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Nica turned her attention from the hunter, figuring that she could avoid some of the tension existing if she simply ignored the creature. She watched the two companions with the closest thing to delight as she had felt in a long time. Even Breeze seemed to liven slightly with delight with the sight of the plump berries.

Any joy from the berries was quickly removed following Sly's next comments. She might have been young and naïve, however she seemed quick to pick up on its sarcastic intentions.

Just ignore him, just ignore him, Nica's mind echoed as she forced down a few berries to distract her mind. Once the storm is over, I'll never have to see him again.

"Umm…" Her earstuffs once again flattened as the large shadow addressed her. She debated ignoring him completely, although ultimately decided she would rather not risk angering him. "I thought I spotted a better shelter, and when I flew over to inspect it, a gust of wind caught me." She lied; this part was obvious, although she seemed intent on not going any further.

The aberrant leaned up against the gatherer, looking for what little protection she could receive.

Sly could feel the tension rising, but who where they to start anything. The storm was too strong and seeing as Twilla was protecting Nica, she would not jeopardize the fledgling’s wellbeing by dragging her out into the storm. She would also be less likely to start a fight with a hunter inside a very small space.

“Runaways are always the concern of any Sentinel. That should have been obvious.” He said back to her, giving her no luxury to see him angry. In fact, he felt a bit light hearted by all of this. It was certainly distracting him from being wet and confined. “Seeing as you are not her minder, you have little business than I do, and just the same freedom for concern.” He said, putting Twilla in her place. If she was a Minder, she would have had some say in Nica’s upbringing and well-being, but they where at equal standing as a gatherer and a hunter had just as equal remarks on what it meant to bring up a fledgling, though Sly knew that most if not all Sentinels had a different view on how Sly would have raised a fledgling, if he was ever in such a position, which he was glad he was not.

Looking back at Nica, partially hidden under her temporary Minder, he continued. “You have a poor show of lying and to an adult no less. You certainly do shame the Minders who take care of you, but I guess that’s only to be expected.” He said, making his opinions clear but only in that vague manner he said everything. You couldn’t place too much evidence on ‘only to be expected’. He wouldn’t be so easy to make the mistake of saying outright what he thought.

"Currently I am serving as a temporary minder, just until I can get her to her home safely." Twilla challenged quietly as her patience spread thinner. It was a good thing that Nica separated the adults, for it might of risked becoming more physical, after all. there was a change in her voice, though, as she managed to take reign over her own emotions. Oh, she was angry, but her voice was softer and hiding at least a little bit of her contempt.

"You would do fine to let her alone, as you clearly do not have her best interest in mind." The words he chose said nothing incriminating, but the way in which he spoke them chilled the gatherer to her very bones. Perhaps it would be better to ignore him. She kept that in mind as she did her best to cover the unfortunate fledgling. Of all the places they could of gotten stranded, it just had to be with Sly.

Growing tensions in the small enclosure were abruptly interrupted by a loud crack from high above. It seemed for a few moments that the twin trees had managed to avoid any damage; however this relief was short-lived.

A large branch ripped through the intertwined branches, leaving a gaping wound open to the storm and barely missing the three Sentinels. However, smaller debris from the wreck did not offer such luxury as it showered down upon the inhabitants. Rain rapidly flooded the shattered shelter, posing a threat of its own.

Without quick intervention, the whole enclosure was sure to collapse.

Auze and Tikki hunkered down silently in the gatherer's pack and Twilla did the same, but over the fledgling as much as possible. The debris that rained down upon them stung, but she was glad that it had not been the entire branch that fell attop them. Surely this would not hold for long and the gatherer was at a momentary loss for what to do. She cast her blue eyes to Sly expectantly, as he clearly seemed to know the answers to all. She was sure they had to move fast.

"Whaaaaaat?!" The tiny hatchling looked at the large Hunter as if he asked her to fly into the above. "Are you insane?" She asked, hissing at the entire idea. The small aberrant seemed quite sceptical of him, almost certain this was a some scheme to kill her, 'purifying' society as she had heard some put it. Well, she'd risk death in the damaged shelter than please him.

Nica sighed, trying to relax her beating heart, and settle her mind. As much as she hated the idea, she slowly realized Sly was right. This place was going to cave in, and the sooner they left, the better.

"T…Twilla?" She turned her head, looking for approval. The Gatherer would surely keep her best interest in mind, so the aberrant decided to leave the decision up to her. She stepped forward slightly to scan the area, hoping that there would be something close that would at least somewhat block them from the storm.

"I think I could make it to that trunk…" the fledgling whispered, flinching as a stick bounced off her back, then motioning to a large tree about twenty feet away. "But I don't know if I can hang on without help for the rest of the storm…" Golden eyes shimmered at the two adults, full of both hope and fear.

Sly didn’t want to wait forever and felt impatient, wanting everyone out immediately. Why this hesitation? Was he honestly going to lie to them when he would die in the process?! And of all the childish things to do. Fledglings should just listen to what they where told and do it without question! The adults knew better. Leave it to an aberrant to jeopardize all their lives with worrying. Glad that Twilla could at least get the child moving, he came from behind, breaking his usually off distance as he rounded the back. “The moment the wind dies, take off. Nica, follow her. Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait a second to think about it. Just fly. If you wait, the wind will pick up again and break us all apart.” Mainly it would result in Twilla flying, finding Nica wasn’t following, and then the Gatherer would be spending all her time and limited energy finding a fledgling and worrying about her when Nica could be safe or not. Either way, their chances where made slimmer if they didn’t do things as smoothly as they could in this situation. Sly would have liked it better if he could just scoop up the little mix and carry her but that would be dangerous to the both of them and would only, and Sly meant ONLY, would be a last resort. (He didn’t have time to debate if he would really do it or not.)

Nearing the entrance, he leaned down so that he was level with Nica. “When she flies, you fly. Don’t concentrate on what's going on around you more than you have to. Just pay attention to her tail feathers and only her. Ignore everything else.” They didn't need Nica freaking out while she was flying.

Rising up, he waited with all of them for the howling wind to die, even for a moment.

"Make sure she gets going." Twilla told Sly, although she was sure she did not need to. Just making sure made her heart feel a little bit better. Not much, but a little bit. She turned from the group and concentrated on the howling and whipping winds and found her mind wandering to Jester. She hoped dearly that he had found shelter and had tucked himself away nice and safely.

The second the wind died down, the gatherer took off. The weight of her pack and companions did little to hinder the experienced flyer, who took her pack almost everywhere. Auze and Tikki crouched low, seeking shelter as deep as they could go in the gray carrying device. She flew fast and hard, aiming to reach the earlier indicated tree before the lull picked up.