strayed to the bottom of the lagoon. "I'll be right back." He dove, a sparkle of bubbles following him down; some moments later he returned, with two small objects clasped within his talons. These were very carefully deposited before the Gembounds. "Not everyone has the benefit of family. Maybe you'd like to provide?" It was tentatively asked: this was a responsibility, as much as a 'gift.' The stones of those who were lost, ones he'd been carefully protecting all this time.

But perhaps it was time for them to live again.

Wilder's was a white-speckled black, a snowflake obsidian; Raoshar's was blue, a simple shard of sapphire. Tenzin watched them, hoping this wasn't too much to ask.

This is one of six Lost Gifts threads in the Holiday 2023 event! Characters who posted in the original Tenzin's lost gift thread may post here to react, and then post in Update Me to claim their rewards!

Wilder and Raoshar both receive Lost Stones. These stones are guaranteed-revive, and will be special designs created by the GMs!

Wilder kept pace as best she could next to Raoshar. When he took flight, she followed, unfurling those beautiful shimmering wings of purple and gold, the wind whipping through her fur. Vaati followed on the ground, content to trail a little ways behind - he would catch up and find her eventually. She shared a few words with her travel companion on the way to Pisces, but was otherwise content to travel in peace and quiet. The soft sounds of distant jingling filled the caves as they passed. She always wondered why it happened this time of the year, but she didn’t question this time of joy and good will. It was a nice change.

She waited by him by the lagoon and flinched with surprise at his name for Tenzin. She looked at Raoshar with wide eyes for a moment, not having realized that…he was his son? She had no idea Tenzin had any children, but then again, she didn’t know him very well. She didn’t expect to know anything about his private life.

She turned back as Tenzin emerged from the pool and purred happily in greeting, but she couldn’t help but feel…left out when Tenzin mentioned family. Now that she knew Raoshar was Tenzins son, it suddenly felt like she was intruding on a family moment. She didn’t know Raoshar and she barely knew Tenzin, having only met him a couple of times. A mote of awkwardness came over her and she considered stepping back, to give the father and son their moment, content to having helped delivered the gift.

But then he swept his wing, and she noticed the decorated tree with two packages underneath. She approached, cautious as ever, and sniffed the one labeled for her. So…she was meant to be here? It was okay? With a few careful claws, she tired open the wrapping and opened the box purring with sudden delight at the little gift within. ”Oh, this is lovely!” She sat down and tried to lift the piece with magic, to easily put it on, but as usual, it didn’t cooperate, so she resigned to putting the cape on manually. She struggled for a moment, cat paws not extremely dexterous for this kind of work, but in the end she managed to swing the white cape over her back and clasp it around her neck. It was flashy but pretty - not something she’d wear day by day, but she could stash it for special occasions.

She glanced over at Raoshar and purred at his gift and the little jingles it made. ”That’s so cute! How kind for him to leave gifts for us. I wonder how he knew I’d be here…” She glanced back over at a Tenzin, then, as he was now talking about offering more. Wilder felt that sudden out of place embarrassment again and her ears twisted back. ”Oh, that’s really not necessary-“ Ah, but too late! He’d already dove back into the water.

Piling the wrapping together, she approached the edge of the lagoon and waited a moment, a little sense of guilt unwittingly making it into her mind. She didn’t really feel like she deserved a gift - all she’d done was follow Raoshar here. The cape already felt like a big reward, but now there was more.

She said nothing as Tenzin emerged again and set the stones before them. She was still and quiet as she looked down at the snowflake obsidian, utterly speechless at the gift offered to her. There as that word again - family, ringing over and over through her ears. The gentle request that came with this gift, that she understood in an instant.

She remembered the last time she’d done this, with three instead of one. Then, it had been a ragged junk of jet, a shard of chalcedony, and a very important piece of labradorite. And the ‘family’ she thought she’d receive from it…

One had disappeared. One she had murdered. And the other…she had given up on. And now they hated her. What a wonderful mother she had turned out to be.

But now there was an offer and a gift in front of her. To try again, perhaps, this time, to succeed. To have what she’d always wanted, but had always felt just out of her grasp. So many times she’d tried and tried. And so many times it had been cruelly ripped from her, whether from the fault of others…or her own. She thought of Aure, unable to even look at her anymore. She thought of Black, whom she hadn’t seen since she was a child. She remembered the faces of the Bonebound as Order was ripped out of her. The betrayal and anger, the fear. She thought of Tamulus, and his gentle smile, that she would never see again. She thought of Regalia, its piercing, gleaming glare as it held her in the air, and the face of Venari, accepting the contract that would end its life. She thought of Kass, and the anger and disdain his expression carried.

She didn’t know when she’d started crying.

She crouched over the snowflake obsidian, paws shaking as they reached forward to pull it close, curling over it as agony ripped her heart to pieces. Why did it hurt so much? Why did she like that it hurt? Why was that hurt soured by hate and why was that hate for herself?

Distantly, she could feel the embarrassment again. Making this all about her again when she was the outsider, but she couldn’t stop the sobs wracking her small body. Vaati wasn’t here right now to comfort and ground her, she could feel him distantly, trying to race to her side, but still a ways off. She was left to cry over the stone without her usual crutch, mourning all she had lost before and fearing what she was accepting.

”Do I…d-deserve this? Are you sure you want to give this to m-me? I do everything, hic, wrong. I’m not m-meant to have, sniff, family. Are you sure?” It all came out broken and through her heaving sobs as she fell apart over the obsidian, trembling out of control. But at the same time, a broken purr was rumbling through her chest, out of joy? Out of fear? Out of a need to feel some sort of comfort? She was too overwhelmed to understand, to think rationally.

It was good to have a companion on the trip back home. Raoshar was often standoffish, with little in the way of friends to pass the time with, but that did not mean he wasn't a social creature. He was content to share passing conversation with Wilder: an exchange of names and pleasantries as necessary, and just as content to let the wind whipping through their wings fill the pausing silences.

Though when they arrived, it seemed as though Raoshar had forgotten his traveling companion for a moment as he searched, eager and hungry, for his parent.

Tenzin rose from the lagoon like a tidal wave breaking the shore, and Raoshar rose his head and set his wings back, straightening with pride to see his father rise to meet him. His feathers prickled and rustled with the spray, puffing out to make his lean form turn round and warm.

Raoshar inclined their head toward the tree at Tenzin's motion, and gave a nod, before stepping forward to offer Tenzin's gift to him. They made no move toward their own gift, instead curious to see what they had brought to the Master with glistening eyes. The object was a strange curiosity, but the puff of mist had a scent that made Raoshar recoil. It was a bit too sweet smelling, but their maw twitched with a smile as they preened under Tenzin's praise. So long as their father liked it, they would be content.

"You're welcome," they answered Tenzin humorously.

Raoshar followed after Wilder to the tree, picking up the thin box with their name inscribed. They were careful with the wrapping paper, peeling off the tape and unfolding it into a single sheet that they set aside. Prying the box apart, they found the loop of golden chain and held it aloft, listening to the gentle music that the bells made as they were shifted.

They inclined their head to one side, and after a long pause they slipped it around their neck. Turning back to their father, their eyes drifted toward the table of ice cream as Tenzin dipped under the surface once more.

"None of this is necessary," Raoshar spoke a half sentence, trailing off to leave the remainder of the thought unsaid. He walked over to the stone table and picking up one of the bowls. He had to crane his neck to lick at the mint, and as though to be contrary, seemed to enjoy the sweetness of the desert. He picked up the other bowl of ice cream when Wilder moved to the edge of the lake, and brought it over to her, setting it down beside her. Then, he looked up as Tenzin arose once more.

A stone of pure sapphire was set before him, and he regarded it with curiosity. The weight of the ask did not seem to settle on Raoshar in the same way that it did with Wilder: Raoshar was a mere twelve cycles to Wilder's sixty, and he had not come across lost stones before. Nor had he the company of someone who wanted to have children with him. This was a first for him, and he regarded it as a challenge and a quest and a gift all at once. Whether or not, or when, he would take it...

He was torn away from his thoughts by the soft sniffling and whimpering of the black cat that had come with him by mere happenstance. His crimson and golden eclipsed stare drifted down to her, and he craned his head, drawing a breath that expanded his throat into a large, fluffy mane. His stare sought to dissect her, to peel her back to a raw, exposed core that he could grab and yank out, judgement burning in the silence that towered over her.

"Does the Son of Wilder deserve to live?" Raoshar asked, his voice low and steady. He nudged the bowl of ice cream toward Wilder with his back foot, and then looked up to his father once more.

"Thank you," Raoshar addressed his father at last, picking up the sapphire stone with his free hand. "I will protect them." It was a promise that Tenzin had made him when he was young; something that he had not needed, but that he knew had been important to provide for his son. Raoshar would continue that tradition.