Distance. Great Hunt: Ravenflight.

DISTANCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FRIGHTENED: 
GREAT HUNT RAVENFLIGHT

Jezabelle hears of The Night Cursed Crone attack on the south and flies south to be by Anjali's side. Feral RP. Anjali and Jezabelle

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JEZABELLE
Fear rattled in her chest.

When word had reached Sangre Mar that another corrupted threat had emerged in the south, Jezabelle’s stomach dropped. She dropped what she was doing, said little to Enn or Swan and burst out the window erupting into her serpentine feathered form. In fact, no one had ever seen her do that in the Mar before and it allowed for very little formality. Fear was an angry snake coiled in her chest and any sign of humanity was no longer present.

A sight to behold for certain; Jezabelle a screaming winged serpentine beast flying faster than lightning.

Soft images played in her mind of the weeks prior; Anjali and Jezabelle in embrace, intimacy, sharing gentle moments and trips to the market, sweet nothings. All became a pinpoint focus at the end of a very dark and angered tunnel. It had taken Jezabelle two nights of flight to reach the south. It seemed that Jezabelle had not let fatigue take hold. 

It was very hard to feel fatigue when adrenaline became her lifeblood.

Jezabelle circled Namarast and looked for any sign of Anjali, only briefly touching down as deer to race through the town to find any trace of her - all confirmed her fears. Anjali had headed further south to the beast. Jezabelle raced out of the town before anything could be said or done and once again she erupted into serpentine anger. It wasn’t that Jezabelle thought that Anjali could not handle herself – of that Jezabelle was certain. What clawed at her mind was the fear of losing her all together. Jezabelle had pulled back the scales on her heart and truly let Anjali in, and suddenly – it was that fear of loss that drove her wild. Mists and fog still echoed in Jezabelle’s mind from the prior battle, suddenly the fear of losing someone you love had truly taken root.

Jezabelle had reached The Sunless Jungle – her old home. The valleys and rivers and tall mountainous ranges she knew like no other. After sweeping the northern edges of the jungle, she continued south. It was not hard to miss the sight, dark and otherworldly, nor was the sudden heaviness in Jezabelle’s heart enough to send her plummeting to the ground. After regaining composure, Jezabelle turned her serpentine head down into a sleepy village below – a giant screeching Ravenlike beast painted with the void of space was hovering above. Above the beast was a dark stretch of space with blackened tendrils reaching down to the earth below. Jezabelle had seen many horrors, but none like this.

Deep in her heart she felt an intense gravity – it only emphasized her fear and longing further. After a few moments of deep confusion and sorrow, Jezabelle took to the skies again and flew towards the monster, looking for a glimmer; sparkweaver.

(473)

ANJALI
There had been a small part of Anjali that had hoped she would find Jezabelle in the Sunless Jungle, that the Viper might have caught wind of the monster long before she had. It seemed like exactly the sort of thing that would catch Jezabelle’s attention. 

Unfortunately, several days had passed since she’d arrived at the site of the monster’s first sighting, and though she’d run into a plethora of familiar faces, none of them were the crimson hind she’d been looking for. 

It hadn’t taken her long to realize that her magic was extra effective against Cursed Crone, and so she’d thrown herself fervently into the battle, eager to chase that thrill. It was a little reckless, moreso than she might usually be, but it felt great, doing something that she was good at and that mattered. 

She took the brunt of her fair share of attacks, though. A reminder, perhaps, that she was alive, and not, in fact, invincible. She found herself now in one of the makeshift camps that had been set up within the mostly evacuated village. The mages fighting here had made it into something of a stronghold, a base of operations that offered plenty of cover from the barrage of the monster’s attacks. She was crouched behind a half-standing stone wall, an old ruin that looked like it had fallen long before the monster’s arrival, but it provided relative safety, and a reprieve to catch her breath. She was tending to a long, shallow scratch down the length of her foreleg, likely from shrapnel thrown by the collisions of the monster’s meteors. As she finished wrapping the wound with a thin layer of gauze, there was a soft beating of wings from somewhere above her. They were large wings, though not nearly as large as the monster’s; more mages arriving to offer their aid? She craned her neck toward the sky, but the thick blanket of darkness heralding the beast made it difficult to see anything. With a soft sigh, Anjali slowly rose to her feet, testing her injured leg and wincing slightly as the wound stung in protest, but she could put weight on it at least. She stepped out of the shelter offered by the stone wall and looked around the village. 

[ 380 ]

JEZABELLE
The carved valleys of the far south were rich with life – a deep red volcanic earth with sand made harvests bountiful; only those who could tolerate the rich atmospheric pressure really thrived. It was the deep red scars in the earth that stood out from Jezabelle’s vantage point – the crone had downed for a moment and was thrashing its beak deep into the soil making almighty valleys of its own. Peppered across the landscape were abandoned villages and farmland – with multiple bands of mages now occupying the old towns as a line of defence. No sign of Anjali…yet?

Perhaps it Was Jezabelle’s sense of smell in this form, perhaps fear driven – but there was a curl of iron that smelled familiar and as she turned her head downward, she saw a familiar curl of gilded horns holding a magnificent glowing orb of light – and at once the snake curled with fear and rage struck and the viper was wheeling madly down to the encampment of mages. Letting out an almighty screech – like a combination of a hissing snake and predatory bird all at once, the wyvern like Jezabelle landed metres away from Anjali, her eyes glowing with possession and fear. 

The snake craned her head and Jezabelle lumbered forward awkwardly, only her inquisitive serpentine head flowing with an effortless grace as it seemed to stay affixed on Anjali’s injury – her tongue occasionally flickering out to sense the air. It had never occurred to Jezabelle in this moment that Anjali had never seen this form before. Never you mind how the other mages around her were shuffling with caution around the pair but too spent to worry about whatever this moment was.

After a few steps Jezabelle’s body pulled closer and her nose gently bumped the side of Anjali’s face – much smaller than Jezabelle was used to. Her heart still racing and not quite ready to release the form, she hoped there was a familiarity in her snakelike eyes and the small huffs of air she let from her nostrils.  Jezabelle tried her best to form a simple sentence in Anjali’s mind, in hopes she might understand it;

“I’m here. You’re hurt”

(360)

ANJALI
So caught up in her own thoughts and determination to get back into the monster extermination efforts, Anjali didn’t notice the swooping serpentine beast until his screeched mere meters above her, and then landed in a flurry of feathers and scales several feet away from her. Panic spiked immediately, a fresh wave of adrenaline washing over her, and she braced herself for an attack. 

She took a hesitant step back, pawing the earth beneath her with her “good” leg and lowering her head, better exposing her massive horns. The orb of light between them pulsed steadily, ready to flashbang this intruding creature at a moment’s notice. The creature, however, showed no immediate signs of aggression. It simply watched her, with glimmering eyes that flashed with something akin to recognition, but that didn’t sound right. It seemed… intelligent, more so than she’d expect from a monster, especially a lesser one that wasn’t a corrupted mage.

So surprised was she by this sudden confrontation that she didn’t move as the creature drew ever closer. Anjali watched it with bated breath, motionless as if hypnotized – and maybe she was. As the creature gingerly touched her face, there was something so familiar in the gesture that she felt something crack inside of her chest, and though she’d never seen this form before, that twinge of familiarity told her exactly who this was. The voice inside her head only confirmed it. 

The orb of light between her horns flickered and then fizzled out completely. She gave a quiet huff and pulled back just enough to meet the creature’s gaze. “Jezabelle?” she murmured, her voice soft enough that only the two of them could hear it. A tiny grin tugged at the corners of her lips. “That is you, right?” 

[ 293 ]

JEZABELLE
“Jezabelle, that is you right?”

Jezabelle’s serpentine head nodded gently as her eyes locked with Anjali’s gently blinging in agreeance. Jezabelle’s word forming in this form was limited, and the accent thick with siregalese. She took a moment to let her heartbeat slow as she listened to Anjalis and let it soothe her own before letting some more words fill Anjali’s head

“Beast is weakening. Battle over soon”

The words were short. Jezabelle’s head lingered around Anjali’s wounded leg, letting her tongue flicker over the bandage to taste its depth. Small wound. Not much there. Jezabelle thought to herself. There was no longer a need to panic or worry over Anjali. There never really was, but the fear of losing her all the same was enough of a drive.

A sharp cry pierced through their moment as the Crone showed some signs of slowing down – the mage onslaught not showing any signs of slow as more faces joined the fray. Seeing all the mages using their power and using it for good made her heart swell – this was what It was all about. It was what made magic worthwhile. Jezabelle shuffled her form a few steps forward, Anjali still closeby. It was clear Jezabelle wanted to enter the fray and seal the crone’s fate. 

She looked back, a few more words were uttered ”Can you continue?”. Jezabelle let out a hiss of curiosity ”We make good team”.

(237)

ANJALI
The creature nodded, but Anjali could still hardly believe her eyes. A part of her feared that this was just an illusion, or some kind of cruel mind magic. Then again, that glimmer in the beast’s snakelike pupils was all-too familiar, and it tugged at her heartstrings in a way that nothing else did. As Jezabelle mentioned that the monster was weakening, Anjali gave a curt nod. She itched to get back into the fray, knowing her magic was valuable when fighting such a beast, and there was a small part of her that hoped she could play a part in landing the final blow. 

She watched as Jezabelle’s serpentine form inched closer, investigating the bandaging on her leg. A frown tugged at the corners of Anjali’s lips; the Viper was concerned, clearly, but the wound had been so minor that she hardly needed that concern. It felt like a waste of energy to fret over such a little thing. She opened her mouth to reassure the Viper of such, but was interrupted by another shriek from deep within the monster’s throat. The mournful sound rattled Anjali’s bones to their marrow, and she dipped her head as that wave of grief washed over her once more. She’d been out here for days, and she still wasn’t used to the psychic damage that dealt her. She used Jezabelle’s presence to try and quell that deep sorrow; with the Viper here now, there was no need for it.

As the echoes of the cry finally faded, Anjali watched Jezabelle begin to move away, perhaps eager to get into the fight as well. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “I can still walk.” There was a slight limp to her gait, but never mind that. It’d take a lot more than some shallow scraps from flying shrapnel to slow her down. She was filled with warm contentment at the last bit, and she nodded. “We do, indeed.” She couldn’t deny their effectiveness as a duo. They’d fought well together against the Wasting Miasma, even if his had been a completely different kind of magic. 

She moved to keep pace with Jezabelle, and her grin widened as she took in this strange, feathered-and-scaley form. Despite it’s drastically different anatomy, it still very much moved like the Jezabelle she knew so well. “You know,” she said, a teasing note slipping into her voice, “I think the other version of you is much prettier.” 

[ 406 ]