New Frontiers [Open]

[Stooge]

    Arthur started awake with a jolt, reeling both physically and mentally. After a short struggle he regained his balance on the perch, avoiding a short but undoubtedly painful drop to the floor. His dreams were getting worse, increasing in both magnitude and frequency weekly. Oft these dreams were incoherent, but terrifying nonetheless, as often the unknown can be the most terrifying aspect in life. He took a moment to steady himself more and regain his faculties before dropping of of the perch with a muffled thump. Oblivious to the proceedings, the owl who Arthur shared the hollow with, a stocky Spotted owl, slept on quietly, peacefully. Happily. Arthur envied him. He couldn't talk to this owl here about what plagued him, nor confide in any owl for that matter. Instead, he would silently suffer for what he'd done, an almost fitting punishment, doomed to never have a respite that deep, that wonderful.
    A dim light flooded in from the outside, casting soft shadows across the span of the hollow. It would be a while before breaklight, affording Arthur much time to work undisturbed, for few owls roamed the tree at such an early hour. Preparing to leave the hollow, Arthur turned towards the sun and bowed deeply before turning and quickly making his way out of the cramped space. He figured that if he was going to spend so much of his time under the rays of the sun that he might as well as pay it respect now and again, and it had become almost a daily ritual for him, the sun dipping low in the sky, almost as if nodding at him, and Arthur in turn bowing back to it. He wondered what he would do for his routine if he began waking up around breaklight, but brushed the thought aside. He was naturally wired to get up early and stay awake far later than other owls, or at least that's what he truly believed.
    Unusually, instead of delving into his work immediately, Arthur decided to go out for a flight. Technically, it was his work, just not in a conventional sense; A storm had been brewing over the sea for days now, and Arthur needed to be ready for it when Swarr would unquestionably take them all out on a flight, for not only was it Swarr's duty as ryb of the Weather Interpretation chaw, but it also was his passion. Swarr. Swarr unsettled Arthur, having not only keen auditory and visual observation, but also observation on a more undefined level. Arthur could never slip out from under Swarr's watchful gaze when he was with him, and he felt that Swarr was slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together, the puzzle of Arthur. While he did revere Swarr, and even count him as an immeasurable friend, Swarr was ostensibly the greatest threat to Arthur. And, as it happened, Swarr was the very first owl he needed to seek out today.
    Arthur ended his flight just as the sun set completely, just as owls began to rise from within the Great Tree and start their own morning routine. That he rose earlier than others was just another thing to distinguish him from the rest of the owls here, and he tried not to dwell on it. Right now, he needed to find Swarr, and that was all that mattered. He would try Swarr's hollow first, but if he wasn't there, he'd have to look elsewhere. Arriving at the hollow, Arthur softly muttered in, "Swarr."

[Battias]

Swarr stood about his hollow. He sighed before heading into the corner of the hollow where a messy clutter of various pages lay on the floor, knocked from their container hidden on a higher alcove. He moved onto clearing them out, some not so important, such as simple letters, notes, scrapped ideas, and various other pages he found that weren't relevant enough to put in the library. Others were important for different matters. He organized them into the container and shut it tight, lifting it up to the alcove and hiding it in the back corner. He became a bit suspicious about how it toppled over while he was gone, but dismissed the ideas that someone was snooping in there. He sighed, turned to look at his entrance, outside large, slender shadows of the thick clouds crept along the branches, leaves, and water below. He turned his head back around, He was kept awake recently to insomnia, he hasn't felt like he's done enough recently to sleep. He heard someone outside, and his name was muttered. He turned again, saying aloud, "Yes?" He wondered who would be up at this time.

[Stooge]

     Arthur stepped into the hollow, surveying the space that lay before him with a calm and laid back demeanor, albeit only outwardly appearing so. Inwardly, he was ill at ease, and the reflections of this could be seen by only the keenest of eyes, almost imperceptible inconsistencies in his relaxed posture and stance. His chest fell and rose too quickly, his balance was shifting back and forth almost constantly, and he would furtively glance in either direction to the tune of a silent, slow melody. Arthur finally managed to set his gaze on Swarr, with extreme difficulty, and settled down a bit, but not by much. 'I'm an invader in his home, his sanctum.' Arthur attempted to talk, but couldn't find the words that he had just had in his mind moments ago. 'I wish that I was somewhere else.' He knew perfectly well that there was nowhere else for him to go.
     "Swarr." Arthur nodded his head out of courtesy, and shifted his position so that he could talk to Swarr and look out of his hollow at the same time, out to the vast sea. "Swarr." Arthur spoke evenly and deliberately, but with a tone that betrayed his inner sadness, a tone that accentuated each word with a finality and sharpness only to be found in death itself. The last rays of the sun bounced off of the shimmering waves in the distance, as if a hoard of baubles had risen up from the depths of the sea to proclaim their existence before falling again to the bottom, waiting for the next sunset to be revealed again. Black clouds had massed themselves in the distance, as if preparing for an assault upon the great tree, and already Arthur saw that they had crept closer from when he had seen them earlier. "A storm is coming." He pondered this for a moment, lost in his own thoughts, before turning to look at Swarr. "I'm not sure..." Arthur paused as he tried to grasp for the right words, the right delivery of what he was about to say. He found no such words. "I'm not sure if I should go out into it." He struggled to express his feelings. 'I've so many other storms to deal with... Each one weighs more than the last. Eventually I must flee or break.' Arthur uncomfortably shuffled in position, feeling as if the very air itself was holding him in place, weighing as if it was the sea. "I was just thinking, earlier. I know it's tradition to go out, but I've got lots of work to do..." A lie. He hated himself for being able to stand in front of these noble owls and lie so easily, unchecked. "And I just wanted to tell you that I wouldn't be coming." What would he be doing? Even he didn't know the answer to this.
     Suddenly, a radical change came over him. "Care to go out for a short flight before breaklight? I already went on one but... but I... I... I'd like to go with company this time." He felt a sudden urge to divulge every bit of his story before Swarr, to relive his failures, his triumphs, but refrained, reigned in his emotions with rationality. 'He'd hate me if he knew who I was.' He visibly shivered as a feeling of cold encompassed him. "Would you please join me?"
    

[Battias]

Swarr listened silently and intently to Arthur, concentrating so his breathing would be slow and steady. He thought deeply about what Arthur was saying. "The storm isn't important, the next storm like this could possibly happen within a month or two, as this is the season. I don't see the problem with letting you off, as long as you don't cancel all the time," Swarr spoke at a slow pace in a neutral manner. He took a deep breath, holding back the few unimportant things he wanted to say. He fought the urge to be forthright about the obvious uneasiness, not only Arthur's but now a bit of his. He thought about Arthur's invitation, he paused for a few, blinking rapidly to sweep his particularly sensitive eyes caused by his sleeplessness. He couldn't possibly say no.

"No worries, I'll join you, I would enjoy the company as well. I'm not particularly busy, my schedule is full of holes, might as well fill them. We need to be quick though, as you said, a storm is coming, and it seems a unpredictable," Swarr said, being meticulous about his word choices hoping not to stir up feelings. He scanned his things, wondering if he should bring anything. He quickly dismissed the idea of bringing anything, it was just a short flight, it would be unnecessary. He blinked rapidly again, giving a small reassuring half-smile.

[Stooge]

     "Good. Let's go then." Any trace of meaningful inflection had slowly drained out of Arthur's voice, replaced with a monotonous tone that almost conveyed a sense of bodily detachment. He was sure of what he had to do, and would've been utterly terrified if not for the fact that he had decided that it was necessary to tell Swarr, now. It was the calm before the storm. Arthur turned and moved towards the front of the hollow, but lingered at the edge, gazing out into the darkness. The sun had set. It would still be some time before tweener. He only needed some time.
     Arthur dove out of the hollow and recklessly plummeted downwards at an alarming speed, right towards the rocky shore beneath him, tempting fate itself. The ground seemingly rose at him in seconds, and yet time seemed to slow around him in those few, precious seconds. He banked hard at the last moment, felt the tip of his wing graze the gravel on the shore, and then pulled out of the dive, diverting all his energies to going upwards in a spiraling, deliberate movement, while taking full advantage of the slight thermal draft that was present. His heart was racing, his breathing was shallow, and he felt almost intoxicated as he spiraled further upwards, until he was back at the height of the hollow, albeit a significant distance away from it. The initial rush began to subside, and he began to calm down, though not by much.
     "Sorry about that." Arthur called back towards the hollow, unsure if Swarr had even left yet. What had overtaken him, driven him to the stunt, he couldn't say himself. He mused on this for a few seconds before dismissing the thought. He could ponder the subject later. Now, he needed to address a few things with Swarr. He hovered in the air, casting his gaze back in the direction of the hollow. "I'll follow your lead. I already chose a route for myself earlier today, you might as well as choose this one."

[Battias]

Swarr watched Arthur's stunt, relaxed by the new feeling of calm and eagerness. He took one last deeo breath. Swarr decided it was time for him to catch up, he stepped forward to the edge of his hollow and walked off. He dove for only a second or two before slowly opening his wings to softly catch himself, gliding forward effortlessly. He only just left when Arthur called to him. He glided silently scanning the horizon, thinking about a safe and suitable destinatiom. Tonight might not be the best night to go directly to the south. He cleared his throat before answering.

"Might as well head west to Cape Glaux and Silverveil, The kingdoms to the south from here might be busy, if you understand what I mean," He called, referring to Pure One activity. He looked to the east where he could barely make out Cape Glaux. He pointed slightly downwards, gaining speed and eventually catching up to Arthur. To the North, the overshadowing storm clouds crept across the now black sky, and the air began to cool.

[Stooge]

     Arthur nodded in affirmation as Swarr called to him. He waited for him to catch up to him before he spoke again, as he didn't particularly want to start a prolonged shouting session between them, even if it wasn't aggressive. "We should stick fairly close to the Great Tree. You need to be back before the storm to assemble the chaw, I presume. It wouldn't be a bad idea to be back before it in the first place." Arthur turned to look to the east as Swarr had, and struggled to make out the outline of Cape Glaux, veiled by a dense mist. It brought back memories of the night that he had first flown to the Great Tree, exacerbating the melancholic feeling in his gizzard, making him perceive himself as even more of a fraud. His thoughts enveloped him, if for but a moment, and he felt an extreme isolation. He wasn't wistful over deciding to leave St. Aegolius, yet wasn't at peace at the Great Tree. 'Glaux, what should I do?' No voice answered him, and he dwelled in his inward laments for a time, before being sharply brought back to reality by a strong gust of wind. He knew not how much time had passed.
      "Let's go east, then." A somber silence had fallen over Arthur, and one could almost see his inner toil, indecisiveness, and suffering. Almost. He started east, fighting the slight crosswind from the storm to the North, which was continually encroaching whenever Arthur looked away, or so it seemed to him. He stared ahead, with no deviation in his gaze, no change of focus.


(I have a few ideas of that I think would be cool. Some are obvious, some are not so obvious.

-Arthur and Swarr get caught in the storm, and it's worse than they thought
-Swarr decides to weather the storm in Silverveil, as the storm has already overtaken the path back, and end up encountering a far-reaching St. Aegolius patrol (who recognize and call Arthur 'Ulf', his old name)
-Swarr and Arthur make it back to the Tree before the storm hits, and *something* happens, Swarr has to make a sortie out through the storm, takes some weather interpretation chaw owls and Arthur along.
-Arthur tells Swarr his life story, ends up having to go back to St. Aggies for intelligence gathering with Swarr (Similar to in the books, but different. Arthur would have to be heavily disguised.)

Feel free to share any ideas you have.)

[Battias]

Swarr listened to Arthur's suggestion, and thought for a moment. "We're almost to the cape. I set up some emergency plans, I'm supposed to meet someone in a few hours, say six or seven. The meeting isn't important or anything, but if the storm struck while I was at it someone is supposed to take over for me. We can stick around or move a little inland before heading back, so yes, let's keep heading west," Swarr said enthusiastically. They soon entered the densest area of the mist, which quickly turned to a dense fog. Swarr looked down and saw nothing. "We need to go higher, I don't want us hitting a tree hidden by fog," Swarr said cautiously. He noticed the sound of the water soon fade, and could hardly see the ground.

(Could do a combination of 2 and 4, if you want.

[Stooge]

     'We're almost to the Cape!?' Arthur shifted his gaze and started, bobbing midflight; Cape Glaux loomed up out of the mist before him, when moments before it had seemed to have been a tiny dot on the horizon. The moon, too, it seemed had risen a substantial amount on its nightly traverse across the sky. 'Where has the time gone?' He had only been searching his mind for mere minutes, or so it seemed. He shook his head, to clear it, and then looked behind himself, back at the Great Tree. It was a single dot, melting into the background of grey, black, and blue. The storm had, in Arthur's mental absence, advanced considerably, and he felt uneasy about continuing, but was loathe disagree with Swarr. He merely grunted in reply.
     Arthur lost sight of the Great Tree as he entered into the first layer of mist, and turned back to be greeted by the dense, lingering fog that was before him, and found himself shivering, not out of frigidness, but out of a feeling of deja vu. It seemed, quite eerily, the same as it was the day he had left from it, flying blindly out of the mists, as if it had never changed. Maybe the Cape was trying to make a point. Arthur shook his head again, and flew into the fog bank, something that ordinarily he would've avoided, but ignored in his compromised state. Arthur heard Swarr tell him to pull up, so as to avoid any hidden obstacles, of which Arthur assumed there to be many. He looked over to where Swarr had been previously, but only could see a few wing-lengths in that direction before the heavy fog cut off his view of everything.
     A tree loomed out of the fog, and Arthur banked to the right, narrowly avoiding a potentially lethal collision with it. A branch, however, hit its mark, and scraped Arthur's side. The branch snapped off, and he felt a sharp jab in his side, which threw off his flight and winded him. Wheezing, and feeling dizzy and weak, Arthur banked to the left now, avoiding another tree. He was disoriented now, and flew forward towards what he thought was thinner mists, instead of flying upwards, to where he could get a better vantage point and be objectively safer. He tried calling out, but only could whisper.
     Arthur set to land as the mist mostly dispersed, and did so. He looked around for any sign of Swarr, but saw none. He stood still and rested, so as to regain his breath, before lifting off of the ground, and rising above the canopy. He looked around for any sign of Swarr, but saw none, as he was most likely somewhere in the mist, or so Arthur surmised. "Swarr."Arthur scanned the horizon, looking for any owl. "Swarr." Arthur swept his gaze over the horizon again, but his attempts came up fruitless. Arthur was about to call out again when he heard his name. "Ulf?"

(Just realized that the cape is West, not East xD)

[Battias]

(Looks like a mistake I made while half asleep carried through XD. I even looked at the map before thinking about it. I fixed my posts to say west. This goes to show that you should never let me navigate when I'm tired.)

Swarr gained altitude, he felt safe skimming over the treetops. He realized moments later that he lost Arthur visually, he worried for a second before he heard a snap, Swarr held his breath, afraid something happened, and listened. He heard Arthur's struggled breathing rather close by, following under him. He took a deep breath, comforted by the fact Arthur was still there and sounded mostly fine. He prepared to call out to Arthur, but before he did, he heard leaves rustle rather suddenly. It wasn't the normal, constant rustle caused by the wind. It was caused by something else.

Swarr slowed to a glide and followed Arthur's sounds before arriving to thinner mist. He landed and hid inside the thick coverage of a pine, his natural colors doing their best the blend him with the bark. He was very uneasy about the rustle earlier, they were close to the sound's point of origin. He scanned, spotting a Hawthorn with its long, potentially dangerous spines. In case anything happened, he could rush to that tree and steal a club-like branch. Suddenly, he heard someone say an unfamiliar name "Ulf?". Swarr waited silently, unsure of the situation