[STORY] -> Awaken - Part 1 - A Message to Orvus

Dipping his quill into the ink for the final time, the old man finished the letter with a fervour, and hastily signed a regards. He pushed back the hand-carved, ornate wood chair into the sunlight from the window and stood up. Stretching his back, he let out a yawn.

He let out a sigh as he rolled up the letter and tied it with some twine. Moving to the back of the residence, he approached a wooden door with intricate carvings of leaves and berries, and opened it to stairs down to a deck below.

"Kogg!" he cried out, followed by a whistling call that echoed throughout the forest canopy. "Silly bird. Now where did you go off to?" He walked to the edge of the deck and looked down at the forest floor below. It occurred to the old man that Kogg may be off looking for his lunch, so he walked underneath the nearby branch and looked up at it. "Aha, a cicada! I thought I heard you when I was off writing my letter. Trying to be quiet now are we?" Plucking the cicada from the tree branch he emerged back from under it and headed to the top of the deck once more.

"Kogg! I have a cicada for you! Come and get it!" As the echo of the man's call to lunch died down, he heard a faint cawing in the distance. It grew louder, and louder more. "There you are Kogg!"

A jet black raven of considerable size emerged from beneath the deck, swooping up from the forest floor. Kogg let out a cooing caw as he landed on the railing and bobbed his head a few times. "Look what I have for you Kogg. A cicada." Kogg cocked his head and stared at the bug, and then let out a mighty caw before taking it from the old man's palm.

Knowing Kogg was satisfied, he asked for a favour. "I need you to take this letter," pulling the letter from his cloak pocket, "to Orvus on the other side of the island for me." Kogg cawed understandingly and pecked at the letter a couple times. The old man slid it into a bamboo vessel and affixed the vessel to a ring on Kogg's right leg, then patted him on the head gently. The old man whistled and the raven launched itself off the deck and off into the distance, cawing as he went.

Sighing once more, the old man headed back up the stairs and inside his residence. He moved to a room on the left, and opened it to his bedroom. Entering, he opened a drawer on the left wall and took out pouches, large and small ones, about fifteen or so of them in total and then put them into the side pouches and pockets of a large travel-pack near his bed.

"Of course, I almost forgot." Moving to the end of the bed, he twisted the top of the left bedpost once, and slid it up an inch. Then, grabbing the top of the right bedpost, he lifted it up and turned it once to the right and slid it back down. A clunk was heard from underneath the bed as he bent down and reached underneath the foot of the bed. He picked up a sheathed dagger and put that in the travel-pack too. Finally, moving to the head of the bed and removing some clothing from a small dresser, the old man shoved it all into the bag and exited the room closing the wooden door behind him.

He emerged from the bedroom with the pack and headed to the pantry by the front door. He put some items in and pondered. "I'll be needing a bit more than this." he muttered to himself as he opened the other door to some cured meats, fish, and berries. He wrapped it all with large leaves and sealed them shut with twine and then put it in the bag with the rest of his provisions.

Exiting the residence and back out onto the deck, the man waited for Kogg's return from Orvus' place. It shouldn't be too long of a trip, but Orvus is a slow writer, so a response may take a few moments. Not long later, the old man could hear cawing in the distance, as Kogg drew nearer to his location. Suddenly, down from above the tree tops swooped Kogg, cawing his arrival. He landed on the railing and the old man walked up and patted him. The old man praised him, "Good Kogg, good." and then fed him some berries from the pantry. Kogg ate them and cawed happily.

Noticing the bamboo vessel attached to Kogg's leg, he retrieved it and opened it to find a response written on the reverse of his letter - "South side of the lake. Tonight." That was all the old man wanted to hear, that Orvus would be there. He had to be there.

"Thanks for your help Kogg. Here's a few more berries, old friend." Kogg cawed and ate the berries one after the other. "I have to go meet Orvus now, stay out of trouble, and if I need you I will call you." Kogg bobbed his head up and down and let out a soft caw, before jumping off the deck railing and soaring off into the distance. "Be good Kogg," whispered the old man, "I have something I must take care of."