Radiance Ch. 89

"Then we lend our strength to yours and me make them listen, if you shout loud enough you can make even the willfully deaf hear you because they will have no choice," Raymond said with a growl in his voice that triggered a response from his group and they all flexed their collective muscles in a display of strength that the Avian people could easily recognise.

All of the elders looked rather taken aback by that and glanced at one another, "you would join our cause and risk your own lives for us? Why?" the horned owl asked.

"Simple because it is you who have been wronged here, you have been struck by aggression when you were merely asking for your territory and lands to be respected, the Brotherhood is supposed to be an organization built on honour and respect and if they have forgotten this then we will remind them, we may not look like much but outnumber contains a great many specialists who are incredibly good at what they do, you should see our leader he might just be the most powerful being to walk these lands but he is the most polite and respectful person you would ever wish to meet, he is the epitome of the human phrase tread softly and carry a big stick but in his case, it's the power of his mind which he can use to level to dust with but a single concentrated thought, you see he is telekinetic," Raymond explained and they all glanced at one another.

"What does this word mean, Telekinetic?" the owl asked.

"It means he can interact with the world physically with nothing but his thoughts, if he wished he could lift a being from the ground, or stop a bullet from impacting an ally, or crush power armour to the size of a soda can with the occupant still inside, he is a force of nature, created to be a weapon for a group calling itself the Enclave, but he escaped and chose not to be a weapon for anyone, now he is a force for good and he stands for it where ever he goes, it was he that not only recruited everyone of us but not by force but simply giving us a choice, to come with him and to see what we could achive, look at myself as an example of this, once I was aimless and hateful at what had been done to me, I hated myself and everyone who looked at me like I am a mindless beast, I got locked in a cage by others like me and was awaiting a vile fate but then Seven came and he lifted me up showed me who I could be, he told me all I had to do was want it bad enough and I would make the change happen and that's exactly what I did, now look at me I am an ambassoder here speaking to you good people with the most beautiful Claw girl to grace this world at my side, so now I will pay what Seven did for me forwards to any and all that I meet, i will show the world who I truly am and it was who I wanted to be all along," Raymond said his voice going proud and dignified towards the end.

The elders chittered together in their own language for a few moments, "They are discussing what you have said and they are highly cautious but they are also highly intrigued by your proposition," Zixxy said.

When they finished chittering and whistling at one another the owl turned back to Raymond, "Do you really believe you can convince the Brotherhood to back down?" he asked and Raymond nodded.

"They'll either listen to reason or we'll make them see consequences, either way, we will get them to see that we are not mindless beasts that they can simply trample right over, if they are the people that deep down I believe them to be especially as one of our number used to be a member of their organization before he joined us I know that there are good people in their ranks, so yes I do believe we can reach them," Raymond said and this little revelation seemed to shock the Elders.

"One of your group used to be in the Brotherhood?" the Eagle asked glancing over the people who stood behind Raymond.

He nodded, "His name is Timothy and yes he used to be a Brotherhood scribe, right now he is in a place called Nukaworld north of here with our leader Seven figuring out how to not only help a local population of Gatorclaws who are cousins of my beautiful Lia here as well as an enslaved population of humans to be free by working together before you ask they were enslaved by a population of scum raiders, now Seven and the team with him which is the makeup of humans, Claws and a super mutant like me are working to free them one and all and I have no doubt in my mind that they will achieve exactly what they have set out to do," Raymond said proudly.

"How will you approach them, all attempts we have made fell on deaf ears?" the swam Elder asked.

"Let's just say we have someone in our ranks who can speak without words or even being near to the person who is near them, I highly doubt they will ignore her," Raymond said with a smile and they all looked curious.

"Greetings honoured Elders my name is Zixxy and I am not of this world you call Earth but now my place is here among these good people," Zixxy said directly into their minds making them all go wide-eyed in surprise and alarm.

"You can speak directly into our minds!!?" the owl elder exclaimed and Zixxy nodded.

"It is a trait that all of my race shares, we rarely communicate verbally with one another and forgive me for the scare but I wished only to prove Raymond's point, this simply follows onto what he was saying about our group being diverse in its abilities and skills," she said vocally.

"Well I must say your group is indeed full of surprises Raymond and actual being from another star, truly incredible," the swan Elder said craning her long neck to see the little alien female over the table.

"Indeed and for over two hundred years a prisoner of humanity until Seven found her, now she stands with us and strives for the same goals we do with as much passion and strength as anyone of us, she adds her skills and unique talents to ours and makes the whole stronger," Raymond said.

"With them, on the side, I do believe we have a chance to make this work, at the very least they will have no chance to ignore us any longer," the owl elder said and the others while seemingly hesitant nodded.

"Very well Raymond of the Free People's of the Wastes, we accept your offer of help, we will provide you both sanctuary and lodgings as well as food while you are here with us and we will discuss your plan and how best to implement it tomorrow, but you must be both famished and in need of rest, so please be our guests, Oliver here will arrange you some dwellings for you and your people," the owl elder said gesturing to him and the younger owl nodded and bowed his head.

"Thank you, honoured elder you will not regret this wise decision I promise you," Raymond said raising from the table to offer his hand to them in turn and they shook it in turn.

With that his group filed out of the Elder's place and stood outside in the sunshine again, "I must confess I am very impressed Raymond, not many could have convinced our Elders so easily but that display you put on in there was quite something, you are a shrewd negotiator and I find myself very pleased to have you on our side," Oliver said smiling and Raymond nodded.

"Thank you and I am also pleased that your elders listened to the voice of reason, now all we have to do is make good on it," he said and Oliver nodded and then gestured with a winged hand towards the town.

"Please follow me I'll take you to the dwellings we can offer to you for your time with us, we keep some dwellings available for when we have guests and traders in our fair city as rare as the occasion is, as we only allow highly trusted individuals to walk upon our soil up here," he said and Raymond smiled.

"Then I thank you twice once for the hospitality and twice for the trust that goes with it," he said.

Oliver smiled and gestured for them to follow him and they set off towards the bridge that led to an island that had a series of buildings that were separated from the rest of the city which to Raymond spoke of as an enforced separation as well an afterthought.

But the buildings didn't look rundown or any less carefully maintained than the rest of the city and the building they were staying in looked like a multi-story dome-shaped building that made Raymond think of an upside-down nest.

As they walked in they found what appeared to be a large woman who looked to be of the chicken genus and instantly Raymond got a mother hen vibe from her by the way she smiled and walked straight up to them without fear or reservations.

"Ahh so these must be the mysterious strangers that the whole city is clucking about, I was hoping that I might get to see you welcome to my humble establishment," she said in a very friendly and warm voice fluffing up her gold and white feathers as she spoke.

"Greetings my name is Raymond and this is my group it is very good to meet you," Raymond said offering her his hand to shake which she took and shook most heartily all while fluffing her feathers.

"Oh what nice manners you have your wife must be very pleased and proud of you," she said and Lia's face positively lit up.

"I am indeed my good woman, he makes me very proud to be the one who stood at his side," she said and the hen looked at her in surprise but rather than ask the obvious question she just smiled and nodded.

"One extra-large double room coming right up for you two then, any other couples among your number?" she asked.

"Unfortunately not no but we're working on it," Spectre said shooting jack a smile that make the large super mutant swallow and look amazed.

The hen chuckled a laugh that sounded remarkably like clucking, "is it ok if I leave our new friends with you then Abigail?" Oliver asked and she beamed at him.

"Of course, you can handsome and if you want some company later you come and see old Abigail I'm sure I can find some time in my busy schedule for a handsome owl," she said making Oliver's feathers fluff up and his eyes widen in what Raymond assumed was their version of blushing.

"Umm yes well I err have to go, thank you, Abigail," Oliver said and with a final wave to Raymond he shot off out of there so fast he very nearly left a trail of feathers floating in his wake.

Abigail chuckled to herself as she watched him go, "So easy to tease that boy he's lucky he's so handsome that it borders on adorable, well let's get you good people sorted out to come along follow me and you two no breaking my beds you hear me?" she said glancing between Raymond and Lia and making the rest of the group giggle as Lia put her arms around Raymond's shoulders from behind.

"No promises," she said and the big hen chuckled and led them up the spiral staircase that ran around the outer wall to the rooms upstairs.

The building was shaped with the levels getting gradually smaller until there was a singular room right at the very top of the dome which is where Abigail herself lived when she wasn't manning the desk, as they walked and she handed out keys to people until finally, she handed one to Raymond and Lia.

"Dinner will be ready in about an hour, make sure you attend Raymond boy needs his strength when he has a lady to take care of isn't that right missy?" Abigail said and Lia shot Raymond a devilish smile.

"Right you are miss Abigail," she said with a deep purr in her voice that made Raymond chuckle and swallow hard.

"Same goes for you though missy you make sure you have a hearty meal tonight, the girl has to keep her strength up if she wants to properly care for her man so you make sure your big scaley behind is in one of those chairs at my table later or I will come up here and peck you until you are, you hear me?" she said and Lia looked at her in amazement and nodded dumbly.

"Good well I'll see you love birds later," she said and with a ruffle of tail feathers she was off leaving Raymond and Lia standing there watching her descend the winding stairs.

"Well she's really something isn't she?" Raymond said and Lia nodded.

"I have to admire her tone, she is like a feathery Alpha matriarch Claw tending to her brood," Lia said and then seemingly snapping out of her shock she proceeded to grab Raymond and positively drag him into the comfortable-looking room before slamming the door behind them.

"Tonight beautiful male you are all mine and nothing on this earth or in these skies is going to stop me from having you!" she growled before slamming her lips to his as she pulled him down by his collar, oh boy tonight he was really in for it now.