A Hearing from Blackbird

[Korvaelis]

Ash of 116

"Have you ever seen a Korihane?” He rushed toward Estel while trying not to let a large book slip out of his hands. A hard task if you considered the oversized sleeves of his robe of the Avialae city’s fashion.

Estel had completely taken over his wardrobe. Kodi had bluffed when he mentioned that his younger brother would be in his care. The previous season, Korvaelis was introduced to the Hytori woman, and in a matter of days, he’d find out that he would become a resident of her home. The idea at first was dreadful for a young Korvaelis too. He found it hard to get along with new people at the time and Estel was a ball of energy that constantly attended to him. 

The two spent the majority of their day together too. Estel did not seem to have a profession or even a hobby, so she toyed with Korvaelis for the majority of the day. Constantly, she pointed out certain actions or something that he enjoyed. The young man had concluded that his brother was right a season ago. He wouldn’t need Maui. Estel took all the old woman’s habits and did it much better.

“Yes, yes. What about them?” 

The two were picking at different textbooks in the lounge room of maroon and gold color. When he showed that he lacked any knowledge of the city he resided in, the Hytori thought it was best if he'd up a few books and start reading. Something that wasn’t difficult for Korvaelis since that’s how he passed time back in Zaichaer. It was to the point he could read a few books in one sitting. 

Estel was propped up on a chaise when Korvaelis interrupted her reading so he could point out pictures of the bird in his book. He was even comfortable enough to scooch her to a certain side of the chaise so he could sit down too.

“Nothing. I’m just amazed at how tame they are. The Sky Guards ride ‘em and bond with them too. How cute is that? I want to become a Sky Guard.” The half-fae meant it too. He wasn’t too skilled, Korvaelis was aware of that. The faction would’ve probably helped him with what he lacked once he was recruited.

“Oh, honey.” Estel cackled, throwing her head back so that her luscious long hair hung over one side of the chair. “You could not compare to the big men that do that job. Or any job of that sort.” After a few long minutes of laughing, Estel sat up straight and placed an arm over his shoulders. “That is why I’m here. I’ll fine-tune you to be of some use. Listen to me, you are not built for that sort of work anyway.”

“What do you mean? I’m sure there are a couple of people of smaller stature.”

“Listen to me.” The woman’s face expressed annoyance. “It’s not for you. You will find your calling someday, angelfish. That is not your calling though.” She snatched the book out of his hand and tucked it away underneath her thigh. “Why don’t you head to the book room and find another text? I suggest something on one of the great houses. You must learn about them. The city is centered around those people, y’know.”

Common-Synskrit

[Korvaelis]

Ash of 116

Estel wasn’t the first to turn down a professional idea. The end of last season was celebrated in the very estate he was staying in by less than a dozen people. Korvaelis and his brother were some of the few that attended. The gathering was small, however, Estel did not hold back a single coin. The party gathered in the lounge room and while they sipped red wine, a group of performers put on quite the show. Korvaelis has always admired the arts too so he was enamored of the little show. Believing his brother had his best interest in mind, the young boy mentioned becoming a dancer to his brother. 

‘What would you do with such a job? Dance at taverns and hope to collect a few coins? You’d be sleeping on the floor of my kitchen until the day you died. Push the thought out of your head and do better, Korvaelis.’ That was his brother’s response. Kodi had the idea that dancers were filthy and hardly made a living of their own. Korvaelis was told to support them from afar, leave them be, and give them their flowers as entertainers. Nothing more or less.

So what was he supposed to become if not a dancer or a member of the military? With his head hanging low, he thought deeply about it. He had two people in his ear telling him that he couldn’t follow his choice of career. Korvaelis would listen too. He had much respect for the two, his brother and Estel. Despite their harsh words, he couldn’t say either had steered him in the wrong direction so far. There was much gratitude for what they’ve done so far for him too.

“Oof.” Korvaelis fell back, landing on his butt. In the time he took to get up and rub his behind, it was quiet. But he could feel those heated eyes on him again, burning a hole through his soul. He quickly looked up. The hallways were dark so he could only make out a shadow.

“Pay attention to where you’re going.” The shadow said to him in Synskrit.

“What?”

“You can’t hear well or do you not speak the language of the very city you reside in?” This time the shadow spoke in common.

“I didn’t grow up here.” The answer he gave was genuine even though he knew the mysterious figure was being a smart ass. “I’m learning bits and pieces of it.” 

Wait, who are you? Korvaelis doesn’t remember the presence of another person in the household. He’s only remembered ever seeing Estel, even on quiet days when he was left to himself. The sea creature, some sort at least, did not remember his host ever mentioning another residence either. It was only ever the two of them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“Who are you?” He reached out for the shadow. Korvaelis’ mind didn’t think of an intruder whatsoever. For some reason, he was more worried about unwanted visitors– ghosts. So he swiped at the shadow, the person stepping back before he could touch them.

“Whatever.” The shadow figures continued in common before stretching their wings and walking away. 

Avialae? Korvaelis was sure it wasn’t anything undead now. The breeze of the person’s wings managed to reach him and assure the teenager of just that.

“Wait!” Korvaelis followed. He did his best to keep up with the larger man. At some point, the Avialae took long strides and since their steps were much bigger, Korvaelis found himself jogging a bit. “Can I at least get your name?”

He heard a door slam shut and he couldn’t pinpoint where it came from. Several doors aligned only one side of the hallway, so you can imagine how many rooms the mansion possessed. Corvallis wasn’t going to give up, he started opening and shutting as many doors as possible. Peeking into each room, he believed it wouldn’t be hard to find a large birdman. 

It was very difficult. Not only were there many doors, the rooms were huge. After his arrival, he was given a small apartment on the west wing of the mansion. It was made up of a living room, bathroom, and a fairly large bedroom. Korvaelis believed a lot of the rooms in this hall alone were much larger than his apartment. There was a chance he was just overwhelmed too. Anyway, the last door he would open was supposed to be his final destination. If he couldn’t find the person, Korvaelis could at least do his task and run back to Estel to mention what he experienced.

The young man opened the door to soon reveal a two-floor library. Which had a simple white and black color scheme. He would’ve been impressed if not for a certain Avialae in his youth leaning against the stair railing with a pocket-size book in his hand catching his eye.

“I Found you.”

The Avialae, who didn’t look much older, looked up from his book before throwing it in the air.

“For fuck’s sake.”

Common-Synskrit

[Korvaelis]

Ash of 116

”A re you some kind of freak?”

The Avialae’s question came after Korvaelis silently made his way to the stairwell and stared at the birdman. He had never been so close to the large men before. Despite being in a city populated by the race, Korvaelis had yet to socialize with them. Surprisingly, he had only been around other foreigners or citizens made up of an entirely different group of people. Estel had only introduced him to others of the elf kind, the Hytori were a tight-knit bunch, and his brother didn’t seem to have many acquaintances outside of the very woman mentioned.

“No.” Korvaelis answered as he looked at every black feather on the man’s wings. The was a major height difference between the two of them too. Being half-Neptori, he believed he should’ve been a bit taller, however, Korvaelis imagined his father must’ve been fae on the shorter end of the spectrum.

“What do you want then?” The Avialae gripped the railing so hard, that his knuckles began turning white.

“Mmm, you never answered my question.”

His fascination was cut short. Korvaelis was beginning to dislike how the Avialae was talking to him. He thought he was doing the right thing by trying to figure the guy out. A stranger couldn’t be this bold or nonchalant, he was sure of it. So he had to be someone in Estel’s life. All he wanted to know was his name.

“Fuck off.” The Avialae began heading upstairs, murmuring on about the audacity of Korvaelis.

Like a puppy, Korvaelis trailed behind him. At a distance, of course. A part of him was intimidated by such a large guy spewing curse words and enraged by what he believed was a simple exchange of words. “Do you visit often?” He asked as they reached the second floor. The Avialae began pulling out and then pushing books back into the shelves, looking for something in particular. Korvaelis copied his movements except he wasn’t paying attention to any of the books he was pulling out. He was nothing more than an awkward teenager trying to appear more casual.

It made the Avialae boy laugh as he caught on.

“Visit? I live here. You don’t even belong here.” The winged boy paused to inspect a book. Korvaelis was so close to him that he almost ran into him.

“Maybe. But I’ll be here for a while. So why don’t you tell me your name and who you are.”

“Is it that important to you?”

“This is our first encounter, why would it not be?” After inspecting the book, the Avialae put it away and tried to walk off. Korvaelis managed to slip around him and block his pathway. “Friend or foe?”

“What?” Crossing his arms, the young man looked down at Korvaelis like he was crazy. “Friend or foe? What are you saying right now?”

“Haven’t you heard it before? Friend or foe. Are you here to help or harm me?” Silence followed his statement. There was a long pause in the conversation before the tall and dark man managed to get around him and continue walking about the library.

“You’re odd. Do you know that? I am not your friend and I don’t care enough to be your enemy. Estel is my aunt and I’m just taking a short break here at the Badger’s Abyss.”

Korvaelis discovered The Badger’s Abyss was a nickname for the estate. When Estel’s family founded the house, the head at the time was an Earth Elementalist with an obsession with the very animal that became their sigil. The founder also became crazy and began digging deep underneath the house, which is why it’s so slanted and appears to be coming out of the ground. The estate gained the name when the founder would no longer come out of it. So everyone referred to it by its common name rather than the one in Synskrit.

“Fine. We do not have to be friends. But can I at least know your name? We cannot be strangers.” Korvaelis extended his hand. It was the most effort he had made to speak to another person in such a long time. “I’m Korvaelis. Who might you be again?”

The Avialae let out another sigh but gave in to his demand. “It’s Dohan. Happy?” Smacking his hand out of the way, the Avialae nudged Korvaelis to the side and continued moving through the library.

“Thank you,” is all he could utter.

Common-Synskrit