Post by Orianna Èirigh on Jul 30, 2023 21:09:29 GMT
A few hours have passed since the sun has set and the cold night air has brought the stars back into the clear night sky. Ilthuryn’s eyes glint to reflect the stars as he looks up and smiles. It’s been months since he’s been back to Daring Heights, and the busy town had frightened him for the first few days back. But he had someone to talk to, and on a night as clear as this, the stars had brought him to the door.
He stops for a moment, and allows the translucent starlight form of his sparrow to rest on his arm for a second. Then he breaths, steps forward, and raps his knuckles on the solid wood.
“Oh!”
The soft exclamation is followed quickly by the sound of a creature moving quickly towards the door, the muffled breaths of it sniffing and scratching at the door, followed by a soft ringing crystal tone. The creature then retreats, and Ilthuryn frowns as all has gone quiet on the other side of the door. Then, after a few drawn out seconds, it is opened.
The light is dim in the small apartment, a single candle resting on a table beside a well worn armchair with a blanket thrown carelessly over the armrest. He only gets a sliver of this view before a tall periwinkle tiefling fills the void left by the space created. Her reflective violet eyes are wide, filled with a hesitant delight mixed with tentative doubt. The moment she sees him, she freezes.
“Ilthuryn?” Orianna’s softly accented voice is as cautious as her eyes. “What-… Where have you-… I’m glad you’re-…” She clearly doesn’t know what to say or where to begin.
The figure she sees is definitely Ilthuryn. The hair is longer than last she saw him, and the dirt and leaves are more excessive. But the eyes are the same, and the slight twinkle of stardust as he steps back is unmistakable. For a second he considers running, his confusion clearly evident on his face. Then he shakes his head clear and summons the brightest smile Orianna has ever seen on his face before launching himself at the tiefling for a hug.
She barely manages to push the door more open before he collides with her. But Orianna doesn’t care about a simple door. Not in this moment. She’s holding her friend, her brother, a kindred spirit of the stars she wasn’t sure she would see again. Tears are pricking at her eyes even as she buries her face into the leaves and earthy smell that is everything Ilthruyn.
“I’ve missed you.”
After a long moment he lets go and steps back, his tears reflecting the starlight. Then without warning he launches into a flurry of hand gestures before remembering to slow himself down. His hands shaking slightly he signs a few short messages.
‘I’ve missed you too sister, you cannot imagine how good it is to see your face again. I’m so sorry I left, I wouldn’t have gone if I had the choice.’
Orianna shakes her head. “Before you tell me where you went and why you left-”
She grabs his hand and pulls him into her home, firmly closing the door behind them. Orianna had seen the look of flight on his face and did not want to risk him following that impulse too soon.
“A pot of chamomile tea, some home made cakes, and a chance to sit down in the same room together first. Then, the explanation for your absence.” She looks over her shoulder as she pulls him forward into the dimly lit living room. A small worried smile makes the light catch on the crystal markings on her face. “And it is to be in that order.”
Ilthuryn smiles sheepishly.
‘Glad to see you haven’t changed.’
He rummages around in the bag at his waist and pulls out a collection of leaves and flowers.
‘Herbal, good for you in tea. Not too much of the red one though it’s poisonous.’
He sits cross legged on the floor, nervously fidgeting with his hands and trying his absolute hardest not to dirty his surroundings. For a moment as Orianna makes tea his body shifts and makes to run but he suppresses the instinct and breathes deeply, smiling as she comes back.
She pulls down some cushions and blankets from the armchair and the small sofa so she can join Ilthuryn on the floor. As she begins to divvy up the small cakes onto two plates, a low tonal grumble can be heard from around the corner in the bedroom.
“If you promise to behave and not overwhelm him, you can join us,” Orianna says in Draconic with a glance in that direction.
To Ilthuryn she says in Common, “Valethra remembers you. I know she does, but…” Her brow furrows as she shakes her head again, setting the small plate in front of Ilthuryn. “She can act strangely from time to time.”
Ilthuryn’s face lights up. ‘V! Of course!’
He gives a welcoming whistle to the direction of the bedroom before turning back to Orianna and grimacing.
‘Tea, cakes, sitting, now for explanations. No, not yet, first tell me what you’ve been up to, I’d love to hear how you’ve been.’
She shrugs, aiming for nonchalance and probably only getting halfway there. “It was fairly quiet for me for a time. Expanded my knowledge of languages, continued my work at the Academy, I try to help my friends where I can if they let me…” She picks up the teapot helping to swirl the leaves a bit before pouring a little into her cup. The brew is still too light so she sets it back down. “Gerhard finished teaching me Sylvan last month and I’ve moved on to learning Giant from Kavel. His methods of teaching are… unique. I am learning a lot about strength and conditioning whilst also learning the language of his people.”
Ilthuryn smiles sadly.
‘I’m glad it sounds like you’ve mostly been ok, I still remember how scared I was for you when you were dealing with that horrible dragon… thing. I suppose I owe you an explanation now. I remember when I left you you were better at speaking this way than me but I doubt you’ve had too many people to practise with so I will go as slow as I can.’
He sighs and straightens up.
‘I don’t remember what happened at first, my mind has still been wiped of it, but I know it had something to do with when I lost my voice and memories. First was the madness, not what doctor’s callously mislabel as madness in differently built minds but true madness. I lost my memory of who I was and everyone I had ever known, and-’
His hands tremble.
‘-I forgot the stars, forgot their names and lost their guidance. I was alone again for the first time in years. I think I wondered for days, maybe weeks. Then came the blindness, whatever light the stars had gifted my eyes went out and I couldn’t see. I was scared and alone Orianna, I forgot you.’
A few twinkling tears drop from his starry eyes and Orianna struggles to make out his signs as his hands begin to shake.
‘Weeks and weeks of darkness and nothing, I didn’t remember my name, I couldn’t even remember what I looked like after a while. I must have wandered deep into the woods. Thankfully the animals still remembered who I was, or at least felt that I never meant them any harm. Then all of a sudden it came back to me. My sight, my mind, my memories, all at once. I almost broke from the weight of it all. I… don’t remember what caused it all to come back but I remember the stars, and I remember my first thought being about you. That was a week ago.’
She did not know what to say at first. Ilthuryn’s hands were still shaking and in place of words, Orianna reached out to hold them, to hold him. Valethra had come out of the bedroom at some point during the tale, watching the two.
“Was there anything that you remember from before the darkness happened? A sign, a vision…?” Orianna asks, her voice very quiet.
He shakes his head softly, hands slowly stopping their shaking as Orianna holds them.
“Okay,” she nods and pauses. “I don’t know if there is anything I can say or do in this moment to help, Ilthuryn, except this…”
Orianna pulls him towards her, wrapping her arms in a softer protective circle than their earlier embrace. She strokes his hair letting the steady rhythm of her fingers and heart align into a comforting beat. As the two sit there in the dark on the floor of the quiet apartment, Valethra presses herself in close, spreading her wings. A strange, low resonant hum that is both a mewl and a purr comes up from deep within her small chest. It makes the crystal scale patterns on Orianna’s arms, chest, back and cheeks glow softly.
Ilthuryn sits in the calming glow for a long moment before sitting back and smiling. His signs are calm and clearer than before.
‘I’ve never seen you glow like that before. Maybe later you can tell me how that came about. I know I will have to find out what happened to me, not just now but all the way back when I first felt the starlight, but not yet, not now. For now I need rest, and I need to find my place in the world again. But if you need my help in anything, rest assured you will always find me willing to help you Orianna. The stars move in strange ways, and we have both found their light through different means, but I know we both share a love for them that no one else I have met ever has. Thank you for the tea and for accepting me back.’
He stands and shakes himself off a little, the twitching from before returning just a little.
‘It’s late, I should go, but I will converse with you again I hope, and perhaps maybe soon we can watch the stars together again.’
She smiles. “I’d like that.”
Ilthuryn closes his eyes as he smiles and waves to Valethra as he makes his way back to the door, quickly peering through the window as he does before turning back to Orianna. ‘Farewell for now?’
“It better only be for now,” Orianna says, following him to the door. It’s at this point that Ilthuryn notes she has been speaking in a rather quiet voice this whole time, using her signs to help echo her words. “We are moving to a new place soon, not too far from here and slightly bigger. I’ll send you a bird when we’ve moved in?”
He smiles. ‘I’m sure your magic will know where to find me again. With these few months I imagine you’ve grown even better than me at divining the stars.’
She blushes. “I have been practising a lot, yes. But I-… I still have a lot to learn.”
It was brief, but a shadow did pass over Orianna’s face. Then she smiles brightly and hugs Ilthuryn again, tightly.
“Please come back to see me next week. Even if it’s just for tea.”
He accepts the hug and returns it the best he can before standing back. ‘I’ll do my best. See you soon starseer.’
He chuckles soundlessly and opens the door, taking a few brief steps before leaping into the air and leaving a trail of starlight as his form shifts into an inky black falcon.
Orianna opens the window opposite the apartment door, stepping back to clear the way for the wildshaped falcon to swoop out gracefully. She watches him for as long as she can, but all too soon his form becomes one with the stars and the sky.
Continued in ‘Ten Years Is A Long Time’ 💫