The owl sat in awed wonderment, pondering all of this new stuff. He tilted his head, staring blindly toward Eve. A... nest? He didn't have a nest. Should he? ...Something told him no, some instinct that informed him that nests were for those with eggs and young, but still, the idea appealed to him. A place to call home, a place to come back to and call his own.

His home, though--it was with Bevy, always. Bevy was his mother-bird, in his mind. With that thought, he hooted softly again.

"I don't have anything I can give back," he admitted quietly. "Maybe I can try to show you visions, if you want? But--could you make another stone glow? I would like to give one to someone. Someone at home."

________________

@Eve

Evening

The crow flapped her wings, wide-eyed. "A vision!" she squawked loudly, excited. She skid around on the throne, briefly, before she fell off the seat of it.

With the sound of claws frantically scratching at the ground, Eve got back up. She gave another wordless squawk before she flittered off again around Orion, looking for another pebble. She dived onto the ground, scrambling and croaking the entire time.

Once finding another stone, she took a grip in it with both talons, gemstone talon glittering. Lying on her back, she watched as the stone began to shimmer much more brightly than the previous one, and with child like awe she stared for a moment before she scrambled back up- briefly dropping the stone only to pick it back up again -and then she was off again.

Flying through the air and squawking she landed on the arm rest of the throne, feathers fluffed up. "Here's one! Here!" she was unusually loud, though her eyes were bright. "This one's even better! Look, look!" she offered the stone out, making sure it touched Dark's talons.

She nestled down, waiting to see what the little owl would make of it this time. She was excited (and partially impatient) to see what vision the owl had to show her. Her talons clicked against the stone throne restlessly.

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.

________________

Evening

Eve seemed to take the loud comment as a compliment. She preened, standing straighter. "Thank you! A raven taught me," she said. When the owl mentioned scary things, the crow immediately went quiet, feathers flat and curling up into the corner of the seat a little.

"I don't like scary things," she said and then brilliantly added, "They scare me."

She seemingly forgot this entirely however, beginning to hop and chirp loudly. She waited with huge eyes, beak grinding together contentedly as she watched Dark, curious. She saw him concentrate and knew to be more quieter, and she was. In fact, she stood in an almost unnatural and deathly silence, tilting her head. The owl shivered.

And then she was flooded with the vision. For a moment she could no longer see Dark, focusing entirely on the bright colours and beautiful, curious creatures. When it faded, she still stood completely still in silence, eyes wide as saucers.

"You made that up?" she asked abruptly. "It was amazing! What were those other gembounds? Do you know them? They looked like good friends to be with!" She was hopping around again, chirping happily. At some point she turned and nuzzled the top of Dark's head.

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.

________________

@Eve

Evening

Eve did not give an input. Perhaps she had already forgotten about it, in fact. She continued to nuzzle Dark's head gently, cooing and chirping quietly. "It's nice to see you. I'm glad you're not hurt," she said before pulling away, clambering back up onto the arm rest of the throne to prepare for take off.
She looked down at Dark again with a tilt of her head. "So... don't get hurt, okay?" she barely waited for an answer as she spread her wings out and began beating them, pushing herself off the throne and into the sky.

The crow squawked with every beat of her wings, and to Dark's ears the squawking would slowly get more and more quiet until they eventually died out as Eve flew through Orion until she got to Tunnel I and dipped into Eridanus. What business she had there was unknown, even to the crow herself.
She hoped Dark would get back home safely.

"Listen to me."

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.

________________

exit Dark