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 Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:34 pm
Clover grumbled, cursing her sneeze for giving her away. She knew the males would likely insist she at least take a short break, so with a sigh she began to shuffle about, slipping into Chase's spot as he left it. It did feel good to be out of the wet, but she kept a sharp eye on Vinch. If he showed any signs of being effected, she would insist he move, or trade back.
"I've never been there, but I do know a few bards. The parus love them, and I sometimes get them to take lessons from the bards. I would like to see a good show though. Maybe some new ones will spring from this storm, eh? "The Thunderbird's Call" or something! That would be interesting..."
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:46 pm
Vinch moved into his new spot, following the other two around. As the first drop hit him he shivered once and then just let his body acclimate to the wet feeling, settling in.
Vinch laughed at Chase's excitement. "Wow, you certainly are a fan, huh Chase? I've been to a few shows, and a couple bards are acquaintances of mine. Me and my big mouth, I love to chat it up with interesting people. And the bards I know can be veeery interesting when you get deep in conversation with 'em. A different point a view, really." Vinch smiled fondly at the memories of long nights chatting with his friends, sometimes even into the early daylight they couldn't stop talking.
"I'm sure the bards will come up with some great stories from this storm. People are probably already thinking up crazy stories to brag to everybody. Amazing adventures and all that. Makes you sound heroic. Hmm, maybe we should come up with something cool to tell people." Vinch thought for a moment before grinning mischievously. "I have it! Vinch, Chase, and Clover: Calmed the Thunderbird with only their charm and dashing good looks!"
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:25 am
“It’s funny, I didn’t use to like them so much. My father is a hunter and my mother is a scout so they weren’t too fond of a task they consider a bit frivolous. They still took me to a few shows when I was a fledgling though. But there’s something different about the Crownleaf. The environment, waiting for the different performances, meeting all kinds of sentinels…You can almost taste the excitement in the air.”
Chase spoke slightly more subdued but still had a rather large smile as he watched the rain drops fall on the deep woods’ back. “I’m sure this storm will create amazing tales. I heard two of the Above the last time I was there and...” he paused for, taking a moment to recall some of the happenings hat had somewhat tainted his trip to the theatre.
Vinch’s last sentence however had the uplifting effect he was starting to get used to and the shadow lifted himself up to his full height, looking around with a ridiculously smug expression. “Such a tale would be completely believable. It would be (dramatic pause) …epic. They will speak of the lovely painted mist and the two blue-eyed males for years to come. But I find the title a bit too long…we must work on that.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:22 pm
Clover laughed heartily, her spirits bubbling up now that she was out of the rain. She didn't realize what a dampening (emotionally and literally) effect it had had on her until that point. "Ahh, but you know how these things grow! Within a few re-tellings it will be the dashing blue-eyed warriors who set out to save the fair white-lady from the clutches of the evil Thunderbird." She clacked her beak in humor. "Personally I'd rather be doing the saving, but I can't say if you two would like to be the captives in some bard's tale, now would you?" Yes, despite the storm and the mess, there were still good times to be hand. After all, it could only go on raining so long, right?
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:43 am
"Then we really should go check out Crownleaf after the storm. It'll be so much fun. I can ask Birch to tell me when their Thunderbird performance will be. I'm sure it'll be great!"
Vinch joined Clover in laughter. "Hmmm, I'm sure for our story we can mix things up as much as we want. It is OUR story." Vinch nodded. "Personally, I might not be adverse to being the rescued, as long as I get the ladies in the end!" Vinch grinned at the thought.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:25 am
A hard gust of wind shook the tree violently, sending the Sentinels inside tumbling over each other. As if that wasn't disturbing enough in itself, the shaking was followed by an ominous creaking.
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:24 pm
“Yes, it’s our story!” Chase said cheerfully before turning to Clover. “Well, if you don’t mind the company, we can go save him together!” He nudged the deep woods playfully bobbing his head with delight. The shadow felt he couldn’t have been luckier concerning the company he was waiting out the storm with. “You’re absolutely right, Clover! It can’t rain forev…”
Then it happened. The tree shook violently and Chase closed his eyes as his whole body was projected first against Vinch and then Clover. And the sound that followed… as if the tree trunk was cracking… “What on… sorry, sorry… what should we… we better go. Now.”
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:29 pm
"Just so I get to slay the mighty beast, I'd be happy for your company!" Clover joked. Yes, she was now glad for the storm, in a way. She'd made some very entertaining new friends!
The sudden gust that sent Chase plowing into her snapped her mood quickly back to a more realistic one. "Unnf! Out? You mean go into the storm?" She wriggled free from her tumbled position and peered out into the gale. "We could easily be hurt, or killed out there...Do either of you know if there are any more stable trees we could shelter in? If the tree lasts..." She winced at the creaking noises of the wood. "If it lasts until a break in the wind we might make it..." She was at a loss...going could mean death, but so could staying. The tree didn't sound stable at all...
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:56 pm
"AIIIIIEEEEEP!" Vinch squeaked as the entire tree and his companions were shook up by the Thunderbird. When the creaking stopped, Vinch looked at his companions, hoping they didn't just hear the ridiculous sound he just made. Surprises are NOT Vinch's thing.
Vinch then thought about Chase and Clover were suggesting. "Oh no." He looked nervously at the others. One would have thought he was just a Fledgling with the look of horror on his face. Vinch desperately tried to get a hold of himself. When he was a little more composed, he tried to think and look out into the storm for some ideas. "More stable trees? I kinda came to this one because this is all I saw around here. And I'm not really familiar with this territory. The only thing I come down here for is for the theatre...oh, this is bad..."
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:48 am
“I didn’t see anything either… I couldn’t see anything at all to be honest. The rain...” As the tree screamed louder sending a shiver down his spine, the shadow moved his head around Vinch’s body in order to take a look outside. “We have to be prepared. Can you see anything now? A larger tree? Something below?” Chase felt more collected now and slightly upset to have been caught off guard by the shaking tree. As a former gatherer he had been known to boast occasionally that he’d never been surprised by neither foes nor changing weather. “I really don’t like this sound. We have to be ready to leave. But the wind is not stopping…”
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:17 am
Clover nodded grimly. "We've got to be ready to bolt out of here, if the tree does fall. I suppose we could try to ride it down, inside or out. You know, hang tight and then take off the second before it hits. That'd get us closer to the ground, which may be our only solid perch for a while, if we have to use it. It'd be dangerous, but no more than taking off and being wind whipped into the ground later." She paused a moment, peering out into the gloom. "There might be other trees out there. If we flew now, we might be able to make it to one. There's no telling though."
She began to think of the possibility of one of them going out first, trying to find a more stable shelter, and then trying to get back to tell the others. It would be so dangerous...but the tree wasn't going to hold much longer, it seemed. And...and if there was nothing else to be found...then only one of them would be lost to the Thunderbird's fury, rather than them all. That was an outlook that would make perfect sense to most group-first-minded Sentinels. One's pain for the good of all, or at least more. Without another word, Clover took a deep breath and stepped to the lip of the hole. The storm tugged at her feathers, ruffling her this way and that. She would have to be the one to go, obviously. Vinch and Chase were strong, but they were smaller. Hopefully her thicker feathers would aid her now more than ever. She waited a moment more, listening for another creak from the tree. When it came, low and ominous as ever, she simply said, "Stay here as long as you can. I'll find another perch and come back for you.."..and leapt out into the gale. A moment and she was all but invisible to the males, her sunny form cloaked by mist and rain.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 7:47 am
"Clover, no-" Vinch lurched forward but wasn't fast enough. Honestly, he didn't know what he would have done even if he had stopped her. He watched her fly away into the storm and cursed. "Can't we do anything?" Vinch turned to Chase. "We gotta go SOMETHING. She's a...friend. I don't want her to get hurt." He said pitifully.
Vinch looked around the tree, trying to figure out how long they had left before it fell over. He stuck his head out the opening to look down the trunk. Was the tree cracking yet? Was the ground there safe? Of course not, no Below is safe! "Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad..." he mumbled.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:20 am
Stay? What?!“Clover, wait! No, you can’t be…” if the mist had done it silently, Chase would have followed without thinking. But her words held him back “Vinch, she did it! She jumped, she left!” there was a mild panic in the shadow’s voice when he turned to the deep woods. Vinch’s worry calmed him down considerably and Chase moved past the deep woods, taking a small jump to the tree branch right next to the opening. He crouched as low as he could, talons tenaciously piercing the bark and took a quick glance to his surrounding before eyeing the shaking tree.
“I can’t see her!” He shouted back at Vinch. His body shook violently when the cold wind and rain pierced his thin plumage. “I think the tree is cracking at the bottom but I can’t be sure!” He could see bits of snow now and the thought of the mist female flying in that weather bothered him more than he could express in words. “Clover! Clover! CLOVER!” the watcher’s eyes narrowed against the wind, as he bellowed out the call.
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Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:29 pm
It was a poor choice to fly into the storm, and while Cloverfield's mist plumage was suited for the cold she didn't have the training to fly in this kind of weather. She was barely out of sight from the tree when a strong gust of wind sent her tumbling head over tail feathers.
Her leaving seemed to stabilize the tree, and while it still swayed in the wind the creaking noises had almost stopped.
Clover's tumble stopped abruptly in an ancient oak overgrown with dog roses. The vines were barely more than tiny leaves and dry thorns, but they helped cushion the fall slightly and held her battered and broken frame in the tree instead of crashing to the ground.
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Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:54 am
"Can you see anything Chase?" Vinch asked the other male. He was very worried. The tree getting stable got Vinch angry. "Why does the tree decide to not fall over NOW? Stupid...ugh. How are we gonna let Clover know that it's ok now?" Vinch looked at where Clover disappeared, wondering when she'd come back. "CLOOOOOVERRRRRR!!!!" he screeched, hoping his big mouth would be good for something, finally.
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