Welcome to Gaia! ::

Fiachra flapped his wings in the corner of the nest, turning in bored circles, eyeing the contours of the walls. Talons sinking into the pebbles and twigs in the bottom of the small hollow, he reached down with his beak and began sorting the rocks by their texture and color, fancying he'd build himself a small castle.

Outside, the rain fell hard and intemperate against the trunks of the trees, the creaking sounds sending shivers up his body.

Ever since he was little he was taught by his Minder that trees were among the most solid, unbreakable objects there could possibly be, and now that they were on the verge of cracking he had no idea what to do. Shaking his head furiously, he flattened himself towards the back of the enclave, eyes out and gleaming, thoughts whirring into a million possibilities of what might happen.

The chaos outside caught at his heart, but he wasn't one for voicing opinions or fear, any kind of weakness.

His silence was almost enough to console him.

((I'll continue with you but we'll change the post order when the others come in ^_^))

Fiachra, flattened against the wall, stretched out his wings a little, peering at the fledgling that still seemed to be asleep. He shook his head incredulously. It was insane, being able to sleep in such a circumstance. Outside the Thunder Bird was wailing and howling and doing God-knows-what, and here this little cutesy-pie was just taking a nap as if all was right with the world.

She annoyed him a bit, the way she looked so safe and smug right there. She probably had a family and friends somewhere, people that she loved more than anything else in her life and he had no one, and yet she seemed so much more calm than he was, inside. Inside of him there was turmoil, his stomach twisting in horror.

At her small voice, he nearly jumped, eyes softening at that familiar word. Barely remembering he parents, he felt only warmth in that gentle expression.

So maybe she was scared, after all. He looked away.

Despite the surrounding trees the nest was growing colder as a draft snaked in, and the scattered state of the fledglings did nothing to preserve the warmth. A flash of light made the nest eerily bright for a few moments and just as the darkness returned it was followed by a deafening crack of thunder.

Fig, who wasn't expecting a sudden burst of light, let of a peep of surprise. Something had moved right next to her. Looking over, Fig was surprised and glad to see another fledgling next to her. After the blinding light was over, it was followed by a bone-chilling wind. Fig let out a small shiver, scooped up Pika into her wings, and huddled closer to the other female. It was much warmer beside her and her presence was comforting. Fig figured that she would feel even better with the male fledgling by her too. So she followed the other female's led and called him, "Yeah! Come over here! It's freezin'!" If they all huddled together, they would be much warmer and feel much safer.

Mulberry's first reaction was surprise, then, as the male turned his back and nonchalantly streched out his wings, she got angry instead. Here she was making an effort to keep everyone safe, and... and... how DARED he act so uppity!

"Hey you!" she shouted. "I'm talking to you! Do you wanna freeze to death or something? You know what the Minders would say! We gotta huddle up!"

She glanced over at the other female as if to ask, Do you know this guy? or possibly, What's the matter with HIM?

((This is great, guys, but I think we should stick to a more set post order. Let's go me - Mamoru - Rai from now on, okay?))

( Okay :3 )

Fig couldn't believe that the male would rather stand by himself. The nest was getting colder by the minute and the storm showed no signs of letting up. She figured that the boy must either be really brave or too prideful. Why else would he risk freezing? She flashed the female next to her an equally confused glance and shrugged.

But before Fig could think about it any further, a loud noice was suddenly heard. Fig jumped slightly, realizing that it came from right behind her and the other female. "Something must be out there!" she gasped, scooting closer to the other fledgling. From the noise, Fig could only figure that whatever the creature was, it was big. The creature's various noises sent a chill down Fig's spine. As if the storm wasn't bad enough by itself. Now, some strange thing lay just beyond the trees that surrounded them. What could it be? Fig wasn't sure which was worse, not knowing what made the sound or imagining what horrible thing it could be. Now more than ever she wished they would all huddle together.

Mulberry jumped right along with the other girl at the sudden noise just behind her back, but if she thought that she had known what fear was at that moment, she soon learned better. She didn't need to hear the strange boy's words to know - If it had only been a thump, she could have written it off as heavy, flying debris or something, but what really sent icy lances of horror down her downy little form was those unmistakeable sounds of something climbing, long claws scrabbling against the bark...

Her deep golden eyes met those of the male hatchling in the universal understanding between small creatures that are forced to realise their own vulnerability. We're gonna die, was what she was thinking, listening to the scraping and scrabbling of the huge beast come to eat them, wishing there had been an adult - any adult - there to defend them and knowing only too well that the best she could put up against anything that sounded so big would never be nearly enough.

What she said, in a low, trembling, horrified whisper, was this: "Hide!"

And as if that one word had somehow broken her spell of paralysis, the little fledgling immediately turned to the other little girl, wings half unfolded in urgency. "Quick! Quickquickquick, get in the corner! Really far back! Press yourself in, look like the tree," she hissed, panic shining in her eyes. "It can't eat us if it can't find us! Hide!!"