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 Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:12 am
"Yep! In fact, it's unus-al that I even get t' come home. I gotta stay at her territory until I'm done. Sometimes she lets me go visit home. This is one 'o th' rare times. Yeah. She's def'nity not old and she def'nitly dun' suck. She's the best!" The mist girl had abandoned her preening was smirking at the two males. She had always been the younger fledgling looking up to the elder ones, but now it seemed the tide had turned! ... At least a little bit, anyways.
She still had to keep them thinking that she was, indeed, far better than they were. She sort of wished her friend Hollyhock was here to join in the fun. Maybe he would get to come with her next time.
"A race? Hmm, well, yeah! That'd be fun! How 'bout... You'n Ashton, then I race winner?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:14 pm
Snowpeak’s beak twisted with an unpleasant expression. He didn’t want to race Ashton. Well, he did, but he really wanted have a go at Osprey first. She was the one who could actually fly and he didn’t want to even consider the possibility that he might lose to the wildtype… and not race her at all.
“Nah… let’s go at the same time…” he started hesitantly as he looked up, afraid to drive the older fledgling away if he sounded too pushy. “You could start here… and we start a little higher… and… we have to get to that branch! The one with the white flowers!” he sounded excited again as he eyed the thick branch above them. Even with the proposed handicap there was no real chance of him (or Ashton) actually reaching it before Osprey and yet… he felt a tinge of hope. Maybe if he was lucky…
“I dare ya!” he said, taking a swift hop backward as he opened his wings with a defiant expression that hopefully would convince the mist. “Last t’ touch the branch is a smelly ol’ mus!” and without Snowpeak realizing it, Osprey’s speech was slowly starting to affect his.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:20 pm
Ashton’s teacher was so unremarkable to him even his name somehow escaped his mind. To make sure he wouldn’t forget Osprey’s teacher’s name, he repeated it again out loud. “Breeze, Breeze, Breeze…”, he whispered until Snowpeak woke him up from his daydream.
“Huh, what white flower?” asked the Wildtype, looking up. Oh, that one. He glanced briefly at both Mists and reached quickly the higher branches. “Yeah, let’s all go!” he said as he hurried to the thick branch. He was so excited his foot first missed a thinner branch, and he flapped as fast as he could to avoid a fall and catch the branch.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:56 am
"That's easy." Osprey challenged and fluffed her feathers in an attempt to intimidate the younger mist fledgling. She took her place on one of the limbs beneath the two fledglings and thanked her lucky stars that Breeze had been working she and Hollyhock so hard. This would be a piece of mus compared to flying the platforms!
"I'll count t' three...
One...
Twooooo....
Three!"
And with that, she launched off of her perch.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 12:47 pm
“Hey, wait… we have to start at the same time… oh, fine!!” Snowpeak shouted as Ashton moved in front of him and Osprey dropped to a lower branch. His eyes locked on the finish line with fierce determination and he lifted himself up in the air. Three flaps, branch. Two flaps, branch. But the mist fledgling got greedy and aimed for a higher branch this time. One, two, three, fooour… fiiiive…
Just one more, he thought to himself as he watched the branch come closer into view. With painful effort, he lifted his talons to grab it and… missed it. He felt his talons scratch the bark and fell backwards landing with a loud thud on a close branch. Feeling no pain, Snowpeak immediately hopped to a straight position and readied himself for another try… perhaps at a lower branch this time. He looked around for Osprey, hoping she had missed such a pathetic fall and fluffed up in embarrassment.
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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 1:54 pm
At soon as the "three" was shouted, Ashton leapt forward. Somehow, it took him the grand amount of a half dozen flaps to lift up and reach another branch. Using it to gather speed, he jumped again and tried to fly as hard as he could. Suddenly, halfway, he realized he hadn’t aimed at anything in particular. It certainly didn’t stop him, and motivated to flap even harder.
A loud “thud” distracted Ash. He turned his head behind, in Snowpeak’s direction. “Are you hurt?” asked the Wildtype without thinking twice, or even thinking at all. Brain process would have been much loved a second before he hit himself leaves without looking. Losing his momentum, he began falling, and had to grip the supple branch underneath. Even then, he needed to go back very quickly. Baaaaaaaaad.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:41 am
Osprey was taking it slow, not because she was tired, but because she had hoped something funny would happen. Something funny like Snowpeak hitting the branch.
She giggled as she landed on a branch beneath Snowpeak and glanced up at him with her bright, cheerful golden eyes. He didn't seem to be hurt physically, so she didn't mind laughing at his slightly bruised ego.
Her attention snapped to Ashton, who had fallen backwards. That didn't look so funny. She remembered hanging upside down rather well, for it had been the first time she had met her beloved teacher.
"Ashton! You okay?" She called. She wouldn't feel comfortable continuing the race unless she knew. He, like Holly all those nights ago, could of fallen to the forest floor. Just the thought of it made her shudder.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:29 am
She did see it. Snowpeak turned to the mist female with a murderous look across his face only to find Osprey laughing. Even her eyes seemed to be laughing at him! For a moment he wanted to jump at her and take that annoying cackle from her beak. It didn’t matter that she was a girl. It didn’t matter that she was considerably bigger. For a moment he really wanted to run talons-first against her.
His head had barely dropped when…
"Ashton! You okay?"
Snowpeak’s head turned abruptly to the wiltype and he analysed the situation with a piercing narrowed gaze.
“Why… why are you so worried?” He asked slowly, defeated by curiosity. Why did she turn so serious all of a sudden?, he was still upset that the female had laughed at him but the way her tone had changed made him wonder if there was something serious going on. In his head, Ashton had just lost his balance for a little bit. Nothing to worry about, really.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 12:14 pm
Ashton certainly felt okay, and really hated that Ossie showed any concern. He’s a big boy; he can take care of himself just fine! He threw himself forward at last, shouting “Dun pay attention to me! Fly faster!”
Ridiculous! Unless he was thrown on the ground by the Thunderbird himself, and kidnapped by fierce badgers, there was no reason for anyone to worry about him! This girl should mind her own business. By the way, he was getting quite advanced, and out of instinct, made some smoother moves. Concentrated, he avoided most leaves and jumped on only 3 or 4 branches. The girl was perhaps starting to lose her own race.
At least, with this mess, nobody was making any comment about his weaker skills.
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Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:06 pm
STUPID! Shouldn'a even been worried!
Osprey's beak edges turned into a scowl and her eartufts flattened due to the annoyance at herself she had. Of course he wouldn't end up like her, upside down and dangling by a single paw.
She turned on her perch and immediately began heading towards the white flowers. "Nev'uh mind! Last one there is a four-toed owl beak!"
Her wings were sore from all the flying she had done this night, but she couldn't let two less trained fledglings pass her up.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:02 am
“I’m right behind you, stuupid!” Snowpeak shot at Osprey, watching the fledgling flap in front of him. He had to catch up! If not to the mist at least to the wildtype. Speaking of which, where did he think HE was going?! He was ahead of them now and getting dangerously close to the white flowers. Snowpeak started moving as fast as he could. Two branches at a time but quicker. Two at a time but quicker. Faster! Move wings, move!
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:29 am
Ashton’s adrenaline rush wore off very quickly and he panted. Relying on the same branches as Snowpeak, the Wildtype followed him closely. He tried to copy his wing movement, but this carefulness implied he had to waste time watching. Seeing the Mist about to reach the white flowers, he accelerated, but was not allowed anymore to wish for the first place.
Until then, he didn’t see where Osprey was exactly. If only she was the last one, that’d teach her not to meddle with his business.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:35 am
Osprey had been only slightly in front of Snowpeak at the second start of the race, but she was pulling forward. She landed in the white flowers with a little more skill than she possessed before her training with Breeze, so basically she did not fall over it, fall backwards, or wind up hanging by one talon.
"Got it!" She proclaimed proudly before turning about to see where exactly Snowpeak and Ashton were.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:15 pm
She had done it. It figured. Now Snowpeak had to try even harder. Not that he’d been expecting to win really… but he certainly didn’t want to finish last!
He couldn’t see anything other than the pale flowers shaking placidly in the wind but he was certain that the wildtype was very close.
As soon as he (finally!) reached his goal he was proven right. Ashton was right there with him. He whirled around to face Osprey and blurted out a few words between tired breaths. “Who came second?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:04 pm
One last leap and he was there! Ashton could feel Snowpeak’s feathers close to his. And when his talons reached the flowers, he turned to his opponent’s direction and saw, disappointed, that Snowpeak arrived at the same moment. He braked and stumbled before stopping completely. Panting heavily, his small legs needed some rest, and he sat down.
He answered the boy’s question with an arrogant “Well, if I’m second, you too, and then we'd be both last, and we both have four toes! Duh.” .
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