#Rivi Redwing | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

amerart · 7 years

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Divin/Rivi crossover story

Lost. The word rang in Divin’s ears, hung in the summer haze that surrounded him. At this point, he was too tired to panic, but the fact that he was lost still caused a twinge of discomfort.

The long-stemmed junegrass bent beneath his sneakers; everywhere he walked, clouds of tiny gnats rose up to meet him. The heat had risen considerably since he had set out that morning, but in true Killwin fashion Divin still wore his dark, iconic hoodie, holes in the pockets and patches sewn in the elbows.

His legs hurt, and he was feeling rather grouchy from missing lunch. The potato chips and trail mix had run out hours ago, and his water bottle was running dangerously low- he hadn’t seen a stream or creek for hours now.

Divin ran his hand through his thick, curly mop of hair, cursing it for being so adept at absorbing the sun’s heat and thus increasing his misery. He could hear his father’s voice in his head, pleading with him to wear a hat- he had refused, naturally. He wondered what the old man was doing right now. This late in the afternoon, he was probably out on the porch with a cool glass of applewater and a book. Paisely would be coming home from school right about now- what time was it anyway? With his pocketwatch buried somewhere in the bottom of his backback, he had no idea.

In every direction, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but an amber-green sea of grass. Not a single bush, building, or wandering farmer- just miles and miles of gently waving blades. However, if he squinted hard, Divin could see a tiny patch of something dark green- trees, perhaps?

Whatever it was, it was bound to be infinitely better than slow roasting in this blistering heat. Divin set off down the hill, his sword clanking against his back. A gift from his father, it was nearly as long as he was tall. Again he heard his father’s voice insisting he take the sword with him, with a promise that he would grow into it someday- but for now, it was just one more piece of crap to drag around.

By the time Divin came within view of the trees, his hunger and thirst had reached a peak, and he was on the verge of passing out. However, as he approached, his despair only mounted- this was no familiar wood, and it seemed barely large enough to hold a few birds, much less any life-sustaining bodies of water. But he was desperate, and at this point he didn’t have much choice.

“Greetings, stranger.” Divin jumped as a pleasant, melodic voice reached his ears. He reached for his sword, but only succeeded in getting the blade a quarter of the way out of its sheath before it got stuck. He pushed it back and looked around.

“Um, greetings?”

“No need for weapons here.” The voice said, and Divin saw that it belonged to a young boy sitting with his back against an old pine at the edge of the trees.

“Could you help me out?” Divin said, then remembered his manners. “I mean, if it’s not too much trouble… I’m a little lost.”

The strange boy met his gaze, and he saw a round, kindly face bordered by rusty locks woven into a thick braid. His clothing was quaint and simple, nothing more than a faded brown blazer over a clean white shirt, and threadbare brown shorts. True to his word, he had no weapons to speak of, but he did have something far more interesting:

Jutting out of his back were two enormous, chocolate-covered wings, half-folded in a lazy, restful manner.

“You have wings!” Divin blurted out, then stopped himself. “Sorry… Didn’t mean to be rude I just… nevermind.”

The winged boy seemed unaffected by this comment, and smiled up at him. “Lost, you say?”

“Yeaaah…” Divin stuck his hands in his pockets. “And I kinda ran out of food and water.”

The boy patted the ground next to him, indicating that Divin should take a seat. “So nice to meet a fellow traveler. My name’s Rivi, by the way. Rivi Redwing.”

“Divin.” Divin replied, still not quite sure if he could trust what he was seeing. The boy seemed friendly enough, but those wings… After a few moments of deliberation, Divin made up his mind and joined him under the towering pine. The area beneath the tree was cool and shaded, and covered in a thick layer of clover and wildflowers. Fat, lazy bumblebees staggered from flower to flower; cicadas droned like a series of endlessly ringing telephones in the branches above them.

“Lucky for you, I was just about to have lunch.” Rivi said, pulling out two sandwiches and large canteen. “So, traveler, what brings a youngster like you around these parts?”

Divin bristled. “I’m twelve.”

Rivi’s face split into a grin. “As am I!” He offered up one of the sandwiches, then took a bite of his own. “Say, you’re not a wanderer, are you?”

Divin eyed both him and the sandwich.“What if I am?”

Rivi swallowed, and his smile grew even larger. “It’s the most noble occupation there is, if you ask me. Nobody to tell you what to do, or where to go, just you and the open road. Am I right?”

Divin nodded, and decided that Rivi didn’t really seem the type to give poisoned sandwiches to strangers. He tasted fresh herbs and some kind of unfamiliar crunchy meat; the flavor was gamey and foreign, but it wasn’t bad.

“I don’t suppose you have any maps or anything?” He asked.

“Never had any use for maps, myself.” Rivi said. “Remi didn’t use ‘em, and neither do I.”

Remi? Divin decided not to ask.

“I’ve been all over Amadok and I’ve never even heard of this place.” Divin said, brushing crumbs off his pants.

“Amadok.” Rivi let the word rest in his mouth like candy. “I’m not familiar with that region, I’m afraid.”

Divin stared at him. “Then we must be in Yaire, right?” He tried to ignore the fact that Yaire was a month’s journey at least, and he had been walking for less than a day.

Rivi finished his sandwich, and leaned back with his hands behind his head.

“You’re in Omori, my boy.”

Now it was Divin’s turn to chew on an unfamiliar word. “Omori? Where the heck is Omori? I don’t remember seeing that on any of the maps…” He felt the twinge of anxiety return.

Rivi picked a daisy, and watched idly as a tiny green caterpillar inched across it. “You people and your maps… Why not just run free for a while?” He paused, gazing off into the distance. “Remi once told me that being a wanderer is different from any other trade. There’s no end goal to what you’re doing- no finish line to cross, no final destination… The wind tells you where to go, and so you go, until it tells you to stop going.

Divin picked up the canteen and took a sip; the water was clear and sweet. “I mean, I’d totally do that if I could but… I kinda need to go home. My dad’s waiting for me. He doesn’t like it when I go on these trips but I just get this feeling, like I HAVE to go somewhere, and-”

“If you don’t go, your feet will just drag you up of their accord.” Rivi finished for him, chuckling a bit. “Remi said the same thing.”

They were both quiet for a minute, lulled into silence by the monotonous droning of a woodpecker, mingled with the eternal hum of an invisible army of insects. Above their heads the trees whispered to one another, given voices by a slight breeze.

“You and Remi must be really good friends.”

“We were, and we still are.” Rivi replied, his eyes half closed. “His spirit guides me each and every day to new places, that he never got a chance to see for himself.”

“I’m… sorry.” Divin replied, not sure what to say. He was no stranger to suffering himself, but he couldn’t imagine permanently losing his best friend. He thought of his wolf pup, Ripburger, and his friends back home, and for the first time since he had set out, he felt a pang of homesickness.

Rivi opened his eyes and stretched with renewed vigor. “So, tell me again where you’re from, and maybe I can help you on your way.”

“Um… I live in Surrin, Amadok, with my dad and my sister- though, he’s not REALLY my dad, and she’s not really my sister, because of all these alternate timelines and... “ Divin trailed off, realizing it probably wasn’t necessary to go into his entire life’s story. “Anyway, I’ve never even remotely heard of Omori, and I have no idea how I even got here.”

Rivi nodded, apparently understanding Divin’s rambling.

“Okay, I’m really sorry if I’m being rude, but I have to ask.” Divin blurted. “Are those real?” he pointed to Rivi’s wings.

“Oh yes, they’re real all right.” Rivi stood up slowly, and unfurled both his wings. They caught the light of the sinking sun, and in that golden hour, they looked as though they belonged to an angel in a cathedral, not this strange, soft, wandering boy. “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

Divin could only nod. Amadok had its wonders, but winged children were not one of them.

“Beautiful, but about as useful as a fish that can’t swim, to borrow a favorite phrase of Remi’s.”

“Useless?” Divin said, dismayed. He had been looking forward to a little display.

Rivi shrugged. “Let’s just say me and some of the local spirits aren’t on the best of terms.”

“I know how that is.” Divin agreed.

“Anyway, I suppose we better be finding you a way home then, eh?” Rivi reached into the pocket of his blazer, and pulled out a scrap of paper and a piece of charcoal. “I have a theory- I could be wrong, mind you, but it’s an idea

Divin leaned in, eager to see just what this grand idea might be.

“Seems to me you might have walked yourself right through a corridor.”

“A… what?”

“A walkway between worlds. Not exactly easy to just stumble across, but it does happen.”

“So how do I find this corridor thing again?”

The golden afternoon was turning a sort of peachy orange, as the sun set and the shadows lengthened. Divin played with a thread on the end of his sleeve, feeling antsy. The first crickets were tuning up, and birds called goodbyes to one another as they each headed to their respective nests for the night.

Rivi tapped the charcoal against the paper. “That’s the hard part. Now, can you tell me any of the landmarks you saw on the way?”

“There weren’t any!” Divin cried. “That’s why I got lost in the first place- there’s nothing but cheesecaking grass the whole way!”

Rivi remained cool and steady despite his outburst. “Okay…”

“Well, there was this ONE thing, a big rock, kinda shaped like a dog.” Divin admitted. “But I can’t remember if that was here, or back home in Amadok. Oh, and there was this weird old tree that someone carved a face into. Not a particularly good face either.” He added.

“I know that tree!” Rivi said. “It’s by that old burnt-out farmhouse!”

“Did you carve that face?” Divin asked, not sounding particularly pleased. The face on the tree had scared him senseless when he encountered it, and he still felt embarrassed even now.

“Maybe.” Rivi said cryptically. “Anyway, so I think I’ve figured out what you need to do.” He scribbled something on the paper, rubbed it out with his thumb, and then rewrote it.

“Walk back the way you came…”

All the way? Divin grumbled to himself.

“And when you reach the farmhouse, there’ll be a big, flat-topped rock there. What you need to do is stand in the center of it, and then…” Rivi handed him the scrap of paper.

“I am NOT doing that!” Divin said, upon examination of its contents.

Rivi shrugged. “You’re welcome to stay here then.”

Divin fidgeted and glared at the paper, indecision lining his face. Should he spend the night in a strange,dangerous country, or embarrass the heck out of himself?

“You should go home.” Rivi said softly. “Or your dad’s going to worry.”

“He worries about EVERYTHING.” Divin muttered. “I can’t even leave the house without getting a lecture.”

“He must love you a lot, then.”

Divin huffed. “I guess.” The paper had stained his fingers an ashy black from gripping it so hard.

“It won’t be so bad.” Rivi soothed. “Nobody will see you.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. You best be on your way now, before the night finds you…I’d walk you there myself but…” Rivi smiled softly and gestured to the woods. “A certain spirit and I are due for our evening conversation.”

Divin nodded and gave him a small, awkward smile back. He hadn’t made a new friend in a long time, and the thought was both comforting and bewildering to him.

“Do you think we’ll meet again, sometime?” He asked.

Somewhere above their heads, an owl let out a shrill, drawn-out cry.

“Perhaps.” Rivi said. “If the wind wills it to be so.” He stood up. “If not, well…” He stuck out his hand in an unfamiliar gesture, and Divin shook it, unsure of what else he was suppose to do.

“May Remi’s spirit guide you, as it has guided me. Travel safely, my friend.”

Divin nodded. They stood there a moment longer, then he was off. He looked back, to see Rivi waving after him; when he looked again, he had vanished.

Divin looked at the paper in his hand, then at the road ahead. Boy was he going to have a story to tell when he got home…

Home. The thought had never been more comforting.

#crossover w/ my two favorite children #don't tell the others plz #short fiction #short story #fantasy #I guess??#I never know how to classify these sorts of stories #Divin Killwin #Rivi Redwing #almantica #amadok

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