The white owl landed on a ledge up high in tunnel I. It'd been another pathetically boring and long day for her. The owl was fully grown now - with a monstrously huge (for her species, at least) wingspan of three feet. She'd noticed, however, the more she grew the more she just simply didn't sleep.

From her roost, she could see the Carvings - something she no longer had interest in. She didn't have interest in many things anymore. All she wanted to was sleep for a while - but the thoughts ringing through her head would keep her awake. Her eyes were perpetually half-closed from exhaustion now, and it was the fault of the thoughts prattling her mind.

She hated them. They disturbed her. She wanted them to go away and yet the more she felt annoyed by them the louder they would become. The more they would disturb her. They told her horrible things and tempted her to do horrible things - none of which she had done as of yet. Perhaps out of fear, or cowardice.

Slowly, the owl moved into the bundle of sticks and feathers she had decided to call a nest and crawled into it with a soft coo. Everything will be okay now. Just sleep. The owl closed her eyes after filling her mind with this mantra, fluffing herself up as she tried, as she did every day, to just sleep.

@Adeyemi

King Adeyemi

AND THEN THE EARTH AND THE SKY, THEY ALL FIT TOGETHER
AND CARRY ME AWAY AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER

Tip-tap, tip-tap, tip-tap. Adeyemi hobbled along the tunnel floor, staring at its walls, puffing under his breath. His talons dragged on stone just enough to create a tiny scritch-scritch sound, echoing through the air like dull bells. This tunnel, it was familiar - the one he and Willow had traveled through, twice.

Cooing under his breath, the turaco puffed up against the cold, unconsciously picking up the pace. It was silly to be worried. He'd lost track of her before; she could take care of herself, obviously. That did little to soothe his troubles, and the king clicked his beak, half his mind on just turning around and fleeing back to the relative comfort of his son. The cub was growing, maturing, speech flowing like honey, regal and royal - a true prince, if there ever was one.

Pride tugged at his heartstrings, and for a moment, Adeyemi turned to glance back over his shoulder, unsure of his choice. Didn't Alexander need him more? He was a father, now; he had more responsibilities than his own inability to keep track of his... friend. Friend... hm. The term of a coward. But the king was well aware of his own cowardice. He'd had so many chances, too many, to simply tell Willow how he felt. Each time, he'd put it off, assured in his endless time for that particular discussion.

But the days were flying by into weeks, and even his son couldn't truly cure the ache in his gut, the sick nausea that accompanied not being certain of just where the other half of his soul was, whether she was safe, whether she'd been caught up in whatever had Gembounds scattering from Polaris like ants from their hill.

Humming his song under his breath, Adeyemi peered about, taking stock of the tunnel's inhabitants - or lack thereof, as the case may have been. The Carvings, as mysterious now as they had been to him as a chick, caught his eye, and the bird scuttled over to them, raising his gemstone talon in a mirror of his youth, tracing the markings reverently.

A soft noise caught his ear, and Adeyemi turned on a dime, wings raised, ready to fight - but his eyes widened, his shoulders dropped, his song rose at the sight of Willow, so beautifully alive, nesting in the wall opposite to the Carvings. He almost called out then, but she did seem to be trying to sleep, so instead he carefully picked his way across the tunnel, scaling the wall as quietly as possible, talons gripping the stone and carrying him up.

He made it to her nest eventually, hopping close enough to peer at her with a soft, unconscious coo, before stepping a bit closer, grooming at the back of her neck. Safe. She is safe.

The owl hadn't managed to fall asleep yet when the sound of someone else walking down the tunnel jerked her half-awake, but she didn't open her eyes. Seemingly a moment later, there was someone touching her and she bristled uncomfortably before opening her eyes to turn and stare at Adeyemi.

At length, her expression softened - though not by much. Her features were something difficult to 'soften,' hollow eyes, frail, her feathers barely clinging to the thin figure under them. Regardless, she still croaked gently; "I don't suppose you're here to take up space in my nest, are you?"

Her tone was lined with humour... maybe. It was hard to tell.

@Adeyemi

King Adeyemi

AND THEN THE EARTH AND THE SKY, THEY ALL FIT TOGETHER
AND CARRY ME AWAY AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER

Adeyemi's eyes darted from Willow's eyes to her undersized figure, frowning softly, choking back a squawk of worry into another coo, nudging her beak with his own. "Only if it would please you, my dear." The words matched her own gentle humor, and for now the turaco didn't step into the nest itself, simply settling down into a fluffy pile just outside of it, resting his chin on the edge of the structure. "I have missed you. It seems I become... lesser, when I am without you." The words were honest and undemanding, as he only ever was with the owl.

Another roving stare, and the king huffed, worry making his breath more smoke than carbon dioxide, the substance trailing up out of his nostrils and dancing towards the roof of the tunnel. He didn't seem to notice. "Are you... hurt? You look... troubled." His tone was hesitant and flinching, as always trying to avoid any possibility to worsening the other bird's health.

"I am uninjured," the owl said softly, reaching over to gently preen the top of Adeyemi's head before she shifted. "Come here. I have missed you, too."

She lifted herself up again with a tired sigh, though she didn't exit the nest. "I am untroubled, only tired." Only briefly did the owl look over Adeyemi for similar wounds though - either giving up on it or just trusting him enough not to get injured when she's not around.

She waited for him to get in, blinking unevenly. "What have you been up to, dear?"

@Adeyemi

King Adeyemi

AND THEN THE EARTH AND THE SKY, THEY ALL FIT TOGETHER
AND CARRY ME AWAY AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER

The turaco hummed at the touch, blinking slowly, dazed, before seeming to snap out of it, hopping into the nest as gently as possible. "I suppose tired is better than most possibilities, but if there is anything I can do...?" Adeyemi shifted enough to brush against the owl's legs, craning his neck to preen at a stray, dusty white wing feather. "Although I don't think you'd fancy me setting anything on fire. Not likely to help with sleeping," he mused, clicking his beak. "Unless you'd like a rather overly bright bedtime story," the king added, murmuring, tone gentle and not quite steady enough to mask his worry.

"As for what I have been doing... hm. Wandering. I stayed in Orion for a time, but a beast returned to it, and began building a... castle? A structure. I think it was hiding something inside," Adeyemi huffed, chest feathers lifting at the memory of a gigantic predator prowling about just below his perch, fleeing as soon as it had left. "Then I went to Eridanus, for food. I found... something." Here, his voice slowed to a quiet stop, and the turaco glanced away for a moment, turning back to Willow with a coo. "But it can wait. You are my priority, now and always."

There was a pause, and then a soft chortle - almost a euphoric chuckle, though it was hard to tell these kind of things with her. She listened in a relative silence, feathers fluffed up contentedly. "Don't worry yourself," she eventually said once he was finished.

She moved to rest her beak off against Adeyemi's head. "Tell me what you found in Eridanus. Try not to set anything on fire, dear."

@Adeyemi (short post 'cause my dad's kicking me off his pc lol)

King Adeyemi

AND THEN THE EARTH AND THE SKY, THEY ALL FIT TOGETHER
AND CARRY ME AWAY AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER

Adeyemi huffed back, relaxing a bit at the site of the owl's contentment. "I shall endeavor not to worry, but I can't quite get rid of my concern," he replied dryly, practically purring as Willow rested her beak on top of his head. It was times like these that truly highlighted the size difference between them - just her beak was enough to fairly cover his multicolored crest - but when it came to Willow, it didn't bother him much.

In fact, it didn't bother him at all.

The king scooted close enough to be wing-to-wing with the owl, clicking his beak contentedly and turning just enough to groom at her neck feathers. Tell me what you found in Eridanus. The words made him slow, just barely avoiding freezing entirely, and he took a moment to respond, pulling away with a soft, smoke-filled sigh. "I found... an egg. An enormous egg, easily twenty times my size." Adeyemi winced, looking away with a grimace. "It was... stuck. As I was. And though it was so large, and I knew it had to be a predator, I couldn't leave it. Not when I knew what it must have felt like, trapped and drowning in its own chrysalis."

Here, he tensed up, as if already expecting backlash for his actions. "The shell was too thick for me to break through, but eventually it broke out. It - no, he - he was just... just a baby. Like any of us. A... lion cub." The turaco's head turned back towards Willow now, eyes wide and unflinching, determined, but fear and affection made them shine in the dim light of the tunnel.

"His name is Alexander. He is my son."

Willow was silent for a moment until there came a soft rumbling sigh - more of a groan of irritation. She didn't stay long on Adeyemi's head, lifting her head away with a short and quiet hoot. "Adeyemi..." she began, but didn't continue for several moments.

She didn't want to snap at the bird she had known almost her whole life - not only would it be wholly unfair on the turaco but it would hurt her to lose him. At length, the owl peered at the turaco in her nest. She couldn't bear it, in fact. It'd kill her.

"I do not believe I will ever understand your parental needs, my dear," she spoke slowly, soft as ever but clearly attempting to hold her own voice back. "But I want you to-..."

Another pause.

"... Don't look at me like that."

@Adeyemi

King Adeyemi

AND THEN THE EARTH AND THE SKY, THEY ALL FIT TOGETHER
AND CARRY ME AWAY AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER

Adeyemi's chest feathers rose in anticipation, and his pupils flinched away just a bit, wincing at the groan, the restraint palpable in her voice. Still, she wasn't yelling, and more importantly she didn't have the thick undertone of disappointment, the one which hurt more than any flame ever could. "I won't ask you to understand, love," he murmured, focusing back on Willow with the same soft gaze. He leaned forward to hear the rest of her words, blinking at the request. It took the bird a moment to reboot, before he chuckled, glancing upwards and taking a breath as if to gather himself.

"I... apologize. I never wish to discomfort you, but I am afraid sentiment won the better of me that day. I suppose children are my weakness." The king cocked his head to blink at his companion, clicking his beak. "What were you about to say? Speak freely, my dear."