It's good to be home….now can you please remove the bullet? Thanks
Alfred was a mile out from the village when his wings started to feel heavier than normal. Heck, his whole body was feeling funny. He wasn't even aware that he was starting to lose altitude as he begain to struggle to flap hiw wings or keep them steady. Natalia frowned as she felt an extreme wave of exhaustion and turned to see him start to slowly sink. Alfred was fighting to keep his eyes open on top of it all. She quickly flew under him, struggling to keep him up on her own.
"Irunya!" she shouted. Irunya turned and blinked. "What are you doing Natalia?" she asked. "What does it look like I'm doing? Just help me keep him up," hissed Natalia. Irunya blinked and quickly flew below Alfred as well. "Alfred. Alfred, you're going to have to tuck your wings in. Irunya and I will fly you the rest of the way," said Natalia, huffing at how heavy the man was.
Alfred mumbled something, eyelids growing heavy. "Alfred, it's either that or we put you on a diet," snapped Natalia, struggling to properly flap her wings from underneath him. Alfred huffed and managed to pull in his wings with a bit of effort. "Irunya, hold him up for a few more seconds as I try to get a better hold of him," she said. Irunya made a face. "Fine but you may want to hurry up," she said.
Nat nodded before letting go and quickly moving so she could wrap an arm under his arms. Irunya huffed she had to support his whole weight for a split second. Once Natalia had a good enough grip to hold him up as Irunya moved to wrap an arm around his waist. Alfred laid his head on Nat's shoulder, ignoring the feathers that brushed against his cheek as she flew. Irunya smirked. "I wonder what drained him so suddenly?" she asked her sister.
Nat sighed. "I guess communicating with his brother and his flock are finally hitting him," she replied. Irunya glanced at him, looking a bit worried. "Do you think he will be able to make it to the village?" she asked. Natalia flicked Alfred's nose, getting a yelp out of him followed quickly by a glare. "What?" came his groggy reply to the flicking. "We need you to stay awake. You're supposed to keep us from going in the wrong direction or getting lost," she said.
Alfred huffed. "Fine...It's more westward than this," he said. Natalia and Irunya quickly adjusted their course. Alfred looked up and smiled slightly. "There it is. See the buildings over there?" he asked. Natalia squinted and spoted some low lying cottages in the valley. "Da, I see them. Where in that village should we land?" she asked. Alfred mumlbed something, setting his head back down.
Irunya frowned. "Let's try that bigger hut in the middle. That's got to be the elder's home. If not, they should be able to help us find him," she said. Natalia nodded, frowning slightly as well. "Da. That sounds like a good idea. Just be careful of any humans we come face to face with. They may be friends of Alfred but they are not ours. With him incapacitated like this, they might try to take advantage of us or hurt us," she said.
Alfred frowned and mumbled, "You worry too much. I won't let them do anything to you." Natalia smirked, seeing as how he wasn't even able to hold his head up now. "Is that so? And how will you manage to do that?" she asked him. "I'm the hero...I'll find a way," he retorts weakly. Irunya chuckled. "Natalia, how have you managed to get such a brave man to protect us?" she teased. Alfred made a face and Natalia glared daggers at her, knowing her sister was implying more than Alfred was understanding.
"Land at the hut… and watch your feathers. The local kids like to pull at wings," muttered Alfred. Irunya looked mortified by the thought while Natalia scowled. "We're going to land here soon. Alfred, be ready to try to catch yourself," muttered Natalia as they started to fly over the village. Soon the trio landed in front of the hut, stumbling a little as they did so. Natalia ignored the looks and half muffled whispers of the villagers as they watched the three of them come in.
"Alfred?!" came a woman's cry. The crowd parted and an older lady came rushing forward. She ignored the girls and brushed Alfred's bangs out of his eyes. "What's wrong with you? Where's your brother?!" she asked. Alfred managed a grin. "Don't worry Abbie. I'm fine. I just really need to see Shaman Greg asap," he said. Abigail turned to look over the girls, eyes widening when she realized they also had wings.
"T-There's more of you? Matthew was right?!" she asked. "Da, Alfred is not the only one but right now we need to see your shaman," said Natalia, not caring for the woman's gawking. "H-He should be inside. I'll take you to him," said Abigail, turning to open the door. "Irunya, you let him lean against you. I'm going to cover you two in case anyone here gets any stupid ideas," said Natalia, eyeing the growing crowd.
They walked into the hut, Natalia keeping her arms crossed so she could finger the knives she had smuggled from Alecai and hid in her sleeves. They were brought into a sitting area that smelled faintly of incense and perfumes. "Do you need me to run and get you any food or something to drink?" asked Abigail, wringing her hands. Alfred gave her a smile. "We'll get some after Greg comes by. Don't worry Abbie. I'll talk to you when we're done here okay?" he asked, ignoring the glare Nat was giving him.
Abigail nodded, hesitating before leaving. Just as she was leaving, an older man holding a staff came in. His eyes widened when he saw Alfred with two avians. "H-How…?" He looked Alfred over and froze when he spotted the pendant hanging from around his neck. "Oh no...Alecai...He finally figured out the spell. How long have you had that on you?" he asked, rushing over to Alfred and squatting down to get a better look at the pendant.
"A day or two. I can't remember. It's bad enough that I'm close to passing out, to be honest," said Alfred. Greg frowned. It had to be bad if Alfred, who always laughed off a broken bone after jumping off the roof of his cottage, was actually admitting how bad he felt. Greg glanced at the two females with wings with him, trying to think as he did so. After a few seconds, he stood up.
"I can fix this but there are a few ingredients that I need to gather. It may take some time though….and I'm not sure how much more time before it starts to badly affect you. I'm surprise you have held out so well this long Alfred.," said Greg, trying to lighten the mood towards the end. "If one of us help you gather the ingredients, do you think you can make it faster? We'll both be willing to help," said Irunya.
Natalia shook her head. "Someone needs to keep an eye on Alfred Irunya. You stay here and call me or the shaman if anything happens. I'll help him get the ingredients," she said. Natalia stood up. "What do you need me to get and where do I get it at?" she said. Greg was already up and moving, running to the attached kitchen and looking through the cabinets, writing a list as he did so.
Within a few minutes, he had a list of objects written up. He tore the list in half and handed her half. "Don't worry about payment. If anyone asks, just tell them that you're doing this upon my request. If anyone gives you trouble, just find me, okay?" he said. Natalia gave him an unimpressed look as she took the list and walked out. If anyone gave her problems, she'd probably just steal what she needed and go.
Natalia headed into the village's market place, ignoring the looks her uncovered wings were attracting. She was just happy that the look she had on her face was enough to get any rubber neckers to mostly mind their own business. Sure there were a few glances after that but no one dared try to approach her, ask her questions, or outright stare. Now Natalia remembered why she didn't deal with humans. They were too nosy.
She got the first two items she needed from a nearby booth without any problem before she felt a hand brush against her wing, trying to grab a loose feather. Natalia spun around and grabbed a ten year old boy's wrist before he could dart away. The whole market area froze. "And just what do you think you were doing?" she asked. "I-I…just wanted to touch them," said the child, starting to shake under Natalia's glare.
"Oh? Is that so? Did I give you permission to touch them?" she asked. The boy shook his head. "Did I give you permission to touch me?" Again, another shaking of the head. "Did I give any indication that I would have wanted you to do so?" she asked, eyes narrowing. The boy shrunk back. "Answer the question," Natalia said in a cold voice. The boy shook his head, looking a bit pale.
"Then there was no reason for you to touch me, much less try to pull one of my feathers out. If I catch you doing it to me, or anyone else, you're losing that hand," she growled. The boy teared up, frozen with fear. A man, presumeably the boy's father, stepped out of the crowd. "Hey, you've made your point. No need to make the kid cry," he said.
She leveled an icy look at the man. "Obviously I haven't. Wings are extremely sensitive things. It hurts when you pull feathers out of them. Not only are they sensitive, but it's an incredibly intimate thing to touch another's wings. That's something reserved for family, mates, or extremely close friends. Not for little grabby little brats that think it's okay to touch someone without permission," she said.
The man swallowed and backed up. "Junior, appologize to the young lady. If what she's saying is true you crossed a major line," he said. "B-But Alfred let me do it…." he said. "Only because he didn't want to start a fight with dad over it," piped up a little girl in a pink dress standing behind their father. The boy started to protest once more and Natalia bent down to look at him in the eye. "I'm not Alfred. He's nice. I'm not."
The boy tried not to whimper, failing under the icy glare, but finally looked down in shame. "S-Sorry Miss. I won't do it again. I swear it. I'm sorry. I really am," he said. Natalia huffed and dropped his wing. "Good. Now go run along and play. I have business to do," she said, turning and walking away from the crowd to a different booth. Nat walks up to the stunned looking booth keeper.
"The shaman needs three powdered turquiose stones. He also needed any tar you might have," she said. The man nodded and quickly gave her the items she required. "Where can I find rosemary?" she asked. The man directed her to a different booth. "That one, but becareful with him. He was never too fond of Alfred and I'm sure he'll be happy to give you a hard time, especially after that scene that kid made," he said.
"Thank you. I'm sure I can handle it," she said, taking her items and going to the booth the man had indicated. Almost immediately, the vender made a face when he saw her. "I'm sorry, I don't sell anything to your kind. The other freak could have told you that," sneered the keeper. She gave him an unimpressed look. "The shaman is the one who needs it. Not me. You'd be serving him instead," she said.
"I'm not serving him if he sent you as a representative. And how do I know you're not just saying that in hopes of getting my herbs for free?" he asked, glaring at her. She glared back, right hand neatly sweeping the needed amount of rosemary into the small bag a vender had given her to hold her goods. The man didn't notice, considering that she had given him a glare, a dark aura almost visibly surrounding her.
"I see. Well I suppose I should take my business to a booth who doesn't sell shriveled up herbs at twice the price they're worth. Have a nice day," she said in a flat voice before turning and getting away with her stolen good. She finished gathering the ingredients that Greg needed and walked back to the hut calmly, happy that her message has gotten through clear enough that no one tried to touch her or stare at her.
When she got back to the hut, she let herself in and found Alfred, eyes closed, resting his head on Irunya's shoulder. Natalia frowned and put the bag on the coffee table before sitting down next to Alfred. Alfred cracked open an eye and smiled slightly when she sat down next to him. "You already got all the ingredients?" he asked. Natalia nodded. "Wow. That was fast. No one gave you any trouble did they?" he asked, sounding slightly concerned.
"Nothing I couldn't handle. Don't worry about it. I was able to get the things you need. Hopefully, Greg gets here soon. How bad off are you?" she asked. "He was starting to have trouble keeping his eyes open before you came in," said Irunya. Alfred made a face. "I'm fine. I just got a little sleepy but I'm fine! Look, I don't even need to lean on you," he said, sitting up. Five seconds later his body lightly shook from the effort. Nat sighed and quickly forced his head down onto her shoulder.
"It doesn't prove much when your entire body is shaking from tryng to keep yourself upright. Alfred, we didn't mind needing your help escaping. Don't mind our help when trying to get that stupid necklace off of you," she said. Alfred's ears turned a bit red. "F-Fine...But that kinda hurts my Hero complex," he admitted. Natalia rolled her eyes. "Being a little sleepy because of a pendant doesn't hurt your Heroic appearance. If anything it gives you a tragic backstory to make you seem more mightier," she said.
Alfred grinned. "I knew I liked you for a good reason," he said. She just rolled her eyes with a bit of a smirk. "Go back to sleep. Get what rest you can while you can. We'll wake you up when Greg gets back, okay?" she said. Alfred nodded and let his eyes close. Within seconds, he was snoring away on Nat's shoulder, invoking a roll of the eyes from said shoulder's owner.
Irunya smiled at her sister. "You two really suit each other. And you already share a bond," she said, with a a suggestive smile. Natalia gave her sister a dirty look. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked. "I just think you two would be very cute together," said Irunya slightly. Natalia glared at her sister. "Butt out. We are on the run from an evil human that had us trapped in his basement for decades. Me finding a boyfriend is the least of our problems right now," said Natalia.
Irunya smirks. "I don't know. It would be nice for to be able to get to catch up on the time we lost when we were being held captive by that creep. "Irunya, you know I love you but drop the subject," said Nat with a huff. Irunya smirked. "Fine. I will...for now," she said. Natalia sighed, knowing that her sister wasn't going to drop the subject unless something major actually happened. She just hoped that her brother doesn't follow the same train of thoubht because would be a same for Aflred to die after all of this.
Greg entered a few minutes later, holding a fabric bag identical to Natalia's. "Good you have the stuff. It should take about a twenty minutes for me to get this mixed up. Just keep an eye on his breathing rate and anything he might say in his sleep. Abigail and John liked to joke about how he used to mutter in his sleep," he said, pulling out an oddly shaped stone bowl and placing it on the coffee table.
Greg started taking ingredients out of the bags and mumbled various incantations under his breath as he added them to the bowl one at a time. When he was done, a shimering purplish liquid oil was in the bowl. He muttered one last spell before picking the bowl up and grabbing a matching cup off of the shelf. He nodded at the girls. "I need you two to hold him up. He doesn't have to wake up for this but I do need you two to keep him steady," he said.
Irunya and Natalia nodded and helped him sit upright. Alfred's eyes flickered but he didn't wake up. "Okay, we got him sitting up. What now?" asked Natalia. "Keep hims teady. I'm going to perform the spell. Hopefully this works," muttered Greg, scooping up some of the liquid witht he cup and holding the bowl below the pendant. He poured the potion over pendant and started chanting.
As Greg chanted, the pendant started glowing. Alfred stirred slightly. "What….?" he asked groggily. "Shh. Greg's doing the spell. Just don't move too much okay?" whispered Irunya. Alfred nodded and held still. He slowly relaxed when he felt the pendant slowly release it's grip on his chest. "It feels like it's working," he muttered. Natalia and Irunya smiled. "Good. Hopefully it'll come off soon," she said.
After a few more seconds, the pendant finally dangled from the chest. Greg quickly took a pair of tongs and used to take the pendant away from Alfred and nodded to Irunya. "Could you twist the knob to that lantern there?" he asked. Irunya nodded and got up to do so. He quickly threw the pendant into the fire and closed the lantern. "Once this pendant is completely burnt, the effects should be fully reversed," said Greg.
Alfred gave him a tired grin. "Thanks Greg. I know you could do it," he said. Greg smiled back. "Well I'm glad you had the sense to bring yourself back here. This could have ended badly if you waited any longer. Now get some sleep. There's not much you can do until the pendant is completely destroyed. We can talk about how all of this happened when you wake up," said Greg.
Alfred nodded and the girls got up so he could lay down on the couch. Within seconds, Alfred was practically passed out on the couch. Greg turned to the girls. "You two are welcomed to stay and get some rest as well. There's food in the kitchen if you need it, so don't be afraid to help yourselves. Any friend of Alfred's is a friend of mine. He's a good kid...even if he's a few decades older than me," said Greg.
Irunya smiled brightly. "Thank you! It's very kind of you to offer and we appreciate you helping us. We were really worried about Alfred. He wasn't looking very good but I'm glad you managed to undo the damage the other guy did," she said. "Yeah, what's up with Alecai? If he didn't have our brother in his clutches I would have killed him or something," said Natalia. Greg sighed. "It's a long story, one that I prefer to tell when Alfred's awake so I won't have to tell it twice," he said slowly.
Natalia raised an eyebrow and Greg gave in slightly. "He has been power hungry ever since he became shaman of his own village. He kept wanting more and more power, for what, I don't know. That's all I'll say until Alfred wakes up. The reason we ended up having him banned from his town was because of the experiments he was doing on people. The stuff he was doing to his own villagers….they'd haunt your nightmares," he said finally.
The girls turned to look at each other before looking at him. Greg gave another sigh. "I have to do my rounds to a few houses with sick kids. If you need me, just ask any kid passing by the door to come and get me. I give them candy whenever they act as messenger so you shouldn't have any problems trying to get them to help you out.
"Someone needs to keep an eye on that lantern to make sure it doesn't go out before the pendant is completely burnt out. Other than that, feel free to make yourselves at home. Just don't touch that shelf of ingredients there. Also...if anything smells strange or starts glowing it's best to stay away from that too. I'm pretty sure I have all magicall items and ingredients cleaned up and put away but I may have missed a few things. Once again, if you need me let me know. I should be back in an hour or two," said Greg.
Both girls nodded. "Don't worry. We won't touch anything we don't know about," said Natalia. Greg nodded and left, taking a bag of ingredients and materials with them. The girls looked at each other once he left. "We're going to snoop through his things, aren't we?" asked Irunya. Natalia smirked. "Da. Of course we are. I want to be absolutely certain that we trust this man," she said. Irunya sighed but didn't protest.
We're getting towards the end, or at least we're getting close to realizing what Alecai's real end game is. And to add to the tension, unintentionally but it's sure as hell convenient I won't be posting for the next couple of weeks as I will be on vacation. The next update might not be till August. Sit tight kiddies. Maybe we all get lucky and I find some wifi spots to update from.