Feathers

Tower

The Hind, she waited in the night.

I followed her, through the trees.

She ledrfttt me on and on.

She was the color of the moon,

running from the dawn.

The Hind, she leaped and bounded,

swifter than the sea.

She led me to the Otherside,

sweet and soundlessly.

When my feet could go no longer,

and I fell down to cry,

she carried me upon her back,

right up into the sky."

"That was beautiful, Leda," he said as he slowed them to a stop. It was a haunting melody to be sure. It had torn away the forest from beneath their feet, leaving them on a cloud, high above everything. Link felt nervous, but did not let it show on his face or in his movements. His hand slid to the small of her back and rose a few inches, pressing her closer until their chests touched. She did not say anything, did not resist as his head bent and he pressed his lips lightly against hers. He pulled back, their eyes meeting.

Leda knew her relationship with Link was different. No Peregrine had ever spent time with a Feral in the forest and not tied her up to ferry her away to the city. She had never seen any Peregrine without their shoes, either, but Link had not worn them any time that he had visited her since their run.

"Can I show you something?" She asked.

He blinked and nodded, wondering in the back of his mind if she was offering to remove her shirt. Link quickly reprimanded himself for thinking such things.

She let go of one of his hands and turned, pulling him off through Deepfell with the other. He could only guess at where she might take him. Perhaps it would be a hidden pool where they might go for a swim together. He hoped she would let him kiss her again.

She walked on and on for a long time without so much as a word. Link began to worry exactly where she was taking him. He had never been that far south in Deepfell and was not sure he would be able to return to his camp by nightfall, if he could even find his way back at all. The black rock that the forest seemed to grow over was slowly disappearing, the hills less steep and the ground somewhat softer underfoot. Almost abruptly, the sparse undergrowth became nearly impossibly dense and she had to release his hand to wind through the thorny branches and curling stems of the plentiful bushy plants.

"Leda," he said, irritation in his voice, all thoughts of a romantic day now gone.

"Shh," she hushed tersely.

He frowned, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. She vanished into the green and he hurriedly stumbled after, afraid that she was trying to lose him. He was about to call out once more when he seemed to pass through a wall of leaves and almost fell when the resistance of the brush suddenly abated. He broke ungracefully into a clearing. Leda was waiting for him, half turned away.

Rising out of the ground like a dark chess piece, was the single remaining tower of some fort or small castle, now in ruins and overgrown with moss. The stone of it was dark, native to Deepfell, chiseled to fit perfectly with the blocks around it so that no mortar would be needed. It was wider than it was tall, probably due to the effort it would have taken to lift the large stones very high. It was obviously quite old, the crenellations were covered in bird droppings and thin tendrils of ivy spread over it like veins seeking to absorb it back into the ground. There was a window near the top with most of the panes of glass still intact.