Depart
Pet Name: Depart
Owner: God
Theme / Type: Phantom Phelocan
Born: January 25, 2013
MisticPal Name: Night Terror
MisticPal Age: 4323 Days
Battle Portal Stats
Hit Points: 15 / 15
Strength: 15
Defense: 0
Speed: 20
Intellect: 10
Misticpower: 1
Battles Won: 0
Battles Lost: 0
| Attached Weapons | |
Books Read
Books Read: None
Exotic Foods Eaten
Foods Eaten: 0/1254 [ View Foods ]
Because of his albinism and uncharacteristic personality, Zelik never got along with the rest of the herons..or even the bird laguz in general. Although on basis he got along with the Hawks best, he found a "true" home with the Lions. Rather than having lived in the Serenes Forest, Zelik's parents chose to move out closer to the human cities. His mother feared for the fetus growing in her womb after an accident in the forest, praying that it wouldn't be stillborn. The child was born without complications, but something even worse than that startled his parents. From slate grey, an offspring with icy white feathers and bloody red eyes was far beyond frightening. The wife was accused of cheating while the husband fell into depression. This went on for weeks, and in that short time his parents had become..mentally vacant. Their negative feelings, doubt, hatred, animosity..had been their undoing. Without a viable food source the child was left to fend for himself. Luckily it was only for a few hours. A wandering lion happened upon the area, and the first thing he sought was the stench of decay out of moral duty.
That was the first day of the rest of my life. I don't remember anything from before the lion found me. My earliest memory in its entirety is the door opening and seeing an enormous man standing at the doorway. He said somethings, but at the time I couldn't understand it. I don't know if I passed out or fell asleep but when I woke up I was in a Lion's home. I recognized the man from before..well, more accurately his hair. Somehow, I was able to survive, and when my health had recovered he began to teach me. Well...actually he didn't do any of it himself, there was always a Hawk that came by periodically with many books. When I could understand speech, I learned that the lion's name was Kreutzer and that the hawk was Luze. There was also another laguz that came by when Kreutzer was busy, he was a golden-haired cat that introduced himself as Shiraq. It was also from Shiraq that my name as Zelik was chosen, saying that I was 'blessed' to have been saved by Kreutzer when I did. As the years passed the three of them became my family. Luze taught me flight, Shiraq taught me knowledge, and Kreutzer taught me survival. I never understood why Kreutzer didn't have a tail while Shiraq did, but I was told to leave it alone. Eventually, Luze and Shiraq migrated from their original homes and moved in with Kreutzer.
When my adolescence began, Kreutzer took it upon himself to teach me self defense. He said it would be crucial to living with the beast tribe. At the time, I didn't understand what Luze meant about some kind of diet; I'd been eating the same food that Kreutzer does since I was old enough to eat solid food. I was told once again not to question it so I just left it alone. The first few months of training were difficult. My wings were dislocated or broken several times and Luze had to take me back to his homeland for healing. It was there that I met other birds for the first time. There were people with wings as black as the inky night, or those like Luze who had large wings the color of earth. I saw a few laguz that had blue or grey-brown wings. I wasn't wary of them, but I could feel negative eyes cast on me. It felt like they were judging me for not knowing what they were. From the first visit there was also a lady with white wings like mine, but she looked upon me with such scornful eyes. It made my skin crawl and I instinctively lashed out. After returning home, Luze disappeared for a few weeks. I learned from Shiraq, that he'd been reprimanded for my behavior. Upon Luze's return I decided that if I had to go back there, for his sake, I would contain my pride; even if it meant such a degree of humiliation. Kreutzer mentioned a few times that by me doing that, I was learning a better trait; loyalty to family, and that it was a good thing.
As I neared the end of my adolescence, I was barely fourty, although my family hadn't aged at all. With a young adult's physique, Kreutzer began teaching me more advance combat tactics, although careful to keep us away from prying eyes. The last time a crowd gathered he explained that I'd passed out from the negative energy emitted by the other laguz. During that time Kreutzer also stopped training me. He said that while self defense was one thing, actual combat for me would be impossible. I didn't understand what he meant at the time, but it felt like a huge blow to me, to be told from my foster father that I was a lost cause. For a time I left home, I flew back to my original home near the human towns and stayed at the inn. Without any money, the elderly couple allowed me to stay until I went on my way, but I'd insisted on working in return for their hospitality. I spent my days helping around the inn doing odd jobs; anything from taking out the trash, changing the rooming sheets, or seeing customers, to cooking meals for us. I didn't mind, and they were a kind couple that - although the husband had once taken part in the beorc-laguz war, he held no resentment towards laguz and I had no reason to avoid him.
It wasn't until one night during the winter after almost an entire year of staying with them that I discovered why Kreutzer didn't want to teach me combat. The inn was raided by bandits that had heard about a royal heron staying there and planned on capturing it for a rares collector. Although I was told to hide, I couldn't. I was compelled to confront them head on. With every intent to drive them out, I realized that I was unable to. Well, I realized it after retaliating against the first one, anyway. When he lunged at me I instinctively punched him in the throat, but the impact had caused my wrist to dislocate. We were saved however, by a passing nomad. He hadn't had any intention of staying at the inn, only entering town for supplies, but came in upon commenting about how disappointed he was that this would happen even during the era of peace between the species. After the adrenaline had worn off, I began to understand. The bandits' negative energy had caused me to feel ill. I couldn't even defend properly against one. This must have been why Kreutzer chose not to push me any further.
The human told me to leave, if I wanted to bring peace to the couple. Naturally, I wanted to bring them safety, so I had every intention of leaving, but they insisted that we at least stay the night before going. He left for a while, but returned shortly after with his horse. For security reasons they asked the nomad to stay in the room with me. It was in the room that I learned his name was Elwyn. Once upon a time he was the leader of a tribe in the mountains, but has since become nomadic with no place to call home. But - the gall of that human! Before going to bed I noticed he only took off his leather armor, and he actually said to me "You take off too much". The following morning we left, Elwyn had given his word to them that he would see me home. Once we left the area, he asked me if I knew how to ascend the Phoenicis cliffs, but I told him I didn't remember where it was. Although I'd been there several times, Luze didn't want me going there without him, nor without good reason. Needless to say, the expression on Elwyn's face was pretty funny, before explaining that I was a lion. Well, his reaction to that was even funnier. I told him my home was a partially underground den hidden nearby Gebal Castle.
When we reached Gebal, I was surprised to see Shiraq on an outcropping waiting for us. He came down and greeted us, changing out of his feral form. Elwyn didn't seem the least bit phased, and neither did Shiraq. Although he did explain why Kreutzer left me alone to my own devices. "The pride of a lion is the glory of god, so to try and reign you in would've been worse for you in the long run. Kreutzer, Luze and I..we've lived for almost a century now, so we've seen things, but you're still young. Up until now you've been under the protection of a lion, but everyone needs to go out and see how the world is at some point. Humans...and Laguz...while we're on a better basis than before, the animosity will not die so easily. Just like how Branded are still looked down upon by some parties." After introductions, Shiraq suggested that Elwyn stay with them for a while, since he had nowhere in particular to go.
He agreed and Kreutzer welcomed us home, although..I had left for over a year, but for our kind that's no more than a blink of an eye and the only thing he feared for was that I would end up getting killed. After exchanging greetings, Elwyn asked to stay with us for a while, saying that he wanted to observe our lifestyle. Not as Laguz, but as members of different tribes. Kreutzer saw no problem with it, he said he could see Elwyn's honor - having no ill intentions. That began Elwyn's period of boarding with us. The first morning I was woken up by a thudding sound - well, we all were, actually. Apparently part of Elwyn's morning and evening routine was to practice archery and swordsmanship. Of course, I had to ask about it. He told me that it was because unlike Laguz, humans don't have any natural weapons and need to keep trying until their weapons become an extension of their own limbs.
Eventually everyone got used to the change in routine, and it became part of my routine to watch him practice archery in the morning when dawn rose. He suggested that I try singing, I remember Luze too, saying that I was actually a heron, that they were the only tribe that could sing for their allies in battle....however I knew no songs. I'd been with a lion all my life, I didn't know how to sing. Elwyn said I should start by listening to the birds. After about a month I was able to call the birds to me. At nights Elwyn and Luze taught me lullabies from when they were young and I eventually learned those too. Half a year went by and Elwyn became part of our family. Shiraq seemed to have bonded with his horse too...it was..very strange, to say the least. By the time almost another year had passed, Elwyn was preparing to depart. When Luze asked why the sudden departure, Elwyn said he was not a man meant to stay in one place.
On the last night he would be staying with us, the weather was balmy so Kreutzer suggested we have a camp out in the woods just outside our home. Although as Laguz, we preferred raw meat, Luze insisted on cooking it for Elwyn's sake. As the pitch black set in, we sat about the crackling fire and listened to the nomad's story. How he used to be the leader of a nomadic tribe that was raided and torched by an "army" of a neighboring kingdom. They'd chosen to let him live, not because he was compliant with them, but because he had pride and honor that rivaled a lion and wanted to give him the greatest humiliation known. Elwyn did also tell us about the legend of the World Forest, though. From afar it appears the same as any other forest, however as the legend goes, once you step foot inside you see the true forest. Trees taller than the largest Dragon, borne of silver life, the leaves a pure white color stained with rainbow. Nothing inhabits the World Forest except for the guardian. He is neither man, animal, nor laguz, and dresses in white to match his surroundings.
According to the folklore passed down from Elwyn's ancestors, the forest's guardian has the torso of a man attached to the body of a stag the color of rich earth. By the nomadic legend, those who can pass the World Forest's natural barriers and graced with the guardian's presence will be given two options. They can travel to the World Tree, Yggdrasil, or gain passage to the Land of Seele, where one may see their dearly departed one last time. Elwyn said his only interest is finding out if the forest exists, if the guardian exists. I'm not sure why he'd spend the rest of his life chasing after a fairy tale, but I wanted to go with him. I was sure it'd be fun. As the night passed, everyone returned home, and Kreutzer and I snuffed out the fire and lay there. Neither of us spoke, we simply watched the stars and enjoyed one another's company. As dawn began to creep over the horizon, I wanted to thank Kreutzer for taking care of me all these years, I wanted to say "Thank you for giving me another chance to live" but he beat me to it.
"No matter where the winds take you, no matter what hardships befall you, Zelik, not a day has gone by that I regret raising you as my own son. Wherever you go, remember two things. You will always have a home here in Gallia, and I'm proud to call you my son. I'm proud to call you a lion."
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Revelry
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