(( Haha, we just need to get you out of that cage so there's things to do and stuff to describe again :D When they're just sitting in a bare room talking to each other it's pretty difficult to write more than a few lines before you just need input from the other character. Maybe we should do a little time skip again so that you can get to the new cage and I won't have to endlessly bore everyone with Ama staring at servants and trying to figure out who has a key :D ))

Even though Ama had no idea what it really entailed, Nox' offer calmed her. Not because she was sure that she wanted to run away from society and live in the forest by any means, but the thought that there was somewhere she could stay, someone who accepted her for who she was and the decisions she made was comforting. Even if she ended up struggling to get back into her old life, knowing that Nox was out there would help.
She gave him a wide smile.
"Thank you for that offer, Nox. It means a lot to me."
That she was not sure if taking him up on it was her path she left unsaid. She was sure that Nox would understand how hard it would be for her to entirely abandon her own nest. But that was not the decision she had to make today, today she needed to decide whether she should try to break Nox free and run away with him to warn his brothers and buy them time. But somehow she didn't feel so weighed down by this decision anymore. Some quiet part in the back of her mind had already made it.
"And it makes it a lot easier to throw myself into the unknown, knowing there will be someone who will still accept me."

Now that they had a plan and she realized there was nothing left to do but figure out a way to enact it, her mind was not as restless anymore. She could even feel herself getting a little sleepy as she was sitting there, almost snuggling up against the cage.
"I should probably go back to bed soon... If I fall asleep here that wouldn't exactly make things any easier, would it?"
She giggled a little, imagining the shocked face of the servant who would find her in the morning.

(( So sorry for the late reply! I thought I already replied ))

Nox smiled sweetly when Amaris snuggled into the cage and he held out a hand to pat her head. "We would not want them to see you here. It's late and the sun will rise soon. Go rest. I will be here when you return. Where else can I go?" he chuckled.

He would wait for her as he always did. Sadly, fate changes. Early into the morning when the sun was about to peak through the horizon, four men entered his room, knocked him out, tied him up, and pulled him out of the cage. The assembly of the cage in the Great Hall had finished earlier than expected and everyone was excited to see the Raven Boy in his new home.

Precariously climbing the ladder, the burly man tossed Nox into the cage and secured the ornate padlock that hung on its side. "Welcome, Raven Boy, to your new home."

(( I hope its alright o.o ))

(( No worries, that can happen :) And of course it's alright! Finishing the cage early is a good alternative :) ))

Nox patting her head didn't make it easier for Ama to tear herself away and stand up. It felt so nice and comforting.
But still, he was right, she needed to go.
As soon as she had reached her bed, she fell asleep like a stone.

The next morning, after another breakfast in her room - her parents were terribly busy lately, she thought - she had a lesson with Gustavo again. This time he was waiting for her with the harp.
"Good morning, Lady Ama! Today I keep my promise as you see. I hope you'll like the song I picked."
Ama smiled at him and settled on the chair behind the harp.
"Oh, but first, I need to congratulate you on your performance yesterday. You were wonderful, I'm proud of you, Ama. And not just for the song. I imagine your mother wasn't too happy about you confronting this hunter, but I am. Somebody had to..."
He gave her an open smile. Ama saw her chance to probe his stance on the situation a bit more.
"Thank you, Gustavo. What did you think about Nox?"
His face grew serious. "It's just not right... He's obviously a boy with feelings and intelligence, he should not be treated like a beast." He shook his head.
Ama nodded. "I agree, Gustavo."
She was silent for a moment, wondering what he would think about her plans, before she hesitantly continued:
"I also think it is a horrible idea to burn down Sondrier forest. Gustavo, do you think father would have the power to keep them from doing that if I convinced him somehow?"
He looked at her quizzically, but answered nonetheless.
"He has a lot of influence with the hunter's association... He might be able to stop them, but I'm not entirely certain. It would require a lot of effort on his part, so you'd have to be quite convincing."
This answer made her excited. Oh, she couldn't think of a more convincing argument than her life being on the line as she was hiding in the forest. As long as her father had a chance to stop them, her plan could work.
He looked at her silently for a long moment.
"You're planning something, Ama. I can see it on your face, I've known you long enough. Do I want to know what it is?"
She hesitated for a moment. He'd most likely not approve of her running away, fearing for her safety. But breaking Nox free? After what he'd said, she was fairly certain he'd agree to that.
"I want to let Nox out, Gustavo. Give him the chance to warn the other raven boys. I figure that will be easier than convincing father."
The last sentence was only half a lie. Running off was the hard part of the plan, after all.
Gustavo nodded. "I understand, Ama. Your heart is in the right place and I am happy about that. I'm not sure if you've told me all you're planning, but that's alright. If you need my help, just tell me. I'm here for you."
After that, they didn't talk further about the subject, but threw themselves into the harp practice.

In the afternoon, Ama managed to sneak into the east wing again, excited to tell Nox about Gustavo's support. But when she reached his room, she found his cage empty and already cleaned out.
For a moment, she just stood in front of it in shock. She remembered her earlier worries about him starving and leaving just an empty cage. But that couldn't possibly be what had happened. She had seen him just a few hours ago.
Had he managed to break free on his own? Had he left without her, without even saying goodbye? She was surprised to find how much this thought hurt her.
But no. The cage was cleaned, so his absence had been noticed, but there was no commotion of the type she would expect if he had managed to flee.
Had her father decided to give him to the hunter after all? Her heart beat faster, worrying.
She left the east wing, ready to confont her father if she would find him.

When she entered the main hall, she saw it. A large cage, suspended from the ceiling, Nox inside.
Relief flooded her, he was still here, not in the cruel hands of the hunter. But there were also new worries. It was much harder to talk to him unseen like this and it would also be much harder to get him out. She couldn't even reach the cage! She looked around quickly before calling out to him, but she was alone in the hall.
"Nox! Here you are! I found your cage empty, I was so worried..."

Nox woke up to an unfamiliar site. It was much brighter but there was a feeling of unease at the pit of his stomach. He jolted up to a sit when he felt the cage swing from his movement. He turned to sprawl on all fours until the cage settled and looked around him. It was a large room with paintings on the walls and long curtains hung beside glass windows. And when he slowly moved towards the cage bars and took a peek, he discovered that it had been suspended in the air.

He did not fear heights, living on a tree himself, but he did fear unfamiliarity. It took him a while before he could calm himself and a longer while to study the room he was in. And then his thoughts went to Amaris.

Does she know where he is? Will she go to visit his old cage after her 'lessons'? What will happen once she finds an empty cage?


He spent all day alone in the large room, which he discovered made an echo, and just lay on the cage's floor until afternoon came when he heard a familiar patter of footsteps. He hoisted himself up and turned to look at the double doors with hopeful eyes. And when he saw Amaris, he beamed.

"Amaris!" he sang, his voice echoing off the walls, as he lunged towards the bars making the cage swing. The chains, while sturdy, made a haunting creaking noise.

The sound the cage made when it was swinging was terrible. Ama flinched, but then smiled at Nox, glad to see him safe inside the manor and happy to see her.
"I thought father had given in to the hunter after all when I saw your empty cage!"
She did not mention that she had also briefly thought he'd escaped and left her. She didn't know what to make of the weird mix of emotions she had felt herself. Hope and happiness about him being free, but also an intense sadness about being left.
It made her wonder a little. What did Nox really think of her? Given the chance to flee, would he have cared enough about her to risk being caught again by lingering longer than necessary to meet her? She could not fault him if he would not. She might be the closest thing to a friend - or even a friend, as she herself had started to consider him one - he had here, but that was because he was captive. It was in his best interest to get along with her, since he had nobody else. But there was no reason why his feelings should go deeper, why he should waste a thought on her the moment he was free and could get back to his family.
Nonetheless, she could not help herself but hope that she was more to him than just the one human that didn't treat him horribly, even if that might be a foolish hope.
Shaking off the dark thoughts, she looked around again to make sure that they were still alone before telling Nox her good news.
"I talked to my music teacher, Gustavo, today. You might remember him, he was accompanying me on the cembalo when I was singing yesterday. He thinks like me, that it is wrong to keep you locked up and he offered to help me break you out!"
She beamed at Nox, waiting to see his reaction to these news.

Nox listened to her as she talked about Gustavo, her teacher, and a grin formed on his lips. "See? You were right all along. Not all humans are evil, after all." He sat on the edge of the metal cage with his legs hanging off the edge and his arms wrapped around the bars. If he were a younger Raven Boy, then the cage would be swinging back and forth, no doubt about it.

But as he sat there, the cage was tilted as if precariously on the edge of falling, not that he would care. "Maybe Mister Gustavo would be able to meet Ygddra as well. He seemed like a kind human."

But Nox turned thoughtful as he looked at the ornate padlock right beside his head. "It would be harder to get out of this cage though." he turned to look at Amaris. "Everyday they bring in this 'ladder' so that they could reach me ... It looked extremely heavy."


(( Suddenly made me wonder how he goes to the bathroom xD ))
(( Ahem ahem. A tray under the cage like a normal bird cage? -cringe- ))
(( Where's the MIB when I need them? ))

(( I've been wondering about that all along... And tried not to think about it too much :D Maybe he has a chamberpot and the servants tend to it? ))

It made her a bit uneasy to see the cage tilt to the side, Nox sitting on the edge. She reminded herself that it was surely built to withstand even him trying to break it, so it must be able to withstand this.

"Yes, I suppose I was right!" She smiled at the thought. "I had begun to doubt it myself..."

Nox was of course right that the new cage complicated matters. She was doubly glad to have won the help of Gustavo, alone she would never have been able to get this ladder he was talking about.
"Do you know where they keep it? What direction do they bring it from?"
Knowing that would surely make things easier.
She thought about the details she needed to figure out in order for them to get away. There was the ladder, but also the key to think about. For the key, the new location of Nox in the main hall might actually make things easier, she realized. It was far less suspicious if she happened to be here often in order to observe the servants than in the east wing.
And then there was the matter of leaving a note that would not be found too soon. How soon exactly was too soon though? She had no idea how long it would take them to reach Sondrier Forest.
"Nox, once we get away, how long do you think we need to reach Yggdra? I must somehow make sure that my parents only learn where I am when we are far enough to not be caught anymore."
She considered asking Gustavo to 'find' her note at the appropriate time, but quickly dismissed the idea. Not only would he likely guess the rest of her plan if she asked that, but relying on him in more aspects of the plan would also make it much more likely that someone would suspect him of collaborating with them. And she did not want to imagine what her father would do to Gustavo if it came to that... There would need to be another way.

Nox turned his waist and pointed to a door at the far end of the hall. "They bring it from there." he answered.

He looked back to Amaris just as she asked how long it would take to reach Ygddra. He tried to remember the few times he ventured through the forest getting close enough to see the human settlements. "We would walk for three days to see the humans far into the horizon from the top of the trees. But the Forest has changed now. Ygddra will make a way for us to pass through and stop those who are chasing us. We can get away if the Hunters will not use fire."

He swung the cage in a moment of silence as he tried to think of a way to get out of the cage. "The man ... he always climbs the ladder with a ring of dangling keys." He looked straight at Amaris' eyes. "He isn't good at climbing."

(( I don't think Nox would have anything against pushing the man off the ladder O_O ))

(( Uh-oh, I don't think Ama would be happy with that somehow... ))

Knowing where the ladder came from was a step forward. She could discuss this matter with Gustavo, maybe he'd be able to find out where exactly it was kept and see if they could realistically carry it somehow.
Nox' answer to her question about the time they needed was less helpful. But that was to be expected, right? How should he know where they were, how far away from the forest? When he was brought here, he'd had other things to worry about on the way than memorizing the distance, for sure. She'd have to find out another way. She could of course ask Gustavo how far it was, but that would come with the risk of him finding out about the plan again. No. She'd have to look for maps in the manor's library and then estimate the time they'd need once she found the distance. Hopefully there'd be some books there to help with that.

When she heard Nox talk about the servant and the ladder, his tone of voice sent a shiver down her spine. What was he suggesting? She did not want to think about it, it was too horrible. Her eyes grew hard as she answered: "He is merely a servant, it is not his fault you are trapped in here. It would be wrong to hurt him. We'd be no better than the bad humans, hurting innocents."
She firmly shook her head. "Also, it wouldn't do to escape at daytime and with such a commotion. They'd chase us down easily. We must escape at night, giving us a few hours to get away from here before anyone notices we are gone."
To get the keys, she'd have to observe the servant and see where he kept them, then steal them when he was busy with other things or asleep. It should not be that hard. Nobody knew that anyone other than Nox was interested in getting this cage open, after all. Why would they go to great lengths to protect the keys?

Nox's head hung low when he understood that hurting the man was taking things too far and he kept silent as Amaris spoke her plans. "At night ... maybe Gustavo can help you carry the ladder? It looked heavy."

He pondered for a while as he watched the view outside the windows. "If he want, we can take him with us." Gustavo sounded like a good man. And if leaving him here would cause him suspicion and troubles, then he would fare better in the forest. Only, he won't be able to return.