Beginning of the End

[[ August 1 ]]

You take to the air with a few beats of your wings, alighting gently upon a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

You caress a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon gently.

A sigh and then a scream emanate from the cocoon, a wretched hand pushing against the fibrous lining, stretching it thin enough to see into briefly.

You have emoted: Aleyah hums softly, a low and ebbing tune that sings of mourning and secrets, as she brushes the webs of a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon tenderly back into place.

You smile and say to a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "That's it. Goodness, look at you...!"

You close your eyes and inhale deeply, absorbing the scent of your surroundings.
You let loose a long breath from your lungs, exhaling slowly.

You smile and say to a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "Come on, now. You must have grown so much! There was so much screaming, and crunching bones. I can't wait to see what She's made of you, what She has planned...."

You hum a quiet, merry tune.

Viravain, Lady of the Thorns has bestowed Her divine truefavour upon you. It will last for three months.

Your mouth turns up as your face breaks into a smile.
Warmly, you say, "Thank You, my Lady! I love You! Thank You for trusting me with this very important task!"

You take to the air with a few beats of your wings, alighting gently upon a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

You say to a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "Aren't you excited?"

You ask a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "Akuuko... that was your name, right?"

A vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon twists in on itself, the veiny membrane holding it together nearly tearing before it grows still once more.

Although the cocoon does not move, muffled sobs carry outward from its veiny membrane.

With a slight raise of the eyebrows, you perk up your ears and turn your attention towards a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

You look thoughtful and say to a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "...You're all sorts of talkative today. But with such long breaks between them..."

You smile softly at a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

You say to a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "You could scream all you wanted if you just hatched~."

Khasur Stormcrow tilts her head, her eyes squinting at a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

With a slight raise of the eyebrows, you perk up your ears and turn your attention towards Khasur Stormcrow.

You curtsey gracefully before Khasur Stormcrow.

Blandly, Khasur Stormcrow says, "Quite boring, isn't it?"

You smile and say, "Hello, Khasur."

Khasur Stormcrow bows respectfully to you.

You look skeptical and say, "Yes, a little."

You say, "I've drawn on every inch of clear silk I can find."

Absently picking at a bit of carrion in her teeth, Khasur Stormcrow says, "I wonder what it will become."

You nod your head emphatically.
You nod your head emphatically.

Khasur Stormcrow flutters her wings behind her a bit and then settles against the arm of the throne.

A muffled scream emanates from the centre of a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, agony and fear rich in the nearly-strangled voice.

You say, "That part's very exciting! It's been moving under the silk, trying to claw his way out."
You laughingly say, "And screaming."
You say, "As you can hear."

Khasur Stormcrow rolls her eyes.

You hide a grin behind your hand.

You laughingly say, "Right?"

Khasur Stormcrow says, "I wonder if our Mistress is building a new player for the stage?"

You look thoughtful and say, "I've been singing all the songs I know of home, and using him to basically... bounce ideas off of, for a Sermon."

You say, "Which passes the time."

You purse your lips, contemplating a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon thoughtfully.

Khasur Stormcrow rubs her chin thoughtfully, raises her eyebrow and says, "I see..."

Khasur Stormcrow purses her lips, contemplating a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon thoughtfully.

You say, "I heard the sounds of bones breaking a few times. Cousin Gurashi said something was wrong
with his legs - I'm betting he's getting new ones."

Khasur Stormcrow says, "Would you mind overmuch if I were to attempt the same? I have some work of
my own to do, and it is oddly comforting to be next to it."

You say, "I thought he was a gift for him, initially. Now I think he's... a lesson. And no! Not at
all."

You smile and say, "It's really easy to think, here."

You say, "And I'm glad for the company."

Nodding thoughtfully, Khasur Stormcrow says, "I would imagine the same. I have never known our Mistress to go to the trouble of keeping something if it were to be destroyed later."

You nod your head emphatically.

Tilting her head, Khasur Stormcrow says, "A lesson? How do you mean?"

You purse your lips, deep in thought.

You say, "I don't know the details... but cousin Gurashi seems to have upset or offended or disappointed our Mistress. The person in the cocoon is one of Gurashi's friends from abroad - I thought at first, that they were lovers, so She was bringing him home as a gift for Gurashi. But... they weren't, and I found out that he had insulted. I think the cocoon is a lesson about spreading himself too thin."

You say, "I've seen my cousin clutching a staff with praises for the Neither-Lord-Nor-Lady, which is... concerning."

Khasur Stormcrow sucks thoughtfully on her teeth.

Khasur Stormcrow says, "And this cocoon."

You nod your head emphatically.

You purse your lips, contemplating a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon thoughtfully.

You say, "It's all speculation, but..."
You ask, "It's fascinating! Isn't it?"

Tapping the outer membrane with her toe, Khasur Stormcrow inspects a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon with a once over with her sharp gaze. "That would certainly make sense."

You purse your lips, contemplating a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon thoughtfully.

You say, "...I wonder what he did. I'm concerned by his... over-concern over people from somewhere else. I suspect that's a symptom of whatever upset Her."

Wonderingly, Khasur Stormcrow says, "If it truly is a lesson our Mistress sends, Gurashi must have done something truly terrible. Otherwise, She would have simply..."

Khasur Stormcrow runs a finger over her throat.

You nod your head emphatically.

You crease your brow in a frown.

You say, "Simple errs are a quick fix."

You say, "This must be deeper."

Khasur Stormcrow nods her head emphatically.

Khasur Stormcrow hops up onto the throne and pulls out a sketchbook, her attention now elsewhere.

You say, "It's funny. I promised Gurashi to watch him, and protect him - I promised the Mistress the same, I don't want Her hard work to go to waste after all. But the person I've had to protect the cocoon from the most... is Gurashi."

Khasur Stormcrow looks up from overtop her sketchbook and pauses, a wistful thought playing across her features. "An irony, certainly."

You nod your head emphatically.

You take to the air with a few beats of your wings, alighting gently upon a war shrine of Viravain.

Khasur Stormcrow returns to her work, but then mutters, almost to herself, "The fickleness of changelings is alive in that one, for sure."

You have emoted: Aleyah falls silent, looking about the Temple thoughtfully. She nods. "I agree. I'm surprised he's not become one, at this point...."

You say, "...I don't spend enough time in here, I don't think. Or at least - I didn't before this."

Warmly, you say, "The Temple really is lovely. I'm looking forward to moving forward as Her Briar-Childe once my duties here are done, and finding this beauty all throughout the commune."

Half to herself, Khasur Stormcrow says, "It's quite lovely, yes. If a little damp."

Glancing up again, Khasur Stormcrow says, "Quite damp, actually. In need of a bit of sprucing."

You have emoted: Aleyah hides a giggle, tilting her head. "Oh?"

Nodding, Khasur Stormcrow says, "Few people spend really any time in here anymore. It's a shadow of a place, if you can forgive the pun."

You nod your head emphatically.

You say, "I can, I spent enough time around the sillier Harbingers when I was young."

Khasur Stormcrow's eyes sparkle with amusement.

Your mouth turns up as your face breaks into a smile.

Khasur Stormcrow says, "Do you miss the Harbingers? The guild, that is."

You purse your lips, deep in thought.

You say, "...Sometimes. Some parts of it. Moving through the tasks set before me was a joy, and seemed so much closer to what I wanted to do just as a person. The Thornwatch is also wonderful, I love keeping stories, but I do miss the work in Harmony."

You say, "And I miss being Lady Song."

Khasur Stormcrow nods slowly, contemplatively. "It must have been hard for you all to have so much reaped from you."

You purse your lips, deep in thought.

You say, "...It is something I think about often. I think it stings most because I slept through the change, and could not help drive back the Greev."

You say, "I am not upset by the changes, I understand we need to adapt in order to grow. But I'm sad to have missed the transition."

Khasur Stormcrow shivers at the word, her hands reflexively rubbing the backs of her arms.

Khasur Stormcrow nods her head emphatically.

Khasur Stormcrow says, "I can certainly respect that."

You smile and say, "I'll have my memories for always, though. And I still remember all the teachings of Lady Mahalla, and tell the story from time to time, to the young."

Khasur Stormcrow's mouth turns up as her face breaks into a smile.

Khasur Stormcrow says, "Stories are quite important."

You smile and say, "That's why I joined the Thornwatch, to serve as the Glomdoring's living memory for stories."

Khasur Stormcrow says, "It is, after all, how the memory of our Mistress lives on when Her attentions are elsewhere."

You nod your head at Khasur Stormcrow.

You say, "I joined Her garden at such a time, when I was very young."

You smile and say, "I think it's one of the very best things I've ever done."

Khasur Stormcrow's mouth turns up as her face breaks into a smile.

Khasur Stormcrow says, "We all find our way to Her when She calls, I suppose."

You nod your head emphatically.

You say, "Lady Ragniliff spoke to me many times about the Mistress before she welcomed me into Her web."

You tilt your head back and look up at the sky.

Softly, you say, "It is wonderful to have Her gaze upon us again."

Khasur Stormcrow settles back against the throne and pauses, her expression lost in thought. Finally, she says, through a half-smile, "She called me a trill when I was stuck in Her web, quite literally, and so I was." Pausing again for a heartbeat, Khasur folds her wings around her ever-so-slightly. "Her children do not always get along."

You nod your head slowly in understanding.

Lifting her eyes to you, Khasur Stormcrow says, "Did you think She protected Her crows and her spiders from one another?"

You say, "I suppose it's hard to expect that the machinations of so many would always fall in line. I get along with... most people, it's why I was ambassador for so long, but I can understand that a lot of strong personalities...."

You tilt your head curiously.

You have emoted: Tilting her head in thought, Aleyah's gaze falls back upon a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon in silence.

You murmur, "No. I think She expected of them what She does all Her Glomdoring: To grow strong, to adapt, and to learn to work together, or else cull what chafes."

Khasur Stormcrow folds her wings tighter around herself and nods. "Even as tall as I am now, some of them are so, so big. Their webs are nearly impossible to escape from." Shivering, Khasur continues, "I suppose it was my tongue that broke me free, and what stopped the widow from advancing."

You tilt your head curiously at Khasur Stormcrow.

Inclining her head, Khasur Stormcrow says, "You converse with one of the only runts of Her Murder to be spared from their own folly. We know better than to edge too close to the black widows when we're young, but alas."

Your mouth turns up as your face breaks into a smile.

You say, "And now your voice holds our attention as well as Hers, or nearly. You've done wonderfully for yourself, Khasur."

You say, "I hope to be so dear to Her someday."

Khasur Stormcrow tilts her head momentarily and then seems to snap back to the moment. Abruptly, she declares, "I've not told anyone that, and nor should I expect others to hear of it."

With a bemused smile, you ask, "Hear of what?"

Khasur Stormcrow steps forward from the throne and straightens herself. "Thank you."

A muffled scream emanates from the centre of a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, agony and fear rich in the nearly-strangled voice.

Your eyes sparkle with amusement at a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

Your mouth turns up as your face breaks into a smile.

Also sparing a glance toward the cocoon, Khasur Stormcrow says, "You are quite easy to talk with, Lady Aleyah."

Khasur Stormcrow says, "I think this guest of our Mistress is in quite good hands with you keeping guard."

Brightly, you say, "Thank you. I've always baited my webs with honey, and it's worked out quite well in the past."

Khasur Stormcrow lifts her mouth into a thin smile, amusement sprinkled across her expression. "Indeed," she agrees, before turning away to the shadows.

You curtsey gracefully.

Your mouth turns up as your face breaks into a smile.

You take to the air with a few beats of your wings, alighting gently upon a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon.

You smile and say to a vaguely humanoid-shaped cocoon, "So much company today! It's been nice, really. And you're moving so much more, I can't help but think you'll hatch soon."