Fly Away Butterseal, Be Free!

[Itt]

13th of Winter, 518 A.V.

The day was as normal and real as any other. The sun was beaming down through thin clouds, the sky was warm and thick in colour like carrot soup, and a breeze was in the air. Itt strolled leisurely through the forest's speckled patches of light with his head held high and his chin raised. His eyes gazed at the trees that waved above, a smile spreading across his face like warm butter.

Reaching up to grab a tree, the young man leisurely pulled himself into the tree with a swing of one arm, reaching for another branch with the other. His body contorted to the tree's sculpted figure, weaving between the twigs with masterful precision. Not a single leaf was displaced without his consent, Itt moving with the flow until he practically bounded up from the top of the tree's canopy.

He took a deep breath and a quick gaze at the sun above the horizon before plummeting back into the grasp of the tree branches, bounding off the next branch like a spring loaded board.

Itt couldn't feel his hands gripping the tree's arms, or his arms swinging himself towards the next handle, but he quickly built up speed and he could definitely feel the wind rustle his hair. With a playful laugh, he continued on, lunging and bounding through the forest like a king. His quick clambering and steady swings startled the wildlife around him, causing them to flee or follow in curios pursuit. Squirrels attempted to keep up, but fell behind, but a flock of birds managed to keep up with the sloth king, casually flying above him and the trees' heads.

Itt looked up, still moving forward with ease, watching the birds from below like he always did, their wings spread like blankets across the clouded sky. Focused upon their silhouettes and majestic forms, Itt threw himself off of a branch like he always had before, but found no other branch to grab next. He had reached a cliff side, and the tree he leaped from was overhanging the mountainous, sheer canyon.

Itt looked down below, the hard ground growing every tick as the wind whistled in his ears and his skin grew cold.

But he just smiled and wrapped his arms around himself.

With that smile of knowing upon his face, Itt thrusted his arms outward in an explosion of feathers and air. His arms were now extended into wings larger than himself. With only two full flaps, Itt straightened out and flew parallel with the earth and with the birds who followed. He laughed giddily, his gliding feathers seemingly cutting the sky in two.

Just an average, normal day, Itt thought to himself.

[Mauriel]

13th of Winter, 518 AV

The forest was thick and almost dark, even although it was midday. The crochet of leaves above her head hid Syna beyond. She had a very strong sensation that she was looking for something, and so she moved around, checking every nook and cranny.

Her close inspection led her to a bit of a clearing, featuring a large mirror. It was tall, with ancient-looking stone pillars as frames, and covered in plants and dirt. The area was still in the shade somehow, despite the trees clearing out. She felt herself smile and flew up towards it, knowing this was what she needed.

Once before the mirror, she crooked her head, for the figure looking back at her was not her own. For a fleeting tick, it was a tall slender horned woman, but she was soon replaced by an elderly man, his spine somewhat bent, teeth missing, though surprisingly enough not too many of them given his age. He raised his eyes to scan her face, and Dagna remembered. She was Mauriel now, no longer Dagna. The fleeting figurine was herself, as Leth took his hold of the sky. Their eyes met, the elderly man opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to be struggling, and his violet irises turned into green. Just as a gasp of surprise left Dagna's lips, the man was no longer, her own reflection staring back at her. What did he mean to tell her?

She spent some time around the mirror, looking at the reflective surface from both sides, knocking on it, and otherwise trying to get it to work like it had before, but deep down she knew it was hopeless. Confusion permeated her mind, for she knew that she was Mauriel now, but her mind refused to process it and she was Dagna again. She could distinctly remember doing a lot of work to integrate her identity, and was very angry that this was happening now out of the blue! But her mind would no listen.

Frustrated, both with the stubborn mirror and herself, she flew up. The forest suddenly felt claustrophobic and she wanted somewhere else to be. But as her eyes were elevated beyond the surface the treetops formed, she was greeted by a neverending ocean of green. The forest was all there was.

[Itt]

Inhaling as much of the air around him as he could, Itt expelled his breath with a contented sighed, his bones even relaxing, despite their constant working to keep him afloat. The birds followed him like a great tailcoat or a magnificent dress train made up of the glorious colours of the rainbow. Birds of every shape and size flying perfectly to build a pattern that he was somehow able to see from above, like he had a third eye always in the sky.

The canyon below them was also a grand forest, with tall trees bearing red trunks thicker than houses and leaves the size of the clouds that roamed the world. Itt and his bird companions flew above the large trees, their branches rustling in his wake. More and more birds came from the forest, but up ahead, there was one that didn't act like all the others. Heck, as he got closer it didn't even look like that others.

What was it?

Itt led his flock over to the flying fish butterfly woman thing and spun in circles around her. It was in fact a woman, wasn't it? Did that mean she could talk? "Hello!" He greeted, though his mouth did not move. His thoughts did the talking and it projected out from him, which was significantly easier than the whole language shenanigans. So he didn't bother. Thinking was much better. "What kind of bird are you?"

He swooshed around her in wide circles, the birds still following behind, them all orbiting her like rings of a moon. Though Itt was still moving around, even though he had stopped flapping his giant wings.

[Mauriel]

13th of Winter 518 AV

As she flew up, she was greeted by a flock of birds led by none other than a tiny human whose hair looked like brown shrubbery. It was tangled and coarse, and his appearance generally made him look like a bit of a recluse. He flew toward her in graceful pirouettes, rather difficult to achieve with her own kind of wings, but that came completely naturally to creatures of his kind.

"Hello," a voice echoed in her mind.

Hello? she thought. But thought wasn't enough. Suddenly growing to realize the boundary between thought and telepathy, she finally replied. "Hello yourself. I am an Akvatari, from the city of Abura. Or I was at least." The annoyance tingled back into existence. "This body is that of an Akvatari either way." It got tiring to explain, so she tried to just make him know. Ethaefal, and past lives, and reincarnation, and all that, she tried to push the knowledge across to him. She felt proud concluding that she succeeded based on a weird feeling, but she wasn't necessarily right. "How did you get a flock of your own?"

As she continued flying to allow the flock to follow them instead of dispersing in less and less coordinated spirals, she noticed the forest no longer being endless. There was a mountain range in the distance, and if her eyes did not deceive it seemed volcanic. And beyond that she could not see, but there might have been sea. She headed in that direction, hoping the flock would follow.

"We have to race the dusk or I might fall to my death," she informed her newfound companion casually.

OOCSorry for the delay, I've been super-busy!

[Itt]

An Akvatari? He tried to recall in his memory of what that was, looking at her as she tried to convey the info.

Oh, yes, he remembered now! Akvatari were from butterfly island to the south where they fought against the Frog King who kept invading their city with toads. She must be a warrior butterfly! An amphibious butterfly that can fight on all fronts, a strong Akvatari fighting for peace and justice for her people! What a noble cause! Those darn toads won't take down their city! Not if he could help it!

Because, "I am the King of Feathers, I have granted birds their gift of flight and in payment, they follow me." The wind caught his hair and pulled it back, revealing a cluster of iridescent green feathers tucked into a small braid behind his ear.

Somehow he knew how deep of history there was between his people and those in Abura. While his city flew through the power of feathered wings, Abura citizens found flight through the wind, the two of them controlling the skies for centuries. Both of them have been peaceful civilizations until the amphibians wanted the skies to themselves. Now the land was wrought with war that, up until now, his kingdom had avoided.

But if an Akavatari had travelled all the way to his Jungles, then the war was spreading faster than he thought.

He followed her on her path to keep a close enough distance between them to communicate comfortably, the birds of all kinds of feather following behind them. Fall to her death? "If you fall then we will catch you." He smiled toward her, some of the flock flying below them now. He still raced towards the sun for her comfort and for the rush of the wind by his ears.

"What are you searching for, Akavatari? What brings you here?"