---


His quest for knowledge had brought him far, straight to the room of Cetus where there hung a strange heavy mist. He'd never seen anything like it in his short life! The owl's eyes grew even wider as he tried to peer around... and found that he couldn't. The mist was too heavy and accompanied with the darkness that pervaded the room --albeit he was able to see a bit better than most-- made it difficult to make anything out. Not matter, he would attempt this for the sake of research! There was no telling what was hidden in this room! So, he stepped forward onto the swampy, messy earth and trekked forward. Every once in a while he would stop to examine something before wandering forward to look at the next thing. It was like this that he walked deeper into Cetus at his meandering pace.

Quite suddenly though a crag seemed to jut out of nowhere, the tall point reaching impossibly high into the sky. The owl contemplated trying to reach the top but decided that his small wings weren't quite ready for even that small flight. After all, his feathers weren't yet developed for flight and his body weight seemed like it would be too much for even his small wings to flutter him to the top. Instead he kept to the muddy earth as he began to sift among the wet earth... Searching... For something... But what?


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242 | notes | @Eleanor

"Talking!"
Thinking...

It was the swamp, probably, that had changed the terrified little duckling into a Gembound who really had no concept of fear. After all, swamps were dirty, scary places, full of giant bugs and hidden creatures under the murky water. Or perhaps it was only that she was still innocent and was not aware of how horrible and cruel the world could be. Needless to say, nothing seemed to frighten the young one, even when it should. Maybe if she ever left the protection of her home, that would change, but for now, Eleanor was a fearless little Gemling who knew no wrong in the world.

So, when she came across this new bird while wandering Cetus one day, instead of feeling nervous, she simply waddled right over to him. She maintained some amount of distance just in case, for even if she was not afraid, her natural instinct as a duck was to be at least a little cautious of others. He seemed… lost, perhaps? Or maybe he’d dropped something in the muck? At any rate, he would hop along for a while, and then stop suddenly to examine something on the ground. She had no idea what he was doing, and she was certainly curious to find out.

“Hello?” she called quietly, in her soft, floating kind of voice that was slowly becoming her most-used tone. “Are you looking for something?”

Words: 234 @Tacitus @Chou (if you want)

---


The little bird continued his search. Tiny talons dug about in the muck while his eyes squinted, trying to make out something that didn't seem to be there. He continued to look and look until a voice heralded him. All at once the brown owl stopped his searching and without turning his body his head whipped around to peer back at the other avian near him. "Salutations." He greeted simply in reply. His blue eyes blinked once before he answered with an equally simple, "Specimens." Then his head whipped back around as he looked back into the wet earth. So far his "specimens" seemed to be eluding him so he figured he could take a break to conduct an interview with his fellow bird.

This time when he turned to look at her his entire body was facing her as he glanced over her form. He could just make out the faint glittering of her gemstone in the gloom and he nodded to himself softly, seemingly pleased by something. "What do I call you? Also, you are of the avian species like I am but tell me, what sort are you for I recognize that you are no owl." And he stood there, expectantly while his blue eyes stared unblinkingly at her. Ready to learn just a little bit more about what was around him.


---

225 | notes | @Eleanor

"Talking!"
Thinking...

Well, Eleanor certainly wasn’t afraid of this bird, but his manner of speech was something foreign to her. He was a baby like her (though she didn’t know that for certain) yet he spoke like someone much older. And it confused her. She opened her beak a little as she tried to follow along, making her look a bit idiotic, but she just managed to understand everything he was saying. At the end, he asked her what kind of bird she was, and she kind of jumped at the question, trying not to feel too flustered. “I — I — I’m a duck!” she finally got out, stuttering a bit and feeling her face flush in embarrassment. His big blue eyes made her feel like she was being scrutinized, and she looked down at the ground after a moment, wishing Chou were there to make her feel more confident.

Words: 147 @Tacitus

---


The young owl watched with the patience of a saint --or perhaps a certain aloofness-- as the duck seemed to be trying to follow along with his words. Really, he would never understand why the others had trouble recognizing what he meant! Was he speaking in a complicated way or something? He would never get it. Finally though she seemed to sort through his words and answered his question, to which he seemed satisfied as he gave a nod of his head and turned back away to search again amongst the muck. Her answer was stored away in his mind for later, just as he did with every new piece of information.

It seemed that he was intent on ignoring her or perhaps he'd forgotten she was there in his search. It certainly seemed as if he was intent on something as his head rotated side to side as he looked intently down at the earth. Then, he darted one foot out and attempted to grab something... but that something was some sort of weed that tangled up his foot and ended up dragging him partially into the mud with startled screech. "Assistance! Assistance, please! I am ensnared!" He beat his tiny little wings to no avail in hopes that he could free himself. His other talon reached out to try and cut at the weed but they were to small do anything! He was completely caught and being dragged further into the mud by the moment.


---

247 | notes | @Eleanor

"Talking!"
Thinking...

Nora was not expecting this sudden turn of events! No way! She had actually been perfectly content to let the owl ignore her forever if he wanted to, and had sort of turned away from him, but at his startled screech, she spun to face him again and saw that he had somehow gotten his foot tangled in a weed! And it was dragging him down into the mud! “Oh no, oh no!” the duckling cried, flapping her tiny wings in alarm. “Um… um… h-hold on!” She waddled closer to him as quickly as she could, trying to think of what to do. Should she pull on his wing and yank him out? No, no, that would hurt! Ohh, what should she do? Oh!

With sudden insight, she said in her best commanding voice (which wasn’t very good), “Hold still!” She nodded at him to try and get him to understand that she was serious, and then she bent down and, trying to avoid getting slashed by his talons, she began to pull the weed off with her beak, wiggling her head back and forth, back and forth, until it began to untangle itself.

Finally, she pulled it loose, and let go of it, tasting mud and greenery, and looked back up at the owl. “Are you okay?” she asked, rather frantically, staring at him with huge brown eyes. “D-did I hurt you?”

Words: 235 @Tacitus

---


The owl wasn't one to panic about things but with being so young and not having had a chance to properly explore the things in the world scared him senseless. He beat his tiny little wings frantically and thrashed about but only made things worse for himself. It wasn't until the small duck told him to stand still that he forced his trembling body to remain immobile, despite the uncomfortable tugging and the grime coating his body.

The duck began to use her beak to try and untangle the weed around his foot which in time finally worked. The force from the weed suddenly loosening itself from him made the tiny owlet fall back onto his tailfeathers but otherwise, he was unharmed. After examining himself and finding that he was okay the bird stood up and used his talons to brush a bit of mud from his body disdainfully. When he was done he looked back at the duck with an almost friendly look on his face. "Quite the contrary. I thank you for saving me, your quick actions have resulted in me being freed and unharmed." He spread his wings and gave a bow to her, expressing his fullest gratitude. "I am forever in your debt, if you ever need anything all you simply need to do is ask." His head rotated around one-hundred eighty degrees so that he could look her in the face. "Duck, might I have your name so that I may refer to you properly should the need arise?"


---

254 | notes | @Eleanor

"Talking!"
Thinking...

Nora was relieved when the owl said he was alright, and she blushed a little bit under her feathers when he bowed to her. And then… his entire head turned around on his neck so that he was looking at her upside-down, still bowing, with those big creepy, blue eyes. Why such a thing did not scare her to death was uncertain, but she only blinked at this turn of events and thought it odd. “I’m N—…” No, only Chou could call her that. “I’m Eleanor,” she corrected, quickly, hoping he wouldn’t notice her hesitation. “What’s your name? Also…” She studied his head and neck some more, trying to understand how he hadn’t just killed himself. “How are you turning your head like that? That’s… that’s impossible!”

Words: 128 @Tacitus

---


He watched, noting her hesitation but thinking nothing of it. Perhaps it was just a stutter or maybe she was caught off-guard by the sudden turn of events. "Eleanor." The owl rotated his head back around so he was staring at the muck again. Then, he straightened and was standing tall --or as tall as a diminutive owl could stand-- again. "The name which I go by is Tacitus." "Name" was that truly what they were? He was of the mind that they were sounds, silly sounds that they strung together and called "names".

This Eleanor then said something that intrigued him to no end. How was he turning his head? Couldn't everyone turn their heads in such a way? It only felt natural to him. The owlet blinked his eyes, confusion stamped across his face that was followed swiftly by curiosity. "I thought everyone could rotate their necks in such a fashion. Can you not?" He hopped closer, head tilted as he tried to examine the duck's own neck. "How far can you turn it? Show me." One talon was lifted up to his chin as he tapped it while pondering the conundrum.

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254 | notes | @Eleanor

"Talking!"
Thinking...