Grove Path: The Hawk

Luther took the trip back to his homeland. His family hadn't been living here since they moved so long ago. It had become much bigger than when he was a boy. His birth town had become a city of glass with ever towering spirals and bustling with life.  All the structures seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. A lot of the houses were decorated with aspects of the forest and some included owls patterned into their sides or as statues. Here the people lived in harmony with a great owl spirit who was said to cue all your fears and worldly problems. The only thing Luther knew of the owl were from local stories when he was a kid. The people claimed the spirit was larger than even the tallest building and one gust of their wings made the very trees bow. How much of that was true, Luther didn't know. He had never personally seen the owl and few claimed to have met with them. His mom used to tell him stories of the owl and each story seemed more amazing than the last. He vaguely remembered wishing to see the owl when he was older. Amusing that he was doing so now.

Luther reached absent minded for his shoulders, for Allie, his snake. Today, however, he only touched the cold gold of his Muse's Treasure. He forgot he left him back at home. His wife had volunteered to watch him. Allie had not too keen in meeting this particular owl. Owls were known to eat snakes which was mostly not a problem for Allie due to his relatively large size. However this owl spirit was said to be large enough to tower over buildings so it was a hard no from Allie. Luther did a one huff chuckle remembering this and then snapped a picture of the city with his Fate's Focus. His wife told him to take many photos while he was here. He had to remember to bring her back here one day. The last time they had been here was when they first started dating. That seemed so long ago. 

Luther wasn't here to site see however. He was actually here for the healing powers the great owl was said to possess. He hoped the guardian would take away his fear like so many claimed the owl had done before him. Luther was not normally a fear driven person. In fact, very few things worried him. However, this was a special case. It all started when his wife brought up the idea of a Seedling of their very own. It seemed from out of nowhere back then but while traveling to this city he was able to think of all the small things his wife would say. It seemed glaringly obvious now. Luther sighed and smiled. He adored his wife and wanted to give her anything she wanted. Many would chock his fear up to new parent jitters. While yes this was true there was another reason.

Luther stopped at a few stands to grab lunch and then picked up a water for the upcoming hike to the owl's home. To get to the owl's home it involved taking a balloon to the base of a mountain and then a long hike up to a kingdom in the sky. Luther took a glance at his air balloon ticket. It was deep rich blue with swirling cloud like patterns on it's surface. The text was written in silver with sliver swirling flourish around the edges decorated with feathers and owl illustrations. Tilting the ticket revealed an illustration of the owl hidden in the deep blue of the ticket, it's eyes shown above the text. Luther handed his ticket to the assistant who clipped the ticket and welcomed him on board the ship.

It was a decently sized ship but was relatively small as far as ships go. Passengers had an inside portion with a deck that circled it so people could walk around and see the sights, complete with elegant benches. Luther strolled around the deck slowly. Moving helped him to think. Luther thought about his hesitancy to raise a child. Luther was not the pinnacle of a guiding role model. In his youth he messed with plenty of men and women alike before meeting his now wife. He thought back to some of the abuse and manipulating he did back then. In his early dating, even hurting someone so badly that he flinched at the thought of it. He really felt like he wasn't capable of love back then and did whatever he wanted. He never stayed with anyone long enough for them to get a real sense of who he was, nor did he feel anything for all of his flings. All he cared about was making sure he was taken care of no matter who got hurt in the process. Luther deep down was still somewhat that way, thinking if he didn't look out for himself no one else would. At least not in the way he would want. 

Even now, he would only bend sometimes for his wife, but with an outcome that also benefited him on occasion. He didn't want any of that behavior to come into the world or pass to their child. He knew he shouldn't beat himself up about it but he had a hard time thinking otherwise. He feared their child would be the same. Not only that but he feared he would revert back to his old ways and not care for the child, seeing their seedling as not essential to his own life or having no love for them at all. Luther leaned against the railing and gazed out into the landscape below the balloon. He was gazing but not really looking at his surroundings. Only his thoughts had his attention.

Lost in thought, It didn't take long to reach their destination. Luther straightened himself and looked towards the port. He was glad they arrived he was starting to bum himself out. At the base of a mountain was a small town. In size and look it was much more humble than the city of glass. Very few people lived there. Just enough to guide travelers and care of the many owl shrines near the path to the heavens path.

Luther approached the path of the heavens. The path had a few shrines and statues of owls. Handing from the trees were many wind chimes which could be heard tinkling with each soft breeze. When Luther got to the entrance he was given a small Fortune Lightglass. It was a tradition to give each traveler an owl themed fortune lantern in hopes that the traveler will have luck meeting the great owl. Luther snapped a photo of the lightglass. It was a simple but elegant silver lightglass. On the top it was adorn with four owl heads, each facing N,E, S,W. The handle was a simple silver ring and at the base were owl talons that would allow the lantern to stay upright if placed on the ground. Luther lit the lantern, a faint blue glow could be seen inside and on the top the blue flames lit two eyes of the silver owls. 

Luther progressed up the path. Some of the path was a mix of stairs, stone walkways and eventually dirt paths. Luther took a sip from his water bottle before continuing forward. Luther felt like he had been walking on the path for what seemed like hours. It was peacefully quiet with few birds calling to each other. Once or twice he thought he saw a small creature dart across the path but they were gone in seconds. The trees swayed in the breeze here and there, the sunlight dancing through the spaces between the leaves. Luther noticed a few of the trees were decorated with strings of water droplets that sparkled as they caught the light and when they did touch each other they make a pleasant clinking sound. The higher he went the more cloudy it became. Trees and bushes seemed to become swallowed up by the clouds but the ground was always visible. 

At last he came to a portal which was the gate to the guardian's home. Leading up to the gate were stone owls of various sizes placed there to guard the entrance. The entrance was made of two giant twirled together trees that bent into a twisted ring. More strings with raindrops decorated the gate with tiny owl gnomes hidden in nooks in the twisted trees. Luther placed his lantern down and approached the opening. On closer inspection the gate opened to the sky and below it was a bottomless cliff. Luther had to take a little step back away from the cliff edge. It was then he noticed some writing at his feet. Carved into the ground were the words "For those who wish to leave their fear behind. Step through my doorway. Embrace the sky." Luther stepped forward again to look through the doorway down the bottomless cliff and he smiled bemused. He was a little intimidated by the drop but was also curious about the challenge the text provided. If the archway really led to great owl, he would be fine. However if it was just a myth, It was a looooong way down. Luther stood there in the ring of the trees looking at the clouds beyond. A light breeze blew by with a delightful warm sun. It wasn't a bad way to die.

Taking a chance, Luther stepped through the entry way and off the cliff. Air rushed past his face, the sheer speed forcing his eyes to close so he could only feel the sensation of the wind. His hair whipped in the wind looking like a crazy monster flapping about in the breeze. What was mere seconds felt like an eternity. Before he could even start to think "I'm going to die" Luther could feel himself slowing. Opening his eyes he could see nothing but white clouds around him like a heavy fog. Soon Luther slowed enough to touch ground. It wasn't ground as he knew it though. It was a weird sensation of sand but less resistance to his feet. He couldn't quite describe it nor did he have any exact words that fit the description. On closer inspection it looked like he was stepping on clouds. Luther could even see the crystal city below him but in a reflected upside down state. Luther took a careful step forward and looked around. Everywhere he could see the land was made of billowing clouds. They were constantly changing shape as if alive. The air here was, for a better word, tasty. Soft bird calls could be heard with that same comforting sun from the gateway warming everything. Luther had never been so at peace. He wished his wife could see it.

Luther took a long look at his surroundings. Maybe it would help to figure out where to go next. There were clouds as far as the eye could see with some larger cloud forms swirling and breaking up the ocean of white. Scanning a little more he could see dark shapes. In the distance structures made of burme stretched out as if reaching for the sky. It almost looked like a city. Luther decided that might be the best place to try next. Luther once again bemused that the land appeared to be made of clouds. Below him the land kept changing the closer he got to the spires of burme. Every once in a while Luther would look down to peak to see if he could see anything below. There were many lands he didn't recognized and began to wonder if his home would be among the lands. He imaged being able to teleport to his wife and Allie in no time after this trip. He made a mental note to see if that were possible and then realized he didn't know how to exactly get home. He hoped there was another gate at the city of burme.

On his way over, Luther began to think about the owl. Was the owl really as big as people say? How many people actually walk through the gateway? Some birds flew overhead.  How would the owl cure his fear and what would happen if he couldn't get rid of it? Would there be a test that he had to complete to be granted a gift? So many questions swirled about in his head. He wasn't stressed about it as most would be. He just had to take it one step at a time and it would all work out. Luther believed it because he had confidence to back him up. He would rid himself of fear for himself and for his wife so they could have a seedling. He just had to find the owl first.

In no time at all he arrived at the burme structures. They seemed to be shaped like many towers with hallows, windows and doorways cut into their surface. Birds seemed to collect here, many flying and swooping overhead. Along with the birds were ghostly shapes that appeared to be wisps of clouds. As if shadows of those birds themselves they also flew in the same paths although not formed as birds in their entirety. Pulling out his fate's focus he tried to take a photo. To his confusion the camera didn't seem to be working at all. Odd. It had full power before he left. Luther tried the power button but the display stayed black.

"You will find none of those objects will work here..."

End Part One