The world is vast, limitless-- even more so beyond the thin veil of reality. It shimmers and vibrates just beyond the reach of those who have their feet firmly planted in the earth, the physical realm; focused on the now.Â
  As they should. Their lives were small in the entirety of things, they wouldnât live long enough to see all of the world, meet the trees or the spots it hides. Only what they could-- But together, they all share experience enough to have covered all of this realm.So many eyes to see, so many eyes have discovered.
  Like theirâs.
 For Principal? The Maestro? Theyâve seen all of it, countless times. Over and over... There were places they favored, others they had to be present at specific times. It was needed, it was needed. Just like Harbinger, they who can look through the thin blanket of this world, see what is needed, what to be done.
  Souls, souls, souls, life, swirling, spiraling and connecting--
  Right now. It was now.
  Long, crow like feet dug into the sand of the desert dune they were traversing over. The escaped from their grasp, flowing like water from the side of the mound, spilling to the bottom and causing others to follow it in waves from the disturbance. Six eyes peered to the horizon, as they normally do, staring passed the brilliant golden rays against the cloudless sky--
Tick, tock, tick, tock--
  Before brining them down, head turning this way and that with jerking, unnatural motions. Beak clacked once, twice a third-- And an arm was revealed below the sand, twitching and shaking but not rasping, the owner unconscious. How ragged the poor dear, how he has suffered in the desert, among the blazing rays, burning skin and evaporating precious moisture. Others suffer as well, just as he and many had suffered before. Bones bleached white were unveiled from the sand around him also fell, tumbling to the bottom only to be covered once again by billions of grains-- hundreds of thousands of lives claimed by the merciless and uninhabitable area.
So many numbers, so many, and so insignificant to just--Â One.
  This one was important, important to the pieces of the cosmos, he created waves in the fabrication even if he didnât realize it. Craning their head down, the man was plucked from the sands of his demise, adding more to the hourglass they all had-- But he, yes, he already had so much, weather he knew it or not-- despite the grey on his head and the lines that were set deep in his brow.
  Looks did not deem age. Looks did not bare importance to the story of worlds.
  The chiming song Principal began to croon, reverberating and sounding like something that only belonged in the deep reaches of space, was a lullaby. Sooth the souls and the spirits of those who had lost an unfortunate game-- And to calm the restlessness of the one living and tucked carefully behind feathers, shielded further from the unforgiving sunâs rays.