::She's here.::I send the thought across the shared link that connects me to Viraat in our stonebound state.
::I can see that.::Viraat's reply is dry as dust.::I can also tell you're already fixated with her.::The censure is as plain as the daylight fighting to break through the clouds.
::She's... different.::I shift, as much as my stone form allows. Frustration burns in my chest. The sun still sits above the horizon, which means we are still locked in our current forms. Statues to the world.
Silent guardians to a forgotten house.
::You said that about Ichabod.::
I can almost feel the disappointment coming across from Viraat. I can’t let his disdain and negativity affect me. My optimism and hope is all I had.
::Ichabodwasdifferent. He was kind. And even though he was odd, he respected us and never asked more of us than we were willing to give.::
::He talked to us.::Viraat responds.::That was his only redeeming quality. Humans rot what they touch.::
I don’t answer. My gaze follows her as she turns to retrieve something from her car. I watch the way she moves. Hesitant steps, eyes darting toward the rooftop. Toward us.
Good.
She sees us. She feels us. That matters more than she knows.
Vanishing through the front doors, she takes a small part of my hope with her. And even though we can’t follow, I can still hear. And as much as Viraat likes to pretend, I know he listens too.
For every footstep. Every breath.
Her heartbeat picking up at what she finds inside. First from what I would assume is fear, and then excitement as she takes in the manor and all it entails. I follow her footsteps with my sharp hearing, wishing I could have shadowed her to take in her expressions.
Then there’s a sharp inhale and a slight squeal. I've never wanted to fight against my bonds as much as I do right then, the need to rush in and protect her burning in my veins.
And then?—
"Crud! Sparrow!"
::She brought a beast?::Viraat asks, tone mildly disgusted.
My senses take in her mechanical vehicle—a car I believe—and I take note of the creature inside.
::A feline. Injured.::I cock my head, listening to her frantic scramble, then the soft mutterings she makes to comfort the animal as she takes it out the car.::She cares.::
He scoffs.::So what?::he snaps.::Not enough apparently, as she forgot it in the car. And it doesn't mean she belongs here.::
But I’m not listening anymore.
The manor hasn’t felt like this in decades. Not since Avaline—Ichabod's niece—danced barefoot in the halls and painted sunbeams on the windows with her laughter.
The manor itself is slowly waking from its own slumber. It knows that something is happening. Something important.
As dusk slips into night, the weight of stone begins to lift from my limbs. The magic shimmers in the air around us, as it always does when night falls.
Finally. Freedom.
Before Viraat can speak, and doom me to further inactivity, I leap.
Stone shatters and reforms into flesh and wing before I even hit the terrace below. I land silent as a shadow, the wings closing behind me. Even in this, my more humanoid shape, I retain my wings, my tusks, and my claws.
The wind stirs behind me, only pushing me to move faster, into the house which holds the new mystery that needs to be solved.
::Jodrick!::Viraat's mental growl echoes inside my skull.::Don't you dare!::
