Literature...

Enmity's Lost Prodigy: Chapter 10 - Released

Farrah in any fantasy would have been stricken dumb before such things were mentioned. No prodding or begging could loosen her beak, but now she spoke freely. Everything was told. Her time in the mansion, her father's relationship with her, Farrah's relatives and servants who were closer to family than not. Gregory wanted to comment, even Talia but Leanna told them it was simply their time to listen. Farrah briefly spoke of the exile, getting to it later. Her father wrote many messages on his cell walls and the tone saddened more so.

Soon, Farrah recalled many details about the revolt. The night struck, men storming the mansion through the kitchen. Karine was taken first, dishes dropped, strangers rushing in from all corners and outnumbering everyone two to one with more rushing in the main door. Panic, struggling, Farrah utterly confused, not sure whether she was dreaming or about to die. Watching it all happen as though through a murky looking glass and her body numb and stiff. To her, how could she understand what was happening. She mentioned being tied up, her father begging the men at arms to listen only to be taken away. A carriage, dark, looking out of small holes to see the moonlit forests from a cliff up above. Looking out again and again, falling asleep in a pile of hay and waking up with the bumps. The night passing like frozen silk until she passed out and awoke in a cell, alone. Never a moment to know what to expect next. Crying out, crying until men came to shut her up, confused. Years went by, confusion turned to hatred; pain turned into the everlasting wish for vengeance with her claws buried deep into adversaries chest. Plotting. Coming close to blinding the warden multiple times. Being the only magpie to still have her wings in the constantly filling prison, and the cries of those without. Farrah never understood what the warden saw in her when he ordered his men to let her keep them; If it was the cute innocent girl that she was before, or the untouchable she-demon she became that kept them at bay. Talia could tell that this was not the Farrah she knew now.

The night of the breakout, a fellow came by with keys but none of them worked. He left Farrah scared if she would ever see daylight again from outside her confinement. Finally, another man came at the last moment, a strong man, beaten and scarred. He had fought three levels of guards with a battalion of inmates to get there at the call with many others still trapped. Cunning he forced the lock open with a tool he got from above, bashing it in the slot. Both free, they ran out together. Farrah wondered where his men were, she was the last out, they already left to make a diversion or to save their own hides. The man stayed behind, leading more prisoners who were on the defence to leave with him. Countless trees and bushes cut her, her breath became short, legs cramping. She dared not stop, or look back. She dared not fly or be caught. Her one gift laid dormant, curse to break her freedom, a bird with wings still chained by the looming oppression of sharp rock and cold wet grass. At last she collapsed in a clearing, moonlight cast down in the centre. She hid, crawling under a bush. She was afraid it would not cover her well, they might look there, she could never be safe. Heart racing, body sore, Farrah could recall every lasting moment in great detail. Every minute felt like an hour, every emotion amplified, every fear running in her head. She was weak and this frightened her most.

Everything that came to her was harsh and undeserved. She did nothing to them, and eight long years to be put away from her loved ones was unbearable. She hated them, even then she plotted her vengeance. She planned each moment of hell that she would give them, all the pain that lead to her hatred sank in deeper and deeper until she became so frustrated that a single tear fell from her eyes. All the time she lost, all the people she would never see again, the monster that her heart became. She hated everything, even herself. She had enough hatred, she was sick of feeling that way. She could never be happy like this and so she had to make the choice. If she was free, would she chose to be a harbinger of her own prejudice or live on in spite of that suffering. The mind of a child, the body of a woman, to make a choice over matters no man should ever have to face. For an hour, she laid there, begging for freedom. She wished with all her heart that morning would come, she just wanted to feel the warmth on her curdled heart. A noise came, a strange one of light wings flapping. This was when Talia first met Farrah. Talia couldn't sleep, the ruckus woke her and she couldn't fall back asleep for once in her life, the cat was restless. Farrah couldn't hold everything up herself, she was defeated in her own right, at last she crumbled. Talia's warmth glowed like a small ember but it was enough to change Farrah's heart. Farrah could not change the past, the future was in front.

Farrah mentioned many things, adventures she had with Talia, times with family, times she lashed out, times her heart turned to malice. The time she left a half inch deep gash in the wardens right bicep after threatening to take her wings after all. Though Farrah relished some moments of her hatred, she preferred not to return to such dark voids.

Cedric had lit a fair light on the story during their visit, without his piece, Farrah would never really understood why any of it happened. She understood somewhat, but she never knew about the suffering of the capital or the tyranny of her own people. Her Father never burdened her with such details, she was after all still a child, unshaped by malice or sorrow. For many years she was left unanswered and senseless evil was all she saw.

“Child...” Leanna condoled. “That is not easy to simply turn your prejudice aside.”

Farrah turned her mind to it. Nothing was really easy at all. No choice she made was without fear or malice that night, or the nights before. “I suppose I just got tired of feeling angry all the time.”

“Anger takes effort, hate breeds more hate. Many adults cannot see past their own eyes, but a child...”

“I told you, I just got tired of feeling upset.” Farrah insisted “Alright?”

Leanna paused. “You are right, even still so many people can't see it that way. They fear they will be weak without hate. It will drain you of everything you have, you are better off without your prejudice. Great deeds have been made possible because of these emotions, very few have made people happy.”

“Maybe you should tell a story about that.” Talia suggested.

Leanna chuckled. “I was thinking of just that, actually. I think I would need to write a new one, I don't think I've heard anyone realize such a thing from that angle before... The fall of... Hmm, what should I change it to for the children...”

“So, what makes me so special?” Farrah asked, feeling spotlighted. “Why is it so hard for everyone else?”

“You're still a child. Children see the world differently, they haven't seen or had to deal with being hurt like we have, so it's harder for them to hold onto shards of broken glass. Eventually everyone is going to have to drop it but the harder you hold on the deeper the cuts and the bigger the scars until you forget yourself why they are there. Farrah, how do you feel now that you've told your story?”

“I feel a lot better, I knew that I would but I feel more okay with what happened. It shouldn't have happened, it should have been right.”

“That is because you've already let it go, even memories can cut you if you still hold them tightly. It's not right, but you overcame it, you can finally let it go. Your life is in your hands now, if you want to make things right, you must start with you.”

Farrah was happier now, about everything. Even the trip out across the shadow downs seemed like distant memories. Still, it would not stop her from dreading ever crossing such a path ever again. She breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time in a long time Farrah felt that she had family again. She had a new family, though it could never replace the one she was born with, this was okay. The past could not be changed, but the future looked alright, starting with her.

Farrah leaned over and rested herself against Leanna. The warmth of her filled Farrah's heart with joy “I haven't been able to feel this free around others since before the incident.” She confided.

Leanna wrapped her arm around her young magpie, “What stopped you?”

Farrah did not reply, she knew exactly what. The world might be cruel, but it did not define her for she could still choose. How could a child have known back then.

Greg snuck in to join, Talia finally giving the guy a break and petted her best friend.

Leanna finally broke apart. “It's about time that I headed back up.”

“Please my lady, let me walk with you.” Greg pleaded.

Not a complaint came from Leanna for once, either she didn't realize the formality or didn't care. Instead a big grin formed in it's place. “You are always welcome.” She accepted.

Farrah felt right at home, walking up the path beside her friends. That's right, she had friends. Farrah relished in the moment, she met many friends along the way, some she would like to see again. Maybe one day she would make the gap back to homeland and sneak past the guards to see Cedric and his friends. The bookworm actually started to grow on her before she left. There was also the nice til boy who treated her like a person, regardless of her protective friend's suggestive opinions. In the past there was even a small family that stumbled across her and Talia that were oblivious to the exile. Before she knew it, they reached the cliff summit. Leanna returned to her home, waving them off. “What a sweet old lady...” Talia commented.

Greg smirked. “Farrah, if you have some time to burn, there is somewhere I would love to take you.” He said, taking Farrah's hand.

She nodded. “I guess... I mean... I...” Farrah awkwardly muttered. She then lighted up and chirped, “Actually, I have all the time in the world. Sure!”

“Wow...” Greg admired. “I don't think I've ever seen a grin like that on you.”

“There is a lot of things you haven't seen about me.” Farrah replied, rearing to go.

“Alright then.” Greg said before taking off. He launched himself off the cliff and began to make his way, Farrah following in behind. “It's a place only I know about, so don't tell anyone.” He informed.

“You might want to save that detail until we're there.” Talia remarked. “Lest someone have ears.”

“Ha!...” Gregory agreed half laughing.

Along the far reaches of the grotto was a tall pass along a stream that ran out. They took to it's top ledge and left into a crumbly foothill. Greg made many adjustments, knowing the land since we was young. He took the scenic tour, showing Farrah many of the surroundings. There was even a house or two even out here. Farmers, gravity bound dwellers with sprawling fields. Small creeks littered the lands, curving and crawling all over this mostly settled land. Farrah wondered if this was what it looked like before the Cataclysm took place. Everything was normal. Too normal.

Greg then took along the ridge of a distant hill until they came to a half oval pond linking up with narrow waterway where the water was dormant. A long winding lake between green overgrown ledges took them into a tunnel of trees and bushes. The path opened up to a wide fat horseshoe lake area, still mostly covered canopy and ridges. The area was enchanting, wet but not yet marsh. Talia who was peering from behind Farrah's neck poked her head out to see more and admired. “This reminds me a lot of home.”

“Does it now?” Farrah replied

“Yeah, all the trees, and water here, all secluded like a sanctuary. Moss grown rocks and smells... I remember it well, too well.”

“Just up ahead...” Greg informed “You might want to take this part slowly.”

Past the pond they arose and quickly found plenty of rock. Thick, cracked rock that made narrow passes left and right before reaching a thin slit at the end. Greg clung to the wall, carefully moving into the crevice without a floor to walk on, only a narrow crease one could get their foot caught in. “You can actually fly though here if you are lucky enough.”

“Looks like a hole that a crazy person would fly though.” Talia mentioned, having barely fit through cracks twice in size with Farrah. Greg only lifted his hand and rubbed his beak, right near the scar he had.

“Was this where that thing came from?” Farrah asked.

Greg chuckled. “I wish, I was ten years old and pretended I was a woodpecker and cracked things open with my beak. Spoiler, I hit the ground instead. I've made it though this gap flying before when I was younger and a lot smaller, just about took every feather off my back trying though.”

“What's inside?” Farrah asked.

“Come on in and find out.” He said jumping down on the other side.

Farrah squeezed though. She fit much easier, apart from her chest. Talia jumped out, having gotten a little squished as Farrah leaned back. Below them was a small drop to a ledge, and below that was the bottom of a pit inside a grove. All the walls were built up by rock with grass sprawling everywhere, thick greens and vines. Flowers grew along the sides and smelled semi-sweet. They could hear running water but found none in sight. The walls were covered in many child's drawings. Some were adult drawings. Along one side was a large cutaway in the rock and blocked by trees and dead bushes that were placed there to hide the opening.

Landing down to the bottom Talia asked. “What's there?”

“Another way in.” Greg replied.

“It looks a lot easier to get into.” She said narrowing her gaze.

“But that way is boring, where is the adventure?”

“I didn't sign up for adventure.” Talia replied, taking an eye to Farrah who always welcomed adventure rather nicely. “But this isn't really about me...”

“Talia, lighten up.” Farrah pleaded.

“I am lightened up.”

For a long while Greg and Farrah talked more and got to know one another a bit better. Greg retold many of his memories and Talia even jumped in with her own. After a while, the three actually became quite acquainted. Time passed by and the girls became restless. Greg consolidated their time together and realized that he shouldn't keep them captive. “You know,” He mentioned. “If you head out and go straight you'll find the stream that runs out of the valley, just go left and you'll return no problem.” Greg informed. “But I will worry about you two.”

“Aww, then why not come along?” Farrah asked.

Greg fiddled with a stick he was carrying, shrugged and dropped the wood. “Alright, there are some things I should probably get back to anyway. I'll escort you ladies back home.”

Sure enough Greg did. They reached the grove entrance but Talia was getting anxious about something and wanted to rest for a while. Farrah understood. “Greg.” She called.

“Yeah?” He replied

“Talia wants to rest for a bit.”

“Alri... Wait, Talia isn't even flying.”

“We want girl talk!” Talia exclaimed, carrying her little voice.

“Alright, I'll see you back at the house.” Greg confirmed. Flying himself back, out of sight and far away.

“Well Talia, what is it?” Farrah asked, landing on a near by ledge. One shaded by the trees with a tall grassy seat.

“You see, it's just a little overwhelming. It's awesome that we can finally settle down and relax but that's the problem. Since we got here, we've yet to really do that. We haven't had a moment to ourselves all day. Soon we are going to have to go back to his place, talk or avoid talking about your Dad and family exchanges, getting to know one another. It's just going to be busy so...”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don't know, anything... Just anything that doesn't involve a third person.”

“Do you still dislike Greg?” Farrah inquired, getting comfortable.

“No, he's... He's cool.” Talia admitted. “...Do, you like him?”

“Yes, he's very nice, regardless of what you have to say about him.”

“Yeah I can be a little rough on him, but... Do you love him?”

“Do I?...” Farrah though to herself. “I guess so.”

“'I guess so' is probably not going to cut it. You'll be staying at his place as a guest but we're kinda intruding. We might be giving the wrong impressions you know.”

“Well, I'm sure that they'd be fine if we stayed for a little while even if I wasn't dating their son.”

“But that's the thing, we stay there long enough he's going to keep putting the moves on you and you might actually end up together... Regardless...”

“I'm not sure it concerns you who I'm with Talia.” Farrah returned. “Do you just not want us together?”

Talia quieted down. “Farrah... Do you really want to be together?”

“I don't know.”

“That's just it. It's a lot of pressure, and if you don't want it then I don't want to see you put into something that you're not sure of.”

“Talia, we've slept outside every night for over a year now, we don't need to stay over at his place. And if we end up together, then it happens.”

“I guess... Farrah, if he makes you happy, I don't want to stop you. I just don't want to see you pushed around is all. But trust me, if he ever hurts you, he has worse things to worry about than an angry magpie. He has to deal with the burning fury of a full fledged, half... Phoenix, cat, quarter... Thing to deal with.” Talia sang, trying to sound somewhat cool.

“What is that called again?”

“My people call it Tinderclaw but I mean you toss that word around and who's going to know what you're even talking about, right?”

Farrah nodded. “So, you're cool about it, right?”

Talia sighed. “I guess. He does one thing to hurt you and all bets are off, got it?”

Farrah understood. They sat idle for a moment or two but Farrah realized something. “We should make our own house.”

“COOL!” Talia jumped. “Yeah, we're totally settling down here! We can make the coolest place ever!”

Farrah chuckled. “We can make it out of all kinds of things.”

“Two stories.” Talia added.

“Make it round.”

“No boys allowed!”

Gracing the stream, Farrah flew barely above the water as she came into the forest valley. She was excited, this being her new home, she would make such a wondrous mark on the land. All she needed was to find a place worthy of her keep and then let Gregory's parents know, though she didn't know what to tell them. She was stumped with a lack of answers, maybe it would come to her later. Another thing on the plate was that Farrah did really know if she actually loved Greg, he was the first boyfriend she ever really had. She didn't know how she felt, or how to feel. She loved being around him, certainly. In her mind, maybe she wasn't ready for love yet, only recently did she come into loving herself. What a long year it had been, maybe it would take many more years to finally settle in. Her childhood and lost years pressed on her, impatiently waiting in a long line up to come out. Love could wait a while, he wasn't going anywhere; she hoped.

Alas, Farrah needed to return anyway. Farrah ascended to the canopy, taking a guess. “Farrah, do you even remember which place it is?” Talia inquired.

If only she could remember which house it was. “Not really.” Farrah replied uncertainly, error in her voice.

“Lets see... If I were Greg... I see him.”

“Where?”

“There.” Talia pointed “At least, from what I can see. He sure wants to make sure we return to him. Maybe a bad experience with past lady friends?”

“That is him.” Farrah confirmed, her powerful eyes did her well.

The figure waved to them, it was Greg alright “I thought you'd never show up!” He called.

Farrah landed next to him “Oh, we were.”

“Girl talk, right?”

“You bet your fanny.” Talia answered. “And what happens in girl talk, stays in girl talk.”

Greg scratched his head bashfully. “Yeah, I figured.”

“Greg, we were talking.” Farrah announced excitedly. “And it's really great that you can offer us this place to stay but... Me and Talia want to build our own house!” She exclaimed.

Greg began to frown. “Your own place, huh?”

“YEAH!” Talia shouted. “Two stories, the coolest around with card games and all girls...” Excited she was, talking quickly and rambling her words together “I got the top level to myself” she muttered.

“Like a club house?”

“The best around.”

“Yes, we are quite happy about it.” Farrah added. “I get to make my very own place.”

“That sounds exciting.” A voice came from inside. “You are still welcome here any time you like though, even after it's finished.” Kalin came out. He had an earnest grin about him and a more mellow tone than the night before. “Come on in, we have much to talk about. Greg my boy was just telling me how you were Daven's daughter.”

Farrah shed a depressed eye to the mentioning, veering towards Greg. “About that...” She said.

“It is a shame, I know.” Kalin condoled. “He was a good man. Me and him would go for many walks together, quite the scholar he was. New to the land and he knew more about the land than I did. If it's not too much, I'd love to talk about it. I've been wondering what he's been up to all this time... Before Homeland went into all that bad stuff.”

Farrah nodded. She left the balcony and walked into the house. Inside they sat down before some more food, the second meal she eaten that day. Something got to Farrah though, a strange compelling aura that Kalin had in speaking. He was uplifting, and as much as Farrah shot away from her father, she would somehow love bringing him back up. It was as though Daven were still alive, though they talked past tense about the things they remembered, it felt like a fitting memorial. Probably one of the few that would be said upon him.

Kalin became rather energetic and quite taken in their conversation “You know he would take all kinda of plants back with him when he left. You probably seen him studying them at home Farrah.”

“I think I remember that.”

“Those plants were from here, just down the trail from Elder Leanna's place.”

“Wow...”

“Small world, huh? I remember he'd bring some from homeland by the likes which I've never seen. Of course, I was never as into the herbs as he was but the things he could tell you about a plant... He was next near a medicine man, if he only got a degree he could have saved many lives.”

“I never knew... I was so young back then.” Farrah admired.

“You might not be one right now but there is a chance you might be able to learn like he did. While she's around, Leanna could surely teach you about them. I think you'd make an excellent prodigy.”

“You think?” Farrah bashfully accepted. “Really though, I have probably less interest in plants than even you do...”

“If you ever change your mind, we aren't getting any younger here.”

Farrah nodded. “Dear, you look quite tired” Saren commented, “Please make yourself at home for as long as you wish.”

“Yeah, I've probably talked your ear off long enough.” Kalin admitted. “Your friend seems to have clunked out.” He said pointing to Talia who was always asleep.

Farrah went to bed, taking her cat with her. Still sore, she entered bed more relaxed than the night before. Greg spent some time with his folks before heading himself to his bed. Just across the hall he stopped in to see Farrah. She appeared to be half asleep. “Farrah...” He whispered but no answer. “...I love you.” He said, before laying down in his own bed. Farrah heard him, not sure what to do but smiled. She had not heard those words in a long time. They filled her with bliss. Talia rolled over, pawing at Farrah's side again.

“But, I love you more.” Talia mentioned.

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