[AW] Silence of the Meadow

[Teara Yora]

Her head was held high and the scowl on her face was quite evident to anyone who came near her. She took measured and steady steps, her old body did not have the capacity to move as quickly as she once had. She lived her life and quite frankly she was waiting for death to claim her but it was taking its sweet time about it. Her ears flicked as she heard a noise in the distance, she stood still while she watched a fox chase a rabbit, quite sure that the two of them were not of sentient life. She watched until the hunt ended in its gory way and then she grinned to herself, what an archaic sort of eden they lived in. She remembered when the lands were as populated as the petals on a new bloom. Yet here she stood, searching for life yet unable to find it.



The witch shrugged, and turned from the view to head into the summer meadow. The world was wonky and even this meadow that was once the essence of summer seemed to show it. Silence rang out in the meadow, birds chirped yes, but there was no longer the bustle of life that had once been here. The meadow was a veritable pharmacy and she came here often, her mind turning to what once was before she began her gathering of the herbs.

[Deleted]

Acera soared above the terrain. The sunlight glinting off her bronze scales. Her gaze swept the land below her for life. Spotting a slight form making its way across the flora covered meadow, the fae pondered how she should introduce herself. Flapping her great expanse of wings to keep her altitude, the femme prepared herself for a refusal from the creature. Tilting her leaterhy pinions, she swept her heavy body away from the general area of the canid as she intended to land a ways away from the wolf so as not to scare them away. The drake’s shadow had before been almost covering the canine but now had drifted away.

steelign herself, she closed her rugged wings to form into a perfect dive. Hurling to the ground, the wind whistled around her. Just a short distance from hitting the earth, she opened her rough appendages with a slap, slowing her descent. With a few flaps of her wings, she landed firmly on th soil. Closing her wings, the lizard’s cobalt gaze scanned the meadow, falling on the wolf. Unsure of how she should act without the guidance of their teacher, the drake knew only to watch the creautre before her with a worried regard.

Teara Yora

Sorry if it seems a bit weird or has mistakes in it, I did it on my iPad so it might have done something weird without my knowing.

[Teara Yora]

Her ears flicked as a shadow was cast over her from above and a frown crossed her face. Lifting her gaze she studied the creature as it maneuvered above her, getting ready to land. Perhaps she had gotten too used to being able to come here alone. The grumpy old creature watched as the dragon landed, a scowl on her face as she saw the bounty of plant-life that it crushed. Her ears flicked as she sighed resolutely to herself, she supposed now would be the time to start interacting with others. The creature seemed pleasant enough, she had avoided crushing the witch and landed far enough away that she was not a hazard. She supposed that the creature could not help crushing anything it landed on.

As she walked, well more like hobbled, towards the creature the variety of items around her neck clacked together. Her luminous green and pink warpaint marked her as something different and her glowing eyes watched the creature carefully.

“Greetings” she croaked, her voice betraying her age. “I was not aware that others had returned to this meadow” she added, attempting at starting a conversation.
@acera,

[Deleted]

Settling herself upon the grasses, Acera collected herself. Folding her large wings, she tentatively accessed the canine that now made their way over. The drake noted the slight limp and aged way with which the she-wolf spoke along with the bizarre coloring and items which with the canid was cloaked. The bronze dragoness had been unable to detect these characteristics from the height in which she had first seen the wolf. And now, she gazed at them with interest and curiosity.

The old fae reminded her of her teacher in a way if only match in age. Lowering her skull some so as to provide the smaller creature some comfort when speaking to her, Acera replied with a slight rumbling of her voice, so long had it been that she had lasted used it, "Good morning, I am not so much as returning as I am arriving. I have come here from a far seeking a place to make my home. Do you reside here?"

The femme decided to take that moment to study the smaller creature before. Noting the odd markings and cluster of items hanging from the canine. Acera proceeded to search the knowledge of the outside world that her teacher had bestowed her. Perhaps this is one of the witches that teacher spoke of. Intrigued, the young adult considered asking the she-wolf about it if ever the chance allowed it. For now, the draken sought only to speak with the fae and perhaps learn of the land in which she had arrived.

Teara Yora

[Teara Yora]

On some levels she hoped that this creature lived here, that the courts were returning yet on another she knew that wasn’t true. The world was filled with too much chaos for that to be true. It had snowed in the savannah, just the other day. A place that was normally hotter than one could possibly imagine; covered in snow.

The dragon’s words pulled a sad smile over her maw, as indifferent as the aged female was to the going-ons of the world she dreaded what would happen if it was left without the Courts for too long. ”No dearie, this is the territory of the rather absent Summer Court” she said simply. Faintly realising the two of them had not yet exchanged names, she wondered for a moment; eventually deciding she did not feel like sharing her name as much as she did not feel like sharing the location of her home. She enjoyed her privacy after all the wrongs of her life.

”Why stop here though?” she asked cocking her head to the side, why would anyone purposefully want to live in a world that so desperately needed balance more than anything else. Many constantly scattered and tried to uphold the balance and for many it was a lifelong commitment and they never truly got to live their lives.
@acera,

[Deleted]

Acera studied the aged canid that stood before as they spoke. Noting with slight surprise and interest, the wolf's subdued smile. The drake noted with even greater surprise the title of Summer Court. The name rung a small, distant bell with the femme. "Summer Court..." Mused the bronze lizard, swinging her large cranium to search the skies, as if they may bring the answer she sought, "I feel as if I have heard this name but I cannot quite deem what is it's significance." Searching her hundred year long memory, the dragon could not fathom what it was that tickled her fancy regarding the name. Returning her cobalt gaze to her speaking companion, the Acera sought to question the creature more only to be posed a question herself.

"You could say I was curious but that may not be quite true" Acera replied, her gaze, once more, sweeping across the terrain, noting the large number of differing flora. "My teacher sought that I search for a new territory far from my first. Thus far, I have avoided any interaction with other creatures on my journey and, truth be told, I originally had not planned to stop her but continue on without a glance." The drake returned her wandering vision on the she-wolf. Pausing for a moment in her speech, the orange-bronze draken considered her reasons for stopping. Swinging her tail, the archaic creature swept it lowly across the ground but did so in a manner that would not harm the plant life, continuing her speech, "One could say, I stopped due to a feeling. Something called to me to stop here and so I did. What that something was though, I'm not sure I'll ever find out." Returning her gaze once more to the skies, the young dragon sought once more the answer to her conundrum in the blue skies that reflected her stare. Searching the heavens only to find that they would not provide her with an answer, Acera lowered her regard to the aged she-wolf that stood before.

Teara Yora

[Teara Yora]

She listened to the young dragon’s words curiously, letting her finish replying to her questions and answering the one’s the witch had posed to her. The woman’s wondering gaze made her feel somewhat uncomfortable as her own gaze was fixed on the dragon. Perhaps it was because this was a new area for the behemoth… or perhaps there were more sinister reasons. Either way it was not Teara’s place to ask, she had a saying that she stuck by: 'not my monkeys, not my circus'.

“The courts…” she started, pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts, “The courts keep the world in balance. Have you noticed how it is snowing in the desert? Or how the Northern areas are gaining hints of summer? Even here in this meadow… the change is evident.” she looked around as if to punctuate her point. “There are four Courts, summer and winter, light and dark. And they have become things of legend, allowing the world to fall out of balance.”

A wry expression crossed her face as she thought of the dangerous changes the world was going through with an absence of winter and summer and order among the mortals. It worried her, but not too much. Soon she would pass on and become one with the earth. The balance would no longer be her problem.

“I am assuming your teacher gave you that advice because you were running from something?” she asked rhetorically, not expecting an answer but cocking her head knowingly in the dragon’s direction. She had faced similar situations in her past, where running was the only option. Although she doubted a creature as large as the one before her had anything to fear… well except for other creatures like herself.

“Perhaps you were pulled towards the Summer court, it is a court of frivolous freedom and expression. Fun and happiness… normally. Members of the court are very much ruled by their emotions.” she said with a chuckle, a joke really. But perhaps it was true. Perhaps this was a deeply passionate creature who was destined to be part of the Summer Court. Of course she knew nothing about her and her assumption could be wrong. Perhaps there was something else that called her. She glanced around suspiciously and discreetly, hoping the winged beast did not notice the action. Perhaps that prick of a deer was nearby.

@acera,

[Deleted]

Acera pondered the aged wolf's words, considering what she had seen on her flight. "Now that you mention it, the landscape did seem to be ever so slightly awry as I passed over them. In the areas where I paused, there seemed to be an ever so slight disturbance in the air. But I had thought them to not be of much note." The bronze drake had lived a very isolated life for much of her time and so did not care to think much of those disturbances, having not seen the outside world as much as others. To her, she assumed that they may be normal and she was just not used to them.

To the smaller creature's following words, Acera felt a ting of worry. She knew not the situation of her siblings and parents along with her teacher and dearly hoped that they were okay. If the world were to fall out of balance, the azul-eyed femme knew for sure that her siblings would be alright but her parents and teacher were both in less than pleasant conditions and if such a thing were to happen, Acera was unsure for their safety. Casting a worried glance in the direction of their locations, the young fae wondered if she should venture a journey to check on them. Now was not the time though, with the disturbances only being slight, it was a better action for her to learn more about the courts rather than make a sudden return journey.

Hearing the old canid's question, the orange-bronze draken returned her thoughts to the scene at hand. The question posed was one that her teacher had warned her not to answer, at least, not for a few hundred years. Until her infamy had died out, it was best that she remain silent on why she had left. And so, Acera choose to ignore the question, skipping over it in favor of the canine's following words. But the young dragon was just that, young, and though she knew she had better not say, she let slip the reason for her flight just ever so slightly, "I fear the Summer court is not the reason to my landing here. My teacher has advised me to place laws on myself and not let my emotions guide me but my head lest I return to my old ways." Realizing her blunder, the blue-eyed drake panicked but was careful not to show it, her demeanor did not change but a flash of it crossed her gaze. Otherwise, it was as if she had not blundered. The blunder was but small though and could easily be thought of as referencing something else. The young femme hoped that would be the case. In her panic, the scaled lizard failed to notice the aged wolf's shifted glance.

Teara Yora

[Teara Yora]

Teara smiled knowingly at the young dragon, well young for a dragon. She was sure the creature in front of her was many years older than herself yet she was still young for her species. Teara on the other hand could pass at any day, a twinge of jealously passed through the old wolf yet it did not show on her face. Her anger at the way the world worked was not productive and in line with the dragon’s last words she buried that emotion deep.

”True, emotion can sometimes be a liability, but there are also times where it could be useful and helpful even. We all make mistakes based on our emotions but that… that is how we grow up and develop as individuals. Living a world of logic can sometimes be…. defeating” she paused to think and collect her words, ”One needs to learn how to manage one’s emotions and not simply shut them down. Gut feelings are sometimes just as important as logic.” she finished her lecture with a wink.

”If it was not your emotions or a gut feeling what do you think your reason for landing here would be?” she asked conversationally. Not necessarily trying to poke holes in the fem’s beliefs, but rather trying to understand the fem’s logic.

[Deleted]

Acera pondered the words of the old wolf. In the bronze draken's lifetime, her personality had gone through several changes and thus has meant the youngling had yet to find herself. Having lived such a quiet, isolated life in the mountains, her personality had been underdeveloped with very little happening to let it develop and so when she left she was easily influenced. In her time of tyranny, her personality had been warped into something dark and twisted while the appearance of her teacher suppressed it. So it had indeed been true that the young drake had learned the most when she had let her emotions guide her but the lesson learned had not been the best one as it had twisted the dragon's personality into something dark and ugly. It was only due to the appearance of her teacher that she had found a way from the darkness. He taught her companionship with those of another kind and how to control her emotions so as not to let them run awry but in a way, he may have taught her wrong. As young as she is for her kind, it may have been better if he had only taught her the error of her ways and not to suppress her emotions but the deed has been done and Acera has yet to find someone who can teach her another way of life, one that doesn't suppress Acera's nature.

When the canine finished her speech with a wink, Acera questioned whether the smaller creature had realized her blunder and perhaps touched on the past the drake sought to hide or if they only held a general idea what had so flustered the femme. For the time being, the drake choose not to panic and let things play out with the hope that if she didn't push the topic it would disappear into the background to be forgotten.

A frown overcame the scaled lizard's countenance upon hearing the question posed. "Perhaps...because Teacher..wanted me to come?" Acera questioned with a confused regard. "I believe I faintly recall Teacher telling me to seek out the courts but I cannot quite remember."

The lack of recollection was by no fault of the drake's for her teacher had not meant for her to hear of the courts. Acera only knew of them due to a mistake on her Teacher's part. For he had spoken of it with visitor to the forest and at the time he had believed Acera to be asleep. Though Acera had told her teacher much about herself, she still hid some things from him and one of those things was that she would awaken from even the slightest change in her environment. This ability having come about during her years of tyranny. And at the time, the young dragon had awakened slightly due to the appearance of the stranger but she was still on the cusp of sleep and so was only able to vaguely record what she heard. What she had heard at the time was that her teacher was a researcher of the courts and that he had been seeking them all his life. Just a little while before he met Acera he had discovered a clue as to the whereabouts of the courts but realizing that at his age, he would never be able to make the journey, he decided to seek out someone who could. He had become depressed when he realized everyone thought he was crazy since the common belief was that the courts were a myth and had indeed originally come to the forest to die but that goal changed when he met the young dragon. He realized that though he could never make the journey, a dragon could, especially a dragon like Acera. It would take but days for her to reach the area. The creature he spoke with though questioned why he would send someone he so cared for on a journey that may have no end and those words jarred Acera's teacher so that he decided not to tell Acera of the courts and where she may find them. In the end, he told her to fly west or south, south being the direction of the supposed location of the courts, as her homeland where her parents came from lay in the east and she herself had come from the north. Acera, vaguely recalling that the courts were supposed in the south, choose to fly south. Her teacher silently hoped for her to find the courts there and sent her off on her journey. Unknown to the blue-eyed dragon and her canine teacher, she had accomplished the lifelong goal of her teacher. Unfortunately, her teacher will not live to know so.

Acera knew none of this of course and so only thought that perhaps she had been a bad student, not being able to recall such an important detail as this. "Perhaps, I should have paid more heed to his words." Murmured the ornage-bronze drake.

[Teara Yora]

Teara smiled grimly at the female, getting the idea that the young dragon was not quite herself, but rather the creation of someone. She aimed to be as her teacher wished her to be, rather than who her true calling was. Her ears flicked, a motion too quick for most eyes to catch, it was a kind of annoyance that another would force themselves so much on the young that they never truly developed into themselves. Of course she didn’t know the full story, she didn’t know the reason this dragon attempted to embody her teacher, but she didn’t like it.

“Would your teacher even choose your mate for you?” she asked with a brow raised, a bit of judgement in her voice at the fem’s lack of ability to make her own decisions. Her luminous pink and green eye staring critically at the dragon. “Every time you speak, you teacher falls from your maw. Were you never allowed to live your own life? Or were you simply left to live your teacher’s desire for you?”

Perhaps her words were a bit harsh, but at this point they were quite true. She began to walk around, sniffing and searching through the plant life to find the herbs she needed. She plucked a couple, stuffing them into a bag around her neck. She did not stray far enough away from the dragon that she would not here her words. But it was best that she got her job done so that she could leave. This revelation of the old controlling the young did not sit well with her, she did not like it. It simply made her want to go back to her hermit ways. It upset her in a way she could not describe.

[Deleted]

Acera recoiled at the old wolf's words. The canine's questions hitting a point deeply buried in the young dragon's consciousness. "No..No...He wouldn't..." The young drake's mind trembled as the she-wolf's words clashed with her teacher's lessons. Despite how the scaled fae acted, she was quite quick-witted and at times that was both good and bad thing. And at the moment, her wit caused turmoil in the femme's mind. Shaking her head vigorously, Acera sought an answer to her troubles, "He wouldn't. Teacher would never...After all he said I was free. That they were wrong. I am...." Tilting her skull, the blue-eyed dragon became ever more confused as suppressed memories returned. "Me?" The orange-bronze drake's voice was filled with questions and uncertainty, "Who am I?"

A long while ago, Acera had been met with these same questions while with her teacher. There are two grave misconceptions Acera had about her time with her teacher, one, that she had never met another of her kind during her stay with him, and two, that he cared for her. During her stay with her teacher, some of her kind had heard what was happening and so they sought to right the action and bring Acera to a place where she would be cared for without the destruction of herself. They underestimated his hold on her though and so when they arrived and bombarded Acera with those questions, all he had to do was say that they were wrong and Acera accepted his words without question and drove them away.

They kept trying to reach her nonetheless but her teacher never let go and they were never able to get to her until one day, they changed tactics. Instead of trying to talk to Acera, they instead threatened her teacher. Without Acera around, he was nothing and so they managed to get him to release Acera but he was a step ahead and sent her away before they could collect her to bring her home, so to speak. In reality, he never cared for Acera and in the time they spent together, he saw her only ever as a possible threat and a tool. Noticing her fear of isolation, he used that as a weapon against her to suppress her and have her listen to his every word. He really did come to die and he really was a researcher of the courts but he was more so two-faced. What Acera took as kindness and worry for her when he decided not to send her to the courts was in reality a deep envy and hatred. He did not want something like her to discover what he had sought his entire life.

But now he wasn't with her. He isn't able to immediately reject the words and erase the doubt from Acera's mind. This being the case, Acera began to crumble. "Teacher cares for me, doesn't he? He wouldn't do that. They....They...were wrong?..Teacher said so.....Teacher, wrong?.....They....You...They....Everyone would reject me if I didn't listen...he said....so...I...I...I am terrible, yes? Horrible, yes?...That's why they...Teacher said so...I don't want to be alone again....Why...Why...What..What...Who...Who am I?" Acera cried. Confusion and uncertainty crossed her features, riddled her vocals. She began to rock, a moan escaped her. She did not know who she was. Her teacher had told her many times that he wasn't doing anything to her, she was her, he wasn't controlling her or suppressing her like they said. But many others had told her the opposite, that she was acting strange, that her actions seemed dictated by another, her words always seemed to end and begin with her teacher. That even if they had not known her for long, no one should be like this, she was not herself. But her teacher had always been there to dispel those words and suppress those memories with his own words and little extra help. But now those memories returned in a flood, the questions posed reflecting the countless words of others from before and Acera trembled.

[Teara Yora]

On some level she regretted the question she had asked, the frantic response of the dragon seemed a little bit over-the-top and dramatic although she supposed she would react in a similar way in the same situation. She was quiet, allowing the dragon time to herself to think. Teara herself was collecting her thoughts, reluctantly ready to provide some advice and guidance. She sat down on her rump, looking at the creature with a mixture of empathy and determination.

”Perhaps I am wrong, but you are who you decide to be. Living and life is a combination of decisions and trials that test us and show us who we really are. You have travelled to a new land and without doubt your past may have been somewhat treacherous. I do not know the story but you have hinted enough. Yet here you are, in a new land and with a new start. Perhaps it is time for you to redefine yourself. To decide who you want to be and then become that. Work towards it. You have within you both the ability for great potential and great failure, what happens with that potential is determined by your attitude.” she stopped her monologue to stand up.

With her telekinesis she pulled a boulder closer to them, hollowing it out so that it was a bowl. Pulling water from the air she filled it to the brim. From the satchel that hung around her neck she threw calming combination of herbs into the bowl. ”Come along and help warm the water, a cup of tea will do you good” she said with a wink, leaving the dragon to warm the water with her fire. She then proceeded to search for a smaller boulder to make a cup for herself. After making her cup she returned to the dragon and used her fire-magic to help warm the water.
@acera,

[Deleted]

Acera's gaze now rested on the ground. The filament that had been sealing her memories had become like a glass lock. It would have only taken a few words to break it and let the blockaded memories return. The young dragon stood stunned as repressed memories flooded her mind. The blue-eyed fae remembered lost meetings and half witnessed glimpses of forgotten friends and foes alike. Hearing the old wolf beginning to speak, The femme raised her skull, bringing her gaze level with the canine. Acera nodded, her thoughts tumultuous with her new revelations.

The draken watched quietly as the canid moved items around without so much as touching them herself and created water from the air. Normally, the orange-bronze drake would be greatly excited by these actions but at the moment, she had been too stunned to make much of what was happening. The youngling was slightly confused with the placement of the bowl filled with water and herbs but the elder's words sparked some awareness in her. The fae breathed in deeply, gathering her flame, she released a steady, controlled blaze. Acera watched the small purple and orange inferno with admiration. She had always enjoyed gazing at her flame and was quite proud of its color. Acera had not used her flame for some time and now welcomed its return.

Teara Yora

[Zara]

(( OOC: Can I throw in Zara, my intelligent female black gorilla?))

@acera, Teara Yora,