Aodh Breannan
Ireth
Bio Prof. Not Actually A Bat
To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.
Posts: 58
|
Post by Aodh Breannan on Jul 1, 2010 23:37:29 GMT -5
Aodh listened idly to the sounds of the room around him as he sat down at a table near the door with a tray laden with his breakfast. He had shunned all of the options that came from animals, opting for fresh fruit and a bowl of cereal with soy milk.
He bit the end off of a slice of peach, licking a drop of juice from his lower lip. He hoped that he'd be able to find Rivienne today and apologize to her about last night.
|
|
|
Post by Rivienne Volkova on Jul 2, 2010 0:08:00 GMT -5
Rivienne slipped into the faculty café, grabbing a light breakfast. A coffee and a pastry was all she really needed, and she might have been able to manage without the pastry. She sipped her coffee mug and search for a place to sit, when she noticed Professor Breannan sitting alone. She'd been meaning to talk to him, just to see how he was feeling.
She smiled and approached the table, sitting her breakfast across from him. "Good morning, Professor Breannan. How are you feeling?"
|
|
Aodh Breannan
Ireth
Bio Prof. Not Actually A Bat
To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.
Posts: 58
|
Post by Aodh Breannan on Jul 2, 2010 0:17:29 GMT -5
Aodh smiled at Rivienne, hearing her sit down across from him as she greeted him. "Very well, thank you. And yourself? I hope I didn't scare you too badly last night when I transformed. It happens all the time, though I usually have better timing and can get away from people before it starts. It's tricky judging when the sun will rise and set here."
|
|
|
Post by Rivienne Volkova on Jul 2, 2010 22:23:06 GMT -5
She smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine, I assure you," she replied kindly. "I hope you don't mind if I join you?"
She picked at a piece of her pastry and looked over at the man. "That happens to you every night, then?"
|
|
Aodh Breannan
Ireth
Bio Prof. Not Actually A Bat
To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.
Posts: 58
|
Post by Aodh Breannan on Jul 2, 2010 22:32:21 GMT -5
Aodh smiled and nodded. "Please, be my guest."
His face sobered at her next question. "Aye, it's a curse I'm under. I turn into a bat every night at sunset, and become human again at dawn. The change from bat to human isn't so bad, but from human to bat is horribly painful." He rubbed his arms unconsciously. "I've been cursed for about a year and a half now, and I've been trying to find a way to cure it, but I've had no luck."
|
|
|
Post by Rivienne Volkova on Jul 2, 2010 23:04:39 GMT -5
"That's terrible." Rivienne tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned forward over the table, her brows knitting in concern. "I don't mean to pry, but how did it happen, if you don't mind my asking?"
|
|
Aodh Breannan
Ireth
Bio Prof. Not Actually A Bat
To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.
Posts: 58
|
Post by Aodh Breannan on Jul 2, 2010 23:26:38 GMT -5
Aodh reached carefully for his glass of soy milk, sipping from it and setting it down again before he answered.
"Back home in Scotland, I was walking through a forest on a man's property when I inadvertently damaged a tree that a colony of rare bats was living in, so much as to make it uninhabitable. I went to the landowner to apologize and see what I could do to help, but the man wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise.
"Turns out the man was a mage with a lot of power and a hot temper -- he put me under the curse you saw the effects of, telling me that I'd know what it was like to be one of the bats whose home I destroyed. He cast the spell so violently that it rendered me blind. The mage banished me from his property; it took me a long time to get home after that. That night was when my first transformation occurred, and it has every night since then, as you saw."
|
|
|
Post by Rivienne Volkova on Jul 3, 2010 0:01:04 GMT -5
Rivienne listened quietly, the horror plain on her face. She knew, relatively speaking, very little about magic. Although her ex-husband had been a rather talented mage, he was...sadly less than apt at explaining magic to those who didn't already possess it. She wasn't even entirely certain he was that skilled at explaining it to other mages.
"So do you know if there's anything than can be done for it?" she asked. "There must be someway to reverse it."
|
|
Aodh Breannan
Ireth
Bio Prof. Not Actually A Bat
To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.
Posts: 58
|
Post by Aodh Breannan on Jul 3, 2010 0:08:21 GMT -5
Aodh shrugged. "I don't know very much at all about magic, least of all curses like mine. I imagine there is a way to undo it, but whatever it is, I haven't a clue. I just wish he'd let me apologize and try to help; then this wouldn't have happened, and I'd still have a normal life and my eyesight. I can use sonar regardless of which form I'm in, but I don't like to use it when I'm human. It tends to bother people."
|
|
|
Post by Rivienne Volkova on Jul 3, 2010 1:05:54 GMT -5
"I'm sure there is some way," she agreed, pulling her coffee toward her and warming her hands on the mug. "Have you tried asking anyone about it? I'm sure Professor Smoke could help you, if nothing else. He's rather knowledgeable about esoteric uses of magic. He might have some ideas for how to perform a counter-curse."
|
|
Aodh Breannan
Ireth
Bio Prof. Not Actually A Bat
To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.
Posts: 58
|
Post by Aodh Breannan on Jul 3, 2010 11:42:20 GMT -5
Aodh smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I'll be sure to speak with him."
He took another bite of peach, chewing it slowly. When would be the best time to seek out Professor Smoke and talk to him? He hoped the man would be able to help; Aodh had gotten all too used to his curse, and that wasn't a good thing. There were few upsides to turning into a bat every night. He'd grown quite strong in the arms over the past year and a half, due to a need to fly and exercise his wings, and his hearing was impeccable. The use of sonar in either form was a nice bonus, too, not that he used it often as a human. And he doubted a counter-curse could do anything for his blindness, which was only a side-effect of the real curse. Maybe he'd visit the school healer and see what she could do, if anything.
He frowned a little, his eyebrows knitting as he thought. When he got right down to it, his curse had more upsides than he'd first thought. He hadn't needed to wear pyjamas for the past year and a half, and if his curse wasn't undone he wouldn't need to spend money on more of those... though that was probably cancelled out by his need to buy new clothes more often than usual, to replace the ones he destroyed when he transformed every night. His improved hearing and sonar somewhat made up for his blindness, and other than that not much had changed. He had a job and a steady paycheck, and he was making new friends in a new place, where there were others like him. What was wrong with that? Surely it was worth a minute or so of excruciating pain every morning and evening...
Well, shite. Now he didn't know what he wanted anymore. He rested his chin in one hand, his blind eyes downturned. Magic was a complicated business.
|
|