The Chained Watcher

Backstory: Mother Bird

I've noticed that my chapter lengths have averaged longer and longer as I've continued writing. Not a bad thing, but when I first started writing this book I was happy having chapters with 1k words each. Now, I post them with closer to 2k words minimum, and sometimes (often) more. 

Weird, right? Anyways, enjoy!

~~~

Breathing in the cool night air, the Watcher strolls aimlessly through the dark forest. He's found that the slight chill present on nights like these is quite pleasant.

With silent footsteps, he ghosted between the trees, just enjoying the sounds of the forest. He might not go on walks frequently, but taking one every now and then is a habit he happily indulges in when there's nothing that needs doing.

Tonight was going to be another like that, but something tickled his senses, distracting him from the ambiance of the darkened forest. He'd picked one that was empty of mortals, and yet he can sense a source of frightened emotions awfully deep into the forest. The moon is almost new, leaving the night almost lightless, so why is there a mortal out in the middle of nowhere at this time?

There's no real good reason for him to bother himself with whatever a lone mortal is doing in the woods at night, but if he doesn't at least take a brief look then his curiosity will plague him for the rest of the night. Heaving a quiet sigh and startling the nearby animals, he changed course to take himself near enough to the mortal to get a good idea of what it's doing.

You know, these midnight walks of his do actually serve a purpose besides relaxation. It wasn't much of a problem when he was a lower Tier, but as time went on the growth in height that accompanies going up a Tier started causing problems for when he tried to be stealthy. For some reason, being several times the height of normal mortals is detrimental to stealth.

His walks through the woods let him figure out how to move without making noise, even without using magic to dampen the sounds. Tree branches that rustle when he passes, dead leaves that crunch underfoot, and tiny things like insects that go silent when he's near are just some of the problems caused by his size.

He'd basically mastered how to dim his wings a long time ago, since ethereal violet light isn't exactly the best for stealth in any situation. As the soft light coming off his wings fades, his senses find the source of the frightened emotions. Well this is a bit of a familiar situation, even if the specifics are different.

A child, alone in the woods, though there are no pursuers and its fear seems to be directed towards the forest in general. He sighs, once again spooking the nearby animals that hadn't noticed him. Of course there's a child. Now he's gonna cut his walk short, just because he can't ignore a child.

He's not quite sure when he developed this nagging mother bird instinct, but despite how annoying it is he doesn't actually want to get rid of it. In a way, he chose this instinct, so he might as well live with it.

Being a fairly high Tier, he is quite intimidatingly tall, and to a child that will only be exaggerated. Although... for some reason children don't seem to fear him as easily as adults do, even taking into account childish naivete. This has only grown more pronounced after his run-in with that one child that got attached to him, which he might or might not have gotten attached to as well.

It's... He shouldn't get attached, he knows he shouldn't. Mortal lifespans are ephemeral and fleeting, and for humans a single century is enough to exhaust all of theirs. Elves and dwarves live longer, but even then he'll live to see them die. It's not too bad if he's just following a particular mortal around for entertainment, but if he gets genuinely attached...