Queen of Vultures
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Seen 31st August 2023
Vultures
17th January 2020, 01:00 AM
It was a warm night in the forest, or relatively so, it was mid-winter in the North after all. The moon was full and the forest was silent. A young fledgling took off from a branch of a particularly tall tree. She could see a light on the ground and wanted to investigate. She had never seen anyone who wasn't a vulture before but she had heard stories whispered on the wind about some forest people who sang and danced and were widely celebrated by other creatures. The fledgling had only once shared her knowledge of these stories with her mother, and she was quickly told off for believing such things. Her mother had, however, admitted that there were some forest people but they were cruel and evil. They were to be cursed rather than praised as they would lure younglings away from their nests only to steal them and eat them in stew.
Hearing the contradictory tale only made the fledgling more curious about these forest people. She felt that she must know, she had to know, and this was her chance to find out if the wind had been whispering lies to her and just calling her as a siren calls a sailor.
The fledgling flew in the direction of the light she saw, was it the forest people? Eventually, the fledgling flew to a clearing and found a perch on one of the trees in the shadows. It was indeed the forest people. They did not look to be cruel or evil. They all seemed to be rather happy as they were singing and dancing with each other, gathered around a campfire. There was no sign of any pots around. Maybe they just weren't hungry. The fledgling leaned as far as she could, she thought that some of the smaller forest people's eyes were glowing a wonderful light blue.
The fledgling leaned too far though and fell off the snow covered branch. She hit the ground with a thud, the singing stopped and the fledgling looked up, feeling dazed and injured. She could see one of the people approaching her. The fledgling screeched the most fearsome noise she could manage, but being only a dazed and hurt fledgling it sounded more pitiful than anything.
The person picked her up, the fledgling could see the person was a beautiful young woman. The fledgling did not fear the woman, as her mother would have wanted her to. The woman gave off an aura of being rather good and caring rather than evil and cruel. Not long after being in the woman's presence, the fledgling felt good and strong again.
The fledgling could tell the rest of the small camp was talking about her, though she could not understand their language. They were likely questioning where the young one came from as she had a semi-evil aura about her and there were other vultures around reeking havoc on other groups of forest people. Perhaps this was one of the evil vulture's young ones. But whose?
A bright forest person eventually came over the the fledgling and the beautiful woman who had helped her. She said some words and for an instant the young bird shined beautifully in the darkness. This scared the fledgling and she could imagine the wrath of her mother if she found out about everything that happen. The fledgling quickly took flight and flew back to the nest which she came from. She felt relieved when she got back and saw that her mother was still asleep. Her mother must have had no idea what her young one had been up to. She settled down in the nest and nuzzled up under her mother's wing for warmth. That night she dreamt about the forest people who had sang and danced cheerfully, and who had healed her when she fell out of the tree.
All was not well though, a darkness was stirring in the forest. Somehow it had found out about the events of the night, it could sense that one of its young followers had been blessed by one of the forest princesses and vowed to punish them. It came one night as a shadow and took the fledgling from the nest. What happened next is not known, but it is said that the fledgling was punished and then was transformed into a human, one trained to despise that which is good. But the blessing of the Forest Princess never wore off, no matter how dark the paths the person traveled down.
Hearing the contradictory tale only made the fledgling more curious about these forest people. She felt that she must know, she had to know, and this was her chance to find out if the wind had been whispering lies to her and just calling her as a siren calls a sailor.
The fledgling flew in the direction of the light she saw, was it the forest people? Eventually, the fledgling flew to a clearing and found a perch on one of the trees in the shadows. It was indeed the forest people. They did not look to be cruel or evil. They all seemed to be rather happy as they were singing and dancing with each other, gathered around a campfire. There was no sign of any pots around. Maybe they just weren't hungry. The fledgling leaned as far as she could, she thought that some of the smaller forest people's eyes were glowing a wonderful light blue.
The fledgling leaned too far though and fell off the snow covered branch. She hit the ground with a thud, the singing stopped and the fledgling looked up, feeling dazed and injured. She could see one of the people approaching her. The fledgling screeched the most fearsome noise she could manage, but being only a dazed and hurt fledgling it sounded more pitiful than anything.
The person picked her up, the fledgling could see the person was a beautiful young woman. The fledgling did not fear the woman, as her mother would have wanted her to. The woman gave off an aura of being rather good and caring rather than evil and cruel. Not long after being in the woman's presence, the fledgling felt good and strong again.
The fledgling could tell the rest of the small camp was talking about her, though she could not understand their language. They were likely questioning where the young one came from as she had a semi-evil aura about her and there were other vultures around reeking havoc on other groups of forest people. Perhaps this was one of the evil vulture's young ones. But whose?
A bright forest person eventually came over the the fledgling and the beautiful woman who had helped her. She said some words and for an instant the young bird shined beautifully in the darkness. This scared the fledgling and she could imagine the wrath of her mother if she found out about everything that happen. The fledgling quickly took flight and flew back to the nest which she came from. She felt relieved when she got back and saw that her mother was still asleep. Her mother must have had no idea what her young one had been up to. She settled down in the nest and nuzzled up under her mother's wing for warmth. That night she dreamt about the forest people who had sang and danced cheerfully, and who had healed her when she fell out of the tree.
All was not well though, a darkness was stirring in the forest. Somehow it had found out about the events of the night, it could sense that one of its young followers had been blessed by one of the forest princesses and vowed to punish them. It came one night as a shadow and took the fledgling from the nest. What happened next is not known, but it is said that the fledgling was punished and then was transformed into a human, one trained to despise that which is good. But the blessing of the Forest Princess never wore off, no matter how dark the paths the person traveled down.
