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 Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:04 pm
Valora whatched the two males fly upward. "Do you want to go home?" she asked Zeke.
"Nuh," the little chirop said decisively, still, he clutched Valora's feathers tighter. Valora lifted off to pull up the rear. She wondered how high a parus or pica would go. She wasn't overly found of the canopies.
"Do we have any idea what your pica friend is looking for?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:00 pm
Fjord followed Chase as fast as he could. He was a bard for many reasons. Mostly for his voice and creativity, but also for the fact that he was smaller and somewhat sickly. He lagged a little bit, but it was clear that he was putting all of his effort into searching.
Even as they headed up into the higher branches, he did not shy away.
"Feather!?"
He quickly picked out the familiar black, orange-red, and yellow pica. He noticed Feather's strange body language, as well. Never was he that meek looking. Even in the presence of Elites, he was perky. Calm and respectful, but perky.
His eyes fell to the shadow sentinel that loomed over the pica.
Sly...
He landed with haste, trying to get between Sly and the Pica, despite the little room.
"Get away from him!" He demanded. He fluffed up his feathers and tried to appear bigger.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:40 pm
Rose whistled a cheerful sounding tune and followed Snow, landing on the branch she had just vacated. As the two other birds joined them she tilted her head and looked first at Sly, then at Feather, as if she was listening.
Fjords landing seemed to spook her for a moment, but she didn't flee. She decided this bard was no threat and landed again after a curious near take off that looked like a small jump.
Granny left the Parus hunting to the youngsters, from the sound of it even more Sentinels had joined in. Rose usually found her way back sooner or later, but if that nice young female wanted to help Granny, she wouldn't say no. She tried to remember if she knew the Mist or perhaps one of her relatives. The night had been filled with greetings from old students and Granny enjoyed meeting them and hearing about their work, partners and chicks.
"They grow up so fast", she mumbled to herself and picked absentmindedly among the gatherer's offerings.
((must answer to Tousled too... Gaaah...))
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:40 pm
Sly had settled neatly on the branch, watching Snow as he eyed both the Pica and the Parus tucked nearby the Mist’s wings. It took careful manipulation, but with the benefit of being unbeknownst to the Mist, he had the advantage and was oozing pleasantries to diminish any doubt in the female. However, the Pica was quick to chirp in, much to Sly’s dismay. Apparently Sly wasn’t doing his job if the Pica still had the courage to speak.
“ Then I can escort you, Feather, as you bring Rose back. …to be safe.” He said and gave a fiendish grin. Safe indeed. Two birds with one flight. He was already picturing himself giving out the information of their untimely demise to the others. How the Pica had rushed off with Rose, being too filled with energy and too quick for it’s own foolish good, and had rushed off into the branches. That he tried finding them, and assumed they where with Granny. When he would go to Granny, he would make a show of being worried and asking if they came by, reminding himself to pant as if exhausted by flying at breakneck speeds here. Once that was done, he could go off and pretend to be searching for them for hours, though using it as an excuse to go home. It would all be left a mystery, whilst he was left snickering as his digestion took care of the evidence.
Just as Sly felt there was no way for Feather to deny him his help, as he was just a lowly companion that had no right to go against a Sentinel, there was a commotion of wings and Sly turned, instantly cringing at the sight of a fast approaching Fjord and his friend Chase. Fjord was quick despite his poor flying grace and landed with defiance right between Sly and the others, parting them. The Shadow had to take a few steps back to allow room, never comfortable having his area of private space invaded, and narrowed his eyes, a reaction he now had down to habit whenever seeing the Sentinel.
Fjord shouted out his order, glaring at him as he stood at his stance, as if expecting Sly to pounce on them all. A flattering idea but not one he was about to do. Instead, he had a show to place and a unknowing Mist who he could use. “Fjord…..calm yourself. Why so hostile? Can’t you see I was merely talking. Shouting at me. You make me sound like I’m a criminal. Tsk. Tsk. I’m offended. ” He said, mocking a hurt expression to place on the outward appearance of a tender pacifist.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 7:54 pm
"A pacifist indeed. I'm on to you... We're on to you." He motioned with a flick of his head towards the cowering pica that had drawn close to his light feathers.
Light against dark, good against evil, that was how Fjord saw the two of them. Slightly pigheaded and prideful, perhaps, but that was how the young bard percieved their strange, hate filled relationship.
"Feather and I haven't forgotten and we never will. What are you doing out here, anyhow?" While others might see the shadow's pacifism and find Fjord's accussing tone out of place, Fjord knew better about Sly and wouldn't trust him as far as he could toss a waral... Which wasn't far at all, not that he would every try and find out.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:11 pm
Sly ruffled his feathers, seeming offended by such an accusation. “On to me? You make it sound like I’m up to something dishonorable. Really, Fjord. You’re far too paranoid for your own good. If I was made of such a spiteful fiber, I would have taken your false claims up with the highers on bases of you damaging my good-natured reputation with slander. He said, turning his head up as he looked away though turned back around to address the group.
“As for your question, I was here on the search for a missing Parus. Dear Granny has lost Rose, so I set to find her, and here I am. Snowdrift here has already located her and has done a grand job in luring the Parus to her side. We where going off to return the Parus, or do you object to having companions returned to their owners?” he said, narrowing his eyes. Inwardly he felt confident. He had been playing this game for some time and has mastered it through practice and folly, though not enough to incriminate him. He could avoid every loophole in speech and turn any insulting claims in his direction to that of being unjustified shouting to a timid creature such as he appeared.
What gave him the most glee in this dodging game with Fjord is that there was that level of helplessness for Fjord in never having evidence whilst Sly could dally in angering him further, only making him look more and more like the easily-angered brute. "..or maybe you just want to claim another companion as your own? Still up to your old habits of hording?" he said, recurring to that faithful time in their youth where Sly and Fjord's rivalry really flourished and where Feather entered the scene.
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Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:26 pm
Fjord opened his beak and the language his body expressed suggested that he was about to start up his accusations again.
This time, however, he stopped himself and settled back. He hadn't even realized that he was leaning forward in a threatening posture.
"Oh, what ever do you mean, Sly? I seem to remember a certain shadow sentinel that was, I'm sorry, is always watching companions... With a rather baffling expression."
He swivled his head to the side, glancing towards Snowdrift and Rose. "I have no objection in returning Rose to dear Granny. It has been ages since I have seen her. Perhaps I shall accompany this little group?"
It was clear to the bard that Sly's little game was in his favor and not Fjord's, but he was determined to keep Rose and Feather both in his sight.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:12 am
As Fjord flew past him and landed in the middle of the small gathering of Sentinels and companions, Chase followed him cheerfully, eyeing the two missing companions with relief. He sat on a branch slightly above the others trying to stay as close to the bard as possible. He nodded politely to the mist female, but his introduction was cut off by Fjord’s sudden outburst. He certainly wasn’t expecting to see the good natured bard become so upset but it seemed obvious that the two male sentinels had already met. Chase listened quietly, his face travelling from one male to the other, with a confused expression hidden within his dark features. Fjord was almost openly accusing the shadow sentinel of… something… something bad… and the other was quick with a reply accusing the bard of… hording companions? They were certainly not on friendly terms with one another. What an unpleasant mood.
On a typical situation Chase would have immediately stood by a friend regardless of how much he believed him to be right (even if he had to knock him on the head later) but he barely knew Fjord and bards were known to exaggerate even the simplest facts of daily life. Honestly, standing in front of that shadow sentinel who looked so educated and polite, Fjord looked slightly out of control, spouting nonsense at the other male.
But then he remembered Fjord’s worries at Feather’s disappearance and how Sly’s name had come up. He might have doubted the bard even further but a mere glance at Feather’s panicked behavior and the terrified eyes that refused to let the shadow out of his sight, were proof enough at the moment.
“Yes, Fjord, let’s get back to the celebrations. In spite of my name, I do find this place a bit too high for my taste. We found the parus and there is no point is keeping her away from the owner any longer. And…” he looked at Sly for a moment and nodded a bit more curtly that usual “It is nice to see that so many have gathered to reunite a companion with its rightful owner.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:17 am
She was absolutely ecstatic that she was slowly, but surely, coaxing Rose to trust her and to return with her safe and sound to Granny. What a lovely little parus! She hadn't ever thought of having her own companion before, but maybe after the event is over she may have to reconsider [besides, those whistling tunes were just ever so lovely as well]. Mayhaps, mayhaps.
However, on a different string all together, the tension between the pica and the sentinel that introduced himself as Sly was beginning to make her feel confused. Why is the companion so tense? Sly seemed like a well behaved gentleman, nevermind that he knew her name before she had the chance to say it herself. He probably just knew my parents, she thought to herself, and dismissed the situation all together. No, no, it wouldn't be surprising to her at all if her parents had somehow bumped into this older fellow and began jabbing about their lives and their one and only offspring. It would be quite typical of them, actually.
Snow turned her attention to Sly, her brightness never faltering despite the confusion at hand. "Oh, it's alright, I can handle Rose on my own. I feel awful about what happened below, and since I'm already here-"
A blur bursted from beneath them and settled itself in a fluster on a branch between her and her little group of companions, and Sly, interrupting the mist in mid-sentence. Wha?! Oh, perhaps there was something going on up here after all! Though why he was in such a hurry was unbeknownst to her, as nothing has happened so far that she can recollect. A few quick glances around confirmed what she thought, but in the end, she was still left with a question. Why are so many coming up here now when it was, until Rose flew about, empty?
And then another form flew from below, though not quite as quickly as the first one, and landed next to...his comrade? At this point, the previous sentinel was sternly giving a word to Sly; Snow was surprised Rose hadn't flown away at this point. She gave a friendly nod back to the not-so-angry one, and attempted at following the exchanges that were going on between Sly and..Fjord? Yes, Fjord.
It all seemed rather odd. Fjord was accusing of Sly of ...well, terrible things, and while Sly defended himself sincerely, he did so with a double-bladed dagger. All of this, just for a lost companion? This was just too much! Puffing up, she breathed in a good amount of the chilly air into her lungs and cried out.
"ENOUGH!" There was only so much her peaceful demeanor could withstand! She looked at everyone around her, claws fidgeting from her outburst in an attempt to smooth herself back down to normalcy [or at least, for her, anyways]. "I don't see why it would be a problem if all of us escorted Rose back to Granny....if it's alright with Rose, anyways."
She tilted her head up to view the branch above her, where Rose had hopped onto in what seemed like so long ago. "Is that okay?" Her voice was calm once more, genuinely concerned for the little parus and how she would react to all of this ...this fussing.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:10 pm
Sly had watched with growing glee at the sight of everyone turning their concern on Fjord and scolding his behavior with their eyes and body language. It had long since become knowledge to the Shadow of the common stereotype that bards where passionate and just they could weave together a ballad, swept up in that emotion of their craft, it could be turned about, no matter how much of a peaceful nature they confessed to have. No one was immune to anger, and though the fuses ranged from one Sentinel to the next, there was always a way to light it and send a Sentinel ablaze in fury. All the while, when Sentinels picked up their hobbies of collecting feathers or crafting stones, Sly had crafted himself to be better at his job, preening and preparing for a higher profession that could not, would not, be easily given if not through strict determination and ambition, though all the while, knew that was not enough. There where many hunters, watchers, scouts, and ranger about. All with their own envious traits, be it a keen sense of fighting or a watchful eye. You needed more than the average to attain a high goal. And where this lead to was refining yourself. Sly had long since learned the mannerisms of Sentinels, studied since younger years with examining eyes how people held themselves, reacted to lies, made up truths, and feed information that casually swayed a subject to their favor. Even the most kind-heart Sentinel used these methods, unconsciously of course as their golden natures would not purposely lead someone astray. Still, it was common nature and he fed that information into himself, perfected it, polished it to a gleaming, flawless shine, and shown it off without any doubt it was full truth. Everyone had a secret, and he learned from everyone the methods used to protect those things that wanted to be kept.
This was the method and philosophy that Sly displayed, as well hidden as his own plumage at night, and just as thickly encased about his image. The likes of Fjord and the others did not have this dedication or this craft that met no title and he reaped his rewards, watching with inward amusement as Fjord was flustered to no end as his pet shivered nearby, whilst the rest, unknowing to what Fjord could only brush against, stood with completely different impressions, fed on the image they where seeing for face value. There was something exciting, despite how much he disliked Fjord, in having him know something so close to the truth and then taunt him. Watch him fail to bring up evidence and yet dance before him and incur his frustrations whilst the rest of the world thought Fjord a loon.
Still, his hidden smile was quickly dismissed as Fjord gave his response. “I’m sure you’re eyes need checking. I do no –” His response was cut short as the Mist, Snowdrift, intervened. The female was quite flustered, but it seemed from her short surprise that she was not accustomed to it, regaining composure as she offered for them all to take Rose home. Sly inwardly cringed at the idea of not only accompanying them all for the sake of some pet, but to visit Granny. The elder did not show signs of approving Sly’s company, and with the exception of Fjord, she was just as close as having evidence to Sly’s nature than anyone else. Then again, with her mind, who knew how long till her mind faltered. After a while, she would either forget or whatever she would say would be left to old age and dismissed. For now, he strayed away from her. What need did he have to talk to a aging Sentinel with lacking vision?
“I don’t see any problem with this, though I think I shall stay and continue watching out for the betterment of our colony as I was doing before. Now that there is so much company, I think you can all well handle yourselves. You certainly look like a very capable Sentinel, Snowdrift. You did find Rose first before all of us. Very impressive.” he said, looking to the Mist to further her idea of his given impression of being kindly, before looking to Chase and not saying a word and passing over the Sentinel. Why bother? Looking over Chase, Sly looked back to Fjord and let his lips curl. “ I’m sure you won’t mind, as you seem so dead set on it. A flight might do you some good and let you vent to the winds. I wouldn’t want to upset anyone or make them feel uncomfortable with me being there anyways. I just wish you’d let go of your anger, Fjord. It’s so unflattering. How do you expect to find a mate with that attitude of yours?” He said, smiling again before turning about.
“Have fun at the festivals and send Granny my hellos. Till we see each other again. ” With that, Sly lifted his wings out and with a silent glide, flew into the darkness of the woods.
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:09 pm
Inwardly, the Muse was seething. Sly knew how to manioulate his words well, something one would think a bard would be able to master.
Sadly, despite his love to tell tall tales and his love to sing, he fumbled and had trouble defending himself. What more, he had no evidence that he could hold against the shadow.
No one else had seen the event so long ago. He and Sly had been pitted against eachother even before then. At the time, it had been pure distaste and contrasting interests. Now his hate ran thicker than mud for the larger sentinel.
He concealed this hatred, though, with a smile. Snowdrift's outburst had surprised him, which had seemed to snap him out of the trance of anger that he had been in.
"Oh, but you don't wish to accompany us to see dear ol' Granny? I am sure she would like to see what became of one of her star pupils." He prodded. While his words were light and friendly, malice was hidden beneath them.
"It has been so long since she taught us... Why not, RC?"
For the most part, Fjord had called SLy by his adpted name, but he couldn't help but to sneak in his old nickname for his foe.
"I am sure, too, that she would love to know that you were helping to search for her dearly beloved parus."
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Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:30 pm
When Sly ignored his insincere statement, Chase realized he was grinning inside. Normally, his proud nature would have been deeply hurt but the truth was… he was not the least bit upset about it. This could only mean one thing: almost without noticing, he had already taken sides on the matter and Sly was definitely not the one he took into higher consideration. Besides, it served him right for saying something that he obviously didn’t feel.
Chase eyed the bard with a hint of a smile running through his beak. Now that Fjord was calming down it was much easier to believe his words which made Chase all the more irritated at the insinuations that kept coming from Sly. The mist female had a small outburst of her own, which he found slightly amusing but kept a straight face as the other shadow lifted himself up in the air and started flying away apparently ignoring Fjord words.
“Yes, yes, let’s take… Rose, is it? Let’s Rose back to her owner and… RC? What’s that, Fjord? Old nickname?” Chase added suddenly curious, tilting his head to the side.
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:51 am
Valora watched the dispute from below, hering the spite implied by their voices. The parus seemed well kept together, but the pica... Her gaze turned towards Sly. He was a shadow, like herself... but his demeanor was quite different. After the argument, she called to the bard and his friend, "Glad you found your comrad, " this was a sencere statement, she had nearly lost Zeke once.
But she had other things to do. Sly, gentleman or interloper? Valora was going to find out. Zeke clung tightly as she when to intersept Sly a little ways along.
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:05 pm
Pearlyblue Tousled looked at the bard's sticky, berry-encrusted foot, and felt another strange sensation come over her. Not a buzzing, this time, but a fizzy, bubbling feeling that rose from her stomach into her chest, and then erupted out through her beak, spreading warmth all throughout her body. She laughed. It was brief and soft and a little bit husky, but it was probably the most whole-hearted sound that Tousled had ever made in the company of other sentinels, and it was wonderfully relaxing. "Oh Birch, your foot..." she whimpered through the giggles, while at the same time trying to pick the mashed berry-pieces off of said appendage. "I'm so sorry, I really am. I didn't mean to drop them." She let another little laugh escape her. "I'm so clumsy! My head started spinning and I... I just... I'm sorry..." She took a deep breath and composed herself, having cleaned the worst mess off of Birch's foot, and looked beamingly up into his face. The excitement that had flown in on the wings of laughter was almost as strong as the disturbing buzzing had been, only a few moments ago. "I can't believe I did that!" she exclaimed breathlessly, the laughter still bubbling just beneath the surface of every astonished word. "Do you really think they fell for it?"
Birch sleeked down from the shock and whatever he was going to say was instantly forgotten. He froze like a Skurri confronted with a Serpe, beak slightly open, and was completely at loss at how to handle this. It was a curious feeling, to have someone preen his foot. Tickly and strange and... Wait, did she just talk to him? Tousled was looking expectantly at him, as if he was supposed to say something.
"Hmmm..." he said absentmindedly, trying to shake himself out of his daze, "Wait. Sorry, what did you say?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:05 am
Tousled was still far too excited to think that there might have been anything unusual about what she had just done to Birch's foot, and too preoccupied to notice his expression. When he asked her to repeat herself, she bobbed her head impatiently.
"What I just did, back there!" she giggled, making a small gesture with her wing back at the way they had come, but not taking her eyes off of Birch's for even a second. "I just - I just can't believe I did that! In front of all those people--" Her voice faded out for a moment and she panted a bit harder than she had to as the full impact of what she had, indeed, done threatened to find its way into her excitment-muddled brain again.
Without thinking about it, she moved a little bit closer to the bard - in case she would need to be supported again.
"I don't- Do you think I- Was it any good?" She finished in a slightly hoarse almost-whisper, the look in her eyes holding something more akin to desperation now, even though her beak was still hanging open in a big, happy grin.
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