( Not based on a RP )*
The rest had done him well. Amazing what a good nights sleep can do, he thought to himself. A slender stalk of Theonia held 'tween his teeth, he found himself humming a tavern favorite as he made his way along the trail to Fayvr's camp. A lone brax stood, chewing it's cud in the center of the path. Raven gave it a gentle pat on the flank. " Move along, Bessie." He said. The hulking bison took two steps forward before stopping once again. Laughing, he scratched the beast behind it's withers. " Good enough, old girl." He said, an affectionate smile curling the corners of his mouth into a lop-sided grin. The sky was blue. The birds were singing and everything was right in the world.
Raven ambled into Fayvr's camp a little after mid day. Dropping the pack beside the older assassin. " Care package from Kistig." he said, taking the steaming bowl that was offered him.
" Did he take the Elly back for his widdle Wave, Wave?" Fayvr said mocking the alchemist's speach. " I swear that guy's touched in the head." The older Daeva said kicking a log further into the fire.
Raven rolled his eyes, eating his stew in silence. Kistig was ok. He'd known the hermit from before he was even a fledgling. He had always been nice to Raven. He used to make trips to his cottage to listen to the mage's stories and learn about herbs and remeidies. The alchemist would sit for hours watching Raven run thru his katas. It was after Kistig had said it looked like Raven was dancing with his blades that he'd had changed the style he had been taught into the fluid, graceful, deadly ballet it now was indeed. There were times since then that it seemed his daggers singing to him as he danced with them and it always made him smile.
Thinking these fond memories, Raven found himself grinning as he finished his meal. He took his empty bowl and a half dozen others that lay stacked nearby over to the stream to wash them. A group must have passed by eariler. Either they were in haste or just not as courteous to their hosts as he. Kneeling gingerly beside the rushing water, he playfully splashed at the Gadil that came up to nibble at what he washed from the bowls. It wasn't long before the crasaurs noticed the comotion and clambered from the rocks they had been sunning themselves to chase after the green fish. Raven sat back along the bank, his laughter cascading as musically as the water in the rushing stream. Fayvr looked up from the cauldron. It had been good to see the boy smiling. It was better hearing him laugh. It told him his old protege was healing, mentally as well as physically. That he hadn't been broken by his ordeal. He'd seen that happen before too. The brass of Fenris' Fang would be please by this when he submitted his report. Pleased might be too strong a word, but he hoped it would make things easier on Raven when he was called before them to make his account.
Still grinning, Raven returned to the fire. He fished thru the bag he had brought from the cottage, removing those bundles that were wrapped in Slyphen wings. Those were meant for him and he placed them in his cube.
" Well, I will be going now. Blood for blood" He said with a nod.
" Raven." Fayvr said, getting to his feet. " I think you should stay here and rest a bit. Get some more of your strength back."
" I have got more than enough strength to go make my report. I am sure they will cloister me in some tiny room with a view of flowers long enough to make me climb the walls as it is." Raven said dismissively.
" Raven..." Fayvr said, laying a hand on the younger assassin's shoulder.
" What are not you telling me, Fayvr?" Raven asked, the smile draining from his face.
" A group passed by eariler today. Things have happened up in Morheim Fortress. Bad things." Fayvr said solemnly as he gripped Raven's shoulder. " I think you should sit down, boy."
" Sit down? Just tell me. Tell me what has happened!" Raven exclaimed, a look of dread darkening his face.
" Morheim suffered an attack. The Fortess lays in ruins. " The older Daeva said, pausing before he continued. "Very few survived...and none from your House that I know of"
" Attacked? None..." Raven felt his knees give a bit, but stopped himself from falling. " My mother? My father? My brothers?... little Wren? Are you sure? No one?" Raven asked looking toward the faint pillar of smoke that still rose from the direction of the city, his voice growing husky. As Fayvr gripped his shoulder tighter, Raven slapped his old mentor's hand away. His eyes, smoldering embers, he sprinted away from the camp, toward his home.
Fueled by an all consuming fear the likes he'd never known before, Raven sprinted up the long sloping mountain trail that lead to Morheim Fortress. A pack of worgs marked his passing, several of them giving chase. Raven ran on, paying no heed to them as they trailed close behind snapping at his heels. Unable to gain ground on the fleet footed assassin, it wasn't long before they peeled away and gave up their pursuit. Onward he ran, seemingly tireless as he drew on resources he never knew he had. Raven crested the hill without slowing, his momentum causing him to skid widely as the path curved, narrowly missing crashing straight into the sheer mountian face that acted as a natural outer battlement for the fortified city. He kept to the deeper drifts along the sides of the path, using it to help slow his descent as he made his way down to the gates in the lopping sidestep of one accustomed to traveling thru snow.
He smelled the acrid smoke as he struggled up the bridge that arched over the frozen lake surrounding the Fortress City of Morheim. Reaching the top, the sight before him stopped him dead in his tracks. His eyes wide with horror, Raven dropped to his knees, his breath exploding from his lungs like he'd been struck by a mighty blow. The once great city lay in ruin, a smoking hulk of toppled stone and blackened timber. The city he'd grown up in, knew like the back of his hand was unrecognizable. Raven rose, a hand pressed to his side. As he stumbled down the bridge, a soldier came up to him. The guardsman said something that Raven couldn't quite make out and he looked at the plate clad Daeva quizzically. The soldier made no move to stop him as he continued past. The bearded Daeva simply clapped a hand on Raven's shoulder shaking his head saddly, then stood aside and watched the stricken assassin shuffle down the stairs into the inner bailey.
Walking as if in a dream, Raven made his way in a slow, aimless serpentine around the chunks of rubble like someone taking a leisurely stroll thru a garden. A thick plume of smoke drifted in front of him temporarily obscuring his vision. Raven didn't wait for it to clear. When he past throught, his eyes fell upon an ornately carved wooden swordhilt poking out from under an overturned stone planter. He went over to where it lay. Down on one knee, he reached out a shaking hand toward it wanting nothing more than to pick it up, but afraid to touch it. After a long moment, he hooked a finger through the knuckle bow and pull the wooden blade toward him. Seeing the Shadowsong family crest burnt into the flat of the blade just below the quillion block, Raven felt his stomach turn to ice. He'd made this toy, carved it with his own two hands to look like the dress sword he so often wore at his hip. He had made it for younger brother, little Wren. When he saw the dark, ruddy stains on the blade and the toy sword's splintered wooden tip, Raven felt something inside of him fracture. Closing his eyes, memories of all the happy times he'd spent with family and friends flashed thru his head. Slowly , one by one all the colour drained from each memory leaving only a sepia tone the colour of the toy sword he held griped around it's wooden blade. He rose to his feet and turned. The fact that this brought him no pain was but a momentary curiousity like a moth attempting to choose between multiple flames . His face expressionless, with hooded eyes he walked to the makeshift teleporter and ask for passage to Panda...to report.