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Dark storm clouds raged through the heavens and lightning left the jagged afterimages of gaping wounds in the sky. The rain that pounded down to the ground spared no rock, plant, or animal. Life below the storm seemed to have ceased as the creatures of the forest and humans alike sought shelter from the downpour...

All except for a small van braving the squall to deliver its fragile cargo.

The stout vehicle was buffeted and pushed this way and that by the wind, tires sliding on the rain soaked asphalt of the roads. Its broad sides worked against it, but its dependable motor whirred away and it made slow but sure progress towards its destination. All was going well until a flare of brilliant molten light shot down from the heavens and into the road. The car swerved and began tumbling sideways. Its doors were flung open and the cages it was carrying spilled out. One confused eagle's door burst open and as he flapped his wings in a panic the wind caught his feathers and like a large hand it lifted him unwillingly into the sky.

The eagle, an eastern imperial eagle that was being transferred to a new, safe sanctuary, flapped his wings: desperately trying to gain some sort of control. He had little power over where the wind took him and he was blown shrieking and calling through the air. Stabbed by water drops that felt like needles and tossed about like a rag doll in the tempest the eagle was blind to where he was going. Finally, the large bird was hurtled bodily out of the sky, crashing through branches and twigs until he finally fell with a dull thump to the ground...

The storm raged on uncaring...

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The wrath of mother nature that had bellowed so mightily the night before was all but gone now. Dark malevolent clouds had been replaced by clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds that strolled lazily through the sky. Morning sunlight shined brightly down through the branches, and the air was crisp and refreshed by the torrential downpour the night before.

The only thing amiss seemed to be the pile of feathers and twigs that lay limply collapsed upon the ground. It took a moment for ones eye to decipher that the mess of gold, brown, and white feathers was actually a bird, and even longer to pick out the gentle rise and fall of the bird's back as it breathed slowly. He was still unconscious, wings splayed out haphazardly and twigs scattered about his form. A strange item lay a foot or so from his beak, a pair of spectacles attached to a chain around his neck.

And so, Jacob Ix, the eagle that had been raised in captivity and never known the sting of the wild came to rest in the forest known as Stonecrest, hidden away on the fringes of Mossflower.





((OPEN for everyone! Jacob's unconscious for now what will you do with this strange new face suddenly showing itself after a vicious storm? For reference, Jacob looks like this with a small pair of glasses that normally sit on his beak :3 ))

As the curious rabbit came poked the great eagle with a stick the bird let out a soft moan and shifted slightly. That wing that the stick had prodded suddenly lifted up and gave one weak flap, a few twigs dislodging themselves from where they had landed. The movement seemed to jar Jacob awake and his eyelids fluttered for a moment before slowly opening, revealing pale blue eyes. Jacob let out a confused squawk and suddenly lifted his head and suddenly his entire body was moving in an attempt to lift his weight off the ground. This seemed like a bad idea for as soon as Jacob raised his head more than a few inches, he felt the blood rush from his head and his mind went all wobbly and he fell back down again.

After several second of unsuccessful flailing, some unfortunately buffeting the rabbit, he finally stilled on the ground. He found enough strength to keep his head up a bit but it swayed a bit on his neck. He blinked once... twice, three times hard and craned his neck this way and that.

"Awwwrkkggh" he gave a small cry of confusion and a moan, "Vas???"

Jacob wasn't the only bird slightly "ruffled" by last night's storm, albeit this one was much smaller and presumably, much less sociable.

Merinski, the grumpy, twitchy bluejay from Breezemoor had gotten everything arranged in his home last night just as he had always envisioned it. It was PERFECT; a tediously constructed and almost exactly symmetrical nest, filled with his bizarre collection of teeth, fangs, and other other mildly macabre trinkets, and space enough to comfortably house only a single individual---that being him. The outside of the nest had been encircled with small thorny dead vines that he had managed to collect, and this whole package had been neatly tucked in the crook of a singular withered tree [trees of course being few and far between on the Moor, much to the bluejay's delight; the less neighbors the better in his opinion].

And ohh what a perfect dwelling---no, fortress it had been. An absolute shining example of architectural integrity, an Earthly testament to his brooding tormented soul, yes, YES, A BEACON OF DARKNESS IN A SEA OF---

....

And the storm had destroyed it last night. Completely.

Needless to say Merinski was less than cheerful today as he picked about the edge of this particular clearing in Mossflower, muttering under his breath something about thunder, loud kids, and finding more teeth. He shoots a small frown over at Liam as the rabbit chattered on with a pile of...ngh. Thing. Whatever. It was of little concern to Merinski [as most social endeavors were with him] as the bluejay huffed and turned back to trying dislodge some thorns from a twisted old rose bramble.

Jacob shook his head once back and forth and blinked before moving his head back and fourth methodically, squinting hard. He finally seemed to hear and acknowledge Liam speaking, as a look of astonishment crossed over his face as he craned his neck so his right eye faced Liam.

"D-du s-sprichst? N-nein das ist unmöglich..." he still panted lightly from the stress and surprise, tongue flicking in and out of his mouth lightly. His breathing gradually slowed down, mind calming down. Unfortunately, with panic slowly exiting his mind it left room for a new sensation to enter... it slowly dawned on Jacob... PAIN!!

Obscured by Jacob's ruffled feathers and the other sticks tangled within them, was a thick stick skewering his wing through and through. Dark dried blood already crusted it around the wound from the night before. Jacob's eyes widened and he practically tried to jump away from his own wing beating it and trying to dislodge the stick. This only caused him more pain and he began flapping faster, hopping back and forth on his other foot. He screeched once and then dissolved into pained whimpers. His wing drooped and his head sagged. He whimpered again.

"Vas... vas los ist..." he moaned and covered his face with his good wing and squeezing his eyes shut, "V-vo bin ich aus?" Face still strained in pain he finally hopped on one foot to grab his spectacles and place them on his beak. He blinked as his vision cleared slightly, looking over at Liam. His pale blue eyes rested on the bandanna crossing over Liam's brow, and his face turned to one of confusion. He opened his beak as if to speak again when his sharp ears picked up the fluttering of another bird's wings and the sound of grumpiness. Whatever sound grumpiness made, Merinski was making it.

Jacob's head picked up. "Oh! Bitte bitte! Hilf mich! HILF! I veiss nicht vo ich bin!" Jacob spotted Mer's bright blue feathers within the bramble and bush. He began hopping clumsily towards him, getting a few feet before the old bird's talons got tangled and he toppled over awkwardly.

Leandar was taken back by the creatures actions, and showed it by actually taking two quick paces backwards. "What tribe do you hail from bluebird?" It was Leandar's guess that he was from the trader village, Flueve. The people of their tribe tended to be cowards, as Leandar had come to see it. "I'm friendly, I assure you," the wildcat smirked. The feline's eyes were also drawn to their plummeting bird as it's somewhat fragile body hit the ground... Leandar's eyes were agape with surprise.

Jacob faltered as Merinski spoke up again. His expression turned to a brief look of panic before he composed himself, if composing himself was what you would call it. His beak twisted into a nervous smile.

“Oh –oh you speak it I can not so vell speak it but can speak it,” he flapped his good wing once or twice and tried to approach Merinski slowly again head bowed, “Pleas I don’ know vhere I am…” the big eagle’s voice cracked a bit and his wide blue eyes flicked around nervously, if he dipped his head any lower he would be dragging it on the ground along with his wing. “Las nacht there vas a big… uhh… uhh… rain? Und das vind,, it pick me up and-“ Jacob froze as the cat in front of Merinski spoke.

Jacob hopped once or twice, repositioning himself momentarily and then turning the right side of his head towards Leandar. Only then did he react to the bird… and he did so with a screech and a giant leap backwards. If this bird was one thing, he was easy to panic.

“VHAT VHAT IST DAT?! UND-UND-“ Jacob looked desperately at Merinski, “V-v-v-vhy is it talking???”Jacob once again turned towards Liam again, “Vas it really speaking also? Mein got vas ist… Minen kopf hurts…” he let out a soft whimper and began backing into the foliage a bit, bright blue eyes scared and beginning to water at the edges. His ragged feathers were fluffing up and wild, his damaged wing even worse. The poor frazzled thing looked close to leaping out of his skin…