Chapter Text
Pippen Clarke sighed as her stryx landed just on the edge of Moonli Ranch, the massive Harpia rumbling beneath her. The dragon bird was fairly simple by most standards, standing slightly taller than average at 25 feet from the bottom of his talons to the top of his head when standing stationary. Being the second largest breed of dracostryx, it left them with an opposing height, and the fericious set of his face only helped. Helping to seperate him further from the common stryx was his 'silky' feathers, denoted by a thick neck ruff of long, soft feathers, and the long trailing tail feathers on his first tail.
Dracostryx were a unique breed of bird, not quiet dragon, but not quite fully bird either. WIth a wide range of species and possiblitites, Stryx were an adaptable species, and one of the most sought out companions and working beast in the land of Wyvera. Out here, on the edge of the land, their was an equal distributation of wild to domesticated stryx, though an encounter with a wild one did not always mean danger. After all, they were intelligent birds, and they came in a wide range of temperaments.
Unfortunately her Harpia, Glory Asunder, or Glory for short, was known for being a bit on the aggressive side. Fortunately, there were outlets for that energy, and years of training had left him mostly in control, though he was still a bit wiley at times. The eagle like stryx sported a coat that was simple, a nox, or black, feather base with a silver marking on his undersides. His beak and talons were a shade of dull gold, and his claws, both on his talons and the 'thumb' at the end of his wing, were a shade of deep gold. Brilliant yellow eyes examined the world around him, his thick plumage hiding the scars of many battles beneath. Glory was a fighter, and proud of it.
His rider, sporting an average human height of Five and a half feet, looked fairly small compared to him, sitting on a saddle arranged on his back, the straps arranged to have one set above his wings, and another below, meeting in the center where a padded strap helped stabilize the set up, and protect his rib cage. It wasn't the complcated mess of hidden straps and buckles his armor was, that was for certain. Far easier a set up for travel.
Pippen was an unusual human, and by first glance it was clear that human blood was not all that flowed in her veins. She had pale skin, simple brunette hair, and two curvy pair of horns sprouting from her head, and angled back to a degree. A long thin tail, ending in a spade tip, sprung from her backside. Her clothing was simple, a cream tunic with a belt covered in pouches around the middle, and a pair of comfortable brown pants, finished with a pair of sturdy leather boots. A plain dagger rested on her hip beneath her tunic, a simple item that had served her well. She glanced to her left hand, which was missing the majority of her pinky, from the first knuckle up. It could have been worse if not for her unusual skills.
She was far from the most unusual being in Wyvera, which was home to all manner of beings. Thanks to the powerful magic that coursed through the land, and led to the natural formation of portals too unknown worlds, there were many unique faces to be found. Pure humans, 'FIctivs', which were beings who were once considered fiction by humans until their species were proven to exist to officials, or their population caught up to human levels and could no longer evade them. There were Anthros, humanised animals, sporting bipedal bodies, human like bodies. Then their were hybrids, beings that were either clear hybrids of two of the earlier subsets, or so far removed from the norm that they were called as such for the sake of ease. And then.. There were Toons.
For Wyverians, Toons were commonly veiwed as dangerous and untrustworthy, beings of wild magic that bent the laws of reality Galyx set into place when the universe began. They were conniving, untrustworthy, vicious, and only cared for their own kind. While they came in a wide variety of subsects, they were recognizable by their more 'simple' look and feel to them, their bodies not chained as strictly to the laws of physics as other subsets. It was common for them to have large eyes, or biology that did not make sense and would not operate without the magic inherent to their beings.
They were few toons to be seen in present day Wyvera, though once it was said they were more common long ago. Those few who were in Wyvera were typically found in the deep wilds, or came from such areas, and none knew how to reach the legendary homeland of Toons, Tunis. It was known that was where all toons originated from, but the few who were local to Wyvera didn't kniow where it was, and the smaller number who might would never speak on it. As far as Wyverians were concerned, toons were the bottom of the totem pole, and rightfully so.
Except to Pippen, who knew better. Like Dracostryx, humans, fictivs, and every other sentient being, she knew toons were individuals. At least, the two she had known and currently knew were. If not for the one still alive, she would never be where she was now, with a ranch to her name, loyal stryx, and so many friends and companions gained from said ranch. Her meeting with Gru had changed her life for the better, and she was certain he would say much the same.
This was not her ranch however, her stryx pacing among the controlled chaos of Moonli ranch. Moonli ranch was built on a sizable platue on the side of Moonli Mountain, which was on the edge of Wyvera. To the east was the rocky coast, cut off by Moonli at a point level with it's most northern point, rarely warm enough to swim but a good source of food, and scavenging goods. To the west was an open plain, Galx plains, and some small scattering of forests and lakes sprinkled within the expanse, and finally Sunna Mountain. Home of Sunna Ranch and farms, several villages, mines, a sizeable town, and her home.
Moonli was the ranch Pippen had been trained in the art of Stryx mastery, and had been given aid to sharpen her inherent beast whispering skills. Her business partner, and best friend, Gru had trained here with her, and had honed his beast whispering ability from a basis of a complete novice, having no natural inclanation towards the skill despite his slightly bestail appeance. Pippen couldn't have been prouder of him for sticking it out, and together they had survived five difficult years of intense but important trianing. There was a reason a position in Moonli's classes were highly sought after, despite the dangers of outer Wyvera and the harshness the training itself was known for.
It was here, eleven years ago, that a young, scrawny Pippen, and a skinny, dirty Gru had arrived to the ranch in the dead of night, lead to this location by the wisp of a mother stryx, whose eggs the pair had stumbled upon. It was that night they had met the fearsome but kind master of the ranch, Agatha Moonthorn. She had seen something in them, this pair of strange children, one a half human whose human side was most prominent, and one of the rare and elusive full blooded toons of Wyvera. They had been taken in, fed and clothed, but their training had been no less harsh than any others. They arrived under special circumstances, but they were treated no different.
After they had conquered the beast that had left Sunna mountain untamable, the pair had moved on from their training ranch, though they hadn't moved far. Sunna was only several hours flight from Moonli on a good day after all. The pair had worked hard to reclaim the mountain, reparing the shrine dedicated to the sun god Daius at the top of the mountain, and slowly scouting things out. They invited people to move onto the mountain, which was enticing given the outer lands of Wyvera were taxed lighter than inner Wyvera, due to how unpredicatable it was. The area around Sunna and Moonli recieved more of a deduction than most, being deep in the wilds, and so close to the untamed wild magic of the bad lands.
Either way, the had slowly developed their ranch, and helped a controled and conservationist minded expansion of villages and the main town, Dali. They were careful to preserve the nature of the mountain, not wanting to spoil the natural bounty by overtaxing the ecosystem. Many put this down to their routes with Moonli, which was known to lean towards Nokt, goddes of the moon, when it came to which of the two primary gods the ranch had a greater allignment to. That didn't mean they ignored or scorned Diaus, the moon goddess' husband, but that they leaned more towards the idealogy and way of life relating to that god.
They finally reached the main building, which functioned as the house of Agatha Moonthorn and offices for the ranch. The offices were on the right side of the building, and only saw use from Agatha and a select other senior hands for paperwork purposes, while the left side acted as her house.
"Outside." A voice croaked from above. The pair looked up, greeted by the soil brown and white underside of La Lune, Agatha's oldest stryx. The corva eyed them silently with intelligent blue eyes, her form coated in elaborate white 'frost' marks and a smattering of dark brown flecks. On her head was a most unusual mark, a crescent moon with a dot in the middle, the source of her name and believed to be a mark of favor from Nokt herself. Her talons, beaks, and the upper half of her head were black, though the dark feathers on her head faded back to the brown base color as it ventured down the back of her neck, and her face was split by a band of white, traveling from her eyes and along the rim of her uppear beak. "Agatha waits for you in the backyard."
The crow like dragon, it's message delivered, took off, flying for the back yard and leaving the pair behind. Corva were on the smaller end of the spectrum, averaging a bit under fourteen feet when they stood up straight, typically slightly smaller than tytos, the owl like dracostryx. They were known for being as sharp as their crow kin, however, and a group of Corva working together could be a dangerous thing when their ire was invoked. The breed itself was a bit of a handful, given their crow like nature often lead to them developing habits of hoarding shiny things, and putting their beaks where they don't belong, but like all stryx breeds they were a rewarding companion.
"Typical La Lune.." Pippen muttered. If it wasn't for her Beast Whispering ability, she wouldn't have understood the bird, but she knew that wouldn't have stopped La Lune. Even if she had been unable to understand them, the bird would have used the same method to get her to where she was meant to be. She was a bit like her owner. Sometimes it was expected of you to draw the lines between the dots on your own, rather than being spoon fed an easy answer. It was only when you were clearly out of your depth that they would be more straightforward.
Glory turned to her commands, a combination of hand signals pressed against his neck, starting around the building. He had a brindle, specifically made for Harpai Stryx, but Pippen was more used to using the hand commands as she had with her first bird, Cecil. He was still around, but the fact he was born blind made it difficult to use him for long term travel. It didn't mean she loved him any less. Cecil was a cheerful, polite stryx in spite of his disability, and knew most of the mountain by heart.
They circled the building, finding Agatha waiting for them near one of the picnic tables, standing in a position that allowed her to look over the Galx plains, and the distance form of Sunna. The brother mountain to Moonli was just as large, the northern most ridge extending far beyond Wyvera's bounds, and encasing what was known as the Bad Lands, the ridge present until it met the end of the continent, far far away. La Lune stood next to her, looking out over the veiw as well, both figures pensive.
Pippen looked out over the expanse as well, quiet for the moment. This position allowed them look northward, the ranch on a flat topped ridge that extended a bit away from the main mountain. They could see to the lands between the mountains, the wide expanse of the Bad Lands, a country sized aread of land where no grass grew, no birds flew, and wild, uncontrollable magic abounded. No one went into the depths of the Bad Lands. There was nothing there. If the wild magic did not harm you, than the lack of food and water would inevitably be your end. It was only the first few miles on the edges of the Bad Lands that was safe to traverse, where the wild magic was less potent. Surveying magi had long since learned that the closer to the center one got, the more potent and uncontrolled the wild magic in the Bad Lands became.
It was a confusing conundrum, actually. Places of abundant magic were known for their lush vegetation, plentiful prey, fruits, and water. But the Bad Lands defied this common knowledge. Instead, it was a dark, grey land, not perfectly flat, but not very distinct either. No remnants of past vegetation remained, and no true surverys could be taken any furhter than the first few miles into the Bad Lands.
It was those first few miles that were of interest to the Moonli and Sunna, to the people of Wyvera, from government officials to overeager adventures. It was in this area that a number of wormholes, or 'trouble holes' as the locals had started calling them to deter their stryx from being interested in them, would form. Some were fixed. Maybe about eight or nine were a constant presence, glittering in the sky at different fixed points. What they led to was known and partially explored. Volcanos, plains, a forest of glowing mushrooms, and a hellscape. Those were the four Pippen could remember off the top of her head. The few times she had gone through one, she had never strayed far from the way back. These holes did not connect to other places on Wyvera after all.
It was their job, as guardians of the mountains, and as heads of this part of the frontier, to protect the denizens of this area, as well as Wyvera at large. Strange and unusual beast would sometimes come out of sudden wormholes, though rarely from the permanent ones. They were to catch up to said beast, and measure it's aggression, the danger it presented Wyvera, and so forth, until they had enough information to decide on their approach. Usually these beast were destroyed, due to their hostile nature and the threat they posed to the balance of the ecosystem. Many did not hesitate to try and attack a stryx or human. Some were so large and aggressive it was a no brainer. All were something foreign to Wyvera.
The mountain range was not the only place to have these problems, given Wyvera was a land thick with magic, and home to many magical experiments as well. Things happened, and sometimes an accidental wormhole would release a prehistoric pterodactyl from another world into theirs. Sometimes it would be an unrecognizable abomination that the magic users had to come together to destroy. Sometimes it was something far more simple, a beast, but a dangerous one. Those were the ones the stryx riders were often called upon to fight, if they had the training to battle. But it was more common in this area than others, ever so slightly.
Pippen ordered her bird to kneel, the mighty beast slowly lowering himself to a point where she could safely disembark. He folded his legs, body parallel to the ground as he waited to see what their purpose for coming her was. The harpia's body boiled with energy he needed to burn off, ferocious yellow eyes watching the other two. Neither of them flinched at his look. They were too hardened by their years of life, and despite his wild looks, they both knew Pippen had Glory under control.
"You called, Madame Agatha?" Pippen asked, smiling a bit at her former mentor. She, like many of Moonli's residents both past and present, feared and respected the woman. She feared her for the power she had seen unleashed on those who risked her fury, and respected her for her wisdom, her knowledge of stryx, and her understanding of the complications inherent to a number of walks of lives.
She had never pressed or forced it out of Pippen, but she found herself confiding one of her darker secrets to the woman halfway through her training. In Pippen's defense, she was slightly drunk off of some alcohol the students had swiped from one of the task masters, and had been dared to drink a portion of. Fortunately, she had discovered Agatha's rarely seen softer side that night. From then out, Pippen knew she could trust her, even if she was slightly afraid of what her teacher was capable of. She was just that kind of woman.
Agatha turned to her, cane shuffling the grass softly as she turned. One serious fall in her advanced years had left her with a bad leg, but it hadn't stopped the head of the ranch. She had a deep tan, her face lined with wrinkles, a jagged scar from her earlier years running from just above her left temple, across her eye, and to the top of her lip on the left side. Her eyes, a deep brown, were still good however, and watched Pippen with the same sharp intensity a hawk's would carry. Then she smiled, her expression softening.
The elder woman wore a simple shaw with a moth motif on it over a off-white loose tunic and silver vest, a belt on her midsection covered in bags, just like Pippen's. Her pants were a deep blue, all of the colors selected for their affinity to Nokt's night sky. It was what she had learned to expect of her mentor, who had slowly grown closer to the gods as she neared the end of her life.
It would likely be several more years, given how healthy and active she was, but one day she would leave her physical body behind, and return to moonlight and starlight the gods had used to create the sapient species bodies, as well as the other earthly building blocks her body used. There they would judge her, and determine if and when she could join the cycle of reincarnation. Or perhaps she would become a star, one of Galyx's many sentinals, forever under the loving care of Nokt until the day she winked out.
Pippen doubted a negative outcome would await her mentor, who, despite her feicesome reputation, was a good person at heart. She had never turned her back to the gods, had never commited an atrocity that would encourage disgust and outrage from the grandparents of the earth, or the egnimatic space god credited with the creation of their universe. The half human had no fears that her master would be cast away into the void, where all truely evil beings went when they died, forever cut off from any chance of another life, and the presence of the gods.
"I did." Agatha answered, her voice still strong despite her age. She stood a bit taller, Pippen having not even realised her mentor had developed a hunch. She blamed the cane, and her mentor's bad leg, instead of facing the fact that her mentor's end was fast approaching. It was unthinkable, a Moonli without Agatha, but it would one day be reality. The thought of losing the second maternal figure in her life was painful, and one Pippen stubbornly avoided. "I have a job for you. One I feel you will be best suited for."
"A job?" Pippen mumbled. "What do you mean?" It couldn't be a roving monster or dangerous beast. Agatha was to relaxed for that. Same for any bandit hordes that may have formed, and turned their eyes to the far ends of the continent looking for easy prey. They were always sorely mistaken. The stryx and locals ensured that.
"I need a letter delivered. But this is no simple letter. It is a letter going to a most important figure." Agatha explained, pulling out a cream colored envelope, the flap stamped down with blue wax, the seal the outline of a corva over a full moon. The seal of Moonli Ranch.
"A letter?" Pippen deadpanned, leaning into the nearby picnic table. She twitched a bit as Agatha's hand tightened warningly around the cane, but continued. "Are you sure you didn't mean to send for my brohter? He's the one with a job as a delivery boy."
Her brother, Percival Clarke, was an impressive healer, but spent most of his days either in the sky with his childhod Harpia, Lumi, or in the deep wilds. He still struggled against the agoraphobia he had developed so long ago, the same day he had been seperated from Pippen. It was only three years ago, when Pippen was eighteen and Sunna Ranch was three years old, that he had hesitantly appeared. He was surprisingly clean cut for one who spent so much time away from Civilization, but Perci had always been a stickler for cleanliness. It had been an.. odd encounter, and one Pippen hadn't expected to ever occur. Things from that day had changed mildly, with the older half brother checking in on his long lost half-sister, but for the most part he didn't try to control her life or decisions. He was just happy to see her alive.
"I am aware. Do not get me wrong. Your brother has a high rating as a delivery man, but this specific task is not one suited to him. I need one of my most trusted students to deliver this, and you are the most adapt for this position. I am certain of it." Agatha explained calmly, her voice leaving no room for debate despite the fact Pipen could say no. They both knew she wouldn't. Not after Agatha dropped a rare comment like that, and had made her standards clear. Now she had fed Pippen's pride, and piqued her curiousity in one go.
"All right. I'll bite. What's so special about this job?" Pippen questioned, Glory lowering his head behind her to be closer to the conversation, curiousity piqued as well. What delivery could be so demanding that Lumi and her rider could not handle it? From what the off-white stryx had told him, delivery jobs were fairly straightforward and simple.
"I need this delivered to the King of Tunis, Mickey Mouse." Agatha stated in a calm voice.
Pippen burst out laughing, despite the present threat of her mentor's wrath. She quickly quieted as La Lune glared at her, Agatha huffing in dissaproval. She quickly collected herself, before replying. "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. You said the King of Tunis?"
"Yes. I did not misspeak." Agatha stated calmly.
"The country no one knows the location to? The country that scientist came over to the mountains for after Sunna was reclaimed, and spent months poking and prodding into the safe zone of the Bad Lands for any sign of?" Pippen continued, though she knew better than to expect her mentor to be pulling a joke on her. It was not in her nature to do so. But Tunis was a legend. No one had ever found any proof of it's existence, and not even the few toons that could be found in Wyvera knew where it was, or how to reach it again after they arrived in Wyvera.. So the records went at least.
"Yes. I have kept this a secret for many years, Pippen, and with good reason. Simply stumbling blindly into Tunis would have a negative consequances for both Tunis and Wyvera. Our history may have been lost, but the hatred and distrust lingers." Agatha intoned, Pippen grimacing at the final words. Oh, she knew how much that hatred lingered in the hearts of some Wyverians. She didn't need Gru around to know that.
"But this is a letter of peace. To be delivered by you, a child of a human and toon." Agatha declared confidently. "Living proof that we can find peace with one another. I have kept watch for many years, waiting for a messanger from Tunis in regards to the political atmosphere of the country, and if it had turned in such a way that we could begin the process of forging peace.. but I have recieved no word. It has been so many years.. So now, I choose to act instead of wait any further. It is only a matter of time before someone else stumbles upon the path to Tunis, as more and more people find their way to the outer lands."
"Where is it?" Pippen asked, the joking manner gone from her tone. She did not doubt Agatha's sanity, no matter her age. She was too present, to aware to be going senile. Her eyes were to clear and center for this to be her age getting to her. Her face was serious, her eyes sharp with concern and a small degree of fear.
Pippen looked out over Galx plains once more, eyeing the womholes near the edge of the Bad Lands. Most were in the sky requiring spell work, stryx, or wings to reach, but there was a single on sort of close to the ground. All it took was contact with the swirling portals of light to be transported to the local it lead to. It was why everyone was warned away from them if they did not have at the very least have a stryx. Even then they were encouraged to stay away, but they couldn't stop everyone.
"It is not amongst the others." Agatha stated calmly, turning towards the plains as well. "It is below. There is a cave near Tulli Lake. The one that appears to only go a couple feet before coming up to a solid rock wall. That was my work. If you are on the other side of it, you would not see it."
"But I've been there." Pippen stated. Tulli Lake was a good spot for fishing, especially with stryx, who needed a perch to work with so they could watch for the fish, or partially submerge their head and beaks so they could tantalize a fish into their beak with their tongue. The lake had a number of good boulders to perch on, shallows close enough to drop offs into deeper waters that would entice the fish, and always had a number of the delicious, scaley delight. Stryx adored fish, even if they were not as skilled at capturing the water bond prey as they were land based prey, or those of the sky. "I've been in that cave. I've touched that wall."
"I know." Agatha smiled. "You do not think I would leave such an important place guarded by a weak illusion that would break under anything with more pressure than a passing breeze? I had to make sure no one went through early, before the Toons were ready to meet Wyverians once more. It's sad to say the general beliefs of our countrymen do little to aid that process."
"Yeah." Pippen mumbled, looking away in embaressment. Of couse Agatha would have thought ahead of things. She was a wise woman, dear Agatha.
"It heartens me to know it fooled even you. You and Gru are usually rather perceptive, so I was concerned you would work out the ruse. But fortunately you never stayed around the cave long enough to notice." Agatha hummed, smiling a bit as she referred to one of the first scavenging ventures the pair had gone out on. Every Stryx knew how to scavenge, though if they brought back anything good usually depended on luck, their intelligence, and if they had been taught to focus on certain things. It was good for riders to come along, becuase it was a bonding time for the rider and stryx, and it improved the odds of finding something good.
"Usually, when ever an explorer finds an empty cave, with no signs of useful resources, they abandon it, only remembering it when caught in inclimate weather. It's a smart response, especially in a place so difficult as these lands. You must focus your efforts on survivng, and thriving." Agatha offered after several moments of silence. She pulled a second item from her pocket, a simple charm shapped like a crescent moon. "With this, you and any stryx you bring will be able to travel through the illusion, and into Tunis. From there, I need you to locate Castle City. I do not know for certain where it is. I have never gone far into Tunis myself."
"Castle City?" Pippen echoed. "Let me guess, that's where the castle is."
"From what I was told, yes." Agatha answered, ignoring Pippen's tone. "From there, you must get this letter into king Mouse's hands. Or perhaps he is still a prince. That could explain the abrupt silence.."
"What should I expect in.. Tunis?" Pippen asked, still trying to wrap her mind around the idea of going to the country most believed was a myth. "And why aren't you sending Gru? He's a full toon."
"Do you think Gru could handle it?" Agatha questioned. "After years of believing he is alone.. to find the country of Tunis is so near, and his kindred so close at hand? That he was going to go to this land he does not know, among people he is similar to but does not know, and face their king?"
Pippen grimaced, looking away. She knew that Gru secretly feared encountering another full toon. He feared their judgement, their possible derision and disgust with him. While he was curious about his heritage, he was the kind of person who would want to take things slowly, taking time to acclimate with each step into the unknown. He would not respond well to being thrown into Tunis with an important task, torn away from the mountain he called home and from his comfort zone.
"No." Pippen finally answered, though it felt cruel to speak of her friend like this. But she knew the truth. He would need a week alone to accept that Tunis was real without freaking out. If he was pushed to face his fears too fast, and it wasn't a life or death situation, he was liable to break down and panic. Pippen had seen it before. She didn't want to see it again, or be the source of another panic attack. He had them under control for the most part, but that was becuase they knew his limitations. There was a reason he preffered the administrative work on Sunna Mountain, and to stay on the ranch.
"I thought as much myself. I love Gru as dearly as I do you, but he is not one for being plunged into the unknown. He does not take to it as well as you, he does not adapt as quickly as you when it is connected to something he fears so much." Agatha continued. "And there is a certain degree of symbology to you being the messanger, as I stated before."
"Becuase dad was a toon.." Pippen muttered, tail flicking. Mom was a human from a clan of Beast Whisperers. Dad was a toon. There first meeting hadn't been anything impressive, but with a little time the pair had slowly fallen in love. Mom had a kid from a previous husband, who had up and left them for another woman, something that was viewed as shameful on the man. Dad had loved him like his own. Eventually, Pippen had happened, surprising and delighting them both. Eventually, their small home was discovered, and everything she had known ended that day.
"Yes." Agatha murmured, her eyes turning sympathetic. She walked closer slowly, passing the charm and the letter to Pippen, shaking her away from the memories of the past. "And, I have one more thing. A gift. I have been meaning to give it to you, but your wander lust habits have made it hard to pin you down."
Pippen flushed a bit as she reffered to the time Pippen would spend off the mountain. She would hook up a beast to a Vargo, bring a stryx or two, and wander the lands of Wyvera, looking for stryx and eggs to bring back to the Ranch. She brought in a lot of business for the ranch as well, advertising their forlorn location to those who ran in the arena circuit, in the races, in the shows. She had found some beautiful stryx in her wanderings, and always brought back a number of goods that could not be easily gotten on the mountain.
"Here." Agatha reached into her pocket, before passing four copper coins to Pippen. They were unusually thick, and Pippen could feel a buzz of power through the unmarked coins, shaped oval to prevent it from being mistaken for proper currency. "These are summoning coins. I got them recently from a wizard who is friends with the ranch. You can use these to summon any of your ranch stryx, assuming they do not specifically belong to someone else. They will come to your aid, though it will not be possible to send them back. Use them wisely, Pippen. It isn't often you find this kind of magic in such an easy to use form. Most usually require a degree of magical knowledge most don't have."
"Oh." Pippen murmured, eyeing the coins. These would be useful. There had been a number of times she was traveling across Wyvera where she had wished she had a bit more back up. She was sure these coins would be used at some point after the job was done, the girl putting them into her pouch of important things. "Thank you, Mistress Agatha."
"Now, you should go and tell Gru where you will be. I would advise you go alone, with one stryx. The fewer people we send, the less likely your presence will be mistaken as an attack." Agatha instructed. "Though I'd advise you take someone strong. You will be in the air for a while until you find your way to the city. I imagine I don't have to add this, but don't bring them into the city unless you are certain it's safe to do so."
"Of course." Pippen murmured, pocketing the letter into another pouch. "I just hope Gru doesn't freak out to much.."
"I'm sure he won't. He is a worrier, but he is reasonable." Agatha pointed out, turning to look to the sky. "But fly swift, Pippen. This is a task that requires haste, as well as care. I can sense it in my bones.."
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Glimpse of the past
The woods were quiet as Henry Stein walked the trail, the 'mannish' toon male idly walking through the twilight. He remembered when mannish toons were simply called humanoid or human toons, back when he was a youth. Before insistence from the scientific and angelic councils had campaigned for a change. After all, they needed to be clear in their communications, their needed to be no confusion if someone said 'human'. They had to be able to say that single word and not need to clarify if they meant human toon or Human.
Never mind the fact that mannish sounded stupid, at least to Henry and many 'mannish' categorized toons he had spoken with. Irregardless of the fact that a human hadn't been seen in Tunis for over a hundred years. No claims of sightings were ever proven, and most toons did not believe that the small eyed, heavily homogeneous species existed. Sure, they were rumored to have a range of colors for eyes, hair, and skin, but pure humans were said to be cut from a similar cloth, with little bodily variance. A stagnant race compared to the wide variety toons came in.
Most toons didn't even believe humans existed. For most, they were simply the boogeyman that older toons used to keep younger toons in line. 'Don't stray to far from home, or a human will take you away', 'Don't forget your chores, or a human will eat you for being naughty', 'Humans love to take away naughty toons who don't listen to their parents'. Lines such as these and so many more were common, humans delegated to such an unimportant position in their society, in spite of the fear that lurked deep within all of them. If these beings truly existed, than surely they would be a thing of nightmares, far worse than any demon toon or monster conjured from the void. Why else would their ancestors have warned them so thoroughly of the dangers of humans?
Henry himself, he didn't know what to think. While he had never seen a human, he didn't doubt the possibility of them existing, or something similar to what they had been told were humans existing. There had to be a basis for all the stories and warnings. But he was willing to withhold his instinctive distrust to see what said being would be like. For surely, just like toons, these beings would be individuals?
He would probably never find out. And that was OK. There were some things that you didn't experience in life. A being could not expect the universe to serve them every possible experience to them before they passed on from life. It was simply the way of the world, of life itself, and that was OK. Henry was making the best of life as it was. He had a small art business, and worked at a restaurant part time to ensure he made ends meet. It was a comfortable, albeit lonely, life.
The woods near his home were beautiful in the evening. He had heard that long ago, it had been a place that attracted many magical beings, most commonly being 'wisps'. The glowing balls of blue light might as well be a myth like humans, given how rarely they were sighted in the current days. But they had evidence of Wisps existing. Henry had seen a couple in his childhood.
No one was sure where the collection of magical energy had gone. All that was known was the fact that they had become less and less apparent. Some blamed the Council of Magic for their disappearance, but these claims were resoundingly denied. In fact, the Council of Magic was deeply concerned by the disappearance of wisps, and were looking into the matter closely.
The male paused, a breeze ruffling his white streaked blonde hair. His years were catching up to him, showing in the weariness in his body, and the dark circles slowly forming under his pie cut eyes. His chin was rounded, with a light dusting of beard hair. He wore his usual overalls, this pair a simple dark blue, with a nice shirt underneath. His lower arms were wider than his upper arms, reflecting the strength hidden within, three stripes of hair along the lower arms. The strange anatomy wasn't so unusual for a toon, and was far from some of the extremes other toons were capable of.
He had walked quite a ways into the forest, though it wasn't that large or deep. It was rare to see anything beyond a feral type rabbit or deer. Feral denoting the fact they were not on the same level as a speaking animal toon, and could be safely hunted. You could usually tell through looking at the eyes. A feral type animal's was usually smaller than those of higher sentience. No one was quite sure why. But it made hunting for food easier to do with less accidents.
But now the air felt strange, tense. The magic that was always present in Tunis felt unnaturally strong in this moment, though he had been in these woods before. And there was something else. Something primal but formless, without consciousness or will. Behind him, the sun was nearly set, and the darkness of night had almost set in. On impulse, he drew the lighter he kept in his pocket for moments like these, flicking the top until a fire sprang from it to light the area around him.
The tension snapped the moment the fire flared to life, the lit flame snuffed out the same instant. It was as if it was the catalyst these energies needed, energies that had been circling each other like oil and water. Mixing but never blending. The sensation of these two energies colliding was overwhelming, something ancient and unknowable occurring. Something basic, something wild, something sapient beings were not meant to control, but meant to occur on it's own, in the right conditions.
When he recovered, the woods were no longer quiet. In the distance, he could hear a soft sound, like a baby crying. A baby? This deep in the woods? No toon animal cried quite like this when they were young, human- or rather 'mannish' like. It was a soft, plaintive sound, innocent and pleading. Henry started towards it slowly, not having it in his heart to abandon something that sounded so vulnerable.
It took a couple minutes, but he finally found the child, the air still reverberating lightly with the wild magic that had been pressing against another energy only moments ago. The source was a small, demon type toon, with a body as dark as the ink Henry would use to draw with. He was small, and a bit chubby, limbs curled to his body for warmth, pie cut eyes closed as soft, plaintive cries came from him. Henry stopped for only a moment, but his approach caused those small eyes to open, more cries escaping the helpless child.
Henry took off his shirt, which took a couple moments thanks to his overalls, before wrapping it around the child to offer them comfort and warmth. They stilled a bit at that, seeming to watch him for the moment. The strange child's head was disconnected from his body, and round, save for the top, which had a circle cut out of it, leaving his horns to point towards one another in a vaguely crescent shape. His horns blended in well with his body, a unique trait amongst demon class toons, and his face was white as the moon.
A small grin crossed the child's face as he began to experimentally flex around in his fabric cocoon, bending every which way he could manage in Henry's hands. He seemed entertained by Henry's nervous struggles to keep him from falling. He was surprisingly flexible for a baby, but given what Henry suspected, the unusual was hardly a surprise.
He had heard rumors of 'Fresh Toons'. Toons of all types, born to no mother or father, but from the collision of a surplus of wild magic, and a surplus gathering of a primal element. While they did not naturally combine or meet, when these surpluses somehow did develop, and did meet, sometimes it would produce a new born toon. No one was sure why it happened. Many believed it was how the first toons had come to be, a being formed of magic and one or more elements, and the process had become more uncommon with time. That was the best guess however.
"You are a bendy little fellow, aren't you?" Henry asked in his deep voice as the child continued to try and explore, even though he was far from ready to do such a thing. He paused, cocking his head at Henry, face curious. "You like that, do you? Bendy? I think that's what I'll call you."
The child grinned, seeming to give his stamp of approval to the idea. Bendy was hardly the strangest name a toon could have. In fact it wasn't uncommon for them to have strange names, or ones that were related to a certain aspect of their being. Henry would have to take him in to the authorities and go through a nightmarish amount of paper work, but he would take in the little being. There was something about that little smile he already loved, and the thought of having another toon living with him in his lonely home filled him with warmth. He was sure he could do right raising the child. How hard could it be?
"Well than, come on Bendy. Let's get you somewhere warm." Henry murmured, cradling the child close. Who knows. Maybe the child was a gift from some primal, unknown god to Henry. He was a good person, but lived all alone. Or maybe he was just as the rumors and legends claimed, a child of chance and magic, and Henry had been in the right place at the right time.