Chapter Text
In this day and age of monsters and gods, the scene of gods roaming the lands and singing the songs of the heavens for joyous occasions or lamenting the wailings of the deepest corners of hell in grief was nothing out of the ordinary.
The gods' songs were a part of each and every speck of dust, every taken breath, every drop of rain and every grain of soil. One cannot exist without the other for the magic solely exists for the wonders of the world.
Most powerful gods had such a powerful voice that could reach and could be longed by everything that their vision held, mesmerized by their singing.
The land cherished those songs that gave life. Flowers bloomed, and fairies came with the spring. Tides ran, and wolves howled. The wind blew, and birds created their nest. Stars shined upon the sky with the moon, mermaids found their way back home.
Not only the land but also the creatures were very fond of them. Found peace with the melodies of the gods.
Each God's each song was different. In order to complete the makings of the world, they all sang together in harmony. Resulting in a world with nature so serene with its own sound.
Gods did not rule over the land they serenade but claimed it for themselves. After they had claimed the land by singing to it, the harmony that was created in that land by their songs gave them power. The more land the gods owned the more power they could gain and kept singing. Each land's people, be it masses or gentry, revered their god.
In this kind of world, Till was one of the weaker gods, aiming to become greater. To be able to make meaning in the world through his creations, not outshine but shine alongside his fellow greater gods. He aims to claim a land he sings for.
Till was used to practice and sing by the lake in a forest. This forest, this lake, was just like any other and has been visited by the gods to flourish.
No matter how small, each part of the world was
a responsibility of the gods. Everything had the trace of a song that was sung by a god.
While Till was humming one of his melodies, upon hearing his voice, a little fish made a show by jumping on the water before diving back into the lake.
He chuckled at this.
"It seems like, today I have an audience." He then started to split the bread he brought into small pieces to throw into the lake. Fish overjoyed, began to eat. His song got interrupted but he didn't mind.
"Hm, maybe you would have liked her song more. Whenever I sing, some part of the forest gets restless. I might cause it to rain in this case."
He continued with his song but just as he predicted, unfortunately soon after, the rain started to drizzle.
On another side of the forest, a flying bird sensed that this wasn't going to be a simple rain so he descended to land and started looking for somewhere to hide from the upcoming downpour.
The bird, the Avian, now in his human form with his folded wings, walked until he reached a clearing of a lake, sat down next to a tree trunk to rest and heard a voice singing.
It happened again. Till thought solemnly.
For it to rain from time to time surely is a good thing. He hoped, and he kept singing.
Then the rain suddenly turned into a downpour and hail.
He took a glance and saw rabbits, squirrels and all kinds of birds going away to hide. Those small animals surely couldn't handle the hail.
Defeated, soaked from the rain, he stopped singing.
I can't let the rain go on for too long. Since it became more than simple rain drops now. I rather not disturb the forest more than it can handle.
He got up from where he was sitting and walked until he found a shelter under a tree and sat down.
Unknown to him, the Avian that was a few meters behind him had already taken notice of him and had heeded his song. But now that his tiredness was catching up to him, he was getting sleepy. He leaned to the tree and stayed there until he fell asleep, listening to the god's serene voice, humming a melody.
When he woke up the next day, the godling wasn’t there anymore.
A few days later, while the Avian was flying over the same forest, he heard the godling's song again.
Then, as he thought, it started to drizzle.
He spotted the godling singing near the lake, the same spot as before.
This time when the bird landed down in his human form, he walked up to the godling and stood next to him.
Focused on singing, Till didn't realize the Avian had come up to him.
The Avian smelled in the air, again a heavy rain was coming. First, he lifted one of his wings above the godling's head. Then, the other one for himself.
Till looked up and saw him. Then he stopped singing, "Oh."
The Avian smiling,
"My Lord, please don't let yourself be drenched from the rain."
Till has never seen an Avian in their human-like form from this close before. He only ever got to see them up in the sky flying.
His gaze was fixated on the Avian's wings. They were jet black but still seemed to hold a soft touch.
"I am fine with getting a little bit rained on," he said.
The Avian, confused,
"I thought My Lord stopped singing that day, a few days ago, because you got caught up in the rain."
This made him look up to the Avian,
"That heavy rain, I caused it. That's why I stopped." he sounded carefree and didn't seem to be bothered by it.
The Avian seemed to be pondering over this,
"Nature will come to appreciate your song in time, surely." He sounded genuine. His eyes were sincere.
"Very kind of you." Till smiled genuinely in return.
"I am saying this because I did love your singing, My Lord."
Till chuckled,
"I am surely not a Lord yet, you can call me by my name, Till."
"I simply cannot. A flower that hasn't bloomed is still a flower, My Lord."
Till couldn't say anything at first. The Avian said that he liked his singing but hearing the one before him talk softly with such affection... Till thought that the Avian should be the one singing instead.
He didn't realize that the rain had been letting up, and grey clouds had been disappearing. Only when the day's last sun rays had downed on the one before him and put emphasis on his features, did he realize that the sun had been setting. It was as if he brought the sun with him for him.
"You sure have a way with words..." he said while averting eyes, scratching his head. His ears were getting tinted with a hue of pink.
Turning his head away was futile for the sun's soft lights were highlighting the red hue on his face. The Avian endeared and softly looked at him.
After a beat, Till turned to look at him again and asked,
"You also haven't given me your name. What should I be calling you?"
"Just my name, Ivan." he said with a toothy grin.
"Ivan..."
The rain had completely stopped, and the sky finally cleared.
Till finally saw Ivan's wings in all of its glory for the first time. It was truly a sight to behold.
He was disappointed when Ivan had folded back his wings. But his disappointment was short-lived.
"If you could indulge me, My Lord... I would be happier if you kept singing a bit longer."
said Ivan. Then unfolded his wings a bit to show that he could be a shelter when needed.
Ivan's eyes looked at him with a sparkle in his eyes. His soft voice and wishful eyes left Till no choice. At the back of his mind, he knew that there was no other answer he could give to this man from the start.
"Sit down next to me this time then. I would like you to be my company."
"I would be glad, very much so." Ivan said while smiling at him. Then he sat down next to his lord.
"And like this, you can hear me better."
"Mhm." He nodded. His excitement could easily be seen from his eyes.
Without further ado, Till started singing. No heavy rain came this time, only a light rain which Ivan's wing was enough to cover them from.
And when Ivan would fall asleep with his head on Till's shoulder, the godling wouldn't be bothered. He was going to think that Ivan had to be pretty tired after all day flying and that he could lend his shoulder. Till was the one who asked Ivan to accompany him after all. So, he would be moving Ivan's head to make him more comfortable.