Shadewood let not light see my black and deep desires

mid june

he'd waited for days.

perched in the trees, watching the wolves milling in the shade of the boughs.

light, dark. big, small.

and no sign of hereby.

the man tried very hard to act unbothered. so what is she's dead, rotting somewhere unknown? brought it upon herself. chain off his leg. now he had every reason to flap off and resume his normal, fulfilling life.

and yet he waited.

wings beat like a crow's, she was breathless when the tree - oh, what kind it was? - came into view.

the great white raven shook the branch with her landing. it still quivered as her head turned and craned every which way, looking for the diminutive, purple-tinted plumage of her brother.

it seemed he wasn't present. that didn't dull her elated mood, smiling despite the heavy breathing.

"oooooh, yondeeeer~?" she croak-sung into the forest.

he was comfortable, tucked into a squirrel hole on the elm they first departed for the wilds from. the spectral caw of his certainly-dead sibling startled him into hitting his head against the ceiling.

yonder made small whimpering sounds, wings covering his hurting dome, as the syllables of his name carried trough the shadewood.

it was with strong disgruntlement, and well-concealed relief, that he answered back.

"what."

"brother!" hereby croaked with a grin, although she still couldn't see him. "you play hide-and-seek with me? my my, how boyish!"

the white raven shook out her wings, her flight muscles aching. "ach, yonder, you've no idea the fun i've had! these hunters, like a hatchling's toys! bones with more agency than they!"

yonder had enough care to mutter a this-or-that reply, still settled into the hollow.

he let her speak, or an awkward silence stretch. it wouldn't matter. the man felt that either way, he wouldn't be heard.

"...hereby." he was solemn, attempting to put hardness into his tone. "i'm done."

"...i've seen ones pale and dark and crimson, and to all i was sign or symbol! yonder, you should've been there for the small red one, who i frightened into dipping his tail - which is how they show terror. imagine, how-"

i'm done

a smile still on her beak, wings in the midst of gesturing, she looked down and to the side, where her brother's voice had come from.

"done? ach, brother, but of course you are! i said an egg's time, and it's been. go fly now, find yourself wife or another spouse. fly west with my good wishes!"

she was full of childish mirth.

fly west with my good wishes

his beak parted but he did not speak. shocked. it wasn't supposed to go this way.

"no- hereby, i meant we're done. you did your, your experiment and now we- we go home." his head poked out the hollow and his neck craned, but still he couldn't quite see the pallid plumage of his sibling. 

"you're done here, you go with me." even though he knew, felt it clawing at his heart, that the opposite was true.

hereby laughed.

"leave, you say? but why? the hunters and prey are many, and so far i certainly haven't gone hungry. i do not crave company like you do, yonder. there's no need for me to go."

she settled into a comfortable perch and smile. puerile yonder! she had work to get done, a calling to answer.

he felt desperation build up. the brother still wouldn't reveal himself, as if not seeing her would give him sternness and courage.

"but-... but-..." yonder whimpered. 

was he really that spineless? incapable of flying free of his sister? no!

"i... i'm going to stay." 

goddamnit!

"but not with you."

there we go.

some of that much-needed hardness crept into his voice. "i'm an adult. i can live on my own, but i want to be sure my sibling - whom i love and care about - lives too."

a steadying breath.

"i'm going to stay, but every month or two, i want you back here - on the exact date - to tell me how you're doing."

he raked his brain for more demands, but realized that, truly, this was all he wanted.

"that's... that's all."

her neck twisted like a corkscrew. where was little yonder? hid in a treehole, did he? mayhaps he couldn't recall, but he did the same sort of thing when he first developed the power of flight.

his declarations, his demands - adorable! her fledgling brother discovering adulthood.

and sad, too. she herself had long ago abandoned the expectations of it, and decided on her own current to fly on. it was a vigorous natural force, inconsistent in both its strength and feebleness, and yet hereby couldn't picture themself on a gentler sky.

yonder couldn't ever understand her needs. but, she saw no reason not to indulge him. 

"very well." the giant said. "but i've to ask for something in return."

she leaned forward on the branch. was that his beak poking out, the rest just out of view?

"you, speak to me of your own accomplishments."

it was extremely embarrassing, that while waiting for her reply, yonder held his breath. 

still, he couldn't really deny the relief he felt when she agreed, exhaling.

"okay." he cleared his throat. "that- that's great."

but she had her own demand.

again, he was apprehensive. what more?!

thankfully, it would be a one-time thing.

it was even more embarrassing, when he released a breath he didn't even realise he was holding.

"okay. i can do that. not that i did much except-" the thought of @Amalia came to him. "well, there was this..." and he spoke.

the pallid sibling listened with canted head and unbidden curiosity to what her brother spoke of. 

each name, place and slice of information saved for later use.

when he was done, she remained thoughtfully silent.

then smiled to herself.

"excellent, then!" she beat her mighty wings. "the next phase has begun!" with a flourish she fell off the branch, and croaked as she circled the taller half of the tree. "an egg's time again, and we each shall regale the other with tales of mischief and trickery!" 

the raven caw-laughed as she flew off, thinking this matter settled forever.

"no! not an egg's! first of each-" but she was gone.

perched on the edge of the squirrelhole, he watched her disappear out of view. for a bit more, he actually felt good about how he resolved the whole thing.

... then it dawned on him what her last words meant, and groaned with frustration.

worst of all; he'd do it.

windfather strike him, he loved that person more than he feared the teeth of vengeful hunters.

... horrid thing to realise about himself.

soon he departed himself, leaving the shadewood to its wolves.