Fate - First Reply I Do Not See You For What You Are

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”Yes, a Watcher, I make sure our Elders know as much as possible before making a decision.”

A simplified answer, but a good enough one she supposed. Where all had she been? That one might be harder.

”Our city, Thyasari, is in the clouds.” Leilani spread her wings wide and pointed upwards to the heavens. ”For a time I wasn’t permitted to travel beyond The Spine.”

The great mountain ridge of Arethil which housed the Avariel’s floating city was well charted by her people.

”In recent years though we have opened our borders. I’ve been to the Iuk-‘u Delta, the Blightlands, and throughout the Allir Reach.” And now she found herself charting the Wilds. Conversing with a giant who chewed upon flowers.
 
There were a lot of words in her response. It prompted another scratch of his head from the information. He did his best to process it, but many humanoid ongoings were just simply not things he understood. What Flowers appreciated about the way she talked was that she didn't speak to him like he was a dumb animal. She'd answered him thoroughly and he grasped most of it, even if some of the actions were not something he understood.

There was something scratching at the back of his mind. The Blightlands. That place. He knew that place. But why did he know it? Why did it prick his memory as if to tell him something?

"Thhhaaattt issssss a grreeattttttt deaaaallll offf traveeeellll." He said while picking up another bushel of flowers. This time handing them towards Leilani.

"Whaaatttt didddd youuuu seeee innnn the Bllllliiiaaaiiiitt laaaandssss?"
 
  • Wonder
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”I travel fast.”

It was true. The Avariel were well known for their flight. Other races of Arethil had even dismembered their children centuries ago in a futile effort to understand the cause of the wings. And Leilani had been one of the swiftest flyers of her generation.

”In the Blightlands?” Her voice dripped with curiosity. Why was he interested in the Blightlands? ”A lot of orcs. And tribes of orcs. They’re a lovely people but it’s not the most beautiful scenery I’ve witnessed.”

She made a point of looking around at the lovely bouquet of flowers that her new friend had sprouted.
 
Orcs. Why did he know orcs. Had he seen them before? Had they visited? It wasn't making much sense to him. It didn't seem possible to remember something but to not know anything about it. The thought of that concept was actually beginning to make Flowers' head hurt from considering it so much. Something was wrong. Missing. He didn't know what to do about it.

Flowers gripped at his head, emitting a low rumble.

"Whyyyyy doooo I knnooooowwww theemmmmmmm."
 
  • Nervous
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Odd.

Maybe she'd spoken too much? Given him a headache? Some of the older Avariel had teased her for being too verbose but she'd always just dismissed it as playful banter. Maybe her voice truly was so grating as to illicit severe head trauma?

"Oh." She said finally as he spoke. He was confused, not in pain. At least she assumed that was the case. "Orcs? They have green skin. Typically they form tribes but there are a few orcish cities in the Blightlands." The most notable of which being Molthal.

The wilds weren't too far from orcish territory so it wasn't impossible that he'd interacted with the creatures.
 
"Noootttt theeeemmmm. Theeee laaannnnddssssss."

Was it a poem, a song or a hymn? Something that had followed him? A whisper on the winds of a place he'd never been. Or had he? Had he seen? The home of the orcish just on a smallish whim? Perhaps a visit, just for sights, a fateful encounter for a fateful night.

"Whyyyyyyy?"

Flowers looked distraught. Something was amiss in the giant's understanding. He did not do very well with new developments if they did not immediately make sense to him. And in this moment, he seemed to have a memory of this place. Yet, there was nothing in his head that indicated his presence had ever been there. In fact, he couldn't even picture what the place looked like.

With a thundering crash, the behemoth sat upon the ground in dismay. He held both hands to his head and shook it back and forth.

"I haaaaveee a meememmmmorrrryyy thhhaaatttt neeevveerrr waaaaassssss?"
 
Almost immediately Leilani could tell that something was wrong. The body language of the beast before her seemed to change, his demeanor shifted.

Then, with a loud boom, he sat upon the earth and began shaking. Holding both hands upon his head.

In a start the Avariel jumped in surprise.

”Hey, hey, it’s alright,” she said in as calm of a voice as she could muster, ”everything is fine. Just relax. Breathe slowly.”

Truthfully she wasn’t equipped at dealing with her own people when they suffered from panic attacks but she had to try something for the poor thing.
 
A flash of song, is something wrong? Is this diversion something you will prolong? A prophet here, a scholar there, neither one knows or cares. How is it then, you beast of awe, that you've walked into the devil's own maw? Cry not now, nor later on, all the things you loved are gone.

His breathing grew uneven as his head swam in circles at the revelation that something was wrong. He could not explain it, it didn't make sense. He dreaded it. This lack of knowledge for his own woe. Flower's heart hurt but he could not decipher why.

Amiss, adrift, bituminous. Born from ichor and father's dreams.

"Stooooppppp. Whhhhaaaattt isssss thiiiissss soooooonnngggg?"

He'd all forgotten that Leilani was beside him. A misstep he would never take. Yet the mention of that place, The Blightlands, seemed to have done him ill. The melody that played in his mind. He recognized not the voice or the tune of it. He had no idea where it came from.
 
  • Nervous
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Leilani tensed and cursed quietly to herself as the creature seemed even less stable than he had before. Why'd she have to land? Why did she have to leave the safety of the sky?

"I don't hear any song," she tried to reason, "just calm down Flowers, there isn't any song."

The avariel took a few terse steps away from the towering beast before her, worried now that he might accidentally harm her. "Everything is fine."

She kept insisting in the calmest voice she could that there wasn't any sort of music or song going on. Her wings fluttering behind her with feathers rippling just in case she needed to take off in a hurry. Perhaps she'd made a mistake to land but there wasn't a chance she was going to leave the poor thing to suffer in whatever delusion he was going through. Unless, of course, her own life felt truly in danger.
 
DO NOT LISTEN TO HER.
I AM THE SONG YOU SEEKED.
YOU LEFT ME TO FUCKING DIE.
WHO KNEW DEVILS COULD BE SO WEAK?
​
Something was so wrong. Incomprehensibly so. Flowers had no way of expressing what was occurring to him. This dark poetry that began to manifest in his head was no illusion, as it had responded to Leilani, despite her being unable to hear the insides of Flowers' skull. He felt vulnerable and scared. Why was this happening to him?

Had he lost his mind after centuries of wandering? But hadn't things just been fine? Better than fine, actually. He'd been having an amazing time talking with this winged woman. Watcher. That's what she'd said, right?

Focus on anything but the words in his head. That's all he had to do to come back.

"Leaayyyylahhhhnnnneeeiii."

He tried to say her name right.

"Teelllll meeeeee abbboouuuttt yooouurrr peeeeeopppllleeee..."

It was a bizarre request in his state, he knew that. But he had to hear something else. Anything else than this thundering declaration that he had abandoned someone. The song had warped.

BORN OF SCUM FROM LAND OF BLIGHT.
YOU SWORE YOU WOULD LEAD ME HOME.
NOW YOU WALK THOUSANDS OF MILES.
YOU DESERVE TO BE ALONE.

Leilani Taevas​
 
  • Nervous
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Leilani blinked a few times, clearly aware that something had shifted. Something was off.

But he'd made a simple request, nothing too startling or odd about it. The dark winged elf had no qualms speaking of her people, of who they were. Within reason, of course, there were things her people still didn't trust outsiders with.

And, perhaps, just talking would ease his nerves. Relax whatever it was that had taken over him.

"We are the avariel. Winged elves with an affinity for magic. Our history tells us that we once held a vast empire with our home city of Thyasari as its capital." She swallowed, considering how much more to say, contemplating if she should reconsider taking flight, "something happened to us. Long ago. We've lived mostly in isolation since then."
 
Flowers did all he could to listen to the words of Leilani. It was helping. It was drowning the sounds of this vile song that had perched itself at the top of his mind.

UGLY, TWISTED, FOUL THING YOU ARE.
AN AMALGAMATION OF OTHERS SCARS.​

The voice was still thunderous. It sounded so familiar but it held the air of a serpent. A basilisk prodding at the back of his thoughts; poisoning them. It came to him when that place had been mentioned. Why?

Leilani was far too kind for her own good. She should not have to be here dealing with his issues like this. He would blame her not if she departed. He would forgive that, and he would owe her for her time all the same. If they were to ever meet again.

“Yoouuurrr peoppplleeee sooounnnndddd -“

DARE NOT WAVE AWAY MY WORDS.
YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DESERVES THE HURT.
FALSE GUARDIAN, BORN FROM SLUDGE.
GO PERISH IN THE VERY SAME MUD.​

“liiiikkeeee aannn amasszzzziinnnngggg buuunnnnchhhh. I woouuulllddd looovcceee toooo meeeeetttt theemmmm ifffff theyyyrreee asssss loooovwlllyyy as youuuuuu, Lahlaenieee.”
 
The ominous feeling didn't really relent, despite Flowers' words of praise. There was something off, something going on, she could feel it to her core. Down to her very bones Leilani could tell that a problem was stirring.

Had she stumbled upon some sort of sick and ancient magic? Or perhaps the worry was just all in her head? The result of being startled from Flowers earlier outburst.

She took a few steps backwards, away from the creature, and leaned against a tree to give the illusion she was simply trying to rest rather than create space in case things went south.

"My people are alright," she said with a hint of annoyance, "meeting them could be difficult though. And they certainly aren't as lovely as me."

A grin broke out across her face as her rebellious streak shone through ever so slightly. Still, if Flowers was serious getting to Thyasari would be a long journey and outsiders really couldn't venture into the upper city. The lower city seemed awfully small for a creature as large as the wendigo before her.
 
The voice was weakening. The pleasant tones of Leilani were a suited match for the cacophony of self doubt that manifested itself in him. Whatever brought this upon him, he wanted nothing more to do with.

YOU SHANT ESCAPE THESE THOUGHTS.
YOU WILL BURIED IN THIS ROT.
IT IS YOUR FATE YOU SICKENED WR-​

“Toooo beeeee haaaaalllffff assss loooovvvelyyyy asssss yooouuuuu wwoooouuullddd beeee aaaannn ennnooormmmouusshhhhh feeeeeettt.”

Focus on the kind and the confident. The winged and the wonderful. Leilani had no idea how much of a boon her presence was right now. He could even ask her to stay in the forest with him a while, though he knew that was not a possibility for her.

She had a life. Friends like her and probably had family as well. Flowers knew this. He just wished someone as friendly as her was always around. It would make life tremendously more worth living.

Leilani Taevas
 
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