A bunch of different emotions were washing over his face one after the other. Rage, confusion, hope, worry. He seemed to be mistaking her for someone he had known. His brother, apparently. She wondered how that could be, surely she did not look like his brother. Was this an effect of whatever they had done to trap him? Was he delirious with some poison? Or did he not possess human level intelligence after all?
When he touched her, his hand felt cold against her skin, but soft and gentle. She debated for a moment whether she should let him believe she was his brother, go away and let him think his brother was safe. But no. If this was just a passing effect of his being captured and his distress, he would know. And he would be right not to trust her, then.
"I am not Kron. I don't know him. My name is Amaryllis." Why had she told him her full name? She hated when her mother and some of the servants would insist on using it. But somehow she wanted to be fully truthful with this bird boy in his cage.
"I am not in danger here. I live here, my family owns this house."
She waited for a moment, giving him time to let her words sink in.
"Although I'm not really allowed to be right here. My father forbade me from seeing you."

"I am not Kron."

A few words were all it took to crush Nox. But the human had his eyes! The same pure eyes that Kron had. The eyes that were too precious to face the world. And they were. He had understood.

Kron had been alone when he faced the cruel world of the humans, and so he was stolen from his brothers, never to return. Nox knew that. He knew deep inside that his brother was long gone and had joined the astrals and it took meeting the human who had the same eyes to accept it.

He no longer saw his brother's image overlapping the human's. He saw her for what she was. His mind cleared and he hung onto her words. She lived in this human nest, a house, she called it, and to him, she seemed as trapped as he was.

He looked at the human. At Amaris, the sun. She should be around his age and her eyes were still pure with innocence. He felt a pull, a desire to protect those eyes because he had failed to protect his brother's. He released his hold on her wrist and went back to holding the bars.

"You are not free, Amaris. You are caged in your own nest."

Understanding was creeping into his eyes when she told him that she was not his brother. She felt him look at her intensely, seeming no longer confused.
She tried smiling a little at him, wondering if it would make him more at ease or whether it would startle him.
When he released her wrist, she felt a pang of sadness. Now that he realized she was a human, did he see her as an enemy?

"You are not free, Amaris. You are caged in your own nest."

She was puzzled. Why wouldn't she be free? Sure, there were some societal obligations, and as a minor she was still bound to do what her parents asked of her. But she was lucky, born into high station and would one day be the lady of her own household, with noone to tell her what to do or not to do. Cassy seemed to be a lot happier now that she had all these freedoms.

Amaris, he had called her. The sound of it was still echoing in her ears. She was suddenly happy she had not introduced herself just as Ama. His was a beautiful way of shortening her name, one that she had never heard before.
She smiled at him.

"What is your name?" She hesitated a moment, but then added: "Why would I not be free? Yes, as a child, I have to obey my parents, but they only do what is best for me."

His words were confusing her, but she silently listened as he told her his story.
Yes, being hunted and living in fear did not sound much like freedom at all.

What was this Yggdra he spoke of? Was it a place in the forest, hidden well enough that his brothers would remain hidden there? She had trouble imagining a place like that. The hunters would surely earn a fortune for finding them and she doubted that any forest could be deep enough to keep them away. She kept that thought to herself though, not wanting to make him doubt the safety of those dear to him. His own situation was dire enough as it was.

Nox. The name fit him like a glove, his raven hair and dark markings embodying the darkness of the night, and the shining blue eyes glowing like stars in the middle of it all.

Breaking free? That was a thought that had never really occured to her. She wondered what it even meant, for her, not being locked in a cage. Breaking free was easy to define for him - just get out of here somehow, run away, find your brothers. But what had she to aim for?

"I am glad to meet you, Nox. Although not in these circumstances. I don't know what breaking free would mean for me, but I promise if I ever find out and manage to do it, I will not leave you behind."
The words tumbled out of her mouth, she wasn't sure if she even understood what she was saying. But she was very sure of the last part. She would not leave him behind.

When he looked behind her, she sprang to her feet, startled. Oh no! She couldn't be found in here, they might lock her out of Nox' room for good if they knew she had gone here.
She frantically looked for a place to hide. Getting out of the room was not an option, she would run straight into whoever was approaching.
The room was almost empty apart from the cage, but thankfully it hadn't escaped her mother's desire for lush curtains. They framed the small window, making it look even smaller somehow. She slipped behind one of them, pressing herself against the wall and hoping no part of her dress was sticking out.
Whoever it was came into the room, she could now hear the steps as well, but from her hiding place she could not see. She held absolutely still, barely breathing, and waited.

"I will not leave you behind."

Nox watched her eyes cloud with fear as she looked for a place to hide. Just as we had looked for ours, he thought. The footsteps were getting nearer and louder. They were heavy with laziness and he could actually feel the vibrations on the floor. He could hear her nervous breathing from behind the cloth and he decided to play innocent. There had been no human that visited him. He woke up alone in the dark room.

He watched the door open wider as a man stepped into the dark room. "Hmph. Not goin' ta try ta get away, bird boy?" The man chuckled, a grin forming in his eyes. "Aren't ya gonna try ta break free of the cage? I know ya tried so hard ta break th'net." The man laughed as he kicked at Nox's hands that were gripping the cage.

Nox pulled back as soon as he could see the kick coming and retreated to the center of the cage, scowling at the Hunter, watching the human's every move.

"Now ya see 'ere. Th'lord Wittingham is a precious customer and I can't 'ave any of his pets bite at his fingers, 'specially one as expensive as ya." The Hunter circled around the cage, a large grin plastered on his face. "Now ya pay attention, boy. I know ya can understand what I'm sayin'." He crouched to meet Nox's eyes.

Nox was suddenly reminded of Amaris and thought of how different everything was compared to the hunter. His from grew deeper as the Hunter neared. "Ya be a good little pet or I'm gonna burn your forest down togetha with all those little birds freaks. Got that?"

He felt a shiver run down his spine as he looked into the Hunter's cold and malicious eyes. "You leave them alone!" He shouted in sudden rage, grabbing at the metal bars.

"Tut tut tut. We can't have ya yellin' like that." The Hunter reached into the cave and grabbed a fistful of Nox's hair and pulled at it. "I told ya. Be a good little pet. Or else." The Hunter grabbed at a bunch of feathers and ripped them off and grinned as Nox howled in pain. "What do ya think will 'appen if I were to leave this on a trap, eh?"

The man laughed yet again as he strode back to the door way. "I'm warnin' ya, bird boy. I don't play nice. So just sit in that cage all pretty and nothin' bad 'appens." And with a slam of the door, the Hunter left.

As soon as the man had entered and started to speak, Ama took an intense dislike to him. His voice was rough and it had a mean undertone to it. She suppressed a shudder, afraid he might notice the curtain moving if she so much as breathed.
She heard a sound, as if something had hit the cage and she was worried that he might have hurt Nox. But jumping out from behind the curtain probably wouldn't do him any good now, would it?
When she heard the threat to the forest, her guts clenched. How could anyone be so mean to a poor creature in a cage? Hadn't the man hurt Nox enough already? From what he said she was sure he was one of the hunters who had caught and sold him.
She could only listen to the rest of their exchange in silence, though. When Nox howled loudly, she almost didn't manage to stay hidden. What had the man done to him? She tried to reassure herself that he would not want to damage the "pet" he had just sold too much, but as soon as she heard the door slam shut, she burst out of the curtain.

"Nox! Are you alright? What did he do to you?" The words spilled out of her all at once. But then she stopped and shook her head silently for a moment. "What an atrocious person." She glared at the door through which he had vanished just moments before, before she turned back to Nox worriedly.

Seeing him accept the fact the his own feathers would be used to hunt for his brothers made her heart ache in a weird way. She wanted to help him, protect him and his brothers from the cruelty of men such as the hunter. But she did not know what she could do. Was there anything in her power that would make a difference?
Yes, she could try talking to her father, but she'd have to reveal that she'd met Nox and risk being unable to return to him. And she had very little hope that she could convince her father to help the raven boys. The best she could hope for was maybe slightly better lodgings for Nox, but was that enough to risk everything?

"You must go. They must never find you here else they lock you up too."

He said it with a smile, but he still sounded determined. And he was right of course, she needed to go and be seen outside to keep her visit here a secret. What time was it even? She couldn't be late for her needlework, that would give away that something was wrong immediately!
"I don't think they would lock me up, Nox. But you are right, I must go to keep my visit a secret. I will come back as soon as I am able. Is there anything I might do or maybe something I could bring you next time that would make you feel a little better here?"

"I don't think they would lock me up, Nox. But you are right, I must go to keep my visit a secret. I will come back as soon as I am able. Is there anything I might do or maybe something I could bring you next time that would make you feel a little better here?"

Nox shook his head but stopped midway. He turned to look at the window half covered by the curtains. "The light ..." he looked into Amaris' eyes, "can I have more of it? I would always bathe under the sunlight with Ygddra. But I am kept here now. I would like to at least feel the light." he answered, hand still pressed to his head.

He shivered as well as he remembered the warmth of the sunlight on his back. The room was cold and dark, and the cloth that acted as his trousers were no help in keeping him warm.