Feathers and Letters
Artemis didn't know what to write. In fact, he felt totally lost as he chewed on the end of his quill, the dark ink at the tip having already dried up nearly thirty minutes ago. In front of him lay a sheet of parchment that was nearly pristine (if you would just ignore the splotches of ink and crossed-out writing). Parchment paper, while cheap, was not something Artemis wanted to spend more "wizard cash" on than he had to, so he hoped his Quill Pal would just be able to ignore the less-than-perfect condition of his letter.
Quill Pals... He sighed, running a hand through his hair and smearing ink on his forehead in the process. He'd signed up for the Quill Pal program because it sounded like a good idea at the time. It sounded like a great idea even! But writing a simple "hello" letter was proving to be more difficult than he expected. See, here's the thing about talking in person: Artemis just... said whatever came to mind. The consequences of his words, that was a problem for future Artemis to deal with. But writing? He now had time to sit and simmer and worry over how he'd come across and what words would be the right things to say. And it seemed he'd been simmering for so long that Artemis felt as if he'd already boiled over, his brain being the overcooked noodles in the pot.
...Maybe that metaphor didn't make any sense.
Arghh, whatever! It was just a letter! He was overthinking it! Fang Yun-Xin, whoever she was, was just another kid like him! There was nothing to stress over! Yeah!! With a renewed fire, Artemis stabbed his quill into the inkpot and put the tip to the paper.
Feeling a strong sense of pride in his final product, Artemis waved goodbye to the owl who flew off with the letter gripped neatly in its talons, wondering how it'd track down his Quill Pal.
Quill Pals... He sighed, running a hand through his hair and smearing ink on his forehead in the process. He'd signed up for the Quill Pal program because it sounded like a good idea at the time. It sounded like a great idea even! But writing a simple "hello" letter was proving to be more difficult than he expected. See, here's the thing about talking in person: Artemis just... said whatever came to mind. The consequences of his words, that was a problem for future Artemis to deal with. But writing? He now had time to sit and simmer and worry over how he'd come across and what words would be the right things to say. And it seemed he'd been simmering for so long that Artemis felt as if he'd already boiled over, his brain being the overcooked noodles in the pot.
...Maybe that metaphor didn't make any sense.
Arghh, whatever! It was just a letter! He was overthinking it! Fang Yun-Xin, whoever she was, was just another kid like him! There was nothing to stress over! Yeah!! With a renewed fire, Artemis stabbed his quill into the inkpot and put the tip to the paper.
There! Artemis leaned back in his seat, surveying the results of his hard work.09 September 2023───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Dear Quill Pal, Dear Fang Yun-Xin, Hi Yun-Xin! H E L L O ! ! ! ! ! !
What's up? Hey Yun-Xi Looks like we're owl letter buddies! Which is honestly bananas- I’ve heard of snail mail and storks, but owls are a whole new level of weird. I can’t be the only one who wonders how these owls even know who and where to deliver these letters to, right? Will this letter even reach you? Am I just wasting paper and ink?
Oops, forgot to introduce myself. I’m Artemis Zhang, and I’m a first year in Ravenclaw! I’m new to the whole wizards and spells thing- actually, I’m new to the whole boarding school thing too. I’ve never been this far from home before, and I haven’t been able to get any cell service here… Wait, do I need to explain what a cell phone is? Wizards have phones, right?? Good thing we have owls to deliver our mail for us, hahaha. I like to make art, watch lots of scary movies, and can't wait to poke around and explore this huge magical castle.
What about you? What things do you like? Is there anything you're excited for this year?
Do you feel lost around all this magic too?
Sincerely, Your friend, Can’t wait to hear back from you,
- Artemis Zhang
- One half-destroyed feather on the end of his quill pen.
- Several blue stains all over his fingers (and one on his face).
- One handcrafted letter, scrawled and marred by streaks and blots of wet ink.
Feeling a strong sense of pride in his final product, Artemis waved goodbye to the owl who flew off with the letter gripped neatly in its talons, wondering how it'd track down his Quill Pal.
Reducio
|
|
Hello, Anxiety~ You've come to keep me company~
Stm: 5 | Evs: 7 | Str: 3 | Wis: 8 | Arc: 5 | Acc: 7
Feathers and Letters
[ september 13, 2023 ] ♥ quill pals
She had signed up for the Quill Pals program without a clue as to what that might entail. Who will she get to write letters back and forth to? What will they talk about? Will the other person even bother to reply to her letter? And anyways, was Xin even good at writing letters?
Until a brilliant snowy owl flew through her dormitory window, a neat envelope clutched in its talons, with Fang Yun-Xin written on it in blue ink. With anxiety piling up inside her, she ripped open the letter, having to try quite a few times because of her shaky hands.
After finally opening the letter, an amused smile crept onto her lips when she saw the blotched and scarred piece of parchment. Honestly bananas, whole wizards and spells thing - the whole slang just made her quill pal seem more cute. Scrambling for a piece of parchment and a bottle of ink. And where was her quill? She dipped the feather in the ink and put it to parchment. Well, she would have preferred a nice fountain pen, but do wizards even use them?
The girl tutted disapprovingly at how lame ‘Hi there’ sounded and quickly crossed that out. You're writing to a stranger, she reminded herself, not striking up a conversation with a friend when a ‘Hi there’ is all you'll need! Sighing, Xin tried again.𝙷𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎It looked quite neat in the end. Apart from a few crosses, the parchment looked relatively pleasant overall. At least, better than Artemis's.𝚂𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟹, 𝟸𝚘𝟸𝟹
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────𝙷𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜,
𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘? 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚢-𝚋𝚘𝚘, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎.
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚠𝚕 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚖-𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚘𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚔. 𝙳𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎?
𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚏𝚒𝚜𝚑 - 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 - 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚈𝚞𝚗-𝚇𝚒𝚗, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚇𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜. 𝙰𝚗𝚗𝚗𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚛𝚢𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚛.
𝙼𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚢. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙷𝚘𝚐𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 - 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝙷𝚘𝚐𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝚊 𝙷𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜. 𝙸 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊 𝚖𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜!
𝚂𝚘, 𝚞𝚖... 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔? 𝙰 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚑𝚊𝚒 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚑𝚊𝚒?
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚖𝚜? 𝙶𝚘𝚜𝚑, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞? 𝙸'𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚜... 𝙱𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝙸'𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚞𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚜, 𝙸 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚣𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍! 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝙲𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝?
𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙸 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎... 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎?
𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗,
𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚈𝚞𝚗-𝚇𝚒𝚗
She tied the letter to the owl's leg and petted it lovingly. With an affectionate nip, the bird spread its large wings and soared from the open window and into the clouds on the blue blue sky.
A few more days and Xin will see the reply. But for now, she'll have to wait.
That's all she can do...
@artemis zhang –––––– ♥
| FANG YUN-XIN | first, gryffindor. STA 7 • EVA 9 • STR 0 • WIS 9 • ARC 1 • ACC 9 |
❝ | well you only need the light when its burning low |
❞ |