Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sly was not very much for these celebrations and though he could confront a small group and venture into their circle with confidence, massive crowds had the tendency to join forces against him. Even those who where strangers to him where quick to take on the torch if others did without any question, and while Sly could work his ways with flare to a handful, when a large gathering grew, he felt himself resistant, cautious, and annoyed. There was something stifling in the manner that people flocked, gathered, and suffocated amongst one another without any attention to space, some even going as far as to sit right up against the other. It made his feather’s bristle at the thought as if spiders had raced across his plumage.

Still, it never came as any loose to him as he never really put anything on the line. That was the art of it all. No sacrifices as nothing was put on line. At least not in this case. You saved the risks for the chance of ultimate gain and he would not risk that for any of those Sentinels from before.

The Shadow’s mind then heard the repugnant calling out of Fjord as he was almost out of range. He had been listening as he took off, not caring for the male’s rebuttal until the last chord of it rang out, nearly making him falter in flight. RC? RC?! That disrespectful, loathsome pile of Mus droppings! How dare he bring up that? That only little tiny but most aggravating insult that Fjord had at his arsenal, a weapon that never worn away and one that Sly never grew immunity or armor against. Such a name made bile rise in his throat.

Cringing, he fumed until he heard the flutter of wings. His first thoughts went to Fjord and he clenched his talons into fists, wanting to dig them into the other, only to catch sight of the Sentinel flying in his line of view. He had not noticed her as much as something as silent and added on to the group before and only noted her as background. Female. He tried to bring up her name. Vena? Vola? Vika? Augh! Leave it to frustration to get him so worked up that it damaged his impeccable memory.

He could have easily flew away, having a fun game of dodging the Sentinel until she tired, took the hint, or couldn’t match his graceful flying patterns, but he instead went for another option. Addressing a tree, he slowed and landed on a offering branch, settling down and closing his wings together. He brought one out, starting to preen his elegant feathers, as he was accustomed to do in his appreciation for maintenance and unkempt, if not appearances, and pretended he had not noticed the female.

The little Deep Woods' eyes lit up with joy again at Birch's words, and the faintness she had been feeling turned into a pleasant light-headedness. She didn't know what to say, so she said nothing, basking in the glory of being praised - about acting, from a bard - and only displaying her overflowing joy by a slight fluffage and several small eruptions of giggles.

Stage fright... so that's what that was. Of course. It made a lot more sense now. But... but even though everyone were looking at me... I did it! I didn't even stammer, I just... did it! She felt as proud of herself as she only did when she had just finished a beautiful new piece of jewellery, only with an added flair of actually having risked something this time. What a headrush!

So when Birch kindly offered her a berry, she accepted it as she would have accepted any morsel given her by a minder when she was but a chick, and with the same innocence.

"Oh, yes please!" she chirped happily, and picked the berry right out of his beak with her own. The realisation that feeding each other mouth-to-mouth was usually something done minder/parent to hatchling or mate to mate, and thereby a somewhat intimate thing to do, dawned on her at about the same time as her beak closed around the berry.

The thought, Ohmywasthisreallythewayhemeantit?? flashed through her mind, and she froze in place with her eyes locked on the bard's.

After witnessing this strange turn of events, Hazel turned away, bounding back towards Raine. She'd want to know that the Parus was safe...and Hazel was eager to get away from the place. There had been an awfully strange feeling in the air around the Shadow male. The hunger in his eyes had made the usually-fearless Martes shudder.

Raine glanced over, only to spot a furry bundle launching itself at her. Unfazed, perhaps from countless experiances, she turned her head, and uttered a single word. "So?"
The bouncing furry blur flipped over and landed on its four paws, grinning cheekily at his owner. "Parus-safe." Then his smile fell. "Hazel 'fraid...Dark male. Sentinel. Hungry eye. Hazel 'fraid. Hazel very 'fraid." Adding to his point, the Martes shivered.

"A dark male sentinel with hungry eyes...Hm..." Raine was intrigued. Not many things could frighten her Hazel...And what of this "hungry eye"?

"Well, at least the Parus is safe." She smiled with a trace of uneasiness.
"I suppose I'll just be taking my leave now." Nodding to the Sentinels around her, Raine flew up, Hazel in tow, searching the crowd. She was very interested in this Shadow Sentinel.

Snowdrift watched as the large Shadow bid his adieus to the rest of the gather before taking off. There was something ever so vaguely tugging at her sense of judgment, but for the moment, she couldn't place why. Sly acted like a perfectly good gentleman of a sentinel, and she saw nothing wrong with him not wanting to escort Rose back to Granny - after all, three sentinels and a companion were more than enough! Without any resolution to her doubt, she decided to let it go. As they say: innocent until proven guilty. Right? ...right?

Besides, Rose was doing just fine going back to the Below on her own. A grin twitched at the edges of her beak as she leaped into the air, fanned out her wings and glided down behind the parus. "Hey Rose! Wait for us!" She called out, the past unhappy feeling gone and replaced with a bubbling joy for life. How can one stay so sullen all the time when just living was so amazing?

It didn't take very long for her to land nearby Granny, happy to see the two reunite. "Here she is, all safe and sound!" She tilted her head upwards to see if the other sentinels were on their way. "I had a little help, too...I have the impression that two of them already know you, ma'am!"

The smaller, weaker abberrant flew as fast as he could after Chase, Snowdrift, and Rose.

He landed rather ungracefully beside the two and gave Granny a sheepish, but happy look. "G'devening, Granny!" He greeted. His pica flew circles about the group, immitating Rose.

"Oh, yessum. I've been doing much better as of late." A smile crossed Fjord's beak as Linnéa preened him. He was very fond of his former teacher and she had been kind to him when he was but a fledgling. Sickly as he was, he felt as though he was gaining more strength as time went on. Of course, time would tell if this was true or not, but for now the bard felt fine. A little winded, perhaps, but fine just the same.

Chase listened politely to the familiar greetings, discretely noticing the older female’s bad eye. He wondered if Fjord hadn’t been feeling well and looked at him intently trying to find any sign of sickness or some sort of hidden wound. Relieved to find no obvious ailments on his new friend, he decided it was time to leave.
“I apologize for the interruption but I best be on my way. My parents view this occasion as a family gathering and I promised I’d spend some time with them. “ He took a small step forward. “I’d like to introduce myself before I leave though. The name is Cloudchaser.” He nodded to the female teachers before looking back at Fjord. “It was very nice to meet you, Fjord. And you too, Feather.”
And a moment later he was gone, his wings taking him back to the air towards his own family reunion.