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The Gift

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Flag of France  Version Française Flag of France

C'était un jour étrangement froid.
Octobre venait de commencer mais déjà une neige épaisse tombait sur la montagne, ce qui était loin de déplaire à l'un de ses rares habitants. Ignatius avait fabriqué sa maison (ou plutôt cabane au vu de la petite taille de celle-ci) sur le flanc de cette montagne hostile, à la recherche d'un peu de solitude. A la fenêtre, il regardait l'écarlate du crépuscule s'étendre sur la neige inviolée comme une marée de sang - et quelques images malades lui revinrent. Il secoua légèrement la tête ; l'armée était loin maintenant, il n'avait plus d'ordres à donner et n'avait plus à regarder la mort.
Il s'assit à son bureau et commença à écrire pour se vider la tête, une des seules thérapies à fonctionner quand les remords le mordait à nouveau. La lumière baissa lentement alors que le silence n'était brisé que par le grattement de la plume sur le papier... ce silence pesant qui résonnait en crissant dans son crâne. Il se sentait seul évidemment, il l'avait cherché, mais c'est l'une des choses qu'il n'admettrait jamais. Cette solitude était sa pénitence.

Soudain, le silence fut brisé par des coups sourds contre sa porte. En un éclair il se saisit de son arme à feu et s'avança vers son entrée, un peu confus. Quel genre d'idiot s'aventurerait au dehors à cette heure ci et par ce temps là ? Sur ses gardes, il ouvrit la porte en bois et se détendit en reconnaissant la silhouette encapuchonnée. C'était un.. ami ? Il l'avait rencontré dans l'armée, il travaillait aux cuisines, et c'était un jeune homme naïf et plein d'idéaux.

"Ignatius ! Ca faisait bien longtemps, tu me reconnaît ? dit-il en souriant de toutes ses dents.
- Qu'est-ce que tu fais là, imbécile ?"
Le jeune homme rit légèrement et donna un coup de coude joueur à l'aîné qui ne réagit pas.
"Tu m'as manqué aussi.
-...Tu as fait tout ce chemin simplement pour me revoir ? dit-il, sceptique.
-J'aurais pu, mais non. En fait, j'ai un cadeau pour toi."
Ignatius haussa un sourcil, un peu décontenancé. Son interlocuteur écarta alors le pan de sa cape et lui tendit le cadeau : il tenait entre ses mains un espèce d'oiseau, déjà assez gros mais ne semblant pourtant pas adulte. L'aîné regarda l'animal et recula légèrement pour le toiser.
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette chose ? Demanda-t-il.
-Ceci mon cher, est un Corva Stryx. Enfin, une stryx en l'occurrence... C'est une merveilleuse créature. Les corvas sont très intelligents, et ce sont des animaux très utiles. Et je me suis dit que tu ne rechignerais pas à avoir un peu de compagnie..."
Ignatius fixa l'oiseau qui émit un petit cri de protestation à ainsi être tenu dans cette position inconfortable, puis leva son regard vers son ami. Il s’apprêtait à dire qu'il n'avait besoin de rien ni de personne mais le jeune l'interrompit avant même qu'il ne parle.
"Elle te sera utile. Elle chassera pour toi, elle te réchauffera, et en la traitant bien elle sera la plus fidèle des amies.
-Ca grandit beaucoup, ces animaux ?
-Quand elle sera grande, tu pourras la chevaucher. Tu voyageras plus facilement avec elle qu'à pied dans la neige...
-...La chevaucher?! Tu te moque de moi ?"

Le plus jeune lui fit un sourire ravi et déposa l'animal au sol, et elle commença à explorer les environs sans plus faire attention aux deux hommes qui la regardaient. Elle trouva un pull d'Ignatius sur une chaise qu'elle tira au sol pour s'installer dessus, avant de s'endormir sans cérémonie.

"Elle est chez elle."

Ignatius se gratta le crâne d'un air absent. Après tout... Pourquoi pas.


---------------------------------------------------

Flag of United Kingdom  English Version Flag of United Kingdom 

It was a strangely cold day.
October just began but a very thick snow was already falling on the mountain, which was far from displeasing one of the rare persons to live there. Ignatius built his house (or rather his shack, given the small size of it) on the side of this inhospitable mountain, in search of solitude. Looking through the window, he was watching the ruby color of twilight spread over the untouched snow like a blood tide - and some sick memories came back to him. He slightly shook his head ; his time in the army was far now, he didn't have any orders to give, nor did he have to look death in the eye anymore.
He sat at his desk and started writing to empty his head of his thoughts, probably the only therapy to work when remorse came back to him. The light disappeared slowly and the silence was only broken by the scratching of pen on paper... This heavy silence, the only thing he could hear alone here, was giving him a terrible headache. He felt lonely of course, he was looking for loneliness when he came here, but he suffered from it even though he would never admit it. This solitude was his penance.

Suddenly, this deep silence was interrupted by someone firmly knocking on the door. He grabbed his gun in a flash and advanced toward the entry, a bit confused. What kind of idiot would venture outside at this hour and in this kind of weather? On guard, he opened the wooden door and relaxed when he recognized who was the man hidden under the cloak. It was his... friend? He met him when he was in the army, he worked in the kitchen, and he was a young and naive man full of ideals.

"Ignatius! It's been ages, do you recognize me? he said, smiling very wildly.
-What are you doing here, imbecile?"
The young man laughed a bit and gave a playful nudge to the elder who didn't react.
"I missed you too.
-...You've come all this way just to see me? he said, a bit sceptical.
- I could have, but no. In fact, I have a gift for you."
Ignatius raised an eyebrow, a bit lost. His friend then put his hand in his cloak and handed him the gift: he was holding in his hand a sort of bird, quite big but looking like a very young one anyway. The elder looked at the animal and took a step back.
"What is this thing? he asked.
-This my dear friend, is called a Corva Stryx. It's a female. Wonderful creatures, stryxes... Corvas are highly intelligent, and they're very useful. I also thought you wouldn't mind having a bit more company, given how little visits you must get...

Ignatius stared at the bird while it gave a small cry of protest, tired of being held in this uncomfortable position, then he looked up at his friend. He was about to say he did not need anything or anyone but the young interrupted him before he spoke.
"She'll be useful to you. She will hunt for you, she will keep you warm, and if you treat her well and love her, she will be the most faithful friend you could ever dream of.
-These animals, they grow a lot?
-Well, when she's all grown up, you'll be able to ride her. You'll travel way more easily with her than on foot in the snow...
-...Ride her? Are you fooling around?"

The youngest gave him a delighted smile and put the animal on the ground, and she began looking around without giving much attention to the two men staring at her. She found one of Ignatius' sweaters on a chair and put it on the ground before lying on it, and quickly fell asleep.

"She's home."

Ignatius scratched his head, lost in thought. Well, after all... Why not.



_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Wooh, finished! Here's a "comic" (more like two pictures one after the other) for you! I decided to try something different for the lighting, and it's awful hahaha... :'D It's fine looking from far away, but you shouldn't zoom in. Ew. Well, I guess it helps me learn...
Yes, Ignatius has this kind of mysterious friend... Who is he?? (Yeah, he's mysterious, it's totally not because I was too lazy to design another character to give him the stryx.. >_>) I don't think I'll use him anymore anyway, but we'll see^^
Also, here's the very first drawing of my Stryx! I'm so happy and excited about this ARPG, so I hope you'll like this lil' fluffball!

And, to those who know a bit about DracoStryx, can this text give me AP or is there not enough text about my stryx herself to get any? I'm not so sure about the rules haha



Morrigan


AP calculations:
Fullbody +1
Coloured +2
Shaded +1
Personal Art +1
Total: 5 AP


:icondracostryx:
Image size
3000x6800px 7.35 MB
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Oceanappa's avatar
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww


WAIT HOLD THE PHONE YOU HAVE A DESCENDANT OF STREETWISE?


you lucky bug