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 Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 7:46 pm
Chalcedony gave a squeak here and there as the scary looking birds flew at him, doing his best to ward them off by waving his shield arm at them, hoping that they would be warded off by it. When he looked the old man over he gave a bit of a wince, he looked dried out and exhausted, looking as if he might have been up here for a while. As the man lifted a hand, pointing toward one of the nests, he understood what it was that he was doing. A nest?
The man was suddenly talking about a heirloom that was up there, that he couldn't leave without it, and he gave a little nod of his head, "Ahh... I see." A bird had stolen his heirloom? If they were anything like the birds back home, at least in some ways that was, they were ones that would like shiny things. He gave a nod as he dug into his pack, getting out a piece of the fruit that he had left there. It was ripen enough, maybe a touch overly so, but still edible. He handed it to the old man with a smile, "Try to eat this if you can, it's not water but it's the best I have with me." The man seemed to be fading, but he wouldn't leave without the heirloom. As much as he would love to do with the old man as he had with the girl, to get home to safety then come back for the heirloom, he kind of doubted he'd leave.
Old men could be crazy stubborn if his family was any indication, "I am going to try to get your heirloom, hold on for me." He said, taking his shield and placed it over the old man's vulnerable face and head, "Hold on." He said, drawing in a deep breath before he started to make his way up toward the nest. It seemed to filled with glittering treasures, having no idea which belonged to the old man so he decided that he was going to have to grab all he could without disturbing the eggs...
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:30 am
The Old Man smiled weakly at Chalcedony, accepting the fruit with shaking hands. He seemed to have difficulty biting into it, but once he managed to bite through the skin, the juices and natural sugars were certainly revitalizing, almost instantaneously so.
The Wind Tribe member nodded, pulling himself into a seated position, his back against the rocky mountainside. He allowed himself to be hidden behind the shield, taking small bites of the fruit in his stablizing hands.
There didn't seem to be any young birds in the nest... merely remnants of old, discarded shells, abandoned by their previous inhabitants. The birds had taken these glittering treasures in place of their lack of young, or so it would appear.
Although they had been irritably hovering while Chal tended to the old man, their territorial nature would not stand for him being so close to their nest, fledglings or no. The birds began to screech, continuing their dive-bomb attacks with renewed vigor as the Shifter neared the stolen trinkets. There were perhaps six of the birds in all. They had no formation to be seen, simply taking turns to attack the now defenseless man.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 2:16 pm
Chalcedony wasn't too terribly surprised when the birds started to come down at him, sounding more then a little ticked off to have someone rooting around in their nest but he couldn't allow himself to be put off even if they did have some sharp talons and teeth. Instead he would did his best to ward them off with his free hand, wishing that he had a second shield somehow to protect himself with, but pushed the thought aside. He needed to focus here, to get what he came for and then he would flee, having no real reason to fight with the birds for real, he was invading their home after all.
Once he had his hands on a handful of various, glittering things, he pushed away from the nest and fled. He could only hope that among the things he'd grabbed was the right thing else he'd be going back for a second go at the nest and it wasn't something that he, nor those rather angry birds, would appreciate all that much. Coming to a near sliding half near the old man he held the various, glittering treasures out to him and asked, "Is your heirloom one of these?" Some sort of clue before he went digging around in the nest might have been good but given the man's condition before he'd been able to eat Chal couldn't have poked at him for such answers. Now though, now he was starting to look a bit more revitalized and alive, he should be able to answer the question. Or so Chal hoped.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 6:39 pm
The birds were undettered by Chalcedony's attempts to ward them off with his hands. They did their best to n** at every piece of exposed flesh they could find, feathers flying as they did what they could to protect their glittering treasures.
A few continued to dive after the Shifter as he retreated from the nest, but most of them remained near their home. They began to land, picking through the remaining gems, reorganizing them, glowering down at the retreating man. He hadn't caused them any real harm... and perhaps they were confounded at the fact. Perhaps they were content to simply count their remaining treasures. Whatever the case, Chalcedony made it back to the old man in one piece.
The man had finished his fruit. The discarded remnants lay on the rocky platform a few feet away. As Chalcedony showed him the treasures he had collected, he thumbed through them. With a great huff of joy, he picked up a sort of amulet, intricately gilded in gold with a pink stone at the center that matched, identically, the crystals sported by the Wind Tribe.
"Thank you..." He breathed, clutching the precious item to his chest, tears filling his eyes. "Thank you."
Near the base of the mountain, the little girl had reappeared. She remained half-hidden behind rocks, not wanting to disobey the Shifter man who had helped them. "Grandpa!" She called up, a whisper loud enough to reach the duo on the rock.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:10 pm
Chal watched as the man went through the items on the ground before he found what he was looking for, something that had him sighing in relief. Good, good... so he'd grabbed up the right one then? Good. He was worried there for a moment that he was going to be forced to go back which wouldn't have gone well since the birds seemed to all be in the nest, digging around in it, distracted by putting everything back into whatever order it was that they deemed to be the best for the treasures. When the man started to thank him he gave a smile, "I am just glad that I was able to help you out." He told him, glad that the man was alright, glad that he had his treasure back, but hearing the girl from below calling up to the old man he said, "It's time that we start down the mountain, it seems that your granddaughter is waiting on you."
Scooping up the unneeded treasures he scooped it up in his hands and walked over toward the birds, at least as close as he wanted to get, and set them down in a pile, "Here you go you guys! Sorry about messing with your nest." He called out to them before he moved to scoop up his shield in one hand, used the other to help the old man up, "Shall we?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:34 pm
As Chalcedony approached the birds with the trinkets, they flapped their wings vigorously, shrieking at him. As he backed away, they hesitantly approached the glittering trinkets. Deeming them safe, they began to launch them back into their nest, clearly pleased to have the majority of their treasure restored to them.
The old man smiled, nodding gratefully, the item still clutched to his chest. He appreciatively allowed the Shifter to help him to his feet and began the slow descent back down the mountain. Although old, the fruit seemed to have revitalized him well enough to make this downward journey. He had been climbing these mountains his entire life, that much was clear in the way he managed to glide down the rockface. At time he appeared to be falling, clearly conserving energy before an expertly placed hand or foot would catch him and put him back on balance. It was unlikely that he would have been able to climb upward any further in this state. Down was much easier.
The girl rushed to her grandfather's arms as he appeared. She too turned towards Chalcedony with a bright smile on her face. "Thank you." She squeaked.
Antiope had appeared from around the side of a mountain, her hands placed on her hips, a smile on her face. "Hey, Chal." She called to him. "Great job, taking care of that family."
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:51 pm
After they reached the group Chalcedony allowed himself to lean back against the rocky surface that they had just went down, giving a little sighing sound, glad to be back on his feet and on the ground. He glanced over at the girl as she rushed over grandfather, knowing that his siblings would likely do the exact same thing if it were them and their grandfather in this sort of situation. When she thanked him he gave a smile, "It wasn't a problem, I am glad that I could get him back to you." He told her, then gave her a smile, "Thank you for waiting down here for us." He was glad that she had waited for them instead of trying to get involved again, it showed that she was a little more well behaved then the twins. He was sure that Vera and Reva would have not only followed him but would have thrown the rocks at the birds and would likely have annoyed them.
When he heard another voice, that of Antiope, he jerked his head around to look over at her, then flushed a little, "Ah! T-Thank you." He said, wondering for a moment if she wasn't going to be happy with him for wandering off when he was supposed to be patrolling but she didn't seem upset about it. Instead she was smiling at him, praising him, she didn't seem displeased with what he'd done, that was good. Still he felt as though he owed her an apology since he had gone against what he was supposed to be doing.Shifting the shield in his grasp for a moment before walking over toward his leader, "I am sorry about wandering away from where I was supposed to be scouting but I had to help." He murmured, knowing that even if what he'd done was right in his eyes that he had been told to scout, not play hero. Still, who could just walk away when someone was crying out in pain? Certainly not Chal who was used to taking care of those around him no matter who they were.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:11 pm
The little girl and her grandfather stood nearby, watching the interaction between Chalcedony and Antiope. Both of them sported small smiles, interested, yet keeping to themselves.
The Leader of the Shifters shook her head as the Prentice apologized. She stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You did exactly what you should have done." Antiope smiled at the members of the Wind Tribe. "You have proven yourself a wonderful asset to our team... someone who will do a fine job taking care of his family. I think you'd make a fine Guard for the Shifter Tribe."
The woman smiled brightly at Chalcedony. "What do you think? Still wanna be a Guard?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:20 pm
Chal never felt better when Antiope told him that he'd done exactly what he should have done, that he'd proven himself a wonderful asset to the team, and someone that would do a fine job taking care of his family. It all meant so much to him that for a moment he lifted up the shield to duck behind it, hiding his blushing features from her for a moment. Once he was able to get that flush under control he looked over the shield again, "Ahhh... I'd... I'd make a fine guard? Really?" He asked, his blush creeping back in despite himself. He shifted in place, then started to nod rapidly when she asked if he wanted to still be a guard, "Yes, very much so!" He said enthusiastically.
If only his family was here he thought to himself, wanting to tell them all what had happened, but since he was a ways from home he would need to wait just a while... but he could tell Takoda though. He would want to seek his friend out as soon as possible, wanting to tell someone! Taking a step closer to Antiope he said, "Please, allow me serve our people as a guard." He said, giving her a bright smile.
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:31 pm
Antiope laughed gently as Chalcedony hid his face behind his shield, already beginning to form a bond with the weapon. "Yes, absolutely!" She nodded to reaffirm her words... to hopefully expel any traces of doubt from the man's mind. "You're a natural; your desire to protect is unbiased, completely selfless." Another gentle laugh bubbled from between her lips. It seemed so obvious, watching him in action. "You're the perfect candidate."
Smiling, Antiope placed her hands, briefly, on either side of Chalcedony's face. "The Elders would have wanted to be here..." She pulled a tiny pouch from its place at her waist. It contained a rare, red powder, reserved for these very occasions. "But as the leader of this expedition, I have been given permission to assign ranks as I deem fit."
She reached forward, drawing a few, temporary lines across each of Chalcedony's forearms with the red dust. While it lingered, it would work as a symbol of his new position. "I declare you, Chalcedony, a Guard of the Shifter Tribe."
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