With the Roc's Divine Protection--Clarice
By Natasha Weber
Clarice, her friends, and the Roc got to work inspiring the masses to fight with them against the Wicked Goddess. Their first stop was Yab.
They arrived in the castle town and the Roc cawed ferociously; he got the attention of all the individuals who were hiding within their houses in fear of the Night Beasts.
They emerged to see what was happening.
Clarice and her group were greeted by astonishment from the people of Yab.
"Is that the Roc?"
"Look how beautiful he is!"
"He hasn't forsaken us after all?"
"But where has he been?"
Clarice yelled at the top of her lungs, "people of Yab! The Roc is here to rescue you from these eternal dark days! He had closed his heart to humans, it's true... But we allow ourselves to close our hearts to eachother. Should we not allow the Roc that same failing? He has lived for so long and seen so many failings from the creatures of Dru. It's time we show him just how wrong he is about us! Let us join forces with him and take down the Wicked Goddess!"
They were uncertain at first, but Clarice began to regale them about several stories she had read about the Roc and his heroics; how many people he has saved in his lifetime. She ended with how he had saved her from a completely lonely life. She completely won them over. They were ready to join her army.
"Clarice... This is incredible. Your personal story won them all over." Jonathan said breathlessly.
***
Clarice's personal story started when she was eighteen.
Clarice was fighting a human male; they were training together. Clarice had just signed up for the army. The man downed her after a few sword swings.
The dress she was wearing was holding her back slightly; but wearing a dress was a callback for her to her Troll origins. Troll women always wore flowy, flowery, and feminine clothes. Clarice never wore anything but dress as a lifeline to her culture.
The man laughed in her face. "What's a silly Troll girl doing here? Don't you believe in love and nature and all that junk? You'll never be strong enough to beat me."
There was a crowd of green soldiers watching them, waiting for their turns to fight. The commander who was training them held up a hand and then helped Clarice up. She truly was the only Troll in the army. She didn't fit in at all.
She heard everyone in the crowd whispering around her.
"That girl's so weird..."
"Why would a girl sign up anyway? There's so few here."
"Maybe no man would have her?"
"Maybe she's dangerous and she was shunned from her people? Aren't Trolls usually pretty anti war and fighting?"
"She's got the bloodlust!"
Clarice was crying. She went to the library near the barracks. Clarice was always well-read. She spotted a golden book on the shelf. It was a religious book about the Roc. She said to herself, "I should look after them, even if I can't get along with them. That's what the Roc would do."
***
Asha's health was deteriorating as they flew from country to country in the Land of Dru dredging up all the army they could.
Clarice and her friends asked Asha again and again to go home and stay safe, but she would have none of it. She wanted to fight with the rest of them.
Clarice threw herself before the Roc in his bird form and begged for Asha's life for her while the human girl slept.
"You have to save her if you can! Asha is... Asha is a great friend! She was the quickest person ever to befriend me! Her smile can light up your day, and she's always ready to cheer you up. You can help her, right? She's too shy to ask you. She doesn't want to blow our deal. I don't want any of my friends to die!" Clarice said with tears in her eyes.
The Roc shifted into his Connie form and put a hand on Clarice's blond mane. "I shall try..."
They pitched tents just outside of the Castle of Dru; they were ready to try and convince the king of Dru to fight with them against the Wicked Goddess.
Connie-Roc followed Clarice to Asha's tent, and Clarice shook her young friend awake. Asha roused and coughed a little. She really didn't look very good these days.
"What are you guys doing here?" Asha asked.
Connie-Roc put a hand on the girl's forehead. He sighed a sigh of relief. "I can help her..."
Clarice was crying tears of joy, as was Asha. Asha threw her arms around the Roc and said, "thank you so much!"
The Roc was surprised for a moment, and then he had tears in his own eyes. Clarice thought that he forgot that this was what he loved so much about the creatures of Dru.
The Roc told Clarice to go wander about and that he would join her in a few minutes; that's how long he said it would take for him to remove the disease from Asha's body.
Clarice did so.
Asha really had always been a great friend. Clarice bumped into her when she was travelling to Umohaw. Asha was part of the army there and happened to be on patrol when Clarice met with her. She asked her, "do you know anything about the Roc?"
She replied cheerily, "I know a lot about him; I'd like to find him! Say, I like your hair, by the way..."
Clarice smiled at that. It brought down the wall she had up a little bit. "Thank you... I like your... Armor."
Asha giggled. "Are you on a mission to find the Roc? I wanna come!"
Clarice nodded. "You really wanna come? I mean... Really?"
Asha nodded.
Clarice was glad for the company. Asha was kind to Clarice and she thought she was just about the sweetest and shyest troll she'd ever met. Back when they first met, Asha never expected her to be such a good leader.
Clarice bumped into Jonathan as she walked--who evidently could not sleep--while she was reminiscing. She said excitedly to him, "Jonathan! The Roc is fixing Asha!"
"Truly?" Jonathan replied elatedly. "Thank goodness... I was skeptical at first, but the Roc really is a blessing."
Clarice nodded. "Yeah..."
Jonathan looked down. "Do you think... He would make sure I end up in the Good and Warm Place?"
Clarice smiled. "I'm sure! You should at least ask!"
Jonathan took a deep breath. "I want to be with my wife..."
Clarice frowned and she looked down at her feet. She knew nothing about true love, but she felt badly for Asha. She didn't know whether Jonathan truly had any feelings for her. She didn't know if Asha had any true feelings for Jonathan for that matter.
"Hey Jonathan... Are you and Asha just playing some sort of game? Is what you have real? Does she care that you always want to be with your wife and not her?" Clarice and Nana had both been wanting to ask them, but could never quite find the steel to do so.
Jonathan was a little surprised, but he answered with a shrug, "I like Asha a lot. I might even love her, but... My wife is my wife. It's a lot of fun, but I don't know where the relationship will lead. Neither does she."
Clarice clasped her hands behind her back. "Okay... I just don't want you two to hurt one another. I'm not so knowledgeable about this relationship stuff..."
Jonathan looked thoughtful and charmed by Clarice's lack of knowledge about relationships because she was normally a very smart and knowing individual. It made him think about the crush she had on the Roc.
"You know, I thought you would be a lot more devastated about the Roc's human persona. You really seemed to love him. To find out that he's been imitating a dead man all this time..."
Clarice sighed. "I was really devastated at first. But you know... He just adopted Connie's morals. He's still his own person. It was his personality, his kindness, and his innocence I loved. I still love it. I always thought he was a lot like me. He loves other people; he just doesn't understand them. I wish he could be a human forever so I could love him, but he can't. I can love him from a distance, though... Besides. I have friends now. I know how to open myself up now. I don't have to indulge in fantasies where I am loved by a God."
Jonathan was smiling and shaking his head, astonished. "You've come far, Clarice."
"Do you think so?" Clarice asked hopefully.
Jonathan nodded. "Of course. I don't think you could have made that inspiring speech a year or even a few months ago. You're fifty years old, but you've made such a turnaround. You should be proud."
***
The Roc in Connie's form approached Clarice and Jonathan while they talked of old times when the sky was bright and blue.
"Asha's will be fine." The Roc said happily.
Jonathan sighed a sigh of relief. "I'm so happy..."
Clarice whispered to Jonathan, "ask him..."
Jonathan cleared his throat awkwardly. "Will I go to the Warm and Good Place when I die? Can you make sure I go there?"
Connie-Roc raised an eyebrow. "What have you done to not deserve to go?"
"I have killed people in the name of my country." Jonathan choked out sorrowfully. "I must clean my hands of it somehow..."
Connie-Roc was silent for a moment. He looked deathly serious and almost disappointed in Jonathan. But then he smiled. "So many people die in wars. I will always find wars to be pointless--but people join wars to protect loved ones--I can't fault you for that. If you hadn't fought, somebody else would have. You shall be with your wife when you die; I'm sure of it."
Jonathan sighed a sigh of relief and blinked tears out of his eyes. "Thank you..."
Connie-Roc nodded and then said, "may I speak to Clarice alone?"
Jonathan nodded and walked off--almost doing a skip--he would be with his wife again. That was all that mattered to him.
Clarice was a little nervous. "What do you want?"
"I'm just really glad you were here to bring me to my senses. I can't thank you enough. You brought all those people to believe in me again. There's nothing I ever loved more than having their affections. Thank you for bringing me back into their graces." The Roc grinned.
Clarice nodded. "You're welcome. You just needed to remember."
***
The last country they headed to was Umohaw to the northwest. Clarice managed to rally the people again. Most of the people who wanted to fight with her were soldiers, but some civilians joined up too. Umohaw was a sandy place, and wind was blowing sand in everyone's eyes as they tried to sleep through the eternal night.
Clarice was sitting out by herself in the windy desert castle town around Castle Umohaw. Nana joined her.
Clarice said to her bird friend, "can't sleep?"
Nana shook her head. "Nope."
They were both silent. Nana suddenly started weeping a little. Clarice found it to be a first and to be very strange. Nana never cried.
***
Clarice and Asha met the bird girl in the small town of Ur to the east. She met all of Nana's sisters and brothers. They were a closely knit family. Nana had been very hospitable to Clarice and Asha while they stayed in Ur, researching the Roc. She offered Clarice a place in her home while Clarice did her researching.
Clarice noticed at Nana's dinner table that there was an empty chair just for her. Many of Nana's siblings did not want Clarice to sit there, but Nana said it was okay.
Nana had said to Clarice, "they still aren't over it..."
Clarice had replied, "over what?"
"The death of a sibling. You can't just get over something like that though..."
Clarice felt very badly for the young bird girl. Clarice didn't know what it was like to lose a sibling; she didn't know what it was like to lose any loved ones. True, she had lost her parents when she was fourteen, but she was never very close to them. Clarice couldn't make believe what it was like to lose someone she loved. All she could say was, "I'm sorry..."
"You're researching the Roc, right?" Nana asked.
"That's right..."
"I want to come."
"Why?" Clarice wondered.
"Because... If I can save any more siblings, I want to. I don't want anyone else to deal with this pain."
***
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