[FIN] Clash of Beak and Talon (Participant List Inside)

[GunSniper]

Participants:

From the Templar:
-Deus [X] (Thalion)
-Zutnic [X](GunSniper)

From the Flock:
-Aviania [X] (Dragain)
-Aylin [X] (Dixie)
-Zahraa [X] (Beejoux)
-Cabriole (Mindsend)
-Luinil [X](LadyKirin)
-Glen [X] (Sweenys_Revenge)
-Garuda [X] (AlexiaSilver)
-Anya (Pollack)

Flock Slaves to be Liberated:
-Wystan (Thalea)
-Triboulet (Nymphalidae)
-Aranel [X] (LadyKirin)
-Rockin' Blues (Sweenys_Revenge)


Late Comers (For Sake of posting order:
-Shuckles (pippi1884 cool *Male Remaining in Flock*
-Shikoba (pippi1884 cool
-Benn'joon [X] (Yuuka Kurokawa)


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*Also, please do not attach your signature. This is so the page loads quickly and so people can read through without the long gaps of a sig. -TY

*To keep things easy, please post in the order that is posted above. If you have two characters than just post for both characters on your first post. (Or note that you'll post again when that character comes up in the list)

*To keep this RP moving quickly, if you do not post within a week your turn will be skipped. If your character is doing something affecting another character (( attacking, whatever)) the action will be overlooked. Or easily avoided. Depending on the circumstance.

*If you know you are going to be busy (homework, school, family, .etc) than please either: Post in the flock thread you will be a while with your post, Or PM GunSniper or Dragain and we'll make a note of it here.

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The evening skies were filled with dark gray clouds. It was an early sign of the rapidly approaching season change. Fall was on its way. The smell of rain filled the mountain sides signaling the first rain in weeks. It would be heavy by the scent if it. This was a perfect setting for what was to take place. A conflict also loomed in the air. Heavy, tense, thick...  

[Thalion]

This... was their domain.

For too long the abominations of darkness had tainted the purest of all domains. For too long had evil wings soared through the clouds, filling those bound to the earth below with terror. Often times those below would flinch away from his shadow. Foals would sink under their mothers, their eyes wide. Too often were the young kept from adventuring by having their heads filled with stories of the monsters that would swoop down from the skies to devour them whole.

And now such abominations were increasing in number, taking innocents as their slaves and binding them to their will. While his search for companions and allies had been for naught, Deus was unable and unwilling to spare any more time in moving against the flock of these... illegitimate beings. Every moment wasted was another moment that one of their playthings spent in agony. It was one more lost life, one more free spirit bound by their evil deeds.

It was time.

"Zutnic." His voice, a demanding, thick sound called over to his brother- his only standing ally in this fight. "Take wing. This day will end in blood. Let's not let it be ours."

He turned his head, sharp eyes regarding those of his brother before Deus surged forward, hooves sending small chunks of earth flying in his wake. A pair of powerful wings stretched out to either side of him, kicking up a powerful wind that tore along his flanks. In a long jump and a few powerful beats of his wings, Deus was airborn.  

[GunSniper]

Ever since his violent encounter with one of the beasts Zutnic had been working to get as much information on their nest as possible. He had managed to gain a slight outline of the nest, but nothing too detailed. It was disappointing that neither him nor Deus had been very successful in fully preparing for this encounter, but his spirits were not dampened. Zutnic remained optimistic that they would prevail despite their hardships.

"Light will prevail brother!" Zutnic called back with confidence and boldness strong in his tone.

Determination filled his eyes as he charged behind his brother. His own powerful wings extended on que with Deus's. Strong legs kicked off from the ground as he too took flight.

 

[Dragain]

Ever since her encounter with the winged male and her failed attempt to capture him, the spirits had been restless - they seemed to be warning her about something, but without her Oracle, she could only guess that a battle was about to start. After consulting her Commanders, it was decided that it would be wise for her to meet up with the Oracle, Aylin, who had stayed behind in their old mountain home... And that meeting later confirmed her fears. Together, they had quickly made their way back, putting the Flock on high alert.

Of course, it had been a week since her return and nothing had happened, although the air itself was thick with tension.

She frowned, closing her eyes as she laid her head on her front limbs, attempting to take a short nap. After all, she had been unable to sleep properly for a week now - knowing that an attack could happen at any time was unsettling! Her frown deepened, however, as the spirits started whispering again, a sense of urgency in their voice. Her eyes fluttered open as she stood up, the hairs on her back standing. The voices stopped as suddenly as they had started, and Aviania contemplated her next move, standing still in her nest as she inclined her head to look at the darkening sky.

"Perhaps... Tonight?" She muttered to herself, wondering if it had been her imagination.  

[Dixie]

Aylin's eyes were closed as she listened to the voices that traveled on the winds inside her sacred temple. The voices had become louder and louder over the nights, she had caught bits and pieces, but most of it had just been rubbish that she had pushed to the side.

Her nostrils flaired as the ghostly scent of flesh and blood filled her nose, her eyes shot open. On occasion the spirits sent their messages in ways other than words and visions, they came by scents and instinctual feelings. She had to get to her friend... her Queen... her flock.

Without much thought Aylin took to the seldom traveled path towards the new homelands. Her talons digging deeply into the dirt as she ran, gripping and bounding off of fallen logs and rocks. She was far from her sisters, but she began the warning sounds anyway. If she was lucky, perhaps a huntress or two would be on her side of the lands and would hear her calls.

The spirits were unsettled... They predicted blood.  

[mindsend]

Unaware of the forces that were stirring in the world, Cabriole had been finding himself oddly at peace with the world, away from the main flock with it being just him and his plumed Mistress. As he grew to know more about the flock and its ways, the easier it had become for him to find a niche comfortably within it. He knew many stories to entertain, and how to twist them to be preferable to the Harpies, sometimes even changing the heroes of old into heroins to change it to fit, in order to keep them from growing tired of hearing tales of the victories of men.

However, in this quiet alone time, Cabriole found himself thinking over the time that had past, marveling at how short a time ago it really was since his capture. The events that transpired since that time flickered through an idle mind, the imagery compiling itself into an epic tale, the stylized dancers in his mind moving gracefully in the gilded alteration of the story, turning it into a tale of action and adventure. If he ever gained his freedom, he'd have one hell of a story to tell, his own personal Odyssey.

So lost in his fantasies, the honey colored stallion almost missed the call of his mistress. his ears flicking slightly before he turned his head upwards to peer into the branches for her, "Yes?"

 

[LadyKirin]

The sun streamed through an ever shifting leafy canopy, casting dappled patterns of light and dark on a sapphire form gliding noiselessly through the forest, the carcass of a yearling deer strung across a strong back, bearing testimony to a successful hunt. Though Luinil had ended up at the far edge of the Flock's territory, she did not begrudge the long walk back to the nesting grounds as it gave her time to ponder her recent good fortune.

The huntress' pale blue eyes shone with pleasure as she wove a graceful path between the huge trees. Her handsome new pet was settling in nicely with the other males and kept the foals amused with his flutter antics. True to his word, Aranel was respectful and polite to the other harpies and made no attempt to escape his fate. She shook her silver tipped head feathers smugly. The young stallion had been quite a catch! Though some of her sisters sniffed that the fluttercorn wasn't as strong and muscular as most of the other males, even they were not too proud to take advantage of his limited healing abilities. And he was a marvelous dancer…

A faint yet clear warning call disrupted her pleasant reverie and stopped her dead in her tracks. That sounded like one of her sisters! But none of them should be this far out from the main nesting grounds! She spun around, talons digging furrows in the leaf covered floor of the forest as she tried to determine the direction of the sound. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized the warning came, not from the direction of the nesting grounds, but from the direction of the seldom used path from their old homeland!

That could mean only one thing... Aylin, their beloved Oracle was coming, bearing ill tidings for the Flock.

Her heart in her throat, Luinil turned away from the path home and headed at top speed towards the sound of the warning calls.

((will post for Aranel when he comes up in the rotation later))  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

Glain sat in her nest, lazily watching all of the foals that ran around in the twilight. Soon it would be time for them to start winding down and go back to their mother's nest. She could tell it was already happening. They were no longer jumping as high. The squeals of joy were no longer quite so high, nor as drawn out. Glain herself was beginning to feel sleep dragging at her eyes. Soon she would be retiring to the nest she shared with her mate not far from the Flock. The idea of sleep only intensified her fatigue. A day of running after small ones was catching up to her. Her eyes smarted around the lids as she blinked. Each time her eyes shut it became harder to open them. IT did not help that night was falling fast upon the lands, bringing with it a calm and chill unique unto it.
A foal to her left collapsed into sleep at that moment. The poor dear still had her rump in the air, all four legs sprawled out. Glain could only smile at her and nudge her into a more dignified, comfortable sleeping position. She could see other foals yawning with increasing frequency. Yes, night was happening fast and all things felt her embrace. Glain let her head fall to the ground below her, ready for sleep herself.
At that moment, however, the earth revealed something to her. The frantic footfalls of two sisters. She lifted her head, straining her ears to hear some hint of what could have possibly have happened to them. Nothing. That was, until she heard a cry from one of them. Blood. She heard the word on the winds as thought it were spoken into her ear. Glain forced herself to stay calm. There was no need to frighten the little ones. "Dears, why don't you all come and sit with Glain," she suggested, voice betrayed by a small waver. Still, the sleepy foals complied with her, piling into her nest and snuggling into it for sleep. Glain carefully positioned herself to cover at least a portion of each of their bodies. Whatever happened, she would protect the little ones.

Will Add Rockin' when his turn comes around.  

[AlexiaSilver]

What was he doing? Shouldn't he be there for her right now?
Garuda couldn't stop pacing. At a time like this, he was being kept away from his love. Locked and guarded in the male's grounds.
Something in the air felt... uneasy to him. If the stress that clouded his mind wasn't there, he'd give himself more time to ponder it, but for now a feeling of impending doom settled in his chest.
The stress of everything was getting to him. Shikoba had finally gone into labor an hour ago, soon after her sisters taking her away to give birth. And here he was, stuck here and unable to see the birth of his children, and comfort his mistress during the difficult process. Garuda imagined her screeches of pain in his mind. He could already tell that it was going to be a very long night.
He wouldn't have ever seen himself in this possition a year earlier. An expecting father, willingly captured and enslaved by a herd of ruling females. Most would consider it odd that he enjoyed his life as it was. The foals that they were about to bring into the world would make it so much brighter. That is, if they would allow him to see his children.
Garuda's brows scrunched together, and he finally stopped and layed down. He'd give sleeping a try. That always made time go by faster?
It was too bad that he wouldn't recieve even a wink in the next few hours.  

[Pollack]

Anya smiled softly as she sat in her nest, watching twilight roll across the land, bringing with it the chill of night that she so dearly enjoyed. The young foals in the flock were starting to slow down after a long day of playing and lessons. Soon the foals would each be token back to their mother's nest for rest, so that they could start up the cycle of play and sleep all over again tomorrow. Then Anya would go back and play with her newest pet before falling asleep, it was the every day cycle that was in the flock. Little did they know that their cycle and lives would be flipped upside down tonight.

Anya gave a glance over to her tiring group of foals that she watched over, she just glanced over to her fellow nanny sisters to see how they were doing, and if they needed help with their little ones. But what she saw worried her deeply. Sister Glain body language looked worried, and scared, and she was calling her foals in to come sleep by her. Her own cream ears flicked back, something was wrong, her sisters did not act like this for no reason. Anya craned her neck up, she wished to see over her thick round walls of her nest to the earth below, she could now see two sisters frantically running. The blue harpy let her ears strain to try to hear any calls that they were making, the call she had been looking for came faintly, but it was clear that it was a warning of blood to come.

Anya sucked in a deep breath to calm her wild nerves, she simply had to keep a calm mask on so the little ones would not be frightened. She raised herself up from the floor of her nest so she could see the tired foals, a force but soft smile played on her face as she called out to the children. "Kids, Would you please come here and see me?" She asked, though the foals knew by now that with Nanny Anya when she asked you do to something, you really didn't have a second option. One by one, The sleepy foals made their way up into her nest. Anya nuzzled each one as they gave up the ghost, and laid down to rest till they could go home and sleep with their mothers. Anya smiled down at them weakly before she moved so she was standing over them, she was ready to protect them if it happened to be the case. It was her duty to make sure these little ones where safe, and she would make sure no matter what happens by the end of this they still would be safe and unharmed.

 

[Thalea]

It had been months, but it did not seem that great a duration of time. During his captivity, the stallion had learned much of the curious race of females; everyday with them was something new and the detective in him soaked it up like a moss on a rainy day. Had he any idea back then what he knew now, he would not change the decision he made on that fateful day; a small smile crossed his countenance as he remembered his encounter with the icy Anya. It had been his quest to find the realm of the strange females and he had found them soon enough; Wystan had come across Anya in the think dense woods of the Flock’s lands and lead by a curious excitement followed the strange blue mare who seemed to have feathers as her main and tail.

Before the stallion knew it, he was within the nest of the flock and was the mysterious Anya’s slave; his mind relived the events of his comings. He was taken to the Queen and inspected, soon a sting resonated from his wing; the flock had clipped his wings. He barely blinked; the detective had presumed something of this sort would happen, a trophy given to his captor. This was the first step on the path of knowledge and the winged stallion was resolute to face each new obstacle that was bound his way with his head held high.

Wystan shook his head of the memory, and looked around the nesting grounds with clear blue eyes. Other males conjugated in little groups, the prizes of the sisters of the flock. He had talked and learned all he could about each, many, he assumed, though his questions brash and obtrusive; Wystan gave a mental shrug, they did not have to answer, but in turn they all ended up telling their story.

A sense of foreboding filled the stallion, he could not describe the feeling and he was not the superstitious sort, but something was wrong, the forest around them seemed to still and grow quiet, waiting for something. His mind pictured Anya and worry filled him; he may be her slave, but he still cared for the clawed mare.

Wystan shook himself, the feeling would not dissipate, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not push the feeling from his mind.  

[LadyKirin]

"Do it again!" the high piping voice of a harpy foal cried eagerly. Aranel shook his mane, took a deep breath and concentrated once more. The familiar flow of flutter magic swirled through his body, shrinking his size and freeing him from the envious grasp of the ground. To a childish chorus of oohs and ahhs, he danced lightly on the gentle breeze, throwing himself into the music that sang deep in his soul. For a brief moment he could forget where he was and the solemn vow that kept him more a prisoner of the harpies than mere chains ever could. But the innate limitations of his half-flutter body could not keep him aloft forever. All too soon, his tired form demanded a return to its full size and he returned to reality.

As his attention turned outward once again, he noticed that two of the nannies, Glain and Anya seemed to be unusually nervous and uneasy as they settled the little ones down for the evening. Aranel thought it best that he head for his mistress' nest. When not in the middle of an assigned task or in the safe zone with the rest of the males, it would be the safest place for a male.

Briskly trotting towards Luinil's nest, Aranel's thoughts turned towards the sapphire blue harpy that had both saved his life and imprisoned his spirit. When he left the safety of his parents' small herd to seek out adventure, he hadn't imagined that it would lead to his near death and rescue at the talons of one of the mysterious harpies of the Great Forest. But a chance encounter with a dangerous predator had resulted in a last minute rescue by an unexpected heroine. His limited healing powers had managed to heal the most serious of the wounds Luinil had taken in his defense…wounds which led to his impulsive promise of loyal service in gratitude. If he had known then what he knew now…..

He shook his head. What was done…was done. A knight never went back on his solemn oath. And his position in the harpy herd wasn't as bad as it could be. His mistress wasn't as cruel and demanding as some of the harpies were towards the captive males. She was calm and reserved, her dignified manner seemingly at odds with her position as bloody huntress for the flock. And she had risked her own life and suffered wounds from saving him. He often thought that she regretted the need for keeping males captive. One of the other males had wondered why the harpies didn't just seduce willing males outside the flock and then raise any resultant foals within the flock. Luinil had seemed receptive to the idea when Aranel had broached it, but had warned him that harpy tradition was very difficult to change and that many of her sisters would find such a suggestion to be anathema.

He looked down at the spot on his barding where a pearl drop was missing, taken in trophy and gifted to his mistress by the queen herself. The sapphire blue feather fastened in its place was a reminder to the other harpies that he was claimed by Luinil. And though his mistress wasn't as aggressive or warlike as many of her sisters, her deadly hunting skills and razor sharp reflexes kept anyone from interfering with her 'pet.' His own chivalric nature and sworn word kept his own demeanor with the harpies as polite and respectful as even the harshest harpy could wish.

Since he was a good bit smaller than most of the captive males - some of which even had real feather wings - and there was a full blooded blue unicorn whose healing powers were far greater than his humble skills, he had worried that the harpies would find him useless and force his mistress to destroy him. But, to his surprise, the harpies seemed to enjoy his flutter dancing greatly. It was amazing to him how much music and dancing was woven into the harpies' culture and centered in their great festivals. Luinil was teaching him one of their traditional dances so he could adapt his flutter dancing appropriately for the next festival.

As he neared the bone-decorated nest of the huntress, he noticed that many harpies appeared uneasy and restless. Some looked like they were listening to something far away. Even the other males seemed nervous. As he paced anxiously beside Luinil's nest, he heard a series of distant cries. Having learned that the harpies communicated by a complex set of bird calls, he was filled with fear as he realized that one of the voices sounded very much like that of his mistress. Something was wrong, terribly wrong…

EDIT BY MIND: Sweenys' says she's busy with School atm, so Feel free to move to skip her this turn.  

[pippi18848]

The pain! Childbirthing while worth it the bringing of new life into the flock, was so painful. Luckily with the help of her sisters though, she was able to bring forth two new little ones, each placed carefully into these wicker baskets. Shikoba was sorely tempted to n** enough to make him bleed slightly for putting her through all this pain. But, the children were worth it.

She rested for a few hours, and awoke, feeling restless. Something was wrong, she could hear the warning cries. But she was still to weak from the birthing that she could do nothing but lay there, surrounding her baskets. Oh how useless she felt now! "Someone please tell me what is going on? Please?" She called out, hoping that someone will answer in return. Shikoba was feeling quite vulnerable, unable to properly protect her new young.
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Shuckles had left the comfort and safety of his nest in search of his mate. She was not home yet and he was worried for her, as scared as he was. "Glain! Wh...wh...wh...where are y..y..y..you?!" He called out nervously as he got closer to the main part of the flocks living areas. The male knew that the harpies would not harm him but oh how they frightened him!

But then he heard the warning calls, even though he knew not what they were, and he trembled. "G..G..glaaain! P..Please tell me you're heeereee?" Oh the poor thing was about ready to faint he felt so scared. But, he did not want to fail prey to some harpy trick. Always being picked on for being such a hopless stallion, but he couldn't help it! He was scared of everything! If only he knew what was to happen this night, he wouldn't have left the nest.