creator_raven | (no subject)

Entry tags:

oberon,
oom

(no subject)

There is a particular clearing that Raven is looking for--one that has already been partially destroyed by power. It is familiar to him, in a way, and as close to home ground as he will get, in this place.

He settles to earth, shifts to man shape, and pulls a tangle of silk threads out of his pocket.

He waits for Oberon to come to him.

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And he does. The golden eagle swoops around the clearing, screaming angrily.

Why have you taken offense and insulted me, Raven? My patience long ago wore thin!

"You have a very small supply of it, it seems, Oberon."

A pause.

"You watched me, and would have continued, had I not seen you myself. One strike. You harmed a friend with your interrogation. A second strike. And you left him outside, to die, if he would. A third strike."

His eyes narrow.

"I am much wroth with you, boy."

The eagle dives at Raven with another scream. This is no business of yours, fool. Nor was the mage. Unless he was weak, he would not have died. Why do you care for these mortals and traitors?

"Who do you call fool, little man?"

His voice is mocking.

His fingers twist in the threads, and a wall of wind springs up between himself and the bird.

"I am Raven, who sets things right. I create worlds, I set rules, and irresponsible fools irk me."

The eagle swoops aside, claws raking across the wall.

Your rules are not my own, and I have allies who can destroy worlds!

Shadows stab at Raven from behind.

Raven laughs--it is loud, and ringing, and tinged with madness.

"I have done so, alone, in my time. Your allies do not frighten me, puling little king!"

He dodges the shadows, though he gains a tear in his coat, and ties another knot in his thread.

Light--a miniature sun--flashes behind him, amid the shadows.

These shadows are not strong enough to exist in Raven's light. They wither, making hissing noises.

The eagle lands, and Oberon stands before Raven now, with giant golden wings and the antlers of a stag. "If you have destroyed as well as created, you are one of Its servants, hatchling!"

Black lightning flickers from Oberon's hands.

And with the mention of It and destruction, Raven understands. Oh gods above and beyond, it is very clear.

"I have never served That One! Our ways have been parallel, but I serve my will, and mine alone. It has always been so."

His fingers curl the thread just as the lightning hits.

He grunts, and falls to his knees, fingers working busily.

The gravity around Oberon increases, dramatically. Crushingly so.

Oberon lets out an eagle's scream as bones in the fragile wings crack. Then he laughs. "All serve It in the end. And here, the Power is very strong!"

He is on his knees, so he slams one fist into the ground, and thorns erupt nearby Raven, grasping.

Several of the thorns pierce his body, and he gasps.

His shoulders shake, and at first it sounds like sobs.

He raises his head, and the madness is no longer hiding. He laughs, and twirls his fingers in the thread again.

The thorns turn to dust, and fall away from him, reassembling behind Oberon as a golem, one hand raised to smash.

And as the fist strikes, one of the wings tears. Oberon screams again, in both anger and pain.

He sets the golem aflame, then dodges to the side, snarling.

Once again, black fire flares in his hands, and he strikes at Raven.

The black fire hits him, and Raven bursts into flame. A twist of the thread keeps the flame from touching him, from consuming his body, but the power this requires begins to tell.

Fissures, small ones, appear on his skin--like mud that has dried too quickly.

He grimaces. It is time, perhaps, for a bold move.

He stumbles forward, laughing, and grabs the side of Oberon's face with one hand. The other hand is somewhat lower, groping for Oberon's wrist.

His mouth covers Oberon's, and his tongue plunges deep. In that moment, his other hand deposits the beaded wire around Oberon's wrist.

Raven rips himself away, flinging himself into bird shape faster than he has before, and moving away, even as his mind clicks the beads into place.

And from behind, fire and lightning banish the shadows, for a moment. Blackness and void crackle around where Oberon's hand was.

"Damn you to the depths of what hell you come from, Raven!" Oberon shrieks. "We are not finished!"

His cry echoes in the woods.

Raven hears it, but pays it no heed, as he careens through the door to the bar.

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