Storms of the Sky

crows - XVIII

TW: s.icidal thoughts, cursing, implications of d..t/m.rder

--Briar--

My eyes peel apart. I lift a hand weakly to block the sun from my vision. I blink again, a figure standing over me.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" I scream, throwing a paw at the figure. My fingernails angle outward. Did Hadron find me already? God I'll die now. I'm going to die.

I clutch my chest, pushing my heels into the ground. Twisting up swiftly, I throw out my leg to hook the figure.

I'm not finished with this mission, Hardon.

"WOAH!" The figure yells, falling to the ground. I hear a muffled clatter. They push their hands up towards my face. I blink, letting my vision clear.

Beneath me sits a boy. I mean like, a teenage boy but what the fuck are you supposed to call them? He has tanned skin and brown hair that juts off at his cheekbones. His eyebrows are raised, but I can see the scared look in his leafy eyes. His mouth is slightly open.

I furrow my eyebrows as I take a slight step backwards. He smiles a bit, obviously relieved. The boy shifts, his hair falling in his face. Revealing his pointed ears.

An elf.

"I thought you were dead," he says with a syrup-like voice. I scoff as I turn around. He gets up on his own. I hear footsteps behind me.

He's following me too?

I spin around, needles hitting my shins. I open my mouth to snap but stop as I manage to look up. He's tall now too? At least two heads. I mean, I'm not that short. Right?

"I thought you were dead," he repeats, bending down so we're at eye level. I growl, glaring at him. "Glad you're not."

"Well, I wish I were," I grumble. "Then I could get out of this conversation." He scoffs in an exhale, his nose scrunching with his eyes as he smiles. Is that his laugh? I look at the elf in complete confusion.

"Oookay," I say, bending down to my boot. I reveal the dagger I keep hidden on the inside. "I'm going to kill you now."

"WOAHWOAHWOAHWOAH," he says, holding out his hands. "I'd like to stay alive if at all possible. I have a quest to complete." I scoff.

"A quest? What like a fucking book character?" He looks at me, all his emotions dropped to seriousness.

"Exactly." I look at him, my lip peeled up. "Odessa, nice to meet you," he says suddenly, holding out his hand.

"I don't care," I mumble, turning around. Odessa follows me as I start moving towards what I assume is East.

"What's your name?" Odessa asks. I keep quiet for a moment. Of course, I'm not going to tell him my name, but why is he still following me?

"You don't need it," I respond as he keeps it up. Odessa hums before he straightens his back and continues walking with me. I glare at him.

"Yeah, I'm on my way to the Crescent but you probably know it as the 'Crystal Grove'. Humans are so unoriginal. No offense. You seem nice. I have to collect Moon Water at the next New Moon, which is in a few days. Where are you going?"

I stop as I glare up at Odessa. Can he actually shut the fuck up for one fucking second? I need to concentrate. His yapping doesn't help.

I turn around, looking in the direction I came. I frown.

"You said you were going to the Crystal Grove?" I ask. Odessa nods twice. I groan, grabbing at my face.

Here's the situation: a weird elf teenage boy (first problem) woke me up after I collapsed from fear and exhaustion. He won't stop following me (second problem) and I don't know how much time has passed since I collapsed (third problem). And to top it all off, I have no idea where I am or where I am going (fourth problem) BUT to make it better this elf is going to the Crystal Grove (fifth problem), which is only a half day's walk from the Meadow.

I bite the inside of my cheek. This is gonna suck ass.

"I'm coming with you," I say, gripping my hands tight. Odessa stares at me, blinking.

"I've always wanted a traveling partner," Odessa grins. I look at him with a mixture of confusion and disgust.

"What?" I snap, scoffing and throwing out my hands. I raise one to my forehead as I shake my head. He reminds me of Bastet. I feel like that'd be something they'd say. "You know what? No. Nevermind."

Odessa does his weird laugh again as he starts moving away from me.

"Where are you going?" I ask again, more snappish than I meant. Odessa raises his eyebrows at me.

"The way we're supposed to be going. Were you like dying or something?" He jokes as I stomp up to him.

"Shut up, elf boy." Odessa shrugs. I sigh, allowing myself to properly look over my new traveling companion.

He's tall. Tall tall. And has iridescent beetle wings for eyes. Which means he's some type of Earth Elf. Not only that he has Green-Eyed myth. I wonder which kind.

Odessa wears what I assume to be whatever-type-of-elf-he-is traveling clothing. It's a light brown long sleeve shirt with patches at the elbows and a darker brown and a leather jacket tied around his waist. He has on black pants that are tucked into heavy-looking boots with thick soles.

His hair is pushed back now as he keeps his eyes ahead.

We walk in almost silence. Odessa asks questions quite a bit. I just ignore him.

"Tell me about yourself," he says.

"Say something in that tone again and I'll punch your teeth out."

"You're so aggressive, Blue," He whines, tugging at his jacket sleeves. I grumble. I can't stop the nicknames.

"Well, opinions on, I don't know, they sky then?" Odessa asks, still grinning. He's so happy about this.

"Too bright."

"Brina?"

"Too many people."

"Crows?"

I turn to Odessa, eyebrows furrowed.

"What do crows have to do with anything?" I ask. Odessa shrugs. I groan. I wonder if Hadron will settle for an Earth Elf?