Fermata~

My stomach drops as Crescendo spirals down at what I belive is our top speed. I listen hard, as we drop towards the ground, but I don't hear the sound of Keen following on his griffin. Panicking, I pull gently on Crescendo's mane, and she flings ut her wings to bring us to a hovering stop. I look up in time to see a knife go through Keen's shoulder. The world slows down. My ears are ringing. I watch as Keen falls from his griffin, seemingly in slow motion, as I sit there, my chest explodes in pain at the prospect of Keen dying. Suddenly, the world comes back into motion in a rush of sounds and sensations. I urge Crescendo to chase Keen's falling body. Thank the Spirits she's a Wind Pegasus, as we just barely manage to beat his body to the rocky ground. Crescendo's already dark fur turns darker with Keen's spreading blood, and I stare in shock for a moment. Shaking myself, I look up to see the Ravenwing Riders closing in fast. "Come on, Callus!" I call. Hopefully, he'll be able to keep up. I'm not sure which species griffin he is, but I pray that he's fast. "I'm so sorry, Keen." I whisper, hoping he won't lose too much blood during a ride that I'm not sure will be the smoothest. Then, I take off, pushing Crescendo faster and faster, looping high in the clouds, doubling backwards several times. I eventually lose the Ravenwings when we enter a particularly large and thick cloud. 

Checking the area before I leave the safety of the clouds, I spiral downwards as quickly as possible in the cover of the mountains just on the border of the kingdoms. A few minutes later, I find the specific cave that I'm looking for, carefully hidden behind I wall of vines and shrubbery. As gently as possible, I take Keen off of Crescendo's back, Callus watching me keenly the whole time, and lay him in a grass filled hollow in the stone. Taking a deep breath, I cut away the fabric of the shirt around the injury and set it down in a pool of water to try and wash the blood off. I feel dizzy, seeing that much blood again. It brings back too many memories. Blinking away tears, I begin to treat the wound as best as I can, again thanking the Spirits that I never leave my house without first packing emergency materials into the riding bag that is a part of every Rider's steed's armor. When I finish, I sit back and survey my work. It's crude, but it gets the job done for now. At least the bleeding has stopped, I think with a sigh of relief. Keen's griffin steps forward and nudges him, and I shoo him away. "We need to let him wake up on his own," I explain softly. I lean over Keen, letting my hair fall over my shoulder. I don't realize that I'm staring at his face until he opens his eyes, rather serenely. I let out a breath of joy. He's not dead! I think to myself, at the same moment that Keen says, "Oh, I'm not dead." Unexpectedly, a surge of anger flashes through me. 

"Well you almost were, you impulsive little—" I begin, but he cuts me off. 

"Hey, no fair, it isn't my fault those crazed night-demon riders are trying to erase my existence," he retorts.

"That's only because you were kin of a Messenger, meaning you are also connected to the talisman, like me!" I burst out. "Anyways, those 'night-demon riders' are actually called Ravenwing Riders. I'm sorry your mother never had the chance to tell you anything... I don't think she expected to die so soon after my father did." I say, starting out annoyed, but progressing into trying to hold back tears. 

Keen tries to turn his head, but yelps slightly, clearly in pain. "There's no permanent damage, but it might leave a scar," I tell him. Might as well face the facts.

"Where are we?" he asks. Well, then. Right down to questioning everything. I guess I don't blame him, though.

"Somewhere safe," I reply somewhat hesitantly. I really don't want to go into the detail before I have time to figure out how to tell him.

"Look, can you just tell me what's going on?" he says, now sounding worried.

"I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this..." I mutters. 

"Well, there ain't no going back now, so why don't you just—" 

"All right!" Now it's my turn to cut him off, "I'll tell you." A note of anger enters my voice, although it's not directed at Keen. I watch him for a minute, trying to figure out how to begin.

"Alright," I take a deep breath, "I'm going to start from the very beginning."

I wait for him to position himself comfortably, wishing that I could help, but afraid that he would refuse, then proceed to tell him everything I know. I don't hold back anything, and he listens, captivated, until I finish.

"Wow... I- I--" he says after a few beats of silence.
"No. Don't say anything. Just let it sit until morning. I'll answer any questions you have then." I say with a yawn. As Keen tries to find a comfortable position to sleep in, I quickly go outside and grab a few pieces of woods that are lying around outside the cave, and drag them inside. After a few minutes, I manage to coax a spark into a flame, 'cause darn it's getting dark inside of this cave. When I'm satisfied that the fire is safe and will burn through the night, I lay down beside Crescendo, who is not far from Keen and his griffin. Crescendo's wing makes a pefect blanket as I quickly fall asleep, exhausted from the day's evetns.

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I'm sorry I feel like I'm not posting often enough! I wanted to make this longer, but I need to sleep, unfortunately. So, yeah. Goodnight!! 

Keen~

I expect to wake up among the worn-thin sheets of my bed at home, so I am surpsied to see the moist, looming rocks of a cave above me. Then I start to get up, but my shoulder feels as if it had been twisted and crushed and burned and who knows what else. Then I remember the knife. In the center of the cave, Fermata is tempting the dying fire with a few new twigs. The sky is still dark. 

"And I thought I woke up early!" I exclaim. She drops the sticks and runs over.

"Let me change the bandages—" she starts.

"No!" I growl, "it hurts."

"It will hurt worse if it gets infected," she warns.

"Oh well. Let's have breakfast first," I suggest, "I can catch a rabbit or something." She laughs.

"I think your gryphon has that covered...ugh! I never want to see another headless animal again!" I smile in return.

"The fire'll need to perk up a bit before we try to cook anything, but these coals from last night are good and hot!" She says mostly to herself as she arranges the sticks to where they'll catch fire the easiest.

"Hey Fermata. Do you think...anyone's looking for you?"

"Other than a crazy group of Ravingwing-riding killers, you mean?"

"Yeah." I start to tell her that Papa might be worried, but then I look outside at a winged creature flitting across the early-morning sky.

"Ravenwing Riders?" I ask, my voice tight.

"No, too small, looks like a pegasus," she replies, squinting into the light of the rising sun. Pegusus! My heart leaps as I think of Kerri, but I banish the thought from my mind. The rider is too tall. 

"Hmmm, I guess someone is looking for you," I comment.  

Fermata~

The next morning, I rise before the sun and go about figuring out breakfast, sneaking glances at Keen every few minutes. Crescendo leaves the cave, presumably to stretch her wings and find herself ome food and water. I notice Callus slip into the cave not long after Crescendo leaves, holding an animal- no, several- in his beak. My stomach rolls over when I realize they're beheaded. Shaking my head, I turn to the tedious task of getting wood to catch fire without a match. After a few minutes, I hear Keen stir behind me.

"And I thought I woke up early!" he exclaims, somewhat groggily. I drop the sticks that I'm trying to make a fire with and run over.

"Let me change the bandages—" I begin to say. It's more of an excuse to be near him than actual necessity, though.

"No!" he growls, almost angry, but not quite, "it hurts."

"It will hurt worse if it gets infected," I admonish.

"Oh well. Let's have breakfast first," he says, changing the subject, "I can catch a rabbit or something," I laugh, my voice echoing through the cave.  

"With that shoulder? Yeah, like I'm going to let you out of my sight! Besides, I think your gryphon has that covered...ugh! I never want to see another headless animal again!" he smiles softly in return, then looks fondly at Callus. Spirits, that feeling I get when he smiles. Like I might bubble over from joy.

"The fire'll need to perk up a bit before we try to cook anything, but these coals from last night are good and hot!" I say mostly to bring myself back to the task at hand. I busy myself arranging the sticks to where they'll catch fire the easiest.

"Hey Fermata. Do you think...anyone's looking for you?" Keen says after a few minutes. I keep my back to him, so he can't see my face fall. No one cares that much for me. Except maybe one person...

"Other than a crazy group of Ravingwing-riding killers, you mean?" I try to keep my voice light, so he won't hear the pain there.

"Yeah." he says, serious and maybe a bit sad. But he breaks off, looking up through the small gap in the cave's roof.

"Ravenwing Riders?" he asks tensely.

"No, too small, looks like a pegasus," I replie, squinting into the light of the rising sun. 

"Hmmm, I guess someone is looking for you," he says. I feel a pang in my chest.

The figure lands in the clearing, but obviously doesn't know about the cave, as she begins taking something out of her bag. Wait. Aleia? I can't help it. I smile, of course she would worry. At least she knows what I go through. I don't need to explain my disappearances to my best friend. Keen begins struggling to his feet.

"No! You need to rest and stay still!" I exclaim, afraid he might reopen the wound.

"I'm fine!" he snaps, "I want to see who that is." I recoil at the outburst, but before I have time to draw up a sharp retort, Aleia spins around, suddenly on high alert. She looks around, just as Keen steps outside the cave. Her dagger glints in the early morning sun, but Keen doesn't seem to be worried. "Relax, it's okay." he tells her

"Aleia?" I say, stepping up behind him.

"Fermata," she sighs, clearly relieved.

I we step towards each other and embrace. When I finally pull away, Aleia immediately begins scolding me for disappearing without warning again.

"It's fine. I'm fine. There was just a little..." I glance over my shoulder, meeting Keen's eye, "Incident." I finish.

"Right. So you're on the run. Again. This is the second time since you became the Messenger apprentice! And you brought a boy with you this time!"  she says. I see that she wants to talk about this later, when we're alone. I grin, signaling that I want to talk, too.

"Okay, so... Keen, this is Aleia. Aleia, this is Keen. His griffin over there is Callus. Her Pegasus over there is Breeze. Welcome to the select few people that know about all this," I say briskly. I find introductions so trivial and boring. "Also, Aleia. Do you know if that girl that's supposed to be my 'guard' is looking for me? Keen, do you think your friend are looking for you?" Both of them shrug.

"Alright. So, if there are others looking for us, which there most likely will be because that's how it always is, we need to stay put for another night or so. You need to heal anyways, Keen." I say firmly. "I almost wish we could continue, but for now we can't. We also can't head back to the kingdom this time," I touch the pendant around my neck, "It's no longer safe."

After a quick food break, we begin delegating tasks. I allow Keen the job of keeping the fire alive and telling Callus to hunt some more. Aleia will set about collecting any edible and medicinal plants. Meanwhile, I'm going to get any other supplies necessary. The others don't know this, but we are preparing for a journey. A journey to find the Other creatures that live out there and seek their help. It will take us far from the safety of the kingdoms, but it has to be done. If we don't get the help of the other creatures, the kingdoms will be destroyed by the power of the talismans combining. We need to stop that by collecting 13 special items from each type of supposedly mythical creature out there in order to shield the kingdoms and destroy the Corrupteds (the things that ride the Ravenwings and they are essentially immortal to human deaths- we need the 13 things in order to kill them. We could change what we call these, I just needed something to put here for now). 

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We need to all agree on what the creatures we will look for are, the objects that we need from them, and the challenges that we need to go through to get the object. I definitely think we need at least one creature from each element.