The Forge of Dartmont(Open)

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Dartmont pulled out the pair of Battleclaws and began delicately poking and prodding the red-hot piece of metal. Four five days he had worked on this set, a very special order given to him with direction so specific, they had to be written all down just so he would not forget anything. Dartmont received these kinds of orders only on rare occasions, few owls were so vain that they wanted even their Battleclaws decorated. But, nevertheless, orders did come in for these and so Dartmont would usually drop all his other work to focus strictly on these. It was stressful work, with normal Battleclaws it wasn't often that an error would completely ruin the project. As long as they fit the owls' talons and didn't fall apart in battle, they were good enough. But here, any slight error would result in him having to throw away the entire piece and start over. So, unlike with other projects, he went and spent a few days drawing up pictures of what they would end up looking like and getting the design approved. That way he had some sort of a visual aid that could help guide his talons to finish the piece with no errors.

He had to admit, he was starting to loose his interest in metalwork. as his mind was filled with knowledge on other subjects, he was starting to desire the chance to go back out and study more intensively on other subjects than he normally did. In particular, he was fascinated with the strange contraptions that the beings known as the Others had created. One such device, known as a watch, hung in his hollow and appeared to be used to keep track of time. He had bought it some months ago from the Magpie Trader Mags and had since been fascinated in learning how it worked and what other devices like it might exist out in the world. Many ruins still remained that had once belonged to the Others and few animals in general ever spent the time to sift through the remains and gather the contraptions used by the Others.

Dartmont had made attempts of his own to try and copy the contraption. Outside his hollow were various scraps of devices that had failed to properly mimic the watch and he had eventually given up on trying to copy it. The hardest thing was understanding how to get it to function. Not even his watch worked anymore and he had yet to figure out how to get it to work again. He'd heard that the Glauxian Brothers up in the north had books that mentioned the devices, but Dartmont never had the time to journey up there and study them.

[otulissa]

Safiya glided over the Forest Of Ambala. She knew the place was useless for Tyto-snatching, and she had come for something else. Her sharp eyes picked out a colomn of smoke. Aha, she thought, there it is. I hope he's there!
She landed outside the forge.
"I'm home, Dartmore!"

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Dartmont just nearly dropped the claws upon hearing the call of his mate Safire and quickly set them up on one of his racks. The Great Horned set his tongs down and ducked out of his hollow and out into the clearing of his home. His had made himself comfortable in the hollow of a tree that had grown out of the stone building that had once belonged to the Others. The tree punctured through one of the walls and continued up into the sky, producing a rather startling sight. The rest of the building had mostly crumbled away over the years, leaving only the fragments of walls outlining a square bare patch where it once had stood.

Safiya calling this place her home was a bit weird to hear, considering it was not true. She spent little of her time here, only able to come by once in a while. Her true home was back with the Pure Ones, off somewhere that he wasn't allowed to know. Dartmont knew enough about the Pure Ones to know they were to be avoided. They absolutely hated any owls that were not Tytos, and even then you were still disrespected if you were not a Tyto Alba. Yet, despite that, here was Safiya, a Pure One, coming to visit a Great Horned Owl, who she should have killed by now. "You know, you don't have to call it that, it doesn't hurt my feelings," he remarked as he approached her and gently rubbed his beak up against her forehead.

[otulissa]

"Well, here's a lot more home-ish than the hideout. There's a fire, for one!" she laughed. "It's freezing there. Even during the day. Cold cold cold." She gently plucked a lump of soot from his plummels.

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Dartmont decided not to prod her and just dropped the subject. He had hoped that he could sway her to eventually join him permanently and leave the Pure Ones, but the hard reality was that as hard as he tried, he probably would never be able to fulfill her the way the Pure Ones did. It was that fact that continued to haunt him. While she said that she cared for him, in reality, if the Pure Ones demanded that she killed him, would she not do it out of loyalty to them? It was a concern that was also partially driving his desire to visit the Glauxian Brothers, he needed some advice on what to do. "Safiya, I need to seriously talk without you. Please, join me inside," he said and waved her with a wing to follow him into his hollow. Since he didn't get to see her often, he decided not to beat around the bush and be direct with her about his worries and concerns. Her response and reaction would be key in understanding where her heart truly was... and if there was any future for the two of them together.

[otulissa]

Safiya saw the look on her mate's face and understood immediately.
"Dartmont, you know I'd love to live here. But it's the Pure Ones. They don't just let you go. They take you back, moon-blinked, shattered or dead. I'm doing my best, but the High Tytoness will get suspicious. I don't fancy dying or becoming a mindless owlet following the High Tytoness around, picking up her pellets!"

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Dartmont listened and nodded slightly. "I know, but I need to ask. If they ordered you to kill me, would you do it?" He asked her, pausing and looking her in the yes. "They are eventually going to find out, it is only a matter of time. No matter what we do, the Pure Ones are too widespread to not notice. I was once betrayed by another female owl before, I need to know that I'm placed my trust in the proper owl. I need to know that you won't betray me too." He told her and lowered his head slightly. "You know I care about you, you're the first owl I've cared about in some time. But this whole situation with the Pure Ones, I can't stop dreading what they'd do."

[otulissa]

"I...I...I would pretend!" she blurted. "I would cut myself and put blood on my claws, and....and bring back a few sets of claws, maybe, just to persuade them, you.... you know I wouldn't kill you!"

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"Safiya... you know that wouldn't work. The High Tyto are not easily tricked as such..." Dartmont told and gently he wrapped his wings around the Barn Owl and nuzzled her forehead with his beak. "Safiya, I do believe you and do trust you would make the right choice..." He told her as he coddled her against his chest. Seeing her reaction, it had confirmed to Dartmont what he had known. Despite her allegiance to the Pure Ones, despite following their horrible code, she still loved him, no matter the fact that he was not a Tyto. Still, with his mind at ease for the moment, he now wanted to spend as much time as he could with her, knowing it might be a long time before she could see him again.

[otulissa]

Her eyes lit up. "You believe me?" She smiled and began to preen his feathers.

[Deleted]

"When I look into your eyes, I see no falseness within them. I do not know what may happened, but for the moment I place my trust in you." He responded to her. "But, I ask you seriously consider what to do. The fact is, we don't know how long this can last and in the end, you will have to make a choice. I cannot ask you to abandon the life you've built since you were and young owlet, no matter the kind of company that you mingle with. But you must understand that it is a life that I am forbidden from joining with you and that someday you may have to choice where your heart truly lives. All I can do it hope that your heart lives with me and not the Pure Ones."

[otulissa]

"My heart was never with the Pure Ones. It was with the owlets and the closest thing I've ever known to friendship. I killed, I know I did, in the belief that my only friends would leave me if I didn't. My heart never was with the Pure Ones at all."

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Dartmont listened to her, though he didn't know how much of that he could truly believe. While he had no direct experience with the Pure Ones, he had heard stories of their blind devotion to owl purity, their willingness to slaughter all who dared step in their way. As much as he wanted to think that Safiya didn't allow herself to go that far, it was hard to believe. How could one possibly live in that environment and no be influenced by it all? "Tell me, Safiya, what is it that you really want? I know I can never provide everything the Pure Ones do, but can I not make you just as happy with me as you are with them?"

[otulissa]

Safiya was lost for words. She cleared her throat.
"Dartmont, let me tell you a story. When I was an owlet even my family did not care for me. I worked hard and practiced in the daytime while they slept, my flying, my hunting, my silence. Still they ignored me. I then saw the Pure Ones. Where others saw cruelty, I saw a firm friendship. Where you would have seen exclusion, I saw a chance at a family again. Dartmont, I never felt love before now, so I didn't know it. I ignored the blood trail left by my adopted kin, because I felt a little sprout of what might have actually been affection. I lost my past mate and my owlet, and that was my first true experience of love. I've had owlets take advantage of me and flee, but that doesn't stop me liking them. My mate told me he would not go to Glaumora until I was happy. I have found my true mate, but if the possibility of my getting you killed is happy, I do not know. I love you, Dartmont, and you make me happy through the slightly smoky scent of your feathers, the warmth of the forge, and simply love. The Pure Ones could never give me that."

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Dartmont's heart almost skipped at beat at that, he had never heard Safiya ever say something of the sort. But he knew that it was all true, Safiya was speaking straight from her heart. "Safiya... that was so beautiful... I'm so sorry I ever doubted you..." He told her and pressed her up against him. "I love you Safiya, I truly do. You make me feel so lucky and happy," he added and gently he nudged her into his personal hollow and laid with her down onto the soft moss and grass that lines his sleeping area. Right now, he just wanted to hold and cuddle with Safiya, taking this rare chance to be with his mate.