"Yer an idiot, Desmond Gray." Soibhan stared up at the brilliantly blue sky as she leaned back against her horse, head on his rump as she listened to the uptight man sputter at her words. "Liadain is a born fighter. Trying te teach her what ye think are 'proper' fightin' manuevers is stupid. Let her teach yer silly arse what te do."
As if in agreement, Liadain the Gray Lady flicked an ear backwards and forwards again and bucked her rear end into the air just enough to jostle her Chosen. Desmond tightened the grip his legs had around the deer's body and frowned fiercly. "But she's just a baby..."
Soibhan scoffed and pulled herself upright. The doe looked about ready to thoroughly buck the man right into the dirt. "A baby? Are ye blind as well as stupid? She's full grown! Her abilities're outstandin' in the trainin' fields. Stop coddlin' 'er. I'm gettin' tired o' ye idiots thinking yer Guardians're wee fragile trinkets. They're not. They're warriors through and through. Get that through yer skull."
"Easy for you to say," Desmond growled, fed up with her putdowns but still too intimidated by her to do anything about it. It's not proper to hit a lady anyway...
The gaelic woman all but growled at him, her golden eyes alight. "Afore ye finish that sentence, Gray, ye'd do well te remember how thoroughly I can kick yer arse." Ticked, she grabbed fistfuls of Lochlan's black mane but before she could get him to start running, the little group heard a piercing, ragged cry. Liadain stopped entirely and turned her head to the treeline they'd been following for hours south of Palisade.
"What in bloody hells was that?" Desmond asked, his eyes flitting from shadow to shadow between the trees and underbrush, searching for whatever had made the alarming noise.
Soibhan shrugged. "Sounded like a bird." Swinging her leg over the horse's broad back, she slid smoothly to the ground, patting the stallion on the neck. "Stay, beastie. C'mon, Gray. Let's go see what it was."
"W-what? Why in the world would you want to see what it was?" he sputtered, looking incredulous. Truth was, he didn't want to find out. Ever since the attack that took his eye and nearly took his life, he'd been far more cautious about his surroundings. Some would call him downright jumpy. The events at the Masque hadn't helped in the least, and though this stand of trees wasn't the ominous Wardwood, he still didn't fancy a stroll through them. "I'll wait--" Before he could even finish, Liadain turned and started trotting towards the trees. "Damnit, Liadain! I'm tired of crazy females!"
Soibhan hit the trees after the creamy gray doe, as she seemed to know exactly where she was going. Desmond looked like a stricken child upon her back and the gaelic woman couldn't help but smile. "The crazy ones're the best ones," she said softly before she slipped entirely into hunting mode. The doe was a soft-stepper by instinct, even if she wasn't a normal prey-animal by any means, and made hardly a sound as she picked her way swiftly between the trees. It was darker here, with a gentle, stubborn fog flowing in and out of the little dips that dotted the ground.
When Liadain stopped, so did Soibhan. The screech sounded again and this time it was much closer. She peered around, trying to find the bird that had made it. It wasn't until she noticed the angle of Liadain's gaze that Soibhan tipped her head back and stared directly up. The dim light made it difficult to make out at first, but the longer she looked, the clearer things became until...there! High up in the limbs above them she spotted it, but just barely and only because of the piercing blue of the raptor's eye. It was a hawk of some kind, a breed she'd never seen before. She couldn't be sure because it blended so well with the autumn leaves, but the thing looked huge, and it stared at her balefully, beak parted as it panted heavily.
"My...my goodness. That's a Kingshawk!" Desmond muttured, staring up at the bird in awe. "But what's it doing out here?"
"Kingshawk?"
"Ah, yes. It's a bird whose ownership is generally reserved for nobility." He squinted at it to get a better look. "They are raised from hatchlings as hunting companions, usually with the same person their entire life. Fierce, proud things they are. Very coveted as well." Desmond stared around as if he would find the bird's owner out of nowhere. "But why is it here?"
"It's stuck. Makes it a wee less fierce te me."
"Stuck? Why would it be-- Of course! There was a storm the other night. Maybe it got surprised by a crosswind and took a tumble. Maybe we should-"
Soibhan ignored him and jumped, grabbing the lowest branch and hauling herself up onto the thick limb. The bird was fairly high up, but it had landed in a tree with plenty of branches and she began climbing towards it.
"Are you a woman or a monkey?" Desmond asked incredulously as he watched her climb. As he tried not to watch a particular part of her anatomy as she climbed.
"What's a monkey?" she called down at him, already halfway up the tree. "An' stop starin' at me arse!"
"I-I-I-I've not a clue what you m-mean!" he stuttered, blushing as he dropped his gaze to the trees around them. "A-a monkey. Small furred creature that's adept at tree-climbing. Much like a squirrel I suppose, but...creepier." Liadain snorted at that, turning her head enough to stare at her Chosen as if she wanted to just dump him there and leave.
"So ye think I'm creepy now, eh? Yer a right flirt, Desmond Gray. Can't fer the life o' me figure out why ye've not got a wee lass on yer arm yet." Soibhan's words were quieter now as she climbed higher, but at least she couldn't see how red his face had turned.
The hawk watched her with angry eyes as she got closer and closer, and tried a few times to pull itself free. She shushed it each time it tried, because it only seemed to succeed in further entangling itself. It looked to be caught between a rather dense patch of smaller branches, some of them sticking at odd angles through the feathers of its wings. A few of the larger pinions looked damaged, but not irreperably so. "Sit still ye silly bird," she said through her teeth as she pulled herself carefully onto the last branch that she thought might support her weight. "C'mere, birdy." Her arms burned but she reached out, grasping with her legs and keeping her body balanced as best she could. The raptor snapped its sharp beak at her, earning a scowl. "Stop it! Or I'll leave ye here!"
"Be careful! Their bite can take off fingers!" Desmond called up from below, but she ignored him.
"If looks could kill, ye'd be stuck up here forever," she muttured as it glared at her. Proud indeed. It acted as if it didn't need or want her help, but she sucked in a breath and grabbed it anyway, one hand working the feathers free. The hawk snapped at her in warning, beak clacking loudly in her ear. When she ignored it, the thing bit her, drawing a sharp line of blood. Hissing, she tapped it somewhat more roughly than intended on the beak and it snapped its mouth shut. "Quit it! Or I'll drop ye on yer fool, feathery head!"
The bird blinked at her angrily but didn't bite her again. Satisfied, she began swiftly picking the branches from its wings, snapping a few to get them free. The bird wouldn't be able to fly for a few weeks; some of the pinions were badly damaged and would need time to repair. Maybe even regrow. But it would fly again. Her legs were starting to ache and the branch seemed to bend further and further the longer she straddled it. "C'mon, silly girl. Work faster." Finally, she was able to pull the bird clear and tucked it to her chest as she scooted backwards to lean back against the trunk. The bird must have finally realized that she was its only way down. She gave it another cursory inspection, but the thing was big enough that she couldn't be sure of all of its injuries.
"Alright, little beast." Ignoring its squawk of protest, she tucked him inside her loose outer tunic and began to climb carefully down the tree. As if offended by the treatment, the hawk made several extremely unhappy noises and she felt the brush of his beak against her ribs. "I will squish yer feathery head against this tree if ye bite me again, b*****d," she growled, glaring down into her shirt. The bird stared back at her with its angry blue eyes. Sighing, she moved more quickly.
"Nice work! We can check his tag and return him to his owner," Desmond said as she landed back on solid ground, all four limbs shaking with fatigue. He pretended not to notice and wiggled his fingers. "Let's see the pretty thing."
Untucking her shirt and holding it open, she held out her other arm and waited as the hawk climbed brusquely onto the limb. Its talons, massive and curved, dug painfully into her arm until little pinpricks of blood began welling up. The thing truly was enormous and it held one wing out awkwardly as it peered around. When Desmond reached for it, the bird shrieked and stabbed at the man with its wicked sharp beak, flapping its wings and buffeting Soibhan in the face.
"Ouch! Bloody bird bit me!" Desmond stared at his bleeding finger with an anguished look on his face and Soibhan could only stare down at her own wounds with a raised brow.
"Quit bein' a baby. There's no tag on it anywhere. Let's bring it back te the flat an' take a look at them feathers." When it quorked at Desmond and clacked its beak together in a threat display, the man scowled.
"That damn bird is evil!"
"It bites ye once and ye think it's evil? Yer lucky I haven't sunk me teeth into yer proper hide yet, Desmond Gray," she said with a smirk before she turned and picked her way back through the trees. Without waiting for Desmond's signal, the doe turned and followed her with such abruptness, he nearly fell off her back. He could only gape at the woman as she walked away.
And he couldn't be sure, but there seemed to be laughter in his doe's teal gaze.
FIN
