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 Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:44 pm
((This is for Bree and Liana to get to know each other a little better but anyone can drop by! – no more than two people though just to make things slightly faster))  A female sentinel weaved silently through the Not Cold forest, avoiding the birch trees and the occasional oak with apparent ease. As her flight came to an end, the aberrant landed gently on a white branch and eyed her surrounding with the intense gaze of a predator. She was hunting. Or trying to, at least. The shortage of prey was slowly becoming more evident and the keeper felt that spending an increasing amount of time searching for a meal was keeping her away from her precious companions.
There so many to test and so much to teach. She couldn’t survive just on berries and nuts no matter how efficient her little gatherers were… but as prey grew scarce she deeply regretted not having some culls at home and found herself feeling slightly temped to eat some of her own mus.
“Down.” She whispered softly but surprisingly firmly, turning her eyes from the search to her back.
A tiny brown mus slid to the bark, looking up to his master.
“Down.” He repeated obediently, standing still on the branch as if waiting for a command.
“Find nuts.” The hungry keeper said “If you find prey, bait.”
The words seemed to made sense to the little creature who turned to the female with dark shimmering eyes, repeating the orders.
“Find nuts. Find prey. Bait.” As the female nodded her approval, the mus scurried through the trees, moving swiftly through the white branches and quickly disappearing from sight. Suddenly alone, Liana resumed the silent search, humming quietly under her breath.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:10 pm
It was Zekdek who called her attention to the movement down below, excitedly asking to go and see, go and see. Alethia huffed a bit but circled lower, warning the mus to be quiet before she landed on a nearby branch and let him scamper to a perch on the wood of his own. "Zekdek helps," he announced a moment later, scurrying off and leaving Alethia to ruffle her wings, briefly agitated. "You have that one well trained," she told Liana. "I think I'm impressed."
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:22 pm
Liana turned abruptly when the ghost female landed. Taking a short moment to determine that the new arrival was not a threat, she allowed herself to hoot a soft greeting.
“Thank you. I’m a keeper. I like smart and easily trainable mus. My name is…”
Suddenly soft screeches of the mus seemed to distract the keeper. It meant the little companion had found some company and was diverting its attention.
“Excuse me for a moment.” She said before dropping from the branches and plummeting silently towards the screeches. She quickly reached her destination landing heavily on a small brown squirrel, stunning the curious furry creature before striking its neck with her powerful beak.
“Well done, Dash.” She said curtly but gently lowering a wing to allow the must to get back on her back. “Ride with me.”
As the mus returned to his designated place between the keeper’s wings, Liana flew up in air with the prey tightly secured between her talons and landed near the ghost.
“Down.” She hooted proudly and the mus was quick to oblige, repeating the command. She couldn’t help but to feel pleased at Dash’s successful performance in the presence of a fellow sentinel. Glancing through their surroundings as she searched for the companion that looked incredibly similar to her own, Liana smiled softly.
“I’m sorry for the interruption. Where were we?”
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:31 pm
"At introductions," Alethia answered easily. "I am a teacher and my name is Alethia. You are a keeper and your name is..." She tilted her head, leaving a pause for response.
Zekdek reappeared, scampering back up onto the branch. He settled close to one of Alethia's legs, gimlet eyes on the other mus, however.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:42 pm
The keeper smiled a bit more widely as she finished the teacher’s sentence. “… and my name is Liana.”
She was unsure as to what was the most polite course of action. After all, meat was more valuable now than she ever remembered it and yet it wouldn’t feel right to eat alone in front of the other. Maybe she should offer to share the catch.
Dash took a step towards the ghost’s companion with flickering whiskers and a playful expression but he was quick to turn his eyes back at his master as if silently asking for permission.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:10 pm
Alethia was much less formal with other adult Sentinels than she was with the fledglings. She bobbed her head and stretched a wing a bit. "You should eat," she prompted. "It won't be much good once it's gone cold."
Then she clicked her beak at Zekdek, who sat back on his haunches and tried to appear as though he wasn't up to anything.
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:36 pm
At the ghost’s suggestion, Liana looked down to the squirrel’s carcass. “Would you like to share it?” she asked at once without thinking.
Dash took a small step back when the teacher clicked her beak but kept looking at Liana as if hoping to catch her gaze. Finally establishing eye contact, the little mus spoke quietly, pointing at what he saw as a larger version of himself. “Play?”
Liana’s eyes turned to the ghost teacher. “Do you mind if they play?”
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Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:54 pm
Alethia eyed the skurri carcass. She was hungry, no question, but they weren't quite big enough to be easily shared. Refusing the offer would be rude, but she hadn't been invited to the hunt in the first place. So she said, "When you've eaten, if there's something left, I wouldn't mind a bite. Thank you."
Her attention shifted to the mus again and her feathers lifted a little. She was amused. "Not at all. I didn't want him to interfere, but the company would probably make him happy. Go on, Zekdek," she invited.
Given permission, Zekdek -raced- toward Dash, eager to give him a through inspecting.
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:55 am
Two young, golden eyes watched the playful mus with interest and a slight bit of hunger.
The owner of the two golden orbs was none other than the mischievous Osprey, who had wandered from the side of her minder. She could not fly well. She was hardly what one could call graceful.
And she was stuck.
She blinked her eyes owlishly and sighed, but feared asking for help. She wanted to be back with Papa Twist and Uncle Grey. She did not like this place at all.
With little to no grace, the mist fledgling flopped forward from the hollow she had been sitting in and moved hastily towards the mus. That was when she noticed the two older sentinels just near them.
"Oh... Heheh."
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:39 am
“That means yes.” Liana said to the small mus nodding her consent “Go play.” The keeper quickly removed the fur from her prey, shaking her head occasionally to get rid of bits of hair that refused to leave her beak, fully intending to split the small meal in two perfect halves.
Dash immediately pranced towards Zekdek, lifting a paw playfully at the companion. His curious expression however turned abruptly serious and the little mus jumped backwards as he noticed the approaching fledgling.
“Small sent! Small sent!” the diligent companion screeched quietly close to Liana who couldn’t see anything but fur at that moment.
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Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:18 pm
The flop caught Alethia's attention, even before Dash raised the alarm. Zekdek, brave--or foolish--creature that he was, piped quite importantly, "Not for eats!"
Alethia shook her head and turned toward Osprey. "Are you all right, little one?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:55 am
The embarassed young mist sentinel righted herself and puffed out her chestfeathers. She narrowed her golden eyes and her eartufts pressed back against her skull. She tried to make herself look large and tough, but she only succeeded in looking comical.
"M'fine!" She insisted in the boldest voice she could muster, but the new fledgling was really quite frightened.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:04 pm
Liana lifted her head from the squirrel and eyed the fledgling with concern.
“Are you alright?” she moved closer to the little mist and briefly preened Osprey’s eartuft. “Are you lost? Do you need help with something?”
Dash seemed to gain some confidence from Zekdeks’s words and was quick to make himself heard. “ Compa-nion.”
Breeze regretted not acting sooner. Concealed by the tree foliage, she had been watching the aberrant keeper for a few moments before the ghost female appeared. As always, the teacher felt hesitant to approach Liana. And now a fledgling had joined the duo, perhaps attracted by the two very similar mus… normally Bree would immediately scan the little one for some potential but she had business to attend to. Perhaps the small crowd that had suddenly gathered nearby might actually help smooth the relationship between the red-eyed teacher and the mus keeper.
“Ally, follow.” She whispered firmly to the skurri next to her as she readied herself to fly.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:46 pm
Alethia was pretty good at spotting acts of bravado. Spotting them and not commenting on them, which she didn't know. She ruffled and settled again. "Good, good, that's good to hear. That could have been a very nasty spill, but we're glad you're all right. Come and join us? That is," she amended for Liana's sake, "if you don't mind."
Zekdek, convinced that he wasn't in imminent danger of being eaten, went back to inspecting Dash.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:07 pm
Osprey narrowed her golden eyes even more, if ever that was possible. "Y'okay." She stated and hesitantly inched towards Alethia and Liana. She eyed the brave pair of mus and felt a pang of hunger, but she was clumsy, they were quick, and they were companions.
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