forum Feathers Anew 2.0 (1-1, Closed, Mature)

Started August 27, 2022 by @Serpentess health_and_safety language

tune

(Making another just for the hell of it)

So, I have a character in mind, but not really a plot. I was thinking something a bit romance-ish. My character is a reptilian/avian half-breed shapeshifter (Ahkrethian Strangeling, to those that have rped with me before), and he works best in High Fantasy, but is also fine in Modern Fantasy. He’s also straight, so your character must be female, please.

Ideas are welcome. I’m also fine with just chaos, lol.

(Also, the title I literally just came up with on the spot, so that’s why it might seem a bit random [It is], lmao!)

Rules
• andrew (Our Supreme Lord and Overseer)’s rules
• Must have good grammer, spelling, and punctuation please.
• A paragraph or two is a preferred minimum.
• There will likely be cursing, graphic violence, and death.
• Anything explicit goes to PMs, but it’s optional. (I’m honestly a bit timid about doing explicit stuff, but sometimes I’m willing to try… sometimes)
• Let me know what triggers you have, if any. Though, I generally prefer having folks with no triggers, because my writing can/will get dark, even when it’s unintentional.
• I’d prefer someone who is active, at least, once a day. That’s about how active I am currently, and I try to keep it at that, but it may vary for me (whether I’m more or less frequently online varies as well)
• Ask before you join
• I reserve the right to say no.

Character Template
(I’m doing a simpler template than my usual, just to experiment)

Name:
Age:
Race/Species:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Height:
Weight:
Basic Personality:
Other:

(I’ll post my character when someone has joined)

redacted

Redacted (Phalakros’ Template)

Name: Valiel Galcan
Age: 147, young adult
Race/Species: Northern Hinterlands Skin-changer
Eye Color: Icy blue
Hair Color: Rich Auburn
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 135 lbs
Basic Personality: Valiel is a gentle soul. She avoids fights if she can, and is quick to help others. However, she's been through some garbage which has given her a heart of steel, and she will not shy away from violence to defend herself and those she loves, if she must.
Other: She shapeshifts with ease, as most Skin-changers do. Valiel will appear human most of the time, but she also favors wolves and crows as go-to forms. She also has very minimal magic abilities.

(I’m honestly using the same starter as the first version of this, lol)

Phalakros wandered through the trees, seeking shelter as night started to fall. Those things were after him again, the serpents that always followed him, and they caught up to him faster in the dark.

He knew they weren’t real, but somehow they seemed completely real. They terrorized him, pulling at his remaining sanity like wolves nipping at a deer’s ankles.

After a moment, Phalakros came out of the trees to see a dirt road. Not far was the beginnings of a town. Warily, he started toward it, then stopped, indecisive, and stared. A long minute passed before Phalakros composed himself and headed toward the town. He vanished back into the woods though, not wanting to risk himself if the villagers weren’t friendly to outsiders, particularly ones that weren’t human.

(perfect thumbs up)

There was a rustling in the leaves on the ground behind her, and Valiel flinched. She whipped around and caught sight of a tall man slinking through the woods. She immediately tried to get his attention without saying anything.
She was crouched on the ground, behind a tree, but there was nothing blocking his view of her, so she waved both hands at him.

There was a scouting party from the town coming out of the main gates. She'd been watching for a couple days and the townsfolk were clearly not friendly. So she made sure to try and warn the tall man, who she hadn't seen coming into town before.

They'd attack him as an outsider, and Valiel hated fights.

Phalakros smelled something nearby, but he didn’t realize what it was until he saw waving hands. Turning to look, he gasped in surprise at seeing a woman crouched by a nearby tree, then stumbled backward, falling to the ground and whimpering a bit.

After a moment, he heard the approaching scouts and scrambled to his feet, morphing into his bird form. Flying up into the trees, he hid among some higher branches, curling up to make himself less visible.

Valiel's eyes widened as the tall man shifted and flapped up into the tree. She shifted to a crow and followed him, landing down a few branches. She watched the scouts go through the trees right below them, where they had both just been. They were armed and clearly looking for something.

She glanced up at the bigger bird above her, noticing how he'd curled up. Her heart went out to him. He'd clearly been afraid when she'd surprised him, and she wanted to help.

Phalakros noticed the woman morph, watching where she went. He then watched the patrol, his feathers ruffling and his body starting to shake, particularly when he saw those serpents pointing the pair of shapeshifters out, jumping on the men’s shoulders and whispering in their ears. The scouts seemed to ignore the serpents, but they continued to try and alert them anyway.

He didn’t notice the woman’s gaze until the scouts and serpents had passed. He pondered her a moment, replaying the past few minutes in his head. She’d gotten his attention, then followed him up. Had she been trying to warn him of the guards? Or had she been trying to alert the scouts?

Phalakros wasn’t sure, so he didn’t move from his spot. His body still shook though, and his feathers hadn’t settled at all.

The men had passed, but Valiel could still see their torches. The bigger bird above her hadn't moved. She called up to him gently. "Hello?"
His feathers were super ruffled, and she could tell he was afraid of something, but… he was so much bigger than her, she didn't think she was scaring him.

Phalakros jolted when the woman shapeshifter spoke. He then quickly took off, too spooked to stay still anymore. He flew toward the road, hoping to find some open air where he could gain speed.

Though, he didn’t really pay much attention to the torches nearby, or to how much sound his frenzied flight was making. He just wanted to get away before anything had the opportunity to catch and hurt him.

(Definitely thought great cormorants are much bigger than they are XD just looked it up. very cool bird)

"$#]ŧ!" Valiel swore to herself. She immediately launched out of the tree and dived onto the bigger bird, shifting to a panther as she did, and curling around him. She landed curled up and rolled away, cradling his body with her paws, making sure not to hurt him, but also getting them out of the road. She gently pinned him and perked her ears, listening as the scouts yelled something and began running back towards their position.
"Listen, I know you can understand me." she hissed. "We gotta get out of here, but they will hurt us both if we're not careful. We can't just fly out, they'll shoot us down." Her voice softened. "Now, if I let you up, we gotta be quiet. Please don't yell, please? I can cloak us a little bit but you have to work with me here." Her icy blue eyes were as earnest and honest as she could get them.

(Lol, yeah. They’re still pretty big though)
(Also, I’m fine with cursing. So, you don’t have to bleep it out or anything like that. Hence why I put ‘There will likely be cursing’ in the rules. Just to let you know)

Phalakros shrieked in terror as the panther tackled him and curled around him. Without even realizing or controlling it, he teleported away, reappearing in his true form near the panther.

He stared at the shapeshifter warily, slowly crawling away. Shadows and black mist seemed to waft up from the panther’s fur, taunting him. However, her blue eyes kept him from running. His Lord, Lucitius, the one Phalakros had willingly sworn his life to millennia ago, had blue eyes. And, Lucitius was like a father to him.

“H… how c… can I… trust you when th… they are o… on you?”he stuttered, his voice barely audible.

(think I had condors in my head, which are huge XD )
(and thanks for the heads up. I just kinda do it reflexively at this point)

Valiel blinked as he disappeared. But when he spoke, his voice soft and vulnerable, her heart went out to him again. She shifted to her human form, but crouched, making herself as small and nonthreatening as possible.
"I'm not sure what you mean, but I won't let anything hurt you, friend." She said gently, smiling at him.
"But. We do need to go. The scouts are coming." There was a sense of urgency even in her kindness. She could feel the townsfolk coming and knew they would kill them both for being outsiders.
Or at least, they'd try.
And Valiel hated killing.

(Lmao!)
(You’re welcome. It’s alright)

When she morphed back to human, the shadows and mist faded. Phalakros relaxed slightly, but not by much. He sputtered a bit at her words, uncomfortable with the reminder that only he was aware of the serpents.

“Where?”he asked quietly, fighting back a whimper.

He didn’t want a fight at all, but not for the usual reasons. Fighting scared him, and the more scared he got… the closer it came to the surface. That… dark thing living in him. He had only experienced its awakening once, and he never wanted to experience it again.