N = Nova

M = Mittens

        --------

M:  It was a warm summer evening in the kingdom of Mandoria, and King Mandoria himself was out at the edge of his kingdom with a hunting group. The king road on a large Shire horse, he needed such a big steed to keep his feathers off the ground and away from its hooves, feathers that coated the biggest wings in the winged community of countryhumans.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it's time to head back to the castle," a human hunter suggested, "it is getting late and we have found but a few rabbits and foxes."

"Patience my friend," the king called back, "the best game comes out at the soft rays of dusk, we will stay a few minutes more, and then we will return."

So the hunting party continued on their hunting trip, unaware of what else was in the woods other than their prey.

N:  Running away from some human guards, Saxon clutched his bloodied tunic as he outpaced them. He meandered through the forest as he slowly heard the shouts quieten. When he was sure he was safe, he stopped to inspect his injuries.

"I'm losing too much blood," he muttered to himself. He mentally scolded himself for using up too much energy but he knew it was worth it. Another country has an uprising on their hands, thanks to his handiwork.

Exhausted, He looked up to see the sun creeping toward the horizon. Deciding to find shelter in a nearby village, he staggered out into the open. As he limped, he failed to notice a band of people slowly moving in his direction.

M:  Mandoria raised his hand to stop his men, he heard rustling in the distance, he looked over to the noise and spotted a large buck. His eyes lit up, it was quite an impressive animal and the antlers were larger than its head, it would make for a great trophy.

The king waved for his party to wait in case it ran, and then he took hold of a bow and arrow he had. He was just about to raise it to shoot the buck when its head jolted up and looked in the opposite direction, then ran away, a few hunters charged after it but some stayed behind when Mandoria didn't move.

The king was looking at the area the deer was looking at previously, wondering what spooked it off, he eventually saw something moving towards a clearing in the woods, it looked human. The confused kingdom steered his horse in that direction, breaking out of the woodline just as the mystery person did, and that is when he saw it was not a human, but rather a country.

"Excuse me, dear sir," he called out authoritatively, "Thou are trespassing in the kingdom of Mandoria, what are thy intentions?"

N:   Limping into the clearing, Saxon noticed a large buck; however, when he stepped on a branch, it lifted his head and temporarily stared at him for a second before bolting. He was jealous of how quickly it traveled, contrasting with his slow walk and labored breathing.

He quickly spun around to face the direction of the voice, instinctively prepared for any attack. He did not expect to find a country sitting on a large horse accompanied by some humans. His eyes laid on his wings, fascinated at the sheer size of them. This must be the country Anglo constantly mentions, he thought, the King Wing. He quickly shook out of his trance and analyzed the situation he was in. Eyeing their bows and arrows, he realized how under-equipped he was so he decided to play it safe.

"Pardon me, my lord, I was not aware I was trespassing in thy land." He bowed in respect, something he learned from previous encounters with other countries he trespassed in. "I only came to find a lodging where someone weary like I may rest and heal, only to then depart without causing any trouble."

M:  Mandoria raised a brow, he then noticed the newcomer was clutching his torso that appeared to be covered in blood and his expression became worried, why was an injured country – entity rather as he noticed his black sclera - wandering through the forest, and where were the people who hurt him.

"Well, thou shall consider thyself in luck thou stumbled upon our hunting party, any other kingdom would have shot thee dead," Mandoria said, keeping his royal voice, "perhaps thou would like to accompany us back to our castle, there thou can receive the help thee needs."

Mandoria said something to his hunters in Mandorian, one of them ran back into the thicket towards the rest of the hunters, and the other rode up to Saxon, holding out his hand to help the wounded entity onto his horse.

N:  Saxon, naturally, was suspicious of the generosity shown by Mandoria; however, he knew better than to reject this kind of hospitality. He looked back, checking that no one followed him, then saw the human hold out his hand for him. He stared at it for a second before accepting it and was hoisted up and sat behind him. The action placed a strain on his injuries so when he sat down he groaned in pain.

"Thou are correct to believe I would be shot," Saxon muttered when he reached Mandoria, "but I thank thee for thy kindness."

He watched as the other hunter ran ahead and asked Mandoria a question. "In my lifetime I have never heard thy language," he faced him, "how long have thee been around, if I may ask?"

M:  "A long time indeed," Mandoria said, riding side by side with Saxon as they headed back to the castle, "we have but lost count of how many moons we have lived, it is certainly much longer than most of the upstart empires that run amuck across the land."

Mandoria shook his head in amusement as he said this, "but it doesn't concern us the actions of the younger generation, so long as they keep away from our kingdom there is no reason to get involved."

As they neared the castle, Mandoria decided to ask a question of his own, "So what of thy origins, and how did thou happen into this situation?"

N:  Saxon nodded in agreement to the statement, for he has seen his fair share of young countries with big ambitions. However, he was proud of his own grandson's achievements as an empire so he was less concerned about him.

When he heard the question, he hesitated for a bit to try to formulate the right words. "I do not often speak of my origins, mainly to distance myself from the people who occupied and currently occupy the land in this present moment. As for how I ended up in this situation," he paused, "I was chased by people who do not like who I am."

M:  "I see," Mandoria simply said, eyeing the entity's injury again, those people really must not like who he is if they did that to him, "well, know that you are under my protection as long you're within my borders, and you're welcome to stay as long as you wish."

The three riders eventually crossed the threshold of the castle gates and road into the courtyard, a few stable men came to secure the horses while the king slid off, his human companion slid off next and tried to help Saxon down.

"Father, you're finally home," a voice said, Mandoria turned and saw two little boys running towards him, he smiled and leaned down to hug them, and the two collided with their father.

"What took you so long, you missed our flight lessons," the youngest one said.

"I'm sorry my sons, I got a little sidetracked," Mandoria explained.

N:  "Again, I thank you for your hospitality," he replied. He then turned to see the castle they were approaching and admired its size. A worthy castle for a king.

When they reached the stables, the human held out his hand. He did not like being weak and in need of assistance but he had no choice so, reluctantly, Saxon took it. As he got down, he heard some noise outside the stable so he peeked around the door to see Mandoria hugging two boys.

Most likely his son's, he thought.

He saw the close bond between them and wondered if he could have had that type of bond with his own son. He shook the idea and knew that the past was the past and he couldn't change it.

Saxon then noticed that one of the young boys was staring at him.

M:   "Father, who is that," the eldest one asked, he saw the strange country in the stables and was confused as to why they were there, normally the brothers would know if their dad had visitors, and there wasn't supposed to be any today.

Mandoria loosened his hug and stood up, he beckoned for the human to lead Saxon out of the stables. The younger one backed up behind his father and the older one didn't move.

"He is someone who needs our help Derogan, he was chased here by people who wanted to hurt him," the king said, then looked to Saxon, "I'm afraid I never caught your name, dear sir."

N:  The human led him to the group and he felt slightly left out from being surrounded by winged countryhumans. When he saw that the eldest didn't move, he was impressed by his bravery, as his appearance didn't help him look welcoming or inviting.

"Forgive me for not telling you earlier," replied Saxon, "my name is Saxon." Internally, he hoped that Mandoria hadn't heard of him before.

He turned to the younger one behind Mandoria, "It is alright young one, I am not here to harm anyone."

M:  Mandoria frowned a little when Saxon introduced himself, that name sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall from where, though a smile replaced his expression when the entity reassured his son.

"That's right Mandara, he's friendly," Mandoria said, picking up the kid, "Sir Saxon, these are my sons, Mandara and Derogan."

Mandara gave the newcomer a shy wave and Derogan respectfully bowed, which made his father quite proud, "now that we have introductions out of the way, let us get your wounds treated," the king said.

He set Mandara down, and then he led Saxon inside, with the brothers trailing a distance behind.

As the group walked, Mandoria spoke to a few servants along the way to get things prepared for their unexpected guest. Eventually, they made it to a guest room, Mandoria opened the door for Saxon.

"You will be staying here for the time being, the servants are on their way with supplies to treat your injuries, but I do have a few questions for you while they do." the winged king said.

N:  Saxon was happy with Mandoria's comment to his son, and when the king introduced them, he bowed a bit. "I am honored to meet both of thee." When he saw Derogan bow, he admired his respect, and he waved back to Mandara.

He was relieved to hear that he would have his wounds treated; he willingly followed Mandoria inside the building. He walked slowly to avoid harming himself, finally reaching a room as servants hurried around.

"I am happy to answer any inquiries that you have, good lord." Saxon simply found a place to sit and slumped down, exhausted from the day.

M:   Mandoria was worried at how exhausted Saxon looked, he wondered just how far the entity had traveled while injured, and he was still concerned about whoever he was running from, would they pose a threat to his kingdom or his sons? Mandoria was broken out of his thoughts when two maids came into the room with supplies to clean and treat Saxon's wounds.

"Father, what is going on," Mandara asked, he and his brother were standing outside the room, looking in.

"I will explain later my sons," the king said, blocking their view with his wing, he didn't want them to see the injured entity since they were still little, "why don't you two run off and play, this is an adult thing right now."

The brothers exchanged questioning glances, then they nodded at their father and left, once he was sure they weren't going to come back to eavesdrop did Mandoria return his attention to Saxon, who was being tended to by the maids.

"Well, my first question is who did this to you, if they followed you then they could pose a threat to my kingdom," he asked

N:  Never has Saxon been so happy to see maids come in with clean towels and a washbasin. They asked him to sit up so that they could help him properly. He bit his tongue when the first towel made contact with his wounds.

He barely registered the conversation that Mandoria was having with his sons since he had to help the maids find where the blood was. The problems of having red skin. When Mandoria spoke to Saxon he hesitated.

"As you have said before, there are upstart empires in this land, and they," he thought out his words carefully, "dislike my management. However, this should not be a concern for you, I believe, for someone with a well-established kingdom like yours. You are right to keep the safety of your kingdom at heart so, if you wish, I will go as soon as I am healed."

M:  Mandoria stayed quiet, Saxon's hesitation and avoidance of his question were suspicious, this entity clearly didn't want the king to know what happened to him or who was chasing him, it made him wonder if the newcomer might have deserved what he got.

"Your avoidance and hesitation are ... notable," Mandoria said, "it makes me wonder if you are perhaps a fugitive, but that won't change my hospitality towards you. As I said, you are safe within my kingdom, and I will have my knights patrol overtime for the ones who harmed you."

He flicked his wing with uncertainty of what to say next since it would undoubtedly go unanswered, but he eventually asked, "Do you perhaps have any loved ones that I could contact, I'm sure they must be wondering where you are."

N:  Saxon mentally facepalmed at his obvious mistake. He knew he shouldn't have hesitated but what Mandoria said next was reassuring; although, next time he would be more careful.

Since he has been around a winged kingdom for a large part of his life, he registered Mandoria's wing movement and knew that what he was going to say next would feel out of place.

"I do not have the best relationships with the people closest to me," he replied while absentmindedly fiddling with his tattered tunic, "however, there is one person I would like to contact, Anglo."

M:  Mandoria nodded, he knew Anglo, or at least he knew about him, being a fellow winged kingdom. He couldn't recall Anglo speaking about Saxon, but the two never talked unless Mandoria summoned him to discuss things concerning the winged community.

"Very well, I will draft a letter to him and inform him of your unexpected visit, and if you want I will send any letter you write to him too."

Mandoria saw how Saxon fiddled with his tunic and offered, "If you'd like, I can have my servants get you some new clothes, and they can repair your current ones."

N:  "Thank you for the offer but I will not," Saxon shook his head, then smiled at a thought, "he would most likely send a letter to lecture me like always."

When he heard Mandoria's offer, he looked down at his own clothes. They were so damaged that you could see some of the cloth wrapped around him for his wounds through them.

"Aye, I would like to have some new clothes." He stood up but his strength gave up on him so he leaned against the chair for support.

M:   Mandoria instinctively reached for Saxon when he stumbled, but refrained from touching the entity when he steadied himself.

"You should stay here and rest," he said, gesturing to the bed with his wing, "my servants will bring everything to you, and if you're hungry just tell them what you want and my chefs will prepare it for you."

Mandoria looked out the window of the bedroom at the night sky, "I should leave you to get settled, I'll have the letter sent to Anglo in the morning, is there anything else you need until then?"

N:  Saxon faced the bed and then shook his head. "You have done more than enough, good sir. Thank you."

He stood there until Mandoria had left, and when he did, Saxon immediately collapsed onto the bed. He had his head in a pillow and groaned in pain. When he turned his head, he faced a mirror showing his damaged self. However, he ignored all of it and only focused on his eyes. His black sclera.

"Why," he muttered to himself, "why did I have to be the bloody head of insurgents? I relish it, but why?" He knew it was futile to think why, so he adjusted himself in the bed and was fast asleep within seconds.

M:  Mandoria decided to go see what his sons were up to, they should be heading to bed by now but they were young so he doubted it. He opened the door to their room and was surprised to see them getting ready for bed.

"Well this is new," he said surprised, "Normally the maids have to fight you two to get you to bed."

"Father," the brothers said, once again tackling him with hugs, "we wanted to go to bed early so we can go flying tomorrow," Mandara said.

"I'm sorry boys, but we might have to postpone that for a little longer," Mandoria said as the three parted, "I have to make sure our guest heals and is taken care of."

"How long will he be here?" Derogan inquired, "Doesn't he have a family too?"

"He does, and I will be letting them know he is here, but they are pretty far away so he will be staying for a while. Now I want you two to behave around him, he has been through a lot and won't appreciate your troublemaking, understood."

"Yes Father, we will behave," Mandara said, Derogan nodded in agreement.

"Good, now off to bed, I got a few things to take care of."

The brothers nodded and hugged their father goodnight, he then left and made his way to his own room. He sat down at his desk and plucked a large feather from his wing, writing a letter to Anglo to let him know Saxon was safe and that he could come to see him if he wanted. Once the letter was written, he folded it up and stamped his shield crest in wax to seal it and left it there to give to one of his messengers tomorrow, then too retired to his bed.