In a world of infinite fluff and comfort came a chill on the ferret's whiskers as a gentle breeze threatened his warm cozy dreaming world with the light of the trial. As he came around, his eyelids betrayed him to the sky through a ruffling of feathers. "MMMmmmm....." He groaned as he struggled against the approaching trial that forced light into his eyes like wedges of wood forced into the great oak being felled... He smacked his lips as he turned away from the offensiveness of what approached in an attempt to avoid giving in to the second thing that pressed his mind to wake... Food.
Then, all of a sudden, his warm and comfy world was stripped away as
Mrs Mistoffelees
stood and moved away from the ferret where she had been sheltering him during their shared slumber.The air was crisp and bit at the gaps in his fur, his nose stinging as he placed a hand over it to shield it and his eyes from the onslaught. His body ached as he tried to move and his lungs were still gravelly as he coughed, giving off a wince of discomfort as he did so.
The mighty mallard waddled over to the ledge of what appeared to be some kind of balcony and began lapping from a puddle of water to refresh itself.
Not quite fully aware of his surroundings yet, the ferret didn't notice the limp of the Duck or the state of his leg as he attempted to sit and wake himself from what felt like the sleep of the dead. "Uhhhhhgggg. So bright. Where are we?"
"Well, you were under a duck's butt at the top of Saiore's Dream... Now, you're just at the top of Saiore's Dream." Replied
Joe
with an expression of great relief to see his friend awake and mostly well."Saiore's Dream? 'ow?" He rubbed his leg with an experimental gesture to test how likely it was it would take any weight. The damaged seemed to be superficial... Lukily.
"Mrs Mistoffelees. She flew up here. Took you with her and then bedded down on top of you until you woke up just now." He said, with enormous gratitude, aimed squarely at their foul hero.
Winston looked at the bird, still tipping its head back as swallowing gulps of water in the bright morning light. He turned to find his
pack
still hanging from him, though a little bettered, and collected it up to fetch the gauntlet of his swim amor.
"Saved meh again a?" He said to the duck as he placed on the gauntlet and prepaired to unburden himself of some pains using its healing beam
."I really dislike this habit you are forming..." The Diri chastised as the healing took affect on the Cadouri's leg. "...You are drowning entirely too often for my liking and ignoring my sensible advice even more."
Having solved the discomfort issue in his leg by healing the cuts and bruises he'd sustained, he turned back to his pack to get some food. "Well, we cun see about de droning, but me sarry ef yuh feel like me ignar yuh, Joe. Me really don't..." He produced some bread and held it out towards the giant duck.
Joe pulled an 'sure you don't' expression as he replied. "Well, it certainly does not FEEL like you pay my good advice much attention." He floated to one side as the duck limped back towards the breakfast on offer.
This time, Winston did notice the limp and immediately donned an expression of concern as he turned to stand. "Yuh 'urt?" He began, his arm dropping as the distraction freed him from the thought of feeding the animal.
As the food was 'retracted' the duck stopped, its eagerness replaced with disappointment and mild concern. "Qua-qua-qua-qua..." It chuffed in a firm, yet unthreatening way...
The ferret had no idea what this meant, but looked down at the food and then at the creature's leg... "Oh-key. Yeh. Af cars. Yuh cun 'ave all me bread, noh prablem." He said, almost to himself as he held the bread out again to encourage the bird to approach again, distracting it from the idea that anything was wrong.
As it waddled forward, it was clear its left leg was hurt and as it confidently took the ferret-sized loaf of bread in one big gulp, Winston easarly got more bread and began healing the bird with his gauntlet, letting out a few soothing words as he did. "Dere we goh... Me bet dat feels betta, noh? Me gat a lat mar bread where dat came frame. Angela cun always get os some mar, me shar." The duck ate it's rather considerable fill and quickly began to pic up in it's mood as its leg was repaired by the beams.
It knocked against the ferret's head with the side of its bill as it them moved over to the far side of the 'balcony' again to stretch its wings and flap, sending up a cloud of feather down and dust it its wake. The gesture seemed kind and with his saviour finally fit and fed, he set about grabbing himself some food and drink from his pack. "MMMmmmm... A baked meaty neva tasted soh gud." He said with a smile as he looked out over the ledge, which until now, had prevented him from taking in the full view.
It was spectacular, the many spired rooftops of Saiore's Dream climbing into the sky around them like stalagmites reaching into the heavens, a magnificent edifice of learning that pierced the sky itself. Each of its towering 'arms' were adorned with intricate carvings and glistening with the light of the sun as the brisk Ashen morning probed its every corner.
From his rooftop he could behold the grandeur of Saiore's Dream in all its splendor. The main structure rising like a monolith of knowledge, its walls seemed to shimmer in the daylight. Archways and balconies adorned its exterior, offering glimpses of the scholarly activity that thrived within.
Within lay the heart of Saiore's Dream, a vast library containing tomes of ancient wisdom, scrolls of forgotten lore, and manuscripts penned by scholars long gone... "DE BOOK!!!" He yelled in sudden surprise as his foggy memory began to return to him. He turned to his pack and summoned the
Grimoire of Things
from the depths of Chest
... Ever before had he anticipated something from Chest so much as finally it appeared from the bag. He smiled so much his head might split clean in two. "Et's really, really real." His eyes were sparkling with renewed anticipation. Saiore's Dream was not merely a repository of knowledge, it was also a place of learning and discovery. Within its halls, students from far and wide gathered to study under the tutelage of esteemed mentors, delving into the mysteries of magic, history, and philosophy. But atop that rooftop, he was alone with a duck, diri and a perhaps bottomless repository of knowledge and nothing to distract him.
"We 'ave tuh get back tuh Chest... Are get chest op 'ere..."
"Up HERE?!" Repeated Joe in disbelief.
"Yeah, oh-key, oh-key. Per'aps nat up 'ere, noh." He giggled as he turned the book in his hand before placing it back into his pack and standing once more. "Me REALLY need tuh get some rest though first."
"Finally. Some sense. Yes, lets get back home and take a few trials to rest and recover, yeah?" Suggested Joe, ready to start the way home immedeatly.
The ferret chuckled. "Oh Joe, lets rest here and enjoy the view a while. Yuh neva know when yuh might next get de chance."
The spirit eyed him suspiciously as he wondered over to the edge of the ledge and hopped up and dangled his legs over the edge of the roof, letting them swing gently. "Fine, but no excitement and absolutely no adventures. OK?"
Winston just smiled as he produced the booked from his pack again and opened it to the first page, quill in hand. "No harm in doing a little reading while we relax." With which, he requested of the book, what it knew of Ensorcelling Magic.
Breaks came and went as he casually grazed on snacks from his pack and read the pages of the book as the sun rose over the island of Faldrass and people came and left like ants on the ground far below. "...et's usin' a Well tuh open op a reserve af etha en de mage..." His words were laced with intrigue. "Me never seen anyting like et, Joe. Look Misty..." He continued, tilting the current page covered is glyphs and circles towards the duck which he had already dubbed 'Misty' for short. "Et shows sometin' called Sovereign dat cun move tings wid noting bot yuh mind. Cun yuh imagine et Joe? No SPARK."
The diri could NOT imagine it... Mostly because doing so terrified him and thinking about it just made him increasingly worried for the safety of his ward. Desperate to distract him from the book, he spent some time for an excuse to distract the ferret from the book.
Floating around the lofty heights of Saiore's Dream, he returned with news of something shiny. "...me wonda wat dem ting in de wata were?"
He queried of the duck beside him.
"QUACK" Replied the duck.
"Yeah, I don't know eith... Oh! Joe. Hay."
The diri smiled knowingly. "I have found something." He proclaimed vaguely.
The ferret looked over the top of the book, having almost finished reading the section on how to focus the wells into the body for the third time. "Oh? Wat's dat den?" He asked, suspicion lining his tone as he probed for more information.
The diri cocked an eyebrow. "I'll tell you as long as you promise to go back to chest after." The ferret considered the offer for a moment as his companioned smiled innocently at him.
"Oh-key, boit et betta be gud."
"I thyink there is or has been a minor fracture around here at some point." He teasted, with the expression of the car that got the cream. "But you gotta promise to go back home after we find it, ok?"
The ferret's eyebrows rose in sudden interest as he lowered the book. "Oh?! Deal!" He proclaimed as he closed the book and immediately placed it safely away inside his pack again.
After a few moments to fetch and equip
his swim armour
and a weightlessness chew
, he was ready to go. It was growing increasingly disengenousoue to call the his blue aumore 'swim' armor, as he far more regularly used it to fly, but nonetheless, without further a thought, he gave it an experimental burst of water, which ran down the side of the roof of Saiore's Dream and set off.Focussing, as agreed,
the diri used his magic sense to find what he had sensed
. As they flew around, the duck had decided to follow them, which for Winston was no both, but as the duck could not hover as easily as he could, he decided to follow and fly with the duck. He had to give the duck a lot of space, as it was considerably better at flying than he was and he often caused more disruption then his did help.It became apparent that Mrs Mistofolese needed places to land between stops. Unable to hover, this additional pre-planning was something the ferret was not great at, but the duck seemed to do out of instinct.
It took a little while for the Diri and the ferret to locate the location of what had been sensed, but as they arrived and Joe pinpointed the sources, to the ensorcellor's great delight, up here in the direct glow of the sun, had formed clusters of Glowstone. "Joe, mun! Nice one! We cus use deese far Mr Woe Sir's shield." He exclaimed with a bright smile. "Let's get these and head back to chest. We can use one to become a mage..."
"Cool...Wait, what?..."
With that, the three companions began collecting the wells that were dotted across the rooftops of Saiore's Dream and, with an entirely new reason to be concerned for the future, the diri set about trying to dissuade the ferret from playing with magic...
