Private Tales Crash Landings

[Celestia]

No one knew she had snuck down with a patrol of Avariel away from the Spine. She had been given a strict curfew by her father, and she managed to find her way out. She had decided at once that she would leave home once and for all. All her life she had been curious about the world below, and she repeatedly tried to join those that were sent on missions and combat below. However, the opportunity was stolen from her time and time again.

She hadn’t even packed anything, and she simply decided to follow down in the trails of the Overseers that were sent to scout around the dwarven city. There were reports of skirmishes taking place there as some rogue human clans wanted to loot Belgrath for its riches. The activity brought war a bit too close for comfort to the spine, and that was within Avariel borders.

Celestia was accidentally caught up in the chaos, having dipped down in her flight much lower than anticipated. She couldn’t risk being seen by others of her kind, and it meant she was wholly distracted during the fighting.

As a result, she had taken a ballista bolt through one of her wings. The pain was excruciating, and it sent her spiraling down to the ground below. The battle took place far away and no one saw where she went down, and she slammed down behind a few boulders.

She was lying in a pool of her blood, fingers clutching at the grass. As consciousness began to leave her, she could only think of how the dewey grass felt between her fingers. These were little terrains that didn’t exist up where she lived, and there was something so unique about the texture.

A smile faintly appeared on her face as her vision blurred and she soon knew no more. She had been left to die, and it would be a very long time before anyone realized she was missing.

 

[Alak Rasivrein]

Whether it was Celestia's fortune or misfortune that led Alak to her was up for debate. News of the tribes moving through the dwarven city had reached Alak and he'd come out to see what he could gather. He'd quickly discovered the only way people would look the other way at his skin was if he greased a great many palms. For that, he needed money. If he could gather even a small portion from the city or loot the tribes that would make the whole trip worth it.

When a full clash had erupted, the sounds had awoken Alak from his sleep and forced him out of the caves of the small mountain. He squinted against the sun. No matter how long he spent on the surface, that ball of fire was a curse and no one would ever convince him otherwise.

His disdain was quickly erased by fascination and surprise. His eyes widened as he saw some sort of otherworldly being swooping down in the fight. He watched the violence unfold for several minutes, perplexed and confused. In all his schooling he'd never even heard mention of creatures like this. There was so much that he didn't know, but his curiosity was piqued.

His mind churned over how to exploit this new development when he saw one of the beings plummet from the sky. She wasn't the first of the day, but she was the first to land so far from the fight... and so close to the dark elf.

Seizing his opportunity, he strapped his sword on and headed in the direction of the creature's descent. It didn't take long before he found her. She looked to be a young woman, but with... wings. He frowned and noted the pools of blood around her, wondering if she would bleed out without intervention.

We can't be having that, he thought to himself. Where had she come from? Another realm? Did they have riches? Power?

He reached out and placed a hand over her injury, muttering a quiet incantation as the small jewel on his chest began to glow dimly. It took several minutes, but the flesh began to slowly mend together. With their distance from the battle he wasn't incredibly concerned about being found, but the idea still lingered in the back of his mind. He wondered how long it would take her to wake.

 

[Celestia]

It was a few more moments before Celestia stirred, groaning from the pain. Her vision slowly began to piece together, and she saw nothing but green at once. Her fingers once again clutched the blades of grass, and she felt the throbbing ache from her wing. She knew at once she wouldn’t be flying anytime soon, and it hurt to try and move the appendage even a little.

She slowly lifted her head, pressing her hands on the ground and turned to inspect the wing. When she saw a figure there, she jerked up in shock, sending another wave of pain through her body. Celestia cried out and winced, eyes watering from the agony. She slowly opened her eyes again, staring at the curious figure.

Celestia hadn’t made any direct contact with the dwellers below, and she was breaking countless rules of her people. The figure in question didn’t fit the profile of any of the species she had been taught about. Dark skin? Strange eyes? White hair?

“What...are you?” She grumbled quietly, still trying to pull away from him. She could see her own blood staining the grass, her skin pale from the loss. She choked out the words in a broken version of the surface tongue, hoping he understood her.

One thing was for certain - if he had intended to kill her, he would have done so already. The thought made her relax slightly, and she collapsed back on the ground, breathing heavily. She wasn’t supposed to be seen, and now here she was out in the open and vulnerable. Celestia was at the mercy of this being she never learned about in all her teachings.

 

[Alak Rasivrein]

Alak was impatient and had quickly become bored waiting for her to awaken. He'd gone through her pockets in the meantime but hadn't found much of interest. He'd decided he would have to actually wait for her to wake up to receive his answers. Oh the horror!

When she finally started to stir, he watched all her movements carefully. He noted the thick accent she had, but immediately knew that he had no leg to stand on. His basic was fine but not as fluid as many of the surfacers. This was one more thing that always ended up causing him problems when trying to "blend in" with other people.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours, he said glibly in response to her question. He noted, however, that the fact that she didn't know what he was - and by extension where he came from - was certainly a good thing.

I'm an elf, he said as a half-truth. And you? he asked.

I've never seen your people before, but you certainly took a nasty fall from the battle. You're not a dwarf, but you defended a dwarven city, he said, not clear whether it was a statement or a question. He knew as little about her as she knew about him.

 

[Celestia]

Celestia couldn’t help but scowl at the response. He certainly didn’t have too much of an accent when he spoke, and that meant he dwelled in these realms. She didn’t buy much of what he said, and she remained quiet for a moment. After a few seconds, she slowly propped herself to sit up, groaning in pain with every movement.

“You….no elf,” She said as a matter of factly, glaring at him. He didn’t fit the picture whatsoever of any of the elves she had studied. Her gaze roamed over his skin and moved up to linger on his hair, “Don’t know what you are...but not elf,” She declared before pausing a moment, "I'm...Avariel.." She didn't have the extensive vocabulary required to explain her race or way of her people, and she hoped he wouldn't ask.

Celestia thought back to his comments and shook her head, “I don’t defend dwarves,” She sighed, “I take no sides. I came...observe...got hit,” She spoke slowly, cursing herself for not being fluent in the language. It was ironic that she was a healer, and yet she was too drained to tend to her own wounds.

A glance towards her wing showed the gash having mended quite a bit. She peered at it for a moment before concluding that it couldn’t have done that on its own. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she glanced up at the ‘elf’, “You...fixed?” She couldn’t think of the word for ‘heal’, “...Why?”

 

[Alak Rasivrein]

Well it had been worth a shot. She didn't know what elves were, but she knew enough to know he wasn't one. That was just so typical of his luck. Everyone alway assumed he was up to no good. Of course... he never was up to any good, but still.

You take no sides, eh? he said, quirking an eyebrow curiously. Well your people certainly seemed to take sides at least, he said with a shrug. It was a simple attempt to hide the burning curiosity he had about what had actually been happening in the battle.

I'm Alak, he said. And yes, I fixed it, he said. When she asked why, he wasn't sure what to say. Curiosity mostly and other mostly-ignoble intentions.

Would you prefer that I didn't? he asked with a smirk. Call me curious. I haven't seen your people before, he said and then quickly frowned as if having a realization.

You were just watching? Why? You weren't part of the attack force? he asked, now even more curious about her story and how she'd ended up here. She wasn't supposed to be in the battle but had still been wounded? Odd.

 

[Celestia]

Celestia didn’t have an answer as he asked if she preferred he didn’t heal her. She simply grimaced in response, realizing she couldn’t exactly get away from him. When he mentioned her own people had gotten somewhat involved, there was surprise in her eyes. Overseers weren’t supposed to get caught up in battle, and they weren’t engaged while she had been conscious. What had happened to cause that?

“You saw… my people attack?” She couldn’t hide the surprise from her voice. She sat up urgently, wondering what this meant. Either Avariel had always engaged in battle and she never knew it, or this was a whole new line that had been crossed, “We not supposed to...do anything with people down here,” She muttered quietly, “We only watch and keep them away from Spine.”

She dodged his question about her own personal intentions, unsure how to explain that she had come down separate from the Overseers. After a moment, she slowly began to stand, straining to move. The wings hung heavily, and the injured one dragged close to the ground. Celestia used a boulder to prop herself up, glancing up at the skies beyond which her home lay, “I can’t go back,” She said quietly, “I need to learn of this world...and live in it,” Celestia tilted her head to look at the ‘elf’. This was certainly not how she intended her abandoning her people playing out...

 

[Alak Rasivrein]

Alak had never even known that the sky people were apparently out there. Now, not only did he find out they were out there, but apparently just watching. That was creepy, right? What kind of magic did they have that might allow them to watch without being seen. Were they here now? The thought made him uneasy, and he found himself casting an involuntary glance over his shoulder. He wasn't sure he wanted to stay here much longer.

When she mentioned she wasn't going to go back to her people, he was caught off guard once again. This day was just full of surprises. He couldn't help but relate to the feeling, however. He hated his people and wouldn't ever want to go back to them. He couldn't help but wonder what it was that had driven her out of her home.

Well, with the fight nearby, we'd better not stick around, he said. Of course, where to go would be all the more difficult. With two giant wings sticking out of her back, it wouldn't exactly be easy blending in.

There's a small village east of here. We could get some supplies and figure out where you want to go, he said. Perhaps it was the fact that he had been in a similar situation not all that long ago that caused him to want to help out. That and the fact that it cost him very little at the moment.

Can you walk? he asked, assuming the wing still wasn't going to be ready for anything more at the moment.

 

[Celestia]

Celestia paused to survey her wound for a moment before hearing what the ‘elf’ had to say. She turned to him, confusion clear on her face, “‘We’?” She queried, clearly surprised that he was willing to let her tag along. She had been taught that earth dwellers were extremely hostile and suspicious, and they certainly couldn’t be trusted. Celestia wasn’t even sure he had told her exactly what he was, and now he was speaking of some village nearby.

“Is this...elf village?” She asked suspiciously. Her eyes lingered briefly on his pointy ears. While his initial appearance had startled her, the ears were unmistakably elf. He was actually even pleasant to look at - another feature she had read about elves. Realizing she was holding the gaze for far too long, she quickly looked away, taking a few steps to gain her footing.

“I can walk, lead way….please,” The last word was something she had learned was a polite one to tag onto sentences when dealing with earth dwellers. Celestia was slightly lopsided from one of her heavy wings almost dragging the ground, but she could still manage to walk.

She took a few steps before bursting into a series of sneezes. Her eyes were red and she looked miserable, wiping her face, “Not...used to air...down here..” Her face turned red from embarrassment. She was only accustomed to the crisp, fresh air high up in the clouds and everything down here had far more pollutants.

Celestia began to follow his lead, miserably sneezing and wheezing the entire time.

 

[Alak Rasivrein]

Alak chuckled slightly as she questioned the "we." He was so unused to people actually speaking to him for this long. It was, of course, only a matter of time before she figured out what he was and fled too, but that didn't concern him yet. She was either as innocent as she seemed or she was impeccable at playing her role. He noticed that she kept looking at him when she thought he wasn't looking and suppressed the smile to himself.

No, human village, he said. He knew how they'd respond to his presence, and he couldn't imagine they would like her much more.

They... may not be too fond of us, he said.

Only time would tell, but humans weren't often what Alak would consider "open-minded" toward people who were different.

As she started sneezing and swelling, he looked back. Combined with the dragging of her wing she looked quite miserable.

It's the plants, he said, pointing to the plants around them and suddenly wondering where and how she had come here.

So... do you not have plants from where you're from? he asked with a frown. And for that matter, where are you from? he followed up.