Ten years after the battle at Single Oak, the four groups of Oregon are still reeling from its after effects. Territory lines were drawn and stories have been told, those who were heroes once are legends now. In order to avoid new conflicts, solstic...
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Staring at the ground from atop the watchtower, Aleu couldn't focus on the biters below them, unlike the others. They were focused on the world beyond the territory lines they were all sworn not to cross. Through that barrier were countless fields dotted with wildflowers even in the cold weather, mountains beyond the rolling mixture of forests and hills, cliffs and ravines. What animals could be out there? Could they be friendly? What about the people? Would they be friendly, too? They flipped their hair over their shoulder to look the other way, then. In the far distance just barely over the tree line, through the valley and on the horizon lay the grey, foggy outlines of the tallest buildings left standing in the city. Over the years the foggy mixtures of greys, blues and blacks had blended in with browns and greens, just barely visible. What did the city look like now?
The city is in all of those dreams I've had...ever since Stephan died. Aleu had noticed years ago. The longer it went on, the more they'd hoped they would grow out of it and yet, the previous night it had been one of the same, a combination of several. Walking down the impossibly long hallway, now child-sized, with the windows sporting a view of the stone jungle that made up the city–well, that's how their young mind had seen it. A jungle made of impossibly tall stones that challenged their world view every time they looked up. But this time, the swirling colors had accompanied the hallway. In an optical illusion it'd made them dizzy. They fallen over several times and with scraped, bloodied and bruised knees they tried to crawl to the door on the other side. That was when Muninn had woken them up from their night terror.
Now, Aleu's thoughts drew a blank, their vision blurred as they continued to gaze off to the direction of the rising sun, where the rectangles illuminated from greys, graduating into a myriad of reds, yellows, oranges and pinks. Their heart pounded faster in their chest the longer they stared. It was like one of those concrete towers had reached out and taken a hold of them to drag them back to the place they'd called home as a child and yet, no good memories came from that place. They couldn't remember much, only what Stephan had told them after they'd began to open up about a month into being cared for. Stephan had said he'd found them sick, starving and alone.
When prompted for more details to satisfy their own curiosity, Lennox had divulged more details. Aleu had been flea-bitten and had a bad case of stomach worms, skin-and-bones from malnourishment and their hair matted. Stephan had been told not to pick them up from fear of disease, but he'd ignored Lennox and held Aleu close to his chest all the way back to camp, having taken his shirt off to wrap them up in it. Apparently they'd fallen asleep in the giant's arms. Those were to only details Lennox had given them, saying they wouldn't want to know an accurate account of the condition they'd been in. A small smile twitched at the corners of their mouth. Hawk had been the only other kid that wanted to stay with them while they were recovering.
"Thank you for waking me up." Aleu jolted back to reality when Muninn landed on the railing of the watch tower and announced his arrival with a quiet coo. Muninn stepped onto Aleu's arm, then their shoulder. He began to groom through his feathers, like he always did before moving onto them. A few of the other crows nearby had gathered at the watch tower railings too. They cast wary looks at the other two outside, Dante and Hawk, but kept their focus on Aleu. They spotted a crow with a spot under its eye and reached out to itch it under its beak. "I remember you, little one." Aleu soothed, running their finger along the crow's head feathers, which were bristled from unease. "You were the one who ate Baron's eye."
