Osbourne hovered over the flaming mass, watching it with fascination. It was nothing like Hephaestus' mountain, but it was pretty close. The destruction...everything close by was vaporized. His job was done. Perhaps when he returned they would be too glad to notice the ugly scars running down his chest-plate. He felt himself slowly descend as he considered this. Unlikely.<br/>He was whole, however, and this was something to be celebrated. Other than being buffeted by the waves of heat, bending his aluminum feathers slightly, he was unharmed. And the Alune's spell was still holding.<br/>He landed and examined the glass, quickly making his way to what could be counted as the Alune's remains.<br/>The snake surfaced again, and he stood back, watching it, thanking it.<br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Freedom.</span><br/>As he watched his clicking ceased as an extremely bloody and goo-coated Celris emerged from its damaged eye.<br/>He felt one moment of complete incredulity.<span style="font-weight: bold">Impossible</span><br/>But it made sense, right?<br/>Osbourne wasn't sure anymore.<br/><br/>Once Celris had heard and smelled the end of Black, she'd bitten back her sorrow and burrowed as far as she could into the serpent's orbital cavern.<span style="font-style: italic">This thing has to be fireproof, right? At the very least insulation would help.</span><br/>She let out a delirious cackle and took in a deep breath before hell broke loose.<br/>She continued digging, through it all, and found first the optic nerves, then the socket, then that beautiful gray matter that meant so much to it's host. She went to work, pushing all else out of her mind.<br/>Flames and intense heat hit her, but not for long, the snake had burrowed back underground.<br/>Now she emerged, thanking Aclan and still feeling her chest hitch with giggles. Her brothers would have to work<span style="font-style: italic">pretty</span>hard to top this!<br/>When she met the blackened, glass world she felt her post-survival cheer drain away.<span style="font-style: italic">Black...</span>Sh whirled around and saw no one, other than that blasted metal monster, who had taken a step backwards in surprise.<br/>Celris felt her mouth split into not a savage grin but a murderous barring of teeth. It was a close distinction, though.<br/>She charged, this magic sword must be more than enough to end the HighBreed.<br/>She scooped up a handful of sand on her way and muttered a couple prayers into it before casting it int the wind and swinging at the enemy's neck.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">Aclan, I know I'm not a devout worshiper, but grant me the vengeance I need to kill the monstrosity. Let me live so I can at least alert my family, my brothers, your people.</span><br/><br/>Osbourne had a split second to block and he did so with one armored hand.<br/>To his horror, the blade sank into the armor, not severing it, but causing enough damage for him to worry.<br/>He rose into the air, but that Feral was persistent. She latched onto his leg and did her best trying to unbalance him.<br/>He kicked her and dislodged the spitting Feral, who'd started crying halfway through the assault.<br/>Struck between fleeing and observing, he hesitated.<br/>Celris landed on her back, she was pretty sure she'd felt a crunch at his kick, and now blood was in her mouth...she cursed and struggled to her feet.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">I didn't know you, Black, but you were trying to save our people. You had all the plans. What do I do now? When will the war hit everything I know?</span><br/>She snarled, the noise parodied through a broken nose, and watched the HighBreed, gloating no doubt.<br/>Osbourne's curiosity got the best of him, "How did you survive? Why are you crying? Where is that fear? The best lives."<br/>Celris growled, and waited for him to strike her down or swoop low enough for her to grab. "It won't be for long. And you bloody little toad you<span style="font-style: italic">killed</span>our comrade! He's dead, and now the mission is lost!"<br/>Osbourne snorted, another sound he'd learned from her, "Why does this pertain to me? I am free."<br/>Celris grinned, revealing a couple dislodged teeth as well, "And are you happy with that freedom?"<br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold">Am I?</span><br/>This question, as with the HighBreed accusation, stalled him. Osbourne first tried defining happy, then searched his emotions for such a thing...<br/>"Happy?"<br/>"Yeah, happy. That feeling you get when you're not scared, or angry, or sad! When all you want to do is remain where you are. Are. You. Happy?" It was working, he was drifting closer to the ground.<br/>"My emotional range makes it impossible to experience-"<br/>Celris cut him off and gave an almighty jump. As with her own kind, Osbourne didn't expect her to reach such heights. Speed wasn't her only virtue.<br/>She tackled him, full on, and sawed at his wings, ripping at them crazily with her claws and sword.<br/>Osbourne felt a tremendous tug, a shriek of metal,<span style="font-style: italic">his</span>metal being torn away, and they were falling towards the earth. He tried to flex his wings but felt nothingness.<br/><span style="font-weight: bold">How...?</span><br/><br/>Celris grinned, Good ole fragile aluminum, and landed on top of the HighBreed, hard.<br/>Her air left her again and she frantically wished that the HigBreed had been just a little bit softer, and was promptly dumped into the sand as Osbourne flipped and grabbed the remains of his silver wings.<br/>A high keening noise filled the air, Osbourne, lost between shock, rage, and some new emotion...one that left him empty and crumpling from the vacuum within him, let out the keening again.<br/>Celris laughed, but she was sad too, no joy had reached her through crippling the HighBreed. "THAT'S sadness and despair, taste it fully, savor it,<span style="font-style: italic">HighBreed</span><br/><br/>"Osbourne, restored, traitor, fallen...again."<br/><br/>She paused, "What are you doing?"<br/>He kept repeating the phrase systematically, unmoving. Slowly, he cautiously hugged the feathers to his chest.<br/>After a while, he stood, and Celris felt no threat from him anymore. His shoulders slumped, his eyes dulled to a dimly lit bronze.<br/>His entire existence was faulty now. The ability to fly, their supremacy, so easily taken away? This sadness, as the Feral called it, had extinguished the rage. It left him feeling empty, alone, powerless. Where were his brethren? Where was Mother? Shelune? He wasn't sure anyone could fix this.<br/>"Osbourne, useless and imperfect. Broken and Crippled. Osbourne the fallen." His last line was tried out on an unfamiliar tongue.<span style="font-weight: bold">"Oz the LowerBreed."</span><br/><br/>{{Long post is horrendously long.}}<br/><br/>{{ EDIT: vvv<br/>No problem. I should be writing that government paper right about now anyway. >_><br/>Thanks. Oz is a good transition character. I will hear from you later then. ^__^ }}