OOC: A new style of posting... XD I kind of like it for Kvothe))

Listening to you try to pronounce something in the Old Tongue was, honestly, amusing. I did not concern myself too much over your butchery of my tongue, nay, I was far more distracted by the laugh, and I feel a grin break out across my features at your wink. Oh lass, I could never forget your name, no, I would sooner choose to forget everything about me, about Aisling and Finn and Bast and everything I knew.. than forget your name.

Elodin strongly objects.

I spend a few seconds soothing over his hurt pride, fondness upon my thoughts. Nay, I would never forget my dear Elodin. Both of you have wormed your way deep into the recesses of my soul too much for me to even consider the thought of amnesia.

I look away when the question of my goose-chase's origins comes up, ashamed to meet your eyes. "A rumor... of my twin, Bast. I've not seen him 'ere my arrival to Helovia. I worry for him." My ears pin back against my locks, gaze flickering towards the trees. Bast had completely slipped my mind in the rush of excitement Helovia had snared me with, and for that guilt came anew, clawing another scar upon my heart.

So lost in my musing am I that I almost miss it when you touch me, just the faintest of brushes of your hide against mine. It makes my skin jump, and I inhale softly, resisting the strong urge to lean back against your touch, to keep our skin pressed together so sweet and tempting it felt. You merely smile and lay down, somehow reassuring all my worries about having offended or hurt you.

Helovia's inhabitants did, indeed, have such a strange magic.

Laughter rolls out of me at your 'mockery' of innocence that I knew you possessed, and I sink down into the grass beside you. Even Elodin, princely and fickle in his attentions, cannot resist coming close and curling against my belly at the prospect of a story. My audience now gathered, I look up to meet your gaze as you express your desire to..to come with me on my next wanderings. You see them as adventures... oh, my dear sweet naive Rei, if only you knew that my life was no adventure, no. I was a recorder, a chronicler, I watched the deeds of others and committed them to memory so generations would know of the heroics others did.

Which...saddened me. What do you think I am, I wonder? Am I, in your eyes, a bard who has seen such wonders and performed such wonderful deeds? Or do you see the truth? I.. I never want you to see the truth, I want you to think me a hero. It is selfish and wrong and I still want it. I shake off the thoughts 'ere they sink their claws in too deep, my tail curling around Elodin even as he connects my thoughts to a picture of a donkey's rea-... I need to teach the boy manners one of these days.

Then you say something that completely wipes my mind empty save startled surprise. 'My storyteller'. My. Did you mean to say it, to imply that I was yours to claim? Or was I reading too much into it? Oh, I longed for you to mean it, however I do not let my surprise show. More likely than not I am reading too much into it... but I cannot help the pleasant feeling it gives me to be referred to as 'yours'.

"Well, perhaps I may have onnnneee story to tell." I jest, smiling fondly at your masked self before I turn my gaze to the pond, silent for a bit. What tale to tell, what yarn to spin? There were so many yet so few, and none seemed fit to recant at that moment.

Save one...

"I will tell ye' the tale of the pegasus Haruna and the unicorn Misako, two lovers in a land as beautiful and dangerous as a lightning-storm." Elodin yawns, then turns his attention up at me, his broad ears pricked up at me, his attention captured. Secretly I believe the boy liked romances and tales of magic, something that brought a small smile to my dark lips.

'T'was many, many years past when Haruna and Misako walked the land, a husband and wife that tended to the earth and made sure everything green would grow and flourish. The mare Haruna was a beauty to behold, with hide of a pale cream and locks of precious silver. She was beautiful inside and out, never afraid to let her radiant smile shine, and she had her beloved Misako wrapped around her hoof. The couple were happy beyond comprehension, believing themselves to be blessed for their good fortune and love.'

'One winter as the two lay beside a fire, keeping each other warm, they reflected upon how they met several winters past. Misako had been a farmer set to tend to a land he could not tame alone when Haruna came across him, and it was love at first sight. Before the snow left the ground they were wed, and it was a simple yet lovely affair. Misako recalled everything in perfect detail, and Haruna hid her face 'ere she asked him, "If there's a day I could never tend to the land again, would you still be here with me, would you love me as you did before?". Misako merely drew her closer. "But of course." The world seemed less cold before the warmth of their love.'

'Spring came, and with it came the birds. Haruna sang along with their chorus as Misako began to prepare the soil for the crops. Her duet with the songbirds was enough that he, and all the woodland creatures, would pause in their work to listen in awe and wonder. "When you sing, everything is beautiful." Misako told her, to which Haruna flushed, "If there's a day my voice has gone away and I can't sing anymore, would you still be here with me, would you still love me as you did before?" Misako laughed, leaving his work to soothe his wife's worries. "But of course." He told her, wiping away her tears as they fell.'

'Spring turned to summer, and it was then Misako began to weaken, for an illness that had long since plagued him began to claim his life. Haruna cried out in fear as her husband fell, no longer having the strength to stand. It was then she saw Death, in all his terrible glory, stride towards the couple with the intent to take Misako in his clutches. Sobbing Haruna threw herself between her love and Death, pleading for his life and even offering her own in return. Death saw the true love that resided within her soul and Misako's, and rather than take Haruna's life for his own he offered her a deal.'

'"Weave me a cloak with your magic worthy of Death." "What shall I use? We cannot afford silk" To this, Death paused, considering before he spoke again, and it was with the finality of damnation that his words fell. "You will weave me a cloak of your feathers. You will surrender the sky or he will die before winter begins." With that, Death vanished, and Haruna collapsed, for you see, she was under an enchantment. Born a crane with the desire to become equine, the Jade Emperor allowed her to take the form of a pegasus mare so long as she never shed all of her feathers, and should she give the last of her feathers away, she would perish.'

'Haruna, seeing the growing weakness of her dear Misako, began to weave using temporary magic Death had granted her. One by one she plucked her feathers, weaving a cloak of down and tears, knowing her time with Misako was nearing it's end, that once he saw what she truly was she would loose him forever. Yet still she wove at the loom, praying to the Jade Emperor and all the gods she knew for strength and the health of Misako.'

'Soon the cloak was almost complete, and Haruna stood before the loom with the final feather laying before her, ready to be woven into the cloak. It was a thing of beauty, every feather rippling many colors, soft as silk to the touch yet strong as steel. Her thoughts were upon Misako, and the fear she held at his rejection.'

'"If there's a day I'm not the same, not myself anymore... would you still be here with me, would you still love me as you did before?" She feared the answer, her words hushed, trembling with the tears that threatened to fall. Steeling herself, her bloodied, naked wings shivering against her sides, Haruna drew down upon the last of the magic to weave the final feather.'

'"But of course." Misako spoke just as he had before, his lips to her ear, his body leaning upon her for support before he drew her in tight, embracing her broken body against his own. "I'll keep my promise to embrace you, and without wings I'd love you even more. For that crane which had taken flight so beautifully the winter day we met, I'll remember for forever how you spread your wings and soared. And as always for forever I'll love you as before."'

'Misako died before the first snow, never allowing Haruna to sacrifice herself to save his life, and on the day he passed into the next world she gave the final feather to Death, and walked side by side with her beloved into the afterlife.'

OOC: Story based upon the song Seasonal Feathers by I believe Vocaloid? @[Rei]