Seer-of-Omens was not like the rest of the Witcher Companions. He didn't have a long lifespan or magic, he was the fifth of his name and the ninth of Lightning-Claw's companions. His bloodline was bound to the Witcher, what once started off as a debt for saving the only egg of his kin from a gryphon turned into one of genuine service.
Especially when they realised that the Witcher didn't really watch out for himself as well as he should.
The two-legged was kind, he made sure there were offerings left for whoever travelled with him. Offal and little bits of seeded cakes and he never expected them to follow him constantly, he spoke with them and treated them with the respect one would give an equal.
He earned the respect and loyalty of Seer-of-Omen's bloodline, a rare feat.
His time was coming though, it was time to find a nestmate to carry on his bloodline so Lightning-Claw will continue to have eyes above to watch out for him. He eyed his Witcher and dipped his head, fluffing his feathers as he settled on the tree branch. Winter was approaching and Lightning-Claw was headed towards the stone nest in the mountains but this year Seer-of-Omens will not be joining.
"Ah, it's time then?" Lightning-Claw exclaimed sadly, his hand coming up to preen a few crooked feathers. Seer-of-Omens clacked his beak and nibbled the rough leather of the glove in an affirmative and a goodbye.
Coën watched as the Falcon took flight, its dark grey wings glinting like silver in the setting sun. It would find him again after winter, perhaps before the next to bring him their young to show. He wasn't too sure what he did to earn the respect of the birds, perhaps being a Griffin Witcher his mutations just drew in birds but he was glad for it. With a shake of his head, he turned towards Kaer Morhen, thoughts of Falcons his only company.
SoO
Seer-of-Omens soared high in the wind currents with glee, it was his favourite thing to do, the wind ruffling through his feathers and pushing him faster than his own wings could take him. He flew far and wide in his search but his heart wasn't in looking for a mate, no, for some reason his mind turned towards the stories of the two-legged that the others claimed as a foal.
He knew winter was when the young foal travelled alone towards his own nest and Seer-of-Omens wished to meet him once before his end finally reached. So, he followed the snippets of sound, the song of the young foal sang for his nest mates.
Days it took for Seer-of-Omens to find the foal of Roach, days that Seer-of-Omens grew frustrated and impressed. Most two-legged were easy for him to find when he was on the hunt but this one slipped by like a feather in a wind tunnel.
It was only because screeches of panic and pain of another Falcon reached his ears that Seer-of-Omens found the young foal. He was coated in blood, wounded, surrounded by bodies of two-legged and trying to get close to a Falcon who was tangled in leather and chain.
A caw left his beak as he flew down and landed gently on the foal's shoulder, impressed when he didn't flinch away from his sudden landing or claws so close to his exposed soft parts that Seer-of-Omens knew to be a kill spot on his kind.
"Shh, he won't hurt you." Seer-of-Omens soothed the female. "He's not like the ones who hurt you."
Jaskier wasn't sure on what to do, the Falcon on his shoulder was very close to his face, claws digging nearly painfully into his shoulder. If he wasn't so used to these animals popping out in his life then Jaskier knew he would have cringed away, but something told him that this bird was not like others.
"Are you a companion of a Witcher?" He asked the large bird on his shoulder, watching as it fluffed and dipped his head. "Is he with you?"
This time the bird shook its head no.
It said a lot about how strange Jaskier's life was and that he didn't question the animals anymore. After Roach, Scorpion, Lil'Bleater and Hoku… well it seemed Witcher animals seemed to flock to him so to speak and if this Falcon on his shoulder belonged to a Witcher then… then he was safe for now.
How odd was that?
"Shh, let me get these off you, okay? I don't want to hurt you." He continued to speak, from experience he knew that they understood him to some degree, he wasn't stupid, he knew animals were smart and could communicate… Meeting Hoku showed him that when the horse went right for the sugar cubes in his pocket.
Seer-of-Omens watched and soothed as he watched the young-foal begin to gently untangle the leather and chains that held the female bound. "Are you hurt?"
"I have a broken wing, they caught me mid-flight." She whispered back warily, one eye on the two-legged touching her and the other on the male. She could sense the words the male Grey Falcon spoke to be true, she could sense and see the magic that wafted around him like downy feathers while the others were twisted and sinister. "Who is this strange creature? I thought he was a two-legged but he doesn't radiate the same."
"He is a two-legged, claimed by a Unicorn, a Pegasus and a Tulpar," Seer-of-Omens stated as the young-foal finally got the female free with a pained hiss. "I am Seer-of-Omens and this is Noisy-Foal or Jaskier. He will help you heal if you allow it… he had done so for the others."
The peregrine falcon cocked her head to the side and waited to see what the two-legged would do while she adjusted herself. There was no hope for her flying, not while her wing was broken and that meant she was grounded… dead… unless she allowed the strange creature to take her to his own nest…
With a ruffled sigh, she slowly walked forward, one eye locking onto the Grey Falcon. "I am Chaser-of-Shadows."
Jaskier waited while the Falcon watched him, the other still on his shoulder. He was unsure of what he was supposed to do, the Falcon on his shoulder he noted had a small cylinder for messages and something told him that this falcon was indeed a Witcher's falcon… yet the one he was rescuing was not.
He watched and waited as the bird slowly walked towards him bringing his attention to the oddly resting wing. Oh… oh… his heart broke as he realised that those brute Collectors had broken the poor bird's wing and anger ignited within him. They were lucky they were dead already or Jaskier would do unspeakable things for hurting such a beautiful bird of prey.
But he knew also, a grounded bird was a dead bird.
"Okay, so… if you let me I will take you back to Oxenfurt with me… I'll find someone to help your broken wing and you can be on your way when healed… I don't want you to die out here." He whispered as he shuffled to his knees, hands outstretched for the falcon to latch on.
"Trust him…" Seer-of-Omens cawed as he hopped off the shoulder and next to Chaser-of-Shadows, nuzzling her gently.
"Oh! I didn't realise you two were mates!" Jaskier exclaimed with excitement. It explained so much to him by the fact the Witcher's falcon landed near him the moment he got close to the panicked bird. "Then you will both have to come with me, I couldn't leave you here with a broken wing, but death isn't so close to you now!"
"No… no…" Seer-of-Omens began to panic in reply while Young-Foal continued to ramble. "Eyas, you misunderstood! Eyas!"
Chaser-of-Shadows laughed softly as she watched the two-legged and the Grey Falcon dance around each other, watched as the strange magic-blessed two-legged gathered things around the camp with Seer-of-Omens hopping after him like a flustered parent. She continued to watch at their dance, watched as the Eyas went to grab something only for Seer-of-Omens to bite when it was dangerous…
Hmm… Perhaps Seer-of-Omens would indeed be a good sire. She herself was in the middle of her lifespan, in a time where nesting and clutches were expected of her but she had never needed nor desired to raise hatchlings, but if she would then she could settle for the strange Falcon just as wild as the nature she called home.
"Seer-of-Omens, perhaps." She called softly stilling the falcon who squawked in surprise and then settled with a pleased fluff.
"Alright! So, it's settled then!" Jaskier stated as he watched the two Falcon's chitter at one another. "You'll both come with me till the wing heals and then you can be on your way back to your Witcher!"
SoO
Seer-of-Omens watched anxiously as Jaskier – dubbed Noisy-Foal, dubbed Eyas – ran around his nest with excitement. It had been a long few months, when they had arrived back at the large town that Eyas nested in over winter they found someone who could help heal Chaser-of-Shadow's – now called Scáthach – wing.
He had given them the highest part of his nest to roost, removing the trinkets from it and even pushing other bits of his own nest to make the ledge wider for them even though it distorted his own nest.
They both watched as he left every day and came back with sticks of various sizes and lengths, the softest of materials and choice pieces of meat for them to make their own nest within his own. He fed and chittered at them, and helped preen on one occasion with wide eyes full of awe at the trust.
Roach and the others were indeed correct in stating that he could understand them to a degree, even their own sky-language.
He was there for every milestone between Seer-of-Omens and Scáthach's courting, and had cooed and cheered when their own set of eggs were laid. He protected them from all unforeseen risks and predators, even other two-legged people who dared to encroach on Eyas's own nest without warning.
He had written them their own ballads, their own song.
Within those few months, Eyas had earned the loyalty of Scáthach herself and Seer-of-Omens.
"Perhaps one of our little chicks can be his companion," Scáthach stated softly as she looked down upon the sleeping two-legged she had come to love as one of her own. "If he so desires."
"It will be their choice when older, he will not force them to be bound…" He replied softly, preening his mate gently. "We shall tell them our stories, shall raise them in the way of our kind. One will have to go to Lightning-Claw to take over for me when the time comes."
"I know, one shall have to follow the way of my kin, wild and free. But if they watch for him?" Scáthach stated as she shifted the eggs below her, keeping them warm. It would not be long, she could feel the little wiggles of their life, one matching the energy of the two-legged of her nest.
Seer-of-Omens clicked his beak in thought. "Then he will love them as much as we will. He will protect them just as fiercely as my Witcher does I. Have you thought of names?"
"Yes." She replied instantly. "One will bear your name like tradition. Shadow-Dancer and…"
"You want him to name one?" Seer-of-Omens squawked in surprise, he was not expecting that at all.
Looking at her mate Scáthach nodded, "he's earned it don't you think?"
"Roach is going to be jealous he's been claimed by one of us as an Eyas." Seer-of-Omens chuckled but agreed quietly with his mate.
He had only hoped the name fit.
SoO
Jaskier woke to a loud wail, the sound he was familiar with meaning urgent, Danger and rolled out of bed with the dagger he had kept hidden under his pillow in his hands. Bleary eyes scanned the dark room looking for the intruder only for his eyes to land on the two Falcon's nesting in his room.
They were out of the nest, looking at him and calling for him.
"OH!" He yelled in excitement as he realised what was happening, tripping in his haste over the thrown blanket to reach them. "oh…"
There where three eggs were; now rested three little baby chicks. They were mottled white and black and fluffy, their little faces bare and oh god they were both ugly and cute. It melted his heart with how adorable they were and how blessed he was that they chose him to be safe enough to allow this.
"Oh, you are precious." He cooed as the three screamed at him. "I don't have food for you, but your mother or father do."
"They have been fed already; they are greeting you." Scáthach chuckled as she leaned down to preen a stray hair and tuck it into her nest.
Jaskier melted as he watched this, his eyes taking in the subtle differences of the three chicks. They all looked the same but with both parents being different he could see that one took after the Witcher's falcon, and the other two resembled Scáthach's species.
Except one looked smaller slightly, the colouring more pale than the other two. "I wish I knew what you were named… I always thought that animals have their own names cause who would go around greeting everyone as their species or noises…"
"This one is for you to name Eyas." Seer-of-Omens chittered as he loomed his head over the smallest of his clutch, the one that Scáthach claimed to be active as eyas.
Excitement lit up in Jaskier's eyes as he took note that the Witcher falcon gestured for him to name the small one, well he hoped that's what he meant but Jaskier still wasn't attuned to birds as he was Falcons but… a small laugh escaped his lips as the little one began to flap its wings. "Looks like they're eager already to fly… Rider-of-Currents… Anemone."
Seer-of-Omens and Chaser-of-Shadow felt their eyes widen as the sound escaped Eyas's lips unknowingly in their own language before shifting towards his own.
"How…?" Chaser-of-Shadow asked her head snapping to Seer-of-Omens who was just as stunned.
"Perhaps the magic that he's been gifted by the Unicorn, Pegasus and Tulpar has affected him more than we realise," Seer-of-Omens stated in awe. "He is not aware of it."
Both Falcon's accepted this easily as they nuzzled down with their chicks while they watched their Eyas dance excitedly around his nest, hands picking up his instrument with enthusiasm and beginning a new Song for their young.
A blessing they could feel in their very bones.
It brought them joy and it also cemented their loyalty and desire to protect this being from all harm.
The Unicorn's pack could protect him from the ground but with Seer-of-Omen and Scáthach and their new chicks… he will be protected from the skies as well.
If only he knew how treasured he was.