• Graded • Underneath the stars (Noth)

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 3rd Ashan, 717

"Paplo?" Finn scratched the back of his head to consider the question in full. "Well, strange ain't the right word perhaps," he chatted, "more like, different, like you!" he blurted. "Meaning no offense!" he quickly added, in case the half-bird had any second thoughts about trying roast orphan. "You see, I sort of drew his face on the chalkboard." By itself the statement appeared wholly innocent, but given the devilish little smirk that accompanied it, Noth would know that there was more to the tale. "I added some, what's the word... oh, embellishments!" The smirk now turned into a toothy grin as he was about to unveil the essence of the story. Leaning in a little bit, he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper and said, "I drew a turd on top of his head!"

Reassuming his former posture, Finn gazed out into the cave for a while as he dug through his memory of what had happened next. "The weird thing was, he didn't like it. I don't mean that he didn't like what I had tried to draw, but he started criticizing how I had drawn it. Then, he brought out this real big whip of sorts and I thought he'd try to hit me, but he said he'd have the other kids hit me instead. Weird stuff like that. And then guess what happened? He let me choose if I wanted to clean up the toilets for punishment, or go to a museum with him!" Finn let out a little laugh, clearly starting to feel more at home in the presence of the malformed Avriel. "That's what I meant with strange, he always does something unexpected. I think...I think I quite like him, but I wouldn't trust him! He probably just does whatever strikes his fancy whenever he thinks of something..."

A brief silence lingered between them and Finn started to regret his choice to decline the meal. Where his voice remained silent however, his gut betrayed with a gentle rumble. Eager to pretend he wasn't half starving, Finn was quick to answer Noth's second question.

"The orphanage is fine I suppose," he shrugged. The truth was he'd never really known anything different and had little to compare it to. "A bit dull though, which is why I wander off most of the time, which they dun' like but," he gave another shrug, "I dun' really care what they think. They make me do lotsa chores, tryna keep me close and behind the fence, but I always find my way out. There's only old Fred what guards the gate and he's got a peg leg. Dun't think he ever caught me...He does see me get in and out though, sometimes, and if I am lucky he'll forget telling the caretakers, if I am not so lucky..." he snapped his fingers in front of Noth's face and made whipping sound. "Doesn't really work though, cause if they do that, it hurts to sit and that's what they want, they want me to sit still."

His expression shifted from indifference to a frown of concern and empathy as he caught onto the meaning of Noth's last few words. "So you're one too? An orphan I mean? Why didn't you...?" It seemed a silly question at first. Obviously a monster like Noth could not possibly live a normal life amid the other children. Especially not the children of an orphanage who had very little worth fighting for except for their social ranking. Finn could already imagine it, Noth would have been laughed and sneered at, made fun of until he'd jump out of a window, trying to fly away but instead crashing into the ground below. There'd be no one at his burial, no one but the caretakers who had never wanted to take care of such a mishappen being and were now forced to stay out in the cold to bury the little shit.

Finn tried to blink the fire behind his eyes away. "I'm sorry," he said in a low voice. "It must be hard for you, if everyone thinks you're a monster..." He looked to the goose, then back to Noth, then back to the goose. How obvious it all seemed now. This Avian was not a monster, but a lonely, dejected creature with only a goose for company. His hand trembled as he reached out, still not quite sure if he Noth wasn't a man-eating monster after all, but then it was already too late, his hand rested on the monster's back and he gave a light, encouraging pat.

"So what is your name?" he asked tenatively as his hand slid away. If the bird replied, Finn would grow silent again, giving the name some thought before venture to ask the question that had been on his lips all this time. "Noth?"
he'd ask carefully, "how did you lose your other wing?"

[Noth]

Children were interesting sometimes. Typically, they were innocent of the many dangers of the world, and yet they were still fearful of the unknown, of the dark. Children knew not of serial killers or murderers, but instead were afraid of hidden monsters lurking in the shadows, and as they aged, those monsters took form as real people, became fleshed out as men of vice and sin. Children were curious, and their curiosity often made them cruel. It was not difficult to recall children tearing apart small bugs to look at their innards, or to think of them kicking at mewling kits to see how they might respond to the physical force. Some children were good, obeying the rules of their elders, and others were bad, disobeying for the sole sake of disobedience, of freedom.

Finn seemed to be of the latter set of children. His story about Paplo was humorous, and the twilight hybrid spent several trills imagining the drawing as it had been described. Admittedly, knowing exactly who Ynush was, he probably had it coming. It was not terribly surprising to hear that Paplo had decided to critique the artwork as opposed to becoming offended by it, because it fit the exact manner of strangeness that seemed to commonly be exhibited by the ancient fellow.

The way that young Finn drew towards him and whispered as though he were a fellow classmate instead of a nightmarish monstrosity he found in the woods was noted. It seemed as though he had lost much of his prior fear over the matter, and realistically, despite the occupation and acts of the Avriel, the young boy had nothing to fear from him. He found it amoral; however ironic that statement may be, to harm children, or even those who were elderly and unable to defend themselves properly. That wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t slay an elder should it somehow advance his ambitions, but he would find the act utterly detestable in other circumstances, and children were simply out of the picture. He had suffered enough as a child, and he found it anathema to subject one to similar fates.

Finn continued with his story about Paplo, mentioning that he wouldn’t trust him, to which Noth gave a nod. He himself had difficulty trusting the actor, especially since he had been caught lying before, and it was somewhat difficult to perceive him as anything other than self-centered. It could be good to have those around willing to do what needed to be done, but the selfish and the arrogant were typically not good partners, because they would betray their allies for their own nefarious gain.

The child continued with his story, discussing the nature of the orphanage and how he was subjected to chores and other acts of work. It was probably beneficial for the children to be subjected to some work environment at any early age, but he couldn’t quite shake the idea that it was a punishment for having their parents die, and he wondered whether any of the younger children suffered from the forced labor. He continued, stating that there was only a single guard by the name of Fred who kept watch of the orphanage, and that he was ineffective in his duties, apparently due to the nature of his peg leg.

It was beginning to sound like they were storing all of society’s unwanted things in a single building.

Eventually, the story ended, and the child apparently realized the meaning of his statement, questioning him as to whether or not he was an orphan as well. The hybrid simply nodded in confirmation, closing his eyes for a brief instance and remembering the man who had fathered him many Arcs ago. The boy nearly questioned why he hadn’t gone to the orphanage, and the twilight hybrid’s mind began to scramble, looking for a possible reason other than the real one as to why he wouldn’t have gone to an orphanage. He certainly wasn’t going to reveal that he had been responsible for the death of his own father, though he hadn’t considered any alternative story-lines to explain his exile into the woods.

Thankfully, the child came to his own mental conclusions, and so the question was allowed to drift away into the ether where it would never be answered. He apologized, and Noth nodded in acceptance, though reasonably they both knew that the child couldn’t have helped matters even if he had wanted to, because he hadn’t been properly conscious at the time of the event.

He mentioned how difficult it must be if everyone thought that the hybrid was a monster. Noth’s crimson eyes flickered to the boy, glaring into his own as he spoke, though his voice was calm, like a parent explaining something to a child,

“Everyone is a monster, Finn. Every person in the world seeks things that others desire, and those who oppose them become their monsters. All life as we’ve ever seen it requires sacrifice. Grass is eaten by prey, prey by predators, and predators by grass. All men are the same, all of them pigs being sacrificed in an endless cycle, all of them throwing one another into an abattoir. We are the monsters we fear.”

“I am Noth.” He spoke in response to the child’s next question. “I’m afraid that the loss of my wing is not nearly as glorious as one would hope. I was cursed by the Immortals to not have one upon my birth. The Avriel, my people, consider me an abomination for the lack of it, and seek to purge me for it.”

It was difficult considering all that he had lost, and so he promptly shifted the line of questioning towards the child once more, though his chosen subject was eerily close to one that he did not wish to discuss.
“Finn, what happened to your parents?”

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 3rd Ashan, 717

Where so many teachers had failed to hold his attention, Noth succeeded. Perhaps it was the mixture of fear and attention he commanded that caused Finn to listen intently to every word Noth crowed, or perhaps Noth had awoken a dormant philosopher in the small human.

Finn sat cross-legged next to the half-breed, his head cocked to the side and his eyes ablaze with eager learning. Every feature on his face – the twitch in his brows, the slight flaring of his nostrils, the slackening of his jaw, hinted at the quiet whirring of the machinery in his head. For a few fleeting moments, the only sound came from Vern, who waddled closer to them, curious about the new guest.

“I’ve thought that too,” he muttered eventually, “that there’s no point in any of it. But that doesn’t have to be bad.” His eyes found the Avriel again. “It means we are free to make our own point. We’re both freer than the Immortals who did that to you,” he nudged his head towards the missing wing. “They’re trapped in their domains, trapped by their purpose. We can make our own.”

A rare smile played at his lips. “Perhaps we should pity them, not ourselves.”

His insight was soon overshadowed by Noth’s final question and whatever joy had found its way to the surface soon receded back into the shadows cast on his face by the pale light of the moon and stars. Now it was his turn to look the wounded and dejected creature. “I don’t know,” the answer came. The question wasn’t a new one, he’d been asked a few times before and on every occasion, he’d followed up with confidence, adding that he didn’t care either. But this time, the lie remained stuck in his throat. “My mum left me with my sister only just after I had been born. All I know about her is what my sister has told me, and that isn’t very much. My father,” he sighed, “I don’t know anything about him. Sometimes I sit and watch people pass by and try to imagine who of them could be him.” A light tremble entered his voice, “I don’t even know what they look like, why they left me. My sis says it isn’t true, but I sometimes think they mustn’t have loved me very much.”

It was strange how easily the truth had passed his lips. To those few caretakers who knew him well, he’d always insisted that he was glad to be in their care, and that he didn’t miss or think about his parents every night before falling asleep. But now, in the presence of a stranger – a monster, no less, the veil was lifted, and the rotting resentment lingering underneath was exposed. Trills dragged on into bits of stiff silence as Finn stubbornly looked the other way but eventually, his dark eyes returned to Noth as a deep sigh rippled down his frame. “I wasn’t looking for mushrooms,” he confessed, “I just wanted to get away. I’m tired of waiting around here, hoping they’ll come back for me someday, I’m so tired of doing nothing. So tired..” his voice trailed off into a suppressed yawn.

A stern wind blew outside while dark clouds started rumbling overhead. Within bits, the sky started to weep for the sorrows of monsters and covered the entrance to the cave with a thick curtain of grey. A shiver passed through his frame. He’d been dressed for a sunny day outside, not a thick thunderstorm, nor the cool of a cave. There was only a slight hesitation as Finn leaned into Noth’s side, his head barely touching the soft feathers. If the half-bird twitched, he’d know to retreat and find a cold corner to try and sleep in, but perhaps the Avriel would allow him to sink further and further into the pillowy feathers until he was completely shielded from the elements.

“Noth?” he asked in a sleepy voice as he looked up with half-open eyes. “I think you’re the nicest monster I’ve ever met.”

OOC

Feel free to time-skip to the next day. If you do, however, Noth might notice that Finn is missing (I will still reply though, I have a plan )

[Noth]

Fear was a complicated animal, though most people did not see it in such a way. Most people thought of the emotion of fear, and immediately pictured the idea of someone encountering something truly terrifying, and of needing to either flee from the abomination, or else commit themselves to a dramatic fight against it. Some older ones thought of fear in more rational terms; the threat of losing one’s home due to financial insecurities, the constant struggle with mortality that was pitched upon each and every living being, or even the outcome of the Immortal’s war which would determine whether life as they knew it would continue forever, or else be snuffed out like an unwanted candle.

People were correct to think of fear in such gruesome ways, because history had shown countless times that that was its nature. Yet, somewhere along the line, almost everyone shuttered themselves against a reality of fear, against a truth that they did not want to admit.

Fear became adoration.

When the mortal men bent the knee to their gods, it was a sign of respect, but also a sign of fear. If they stepped out of line among those paragons of hypocrisy, then they would find themselves promptly scorched with scarring flame or imprisoned in leaking prison cells, or else simply be exterminated upon the spot for not deciding to show the proper amount of obedience to their puppet-masters. One could not think of something as beyond themselves without also thinking of it in terms of power, and the realization that they could not act against something so many times greater than themselves was, in itself, fear. The decision that people made to follow the Immortals was not one based upon the tenants of their associated philosophies, because those very Immortals seldom deigned it necessary to converse with mortal men, and yet, they were followed because they had power, and because people felt safer on the side of power than against it.

Finn had entered his cave, showcasing the clear signs of someone who was afraid of the monster they had discovered, but now? Now when the hybrid gazed upon him with his crimson glare, he found less of that terror. He had not suddenly become less frightening, though he had shared bits of his past with the boy, and had established common ground between them. Certainly, he was still a monster, but he had taken the work to plot out a course wherein the boy could side with him on matters as opposed to against him, and whom who kept their sanity would ever deny a monster in its lair?

Of course, Noth doubted that any of that registered consciously with the boy. Power structures and their social implications were oft unconscious aspects, and whilst even the hybrid recognized that he fell into the pattern, he felt far stronger when he could see it in progress.

Finn agreed with him on the subject of human nature, and the bird found a pleasant grin beginning to curl around his feathered face at the implications of that. Finn had been raised as an Etzori, which meant that he had likely had a plethora of their propaganda shoved into his mind since he was born, and the idea that he was the model child for the entire city-state was an appealing one indeed. After all, who would become the soldiers of his future city if not the children who had been raised in it?

The child told what pieces of his origin story that he knew, and the hybrid felt a sympathetic weight take hold of his heart. He too had needed to carry the burden of having no family to assist him in his passage, and the occasional thought back to Nicholas and how he must have felt at seeing the atrocities his beloved son committed were enough to make him miserable for several breaks at a time. That guilt had lessened as time passed, but the hybrid knew that pieces of it would always be part of him, just as Finn’s being abandoned would always be part of him. People were not pieces of pottery that could be shaped and molded so readily, but were instead like the glinting glass which came out of a forge. They could be reshaped from their original molds, surely, but it would require a passing through the crucible to accomplish.

Noth simply nodded to the sad story, offering a sympathetic pat upon the shoulder to the young boy as he finished. He elicited a loud sigh, and promptly revealed that he had not been searching the forest for mushrooms as he had previously stated, but had instead simply needed to retreat from the orphanage and from the sensation of waiting that had apparently grown there. The twilight hybrid could certainly understand needing to leave a location so as to avoid drudging up an unpleasant memory. After all, he had abandoned interaction with Etzos for several Arcs so that he would not have to be anywhere near where his father had… fallen.

Inspiration struck the hybrid, and he voiced the thought in an instant.
“Finn. If ever you need a place to get away for a while, you need only send word, and I will escort you from the edge of the woods to here or somewhere else.” It was the offer of a favor, and it carried with it the unspoken agreement of a returned assistance at some later point.

Outside, the sky gave birth to a storm, and it began to blow rather harshly in its throes, covering the entrance of the cave in a dreary fog as it began to pour forth from above. There was a sensation of pressure and warmth at his right side, and the surprised Avriel glanced down to see the human child gradually leaning into him, as though he were a pillow, or perhaps its parent.

For all the drama that his life entailed, and for all of his thoughts, the boy was still a boy, and it seemed the rainstorm had lulled him off into a state of sleepiness. With an instinctive sigh, the hybrid allowed his sole black wing to stretch out from its resting place, and wrap around the boy, protecting him from any stray winds or droplets of water that managed to shoot far enough back into the cave so as to disrupt his sleep. His final words before he drifted off were sentimental, and the hybrid spent many moments pondering upon his situation, and the choices he had made throughout his life. He thought of all the pain and suffering he had brought about, of the evil he had partaken in for the sake of a good future, of a future without war or hunger or disease. He thought of those he had sacrificed, and those he would sacrifice for the purpose of building that future, a future with a glimmer of light built on the foundations of darkness.

As the child slept, the hybrid finally came to his conclusion:
“Alas, we kind monsters are the worst of them all.”

He himself drifted off to sleep like that, his feathered appendage wrapped around the boy like a mother hen does to protect its chicks, and he slumbered far easier than he had in quite some time.

When dawn came, he found that the warmth at his side had vanished from existence, and he questioned briefly whether he had ever been real at all before he began his morning ritual of getting up, and setting whatever passed for meat to cook for breakfast.

[Finnegan O'Connor]

Finn O'Connor

:: 3rd Ashan, 717

There was only a light ripple in Noth's feathery skin, light enough to trust the full weight of his head against the bird's side as his eyelids grew heavy. The onset of rain drowned out the crackling fire that Noth kept near the mouth of his cave, but his quietly cawed promise still reached Finn's ears, just before he dozed off. "I'd like that," he muttered as his mind was gently dragged into Emea, "I'd like to come back." The voice that had urged him to stay as far away as possible from his feathery friend lisped a final warning into his ear before it too grew silent.

While his spirit wandered into the wilds of Emea, his body slumped further into the monster's pillowy side. At first his breath was cold and ragged, but when the blanket of feathers shielded his back, the heaving and falling of his chest turned to gentle lapses, like waves on an ocean of dreams.

--

He awoke to the prickle of Sunlight in his eye. Out here, the twin suns were not kept at bay by curtains and the sounds of the wilderness reached his ear unfiltered. Dazed, he stirred, his eyes blinking against the pale light of dawn. His legs were stiff from having rested on cold rock, but his head and back fared better, pressed into the finest covers an orphan could wish for. A surge of cold horror struck his frame and formed a fat lump in his belly. He'd slept on the lap of a monster! He turned his head toward the beast, expecting naught but a flash of crimson eyes before the sharp beak would bite into his throat and rip his adam's apple from-

It was just Noth. His eyes were still closed. He seemed at peace.

Gently, not wishing to disturb the hybrid, Finn untangled himself and slipped out of Noth's protective hold. His belly grumbled and for the shortest of trills, his eyes wandered over to the sleeping Vern, that loyal beast.

"Never," he promised under his breath. How could he even think that, after all the kindness Noth had shown him. Perhaps he was right, perhaps all people were monsters at heart.

Still drunk with sleep, he stretched himself and let out a long yawn while his lungs filled with fresh morning air. The fire near the entrance was reduced to a mere smoulder, nowhere near warm enough to cook or bake anything on. A moment later he headed out of the cave and only returned a dozen bits later, carrying a small pile of dead branches in his arms.

"I thought I'd bring you this," he said with a smile as he put down the gathered supplies at the edge of the entrace. "For your fire," he added rather needlessly. "I can find my way back now that it's light again. If I am lucky I can still sneak into my bed before breakfast." He froze then, unsure how to say goodbye to the cave monster. In the end, he settled on a little wave and a toothy smile before turning around. He was thankful Noth was unable to see how his expression soured as he looked to the road back toward the orphanage. He set off then, with a light skip in his step, but not before glancing once more over his shoulder before he vanished around a corner.

"Thanks!" his voice echoed amid the trees.

[Pegasus]

Finn

Overview

Oh I love Finn's reactions here! I chortled aloud a few times, especially when he was worried about Noth maybe trying the taste of Roast Orphan! You've crafted a really good thread here between the two of you and your half of it was honest, funny and poignant too. Your thoughts of what Noth's like would have been like in Finn's orphanage was very sweet, and his conclusion about Noth being a lonely chap was very beautifully portrayed. I quite agree, Noth is the nicest monster

Points

XP: 15

Devotion: Nope
Fame: None

Loot

Nope

Knowledge

Endurance: Seeking Shelter To Outlast The Cold
Animal Husbandry: Trying To Lure A Goose With Sounds
Persuasion: My Friend Ollie Is Fatter And Tastier To Eat
Persuasion: Eat The Goose Instead Of Me
Tactics: Sometimes It Better Not To Flee
Deception: Lying About Not Being Hungry To Avoid Food Poisoning
Storytelling: A Funny Story About Paplo Ynush
Philosophy: Mortals Are Freer Than Immortals
Stealth: Leaving Noth's Cave Unnoticed

Noth: Monster Living In A Cave Outside Of Etzos
Noth: Cursed By The Immortals
Noth: Nicest Monster In Idalos
Vern: Noth's Guardian Goose

Please make sure that your review request is marked as complete! If I haven't done it, you can do that by putting my review stamp on it!
Your review request is: here!
Review stamp:

Code: Select all

    [center][img]/gallery/image.php?album_id=39&image_id=7925[/img][/center]

Noth

Overview

Oh, Noth, your writing is beautiful. From the opening line, you have me entranced by the way you craft words. The way that you portray Noth is very good, he gave me chills with his calmness and agreement with Finn here and there. The way that he spoke was truly spooky and intimidating, you managed to get that across so very well, as always. I'm a big fan of your writing (although it's hard to read on your boxcode) and this was a lovely thread which showed a moment where Noth made a friend.

Points

XP:15

Devotion: None
Fame: +2 (act of kindness)

Loot

None

Knowledge

Detection: Listening for footfalls
Detection: Vern is an Alarm
Intimidation: Sneaking up on people heightens fear
Intimidation: Restricting Escape Routes
Psychology: Orphans feel unloved
Psychology: All men are monsters
Leadership: Finding Common Ground
Leadership: Changing others opinions on life

Finn: Orphan from Etzos
Finn: Misses his family
Finn: Trusts You Inexplicably

Please make sure that your review request is marked as complete! If I haven't done it, you can do that by putting my review stamp on it!
Your review request is: here!
Review Stamp:

Code: Select all

    [center][img]/gallery/image.php?album_id=39&image_id=7925[/img][/center]