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Two Lost Wings



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Wed Jan 06, 2021 12:07 am
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Carina says...



Two Lost Wings


by @Carina and @SpiritedWolfe

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Wed Jan 06, 2021 7:25 am
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Marissa struggled against the two pairs of hands gripping her arms. She kicked and screamed and cursed and cried, but their grip was iron, and her fate was sealed. She was to be banished from the only home she’d ever known.

Her memories were a blur, and she couldn’t quite recall how everything had spiraled so out of control so quickly. There was no distinct point between normal and now, just a fuzzy string of rash decisions and irrational thoughts that connected the two. And now, as she was pulled closer to the shimmering scene of a bright green forest, she felt that string straining to hold the two together at all. She knew that at any moment it would snap and sever her final connection to home.

With a flash of strength and a flutter of wings, Marissa fought to wrench herself free, to buy another few seconds to… she didn’t know for what. She just didn’t want to go down without a fight.

The guards holding her didn’t bat an eye as they carried her unceremoniously. They shoved her forward in a single motion, and Marissa flinched as she stumbled through what looked like a pane of glass. She caught herself midfall and recovered quickly. It took just a second for her to plant her feet into the soft ground and spin on her heels to face the portal. The two stoic faces of the guards stared back at her.

Anger broiled deep in her chest as her mind made another snap decision. She leapt at them with a guttural yell, her small wings flapping to propel her further forward. But as her fingertips touched the outline of the portal, the image of the guards shattered into tiny pieces that rained down around her.

That wasn’t how that was supposed to go.

This wasn’t a position she could easily recover from, and Marissa tumbled into the grass, a cloud of dust rising up around her. “God damn it!” she cried into the forest. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this, not to her. She pulled herself into a seated position and examined her scuffed hands. Nothing too bad, just some grass and dirt pressed into the creases on her palm.

Her wings slouched against her back as she stared out into the thick wall of trees around her. Where the hell even was she? Was this what Earth look like? Admittedly, Marissa knew very little about Earth, since angles were forbidden from traveling to other realms, and she had found humans boring. And she couldn’t possibly have predicted she’d be banished from Heaven.

The reality was starting to set in, and it felt heavy against her chest. This was it; she was here. What was she supposed to do now? A tear splattered onto a patch of dirt.

As she sat there, she noticed a tingling sensation start in her lower spine. She straightened up and turned her body around, looking for something or someone, but she was alone. The sensation just grew stronger as it spread up her back and into her wings. She fluttered them to get on her feet fast and spun around one more time, just to be simply greeted by the eerie shadows of the trees.

It was then that she noticed the wilted feathers falling to the ground. “No.” At first it was just a few still brilliantly white feathers. “Oh no.” But then more light grey ones fell as the tingling turned into heat. “No, no, no. Please not this.” She fell back onto her knees as it felt as if her wings were being torn from her back and intense pain raced up her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut, partially to handle the pain, and partially to hide her eyes from the darker and darker feathers falling around her.

My wings were all I had left, she wept through the pain. The ordeal subsided, and she opened her eyes again. She ran a hand along her back where they used to be. And now they’re gone.

The ground was littered with an assortment of feathers in different shades of gray, topped off with two midnight black ones. Tears continue to roll down her cheeks as her final punishment was laid out before her. Never again would she see the brilliant sun shed its light along the streets of Heaven. Never again would she hear the soft voice of her mother. And never again would she feel the wind whipping across her skin.

She picked up the two black feathers and turned them over in her hand. It was like she wasn’t even Marissa anymore.

This was the end.

Spoiler! :
Riss stands at about 5’3, and admittedly, she’s fairly scrawny, with little muscle on her bones. She has a pretty face, thin lips, a petite nose, and pale blue eyes. Her hair is a light brown, almost golden in certain lights, and falls all the way down her back in curly waves. She is wearing what would be considered regular clothes, like a loose black t-shirt framed by a green hoodie, dark blue jeans, and grey sneakers. She’s looks to be around 18-or-so.
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Wed Jan 06, 2021 2:18 pm
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Carina says...



Alistair was minding his business observing the giant lemurs, throwing some berries from a small distance so he could see them closer. They were large, incredibly muscular creatures with a bushy tail, small appendages, and an even smaller head. He was scrawling away at his notebook, looking up and down periodically, trying to sketch one and write as many observations as he could so he could answer the most pressing question when he returned to the lab: why?

He was about to reach in his bag to get a DNA sample, but then there was a loud thud followed by grunting and wails nearby. The giant lemurs seemed to hear this too, and with their tail between their feet, they ran off into the forest.

Alistair stared at them running off, pencil mid-sketch while he held the empty test bottle in his other hand. Well, looked like he wasn't going to finish his log or his sampling today.

Sighing, he slowly placed everything in his bag and stood up, turning to to where the noise originated. He heard a wailing female voice, so whatever was nearby was not an animal. He didn't want to get involved, but at the same time, he wanted to know who and why someone else would be out here. It was hard enough for someone like him to leave the town. He knew everyone who did leave, and as far as he knew, he was the only one today who did.

Curiosity getting the best of him, he carefully walked through the trees and bushes until he saw it.

He saw her.

... And he had no idea who she was.

He couldn't get a good look at her face, but he could see just enough to know that he didn't recognize her. She also had long sandy curly hair, which was a rare sight itself. Add on top the strange clothes she was wearing, and he would have believed that she didn't come from the towns at all.

Alistair felt like she could see him any second now since he was visible from the trees, but for a moment, he froze and thought about all he could do. He could walk away and pretend he never saw her, or he could offer any help if she needed any. He wanted to turn around in ignorance, and perhaps he would, but something in his gut tugged at him that there was something odd going on that he couldn't ignore.

Namely, the white and gray feathers littered on the ground that she appeared to be grieving over.

He couldn't shake it. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was a case that he should log and document, too.

But that would make no sense because she was human.

He bit down on his tongue and decided to follow his gut, shoving any thoughts of doubt away.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked to grab her attention, not sure what else to say in this situation.


Spoiler! :
Alistair appears to be in his early-to-mid 20s. He stands at about 5'11" at medium built. He does have a fair amount of muscle on him, but it almost looks as if it's 'old' muscle, like he used to be a lot stronger and muscular but decided to not maintain it. He has fair skin, chocolate eyes, a stubble of facial hair, and dark brown hair, cut to a crew cut. He looks to be a pretty ordinary man with no big defining features aside from his normally pursed lips and a long burn mark across his right arm, although it's covered with sleeves. You can see the beginning of it on his wrist though.

He's wearing this outfit, minus the gloves, zippers, buckles, and other synthetic/plastic materials. Clothes are totally 100% au natural. You can't see it in the pic, but he has a dark brown messenger bag that he slings across his body.
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:44 am
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Marissa almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a voice to her side. Her initial reaction was to shove the two feathers into her pocket, and when her hands reemerged, they were trembling like the rest of her body. Her thoughts slogged through her brain, scrambling to figure out a plan, but all she could think was, I didn’t think it’d be so soon. I’m not ready yet.

After what felt like entire minutes of silence, she turned her head to look at the source of the voice. It was a man, a human man, standing there without wings or anything. If he hadn’t spoken, she might have overlooked him in the shade of the trees, as he was dressed entirely in black. Even from several feet away, she could see that he was much bigger than she was, and that scared her even more.

The only thing she could remember about humans was the warnings her mom would tell her when she was a child. About how they’d hunt down young angels and tear off their wings and—and... Another jab of sadness tore through her heart at the thought. She tried to brush aside more tears streaming down her face, but it didn’t do much.

Freed her from her momentary petrification, she kicked up some of the feathers as she started to back away from the man. Her whole voice shook as she sputtered, “Who are you? What do you want?”
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 3:00 pm
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Carina says...



Alistair didn't do anything wrong. Right? He only stood nearby and asked if she was okay.

So why was she treating him like he was a predator?

"Whoa whoa whoa," he said with his hands out in front of him, instinctively treating her like an animal that needed to be calmed down. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

He wanted to walk a little closer, but the girl seemed frazzled, and he didn't want to get into her space. But he did notice how she seemed to gather many of the feathers nearby as tears streamed down her face. He had so many questions right now, but he knew he couldn't ask all of them.

"I'm Alistair," he said as gently as possible, gesturing to himself. "I'm the sampling biologist today from Sector 2. I was observing an animal nearby when I heard noises over here. That's all."

He stopped and paused, trying not to stare at her, be he couldn't help it. She seemed young. Maybe she was still in school? It would explain her clothes, although there was still something to it that was odd.

"And you are?" he asked, dropping his gaze down to the feathers in her hands.
chaotic lazy
—Omni

the queen of memes
—InuYosha

secret supreme overlord of yws
—Atticus

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 4:34 pm
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Biologist? Sector 2? She knew about biology, of course, but hadn’t thought that humans cared about it. She hadn’t thought that humans cared about anything at all. But the man — Alistair, he said, but she hadn’t heard of Ali’s Star before — didn’t move any closer, even speaking in a calm, soothing voice. She still didn’t know if she could trust him. After all, humans were known to lie, weren’t they?

He then asked her name. Or he’d asked who she was, and she wasn’t prepared to say anything except her name. If she wanted to say anything at all.

She shoved more feathers into her pockets as she thought of what to say, careful to keep her eyes trained on Alistair the whole time.

My name is Marissa. But the name felt wrong somehow, like a sour taste on her tongue that she couldn’t swallow, and when she tried it stuck in her throat and threatened to choke her. It brought with it tears from the memories of her family, of her life before this moment, of a life she couldn’t call hers anymore. The name couldn’t possibly belong to her either.

An even older memory floated through her mind; it was of a young boy she hadn’t seen in years. He’d called her Rissa, and she’d always hated him for it, even if she couldn’t explain why it had bothered her at the time.

She sniffled, readjusting her stance to try to look less frail. “Riss. My name is Riss.”
Last edited by SpiritedWolfe on Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 6:37 pm
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Carina says...



Alistair nodded, pleased that Riss no longer seemed to view him as an enormous threat. Hesitating, he decided to take a gentle step forward so he was more in view, being careful to not brush up against any vegetation or make any sudden noise.

"Okay. Riss," he mused out loud, looking around to verify that no one else was here. Aside from some curious birds and other forest critters, they were the only ones around.

He turned back to face her, meeting her icy eyes.

"Are you okay?" he said, repeating his earlier question. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to ask here, but he was hoping that she would use this question to explain what she was doing here and why she was crying with feathers all around her. There ought to be an explanation for this, but he wouldn't be here talking to her if he had even thought of one reasonable possibility.
chaotic lazy
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—Atticus

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Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:22 pm
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Alistair sounded sincere in his words, and his chocolate eyes didn’t seem to harbor a sinister darkness behind them.

“I don’t know where I am,” she blurted out, words tumbling out of her mouth before her thoughts could catch up. “I... I don’t know what I’m doing.” Her gaze dropped to the ground.

It finally occurred to her how absolutely mad she must look, especially once her shallow pockets were packed full. There was still a whole ring around her. What did she expect if she collected them all? That somehow she could painstakingly piece her wings back together, feather by feather, until she felt whole again? She didn’t have any magic back in Heaven, and even if she did, she certainly wouldn’t have it now. The thought was just ridiculous.

She was being ridiculous.

She grabbed a handful out of her pocket and threw it at the ground, but they just flew outwards in a cloud as they glided to the ground. It only frustrated her more. She closed her eyes and yelled, “I don’t know what to do!”
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Thu Jan 07, 2021 11:24 pm
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Carina says...



Well, based on her panic, the answer to her question was basically a 'no.' Alistair now wished he didn't ask; it was beginning to become clear that Riss meant trouble. Perhaps she ran away and got lost, or maybe she was part of the Resistance even though they supposedly disbanded after the war. There was a lot to unpack here.

And so much he didn't know. Maybe he preferred it that way.

Still, it wouldn't be right to turn back now. She clearly needed help, and maybe he could help her get out of the forest. It was the least he could do since she was lost and didn't seem to know where to go. There were some violent creatures here, and he wouldn't want her to get hurt.

He looked up at the sky before returning his gaze back to her. The sun was still high. They had plenty of time to travel if they needed to.

"That's okay," he said flatly in an attempt to neutralize her growing panic. "Maybe I can help guide you out of the forest. What sector are you from?"
chaotic lazy
—Omni

the queen of memes
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—Atticus

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Fri Jan 08, 2021 12:33 am
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Marissa — no, Riss now — looked over at Alistair with a puzzled expression. She studied him carefully, able to see his plain features a bit better since he stepped closer. He was clearly trying to appear as non-threatening as possible, but there wasn’t anything about him that would otherwise look threatening.

And where was it that he wanted to take her? Should she accept and follow? She didn’t think that she would be any better off on her own, and this human seemed to be kind enough. At least, he hadn’t immediately harmed her when he had the chance. Were there other humans like him? Was that where he wanted to go?

Riss pursed her lips. “You’ve said that word twice, now. What is a ‘sector’? Where are we?”
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Fri Jan 08, 2021 12:43 am
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Carina says...



Alistair blinked. She was joking, right? She had to be, unless she lived in the forest or something. That seemed unlikely since she seemed lost in the forest right now, and she was wearing clothes that originated from a civilization. He figured she must have been from one of the farther sectors, but now he wasn't sure what to think.

"Are you really okay?" he asked after staring at her for a few seconds. "Did you maybe hit your head?"

He wasn't quite sure what answer he was looking for. He sighed, putting his hands in his pockets so he could fidget with his fingers without being seen.

"Where are you from?" he decided to ask instead.
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—Omni

the queen of memes
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secret supreme overlord of yws
—Atticus

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SpiritedWolfe says...



He may not have laughed at her, but Riss felt like he had. Her cheeks flushed with heat, and her lips quickly turned into a scowl. Of course, it was a stupid question to ask.

Then, a thought occurred her. He doesn’t know. At least, he didn’t know yet. Somehow, even between the evidence of her lost wings and her strange responses, he hadn’t fit all the pieces together. But there was no way she could pass for a human for very long here, especially if there was more vocabulary she was expected to know.

Angels weren’t supposed to lie. So, she settled for a road of half-truths and tried to ignore the pit forming in her stomach. “I’m not from around here. In fact, I’m from very far away.” (She did not know how far away Heaven was from Earth, but it was far enough.)

She found herself speaking slowly, as she thought carefully about how to phrase her words. “I was with some people … and then I was lost.”

It honestly didn’t sound very convincing to herself, either.
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Fri Jan 08, 2021 7:03 am
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Carina says...



There was something about Riss that Alistair found familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was like she was caught in a lie, and she had to dig herself out of the hole. He didn't really know why she would feel that way; he asked a harmless question. Didn't he?

So she was lost. Maybe she was from another continent. How she ended up here, he had no clue. Since she said she was with people, he was beginning to think that she was brought here on purpose, but somehow got lost. It was not uncommon to bring in children or teenagers from other sectors or continents to balance the population. But to get lost? Well, he supposed it wasn't impossible.

He chewed on this thought as he narrowed his eyes at her, watching as she clutched the feathers like it was a prized possession.

"Do you need help finding them?" he asked, but looked down at the feathers instead.

Alistair didn't want to get involved, but if she truly became lost from the people traveling with her to a sector, she could become a liability. And then Alistair could become a liability if it was discovered he found her and didn't say anything. He wondered if, somehow, the feathers had something to do with getting lost. Perhaps it had to do with her power. He didn't know. He wasn't sure he wanted to, now.

It was best to minimize trouble as much as possible.
chaotic lazy
—Omni

the queen of memes
—InuYosha

secret supreme overlord of yws
—Atticus

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
—Anonymous Yelp Review
  





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Fri Jan 08, 2021 7:40 am
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SpiritedWolfe says...



Riss knew for a fact that the guards would not be happy to see her again, but the thought of even possibly going home made her heart swell. She doubted that Alistair would know of anything related to traveling between realms, but she started to feel like she could trust him. He did just ask about helping her find “them”, even if he didn't really know what he was offering.

It felt shady and wrong to omit the truth and mislead him, but she needed some kind of ally. She couldn’t do it alone. So, she very hesitantly nodded to his question.

Then, her thoughts returned to the feathers. It had to be some crazy refusal to move on, but she felt like she couldn’t just leave them here, at least not like this. What if some human that did know about angels stumbled across it? What if they could somehow lead back to her? What if she felt even emptier without them with her?

She had also been eyeing the satchel slung over Alistair’s back.

Offering those still in her hands to him, she asked, “Do you think you could help me with these, too?”
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Fri Jan 08, 2021 4:14 pm
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Carina says...



After seeing Riss nod at his question, Alistair drummed his fingers along his pocket to think this through.

Okay. So she needed help finding the people she was with. They were likely guards or non-combative soldiers. It was odd, because they would normally be equipped to handle whoever they were transporting, but maybe Riss had a power that overwhelmed them. He didn't know. He just wanted to get out of this situation by finding them for her. They couldn't have gone far. They were still alive and looking for her, right? It shouldn't be too hard.

But if he couldn't find them, he could also return her to the nearest sector so she could get checked in. It may not be the right one, but at least she'll be documented and then transported to wherever she needed to go. She didn't even know what a sector was, though. Did she have amnesia? Maybe a concussion?

His thoughts were interrupted when Riss asked if he could help with the feathers. He stood there, baffled.

"The feathers?" he said incredulously.

Well, now was as good of a time as any to ask what the deal was with them.

"Sure, sure," he mumbled, unslinging his bag around so he had full access. Luckily he packed light and only brought the basics: a journal, pencils, a map, a compass, a few sampling specimens, and enough water and food to last one day. He briefly wondered if this will be enough to last the both of them since it appeared Riss didn't carry a bag or any supplies for that matter, but he could worry about that later.

Alistair bent down and precariously picked up a small white feather that flew near his foot, examining it. He studied mammals, not birds, so he wouldn't be able to tell what animal it came from... unless it didn't come from an animal at all. He wasn't sure. It didn't look familiar to him.

"Why save the feathers, anyways?" he decided to ask, still observing the feather in his hand. It was an innocent question.
chaotic lazy
—Omni

the queen of memes
—InuYosha

secret supreme overlord of yws
—Atticus

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
—Anonymous Yelp Review
  








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