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 Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:02 am
Raine tilted her head, a tad bemused. She didn’t think being a Ranger was particularly humorous. Mirroring Fairaday’s actions, she fluffed up and preened; her damp plumage seemed to be drying, and warmth was rapidly returning to her body. She ought to feel safe; secure in the hollow, yet constant vigilance was drilled into her nature…Well, no matter. Raine sighed. Despite her fatigue, she’d stay alert; one could never be too cautious when in the company of others, no matter how friendly their intentions may seem.
“I certainly hope at least one of us knows the area…” Raine managed to mutter through her fluffed up chest feathers. She didn’t like staying in unfamiliar territory, and that nagging feeling of unease kept rising in her chest.
Staring rather insolently at the other Sentinels, it was apparent that Hazel did not share the same sentiments as his owner. No, his thoughts were focused on sating his rumbling belly. It had been quite awhile since he and his owner had eaten…Slipping into a cat-like crouch, tail twitching, the Martes eyed the two companions. Mmm…Hazel licked his drooling maw at the thought of a nice, juicy shank of Skurri…
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Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:01 pm
Tune turned her back, her tail end sticking out in the direction of the Skurri, pretending to ignore him.
"Not these particular trees, no..." Orion said, slightly shrugging his wings. "I've been near it once before, but thats about it." He let out a long sigh, letting out his tension through it, and shuffled his feet to get more comfortable. He had to chuckle at Fairaday, and turned to look at her. "Are you sure you're not a bard?"
He took to preening his feathers some, now that they had dried a little, his grey and red-dyed feathers starting to look a little less worse for the wear.
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Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:39 pm
"O-oh, great Noctus, no!" she started in response to Orion's question. Fair assumed a guilty expression, her tufts lowering while her eyes flitted to the floor of the shelter. Truth of the matter was that the Shadow harbored a great love of bards of all kinds, but she had often heard through the proverbial grapevine (as well as once or twice herself) that Lichen was not too fond of the frivolity of the profession. She seemed to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak, saying 'no' to her shelter-mate, but 'yes' being the obvious answer, scrawled across her face as it was.
She made a great show of shuffling her feet and feathers whilst clearing her throat, resettling into her earlier air with some difficulty.
"The lot of us aren't having the best of luck, are we?" she proffered, voice pitching quietly. "I suppose there's really not much we can do except ride out the storm. All things considered, even if we did know the territory, I'm sure it'd be different once the chaos abates."
Scamp was too preoccupied with smoothing out the down on his Sentinel's belly to realize that there was a hungry Martes eyeballing him like a hearty meal. Nope, nope, nope! Fair-mama's feather-fur was soft and waaarm. Distraction, thy name is Scamp.
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 2:31 pm
Amber eyes narrowed suspiciously. What in the whole of Noctua had Fairaday behaving so oddly? So guiltily…Perhaps she was not a Medic after all; perhaps Orion had hit the proverbial nail on its head, and she really was a bard. If that was the case, Raine knew, they could not assume a false sense of security, especially around someone could not be trusted. Dishonesty was a major felony in her books, and straying any distance away from the facts was simply dishonorable in her eyes.
It was always like so, was it not? The moment all appeared safe was always followed by a hurricane of doubts. No, Raine would never again be lulled into safety by the calm before the storm…Still…if the two Sentinel were inclined to be hostile, would they not have attacked already?
No, whispered the nagging voice of distrust. They are waiting for you to let your guard down...The rabbit who does not see the fox will always die...
The tiny seed of distrust was enough to set the wary Ranger off. She showed no outward change, but withdrew from making further remarks.
Hazel, for one, was closely attuned to his owner. He knew that once she had sunk into one of her broody moods, it would be quite difficult to dig her out. Prodding her side with a furry paw, and receiving no response, the Martes sighed. Despite his outward immaturity towards the strangers, he did not hold any hostility towards them. To him, Fairaday was just another talkative, harmless Sentinel, and Orion was a kindly friend of companion creatures. He gave a mildly displeased sniff, feeling a tad disappointed that Raine would believe herself to be in danger when she had him, the great Hazel, as a protector.
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:43 pm
"Oh? But you'd make an excellent one I'd think." Orion nodded. She had an excellent way with words and jokes on the spot, and he was being dead honest about this. And by the guilty vibe she was giving, he must have been somewhat correct. He fluffed out his feathers, giving them a quick preen before changing the subject.
"I do think we should trade spots, mine is closer to the wall and less likely to be hit by the wind..." He gestured to his spot with his wing. He gave a glance over to Raine, she had some sort of feeling about her, the way she was holding herself and the look in her eyes. He merely gave her a questioning glance before turning back to Fair.
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2008 10:59 pm
It was a good thing that Fairaday did not easily read others or else Raine would have had a fussing Shadow looming over her until she cried uncle. Scamp, however, felt it like a change in the air, and the little Skurri turned this way and that, his bushy tail bristling and quivering. Instead of turning his bright gaze on the other female Sentinel, they fastened upon her Martes; he gave a chitter of disapproval before climbing onto the medic's back. She clucked her beak and ducked her head to peer - and question - the fluffy rodent's sudden change to totem pole-ry.
Fair swiveled her attentions back to Orion with a small giggle of relent. As much as she wanted to chastise him for even considering that a compliment, the Shadow felt overjoyed that he'd said so. One half of her was again beaming with pride that he should flatter her so, while the other half (more Lichen shaped and domineering) chewed her beak in disapproval.
"That's very kind of you," she imparted gratefully, bustling over to the keeper's side and squeezing herself near the back. Cozy fit, trying to weasel in next to him.
"There's no need to move!" Fair continued when she had made herself as comfortable as she could deem possible. She sounded too chipper, as if the storm outside had been forgotten; a difficult feat considering the Thunderbird was relentless in his cries to be heard. Fair bobbed her head towards Raine.
"I do believe you should come near too. The more, the merrier, I always say!" At least, she wished she could 'always say' that. Her beak parted with a smile, "It's much warmer if we bundle together like a bunch of hatchlings, dear!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:45 pm
Raine internally flinched; stiffening at the questioning look that Orion had given her. Surely she had not been so transparent as for one to guess? Relaxing her slightly clamped wings, the uneasy Ranger assumed a slight more nonchalant position on the floor of the hollow. Just as she’d finished shuffling her feet, she was bid by the ‘Medic’ to huddle in. Come closer…closer…
Amber eyes blinked, betraying a slightest hint of her reluctance, as Raine drew back slightly. “No…No, I’m quite fine, thank you. I…don’t particularly care for crowded spaces.” And it was perfectly true, because Raine couldn’t stand to lie. She rather liked to maintain a healthy distance between herself and others. It would be better if she kept her distance (in more ways than one). She only hoped they’d respect her reservations in joining the group.
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:48 pm
With all the excitement outside and inside no one has relly noticed the slightly odd smell that's lingering in the hollow. It smells... dead. Possibly rotting. As if someone or something died here not too long ago. Hazel would be the first to notice since his sense of smell is better than the average Sentinel's.
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Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:20 pm
Orion shuffled his feet a bit nervously, not at the weather and not at the company, but at being so closely huddled to a female Sentinel, which hasn't been done since he was a fledgling. The only company he really had as a Keeper were his companions, especially Tune. Warmth amidst this cold and dark night was very much welcome however, he was still chilled from his own damp feathers.
Tune tucked her little head beneath a wing and began to snooze on his head, and he chuckled, stopping much of his movements in an effort not to wake her.
"As you wish," he directed to Raine, giving her a kindly smile.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:09 am
Fair was happily oblivious to the male's discomfiture, satisfied enough with their storm-arrangements to continuing preening as though she were not invading his personal space. It really was much warmer than nestling all by your lonesome, especially when you had a fur ball burrowing between your wings. Looking up, she gaped her beak with imminent laughter.
"That's quite the hat, Redeye~"
Still tickled pink by the Sentinel-companion fusion, she canted her head - curious - at Raine. Horrible at reading others, she simply wrote the her unease off as fear for the storm. And who wouldn't be? Unfortunately for the Deep Woods female that Fair was persistent.
"You sure? It'll only be a bit crowded until the storm breaks, then we're off by ourselves again! If it means safety, and all that."
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:04 pm
Although narrowed eyes watched the toasty-warm pair enviously, Raine valued her personal space too much to even think of joining the huddle. And her for safety, well, putting all your eggs in one nest was just asking for trouble. She would have a better view of the entrance where she was. Someone had to remain alert and keep watch.
“I’m quite sure, thank you,” She replied, in a clipped tone that signaled the end-of-discussion.
Hazel’s fur stood on end. Sniffing more deeply, his sensitive nose caught another whiff of that same scent, that faint, unpleasant smell ever-lingering in the hollow. Blech. Something smelled bad in here, as if a Mus had died or something…No…the stench was worse than just a dead Mus, more foul, fetid, and…and…festering. The Martes buried his head further into his owner’s feathers, trying, and failing, to block it out.
Raine, noticing her companion’s rather odd behavior, pivoted her head, giving him a rather sharp look. Her eyes made it painfully obvious. Tell me. What is the matter?
Hazel reared up, wrinkling his stubby nose. “Funny smell. Bad. Dead.” He racked his brain for any past exposure to a similar scent, before snorting in frustration. Try as he might the well-traveled Martes just couldn’t place it. This worried him. Greatly.
While a funny smell was not necessarily a cause for alarm, Hazel's behavior was. Usually, when he scented something interesting, he'd identify it for her in a word or two. Not this time. He seemed to be puzzled, as well as rather uneasy. There were few things in all of Noctua that could shake her brave (though rather foolish) companion, all of them unpleasant at best.
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:42 pm
Orion grinned, little Tune sleeping on his head must be a really silly sight! He let himself relax from his slight uncomfortableness with a very quiet but long sigh, fluffing his feathers all the while trying not to move. It was quite a little trick. Unfortunately he couldn't preen them while his Parus was sleeping.
Very slowly he turned his head towards Raine, and his pupils shifted down to view the Martes, Hazel. His words had worried Orion. "Something, dead? In here?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:04 am
Funny smell. Bad. Dead.
In spite of her better judgement, Fair's feathers began to bristle, her tufts lowering slowly against her head. It couldn't be possible - what in all of Noctua could have gotten in here? She looked around and peered back at Scamp, who had been pulling himself from his light doze when the Martes spoke; the fine, thick hairs of his tail began to flare.
"Maybe...maybe it's just the smell of wet Sentinels all holed up together, darling," she said uneasily. But even the tone of her voice belied her disbelief; if you could trust anything, it'd be the nose of a Martes.
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:17 pm
Hazel snorted again, still trying to clear his nose of the rather pungent stench. Though the Martes grinned cheekily, basking in the center of attention, his tail remained pole-stiff, his fur raised in discomfiture. Nodding insistently at the others, the Martes said, rather indignantly,
“Hazel no mistake. True! True!” He stamped his furry little paws on the floor of the hollow. Why couldn’t the others smell it, too?
If she had been on-edge before, Raine’s feathers were positively sticking out now. Her plumage rippled with uncertainty; that unsettled feeling in her chest growing stronger by the minute. Narrowed eyes glinted in a way that was impossible to read, while behind them, a tactical brain furiously whirred. The Ranger ran through the most probable origins of the smell, and scrutinized the hollow.
“Where is the scent coming from, Hazel?”
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:40 pm
The stench is stronger further into the hollow, and if one of the Sentinels should start to investigate back there they would certainly be able to smell it too. Perhaps if they tried to shift some of the debris that's piled up far back in the hollow... Come to think of it... That scruffy branch under the other debris... Is it a branch or is it something else? It almost looks like feathers.
(Note: if you want to find the whatever-it-is before the next Herald post you may pm the Herald and you will then be given ehough information to roleplay finding it)
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